The bad Arab leaders…So said the Americans and the West

Muhammar Gaddafi, Hosni Mubarak and Saddam Hussein were all gone. Gaddafi and Saddam were dead and so were many of their family members. The next bad Middle Eastern leader on the chopping block is Bashar Al Assad. He could have gone the same way as the three if Putin had not put his foot down and said no to the Americans and the West.

In many ways these dictators were bad in the perspective of the West. It was good that they should be replaced by less dictatorial and less powerful leaders. Now that they had been replaced, what is happening to their countries? Are the Libyans, Egyptians and Iraqis living a better life? Are their lives better now than during the times of the dictators?

The UN has just passed a resolution to save the minorities in Iraq from being massacred by another group of Iraqis, the ISIS. The Americans have resumed bombing in the country. Libya and Egypt are in turmoil and in a state of civil war and social unrest. The Americans can now march in like the angels from heaven to save them and their countries. The Americans and the West are blowing their trumpets about how bad the situations are and how good it is for their return to rule these people, to help them rebuild their countries and their lives. But first thing, the most important thing, is to rearm them so that they could fight and kill each other and lay their countries in ruins. The Americans and the West are the saviours and these countries have again become the White man’s burden.

These countries will be in for a long stretch of disorder, fighting and killings and without an economy. They will live a life without peace and needing the help of the western angels that came offering more arms, plus food supplies of course.

Is there a bigger scheme of things, to create a perpetual state of strife, of war and unrest in the Middle East, to keep the Arab people busy fighting and dying, and not able to thrive in peace and with functioning govts and economies? Who would benefit most when these people are made to fight and kill themselves and destroy their countries and economies?

Gaddafi, Mubarak and Saddam were bad leaders, and so is Assad. But with them in charge, at least there were law and order and peace, and the people could go to work, children could go to schools and life was fairly normal for the majority of these people. Syria better pray that Assad is not killed or their fate will be similar to those in Iraq, Egypt and Libya.

There is no need for more angels and saviours if there were no monsters coming in to help the Arabs destroy their countries and to murder their leaders. Cheers to the Americans and the West for their generosities and compassion to come to the aid of the Arabs who could not live in peace among themselves. Aren’t the Arabs lucky, aren’t they grateful and thankful to the Americans and the Western powers for the happy state they are in now?

Kopi Level - Blue. Thank you.

The people are listening, is the govt listening?

More than 170 comments were made in a thread on Hsien Loong’s NDR speech. And there were more than one such thread discussing his speech. It only says that many Singaporeans are listening to him and wanting to know what is he going to do to improve their lives. The govt cannot dismiss the people as not interested in the affairs of the state or not willing to listen to the govt. it is a good sign, but would it be a wasted opportunity. When the people are listening, there is hope. The bad part will be when the people stops listening to the govt, switching off the TV when Hsien Loong speaks to the people.
 
The people are listening. The people are willing to listen. Is the govt listening to the people? Or is the govt still adopting the deaf frog attitude, or acting as half deaf, selective listening, listening to what it wants to listen?
There were tweaks on the CPF. How many of the tweaks are addressing to the problems the people have raised through Roy Ngerng and his crusaders? Shall the people thank Roy and his fellow men or to thank Hsien Loong and his wise men for the tweaks?
 
It would be such a waste when so many non believers are listening and could not be convinced. But it is also a fact that today’s non believers are not daft and could not be easily convinced. You really need convincing arguments and truths to win them over.
 
Were the tweaks on the CPF enough to win some of the critics over to the side of the PAP? Were the Pioneer Package and the CHAS card good enough? Some think the formula of discounts and subsidies has lost its meaning when the prices of goods and services have been raised so many times and a little discount is actually meaningless, a case of LPPL or worse. So, would this NDR make any real difference to the fate of the Party in the next GE? Has it narrow down the divide of a fractious family?

Kopi Level - Blue. Thank you.

Chok Tong: People and govt are family

The people and the govt must be closed like a family, taking care of each other and looking out for each other. This is as much as what Chok Tong was saying. The rest of what he said in his constituency’s National Day dinner was gibberish, ‘mao dun’, as he only saw the symptoms of a fractious family but not wanting to know the causes. He even attributed this to the people criticising the govt and their unreasonable demand as the major causes of this divide between people and govt. Really? What was he smoking?

