Housing in Singapore is affordable!

Really, housing in Singapore is really affordable. The HDB and the govt have been saying this almost everyday. In 2010, Mah Bow Tan said that ‘more than 80 per cent’ of new flat buyers in the same scenario, ie, ‘were repaying their housing loans using their CPF and did not have to fork out cash’. How to disagree when the govt and then minister for housing said so?  Housing is affordable. It depends on who is saying and using what numbers, and who you want to believe.

Then why are the property professionals saying ‘what they would like to see from the authorities is more data, such as the number of years needed for households to pay off their flats, or the ratio of the flat’s price to household income tracked over a period of time.’ What these professionals are saying is that they don’t believe in what the govt and the minister said. And the reason is simple, so simple. It depends on so many things that are so hazy and subjective that anyone can claim anything they want by nitpicking on what they want to use as the data.

Let me point out a few misleading facts. The above comments about affordability, 80 percent paying using CPF and not having to touch cash, therefore affordable? And another number quoted is that ‘they are using a quarter of their monthly income on average to repay their housing loans’. This is below the international affordability benchmarks of 30 to 35 percent. Don’t forget, the CPF contribution is 17 + 20  percent! Using a $2000 monthly income, the total is $340 +$400 = $740 or 37 per cent if one is using all his monthly CPF contribution. What about those having to top up with cash? The bottom line is 37%. How did they get the number of 25 per cent or a quarter of their income? Ok, maybe got to deduct for Medisave etc.

And income is household income, not individual or one income. And the affordability is about HDB flat at the bottom, 2rm or 3rm flats. What about bigger flats, what about private properties, 3m, 30m, 50m? Should Singaporeans be happy and contented that 2rm flats are affordable?

What about retirement? How much is left for retirement after paying for affordable 2rm HDB flats? What about the number of years to repay? If one needs 30 years to repay, how many years left for one to save for retirement?  In reality, many would be paying and paying for their entire life as they are not stopping at the first HDB flat. This means no time to save for retirement, nothing much left for retirement.

Can anyone ask why until today, when everyone has been kpkbing about housing affordability, there is still no agreement as to what is the acceptable formula to measure affordability? Simple, because everyone wants to use data to suit his agenda to tell the things he wants the people to know. In other words the truth is selective truth, biased truth, distorted truth, nothing but the truth.

Some analysts are suggesting using the mid range of the average Singaporeans with $3k or $4k household income and the price of a 4 rm flat to be used as the average data for the average Singaporean, not the data of the bottom feeders as the national data. Or there could be different sets of data, for the 2rm, 3 and 4 rm, 5rm and above, private condos and landed properties to show the different grades of affordability.

Using a figure, those of the lowest income and with govt subsidies and grants, is not a fair measure of affordability. Who is kidding who? Is this a case of statistics lying or people lying?

Did anyone say honest men don't lie? 

Why school is written as skool?

Has anyone wonder why skool is the new word for school? I think it is cute, just like writing govt as garment and yew think everyone will appreciate the creativity of the word. My First Skool must be the first step to creativity. To promote creativity, to be different like yew know ya, everything goes. If our skools will progress along this line we will have many Steve Jobs and Bill Gates or Zuckerbergs in the future, provided no one will snuff out this creativity streak in the young. I am not going to challenge the professional educators on why this is a good thing or a bad thing.

The young minds are innocent and impressionable and skool would be in their vocabularly for life. What about the adults who would view things differently, maybe cynically. Some are already commenting that this is a Freudian slip, that our schools are really nothing but skools. They are not schools any more but this new thing called skool and not sure what it means or what it is doing.

What is a skool and what is it supposed to produce, Stool or R2D2? R2D2 is famous for being a mobile storehouse for information and data. Not sure if it is programmed to think, but it sure is a remarkable robot that is a super encyclopedia. Whatever that is fed into R2D2 will come out like stool, freely and smoothly, not a word or a comma missing.

Would our schools be transformed over time, into skools as a natural process? What do yew think?

The new Singaporean

After the passing of the pioneer generation Singapore will go on with a new breed of Singaporeans. For this I really mean new Singaporeans, not the new citizens or the masses of foreigners. The new Singaporeans will be very new in many aspects.

