The following is a letter to the Manpower Minister, Mr Gan Kim Yong, by Mr De Souza Jose Socrates on the 6th of July. The minister has not replied to him. We thank Mr De Souza for allowing us to publish the letter here – without edit.
Dear Mr Gan,
It is with much disappointment in the government’s and with your ruling party’s policies that I am writing to you.
When I was shopping around for clothes on this GSS at Suntec City’s Levi’s branch, to my surprise, I noticed that all but one staff working at the outlet were filipino nationals. So I decided to probe a little further and to my ultimate surprise, they were very open and proudly declared to me that they got this job while here on social visit passes.
They also further told me that most of them working in Levi’s other outlets also obtained this job (sales assistant) the same way and their sole purpose were to obtain permanent resident visas so they could bring their family over to live and work in S’pore. Some also said they were merely using S’pore as a stepping stone to migrate to other western first world nations! And this is just the tip of the iceberg as Levis is not the only company to have this pratice. Guardian Pharmacy, Watsons, Tenchi Digital Lifestyle and countless other deparmental stores also have large foreign labour on their ranks.
Which leads me to ponder on the current ongoing global economic crisis and the unemployment situation in S’pore. Your ministry just announced over the past week that the labour market here is still soft and that we can also expect more retrenchments to come. During this period of hardship for many S’poreans, why is your ministry still allowing more foreign labour (also desired by many of your fellow minister collegues) and especially those on social visit passes to easily obtain jobs in S’pore? Dosen’t the ICA also probe with each application made for work permits as to how they managed to get the jobs? Don’t tell me that these are jobs shun by fellow S’poreans? One will just find it hard to believe!
One also just need to take a stroll down Geylang especially along Lor 16 and 18 and find that most coffeeshop assistants working are chinese nationals and the porportion of S’porean workers supposed to be regulated by legislation just isn’t there and dosen’t tally up! Needless to mention the vices that are taking place there on a daily basis. Vietnamese women would be seen sitting at Lim Beng Coffeehouse harrassing male patrons aggrasively for their sexual services.
We, as the citizens of S’pore, really need to be asking ourselves whether we do indeed have a first world government who have a heart for our people? We are not asking for more welfare to be disbursed, (which in itself is not a dirty word) but for the government to be treating us in a more humane way which is expected of a first world government in the first place! Your party have lost interest in our people’s well-being while in pursuit of even more greedy economic development and ties with PRC, India etc. I am deeply saddened by what I see and would hope there would a change in the politcal situation which reflects the situation by and large that we are in today. I don’t think we would fall for the welfare payouts only during election time nor the nine more Non-constituency seats created for the oppostition. With this note, I end by hoping that a political tsunami like March 8th 2008 in Malaysia would take place here in S’pore to serve as a form of ‘punishment’ for the PAP government!
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To Borderless
Virtually every nation on earth is beholden to this phantomic power base. Those who deny them are obstracised and face constant harassment.
Interesting point. Please give some examples on how this happens.
because government is not working. look like need more pay rises for our ministers.
“an average man in the street KNOW that we have no CREDIBLE opposition.”
Ours is not a culture which promotes (you may well say discourage) the knowledge / involvement on any political matters or any discourse (e.g join political party if you want to talk politics).
“They mask as as caring, responsible and experienced oppostions but they lacked very essence of governing anything incuding their own political party and for the matter our country.”
That we know bcos it is your job and your fellow kakis (including mainstream media which is so controlled) to keep on painting this picture. Even kids need to go through the process of walking before they know how to run.
The oppo and incumbent are in names only and given time without deliberate forward inertia of self-renewal (not in name only but in essence, to borrow your term), sometimes being experienced means unhealthy stasis and being new (as in oppo) means the negation of stasis.
That is why in our country, we have the special unique feature of encouraging the great inflow of FTs to give our local singaporeans the feel of fresh foreign blood. If this is good enough for lesser common people, this infusion of fresh blood should equally apply to the higher elites of the nation.
“Voting is just like mortaging our fate and fate of our family for five years and in the hands of the so called opposition we currently have – NO, NO and NO!”
We have done (mortgaging) that with the same party since the day of independence (1965) and we even got chided for being complacent even for the mistake of others and here you are saying NO, NO and NO.
