Affordable homes in Malaysia

Malaysia has the good fortune of a super efficient govt in Singapore to clear the path for growth and development. It can simply emulate our highly successful economic models in developing its country. In today’s ST, Malaysia is also introducing ‘affordable’ public housing for its low income citizens and using very familiar terms like housing subsidies, rising prices of properties, and even the formula for people who are qualified for such housing, first time home buyers.

Malaysia has set aside RM300 million to build at least 10,000 low cost housing and will subsidise RM30,000 to the home buyers. And the computation works this way. If the cost of building a flat is RM70,000 the govt will subsidise RM30,000. The buyer only needs to pay RM40,000. The subsidy quantum is fixed from the start. So if the construction cost is RM50,000, the buyer needs only pay RM20,000 or higher if it goes the other way. And to qualify, the buyer must have a monthly income of less than RM3,000.

The scheme is quire similar to what Singapore is doing but still not as good in several areas. Firstly, RM3,000 pm income is too high. In Singapore, a monthly income of $1,000 which is equivalent to RM2,600 is enough to buy a public housing flat. And the subsidy is not based on the actual cost of building the flat. Singapore’s formula is based on market subsidy which is greater in value. I think this has been modified and should be based on building cost or something like. It is a bit difficult to figure out as construction cost is a state secret and no one is supposed to talk about it. The only thing the people can do is to guess.

Malaysia is doing very well in taking care of its local’s housing needs. One point I am not sure but can only presume that their public housing is also based on a 99 year lease. Can anyone confirm on this?

And Malaysia will become better if it continues to copy more of our successful formula. They can also change their public medical subsidy scheme to be like Singapore’s, with the 3 Ms and now Medishield Life. Then it will be just perfect.

GE in the air

When the buffet train is here, you can expect something else will follow suit. We are having parties for anything conceiveable. 50 year Anniversary, celebrations with other countries for good inter state relations, and a lot of goodies being thrown at the people like it is Christmas in Spring. We even have minimum wage for cleaners, and now raising CPF for the oldies.

For those who thought the Medishield Life was a goodie, now we have Pioneering Package. Now what’s next? More national bonuses from a good GDP in the budget?

On the negative side pressure is mounting on the worker’s Party. Internet Brigades are getting more vocal, even sounding silly, but persistently appeared to be slammed. And some perceived that there is a drumming up of nationalism in the naming of the naval ship by Indonesia with the risk of being backfired if it gets out of control and causing a real crisis.

Would the effort lead to a change in the people voting for more of the same, for stability, for more govt, more obsessions in control by the state? Would the Pioneer Generation Package take away the sting from the feared Medishield Life? The oldies may get some reprieve with the PKP, but those missing it are getting uneasy and feeling the pressure of what would come when Medishield Life is implemented.

 
We are looking like a very rich country with plenty of money to make the people very happy, and can afford to party everyday. Life is good, time for more celebration. We have a good, effective and pro people govt that is doing a damn very good job and the people are elated. Let’s bring the GE forward for more good years.

When the Red Dot kpkb

There are several articles on Konfrontasi and the MacDonald House bombing in the ST today. Winston Choo also chipped in with a long article about ‘Hard won relations, so quickly forgotten’, and reminded Sinkies of the vulnerability of being militarily weak. He did not discuss the threat of a country with nearly 50% of foreigners invited to work and also living in the homes of our people. This is another issue that a strong military will be meaningless against a totally different kind of threat aka The Trojan Horse.
 
Let me quote Winston, ‘A small country like ours will face situations where others do not take us into account when they make decisions. If we do not have a strong and capable SAF, we leave ourselves open to being cowed, intimidated and vulnerable to pressures from larger states.’ This motherhood statement is valid in most cases but must be taken in right spirit, with the right perspective and the state of relations between states at a moment in time.
 
So we have kpkb about the naming of the Indonesian ship, then what? Have we changed anything? I think we have handled this very abrasively and in the most inappropriate way and if we don’t stop kpkb now, we are going to be hit by brickbats. Kpkb is only effective up to a point, and only necessary when other more amicable means failed.
 
For states to use the loud hailers against each other like the Koreans is not the best instrument for diplomacy when relations are good. If restraint is not imposed it can quickly degenerate into a mess with each side upping the ante. Unless there is a bigger agenda and kpkb is only a little introduction of more unpleasantness to follow, then we can just sit back and watch the story unfolds to its natural ending and finale.
 
Are we behaving like an arrogant spoilt brat?

The banks are crumbling one by one

Barclays was reported to be cutting 12,000 jobs world wide. HSBC is being sued by high net worth clients for giving wrong trading advices. And several of the top world banks are paying compensations in the billions for the frauds they had committed. The game of fraudulent banking practices is coming to an end. They cannot keep on going and cooking their books of the billions of profits they are making. Very likely many banks are broke, bankrupt and waiting for another opportunity to beg for bail out. I hope Singapore is not going to say the Americans/West are doing it so it must be ok even when it is fraudulent or criminal, just like their scam stock market system.
 
Since the last financial meltdown, the banks are back where they were and even trading more aggressively to pay themselves crazy. Traditional banking businesses will not be able to chalk up that kind of obscene profits to pay obscene salaries and bonuses. Now that most of their high net worth clients are either bankrupt or lost too much money and losing faith in the banks and their gambling chits, the banks would have lesser sucker clients to cheat and would have to scale down their scam operations.
 
The suckers have no more money to be sucked by the bankers. The cooking of books with big profits would be exposed in due course. Those that are in really bad shape like Barclay would have to own up fast and cut their losses. Many banks are still putting on a front of making big money to justify paying big money to their top executives.
 
Who is there to check their accounts and the frauds they are hiding? Auditors? Hahahaha. Have faith and all will be fine. How could banks be making billions as they are claiming from interest rates? Where is the big money coming from? Selling gambling chits to sophisticated (meaning stupid) high net worth clients or trading against clients or selling lemons?
 
Wait for more retrenchments and for more bank busts and banks begging to be rescued.

Singapore’s Painful Chapter

CNA aired a half hour documentary on Konfrontasi and the bombing of MacDonald House last night with the above title. Among those who were interviewed were Shanmugam, Barry Desker and Bilveer Singh and the family members of the victims of the bombing.

The main points that came out from all of them were that Indonesia must be sensitive to its neighbours, meaning us, and our feelings in whatever it does or did in this case, the naming of the frigate after Usman and Harun. It was all about us and our sensitivities and after a while one got quite embarrassed by the repetition of these few points in isolation, one incident perspective. It was all about us, and never about them, the Indonesians. The Indonesians must take note of how it would affect us as if we were angels.

When I mentioned the word angels, many of you would know what I mean without further elaboration. I would advise CNA not to repeat airing the episode if we don’t come out as arrogant, ignorant and insensitive to Indonesia and demanding sensitivity to be a one way traffic.

Good neighbourly relations must be based on mutual respect and reciprocity. We are standing on very weak grounds to harp about this single episode to rub in a point. It shows how naive we are in a complex and tricky relationship with Indonesia, how daft we are and how we failed to look at things from the Indonesian perspective. We are actually begging to be slapped real hard by the Indonesians and without knowing why. Can you believe it?

There are so many things that are best left unspoken and to let this chapter come to a quick closure, the faster the better. We must not come across as aloof, full of ourselves and thinking that we can do no wrong to our neighbours and this is a great opportunity to show how righteous and honourable we are, with a halo over our head.

Kopi level - Green