Is Singapore a smart or a dumb city?

 Since the 1970s, the manufacturing world has developed a supply chain system called Just In Time delivery. All parts would be delivered just in time and manufacturers did not have to incur cost in warehousing and paying ahead for parts that may not be used when the production volumes changed.

Now in 2023, with big data, with AI, improved communication and transportation, and all the knowledge and experience and things called smart cities, would Just In Time delivery or manufacturing be further improved? Without Just In Time delivery, there would be a lot of wastages due to over or under supply, warehousing and inefficient supply chain. Should this be a thing of the past especially in a tightly knitted city state like Singapore, with less than 6 m population and even lesser at about 3.5m in terms of citizens?

Just heard over the news, when it was proudly announced that citizens buying BTO flats only have a 3 to 4 years waiting time for delivery of their flats. With such a small population, with the monopoly in building HDB flats, with improved building technology, supply chain, automation, AIs, big data and calling Singapore a smart city, why is it so difficult to shorten the waiting time to build and deliver HDB flats to maybe less than a year, less than 6 months? 

China can build a 40 storey building in less than a month using prefab, automation and advanced building technology. I have been watching the construction of simple one storey structure, with simple support beams, something quite similar to a hawker centre, and after more than a month, only a small part of the floor was laid, and a few steel pipe pillars were erected, joined by physically welding the steel frames and beams together. It looks like it would take weeks before it is ready to install the roof. And it would take many more weeks before the structure is finally completed. And there were about 20 foreign workers on site daily. Heard of a few hundred units of residential homes being built in a month in Africa by the Chinese construction brigade?

Oops, I digressed. Is Singapore a dumb city or a smart city? What kind of building and construction technology is being used, what kind of planning and management science, what kind of trained and talented workers? 30 or 40 years ago the waiting time for HDB flats were also 3 to 4 years. Today, it is still 3 or 4 years?

What a great improvement for a smart city with so many smart foreign talents! Is building flats for a small island population so complicated to plan and build that all the AI, technology, big data etc etc are unable to cope with and unable to improve on the delivery time?

What do you think?

Pioneer, Merdeka versus Majulah and Strawberry Generations

 For the elderly, that is the Pioneer and Merdeka generations, fitting in with the living standards of the present day generation is not too difficult and still adaptable.

However, if things turn out really bad for Singapore with its manufacturing status being on a downhill trajectory, and good jobs with good pay getting scarcier, life may not be as rosy as we think going forward. That being so, it would be extremely difficult for the present younger generation to hope to fit in and cope with the living standards going downhill.

How much debts were the Pioneer and Merdeka generations facing during their lifetime? Not that serious as what we see with today's generation, owing hundreds of thousands to the Housing Board alone in buying just a HDB flat, on top of upkeeping maybe a car, and incurring credit card debts, and possibly still repaying student loans. And there are daily expenses to be factored in as well.

Sure they may still hold down a good paying job, but what if they were to lose it? There is no such thing as an 'iron rice bowl' in today's world. Realistically, most Singaporeans are spending money that they have not yet earned, in other words spending borrowed money in keeping up with the Joneses. Good for them if the gravy trains keeps delivering the gravy, but once it stops doing that, all hell will break lose. Never say this will never happen.

For the Pioneers, paying for their HDB flats then was seldom a problem, and needs no huge loans from the Housing Board, as CPF savings alone was more than enough to take care of most of that, with most already paid up fully their loans upon retirement. Sorry to say, retirement was still something that was looked forward to and attainable. But not for today's younger generation. That the Government keeps pushing forward the retirement age tells us they already knew retirement is just a dream and an unattainable goal for most people. Ok, just listen to the Government when they tell you some people just love to work and will work until they drop dead. 

Anonymous

Wheel of fortune never stop spinning

 Every country benefits with an early start, but once others catch up, and even bypass them in developments, the bragging rights will slowly be gone. Let us not look at the Europeans alone as examples, but at Japan and South Korea, the two most innovative countries in Asia. Their era of manufacturing domination is gone or going, with Japan already gone for more than thirty long years, and with absolutely zero GDP growth for decades.

South Korea is also losing out to China. But China will also suffer the same fate, given another decade or two, more so with the USA taking pot shots at China in every field of development. No one took pot shots at the 'Asian Tigers', but they also lost ground, which is a natural working of the 'Wheel of Fortune'. As Xi Jinping said - 'Snuffing out other's candles does not to make one's candle brighter'. No country can be at the top forever. No one climbed Everest and can stay at the top.

