Singapore would be spending more than $2b to upgrade the fleet of F16s
in service now. With better avionics and weapons system, would the
upgraded F16s be good enough to stand in for the trouble stricken F35s
until they are proven to be as good as they are made out to be? Or would
this $2b plus be on top of the several billions earmarked for the f35s?
It would definitely be a nice fit to have the most expensive fighter
aircraft on earth to match the most expensive salaries of the ministers.
Sure it is no problem when a fake garden cost easily just as much and a
5km expressway cost more than double the amount. It is chicken feat. And
if money not enough, the citizens are always there happy to contribute
to the kitty. A lot of money in the CPF, really, no joke, just spend.
Why would not Singapore consider the Russian MiGs and Sukhois that have
proven to be as good, or even better than the trouble infested F35s? The
Russians not willing to sell? Or there is no choice and we must give
the money to the Americans? Or we are just a part of the American pivot
strategy and must operate the same aircraft to fit into their game plan?
If this is the case, shouldn’t the Americans be subsidizing the cost of
our aircraft as they are the one getting a free ride from us, a safe
and dependable base and probably with our flyboys at their disposals?
Are the F15s, F18s, F22s, all inferior to the Russian fighters? If so,
why not buy Russians? Would the $2b plus allow us to buy brand new
Russian fighter aircraft that are superior to the F16s and the whole lot
of American aircraft? Would it be better to have another brand new top
of the range Russian fighter aircraft and diversified our defence needs
to more than just one source?
It is easy to demand the best when it is not your money you are spending. What if the best is not the best and why pay so much for something that is not the best?
1/17/2014
1/16/2014
Ghost cities versus ghost buildings
We have heard of ghost cities in China when whole estates were built in
anticipation of occupants taking over after being relocated from their
villages. The Chinese are no fools and the empty cities are not built
simply by opportunists developers who built without knowing if there is a
demand for them. The cities will be filled by resettlement cases from
the villages, to replace the old homes, just like what we did to our old
shanty villages in Bukit Ho Swee, Ang Mo Kio and many other old
estates.
Many reports have been written on these ghost cities in China but the Chinese govt is not unduly worried as there are more than a billion people waiting for new and better housing as the country goes into a nationwide rebuilding and renewing programme.
The recent fire at the Marina Bay Suites exposed an untold story of blocks of new housing development, all sold but with few occupants. These ghost buildings, a smaller scale than the Chinese cities, are likely to be spread around the islands. Or maybe the Marina Bay Suites is only an exception. If it is a common phenomenon, then property prices are primed to crash when so many flats have been bought and unoccupied, waiting to be flipped for a profit, for the next sucker to come along.
This is a good topic for the reporters to do some investigative journalism to tell the full story on the housing bubble and speculative play, to warn unsuspecting Sinkies from taking a plunge and avoid being caught in a sinking property market.
How many more homes are coming into the market and how many are bought and waiting to be resold? What is the combined total or supply available for sale? The supply is not just those under construction but those in the unoccupied ghost buildings waiting for buyers.
Many reports have been written on these ghost cities in China but the Chinese govt is not unduly worried as there are more than a billion people waiting for new and better housing as the country goes into a nationwide rebuilding and renewing programme.
The recent fire at the Marina Bay Suites exposed an untold story of blocks of new housing development, all sold but with few occupants. These ghost buildings, a smaller scale than the Chinese cities, are likely to be spread around the islands. Or maybe the Marina Bay Suites is only an exception. If it is a common phenomenon, then property prices are primed to crash when so many flats have been bought and unoccupied, waiting to be flipped for a profit, for the next sucker to come along.
This is a good topic for the reporters to do some investigative journalism to tell the full story on the housing bubble and speculative play, to warn unsuspecting Sinkies from taking a plunge and avoid being caught in a sinking property market.
How many more homes are coming into the market and how many are bought and waiting to be resold? What is the combined total or supply available for sale? The supply is not just those under construction but those in the unoccupied ghost buildings waiting for buyers.
The implications of Asean Economic Community or FTA
In 2007 Summit ASEAN leaders affirmed their strong commitment to
accelerate the establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by
2015.
The AEC aims to make ASEAN a more dynamic and competitive economic block by making it a single market and production base by 2015 governed by the principles of an open, outward-looking, inclusive, and market-driven economy.
