Andrew Loh / Contribution from Leong Sze Hian
Mr Eric J Brooks is a happy man – happy with how Singapore is. In his letter to the Straits Times Forum Page on 31July, his effusive praise for the Singapore government is unabashed. “After living and working in six countries, I have known for a long time that no country takes care of its people the way Singapore does,” he writes.
Mr Brooks is a Canadian, according to the Straits Times letter’s heading, “A Canadian writes – Be grateful, Singapore”.
Coming on the heels of the recent Temasek Holdings fiasco of Charles Goodyear’s premature departure and revelation of hefty losses, Mr Brooks’ praises of the government somehow ring hollow. Referring to Singapore’s economy which, he said, “has recovered from the collapse faster than any other country”, he lauded Singapore’s “years of good economic management.”
He went on to compare his native Canada with Singapore – from public housing to rubbish collection, from sheltered walkways to service and conservancy fees. Singapore comes out tops in all these areas, as far as Mr Brooks is concerned.
One would take Mr Brooks’ words with a pinch of salt – especially when in the same Straits Times edition of 31 July where his letter was published, this headline appeared on page three:
And followed by this on the front page of the Home section of the same day:
Evidently, Singapore has not “recovered from the collapse”, as Mr Brooks mistakenly claims. In fact, government ministers have repeatedly warned against assuming this. “It’s too early to tell” is a common and regular refrain from ministers.
We do not know how well Mr Brooks knows Singapore or Singaporean life. We also do not know how long he has lived here – if he is living here at all. His letter does not say. Perhaps Mr Brooks should not dwell too much on the superficial, such as covered walkways or rubbish collection, but look deeper at the real issues.
Here are a few he should ponder on:
- 750,000 people don’t have any kind of medical insurance.
- 116,600 unemployed (resident unemployment rate of 6%) without any unemployment benefits.
- Only 3,000 people qualify for Public Assistance of $360 a month.
- Elderly working for $600 a month as cleaners with only 2 days off a month.
- Elderly collecting used aluminium drink cans and used cardboard boxes for $1.30 and $0.40 per kilogram respectively.
- One of the highest public transport fares to bottom 10% income ratio in the world.
- Bottom 10% of employed households have per capita monthly income of only $360.
- 417,000 roll-over their credit card debts – one of the highest in the world.
- One of the highest public housing price-to-median income ratio in the world.
- 40% have less than $40,000 in their CPF at age 55, and average only have $60,000+, when the CPF Minimum Sum is now $117,000.
- Highest ministers’ pay to average income ratio in the world.
- HDB visited 60,000 HDB flat-dwellers last year who had difficulty paying their mortgages.
- In the United States, typically when you default on your home mortgage, you just lose your home. In Singapore, you may lose your home, life CPF savings and may be made bankrupt too.
Finally, Mr Brooks should note that it was only about four months ago that a survey by life insurer AXA found that Singaporeans were the least optimistic about the future among citizens of eight Asian countries. This was reported by Channelnewsasia:
Angela Lau, head, Branding & Communications, AXA Life Insurance Singapore, said: “They’re not so confident about their health and career, and how they are going to cope with the challenges in life. For the career perspective, they are actually very concerned about job security.”
On reflection, Mr Brooks’ letter is not a surprise, given that National Day is around the corner and our “nation-building” Straits Times is up to its old tricks again.
Mr Brooks’ letter occupies prime space in today’s forum page – right at the top with that big bold headline exhorting Singaporeans to “be grateful”, from a foreigner no less.
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Eric Brookes is very happy in Singapore because he gets to enjoy the best of both worlds.
When he is sick and need a major operation, he can fly back to Canada for free medical treatment. Same thing if he is unemployed and retired.
In the meantime in Singapore, as a PR he gets to enjoy benefits on par with citizens. Yet he does not need to fulfil any citizen obligations like serving NS.
He gets to hire cheap labour for his business, unlike in Canada where there is minimum wage.
He pays low taxes because he does not need to contribute to the welfare of Singaporeans. Whereas back in Canada, he needs to contribute. In short he is a leech, leeching off both countries while contributing bare minimum.
He has no affinity to Singaporeans so he doesn’t care that elderly are being paid $600 a month as cleaners so long as he is the one benefiting.
And as a caucasian he enjoys preferential VIP treatment. Unlike in Canada, where he is just one of millions.
