Foreigners - How many more to bear before the problem goes out of control?

Referencing an editorial published in Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao on Feb 22, Mr Chee said that the number of S Pass and Work Permit holders in the services sector has increased by 34,000 in the last three years.

“The editorial hit the nail on the head by observing that if we do not control the total number of foreign workers, it will affect the employment outcomes of local workers and lead to socio-political problems in Singapore,” he said. “We have seen this happen in other countries.”

This, he said, was the key reason why the Government proceeded with the tightening.

“On balance, we decided that it was better to make a move now to moderate the overall number of foreign workers in Singapore before the problem gets out of hand,” he said. “As the Zaobao editorial said, the DRC tightening is necessary bitter medicine.”....

Also known as the Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC), the quota tables the maximum permitted ratio of foreign workers to the total workforce that a company can employ.

The DRC for that sector will be further cut – in two stages – from the current 40 per cent to 35 per cent by 2021.

The S Pass sub-DRC will be lowered from 15 per cent to 10 per cent eventually in 2021.


Above are quoted from Channel News Asia articles.

The above are measures that the govt is going to take. Does the govt know how easy it is to overcome these changes and restrictions? Would the govt also be tightening the approval of foreigners to become citizens? If not, then they simply apply to be citizens like they used to do over the last few decades and no one is wiser with all the foreigners now becoming part of the statistics as locals.

What about the DRC, does the govt know that many companies in Chennai Business Park in Changi employed almost 90 or 100% foreigners, mostly from India? Or the govt is still sleeping, never been to that part of Singapore or simply does not want to know? Turn to look away? The enclaves of Indian nationals in Singapore, in companies and in private housing estates are so stark that no one can miss them and nothing is being done to it? Would the few comments in Parliament make any difference or just end in Parliament once Parliament goes into recess?

Look at the numbers from MOM below. No one knows what is happening? Everyone on holiday, never read these reports for so many years? Or because their balls are stuck in the CECA and afraid of being sued by India?


'The latest foreign workforce numbers released by MOM last week, however, showed that the number of foreign PMETs in Singapore has continued to rise.

The latest figures show that even though the number of foreign PMETs on Employment Pass (EP) has decreased slightly in the last 2 years from 192,300 to 185,800, the total number of foreign PMETs (such as those on EP and S Pass) has been increasing.

In 2013, the total number of foreign PMETs was 336,000. This number rose to 349,000 in 2014, 366,500 in 2015, 372,000 in 2016, 372,100 in 2017 and finally, 381,300 last year.

In 2018, the number of foreign PMETs on EP decreased by 1,900 compared to 2017 but the number of S Pass holders shot up by 11,100 in 2018, reaching a new high of 195,500.' Posted in theindependent.sg

The total number for foreign PMETs has been going up and up, from 349,000 in 2014 to 381,300 in 2018. The most painful thing is that more and more Singaporeans PMETs are being retrenched. What does this say for the pro Singaporeans or pro foreigners policy? Singaporeans, you die your business, foreigners can come and take over your place and your jobs.

Who voted the govt to do this to Singaporeans?

There is no lack of good jobs for Singaporeans, counting the 381,300 jobs given to foreign PMETs and probably another 200,000 given to new citizens. There is no good reasons why Singaporeans PMETs should be retrenched, formed the bulk of retrenched workers and with many young Singaporeans partially employed ie on part time or short term contract jobs.

This is a very serious problem affecting ordinary Singaporeans, not the millionaire politicians.

Govt log in data on sale

Front page news of thenewpaper read like this, ‘Govt log-in data on sale on dark web – Email addresses and passwords were ‘not leaked from government systems but from officers who used them for personal purposes’. Ok, the data were not leaked, but using them for private purposes would only reveal the email addresses, how did the passwords got ‘leaked’ or stolen? Passwords are not things that are laid in the open to be picked up.
 
The article said among the agencies named by a Russian cyber security company IB ‘were the Government Technology Agency(Gov-Tech), Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and the Singapore Police Force. MOH has been in the news for losing 1.5 million SingHealth patients’ personal data, including Hsien loong’s, also breaches including illegal access of 72 HealthHub accounts and the infamous ‘leaked of information of 14,200 patients from the HIV Registry and improper handling of data belonging to more than 800,000 blood donors by a vendor last week’.
 