Voting for the opposition does not mean they will replace PAP entirely and run the country. Having more opposition provides competition for PAP, so that they will be pressured to implement policies that favour Singaporeans.
Just like SMRT and SBS, because there is no competition for their services, they can pack us like cattle and increase fares every year but you can do nothing about it.
Imagine if there are no Sheng Siong, Giant, Carrefour, Cold Storage supermarkets. Do you still think NTUC will still keep their prices low?
to 93) VSRAAJ on July 8th, 2009 12.17 pm
what De Souza had encountered is COMMON knowledge in Singapore. I’m surprised that you’re attacking him instead of commenting on the substance. even our 154th had touched on it in an oblique way. i remember one article about a filipino flying over for an interview while touring the country at the same time. on what sort of visa do you think she came here?
what De Souza had done is the most direct and efficient method, cutting across all red tape. going to the police??? man, the police have their hands full with catching loan sharks, violent criminals, political dissidents etc etc.
I say, if you are a responsible citizen, let’s help each other to amplify this issue to ALL members of the parliament!
on the issue of ‘credible opposition”… what is “credible”? what is credible to you may not be credible to me. and credibility is not the same as academic qualifications or high ranks in a TEMASEK-linked company.
we may not know how new alternative (or oppo) members would perform. but we sure know what existing party stands for:
1. raised gst to help the poor
2. abolished estate tax to help the rich
3. allowed structured notes to be sold to the unwitted
4. increased to $330 monthly assistance for the desperate
5. increased their own pay to retain their talents
6. massive influx of foreigners for world-class competition against citizens
7. means testing for the middle-class
8. affordable housing based on market rates
etc etc etc
take your pick. remain in this boiling pot or try to jump out into the unknown?
terence #43..knew a 49year old local housewife, wanted to be a library assistant, checked with nlb about library asisistant courses, told there was no courses opened to the public, no opening available..young PRC versus 49 year local..no need to be a rocket scientist, 49 year old local sure to lose lah!
de souza jose at 61..knew a few laid off white collared locals, in their late 40s and early 50s..during interviews, one was told he was over qualified, even though he was willing to settle for less pay, one was told he was too old for the job, even though he was willing to settle for less pay.. yet we have moe employing teaching n admin/support staff from overseas (indonesia, malaysia, uk, australia, middle east) some in their late 40s…40 something FT versus 40 something local..no need to be a rocket scientist!
i think our gah should train n give every opportunity available to our laid off white collared professionals first, efforts should be made earnestly to give jobs to our laid off professionals..why not train our laid off white collared professionals, then place them in the jobs in these teaching institutions (teaching/admin/support)? it may take a few years to train our laid off professionals, but they are still healthy and fit and be most willing to work ,and should be able to contribute for another 10 more years..and if there r still openings available in these institutions, then consider the FTs..singaporeans who had worked long and hard for this country, who would not hesitate to defend this country when the need arises (i sometimes wish a catastrophe would happen to this country, then maybe gahmen would realise who is the stayer and who is the quitter!), those who had served their national service with pride, those who are real patriots of this nation..laid off singaporeans first!
steven @72 is correct..our ministers these days, primed and groomed, on a fast track path, from scholar background..they do not really feel the real pulse of the common man. i think if these ministers really take the time and make an effort to go to the kopitiams and talk to the common man/woman on a daily basis, he would be so very enlightened as to how unhappy the common populace is!
who would vote in the PAP?..the FTs turned citizens! i knew of one who proudly said he would gladly vote PAP cos they have been so very good to him! I live in an estate where half the residents here are from overseas, and the majority are employment pass holders holding good high paying jobs in teaching institutions/hospitals..and this particularly one had even proudly said should things start to go sour for him here..well, he’s on the next plane back to his own country!
