Frankly I agree with Mr.Lim, he is right to say this

we should expect no one to owe us a job or pay cheque; not even our government.

This has been the true from day one due to the following

1) the cost of living has gone up
2) Jobs are shrinking
3)No minimum wage
4) No welfare – what happens if you lose your job and its not your fault?
5) High cost of getting EDUCATED???
6) Low birth rate
7)GST to help the poor
8)Drop in COE to allow people to buy cars ?? Whats the ERP for again ?
9) People are buying smaller flats ?? I wonder why
10)CPF life line ??? being extended……
11) Sky high salaries for ministers
12) Bring in FT who are willing to take a lower pay scale

Thats why I think the people should know that, the GOVT don’t owe you a pay cheque

ok let me assist you peeps on this one
especialLEE starting your owned buisness from ground level ZERO
before i even started
let me give you a few examples here
shall we?
remembered that enterprenuer bloke who left his banking job
to start a van foodtruck just liked the europeans in orchard road carpark for a start?
he throw in about or near $100,000
to modified the mobile tuckshop
its was a good try
very enterprenuer
one should says
what happenned next
many followed
afterall
everybody must EAT
without a doubt
just liked the pow pow char craze….
then our infamous greedy government stepped in as usual
want to regulate more rule$
more taxe$
in the end
draw lot$
the enterprenuer himself wasn’t even guranteed
since it was his idea in the first place
worst of all he didnt win in the ^lucky^ draw
next worst situation
the ministry concerned says
you must stopped selling after lunch hour
as though your business boom only lunch time
and you can recoup your profit just by selling one session as well?
orchard road have no late shift workers/shoppers?
you catch the drift so far?

next
let discuss on other form of buisness
whatever you want to do
try going through our government red tapes
before you even started
the government different ministries already collected from you
advanced taxe$
more than 1/2 your savings already goes to them
let alone your rentals/blah blah blah
and in singapore
to cover your investments within a 12 month period
which is suppose to be in order to survive
how many 1/2 hall hdb shops here do you see
half empty?
why is other countries have basic poor people survived?
simply because other country governments do have the hearts for the people
by the people
if they find that this poor citizens of their can start thinking and run their owned buisness without a government handouts/aids
the government concerned is more than happy
simply because if one start a buisness
one tend to employ helpers
and those who patronise/support the buisness
will make the economies goes stronger
which part of singapore ministers do that?
try an illegal curry puff/otah stall @ your nearest mrt point
see how long can you last
without enforcement harreshments?
~sigh~

Doing business is too much hassle and does not come under the protection of the PAP more than if you are one of them.

So let’s all follow the other way out as prescribed by Andrew, Let’s all sign up to join the PAP. Do it now. How nice it will be if all Singaporeans are also PAP members, then we can change Singapore’s name to PAP too. Surely the top PAP people must take care of its PAP cadres right?

Yah what! It’s a fact that the PAP takes care of PAP members more than Singaporeans what!

It is NOT standard of living that have risen but the cost of living that have gone up. Often people say about rising standard when what they meant is rising cost. In fact what we are having is rising cost but falling standard.

Prices are coming down. Oil was below USD40 for a while…

Singaporeans probably may only have a golden era of less than 20 years in their employment curve i.e. from 23 years old (after you graduate) to 45 years old.

After that, if you are not the top guy in your company, you are going downhill.

I have seen many top guns who are my friends going nowhere when either they are retrenched or resigned themselves in their 40s.

Most companies prefer to hire a younger man than a 45-50 year old to run a business. For one, the fresh guy is young and has more ideas than a old man. The salary difference is also difficult to match.

The age factor in employment is never more pronounced than in Singapore.

In Australia, if an employer discriminates on age, the person can sue the employer. In your CV, you left out discriminatory infomation like gender, race, age and photo so that your employer selects you solely on your experience and qualification. More importantly, you are hired on merit and capabilities.

Singapore has the worse hiring criterion in a first world country with many employers discriminating on age and race openly.

We also has one of the worse wage gap phenomenon in any developed country which the govt is not trying to close at all.

#(6) – you mean we are not hired based on “merit and capabilities”?

another bad news
my kaki who was based in dubai
working for a singapore company
just had his contract termination
end dec2008
although his contract was to end in dec 2009
the dubai based company paid him his dues in FULL
so this chinese new year
gonna be a long long holiday for him
to spend some quality time with his 2 YOUNG son
one is under 10
the other one around 13
ole my kaki is not old
just 59 nia mah…
he have the merits
he have the experiences
now the only problemo he have
is
NOT connected to the pap party
even if the singapore IR resorts were to reproceed
he still have to attend fresh interviews
to compete with younger foreign talents

7) ArtBoon

what gilbert means is that in other countries, they have to hired and will hired on merit and capabilities, however it may be a different issue in local context. i think most people know what i mean…

Oh, and to continue, yes, prices of oil has gone down, but the prices of our food has gone up. on dec, some of the prices of import food has increased by up to 25%, and that was not a time where price of oil sky rocket again….it was a time of depreciation of currency that cost our import to increase in cost

The people’s eyes and ears and brain is working?
maybe ?

when oil price dropped, and prices of all items that have seen price hikes with reason of oil have not gone back down.

the people’s level of intelligence is unquestionable.

