Is it politics of envy?

Is it politics of envy? Asked Ho Geok Choo in parliament. The same question was posed to Najib Razak who replied, 'No, we do not envy them.' But the eager beaver instinct to jump up and rush off to offer help and assistance could cause our neighbours 'loss of face'. Of course it does. You have been treating your neighbours as useless bums and always waiting for help from this rich little spoilt brat. It is humiliating to say the least. But free money sure want. Give me more, but don't talk about it, or we will not sell you water or sand. There were little talk of assistance from us in the recent flood except from a few small interest groups. It is better to be that way. They are all intelligent people and know best how to look after themselves. Let's not insult them by offering help so readily.

no better time to rejoice

I was brain dead for the last 3 hours. I know. I know that during those 3 hours, nothing would have raised me from the dead. I came back from the office and dropped dead. How could i survive after an uninhibited round of sake, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, shiraz, chardonnay, and Remy Martin Extra? It was good to let go after an arduous and tough year of surviving the worst of time. The party atmosphere was simply great. I could only remember telling myself that I must get home. I did. Now that I am awake, I am feeling quite uptight. Why should I when everything was going great guns. Nothing seems to be wrong. Everyone is in an agreeable mood. Everyone is happy that everything is going well. Even the opposition parties are lost of words. They could not come out with anything meaningful to say or oppose. They are practically non existent. As good as not being there. The dearth of great men to lead the opposition is frightening. It is either a case of nothing else better to say or knowing nothing else to say. Bankrupt, lack of ideas, lack of leadership, lack of substance. For those in the winning or ruling camp, it is understandable that they have nothing to say, or nothing to disagree with. Whether they believe that everything is going the way it should, in the best way that can be, or just swimming with the tide, why should they be the sore ass to disrupt a beautiful party? When everything is too good to believe, when there is no disagreement, when there is no contest of ideas, when there is no alternative views, this is as good as it can get. Simply too good to be real. The next few days will be great times to celebrate, to eat and drink and rejoice, while we can, and for as long as we can.

singaporeans can lose their heritage

I read with trembling fear a letter posted by a Pavin Limanont in the forum page of the Straits Times. He was lecturing a Mr Quek as being xenophobic for standing the ground that political leaders in Singapore must be Singaporeans. Pavin's position is simple and rather naive, claiming that we should accept talents as they are and he would rather be led by a foreigner who is good than by a Singaporean. Theoretically I can agree with this kind of thinking. But in reality, I will strongly oppose such thought. Not that I am xenophobic. For the world is structured in a way that is less than idealistic. The real world is still a world of tribes, race and religion. Once a people slips and loses political control over their lives, they will become subservient to another group. Singaporeans must not be lulled into living in hollywood, that the whole world is their oyster and the world loves them. One wrong step is all it takes for Singaporeans to become extinct. We should invite talented foreigners here, as citizens as well if they want to. We must not have the idea that we should take in ship loads of rubbish and call them Singaporeans at the expense of Singaporeans. If Singaporeans cannot feel passionately as Singaporeans and claim this piece of real estate as theirs, and fight to keep it as theirs, they deserve to lose their heritage.

Would Singapore become another IBM?

