myth 129

Singapore mentality not the same as Malaysians It was reported that 800,000 of 2.1 million Malaysian civil servants moonlight to earn extra income. And they took on extra jobs like taxi drivers, cashiers, gardeners as well. And these less talented workers choose to do it the hard way instead of resorting to corruption. Corruption only happens in high places where people earn more than RM$5,00 pm, so the papers reported. Now this is very difficult to understand. In Singapore, the higher people are paid, the lesser they are corrupt. In Malaysia, it seems that the higher you pay them the more they are corrupt. It is indeed a big contradiction. Are we made differently?

myth 128

Is there a value to a job? The traditional method of evaluation the worth of a job and how much it should be paid is no longer relevant in the modern context, or at least in the Singapore context. In the past, a job is carefully evaluated with relevant factors to determine how much it is worth. It is quite a tedious and complicated process. Today, the determination of the value of a job is so much easier. Just peg it to somebody's income. In fact the value of all the jobs in Singapore can be done that way. And whether the value of the job increases or decreases will be determined by the income of the top eight lawyers, accountants, bankers, CEOs of MNCs and local enterprises, and engineers. And workers can likewise peg their pay to them. And when these people earn a lot of money, their pay can likewise be adjusted accordingly. The process is clean, transparent, objective and clinical. No need to argue about how much is a job worth anymore. No need to go for collective negotiation with management. Afterall the value of a job is only relative, relative to whoever one chooses to peg it with.

The irony of it all

The irony of it all The people who are struggling to make ends meet and slogging away are all silent while the fat cows are screaming for more. In a society like ours, those who are earning less than $3k a month, not to mention those earning less than $1k, are just living from hand to mouth. Anyone who earns $20k a month are very comfortable. Anything more than that will either go to their savings or for more luxury. And it is this latter group that keeps saying 'I want more and more and more.' It is so distasteful. Oops, I am wrong. I have lost touch with reality, with the people's aspiration, and the brutal truth.

great opportunity to start anew

The IDR is the greatest opportunity for Malaysia and Singapore to start on a new phase of cooperation. The Malaysian High Commissioner did not miss this out and is calling for more effort towards a hassle free transit in and out of JB. He is pushing for a new Causeway card that will make transiting a breeze. But there are many other things that need to be ironed out, especially the controversial and ambiguous rulings which the police, immigration and customs are famous for. Tinted glasses for cars, red plated off peak cars, no chopping of passports, checks and harassments for no rhymes or reasons, spot checks, stopping by traffic police etc etc. These are the irritants that make live very miserable and uncertain for visitors to JB and Malaysia. Maybe the High Commissioner could come out with a list to clarify all these things in a booklet form for Singaporeans to carry along to show to the law enforcing officers that they have crossed the line. If it will help. It may not as they could throw whatever booklet away and insist that one follows them to the police station and spend another few days in Malaysian against one's will.

best quote from swee say

The most convincing quote from Swee Say. Payrise for Ministers will benefit the people.