Who the f@#% does he think he is?

CPF Life will be compulsory for those with $60k in their retirement accounts at the age of 65. They missed them when they got the bulk of their money out at 55. Now the net closes in and they are going for those who slipped out to be caught again at 65. Who does he think he is? It is the people's money. Don't touch, you have no right to confiscate the people's money at your whims and fancy. You are no god, boy. 'Such was the level of interest in CPF Life that it was opened up last Sept to Singaporeeans and permanent residents aged 55 and older. Since then, some 37,000 people have signed up, committing a total of $1.7 billion.' Why such a great and popular scheme only had 37,000 members? If it is so great, people will all be rushing into it. And why the need for compulsion? Is the govt so short of fund that it has to resort to locking up the people's money in all kinds of scheme? Boon Wan is waiting to transfer more money into Medisave. The people who are not happy with a govt that thinks it can do anything with their money must vote for the return of their money in the next GE. They must assert their rights to their own money and tell whichever joker to lay his hands off their money. I will definitely vote for the right to my money.

A system of crooks

Jonathan Weil wrote an article for Bloomberg in New York and is reposted in mypaper today. His main gist is that the robber bankers are blaming short selling for the ruins in the financial system and banks under their charge. Actually he said it is more than just short selling. He added, 'Neither short sellers nor rumours spread by speculators were to blame for any of these companies' collapses. Bogus balance sheets and incompetent regulators were, along with the panic that ensued once investors decided that they couldn't deny the reality any longer.' I want to add that it is the whole financial and trading systems developed by the geniuses trained by the best American Unis that is at fault. The Americans are awared now that derivatives is a deadly instrument and must be curbed. The SEC Chairman is asking for more measures to control derivative tradings and undisclosed deals. Her feelings are echoed in the big cities of Europe. Derivative tradings, short sellings, programme tradings, big fund and big muscles, are all part of a flawed system that is out there to cheat the small investors. And with regulators closing an eye, deregulations, or becoming participants to the scam, indulging in dark trades and providing a system that facilitates the big funds to rob the small investors, what can one expect? The financial crisis is only the tip of an iceberg and an early warning. The collapse of the world financial system is imminent if nothing is done to stop the robbers from what they are doing. Just ask, who is running all these banking and financial institutions into ruins, turning them into a big casino and con game? The Americans are pulling the rug from the feet of the robbers. But the silly Asian bourses are still dancing to the tune as if nothing has happened and nothing will happen. The derivatives and default swap deals and dark deals may be banned from the US and maybe Europe soon. But they will be welcomed blindly by their Asian counterparts. And the crooks will be welcomed with open arms to do what they were doing best in Asia, once they are banned from the US and Europe. Actually their tentacles are already in Asia and robber the investors of every penny they got left.

Indian graduate school as good as American's best

Singaporeans not good enough: Temasek offered 110k – 130k USD per annum to fresh Indian IIM-B graduates All 270 students from the 2010 batch of the post-graduate programme (PGP) of the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) have been placed in just five days since the opening of the process. IIM-B also claims to have completed the final placements ahead of all other IIMs.As many as 120 reputable firms from and outside the country – from both the traditional and emerging sectors like healthcare and energy – visited the institute during the placement period.Fifteen new companies took part in the placements this year, recording a 41 per cent increase from last year.Prominent among the new entrants were: AT Kearney, Alvarez & Marsal, Bain & Co, Booz & Co, Diamond Consulting, Nomura and Temasek Holdings.Nomura is reported to have made the highest offer of Rs80 lakh per annum for the role of vice president finance in an international location. Temasek Holdings offered Rs50-60 lakh per annum. The students have accepted as many as 15 international offers from companies including Nomura, Temasek, P&G, Enzen, Arvin Meritor and UAE Exchange. About 45 women in the batch accepted offers in sectors, like investment banking, consulting and PE. In the lateral placements held for students with two years of work experience, 30 companies made recruitments. A total of 66 offers were received by the students in lateral placement as compared to 50 offers last year. The above article was copied from Transitioning.org. I am pleasantly surprised to see an Asian graduate school commanding such high respect from around the world. Good for India. Singaporean post grad students should enrol in the school instead of American Univ or our local Univ. Then they can be courted and be paid better salaries than our local post grads. I just hope it is not another case of unthinking blind followers following the crowd like queueing for MacDonald toys.

Meet Yotaro, the hottest baby in town

Yotaro has blue eyes, cute cheeks, cuddly, can smile, cry, throw tantrums, everything a baby can do. It is going to be the latest craze and will be selling like hot cakes. The Japanese has developed this Robobaby to train parents in parenting and how to take care of babies. The best part about this toy is that it can be switched off when the owners got tired of it. This is the greatest advantage over a real baby. And it will never grow up and does not have the problems, sickness and troubles that real babies will bring. I think this product will be a must have, just like internet baby craze where two young parents neglected their own baby to feed and look after an internet baby. Move aside, real babies. You are not needed nor wanted any more. What is this world turning into? Real babies nobody wants. Instead they will buy cute Robobabies, toys, dogs and pets as subsitutes to be showered with love and tender loving care.

To talk or not to talk

Following the revelation of Pastor Rony Tan in his Youtube testimony I posted this thread in redbeanforum.com and mysingaporenews. A hearty discussion followed but subsequently stopped when the defenders of Rony heeded his call and disengaged. The sensitive issue of race and religion was raised by Vivian Balakrishnan in Parliament and the question is always about drawing the line to prevent any discussion from getting overheated. Two articles in the ST Editorial today continued with this debate calling for more public discussion instead of just leaving everything to the religious council to deal with behind closed doors. Could the public handle such discussion sensibly and rationally? Did we? There was some heat as many were emotionally and spiritually attached and empowered to defend their positions against those who would also have very strong feelings about the subject. I think we had done well to keep the discussion under control. Maybe if Rony had not restrained his followers, things may get more heady. This brings us back to the same question, are we mature enough, sensible enough, to talk about such issues publicly? Or we should pretend that there is no problem or just sweep the problems under the carpet and forever live in blind ignorance, or never grow up? This is the 21st Century of enlightenment or are we still in the Dark Ages?

Faces of Chingay 2010

These are a few of the photos I took with my friends at the Chingay 2010.

Day of reckoning

In 50 years or 30 years time, if you are still alive, many Singaporeans will start to cry. Because in that time frame, many of the HDB properties will have less than 50 years of lease left. And some may have lesser. And the million dollar properties will not be worth a million anymore, and may not even be worth half of it. That is the reality when the day of reckoning comes. There is no running away from it. Today, many are trying to make hay while the sun shines. Profit can be made by short term flipping. In the long term, the HDB properties are going to worth nothing. Yes, $0! Don’t be mad to plough in your millions. At $500k, with interest of 30 years, it is going to cost $1m for nothing at the end of the story. And this applies to all 99 year leasehold properties. The $1m condo is going to cost $2m and will come to nothing too. It cannot keep going up. It must come down to ground zero! Only freehold or 999 years properties will retain their values.

Year 2010 - Sayanging the footballers

We were supposed to be in the finals of the World Cup this year. I read that the coach is going to submit a nasty report on the behaviour and discipline of our professional players who were booted out of the Asian Cup in Amman. Aren't they playing the in World Cup Final? Maybe that's the reason why they felt so disheartened and depressed. The coach should forgive them, for oversleeping, for smoking, for not attending training sessions. He forgot to sayang them I think. And he thought that they were too big for their shoes! What's happening? These are our first class talents, our Dream Team for the World Cup.

Buffer stock for HDB

Today's ST editorial suggested that HDB build a buffer stock to meet contigency demands of flat buyers. I hope no one is going to reply that once there was a 30,000 stock of unsold flats and very costly. And I hope that no one would comment that last year they sold so few flats and sufferred a deficit of $2b, so if sell more and build buffer stocks, the deficit will be even greater. The idea of a small buffer stock is elementary, and no one needs to teach super talents about this. It is only whether there is an intent to want to do it. Who doesn't know that having a small surplus will shorten the waiting time and become very handy and expedient for those who need flats urgently? Like I said earlier, there are many things that can be done to help the people who need flats urgently. The current system is shitty at best.

The disappearing Act

I wonder how many of you watch the clips on Parliament shown on TV. I have a hard time trying to spot my favourite MPs as it flashed quite rapidly and often only showed a small section of the floor. It is very rare that one has the chance to see the whole house and all the MPs. And also, on a daily basis, the same few faces would appear again and again What happens to those that don't appear at all? There are some MPs that appear to be on perpetual leave, or the camera just refused to look at them. Blame it on the camera man huh.

Another silly article to ridicule China

There is another China bashing article in mypaper today by a Ben Blanchard. He asserted that China's military might is only good on paper and questioned whether they are real or can work. He suggested that most of them would not work especially the missile system but then contradicted himself by quoting how China shot down its own dysfunctional satellite in space. And he laughed at how China handled the Sichuan earthquake as bad in joint operations. He forgot to compare it with how well the Americans handled the Katrina flood. A piece of exemplary joint operations! And he boasted about the US being battled hardened and experienced as they were engaged in two massive military operations in Iraq aand Afghanistan while China had not been in full battle for three decades. The last time was, he claimed, a bloodied nose from Vietnam. He forgot that the Vietnamese drove the mighty and experienced Americans out of their country while the Chinese drove them back from their borders to Hanoi. Who got bashed? To be sure China is still far off in comparative strength from the Americans. And he questioned China's ability to threaten the Americans. But that is not the intent of China. China does not seek to threaten the US. Only the US seeks to threaten everyone, including China, and use war as a means to seek control and supremacy over other nations. What China seeks is simply to deter the aggressive intent of the Americans and to ensure that should any war breaks out between the two, there will be many American boys and girls going home in black plastic bags. Yes, a full blown war will see the US blowing China into pieces a 100 times over. But China needs only to blow the US into pieces, one time over. That is good enough. China had fought the US before, and triumphed. They drove the US soldiers from the Yalu River to the 38th parallel with outdated rifles while the Americans were using air power and heavy weapons. China need not have the same high tech and leading edge weapons to defeat the US in a conventional war. It has proven it could do it, in Korea and in a proxy war in Vietnam. Would the US dare to take on China believing that China's military is all paper only?

