The hammering of North Korea continues

Everyday, without fail, the western media will dish out hated mails and articles about North Korea, calling it mad, crazy, unpredictable, belligerent and all kinds or negative adjectives. Actually who is the crazy and mad one? No one dares to say so. Kishore Mahbubani, the one that is supposedly seen as very harsh in his comments on the West, also shied away from calling a spade a spade, avoiding naming the devil in the rising tension in the Korean Peninsula. The Americans are the war mongers, the mad and crazy bastards that are pushing the two Koreans towards war.

If anything, the North Koreans are cornered, provoked and trapped in a corner. They are far from being mad or crazy. They know very well that the only protection they have against the mad and evil Empire is the threat to nuke the Americans when forced to. And as for the South Koreans, if they are stupid enough to be pushed into war with the North Koreans, they got themselves to be blamed for their own idiocy.

Now what did Kishore said and why didn’t he call a spade a spade? In his article in the ST last week, he talked about the basics of diplomacy, talk to your enemy. And he named all the countries doing just that except one, the evil Empire. The Americans refused to talk to Iran and North Korea and is brandishing military weapons and threatening war with the two countries. To the Americans, because of its monopoly in superior weaponry, it refused to talk to anyone. It only know one act, to blast whoever they called as enemy. Now, who is the mad one, the crazy one that only thinks of nothing but to go to war?

Come on Kishore, the North Koreans are not mad or crazy as the West, especially the Americans would want the world to believe. They are being pushed to a corner and have no other ways out but to fight. They are forced to fight by crazy and mad people in the USA who would not allow them to have their own nuclear arms. The USA have been threatening, seriously, premeditated, to strike at both Iran and North Korea for possession of nuclear capability. Can anyone beat that, the most powerful military powerful fearing a nascent nuclear power to blow up the USA and for what reasons really beats me. Only the crazy Americans can think that other countries are ruled by mad leaders when in fact the lunatics are residing in Washington.

In a way, the mad and crazy people tag could also be hung on the two Koreans for going to war at the instigation of the Americans and start to kill their own kind.

Number and quality of doctors in Sin

The statistics given by Amy Khor in Parliament has stirred many emotions among Singaporeans on the number of doctors and the quality of doctors in the island. I did not have the details on how the numbers and ration were arrived. We have now 1 doctor to 520 of the population. Is the population based on 3.3m citizens or 5.4m or should it include the medical tourists? Anyway how the data are collated and computed and the implications are not what I want to comment here.

Our medical services are on par with the best in the West. And we used to have an added competitive edge in pricing lower than the West. It was the equivalent of CBF, cheaper, better and faster or cheap and good. Many medical tourists find it value for money, for equivalent quality to the West but at bargain price. But this is changing.

Other than our infamous case with the royalties in Brunei, our medical fees are catching up with the West for many reasons. One is our cost of living. Higher rental, higher property prices, higher prices of luxury cars, and higher everything, which means that the medical professionals would have to charge higher too to enjoy all the good things in life. And for those who are studying medicine here and aspiring to earn big money, the cost of a medical education is also so much higher, and many times more overseas. All these add to the eventual fees to be charged to the patients.

Everything should be fine when the patients are willing to pay and can afford to pay, and the quality of medical services remains high. What can go wrong is a compromise in the quality with the influx of foreign trained doctors and specialists. Our local doctors are top notch, professionally and in academics. They are the crème al crème of their cohorts in schools. Everyone got more than straight As to be even considered for medical school, and many were rejected. That speaks quality. The very best became doctors.

Are the foreign additions of the same quality? I am prepared to say yes on paper, as these should be the criteria to judge them and their professional resume. Fingers crossed that this is well and the integrity of the medical profession is not compromised.

I think at the top level, the specialists, the problems of fakes and quacks are lesser as many would have proven themselves before attaining their positions and recognitions. The problem is at the lower level. At the GP and junior specialist level, medical professionals are flooding the industry from everywhere, presumably the medical council would have done their due diligence to have their professional qualifications and expertise verified and spelt good and okay, on par with our top notch doctors.

There is no doubt that our first world quality control and checks would be able to keep the quacks and cheats and the not so good out of the system. The third world fraudsters should not get passed the barriers and the scrutiny of our super talents. If these are in, then the quality of our medical services will definitely be affected. By right the cost of medical fees should be lower with medical professionals coming from third world countries. Relatively, the cost of producing a third world doctor, their cost of living, cost of education, etc, etc are much lower compare to the cost of producing a top notch doctor in our system. Their return on investment is pretty high when the cost was low while the returns from fees in a first world city are exceptionally much higher.

How this is working out I dunno and they may be paid exactly the same as our top notch locals who came from a top notch system both in quality and tuition fees. The foreign doctors are getting paid for more than what they are worth. Are the Singapore patients getting value for money? Now this exposes some mismatch and misgivings won’t it?

There are reasons to pay them the same for the same job. But the input in the production of our local doctors and those of foreign doctors, especially from the developing countries will show a vast difference in the cost, and the quality as well. To the foreign doctors, the return is very good. They would be earning their comparative income if they stay at home country, low tuition fees, low medical fees to charge. To the Singapore locals, the return is not so good as it would take something like half a million to train one of our very best local doctors through our system.

We are not comparing apple with apple are we? Some oranges may be as good as apples, but many will likely to be lemons and charging the price of apples. Are we being fair to our top notch locals and also our local patients paying medical fees fit for top notch doctors but not getting top notch doctors to treat them?

Singapore is the Promised Land...for foreigners

While many PMEs are moaning for being let off, unemployed, underemployed or having to drive taxis as a last resort, the picture is totally different from the foreigners’ perspective. To the foreigners, from the third world to the developed world of Europe, America and Australia, Singapore is the place to be, Singapore is where fortunes are made.

