Why my coke is 80c?

Ah Pek was seen arguing with the mama shop why his can of coke is now 80c and not 60c. Ah Pek said he read in the paper that the prices of common household goods increased only by 4.3%. Now his coke of 60c increased by 20c or 33%! How can? Profiteering huh!

The Amazing Lifelong Insurance Scheme(TALIS)

It's so amazing. Simply brilliant. Foreign workers used to return to their villages to tell stories about paradise, where people can walk to a machine in the wall to take money when they need money. Now the citizens of paradise will have a $600 payout for life. No govt in the world can promise their citizens such a scheme. If we sell this scheme to the world, we can have 20 million people queueing to be citizens. Just a few questions. Who is paying who? A life time payout, or forever? How many more years can one live after 80, 85, or 90? One good thing coming from the review is that it is now not compulsory. The people will have 12 flexible schemes to choose from. For those who are going to live forever, this is like paradise. I am going there to prepare mansions for all of you who believe in me.

Long Life Insurance

Same assumptions and reasoning. People will live longer, no money, go to meet the people session to ask for help. How many of these people really need help at the end of the day? Why don't we have another set of assumptions. Some people will live longer. They will make provisions for themselves personally or through their families. They don't need govt's charity. Is this group more than those in the former group? Assuming that 70% live till 65. So 70% will may need the Long Life Insurance. Assuming 50% of those reaching 65 will live till 85. So half of the 70% or 35% may need the insurance. Take this at the half way mark this will give 17.5% who would need the insurance. The assuming that half of this 17.5% have been responsible and have savings, then only 8.75% will need the insurance. And assuming that half of this have families to take care of them, the final figure will be 4.375% that really need the insurance. For the sake of 4.375% who for some reasons cannot look after themselves in old age, 100% of the population will have to be forced to buy Long Life Insurance. Actually this figure is a bit inflated as many who cannot afford to live that long would have die naturally. Those who can afford to live to the ripe old age would have some means to do so. What the Govt can do is to issue a Certificate of Proof of voluntary rejection of the Long Life Insurance and allow people to opt out of the scheme. And at the end of the day, if these people come for handouts, just give them the $290 pm and nothing more. The COP will make them ineligible for more govt handouts. I think this will be fair. The people will take responsibility for their own actions and life. And the govt would not be blamed if they mess up their lives. And given the benevolent Long Life Insurance Scheme in place, not many will be left in the lurch. Is it really so hard to let people have the option to opt out? Why so adamant about making it compulsory? Let people be responsible for their own actions. Trust the people. If the govt cannot trust the people, why should the people trust the govt?

What makes a great PM

I was reading P N Balji's comment on the barriers of age, gender and race. And he mentioned that LKY was a PM at 35, Chok Tong at 49 and Hsien Loong at 52. For this, he suggested that the future PM could be older, maybe in the 60s. This is natural as our population, including the supertalents will live to 100. And if they are not fruitfully employed after 60s, then they will be rotting somewhere and will be a waste of their talents. But it would be better if we can find younger PM, say below 35. From the above statistics it is proven that the younger the PM, the better will be his contribution and achievements. And this is only logical. For if a young man in his 30s can shine and be seen as good enough to be a PM, then he is truly an exceptional talent. And he will grow in his job. An older PM will just slow down with time and age. So, an older PM is not the best choice.

It would be more palatable

If only public policies were made not with the people's saving but with public funds from taxes or revenue. It would be better if the urge to provide world class services comes with a public announcement that it will cost so much from the users' pockets. It would be better to provide world class services but at the same time offer those who cannot afford it an alternative service to pay for a cheaper service, and without mean testing of course.

Notable quotes - Lionel De Souza

'The relevant authorities should take the necessary action to criminalise anti competitive practices before they become prevalent.' Lionel De Souza. Before they become prevalent? I support Lionel's call, but wake up, it is prevalent and blatantly practised in many industries by supposely professional and respectable top management staff. They are rightfully called criminals and need to be punished for not only the crime but immoral and unethical practices. It is a poor reflection of the high moral standards that these individuals eschewed and blared out loudly in public speeches. It is hypocrisy in the highest level of corporate management.

New NKF - Spartan but safe

This is the headline in Today on the new NKF. The new CEO, Eunice Tay, has gone in for about a year and has changed the image from a lavish setup of a business and profit oriented organisation to one that looks more like a charity organisation, emphasing on the well being of its patients and on thrift. She cut, reduce, reuse and recycle, and even manages to remove more than 10 vehicles and freeing 5 floors of its HQ office space for rentals! How could so much space and vehicles be made available or not made available by the previous regime? The surprising result is that patients that were unmotivated, depressed and suicidal are now happier. And so were staff morale and a lower turnover. All the little empires and bickering of office politics were gone, including the lavish office of the CEO and the golden tap. I think the new NKF will gradually regain the confidence and trust of its donors, supporters and patients. Other public service organisations could learn a thing or two from the concept of 'Spartan but safe' and discard the golden tap philosophy to benefit the customers they are serving. No need to have first class or world class dreams if the customers cannot afford them.

Myth 172

Saving that is not Technically Singaporeans are among the greatest savers, saving at least 38% of their income directly into the CPF and more for those who can afford to in their private personal accounts. But Singaporeans will never have enough for their old age. How so? Because the saving is not savings. The savings will be spent along the way and by the time they retire, they will be shock to know that there is hardly anything left. Savings of Singaporeans is a myth. Where would all these big savings go to? Housing will take a huge proportion over 30 or 40 years. This is perhaps the biggest item to be taken out from the saving. Then there is the Medisave that will be spent in world class hospitals charging world class rates. And if this is not spent, it will be kept out of reach of the Singaporean till he passes away. Then there will be the fees for education, the premiums to be paid for medical insurance and life long insurance. And Singaporeans can count on more schemes in the future to help them spend their savings in the CPF, and probably even compulsory spending. So whatever the Singaporeans saved in the CPF, they will spent it, in one way or another, in advance.