Khaw Boon Wan is a good man

Khaw Boon Wan acknowledged in Parliament that the Medisave is our money. And he is there to guard and protect our money. I say very good. Just guard the money and make sure it is safe. But don't have any more designs to take more money from the people to guard. It is too huge a sum and too big a responsibility. Don't ask for more. there is enough money for him to guard already. We are talking about hundreds of billions of dollars in prison. Also, good man don't keep thinking of taking other people's money without their consent, and to keep it away from the people till death do they part.

Cost of living in Cloud Nine

Temasek Review, TOC and several blogs have reported that the budget provided for a 8.8% increase in ministerial salary. The hint is that this is outrageous given that the workers are being asked to be cheaper, better and faster. Superficial impression will make many to agree with such a perception. How could the ministers still be thinking of raising their sky high salaries? Then think again. The workers need not have to have any salary increases, or the increases need not be too high as property prices, I mean public housing, are very affordable. Compare to the prices of private properties, each costing $5m to $10m, it is tough to buy such properties. And 8.8% increase of a $1m salary is only $88k, $2m salary is $196k and $3m salary is only $264k. It will take several years of savings to buy a private property with this kind of small increases. It is thus unfair to frown upon the 8.8% increases as we cannot compare apple with oranges. The cost of living in high society is very high. Properties are expensive and so are luxury cars and overseas holidays. Even the meals are costing that much more. I can't remember how much it cost for cooking class in France. The increases should be comparable with the increases in the cost of living and property prices in the stratosphere. Only then will it be fair. It will be more appropriate to provide for a bigger raise in order to minimise their hardship. Without a pay hike, life can be very tough with a $1m or $2m or even a $3m income. The people should not complain and should count their blessings. At least they need not have to keep on worrying about where and how to get those millions to pay for the high cost of living.

Myth 218 – The market forces determine the prices of public housing

Who believes in this shit? Can repeatedly telling this will make it another fictional truth like affordability? Who controls the supply of land sales? Who controls the minimum price of land sales through reserved price? If not equal or above the reserved price, don’t sell. Who controls the building of public housing, how many, when, where and sizes, ie the supply? Who sets or determines the price of public housing? No, sorry, it is the market that determines the price of HDB built flats. Just like the Pinnacles, the market or buyers decided to pay $200k more for the same flats in the same estate. It is all due to the magical market forces. Adabracadabra…., Ladies and gentlemen, the price of public housing is...., according to market forces....

Has PAP lost Tampines?

Did he break? No, he didn't. Yes he did. Watching Mah Bow Tan defending his housing policy in Parliament, this question kept popping up. Under the spotlight, subject to criticisms from many quarters, he stood tall in Parliament, telling the house that his policy is the best, his BTO scheme is the best, his land sale system is the best, and there are enough supply of flats for everyone. He also dismissed all the complaints as myths. It seems that the whole wide world is telling myths and he is telling the truth. He forgot to smile to the camera last night. Public housing has been the strongest pillar of support for the PAP. The people were happily housed in affordable and good quality housing. Why is it that there are so many people crying and complaining about the housing policy today? No, no one is complaining. The complainants are making a mountain out of a mole hill. There are plenty of public housing available. There are also enough supply of private housing, if you have the money. There are two possibilities. The complaints are genuine and the complaints are false. If Mah Bow Tan is right, then the complaints are mere noises and nothing to worry about. If the complaints are genuine, they may have already lost Tampines GRC before the election is called. How could the PAP lead if it refuses to listen? There are public outcries and it is turning on a deaf ear. Can PAP rely on the motto of a deaf frog to lead the people? The deaf frog could reach the top of the mountain, but alone. His team mates could have left him long ago. Or they could be trembling and shivering in their pants or skirts while watching the gungho deaf frog charging fearlessly up the mountain, alone. Maybe this is a new kind of leadership, the leadership of a deaf frog.

A little window dressing not going to work

The few changes in housing policy are not going to make any difference. The target of 30% of the buyers household income is fixed and viewed as affordable and reasonable to take. No need to bother about cost of construction, no need to bother about the risk that the buyers will be exposed to. In such cases, the bigger the income the bigger the stone mill hanging on the neck. And when a crisis comes, the bigger the income/stone mill, the bigger the losses and pain. We have got through that many times. Preventing people from buying what the people think is affordable to them, and dictating what is affordable to the people is another mean policy like the mean testing in hospital admissions. The govt decides on what the people should spend as reasonable and affordable. The people cannot decide what is prudent for themselves. And like the deaf frog, no need to listen, just move on, bring it higher for the good of the people.

Gopalan Nair can be arrested

Gopalan Nair wrote an article yesterday claiming that LKY sufferred a massive heart attack and was warded in SGH. He also posted about demonstrations which gave the impression of civil unrest in the island. He has admitted today that it was a hoax created by him. Gopalan should not play with such rumours as it can get many people killed. Just imagine if his article comes out this morning and the stock market reacted negatively to it with fearful investors unloading and causing many to lose their little fortunes in the market? It is utterly irresponsibile for Gopalan to post such vicious rumours in the net. It only destroy the credibility of himself and other bloggers. I hope no bloggers will think this is funny and exciting and follow what he did. Be responsible and post rationally. Do not stoop to spreading vicious rumours.

Myth 217 - Govt that listens to the people is good

This statement is now a myth. Good govt does not need to listen to the people. This is especially true when the govt is manned by the country's top talents and knows best what is good for the people. The high price housing policy is an excellent example of a govt that does not need to listen to the people. It is very sure that the policy is right and the best. So, despite the people's cry that public housing is unaffordable, the govt just insists that it is affordable, and moves on. In the long run, the people will learn to appreciate this high price public housing policy. And the wisdom of a govt not listening to the untalented people and just do what is right is best encripted in the story of the deaf frog that climbed to the top of the mountain. No one asks why the frog would want to go to the top of the mountain when it is more comfortable in the ponds below the mountain. Deaf frog or undeaf frog, I will vote for a frog or a donkey that listens to the people than a deaf frog that is too smart and not willing to listen to the people. For those who want to vote for deaf frogs, this is democracy and they are free to do so.

Sunday, March 07, 2010 Temasek's recruiting spree at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IMM-C). This article is posted in Singapore News Alternative. And there is another article there by Seah Chiang Nee, More Grads join jobless queue, published in The Star. Putting the two articles side by side, what can one make out of it?

The badge of pride and pedigree

The princelings of China are emerging everywhere, and very successful. Their pedigree background is a badge of honour and also a badge to a smoother path to material success. It gives hint to an age old culture when princes and royal ties were equated with power and status. This is a big contrast to the days of communism when poverty and peasant background were brandished as a badge, as a true red communist. And in the days of the flower people of the 60s, rich kids rejected their affluent trappings to smoke pots and donned filthy and tattered clothes, living in the parks, as the way of life. Rejection of society and wealth was the in thing. Scions of the rich left their homes and families to look poor and smelly. This reminds me of a confrontation between the Soviet leader Khruschev and China's Zhou En Lai. Khruschev came from humble and peasant background and was very proud of it. His badge of pride and pedigree. Zhou En Lai's background was from the gentry and landlord class. And both became communist leaders. Khruschev used to sneer at Zhou En Lai for his rich background and proclaimed to everyone that his was of poverty and peasantry. We were both communist, but from different classes. Zhou En Lai agreed, yes we were both communist, I was rich and you were poor. And we have both betrayed our class. And they toasted to that.

High pay who pays

The Diary of a Singaporean Mind has a pretty meaty article on the issue of high pay by the bank robbers in America and did a little correlations with the high pay in the Singapore context. I quoted a small extract of his quote: Kenneth Feinberg[Link] is Obama's "pay czar". After the US govt bailed out major banks, Fienberg was appointed to make sure bankers don't go back to their old bad habits of paying themselves tens of millions given the outrage among the general public for the bailout. Yesterday Fienberg appeared on CNBC because Maria Bartiromo was doing a segment on Wells Fargo executives wanting to double their own pay. Because Wells Fargo had already returned the TARP money, Feinberg has no juristriction over them and can't do anything about it - all he could do was give his opinion on the matter. This was what he said. Very often bankers would come to him to authorise fat bonuses or pay hikes saying that the executive is "especially talented" or he might be poached up by a foreign bank. He would ask for proof this "talent" and in every single case he found the person replaceable without loss to the company. It was mostly, in his own words,"spin" - bankers over the years have been very creative at manufacturing justifications for their high salaries even as they were about to cause a lot of economic pain to the rest of the population through their careless lending. Buffett asked why the CEO pay has gone from 50 times the lowest paid worker in the company in the 1950s to 500 then to 5000 times - is the CEO today 100 times more productive today? Not possible. The low down people must never ignore this issue of high pay. It comes from everyone's pocket. The banks are not paying the bankers. It is the ordinary folks. The high pay checks of the banks must come from more profits and this will be squeezed all the way down to the people in the street who thought they have nothing to do with it. But they do. Everything will be more costly, services and goods, to keep the robbers fed. Banks cannot feed the robbers with 1 or 2% interest rates. They must schemed all kinds of toxic instruments to muster enough money to pay themselves. At the worst, they will cook the books, hide the losses until it cannot be hidden anymore. It is so easy to churn the books from loss making to profit making, like Greeece. And oh, most of the major banks were in the same boat. That's how they got busted and needed public fund to write off their debts. The immediate turnaround to profitability in the hundreds of billions is fiction. Something fishy must be going on inside those bank books.