He added that the govt must also be compassionate to be worthy of its citizens, to listen and engage the citizens, if not it would not be a family. Did the govt do that? Or what the govt had been doing all these years? It needs two hands to clap. Gone were the days when it is all a one sided love affair. The govt could do anything it wanted and claimed that everything was good for the people, everything was fine. And the govt could claim credit by saying, ‘see, no public demonstration, so the people are happy and supporting the govt and its policies’. What a clever reasoning, when demonstration is banned and 4 is illegal assembly.

And there were no social media to talk about the negative aspects of policies and what the people were unhappy about. The main media were only saying the good stuff. And if they were occasions when some complaints were heard, they were ignored. Or like the burning of an MP, it must be the fault of the other party, never the fault of the govt.

The divide between govt and people has been growing and widening but mostly ignored. The losing of a GRC, the by elections and the Presidential Election were all clear signals of a growing divide. Did the govt take heed? If there were no social media to speak of the divide, the govt would still not see any divide. No complaints heard means no problem.

What are the causes of the divide between people and govt? Big income gap was claimed to be normal, foreigners replacing Singaporeans in jobs is necessary, in universities, in sports, in getting scholarships, etc etc, were these caused by the people? Who imported foreigners to replace citizens in good jobs, in university places? Or these divides were not important, it is all due to the criticisms of the govt when it made the slightest mistakes?

What about the cost of living, high property prices, and the people’s CPF savings? And didn’t the govt hear of the saying that one can die but cannot get sick?Are the citizens guilty of unreasonable criticisms of the govt, or there were really nothing worthy or deserving of the citizens to criticise the govt?

During Chok Tong’s time there appeared to be no divide but not necessarily no divide.
The unhappiness and disapproval of the govt were just not spoken, no avenue to air them. Hot topics like the absurd high property prices that the govt insisted were affordable were simply brushed aside. Now we can see how this emptied the savings of the people. Or perhaps the divide was not that serious then.

It is so easy to blame the people for criticising the govt as the problem. The people cannot anyhow criticise the govt without good reasons and would not criticise the govt without good reasons. The govt can continue to blame the people and ignore their grievances. It is the people that were at fault. Period. So cramping down on public criticisms, on social media, could be the answer and the divide will go away.

Just keep bringing in the god sons, adopted sons, the foster sons and sons of other people to replace the sons of Singapore and see what would happen to the Singapore family. If the parents can disown the children, (did he say the govt was caring and creating jobs for the children?) the children can disown the parents as well.

The relationship is not one sided, where the govt can behave like deaf frog and do what it thinks is right, ignoring the people and their objections. The arrogance of the govt to think what it does is right and good for the people, even when the people voiced out to object, cannot be good for govt people relationship. Or can it?

Kopi Level - Blue. Thank you

A simple CPF question

How many people died without touching their CPF savings? Or how many people saved for a life time but never benefit from this saving to live for a day when they could feel relieve that it is time to enjoy their life long savings, to fantasise for a day of plenty?
 
Or how many people only could smile but die without really be happy spending their money after a life time saving it?

This is simply hideous.

Kopi Level - Yellow

There was a time when a degree meant so much

There was a time when a graduate could aspire to be a manager or a senior civil servant, as one of the elites. Today, our graduates can aspire to be a fast food stall manager, but mostly as salesmen, or even temp staff, hopping from one job to another on a needs basis. And he is expected to commit to a 30 year mortgage for a home, get married and make babies.
 
What is the point of having so many universities producing so many graduates but could not find a decent job even at mid management level? And it is not that there are no jobs available. We have half a million foreign PMEs here which translate to half a million middle management jobs that could be given to our graduates. Why not? Why do we have to import foreigners, many are the average joe or street punks with questionable paper qualifications and our graduates are not gainfully or justifiably employed in full time jobs?
 
We do not need a single foreign PME more as long as one of our graduates is half employed or unemployed. We need to give jobs to our graduates to put food on the table. Now someone is asking why is there a divide between govt and people, a distrust, and the people losing faith in the govt?
 