First, they are born at a time of prosperity and have not faced real hardship, at least most of them. They did not know what it would be like when there was no roof on the head, no job, no food on the table and having to go hungry, wearing old clothes and begging for jobs.

The new Singaporeans have a totally new mindset, very confident and assured of themselves. Nothing will go wrong or can go wrong. There is a super efficient govt that would take care of them and of everything. Tomorrow is always better. Life is a party

When foreigners are flooding the island, taking up many jobs, the new Singaporeans would not feel a thing and believe it is for the better, to better their lives. There is nothing wrong with that. Life is good and the foreigners are contributing to the vibrancy of the island. The legislating away of their life savings also did not mean anything to them. It is a good thing. The idea of no car ownership and taking public transport are also good things.

All the new concepts are embraced happily as the way life should be. Their degrees and certificates are new too, some never got to use them. Some never got to use their brains too. No need to think. Some no need to work and their brains are preserved in pristine condition, never work before, never put in positions to test if their brains can function at higher levels of demands. This is unlike the pioneer generation when they had to work real hard, to crack their brains to be successful. Today, success is on the table. There is nothing to think about.  Ya, life is a party. Just enjoy and live life without a worry, without having to think. The good govt will do all the thinking and planning. The new Singaporean brain is really well kept and new. They are in great demand for brain transplants, the fresh and hardly used or unused brains available in Sin City. Everyone is praising how good and new the Singaporean brain is, hardly used, clean and hygienic, fed with the best food and preserved by the best medical system. And fully loaded with information from the best education system, waiting to be used.

Someone used the term the unthinking Singapore flock in TRE. He must have noticed that the new Singaporeans did not use their brains any more. Let the chenghu do whatever they think is right, whatever chenghu said is right. Chenghu said must be good, just do. If any wrong they have a good chenghu to take care of everything.

The new mode of transport, walking or cycling

The opening of the Downtown Line was supposed to bring more options to commuters traveling to and from the city. It is also touted as the good news for the future, to lesser dependence on the convenience of cars and private transport. So, go forth and spread the good news. With so many train lines criss crossing the island, going anywhere would now be a breeze and super efficient. This would lead to more car owners leaving their cars behind or not even wanting to pay for the cut throat prices of car ownership. Singapore is working towards a car light city. I can’t help but to repeat, this is the good news.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday morning saw the East West Line slowing to a crawl during morning peak hours. Many commuters were late for work. Thursday morning, the new Downtown Line was disrupted in less than a week from its test run. Lateness has become a new normal, due to train stoppages, slowdowns or breakdowns. We cannot expect to push a button and everything works anymore.

What are the options when the most important public transport is no longer reliable and cars are so super expensive? Walking and cycling. These two modes of moving from place to place will become the alternative to public transport. Singaporeans must be prepared to use their heads, oops, I mean use their legs, to move around.

It is time to promote healthy living by walking from one end of the island to the other end, from Changi Point to Tuas and vice versa, from Woodlands to World Trade Centre and back.  It is good for Singaporeans. It will not affect their quality of life. In fact they will be more healthy and fit, like the coolies of the 1940s and 50s. Just get use to it and pretend it is good for health, healthy living, quality lifestyle. Better still, promote it as the new aspiration of Singaporeans. Condition the Singaporeans to love walking and bicycles and to sneer at car ownership as something bad. Stop all the promotions and advertisements on driving posh cars just like stopping the advertisements on cigarettes.

And to make sure the good news of lesser cars in this city becomes a reality, introduce an additional lifestyle tax of $100k for car ownership. That would leave only the multi millionaires and billionaires to be the only people able to own cars. And when the population of cars has fallen, there will be no need for all the ERP gantries or car parks in HDB, freeing more space to increase the population to 10m or 20m.

Singaporeans must be rejoicing at the good news on how good life will be going forward, without cars and with so many train lines to bring them to wherever they want to go.

Living at the Edge of Tomorrow

by MIKOspace

I began last year into a new cycle of my life

Towards the light of truth.

Living a life by choice, not by chance,

Listening only to my inner voice,

Not the random thoughts of others;

Without any delusions and illusions of false religions, myths, Superstitions, man-made beliefs, lies and more true lies,

Or the false promises of competition and domination,

Celestial hope and economic exploitation.

