More fears, stress and anxiety

Do we need more of these? Falling seriously ill is already a very stressful thing. Thinking of being admitted to hospital is another big anxiety. Got money to pay or not? Now must face another uncertainty, can qualify for subsidy or not? There are now so many kinds of fear and uncertainties to face before admission. But fear and stress are good stimuli to make the people woke up and work harder. How about that guys/gals, like the stimuli?

Compulsory Nannying

Did Singaporeans ask for more nannying? Sembawang GRC is going to have compulsory survey of household statistics on the number of occupants, age, sex, medical conditions etc to be submitted to the police. This will give the law enforcer a better picture of what is behind the four walls and would be able to customised help to these people. The intention is good and it can work and do a lot of good to the people who need help and the good officers who are there to provide help. But it is a double edged sword. It cuts both ways. We have heard of frightening stories of firms hiring security guards who were ex convicts and ended as expected. Then there were maids that were brought into the homes who were killers. You just do not know who the person handling the data is and what is his intention. Good intention will likely end with good results. Bad intention will end with horrendous results. And it is compulsory for people to submit their private information with no choice. Why not make it voluntary and let those who want to volunteer to volunteer with eyes wide shut? No matter how many layers of security checks, Murphy's Law says something bad that can happen will happen. And the people has no choice. It is compulsory again

The worst of 2007

I reckon the following are the worst political decisions of 2007, though not necessary in order of merit. 1. Compulsory Annuity Scheme 2. Mean Testing 3. 21% salary increment 4. Taxi fare hike 5. 6 million population 6. Allowing rising cost to run wild Can any of you think of anything worst than the above? Or anyone disagree?

Replenishing the dying stock of good genes

This may not have been spoken as an official policy statement, but this is what I think could be the key reason. As our stock of good genes are dying away quickly, and we are unable to find the same quality of equally good genes, despite paying so much, it is necessary to import from abroad. In a generation or two, we will have all the great genes we need, from sweepers, cleaners, bus drivers to doctors and researchers. Then we can claim to the world that we have the best sweepers, cleaners etc or best workers of the world. And this could be the reason to pay them world class salaries as well. At the rate it is going, the workers, or those at the bottom 20% could be getting $3k-$5k pm or a household income of $10k. And they will be considered the lower income group. The average Singaporeans, with world class genes, will be getting $20k-$30k pm. This will be the future for a city of excellence in the future. Dunno what will be the cost of living then.

The Mean Dilemma

While everyone is being worked up in this mean thing, wanting to be mean but trying to be not so mean, have we forgotten about the basic problem, the unstoppable rising medical cost? Or is Mean Testing a solution to solving this problem or just a diversion, that reducing cost can quietly be swept under the carpet? I am getting some inspiration from President Suharto on how to make more money to subsidise those who are trying to stretch their dollar and savings to last longer. The rich, like Suharto, will not be embarrassed by Mean Testing. They can afford to pay. And he is paying, I hope so, for every day he spent being hooked up to all the machines and surrounded by an entourage of expensive medical professionals. This is a very lucrative market to tap on. Hospitals, private and public, should allocate more resources to provide such services and support to the very rich and charge them accordingly, and no subsidies of course. They don't mind being hooked on to machines and enjoy the publicity. Though this is what advanced medical science can do to hold on to a dying piece of living tissue, it is important for those who can afford to live this way. There are plenty of money to be made. Market the business aggressively so that the very rich can pay for the not so rich or the poorer people. It is time to restructure the whole medical profession and medical business to pursue more profits with a good reason and not continuously lumping the cost to those who can barely afford to pay. With the fear of being sick and admitted to hospitals growing by the days, no one can blame those with a few dollars in their savings, including those in Medisave, to want to hold on to them for as long as possible. No one should harbour the thought of emptying the people's life savings for their own medical care as quickly as possible under whatever schemes. For whatever there is in the Medisave may not be enough.