Thank you Maggie Mee and all instant noodles

Maggie Mee the saviour The shadow hovers over me but I am strong for my baby My baby sleeps so sweetly beside me She is my only reason to live, to die, to laugh and to cry Tonight is reunion dinner night, most stores are closed I'll have maggi mee and teh or Happy New Year everyone .. life is tough, but it is not so bad, can survive, got someone to love and got internet The above is posted by Downgrader in Sammyboyforum.

Budget time and more goodies

If there is anything to look forward to, Singaporeans should be eagerly waiting for Budget Day on 15 Feb. With all the collections, the govt should be rich enough to return some to the people when Tharman make his budget speech. We have had ERS and Singapore shares before. This time we may have GYAP or Golden Years Ang Pow for all Singaporeans. It will be a nice handout for the new year, and for more good years to come. In the past every budget day is likely to see more tax hikes. Nowadays every budget day is like waiting for the 4D results and see how much one is going to strike. Budget Day is now a Red Letter Day. We should have budget day for every parliament seating. It is better than anything else raised in parliament.

Spare a thought for the less well off

George Yeo urged firms not to increase prices unnecessarily and to spare a thought for the less fortunate. 'Mr Yeo urged businesses not to forget the less fortunate, particularly when times are hard. He said, "Inflation, because of high fuel and food prices, is a problem. And it is a concern for all Singaporeans, especially for those who are less well-off. "I also hope that those of us who are in business, yes, we have to adjust prices, because the input costs are high, but where it is not necessary to increase prices, it's good to spare a thought for ordinary Singaporeans who will be affected." ' A very surprising call actually. Times are hard? Since when? We are in an economic boom, golden years, full employment, everyone is getting richer with housing prices shooting to the sky. What hard times? Prices did not go up yesterday. And who have been jacking up all the prices? And who have been saying that it can't be helped? Do these big organisations, including the hospitals and transport companies ever spare a thought to the people when they raised prices? But they did. They made sure that the increases were all very affordable. Maybe George is living in a different paradise. The rest are still partying every night in the land of possibilities.

Personal Tax cut

Budget Personal tax cut? Singapore government may cut personal tax from 20 to 18% as inflation soars and growth slows, reports Thomson Financial. Feb 6, 2008 By Jonathan Burgos The Singapore government is expected to announce a cut in personal income tax to cushion consumers as inflation accelerates and growth slows this year, analysts said. Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam is expected to announce the tax cuts when he unveils the budget for the year to March 2009 in parliament on Feb 15.... 'The inflationary consequences of the GST hike have significantly raised costs of living for the lower-income groups,' Kit said. It will be politically difficult for the government to roll back the GST, but Kit believes the budget will introduce a generous one-off package to offset inflation. To do this effectively, the government will have to do more than reduce the personal income tax rate, since fewer than 30 percent of Singaporeans pay income tax, said Tay Hong Beng, executive director for corporate tax at KPMG. Individuals whose annual taxable income is less than 20,000 dollars are not required to pay tax. The government may increase tax reliefs, Tay said. It could, for example, exempt medical bills from the GST. Health care costs rose 6.3 percent last year. I copied the above from www.littlespeck.com My immediate reaction is who will benefit from a tax cut? I will benefit a little. But most of the people suffering from the rising prices are not going to benefit from a tax cut as Kit had pointed out in the above article. What is needed is to bring down the rising costs of things and services that are within the control of the govt. The things that will affect the bulk of the population at the lower income end, food and essential services, must be looked at seriously. And the regressive GST that taxed more on the lower income group, is not helping the poorer people. All the handouts are a one off thing. When are we going to stop taxing on the poor so heavily?