When the govt thinks it is its duty to employ foreigners than citizens, that it is ok to employ foreigner and does not bother if our graduates are losing their jobs, the govt has lost its way, has lost its mandate to be the govt. The govt must be for the citizens first. If the govt does not think so, don’t expect the people to respect the govt and want to be ruled by such a govt. It is elementary, Watson. No need to crack your head to understand why. If you have to do that and still cannot understand why, you don’t deserve to be the govt.

Kopi Level - Yellow

Hsien Loong’s NDR speech on education and jobs

Singapore not only has high ranking universities but also world class polytechnics producing the best graduates a 1st World Education System is expected to do. We bent backwards to accommodate the pseudo requirements dictated by the ranking agencies to gain top rankings. We brought in plane loads of foreign academics and foreign students at the expense of our local academics and students just to look good on the charts of international rankings. We even over built our needs for universities to cater for foreign student intakes.
 
Where is the result? What is the result? Why are the employers and recruiting agencies screaming on top of their voices that they can’t find good graduates from the citizens and die die must import foreigners, even from 3rd World countries and unranked universities, including graduates from the streets of 3rd World cities with a piece of paper from printing machines, to replace our highly ranked graduates that went through a proper academic regime, the best in Southeast Asia and among the world?
 
This unsaid problem is finally acknowledged quietly with the setting up of two committees, the Tripartite panel to promote skills-based career advancement led by Tharman and the Applied Study in Polytechnics and ITE Review Committee chaired by Indranee Rajah. Presumingly they are going to review the education system so that our graduates are useful and good enough for the industries.
 
The biggest contradiction here is that our graduates are practically worthless compare to those from the 3rd World. That is why our graduates’ ambition is to be hawkers or taxi drivers while all the top and well paying jobs go to talented graduates from the 3rd World. What is wrong?
 
I would like to recommend the members of the two committees to visit India to learn from them. India does not have any high ranking universities. They don’t need this kind of recognition or farce. Their graduates are in demand in the West and heading many of their top MNCs. And we are also seeing great values in them and are recruiting them en mass to replace our top university untalented graduates. India does not have to waste money and resources to recruit foreign academics and students to boost their rankings. The value is in eating the pudding. And all the employers and recruiting agencies are getting the best employees hailing from India.
 
That is the first thing the two committees should do, head for India and learn from them. India has the right formula. Our education system has failed in educating our students and preparing them for employment. If we continue to open the door indiscriminately, India alone could provide us all the top talents that are needed to run this country and the industries, to take over this island of no talents, despite the high rankings of our universities that we spent so much money to attain but practically worthless, a name on a shit of worthless paper. Opps, I mean a sheet of worthless paper.
 
What is so good or so wrong with our education system?

Kopi Level - Yellow

Second generation PRs who chose not to serve NS

First generation PRs are not necessarily needed to serve NS. But their children are liable to. And to escape serving NS, some came up with crappy excuses like letting their children remain here in this island under student passes so that when the time comes they need not serve NS. Wonder why there is such a legal loophole? And they could come back as foreign talents, as new PRs or Employment Pass holders to work here. Correct me if I am wrong.

Ng Eng Hen was quoted in Parliament to have said, “As MINDEF has cautioned, these ex-PRs who have not served their NS, will face serious adverse consequences when they subsequently apply to study or work in Singapore.” So, what does this mean? What are the adverse consequences if the second generation PRs could still be issued with Student Pass or with Employment Pass, or may even be given PRs in their own rights? I say ‘may’ huh, not will be given.

So, what are the serious adverse consequences, like cannot become citizens and cannot serve NS but still can study or work here? Eng Hen did not elaborate on these but must be too serious to talk about them in case the PRs would be frightened away. This is like PG rating I supposed.

Unhappy and disadvantaged Singaporeans must be happy to hear about this and feeling good that the second generation PRs would have to face adverse consequences.

Kopi Level - Green

A little nostalgia of the colonial past

Top pic is the refurbished Victoria Theatre coming to life again.  In front of the theatre is a monument marking the visit of a Marquis of Dalhouise, the Governor General of British India in 1850 in making Singapore a free port. The pic was taken in a quiet Sat evening. Sitting there one could imagine a few colonial Englishmen appearing from a corner of the road like a few hundred years ago.

