Last month's traffic to mysingaporenews

Hi everyone, Below data show the traffic flow to mysingaporenews last month. I am surprise how international our blog has become. Cheers. Singapore 11,575 United States 4,117 Norway 2,481 Australia 657 Malaysia 326 Canada 237 United Kingdom 234 Germany 210 Hong Kong 91 Luxembourg 79

YOG priceless - I am lost for words!

Intangible benefits of the YOG are priceless! This is the title of an article by Shalini Samuel in mypaper today. I could not describe it better. The $387m the govt spent on the game is a steal. Imagine all the great experiences that our organisers and volunteers gained from just participating as host of this event, the opportunity to serve the future leaders of the world, to shower them with food and food, courtesy and hospitality, to make them remember what a great place Singapore is! Wow, wow, how come I never think of that in the first place. Hold the next Olympic game, even the Olympic for the veterans. Put it on man. For all the intangible benefits coming out of the games, we should be willing to pay more and hold more of such events. Another $500m should be good money spent for the betterment of Singapore. The masses are just too low thinking to be able to see how great the benefits are for Singapore and our volunteers and organisers. I can see one. They can include that in their resumes when applying for jobs related to international sporting events. I think, and I hope, this will put a stop to all the criticisms and accusations on how the YOG budget blown. The crux of the matter is actually how the organisers could even put up a number of $104m in the first place. Would it make a difference if it was known before bidding for the game that it was going to cost a walloping $387m? Would the govt then withdraw from the bid as it was too costly? Hindsight said they will go ahead even if it is $387m. And if they all agrees with Shalini's view, then $500m would still be cheap for the priceless intangible benefits. Would the criticism ends now? Or would god be invited to tell Singaporeans to move on, and assure the Singaporeans that every cent spent is worth it? PS. My heirloom of a labourer's hook used for dragging rice bags is also priceless.

Myth 223 –The govt cannot do anything

When property prices were at its height of frenzy, the people complained furiously. The answer from gods, it was all the doing of market forces. The govt cannot do anything about it. It was a case of free market forces and supply and demand. What happens? Who were the fools who were trying to pull wool over the eyes of the people? What market forces? The truth is so apparent that it is looking ugly and embarrassing. But to deaf frogs, they chose to hear nothing and thought they had done a good job, the right thing, good for the people. And they let the momentum run. Was it being clever or foolishness, was it market forces at play or was it intentional? Your guess! Saturday’s ST frontpage news was about how effective the new anti property speculation measures were. They are taking effect, lesser demand, lower asking price for flats and COVs etc etc. So the frenzy is slowing down. It could be just a cooling period. The wind down could be just a knee jerk reaction. Prices could spiral again when the speculators see that prices are not falling and still good profit to be made. How could prices fall when the demand and supply mechanism is still the same one that led to the froth? How could prices come down when the bidding system for land is still the same, going to the highest bidder? How could prices fall when the official position is not to let it fall? They could not let it fall as the buyers of exhorbitantly priced flats would become suckers overnight. How could prices fall when the same…. But that is beside the point. The point here is that it is not market forces at work. At best it is managed or contrived market forces, engineered market forces of supply and demand, and turning a blind eye to the huge increase in population. See the myth?

The debate I am waiting for

If there is a debate that could ignite Parliament and bring it alive, it must be Vivian Balakrishnan versus Lim Swee Say. And the topic, Speak Good English. And allow them to bring in a few co debaters, 3 for each side like all debates were. Vivian’s choice would be quite easy to guess, Shanmugam, Mah Bow Tan, a great debater in his heyday, and perhaps LKY or Hsien Loong. He would be spoilt for choices I am sure. Now who would be on the side of Swee Say? Dum, dum dum….Ok, for this matter, we should break parliamentary protocol and allow Swee Say to bring in the bestest from the island. I am hearing clapping sound and good, good, in the streets. If this is can do, the first obvious choice would be ex Miss Singapore Ris Low. Clap, clap, clap. She is hot favourite to spiak good Singlish. Two more, just two more. Oh dear, Swee Say will be spoilt for choices too. Let me just throw up a few good potential contestants. How about Phua Chu Kang aka Gurmit Singh, or his wife Rosie aka Irene Ang? Mark Lee or Jack Neo may do quite well too. But if he prefers betterer candidates, he could even invite some FTs to join his side too. Then we can have a Special Edition of In Parliament, 2 hours long, and no one would complain it is too long. And it will also be full house in Parliament, including the public gallery. MediaCorp can air in both Channel 5 and 8. Guarantee all Singaporeans sure stay home to watch one. Just kidding. KNN can take a little joke or not?

Singaporeans unappreciative of Vivian

Scouting around cyberspace, the immediate impression is that many Singaporeans are angry, very angry, with Vivian for the way YOG had turned out. No one cares how well the game was managed and how perfectly were the opening and closing ceremonies that showed to the world how efficient we were as a people. We could managed and organised big time world events. And the YOG was there to prove our worth. One particular vibe about Vivian is the blown budget by some 300%. The final bill for the game came to $387m. And Singaporeans were unhappy. Singaporeans should look at the whole thing in proper perspective. Vivian was actually very prudent and careful about public money and would not anyhow give them away, even for $10. That is his reputation. He emphasised his thrifty management style in Parliament. According to Vivian, the blown budget was his fault. Yes, but not because he was careless in managing the money. It was the reversed. He constantly and repeatedly reminded the Organising Committee of the YOG to be careful about the money spent. It was OPM after all. And he squeezed the budget to keep it small and that no one dared to over spent. And his conscientiousness in controlling the expenditure turned out to be his undoing. Under his guidance, the Organising Committee became too careful and tried their best to present as small a budget as possible. They tried to cut corners, lower the quality of the things needed for the game. I think the food for the volunteers was a good example. If only the Committee had been forthwith and direct and presented a reasonable budget that was closer to the real thing! If only Vivian would have been more generous and let them quote and spend whatever the Committee wanted! Then the original budget presented could even be $500m. And Vivian could then tell them to cut cost, and the final bill, $387m. It would be a different story. He could even claimed credit for saving more than $100m! Or a discount or a subsidy or whatever you want to call it. And everyone will praise him instead of blaming him. His fault now lies in his thriftiness and honesty in working with the truth. Only if he would have followed the unscrupulous business or commercial gimmicks of generous discounts after jacking up the prices, things would have been different. The people must relook at the whole issue and say a big thank you to Vivian for a job well done. And if he had not been thrifty, the bill could be $500m. Singaporeans must be more understanding and appreciative. It is not an easy job to start with. _________________