EPF outperformed CPF

Read in many blogs that EPF is outperforming our CPF, at least in the interest they are paying. 6% or 6.5% is a lot over a 30 or 50 year period compares to 2.5 or 4%. Compounding them, it is easily 150% to 200% more than what we are getting from our CPF. We must send our ministers to KL to learn from them. Then we can give our CPF members a better return. And if the answer is 'if they are so good, take the CPF and put it there lah,' I will. But don't just talk only and don't mean it. Don't worry about a depreciating ringgit if the money is to be spent within Malaysia and for retirement. It appreciates or increase in value actually.

Balancing greed and passion

I left the civil service because I was paid pittance. How could a bread winner stay on a job that could not provide sufficiently for his family? That should be the basis for consideration in the compensation of a job, especially a higher level job or the equivalent of the Admin Service. At that time, I was told, the head of PSC believed that people should serve in the civil service with passion, a duty to the country. Pay should not be the main draw. Within two years after I left the civil service the pay was revised, and revised and revised. Today, the civil servants are getting a pay no less attractive than the private sector. And many good men were retained to serve in the capacity of public servants. And probably many of these good men will be saying to themselves, am I being over paid? Should there be a question of passion to serve? It is tricky to balance between passion and pay. How much pay is too much? How low pay will dismiss the passion in a man/woman to serve when he is not able to provide his dependants with a decent and comfortable life? This is a million dollar question best left to those who are paid in millions to decide.

Political Justice or Injustice

Singapore is being attacked internationally on two fronts. At the UN, Singaporeans were viciously attacked for their integrity by fictitious charges only to be vindicated later. But that is not the end. In the case of Andrew Toh, they are now accusing Singapore of using its weight to stop the funding of Procurement Task Force which was where Andrew served his term. And in Indonesia, Temasek is found guilty of violating Indonesia's anti monopoly act. So Temasek would now have to spend time and money defending its position in probably a kangaroo court. The verdict of both cases will not be determined by facts but by political expediency. The political force of the day will be the final judge of whether Singapore is guilty or not guilty. This has always been the principles of political justice. There is no absolute right or wrong. The one in power decides who is right and who is wrong.

Illusion of payrise

High inflation Major cause: Restructuring Strong currency cannot offset domestic pressures on prices. DBS analysis. Oct 8, 2007 Singapore exchange rate policy struggles with inflation Commentary by DBS Group Research (source: The Edge daily) SINGAPORE’s CPI inflation hit a 12-year high of 2.6% year on year (y-o-y) in July. While this was partially due to a two percentage point hike in the GST in July, some structural changes in the economy are also at play. Apart from imported inflation, which can be addressed with the exchange rate policy, much of the current inflationary pressure stems from domestic sources. Plainly, exchange rate policy is not very effective in dealing with domestically driven inflation. Policymakers will need to utilise non-monetary policies to complement the exchange rate policy if inflation is to be kept in check. The above is part of an article posted in littlespeck.com. What is actually affecting the people today is that their income is shrinking. Yes, they are getting a huge pay cut without knowing it. And to maintain their same purchasing power, a huge pay rise is necessary just to go back to square on. The illusion of huge pay rise is as good as watching David Copperfield and his magic show. It is all an illusion. There is no pay rise for those who got a pay rise, except those who got a very substantial payrise. Those who got little or no payrise is getting a paycut.

Chinese vote not lost

This is what Khairy believed. He believed that after all that had happened, after all that he had said and done, the Chinese vote is still with him. And for that matter the Indian vote. And he is confident that he has done the right thing and the minority votes will still support him. We will see.

Like that also got?

