The best indicator of whether more foreigners are coming is the MRT. Just take the train regularly and you can feel and sense whether there are more or less foreigners in the country. These few weeks I have noticed an exceptionally higher presence of foreigners in the train. They are all over you, front, back, left and right. And the whole train smells.
I only wish the ladies will wear a little more fragrance to make the air more pleasant. Maybe they have given up hope as the smell is so over powering that their expensive fragrance may lose out to the competition.
And yes, there are more foreigners, the foreigner workers, not the foreign PMETs. They used to be a lot of time. But lately the trend is changing.
And with the surprise this morning, yes, surprise, hike in stamp fees for property speculations, the high end foreigners may also move out. No more money to make from the Sinkies. Yes, whenever some speculators, local or foreigners make money from speculating properties, someone loses. Who is that someone? No prize for getting the right answer.
The net losers in the property speculation game are the Singaporeans. Other than the property speculators, there is another big winner, or two actually. The developers and one more, this one cannot mention mah. Can only guess.
Why do we want more foreigners to speculate properties and in the process Singaporeans ended the big loser, holding the baby? The same rationale applies to the stock market. Why allow all the big funds to come here and clean up the market with their super computers? Whose money is being swept away? What is the net gain for their presence? Or what is the net loss for their presence, big funds speculating in the stock market and the rich foreigners speculating in the property market?
Oh yes, more vibrancy, more oomphs, a vibrant financial centre. Who is paying for it? I simple minded, only want to know at the end of the day, is it a gain or a loss to the country and people?
12/07/2011
A dull Sinkie joke
This joke will always make a come back whenever there is a price hike in public service. For so many years whenever the public transport operators announced a fare increase, you will hear Sinkies saying it is okay if the service is improved. And if this logic holds true, the service quality of our public transport must be better than any premium services in the whole world. But the sad truth is that the service quality will remain the same everytime. Any improvement will be cosmetic and will not last more than a few weeks.
Now we are looking at the impending taxi fare hike next week and some Sinkies are already bring this joke back. They would not mind if the fare hike will also mean better service. And this joke will be the joke of the town until next week, then forgotten till the next fare hike.
When has any fare hike or salary increase brought about improvement in the quality of services? Even when people got million dollar pay hike, the quality of service is still the same or may even get worst. Sinkies better get use to this joke and acknowledge that it is just a joke.
The only one that is serious in making people pay more for better services or quality is Vivian Balakrishnan. Recently he is calling for the upgrading of professionalism in hawkers. See, improve, be more professional, these must come first. Then when the quality and services are better, the announcement for higher prices will be accepted willingly. This is a big deviation from the norm, that high prices mean high quality.
But this time the official reason is higher cost. Nothing to do with quality of service. And the increasing demand of taxi services due to increasing population, which should translate into more income, is not even talked about.
I must say that Vivian got it right this time. Improve first and price hike later. As for the dull Sinkie joke, I am wondering whether the joke is dull or the Sinkies are dull. I know Sinkies are famed for being daft.
Now we are looking at the impending taxi fare hike next week and some Sinkies are already bring this joke back. They would not mind if the fare hike will also mean better service. And this joke will be the joke of the town until next week, then forgotten till the next fare hike.
When has any fare hike or salary increase brought about improvement in the quality of services? Even when people got million dollar pay hike, the quality of service is still the same or may even get worst. Sinkies better get use to this joke and acknowledge that it is just a joke.
The only one that is serious in making people pay more for better services or quality is Vivian Balakrishnan. Recently he is calling for the upgrading of professionalism in hawkers. See, improve, be more professional, these must come first. Then when the quality and services are better, the announcement for higher prices will be accepted willingly. This is a big deviation from the norm, that high prices mean high quality.
But this time the official reason is higher cost. Nothing to do with quality of service. And the increasing demand of taxi services due to increasing population, which should translate into more income, is not even talked about.
I must say that Vivian got it right this time. Improve first and price hike later. As for the dull Sinkie joke, I am wondering whether the joke is dull or the Sinkies are dull. I know Sinkies are famed for being daft.
Taxi fare hike hots up
It is unusual for a small fare hike to generate so much heat. When comparing to the fares in big cities like New York or London or Paris, or Tokyo, the taxi fares here are too cheap. It can go up another few notches to be in the league with the big cities. We are now the 6th most expensive cities in Asia which is still too far to claim the top position. We need to work harder to be at the top.