What if HDB bungled?

According to Mah Bow Tan, the following are myths. 1. There are not enough HDB flats to meet demand 2. HDB flats are unaffordable 3. PRs push prices 4. Private property owners push up prices 5. Subletting of HDB flats is rampant. The above are reported in the ST today. And he gave his reasons to dismiss them as myths. So I will add them into my column as myths of Singapore. The following facts are either quoted from official sources or are well knowned, or maybe perceived wrongly. 1. In 2008, there were 79,200 new PRs and 20,500 new citizens. 2. In 2009, the numbers were 59,500 and 19,900 respectively. 3. Our population has increased by more than a millionn in the last decade. 4. Property prices are shooting to the sky with HDB flats tripling their values in less than the recent 10 years. 5. Mah Bow Tan said he was caught by surprise of the strong demand in properties. 6. HDB is scurrying to build more flats with 13,500 last year and another 12,000 this year. All these will take another 3 or 4 years to be ready. How many flats did HDB built in the last 5 years? Has HDB bungled in the supply and demand of public housing for the people in the last 10 years? I think the official answer is no. Then why the unhappiness especially among young and new home owners? Myth? During the tight supply of flats and surging demand caused by high population growth, have there been young people who failed to get their flats over these years and were booted out of the public housing system because their combined income went past the $8,000 ceiling imposed by HDB? If there are, is it their fault or HDB's fault? These young people are now caught in a dilemma, disqualified from HDB and not rich enough to pay for private properties. So how? Would they be pissed off with the HDB and the govt? The answer will come in the next General Election if their housing needs are not solved by then. Maybe their needs are just a myth and all will still be voting happily for the PAP. Maybe not. Only the result will tell the true story. In the meantime Mah Bow Tan can stick to his position and fight his election in Tampines, and win.

The tragedy of being old and lazy

It is a tragedy to become old and lazy in paradise. When one is old is already bad. Old and lazy!...tsk. tsk. In the past, being old, one can look forward to a well earned retirement. Today, one cannot afford to grow old and retire. One needs to work till death. And if one is old and lazy some more, no one is going to help you. Wake up lazy Singaporeans. But for those who cannot grow old, then it is a different story. They can continue to dismiss the old Singaporeans, especially the old and lazy ones, as useless rubbish. Can anyone recommend me on how to stay young forever?

America tightening the ropes on credit card robbery

The Fed is proposing to limit the excessive late fees imposed by credit card companies on their card holders. An example of the change is that 'a person cannot be made to pay more than the sum he is owing for late fees. So if one is owing $20, the card company cannot charge the bugger for $60 as late fee. Holycow, I thought this is only a decent thing to do. You mean they have been allowing such robbery to go on for so long and just work up to it? And there are several other commonsensical changes to limit the credit card companies from robbing their cardholders, like suka suka imposing higher interest rate, or the number of days that the payment was late before penalty can be imposed. But regulators complained that the Fed forget to lower the absurdly high interest rate of 2% monthly, which is quite similar to what loan sharks are charging. But I think the Fed's hands are tied. The bankers and credit card companies need the huge interest and profits to pay themselves billions in bonuses, and this must come from somewhere. Talking about robbers, I was robbed by a local bank of several hundred dollars in a dormant account which I had forgotten because of the $2 monthly fee charge for anything less than $1,500 left in the account. Some people are reviving this complain, that people's bank must also take care of the small people. But the message is that if you cannot have $1,500 in your account, please don't 'kar chow' the big banks. They got no time for small people. And since we are the admirers and blind followers of the American system and anything American is good, would the credit card changes in America be followed here?

The great market forces at work in Sengkang

The Sengkang executive condo site was awarded to the top bidder at $315 psf. And the likely selling price will be over $650 psf. So no one should complain about the high sale price. It is all determined in an open and fairly bidded exercise. And the price final price will be determined by the highest bidder. Oops, no, by market forces. No one shall be blamed for the surging prices for public flats even if the developer bid it to $1000 psf. It is just market forces. Demand and supply. What kind of demand is there on limited land available? Last year, there were 59,500 new PRs and 19,900 new citizens. How are these numbers to be translated into demand for housing? Beats me. Very difficult to compute or guess. Even the professionals would not know.

Are the grievances real?

There seems to be a lot of criticisms against the govt policies, and people felt that they are disadvantaged. How true are these? Are they just noises from a small unhappy minorities or are they genuine? Read the main media everything seems so rosy and good. Everyone seems to be very happy making their millions, buying expensive cars, going for holidays, and still jamming up at property launches. I think the PAP has nothing to fear. Grousing and kpkb by small groups of unhappy people will not be enough to swing the votes against them. They will still ride to power with comfortable majority.

New immigrants for Civil Defence

40 years ago, when I walked the streets of London, I could pick up a newspaper and threw 2 shillings into a box and walked away. No one was there to guard the money. Today, I don't think we can leave newspapers on our streets and expect people to drop money into it and the money still remains there for the rightful owner at the end of the day. We are affluent and may not think too much of a couple of dollars. Would any newspaper vendor dare to do this? Would anyone dare to ask foreign workers to look after their homes when they are away on holiday? There could be some exceptions and pre conditions. I would not. I would not even invite them to my home to familiarise themselves with what is inside my home, with extremely rare exceptions of course. If we can farm the guarding of our homes and country to foreigners, we don't need citizen soldiers. I cannot imagine if security guard agencies are still hiring ex convicts or people with criminal records to be guards.

The best speaker in Parliament

Guess who? It hit me straight away when I tuned in to the 9.30pm news on Channel 5. Lim Swee Sway was propounding his Theory of Productivity in Parliament and the audience was dumbfounded. The camera panned across the House and the MPs and NMPs were wide eyed, mouth opened, and written on their faces was the sign of shock disbelief. They listened to him intensely and probably thinking to themselves how come they did not know of such a great Theory. Ok, I shall not put words into the Minister mouth. He did not call it the Theory of Productivity. I will rate this 'Theory of Productivity' in the same category as the Theory of Relativity in its profound and impactful implications. Let me put it briefly, 1% increase in productivity of 3m workers equals 30,000 workers (I can understand this part) and this can be translated into something like 50% of something, or call it output. He went on so fast, with so many numbers that I could not grasp what they were. I scoured the papers this morning to confirm the numbers Swee Say quoted, but those buggers did not think it newsworthy to be printed. Nothing was reported. I can't believe it My lesser brain could not understand the implications of 2% or 3% productivity growth. Now I understand. If 1% productivity growth can lead to 50% of whatever growth or output, 2% will give 100% of whatever! This is simply phenomenal. Forgive me for not knowing what this 50% is all about. But I will try to trace this amazing speech and theory and correct this post when I find it. Whatever, Swee Say was able to captivate the attention of all the Parliamentarians when no one could. PS. I appeal to the Straits Times to print Swee Say's speech in full.

Selling snake oil to gullible Asians

British insurer Prudential is tapping sovereign wealth funds in China and Singapore to help finance its 35.5 billion dollar buyout of US insurance giant AIG's Asian arm, a report said Tuesday. It said the Singaporean and Chinese sovereign wealth funds had not made a final decision but their response was positive...From Sydney Morning Herald I hope we have learnt our lesson and stop buying more snake oil products when nobody dares to touch. All the oranges bought so far are lehmons. If we ever commit to another lehmon and lose another few billions, it is like begging to be screwed.

Myth 216 - The Rajaratnam Myth

In a main article in the Editorial section of the ST today, Kishore Mahbubani wrote an article in praise of S Rajaratnam, one of the key founding fathers of modern Singapore. He lamented at the lack of interest and knowledge of this pioneering leader of our country, or city. In honour of Rajaratnam's great contributions to the city or country, Kishore suggested that we should create more myths around this man for posterity and our history. I will not disagree with him for wanting to honour our great leaders of the past and to remember them fondly for the good things they did. But why myth, a word that he agrees, connotes very negative feelings and meaning. The Myths of Rajaratnam! Down the road we may even create the Myths of Goh Keng Swee and the Myths of Lee Kuan Yew. I want to protest and disagree with him on the word myth. Kishore is a great artist in the use of words. But I would rather Kishore choose the word legend instead. Legends may also not be true and can be created, dressed up, but the feelings are more praiseworthy and positive. The Legends of Davy Crockett, the Legends of Huang Fei Hong, the Legends of Rajaratnam, the Legends of Goh Keng Swee, the Legends of Lee Kuan Yew! Sound better right? The Myths of Rajaratnam! Sounds awful to me.

Lower standard of Chinese for easy learning

There is an interesting article in Viewpoints in mypaper by a Chua Chern Nee on teaching and learning Chinese in Singapore. Many parents have been so frustrated and desperate as their children just could not learn the language or find it so difficult and boring. And many fled to foreign countries where they don't have to learn Chinese. And we have come out with a solution, lower standard of learning to fit the ability of different students. The writer quoted the case of a Korean boy who came here without any background in basic Chinese and he aced the subject after 10 months of learning the language. How could this happened? My guess is that the Korean boy ate rice as his staple food. And for those who have difficulties learning Chinese, it must be their diet, eating too much kantang. Maybe changing their diet will make a difference. As for those who went overseas, it may become compulsory to learn Chinese as a second language in America and Australia in time to come. Ok, it is a new myth. I like creating myths and I have a column dedicated to myths, all 200+ of them. And I am going to add one more, the Rajaratnam Myth.

