Needing more land to avoid overcrowding

We need all the reclamation and yes, going underground, to expand the space for more gracious and comfortable living. The future of Singapore is underground, the new frontier of quality living. So Sinkies, this term is finding better relevance, sinking deeper into mother earth.

‘State media is already championing the idea. In September, the Straits Times newspaper characterized underground living as the "next frontier" for Singapore. It said Singaporeans may one day "live, work and play below ground in vast, subterranean caverns that make today's underground malls look like home basements." The Building Construction Authority, which oversees a new agency responsible for surveying underground, said it could become reality by 2050.’

Actually, what is the point of land reclamation and building downwards when the new space will be eaten up immediately by 1.6m more people? If only the population can be capped at this level and more space be created, there will be more space for everyone, bigger housing, more recreational facilities, more parks and greeneries to give one a sense of space and freedom. Similarly what is the point of cramming people into concrete jungles and with patches of greens, and with each housing unit getting smaller, everyone getting smaller space, in public and in homes? The quality of life must come with space and more space to move around to run around, to allow more roads and thus more ownership of private vehicles.

Creating more space only to stuff them up with more people is not improving anything or changing anything. More sardines in more sardine cans. Is that an improvement in lessening overcrowding or quality of life? Oh, my apologies, smaller space does not mean lower quality of life if well planned, like an airconditioned dog’s kennel.

The White Paper critics

When the PAP White Paper was tabled in Parliament, it was criticized by both PAP and opposition MPs. I think it is normal to look at a position paper and look at its merits and demerits and hopefully resulting in some adjustments or amendments before it is accepted or even fully rejected. No position paper is perfect unless it is prepared by gods which should rightly be perfect or near perfection.

In the PAP White Paper there are many big promises of higher GDP growth and higher quality towns and flats that will lead to higher quality living. The biggest flaw or maybe not a flaw, is the position on more immigrants and higher population. These are non starters. They are the key to the violent objection by the people, not only in Parliament but the citizens at large. Can the Govt see this point? I think the Govt chooses not do.

Can the better quality living etc, please also state what is the cost involved, be achieved without the higher population? If it is conditional on this, then the people are saying, keep it. The Poll conducted by a live show on Channel 8 conclusively proved that the people are not willing to compromise the high population density for a little growth. 92.5% voted against this motion. This is quite close to the 97% polled in mysingaporenews Poll. The increase in population in the PAP White Paper is the fundamental issue that the citizens are objecting. Get it?

Now the other opposition parties are coming out with their version of what they would want to see in a future Singapore. Of course it is time for the PAP side, and its apologists to start tearing these papers to shreds. Devadas Krishnadas wrote a more than one page article to dissect the WP’s White Paper. Some of his comments are here, ‘actually a cupboard empty of original ideas, (really?) …All its policy recommendations are borrowed ideas from existing or proposed policies of PAP.’ What is wrong with not being original or borrowed from the PAP? Not everything the PAP wrote in its White Paper is rubbish. Not all PAP policies are bad. WP is just picking up the good parts, add in theirs as both are dealing with the same issues and problems. There is no necessity to reinvent the wheel.

Other comments by Devadas include, ‘simplistic view that imposing a freeze on foreign labour supply will not damage the economy,… riddled with popular slogans, …asks us to believe in a dream land where making hard choices is unnecessary….’ For the last part, is it that much different from the PAP’s dream land? Or PAP’s dream land scenario has no hard choices like flooding the country with millions of foreigners is acceptable?

Critics are critics. Important point is where they are coming from and how serious and rational are the criticisms. If the WP White Paper is as offensive as the PAP paper, it could possibly lead to a similar public outcry. Or maybe not as it will not be passed or discussed in Parliament.

A strange and puzzling question

Why would Indian companies want to set up business in Singapore and incur all the high costs, wages, rentals, living expenses, business expenses etc etc while at the same time employing mainly Indian FTs from India? (This issue is also applicable to Chinese companies or companies of any third world country when the cost is cheaper, if they also bring in the whole village and the schools here). Would it be more cost effective to locate in India and enjoy the comparative and competitive advantages vis a vis a set up here? I can understand if they are here to tap on the skilled local workforce. But they are not. They are bring their own workforce here.

One possible reason, they are getting their businesses right here and earning higher revenue to pay for the higher costs. A second possibility, if it is a western MNC, the cost is borne by the MNC and if they could keep the bottom line healthy, no one is complaining. A third possibility is to occupy Singapore and eventually turn it into another India city with Indians becoming a majority in the island.

What else could be a good reason for the Indian FTs to relocate schools, lock, stock and barrel to Singapore, and pay for all the higher expenses when the same business/school can remain in India at a fraction of the cost? The schools are run entirely by Indian teachers, Indian curriculum and Indian students. How many Indian schools are here and how many Indian FTs are here and how many are accompanied by their entire extended families?

It was reported that there are now 200,000 Indian PMETs here and growing. How many are exactly here including their dependents and how many have become citizens and not in the statistics? The percentage of Indians has risen by 2% or 66,000 from a citizen population of 3.3m.

If the whole population of residents, including PRs and EPs and WPs, were to be considered, what is the distribution of the different racial groups? Aided by the CECA and FTAs, are there bigger political and strategic objectives for foreigners to be moving into this island particularly for the two big countries like China and India?



Anyone got any statistics on this?

Warren Fernandez, official or personal views?

