Pig talk and pig logic

This guy was very hungry and he went to the pig to ask for bacon. The pig snorted. 'Wait for my piglets to be born, and another one year they should be ready for the table. Now go away.' So the hungry man went away, hungry, and waiting for the bacon to be ready. The pig had solved his need for bacon, to be delivered in a year's time. Would the hungry man survived while waiting for the bacon to arrive? Or would he find a subsitute to ease his hunger pang? Oink, oink, oink.

Trading mentality, changing places

We have this great tradition as a trading port. I think this has been in our blood for too long that it is becoming a part of us, our culture and mentality. We will trade everything, anything, for money. We sold our power stations probably seeing their yields or future not going to be too bright. Now we are going to India to buy power stations because the growth potential for power is very promising. We have developed ourselves into an education hub to earn more foreign currency. Education as a business can generate a lot of revenue if the fees are high enough. And we are very successful in getting foreigners to come here for their education. In the meantime, our children will not have enough places here and have to go elsewhere for their education. We have limited places for medical education. And many of our bright students have to go overseas to be trained as doctors. But we also have a shortage of doctors here. So we import cheap doctors from other countries to fill the gap. Isn't it funny? We tell our not so talented to go overseas to work. In their place we import foreign talents to replace them. Singaporeans sell their properties here just to be able to buy properties elsewhere. All these are very good and healthy for the economy. Just keep trading and exchanging goods and services. One day we may even trade our not so marketable parents for new and more efficient parents.

A simple way to solve the housing problem

The ST has a full page coverage on the housing problem that is making a small section of the population crying foul. It even features replies by Mah Bow Tan on the issue. Would it make any difference to the problem? Nay, except to make it worst. There is really no problem at all, and it is so easy to let the problem, if it is real, to go away by adopting a few simple measures. The first thing is to prevent the real estate agents and developers from talking up the market and frightening would be buyers of homes. And the speculators seeing so much money can be made will keep the musical chair game going on. At the moment the agents and developers are just adding fire to an already over heated oven. And some organisations are setting up indices on housing prices to tell where it is heading. Another no no. It can be very alarming as well. The third thing is to make sure that there is a blackout on housing news. Don't talk about it, don't report about it. After a while it will die down naturally, and the problem will be no problem anymore. But there is still a loophole in the internet. The nasty and irritating bloggers will want to continue to keep the topic alive. This hole must also be closed. Then all will be peace under heaven. The problem will go away if it is not in the news anymore. Like that can or not?

Another avenue for speculation

Yes, another opportunity presented itself for speculators to make money. Other than speculating in properties, the latest is COEs. With the prices going up dramatically, many people are making big money from trading COEs. And don't forget the market for second hand cars. Back to the good old days when a car's value appreciates over time, like properties. Buy now, use it for a couple of years for free, and sell at a profit. Fantastic deals. Now Singaporeans should rush out to buy properties or cars to make instant money. And if COEs go back to $100k, wow, bee tang again. Reinvest the profits in more cars and more properties and leverages, the more leverages the more profits. Making money is so easy here. Time for celebration.

Missing a golden opportunity to make money

Our population has surged more than a million in the last 10 years, and many thanks to the new immigrants, PRs and new citizens. And many more are queuing to come in. If this is the case, why don't we place a small fee for application or successful application to be a PR or new citizen? If the demand is real, if we are that desirable, there must be a value for something that is so good. What is the price to be a PR or new citizen? In real terms, PRs and new citizens tend to benefit a lot in financial terms through the buying of HDB flats and all the subsidies in medical, education and other govt services. Then there are the occasional angpows that the govt is giving out in subsidies for conservancy fees, in New Singapore Shares or special govt handouts. All these are real monies that go to the PRs and new citizens the moment they are accepted. Shouldn't they be priced in to bcome one of us? A $100 application fee, a $5,000 approval fee for PRs or a $10k fee to become citizen should be cheap compare to the immediate gains awaiting them. How come no one is thinking of making some money out of this business? Oh, they have not privatise ICA. I think they should and make it a profit centre.