Robbing the young rich to pay the old poor

The legend of Robin Hood and how he robbed the rich to pay the poor and always fighting against the Sheriff of Nottingham who only knew how to protect the rich, was a favourite and must read comics of our generation. I don’t think the Y generation onwards bother with such wholesome righteousness. But the Govt still does, as many of them were of my generation or close to it. They are brought up with the same righteousness, of robbing the rich to pay the poor, not robbing to pay themselves for sure.

Housing is still a big pain to many Singaporeans, and the right to buy a public flat from the Govt is like striking lottery to some, or a big savings to many. Every Singaporean given the opportunity will want to buy directly from the Govt to save a few hundred thousand bucks of their hard earned money. With a monopolistic public housing scheme, the Govt knows how vital its role is and how they could make life easier or meaner to the Singaporean home buyers. By tweaking the demand and supply, by formulating rules and regulations, some will be cut out from the public housing schemes and be left at the mercy of the free market and the private property developers.

Many groups of Singaporeans have been deprived from the public housing scheme while the ‘Ginny come lately’ new citizens were graciously allowed to buy public housing freely. One of the groups that have been deprived from public housing is the young high income earners, ie those earning above $12,000. To the Govt and to many Singaporeans, this group is very rich and must not be allowed to buy public housing. So the Govt has in place an income ceiling to keep these rich young people from public housing.

What the Govt has done is like what Robin Hood had done in the past, robbing these rich young people to pay the poor. By not allowing them to buy direct from the Govt, these young people have no choice but to buy from the resale market or buy private properties. The effect is a transfer of their savings to those who are selling their public housing in the resale market. The difference in price can be a few hundred thousand dollars. Effectively the Govt is forcing these young people to hand their money to the HDB owners who bought their flats direct from HDB. This must be a well thought out scheme of the Govt, to ensure a fairer distribution of wealth among the average Singaporeans. The young and abler Singaporeans must share their wealth with the less able and older Singaporeans. Who can fault such a benevolent design?

If these young people refuse to share their savings with the HDB dwellers, they can share them with the private property developers and pay even more. In the latter case it will not be robbing the rich to pay the poor. It will be robbing the not so rich young people to pay the rich developers and rich speculators.

Whatever way you look at it, it is a good thing. The young people have the money and it is only right that they should share their hard earned money with those who are less able. Not sure if one agrees that they should share with the rich developers and speculators. The Govt is doing a righteous thing, a moral thing, a good thing, like modern day Robin Hood. We have a very caring Govt that cares for the poor.

The Govt should not remove the ceiling, for by doing so they would not be able to rob the young rich to pay the poor old. The moral of the story is that it is ok to rob the rich and pay the poor. But don’t touch the super rich. Their wealth must be protected at all cost and to grow and grow. Make the young rich buy properties from the super rich, who incidentally, many have bought many properties and waiting for the young rich to hand over their hard earned money for them. We have a good system in place. Don’t rock the boat. Be thankful and be grateful.

PS. I wrote this piece with my eyes wide shut.

In celebration of foreign tycoons

There were many headline news of the increasing numbers of foreign tycoons making Sin City their homes. These are the genuinely super talents that have made it good in life in their own ways and are filled with money and riches, and life was meant for living and pleasure. They are here for the right or wrong reasons but one thing for sure, they will not be here to take away plum jobs from Singaporeans. The only unsavoury sin they could commit would be the buying of a few ethereal priced properties. But this would not have too much negative impact on the general populace as their numbers, and the sale of landed properties is limited by legislation and a thinking Govt, are small and remote, a world of their own. They could in their own ways contribute positively to the economy if that is what the Govt desires. I don’t think anyone has any issue on these tycoons.

What this group of tycoons will not do is to feast on the success of the country built over the last few decades. They would not be parachuted down from nowhere to take over top jobs and be paid millions when the jobs could have gone to the local talents. Many Singaporeans see this as a betrayal. I am still scratching my head as to the number of top jobs going to foreign talents and watching what they are doing and what a local could not do much better.

The paying of millions to foreign talents for positions that were created locally is something that will not be taken lightly by the aspiring local talents. The question is why, after building up this place, the credits and benefits ended up in the pockets of foreign paratroopers and mercenaries. This is not just a matter of envy. There must be many local talents that can fill these jobs or be groomed to take over these jobs. I would faint if, after building up a banking empire like UOB, the top job ended up with a foreigner because no local is deemed good enough. It is plain silly to do so, all the hard works of several generations in building a business empire only to see someone coming from no where to reap the rewards.  What has this foreigner contributed to the creation of wealth and the business to have the good fortune of being paid in the millions, delivered on a silver platter?

We should welcome the tycoons and their businesses and the jobs they created for the locals. Why should we welcome foreign talents who are here for the feast?

How frightening to have your photos on the news

Two young men got the scare of their lives when their photos appeared in several newspaper as suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing incident. Both were middle eastern and fit the western stereotyping of what bombers are likely to look like. And the media were so happy to flash their photos across their pages.

Here are some remarks made by one of the suspects and his family and reported by AP. The two could have been killed or shot at just because of the news and their photographs. They were lucky that two other suspects surfaced. If not, they would have remained the prime suspects and living in fear with life threatening moments. Could they have saved themselves by turning up at the police station? Or could that become worst given the prejudice against them and the notoriety of some policemen in the US. They could turn up in good faith in a police station to clear their names but the whole episode could become a nightmare.

