To raise CPF or not not to raise CPF

The trade union leaders have called for some restoration of the CPF. Good times are here, it is time to bring out the champagne and have a party. Surprisingly several analysts were out in arms against such an idea. Obviously the memories of hard times and bad times were forgotten. During those dark hours, many lamented and regretted the high CPF and the rigidities of our wage system. There were calls for CPF cuts and flexible wage systems. The decisions were tough and hard to make but were made. CPF were cut, flexible wages were introduced. All to make our system less rigid and competitive. The wage system needs to be flexible to change with the highs and lows of the economic cycles. We have done well and live with an increasing portion of flexi wage components. Do we want to go back to cast more increases into stone again and have the same problems of breaking them when the hard times are back? Or do we want to continue to input further increases into the flexi portion of the wage to allow companies and organisations to vary them according to their performances and the economic trend? And there were talks that we can manage international forces, have no fear of competition from low wage countries, and can create high value jobs again. Now that is really good news and a great thing to know.

It is all in the mind

While I am calling for more bloggers and forumers to join cyberspace, while all the bloggers and netizens are named the Person of the Year by Times Magazine, the battle for cyberspace has begun. Three snipers entered www.mysingaporenews.com and started to challenge my postings. It just shows that mysingaporenews is worthy of reading. But how worthy and how good a blog is is all in the mind. When the mind is good it will see good things. When the mind is bad, it will see bad things. When the mind is big it will think big. When the mind is small it will think small. Then comes the clever element. A clever and good mind will think very big. But a clever and small mind will think very small and think very bad. In the drawer of a CEO, there will be two books. One is for good and honourable people and one for small and sneaky people. Both are very useful to him. The good and honourable people will be groomed to take over important positions. The small and sneaky people will do the sneaky jobs. And that will be their lives in the organisation, to do sneaky things. And the CEO knows very well that only such sneaky people can do such jobs. But never will he use them for good and honourable jobs.

Bloggers, this is your time

Bloggers, this is your time For seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, Time's Person of the Year for 2006 is you. Times Magazine voted the bloggers as the Person or People of the Year. The role of bloggers and citizen reporting is playing a very significant and increasingly important role in writing and commenting about events and news, and is getting the recognition of an important international magazine. With millions of bloggers in cyberspace, the amount of information generated is unbelieveable and they will present a serious challenge to the main stream media when news and information are expected to be packaged in an expected manner. Three cheers to all bloggers.

eleanor wong - a quotation

I like this quote from Eleanor Wong 'Having something to say that might mean something to someone, change how they see things, or at least make them ask different questions.' That's what writers or bloggers should try to do.

Citizen Banerjee

Citizen Banerjee A foreign talent turned citizen, and he said it simple and clear. '...holding a country's passport is not what binds a person to the place - it is the emotional ties that do....' He added that we don't necessarily need everyone to be a citizen. The real supertalent can go anywhere they want. Do we need a foreign talent to tell us these? Isn't everyone in cyberspace been saying the same thing? What I would want to add it that a pink passport is nothing without the emotional ties and without the benefits or values that come with it. Emotional ties are also dispensable when citizenship is no difference from being just a PR. There is greater need and urgency to make citizenship more meaningful and valuable, to be a treasured and wanted item. Our own supertalents, if they are really worth their salts, too will leave for greener pastures, pink passport or not. There must be a host of things that make citizenship meaningful to the people. Something like getting 10% more discounts or subsidies for medical fees and education. Imagine that is how valuable our citizenship is.