Limiting influx of foreign talents may affect growth

‘For the past couple of weeks, I have been teaching my annual course in microeconomics in Singapore, a country whose remarkable growth owes a lot to the theory of incentives embedded in my course.

An independent country only since 1965, Singapore is now one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of per capita income. Visitors agree that it may be the cleanest and safest country, with remarkable racial harmony and city streets that can be driven at rush hour without the gridlock that you see in most of the rest of the world….

In response to a growing income gap between the many less-well-educated Singaporeans and the highly-skilled foreign workers who are well-paid in the country, the increasingly democratic government has begun to yield to populist pressure to greatly limit foreign workers. Even more so than the U.S., Singapore has benefited from the highly-educated, creative and hard-working expats who drive much of its economic growth.

By subverting the laws of supply and demand and deliberately not allowing the most talented workers to be hired at the going wage, Singapore may be relegating its miraculous growth to the past.’

Dr Lewis Mandell is a financial economist with a research specialization in financial literacy and a teaching specialization in investments and valuation at the graduate and undergraduate levels

The above is part of an article by Professor Lewis Mandell reprinted in the TRE with his permission. It was a nice piece of work praising the great achievements of the govt and what they have done to this island. As a Sinkie, reading it also makes me feel shiok. We are so damn good, but with a few drawbacks. The professor said Singapore must keep opening its door to let the ‘ highly-educated, creative and hard-working expats’ in or else  ‘Singapore may be relegating its miraculous growth to the past.’ I beg your pardon, when Singapore was rebuilding this country, were these foreign expats here and what were their contributions? Thought they were here only after everything has been built, the infrastructure, the industries, the big local banks and institutions?

The article has generated more than a hundred comments from netizens, 116 when I last read, mostly not too complimentary, and still adding. The daft Sinkies were just being disrespectful to this eminent professor. He is here to add value to our universities, teaching our young undergraduates about microeconomics. And he wrote such an enlightening piece on Singapore and even gave free advice to bring in more foreigners for Sinkies’ own good. How can our laypeople spoke so dismissively against this article and the professor without knowing their place? Boh tua boh suay.

No foreigners and dogs allowed

Below is a short paragraph posted in TRE by a blogger, pijitailai, in Mandarin.

新加坡可是越来越威风了，在洋人的地盘竟然不让洋人进入新加坡日的庆祝会。真想不到，新加坡政府在澳洲的一小片短暂的不到一天的租界，竟然表演出一幕《洋人与狗不准进入》的种族歧视风….

The gist of the article is about the Singapore Day in Sydney’s Botanic Garden. Let me try to translate. Singapore is getting more and more garang. In a foreign land Singapore refused to let foreigners enter to celebrate Singapore Day. Can’t believe it, the Singapore govt in a short span of time in Australia could demonstrate ‘foreigners and dogs not allowed in’ racist behavior.

Please regard this as a joke. Of course not, the foreigners could hang such a notice in Shanghai in those colonial days. Singapore would not do such a thing especially in Australia. Now that it has incurred an unfortunate racist protest, maybe to do some damage control and at the same time to advertise how happy we are to welcome foreigners to Sin, it can hold another Singapore Day for foreigners only to make amends and to soothe the nerves of the offended foreigners. It would be good PR and money well spent if more white Australians would visit Singapore and make it their home.

In job adverts in Sin, the foreigners are saying, No Sinkies and PRs needed. This one is true. No bluff.

Xenophobia frenzy in Singapore

The anti foreigner trend is gaining momentum in this city. The intolerance of foreigners is becoming second nature and openly flouted by the perpetrators in job advertisements. A few cases have been quoted with many violations sent to the MOM who are now investigating. The victims of this xenophobic outlash are furious and are standing up in protest and taking matters into their own hands. They are doing their own investigations and feeding the whistleblowing section of the MOM with more cases of outrageous and demeaning discriminations against the Sinkies. They know that if they don’t help themselves, they can only expect lip services and nothing will happen.

Yes, the victims of xenophobia in this city state are the citizens, the Sinkies. It is true, the citizens are quickly becoming an absolute minority if the trend is not stop or reverse. There will soon be more foreigners in the city state and they may think that the Sinkies are foreigners. The following are examples of job advertisements that have been posted in the social media and the respective CEOs have made apologies and retracted them. They are only the tip of the iceberg.

1. FST, a British firm, in its advert for an Art Director, ‘Must have Singapore residency(PR) status or PEP visa status.’

2. Randstad, a foreign recruitment company looking for a Merchandiser Planner, ‘The position is open to candidates who are not Singapore citizens or PRs.’