The American Presidential Election

I was watching a bit of the Presidential race in the US. I am impressed and envious at the maturity of a people, at a system that allows the people to step forward confidently, without any sense of fear, to choose their President. From the Presidential candidates, their supporters, the civil servants, the electorate, we can see a certain level of ease and transparency, non interference in the election process, and a very high level of Freedom, a freedom of choice in the political stage. And they are not going to riot or rampage whichever party won. When will we be able to reach such a state of maturity when we are like the Americans? Or are we a less able people that cannot aspire the American dream, that we have to live in a straight jacket system like what we have now and will be like this forever? It seems that our hearts have no room for anything. We have no room for alternative parties and talents, no room for a political system that is as free as the American, no room for a people to feel and vote the way the Americans are doing. After 30 years of near 100% literacy rate, with 30 or 40% of our people receiving tertiary education, we are still infants, immature, small heart, ungraceful, uptight, full of vengeance, unable to live with opposing views, unable to accept that others may be right, or there are other alternative ways than just one way. If we do not allow the people to grow and mature, we will be stuck in a rut, a third world mentality and a third world political psyche, where the losers in a political race is condemned, embarrassed or can be worst. We have a very educated and bright citizenry, worldly, sophisticated and ready to move on to the next level of political maturity. What is holding back the country and people from progressing and attaining a higher level of political awareness, participation and involvement in the running of a nation, the political process of governing a country and be a part of that process? Without the full participation of the people from all corners and all walks of life, the governing of the people and country is, by default, left to a small select group of self appointed people. We are not tapping the full resourcefulness and potential of the whole population. In a way, we are like those countries that do not tap on their women talent pool, or underdeveloped nations that tap on a small pool of their elite. Are we ready to be like the Americans? Yes in all aspects. The illiterate and ignorant immigrants of the past have mostly departed or lying in nursing homes. We are a new generation of confident and well educated people. If we cannot be more graceful and mature, then we have failed as a people. We shall deserve to be sheeples if we accept that being sheeple is the only way to progress, to a better life. It is a kind of bondage.

Celebrating Singaporean - Noeleen Heyzer

Noeleen Heyzer Another high achieving Singaporean, landing a very senior job in the UN is Noeleen Heyzer. She is Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. A very charming lady in a the company of international leaders.

Celebrating Singaporean - Dr Susan Lim

Dr Susan Lim Award Another great achievement from a Singaporean to have an American Award named after her. The American Academy of Continuing Medical Education awards her for her work in minimally invasive surgery by naming a Dr Susan Lim Award to be awarded to renowned medical professionals in the same field of Laparoscophy.

Jam packed MRT

Whichever idiot ever suggests that it is a good idea, a bearable idea, to be jam packed inside a MRT train should first be put through the process and experience what it is like to be sandwiched between two smelly commuters. If he can stand the smell for 3 minutes, he is qualified as a super pig. For only pigs will be accustomed to such smell from a pig sty. Who is lauding the great Tokyo squeeze as something that we must get use to? What kind of world class standard is that?

Doing the opposite

We encourage entrepreneurialship. We want our people to take risk. High risk high returns. We must teach our people to be entrepreneurs. Hahaha. The real thing is that we are just doing the opposite. We reward employees and make the job as an employee so comfortable and rewarding that everyone is looking for a job. Singaporeans are looking for a job in Singapore and around the world. We are grooming the best employees for the world market. And the last hope for Singaporeans to take a little risk, to manage their lives and find their dreams is also dashed. We are keeping your money and we are going to manage it so that you will get $600 a month for the rest of your life. So safe, so secure, so predictable, no chances, no errors. Singaporeans will live a comfortable life as an employee with a monthly pay check from his employers and then a monthly pay check from his own savings. No need to take risk. The entrepreneurial dream is just a dream.

A little reflection

Chinese New Year or any new year is a time for reflection. Today paper wrote a frontpage article about the lonely people living alone and their need for the warmth of kins and young people. But it also said, 'A festive season that is all about kin and friends can be an especially depressing time for...the bedridden, the estranged, the abandoned, the lonely...' Many caring organisations and welfare groups are helping out to make these few days less lonely and less sad. 'At a dinner held last Friday, Madam Chew Ah Yim, 68, who lives alone and is childless, told Today: "It's like having grand children to talk to."' Because of the good work of all these organisations and the kind people that help to make these people happier, less lonely, life is worth living. The good thing is that all these people will have the chance to live beyond 85 years and have many such happy hours to look forward to. The unfortunate thing is that these happy hours come once a year. thanks or no thanks to the advances in medical science that these people can live to 100 years. Is it joy or is it suffering?