So why isn’t Eric Brooks renouncing his Canadian citizenship and take up S’pore citizenship???? He should ask his whole family to emigrate here immediately!!
http://www.facebook.com/eric.j.brooks
This is Eric J Brooks alright. Canadian Citizen in Singapore HDB flat, hanging American flag. What a Triple heads snake.
89) Gigi on August 1st, 2009 11.46 am singaporekia,
“You can’t compare Singapore with Malaysia. Apart from the geographical proximity, we are different in many respects. One major difference is that the majority race in Singapore is Chinese while that in Malayasia is Malays.”
Gigi, you are racist lah! How can you say things like that?
I dont blame foreigners for saying that they have a good life in SIngapore.
They live in sprawling condos and not many know about living and working in Singapore for too long. Their salary is also excessive by local standard and they almost live life like a king.
They just get to see the better side of our country.
Having live and work in China before and now in Sydney, we all prefer life abroad as it is fresher and a change is always good for the body and soul. Life seems greener on the other side.
In China, many locals ask me how to get out of their homeland and escape to Singapore. I told them I enjoyed China as I live in a nice apartment of my own on expat terms. More importantly, I was also well respected – things which I dont get in Singapore. I also do not need to worry about bread and butter issues there. The same could not be said of the local Chinese people who struggle with high living costs and never-increasing salary.
Expats in Singapore need to live longer and mingle more with the locals to get a taste of what true lSingaporean iving is. I am sure that many Singaporeans will agree with me that our Canadian friend does not know the real truth about living as a Singaporean.
////Gigi, you are racist lah! How can you say things like that?////
Did Gigi says she Hate any race? Isn’t majority race here in Singapore is Chinese while in Malaysia is Malay?
[i]Edward on August 1st, 2009 5.00 pm About 66% of the electorate here are pragmatic people, more concerned with what #70) singaporekia have listed rather than the political ideology espoused by Dr Chee who must come down to earth if he hopes to enter parliament. The majority here are not sophisticated enough to accept his views of political freedom and feedom of speech. So, they will agree with Brooks and will give the PAP another mandate to rule the country in the coming GE.
[/i]
europeans loved singapore the way business is done
even billgates have lunch with leekuanyew
rather than havin prata with the prataman in his ^turf^
why billgate?
simple
where in the world
do you find a law
which says
havin counterfiets sofewares in your office
warrant a jailable offence?
in any free country
billgates
would hav to take a court oder
and sued the guilty companies liked $10,000++ or whatever
in singapoor
billgates get leekuanyew to do the dirtyjob
on OUR singapore bosses
than again
leekuanyew was indeed trained by the imperial japanese invaders
together with our inhouse president…
Referring to 105) Gilbert Goh on August 1st, 2009 6.45 pm
/////I dont blame foreigners for saying that they have a good life in SIngapore.////
Dear Gilbert
Having a good life in Singapore is one thing. Telling the Singaporean to be grateful is another.
I mean you would agree that if you were to tell the PRC to shut-up and be grateful to the Communist Government when you in China, wouldn’t it be a insane thing to do?
Under normal circumstances:
1. Why would a foreigner want to say something like that?
2. What does it got to do with him?
Brookers
Do you know there are a lot of Singaporeans who long to become permanent residents of Canada and would love to live there for a few years???
[i]Ahgong on August 1st, 2009 3.55 pm #86, #87, many can’t differentiated between the party and the government, anything also oppose as long they are by the gov.
In terms of politics mindset, we are still very much a child[/i]
indeed we are
where in the world do you see the electoria board governed control by the pap political party?
is wongcan’tsink a pap political party member
didn’t he command the electoria board to handover the videotape of james gomez to handove that james gomez another fellow canbeDEAD in an election
yes
no?
now want to discuss on GRC thinggie
who formed set the grc in mind?
pap or the government?
now which part of this is you are goin to oppose?
how about honglimpark cameras
can you oppose
if you want to brin your chinaborn lass mistress for a quickee in the park?
Finally, the singaporean has awaken.
singaporean has been looked down by too many people, our own government for being lazy, not creative, too kiasi, etc,
look down by other countries for being too rigid, stupid and having not ‘ball’.
So happy this awakening has happened.