3. La Fondue Swiss Restaurant that wanted to recruit a Pinoy chef and proudly claimed to have a 100% Pinoy crew and Pinoy working environment.

What is happening? Sinkies are xenophobic or victims of xenophobia in their own country when discrimination against them is open and blatant, without the need to be polite and to disguise for fear of offending the Sinkies. Where is the sensitivity that is demanded from the Sinkies to be understanding and kind to the foreigners when the foreigners are bloody rude and abusive and discriminating against Sinkies?

Why like dat?

Thrift is not our national ideology

Just look at a few examples one would not fail to notice that thrift is not the ideology of this sinfully rich country called Sin City. The third world countries were once sneered at by the rich and matured countries of the first world for wasting money on grand projects like building mausoleums and palaces or anything that is good for nothing but costing a bomb. How much did it cost to build the artificial garden at Marina South, $1b? And much is needed to maintain it annually, another $300m? Anyone knows the actual figures?

And this is not the end. Another similar crown jewel is coming up in Changi to attract visitors to visit Sin City. Beg your pardon, is Singapore a destination or just a convenient gateway to the region? Like it or not, as long as the Airport is good enough, the people will come and go. But the Airport is never a destination. Neither is the artificial garden. The casinos maybe.

Then there is the F1 when everyone keeps telling that it is money well spent. Ngiam Tong Dow compared it like paying for the English boys to come and race their sports cars as a hobby. And we paid for it. How many hundreds of millions for playing host for the English boys to party?

And look at the money they are paying themselves. It is now a world record and would put Obama to same. Even a minor minister would have taken back more than the President of the USA, the Emperor of the American Empire. Thrift?

And what about the people? They are made to buy properties according to how much money they have. They cannot buy smaller properties from the govt if their income is more than the affordable formula. And if they are earning a bit more, they must squander their income, over 30 years, to buy private properties. Thrift? No, it is spend if you have it. Retirement no money? Who cares?

And the same formula applies to being warded in govt hospitals. The patients are frowned upon to ask for lower and cheaper class wards. There is also a mean testing to make sure they cannot get admitted to lower class wards. And if they do, the disincentive is that they will not get the same subsidies as the lower income, very meritocratic. And it is not the intent of the hospitals to build more lower and cheaper class wards with more beds to cater to the demand of those who do not want to splurge or squander their hard earned money away. Getting sick and admitted to hospital is a great opportunity to spend, to show how much money one can afford to spend. Spend until no money left for retirement or go bankrupt.

And the latest, spending millions on Sinkies living overseas. Some are questioning why the need to spend such money when the money can be put to better use at home, to feed the less fortunate. Is this about thrift? No, it is spending in style. We are the envy of even Europeans who insisted that they be invited into our eat all you can parties for free. My God, we are truly rich beyond the imaginations of the people of rich countries.

We have the money, we have a lot of money in our reserves, and we can afford to spend, to buy the latest and most expensive military toys at several hundred millions a pack. Who says the money is for rainy days? If the money is not spent, if people are thrifty, how can the economy expand, who is going to buy all the expensive homes and cars, how can the GDP keep growing?

Spending is good. Over spending is better. After all, money value shrinks quickly with the high inflation, and saving and not spending are as good as letting the money to rot away.

Affordable has destroyed our retirement plans

SG+ is a new programme very similar to Talking Point. Last week’s topic was about CPF and whether Sinkies have sufficient money left for retirement. After the two experts gone through with Melanie, the host, it was a glaring admission that many Sinkies will be in deep shit when they retire. The only hope to survive those greying years is to downgrade their homes, provided they have one and is down gradable.
 
The two were talking about having more savings and more schemes to bolster the existing schemes which would not be enough due to high inflation and the huge amount of money sucked into housing and medical insurance. The recommendations are something like another CPF to cover for the shortfalls in the current CPF and more insurance schemes to cover for the inadequate schemes that the people are paying now. 

The assumption is that the people have a lot of spare cash to pay and save. My ballpark figure to ensure that these people have enough to retire, to live well and to pay for their medical is to save 70% of their current income. Madness is another word.
Don’t blame the recommendations or the experts. Basically our retirement savings through the CPF are screwed. Despite being one of the biggest savers in the world, we don’t have enough for retirement. No joking. If the planners would have their full proof schemes, everyone must earn 3 times what they are earning today or save 2/3 of their incomes if they want to be safe.
 
What went wrong? Affordable is the word. By declaring everything is affordable or priced to be affordable, the savings of everyone is at risk, to be just enough for the day, for all the schemes, including housing and medical but somehow retirement was forgotten. They computed everything to be affordable, ‘gum gum ho’, and nothing left for retirement.
 