There were some flashback of memories of visiting the General Post Office to send telegrams and to pay water and electricity bills. The GPO is now the Fullerton Hotel. And still could remember making my Identity Card at one of the colonial office building, very likely the current Asian Civilisation Centre.

The second pic is the aging semi circular underpath linking Empress Place with the Esplanade, called 'Under the 5 trees' or 'gor chang chiew kar' in Hokien. A famous place for the locals to visit in the evening in the 50s and 60s. Many senior citizens would have walked through this underpath with their girl/boy friends or with their families then.

The bottom pic is the Singapore River at dusk and the glow of some street lamps from the past, still preserved but no longer lit by oil.

Shot these pics a week before National Day and on my way back to Raffles Place station after shooting the NDP rehearsal at Marina Bay. The area was pretty quiet as the crowd was at the NDP.

Kopi Level - Green

Peter Lim buying Valencia Football Club

I am proud of Peter Lim for his successful acquisition of the Spanish football club. He paid it with his own money, from his own pocket, the money that he earned himself. He can splurge on anything he wants. He can even throw his money in the air. He deserves to have fun with every cent of his money. It is his money, not public money, not your money or my money.

Peter Lim is buying glory and fame and fun. If I have that kind of money, I may do the same, be an emperor for a day or something like that. But Peter Lim is no fools. He is not throwing his hard earned money like someone from IMH. He calculated his every move and makes sure every dollar spent is worth it.

Peter Lim’s acquisition of Valencia is not for fun or a little ego trip, or borrowed glory. It is business. He is investing in a football club to make money. It is a commercial transaction. Businessmen that made their fortune do not throw away their money freely and easily. They are looking for real returns.

And Peter Lim will really cry if his investments go bust. But very likely he will be laughing to the banks and everyone would be clapping and cheering for him, for buying foreign talents to make money for him.

Kopi Level - Blue. Thank you.

I also cry for the table tennis team

After more than 10 years of importing foreign players to don our national colours, we have won many medals internationally, including the elusive Olympic silver medal. The table tennis players have worked hard, done well and deserving well paid for their effort.

Where are the real Singaporean table tennis players other than a couple in the reserves and never have the chance to play, maybe a couple of times when we were already assured of a win.

What is the purpose of hiring the foreign players? Did they say that they are here to provide training for our own players, to motivate our players to play for our country? Or are they here for the long haul, to represent our country while our own boys and girls will forever play the bridesmaid or worse, the page boys or flower girls? Is this what we want, is this money well spent?

At least the silly buggers in the football team have a target, to be in the finals of the World Cup by 2010 or something like that. Nevermind if they failed to meet that deadline. They could do so by buying more foreign players and make it in the next World Cup. We have plenty of money. But is there a clear objective for table tennis, a goal and a date to achieve it? Would we have our own national team by 2020 and stop wasting public funds importing more and more foreign players?

Would we still be cheering the foreign players in 2020 and our bridesmaids and page boys would still tag along, happily enjoying the glory attained by the foreigners and carrying the medals on their chests with pride?

The thought of seeing a repeat of 2014 in 2020 or in 2030 makes me cry. Doesn’t anyone understand what stupidity means? Doesn’t anyone feel embarrassed by the whole scheme of things? Would the next appointed President repeat the folly to claim more glory and jump wildly every time we won a medal?

Is this money well spent to build a Singaporean core of talents?

PS: Please do not berate the foreign players. They are just doing what they are paid for. They are young people who just love their sports and their professions. The young have the privilege to be ignorant and to enjoy their blessings.

Kopi Level - Blue.  Thank you.

NASA- The end of the world again?

‘With rising population, depleting natural resources and stretching social divide, civilization could be facing collapse within the next few decades, according to a scientific study funded by NASA. And if you think this is a load of scaremongering, it’s happened before. Remember the Roman Empire?
 
In the report conducted by applied mathematician Safa Motesharri, his “Human And Nature Dynamical” (Handy) model claims “the process of rise-and-collapse is actually a recurrent cycle found throughout history.”....
 
Our modern world might appear to be pretty sure of itself, with advanced technologies helping people live longer and revolutionizing everyday life, but this might be to blame. Using his theoretical model, Motesharri explored several factors and ran different scenarios that could lead to the collapse of industrial civilization, and found a breakdown of society could arise from rapid global population growth and unsustainable resource exploitation.
 