So what is all the hooha about the taxi fare hike? Cost of living has gone up, property prices, car prices, diesel prices, and the taxi drivers need to get some pay increases as well. When people earning millions of dollars are not satisfied and wanting more increases, it is only natural that the taxi drivers should want to earn more as well. They may not be thinking of another private property or upgrading to private properties, but the cost of a public flat is no longer that cheap anymore, but of course mah, still affordable.
Let’s not begrudge the taxi drivers from wanting to earn more income to support their families. But the way they went about it may cause some concern. The Competition Commission of Singapore has raised its sensors when ComfortDelgro opening called for other taxi operators to join in the fare hike. It is lucky that they made it an open call for fare increase. If they have done it quietly, it will become price collusion or price fixing. An open call is not price collusion or price fixing. They are safe and not violating any laws.
Some taxi operators are itching under the pants. Who would not want to raise the fare and bring more money home? It will be very tough for any operator not do follow suit.
Would it be too much to ask for to expect a few operators to hold their fares and refuse to join the hike? Actually it will be a big boost for all the operators not to go along and the passengers would have an easy choice to make when calling for taxis. They could all boycott, okay boycott is not a good word to use, they could all call for other taxis except those from ComfortDelgro. In this way, they need not pay more while the other taxi operators will enjoy at least a doubling of income when the demand for their cabs goes up immediately.
We have never seen such competition in practice in a free market situation. With limited number of operators, it is difficult to prevent collusion or monopoly of fare prices. This current fare hike is a great opportunity for the taxi industry to try to do what is best for them and their customers and allow free market forces to be in play. Alternative political parties may want to chip in to support a system where the fare structure is different for different operators. Nevermind the argument that everyone must follow the same system and structure so as not to confuse customers.
At this point in time, the customers are used to the present system and announcing that they will stick to the present system will not confuse anyone. The only customers that will be confused will be those taking ComfortDelgro and faced with the new system.
The ball is now in the court of the smaller taxi operators. They could go it on their own and claim a bigger market share. This time the market share will be big without them having to do anything. I say, give the customers a chance to have different fare structure and different fares.
Be loyal to your customers and think of their interests and their pockets.
By not hiking their fares, their income will still go up if the loyal customers and new customers choose not to call ComfortDelgro cabs. But the price is that they would be working harder as the demand will definitely be very high. I will definitely go for the other operators when there is a choice.
It's business and fair competition in practice. Go for it man, get your market share and a bigger piece of the pie, and win more goodwill from the grateful customers. The customers will definitely remember and reward the taxi operators for not hiking fares at a time like this.
So what is all the hooha about the taxi fare hike? Cost of living has gone up, property prices, car prices, diesel prices, and the taxi drivers need to get some pay increases as well. When people earning millions of dollars are not satisfied and wanting more increases, it is only natural that the taxi drivers should want to earn more as well. They may not be thinking of another private property or upgrading to private properties, but the cost of a public flat is no longer that cheap anymore, but of course mah, still affordable.
Let’s not begrudge the taxi drivers from wanting to earn more income to support their families. But the way they went about it may cause some concern. The Competition Commission of Singapore has raised its sensors when ComfortDelgro opening called for other taxi operators to join in the fare hike. It is lucky that they made it an open call for fare increase. If they have done it quietly, it will become price collusion or price fixing. An open call is not price collusion or price fixing. They are safe and not violating any laws.
Some taxi operators are itching under the pants. Who would not want to raise the fare and bring more money home? It will be very tough for any operator not do follow suit.
Would it be too much to ask for to expect a few operators to hold their fares and refuse to join the hike? Actually it will be a big boost for all the operators not to go along and the passengers would have an easy choice to make when calling for taxis. They could all boycott, okay boycott is not a good word to use, they could all call for other taxis except those from ComfortDelgro. In this way, they need not pay more while the other taxi operators will enjoy at least a doubling of income when the demand for their cabs goes up immediately.
We have never seen such competition in practice in a free market situation. With limited number of operators, it is difficult to prevent collusion or monopoly of fare prices. This current fare hike is a great opportunity for the taxi industry to try to do what is best for them and their customers and allow free market forces to be in play. Alternative political parties may want to chip in to support a system where the fare structure is different for different operators. Nevermind the argument that everyone must follow the same system and structure so as not to confuse customers.