How did it start? It goes back many years ago when housing was priced to one income and to be paid off by 15 years. At this kind of affordability, many people’s savings started to grow. They genuinely smiled when they looked at their CPF statements, I mean the average workers. They would have paid up their housing loans and started to save everything they put into their CPF. And better still, if the spouse is also working, the whole CPF contribution would be in the CPF, and growing at 4 to 6% pa.
 
Then someone must have noticed the big and bigger savings in the people’s CPF. Heheh, they got plenty of money. Public housing prices must be made affordable to these people. They can afford to pay more. The prices became affordable for one income from 15 years to 25 years. Still got a lot of money leh. Make it even more affordable, with two incomes and 25 years. And then even more affordable to stretch it to 30 years or more. They called it market pricing or market subsidy or something like that, but very affordable.
 
Today, the first 30 years of CPF contributions by both spouses would be just enough for the affordable public housing. The real savings will come after 30 years of working, when both are about to retire or already retired. How to have enough for retirement? And there are the minimum sums to set aside, and now another great scheme, the Medishield Life is going to make retirement a less stressful time without the fear of big medical bill, but would tax on whatever is available in the CPF. The premium sure affordable, to who?

Best for HDB not to declare its losses or deficits

The latest $797m deficit that HDB said it has incurred due to the building of more flats is going to be disturbing to many readers. It was $2b a few years back, then it was $1b of losses. In these three announcements, a total of $3.797b has been lost by HDB on behalf of the MND. Can the ministry really believe that the people will be convinced by these numbers without questions asked? Can the ministry blame the people for doubting the validity of these numbers given the market pricing of the flats sold?

What is the purpose of the ministry declaring that it made such colossal losses? Is the ministry telling the people that the govt is so generous in absorbing the huge losses that should otherwise be forked out by the buyers of the flats? Is the ministry trying to tell the people that they should be grateful to the govt for carrying the losses? Or is there any other purpose or reason for wanting to show the people such drastic sums of money lost for building HDB flats?

Whatever is the agenda, it is going to boomerang and instead of gaining some goodwill or sympathy and understanding, it is raising many eyebrows. Pardon the people for saying, ‘How can it be?’ Throw a straw poll or a proper survey and I can guarantee that most people would not want to believe the numbers. They are just so difficult to believe to the point of absurdity. Don’t blame anyone for thinking this way.

If the ministry thinks it fit to throw out such numbers, it must be prepared to give the details to remove all doubts. If it is not prepared to do so, this could be a failed PR exercise that makes thing looks even worse. It is better not to issue such claims and probably the people would not even think about it. Saying it only invites a lot of unnecessary questions and even anger and cynicism from the people.

So, MND, what do you think?

HDB incurring $797m deficit

It is unfortunate that the HDB has incurred a $797m deficit, a jump of $354m from last year. This is caused by the ramping up in the building of HDB flats. 72,737 units are in various stages of construction. HDB has to spend $5.2b just to acquire the land for the flats. Some of the deficits were due to higher subsidies for the new flats. The people, or those eligible to buy HDB flats must be grateful to the govt for absorbing the higher prices, a whopping $797m.
 
Assuming an average price of $300k for each flat, the 72,737 units of flats should fetch $21.8b of revenue. I hope my numbers are as close to the real numbers. I only have 10 fingers and it is a bit touch trying to use the toes as well. With this revenue, I am wondering what would be the final deficit when all the flats are sold. Last year about 10,000 units were sold. I am not sure how the $797m deficit is derived, but the deficit for 72,737 units must be at least 5 to 7 times more when all is done.
 
I am afraid the govt is going to run a loss for building so many flats. But it is good for the people with such affordable priced flats. Just hope that there will be no more schemes to cover up for this deficit.

Singapore a truly rich country

We held parties called Singapore Day for our citizens and their friends abroad in cities like New York, London, Melbourne, Shanghai and the latest in Sydney. Each event could see near to 10,000 Sinkies being feasted with our local favourites to remind them of home, all free, paid by our govt. And the cooks and their foodstuff were flown there from home to ensure authenticity. We even flew a real minister and several big shots there to really make them feel at home. See how hardworking our ministers are. Each event would probably cost a few peanuts at most. Good value for the money. Our overseas Sinkies will be so happy and their guests will be impressed. I don’t think the Americans or the Japanese could afford such parties.
 
It is one of those events that Sinkies really feel like Sinkies and being surrounded by Sinkies. You can’t even find such a gathering and atmosphere back home except in Hong Lim when Gilbert Goh threw a party. And this is what a Sinkie, a Anthony Sim, in Sydney said, ‘… he had never seen so many Singaporeans congregating in the one place.
 