Yes, they were lucky, and right to stay indoors away from the suspicious eyes of people eager to take the bombers down. Thank God they are safe now.

‘REVERE, Mass. (AP) — A teenager said he is scared to go outside after he was portrayed on the Internet and on the front page of the New York Post as connected to the deadly Boston Marathon bombings.

Photos of Salah Eddin Barhoum, 17, and friend Yassine Zaime were posted on websites whose users have been scouring marathon finish line photos for suspects. The two were also on the Post's front Thursday with the headline: "Bag men: Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon."

The Post reported later Thursday that the pair weren't considered suspects, and the FBI has since identified two other men as suspects in Monday's bombings, which killed three people and injured more than 180.

But Barhoum, a track runner at Revere High School, said he is convinced some will blame him for the bombings, no matter what.

He said he was so fearful on Thursday that he ran back to the high school after a track meet when he saw a man in a car staring at him, talking into a phone. He said he won't feel safe until the bombers are caught.

"I'm going to be scared going to school," Barhoum said. "Workwise, my family, everything is going to be scary."

Attempts to reach Zaime were not immediately successful.

Barhoum's father, El Houssein Barhoum, who moved his family from Morocco five years ago, said he is worried his son will be shot and fears for his wife and two young daughters. He said he can't go to his job as a baker in Boston.

"Right now, we are not secure," he said. "So, the news (media), when they put something, they should be sure about the information."

The two could have been killed or shot at just because of the news and their photographs. They were lucky that two other suspects surfaced. If not, they would have remained the prime suspects and living in fear with life threatening moments. Could they have saved themselves by turning up at the police station? Or could that become worst given the prejudice against them and the notoriety of some policemen in the US. They could turn up in good faith in a police station to clear their names but the whole episode could become a nightmare.

Yes, they were lucky, and right to stay indoors away from the suspicious eyes of people eager to take the bombers down. Thank God they are safe now. It must be real scary.

Saving Ubin

The scientists around the world are worried at the destruction of rainforests and their ecology and the ultimate destruction of Gaia. The scientists are also worried about population growth and the consumption and exploitation of livestocks and mineral resources of Gaia as well. Both are destructive forces that could make life of earth difficult for human kind. Without the green lungs to cleanse the air and recycle oxygen and carbon dioxide, to cool the temperature and the cycle of rainfall, and the rapid population growth that is consuming everything at a rate must faster than their replacement rate, Mother Earth will have great difficulties sustaining life forms in the not too distant future.

The first sign of Pulau Ubin going the way of concrete jungle has been put up. We have lost Sentosa to all the ugly man made structures, we have reclaimed Marina South only to be turned into another ugly monster that needs hundreds of millions to maintain when the plants in them could grow in their natural habitat without costing a cent. And we claimed progress and money well spent, a big scientific achievement, a great human feat over Nature.

Pulau Ubin will be dug up and rebuilt for more human activities, more unnatural concrete constructs in the name of progress. Why can’t Pulau Ubin be left alone as another remnant of Mother Nature saved from the destructive forces of greedy men? There is no need to destroy Ubin if we are not crazy about filling our islands with more people. Our so called economic progress is our little contribution to the destruction of Gaia. When the world is trying to save the rainforests, trying to limit the growth of human beans, we are doing the reverse. We want to destroy Nature, we want more human beans disproportionate to the size of our islands. We are over consuming and over populating our islands for our own good.

Save Ubin. Say No to 6.9m.

Blow up my home, I blow up yours

In my earlier post on the failure of American Intelligence Services to gather prior warnings of the Boston Marathon bombings, the main point was for the Americans to stop their wicked acts of planting the seeds of war everywhere. The Americans could do that, and have been doing that, on the belief that all these destructive and bad things can be done in other people’s territories, far away from the USA. This false sense of security emboldens the Americans to start and perpetuate wars around the world for the last 60 years and still going strong. The new theatre of war and destruction will be Asia, starting with the Korean peninsula, and this will be followed up by Diaoyu Islands and the South China Sea.

Before the Americans start a few more wars, the Boston bombing is a stark reminder that when the Americans go around bombing other people’s country and killing other innocent people, the victims will return to the American mainland to do the same. It is better for the Americans to reflect on their evil acts and pull back to avoid more disastrous bombings in the heartlands of America. The victims can hit back and will hit back and will bring the war into the streets of America.

Asymmetrical warfare is the alternative to fight wars against a superior aggressor in its homeland and around the world. The Americans, or any aggressor country that invades another country have to contend with a timeless guerilla war waged by the people of the invaded country, a war without a battle zone, with no battle lines, no enemies in sight. Asymmetrical warfare will take modern warfare to a new dimension, with a small group of men or women it can hold a super power in hostage and its people in fear, disrupt their daily life in every corner of the world. It can drain down the aggressor’s resources and wear down their spirit to fight an invisible enemy that has the advantage of initiative and surprise.

The moral of the story is that any country, super powers and their unwilling allies or coalition, must take note that they can come under attack anywhere, including their homeland. There is no where to hide and no place is safe. It is best to stop starting wars and make friends rather than making enemies. What is the main role of USS Freedom?