Need to build more private hospitals

The over utilization of our govt privatized hospitals is becoming a joke when an appointment could be in terms of several months or even years. What kind of nonsense is this? Many medical problems would have died or healed by themselves or could have eaten the affected patients. But never mind. Let’s try to do something positive.
 
We have a population of 5.4m and a citizen population of 3.31m. The rest, PRs and non residents, make up 2.1m. This is by no means a small number of people. Now you know why our govt privatized hospitals are finding it difficult to cope. Many of these people are really consuming the health services provided by the govt privatized hospitals, leading to high and over utilization.
 
Perhaps one way to go about improving the quality of healthcare services to the citizens is to encourage the private sectors to build more hospitals to cater to the needs of PRs and non residents. It would be good for everyone, win, win and win solution. The citizens can have better healthcare services from the govt privatized hospitals or private hospitals if they can afford to pay for them. The PRs and non residents can have their private hospitals that are better and well run, to serve them.
 
And the medical profession can have another big industry to make more money. And more land can be sold to build more hospitals, more employment, more jobs and higher GDP. The MOM may even make exceptions and let them staff with foreigners as this is strictly a foreigners industry. Someone just need to do the sums right, on the cost/benefits to the country for providing such services for foreigners, including good jobs in our first world country and the cost of first world infrastructure.
 
Have a new directive that foreigners are now allowed in govt private hospitals to ease the bottleneck. They can go to private hospitals. This may ease the jam in public privatized hospitals and shorten the wait for a medical appointment.
 
What do you think? Think 6.9m coming.

Many questions and answers in Parliament

Many questions were tabled in Parliament and the ministers were busy answering them. Somehow I find the drift not going the right direction. What are all the questions about, and what are the parliamentarians there in the first place?
 
Parliament has degenerated to a state of talking cock to score points for whichever party. Questions and answers were there to do just that while the interest of the people was secondary, do not really matters. At least that is my impression.
 
When would Parliament and parliamentarians be there to speak for the interests of the people with politics taking a break? The politickings should be set aside after the GE and all should work together or separately but putting the well beings of the people ahead of everything else. It is time to work for the people.
 
Roll up your sleeves and get down to work, and forget about party or whether you like that bugger or dislike his or her face. Can we have a bit of sincerity, to deal with issues as elected leaders of the people and working for the people? Do not brush aside the concerns of the people by clever or slippery answers or excuses.
 
Put the people first and everything will fall into place. When this is not the case, everything will be screw up as the intent is wrong, misplaced and nothing will be right. There are still a couple of years before the next GE and there is time to do things and work for the people. The results will speak for themselves.
 
The people are watching and the social media can be harsh to those that are just wayanging and not working for the people. The people are not daft for sure. Whether a politician is sincere and genuine will easily be recognized and be put in their place in the next GE. There is no where to run and no where to hide, and no where to talk rubbish or act silly. Those days of going with the flow and hanging on to the gravy train are over.
 
First base, got problems or no problem? If got problems, what are the problems and what must be done to remove the problems? Or maybe there is no problem so can continue to talk cock and sing song and be merry and enjoy the good office and the good pay and the good blessing of abundance.

Hsien Loong – Don’t perform will have to go

During an interview with the CNN Hsien Loong said that anyone in his team would have to go if they did not perform. This statement has been quoted by some bloggers as a reason for Boon Wan to go since the MND is losing several billions for building HDB flats for the people. The issue is not that simple as it is made up to be.
 
How shall a minister’s performance be judged, in particular, like the case of building public flats? Should the measurement be about making profit for the govt or building affordable housing for the people? Or should it be about building enough flats for the people are reasonable prices, not affordable prices, and without having to wait for several years? Or should it be about building enough flats to meet the demands of the people without incurring huge losses.
 
The above questions are quite straight forward reality. In the current case, the issue is not just about the losses, or is it about the losses? And what is this loss, or is there really a loss? This can only come to light if the details of the costing are laid on the table. Then it could become an issue of productivity, efficiency and taking care of the interests of the people. Or it could become an issue to taking care of the interests of the party.
 
The factors to be used to measure Boon Wan’s performance can be complementary or be in conflict with one another. And different people with different perspectives or vested interests would want to judge his performance according to their own set of good or right factors.
 
In this case, the loss of several billions is academic, in a way fictitious as it is a matter of right pocket left pocket. That is why Boon Wan could proudly announce it with a blank expression knowing very well it would not affect his performance. If it would, he could easily ask the finance guy to jiggle the factors and numbers to show a profit instead. It is all about what factors to be used for the input.
 
So, what should be the pertinent factors to be used to judge a minister or Boon Wan to reflect the real performance and the desired results? Should it be the price or the quality of the flats? Should it be the ability to meet the demand and expectation of the people? Should profit be a factor and if so, how should it be measured and what factors should be used to be reasonable?

