We have this great bull story in the media again

We are short of talents. Companies cannot find enough of accountants and finance professionals. And recently we even bragged so loudly that we are recruiting doctors and medical professionals in big numbers from all over the world. My take is that either our tertiary institutions were are sleeping and not producing enough qualified candidates to feed the needs of the economy, or that our graduates were of no talents and not good enough for the industry. So either we don't have the head counts or plenty of useless, half baked and unemployable graduates. So, the lack of local talent must be true. All the statistics and surveys say so. What are we going to do about it? Apply the instant tree formula and go and recruit from all over the world, including graduates from third world and universities ranked lower than our esteemed local universities. Why did I get this feeling that something is not right? How could world class universities not producing graduates that are considered as talents and graduates from less than world class universities are grabbed like hot properties, great talents? If our universities are producing non talents, then we might as well close them down and save the money. And forget about the 4th university.

Foreign or local workers not an issue

I am tempted to agree with Lim Swee Say that foreign worker local worker divide should not be an issue. It is productivity. We need productive workers to do the job well at the lowest cost. This is like white cat black cat, no issue. Just catch the mice. I must clarify here that when Deng Xiaoping said this, foreign and local workers was not an issue in China. He was talking about Chinese workers only. And I believe Swee Say would also have said that whatever, citizens must come first. In our context, we may also claim that we are different. We are small and cannot be isolated. We are immigrants from the start. So living on the entrepreneur skills and hard work of foreign workers should be a part of our secret formula to success. And lazy and less productive workers cannot get away with it. They may be citizens, so what? They have done NS, big sacrifice, so what? They need to be competitive and productive and be better and cheaper than the foreign workers if they want to be counted. We have to be real and not be bogged down by citizens and non citizens. This is the real world. Singaporeans must work as hard as the foreign workers. There are many schemes to help them to be productive and to earn better incomes. But if they do not want to buck up, it is their own fault. We are competing in an international environment when all barriers to entry have been removed. Every country is buying talent. Our non talents can go elsewhere and be foreign talents and be welcomed. The above is just for discussion. It is meant to be provocative, to stimulate thinking out of the box.

Public housing is affordable

HDB has reiterated its position that HDB flats are heavily subsidised and affordable. Let me for once agree that HDB flats are indeed affordable. The heavily subsidised part I will leave it to everyone to make their own conclusions. Now, did I say that HDB flats are affordable? I did not say it without reasons. HDB flats are indeed affordable to everyone. You just buy one according to your own financial position. But that is not all. As long as you have money you can buy a HDB flat. The only difference, don't quibble, not nitpick, is that the money you have will buy you a smaller flat as days go by. Still affordable, definitely, only getting less for what you pay for. And paying longer and longer. Actually the people buying public housing should be very contented to have a roof over their heads. Be grateful. That is what public housing is all about, affordable and cheap. If you want good and big, go and buy The Sail or something like that. Those buyers are not complaining and are happily paying for what they get, good value for money.

Landslide in Japan

The 21st Century seems to be a century of landslide victories for opposition political parties that have for years been seen as no hopers. Malaysia shook the ruling UMNO by delivering several states to the opposition, something so unbelieveable. UMNO, with all its machinery and state organisations and power, could just watch as the opposition chips away at their territories. Every by election seems to be an opportunity for the opposition to wrestle another constituency from UMNO. Last night we saw another landslide in Japan. After more than 50 years of domination in Japanese politics, the Japanese grew tired and disillusioned with the ruling party. The LDP seemed to be running out of tricks from its bag and was soundly trumped by the DPJ. The winning margin was unimaginable. And we are witnessing another historical event and a new beginning, and the end of LDP. If this is the trend to be, we will probably see a similar landslide here in the next GE. Many may sneer at such a thought or suggestion. The ruling party has been in power for so long, with all the right and highly qualified candidates, with all the machinery and achievements to show how good it has been. And the opposition is still unable to find the right candidates to make a little dent on this formidable machine. Who knows what will happen or what will come next. There are plenty of qualified and able Singaporeans waiting in the fringe for the moment that could change the course of our history. To get 80 good men and women to stand for a general election is not a difficult task when the time is ripe. The landslide may come earlier than expected. The seemingly uphill task may not be that impossible when the chips are down. Would we see a landslide in two years? I know that many are laughing at such a possibility. At this point in time, it seems clearly impossible, no way. Who knows?

MIW or Men In White

It is an uncanny coincidence to release a book called Men In White in the Chinese Seventh Month. The Seventh Month is well known for the release of souls from the forgotten nether world, all in white of course, to have a feast before they are returned, back to where they come from. The book, Men In White, will see the return in spirit of the men who were living with us once. But many may not have the privilege to return to this land they once called home, and will remain as wandering spirits in all corners of the earth. They will not be welcomed as PRs or even tourists. These Men In Wilderness have returned in a way to fill a gap in our historical records of our founding days. The effort to hear their stories and get them printed is a very enlighten process, and a gracious one, to let our stories be told from a different perspective. And Singaporeans are fortunate to have this side of the story told now than to wait for another century when memories would have been washed clean of whatever historical correctness, for the benefits of our descendants. The permission to allow such a process to take shape and become a reality should be acknowledged. There are many perspectives of the Singapore Story and there are many eye witnesses who have life testimonies to tell. Some may have already written but waiting to be published when the climate is more conducive. Some may have forfeited the chance to tell their stories. With the passing of time, more revelations will be served in the book shelves. The Men In white is a story told by the defeated in a political struggle to run this country. Most of these men and women were steeped in idealism, aspiration, political beliefs and conviction for a social and political cause. Many could have been very successful and eminent dignitaries today if they have not joined politics or have abandoned their chosen cause. They paid a very heavy price for what they stood for. They never regret or recant or complain about their sacrifices. We could, in the future, read books from the second and third waves of defeated and banished politicians in the wilderness. We could also read autobiographies from the discarded Men In White living in our midst, with their versions of bitterness and dissatisfaction with the way things were. These will be interesting read, like kiss and tell novels. Until then, the Singapore Story will still be written like fairy tales, with princes and princesses and an ending that says they live happily ever after.