high cost of living, why?

this hawker at a hdb food court said he had to pay $10,300 a month for his rental of a noodle stall. he employs two additional staff to help him and his wife, a total of four workers to run the stall 7 days a week, 12 hours a day.assuming each worker cost $1,500 pm. the basic cost to operate a stall is $16,300, excluding ingredients. at $100 a day, it will add another $3,000 to his cost, making it about $20,000. at $3 for a bowl of noodle, in order to break even, he has to sell 6,666 bowls a month or 222 bowls daily just to break even. so every day he has to slog for the first 222 bowls before he makes his first dollar. it is simply hard work compares to what the land lord is getting. in a food court of 20 stalls, the landlord will collect a cool $200,600 a month once he has everything set up. they said it is easier to make money with money. with such high rentals, it is very difficult for the small business to thrive and make a decent living.

church wants casino levy to increase

the national council of churches of singapore, nccs, wants the govt to increase the levy for people visiting the casinos to be raised from $100 to $300. their good intention to protect the people from gambling is commendable. they all deserves a place in heaven for all the good deeds they are doing to society. what would happen if another religion tries to play one upmanship and urges the govt to raise it to $500, then another religion does not want to be left out and propose a $1000 entrance fee? singaporeans are really blessed to have so many religious bodies so eager to look after their interests and welfare. whether they like it or not, whether they belong to any religion or are non believers, they cannot escape the control and interference of all these religious bodies. they cannot but be saved. does it matter if these religious bodies infringe into the rights of non believers? do non believers have a right to live a life as they so choose without the manipulations of the religious bodies? how can society or the world be a peaceful place to live in when everyone thinks he has a right to dictate his wills and beliefs on other people? with all the religious bodies trying to be 'i am holier than thou' or 'i am purer than you,' will the secular govt be influenced by such demands and in turn apply them to the general masses who did not know what hits them? can the churches just take care of their believers and pass their own church rules to be obeyed by their followers. and likewise all the other religious groups should also mind their own houses and keep them in order and not to impose their wills on non interested parties? i believe no one will have any quarrel with the church if it wants all christians to pay $3000, or with any other groups for whatever amount they want to impose on their followers. let every religious body be warned that not everyone likes to be controlled by people or religious bodies that they do not want to have anything to do with. let not this overzealousness be carried too far and lead to adverse condemnation from the affected people. perhaps the govt shall grant the wishes of the church and other religious bodies and let them decide what is best for their followers. the nccs' proposal shall be accepted and all christians shall pay a $300 levy. those who are not christians and who do not belong to any religious group shall pay $100 as decided by the govt.

is annabel chong a national hero?

i happen to spot a little picture of annabel chong in a little corner of today's straits time with the heading, 'is annable chong a national hero,' a topic or discussion in the sunday times tomorrow. now, is that the kind of mindset of a liberal and mature society or one that has gone down the drain to obscenity and bad taste? third world mentality will go for the world's biggest ketupat or the longest popiah to be entered in the book of guinness world records. afterall they have nothing else to prove. but i think that kind of mentality is at least a few level higher than those who think it is deserving to even consider annabel chong a worthy candidate to be a national hero of this little republic. if that be so, we shall rename our country as the repuprick of singapore. that would be more appropriate and very well deserving. and kudos to the sunday times and the editor or columnist for setting aside precious space in the paper for something that we can be so proud of. i rather called myself a malaysian and cheer for the world's biggest ketupat.

the crooked bridge and the demise of jb commercial properties

once the crooked bridge is up and the causeway demolished, all the investment in properties, especially commerical properties are likely to suffere a huge fall in prices. worst hit will be the huge shopping complexes and all the shopkeepers and related consumer businessess catering to singaporeans. the next boom town will be skudai where the bridge ends, and malaysian ciq is located. it is time to take the gamble to start grabbing properties in skudai and sell whatever in jb. unless there there is status quo and the bridge project falls through.

buangkok station, a white elephant's tail

there is no white elephant in singapore. and there is no white lies too. at best a glimpse of a white elephant's tail. the buangkok station will be opening soon. but to no credit to charles chong and his men. and he knew very well why. and neither will they claim any credit. the opening of buangkok has nothing to do with white elephant tales. but nonetheless charles chong is beaming widely. he could not hide his satisfaction. that at least people in his constituent will be a little bit happier. yeo cheow tong too has confirmed that the govt also did not pressure the transport company to open buangkok after all the excuses about lack of commuters and a guaranteed losing decision. now the transport company is willing to look further into the future, for good customer relations, and a little short term loss for long term gain. so the elephant tale has a happy ending. everyone is honest and sincere in what is being said. white elephants cannot be a meaningful way to convey a message or to get things done in this prim and proper republic. a commercial decision must be carefully thought through using commercial logic. forget about white elephants and white lies. and should the transport company continue to lose money, a simple solution is to impose a surcharge for all commuters entering and exiting from the buangkok station. a 50 c surcharge per trip will likely to do the trick.