Civil Service caught napping?

The salary of new entrants to the Civil Service has lagged behind the private sector over several years. And the difference is not 10 or 20%. The gap is HUGE. Depending on which level one is looking at, the difference can be more than 100%. But for the average entry level graduate, there is at least a 50% gap. And this has been going on for at least two years according to SMU survey. Does it mean that the Civil Service were underpaying their new employees or shortchanging them? What happens to the pegging to the market mechanism? Rip Van Winkle just woke up? Was the Civil Service caught napping?

signs of decline

After the whacking by our neighbours, now Changi lost to KLIA in the Best Airports in the World Ranking. And KLIA started with so many problems. Now who is laughing? Well done Boleh Land!

nkf story - the wayang continues

Is the $20k payment for work done? When David Tan was given the $20k by Durai, he was elated. It was reported that it was a token of appreciation for fundraising. Now it has become payment for consultancy work done over cheap chicken rice. The chicken rice was only the appettiser. The $20k was the main course. But why would David Tan return the money to NKF when he was questioned by the authority? Didn't he has any clue whether the money was payment, token of appreciation, legitimate or illegitimate? What a big puzzle. The recipient of $20k, told to raise an invoice which he did not know for what, returned the money and now admitted that it was payment for consultancy over chicken rice. What kind of wayang is this?

we were clobbered

There was no granite ban The Indonesians are just musing over whether to have a ban on granite. And according to the Trade Minister Mari Pangestu it is unlikely to ban granite sale. Those who are talking about protecting their environment should ban the exporting of oil or oil exploration and go back to use firewoods. Oops, firewoods would also harm the environment and send more haze all over the sky. Now that there is no ban, what happens to all our vessels that were seized? Have they been returned? Were there any compensation for the illegal arrest of legitimate shipping vessels with proper papers? Why is there no protest from Singaporeans when their vessels were seized by illegal and unauthorised means? This is the worst kind of piracy. Singapore as a nation is at the lowest in terms of respect from other countries. Our vessels seized, investments confiscated or slammed with all kinds of charges and probably ended up losing every cent. Our people being beaten up, robbed and killed in foreign land. And we are all living happily as if nothing has happened. We are small and that is our disadvantage. Growing our population to 6.5 million is not going to make even a ripple. What we need, maybe, is to consider becoming the 52nd state of the USA. Then we will no longer be small and we will walk in and take our vessels back. We will also confiscate or put a sanction on the properties of foreign countries that violate the legal process to seize our assets in their countries. We will called up ambassadors to give them a dressing and demand justice when our citizens are being attacked. Now would that be better than a little red dot? Just musing.

money or quality patient care

Reward for patient care or chalking up revenue This is the latest debate involving Wei Ling and Dr Ranjiv Sivanandan. Ranjiv's point is that in restructured hospitals, doctors and departments are rewarded based on the number of private patients treated. This underlines the whole Singapore ethos of existence, from state, organisations and people. Money is the only reason and the only reason that can justify work and achievements. Wei Ling came out strongly against this impression. And she quoted her department , NNI, as a living example of patient care first, quality care comes first. Bringing in money is not a criteria for performance appraisal. She knew what she was saying. That was her department and that was where she called the shot and set the ethos. The sick are very fortunate to have some of these special individuals who are passionate in what they do, without having to bother with how much they earned or how their rice bowl will be affected. Unfortunately, NNI is probably an isolated case. Will there be another hospital heads who will stand up to say they too are doing the same? Probably not, and Ranjiv's case still stands. We need mavericks, people who are high achievers, confident and secure, to stand up to the weight of bureaucracy to do what is right and not what the bureaucracy wants them to do, or they will have to face the stick.