This planted letter is to divert the anger away from the fiasco of TH.The ST Goebbels people is helping out the paymaster {the guy withh 6 times Obama pay} to try to ‘unite’ the people.–whatever that means.—-it is the annual AUGUST wayang of nationhood in a place were one in three you meet on the street is non true blue Singaporean .
Welcome to Hotel Singapore Mr Brooks.
We are so grateful that we want you to have the whole of our ex Mindef -grown TH team—bring them back to the Rockies were they belong; given their mountain-high ego.
Eric Brookes, PISS OFF. Your brains must be as small as the peanuts they pay our workers.
Be grateful Mr Brooks? The gahmen should be grateful for having this type of citizens that let them get away for all the fiasco…
anyway, from the way Brooks write it, i believe his capability will be called into question….
preston loon @ 69, Singapore may be that…but may have miss out one point, and that’s singapore is becoming an increasingly expensive place to live in….and the cost of living are rising at a ridiculous rate….and comparing safe and clean against lesser stress and better working environment whereby your hard earn money isn’t leech at such a fast pace, i will forgo the clean and safe
Oh, as for the falling tourist rate….recently I just have the chance to see my old customers, a big family of indonesian who used to come singapore often and purchase lots of gadgets from our shop…
however, it has been nearly a year since I last saw them.. and this time round, when i see them, i inquired about their whereabouts and why they haven’t visit singapore for such a long time….
and their reply, not only they are reducing their visits here, but their friends too, and they have switch to HK for this purpose ….now these are people who are using the american express black card, the real titanium version and that signify their spending powers…but seems that even the rich are avoiding singapore …
Sounds like many expats who come here and live the good life on expat packages – they have better lives than they would lead back home.
And at the end of the day, they can return to their home countries to enjoy a low-cost retirement with plenty of welfare benefits.
Read this outstanding comment from one commenters of Lucky Tan’s blog
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=16821129&postID=2579889439744182362
“What happened to the Canadian pride? I know many Canadian friends who have worked and lived in the U.S. for years/decades and none has given up their citizenships! I can assure you that Eric is not a typical Canadian.
Given the liberal Singapore immigration policy, I’m surprised that he hasn’t taken up the citizenship offer! That tells you a lot about his credibility.
His letter seems to be a script from the PAP. It wrote about the (mere) 20% rebound in the economy but failed to mention the precipitous decline in GDP that was the worse in the world.
He worked really hard to find good things to say about Singapore. Instead of social and economic policies, he wrote about garbage collection and walkway shelters. Enough said.
Does Straits Time publish letters critical of the policies and government? When it has to publish such petty letters to boost morale, the country is probably in serious trouble.”
This wise guy brooks has blocked his facebook. What a loser
>>“After living and working in six countries, I have known for a long time that no country takes care of its people the way Singapore does,”
Then why is he STILL CANADIAN?
>>“After living and working in six countries, I have known for a long time that no country takes care of its people the way Singapore does,”
Then why is he STILL CANADIAN?
Btw for every example he gives, I can find a counter example in some estate in Singapore (eg the rubbish collection).
RED-man,
Look like there is another picture of him in the net ?
http://www.efeedlink.com.cn/expert.php?id=5
“Eric J. Brooks is a Canadian writer who lives in Singapore. He is currently the editor of eFeedLink’s flagship publication – FEED Business Asia, and he contributes in eFeedLink.com with insightful write-ups on the latest hot topics in the feed business and animal production industry.”
I wonder if he so confident of praising Singapore and he think he is telling the truth, why did he remove his facebook picture ? Not Unless he write otherwise. For someone who born in country of freedom, he is a disgrace to his country.
This is the reply from Brooks before I can give him another piece of me:
////My comments about Canada stuck to the facts. Using free speech to express facts is not the same as hatred. Apparently, your intolerance and insulting tone blinds you to such simple distinctions.
You hate Singapore so much that you cannot even tolerate a foreign resident saying something good about your own country. Perhaps you should exercise your God given freedom and consider leaving for a country more suitable to your own tastes.
In case you are wondering, I do not have a Singapore flag or a Canadian flag in my home. I have an American flag. I have lived, worked and deeply loved all three of these countries///
Coward Canadian who say he love Singapore and hang a American flag facing his HDB main entrance! Right, I can claim I love a few dozen of women too.