As a single market and production base, the AEC comprises the following five core elements:
1. Free flow of goods
2. Free flow of services
3. Free flow of investment
4. Freer flow of capital
5. Free flow of skilled labour
The above paras were copied from a post in TRE by a Honest Singaporean. Presumably the 5 core elements are true. This is another FTA in the same nature as CECA that is starting to destroy the very fabric of our society and causing many PMEs to lose their jobs as well as social and security problems. The more serious implication is the flooding of foreigners to replace the true blue Singaporeans if not managed carefully.
The AEC has good intention and is meant to help all the Asean countries to grow and prosper together. What if the result is the reverse or what if there are adverse consequences that outweigh the benefits? We have seen how destructive the CECA is. We are at the verge of signing the American initiated PPT with so many hidden terms that are unable to see the light or they did not want the people to know. Anything that cannot be known or must be hidden is unlikely to be good. When people say I can’t tell you, it is likely to be bad.
Now this AEC, in particular item 5, Free flow of skilled labour, will undermined the whole foundation of our meritocracy and education system. We have set a very high standard for our students and they are now being forced to compete with the graduates of other countries with doubtful and funny education systems and standards. Are their qualifications equivalent to ours? Are we going to recognise any backlane universities or degrees from the degree mills? Are we being fair to our graduates that sloppy and questionable papers will not be accepted wholesale as equivalent to our local universities?
Further, we are only 3.5m people and we can be easily overwhelmed if we blindly open our legs even wider. We can dream big but we must also know that we are small and have a lot of limitations and weaknesses. We are already feeling the pain of uninvited forced entry, being raped unknowingly and unwillingly. The AEC could amount to legalised raping across the whole island in all industries and at all levels if there are no restrictions placed on them.
If not skilfully managed, we will be absorbed into a sea of humanity from the Asean countries and be lost completely. The govt needs to explain the implications and consequences to the people before committing to the AEC. We do not want to be a Britain standing out like a sore thumb in the EC and after messing it up has to quit the community with scars and wounds that would take a long time to repair.
What is this AEC? What is CECA? What is PPT? Do the people know what they are in for? Does the govt think it owes the people a responsibility to explain the demerits of joining and not just about how good they are, like the Medisave Life, only telling the good stuff, the influx of more foreigners and 6.9m population, again only saying the good stuff.
Tell us the whole truth, the whole picture. How many of our professionals would want to work in the Asean countries to earn pesos, rupiahs, ringgits, dongs, bahts or whatever? They are plenty of opportunities for business and jobs, but to earn less. Is that what we want to trade our professionals with their professionals? It is likely to be a one way traffic and our PMEs being left on the shelf.
The AEC aims to make ASEAN a more dynamic and competitive economic block by making it a single market and production base by 2015 governed by the principles of an open, outward-looking, inclusive, and market-driven economy.
As a single market and production base, the AEC comprises the following five core elements:
1. Free flow of goods
2. Free flow of services
3. Free flow of investment
4. Freer flow of capital
5. Free flow of skilled labour
The above paras were copied from a post in TRE by a Honest Singaporean. Presumably the 5 core elements are true. This is another FTA in the same nature as CECA that is starting to destroy the very fabric of our society and causing many PMEs to lose their jobs as well as social and security problems. The more serious implication is the flooding of foreigners to replace the true blue Singaporeans if not managed carefully.
The AEC has good intention and is meant to help all the Asean countries to grow and prosper together. What if the result is the reverse or what if there are adverse consequences that outweigh the benefits? We have seen how destructive the CECA is. We are at the verge of signing the American initiated PPT with so many hidden terms that are unable to see the light or they did not want the people to know. Anything that cannot be known or must be hidden is unlikely to be good. When people say I can’t tell you, it is likely to be bad.
Now this AEC, in particular item 5, Free flow of skilled labour, will undermined the whole foundation of our meritocracy and education system. We have set a very high standard for our students and they are now being forced to compete with the graduates of other countries with doubtful and funny education systems and standards. Are their qualifications equivalent to ours? Are we going to recognise any backlane universities or degrees from the degree mills? Are we being fair to our graduates that sloppy and questionable papers will not be accepted wholesale as equivalent to our local universities?