“It is quite heartwarming to know we are not alone. Everyone of us were on the same page,” he wrote.
 
"There were no PRCs, India Indians, Bangla or Pinoys to annoy us.” Ahem.
Sinkies back home would not have many chances to be in the company of just Sinkies.'

Unfortunately this Sinkie event has attracted the wrong gatecrashers who demanded to be invited. And when failed to get in, they accused the organizers of racism. KNN, how can our govt be accused of racism when they invited all foreigners with their open arms here? Typical outback country bumpkin mentality! It is unbelieveable but it is true. The two hungry and hard up white Australians said on a talk show that they were refused entry to a private party for Sinkies. I hope the Australian govt is not going to demand an apology and for SIA to fly the two men for a two week fully paid vacation in Sin City to appease them.
 
Actually since we have so much money to spend, the Singapore Day could be open to all and sundry. It can’t cost that much more than the F1 or the synthetic garden in Marina and another one coming up in Changi. It is goodwill money and will be money well spent. And the hard up Aussies will be blowing our trumpet happily on how generous we are and how good are our hawker cuisines, and all the good thing about Sin. Ya, good PR value for tourism money.

Asia Asean partied in the absence of the gangster

The Asia Asean Summit came and gone, cordially and with many economic issues addressed and advanced. The Asean states and their Asian partners locked themselves up in Bali and Brunei to discuss and chart their path for economic cooperation and trade. The climate was conducive and dignified and befitting of a platform of national leaders in conference. The enmity and hostility were totally absence. There were no thumping of the table and no gangster was there to set the agenda for Asean. It was Asean taking the lead as host to other Asian leaders. It was all about moving forward for their mutual benefits. No gangster was there to seize the moment, to hijack the meeting for its hideous motives and agenda.
 
The recent Asean Asia Conference and Summit were marked by the absence of tension and big power rivalry and big power agenda. The gangster was not there to stoke tensions talk about instability and threats of war where there were none. The gangster was not there to agitate and incite interstate rivalry and hostility when there was none without the gangster behind pulling the strings.
 
The meeting was one of the most productive and least contentious that Asean and Asia have had for a long time. Whenever the gangster was around, it was the gangster that set the agenda, for more bickering and for creating fears and threats of war.
Thank God for keeping the gangster away, for keeping him busy and no time to cause mischief in the region.

Chipping at the Greenback

One by one, slowly but steadily, countries are starting to negotiate to trade with China using the Renminbi or Yuan and their national currencies. The Indonesians have started the ball rolling and soon more Asean states would do likewise. Why would they want to use the Greenback that is losing its value rapidly with the Americans happily printing them to consume more and getting more into debt?
 
The latest American crisis and the threat of a debt default is very real and it is only a matter of time even if they could kick the can further down the road. The British have also signed a new agreement to be the centre of Yuan Pound swap in London. It is going to make London the biggest financial centre to trade the Yuan.
 
With this move by London, knowing how strategic the Brits are in their thinking, more European countries would not want to lose out. And this also applies to New York. There is no stopping for Yuan to be used more widely as an international currency. And the victim to this development is none other than the Greenback.
 
Countries holding on to huge American Treasury bonds are sweating in their pants with the Greenback shrinking in value like melting ice in the summer heat. The Americans are not helping either. They could not as they are deep in the shit and wanted to print more to reduce their foreign debt.
 
An avalanche is waiting to happen with the Greenback turning into banana currency very real. The confidence of the Greenback is being eroded daily and all the holders must be planning on how to get out, how to get rid of the Greenback at the earliest sign of trouble or opportunity to do so.
 
The Americans have killed two Arab leaders that were trying to scuttle the Greenback supremacy and a third one in Assad temporarily delayed. They could not be culling the British PM or other European leaders for wanting to cut down on the use of the Greenback.
 
Don’t worry, the Americans have worked it all out. It is time for another pow wow at Bretton Woods. And the Greenback would have a few zeros sliced off its back and buried for good at Arlington with the American flag wrapped around it. So would the holders of American Treasury bonds.

The Socrates syndrome

Socrates a great philosopher of ancient Athens who died around 399BC was blamed for all the ills and failures of the City State in Athens and was sentenced to death by the state.
Socrates -  ( ancient Greek philosopher )            Versus            Athenian City State

Ngiam Tong Dow  ( a pragmatic Head of Civil Service )     Versus           Singapore City State


Result
_____


Socrates:   Death  by drinking hemlock , a poisonous drink

Ngiam Tong Dow :       Recant

Verdict in History
______________

Socrates :         An honourable man vindicated by History

Athenian City State went into decline after Socrates death

Ngiam Tong Dow : People in tune with his original version

Singapore is in the doldrums, unsure of its  future

In praise of Singapore

Below is an extract of an article posted in Thoughts of a Cynical Investor blog.
 