Halal canteen in a Singapore school!

This is shocking. We have been telling everyone everyday that we must respect other people's religion, culture etc and way of life, but not to impose our own way of life on others. How could this happen to Boon Lay Garden Primary School? I read it in the Straits Times but not in Today. What is more shocking is that it was implemented for more than a week! And School Discipline Master and Security Guards were checking the food the children brought to school to make sure that they were halal. Shouldn't they be spending time checking for terrorists? For such things to happen, there must be several meetings among the teachers and principals before it is being implemented and letters sent to parents. The sheeples as usual just like to keep quiet and be led around. If people are thinking, if teachers are thinking, the whole mess should not have taken off. It would have been stopped in the meeting room and not allowed to progress so far. This is the price we are paying for an unthinking populace, an unquestioning people that fears authority. Just take orders. Keep quiet, don't get into trouble by arguing with authority. What is happening?

Furious with Khaw Boon Wan

Forumer Seah Leong Khai was furious with the affordable $10 pm increase in MediShield premium introduced by Boon Wan. He used to pay $160 each for himself and his wife. Now each will have to pay $280 a year. This is almost double what he used to pay. But if you look at it from a monthly basis, it is very affordable. Only $10 mah! What irks Seah is that after collecting $297m, the CPF paid out only $119m in claims and expenses. 'It had a surplus of $178m in 2006. It now has more than $925 m in net assets in the MediShield Fund.' Seah asked why couldn't some of these be used for the higher payouts. Now, how to explain to Seah that the surplus must be kept for rainy day and that $10 a month is affordable?

Natural selector in govt hospitals

I was rather amused by what Salma Khalik wrote about natural selector in govt hospitals. And I was also not too amused by the kind of thinking behind the concept. What Salma said is that C wards were deliberately designed to make it uncomfortable or inconvenient, eg locating the toilets outside the wards, so that those who do not want to live with the condition will have to opt for better wards, and pay more. Really we have decision makers thinking this way? Like dat also got ah? Salma's recommendation is that hospitals should provide the necessary, some improvement will be appreciated without being extravagant, to subsidised wards. These hardup people know that they cannot demand for luxury or extraordinary creature comfort. But to make things difficult deliberately...hmmmm, what shall I say? Better don't say anything. Can we provide these subsidised wards with a decent environment without the intent to make them uncomfortable? Hopefully we have matured, more graceful, and not being small minded like our predecessors.

The vanishing conscience

We have many learned men but something is missing. A civic consciousness, a conscience to say and do what is right for the ignorant masses. This quality seems very lacking as we see how our lives are being managed by the state. The state is now managing our lives and our money as if they belong to them. And not a whimper is heard. Where on earth can you find elected people's representatives arrogantly going about planning the people's lives and planning with the people's money as if the money belongs to them? And the people accepted that, that it is ok for the state to decide how much to set aside their savings, what they should spend on, what they cannot spend on, and when they can get it back. This principle of individual right and ownership is being threatened and challenged everyday. When your money is no longer your money. Oh, oh, maybe I am wrong. Everyone agrees that this is the norm, the right thing to do. That may explain the silence. Shit, sorry, I am wrong.

No need for 4G leaders

If we believe what we say, what we claim, 1 in 2 Singaporeans who is alive at age 65 will live past 85, maybe 100 years. That is what the Lifelong Insurance Scheme is all about. LKY and Chok Tong will live past 85 to 100 years at least, given the quality of life, food and medical care. Hsien Loong too will be in the same boat. What do these mean? It means that in the next 30 years we will have 3 living PMs in charge. All tested and predictable leaders. We can't have 3 mentor ministers and more senior ministers to go with without bursting our budget. With the three around, there is no need for a fourth generation leader for the next 30 years. So no need to worry so early lah. Unless we don't believe in the assumption that all those who reach 65 will live past 85 to 100 years.