Chill out S’poreans
“Why is it necessary for people to wax lyrical about a culture other than their own … asks Laurie Taylor in his weekly column.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8176312.stm
BTW I’ve lived on expat status in HK, Manila and KL. S’pore’s a lot better. )))) Dr Chee.
But nothing beats Sydney even though I was on “local terms” there. Melbourne too (though behind Sydney). (((
this Cana damn are not even Grateful to his own country!!! Singing praise of other country yet asking others to be grateful to theirs countries. What a Joke!!!! BE grasteful to your country first!!! Canadian Jokers!!!!
I think it’ll be good to publish Brooks article in the Canadian press and hear what the Canadians have to say.
This Canadian – Brooks is really a ungrateful person. He is ungrateful to his birth country by running down his country in the country where he is presently resides. Furthermore he does not want to live in his own country (he has been working in 7 other countries) and instead live in other countries and comparing how good other countries are against his own birth place. Singaporeans do not run down their own country when they are abroad, although many detest this government. What is surprising is that he is not grateful to his own country but instead ask another country citizens to be grateful to their government? Just because the Govt here let him have a permanent residence status???? These type of sycophant are dangerous as he may start to run down Singapore when he decided to relocate to another country some years down the road
I was also thinking of forward his article to Canada also and I believe it would be a headline over there.
anyone migrating to Canada can take this opportunity…. do the Canadian Government A big service by writing to their paper forum and tell them to be more Grateful to their country!!!! HAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am amazed how people took the article so emotionally. I know many people from different countries express the same opinion with Mr. Brooks. I guess it is because so many Singaporeans complains so much about their country that one just can’t stand not to ‘remind’ them. I myself think Singapore is great, as long as you are rich ($10 mill and above, please) and have only daughters.
Jet Li must have share my opinion…
dear readers, how come singapore ministers’ pay will go up when economy is up but will not come down when economy is down??
does it make sense to anyone?
Yan #129, 130,
Love what You said, only if you are singaporean.
You are great ! multi-millionaire(10 million U mentioned), very successful !
Like all our Men in White.
Loyal citizen, U luv SIN and i love U, can hug(U) ?
But, if U r not singaporean, U will be swore and cursed at liked Brooks, for people like him makes singaporeans sick.
Ones wonders why there isn’t an article like this written by a Singaporean in The Straits Times.
[i]Yamamoto on August 1st, 2009 8.40 pm Be grateful Mr Brooks? The gahmen should be grateful for having this type of citizens that let them get away for all the fiasco…
anyway, from the way Brooks write it, i believe his capability will be called into question….[/i]
Eric J. Brooks is a Canadian writer who lives in Singapore. He is currently the editor of eFeedLink’s flagship publication – FEED Business Asia
if he don’t unkat the pap government
would he get to publish his articles here in singapore?
how come FEER don’t have that kind of priviledges
so is the AWSJ…..
maybe the above 2 editors didn’t says be gratefOOL singaporeans……..
No, we do not hate Singapore. But Eric, please have some manners. One does not come to another country and tell the country’s citizens they should be grateful for this and that. You are simply unqualified to make that comment. Eric, you are probably surprised that your little trick of getting attention for your own vested interests has misfired and you are getting so many comments back. This clearly showed how ignorant you are towards Singaporeans’ sentiments and feelings. If Eric were to go to China and start telling people how lucky they are that the tanks did not roll them over at Tiannamen Square and that they should be grateful then I think he would not be getting only verbal rebuttals.
Eric, you should be the one who should be grateful to your Canadian govt, for giving you the fundamentals and your citizenship, so that you are accepted and respected abroad, and you should jolly well show your appreciation by going back during your vacation to clean up your garbage, as a form of national service, which by the way, all males in Singapore do for at least a couple of years. Eric seems to be the sort who wants to “step onto two boats” in his case three to six boats with his two legs. I wonder why he is staying in a HDB flat and whether he got any subsidy, perhaps the HDB should investigate. Hanging an American flag in the month of August, which our national day falls on is in such poor taste that some relevant govt agency should also investigate, lest this foreigner is here trying to stir up trouble. And lastly, Eric, you may have an international outlook, having travelled and stayed in six countries, but you sure have poor local sensitivity, judging from the outcry and rebuttals you are getting, such that you have to hide your face from facebook. And no, we really do not hate Singapore, our birthplace, but we do hate foreigners coming over and telling us what we should or should not do or be. Because it is bad manners and ignorance at best.