I will never betray my conscience & sell my soul to join the PAP. They are powerful & in control. However, we feel there are many things they did that are not right. Do not bow down to what you think is morally wrong. At least, I will never.

One of the gov’s phrase-to-live-by for Singaporeans is that no one owes Singapore a livin’, & everyone should strive on their own. Singapore owes me nothing, & vice versa. Please remove conscription in the form of NS ‘cos we don’t owe you anything & we don’t expect anything back from you. You give us nothing, we give you nothing. You give us welfare & fairness, we give you loyalty & hard work much more willingly.

This is the reality that we’ll need to firstly come to terms with and accept. We need to renounce the ‘crutch mentality’ and make the best of what we have. – Andrew Ong

I renounce the crutch mentality argument because it is PAP who removed our rights to negotiate with employers on an equal basis. However, given that PAP will absolutely never help the ordinary men but only themselves and their affiliates, we have no choice to depend on ourselves The very least we can do for ourselves is stop trusting PAP.

Agree with pugdragon.

Btw, strange that in other democracies, the elected MPs and Ministers are civil SERVANTS who are indebted to their voters and have a duty to provide for the welfare of the citizens. Singapore is one strange democracy whose voters/citizens are replaceable economic units by foreign workers “talents”.

One more option that Andrew Ong did not list out – to leave the country for a more respectable democracy. Although I fit into the “easily satisfied” category, I choose to emigrate. It is less stressful then having to wonder perpetually if one would fall victim to the next economic cycle exacerbated by the heartless PAP policies.

Also as moshedyan has pointed out, it is actually easier to be an entrepruener overseas.

12) pugdragon

i am with you…don’t join the force that we detest

100% job security.

lose public money won’t get sacked
lose dangerous terrorist won’t get sacked
gamble away public money, also won’t get sacked.

what more u want?

What we people fail to realise is that when you are earning millions, a 20-30% pay cut does not do you much damage. Best of all you know you will never be retrenched no matter how you screw up. The assurance that you will always be in power makes them more detached to the reality the population is facing. You are in your comfort zone. Why do they behave as such?. Because we have surrendered power and have failed to use our votes to make them accountable. When the fear is there that they might not have a job if they do not perform, then they will work for the people. Please wake up.

Please give me back MY CPF money and there is no need to have national service.

Thank you for giving us this GENTLE reminder during this recession.

Please repeat your GENTLE reminder to us during the election. I am sure the PAP will get more votes.

Maybe you should have it as your slogan.

GST offset package given for GST hike.

My question is why hike to begin with?

okay, lets say you have bombastically good reasons again, where does the offset package monies come from?

is there a LOOP we are seeing?

regards
69′ner of the show “ERECTION is COMING” (erection of a lampost)

aiyoyo

gentle reminders, did ELITEs reming themself when investment sink?

commoners want their $ back, invest/spend themself..

commoners want simple, less/no pressure lifestyle..

why come to this stage, just look at advanced countries, what happen to them now?

believe simple is the best.

aiyoyo

I think saying that wages is the ONLY reason for high cost of doing business in Singapore is a bit short sighted.

The government’s policies have also created spiralling costs for businesses too (not just for the people), including rental, utilities and basic infrastructure costs.

If these were curtailed, the push factor wouldn’t be as big

IMHO.

About property prices:

Rapid rise in property prices or rental in relation, will lead to rapid fall in prices. Seen all the hot money (local and overseas) coming in to pump up property prices in 2006/2007?

The poor will suffer more as the rich who would have owned multiple properties would have sold theirs for a fat profit or gone en-bloc and then those marginal investors would start to come in to play in the property market, lured by these fat profits.

But time for profits are short and the stalement, like it is now, will lead to more forced-selling and then bankruptcy.

Stable prices should be the objective for a stable economy.

Hi,

singapore is news’d to be very solid bombastic like safe,stable and nice nice.
our education system is news’d to be solid bombastic producing people who can, erm …. not rejurgitate i have to say, but study study good good.

For thess and many other reasons alone,
wages for singaporeans should be higher . Even more so when u consider the 1st world status.

in short, businesses wanting to operate here should pay more to our citizens.
and I hope rentals will come down for them as well as the corporate tax.
Like this ,there is surely hope for 1st world pay and not just pay and pay.

paying and paying sarks!