Indigenous population growth

We are getting 37,000 new births last year, slightly better than the year before but still not good enough. It is still not enough to replace the attrition rate. We need more babies. Go forth and multiply. It is easier said than done. How much does it take to bring up a child to adulthood? $250k, $500k? We have many pro family policies to encourage parents to have more children. The question is that how many can afford to bring up children to go through our expensive web of life? Everything costs money and the cost is going up very quickly. It will not come down. Having more children is easy. But how many will be able to reach a level of comfort, by paying through the education system and quality of living, to say that life is worth living? How many will end up struggling for an existence, a life not worth living? Come to think of it, it is better to bring in the richer foreigners to supplement our population target than to encourage the indigenous hardlanders to produce more babies and to end up living in drudgery.

Lasik surgery getting cheaper

This piece of news sounds odd. Very odd indeed when it was accompanied by news that Lasik surgery will now be done using an improved and expensive equipment with enhanced technology. The result is higher accuracy and safer, and of all things, cheaper. Can this be true? How could better medical services be cheaper? This is against the conventional wisdom of paradise land. In paradise, everything, or anything that is better must be paid with more money. The delivery of a child in a hospital, private or govt owned private hospitals, now cost thousands of dollars. Has the delivery of a baby been different today than those done yesterday? Why is delivery of a baby costing so much? Several of my siblings were delivered by mother, free of charge. She did it herself. Are the women of today constructed differently? Or are the women of paradise built different that delivering a baby is now high technology and requires modern science to assist? The way a child is delivered today, other than a complicate case, cannot be different from a child delivered a few hundred years ago. A midwife could do it, a mother could do it. It is a natural process, a motherly instinct. That's how the human race populated itself. The additional cost today is contributed by all the comfort and fineries, all the pampering and the assurance of professional help. Minus all these, delivering a child can be made very much cheaper. The increasing cost must be a choice by those who want to splurge on them. For the ordinary soul who just want to deliver a child the old way should not have to pay a bomb to do it.

A lesson from Thailand

The military junta led by Sonthi and his generals are wetting their pants. There is fear of reprisals, fear of vengeance, fear of Thaksin's return. Why should there be fear? They have been upholding justice and truth and did everything they did, for Thailand and the Thai people. Or what they did were something else? In third world political systems, the obsession of power, the unwillingness to share political power, the unforgiving and vicious exercise of power against political opponents, depriving the people of their elected representatives by the abuse of power, will inevitably lead to fear and tension. Fear and tension in the victors as well as the losers. When Sonthi led the military coup, he made use of the whole state machinery to go after Thaksin, his family, relations and friends, and his party. All kinds of charges were drummed up, from treason, disrespect to the king and corruption. With all the civil servants under his control, he could go throw all the files, all the documents, to dig out every little things that Thaksin and his allies did, and frame any charges he wanted. That was justice, the justice of power, the truth of a third world political system. Compares that with what we are seeing in the US. The losers are as gracious and the winners as forgiving. And they accept each other in good spirit and with goodwill. They are willing to share political power with whoever the people chose. They accept the will of the people. They accept a system and play by it. There is no inkling of a coup or grabbing the machinery of the state to serve private and personal political interest. The winners and losers continue their lives as if nothing had happened. After the last election Al Gore continues his life lecturing and trying to save the world. We can see Romney, Hucklebee, McCain, perhaps Obama or Hillary continue what they were doing after the Presidential election. There will be no fear of vengeance or oppression or law suits. Thailand will take a long time to be free from fear. The military junta was ruthless in the persecution of Thaksin and his friends. Now they fear the same ruthlessness befallen on themselves. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. No exception. Third world political systems are vicious and shortlived, and will end in upheavels when there is a regime changed.

On the 3rd day of Chinese New Year

The Chinese New Year is celebrated for 15 days. And on the 3rd day, still full of new year cheers and good wishes, saying all the good things is a must, you would not want to be greeted with any bad or unsavoury news. No one would be happy to be greeted with news of someone passing away. But that is exactly what greets everyone on the front page of The Straits Times. Is it an ominous sign, a sign of things to come for the year? It is a great objective and unfeeling piece of news to be flashed on the front cover of the main paper, to greet everyone first thing in the morning when he/she picks up the paper. Thanks but no thanks.

High rental good

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Current.com.au, the Harvey Norman co-founder and executive chairman rent rises of up to 50 per cent in one year, coupled with leases restricted to three years, meant all major electrical retailers there were under pressure. "The rents are just horrendous, and trying to figure out how you can do business is a really difficult thing, because you think 'Well, how do you do this?'" He said all three major players in the Singapore electrical retail market – Courts, Harvey Norman and Best Denki – had the same issues. "We all have the same problem, and probably sooner or later one of the three of us will disappear, and there'll be two of us. Then there's a good chance there'll be one of us." I copied the above extract from a post in Sammyboyforum. The rent hike is getting crazier by the days. A small foodstall in a refurbished aircon foodcourt will cost more than $13k a month in the new towns. Can't imagine what it will cost in town or big shopping centres. And how many bowls of noodles would the stallholder need to sell before he breaks even? But we should encourage the property owners to raise rent faster. Then the effect will be more dramatic. It is like blowing a balloon.

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.