GDP increases when productivity decreases

This is the new contradiction that is keeping Singapore ticking and its GDP growing. While Thomas Friedman is grappling with the combination of exponential, digital and combinatorial growth in technology, high brow stuff, our govt is approaching economic growth in another way, simple cheap labour. Some called it KISS, ie keep it simple, stupid.
 
The equation is simple. One man needs a bed, 3 meals, a little extra like alcohol, a little entertainment, a little sex, clothing, transportation, communication, medical etc etc. Increase to 4 men you can add in a roof, a car, education for children, insurance, banking, leisure and all kinds of services for a family. Multiply these by 1m, by 2m, by 6.9m, what would you get on an exponential, digital and combinatorial formula? Add the tax or levy elements to this, and you have a colossal sum of money flowing and criss crossing in many ways.
 
You don’t need the brainy and highly intelligent talents. That is only a red herring. The consumption of goods and services by big numbers of lowly skilled and cheap labour will generate enough economic activities to keep the GDP growing. No need to think too hard, just keep adding the numbers to keep the trick alive. The population will keep the economic activities winding non stop. The additional headcounts are for growth on top of organic growth. Just keep adding and enjoy the multiplier effect of consumption without having to think too hard, to be creative, innovative or productive.
 
It is a simple number game. Who cares about productivity if growth can be achieved by simple addition of numbers, of people? The productivity of low skilled labour can fall or stagnate, no sweat. This can easily be overcome by quantities, not in the work they do, but the bigger picture, contribution to the overall GDP through all the other services and consumption.
 
No need to be too clever, no need to work so hard. Why bother with high technology, with frontier science, with KBE? Many would have forgotten what KBE meant. That is why the call not to pursue tertiary education but to be hawkers and labourers, as cogs to the matrix of growth. Low productivity but in increasing volumes would still lead to higher GDP.
 
It is elementary Watson. The more cogs you have, pronounce as cocks, the bigger will be the GDP.

Ok to print half truth?

An article in the ST yesterday by its editor Yap Koon Hong more or less says this is excusable given certain conditions when factual reporting is difficult. The article is in response to the criticism across the world, in the main media and social media, on Ching Cheong’s infamous report on the 120 hounds used to devour Jang Song Thaek, the uncle of Kim Jong Un and the second in Command.
 
What Ching Cheong set out to do, by quoting the report from a China source, Wen Weipo, to infer that China was showing its disapproval of the young Kim is understandable and acceptable. Many analysts adopt this methodology to understand the nuances in the news coming out from China to get a feel of the thinking in Zhongnanhai. What is unacceptable is to convey the false information as truth. Did Ching Cheong’s article did that or did he in some way conveyed that message or simply did not dispute or qualify the authenticity of the news?
 
The negative reactions to Ching Cheong’s article by so many sources, including reputable western media, say it all, that he did wrote in such a way that the misinformation could be construed as the truth by many readers and thus the rebuke.
But why is Yap Koon Hong trying to justify that a fifty fifty case is acceptable? His reasoning, it is difficult to get news or the truth out from North Korea. So half truth or misinformation can be published or else there will be no news to report. His second reason, unbelieveable, is that many truths would also be questioned or be reputed by the readers and not believed. Does this mean that since truth is not well received, what’s wrong with printing half truth, or to stretch the reasoning further, untruth?
 
There is a world of difference between printing half truths without qualification and can be read by the unsuspecting readers as truths, and printing them with qualifications that their authenticity is unclear or unsubstantiated. The readers demand a very exacting standard from the main media to print the truth and nothing but the truth. Half truths or rumours must be stated clearly as such.
 
Would the readers be willing to compromise the quality of news on the excuse that unverified news can be passed on as truth without qualifications? If this is the standard for news reporting in the main media, you can expect fictions to be all over the pages to sell papers for sure.
 
There cannot be compromise on truthful reporting. Even then, selective reporting is already the norm. When would the main media lower its credibility to report on questionable truths and facts and claim it is alright to do so? What is the meaning of integrity of news and professionalism of the reporters and agencies? Where is the point of morality if main media are allowed to report half truths as news and truths?
 
Shifting morality and integrity to fit the circumstances cannot be reasons to compromise on the responsibility of main media to report the truth for sure.
 
What do you think?

Do we have a good country?

Josephine Teo shared her chit chat with a foreign leader who came here quite often. And this was what she commented. ‘ I had dinner with a well-regarded government leader from our region. This person comes to Singapore for private short breaks. I asked this person: “Why do you come?” (He said): “To be encouraged and to be inspired.” People always say you must appreciate your own home. There’s truth in that.’
 