I agree with Mr Brooks.
Singaporeans have a lot to be grateful for. However, there is a lot that we cannot be grateful for as well. Let’s take stock, aware that for every generalisation there are exceptions and that the only things absolute in life are death and taxes.
Here is a long list of things Singaporeans should be grateful for:
Singapore is crime free.
Singapore is poverty free.
Singapore is traffic jam free.
Singapore is drug free.
Singapore is train delays free.
Singapore is pollution free.
Singapore is corruption free (petty corruption anyway)
Singapore is illiteracy free.
Singapore is homeless free.
Singapore is rubbish free.
Singapore is graffiti free.
Singapore is controllable diseases free.
All of these, as someone who posted a comment some time ago said, take care of the lower order of Maslow’s hierarchy – food, shelter and security.
Now, let us look at the upper end of Maslow’s hierarchy – towards actualisation. How does Singapore fare and how has Singapore’s society developed and matured.
Here is a list of things that Singaporeans cannot be grateful for:
Singapore is fairness free.
Singapore is compassion free.
Singapore is principle free.
Singapore is thought free.
Singapore is creativity free.
Singapore is risk-taking free.
I do not need to go on.
So long as Singapore is driven by MONEY to the exclusion of almost everything else we are very unlikely to move up Maslow’s hierarchy.
Any comments Mr Brooks???
Here is a long list of things Singaporeans should be grateful for:
///Singapore is crime free.///
I thought there is a surge in cheating crime?
///Singapore is poverty free.///
just because Singapore don’t have winter and you don’t see people dying out of it, does not mean there is no poverty.
///Singapore is traffic jam free.///
not as bad as Bangkok, but ERP don’t seems to be working. Btw, if you compare Thailand in whole as of the same in Singapore, I think we score worst.
///Singapore is drug free.///
we still have rehab Centre you know? Question to ask is how come our customer so good still can have drug come in?
///Singapore is train delays free.///
what’s the use of delays free, when the train is so packed that you have to wait for the other train?
////Singapore is pollution free.////
want to know what is buried under your HDB playground during construction? Those that work in construction would know best.
///Singapore is corruption free (petty corruption anyway)////
if after having such high pay, there is still corruption, the ministers should be hanged 10 times. Some call it legal corruption. How many of our retired ministers going to the private sector get the same amount of pay? We all know the answer.
////Singapore is illiteracy free.///
can speak cannot write not illiteracy meh? Then why so many workers at my work place don’t know how to fill up simple application form?
////Singapore is homeless free.///
with current rate the new HDB price is climbing. It is a matter of time. How about current high HDB loan default rate reported by TOC?
///Singapore is rubbish free.////
we still have many litter killer you know?
///Singapore is graffiti free.////
no time to do such bo liao thing, I think there are more pressing matter for most Singaporean.
////Singapore is controllable diseases free.///
6th H1N1 fatality and still climbing
137) RED-man on August 3rd, 2009 2.03 pm
///Singapore is poverty free.///
just because Singapore don’t have winter and you don’t see people dying out of it, does not mean there is no poverty.
do you consider when utility bill not paid and it cut off cos no job no money??
I agree with “Wish I am in Canada”
It’s always easy to comment when the circumstance doesn’t apply to him. If he loves Singapore so much, why didn’t he become singaporean. One thing about these foreigners is that they can talk a shit load of crap, but they always cash out when the rubber hits the road. Can I trade my Singapore citizenship with his, since he loves this country so much? I can do that ANYTIME! So what do you say Mr. Canada?
As much as the government likes to live in the illusion that these ang-mos “love” singapore, the fact is, they would NEVER trade their UK, US, Canada, Australian et al citizenship for Singapore, period! They are willing to be PRs- YES, but not citizens.
I know who would! Those from China and India! Yea…
I read an article some years back that there is Malaysian who migrated to Canada n later he joined the RCMP(Royal Canadian Mounted Police) as a junior officer. In order to join the RCMP, they will prioritize citizens first before PR in general, therefore this Malaysian decided to changed citizenship to Canadian citizenship.
Dear Mr. Brooks,
After 6 years of Living in Singapore, we are sure that you can answer the following 10 questions
1) How much is a 1.6 Litre car priced in Canada ? ( your answer can be in S$, US$ or C$, we will convert )
2) How much is your PM’s annual compensation package ? close to US$2.2 million ?
