Poll - Do you support the 6.9m population

I have created this Poll on the right. Please vote and also ask your friends to vote. It is a yes or no thing. This is a very serious issue and the more the citizens make their views known to the govt the better. As for the internet brigade, please take it easy on this and don't mess it up with spurious votes as it will also affect you and your family and the future of your children.

Thank you.

PS. And while you are here, please click on some of the advertisements to pay for my breakfast : )
Thanks.

How has Boon Wan fared in solving the housing problem?

After the last GE the PAP took cognition of the housing problem and removed Mah Bow Tan, went in search of a minister that could rectify the problem he had created. Oops, my apologies to Mah Bow Tan, it was never a problem. Only some people saw it as a problem and the govt agreed to do something about it.

Boon Wan was brave enough to volunteer for the job. He was confident enough to take on this daunting task of a huge problem that was really not a problem depending on who you are. Of course he knew, and everyone knew it was a full blown problem and cannot be resolved overnight after so many years of neglect and mismanagement. I would presume, may be wrong, that Boon Wan would want to solve the supply and demand problem to ensure that all Sinkies can afford to buy a HDB flat and that the prices of flats would remain at least stable. And I think if anyone would to want to measure the performance of Boon Wan, these should be the two factors to look at.

Boon Wan started aggressively to ramp up the building or more flats, many more flats. Unfortunately this is not looking good enough as the number of Sinkies wanting to buy HDB flats are still forming a long waiting list and the new flats will take several years to come on line. And also many Sinkies that were unfortunate enough to fall victims to his predecessor’s policies are still unable to buy direct from HDB. They are still cursing at the govt for sure.

The other big problem of course is the price of HDB flats, the resale flats and private properties. Have the prices been stable, or have they shot through the roof, even at greater speed than under Mah Bow Tan’s time and to greater height?

Has Boon Wan solved the housing problem? Or has he revisited the history of HDB and asked why there was no such problem before and the people were happy and grateful for their HDB flats but now the big shit all over the place? Has Boon Wan achieved what he set out to do? Shall he be given a red card or a medal?

Would he do the necessary and do a major change by building public flats for all Sinkies instead of new citizens? Many true blue Sinkies have served NS, fathers, brothers and themselves but not eligible to buy HDB flats because of all the stupid rules and regulations. How could the govt do these to the true and original citizens while making things so good to new citizens at their expense? Pro Sinkies or pro new citizens who are really foreigners?

6.9m population – Would the Govt listen?

This is a queer question really. The Govt has been telling the people that it will listen to the people since the last GE. It even deprecated itself by calling the people as the masters and the Govt as the servants of the people. This means that the people should be telling the Govt what they want and what they want the Govt to do. And to make things look real, the Natcon is still in process where the Govt will talk and listen to the people. Now what is the purpose of talking to the people if the Govt does not listen to the people or listen but no need to register?

The Govt has come out with a White Paper detailing the whys and the needs for a 6.9m population. This Paper originates from the Govt and from its thinkers. And it seems that this is what the Govt has more or less decided, without consulting the people. Or maybe it is now going to consult the people. But would it listen to the people if the people decide otherwise, not to have 6.9m people by 2030? Would the Govt simply go ahead and implement the increase in population despite the protest and disapproval of the people? Has the Govt already unilaterally decided on this road and any discussion with the people is only cursory?

The Paper will be tabled in Parliament for discussion and a vote will be taken where 80 PAP MPs will likely to vote in favour of it. Technically the MPs represented the people. But what if the MP did not ask the views of the people and simply voted based on their own belief or party line? In such a case it is not representing the views of the people but the party. It is so easy for the MPs to have a dialogue with their constituents or in the Natcon and gather the views of the people that matter.

The increase in population is going to affect everyone in the island. Should there be a need to hold a referendum on this? Or would the Govt simply go ahead with it as it has decided and whether the people is for or against it nothing would change the Govt’s mind? A protest rally is being organised by Transitioning.Org in HongLim this Saturday against the 6.9m. How many people will attend to make their views heard?

Would the govt listen to the people and let the people decide on this critical issue? There are more than 3 million citizens. The Govt is actually the 80 odd politicians in Parliament and why should they decide a matter like this without wanting to get the approval of the people? The Govt is listening, the Govt is the servant of the people?

What do you think?

Hsien Loong – an admission of incompetence?

At the conference on Singapore Perspectives organized by the Institute of Public Policies, Hsien Loong surprised the audience of local and foreign dignitaries by admitting that the govt was not perfect and had caused a lot of problems related to the influx of foreigners and the squeeze on building housing and infrastructure to cope with this high demand. This is the second time after the last GE that he has admitted to flaws in govt policies. This is reported in Channel News Asia, ‘Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has admitted the government did not have 20/20 foresight, resulting in problems with inadequate infrastructure in the country….’

What is Hsien Loong trying to achieve for this admission? For a govt that prides itself as the best in the world and paying itself out of this world salaries, will the people accept such a grotesque mistake when you don’t need a university professor to see the problems coming up? When the govt brought in 2m people in such a short space of time and neglected in ramping up the supporting infrastructure and housing to provide for such a huge number of people, is it a case of mistake, incompetence or something else? It is not unbelieveable. It is amazing!

The most horrifying part is the freeze in building housing when any idiot will know that 2 million people would need that much more roofs over their heads. And this 2m number is nearly a doubling the population of slightly more than 3m, bringing the population to 5m plus. This is not an elephant in the class room. It is a dinosaur and nobody could see it and to provide for it. And we paid millions for the super talents to at least do a decent job. Can we expect them to see the dinosaur? Hey, no rocket science ya?

So what, shall the people excuse and forgive the govt for this oversight? We are not talking about any third world govt that are paid peanuts. We are paying everyone of them, the crème al crème, according to their weight in gold and more.

What do you think?

Sinkies cannot afford to be CBF

The call for Sinkies to be cheaper, better and faster is running contrary to the high cost of living and high cost of everything. How can Sinkies ever think of surviving in a city when the cost of everything is going up and still expect to work to be cheaper, better and faster? This kind of combination can only work when the workers are foreigners who don’t have to buy expensive properties, provide for a family and may even need to buy a car for transportation.

The end result of this formula is to have very rich elite at the top and very poor foreign workers at the bottom. Those in between, the average Sinkies, will be squeezed dry trying to be cheaper but paying for everything that is getting dearer.

How, what do you think? Can Sinkies afford to be CBF?