In 2016, I shall continue the pursuit of truth

Beyond conflated myths, facts, and fiction,
To discover the true faith that bridges there to here.
Faith has strengthen as unbelief & disbelief debunked,
Knowledge and wisdom overcome delusions & illusions,
Happiness discovered by sharing joy and well-being with others,

As life's journey continues at the edge of tomorrow;

In 2016 at the edge of tomorrow,
Many will wish that tomorrow will not come;

For them, tomorrow is a dreamy mirage,

A mere extension of their yesterday.

Wake up in 2016;

Make changes, not excuses,

Re-create your tomorrow
And banish tomorrow's inevitability

Of broken hearts and shattered dreams,

Of unrequited love and promises unfulfilled,
Of disappointments and pain.

Of lies and more true lies,

Of elusive happiness and dreamy mirages.

2016 shall bring new pathways and fresh challenges

And unimaginable opportunities;
Doors to unexplored prospects shall open,

Embark fresh journeys to the other side.

Seize the moment - carpe diem?

But, why?  No, wait.
Be patience - life is short, why rush through?
Life’s an adventure, not a race; 

Pause to smell the flowers,
Appreciate creation diversity,
Understand the multicultural palette
In life's awesome mix of trials and tribulations,
Embrace the mystery of pain and suffering

Along moments of rare joy and happiness.

Questions the very purpose of Creation;
Can there be peace without wars?
Joy & happiness without pain & sadness?
Abundance without poverty?
Living without sickness & disease?
Sharing without exploiting?
Collaboration without domination?
Loving without hurting or being hurt?
To live like no tomorrow?

Yes, we can.

Just a little consideration for others;

Just giving from what we have;

Just sharing a little more from our abundance;

Just be happy adding value for a little less profit;

Just being more gracious and less calculative;

Just be joyful to assist and serve without gain;

Just go make poverty history;

Just win the race against racism;

Just a little more love for your loved ones;

Just pray for the power of love

To vanquish the love for power.

Just choose to do the things that others won’t

So that you can always do the things that they can’t;

It is so simple to make a better tomorrow.

At the edge of tomorrow, peep into your future
To live for today like no tomorrow.
Today, surrender your desires, greed and ambitions.
Give up this life today;

Leave the life you have been pursuing
And embrace the life that has been waiting for you,

Letting go the things passed for they are past,

Free yourself and choose freedom for life.

Expect nothing in return,

Know that life is no house of cards,

Believe not in promises ancient or recent,

Gratitude is not a quid pro quo,

Your efforts are rarely appreciated,

Nor your brilliant talents discovered.

Least understood shall be your love

And you can be hurt only by those you love. 

Yesterday is past and finished,

Decide what your tomorrow can be

At the edge of tomorrow today.

Standing at the edge of 2016,

I look afar, distant, up and down,

Squinting my eyes for tomorrow’s light.

I could feel the wind across my face,

The breeze of hope from tomorrow, I ponder.

A distant noise beckons in my bones,

A rumbling, pulsing and purring voice;

So surreal and not seems human.

I could see it with my heart

And feel in my mind.

The light expands as I stare into it

Filling the space of our distance from here to there;

Out of a sudden, I could see it

Staring back at me, oh my tomorrow,

The life awaiting me beckons;

And today shall begin again

The first day of the rest of my life

As I live the edge of tomorrow.

PS. The above piece is by Michael Heng and is a good start to the 2017.  My advice to most people who are deep into reading religious scriptures is to first understand the context in which the scriptures were written, the knowledge of the time and the intellect of the religious teachers or script writers then.

Any average graduate today would have accessed to far more knowledge and information about the universe and life and he should use this knowledge intelligently and not be awed by the ancients knowing how little they knew then.

The other point is that there is a very big difference between spiritual knowledge and the values of what is good and bad of wanting to live as a good person of God or religion. Spiritual knowledge must be acquired by spiritual training and is in a totally different realm and anyone who put into practice would acquire them. This knowledge cannot be acquired by reading religious text or getting a Ph D. And a practitioner without any academic training or learning, an illiterate, could still acquire it and be a master in his own right for knowing the spiritual world that a non practitioner or a believer would not know.