myth 30

'Singaporeans are so lucky' I can't help share Mr Brown's enthusiasm today. Everything is up, spirits up, morale up, hopes up, salaries up, prices of properties up, fares up, fees up, and I think happiness index also up. It is such a joy to read happy articles like this, contributed by Mr Brown in the Today paper. And in the small prints Mr Brown also included a small thing that was left out, the income of the 30% low income earners. Only this little item was not up. And after reading all the ups, I got this strange feeling that something is not going to stand up. I think our population rate may be slightly affected if this thing is not up. But all things considered, Singaporeans should be happy as there are more ups than downs.

myth 29

'Voting for PAP will get priority in lift upgrading' This is now a confirm myth. Voting for PAP does not guarantee priority in lift upgrading. Similarly, voting against PAP can still get priority in lift upgrading. The factor that decides lift upgrading priority is not how one votes but whether the constituency is won by the PAP. If a constituency is won by PAP, everyone in the constituency will be treated equally and get lift upgrading priority. If a constituency is lost to the Opposition, everyone in the constituency will share the same fate, ie no priority in lift upgrading. In this way, everyone is treated fairly, PAP or Opposition supporters, all the same.

poor singaporeans getting poorer

Poor Singaporeans getting poorer. The latest General Household Survey shows that the lower 20% household income dropped by 20% to $1,180. And the 30 percentile dropped by 5% to $2,190. Here we are talking about a household's income, the income of two breadwinners. And ironicall the top 10% household income gone up by 14.8% or $16,480. But the survey did not show the top 3% household income. This is very likely to be from $1 mil to $2 mil for a year or probably a 100% rise. Just extrapolating on the incomes of individuals which went up by $1 mil to $2 each. And if the household has two super income earner, the net increase could be $3 mil or $4 mil. But all these are natural, unavoidable and expected as the supertalents must be paid highly or else they will be poached by other MNCs and will be a lost to the country. We cannot affford to lose our CEOs in SIA, NOL, Singtel, PSA etc etc and all the banks to foreign companies.

myth 28

'Singaporeans are asset rich' Some are, and some are very rich. But for those living in 99 year leasehold, just don't be happy too early. The first batch of HDB flats should be about 40 years old by now. This means that in another 60 years they will become worthless. How's that for being asset rich? And actually the dwindling asset value will come sooner, maybe in 10 or 20 years time when the value of the asset is going one way, down, down and down and then out. And no matter how much upgrading and money put in, once the lease is nearing the end of its shelf life, it is like a man running out of time. All his properties and assets would mean nothing. Time out, game over.

education hub -caveat emptor not enough!

The case for CASE in the education scene is getting more rigorous and important. CASE took on the role of playing a mediator as well as guardian in an industry that is showing promise but with a lot of shady players. There were problems and problems to be tackled. CASE went into it by setting up some systems which theoretically are very sound in protecting the interests of the students. The only little misgiving is that it expects all the good guys to come forward and forget about the bad guys. And the bad guys continue to operate freely in a different world. It is anarchy in a way. And the complaints to CASE keep growing, a few hundred cases every year. And by adopting a hands off approach, CASE is now waving the flag of caveat emptor to all the foreign students and parents. Free market, buyers beware. Now is this the right way to go, a laissez faire market and those who got conned or cheated just too bad? Let the market evolves and let market forces take care of itself. There will be winners and losers. I rather that there be some enforcement and regulations. We cannot have a system where people can be cheated if they are not careful. And how careful can these foreigners be when they are strangers in town? For a reputable education hub to exist, there are certain expectations. And one of the expectation of Singapore and the Singapore brand is trust and honesty, a system that is fair and transparent and no cheating. If we cannot live up to this expectation, then our education hub status is destined for the gutters. Caveat emptor is not enough.