3) Do you support to have someone related to the government head running the SWF ?
4) Do you have pension scheme and unemployment welfare in Canada ?
( Note : welfare is a dirty work in Sg’s leaders’ mind )
5) Do you have a ruling party governing 50 years non stop and entrenched the power by introducing gigantic GRC ?
6) Do you have a law that confine all public protest to a small city park of teh size of a football field ?
7) Do you have union leaders who draw S$1.0 million to $2.0 million annually for running taxi fleet ?
8) Do you have ex govt leader running a GIC getting S$10 million a year ?
9) Do you have NMP that are selected to put up sas side-show ?
10) Do you have a MP who does not know table tennise and is appointed to run the national team, only to force a coach who helped to win Olympics’ medal ?
///do you consider when utility bill not paid and it cut off cos no job no money??///
by definition, it says
—the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions.
If following the above definition, I woud say no because he/she still can sell the house and down grade to a smaller one (that is assumming the current house is not small already).
Then again, we know it is not so simple, in bad time (when you need the money the most. EveryOne need money too). So selling the house at high price is usually not possible. Beside, after selling your 4 rooms you might have to buy a 3 rooms almost the price of your selling (this is what that is going to happen in the future when HDB price are pag with the area resale value). So, we come back to a dead end. Sell cannot, don’t sell also cannot.
Btw gentlemen, do you know that if same amount of water or electrcity is being clocked for a 4 and 5 rooms flat. The 5 rooms flat is going to pay more. My friend did a experiment on that and conclude this is the case.
So, I honestly don’t know how to answer you on this. Because in Singapore, we are like living in a DREAM, everything seems to be there, but not really there. If I may put it this way. Still wonder why so many people bet 4D? (why I know that? you think Singapore pool is so stupid to start Wednesday betting if there is no demand?) who are PAP kidding? Talk about gambling, PAP like to put it in the way that Singaporean like to gamble and greedy. But yet they allow Wednesday bet to start. Mirror mirror on the wall, Who is the greediest of them all? Need me to say more?
On the Financial front, I’m Grateful to be in Singapore for there are many outlets of Singapore Pools – Horse Racing / Toto / 4D / Soccer Betting & the coming IR in that context…..why? to be Rich so as to pursue my LUCK!……………….all in the name of MONEY! You need lots of $$$ to survive in Singapore as there are no welfafe system or hefty pension funds like what the Canadian are enjoying!
Mr Brook, made it clear to call on the 80 parliamentarian to be grateful to the Big Boss, not the Ordinary Singaporean. These people fetching big fat salary, three terms of their service they have Big Golden Egg in Account. May be U r hoping 4 it too?.
Having lived in the Netherlands (NL) – a socialist welfare state – like Canada, UK, and much of western Europe, which proudly boasts of “free” health care, education, state pension, company pension, automatic unemployment benefits, freedom of speech/expression/political views etc etc (indeed the NL sounds like heaven to the hard-core anti-PAP camp), I am believing each day that this country – i mean NL and not SG is going to regress into the 3rd world as time passes by.
Economics 101: There’s no free lunch.
All the “free” health care, education, subsidised rentals, state pension etc has to come from somewhere… and the answer is TAXES. If (majority of) Singaporeans can accept paying 19% GST, 52% of any income above say 50,000 SGD, energy tax (petrol is S$3 per liter in western europe), environmental protection taxes etc to the state to help the sick, the poor, the lowly educated, the unemployed, then by all means vote the PAP out and bring in the Socialist parties. As a self-centered person, I’m sorry to say that I don’t mind donating tens of dollars to charity every year but not tens of thousands of dollars to support the sick, poor, unemployed, lowly educated etc.
Economics 102: Compared to Communism, Socialism is a milder form of cancer.
It’s already clear that Communism has failed big time. Socialism is still alive and kicking in countries like Canada, western Europe, Australia/NZ. But for how long more? No doubt health care is “free” no matter how serious your condition is (mind that you still have to pay 100 EUR per month for health insurance from your after-tax income), the waiting lines for operations, specialist treatment is extremely long for many of the socialist welfare countries and increasingly the state and private health insurance are slowly cutting away the list of drugs and treatments you are eligible to claim. To cut costs, hospitals – mostly public, in this socialist world – trim down on equipment upgrades (some hospitals here look like museums), get people to rest at home rather than in the hospital (e.g. deliver your baby at home), and have only one ward class. This is of course good for people who can only afford C class in SG as they are upgraded, but I don’t think the well-to-do Singaporeans who can afford B or A class are looking forward to getting sick in the NL.