Further, we are only 3.5m people and we can be easily overwhelmed if we blindly open our legs even wider. We can dream big but we must also know that we are small and have a lot of limitations and weaknesses. We are already feeling the pain of uninvited forced entry, being raped unknowingly and unwillingly. The AEC could amount to legalised raping across the whole island in all industries and at all levels if there are no restrictions placed on them.
If not skilfully managed, we will be absorbed into a sea of humanity from the Asean countries and be lost completely. The govt needs to explain the implications and consequences to the people before committing to the AEC. We do not want to be a Britain standing out like a sore thumb in the EC and after messing it up has to quit the community with scars and wounds that would take a long time to repair.
What is this AEC? What is CECA? What is PPT? Do the people know what they are in for? Does the govt think it owes the people a responsibility to explain the demerits of joining and not just about how good they are, like the Medisave Life, only telling the good stuff, the influx of more foreigners and 6.9m population, again only saying the good stuff.
Tell us the whole truth, the whole picture. How many of our professionals would want to work in the Asean countries to earn pesos, rupiahs, ringgits, dongs, bahts or whatever? They are plenty of opportunities for business and jobs, but to earn less. Is that what we want to trade our professionals with their professionals? It is likely to be a one way traffic and our PMEs being left on the shelf.
China strengthening its hold onto its territories
This is the right thing for China to do, to make sure the world knows
that the islands in the South China Seas belong to China. Failing to do
so would encourage more adventurism from near and far to make claims to
the islands. If they are Chinese territories, China better makes doubly
or triply sure that they are in control. Don’t be like the Diaoyu
Islands, half hearted attempt to regain control only encourages the
Japanese to act more aggressively thinking that China is too weak to
make its claim a reality. There must be no doubts to ownership.
The South China Sea islands were long claimed by China with historical records and maps. If China is not going to do so, it would be a free for all affair with all the littoral states and the United States or European states coming in to stake their claims. India too may want a piece of the action. This will make the region even more volatile for inter state rivalry. By putting its foot down, it makes it clear to all that the islands were taken. Do not have wild ideas. Stay off. The Americans have claimed their continent across the Atlantic Ocean. The Australians have claimed their continent across the Indian Ocean and across the continent of Africa. They cannot dispute the claims by China outside its front yard when the precedents have been set by them.
Once the dust settles, the lines drawn clearly, it will be better for peace in the region. The tension in the East China Sea between Korea and Japan, Russia and Japan, China and Japan, is due to the muddling policies of these countries against a fallen Empire that is reasserting itself. Of the three countries, Russia is handling the issue the best by being very firm to the Japanese. The Koreans and the Chinese are still showing weak hands and the Japanese read that and continue to force the hands of these two countries leading to higher tension and allowing the Americans to play its dirty hand to reap while the neighbours quarrel among themselves.
China must not allow the situation in the South China Sea to be like the East China Sea or it will have endless troubles with the Americans pulling the strings from behind. The new status quo will stabilize with time and so will the tension subsides.
The South China Sea islands were long claimed by China with historical records and maps. If China is not going to do so, it would be a free for all affair with all the littoral states and the United States or European states coming in to stake their claims. India too may want a piece of the action. This will make the region even more volatile for inter state rivalry. By putting its foot down, it makes it clear to all that the islands were taken. Do not have wild ideas. Stay off. The Americans have claimed their continent across the Atlantic Ocean. The Australians have claimed their continent across the Indian Ocean and across the continent of Africa. They cannot dispute the claims by China outside its front yard when the precedents have been set by them.
Once the dust settles, the lines drawn clearly, it will be better for peace in the region. The tension in the East China Sea between Korea and Japan, Russia and Japan, China and Japan, is due to the muddling policies of these countries against a fallen Empire that is reasserting itself. Of the three countries, Russia is handling the issue the best by being very firm to the Japanese. The Koreans and the Chinese are still showing weak hands and the Japanese read that and continue to force the hands of these two countries leading to higher tension and allowing the Americans to play its dirty hand to reap while the neighbours quarrel among themselves.
China must not allow the situation in the South China Sea to be like the East China Sea or it will have endless troubles with the Americans pulling the strings from behind. The new status quo will stabilize with time and so will the tension subsides.
The immigration door closing in Europe
A personal experience by AM Bakalar in NYT and reposted in mypaper
yesterday told of the rising misgivings of having too many immigrants in
European countries, not only in England and France but also in Poland.