First question, were these leaked or stolen information arising from hacking by external sources? Or were they leaked by internal sources, or were they leaked due to mishandling or mismanagement? The ways the data were leaked or stolen have different implications. If from external sources hacking into the system, that is a protection problem, poor firewalls or anti hacking systems installed. If from internal sources, then who were the parties involved, Singaporeans, locals or foreigners hired to maintain the IT systems, or if due to mishandling or mismanagement, like the HIV case, the culprits and problems are different and needed to deal with differently.
 
The most frightening and dangerous part in the chain of IT protection is internal sources. Like they said, it is very difficult to prevent theft from within, thieves living inside the premises.
 
So what is what? Were the problems highlighted, with so many ministries involved, a matter of officers using their govt emails freely, indiscriminately, showing off their passwords to everyone, or was this a more serious problem that cannot be brushed away so simply and innocently? Cannot tell, don’t want to tell or telling it as something so innocuous?
 
Smart city with smart people or dumb city with dumb people?

Italy – The BRI is a new paradigm for humankind towards a share destiny

When UK joined the AIIB, the Americans freak out. The dam of opposition against this China initiative was broken and the rest of Europe and other pro western countries took the cue and joined AIIB as well leaving the Americans alone in the wilderness. But although the AIIB was a key pillar to support the BRI project, some of the key European countries ironically are still resisting to join the BRI. The western narrative is that BRI is a Chinese strategy to divide Europe, to invade and colonise Europe. The ludicrous narrative from Washington and major European capitals is unbelievable. The assets are built in their soil and they have complete control over them and could seize them for any false flag incidents or fabricated excuses.
 
China’s BRI or the New Silk Road is about building connectivity, roads and rails and sea routes to connect Europe and Africa through Central Asia to China that would improve and facilitate communication and transportation for trade. It is not about building walls like what Trump wanted to keep countries and people apart. And according to the western anti China narrative, this BRI is bad and would lead to war.
 
Italy is now standing up to challenge the American and western narrative by looking at the BRI as a new paradigm for a community of humankind, a share common future and destiny for humankind. And Italy is going to be the first G7 country to break the dam of resistance and lead Europe into the BRI. Italy is not the first European country to do so. 13 other European countries have already signed MOU on the BRI with China, including Spain, Portugal, Greece and many East European countries.
 
The Italian initiative to break ranks with the Americans and G7 countries has caused a major uproar in the US and the Americans freak out again, literally. The Americans even warned the Italians not to sign the MOU or face consequences as if the Italians are joining forces with China militarily to go to war with the Americans.
 
Italy is not going to be told what to do against its national interest like Germany is not going to stop using Huawei’s 5G technology because the Americans said so. Like the East European countries, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece have joined the new poor of European countries. Together they see hope in the BRI to bring economic growth, trade and development for their countries. Many cities in France and Germany, two major European countries still sharing the same hostile thinking as the Americans in opposing China for political reasons, are going against their govts and want to be part of the BRI.
 
The BRI and the immense benefits it is bringing to all the 156 countries in the project are too good to resist. Italy is not going to miss the boat. The BRI is going to revive the deteriorating economy of the Italians and this is a new hope to stimulate growth in Italy, linking Italy to Central Asia and China and also to Africa.
 
Nothing is going to stop Italy, not cry wolf rhetoric, and Italy is going to do the right thing for its own good. Xi Jinping is visiting Italy in the next couple of days to welcome Italy into the BRI. Once done, all the defences and negative allegations against China and the BRI would break down, and the rest of Europe would fall in line.
 
The last bastion of resistance is the USA. Would it be left out in the cold alone again, or would it also fall in and be part of the new paradigm of a common destiny for all humankind, a more connected world and grow and prosper together instead of warmongering, starting and fighting wars?

PS. Schiller Institute’s Helga Zepp LaRouche enthusiastically welcomed the decision by Italy to sign an MOU with China, to join the Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI), as it demonstrates that the City of London geopolitical networks are losing their ability to dictate policy in Europe.

The Americans at their baddest best

The main media are quite reticent about the developments in Venezuela and the dirty parts played by the Americans to conduct regime change to bring down popularly elected President Maduro. The latest, all are options on the table, meaning an invasion and war. This is how lightly the evil Americans treat war, death and destruction of other countries and their people. The Americans are addicted to war.
 