At this point in time, the customers are used to the present system and announcing that they will stick to the present system will not confuse anyone. The only customers that will be confused will be those taking ComfortDelgro and faced with the new system.
The ball is now in the court of the smaller taxi operators. They could go it on their own and claim a bigger market share. This time the market share will be big without them having to do anything. I say, give the customers a chance to have different fare structure and different fares.
Be loyal to your customers and think of their interests and their pockets.
By not hiking their fares, their income will still go up if the loyal customers and new customers choose not to call ComfortDelgro cabs. But the price is that they would be working harder as the demand will definitely be very high. I will definitely go for the other operators when there is a choice.
It's business and fair competition in practice. Go for it man, get your market share and a bigger piece of the pie, and win more goodwill from the grateful customers. The customers will definitely remember and reward the taxi operators for not hiking fares at a time like this.
12/06/2011
The Americans are coming to save Asians
The Americans are coming to Asia to lead the Asians to a better future. Asia is where they belonged. They have never left. If you stand at Changi Point and squint your eyes a little, you may be able to see LA at the horizon. Bangkok or Jakarta would probably be too far away.
This morning when I read Tommy Koh’s address to the Japanese on how peaceful and how welcomed the Americans are, I feel that I must be pretty naïve, or I am suffering from dementia. It is more a combination of both, really.
The Americans are like Asians on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. And they have been bringing peace to Asia for the last 70 years since the end of World War II. When the Koreans and Vietnamese were trying to start another big world war, it was the Americans who came in to defeat them and bring peace to East Asia. Otherwise the region will be marred in unceasing conflicts among the belligerent regional states.
The great deeds of the Americans can best be seen in the Middle East. Look, they have brought peace to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya. Now that their job is done in that region, it is the turn of the Asians to receive the American blessing.
And the Asean countries are opening their arms widely to receive the Great White Hope, to emancipate them from poverty, war, dictatorship and authoritarian regimes. The Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia are feasting the President like a Hollywood star. They were all gaga where he graced the Asean summit with his imposing presence. Without him, the Asean summit would have been meaningless, leaderless.
And India too would be flipping over with the sight of the Americans. The President even goaded the Australians to sell uranium to India, the first beneficiary of the American generosity, for peace of course.
The next great blessing coming the Asian way will be the Trans Pacific Pact to replace the FTAAP. The later is moribund, ineffective without the great leadership from America. And who says the TPP was an American concoction? It was launched by Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. The Americans just assumed leadership and make it better, that’s all.
And it has absolutely nothing about containing China. China is not excluded from joining. It can invite itself in on condition that all the members agree to accept its membership just like when China tried to join WTO. Nothing unusual, nothing of the sort like containing China. Please do not read too much into this kind of arrangement.
The Americans will lead the region to prosperity and peace with more cheap American goods to go around. Chinese cheap goods are of poorer quality and manufactured from exploitation of its own labour and abusing human rights and should be excluded.
The Americans are in the region to share power with the Chinese. But China’s entry into TPP would have to be blessed by the Americans. Oops, not really, but by all the members of the Pact. The Americans have no more use of their military forces in the peaceful Middle East they have left behind and would probably deployed these peaceful soldiers to the western Pacific Region for peace and stability. The first beneficiary of this peaceful gesture is Australia where the first consignment of troops will be stationed. But the 2,500 marines would be too small a force to maintain peace. The Asian nations will have to wait for the full deployment of the American main forces with its HQ likely to be in the Philippines or Vietnam, for a better guarantee of peace in the region. Without the presence of American troops in the region there can never be peace.
Remember the Korean War and the Vietnam War? It was the presence of American troops that brought peace to these two countries.
My apologies for the incoherent grumbling. I am just too naïve to see the goodness of the Americans in the region. The ineffective regional associations like Asean and FTAAP should make way for new associations led by the able leadership of America. Only then can this region live in peace and prospers. Please forgive me as I also have a bit of dementia and my views are pretty childish at times. You can be nicer to me by calling me innocent. But I must say that with the return of America to the region, good times are coming.
The Philippines, Indians and Vietnamese are celebrating. Of course Australia, Japan and South Koreans will feel more secure and more Asians. Not sure about the rest of Asean and China.