The Singapore Embassy has came out officially to dismiss Juwono's claimed that MM was the stumbling block in the DCA ETA agreements and that Singapore added new conditions to the agreements after it was signed by Juwono himself. I believe the Singapore side of the story. Singapore will not make any statement officially on such an important issue without getting its facts right. And what Juwono had said, sadly, is a reflection of the quality and mentality of the Indonesian leader. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Children shattered and parents protest

The recent PSLE seemed to be taking its toll on the children if a letter writer is to be believed. Guo Weifu complained that his son was in the top class but came back shattered after the PSLE maths exam. He checked and found that many children also suffered the same fate. The questions were too tough and many were not able to complete half or more of the questions. This is indeed frightening when anything less than 100 marks is deemed no good. And the confidence of the children were literally smashed. Poor children. Poor parents. What is happening huh?

Medisave money can use a bit only

My father in law has stones in his kidney and he was admitted into a private hospital. The so called specialist recommended him to go for a minor operation the next day. As he was in pain, he decided to go ahead without asking about the cost of the operation. End up his stayed in the hospital for 4 days and 3 night. His hospital bill was $11K. Only can use $1K from his medisave to pay. The rest has to be paid by cash. Is medisave really that good?? The above was posted in Sammyboy. If it is true, then what is our money in the Medisave for? Huh, our money or not our money? Isn't the Medisave meant to pay for our hospitalisation? Or is it to be rationed for 20 hospitalisation stays in the future? Jesus!

Compulsory annuities will be introduced

Ong Hui Guan, Secretariat, National Longetivity Insurance Committee wrote a reply to Vincent Chia and assured the public that they will carefully considered all angles after consulting the actuarial experts. Did he also said, 'thank you for your comment, the compulsory annuities will be introduced no matter what?' Or they may or may not introduce annuities if the study is not favourable? But it seems that the study is about how best to introduce and not about the relevance of the whole concept. The path to be travelled is quite clear.

The residents were furious

Raymond Lim and his MPs hold court to answer queries from the residents. I saw some snippets on TV news. And were the residents furious? The short clip only showed some residents asking questions on the ineffectiveness of ERP despite having to pay more and the ire over the comment that the funeral hub at Sin Ming Lane were be as attractive as Disneyland. The Minister and his MPs replied. By their expression you could see how uncomfortable they were. Neither were the standard replies well received. Would the Minister and MPs think that they have replied and case closed?

Irreversible demographic change

The speed at which the population is changing and its effects on Singaporeans is an area of great concern. Does the govt need to consult the people, getting a referendum for such a major change that can affect their lives adversely? Or as Josephine Teo said, when the govt has carefully considered the problem and think that it is good for the people, it has all the right to go ahead with it? This demographic change is going to affect those living now and the future generation for good or for the worst. It is no joking matter.

Before the nails are hammered in

There is a reprieve of 6 months for the appointed committee to review the annuity scheme. From all the official statements made so far, you can expect nothing much to be changed. A fresh sum of money will be locked away. That is as good as what we have been told. And that seems to be the real objective. The rest like providing for an income when most would probably die is simply crab. And all the fuss can be solved, I repeat again, by a plate of char kway teow. And that is what it will cost the people or govt. There is no need to lock away more money. We are reaching a point of hysteria and insanity by harping on how much the people need when they already have enough to keep themselves going. Only a very small group will need help and the help is just a plate of char kway teow. Even this plate of char kway teow can be spared if the $30k in the Medisave can be redesigned for the aged, ie above 85. There is no need to build a mountain out of a mole hill.

The seduction of Greed

The en bloc sales panic is easing with new laws coming in to stamp the euphoria. Property prices suddenly took a turn for the worst, or becoming more stable. But before the ink dries, the media are reporting on another new frenzy. Property prices in the eastern shores are rising, and rising and rising. Quick, quick, grab what you can find before prices run away. We are now seeing two opposing camps singing different tunes. On one side, there is a call for caution and to keep the lid on property prices shooting to the sky. On the other, the stirring and fuelling of news of how prices will rise and the encouragement to buyers to start buying at whatever price. Some will get burn by greed and some will make a fortune from this greed. Heard of a case where the owner stood to gain $400k during the en bloc madness. But when the new regulations came in, the price fell through the bottom. The buyer chose to forfeit his option money of $15k than to pay for a property that he could now get for $400k less.