Why more FT Indians here than local Indians?
In Economy, India on 15/10/2013 at 4:52 am
 
…’Assuming he is correct about the FT Indian population being bigger than the local Indian population, there is possibly a gd, sound economic reason for it:- Our local Indians are not the “right” kind of Indians S’pore needs?
He may not be aware that S’pore’s an offshore hub of India, along with Dubai and Mauritius.
 
The largest hub for Indian trade is probably Singapore. It is the centre for investment banking, which thrives offshore, owing to the tight regulation of India’s banks and debt markets. Reflecting this, the global exposure to India of Citigroup and Standard Chartered, the two foreign banks busiest in India, is 1.9 times the size of their regulated Indian bank subsidiaries.
 
Fund managers running money in India are often based in Singapore. India’s best financial newspaper, Mint, now has a Singapore edition. At least half of all rupee trading is offshore, says Ajay Shah of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy in Delhi. Investors and firms do not like India’s fiddly rules and worry that the country may tighten capital controls if its currency falls too far, says one trader in Singapore…..
 
Indian e-commerce firms often get their data crunched in Singapore, using web-hosting and cloud-computing firms, such as Google and Amazon. Amitabh Misra, of Snapdeal, says bandwidth costs less, technology is better and you avoid India’s headaches—such as finding somewhere to work, coping with state-run telecoms firms and having to wait to import hardware.
 
Singapore is also a centre for legal services. International deals involving India often contain clauses which state that disputes be arbitrated outside India, with its clogged courts. Singapore, along with London and Paris, has become the preferred jurisdiction. “The level of comfort Indian companies get from Singapore is unmatched,” says Vivekananda N of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.’
 
This is the kind of tribute paid to Singapore that is not often spoken. It would be good that our dumb asses take note of such praises and stop short selling the value of this city like a prostitute’s den. We have great and absolute value and the foreigners are not going to run away if we insist on implementing polices and laws that benefit our own people and country. Instead they will come crawling at our doors just to get in. Those cheapskate companies that think they could threaten our weak dumb asses to bow to their demands are best that they leave this island. There is a very long queue of foreign companies waiting to come in, with a horrendous long queue of foreign workers begging to be let in to find their pot of gold here.

The top does not know what the bottom is doing

Coming closely behind the La Fondue Restaurant advertisement for a Pinoy chef and the management claimed ignorance of the advertisement, another similar episode is happening in Compassvale Villa in Pasir Ris Punggol GRC. This time the commonality is Pinoy again. A poster was put up for Pinoys to join a RC Pinoy Sub Committee.

Teo Ser Luck said he did not know about it and told the RC to take it down when he came to know of it. Netizens have been complaining about the conflicting objectives of integrating foreigners by having an exclusive Pinoy Sub Committee. Some were just against foreigners in Residents Committee as they see that as using public funds for non citizens and wrong purpose.

Would it be funny if the Pinoy Sub Committee were to include similar messages as the advert for Pinoy chef? We are an all Pinoy Sub Committee in a Pinoy working environment. We are here to promote Pinoy culture to the Singaporeans to help them appreciate us and our contribution to the island.

It is so lucky, or unlucky, that Teo Ser Luck came to know about it and took down the poster. What do you think this episode is going to lead the blind and unthinking Singaporeans forward to?

Greetings to our muslim brothers and sisters

“Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha”

Matilah Singapura – a prediction

‘My prediction is that the local Singaporeans will fuck their cuntree and society up without the govt's help. They'll do it because they will not change with the times, they will not compete toe-to-toe with more motivated and hungrier Asians like Pinoys, Banglas and PRCs. They will kill their cuntree with overt racism, xenophobia, and the refusal to accept hard truths.

They will destroy a beautiful island -- my Hotel Island Paradise -- because they blame the govt for everything and expect the govt to give them everything.

Singaporeans will destroy Singapore, hence Matilah Singapura is my prediction.’

The above prediction of the fall of this little island is by blogger Matilah Singapura. It has three assumptions. One, Singaporeans are inflexible and not competitive vis a vis the Pinoys, Banglas, PRCs and those that came here to take away their jobs. Two, Singaporeans are xenophobic and will not accept the hard truths that the foreigners are here to stay, cannot be denied. Three, Singaporeans are expecting the govt to give them everything and would blame the govt for not doing so.