And as resources are depleted, they will become more expensive. This is where he further states that “economic stratification” — where society is further divided based on wealth — will create “Elites” (rich) and “Masses” (poor), with the Elites being responsible for over-consuming, leaving the Masses in famine....’
The above is extracts of a commentary posted in The Real Singapore. It quoted the source of this report as from a mathematician, Safa Motesharri, from NASA. How could this be true? We are still trying very hard to grow our population from 5m to 10m and some wanting more. Where got population explosion, where got problem with depletion of resources?
 
I think this Moesharri guy is referring to the rest of the world except Singapore. Singapore got all the resources money can buy, all the land to take in another 10m people and all the advanced technologies to make life even better. The rest of the world’s civilisation may perish but not in Singapore. Maybe that is the reason why all the billionaires are flocking here. Singapore will not expire because of population explosion or lack of resources.
 
We need more population for growth, so said our experts. What is this nonsense about the end of the world? Don’t believe in NASA. Obviously NASA did not have the best talents on earth. They are all here in Singapore.

Kopi Level - Green

3rd World descending onto Sin City

The unbelieveable happened. A few days ago it was a foreign woman letting her child shitting near a MRT station. The latest, a grown up woman shitting right in the middle of a passage way in Holland Village next to the MRT station, in broad daylight, in the midst of pedestrians passing by. She just squatted there with her pants pulled and faece on the smooth and clean polished granite floor. Can you believe it?
 
I really dunno what to say. In the case of the child, some bloggers even commented that when nature calls, what to do? Must shit means must shit. And here this woman did just that.
 
Please don’t blame it on the Singaporeans. I think this must be a once in 50 years incident. Have never heard of this kind of things happening here in the last 50 years! Real one.
 
I would suggest that all foreigners be invited for an integration party and be briefed that this is not the way we do things here. Just because it is normal in their countries, it is not normal here. Oh, please don’t accept this as the new normal.

Kopi Level - Green

America shall reap what it sowed

What the Americans had done to Iraq, Egypt, Libya and Syria and to the Palestinians are way too far from redemption. They have unleashed a force so vicious and deadly that they would not know what hit them when it hits them. The story is unfolding and America shall pay and pay dearly.

There is another act in East Asia, another uncontrollable and destructive force that the Americans could contain but chose to unleash for its short term interest. This short sightedness could cost the Americans dearly one day.

The Americans were victims of the most vile and vicious attack by the Japanese at Pearl Harbour. The sneak attack, without warning, caught the Americans with their pants down and till today many are still crying under the water of Pearl Harbour, not knowing what hit them or who did it. And some silly Americans were still dramatising and praising the Japanese for their spirit of bushido, honour and righteousness.

When President Truman dropped the A bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he vowed that America would make sure Japan would not be able to make war again. And the Americans did that for 60 years. The Americans could not prevent the Japanese from making war in WW2. They did not know how ambitious and vicious were the Japanese. They believed the Japanese were honourable men of peace and let Japan developed into the biggest Asian power militarily, and the ability to wage war across the earth. No one could blame the Americans then for the aggression of the Japanese across Asia and across the Pacific Ocean to deal the Americans the deadly blow below the belt.

Today, the Americans could stop Japan from making war again. Instead, the Americans gave Japan the green light to make war, to have the power to wage war. And the short sighted Americans thought it was good. They forgot the lessons of Pearl Harbour. They are thinking that the new Japanese were also honourable men like their predecessors in WW2. Perhaps they knew that the Japanese have not changed but they were only using the Japanese to contain China, to fight the Chinese, and think the Americans could reap the benefits without having to pay a price. America must not forget that what it sowed it shall reap.

To allow Japan to remilitarise, to wage war far and wide, does not guarantee that the Japanese would not do a Pearl Harbour version 2.0. The Americans shall pay dearly, more dearly this time round, for their irresponsible act of allowing Japan the capability to make war. All things come full circle, and there is no exception.

American exceptionalism would not escape this exception when Japan is rearmed and again able to conduct war across the Pacific Ocean. Yes, what you sowed you shall reap. Japan was a rogue nation and is still a rogue nation given a chance.

Kopi Level - Green

How does an insurance company make money?