Many of these foreigners would never have dreamt of the good life in their own countries. Many of these countries would not have given them the opportunity to be rich within a handful of years. Many would be just the average workers, like the average Singaporeans, struggling for a life time to make ends meet if they remain in their home countries. Even the westerners, many would be having a hard time finding good jobs in their home countries.

Singapore is the Promised Land to many of these foreigners. Many will only have to game the system and after a few years, could retire and go home very rich. Singapore is where sweet dreams are made and great hopes could turn into reality for the foreigners.

On the contrary, many Singaporeans would no longer see their dreams of a better middle class life style coming to fruition. They did not have the comparative advantage that foreigners have, the option of going home where the cost of living is significantly lower and the exchange rate of a Singapore dollar in their favour. And there is the great salary that they can never dream of having if they remain in home countries.



This is about the greatest irony that Singaporeans are facing. They face higher cost of living and education in some of the best universities but having to compete with third world products and losing out. While third world or even first world talents could make their fortunes here, many Singaporeans would not be able to do so because of the high cost of living. To the foreigners, landing a job in Singapore is as good as having made it. For Singaporeans, it is just a long haul to service high debt and high cost of living.



What do you think? Why like dat one? The citizens of the Promised Land finding it difficult to cope and downgrading their expectations of the good things in life while the non citizens are all full of hopes and dreams of a better life with their third world qualifications. They will go home, buy big houses, land and cars and starting their own businesses. The foreigners are here to fulfil their dreams. Singaporeans are losing their dreams.

The unhappy young and their broken Singapore Dream

The Singapore Dream was like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow to many older Singaporeans. To many older Singaporeans, the PMEs, this pot is now missing. Someone has shifted it and they could not see anything there. The only people seeing this pot of gold are the foreigners replacing them in their high paying jobs. The Singapore Dream has to be modified to mean the foreigner’s Singapore Dream. To the older Singaporeans, the Dream has become a bad Dream, a nightmare in the making.

Are the young Singaporeans seeing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow as well? They better be. They have paid heavily to grow up, invested heavily in themselves, with some parents selling their homes, emptying their savings, to get them a good education. Would they be able to land a job that makes the return on their parent’s investment worthy and economically meaningful? Would their income be enough to pay for the little public flat that is now the only achievable and realistic dream? Would they be able to buy that elusive car, like the Americans needing a horse in the good old cowboy days? And would they still have enough in their savings when the time comes for retirement? Given the extremely high cost of living and inflation, every young Singaporean today must need to earn an income that is equivalent to three times their need to cover housing, medical and retirement.

The young Singaporeans are going to be the new breed of highly in debt Singaporeans never seen or heard before. They will incur debt for their education and another 30 year of mortgages that could be in several hundred thousands or more. They will be indebted to the CPF, to pay a ransom to be kept by the CPF meant for their own good and retirement. Then there is a huge debt to bring up a family with a couple of kids.

The life of the young Singaporeans, excluding the rich scions of old rich, ministers and top professionals, will be one of working and working to pay and pay and at the end of it, nothing to compare with the foreigners whose dream will be to return home to be a rich land lord or owning their own businesses. The Singapore Dream of the young Singaporeans is to have the blessing of working till their die, no breaks, to be able to pay for all the debts that are predictable and designed into the system and into their lives.

Every year about 50,000 young Singaporeans will come of age and start to hang a millstone over their neck, to start their new lives as adults. The new citizens coming in too will have to hang the same millstone over their necks unless they are really super talents and can afford the expensive housing and lifestyle here. The group of highly in debt young and new people cannot afford a major economic crisis or a personal crisis in their lives. They will be heavily in debt and their lives will be in ruins should it happen. Without an income is simply unacceptable with the kind of debt in their hands. They are the new debtors of a Singapore economic miracle formula based on high inflation, and high cost of living and increasing debt of the young people.

Hail the new Singapore Dream, small flat, no car and a big debt to service for a life time. This is the standard copy of the life of the new average young Singaporeans. Are their parents worried and want this to be the Dream of their children? Anyone can see why the Dreams of FTs and young Singaporeans are different, one full of promises of wealth and another on the brink of becoming a nightmare?

A mansion for US$242m

A 85,000 sq ft mansion in the heart of Singapore has an asking price of US$242m. It has a 2 storey house, maybe 10 rms at the most, an antique tennis court and a swimming pool, and the rest is just empty land. The most expensive property sold in the US according to Times, was a Dallas mansion for US$135m. And that came with a 42,500 sq ft 5 storey house, 3 swimming pools, guest house and 25 acres of landscaped greenery.

Now what can US$242m buy? I think the Buckingham Palace would go for under $200m, minus its occupants and the treasures in it. This is how the land owning class in Singapore made their money, with high inflated prices of properties that they were bought by their parents or grand parents and inherited as heirlooms, no estate duties. The children and grandchildren just sit on a pot of gold that is growing bigger by the day. And this is supported by a govt that only wants to see property prices going one way, up, up and away. Falling property prices is just inconceiveable given that more than 85% of the residents are owners of some properties, or at least a 99 year lease public housing flat.

The game of inflating the balloon of property prices is most welcomed by the residents. They cannot think of anything else. Anything else like a drop in property price can be suicidal as many are up to their necks in mortgages, except the old rich. Singapore is now worth its weight in gold. And all the rich foreigners are rushing in to park their good money and ill gotten money in properties, a sure bet asset that will not lose its value. The more tycoons coming into the island, despite regulations against foreign ownership of landed properties, the higher will property price appreciate. Soon all Singaporeans including those living in 99 year lease public housing could sell their properties in the millions. No fear of a decreasing lease life that will expire to nothing. What a great formula to generate wealth without working.

They say when something is too good to be true, be careful.