Strike Toto also cannot pay

Read a posting in YPAP about a Stomper complaining that his mother's medical bill from a private hospital was $700k! Toto's normal payout is $650k. This is the kind of money that Sinkies are made to accept as reasonable. You want quality service, world class service, this is what you should be prepared to pay. Our lives are so good that we should pay several hundred thousands just to keep ourselves alive. The unthinkable thing is that private hospitals got the gumption to issue a bill of such an amount. This is ridiculous beyond any count. Hospitals must make it known to the patient how much it will cost or at least an ideal of how big the bill may come to. This will give the patient a choice to opt to die and save the money for his/her family. Hey, this kind of money is like a fortune to all the losers here.

Another crack in the armour of NS

The only real national service that is being done today is uniformed service by NS men under the coercion of the Enlistment Act. And here it is pure sacrifice in terms of money, effort and opportunity cost. The rest are only lip service. Statutory Boards and public services have been transformed to money making machines when making money is the sole reason for their existence. From health, education, to public transportatio or anything, it is all about money first. I read in the paper about parents griefing that their little 2 or 3 year olds having to pay transport fares once they grow above 0.9m. It is like flogging a dead horse. No, the transport companies are private companies and they must make profits, as much as they can, and if they can make babies pay, they will. It is not a public service to serve the people. It is about making money and more money. They need not do any national service.

Myth 188 - Myth of anonymity

In the absence of legal provisions, netizens are not accountable to what they posted in cyberspace. And to take it one step further, just remain anonymous. Cyberspace thus becomes a lawless world for the irresponsible and those who are out to do mischief. This is far from the truth. Everyone in cyberspace is accountable for his actions and words. There is no escape unless one can really make his postings untraceable. Those who are still posting vicious and scandalous messages are only allowed to go free at the mercy of their intended victims. Once the wronged party decided it is enough, the net will be pulled in and the guilty is not going to get away. The arrest of the paedophiles that posted in crypted messages, twirled his image etc is a case in point. When the law is ready to haul you in, you will be in. No netizen can afford to be irresponsible and feel safe even in cases of libel and scandal. You cannot hide one day longer. It is a fallacy to claim that netizens feel safe to be irresponsible in cyberspace.

The merciless increases in prices

No matter how bad the people are affected by the high cost of living and the shrinking dollar, price increase must be it. No let up, no one is going to bother about how it will affect the people. Just tell them to tighten belt. If they can't, go for charity. And even with charity still cannot tahan, go for more charity. Hospital charges have gone up during these difficult times. I have copied the numbers from: http://singaporenewsalternative.blogspot.com/2008/07/price-watch-updated-10-jul-2008.html Medical SGH inpatient room rates rose in all the 3 classes selection: 1. C class rose the highest by 7.69% from $26 a day to $28. 2. B class rose by 7.55% from $53 a day to $57. 3. B+ class rose by 6.6% from $106 a day to $113. Come to think of it, the increases are small. Very affordable. Ok let's move on. And no one should be blamed. These are private hospitals and run for profit. Privatisation is good. Now cannot blame the govt also.

Be real about CEO’s pay

Roger Hancock wrote to the ST forum on the alarming CEO’s pay here. Alright, compare to the Americans, we are really paying them peanuts. But relative to Singapore worker’s pay, relative to the size of the businesses, it sure is a huge sum of money. And of course these CEOs are still complaining money not enough. I empathise with their plight. Poor buggers. The issue is that do they deserve their exorbitant pay? The way they are paying themselves now is not how much they are worth in terms of how much they contribute to the shareholder’s value but by comparing with another turkey and cry, huh, he got more than me. What utter rubbish. The other way they pay themselves crazy is to show a year of big profit, not really in terms of returns on investment vis a vis what the same money would have brought in just putting them in fixed deposit, but just claim that it is big. A good year! Then comes big bonuses, big pay rises and big share options. Then comes the next year, the next 3 years, company nearly goes bust. Not the CEO’s problem. Blame it on something else. Pay just keep collecting as usual, bonus may cut a little. It is a sure win formula at the expense of the shareholders. Yes, Roger Hancock had a point. Time to rein in the out of proportion pay rises of CEOs. The huge pay they are getting has made the meaning of money or pay obsolete. How could someone justify his pay in the millions? What kind of returns to shareholders is he bringing in,and is it just his effort or the people in the organization or the capital the shareholders pumped in? Roger Hancock concluded by suggesting, ‘Using the considerable govt shareholding power in major Singapore companies to force a greater sense of realities on the over generous remuneration committees might serve to kick start a necessary process of sobering up for the benefit of all’ is barking up the wrong tree. The CEOs are so use to getting huge salaries that anything less will see them marching out and join the MNCs that will pay them much better. And local companies will be left in the lurch and all might even fold up. These CEOs are indispensable and the only way to retain them is to keep paying them more and more.