When you are young and healthy, they sell you life insurance. And they win if you live long long till the expiry date of the insurance. So they pray you live long long and pay your premiums long long.
 
And when you live long long, near your expiry date, they sell you annuities. And they make money when you don’t live long long, for they need not pay you annuities for long long.
In the first case they pray you live long long. In the second case they wish you well.
 
Interesting thought from a blogger who made a comment in TRE. The blogger said the insurance companies actually placed a bet on your life in both cases. First case play long, second case play short.

Kopi Level - Green

CPF savings not enough

‘According to a recent survey by Manulife, only one in 5 Singaporeans feel confident that their CPF savings will be sufficient for them to retire comfortably.
 
The survey, which was conducted online with over 500 respondents over the last three months, found that almost half (47%) believed that they didn't have enough CPF savings to meet even their basic retirement needs.’ Posted in TheRealSingapore
 
What to make out of this survey? The first thought, let’s make sure that the 80% would have enough CPF savings when they retired. Let’s help them! One way is to make sure that they save more. If 50% of their income not enough, make them save 60%. This should help. If not, increase to 70%. This should be easy. The second option is spend less, to stop them from buying properties that they cannot afford and at too high a price. This option may be a bit difficult to implement as all of them would swear the properties they are buying are affordable, especially HDB flats. And they will quote the ministers as the authority that HDB properties are affordable. The problem part is that the 80% most probably bought HDB flat and now say they would not have sufficient savings for retirement. Don’t ask me why. The third option, make sure they can only take out their CPF savings 5 years before they are about to die. As an example, if they are to live to 100 years, allow them to take out their savings at 95. Like that sure got enough. But problem is how to know they will expire in 5 years? Maybe can ask god.
 
Another way to look at this problem is to question what they meant by not enough? Are they thinking of living like a king, a minister, a civil servant or an ex PME? If they are thinking of living like the first 3, then even if they contribute 80% of their income to CPF also not enough. But if they think like living like an ex PME, willing to be taxi drivers until they expire, then whatever they have in their CPF, or don’t have, also got enough. Ex PMEs are more down to earth and would probably downgrade to eat in the hawker centres. They would also be happy to drive their taxis till the last day. So got or no got CPF, never mind as long as they can drive their taxis. Can’t imagine them be cleaners or security guards at 90 years old,
 
So, looks like the problem is about explanations or is it expectations. Want to eat in restaurant sure not enough. Want to eat in foodcourt maybe enough, maybe not enough. But if happy to eat in hawker centre, sure enough.
 
So, what is the problem with the survey findings? Want to tell them not enough and then help them by increasing their savings to 60% or 70%? Or want to tell them the hard truth, everything is enough if don’t buy expensive affordable HDB flats and eat in hawker centres? See, no problem right? Or shall I con them by agreeing with them that money not enough so that I can help them, to save more for the future and eat lesser now?
 
Tiok boh?
 
PS: I have not told them the secret formula…sell their homes, sure enough.

Kopi Level - Green

When should one stop saving for retirement?

Theoretically one should never stop saving for retirement if one can afford to as no one can tell how long would a person live. For practical purposes, and with statistics available, it is reasonable to say that most people would have died before they hit 90. By 80 probably 80 percent could have died. By 70 very likely 60 percent would have died too. These are just estimates but not too far from realities.
 
Under normal circumstances, people should start to enjoy their life savings about 10 years before the end of their lives. If not, what is the point of saving for retirement? Leaving it too late would mean not benefitting from their savings or leaving too much money unused when they die. Taking them out too early would likely lead to a depletion of the savings, assuming that the life savings are the only source of fund for retirement. In many cases this is not so and many don’t really need to touch their savings when they have too much money or with family support.
 
Would it therefore be reasonable for people to start to withdraw from the savings at 60? It used to be 55. Or would it be a practical thing for people to stop saving for retirement after 60? Why continue to stress on your finances and stinge on your expenses to live a bit better by not savings after 60? Those who have a lot of money to save, by all means keep saving.
 
Is it reasonable for the Govt to force the people to continue to save irrespective of their age? Why are people forced to save at 60, 70, 80 or 100 years? Is the Govt being unreasonable? No such things?
 