The correct definition of Productivity

There have been too many confusing definitions of Productivity. Some believe that Productivity means up skill, re skill, multi skill, be cheaper, better and faster. These are myths. We have been doing all these for so many years but our Productivity remains flat. I think my definition to increase price like my char kway teow example is better. And some workers think that slogging longer hours, work harder or staying longer in the office to show the boss are equivalent to higher productivity. Here is the correct version by Amy Khor. Productivity = doing more but in the same timespan or less. She forgot to post her credential as an example of what is higher productivity. She is MP, Mayor, Chairman of Reach, Chairman of countless committees, Advisors to countless committees, her own profession, and maybe, I am not sure, directors of some companies. And she did that within her 24 hours a day like everyone of us. Now that is productivity, doing more in the same timespan. So those office workers who stay behind to slog late into the night, please think again. You are very unproductive, doing the same amount of work or a little more, but taking so much time. And those who are still thinking of multi skill and mult tasking, please do it within the same timespan or less. Now I can see the brilliance and productivity of people who are directors of many companies. The more directorships or chairmanship the more productive.

That's the way it is! Ah ha, ah ha, ah ha....

China has declared its intention to be the world's number one military power, to overtake the USA. And this ambition will be reflected in the new military budget to be announced. The confidence in the way the Chinese are standing up to face the oppressive bully is a sign that they are already on par with the US. Yes, the US may still have a big edge in military hardware and technology. But China has enough to neutralise the threat of an open war with the Americans. Both can only claim superiority in numbers and on papers. Both knows that they cannot afford to fight each other. They will simply wipe each other out of this world, together with the rest of the world. What does this open declaration of China means? It says that China will no longer kowtow to the US and will stand up for its rights and will take on the US head on in any challenge or threats the Americans throw at them. The Chinese are not going to accept all kinds of rubbish attacks quietly. There will be more tic for tac as the US gets more uncomfortable with China challenging its dominant position and status. What is damaging is that the US will have to spend more for defence which will hasten its downfall when its coffer is already empty. The American strategy is for 10 times or 100 times superiority in hardware and soldiers. And for every dollar or soldier the Chinese add on to their arsenal, the US is going to pay 100 times more. And the US just cannot compete in this expensive game anymore. It can continue to publish its rhetorics that China is an aggressive power and will threaten the smaller countries. Many no longer believe this threat any more except the unthinking tin pot dictators of fictitious demoncracy countries. The aggressive nature of the Americans and the wars it is waging against small countries around the world is testament to its hostile policy of bully small nations. They even force peaceful nations to go to war with them, to share the killings and the guilt, with hands dripping with Arab and Muslim bloods. Go for it China. It will be good for the rest of the world, to keep the bully in check. And to prevent more regime changes and interference with other countries domestic politics.

Can we accept 3% productivity growth?

With the best talents in the world, in monetary terms of course, can we accept 3% productivity growth as our target? I believe we are not paying peanuts for average talents. And we have been told that the last few years of growth were contributed by the foreign workers. And should we be happy and claim to have done well if we can get 2% or 2.5% growth? I am still pondering over this very ambitious goal of 3%, like climbing Mount Everest. Didn't I say that a char kway teow stallholder could increase his productivity by 17% if he raises his price by 50c? Maybe we are being modest and by the end of next year we will declare an achievement of 8%.

Productivity at its lowest ebb

For the past decade or so our productivitiy has reached a point of zero, save only by the influx of foreign workers. They contributed to practically all the growth numbers to our economy. Taking them out of the equation our growth is zero, yes zero. That's why everyone in the know is so grateful to the foreign workers. I am not going to ask what have the supertalents contributed if our growth came from the low down and poorly paid foreign workers. Now we are going to increase or boost productivity. And it seems so simple, a few training courses will do it after languishing for all these years. I think there are easier ways to improve productivity than training courses. Just follow the examples of the property industry. Every 4 or 5 years, the price could be double. That should be the kind of productivity numbers we be looking for. How to go about it? We used to call it asset inflation. But there are many areas that we can inflate the prices, the consumers just pay. By increasing the prices of things and services here and there, productivity will simply go up proportionally. A plate of char kway teow can be increased from $3 to $3.50, giving a 17% increase in productivity without having to do anything except changing the price tag. Some measures could be more ingenuine, like erecting another few toll gates and money will keep rolling in. That is productivity. One thing that will reduce productivity and should not be thought of is pay rise. Any increase in pay will definitely lower productivity unless there is also an increase in goods or services produced, or increase in price. The latter must be more than the hike in pay. Whenever the rental goes up, the stall holders simply raise their prices, several percentages more than the rental hike. So the productivity of the landlords and the stall holders also go up disproportionately. Now we can understand why stallholders are not complaining. They constantly raise their productivity to improve their income. I must add that this kind of productivity growth is only possible in a monopolistic or near monopolistic environment, or insular market when supple and demand can be managed.

Talents or changing fortunes?

Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Yales, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs and all the eminent academics and intellectuals and financial gurus, are what America is famous for. It is a land of talents and world best institutions nurturing more best brains for the country and the world. What people did not want to see or acknowledge is that America is turning into a huge Titanic waiting to be sunk. America is now running in trillions of debt which it believes confidently that it could pay now or later. And it is still spending daily in the billions on wild hunting adventures in the Middle East and military excursions in the high seas, thinking that it is an Empire ruling the world and it needs to be in every corner of the world, with its soldiers and guns guarding the interests of the Empire. It took America more than 200 years of uninterrupted development and growth to reach this peak of achievements. And it took America the last thirty years to become the most corrupt nation in the world, with corruption concealed under a veil of respectability and legal framework. It is all legal, when all the 'knows who' have their hands in the cookie jar, and taking whatever they deemed fit, under the spotlight, and smiling to the banks. From Congressmen, bankers and CEOs, all are in for the quick bucks, grabbing everything they can that are within their control. Overseas they are sending our their armies of hedge funds to suck away the liquidity in foreign markets using technologies and the heavy hands of big bucks. They steam rolled the stockmarkets of the world to fill their pockets with instant millions and billions. In short, America’s brilliant minds are focussed on making instant billions for themselves at the risk of bankrupting America and countries that naively welcomed them and their system of operations with open arms. On the other hand, China is guarded and is carefully guarding what it has built up over the last 30 years. No, they will not blindly let in the Americans to mess up their economies and financial system. In the last 30 years, unknown peasant leaders from unknown universities that were partially ruined during the years of revolution have turned around a poverty stricken agriculture economy to compete with America for world supremacy. They are now number two, coming from nowhere. Until recently, what is Beida, Tsinghua, Jiaotong, Zhejiang, Nanjing, names of universities that were not even ranked, and could never smell the prestige of the Ivy League universities in America and their strings of Nobel Laurette and prominent thinkers and professionals. But the products of these universities, many still unknown, are now running a tight ship and running at good speed to challenge America as an economic power. While America is in debt of several trillions, China has surplus in its reserves of several trillions. Is it talents or fortune changing, or winds of change, that a country blessed with all the finest talents and a system of education that is churning out the best brains for tomorrow, is running aground or out of steam, while a third world country, rising from the ashes, with little known universities and talented individuals is giving it a run for its money? Are the Chinese more talented than the Americans or does China have more talents than the America? The answer is an obvious no. It must be fortune smiling on them. When fortune favours, even a beggar can become a king. When fortune smiles, whatever touched will be turned to gold. When fortune frowns upon the best, no matter how well conceived are the plans, no matter how talented are the executors, they will failed. Pundits are expecting China to overtake America in the near future. Could it really happen with America hoarding an abundance of talents and resources and a superior infrastructure in all areas, except finance and govt? One is infested with crooks and another with dunces. Will fortune smile for China and imbue it with more talents? So far none can be spoken of as talent in the American sense. The only Chinese talent is probably in America, in Yahoo.

Stop the crap about relative affordability logic

Several MPs are going to Parliament to kpkb about housing affordability. They are going to question HDB about its original role in providing affordable housing for the masses, high prices, supply and demand, inefficient system and allowing rich private property owners to buy HDB flats. These are reported in the ST today. Are they crazy or what? Do they take all the kpkbs in the internet seriously and really think that there is a problem? Didn't they read the reports of HDB and Mah Bow Tan about how affordable HDB flats are and how efficient and perfect the system is? Even this morning, two eminent scholars from NUS Dept of Real Estate, Tu Yong and Yu Shi Ming, reported that 'Housing in Singapore still affordable'. And they have authoritative figures to prove their point. How could MPs ignore such well research reports even if they don't believe in the comments of politicians? Unbelieveable! Why did these two academics say that housing is affordable here? They compared housing data of London and Hongkong and found our data much better than theirs. 'In terms of affordability, Singapore has achieved a lower housing price to income ratio. On the whole, the figures reveal that the housing system here does deliver comfortable and affordable housing to the majority of Singaporeans.' Brilliant conclusion. Flawless arguments backed by indisputable facts. So, who is still complaining about housing here not affordable? The MPs should better withdraw their intended questions in Parliament. They are going to get the same answers. Period. According to the two academics, Hongkong and London's housing ratio are 19.8 and 7.1 respectively while ours is 5.8. Housing ratio is housing price to median annual household income. See, ours are cheaper and more affordable. Tiok boh? In terms of comfort, we have 27 sq m for one person while Hongkong and greater London have 12.5 and 31.9 sq m per person. Ok London has bigger space than us because Europeans believe that comfort means more space. Don't compare with Australia when comfort means 300 sq m per person. That is not comparing apple with apple. Using this kind of #$%@ logic of relativity, when Hongkong's housing ratio is 30, then we can push up the prices of HDB flats to 20 and pat ourselves that we are still cheaper. And when Hongkong is squeezing their people into 5 sq m dog kennel, we can build smaller flats and sell at higher prices and say we are still comfortable. The same logic goes to the toxic bonds. Other people are selling it, especially the West, then it should be ok for us. The Americans are designing their stock markets to fleece the small investors with programme trading, and unfair advantages for the big funds to cheat the small investors, would these also be acceptable for us? Can we use a more independent set of criteria of our own to define what is affordable and comfortable for our people instead of relatively logic and shifting goal posts? My simple definition is 30% of one income and repayable in 20 years and a space of 50 sq m person. No space? Who is the bum that said we have a lot of space? Or stop the influx of more immigrants to this little piece of rock. Our population density is now more than Hongkong, 6,814 to 6,460 and greater London's 4.761. Want to make it worst? It is madness. And some MPs going to Parliament to ask why so many traffic congestions on the road? Wait till the lunatics increase the population to 8 million, then you will know what is congestion. Now it is so good, relatively speaking of course. Can't call it congestion. Even the packed MRT trains are soooo comfortable.

