Post by Anon ++ on the dire straits Singapore is in

Many parts of sinkieland's economy are maciam Eastman Kodak and getting "irrelevant" in the international market?

The so called economic restructuring since the early 2000s is nothing but just "short term boosting steroids" that are beginning to show the serious adverse consequences associated with such "quick-fixes and band-aids"?

Gold-fish eyes bespoke Roadmaps for 20 sectors and $4.5 billions ITP spanning many years are just old ( poor quality? ) wine in new "fancy, high sounding" ( terms and ) "sparkling" bottles that cannot compete at the same level with the real good stuff at the international level?

The $500 SkillsFuture scheme costing many billions and wasted opportunities will almost certainly do nothing to upskill, reskill, upgrade sinkies job competencies in any meaningful way in the short run, medium run and long run?

The so called economic "bazookas" to reinvigorate the flagging and fast nosediving sinkieland's economy have so far seen one disappointment after another? 

From now till end 2016 when the Committee for Future Economy is targeted to announce its restructuring plan would be too far off, too little too late to be optimistic about anything that they are seen capable of delivering? ( remember their old wines in new fancy bottles that only deal further blows to sinkieland's economy and further downwards towards economic abyss and armageddon? )

They will often try to change the names, the forms, the packaging but still same old substance, same old one-trick pony? Now is the time to have new "药" and not new "汤" but same old "药"?  Now is the time to have new "wines" and not new "bottles" but same old "wines"?

 

Why the conclusion that Gold-Fish eyes $4.5 billion ITP is unlikely to work?  Look at the scale of the problem?  In 2015 alone, total merchandise trade plunged by $100 billion?  The $4.5 billion sounds "big" but pales in comparison to the plunge of $100 billion in total merchandise trade last year ( 2015 ) alone?  Do sinkies really need to have an economics degree to grasp the magnitude of the "fire"?

To put it in simple terms, there is a raging inferno of a few hundred sq km and the fire dept despatches 45 fire engines but going to be spread out over 5 years .....?  So 45 fire engines over 5 years are down to about 9 in one year? Then the 9 fire engines are spread over different fire spots of the raging inferno of a few hundred sq km? Is there anyone who seriously think the fire at any spot can even be put out, much less the entire raging inferno of a few hundred sq km?

Thus, the ( disastrous ) outcome is likely predictable?  Sinkies and sinkieland need new ways to put out the "raging economic fires"?

Eastman Kodak developed the digital camera in 1975, but the management was riding high, seeing it had never existed and did not capitalized on it. It was the Japanese who saw its potential. Today leaders are Canon, Nikon etc and your handphones (who do you think makes the camera's components?) Eastman Kodak file for bankruptcy, that Eastman is "pura" (go away/gone) and Kodak name remain.

Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Manchurians tried to implement some reforms but due to their old ways, nothing good came out of such efforts and the rest is history? 

In 10 to 12 years time ( by 2026 to 2028 ), where would sinkieland be? Marching on the same spot? To have progress in 2026 or 2028, what must be done yesterday?  What must be done last week? What could have been done last year? If the answers to such simple questions are nothing, would sinkies not realise how precarious sinkieland's economy is right now? From 2016 onwards, the ( unsound and ) uncompetitive structure of sinkieland's economy is likely going to drag it downwards ceaselessly?  The drift towards abyss and ignominy could have already begun?

What $1.9 million riddle? The ( real ) elephant in the room is the $100 billion plunge in total merchandise trade in 2015?  Given the economic malaise sinkieland are having, a few critical areas need to be addressed foremost? 

In the short run, fiscal and monetary policies to ensure stability in the macroeconomics front.  In the medium and long run, supply-side policies to correct/ remedy several structural "sickness" in the economy. Labour market reform is one such area. If flooding the employment market with cheap labour can ensure sustainable economic growth and development, then populous but poor countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines with population between 100 to 200 millions should be doing well but they are NOT! In fact, despite such huge population, their GDP is still significantly lower than many countries with a tiny fraction of their population such as Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden etc.

Current policies of opening the foreign labour floodgates are not sustainable given the upper limits and deteriorating quality of life and mental capacities associated with overcrowding .......? The Jiak Liao Bees have created "ONE GIGANTIC PROBLEM" in the property market since 1990 under lao goa's and Marboro Tan's jiak sai stewardship? 

Without tackling the interwoven and intertwined impacts and ramifications of the property market, labour market reforms would be "EMPTY TALKS" and the problems swept under the carpet, head hidden in the sand and politicians KICKING the cans further down the road by meddling with masak masak window dressing wayang such as the state trying to "save" the economy by involving more public servants in the running of the private sector which was the problem in the first place but now TOUTED by gold-fish eyes as the SOLUTION? 

Education is another big sector that needs overhaul and the urgency cannot be overstated? Sadly, the jiak liao bees again are doing windows dressing and at the non-critical, non-material areas ......?  The eco-nomic system of any cuntry is not dissimilar to any eco-system? Just like the food chain in the oceans or the wildlife, tinkering with one sub-system or variety alters the entire eco-process .....?

A sick economy is like a sick patient with health problems in various areas .......? A sick economy will collapse even FASTER when it is "treated" simultaneously in all "sick" areas .......?  Not unlike a sick patient who needs treatments on his various organs such as heart, kidney, liver, digestive system, brain ..... etc? Operating simultaneously on the heart and brain of a critically sick patient surely will send him to see the creator faster?

Thus, the issues that need to be resolved are NOT so simple? It is not just identifying where are the problems, how much and how to solve them? It is when to solve what by how much?

Like a sick patient whose heart needs surgery but will probably die if operated on as his health conditions cannot undergo the strain of an open heart surgery?  Therefore other areas then have to be treated and when the patient's health has recovered sufficiently, then the open heart surgery can proceed?

If is the same for an eco-nomic system? Treating the wrong segment of the economy at the wrong time with the wrong policies is also going to send the "patient into the mortuary" and "make the patient return his IC much earlier"?

Haha....... The Patient needs no more treatment .There is no cure for the Patient
anymore. Do not waste time with much ado about nothing. Let nature takes it's course and let the Patient be history. End of the Story.

By Anon ++