The first assumption is obviously flawed. Singapore is what it is today because Singaporeans are flexible and more competitive than the neighbouring countries. I will rule out China as they have proven to be a world beater and has over taken Japan and now challenging the Americans as the factory of the world, as the biggest economy in the world. As for the rest, they were losers to Singapore. Just imagine, if Singapore did not open the door to them, where could they go, where could they find the opportunity to earn big bucks and good living and working conditions? They could not find the opportunity at home and no other country will give them the opportunity like Singapore.  They will likely be begging for jobs back home or like strays crawling around in countries that would only give them poor quality jobs. These people are not entrepreneurial by nature or more competitive than Singaporeans. It is our system that makes them appear to be competitive by being cheapo. Most of them will be in the normal stream of our education system at best, even many of the so called super talents that came on board. You know what I mean.

Singaporeans are never xenophobic. They welcome foreigners even when they could hardly breathe and stressed out to tolerate the nonsense of the foreigners and their abuses. But Singaporean’s tolerance for foreigners is reaching a breaking point with their huge presence and their rogue behaviour, to even stealing jobs and discriminating against Singaporeans in their homeland. And many Singaporeans were even beaten up or shove around by foreigners. If nothing is done quick, xenophobia will raise its ugly head and things will not look pretty. The hospitality of Singaporeans has been taken for granted and kicked around by the foreigners with the authority turning a blind eye.

The new batches of foreigners are doing more harm than good to the city state, taking more than they gave, taking the better jobs, exploiting the citizens, and enjoying the great infrastructure and systems built by the Singaporeans. Other than the cheap labour and those in the construction industry that are really contributing to the growth of the country, the rest are pests, parasites, sucking the goodness of the country away that should rightly go to the citizens. There is no need for such a huge presence and if things are not managed properly, they will be driven away, by the people of the island.

Singaporeans are expecting the govt to give them everything! This is a fallacy, a false and misguided observation. It is the govt that is shafting everything to the Singaporeans in their face. The govt insisted on doing everything for the Singaporeans, making so many things compulsory, monopolising in many industries and trades, and making the Singaporeans pay and pay for things they did not want at outrageous prices.

Just think about it, especially people like Matilah Singapura, who could only look at things superficially. The Singaporeans will not do the country in. It is the super talents that will do the country in by their short sighted and single perspective policies.

Wow, I dedicated one whole article to Matilah Singapura’s fake intellectual construct and I did not do the same justice to people like Ngiam Tong Dow. Matilah must be feeling greatly honoured.  : ) Who is going to destroy this city state, definitely not the Singaporeans. They are incapable of even protesting for the wrongs they are living with, and being the suffering victims. Qualifications, this observation applies to the average and below average Singaporeans.

Traitor and betrayal are loose words

Lately the words like traitor and betrayal have been loosely popping out from people’s lips and also in social media. Anyone that has said things or done things that are perceived to be unfavourable to the citizens or country will be slammed with such a tag. It is not nice to be branded with such a title and neither is it good.
 
In the past, politicians too have been called traitors or for betraying their parties by speaking out against party policies or interests. Such hateful comments are not good for the victims and also reflected badly on the people who mouthed them. You don’t simply call another person a traitor or for betraying country and people loosely like some assholes accusing people of racism or xenophobia.
 
With the internet allowing more freedom of speech, oops, I forgot the govt also has to be merciful for this right of expression, more things will be said and more people are likely to be stuck by such wicked labels.
 
Ngiam Tong Dow has become the latest victim. Some has said it openly, some implied, some might said it behind closed doors. Ngiam Tong Dow was an establishment man. He held the highest office in the civil service, a top notch civil servant that rubbed shoulders with the power holders. He walked the corridors of power.
 
His latest revelation of some of the inner thoughts of our leaders and the antics of politicians and civil servants are not being taken lightly. It is very serious matter for telling ‘state secrets’ that were once privy only to the inner circle. Ngiam has in some ways retracted what he had said. Whether he regretted or not is a separate issue. It was a very uncomfortable confrontation and a very uncomfortable Ngiam. He spoke and looked like he was chastised.
 
Was Ngiam also been called a traitor, or for betraying the establishment for saying his piece? Or has he been accused of biting the hands that fed him? There is a conflict of loyalty and obedience. Should Ngiam value the interest of the country and people more than the interest of the party and establishment? Or did he betray anyone or any interest group?
 
Ngiam was first and foremost a civil servant, someone who is paid by taxpayers’ money. He was not paid by someone’s Ah Kong’s money. He pledged loyalty to the country. If what he said were for the good of country and people, he cannot be a traitor or be accused of betraying the people or country, or can he? Who is to judge him and to accuse him of such deeds if any? On what basis?
 