‘You are not from here.’ This was what another Pole told him in his home town. When he replied that he was born there, the Pole said, ‘but there’s something (different) about you’. Bakalar wondered if he was becoming an immigrant in his own country. Don’t worry, many Sinkies are already having that same kind of feeling in the train, becoming a minority in their own little island.
Bakalar accepted that ‘every country has the right to control its borders and the flow of immigration’. But objected to the heightened fear of immigrants. And this was made more stark by Cameroon, the British PM, who introduced several measures to discouraged new immigrants into Britain. The British were horrified by the new immigrants exploiting the public services and benefits systems.
Nothing can compare with the monetary rewards that foreigners are reaping the moment they became Sinkies. Instant cash rewards in tens of thousands from public housing and all the subsidies for medical, education and other handouts from the generous govt that do not think why new citizens should reap instant financial rewards while some citizens are suffering in pain from deprivation of public housing and other goodies.
What kind of immigration numbers is Bakalar talking about that are alarming? The Poles, with 521,000 in Britain, are the second largest ethnic immigrants after the Indians. For a country with 60m people, it is just a drop in the ocean. We have at least half a million PRC and Indians each, a few hundred thousands of Pinoys and Myanmese here, not counting the rest. Half a million against a citizen of 3.5m is 1/7th or 14% of the population of the locals. This is not a small number to be easily brushed aside.
The social and security impact to the foreigners are starting to show signs of stress on the small population in a small piece of rock unlike Britain. When would it erupt into a major crisis is only a matter of time. Only fools will thing it will not.
The Europeans are finding the number of immigrants flowing into their countries getting unbearable and we have fools keep harping on our immigrant history and must let in more immigrants.
There don’t call Sinkies daft for nothing. The ignorance of history be several decades of not teaching the subjects in schools have created a citizenship of ignoramus who did not know when they will be booted out of their country by the sheer numbers of foreigners coming ashore. Would Singapore become a state of China, India or the USA? We have been under the British, Malaysia and Japan before. A change of nationality is not really a far fetch idea. The only difference is the pain of losing it once for all and never having it back again this time round.
PS. Kopi level - Blue
Many thanks
‘You are not from here.’ This was what another Pole told him in his home town. When he replied that he was born there, the Pole said, ‘but there’s something (different) about you’. Bakalar wondered if he was becoming an immigrant in his own country. Don’t worry, many Sinkies are already having that same kind of feeling in the train, becoming a minority in their own little island.
Bakalar accepted that ‘every country has the right to control its borders and the flow of immigration’. But objected to the heightened fear of immigrants. And this was made more stark by Cameroon, the British PM, who introduced several measures to discouraged new immigrants into Britain. The British were horrified by the new immigrants exploiting the public services and benefits systems.
Nothing can compare with the monetary rewards that foreigners are reaping the moment they became Sinkies. Instant cash rewards in tens of thousands from public housing and all the subsidies for medical, education and other handouts from the generous govt that do not think why new citizens should reap instant financial rewards while some citizens are suffering in pain from deprivation of public housing and other goodies.
What kind of immigration numbers is Bakalar talking about that are alarming? The Poles, with 521,000 in Britain, are the second largest ethnic immigrants after the Indians. For a country with 60m people, it is just a drop in the ocean. We have at least half a million PRC and Indians each, a few hundred thousands of Pinoys and Myanmese here, not counting the rest. Half a million against a citizen of 3.5m is 1/7th or 14% of the population of the locals. This is not a small number to be easily brushed aside.
The social and security impact to the foreigners are starting to show signs of stress on the small population in a small piece of rock unlike Britain. When would it erupt into a major crisis is only a matter of time. Only fools will thing it will not.
The Europeans are finding the number of immigrants flowing into their countries getting unbearable and we have fools keep harping on our immigrant history and must let in more immigrants.
There don’t call Sinkies daft for nothing. The ignorance of history be several decades of not teaching the subjects in schools have created a citizenship of ignoramus who did not know when they will be booted out of their country by the sheer numbers of foreigners coming ashore. Would Singapore become a state of China, India or the USA? We have been under the British, Malaysia and Japan before. A change of nationality is not really a far fetch idea. The only difference is the pain of losing it once for all and never having it back again this time round.
PS. Kopi level - Blue
Many thanks
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