the NOBLE Award

The NOBLE Award It is the time of the year when employees are expected to be assessed on their annual performance. And this eventually leads to the bonus for Christmas. While employees are all being assessed, who is assessing the people whose decisions and policies affect the people's life most? Presumably they are all being assessed. I am referring to the Ministers, the Head of Ministries and Stats Boards. All these people manage our lives and either make it better or worst. And shouldn't the people also do their assessments of these men and women who can turn their lives into a fantasy trip or into misery? Assessing them for their worst is unbecoming and unpleasant. Such eminent people shall not be assessed for being bad, but for being exceptionally good. I am thinking of a NOBLE Award, something like the Nobel Prize. Not the kind where entertainers gave to each other for entertainment and self flattery. The award for leaders of a country and national institutions shall be something serious and meaningful. And the criteria must be exceptionaly high for the high remuneration that they are paid to do the jobs. What is NOBLE Award? It stands for Noble, Original, Brilliant and Life Enriching. People deserving of such an award must have done something noble, the ideas original and brilliant, and enriching the lives of many people. The Award is not to be given for selling dreams, for hardwork, dedication and perseverence or things that anyone can do given the authority eg deciding to go ahead with the IRs. This is just a decision thing. I am scanning through all the ministries and stats boards trying to shift out something that is deserving of such an award, something really brilliant and noble. So far nothing comes near. A lot of hard work were put into the Health Ministry to cut cost or streamline cost, but all basically administrative matters. Even the 3 Ms were ordinary. Transportation? All basically money making from the commuters. Hard to assess what the Defence and Home Affairs are doing. The rest are just system maintenance. The only bright spark is the 2% increase in GST. This has the potential of becoming something brilliant, in helping a large group of lower income citizens. If only the money raise is used for what it is meant to be. And the greatness of this decision will be there for all to see. Or would it turn out to be a big disappointment? Something that everyone knows, but wishing and hoping that they were wrong, and waiting to be proven wrong? Never in history has taxing the people been innovated into something that really benefitted the people directly. This is the first time that a tax is proclaimed to be for the sole purpose of improving the lives of the people. If this can be true, it will be a fairy tale story with a good ending and deserving of a NOBLE Award.

Signs of a Nation losing itself.

Signs of a Nation losing itself. The lack of response to the Indon policeman attack on a Singaporean is a bad sign of being Singaporean. The outpouring of help, to some extent unreserved help, for foreigners, may be good for humanity eg the tsunami and the 40% bursary going to foreigners. But it is bad when viewed from the perspective that many Singaporeans still need help but help not forthcoming or with so many conditions attached. The emphasis on foreign talent is good. The opening of job opportunities to foreigners while there are Singaporeans having problems getting a decent job. The widespread littering, if mainly attributed to Singaporeans, is a sign that this is not our home any more. Nothing to do with them. Let it mess up or be dirty. Doesn't matter. The growing number of Singaporeans migrating. The growing number of Singaporeans having to work overseas when they can't find employment back home. A severing of their roots or attachments. The rapid dilution of the population with new citizens. The buying of foreign talents to win sporting medals. The glory is so fake. Then the cursing and swearing by some Singaporeans. The impatience in wanting to make a quick buck, like pre Hongkong 1997, to prepare to escape from paradise. The widening income gap and the hardlanders/elite divide. These are but some of the signs that there is something wrong with our nation building effort. When there is no pride being Singaporeans. When Singaporeans do not bother about Singaporeans and Singapore.

cabinet salary increase?

Cabinet pay May soon rise During May election, hikes in 5-7% GST and cabinet ministers’ pay were widely speculated. Now the 2nd part may also come true. By Seah Chiang Nee. Nov 26, 2006 By far the highest in the world, Singapore cabinet ministers’ salaries are likely to head for another increase soon.... Currently, ministers are paid basic annual salaries (plus performance bonuses) and, at age 55, they are entitled to collect both a salary and full pension. The President's basic salary US$1,500,000 (S$2,507,200) while the Prime Minister gets US$1,100,000 (S$1,958,000). Minister's Basic salary ranged from US$655,530 to US$819,124 (S$1,166,844 to S$1,458,040) a year. In comparison, the president of the United States, the most powerful nation in the world, earns US$400,000 and US$50,000 expenses, less than what a junior minister earns in Singapore. In UK, Prime Minister Tony Blair earns US$170,556 annually.... Littlespeck.com The rise in salary for the politicians is a good thing. We should not begruge them for their high salaries. They deserve it. Further, with the high cost of living in Singapore, we cannot afford to tempt them to become improper when their salaries cannot keep up with their Swiss standard of living. And when their salaries are comfortable enough, they too would not begrudge other Singaporeans from earning more and would not do any silly things to break other people's ricebowls. It is good for everyone. The only thing to be concerned about is to raise the salaries of those civil servants at the lower levels, ie. those earning less than $5000 pm. By keeping on a percentage increase to the million dollar earners, the income gap will surely widen. It may be tough to maintain a Swiss standard of living. But it is tougher to maintain a hardlander's standard of living.

myth 97

'Don't let averages fool you' I read this phrase in the Today paper this morning. What is Vasu Menon referring to? Property prices. He was saying that the high end prices are really shooting to the sky. Up 34% in the first quarter! Averages often hide the ugly truth. The PSI is an average over 3 or 6 hours. It does not want to show the real PSI in that particular hour so as not to frighten people. Another average that tries not to frighten people is the income of employees. It is said that the top 20% earns around $10K a month. It does not tell the top 3% what they are earning. Looking at the millionaires that we have, it is likely that most of them will be getting more than $100k a month. I wonder how organisations can pay employees so much in a month. These people must have the Midas touch. At the other extreme, the bottom 3% could be earning $300 a month. That is the real income gap that is not told. Or take the top 1% against the bottom 1% and find out what it is like.

Have we failed in nation building?

When I saw the vicious attack on a Singaporean, James Seah, in Medan, I felt so outraged. I was incensed. The video clip aired in the news showing how viciously James was beaten, kicked, and on the ground, while his assailant, an Indonesian policeman, brandishing a gun in his hand. Under such a situation, no one will dare to hit back as the alternative will be a shot from the gun. And James' sin was to ask the policemen to pay for their drinks in his hotel. They were not drunk. From the video clip, the assailant was moving around like a hyena around its fallen prey. What irks me most is that this whole episode did not evoke any sense of outrage among Singaporeans. It just went past quietly as if nothing happened. A Singaporean, viciously attacked unjustly and no other Singaporean would mutter a word. Where is the sense of pride, of being a Singaporean, or being identified as a Singaporean belong to a nation called Singapore? Or perhaps we are too successful in welcome foreigners and helping foreigners that we no longer know who we are. Or we are all international citizens living in a hotel. Have we lost this sense of belonging as a people? Where is the demand for justice, for the attacker to be punished? Or shall we still rush over to pour our money over their heads again? The attack revealed a strong hatred for Singaporeans, some say Chinese, in Indonesia. While some apologists would say it was only one Indonesian policeman, not the whole of Indonesia. Agree. But what we should expect is that there are more than just one Indonesian policeman who did not appreciate what we have done, but hated us and would beat us to a pulp given any excuse. And what did the Indonesian govt do to the culprit? Is he being arrested and punished? I am writing this as one single Singaporean and this does not reflect on all Singaporeans.