I fully agree with her that we have built a great place to live in. And why are Singaporeans so angry, she asked. I won’t want to comment why she asked such a question. It is like some MP asking, why got poor people in Singapore meh? Ignorance, living in cloud nine, refusing to come to terms with what is around her, and worse, thinking that all Singaporeans are bathing in a lap of luxury like her is simply unbelieveable. A politician is supposed to be well connected with the people, understands the people and their aspirations and their woes and concern.
 
Ok, enough of that. Now, why are Singaporeans angry? Why do I sound angry about the happenings and policies affecting the people when we live in a city that is an inspiration to many leaders around the world? Many leaders would want to create a country like ours no matter how corrupt they are. It is an achievement and a pride to be able to do a Singapore.
 
The people are angry simply because they fear losing this great country they have built. Not that the country will crumbled and become another normal 3rd World city. It can happen. The chances of it happening in the short term are remote. But the chance of losing it to foreigners and Singaporeans struggling to earn a living, to fall victims to foreigners who seized the country as their own is so high. It is happening. Many parts of the island have already been taken over by the foreigners. Many jobs and industries have been captured and controlled by foreigners. Dunno meh?
 
The foreigners have taken more than a beach head and will expand their foothold rapidly at the expense of Sinkies. And she asked, ‘Why are Singaporeans angry?’ Ask that again.
 
The leaders are living such a contented lifestyle that they are oblivion to the dangers facing this country and in a way working towards losing it for the citizens of the island. And this is only one aspect that the people are angry. If politicians do not know that the people are angry and do not know why there are angry, it simply means they are sleeping or living in Alice’s Wonderland. Life is too good for them to know anything is amiss. Do they want to know why the people are angry?
 
We have a great country. Don’t lose it. Don’t give it away on a silver platter to wolves in sheepskins. Don’t condemn our citizens to become maids and taxi drivers and security guards or become statistics of unemployment. Every year we produced thousands of very smart children. Please don’t make them servants to fakes, non talents and average talents from the 3rd World.

A noose within a noose

Bangkok starts a Monday with mass protest to shut down all business activities. To the protesters it is sheer fun and delirium, anarchy of sort. No one cares how this will impact the business in Bangkok and how businesses will be affected.
 
Several agencies are turning against the Yingluck govt. The Election Commission wanted the govt to postpone the election. The Anti Corruption Agency is filing charges against hundreds of lawmakers of the ruling govt. The Army is taking a ‘not my business’ position, and the protesters in Bangkok are in the streets. The noose is tightening on the Yingluck govt. They are forcing the govt to resign.
 
Where are the Red Shirts, the majority rural people in support of the Yingluck govt? They are forming another noose around Bangkok, a kind of the rural people encircling the urban people. There is a ring around the Yingluck govt and a bigger ring around this ring outside Bangkok.
 
And the Democrat Party who believes in democracy and democratic principles is stopping the people from electing their representatives to form a democratic govt. They do not want an election to be held. They refuse to recognize a popularly elected govt and wanted to appoint their own people to be the govt without being democratically elected by the people.
 
What is going on? Great strategies are being in play. We are seeing the art of war in real life happening at this very moment. Who shall triump, the Thaug or the Thak? Don't forget the real thug behind all these.

The sampan mentality

The nearly doubling of the population, the hospital bed crunch, the housing shortage, the employment problems of PMETs, the jams on the roads, the overloading of the trains, the crowds of restless foreigners on weekends, are not things that happened like the flash of lightning. They are built up day by day over a long period of time, and often with known policies and intention. All you need is a calculator, no need a computer, to tell you that all these will happen if the population keeps growing at this pace by letting in immigrants. Why is it so difficult to see these things happening? There is only one reason why all these can be missed. That reason is the sampan mentality. If one keeps thinking that one is in a sampan, one would think that there are only so many people in the sampan and no need to think too much. Everything will be manageable. The problem comes when the reality is more than a sampan. The sampan is ten times overloaded and you dunno meh? Still thinking you are in a sampan when there are more than 5m people in it and could be exceeding 6m if all the transit visitors are included you will be in trouble.
 
How many people are still stuck with this sampan mentality and going about merrily that the sampan can carry so many people without any problems?
 
If one refuses to break out from the sampan mentality and think is no problem like before, everything can be seen within arms length, how to anticipate the problems of a population that has outgrown even a cruise ship?
 
On one hand keeps thinking small but on the other hand keeps having megalomaniac dreams. The two dreams just won’t match. It is like dreaming big and thinking small. The sampan is simply too small and the problems too big.
 
Please get rid of the sampan mentality. We need an ocean going ship and the space to hold all the people and all the associated problems of a big population in a limited space. We have outgrown our sampan. Don’t believe ya?

PS. Do you know what they do in a sampan? There is always someone with a tin in his hand to scope up water creeping into the sampan and throw it out. Small problem, simple solution.