Even if there is a conflict of interests between country/people and party/govt, the former shall override the latter. The interest of people and country must supercede all sectarian and party interests. I hope no one will dare to cast such blemishes on anyone who speaks up for the good of country and nation, and people. Tio boh?

PS; Patriots and loyal citizens sound better and more appropriate. Tio boh?

Boycott of La Fondue Restaurant

Gilbert Goh of Hong Lim Park fame has called for a boycott of the La Fondue Restaurant for discriminatory advertisement against Singaporeans. The offensive advertisment that let to this boycott is here:

‘HIGH SALARY FOR FILIPINO CHEFS ONLY E PASS, PR AND DP HOLDER

URGENTLY NEEDED CHEFS!!!!...We are currently an all Filipino team at the service and kitchen department….posted by oloresisimoroginald@gmail.com.’
Bloggers are up in arms against such a discriminatory advertisement that came immediately after what MOM had said and specifically told employers to be sensitive and to give the citizens a fair chance in employment. Maybe the restaurant did not read the newspaper or did not know of the MOM’s directive.
 
The next day the CEO of La Fondue, Ravinder Pal, issued a clarification and an apology citing that the management did not know about this and it was the work of an employee and disciplinary action would be taken against him. This did not please the netizens and they are claiming that the apology was not sincere and insulting their intelligence.
 
This is the first time a boycott has been called against a restaurant by the people, a bottom up initiative. And from the angry posts in the internet, it is not going to go down quietly. It is unfortunate that such an incident occurred.
 
While the netizens are angry, they should not lose the plot. The main problem at stake is the good jobs that were taken away by the so called foreign talents at PME level. At the lower level and for jobs that the citizens are not too interested, the reaction should be moderated. The employers need to hire and if the citizens are shunning those jobs, some flexibility must be there for the business to exist and operate. Of course in this case it was the outright discriminatory advertisement that is the main issue. No discriminatory advertisement is allowed under the MOM’s directive. It is against the law.
 
While netizens are right to be angry, let’s focus on the right stuff, the good jobs that PMEs have been discriminated and booted out, replaced by foreigners. This is the crux of the matter. Do not be distracted. Do not lose your focus. Singaporeans want the good jobs.
 
The fact that such a protest came about is telling a story, a new development in the city state. The citizens are getting increasingly aware of their plight, of their ownership of this island. They would not want to be pushed around by foreigners anymore. And the rude foreigners, the beating of citizens by foreigners, only helped to fan the fire. They are claiming their rights as citizens of the island, they are going to reclaim their country. It is a good sign that the citizens have awakened and politicised, and know that they have to fight for their own existence in their homeland.
 
This is the beginning of our version of the Tea Party. The people are standing up for their own rights and well being. They are taking matters into their own hands, a bad sign that says the govt has failed them. When they do, there is nothing to stop them. This is only the first step. This is a concrete action oriented move by Gilbert Goh following up on his PWP protest movement. Gilbert could set up his own team of investigators to expose companies that are guilty of selling out the citizens. He could open an avenue for whistleblowers to go to him or his blog for follow up actions. The whistleblowers can be assured of actions from Gilbert and his team. No lip service.
 
It is action time and more boycotts are likely to be called if the employers continue to flout the employment law and discriminate against Singaporeans. The govt cannot go after the people or Gilbert who are seen as protecting the citizens’ interests. Making things difficult for Gilbert could backfire, as anti Singaporeans.
 
There is a cause, and a champion is born.

No tarts for me

‘Sir, Mr Lim is sending some tarts to you. Where do you want it delivered?’

‘No, no, no tarts for me. Tell him no. The missus will be angry.’

Many big shots are getting wary and scare of tarts and have given instructions to their secretaries to turn tarts away. And many big institutions have standing instructions not to send tarts to anyone anymore. Tarts are like lepers, to stay away from.

‘But Sir, the tarts are for the missus.’

‘What, what?’

‘It’s pineapple tarts Sir.’

‘Holly shit. That’s even worst. Listen carefully, return all pineapple tarts immediately. They are dangerous, like contrabands.’

It was reported that the tart business has since fallen to an all time low and workers making pineapple tarts have been retrenched. No body wants to be seen with a box of pineapple tarts in gift wraps.

Would you be ashamed if you are overpaid?

This is a loaded question and the answers varies, depending on one’s background, one’s philosophy if there is one, depending on one’s moral standing or one’s ethical standard, or depending on one’s propensity to corrupt, and many other things, including how much one is being paid.

This question has been thrown at many CEOs. Are you overpaid? None of them said they are. Everyone claimed that they are underpaid and could do with a few more millions. It is subjective of course. But when one is overpaid, or grossly overpaid, there is no need to ask the question. One knows and everybody knows.