Kenneth calling for abolition of GRC

I totally and vehemently disagree with this call to abolish GRCs. Yes, it used to be advantageous to the PAP to run in GRCs and with strong ministers carrying weak and newbie MPs into parliament. That was long long ago. History. The ball game today is completely different. The GRCs are no longer that formidable and favourable to the PAP. I can sense fear in the vulnerability of GRCs. What could happen today is that GRCs would be the nemesis of weak ministers, and there are quite a few, and the GRCs will present them to the oppositions, plus the weak and strong MPs. Looking at the mood and situation today, two or three GRCs could easily go to the oppositions. And with a few more if nothing changes from now till the GE. The opposition should just go with the GRC system. The time is never better than now. Believe me, the GRCs are favouring the oppositions instead.

Demographic growth determines the new economic powers

According to Dr Helen Qiao, the economist from Goldman Sach, China's rapid economic growth will peak by the end of this decade and subsequently decline. Her prediction is based on the dependency formula which shows the relationship between the number of dependents and that of the working population. China's one child policy will reduce this ratio and thus works towards its decline. Japan is facing the same problem and so are the old European countries. Countries that have low dependency ratio will go on a decline and vice versa, countries with a high dependency ratio, ie, more working populations than dependent population will do well. Extrapolating this relationship we can see the new emerging powers of the 21 Century. India will overtake China as it does not have a population control law to limit reproduction. Other countries that will also rise to become economic powers will be Indonesia, Malaysia and many African countries where population growth is nothing short of phenomenal. The higher the birth rate, the higher the potential for growth and sustainability. Singapore will also decline in double quick time as we are not reproducing ourselves fast enough. The more proactive Singaporeans should make plans to migrate to the higher growth countries quickly before the decline sets in. The first sector to be hit will be properties as there will be lesser new population to purchase properties, unless we keep importing more foreign talents.

Singapore's 50 Most Trusted Individuals

The Asian Reader's Digest conducted a poll on 760 Singaporeans and asked them who they trusted most. 50 individuals finally emerged as the top most trusted men and women in Singapore. They include a top judge, a top cop, ambassadors, doctors, businessmen and women and comedians. I did not see the full list but some prominent professionals of eminent Singaporeans did not make it to the list, eg lawyers, bankers and people from the finance industry etc. But most notable was the absence of politicians. I thought, my god, the people have no trust for their politicians. Then I read further and it said 'the general elections have proven the country's leaders already rank highly...' and thus were omitted. I don't know what this statement means. It would be interesting if politicians were also included to give the people an insight into how well regarded they were. Then again it will be quite pointless if we end up with a survey when the top 50 most trusted individuals were all politicians. It will be quite embarrassing to the other professions and individuals. It will be equally embarrassing if one or two politicians did not appear as these are the most honest and highly regarded individuals we can find in our country. Anyone not in the list could be a slap in the face. Another reason for the exclusion of politicians in the survey could be a kind of self censorship. Ranking politicians with the mortals is unbecoming and can be sensitive. Better stay away from controversy. Whatever the reasons, the reason given for their exclusion is the most enlighten one.

More BS in Marina Bay

MBS will be the number one tenant at Marina Bay. It will compete with RWS headon for the gamblers comes April 27. The Marina Bay is going to be an exciting locale. And one can expect more BS to move in and stake a claim to this prime land. DBS is likely to be there, maybe OBS and KBS too. CBS another potential. Then there are the IBS, RBS, SBS, and the UBS. Not forgetting that NBS will also be there. Now, what is NBS, No Bull Shit? Isn't it interesting that gamblers are now hot personalities and being courted everywhere, and some being flown in and driven by Rolls Royces to the resorts! Soon we will be reading more great stories about the exploits of gamblers and how much they made every minute they spent in the VIP rooms. And the greatest gambler of the island will soon come out from this resort in Changi to join the fray. Many Singapore students will write composition of what they want to be when they grow up, 'I want to be a gambler". Now the cool thing is not to be in the company of royalties and politicians but be seen with top notch gamblers.

We never learn1

Everyone seems to be blowing the property bubble and fanning it. High prices are good. We can hedge against inflation and our savings for old age. I don't believe people can be so simplistic. The series of repercussions and consequences are unimaginable when asset inflation leads to asset deflation. During the last financial crisis, many people went bust, bankrupt. Many lost their jobs, many could not service their mortgages, many properties were forced sold, many ended with negative assets. And of course many downgraded. Just because things were looking better, and the property prices have recovered, with some making profits and some lowering their losses, we should continue to blow the bubble. The next crisis can come even sooner than expected and the impact could be worst when the loans are getting bigger. 90% of our people lived in HDB flats. This is their home, the roof on their heads. When HDB flats become an element in the speculative circus of boom and bust, when it busts again, and serious enough, we are going to have many frustrated and angry people. And if they cannot afford to have the roof over their heads, we are going to have a real social problem of our own creation. As we keep feeding the unsatiable appetite of the developers and the speculators, we may want to ask why or what for? Making all those profits for what? To make developers and speculators rich and happy? To make foreigners coming here to swoop up the properties rich and happy? Our main concern, or the main concern of both the people and govt is good homes for the people. Not 'AFFORDABLE' homes that are not affordable. But looking at today's news, the two launches of BTO flats are 10 times oversubscribed, saying that they are indeed affordable. And is there a high demand or the demand is fictitious? Many of these buyers are still frightened that if they can't get one now, the next one will be more expensive. Many needed a home, genuine buyers, but the supply is coming in in drips and draps. If they don't register, no building of new flats. The frenzy to grab anything that is available is hot. Who dares to wait when the mantra is that property prices can only go up and up and away? I really hope that another big financial crisis hits us soon and this time people really learn that playing with people's homes and blowing the property bubble is dangerous and bad. The flat is the people's home and should not be a factor in the housing casino.

Racist director and racist movies

In the Life page of ST today, director Pierre Morel was accused of being racist by casting all his villains as Asians or Pakistanis or Eastern Europeans. His latest film From Paris With Love also have non whites as villians, including Chinese or Vietnamese I think. It is so funny really, to accuse a director for being racist just because he casts the heroes as Anglo Saxons and the badies as non whites. The non whites should be grateful for the roles and the doles he is offerring them. Come to think of it, they should go back to the 50s and 60s when movies were so wholesome and non racial. I particularly enjoy the great movies of how the West were won, with American cavalries always arriving in time to kill the bad Red Indians and save the European immigrants, their families and little children from being slaughtered. And they always have happy endings too, with the Red Indians either shot or fleeing into the prairies or having their wigwams burnt to the ground. Let's have more soldiers and Red Indians movies, more remakes and in grander scales. I am sure no one will complain about racism. And the Red Indian actors and actresses will be most happy with the jobs and doles. Provided they don't cast Europeans as Red Indians.

Is there a property bubble?

The commercial cum residential site at Choa Chu Kang and Woodlands junction fetched a cool $164m yesterday. Two years ago the bid was only $64m and not accepted. What does this tell? Cheap don't sell, no bubble? When is a bubble a bubble? As can be expected, there will be all kinds of definition of what and when a bubble is formed. For the moment, one can expect 90% of Singaporeans between 30 to 40 years and owning a property to be in debt of $200k to $1m. This is likely to be the bank borrowing to acquire their dream home, a roof over their heads. Presumably they are servicing their mortgages at 30% of their incomes. As long as the economy is running smoothly, no crisis or wars, they will have no problem paying their loans. When there is a crisis, two things could happen, one, losing their jobs, and two, property prices plunged. This double whammy will suddenly reveal that their properties are worth so much lesser in value, and they have no income to pay for their loans. Maybe then people will say, it was a bubble. At current prices, most properties are priced way too high and this will give them ample room to collapse when the time comes. The gap between the current price and the value it will settle is another measure of the balloon that has been built in. Inflated prices in good time and realistic prices when people will not dare to splurge. Do we have a bubble now? From $64m to $164m in two years! The developers will keep pushing the limits thinking that they can keep on charging more. And when in trouble, hoping that the govt will help them out so that they will not go bust. In the meantime who is going to help the people who need a roof over the head from having to pay a lifetime for it, at the prices the developers demand? Who is the profiteer or who is causing the price to shoot to the sky? Must be the developer lah.