So, who is the quitter here..locals or FTs?
the thing with our oppo parties is they do not have the funds to prime and groom the next leader..so we got no choice but to vote PAP lor! gahmen knows that what!
hindsight @73..not possible not to patronise establishments employing foreigners lah! every shop/supermarket/mall/library/kopitiam/hawkerstall/pharmacy/hospital/clinic/schools n the list goes on I patronise, there r at least two or three foreigners working in these places! they are everywhere liao! the floodgates have been opened..welcome welcome all foreigners with ur families! singapore’s roads are paved with gold, welcome welcome! a friend of mine says in her office (in a teaching institution), the foreign employees outnumbered the local ones.
and there is absolutely nothing we common singaporeans can do!
i m not anti-foreigners..i m just not happy with this opening of floodgate so readily, and jobs so given to foreigners (blue and white collared) in these times of hardship, with unemployment hitting the locals from all walks of professions.
we have made sacrifices for this country, we should be next in line for that job opening, not an FT!
i don’t understand the posts that keep calling for employers / Lop to care for and hire locals. Such people have zero concept of business costs and planning.
Hiring of cheap foreigners is the symptom. Expensive rentals is the root cause! For him/her to hire more expensive locals, rentals must come down OR business must go up.
Don’t let PAP Pte Ltd think that they are undispensable while Employers and Employees are suffering! Foreigners are also no at fault and they had the right to earn a living as well as Singaporean!
The real shareholders of Singapore are Singaporeans and don’t let 5% of elites to milk 80% Singaporean. With an vibrancy and competitive political scene will help to lessen our pains and not unstability as mentioned!
Top will be accountable for all actions taken and find solutions to the economic crises! Don’t let LKY believe he is the only one that build up Singapore and not a team effort!
To: VSRAAJ,
Are you 1 of those who manage to exploit loopholes and emigrate here or is the government paying you well to be their ballscarrier? I find your remarks rather distasteful & plain sucking up like what most ‘ballscarrier’ of this system would do!
What I feel is that we should NOT be going to the small fries like the police or MOM/ICA officers like what Jonah rightly pointed out but we should be gunning for the highly paid ones at the top instead eg. Ministers & Perm Secs to hold them accountable for allowing these to take place in the first place and to prevent future recurrences of it, we should again like what Terence rightly pointed out is to VOTE ENOUGH OPPOSITION not for them to take over the country but to increase their representation (eg. 1 third + 1 = 29 seats) to pressure the P@P into working much harder in order to secure better living for ourselves, I’m sure such simple logic you would not find difficult to understand right VSRAAJ?
And this is just the Tip of the Iceberg, I hope that 1 day when you wake up VSRAAJ, your CPF or local bank account (if you have 1) is left with nothing after you find that Ms Ho of Temasek has lost it all in investments and further more you find that there’s an order ready for your parents to be shipped over to Batam to retire or better still to a nursing home in JB and I see how you can still balls carry and suck up to this system!
108) lucky777
You are right. Without the legislation (foreigner quota and minimum wage) in place to create a level playing field, businesses which pay more to hire locals will go out of business because his competitors are still using cheap foreign labour.
The real beneficiaries of cheap foreign workers is the landlords, government and the people they employ. The rest of us have to deal with overcrowding, competition for resources, depressed wages, underemployment, increased cost of living.
#108 lucky777
Thank you. You are one of the rare few who look at the issue from the business perspective.
I think a lot of people have allowed emotions (eg. unhappiness with either PAP or foreigners) to cloud their perception on this complex issue. For me, my concern is the impact on Singapore’s economy if we do impose a minimum wage or send all the foreigners home. As of now, what I’m getting from my business is really not better than what I used to get when I was an employee. Since I have a professional qualification, going back to being an employee shouldn’t be that hard assuming the economy isn’t badly hit then.
Like I say my training is not in economy, so I hope someone with that background can help to shed some light. As mentioned before, my worry is the small domestic market that Singapore has. To do business, you either go on margins or volume. Volume is out since Singapore only has 4.5m compared to Australia which has more than 20m. Imposing a minimum wage will definitely hurt margins thus making business not worthwhile. Although it’s purely anecdotal, I do notice a trend in the retail scene that fewer overseas players want to come in and more players bowing out. Please don’t tell me foreign investment is not important.
Perhaps that’s why it’s the gahmen’s focus in recent years to move locals away from manual work with the various skills upgrade programmes. The manual and labour work are supposed to be filled up by the foreigner – imagine all the foreign construction workers are being sent back or imposed a minimum wage, you think the IR construction can still go on a 24/7 schedule?