Economics 103: Everyone pays for labour costs
SG has no minimum wage, whilst the NL has a minimum wage of 1330 EUR p.m. for 40 hours of work. Thus a cleaner here potentially makes more money than a graduate in SG. On the other hand, the SG graduate who went on to become CFO/CEO of a SME in SG will probably make more than the comparable graduate in NL eventually.
Again if you are the cleaner or fast-food worker in SG, you’d love the NL. But note that it will easily cost 7.5 to 10 EUR for your plate of spagetti bolognese (or char siew rice, roast duck rice if you prefer)… so you get hit at the other end of supply line too. And try hiring someone to trim your garden or install a heater or paint your house… you better have some savings.
Economics 104: Globalisation
Even if all Singaporeans love taxes and helping their weaker fellowmen and flush out those cheapo foreigners who are robbing our jobs and depressing our salaries, if our surrounding countries go on with capitalistic ideals and produce services and goods more competitively than us, SG will be squeezed out in the global economy and nobody will miss us – we’d have basically dug our own graves in this instance.
All in all, there’s no such thing as an utopia. If you are unskilled, unhealthy, and/or lazy, the odds are definitely stacked against you. Society can help, but to a limited extent. Otherwise it becomes unfair to those who are healthy, industrious, and skilled, and you don’t want to create a society that champions the weak and punishes the strong.
> sorite76
One way is to couple socialism with rich resources, skilled and hardworking population like in Norway. True that Singapore frankly don’t have the luxury, esp with a shrinking population and that is when they decided “Nobody is F***ing, bring the fouren talents in”
So the net effect is Singaporeans and PRs are cashing out (HDB, CPF, kitchen sink) when they can like right now at sky-high HDB prices. Doesn’t affect the rich folks who have multiple condos, those that have “arrived”…..this is heaven.
Velcrocity…that is what this place is becoming…a place that punishes the weak 80-year old selling tissue paper and protects the strong that siphons off half a billion in minibonds.
sorite76,
no system is ever sustainable, so let be realistic. Now the selfish question you should ask: Does that wellfare system be unsustainable in my lifetime ? So why should I care too much if I get to enjoy the wellfare in my lifetime ?
Now, look at the bigger picture, I urge you. In Singapore, the government lost more than $100 billions in investment due to nepotism (don’t tell me that PM Lee and Ho Jinx are top calibre, even in track record they are pathetic), Godfather , the chairman of GIC. Now tell me, is PAP government sustainable ? Will it even be more sustainable than the welfare system of other welfare state ? We already experience the oppression, and inaccountability and loss of the government of reserves now so let’s not even talk about lifetime. Why even mention to us that NL and other welfare states are insustainable in the future compare to our system of non-welfare ? Have you forget the bullshit of the Godfather that says investment should long term ? Of course, investment should be long term, but depend who says it with track record that carries the weight.
Just imagine $100 billions helping Singaporean and Singaporean become happy lot. Now, I says screw LKY and his familee for causing Singapore in such pathetic state, politically, socially and culturally.
The No 144th (Straits Times ranking) is suspicious.
Perhaps the best thing to enlighten Mr Brooks is for him to attend Singapore education in one of its public school and serve National Service like the rest of the Singaporeans.
He will then learn to appreciate Canada better.
Seems like a bunch of losers carrying much emo baggage likes to congregate and enjoy bashing the gov here. I would say an ungrateful lot and also take every minute of peace that they are enjoying for granted. If you are able, spent the time instead to craft out strategies that bring Sg to greater heights rather than just asking for freedom. Publish it on-line so that we see how much ‘ink’ you have. Ask what you can give to the country and not just what the country can give you_another wise man’s view.
Young
So what did you give to your country? Btw, people who are usually wise, don’t say they are. As a matter of fact, they don’t say much and very much respect people differences.
While you are standing on a chair to look down on people. There are those that is standing at the top of the mountain looking at you. So please spare the noble and “wise” talk, would you? Thanks