HDB's version of subsidy, affordability and fair prices

Today's Sunday Times has a little article to explain how HDB determines the prices of flats and I believe this must be HDB's version. I quote, "A new flat's equivalent market price is first determined by looking at the recent transacted prices of resale units nearby. Adjustments are then made to account for factors like location, finishes of the flat and other attributes The price reflects the flat's value at the point of purchase and is what people are willing to pay on the open market for such a unit. The HDB then sells it at a significant discount, which is the subsidy given by the govt. The HDB sells flats base on market price instead of cost as this is the fairest way of pricing new flats. A market base pricing approach ensures that all groups of buyers enjoy similar discounts to the market and would be fair to those who are buying other HDB flats today...." There you have it, the definition of fairness, subsidy and market pricing are all there. And this is not only the HDB's definition, it is also the current govt's definition. They have meticulously come to these definitions as the fairest and best for the citizens. Like it or not, agree with it or not, you just have to accept it. I wonder if they ever consider that the high prices of resale flats is also contributed by some who got a windfall from enbloc sales, by foreigners and by some who are urgently in need of a flat? Would any other worthy political party offer another set of definitions as their party's stand to challenge these definitions in the next election? Any change to the present definitions must only come from an alternative party. So far the alternative parties are not offering anything on this as far as I know of. The people just have to live with the govt they voted in and accept what the govt considers as the best it can offer. The sad thing is that we don't have a worthy alternative party with a clear set of party manifesto to offer to the people, yet. Or a group of passionate leaders with fire in their belly to contest the election to serve the people's best interests that is different from the current govt.

The Bizarre Behaviour of Singaporeans - V2.1

The Bizarre Behaviour of Singaporeans - observations made by a German national who has lived in Singapore for 9 years. This same article which I posted on 11 Aug 09 in this blog is now posted in Tan Kin Lian's blog and attributed to a German national who has lived here for 9 years. I tried to insert a comment in Kin Lian's blog but it was not shown. Anyway, Kin Lian, if you are reading this, you may want to correct the slight error. Cheers. PS. I am Singaporean and not German.

The assassination of Ris Low

It started of as a guise, projected as good humour and clean fun to poke at the way Ris Low, the newly crowned Miss Singapore World, speaks English. It was so innocent and with good intention, that Ris Low should speak good English or else.... Now part of the deception is off. The campaign to assassinate her continues. The ST reported that 40 letters were received on Ris Low's poor command of English and wow, 11 writers were quoted. I am now wondering how many letters were written to ST on the high cost of property prices. But 40 letters must be a big sampling of the voices to support the case Ris Low is not fit to represent Singapore. On face value this is a lot when all national issues probably got a handful of letters. But of course no such statistics were given except for this case. ST is just doing its objective role of reporting the groundswell. Who is mastermind behind this character assassination? What is his true intent or identity? Is speaking good English a criteria in this beauty contest? If it is, then this requirement must be stated clearly from the start and contestants must be interviewed to screen them out of the race. Obviously not. If I can remember, contestants from non English speaking countries can choose to have a translator. Ris Low can ask for a translator and speak in Mandarin or dialect or Singlish and get it translated. Why not when Japanese, Spanish, or whatever contestants can do so? Anyway, what's so big deal about a beauty contest when the contestants won by default as the true beauty of a nation will never stand out to be chosen? It is just a little fun and fancy contest. And I agree with what Woffles Wu said as quoted in ST. Go for it Ris Low. Be yourself and not what the pretenders expect you to be. The way you speak is what you are. And if you want to speak the best you can, choose the medium that you are comfortable with and not be forced to use a foreign tongue. I hope the nasties will not continue with the attack and go after her schools, teachers and her families. The vibes are disgusting. Hiding behind the veil of good intention to destroy another person is low down behavior. Will the mastermind behind this saga owns up?

Temasek's Report card briefing

Loh Chee Kong's front page report(Today paper) on the Temasek briefing highlighted one pertinent point. Temasek's investment is for the long term, for the long long term, and it should be judged on the long long term. How I wish Temasek can park a few million with me for long term investment. The other point is Temasek's defence on not fully disclosing its financial position to avoid exposing itself to its competitors. So, how much of the numbers are real if there is this 'hidden element' in its report? Is the total sum disclosed as under Temasek's management, all $172b, the true amount or the full sum? How much is Temasek really managing since the truth cannot be disclosed? I also read Alvin Foo's report in the ST. It pointed that the worst drop in value in Temasek's holding was contributed by the 10 largest Singapore listed companies. This amount was $30b out of the $55b decline. This was huge compared to the $18b lost due to the top 10 foreign listed companies. My suggestion is for Temasek not to invest in local companies as the risk is so high. Sell off its local assets, like selling off the power stations and invest in foreign assets which are statistically safer and the loss would be smaller.

A big challenge today!

Malaysia has staked its claim on 5 popular dishes as Malaysia' national dishes. These include Nasi Lemak, Chicken Rice, Bak Kut Teh, Chilly Crab and Laksa. It was like the British claiming that they founded Singapore. Ok, now that the heat is on, let me claim something for Singapore before they are claimed by other countries. I hereby stake these claims, and without exceptions, unconditionally, that these are our national dishes: 1. Mee Goreng 2. Mee Rebus 3. One Ton Mee 4. Roti John 5. Rojak 6. Satay And for deserts, 1. Chendol 2. Bo Bo Cha Cha 3. Ice Kacang And for drinks, 1. Teh Tarik 2. Teh O 3. Kopi O 4. Kopi C 5. Ice Kosong Oh, maybe I shall defer Teh Tarik to Malaysia since they have experimented it in space and made it world famous. I was thinking of adding Bubble Tea but Li Ao will call us stupid again. And how can I forget Mee Siam. This must be truly Singaporean. No one would dare to challenge this unique dish of ours. I will find some time to write a piece and submit it to Wikipedia to make it official. Now, what is so challenging about this challenge of the day? I am hoping that someone will make a more hilarious claim than mine. My only concern is that this may trigger a diplomatic spat.