Would Singapore become another IBM? We are number one in many fields. So was IBM before. But IBM is now Lenovo. Would Singapore become something else? The path taken by IBM is quite similar to what we are taking now. From private ownership to international company. Singaporeans become International citizens. IBM started as a privately owned company. But as it grew, it started to give shares to all its employees. Every employee becomes a shareholder. Eventually when ownership was so diluted that no one thinks about the company but about themselves and their pockets. IBM is just a commodity, a product for the highest bidder. Singapore can end up as a product for sale if no one wants to take ownership of the island or thinks passionately that this island belongs to him/her. If everyone just thinks that this is just a corporation, then it is only a matter of price. It can be sold en bloc or in bits and pieces over time. We have sold Raffles Hotel, SIA building, what's next? PSA, Keppel, SIA, PUB, LTA, HDB, Parliament House, the Istana? It can be done. Just think commercial or profits. Another way of selling Singapore away is by giving away citizenship freely. This is more deceptive and less obvious. Imagine with 6 million new citizens and 2 million original stocks, Singapore is as good as being sold. The ownership is passed to new citizens who were actually foreigners but given the pink ICs. And they can do whatever they want with the island if they assumed political control and see this as a piece of real estate without any loyalty or emotional attachment to it. Then people may ask, what's wrong with that? It is the continuity and existence of Singapore as a nation that is more important than its people. The people will come and go, born and die. But Singapore will go on. So if this is the logic to abide by, then Singapore's existence and survival is more important than its people. Forget about the people or citizenship.

budget 2007

After listening to the brief over the news, the 2007 budget came across as a pleasing budget. And all the MSM are painting glowing reports on it. So it will be a waste of time for me to write another glowing report here. I will need to spend a little time to digest what the budget is all about. My immediate disappointment is that I am not getting the 10% of what they gave to the President. But please don't blame me for my little indulgence in fantasy. It is a very good package. But what Zulkifli Baharuddin said needs a little reflection. 'We're are not giving away anything for free.' What is it that we have not seen? What is the catch? So far I have not heard of anything about using the GST increase to set up a research centre to study on how to help the lower income group. Neither did I hear any tie up with Harvard or Cambridge to lend credibility to the increase in GST. And no setting aside of the excesses for the future. The govt is collecting $1.5 billion more a year and spending $4 billion over 5 years. Now how much of a dollar collected is returned to the low income group? Let's enjoy the feel good sensation for a while and look at the details carefully. Nothing is given away for free.

brain dead or not? so scary

Andy Ho wrote a very informative article in the Review page of the Straits Times on brain death. And it is chilling to read the findings. There are many issues that are not conclusive and even after a person is declared brain dead, brain activities still can be detacted in 20% of the cases. And what is still debatable is whether the brain is the sole authority on all bodily functions. Biologically, many body functions are still working even after a person is declared brain dead. So is the person still alive or already dead? Is organ harvesting on a brain dead person actually be the final act that kills a living person, though brain dead?

myth 114

Myth 114 Old means out or pay cut We have heard of the pathetic state of the PMETs. What caused them to be in such a postion? The policy of old is useless or FTs or a combination of both. These were our former local born talents, high salary, high value, high esteem, high flyers. Today they are low salary, low value, low esteem and low flying. The fault of globalisation? Lim Boon Heng is the best man to tackle this problem. He is a walking and living example of old is good and should be paid well. The way he goes, he will work till 90 and still smiling and still in demand, and getting an increment every year. What Boon Heng can do is to use the political profession as the perfect model for all to emulate. In this industry, salary is paid according to the appointment. As long as one holds the appointment, no matter what age, talent or not so talented, man or woman, everthing else is irrelevant, one can look forward to annual increment and big bonuses practically every year. The private sector need not look further to adopt this model for their employees. After all, what is profit for? And this is particularly pertinent to govt link companies. These organisations can't be making profits and profits to be stashed away for a tomorrow that never comes. It is the people and their well being. To feed the people and feed them well. Govt and govt linked companies should review their missions and look at how best to look after the people all the way from the President to the heartlanders. Everyone should see that this is a country that looks after them from cradle to their death bed.

Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day Prof Cohen pointed out on a public lecture in LKY-school on 13 Feb 2007, that the 6.5 million population is risky and will have dire consequences. "Singapore does not grow its foods, so it is dependent on a world economy that permits trade. If there is no trade, Singapore is SUNK!". Maybe the govt can consider giving the people and new citizens an option. Since everything here is run like a business and with bottom line the main consideration, let us compute the wealth of each citizen in Singapore, using the value of the piece of real estate and all the monetary value of the nation's assets. With this figure, every citizen be allowed to opt out of this country and be paid that amount. Funny that I use the term opt out so naturally. And any new citizen coming in can acquire a citizenship by paying an equivalent amount. I think this is fair as he/she will inheriting the wealth of a nation built up over the years by several generations.

the 6.5 million paradox

The 6.5 million paradox What is the relationship between a citizen and a country? Theoretically, the citizens own the country. We, the citizens, not all locals by the way, own this little piece of real estate and everything that we have not sold to private ownership. We, the citizens, not all locals, are part owners of all the monetary wealth of this country. At the moment, with about 2.5 million citizens, each of our share of this real estate and all the reserves and investments is 1/2.5 million. Do we then have a say if this real estate and reserves and investment are going to be divided by 4 or 6 million? Our representative system of govt means the election of ordinary citizens to form the govt to look after our welfare and real estate and national coffer. If our elected representatives said they are going to share our real estate and national wealth with foreigners who are accepted as Singaporeans, do they need to ask for our consent? This is like planning the use of our CPF money or our salaries.

nkf story - chapter two

NKF story Chapter Two And the story continues. Poofs....Chapter Two is intentionally left blank as everything came to an abrupt end behind chambers and closed doors. And they all live happily ever after.

the poor rich middle class

'They often feel ignored and mercilessly squeezed.' Said Christie Loh. This is the strongest language ever appeared in a main stream paper. If she wrote this a few years ago, wonder what kind of reaction she will get. Christie is referring to the middle class group that have been left out of all the assistance by the govt and unable to find jobs. And also the sandwiched class, a group that earns between $2,990 and $7260. And they need help. My god, with this type of income they need help! How then do one expect those on govt aid to live with $230 or even $400? And their problem extends to not being able to find jobs or jobs that will pay them half of what they used to get. The PMET, Professional, Managers, Executive and Technicians, the fallen talents of our own citizens, cannot find jobs when unemployment is passe, when we have created so many jobs. What is wrong? Why are our talents not employable and we need to find more foreign talents to replace them? Old? 50 or 60 considered old? Leaders like LKY, Chok Tong and Boon Heng should conduct lectures to all the CEOs and HR Managers about the value of being old. Wisdom, experience, contacts, networks, are what age comes with. Oh they are untrainable? Why train them to do new stuff when they have acquired so much skills and experience in their profession? Can't they be recruited to do what they were doing before? Are those jobs extinct or taken over by younger foreign talents? And old cocks cannot learn new skills? Boon Heng should tell them what he is doing now. A completely new portfolio, to look after older workers, a silver industry. Was he in this field before? Definitely not. And it is new and he can do it. What the....

opt out or your are in

Tan Kim Minn wrote a letter to Today calling Singapore an OPT OUT country. You need to opt out in many things or else you are in. He quoted Dependents' Protection Scheme, Medishield, Medisave and CDAC as examples. Then there are the Sinda, the Muslim Mosque Building Fund, and of course Hota. But the mentality here is that it is only a few dollars, or it is for your own good, or it is for the general good. So it is alright to opt you in unless you take all the trouble to opt yourself out. The problem is that many people did not know what they have been opted in. And that is their problem for being ignorant or lazy to find out or to opt out. It is their own fault.

landed properties, good and bad news

Bad news, good news 6.5 million population is bad news for those living in landed properties. You can bet that they will be next in line for land acquisition to build high rise flats. And under the old policies, they are unlikely to get back the full worth of their properties. Now the good news. The govt is amending its land acquisition rules to pay market price for properties acquired. Now many people are going to sleep peacefully knowing that their wealth will be protected. This will give a lot of confidence to the high net worth people or potential rich migrants coming to our shores. They will not be shortchanged and they can happily go about investing in landed properties.