Anyway, as some of the readers here have rightly pointed out, the root of the problem is the rocket high rental. But then again, rental ties back to land value, you can’t reduce rental without devaluing the land in Singapore. What’s the impact on making our land and property cheaper? How does that affect foreign investments? I’ll leave it to someone who’s more knowledgeable to comment on it.
As for me, I have seen enough ballcarriers for this system so nothing amuses nor amazes me what the Papies can stoop to in order to secure for themselves mandates, election after election!
But I think this will end soon and the days are numbered where the Papies can be arrogant and stoop to manipulative ways to gain their mandate, no one knows this better than the old man himself who personally heard what Ven. Hong Chuan prophecise to him 24 years ago, that his party’s mandate would come to an end 25 years from then! Let’s hope that this comes true!
Basic Principles of Everything is Competition that drive down the price!
Singapore need to follow WorldWide Competition Principle not only in political, business and social arena to survived in this period of time!
“And this is just the tip of the iceberg as Levis is not the only company to have this pratice. Guardian Pharmacy, Watsons, Tenchi Digital Lifestyle and countless other deparmental stores also have large foreign labour on their ranks..”
Tip of the iceberg, it must be. Without proper stats and checks, one can assume that this is likely the norm islandwide. This is not entirely bad though, more foreigners mean more GST.
Looks like the minister is not responding to this eh? Looks like our much grumbling is not making any difference or carrying any weight either, wonder what else can be done?
like Jackie Chan said,
Singaporeans have no self-respect
Any tom dick and harry can walk onshore with a social visit pass and take jobs from the locals.
and the locals just bend over and allow themselves to be bullied
Singaporeans have no self-respect
Singapore likes to import cheap labour because the rich and the powerful want to make super normal profits. They like to exploit people and work them to the bones. That’s why there is no minimum wage. If there is min wage, there s dignity for human beings. But no, they want everything whilst they lead a good life.
Singapore should nor hire any blue worker in the SE Asia and South Asia but instead should get blue collared workers from OZ, USA, NZ, Japan,UK France and Western Europe. Like road sweepers from France or plumbers from USA.
If they can hire the best white collar workers from the West, whey can’t they hire the best road sweepers there as well? Huh, What’s wrong with that? What wrong with forking out more money for the labouring class?? Why must only CEOs be paid so much??? HUH??
ALL BLUE COLLAR WORKERS LIKE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS, ROAD SWEEPERS, ETC MUST GET THE SAME PAY AS DOCTORS, ACCOUNTANTS AND LAWYERS!!
Only that way, can Singapore be seen as a “Developed Nation”, hiring only blue collar workers from developed Countries, not cheap labour from Burma, Indonesia, India, China and others.
The rich and powerful are alway the buddies of our money face govt. u scratch my back I scratch yours.
I’m running a small business. My staff most of them are above 50 except one. They are hard at work and worthtrustly. Of course you need luck to manage to find someone of this kind of work attiude. Oh! All of them are S’porean.
“local bank account (if you have 1) is left with nothing after you find that Ms Ho of Temasek has lost it all in investments.”
This will not likely to happen lah as there are ample local assets under its holding which can give them the revenue stream. As for pricing on the services from these sacred local assets, I leave it to your imagination and how this is likely going to affect the cost of living here………..
#111 – Dan Dan
Dan is all about ‘balls’ – probably he lost his! Vulgarity is his essence of the day! See alot of frustration and anger …seek help before it is too late. Its pretty pointless explaining to non-sensical guy like Dan on how we have vastly improve to this day on so many issues.
You cannot change a street dog – no matter if u give it a soap-bath or a home – it goes back to the street..Some people are like that…they just bicker to bicker! We are a small nation growing fast to keep with the flow with other parts of world. We make rules/decisions/laws – not all of which will go well with all the poeple all the times, there bound to qualms…we will have to work it out and iron an average
rules/decisions/laws which represent large part of the people and it seems it lacks Dan’s understanding or expectations!
‘Powerballs’ guy Dan should meet his MP and raise his qualms for some ‘effect’ and not hide behind his PC and blasts at every opportunity against the govt. Like it or not Dan, vulgarity or bickering is not going to move/change anything!
I reiterate that we have no sensible/credible opposition for good governance!
To: VSRaaj
Can you name a few good policies recently implemented?
