better service? please pay

if the services of public transports are to be improved, please pay up. i thought the transport operators were talking. when has the transport minister become synonymous with transport operators? anyway he speaks as if he is one. the lesson for all singaporeans is to shut up. do not ask or demand for any improvement in any services, including better govt. you pay. you want anything better, it will be given, real or imagined improvement. but one thing for sure, you will have to pay for it. that is the first principle, or the first thing that the service provider will think of. let me get behind the thinking. so you people think it is so easy to ask for this and that. it is equally easy to reply and comply with your request. no need second thought. what ever you ask it shall be given. you pay for it. brilliant.

thailand: tyranny killing democracy

no, it is not the tyranny of thaksin that is threatening democracy in thailand. it is the group of activists, probably the minority, that is trying to kill democracy in thailand. because they are able to run up a few thousand demonstrators, they think they could decide what is best for thailand. and they are afraid of the people's will. they do not want an election. they have assumed the role of decision maker. and they decide who the prime minister shall be. thaksin must go. this is what tyranny of the minority is all about. thaksin has done the right thing for democracy. let the people decide. actually the people had decided for him to be prime minister. but the minority group is challenging him. so it is best to let the people confirm who they want. would the thais allow democracy to be what it is? or would the tyranny of the minority rule thailand?

soo khoon the consumate politician

soo khoon is punching myanmar yesterday, after telling off the aussies. he is now more the consumate politician that we have not seen for ages. and that is what politicians should be, confident and outspoken and with a view. not the 'err, no comment' or just wave and faded away. we need politicians to stand up to push an issue, hold their grounds and not simply give up when being pushed or encounter opposition to their cause. we need a little more aggressiveness in debates in parliament. not cackles. more clashing of the swords. otherwise either the mps will fall asleep or find other more important things to do and leave parliament with empty seats. parliament should not be just a rubble stamp, every bill put up just to hear aye aye. no wonder parliament is so boring. and better to skip parliament then to bear through the routine of a boring speech.

minister's salary benchmark

as a hr professional, i am very impressed by the formula used to benchmark the minister's salary. it is conservatively 'pegged to two thirds of the income of the 24th highest earner(median) among a group comprising the top eight earners from six professions(bankers, accountants, engineers, mncs and local manufacturers.' hypothetically if in one bad year all these professionals are hit by a slump and the 24th highest earner earns only $50,000 pa, then our ministers will be paid 2/3 of $50,000 pa. but if there is an extraordinary year when there is a boom and the 24th earner earns $20 million, our ministers will also be paid 2/3 of $20 million. this is very fair. it is like a gambler going into a casino. when lucky, can make a few million. when unlucky can lose a few million. i like the formula. no need for a salary scale. no upper limit nor starting salary.

lucky singaporeans: delusion of wealth

most singaporeans are asset rich in their hdb flats. own a flashy brand new car, and earning a salary that is big when exchange rate is factored in. and now the govt is going to give them more money. wow, what a life as a singaporean. but the wealth of singaporeans is fleeting. the hdb flat is worthless once the lease expired. the flashy car is technically worthless after coe expires. the income and handouts from the govt will quickly go to paying all the bills, children's education, tuition and school fees, medical bills, conservancy charges, fines, erps, gst etc are the average or lower middle class singaporeans really well off? compare to their technically poorer malaysian cousins up north, i think the malaysians are very much better off, their worth in real assets and value of their cheaper currency. everything they are getting is cheaper except for imported luxury stuff which they can choose not to pay for them. by the time a singaporean wakes up from his delusory dream his assets would have been worthless, and he will be penniless and still a lot of unpaid bills waiting to be paid, and an expensive medical bill waiting for him to sign. he will be in debt forever. any economist willing to do a real comparison, apple against apple?