BTO is the best system

Ho Geok Choo asked Mah Bow Tan whether HDB should return to the old system for flat application. Mah Bow Tan said negative. The BTO is the best system and it even reduced the waiting time from 7 or 8 years to the current 3 to 4 years. How can anyone argue against such logic? In the past the queue was 150,000 long and ended up with 31,000 surplus flats that needed 5 years to clear. Today we still have many times oversubcribed flats on launching but still not all flats are sold? How come? I think I can try to explain about the old system, the 150,000 queue and 31,000 surplus flats built. It was badly managed in the first place. There was genuine demand in the early stages when the baby boomers were starting to grow up and having families. And there was acute housing shortage. Of course some idiots allowed the flats to be overbuilt to the extend of 31,000 flats. If we have the talents like we have today, no such thing will happen. And the facts speak for itself. No more surpluses and more more 150,000 queue today. So Ho Geok Choo must have been satisfied that her question was answered. No more question. I ponder again on why there was no queue when a new launch was often oversubscribed many times over? Phantom buyers I think. And all the kpkb about young people not getting their flats are just false noises. What about those who could not afford to buy the affordable flats and thus never even make it to the application stage? Would they be considered as not applicable to the demand equation? What about those that were ruled out of the HDB scheme by virtue of their income, those exceeding $8k or $10k, or those who may meet the money criteria but because of their family commitments, could not afford to buy the flats they wanted to? These are not demands since they did not apply to HDB. And all the singles and those that cannot get together a family unit but still needing a place to stay, not part of the demand too? The BTO scheme is indeed very neat and clean. Those who for whatever reason, needing flats, but ruled out or cannot afford to, and never apply are not part of the demand and no need to bother or look at. So, since there are no application, so no demand and no need to build. Where got housing problem?

Another amazingly pro people and pro business budget

The budget is out and it is goodies time for all. Alright some will still sieve through it with a comb and nit pick at why no this and why no that. Overall, it is another angpow budget of at least $10b for the people. So, want to complain again? Where on earth is there a govt that always give angpows to the citizens? My only little concern is where is the money coming from? Our reserves or surplus profits from GIC and Temasek? After announcing mega billion losses and adding on another few hundred millions more recently, I think I can safely conclude that surplus from our investments can be KIV for a long long time to come. But money cannot come from nowhere. Can we expect to have another round of raising taxes, more ERPs, raising GST to help the people(in this case help first and raise later), more expensive public flats, more savings from our CPFs being set aside to fulfil the 'tan ku ku' fantasy? Unfortunately the answers are still over the horizon, maybe after the next general election. And the answers no need to 'tan ku ku'. Mesti akan datang.

High property prices no good!

Today I feel quite 'tulan'. Only on Sat I posted an article saying that high property prices good. This morning I read Mah Bow Tan saying high property prices no good. How can he disagree with me? And he said that he has some more things planned to curb property speculation and high prices. But there are good news for those who could not afford to buy HDB flats because of high prices. So far, no bubble has formed, despite the fact that anyone buying a property from HDB ten years ago will now see the same property appreciated by 200%, there is no bubble still. Well, good then, as this is due to normal price appreciation in a good economy, low interest rate and a confluence of other factors. But HDB is not going to go to sleep. It is doing a review to see what it should do to prevent speculation and bubble building. Hsien Loong has joined in the discussion by saying that HDB flats are not for speculation but a long term investment and for the buyers to live in, even to hand down to their children. Is this a policy statement? If it is, it will signal a major change in where public housing is heading. But he must get this message to the HDB first. Then hopefully, things will change and people will really be able to afford affordable HDB flats. I always cringe when I mention the word affordable. Probably developing a phobia for it. It sounds so cheap. By the way, the General Election is around the corner and maybe we have some real policy changes for the good of the people. And no changes after that.

Singaporeans are getting richer

I was reading Goh Meng Seng's latest post in which he quoted an official statistics that reads like this, 'The average household income from work had also risen from $4,238 in 2003 to $5,680 in 2008, reflecting the growing affluence of HDB households.' Isn't this good news, that the average household income was $5.680. Today, two years later, it should be more than $6,000. Singaporeans no need to go to the casino to shout 'huat ah!' They can now do it at home. My friend's household income in $9,000! Lagi huat. 6 pay checks, average about $1,500 each, and two more paychecks akan datang. That would put his household income to more than $10,000 when the youngest two children start working. Goh Meng Seng argued that the household income surge is due to children unable to buy HDB flats and are forced to stay with their parents, thus boosting household income higher. Tiok boh? With $9,000 or $10,000 household income, can start to buy private property liao. How come ah? Still staying in HDB flat.

The Wooden apology

Shall I call it the Wooden apology or the Tiger apology? After all it is all about the media and fancy news of the celebrities and a world of make beliefs. I did not watch the telecast and did not bother at all. It was after all his personal affair. It is big news alright for those who were his big fans and his sponsors. I was an admirer of Tiger Woods, the number one golfer, the world champion. What went wrong or what was wrong with Tiger Woods when what he did was quite normal actually, for someone in his shoes. And he is not alone. His indiscretion somehow came up quite shocking and disappointing to his fans. I think his main problem was that he lived under an image of a flawless man. He was just like a priest or more, godly, and perfect. It was too big an image for any man to take on. When he turned out to be just like another ordinary guy in his personal life, it was too much to bear. The truth hurts badly. It would be a different story if he had lived a life less pristine, less godly. No one seems to bother much about Mike Tyson or Bill Clinton or what some of the royalties did. As long as they don't pretend to be flawless, they are accepted as who they are. The disappoint comes when the flawless was found to be flawed. When you are white, a little spot or speck of dust is enough to damage the image. Tiger should best discard his wholesome boy next door image. Just be himself and live life. If his appetite cannot be satisfied, he is going to create more problems to himself if he tries to be otherwise. Donald Trump has the best advice for him. Just go play golf and be a world champion. Forget about living like a priest. He is very talented. His sponsors have a part to play in his spotlessly clean image. Don't they know that he wasn't?

High property prices good.

It is high only because our economy is doing well, an indicator of prosperity and also high wages. Why are there sudden measures to curb high property prices? We are receiving plenty of confusing and conflicting signals nowadays. One day good one day something else. Plenty of supply, no panic but panic building. Why are people, especially the young, still complaining when their salaries are also shooting to the stars? The only problem I can see is that while their salaries are heading for the stars, the prices of properties are reaching to another dimension, and they are continuously chasing and not getting near. Then again it is their fault because they are not talented enough to earn faster and more. The developers and speculators are always delirious when property prices are soaring. They have no responsibility to anyone except their own greed and profits. They will do anything to double or triple their profits at all cost. Who cares about the well being of the people in general. The bulk of the people just want a decent place to stay, a roof over their head that is affordable. I want to print this word in very small prints, 4 or 6 points. Cannot say it too loud. Otherwise people will scream that it is definitely AFFORDABLE. The govt has a very big responsibility for the well being of the majority of the average citizens. The rich and able will look after themselves and speculate in properties and all things to get richer. The small people in the middle are not so fortunate and could only depend on their Very High Salaries but not high enough to pay for the affordable flats and to get by. They cannot afford to chase the property prices dictated by the speculators and developers or the blameless, market forces. These innocent, and losers, will end up as bigger losers. The govt has a responsibility to take care of them by correct policies. Mindless market policies will definitely lead to disillusion among the masses and will alienate them to vote for a party that will look after their welfare. Govt has the choice of looking after whichever sector of the people they want to. They can choose to continue to feed the fat cows and they can choose to care for the lean goats. High property prices are good. Keep raising. Don't stop. Don't build and strangle the supply and let the price rises. 80% or 90% of the people will be very happy and grateful.

Our public housing are affordable

Who is complaining that our public housing prices are high and not affordable? The higher prices are due to our higher incomes and increased prosperity. And for those who are complaining, be advised that nothing is expensive. It is only a matter of whether you can afford to pay for it. So don't complain if you can't pay for it. To those who can, it is simply affordable.

Singaporeans to thank the foreign workers for...

Singaporeans should thank the foreign workers for the two casinos on our shore. Without the foreign workers coming here we would not have the casinos. This is how great their contributions to our economy and growth. Thank you. Please come all your gift bearing foreigners. What else are you bringing for us?

The Master Skill

It is the time of the year to call for more training and skills upgrading. We need to raise our skills, go for more training to improve productivity, and then to increase our income. I fall nicely into the group of 45 to 65 that needs more training and better skills. I need them, for I have another 20 or 30 years to go. Like I said earlier, enough time to start another family or to build a new career. The future suddenly brightens up. So much to look forward to. In the past I was only looking for whatever little money left in the CPF. Now got chance to start a new career, go for job interviews and asking the organisation about promotional prospects. Feeling like a new person again. Got to search for my certificates and testimonials and dust away the dusts, and make photocopies of them. Now, how to write an application letter? Forgotten how, too long ago. Training first. Come to think of it, if I could have gone for the right training and learn a master skill, then there is no need to go for more training at this young age of 60. Is there such a master skill that one can acquire and become a knows all for good? There must be one that allows one to be so skilled that one can switch industries and jobs like changing clothes and still continue to enjoy high pay, high perks and high bonuses year after year, unending. And the best part, no more training needed. And one's value and talent and skill get better everyday. Can anyone advise me on where to learn this master skill? Or is there such a master skill?