As age is catching up, I seems to only able to remember the “lousy” ones, e.g. public order act, film act, import more foreign “talent”, “mini” bond saga, more scholarship for “foreign” students than locals, CPF minimum sum increase, etc. I can list another few, but I seriously don’t think you would want to know those.
As for good opposition, I don’t know if they’re really that good in “governing” the country (cos there is no track record to compare to). But I can tell “lousy” ones. Just look at STTA boss.
After comparing, I think the opposition candidates are still pretty “good”. Care to set a benchmark for your ideal candidate and see how many current MPs (for both PAP and opposition) meet them? That’s my challenge to you on your statement “I reiterate that we have no sensible/credible opposition for good governance!”
76) Ryvyan on July 8th, 2009 12.50 am ,
hi, go ahead and work oversea if you have opportunity out there. afterall, there is no hope in sg. this is what i told my kids, the future in sg with influx of FTs, you guys going to have a damn hard time.
my brother and family is in china so as brother in law. it is a problem in sg as far as work is concerned.
how the hell you expect to find job decently when hundred of thousands FTs compete with you. not only for employee, set up business by them are getting too competitive too. the influence of Fts coming in esp the chinese is hugh and crazy.
i suggest the government do the same thing by getting FTs elites restrictely base on cutting cost like what most businesses are doing. then i say…you are doing your fair job and see what local elites react into it when they get as pissed as us otherwise, what you are doing all along is fake not truth and only benefit for themselves.
#53 Lop,
just my humble opinion.
I think you can still hire Singaporeans and keep them. First – it starts with good interviews to find the right staff. Next, why not have a “profitsharing” element for your staff? Tell them – if your business increase, they will get a share – perhaps on a quarterly or half-yearly basis? It pushes them to work harder, and treat customers better. Also, train them about what good service is, about building relationships with customers. Give them the right motivation at work? If a customer offers compliments to certain staff – they get a bonus.
You can also promote yourself as a “We Hire Singaporeans only…” Other supportive Singaporeans then wouldnt mind coming to your store, and perhaps even prepared to pay a slightly higher price – when they know they are giving Singaporeans some jobs.
On the larger picture at hand – unfortunately, Singapore govt is pro-BIG BUSINESS. SMBs are not really cared after, the various chamber of businesses and SME organisations are toothless in protecting SMBs, and MPs cant be bothered actually.
Why we want to attract to so many people to Singapore and come up to the 6.5million magic number? Its because of BIG BUSINESS. MNCs see Singapore as too small now – 4m, to invest here. at least, at 6.5m, we can be seen as a viable market, akin to HK, KL, Jakarta, Bangkok.
The 1st world prices and 3rd world wages is unfortunate – but its also similar here in HK. Except there are policies to keep things in check – as well as civil organisations, NGOs and MPs making sure the govt is kept in check. There’s also social service, and the govt is very quick to distribute budget surpluses back to the people.
i think the main reason is that we’re spoilt. We’ve been given too much of the “You dont worry, we take care of you.” since the formation of our nation. and now, when the s**t is hitting the fan, emotions take over.
And also, i’m just guessing here, that the problems highlighted in this post, it tells me that the govt bodies dont work hand in hand – i.e. MOM doesnt really work closely with MHA (immigration), and other various bodies. They dont do research and make decisions for long-term solutions, for the betterment. Decisions are made knee-jerk, or to keep status quo.
Why? Accountability. Most senior positions within govt, i think, people change hands too quickly 3-5 years term. So what happens? When a new person comes in, he either doesnt want to rock the boat, or only solve the short-term problems. He wont take into account the bigger picture, and wont pull in other elements in the govt to look at the bigger picture/problem. Quite possibly, his KPIs and objectives are only set for his own dept.
If there’s need for change, it has to start with the way ministries and govt depts are structured, their rewards/bonuses, their planning methods, their hiring and contract terms, etc etc. include KPIs beyond economic devt and monetary growth – include more socialist elements – like reducing the poverty line, jobs creation for Singaporean citizens, etc etc.
Since Singapore is so run like a business, then the Excutive Committee should also think like a business – they cant be filled with civil servant types. Need people with big picture mentality – an LKY in the 60s-70s. A man with bigger picture, able to bring ministries and depts together to plan, etc.
