Running out of ideas

Malaysia is a one idea country. They only know how to build roads and bridges to collect tolls. Every other thing that they tried was a wash out. So they will keep on thinking of building bridges everywhere, the more the better. Existing bridges or connectors should be demolished to justify building new ones. They are going to build bridges to Sumatra, maybe Vietnam as well. The Americans are also running out of ideas. Since the computer chip revolution, the laptops and handphones, there is nothing new in the pipeline that can create so much mass appeal. They tried financing products but turned out to be the biggest fraud in history. Paradise too is running out of ideas. Other than raising fees and charges, what else could it come out with? The latest twist is recycling. They have done recycling of old buildings by demolishing them and building new ones. Now they are recycling jobs and old bodies. Old jobs are recycled with new fanciful names, everyone is a president. We have more presidents than the countries in the UN. Now the old hags are being recycled. The Dad’s Army in civilian clothes, the grandpas and grandmas are to work again. But this is a bit tricky. The parts are getting old through wear and tear. Practically every part and organ need to be changed. They can’t do it like they did to old buildings. They can’t scrap them like cars. How to make them work like new, strong and nimble, see and hear clearly, and think and do as being told? Until a new drug is developed to alter all the cells into young cells and not ageing cells, it is going to be difficult. Genetically modified cells may be a starting point. They can do it to plants, definitely possible with human beans In the meantime recycle as best possible, with redesigning of jobs to cater for slow and fumbling hands and cloudy minds, failing eye sights and weak limbs. Recycling worn out bodies is going to be big business in paradise

Resigned still caught and answerable

The Satyam bosses had resigned after the fraud was disclosed. But India is not the US or paradise where one can simply pat his backside and resign when wrong doings are discovered. Rubin, the advisor of Citigroup has also resigned. For the moment, many of the failed American financial institutions were due to mismanagement or honest mistakes, so it is difficult to find faults with the directors and top management. In Satyam case, it is fraud, like Madoff, and they have been arrested by the India authority. Madoff is still walking around happily like a free man. There must be a higher expectation of accountability for paid executives whether as top management or board of directors. Walking away by resigning is too easy a way out from accountability. If people are brave enough to take compensation from organisations they must be brave enough to answer for the mess created during their watches. Honourable people must do what is honourable.

How much must be earned in a life time

How much must be earned in a life time to live in paradise? Take an average 4 roomer two kids family. In his life time he must spend these money other than the normal living expenses. His flat will cost him $500k or more when fully paid up. His Medisave that he cannot touch will be at least $30k. His two kids, if lucky enough to get into university locally, total cost for each upon graduation would easily be $300k. GST at 7% for a $4k monthly expenditure for 50 years will come to $148k. S&C at average $50 pm for 50 years will be $30k. And if he owns a small car, changing one every 10 years, or 5 cars in his lifetime, he will spend at least $300k at $60k each. The above adds up to a cool $1.6m. Even without owning a car, the amount is $1.3m. This he must have in addition to what he needs to live daily. At a simple $3k pm for 50 years it will add another $1.8m to his total budget. So an average Singaporean family will spend $3.4m in their life time. A very conservative number. And he could count himself lucky if he does not need to be hospitalised. One entry could empty his Medisave or more. The cost will go up for those who bought bigger houses and cars. A job and a steady income is crucial to keep an average Singaporean alive. it is amazing that we could go on for so long and still aspiring to be more prosperous and to pay more for our standard of living. Singaporeans born today would easily need double or triple that amount to get by. Would the system be able to pay them that kind of money or would Singaporeans still command that kind of premium in a competitive world market of the future? When I look at our Ah Beng, Ahmad and Muthu, and their counterparts in other countries, they are not much different. And when they put out their best to compete with us, either their income will go up or ours will go down. A new level will be found. Would ours still defy the odds and move up or will the law of diminishing returns drag us down?

Frugality by choice

To live frugally by choice and not by circumstances is a very pleasant concept. It is like people desiring to work for life, by choice and and not by circumstances, and even with the choice of what they want to do, not to become cleaners or dish washers. To live frugally is like being thrifty, to spend on when there is a need to, no extravagance, is an age old virtue. Individually, it is a good value to live by. At the national level, it is too a good policy to preach and to practise, or maybe not. The contradiction between preaching something and doing the reverse is quite obvious to many. While on the one hand people suddenly got enlightened that there is goodness in frugal living, there are people and even the govt, exhorting and extorting the people to spend. Our govt's policies have never been about frugality. Think COE and car scrapping. Even in times like this, Chok Tong is asking people to spend away on little comforts. Boon Wan has just introduced mean testing to make sure that people pay according to how much they have and not what they want. Ask Raymond about ERPs and transport fares and he will tell you it still must go up, but very affordable. Then Mah Bow Tan just whacked the home buyers by $200k increase in the Pinnacles. Who else, or which ministry is going to raise their fees or rentals? Can the people afford to be frugal? Even if they want to, the policies of ever increasing fees will make sure that they don't. The wheel of our economic machinery must go on running and must be fed by the people's money to keep it going. Otherwise it will grind to a halt like the ferry wheel. And a big rescue operation will have to be mounted. The economy is built on a model of growth. Without growth means recession and depression. The rich can romanticise on being frugal and live happily ever after. The poor at best is a way of life. The country cannot exist on a frugal diet. The country demands that the people must spend and spend to keep up the image of growth and prosperity. So, would the people be allowed to be frugal?

Child labour is bad

Little children working to earn a few dollars is bad. Their feeble limbs and frail bodies would not take the rough and tough of labour in the factories and sweat shops. Their ignorance will expose them to dangerous situations which they would not know how to avoid. How about the frail bodies of the aged? Is aged labour good or bad? Their frail bodies, lack of nimbleness and dexterity, slow in responding to danger, will put them in unnecessary risks and difficult situations. We need to protect the young from exploitation and unfavourable working conditions. Do we need to protect the old hags? I think exploitation of old labour is just as bad and should not be encouraged. Why are we so happy about getting the old hags to work till they die and not allowing the children to work till they die? We feel sorry to see children put to work. Do we feel sorry to see old hags toiling in their twilight years? Why are grandpa and grandma working?