This morning when I read Tommy Koh’s address to the Japanese on how peaceful and how welcomed the Americans are, I feel that I must be pretty naïve, or I am suffering from dementia. It is more a combination of both, really.
The Americans are like Asians on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. And they have been bringing peace to Asia for the last 70 years since the end of World War II. When the Koreans and Vietnamese were trying to start another big world war, it was the Americans who came in to defeat them and bring peace to East Asia. Otherwise the region will be marred in unceasing conflicts among the belligerent regional states.
The great deeds of the Americans can best be seen in the Middle East. Look, they have brought peace to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya. Now that their job is done in that region, it is the turn of the Asians to receive the American blessing.
And the Asean countries are opening their arms widely to receive the Great White Hope, to emancipate them from poverty, war, dictatorship and authoritarian regimes. The Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia are feasting the President like a Hollywood star. They were all gaga where he graced the Asean summit with his imposing presence. Without him, the Asean summit would have been meaningless, leaderless.
And India too would be flipping over with the sight of the Americans. The President even goaded the Australians to sell uranium to India, the first beneficiary of the American generosity, for peace of course.
The next great blessing coming the Asian way will be the Trans Pacific Pact to replace the FTAAP. The later is moribund, ineffective without the great leadership from America. And who says the TPP was an American concoction? It was launched by Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. The Americans just assumed leadership and make it better, that’s all.
And it has absolutely nothing about containing China. China is not excluded from joining. It can invite itself in on condition that all the members agree to accept its membership just like when China tried to join WTO. Nothing unusual, nothing of the sort like containing China. Please do not read too much into this kind of arrangement.
The Americans will lead the region to prosperity and peace with more cheap American goods to go around. Chinese cheap goods are of poorer quality and manufactured from exploitation of its own labour and abusing human rights and should be excluded.
The Americans are in the region to share power with the Chinese. But China’s entry into TPP would have to be blessed by the Americans. Oops, not really, but by all the members of the Pact. The Americans have no more use of their military forces in the peaceful Middle East they have left behind and would probably deployed these peaceful soldiers to the western Pacific Region for peace and stability. The first beneficiary of this peaceful gesture is Australia where the first consignment of troops will be stationed. But the 2,500 marines would be too small a force to maintain peace. The Asian nations will have to wait for the full deployment of the American main forces with its HQ likely to be in the Philippines or Vietnam, for a better guarantee of peace in the region. Without the presence of American troops in the region there can never be peace.
Remember the Korean War and the Vietnam War? It was the presence of American troops that brought peace to these two countries.
My apologies for the incoherent grumbling. I am just too naïve to see the goodness of the Americans in the region. The ineffective regional associations like Asean and FTAAP should make way for new associations led by the able leadership of America. Only then can this region live in peace and prospers. Please forgive me as I also have a bit of dementia and my views are pretty childish at times. You can be nicer to me by calling me innocent. But I must say that with the return of America to the region, good times are coming.
The Philippines, Indians and Vietnamese are celebrating. Of course Australia, Japan and South Koreans will feel more secure and more Asians. Not sure about the rest of Asean and China.
About time to switch from cars to taxis
The charges for taxis will be going up next week. ComfortDelgro, the biggest taxi operator, has just announced the price hike, for good reasons. Cost of diesel, cars etc have been going up. Also, taxi operators need a pay rise too with the high cost of living. And demand is getting stronger with bigger population and more tourists coming in. I agree that these are all good reasons for a price hike.
And comfort is asking the other taxi operators to follow their footstep, to raise their fares. This is nothing to do with anti competition or collusion to fix prices. The other operators have a right to do otherwise.
With the higher fares being charge, it is expected that some of those who cannot afford the hike will have to take buses or trains. I will wait for another few more hikes to make it a bit pricier so that only dignified people can afford to take taxis. Then I will give up my car and switch to taxis when taking taxi becomes a dignified affair.
And comfort is asking the other taxi operators to follow their footstep, to raise their fares. This is nothing to do with anti competition or collusion to fix prices. The other operators have a right to do otherwise.
With the higher fares being charge, it is expected that some of those who cannot afford the hike will have to take buses or trains. I will wait for another few more hikes to make it a bit pricier so that only dignified people can afford to take taxis. Then I will give up my car and switch to taxis when taking taxi becomes a dignified affair.
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