If Singaporean are forced to live under constant dilemma of having a job, why should we be paying labour union every month. If I know my living are is full of thieves and robbers, should I not get a guard dog with teeth than one without?

Given that NO ONE OWES YOU A LIVING,
Why employ singaporeans given that their salary includes CPF contribution payable by the employer?

is business not all about THE BOTTOM LINE?

Lets not kid ourselves.

I BELIEVE THE BUSINESS RENTALS NEED TO GO DOWN IN THIS CRISIS.

I BELIEVE THE CPF should either be :

INCREASED FOR PRs TO THE SAME LEVEL AS CITIZENS OR

REDUCED TO THE SAME AS PRs IF NOT BOTH REDUCED FOR EMPLOYER CPF.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, FOREIGN WORKERS SALARIES MUST BE SET ACCORDING TO MINIMUM WAGE SYSTEM.

Employers must not be expecting too high a bonus and actually accept less earnings by not retrenching too many workers in this crisis. who knows, for 1 million less bonus they give to themselves, this could save hundreds of jobs.

But then, employers are rich and by being rich and elite does not mean a person is Honest, Transparent or has Integrity, kind or generous or care for the poor. it just means the bank passbook has more zeros. PERIOD.

words can be spoken by anyone as beautifully as a poem. Just hire a poet to write for you. What is spoken need not be practised or the truth.

i just want seek lta opinion on traffic jam pn a saturday
in bencoolen street/bras basar road?
is many people so riched that they needs to go bencoloon street
just to pray to kuanyin?
if that is not the case
is albert square/simlimsquare/berlingston square
an orchard road shopping class standard?
if that is still not the case
why on earth
do lta charged 300% on erp poles on a saturday from 12noon till 8pm?
just because we nneds to pray and buy spare parts
doesn’t mean we have to pay 3 (THREE) times the amount
so lta thinking
is perhaps we should leave the weekend car @ home on a saturday and take the buses/mrt with a spoilt computer in 1 hand while the other hand we hold on to the standing pole perhaps?
and mind you peeps
simlimsquare is on par rental with shenton way
dollarfordollar
now with this lta profitdriven scheme
more merchants cried
for their buisness only thrived on weekends
on weekday ley?
its a weepin lane
where literalLEE
you can used it as a bowling ally
~sigh~
so much for our kind prince the prime minister trying to help us
the local merchants…

Before I pay the standard road tax of estimated $700/yr for a 1200cc car, now with the ERP, I still have to pay something like $500/yr but my average monthly ERP charges I am paying is abt another $250/month, see how much is the difference? what rebate are we talking about her????? this is cut throat and is extortion business for the motorists monopolised by the garments.

Get out of Singapore.

I did that.

Get out of the stress and worry.

I am now living in an LDC.

Life is good to me.

Just a simple life.

Bonnie

Singapore may have become a so-called First World nation but where is the wealth? In whose hands? The government, of course, and successful businessmen. And government ministers and the elite in society. Maybe, something like the 80-20 ratio [or even 90-10] seems to apply. – 80%/90%of the wealth is in the hands of only 20%/10% of the population. What about the remaining 80%/90%? They can enjoy the peanuts!

Would the government share its wealth with the people? Some of it of course, but very, very little.

But that’s the style of this government. Tax a lot. share a little. First, build as huge a surplus as possible, through every kind of taxation if possible, then hand out the peanuts. But take it back if possible after the election.

When we go for high growth(it seems obsessively) then Spore will
perennially undergo a boom & bust cycle with resultant job losses
and retrenchments which translate into some severe social dislocations
particularly for the older Sporean worker when one is in his mid or late
40s salaried at about $3k monthly, then has to undego retraining and
gets another job which usually pays less than half his former salary
whilst his expenses are on a steady increase due to upgrading, a
child or two taking his/her “A” levels or studying in the Polytechnic/
University, caring for aged parents/parents-in-law, owning a car, etc.,
thus this disiullision Sporean will probably emigrate during his mid50s.

Join PAP and lick a$$ all the way to a Minister level . Job security for life. $1 million plus a year and can talk and fart at the sametime.

I am sorry to disappoint many of our bloggers above. Admission to PAP membership is not by application but by invitation only. It had been tightly controlled for many year.There is no easy route into PAP. One had to be selected and invited to join. There are many way one could seek one fortune e.g. travel abroad and start anew which some Sinkaporean had done. Popular places like Australia, New Zealand, USA and UK – all the English speaking countries. A small country with no natural resources is alway going to struggle to compete with giant like China, India and eventually Indonesia and Malaysia. Manufacturing industry will be history soon and to compete in the high technology sector is no easy task either. China and India are moving into those sectors as well. The financial sector will take a few years to recover from the USA subprime crash. Those who are adventurous will take the risk and travel abroad leaving behind the comfort zone.