Right now, it seems likes like “I cover my backside first” type of leaders, and it goes down the command chain.
“Like I say my training is not in economy, so I hope someone with that background can help to shed some light. As mentioned before, my worry is the small domestic market that Singapore has. To do business, you either go on margins or volume.”
Read plenty of Joseph Stiglitz , not those conventional economic lessons that are commonly fed to most which explain only one side of the picture, which you will have plenty of it here in this country.
As for your margin or volume, do you think it is more manageable / liveable to have 1m people in this country or cramp 6, 7, 8 or 9 million people in this country.
#128 aygee
Thanks for the input. But I’m no newbie in managing HR. I do have a sales incentive scheme in place. Also I do have Singaporeans mature workers in their late 40′s and 50′s. Previous experiences have taught me that I shouldn’t need to bother with applicants who are younger than 30yo, there’s no way that they will accept a monthly pay of $900. Even if they do, it’s only for like a month or two. Mature workers are much more dependable and have the sense of responsibilty.
However mature workers tend to pick up things slower and are much less motivated. Those who take up a $900 job are likely to have little financial committment and work just to pass time. If you ever talk to them about skill upgrade or attending courses conducted by WDA, the typical responses are “I’m so old already still need to go back to school and stress ah?” “So what if they give me a certificate, you think I can become manager?”
Contrast them with a foreign employee who is hungry for job and hungry for knowledge.
But the fact remains, the $900 job is there and no local wants to bite. Meanwhile the foreigners are begging for it. Employers like me cannot wait forever for a willing local to come along, business must go on.
I read that many here are saying foreigners are competing with them for a job. I can’t help but feel that our government has failed because it overestimated the ability of Singaporeans. Singaporeans are supposed to be one notch above these foreign labour and therefore shouldn’t be competing for the same job. Honestly speaking, in my case do you think it’s a case of foreigner competing with the local, or more like foreigners taking up a job that no local wants?
#129 Read Joseph Stiglitz
I’m a practitioner, not an academic. I’m more interested in what’s happening in terms of dollars and cents than what they say in a textbook.
Do a reality check. If Singapore has only 1m people, what do you use to support this 1m people? Agriculture? No natural resources = no economy, No people also = no economy. Unless we are perfectly happy to go back to the kampung way of life.
“I’m a practitioner, not an academic. I’m more interested in what’s happening in terms of dollars and cents than what they say in a textbook.”
Perhaps and if that is the case, why the need to be much educated (on higher education) when a lot of things that we know academically may not fully apply when reality or production of real brick-and-mortar work is concerned and yet we have placed (misplaced) so much value in it over more importantant practical work (as in practitioner ??).
“Do a reality check. If Singapore has only 1m people, what do you use to support this 1m people? Agriculture? No natural resources = no economy, No people also = no economy.”
In our country, we still do not have natural resources whether we have 1m, 6m, 7m or 8m people. No people = zero people. Im people means 1 million people and 1 million people will naturally have their own economic lever (niche)determined, albeit on a smaller scale and more space & cleaner air. You may not be an academic but surely as a down-to-earth practitioner, surely you know what it means.
“Unless we are perfectly happy to go back to the kampung way of life.”
Itself (kampung way of life) is not a bad idea afterall if the whole environment is clean and is not polluted from the externalities created by our modern way of life.
“122) Yang on July 9th, 2009 12.33 pm
I’m running a small business. My staff most of them are above 50 except one. They are hard at work and worthtrustly. Of course you need luck to manage to find someone of this kind of work attiude. Oh! All of them are S’porean.”
good for you, yang!
a true son of singapore unlike the ministers we have who say one thing and do another.
pse keep it up.
#131 hello practitioner
I was about to brush away what you said as non-relevant, then it suddenly dawned on me that there’s wisdom in the point that you raised about education. Perhaps you are right, the education system here emphasises too much on knowledge and too little on life skills or what I call survival skills. Previously in my work I dealt with many young graduates, my impression is that although many are brilliant, not many are ‘street smart’. Most like to be told what to do and very good at following instructions, however in situations not covered by the instructions given, most would rather not do anything until further instructions are given for fear of making mistakes. If we put this in the light of the current situation, no wonder our people find it hard to compete with foreigners! These foreigners are hungry! They will take care of themselves if their governments don’t! If they can’t find job in their country, the look else where! They will endure hardship in foreign countries just to feed their families back home! Seriously, how many of us here actually considered the option that if I can’t find work here I will look outside Singapore? Most of us would just take it for granted that we are privileged, the government must take care of us, if it doesn’t then we’ll just complain.