Time to stop the £$%&* $100 levy

I have so many flowery superlatives to describe this casino entry levy, but again, better to keep it to myself. By now many will know what this levy is all about in the most negative ways. It is anti Singaporeans, anti PRs, anti business, and makes the casino operation and business look so awkward. It keeps away the people that should be in the casino and flood the place with undesirable and unwelcome visitors like foreign workers. And it creates so many unnecessary trivial issues and a lot of work. Best, more Singaporeans will be caught trying to sneak in without paying. The two casino operators are serious business people who have put up billions of dollars upfront. The least that we could do is not to make it difficult and tedious for them to run a proper business. They are prepared to play ball, accept every rule that we impose on them, no matter how inconvenience and nonsensical. They are willing to cooperate with the govt completely, not to trangress or violate any of our sensitivities. We need to give them a break and make the profits they deserved. And in return they are going to provide many jobs and spawn many supporting businesses which are good for our economy and our people. What I would recommend is to scrap the levy for all Singaporeans and PRs except for those that have been excluded for crime and self exclusion orders, and whoever that were excluded for good reasons. We cannot discriminate against our own citizens in our own home. The reason to prevent people from gambling with the levy is plain naïve. How can we open a casino and prevent people from gambling? The people who want to gamble will find places to gamble, away from the two casinos, in Batam or Genting or underground casinos. The levy is nonsense towards this intent. The levy should be applied to foreigners instead, especially those that are not going to be beneficial to the business. This will help to recover some of the revenue loss from Singaporeans and PRs. But not all foreigners need to pay entry levy. The high rollers should be exempted for obvious reasons. For ease of implementation, make use of the credit cards. Foreigners who carry gold or platinum cards should be exempted. A small token of say $30 or $50 should be imposed on those with other credit cards. No credit cards, no entry. Let the ownership of credit cards be the controlling factor for admission. And credit card companies should be warned not to abuse this requirement and issue cards recklessly as credit cards will now be in demand by foreigners. This is good for credit card business too. Whatever revenue loss in levy could be recouped from more patronage and gamblers allowed into the casinos. The revenue for the govt could be more. Applying the levy on foreigners will also allow the current system and equipment for collection of levy to remain in use and not a white elephant to be put away. We have come so far down this road to allow casinos in our shores. Let’s be serious and let the business thrives and grows. This is big business incurring big investments and cannot afford to fail both for the operators and for our economy. The levy requirement is just not conducive for the business. And I am claiming intellectual property rights to these outrageous recommendations that are bound to raise a lot of eyebrows and ruffle feathers. But make no mistake about these, the recommendations are serious, practical and pro business. The levy on Singaporeans is simply dysfunctional and would anger many Singaporeans and PRs. How could we introduced apartheid against our own citizens and think that it is fair and good? 5 already got caught on the first two days of operation. I hope my suggestions will be accepted and the two casino operators should consider paying me a handsome consultation fee for it. And the govt should also pay me a sum double that the casino operators are willing to pay me for telling them to do something they dare not do, that is necessary for the good of the business and to create more employments. Would there be a minister tough enough to admit that my audacious recommendations are what that needs to be done, and to tell the administrators that this is the way to go, and of course to pay me my rightful dues. Of course no one needs to pay me anything as no one is under any contractual agreement to do so.

Why India will always be number 2 to China

The two civilisations have many things in common. Put an Indian and a Chinese together to compete, they will give each other a good run for his money. There is little to choose between the two. Why then will India always be number 2 to China? Many observers have noted the systems, customs, culture and language as the main baggages that will slow down India. This has been proven in history over the last 60 years. India gained its independence in 1947 and inherited a country with all the systems and infrastructure in tact. There were little disruption and the country continued to build up from that point in time with no major upheavals. The CCP gained control of a devastated China in 1949 and went about to destroy whatever that was old and irrelevant. China went through a crisis stage of revolution and destruction in all fields, culminating in the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. Communist China was built on the ruins of a fallen dynasty and decadent customs and belief system. It started again on a relatively new slate in 1978 when it embarked on its four modernisations and opening up to the West. Today China has leapfrogged ahead of India and running in full steam with all engines firing. India is still taking a stroll, and making progress too, but at different pace. But these are not the main factors that is holding back India. India is targetting to overtake China to be the number 1 Asian power. It tries to compete and outdo China in every field. In areas that it is not competitive it just cry out loud that China should keep away from its sphere of influence. China on the other hand is trying to overtake the USA in all fields. What ever America is doing, China is trying to catch up. And China is catching up very fast. And this is the main reason why India will never catch up with China. It is focussing on a wrong target. The barrier that China intends to cross is way up in the sky. India is looking only at China and is already gasping for air and panting. Unless India sets its sight to overtake America, it will only be chasing China and be in China's shadow.

Uncle Yap's productivity prognosis

I happened to read Uncle Yap's comment on how to raise productivity in Singapore. And he said it should start right from the very top. Right. He recommended that Hsien Loong chopped half of his cabinet to show the way. I was musing over it the whole night and concluded that he was half right and half wrong. He was right in his diagnosis but wrong in his prescription. Right in the sense that any major policy must be top down with the leaders taking the lead and showing the way. But I don't agree with his recommendations to axe the top talents at the very top of the pecking order. These are the rare talants and in very limited supply and should not be anyhow wished away. Instead, I will counter suggest that in order to make them more productive, they should be given more jobs to do. Appoint them as Chairmans and directors or advisors to more institutions and organisations so that their talents and expertises are out to good use. Each one can easily take on 3 more Chairmanships or 10 directorship or 20 advisorships at least. My suggestions are definitely more positive and effective and agreeable for implementation, and definitely will raise productivity at the highest level. Making suggestions that cannot be implemented or will be rejected is, yes, unproductive.

New playground for foreign workers

Singaporeans and PRs have to pay $100 for entry to the Resort World casino. Foreign workers could enter free. What a great ruling. Now all the foreign workers will be making the casino their dining hall and playground. Free food and drink for the whole day at a cost of $3 for transport. And free aircon and comfort in a brand new resort. Ooh la la. Now we will see how the casino operator going to handle this kind of situation. The casual Singaporeans who could go in and spend a couple of hundred bucks would not find it worth their while to pay $100 to enter the casino. Instead, the casino will have to put up with a mob of hungry foreign workers who may put in ten bucks into the jackpot machine, and many may not and will just be there for the free food, comfort and entertainment. Interesting rulings and interesting situation.

Notable quote by Pauline Hanson

'Our govts lack enough people with the fortitude to speak up without fear or favour. Over regulation, increasing taxes and lack of true representation are affecting our way of life. I feel very much for the young ones. Once, it was common for them to won their own homes. Not now. It's a harder place.' Pauline Hanson Pauline Hanson is leaving Australia and returning to England to her fish and chip root. She must have been very disappointed over the immigration policy in Australia and wanted to go back to a place that is much fairer. She is in for a nasty surprise. There are more coloured immigrants in England today than the England she thought she knew. Her quote above is very familiar. At first I thought it was from a Singaporean or about Singapore. The only part I agree with her is her concern for the young. But it is not so that the young in Singapore are not able to buy their affordable homes here. Our young are in a very admirable position with the govt guaranteeing that more affordable homes will be built for them. Australia should learn from Singapore in building homes for their young.

The Awakening

Until 20 or 30 years ago, being Chinese is very uncool, very embarrassing and even shameful. It is a race that has been condemned by the West and bullied by little Afro and Asian countries. It was a poor ancient civilisation that has nothing going on for it, militarily weak, impoverised, inferior in science and technology, even in agriculture. It was struggling to be a nation, a very huge developing country of the hungry third world. Its citizens still trying all ways to escape to any foreign land, away from a harsh communist govt. Its Chinese diaspora quietly and humbly minding its own business and trying its best to earn a living through trade and business. No high ambitions as keeping a high profile will only attract unpleasant attentions. The Chinese were best described by the Westerners as non descript, inscrutable businessmen, lacking in character and talent. They all look alike. They were the natural target to be ripped off, to suffer discrimination, oppression and extortion at all levels of society they happened to reside. The best way to survive was to lie low, find a strong political leader as a godfather to protect their interest, and pay him well. Many Chinese were ashamed to be associated with anything Chinese. They discarded their language, culture and customs and willingly embraced Western culture to look respectable, and claimed to be international citizens of the world. Unfortunately they were only bluffing themselves. No one believe that they were anything else except Chinese. They could not believe that they have Chinese written on their faces even if they speak perfect English or American, and wear branded clothes. They were repeated victims of racial discrimination and violence. In a short span of 30 years, China is now the second most powerful country in the world though it still insists that it is a developing country. The Chinese who were running away are returning home to contribute to the rebuilding of their country. There is not only new found wealth, but new found pride and confidence in being Chinese. The returnees were not down and out failures but successful entrepreneurs and technocrats, scientists, doctors, academics, etc. armed with the latest knowledge and skills they have acquired to do their share for their homeland. China too is confident enough to open its door wide, and Chinese citizens are free to come and go. Not only the Chinese were returning, the Chinese diaspora who have left the country decades and centuries ago are also returning, rediscovering that there is nothing wrong being Chinese. They too are awakening to a new world where Chinese is no longer the shameful and inferior people of the world, fit only to be coolies, cooks and laundrymen. They are rediscovering their roots and their history and culture. The Westerners are also starting to learn Chinese to understand and do business with the Chinese. Chinese has become an increasingly important international language. While the West has just begun to learn Chinese, the Chinese are learning English in a big way. English is a very important must know language in China. In no time, the mainland Chinese are going to be proficient in both Chinese and English and will be well placed to benefit from the advances of science and technology. What have changed or contributed to this dramatic transformation of the world’s political and demographic map? Were the new Chinese aliens or just the same as their poor peasant predecessors? Where were they during the 300 years of dark ages in China? There were no talents then! Now everyone is saying that China is full of talents. Put simply, the Chinese were victims of minority rule during the Ching Dynasty. The Manchus were just a hunting tribe, like the Mongols, and ruled China with their muscles and swords. Culturally they were inferior to the Han Chinese but chose to oppress the Han Chinese for their political interests. The drive and enterprise of the Han Chinese diminished and many were impoverised when the dynasty collapsed. Those who escaped had to eke out a living in foreign land and subject to all kinds of harrassments and obstacles put in their ways. They were shackled people, and had no one to fight for their rights. They were suppressed, exploited and degraded in all fields. The Manchus were bankrupted, weak and helpless. And when the communists took power, the overseas Chinese were natural victims of the Cold War and continued to be marginalised in their new countries. The Chinese of today are no longer oppressed in their homeland and everyone is free to live their dreams and their high aspirations, at least constitutionally. Internationally, the victimisation and discrimination have lessen and they were able to break through in many fields of endeavours. The Chinese today no longer feel ashame or fear to be known as Chinese. And with a world that is freer and with racial discrimination and prejudices breaking down, there is little to hold back the individual Chinese to live their dreams and be treated more fairly everywhere they go. Relatively speaking, things are getting much better for the average Chinese and the diaspora in their new countries. Still there are many countries that would want to continue to suppress and oppress the Chinese and their drive, and to rob them if they could, or to commit racial genocide at the slightest excuse. But there is a new hope and a new awakening.