6.5 million, let's go for it

Some noises were heard in all the little corners about the 6.5 million population that we are expected and will be living with. There is no U turn in this. All the thinking and planning have been done. And everything is green, everything is good to go for 6.5 million. Things will be so good when we get there. Today's paper, Lim Boon Hee also questioned the wisdom of this move. There are so much fear and uncertainty as this issue is very new and no one of the calibre of citizen Lee have spoken out. My reading is that all the brains in this island have thought over this issue and all agree that this is the best way to go, or we will perish. When we were 1 million, we will perish. When we were 2 million, we will perish. When we are now 4 million, we will perish. Let's try 6.5 million. Maybe we will survive better. The people must have faith in the govt and the planners. Let's do not understimate their ability to plan for our future. The people shall support this great plan and stop complaining. Even the opposition are also awed by the immense possibilities and opportunities that 6.5 million people will provide that they are dumbfounded. Let's go for it.

the miserables are better off

Leong Wee Keat and Gracia Chiang wrote a very interesting piece of article on the rising hope of the people at the bottom. 'Wages finally rise for the poorest households after 10 bleak years.' In 2005, monthly income for each member of the poorest household was $270. Now it is $300. A whopping 6.6% increase in real term. This is a great upliftment of the lives of the miserables. They added, 'It's not as if their wages have gone up, though. It is just that their household size is shrinking and, with the brightening economy, more of them have been able to find jobs.' Just shrink the Singaporeans and their HDB flats will become much bigger, or a mini will be as big as a Mercedes, relatively. So are they getting richer? I am still scratching my head. This is another interesting statement in their article. 'Economists said the same thing in more elegant terms.' "There were some concerns that the lower income groups wre not benefiting from globalisation and were hardest hit by overseas competition," said Citigroup's Dr Chua Hak Bin. With the results, we are finally seeing some of this growth trickling down.' Very elegantly said. What were Leong Wee Keat and Gracia Chiang actually saying?

myth 113

Myth 113 Land reclamation causes sea level to rise I read this from Sammyboy. And I find this the most logical reason so far for the flooding in Malaysia and Indonesia. You see, we have been reclaiming land from the sea for many years. And land reclamation from the sea means we have to fill them up with sand. And after so many years of filling the sea with sand, of course the sea level will rise. And naturally this will lead to flooding. If you don't believe me, fill a bath tub to half full. Then pour sand into it. Bravo, the water rises in the bath tub. Theory proven. It is so scientific.

whoever believes in me...

I promise you an island with the best facilities money can buy. Everything will be ultra modern, every inch of the land will be landscaped and even designed for the old and handicap. Living will be a breeze. Everyone will be enjoying life to their fullest. Can actually live forever. Don't worry about cost. No cost involved. You will all be able to afford it. In my paradise.

always right reasoning

'With global competition causing wages at the bottom to stagnate or fall, the Government has decided to make Workfare - an income-support scheme it pioneered last year to help the bottom third of wage earners - permanent.' I must add that with global competition, salaries of talents can only go up even if they are in jobs that are shielded from global competition. Head I win, tail you lose.

myth 112

Myth 112 It is great to be poor In this little island, the next best thing to being a pet poodle is to be poor. Being a pet poodle, one can sleep in aircon room, send to see specialists, dine in pet restaurants with food specially concocted by food specialists for a well balanced diet. And can snuggle in bed with the master or mistress, in aircon room and under thick and nice smelling bedsheets. To be poor is the second best. There are so many people trying to start charities to raise fund to help them. And the govt too has set aside $600 million in Comcare alone to give to the poor. And all the helpers are everywhere knocking at doors asking people it they need help, need a few extra dollars. And the govt even raised GST to help them so that they will be better off after the GST comes into effect. And the latest govt budget is all about helping the poor and lower income groups. Now being poor isn't that bad right? I can see a long queue of happy people trying to be poor.

is cess still relevant?

CESS With the GST going to 7 %, is CESS still relevant? CESS is a taxed levied on the customer in tourist related establishment eg hotels and restaurants. This is 1%, and GST is going 7% and service charge another 10%, giving a total of 18% to the total bill.