As for the other point, I’m glad that you agreed that we don’t have natural resources and people are our only resources. So I’m surprised you actually implied that the fewer people we have the better. I didn’t learn econmics in school, but I do know how the economy of scale matters. If you want to make 1 million dollars, you have to make $1 from everyone of the 1 million population. Whereas, you only have to make $0.20 from everyone in a 5m population, either that or $1 from 20% of the 5m population. Every business has a threshold, my operation costs maybe the same whether I set it up in a 1m or 5m country.
I don’t know, I certainly don’t think a kampung way of life includes typing away in front of a computer like what we are doing now. Anyway, I don’t think there’s a going back on that.
Acute shortage of HDB flats? The many new citizens & PRs.
Singapore only building 8000+ new HDB flats in one year to cater to all newly wed couples (around 20,000 couples a year?), down-grader/upgraders and the 100,000 new citizens and PRs.
Heard from property agent that Singaporean are now fighting with the new citizens and PRs to secure a roof over the head and at sky high price. Some resale flat can attract over 20 groups of buyers queuing and who ever make the highest bid, secure. Pitiful scenes played over days after days.
Heard of new couple PRs buying a resale HDB flat, rent out the unit legally and go back to China? Both husband & wife then work in China.
Heard of richer Singaporeans buying HDB flat, the parents buy one and their children buying another one, take bank loan and can rent out whole flat after a short time. Parents and children are living at private properties and are smiling with the rental collected and can sell when prices are high. The average Singaporeans cannot do that, as they sell high buy high and sell low buy low because they need a roof over their head.
Welcome to the real world. Only the fittest (riches) survives while the weak (poorer) die.
It appears that the Levis has flouted the labour laws by hiring people on social visit pass. Seems like a case of irresponsible employer that deserves to be severely punished as an example to other employers.
# 134 Wah Bian Ah
One of my ex-colleagues who is a Indian FT bought a HDB flat in Bedok, he lived there with his wife for a short while. Later he jumped ship to US when he got a job. He is now renting out his HDB flat to other FTs and collecting rent.
135) SotongBall
You are really sotong :) Nobody is flouting any labour laws here.
Visitor Seeking Employment in Singapore (Long Term)
Foreigners seeking employment in Singapore may apply for a one-year (non-renewable) Visit Pass
http://www.ica.gov.sg/page.aspx?pageid=172&secid=171
In what way VSRaaj, is balls a vulgar language? I suggest you better go and seek help from an english language teacher first before even coming online to criticise plp. Your knowledge of Eng is so shallow that you need help preferably from a PCF kindergarden teacher, the organisation whose balls you carry!
Defination of balls: A ball is a spherical or ovoid object typically used in games.
Other uses may include:
Games
Mathematics and science
Objects
Places
Organizations
People
Music
And of course not forgetting; Testicles! Which in itself is not a bad word and further more I said you were balls carrying, not testicle carrying! Goes to show the capablity of our Papies in locating stray dogs who can’t even carry their balls properly! Know what you are at the end of the day, VSRaaj? Just one of LKY’s dog but can be banished to become stray once no longer needed! Eg includes: Devan Nair, Francis Seow, Tan Kin Lian, Tan Liang Hong etc and the list goes on… At least I still have dignity that dogs like you don’t!
to CK #136
that explains why the hdb resale market is so buoyant. even when the pr has left for greener pastures, he is still keeping the flat to generate cash (presumably since his cpf is locked up anyway).
very insidious. one side of the equation:
lock cpf -> so buy flat to partially unlock value -> property market propped up -> economy stabilized
#125 – Dumb & dumber : Challenge you say – set your benchmark and lets see how any opposition meet up! For now, since you mentioned it, current MPs/Ministers fare well largely but not to few short-minded individuals expectations, will or wishes – this is expected! Perhaps your name speaks better of you!