After imposing trade sanctions against Venezuela to cripple its economy and bringing hardship to the Venezuelans, including destroying the value of its currency, it is now pressuring its allies to stop trading with Venezuela. India has been told to stop buying oil from Venezuela and the leverage, to remove India from the most favoured nation in trade with the US.
 
Is this what you called influencing the policies of another country? Is this not interfering with the domestic affairs of another country? How more bad things would the Americans do to convince the world that it is an Evil Empire? I think every country knows that but are living in fear that they would be next. So the next best thing to do, other than coming out openly to support the mischief of the Americans, is to shut up.
 
No country is going to tell the Americans that they are breaking all protocols and decency in international relations, not following the rule of law. No country would say anything in the name of rule of law when the world’s number One Outlaw is doing its evil best to destroy another country.
 
In the meantime the Venezuelan people are suffering from the sanctions with inflation running at record level, not due to mismanagement of Maduro but trade sanctions and the conspiracy of the white regimes to steal and rob their wealth, their oil, their assets and money in the western country’s banks. And the Venezuelan people did not have a clue who did it to destroy their country and their lives. And the western propaganda machine is putting all the blame on Maduro and praising the unknown CIA trained Guaido as the legitimate leader.
 
The latest, a week of nation wide blackout due to power failure done by you know who. People died. People that were hooked onto machine when their lives depended on power supply just died. Who were behind this? Maduro told his people he knew who did it. No need to guess. And who suffered from it? No need to guess. Who got blamed for it, Maduro of course.
 
Take heed, when the Evil Empire is at its baddest, the whole world cringed and hid themselves under the table, not to be seen or heard, or they would be the next victim of the Evil Empire. No one would be brave enough to open his big mouth to tell the Evil Empire to obey the rule of law based on principles.
 
Be frightened of the evil white men when they are out to kill and destroy. They are extremely vicious and hostile, and very destructive at their best.
 
How many idiots out there still claiming that the Americans are peace loving people, to be invited to be the policemen of the world, the guardian of peace, not the perpetrators of wars?

The Rape of the Stock Market

There use to be a saying, the stock market is always there. No matter how quiet or depressing is the state of market activities, the stock market will not die or go away. This use to be the unspoken truth but I am increasingly seeing the stock market dying or shrinking to a point that it is no longer meaningful.
 
The whole rational for the existence of a stock market has been eroded by the proliferation of derivatives and computer tradings. Derivatives are instruments that piggyback on stocks and diverting interests from trading stocks directly, thus undermining the real value of stocks. The more funds are diverted to trade in derivatives, the lesser will be the interests in stocks. Algo and computer trading are more dangerous to the values of stocks as they have no interest or respect for the real value and prices of stocks. They trade either way to profit and could drive the prices of stocks against their real values, against their fundamentals. As a result, stock prices are in their doldrums and many are undervalued and defeat the purpose for listing. When listed companies could not raise funds from the market due to unacceptably low PEs against high listing fees and costs, many good companies would choose to delist instead.
 
Yes, there will be IPOs. But these are desperadoes wanting to raise some funds from the public. Unfortunately such fund raisings are likely to be a one time affair. After listing, through lack of investor support and a stock market in coma, many stocks would end up as penny stocks, worthless, left to die prematurely and ended up being suspended from trading.
 
The short sighted fund managers and exchange administrators could not see further than their eyes as to where the stock market is heading. Without the stock market, there would not be any derivatives to talk about. Without the stock market, the REITs too would disappear. Without the stock market, the computer traders would have no where to trade and exploit the small investors.
 
The whole stock gambling industry is based on the existence of a stock market, real or fictitious. Neglect and allowing the stock market to die a natural death would drag the whole industry into the grave.
 
New gambling chits could be devised as variation of derivatives without the stock market. Some may think this is a viable option, trading in fictitious paper instruments in place of real stocks and shares. If the administrators continue to choose to let the stock market peters away as an irrelevant or obsolete beast, can there still be computer trading, derivatives, fund investments, online trading etc etc that are parts and parcels of a thriving finance industry? The stock market is the corner stone on which a whole industry is built on.
 
The stock market depends not only on the derivative writers, the algo and computer traders, but also on the listed companies and the investors. A stock market that only protects the derivative writers and algo/computer traders and failed to protect the interests of listed companies and investors would lose its raison d’tre to exist. When companies see it futile to list in a stock exchange there will be no need or interest in the exchange.
 
Whither the stock market? Why is the stock market dying? When would the abuse and rape of the stock market be put to an end?