Singapore is the most successful car manufacturer

Singapore manufactures practically every top brand cars in the world, from Rolls Royce, Mercedes, BMWs, Bentley’s, Lamborghinis and Ferraris to all the Japanese and Korean brands. And the profit margin is so high that it is becoming the envy of other car manufacturers. For every Mercedes or BMW sold, what the OEM and distributors earned is a pittance of what the Singapore Govt earned.
 
Now this is productivity Singapore style. We manufactured cars without having to do the difficult and dirty work. And our cost is practically zero with no overheads. Just ask Mercedes and BMW how much they make for each sale and go and find out how much the Singapore Govt makes. It is mind blowing.
 
Singapore is the most successful car manufacturer in the whole world.

Leong Sze Hian’s comments on the Medishield Life

Leong Sze Hian asked several questions on the Medishield Life Scheme following Gan Kim Yong’s comments in Parliament in his article, ‘Alternative daily news(81) Affordable Medishield Life?’ posted in the TRE. His questions would help many to have a better understanding of the things not said about the Scheme and is a compelling read, highly recommended for all Sinkies who are still not aware of what this Scheme is all about and how it would hit them when it comes into force.
 
I would just want to expand on a couple of points made by Sze Hian. He quoted Gan Kim Yong saying these:
 
1. “The premiums that lower- and middle-income households will have to pay for the new Medishield Life insurance that kicks in next year, will be the same or lower than what they now pay. That is after taking into account the Government’s permanent subsidies and Medisave contributions and top-ups.
 
2. “… a typical Singaporean household, comprising a working-age couple with two school-going children, will take up no more than half of their annual Medisave inflow to pay for their MediShield Life premiums.
 
In point 1, the meaning is that the gross premium would be higher but would be offset by permanent subsidies, Medisave contributions and top ups. Gan had said that the net amount to be paid would be the same or lower than what they are paying now. Would this be the same as time goes by? Would the permanent subsidies match any increases in future premiums? Would future premium hikes eat up all future Medisave contributions? Would top ups cease in the future or varies?
 
For the initial stages of the Medishield Life’s implementation, the net premiums paid could be reasonable if they are lower or the same. But there is no guarantee what the amount will be like when the gross premium will definitely be much higher.
 
As for point 2, the base reference is a typical household of two working adults and two children, and the premiums paid will be no more than half their annual Medisave contributions. Sounds fair and good. The problem comes when there is only one working adult. The problem will be further compounded for families with more than two children and only one working adult. For those single parents with 4 or more children, tough, take my word for it.
 
And the most important part that is yet to be made known, what will the Medishield Life cover and what not covered?

Kopi Level - Green

MH370 – Australian sighted debris

The plot thickens

I had this very bad feeling that the two pieces of debris reported by Australia are parts of MH370. I hope they are not as there is no reason for MH370 to be there. The distance is beyond its fuel range even if it was to fly straight through Singapore to the spot. The plane could not fly through Singapore and Indonesia without being picked up on radars. The only way was to fly through the north of Sumatra and that would make the distance even further. It would thus need to make a stopover, refuelled and continued to the location. It definitely could not make it directly. The 12 days could explain this mystery. And very likely no passengers were found among the wreckage.

There would be many questions to be asked as the Antartica was the last place anyone would think the aircraft would be, and why would they want to fly to crash in a remote corner of the deep ocean? The aircraft deliberately evaded all the radar stations and it is simply meaningless to want to do all the manoeuvres only to crash into a corner of the Indian Ocean away from civilisation. And it is also very strange, sheer coincidence that the Australians thought it could be there and found it so quickly.

Then there are questions like why weren’t the black boxes beeping? Given the time lapse, could the aircraft actually be flown somewhere first, got its black boxes stripped, passengers off loaded and then flown there to crash into the ocean? Because of the depth of the ocean at that spot, recovering it would be impossible and would be abandoned. Who would want to do it and pay for it? No one would know that the black boxes were already removed from the aircraft.

For the pilot/crew to fly and ditch the aircraft, they must then be picked up by another aircraft or ship to bring them to safety. After successfully pulling off such a stunt there was no need for them to die there.

The whole episode of the hijack was so meticulously executed and now another piece of well planned evacuation of the pilot/crew that could only be done with great resources. It is not a simple piece of terrorist work. It is a very difficult thing to do to fly from where it disappeared to where the debris appeared, assuming it is the aircraft. The mastermind must have great expertise, technological knowhow, manpower and hardware like ships and aircraft at his disposal to get this job done. It is mind boggling to think through the whole process.