Choking the toilet

There was this solitary toilet next to a big restaurant. You can imagine what it was like when the customers are all full, belly like 48 gallon drums. All will head to the toilet at the same time. Sure jam. Big queue, long queue. The the jamban jaga got smart. In order to reduce the number of people queuing up, he raised the entry fee to the jamban. He solved the long queue problem. But there were no jamban around. Not his problem. These overfed people must find another jamban or go to the backlanes.

The queer things we do

We buy cars but not to use them, only to park in the car parks. We build roads but limit cars using it. We build expressways but do not allow cars to travel faster. Then we complain that the expressways are too slow. We save money but cannot touch or use them. We raise taxes and said it is to help the people. We pay very high salaries and claim that it will prevent corruption. We boast about our world class education system but claim that we have no talents, or need foreign talents to help them. We claim that we have a lot of talents, just pay them if you want them, but not enough to form two political parties. We keep raising prices and claim that we can't do anything about high cost of living. We legislate laws to make the people save money but insist that they must spend them in expensive hospital bills and buying lifelong insurance. We insist on people saving for to live to 100 years when 50% or more will die before 65. We continue to whine and whine about the govt but keep on electing the same govt.

Trust the govt with your money

Trust the govt with your money This is what Eng Heng was saying when he talked about the modified Lifelong Income Scheme. Do I want to trust anyone with my money? When I started to contribute to the CPF scheme, the contractual agreement, not just a principle, was that I would get to withdraw all my money at age 55. Did I get to get all my money back? My second disappointment was when it was announced that $30k of my money must be kept in the Medisave, only to be used on hospitalisation or serious illnesses. So $30k taken from me and I may not see it or touch it in my life. My third disappointment, when it was legislated that a huge sum of money, more than $100k, will have to be helded back as minimum sum. This too was not in the original scheme of the CPF. Now it is proposed that I have to buy Longevity Insurance to give me money after 85 which my god said I don't need it. Ok, maybe it would not affect me now with the Longlife Insurance as this will only affect those under 50 today. How could there be trust when I don't even have any right or say to my money. If I have a choice, I will take out every cent in the CPF immediately. For I do not know what schemes will appear tomorrow that will keep my money away from me.

The great planners

The thing that Singapore excelled and did very well is estate planning, infrastructure development and driving the economy, and many other things that planning can do. We have planned everything, and anything that can be planned, we have thought of it and planned ahead. But one area we have failed miserably, that is transportation. We have let the problem grow for too long, and not because we cannot afford to solve them. And this is weird. Of all things, transportion, the roads, vehicles, and population are all numbers that can be crunched easily. Dealing with numbers and being able to manipulate the numbers to a high level accuracy is our forte, what we do best. Can I say that these problems are predictable and could have been forseen and solved progressively instead of the gridlock we are talking of today. Luckily now we have Raymond Lim to look at it closely and to do something about it, quick and fast.

Myth 171 - Who is more talented

Today, talents are measured by the salary or income they get. So we have a $10m talent, $1m talent, a $100k so so talent and a $10k not so talent. It is very easy to spot a talent, just by the things that he can afford, his home, his cars, his accessories and his ability to afford holidays, fine dinings and the theatres. When monetary reward is the accepted means of comparing talents, our local talents will have difficulty matching up to those in the developed and rich west. How could we pay someone in our GLCs the equivalent of Citibank, Microsoft, Shell, Yahoo, or the Stock Exchange of New York? What we can afford to pay is simply peanuts to them. So they are more talented than all our talents. Even a small MNCs will be able to pay much more than our best GLCs. Or a senior executive, not even a CEO, will be paid more than our top talents, more than our ministers. So what else can we do to tell people our top talents are as good as these western talents of large international corporations? Shall we pay our top talents as high as them so that we can also be recognised as billion dollar talents? Or shall we hire billion dollar talents to boost up our pool of average million dollar talents? A top talent in public service in China will probably be earning 10% of our average talent in civil service. So our average talent must be more talented. In this way we can tell the world that our talents are the best in the whole of Asia, in monetary terms. But our best will be third or fourth best in the west. For that is likely the amount they are paying to their third or fourth rate talents. The suggested road for Singaporean talents is to go west, get a reasonably high paying jobs and come back to be better than our local talents as they will command a higher pay package. Otherwise don't come back.