Chennai Industrial Park

There was a programme on the Tianjin Eco City on CNA last evening. In a piece of waste land, a lake used for dumping industrial waste, up rose a sparkling clean eco city, a joint venture between China and Singapore. The infrastructure was first class, like a super condominium but at least a hundred times bigger in size. The roads and buildings were many times better than our best and newest new towns in Punggol or Sengkang. It was like a modern new suburb in the western world.

Tianjin Eco City easily outclassed the first industrial town built in Suzhou, the Suzhou Industrial Park. I think this is a great expertise of ours that can be easily replicate in other countries. Vietnam is getting one and I think India is getting one soon. The Vietnamese do not need much convincing to want their industrial park Made in Singapore.

The Indians may need more convincing as the project does not seem to be moving, or has it been moving that I don’t know. If convincing is necessarily, actually we have a perfect model of a modern Indian industrial park right in our little island. I have been told many times that the Changi Industrial Park is every inch like an Indian Industrial Park with Indian companies and Indian workers forming the majority of the companies and residents in the Park. It would be a good idea if the govt could invite the Indian leaders to visit the Chennai Industrial Park to take a look at what future modern Indian industrial parks would look like. Oops, I mean Changi Industrial Park.

This Changi/Chennia Industrial Park could be a big tourist attraction for Singaporeans to want to have a feel and taste of what an Indian Industrial Park looks like without flying to India. And Indian tourists, not necessary just the Indian politicians, can be arranged to tour to this Park, a model on which future Indian industrial parks would be like. I am sure they would be very impressed by what they see in Changi/Chennai. And the residents in Changi/Chennai Industrial Park could bear testimony to the good life here, the great and modern facilities that they have come to live with and enjoyed that they could not find anything better in India. Maybe I am wrong and there are better and more modern Indian Industrial Parks than the Changi/Chennia model.

But that is not all. Even if the Indian govt could replicate the physical part of the Park. What they could not easily replicate is the software, the ease of doing business the Singapore way. This is the trump card of Changi/Chennai Industrial Park. Singapore and the Indian govt could have a long list of cooperation in building more industrial parks in India if the Indian govt could come and see it for themselves. It is already there, a working model with many Indian companies and a nearly all Indian workforce.

Our community centres and Residents Committee now have a new place to visit for their constituents. It would certainly be a wonderful experience to be in Mumbai or Chennai in Singapore. Come and visit our Indian Industrial Park at Changi.

What is real behind the myth of freedom of navigation

 Freedom of navigation in the regional seas has been harped by the Americans in every occasion available to raise tension and fear among the Asean countries. Hugh White, the Professor from Australian National University has an article in the ST last week to demystify this rubbish talk of the Americans.
 
Freedom of navigation in the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea has never been an issue. There were a few cases of piracy that were nothing more than mosquito bites and could easily be dealt with by the coast guards of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. There is no need to bring in the American Seventh Fleet and all the nuclear tipped missiles to deal with the pirates. And even if the pirates were navy guys in civilians, like the Pinoys in the South China Sea harassing and bullying the fishing boats and kidnapping them for ransom, they can be easily taken care of. The Taiwanese have shown the Pinoys that they would sink their navy ships if they dare to attack their fishing boats again. China is going to sink their biggest antique warship with compliments from the Americans.
 
So what is the real issue of this freedom of navigation shit? When it was the Straits of Malacca, the Americans were aiming at the Malaysians and the Indonesians. In the South China Sea, the target is China. But then, the whole thing is a hogwash. All the three countries have never threatened freedom of navigation in the region. All of them, according to Hugh White, needed freedom of navigation for trade. How on earth would they threaten freedom of navigation against their national interest?
 
The American humbug played at the highest key with the biggest orchestra is all noise to deceive the countries in the region. The tension and bickering by pesky countries like the Philippines and at one time Vietnam and India, were all the works of the Americans egging them on. Now with Vietnam and India backing out, Japan is now dragged into the frying pan, willingly of course, with the new right govt of Abe aspiring to rearm Japan as the new military power in the region. Under normal circumstances the Americans would have objected after suffering from the devastating sneak attack of Pearl Harbour and the thousands of American lives lost. The Americans would want to continue to keep this barbaric people under a pacifist constitution they imposed on Japan. But because of its wild big power ambition and rivalry with Japan, they are willing to use the Japanese card to give trouble to China. American is consenting and helping Japan to rearm and return to its military past.
 
Hope the Japanese would be strong enough to return the Americans the favour of two nuclear bombs to remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But before that, the Americans would be using the Japanese to raise tension in the region, with the Pinoys in tow.
So much for the fear of freedom of navigation in the Straits of Malacca and South China Sea. When have the Indonesians or the Malaysians or the Chinese done anything to threaten freedom of navigation? The real threats of freedom of navigation is when the American Seventh Fleet is here to choke up the passages and control the movement of ships through the region, and to conduct searches as and when they like on the pretext of intelligence reports of terrorism.