The eagerness of the Aussie PM to call Najib and the media conference said that they knew something already even before any confirmation by the lab. This is the Freudian slip.

Anyone thinking of conspiracy theory? I already have an outlined of how Hollywood would have scripted it. The big question is, what is the motive or what is it all about? Would they spare the lives of the passengers while trying to get what they want?

PS. The possibility of it flying through Singapore, say to Australia, is to file a flight plan ahead, disappeared from radar cover at the edge of KLIA radar cover, change the transponder code, reappear in the civilian flight corridor like any legitimate aircraft with the transponder squawking a new identity. No air trafficker would know anything unusual. The truth could be more dramatic than fiction.

MH370 – Abbot called Najib to report on rubbish found in the sea

Australian PM Abbot found it important enough to call Najib to inform him of some floating rubbish he found in the sea and had satellite pictures of it. And the Australian govt also found it so important to call a press conference on the discovery. Unbelieveable.
 
I am putting my neck out on this, that the area being search by the Australians would be the last place for the plane to be in. Using the logic of a reasonable man and all the facts available till now, MH370 cannot be in that region.
 
Why would the pilot make all the clever manoeuvres to evade radars just to fly the aircraft into the Antartics and ditch the plane there? It is effort all for nothing. If they wanted to ditch the aircraft, it could be done easier in any part of the South China Sea. And if the plane has ditched in the water, the black boxes would be beeping and this would be picked up by the satellites long ago, or by the Aussie planes in the area.
 
The fact that the hijacked aircraft was flown from where it was means that they wanted to bring it to a place of their own choosing. And they are not going to dump it anywhere. There are 239 lives on board, including the hijackers, and could be more. So far there has been no indication of the hijackers intending to kill themselves or the passengers.
 
To find the aircraft in the Antartics would be the most baffling thing and defy all reasons and logics. Still I can be logically wrong. Yes I can be logically wrong and cannot rule this slim possibility out.

Hays – Contract jobs benefits employees

Hammering the new moral code into the heads of daft Sinkies. Yes, this is what an article posted in TRE was all about. They are telling the Sinkies that contract jobs is good for them just like living in mickey mouse flats will not affect the quality of living. And permanent jobs are reserved for foreigners and locals, meaning PRs. Sinkies are being brainwashed daily to downgrade their lifestyle and expectations as progress and good for them, taking public transport, owning smaller size flats, and now to live with contract jobs. Sinkies with a big housing mortgages and family commitments cannot afford to work on contract basis. This is like living dangerously. This must be stopped. To rub salt into their wounds, companies are giving permanent jobs to foreigners, which should be the other way.
 
According to Hays reports, it conducted a survey of 2,600 employers for the 2014 Hays Salary Guide. The report said ‘that 43 per cent of employers use temporary and contract staff for special projects or workloads, and a further 24 per cent employ them on a regular ongoing basis…
 
Chris Mead, Regional Director of Hays in Singapore & Malaysia, explains…, “Candidates are gaining more confidence and acceptance of temporary roles, aided no doubt by the higher compensation package they offer.”
 
“This is a fortunate trend since more employers are turning to a flexible staffing approach and almost one quarter now use temporary and contract staff on a regular basis. Temporary assignments are no longer seen as simply a quick fix, but a long-term staffing solution that also offers headcount flexibility.”
 
According to the recruiter, there are many benefits of temporary assignments – for both employers and candidates….
 
“And for candidates, temporary assignments offer exposure to varied workloads, systems and industries, allowing them to expand their skills base. Candidates also make valuable new contacts while on assignment, and often improve their work-life balance through the flexibility of their working arrangements.”…. And certainly, not all Singaporeans are getting a “higher compensation package” by accepting a “temporary role”.
 
Engineer retrenched from $60,000/yr permanent position works as contract technician at $1,600/mth.’
 
So Sinkies are being prepared to be contract workers in their own country while foreigners are getting all the job securities, career development, promotions and benefits as permanent staff. What is happening? Is this what Sinkies bargained for? Is this their country or foreigners’ country?
 
Should Sinkies continue to tolerate this kind of discrimination and live with it? What should Sinkies do to change their fate from owners to squatters and lepers in their own country?