For people who are self employed, who need to renew their licences, they are required by law to contribute to their Medisave Accounts regardless of how old they are. There is no limitation on the age of the person. As long as the person wants to renew his licence, pay up. 100 year old also have to pay if one happens to be self employed. Why? The Govt said so.
 
And in the case of people selling their properties that they bought using their CPF savings, regardless of age, they must repay what they took from their CPF savings plus interests. So, if one is 80 and decided to sell his property, if he borrowed $300k from his CPF, he needs to repay this plus the interest, assuming 2.5% for 30 years, or 75% of the loan. The total sum to be put back into his CPF could be $525k. Why would an 80 year old person need to have $525k in his CPF account? It could be a bigger sum, and at an older age.
 
Why is this happening? No one bothers to think through it? No one bothers to amend these irregularities? Or the Govt really wants this to be the case?

Kopi Level - Green

VEP could be a blessing in disguise

Not that I think it is a good thing as it hits everyone in the pocket from both sides of the causeway. Any hike in such fees will only hurt the people, the ordinary people. The rich would not think of it as a cost thing. In fact it would be good if the fees are higher, like some suggesting the ERP charges should go up to $50 per pass so that their Merces and BMWs and Bentleys could have the roads to themselves.
 
Now a return trip is going to cost $40 or $50 daily and those that have to pay for it would become a real source of pain. For those Singaporeans who have bought homes in JB and commuting daily to Singapore will bear the brunt of these high charges. It would definitely put off people who are thinking of doing the same or relocating their factories or workshops to JB.
 
Why I say that this is a blessing is that it is a prelude to more of such to come. You can the light at the end of the tunnel. And this is just an eye opener. It is better to know what would be coming now before plunging in with all the money and cannot extricate without suffering huge losses later.
 
I hope no one has built any nursing homes for the oldies there or thinking of doing so. Now every trip to visit the old folks is going to hurt the pocket real bad. Filial piety and wanting to be near the oldies are going to be very costly if the oldies are residing in nursing homes in JB. For those who have done that, they may want to bring back their old folks as the cost of commuting would negate the comparative advantages that were there before.
 
The VEP and toll charges have eroded whatever advantages JB has over Singapore. They have leveled the playing field of cost differences. In the case of Iskandar EZ, before the hen lays its golden eggs, it has been strangled to death.
 
See the blessing in disguise? The oldies too would be celebrating as their children would no longer find it attractive to park them overseas unless they chose not to visit them too frequently.

Kopi Level - Green

What are you doing America?

Below is part of an article by:
June 8, 2013. Source: Michael Snyder, Guest Post

In future China will employ millions of American workers and dominate thousands of small communities all over the United States. Chinese acquisition of U.S. businesses set a new all-time record last year, and it is on pace to shatter that record this year.

The Smithfield Foods acquisition is an example. Smithfield Foods is the largest pork producer and processor in the world. It has facilities in 26 U.S. states and it employs tens of thousands of Americans. It directly owns 460 farms and has contracts with approximately 2,100 others. But now a Chinese company has bought it for $ 4.7 billion, and that means that the Chinese will now be the most important employer in dozens of rural communities all over America….

Last year a Chinese company spent $2.6 billion to purchase AMC entertainment – one of the largest movie theater chains in the United States. Now that Chinese company controls more movie ticket sales than anyone else in the world….

Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, Inc. recently broke ground on a $100 million plant in Thomasville, Alabama. Many of the residents of Thomasville, Alabama will be glad to have jobs, but it will also become yet another community that will now be heavily dependent on communist China….

Detroit. Chinese-owned companies are investing in American businesses and new vehicle technology, selling everything from seat belts to shock absorbers in retail stores, and hiring experienced engineers and designers in an effort to soak up the talent and expertise of domestic automakers and their suppliers…. China is actually mining for coal in the mountains of Tennessee. Guizhou Gouchuang Energy Holdings Group spent 616 million dollars to acquire Triple H Coal Co. in Jacksboro, Tennessee…. And pretty soon China may want to build entire cities in the United States just like they have been doing in other countries. Right now China is actually building a city larger than Manhattan just outside Minsk, the capital of Belarus….
 
When you total up all imports and exports, China is now the number one trading nation on the entire planet.
 