Now back to the shame question. Could anyone really feel ashame of himself or herself for being overpaid for doing nothing or doing too little, or for being incompetent?  How could anyone be overpaid for doing nothing or sitting down whole day to drink tea and read newspaper? What, the company has too much money to spend? No shareholders to demand an explanation or a sacking? Sure, if it is your grandfather’s company, like the Ah Sia kia. Who is there to say anything? It is his Ah Kong’s money what? Or it is OPM.

Seriously, has there ever been people who are so thick skin, so immoral, so unethical, to collect humongous pay and do practically nothing, and feel right and proud about it? Don’t they have some principles, some sense of right and wrong, that taking so much money is wrong if one is not contributing an equivalent of work for the money taken? Would such people feel any pricks of conscience? Or maybe they don’t have any conscience at all. Heheh, who cares, as long as there are people or organisations willing to stuff money into their pockets, legally of course.

The question in the title of this article is foolish. Shouldn’t be asked at all. I can think of a good answer if asked. ‘If I am being paid that kind of money for doing nothing, then it simply says I am smart and you are daft.’

No sense of guilt. Yes guilt, which implies more than just ethical considerations or shame.

The New Order

                      The New Order


I have a vision from Heaven. I am told to clear up the shit on Earth. Don't call me a prophet. All past prophets are no better than the ordinary people on earth. They were selfish , conceited and self centred. They eventually cause more trouble on earth through their flawed doctrines. It is no incident that all prophets seem to come from barren lands in the Middle East and not from Greece, India or China. Since ancient times the Middle East were so cursed that the political leaders of the various tribes  had to find ingenuine ways to hookwink and browbeat the people into submission to their rules and  leadership. Whereas in Greece, India and China great philosophers with great morals and ethics with no political ambitions lay down earthly. rules and teachings for people to follow. However the various so called prophets in the Middle East were able to use the psychology of fear of the unknown God to unite the people behind them in their political ambitions to assume great power and control over everybody. Each of these prophets profess a doctrine in the name of his imaginary God which is now wrongly called religion to put fear into the people and thus when the people are in fear of 'God' they can be easily ruled and control. Thus surely trouble ensures when different prophets profess different doctrines and different 'Gods'. As time line goes down the years and centuries these diseases , these doctrines of the prophets of the Middle East  spread to Europe , north Africa and some countries in Asia.

The political leaders of Europe, Turkey and Persia soon found a useful tool in these Middle East militant doctrines -  now called religion. They would adopt it and  make good use or evil use of it to justify their aggression and conquests all in the name of their infallible 'God' . In the course of their conquests millions of innocent lives were taken to justify in the name and the power and the 'Glory' of their supreme 'God' and in honour of their now questionable prophets. Now many of our eyes are open and we now know that these militant doctrines  from the Middle East have caused more deaths, sufferings and disasters than anytime in history both past, present and possibly for sure in future unless citizens of the world wake up from their delirious slumber and throw out these evil  and insidious doctrines down the gutter never to resurface again.

The New Order which I have a vision is too wide a scope to be written in one go. The earthly world in future should be ruled by a council of wise philosophers. The world will be ruled by philosophers as one unitary whole . People will be free to move about and there will be no artificial boundaries and therefore there is no necessity for separate national states or countries. There will be unity in diversity and therefore all different languages will continue to exist except for the adoption of five official languages viz English, Russian, Mandarin, Hindi and Spanish. Rules and laws will be promulgated by the council of philosopher rulers. The council of philosopher rulers will come from different corners of the earth and they will rule for not more than two or three terms of five years each.

There is no need for soldiers for the whole world is now one unitary unit. There is still a need for law encorcement officers like the police to prevent crimes . Every citizen of the world is free to think and believe what he wants to believe but no one is allowed to disseminate his doctrine or force others to believe his insidious and divisive thoughts of the false and fearful concocted "God' or 'Gods'. In other words there will be no more prophets for they are prophets of doom and they cause more trouble to this world . The world has limited resources so no man is allowed to have more than one wife and no single couple is allowed to have more than three children be they all males or females.

Regarding work and occupations, everybody above eighteen has the right to work and be paid a reasonable salary. If you are a businessman there will be rules to see that you do not exploit the people and if you are officers in the government and that includes the council of philosopher rulers you will be paid well enough but the laws will see that you do not abuse your positions and become thieving officers by legalising your illegal , humongous and sinful takings.

Of course there is no Utopia world. But the world will be better without deceitful politicians and government officers who are crooks, scoundrels, charlatans and liars.

Southernglory1