My eye balls rolling

The MOM is tightening rules for the PEP or Personalised Employment Pass for top tier foreign talents working in Sin. According to the media, this pass was introduced in 2007 to attract highly skilled foreigners to Sin. Pardon me for the pun. The terms of the PEP are so generous and liberal that it must be a privilege to qualify for one. Now the change, effective Dec 1, only those who earn a fixed annual income of $144k qualifies. Well, for such an exclusive pass and privileges, this should be the case.

Why are my eye balls rolling? Oh, it was also reported that when the PEP was introduced, this group of highly skilled foreign talents needed only $3,400 monthly income to qualify. Wow, must be some kind of exclusive talents doing charity works here. A new lousy local graduate’s starting pay is already more than $3000. So all our local graduates must be exceptionally qualified talents ya?

Now I can understand why Sin is so attractive to millions of highly talented FTs, all queuing up to Sin. My eyeballs haven’t stop rolling. We have 174,000 employment pass holders working here. I don’t have the number of PMETs that are unemployed, underemployed, or upgraded to become cleaners and masseurs and nurses. I am sure these PMETs, if health is ok, would not mind being reemployed for $3,400 instead.

The Human Resource professionals need a rethink, to look at the local PMETs as a trove of national treasure. Many are well qualified, highly experienced, and would be willing to take less, the same as cheap FTs, for a job. The HRs must be able to convince their bosses that this group of PMETs is value for money. They must not forget that they are paving a way for their own future and the future of their bosses who would very soon join the Dad’s Army and become redundant PMETs.

The strange thing about the HR profession is that they never grow old. The top management also never grow old. So growing old and becoming redundant will not be their problem. They will live forever young.

Instant citizen, instant wealth

This must be the best slogan to attract PRs and foreigners to take up Sinkie citizenship. It is not only a very attractive choice, to live in the world’s riches country with jobs aplenty, there are also many advantages to being a citizen. Education subsidy, medical subsidy, govt hongbaos, priority for children education etc etc all comes attached to instant citizenship. But all this pales in comparison to the instant cash to be made in housing subsidy. But that is not all. Getting a flat directly from the HDB and selling in the resale market after 5 years is as good as being guaranteed a return of at least 50% to 100% of the purchase price, more likely to be more as prices of HDB flats have proven to go up in 5x, 10x, 15x and 20x.

The new citizens got the govt to thank for for this great opportunity to become a Sinkie and with instant monetary rewards in the hundreds of thousands, not $300 or $400. The govt has made it so easy for them to buy a flat at market subsidized price. The govt also ensures that there will be demands for these flats at market prices which often are several hundred thousands more. The PRs have no choice but to buy from the resale market. Then the silly Sinkies who were too hurried to sell for a small profit, and after two bites of the cherry would now have to buy from the resale market.

The most pathetic group would be those disqualified by the govt from buying direct from HDB. This group would have to pay more than double the price in the resale market for being citizens of Sin. And the new citizens must thank the govt for it, for this group of Sinkies to have no choice but to buy from them, to make them rich.

Instant citizen, instant wealth. Unfortunately some Sinkies will be intant poor, or robbed to pay for flats in the resale market. How not to attract the best FTs into Sin?

A pixiu painted by Mother Nature

This is a mythical pixiu, recommended by geomancers to improve and protect the wealth of its owners. This is entirely conceived and painted by Mother Nature, not a human imagination or creation. The lines are beautifully drawn and the pixiu is full of life and appears to be flying. Its body is covered with intricate patterns and colours.

This painting is one of my exhibition at Kent Ridge Guild House.

Wah seh, the Wen Jia Bao Way

China’s Premier Wen Jia Bao is accused of corruption by the New York Times and threatens to sue the paper. But before he does that, he did the needful. He voluntarily called for an investigation into his family wealth. Can anyone beat that? Either he is clean or he is an idiot. No one in the democratic world or free world would dare to affront an accusation of corruption and to open his own house for a shake out. Many would hide, run or erase all records or regulations that could reveal their corrupt ways.

Wen Jia Bao is setting a new standard for ethical govt for the world to follow. This is the new communist and a new world standard for a clean govt. Hello America, anyone there would dare to take up such a challenge? Check my family wealth!

Am I disappointed with SDP’s NOM?

The main thrust in SDP’s housing proposal is the Non Open Market Scheme, ie buying flats from HDB and must sell back to HDB. I think this is like reinventing the wheel and trying to look clever. No need to.

Look, the problems and unhappiness are caused by the current housing policies. 1. Not building enough to meet the demands of Singaporeans. 2. Selling HDB flats to PRs, in the resale market. This is a very dangerous thing to do if the PR population is not curtailed. In the future, many public flats would end up being owned by PRs. 3. Selling HDB flats at ‘airy fairy’ market subsidy price. Stop this scam and go back to cost plus pricing.

Just address these problems. There is no need to reinvent the wheel to come up with more ‘airy fairy’ schemes if the fundamentals of public housing are put right, ie building flats to ensure all Singaporeans can buy them at cost plus and shit away with all the market forces and market subsidy nonsense. Just build more HDB flats for the people and keep it for Singaporeans only, even in the resale market. The prices will stabilize and be lowered progressively. Owners of public housing must not aspire to see their flat prices shooting to the roof like private properties. But the good news is that all Singaporeans will have a roof over their heads and not having to pay through their noses and emptying their CPF and savings. There will be money left for retirement and some finer things of living. The flat would still have real value and no need to sell back to the HDB and creating more unseen problems in the future.

The Housing Minister has made public housing so complicated and confusing. That does not mean that the solution must be complicated and confusing. Do not create new schemes that would make the situation more complex and hazy. Just work with the current system, get rid of some of the nonsense.

The solution must be straight and simple. Build more flats for Singaporeans at cost plus, not that the govt must make a loss, but with the aim of providing the citizens, not PRs, with decent and genuinely affordable housing. Not the kind of flexible affordable housing that can be stretched like rubber bands. Is this so difficult to do? Think simple. No need to think clever. When a house is infested by termites, there is no need to build another house. Just treat the termite problem. And often the problems in a country are due to too clever people in charge. What a country needs is good men and not very clever men. With good men and good intention, many unnecessary problems will not arise, like the housing woes today.