The irony is that the rise of Germany and Japan had been stonewalled and hijacked by the USA, to keep them from overtaking. These two are practically vassal states of the USA and can be ordered to stop, when the 'Emperor's Edit' is read to them. However, stopping China from progressing is not the same or as easily as Germany and Japan. Using USA's fake 'Emperor Edits' against China's centuries old and original 'Emperor's Edit' is not going to work. Real Emperors do not issue fake edicts.

I do think that Japan is going downhill very rapidly. So is Germany. The third and fourth largest economies of the world are in deep trouble. On the other hand, economies of countries like Brazil and Indonesia, with abundant natural resources are the future growth engines of the world. Russia is an example of how well countries can survive with abundant natural resources. And do not forget about the Middle Eastern countries and Africa, which are also developing fast, beyond just oil. As for those Central Asia economies, rich in natural resources, they may take much longer to put their house in order, but with help from China, who knows.

So for those countries running away like wild horses over the past few decades, their days are numbered, just depending on manufacturing, without the natural resources to back them up. They may assume and think that money will solve all problems, but just look at countries now cutting back on exports of essential commodities, and you can understand the issues going forward.

I just watched a documentary talking about some poor country's citizens (forgot which country) migrating their main diet from rice to cheaper sorghum which were plentiful. Sorghum is much more nutritious than rice, but for those not used to the taste, it may be difficult to talk about changing one's diet. 

Anonymous

When the faces are fat and oily, and millions in the bank accounts... no time for competition?

 LKY once said if you are fully satisfied and well fed and had the notion that you had alreday arrived, then your downfall be soon very soon.

He meant that once you are no longer hungry to further your improve and kept going that you are still hungry then it will be your demise.

There are so many in the not so well developed and are the Third World Countries that are very hungry.

Still hungry, they be struggling to be NOT hungry and are fighting NOT to be hungry.

So they will worked doubly hard and innovative.

Those countries that are been fully fed for their good times will decline in time to come as their peoples will become too complacent and thought that these happenings will last forever

So the West, Japan, South Korea and Sinkieland will be in a M.O.T. be down hill.

Their generations will not be as hungry as their old generations and had long been pampered by the good lifes that they been enjoying.

Some been supported by even their parents etc had taken too much for granted their cosy comfortable lifes.

Even same as for China. See their now young generations are even laidback and wanted lepak lifes.

Likewise Sinkieland, our young had become a Strawberry Generation.

Unlike our old generations where we are happy to have a job even though not so well paid.

Also worked for three quarters of our lifes before even taking a break or holidays.

They will prefer to work in Aircond comforts been a MacDonald Server with bare minimum pay rather than be a tradesman or even a labourer in the hot sun to have a better salary.

Also, many like those prefered the gig gig platform workers on their own as somewhat's own time and work as works life balances not so stressful work lifes.

Some had no choices as I do not want to sweep all as such as they had no opportunities to secure full time employment.

The worse is that our own Government that was supposed to take care of own let so called market forces to the employers even our own locals to employ as their plans and wishes.

In a truly well knitted Nation, the peoples as citizens would firstly take care of own employing our own even though the bottom lines or even losses occurred in their enterprises as must as patriotic own that's their honourable duties.

In times of Wars and emergency to defend our Nation, most if NOT all will answer the calls forward.

But Sinkies Land been an migrant nation even till now with one another still having the same mentality that you die your business is NOT fully integrated.


That's why I reckoned why our Government is NOT too keen to have manufacturing those industrial factories economy.

As the young spoilt Sinkies, most thought that they had sound education and string of papers would not want these types of preceived low status jobs or professions.

Most wanted to be white collared and esteem jobs and professions even though they are pay lower.

How many these types of White Collared Jobs and Professions the Government can generates every year with thr influx of si many Graduates that come out into the Jobs Market?

With our small Service Economy?

So MOT if thr young generation do not change their mindsets to recognise that even blue collared high paying jobs are for them, then they be in future be in McDonalds and KFC and gig gig gila platform jobs.

Then later be buskers at the Markets and the MRT stations.

Virgo

Asian Games 2022 - Great moment for Shanti and Singapore

 

After waiting for 40 years since Chee Swee Lee won a gold in the 400m, finally another gold in athletics delivered by Shanti Pereira. She also won a silver in the 100m.

Well done Shanti.