The goodness of derivatives

I have been against derivatives in the stock markets and the financial systems for its high leverage and extremely high risks. The US subprime loan crisis was a result of the same instrument being packaged as very attractive long term cheap loans but sold several times over on a single diluted asset. In an article in the ST today, it was revealed that Goldman Sach was instrumental in saving Greece from its huge debt and still able to keep on spending more. Ingenious is the word. The process is very simple, offered a loan and lengthen the repayment period for as long as possible, and make repayment looks very affordable, maybe over 30 years or 60 years or even 100 years. And the loan was not recognised or recorded as debt in the accounts books. So no debt or debt free, while actually being weighed down by a mountain of debt. Such instruments of deferred payment to the unknown future, maybe the next generation to repay, will come in very handy in any country that thrives and encourages forward spending, or taking huge loans. It is the basic principle of spending now and pay latter. And borrowers were convinced that the future is always brighter and tomorrow will be better. So go spend now, with future money. Our high mortgages in our affordable housing ballon is built under the same premises. Young people are encouraged to take huge housing loans in the millions under the belief that their future income will see them through. At 30% of two incomes repayable over 30 years, it is actually 60% in debt. As employees earning a salary, no matter how capable they are, the chances of losing their jobs or incomes is always hanging over their heads like a swinging axe. But now they should not worry if they can rely on derivatives or swap instruments for help. Financial institutions should design more of such instruments in preparation of a surge in demands in the future should the economy take a dip and unemployment rises. Under the principle of future income, looking into 50 or 60 years ahead, they can design instruments along such lines. And the borrowers can happily go ahead and spend more, and borrow more. Derivatives and swap instruments will be the saviour of the day. Greece is saved for the day. Ooops.

The exodus has begun

Over the last couple of weeks, probably 100m Chinese from the Chinese cities and overseas have made a beeline home to their little villages and towns to be with their families during the Lunar New Year. Several hundred thousands of Malaysian Chinese too will make the same pilgrimage home to be near to their loved ones, to renew that familial ties, to stay and keep in touch with papa and mama, grandpa and grandma, brothers and sisters, and all the aunties, uncles and nephews and nieces. Isn't that cool? No, it is not cool according to some of our young Singaporeans. What is cool is Christmas at Orchard Road and parties in Mohammed Sultan and Clark Quay. Chinese New Year or other religious festivities like Deepavali and Hari Raya are uncool, so commercialised. There is no party spirit to talk about, just some ancient cultural practices that are irrelevant to the sophisticated and westernised Singaporeans. The opening of Universal Studio in Singapore must have been their lives complete. Indeed cultural festivals and holidays have gone too much the way of commercialisation. The ST also helped to publish the going rate for wedding angpows and Chinese New Year angpows. It is $20 for children or $8 for friends. I have 30 nephews and nieces and grand nephews and nieces, how much would that cost me. I will need another income to fill up the red packets. What $20? I have heard of $1000 per angpow and anything less than $100 is embarrassing to pass to the young ones. Now I am feeling embarrassed as well. I believe the Singaporeans are now waiting for the govt to come out with some rules and guidelines on how much to put inside the angpows. Or maybe the Chinese Chambers of Commerce or some big and reputable Chinese Associations could help to lay down the ground rules become angpows become too commercialised that those who cannot afford to stuff in a small fortune will be too embarrassed to offer them to the young. Come to think of it, it will be better to celebrate Chinese New Year without the angpows, just party and have a good time in the clubs or at Orchard Road.

So is New York and London

We live in a multi racial and multi religious city. So is New York, London, Paris and many other big cities around the world. Why are we being hit by regular inter ethnic and cross religious intolerance and irritations? Or why are the residents here getting so intolerant and unbearable of people of different colours and beliefs? Three young men were arrested for posting insensitive racial remarks over the net and one religious leader were hauled up by the ISD to drink kopi. And we believe everything is normal though the tension is simmering beneath the surface of a false smile. We have 45 years of continuous effort in nation building to gel the people into Singaporeans, to think, act, live and behave like Singaporeans. Have we succeeded? I thought we have, or at least up to a decade or two ago. We have invested in a lot of time and effort to break down racial and religious barriers among our citizens and were quite successful until the recent influx of foreigners. The huge numbers of new residents and their unfamiliar ways of life and behaviour would definitely rub the wrong side of some citizens who are a bit more sensitive. And the new residents too would find us strange and perhaps unfriendly towards them. We want them to be like us, and accept our ways of life. They want us to be more tolerant of their ways of life and even see things the way they want it. There will be such forces pulling and pushing against each other. We even have new residents questioning why Lunar New Year or Christmas is celebrated in such big scale while other holidays were not. Soon they will want things their ways and demand more from the already accepted norms and ways of life here. The equilibrium will be changed, or will be tested and challenged. Will the natives accept such challenges meekly or will they be so pissed off with the new residents or citizens and come to a face off? We started to have this dangerous broth of multi racialism and multi religion under the British rule. They were not concerned about the consequences except their economic and political interests. And they also have the gun to deal with any dissident or trouble maker the colonial ways. Also the poor immigrants were ignorant and have little rights to talk about. They accepted their fate, live peacefully to avoid trouble and keep clear of the laws. Today we consciously decided to add more mixes in the broth. Today they talk about rights and privileges. We have new residents that are educated and know the laws and demand more rights or they will not come. They are seeing themselves as our saviours, not coolies, and will not care how the natives feel. They even feel slighted and unhappy because our walkways were not designed for their prams and convenience. And they will tell you right in the face. We will have to live with the consequences of all the new faces and residents and their demands on the meek natives. The meek shall not inherit paradise. Maybe we shall learn from New York and London on how they keep their foreigners quiet and not to cause trouble to the locals. They must know the way or else they will be plagued by all the spurious demands of the immigrants in their midst. Have we solve our foreigners versus natives problems, or they are just waiting for an opportunity to blow up? Shall we invite more foreigners to have more buzz in our lives? Don't worry, they have already brought in the buzz.

My Money My Vote

Come the next General Election the people should think carefully on what they want and who to vote to represent them. I will be voting for my money. Who ever is protecting my money will have my vote. I will not be voting for people who want my money and also my vote. The people must wake up to the fact that the money in their CPF/Medisave is their money and no one shall have designs on this money. For too long, people have been quite callous in thinking that the money is there for them to take. In the name of, for the people’s good, thinking and planning for the people’s good, they just go to Parliament and legislate away the people’s savings, to keep the people away from their savings. The next election is the time to put a stop to such haughty ideas and attitude. Let them know whose money it is. And let them know that they should piss off and stay away from the people’s money. Watch Parliament and see which MP is still entertaining such ideas. You vote for MPs to represent your interest and protect your money, not to take away your money, no matter how good is the proclaimed intention. Please do not plan the people’s lives with the people’s money. The people will be very grateful if the plans are with public money.

When Singaporeans stop complaining

No one likes to hear complaints. No one likes to be the object of complaints. In cybespace, we have complaints everywhere and on many issues by Singaporeans. Complaints against the high cost of living and high property prices are rampant. Is it good or bad? I think it is good. For when Singaporeans stop complaining, it means that they have given up, they no longer see anything here that is worthy of belonging, that they no longer belong or want to have anything to do with this place. In short, they are opting out. When Singaporeans no longer care about their country and its well being, no longer care about how it is turning into, that will be the sign that it is coming to an end. Such a state of affair was best described in the last few years of Hongkong before 1997. Everyone gave up and prepare to run with whatever they could grab. They had forsaken Hongkong and abandoning ship. Just listen to the complaints. When it is silence....

High demand for HDB flats due to immigrants

The most authoritative political writer of the ST has given her take on the high demand and high prices of HDB flats. Chua Mui Hoong has concluded that it was due to high demand, particularly from the immigrants. She quoted figures to support her conclusion. 25,000 couples marry each year. Over 7,000 couples file for divorce annually and some may need a new home. In 2008, nearly 80,000 granted PRs and 20,000 given citizenships.The number of resale transactions in 2009 was 37,205, a 31% increase over 2008. Were her figures convincing? I think so. And she must have got them from official sources, not from the gossip circles. HDB has replied a few days ago that the cries of demands were misplaced as demands were not high and they have enough supplies to cater for them. Everyone who applies will get a flat in 3 years! And inspite of saying that, HDB is ramming up the building of more flats. I think if the demand is not there, the high building programme will end up with over supply. But then again no. Only those who have registered are considered demands and when there are enough demands then only HDB will build. Somehow HDB is missing something. Chua Mui Hoong should present her statistics to HDB to let them have a better look at the overall picture of population growth. But it may be of no use as the numbers may not be translated into genuine demands if the immigrants did not apply to HDB. So, who is wiser?