Are NSmen a strategic and scarce resource?

Some of you have raised a good point about this new catch phrase called strategic resource and scarce some more. Using this genie or demon of make an argument, to justify a wrong is like raising race as a factor in our politics in the Elected President scheme. It is also like the raising of Syonan and backfired badly.

With some clever twits thinking that using the term strategic resource and they would be able to get away with murder, now everyone is going to look at everything using this very same term. It is only right that you people asked the same question, are NSmen a strategic resource and deserved to be accorded the same importance to be paid the respectful and deserving salary.

Ask a simple question, can this country survive without NSmen like without water? Which is more important, NSmen or water? Can this country do away with NSmen? What would this country be without the service of NSmen to protect this country? Some say yes, this country has gone to the dogs. It is gradually being taken over by foreigners, given to foreigners, there is no need to defend anything anymore. Just invite the foreigners to come and take over. There is a point in this argument.

But before the foreigners take over this island and drive out the original Singaporeans as mismatch, misfits, some may still want to hope that this country still belongs to the original Singaporeans and they can do something to prevent it from happening, and there is a role for NSmen to protect this island. If that is the case, then NSmen are indeed a strategic resource. No one, no foreigners would die fighting for this island. Ok some may, but in a matter like the defence of the country, when one is allowed to bear arms, to carry arms and use arms, there is no room for error. How daft can one be to trust that all foreigners turn new citizens would die defending this island?

The probability for errors, the bad apples is very high. Even a 1% error can be devastating. In the Australia murder case, we lost two of our bright young scholars. A simple can turn out to be a grave mistake. And with so many new citizens joining NS, you can expect worms among them.

NSmen, our Singaporean sons, are a strategic resource and a scarce resource. Should not they be priced for the true value of their worth? Are they being shortchanged? Are they being made to protect a population when more than half are really foreigners and taking their jobs and making them redundant, misfits, mismatch and useless in their own country?

In today’s Today paper, First Warrant Officer(Retire) Ali Pawiro said this about Japanese soldiers barging into his house to raid everything in sight. ‘Who were they? How could they just come in and take our stuff?’ Today would Ali Pawiro be shocked to see the two million foreigners here not just taking our stuff but taking our jobs, university places, and occupying our homes and beating up our taxi drivers and cyclists for fun or just to show their anger? And the two millions are invited here!  Any difference?

How to compensate this scarce and strategic resource like the NSmen?  No need because there is nothing to defend anymore? The NSmen must be paid well to make the people understand their true value. The people must be made to bear the real cost of NSmen. At least this would also give them some dignity instead of the paltry sum they are getting unbefitting of the important and strategic role they are performing. Or should they still be sneered as the lowly paid, cheap NSmen, with money not enough and with little dignity as far as their pay is concerned?

What do you think? Water more important, more strategic than NSmen?

PAP will get 75% in next GE

Some critics are saying that this PAP govt is looney. Look at the slate of increases in taxes, fees and more to come and how well they are received by the citizens and you will know how popular is this govt and how strong is the support from the people. After raising education fees, SC&C charges, water fees by 30%, transport fares going to be next and the most comprehensive tax of all, the GST, you can only expect more as the govt is so confident that the people will accept them as gratitude to the good and incorruptible govt and their good policies. It is ok if a few Singaporeans are unemployed, underemployed or forced to retire, they know that it is their faults for being so, unable to compete with the influx of highly talented foreigners, so they will happily go for retraining to take on less skill jobs.

What is important is that all of them would gratefully vote for the PAP in the next GE or in many more GE's to come. There is a very strong bond between the people and the govt. Some may question why 70% voted for the PAP in the last GE and still in shock, in disbelief. The Lee Kuan Yew effect was there and played a significant role to swing the votes. But what is more important and reliable is statistics.

By now 50% of the citizens are likely to be new citizens. This means 50% of the votes would go to the PAP from the new citizens. The balance of 50% could be divided into 50:50, for and against the PAP, ie 30% hard core and 20% swing votes. This would give the PAP another 25% of the votes to make it 75%. It was 70% in the last GE which was an indication that the full impact of foreigners turned new citizens was not enough and there was still a bigger swing votes for the opposition or against the PAP.

By the next GE in 2020 you can expect the new citizens, I don't use the word Singaporeans as it would put the original Singaporeans together with the new Singaporeans in one group, and very misleading. The new citizens are very appreciative of the good life given to them by the PAP, citizenship, cheap housing and good jobs that they could never find anywhere else, definitely not in their God forsaken home countries. And somehow their talents got raised to an unbelieverable level, all better than daft Singaporeans. How would they not vote for their benefactor, the PAP?

With the number of new citizens still increasing rapidly, the 75% votes for the PAP is a given in 2020. No amount of rallies and convincing arguments could change the statistical advantage of the PAP. More new citizens would mean more votes for the PAP. When more than 50% of the population is new citizens, translated to guaranteed votes, the battle is over before it even started.

Now you know why despite all the big increases and the cock thinking 30% water fee hike the PAP is still confident of winning the next GE hands down? And now do you know why there is no public protest for all the hikes? The original Singaporeans are now a minority and have resigned to their fate. Their only choice is to migrate or to be downtrodden by the new talents from little unknown villages. There is nothing they can do now. The PAP is double confirmed to rule till SG100.

Do not under estimate the power of mathematics and the magic of mathematicians.

Li Keqiang’s speech – What to make out of it?

Premier Li Keqiang has delivered his much awaited and most watched speech at the 12^th National People’s Congress and China watchers are busily trying to dissect every bit of his speech to understand what he was saying and where is China heading. The keynote address by the Prime Minister of China has gained stature internationally and would be closely watched by leaders of nations around the world wanting to understand China and its policies. Any analyst hoping and expecting something dramatic and earth shaking pronouncement in this speech is likely to be disappointed. Li Keqiang’s speech is best described by a few words, consolidation, stability and avoiding the risk that may come from domestic and external factors.