# Overall, the U.S. has run a trade deficit with China over the past decade that comes to more than 2.3 trillion dollars.
# China has more foreign currency reserves than anyone else on the planet.
# China now has the largest new car market in the entire world.
# China now produces more than twice as many automobiles as the United States does. After being bailed out by U.S. taxpayers, GM is involved in 11 joint ventures with Chinese companies.
# China is the number one gold producer in the world.
# The uniforms for the U.S. Olympic team were made in China.
# 85% of all artificial Christmas trees the world over are made in China.
# The new World Trade Center tower in New York is going to include glass imported from China.
# China now consumes more energy than the United States does.
# China is now in aggregate the leading manufacturer of goods in the entire world.
# China uses more cement than the rest of the world combined.
# China is now the number one producer of wind and solar power on the entire globe.
# China produces 3 times as much coal and 11 times as much steel as the United States does.
# China produces more than 90 percent of the global supply of rare earth elements.
# China is now the number one supplier of components that are critical to the operation of any national defense system.
# In published scientific research articles China is expected to become number one in the world very shortly.
 
And what are the Americans doing? Signing military pacts, conducting war games, engaged in warfare, sanctions and threatening nations with wars and regime change. The Empire is only interested in war.

Kopi Level - Green

Eugene Tan and Roy Ngerng not selected as NMP

This is the new talk of the town. For Roy Ngerng, the writing was on the wall and is a non event. For the effable professor, many have kind words for him and would consider him worthy of a second term. His dropping is sending all the jaws dropping as well. For all the NMPs, Eugene is one that has made the most impact in Parliament, dedicated, consciencious, and I think perfect attendance. He is like the teacher’s pet, the class monitor, everything exemplary. Everyone is expecting him to be rewarded with another term.
 
Well, he was not in the new team. Why? Did he not say or do the right thing as a NMP? Many people are asking why such an industrious NMP was dropped? He is about everything that you can ask for in a NMP.
In my view he is deserving of better things. He is good enough, or many times deserving as an MP. The alternative parties should queue up to make their pitches to him to bring him on board. For sure he would not be absent from Parliament sessions. For sure he will take his job as an MP seriously. But these are not the only thing good about him. He has a good mind and a very decent man. At least that is my impression of him as I did not know him personally.
 
Oh, maybe he is being dropped but already invited for tea and would be slated as the next candidate. Now, I would say this is a good reason to drop him from being an NMP.

Kopi Level - Green

Citizenship to those who see Singapore as home

I read a post in the Today suggesting giving citizenship to immigrants who see Singapore as home written by a Maria Socorro and Tan Poh Chin. My immediate reaction is that there are at least 20m people out there wanting to make Singapore home and another 20m wanting to come here to make their piles. So, how to accommodate the demand?
 
Under the present policies, no problem. Out door is wide open and we are talking about 10m. Adding another 10m into the numbers is just arithmetic. And with a population of 20m, our economy will be 4 times the current size and everything will go up in value by 4 times.
 
The authors did qualify by what they meant of people who see Singapore as home. The condition is a 10 year residency in the island. I think this is a reasonable suggestion. It puts value to our citizenship. And those PRs who did not want their children to do NS should be immediately struck of the list. Otherwise every ‘prostitute’ could easily walk in to be a citizen. Maybe we like the company of prostitutes.
 
The authors also suggested for a regime of tests and interviews for the right to be a citizen. This sounds sensible as well. But what if all the talented immigrants said this is bad and threaten to go elsewhere how? I think this is a problem if the intent is to flood the island with 10m population. It will send fear to the policy makers. Think they will go down on their knees and beg the prostitutes not to go to other better places. There are just so many good places that the prostitutes would be welcomed and our little island would be last on their list. We better lay out the red carpet and grab anything that walks past our door, prostitutes, fakes or whatever, we need the numbers for economic growth.
 
So, no need to waste time talking about stringent conditions. Just like the MNCs, they will threaten to move out of the island. That is a frightening thought. The island will be empty without their presence as no one else would be interested to come. We are just a beggar and we have nothing to offer. Beggars cannot be choosers. Everything here is fake and not worth a cent. We should not think too highly of ourselves as a 1st World city. Even 3rd World prostitutes will despise us and threaten us.
 
What do you think? All the long queues at our door would disappear because we are choosy and not worthy of prostitutes?

Kopi Level - Green