Warren Fernandez is a very powerful man in ST, in shaping opinions of the paper and its influence on its readers. He is writing quite regularly now and the White Paper and the immigrant issue are hot topics to involve him personally and directly. He wrote another piece on Sunday about how the people were so stupid not to see the ageing problems and how the able Govt was working so hard to do the necessary. He did not ask why a super talented Govt, paid the highest in the world, could not nip this problem in the bud and allowing it to grow and become a national crisis? He did not ask why after importing nearly 2m people in slightly more than a decade into the island did not help at all, did not alleviate the ageing problem but instead added to the problem. Would adding more immigrants solve the problem in the future or would it just be like now, add into the problem to create an even bigger problem to be relieved by even bigger population later on, the perfect Ponzi solution?
Was Warren Fernandez writing in his personal capacity, or in the capacity of the top guy in ST, or was he speaking as a representative of the official view, a Govt view? The gist of his article can be summed up by these few paragraphs.

‘Some have begun to mouth empty slogans such as “Singapore for Singaporeans” or “born and bred Singaporeans”. There was even on outlandish posting on Facebook calling for “ethnic cleansing of FTs from Singapore”…The idea is absurd. Where would we draw the line separating “born and bred” Singaporeans from others to be spurned – 1965? If so, many of us would have to disavow our own parents or grandparents as interlopers. Or should we push it back to 1819? In that case, most of us, except for a few Malay families, would have to pack up and ship out to wherever our ancestors came from.’

From these two paragraphs, it is very clear where he is coming from. Rubbishing ideas like “Singapore for Singaporeans” or “born and bred Singaporeans” are as good as telling the Sinkies to go fuck off, there is no such things as true blue Singaporeans. Anyone given a pink IC is a Singaporean. This is the official view I am sure. The Govt is planning to bring in more foreigners to be given the pink IC to be counted as Singaporeans. Who cares about born and bred Singaporeans? This is high falutin surely, an aspiration only for those who think they are true blue Singaporeans. Sinkies better get use to it.

The idea of true blue Sinkies is absurd. Really? The people in Hong Lim will disagree. They know and regard themselves as true blue Sinkies. That’s why they came, with no fear of rain or lightning. There are Sinkies that do not want to acknowledge the true blue Sinkies. They are entitled to their opinion. Warren added with the fake ignorance of small boy argument about where to start, 1965, 1819, or may I add to make it more ridiculous, from Adam and Eve. This is the same kind of evasive thought like what Tan Chuan Jin said in Parliament. How to define a true blue Singaporean? Where to start, so difficult leh. When super talents find it difficult, it must be really difficult ya?

Is that so, or just a denial, refusing to want to look at it? Why don’t apply the mean testing formula? I think it will work quite well with a little modification. Personally I find the mean testing formula hideous and wicked, but when the Govt wants to do it, whatever nonsensical formula, even the raising of GST to help the poor will be good and logical.

I don’t think it is so difficult to define what is a true blue Singaporean and not having to kick the butts of our parents and grandparents into the shit hole in doing so. As a Singaporean, I am offended by anyone who rubbishes the idea of a true blue Singaporean. Our parents and grand parents did not build this country for foreigners to take advantage of our children and grandchildren. We have to take care of ourselves and our future generations. It is for them that this country exists for. Otherwise everything we do is foolish, useless and futile, especially NS.

And in order to protect our future children, the descendants of true blue Sinkies, you see, I refuse to define what this means because all true blue Sinkies understand what it means except those who refuse to want to know. We must know who we are. We are Singaporeans by birth and by long residence and commitments to this country. We are no longer passing by, we are stayers, not quitters. We are the owners of this island. This is home to true blue Singaporeans, not to fair weather economic migrants.

Does Warren Fernandez believe in ‘Singapore for Singaporeans’ and in true blue or born and bred Singaporeans? He said these were empty slogans. Does the govt believe in true blue Singaporeans or not? Or shall there be a new slogan, Singapore is an international city for people all over the world, not only for Singaporeans.

What do you think?

Paving the way for the extinction of Sinkies in Sin City

The White Paper wanted a 55% Sinkie core in 2030 with a population of 6.9m. It could make it more palatable by claiming that the Sinkie core will be 80% by offering citizenship to all the residents, PRs or what not that are working here and telling the daft Sinkies that the Sinkies are forming 80% of the core population.

As long as the true blue Sinkie core is diminishing against the PRs and new citizens in the population, it is shrinking or dying and would eventually become an absolute minority if it is not already the case. Just remove the new citizens, say those who have been granted citizenship in the last 10 years and see how many true blue citizens are left. The number can be shocking. Any investigative journalist dares to take on this unpopular and politically incorrect revelation?

Given the assumption that the foreigners are hungrier, more talented, more willing to reproduce, have the habit of bringing along their fathers and mothers, father in laws and mother in laws and siblings, the granting of a citizenship to a couple could mean an entourage of a small village tacking along. And their drive for a better life, their more abrasive and aggressive and competitive spirit would only drive away more Sinkies to foreign shores, or the meek that were left behind, to hide indoors or may just shift their asses to Johore.

While the true blue Sinkies become less competitive, less productive and making lesser babies, the foreigners or new citizens are going the other way. These natural trends of progression will in no time turn the true blue Sinkies to extinction in the island. And the new owners of the island would then show their generosity and magnanimity by setting up special corners of the islands or small islands as reservations to protect the true blue Sinkies from disappearing altogether in a revived and vibrant immigrant city.

The road has been paved for the extinction of Sinkies in their homeland without the Sinkies knowing what is happening. Please welcome the foreigners, immigrants and all to save this City, to keep it more vibrant.