The tempo of the speech, covering almost every aspect of the Chinese economy and touching on the life of the Chinese people, is a sign of a leadership that is comfortable with what they have achieved and what they had set out to do. It is a speech that said China is on the right course and will continue to move ahead in a steady pace with not much haste.

China has initiated many big plans and projects internally and in the international arena in the last decades, particularly in the last few years. A distinct observation that everything is going on as planned, and doing well, is their absence from being mentioned in Li Keqiang’s speech.  What were not spoken were equally important if not more important like the AIIB and One Belt One Road international projects. The American rhetoric on the South China Sea were not worthy of mention as well. The anti corruption drive too did not find a place in the speech.

The whole emphasis of Li’s speech is about consolidation of what China has been doing over the years, economic development to bring about a prosperous China and better quality of living for its people. Improving the environment, clear sky, creating jobs and lowering unemployment and agricultural reforms to improve productivity took the main stage. The economy is targeted to continue to grow at a more leisure pace of 6.5%, a departure from the years of hectic double digit growth to ensure a more stable and sustainable growth.

The overall picture is a China growing at its own terms and dictates with no great concern or the need to take high risk. There is no worrying trends and development that could trip the progress of the Chinese economy and China’s growing prosperity. 

There are areas of concern but nothing unmanageable. Li Keqiang did raise the issue of independence movements in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and China’s sovereignty in the South China Sea. His message was simple, without being confrontational to unsettle the critics and doomsayers, that China would firmly and resolutely protect the One China policy, removing any doubts on what China would do when the One China policy and Chinese sovereignty are challenged.

Li Keqiang did not respond directly to the provocative rhetoric from the Americans and in a way keep the South China Sea on an even keel. The modest increase in the Chinese defence budget of 7% is also another statement that says threats to China’s national security would be taken seriously but not something the Chinese leader is unduly worried about. China is not in a hurry to over indulge in military spending or in an arms race with the USA to compete for military dominance and superiority. 

China has chosen the path of economic development, to continue to grow and develop in a measured and predictable manner to improve the lives of the Chinese people. Military adventure and supremacy are not China's cup of tea.

In summary, Li Keqiang's speech is all about economic development, prosperity and the well being of the Chinese people and for China to continue to grow as a sovereign nation.

PS. Posted this in China Daily

Public transport to raise fare?

When was the last fare hike? Is public transport a strategic asset, a scarce resource? If so it must be priced right to make the people feel the pain of higher transport fare so that they would not abuse taking public transport unnecessarily and wastefully. Building infrastructure for public transport is very expensive and new transportation system is not cheap, not when you need to build for another 2m people in an already congested piece of rock. All the costs have gone up. The public must be encouraged to travel at off peak hours or not to travel at all and make unnecessary trips to stress the public transport system. Do these kinds of reasoning sound right or idiotic?
 
With rising cost of public transportation and better quality of public transport, some media said service quality has declined so not sure which is right, it is only right to raise transport fare. The improvements over the years with each price hike did not seem to make the quality of service improved much. Maybe the increase is not high enough so not much improvement could be seen.
 
Would anyone think it is clever to raise transportation fee by 30% like water?  Someone must have been reading Machiavelli and the advice of Machiavelli must have gone into their heads. When making increases, make it big and painful, the public would soon forget the pain.  Don’t do it bit by bit. When giving out handouts, then do it bit by bit to milk as much good will as possible like wanting to give a 10c discount, give it in 10 times or 5 times, like 1c or 2c at a time at a time. The daft would be grateful for 5 or 10 times.
 
Are the public expecting to be slammed with another big transportation hike like the 30% water fee and comes the next GE all would be forgotten? Transportation hike got good reason, to improve quality of services. You want better services, pay more. So simple.

Air is also a strategic resource and a security concern

Water is a strategic resource and affects national security. What about air? We have taken free and clean air for granted. The haze season has given us a taste of what it is like when air is no longer clean and healthy to breathe. Air may not be a scarcity, but clean air is. Clean air is also strategic and scarce if not well managed.

Think of the great effort and funds applied to keep our air clean. Clean air does not come naturally anymore. Keeping the air clean is costly but many people have yet to know how costly this is. Just to keep the haze away, the govt has spent a lot of effort and financial resources to keep the culprits from continuing with their harmful actions. And there is also a political cost when relations with our neighbours can be agitated and aggravated and in the end affecting economic relations and trade.

The tree planting activities, keeping as much greenery in the island, using clean technology, policing anti clean air activities all cost money. It would not be long before someone comes up with the idea to make the people to feel the cost of keeping the air clean and healthy. If water can be priced on the basis of making the people appreciate that it is important, the same kind of logic would not be far fetch to apply to air.

How about levying some kind of free and clean air taxes for the money spent to keep the air breathable for Singaporeans?  Would some nuts in the future be thinking that this is a good thing, to make the people feel the price of clean air and how important and valuable is clean air? If it really happens, then cham liao.

Would some jokers be saying that this is to help the people and good for the people, for the people’s good?  Would there be free and clean air tax in the future?   Smokers be warned, you are contaminating the air with all kinds of harmful agents. You have yet to be made to pay for harming the environment, making the air unclean and the efforts to keep the air clean from cigarette pollutants.

But before free air is in the calculation, would power and electricity fall into the same category as water and be subject to the same strategic thinking and pricing? We don’t have natural power production sources and producing power and electricity is very expensive. Tiok boh?