Formula to make blogs a success

A new blog is claimed to be a great success in the morning paper today. Its main topics are sex and marriage. Wow, that's the way to go and the msm will help to popularise it as what blogs should be or should talk about. I am thinking of adding a few threads like, like Exploits in Geylang, or Illicit Affairs, or Forbidden Sex, to attract more bloggers here. After all, what else should Singaporeans be encouraged to talk about?

It is the fault of China, Asean and...

The problems created by the military regime in Myanmar is the problem of China, Asean and yes Singapore. We are the guilty ones. We are the ones that are not doing anything to help the Myanmese. We have no moral obligations for not helping the Myanmese people fight against a military regime for their liberty. All the accusing fingers in the West are pointing at China, at Asean and Singapore in particular. We are the bad guys. We must solve the problems in Myanmar. What a joke!!! It is time China, Asean and Singapore, and the rest of the world, point the fingers at the West for allowing the killings to go on in Iraq. It is time to free the Palestines and restore to them their right to their homeland. And who is preventing them from gaining their freedom? What is the West doing? Yes it is the Americans and the West that is allowing the carnage in Iraq to go on, and the Palestine to continue to be suppressed in their homeland.

Notable quotes - Eng Hen

I was reading Eng Hen's views on political renewal reported by Lynn Lee. He shared his thoughts on the recruiting process and that PAP was wary of those too eager to please. After the lengthy article came this quote at the end that is hardly related to the renewal process but the effectiveness of blogs. 'Progress will not be marked by the pings of a thousand hits on your blog, but from quiet yet determined voices willing to work for a better tomorrow.' Ng Eng Heng What is he saying? Bloggers are ineffective and does not contribute anything to society nor do they do anything useful. Or perhaps he is telling those young and aspiring politicians who blogged, that they are wasting their time. People like Goh Meng Seng and those at TOC should take note and stop blogging. They should go about quietly to do something for society without creating all the din in cyberspace. The question I would like to ask is whether the compulsory annuity scheme and the delay withdrawal age would have been pushed through if not of the noises in cyberspace. Or would the further study on the proposals a result of msm and grassroot feedback that make the govt do a rethink?

Talking about possibilities

Geylang is seeing its first protest from the locals. On one side of the lorong, the conservatively dressed and slightly older women were fuming. Their placards and banners screamed, 'Give us back our jobs,' 'This is unfair competition,' 'We have children and family to look after,' 'We have 50 more years to work.' On the other side of the lorong, young, sexy and scantily dressed foreign service providers continue to ply their trade, inviting streams of customers to their haunts. Occasionally they will turn their heads, give their luscious long hair a flip, and give a sneering glance at the aunties across the roads. It is like saying, 'If you don't have it, don't blame us.' There used to be defined turfs for each group of service providers. And everyone guarding their territories with teeth and finger nails. Today, we have globalised, we open up to invite the best talents from overseas to compete with our locals, based on talents, skills, and abilities. We practise free trade and meritocracy. If you don't measure up, just too bad. It is good to see the skin trade having some competition from foreign talents. It is good to see the locals standing up and fighting for their rice bowls. In the meantime the children at home will have lesser to eat.

Notable quotes - LKY

On CPF money 'And if anybody thinks he can do better, he's welcome to take his money and go to a fund manager and try and do better.' Lee Kuan Yew.

15 years retroactive Treaty

Indonesia wants the Extradition Treaty to be back dated by 15 years. This means that anything in the past can catch up with anyone. It is the same kind of thinking that destroyed Malaysia's credibility when they introduced new property ownership laws retroactively. If Singapore will to do so, it will create huge upheaval to our legal systems. This is a precedent that it cannot oblige. It is something that is too crucial to attempt. Shouldn't even think of it.

Mobile phones are dangerous

The ease at which mobile phones can be converted to IEDs, Improvised Explosive Devices needs to be thought through carefully. Maybe it is time to ban the sale and of mobile phones.