May Day at Hong Lim – A sequel to the Feb 26 White Paper Protest

Gilbert Goh is organizing a second protest on the Population White Paper on May Day at Hong Lim Park once again. The mission of this protest is similar but would include more issues like jobs for Singaporeans, CPF, minimum wage and others. He is targeting a 10,000 crowd this time. This second protest rally will allow those who have missed the first one not to miss it again.

Among the speakers that have been lined up so far are M Ravi and Braema Mathi from Maruah Singapore. He is working to get more civic societies to come on board.

This is looking to be a rally the disillusioned Singaporeans are looking for having missed out on the first one. The momentum and support from the earlier rally in February could make this a must attend rally for true blue Singaporeans. After having experienced the first mass rally, the organizers are likely to be better prepared for the crowd this time.

The Govt cannot build more flats( part 2)

Even if there is genuine demand for more flats, the Govt, according to Boon Wan, will not build more flats as this will affect some 80,000 owners who are living on rental income. Is this an important reason not to build flats for those who need them? Another possible reason, build more flats will bring down prices. Is this also another reason not to build enough flats to meet the demand?

What is the mission of HDB? To build flats to provide an income to the owners? To build flats and to ensure the prices will not fall? Or to build flats so that the citizens will have a roof over their heads?

But the Govt will build more flats for more people that are going to be imported to increase the population to 6.9m. And it is going to build several hundred thousand units for this purpose. So opposition better don’t speak up against having more foreign workers to build these flats.

Is Boon Wan meddling with the supply and demand of flats and the market forces? Is it not the Govt’s top priority to build flats for its citizens to live in, have babies, to bring up a family? The rental income cannot be a major concern, and some price fluctuation due to market forces must be a natural order of things. Why is this preoccupation to support and prop up property prices to disadvantage and victimize genuine home buyers? The current property prices are abnormally high and need to be lowered by balancing the supply and demand and definitely not by curtailing its supply.

What kind of logic is this? The interests of the young home buyers and genuine home owners are expendable so that others can get higher rental income or be happy cause their property prices remain high on paper?

What do you think?

A monumental change in the making in the Singapore polity

I thought I sense something big is happening in the politics of this island. But I rule them out as voices from the lunatic fringe, congregating mostly in blogosphere. The anger and spitefulness cannot be missed and growing daily. Then, blogosphere is the equivalent of Liang Shan or Mt Liang in the classic Water Margin, where the heroes or victims of the establishment called home. So, I can only take the grumbling as a little disturbance and would come to nothing eventually. It is too small a group of people kpkb daily and awaiting for doomsday or a political judgement day.

Other than netizens in cyberspace, uneasiness and a sense of despair and helpless also pervade in casual discussions. The mood is that the ruling party has lost is support and trust from the people. The Presidential Election and the two by elections were seen as the harbingers of more of the same to come. The little crowd in Hong Lim too was read by many that it is not as small as it looked and the unhappiness is more widespread than thought.

Seah Chiang Nee, the ex ST editor, also wrote about the increasing vocal elite that were once part of the establishment and expressing their misgivings and disagreement quite openly. Then yesterday I read Catherine Lim, a doyen of govt critics, in an article about the PAP losing it. The party has lost its long taken for granted trust and support of the people. The people are cynical, and questioning, and doubtful of the direction going forward as plotted by the Govt.

In Catherine Lim’s view, all is not lost. The PAP only needs to cleanse its past by embracing the ex political dissidents that were forced out of the country, some released from political detention, and bows for forgiveness. That would show some sincerity and humility of the unpleasant past, and to emerge from the dark side in sparkling white once again.

I am less sanguine about this assessment and less optimistic that the problem is just about a dark chapter of our political history. I think the problems are more basic, bread and butter issues, jobs, cost of living and the increasing tension brought about by a misplaced foreign talent group that have proven to be more a pain in the arse than people deserving to be welcomed as new partners in our economic and social development. Many citizens are feeling cheated by Govt policies and a future of a highly intense society, of having to pay more for less, smaller homes, no cars, bank breaking hospital fees, and having to compete unfairly with foreign mobs that are haughty, cocky, unworthy and untrustworthy while feasting on our hospitality and taking away good jobs from the locals.

The PAP is losing its grip on the voters in more ways than could be envisaged. I don’t see any hope of them regaining the trust and support of the people like in the past. It is a slippery downward slide to oblivion. I qualify to say that my readings are one sided. Then again, the truth will surface very soon when grassroots leaders are also getting ambivalent about what is installed for them in the next GE.

Things are not looking pretty for the PAP. Feel free to disagree with my diagnosis. I am just a political watcher and commentator and I am looking at the scenario through tinted lens.

Norwegian Oil SWF gains 13.4% in 2012

‘(10 Mar) – Norway’s oil fund, one of the biggest investors in the world, rose in value by 13.4% last year, its second-best performance ever.

The central bank said the fund’s investments in shares jumped by 18.1% in 2012, boosted by soaring equity indexes around the world.

It is now worth 3.8tn krone (£450bn; $670bn), up from 3.3tn krone in 2011….’

This is a snippet that I read posted in TRE. How much did our SWFs made last year? The Norwegians seemed to be doing very well at face value from this report. If the Norwegians are doing so much better than our SWFs, maybe it will be a good thing to learn from them, their strategies, who are their fund managers and where did they invest their funds.

There must be something that the Norwegians are doing right. But numbers are numbers and they can mean all kinds of things and also dependent on accounting practices. At 13.4%, it is still a good number in any count.

Can we borrow some of their fund managers?

The Govt cannot continue to build more flats

‘For instance, the Govt cannot continue to build more flats to meet new housing demand as this would mean “hurting the many home owners who can now rent out their properties.”’ Khaw Boon Wan.

The above is quoted in the main media. So, can the govt continue to build another few hundred thousand units for the 6.9m population?

What do you think? Controlling the supply? Can continue to bring in more migrants?