#138 – Lunatic Dan Dan – probably has too much time shaking ‘balls’ to give definitions. It all boils down to the text to define ‘hard’ or ‘vulgar’ language. You might not understand this – cause you are blinded with one vendetta only – spite current govt. – that is all matters to you. For the matter, you are blind, lost and hopeless to any hope – hence one cannot have constructive discussion with you! Find your lost life rather than flying your vendetta loosely around!
#140 – It is indeed sad, hurting and mind-boggling such large investments have gone ‘lost’ in name of investments and very difficult to believe that no one saw it coming! It is all ‘suspicious’ that all related to Lees are in several govt. bodies/in investment arms/hospitals/public transport etc etc but alas! the govt. has heart of our singapore’s well-being and would have considered all factors appointing rightful person all around – Everyone is caught in this economic downtrend and it bit us too – pretty hard I must say! Yes our wallet has not gotten thicker, no matter how much the govt. put into our wallets, it would not matter if our cost of living shooting sky wards – this the govt. seriously need to into!
It is frustrating we keep paying higher and higher fees for almost everything because of our high level of achievements or achievements heading skywards!
There are issues our govt. has to look into especially at base levels/grassroots that is affecting/disturbing/sadenning citizens who worked for the betterment of Singapore. The Govt. must know and should realise they are not indispensable seeing powerful govt. fall worldwide. The fact remains – we do not have credible/sensible/positive opposition for good governance!
to VSRAAJ
“current MPs/Ministers fare well largely but not to few short-minded individuals expectations”…
says who?
sure, only if you look at the GDP.
try median real income level. or how about the number of unemployed SINGAPOREANS? how about the income level of bottom 20% SINGAPOREANS? cost of living vs standard of living? etc
“It is frustrating we keep paying higher and higher fees for almost everything because of our high level of achievements or achievements heading skywards!”
huh?
improved versions don’t necessarily cost more over the time. think computer, compliments from the free market and technological advancement.
on the other hand, certain things that don’t change much in costs, can be priced much more over the time. think hdb flats, compliments from the pap government.
Arent you guys going to pick up this story?:
Heat On ST Aerospace Building Up Over Foreign Workers In US Unit
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/immigration/1396
What Singapore gahmen is doing here, their companies are doing the same in other countries. If the story is true, then we’d all be better off not flying on any American airline.
Just see Singapore as a public toilet and you will understand the situation there better.
138) Dan Dan on July 10th, 2009 4.21 am
‘In what way VSRaaj, is balls a vulgar language? ‘
I agree that ‘balls’ can have many meanings.
eg.
give-ball in singlish is commonly used in soccer betting.
Who’s the real lunatic here, VSRaaj? I think most here would agree it’s you! Anyway, no use wasting time with you as you will need to get your foundations in Eng right first before taking us on, well I should say see you in 8 years time after you finish Pri 6 level of Eng (incl your favourite PCF 2 yrs).
As for the rest of us, we should continue to take the govt on various issues and debate with them in order to show them our displeasure of policies and not give in to their every whimps and fancies! Just like a PRC who once laughed at me saying that in communist china, they have more freedom than us to assemble and even demonstrate to demand that their govt listen to them and assist them in their various prob and they have many a times, gotten their way! (even here in S’pore, eg. MOM and Parliament Hse Demo). We should ask ourselves as S’poreans, how long more are we going to be the laughing stock of plp worldwide (PRC, Taiwan) and be at the beck, calling and swaying of the PAP or do we really want a change? Take for example, Malaysia, our closest neighbour, they are still moving on well & fine despite a massive change, some say a political Tsunami and did they think so much and be swayed by ballscarrier of the system like VSSraj? No, they did not! They just voted and exacted a change! Let’s hope the tide carries and spills over here, Kudos to the WP, RP & SDA, they will make it 1 day!
I would like to see the government respond to #57……………
Just yesterday at a supermart in Shanghai, a Chinese girl excitedly proclaim she got “SINGAPOREAN PR” and will going there to live and work. She spoke in halting English:” Sin-ka-por very clean and good. People belly belly friendly. I go there and get more money! More money than here. Maybe find a good husband and become citizen!!”
Another Shanghaiese mother proudly in Mandarin:
“My daughter is SIngapore citizen now! Her condo is worth SG$1.5 million, richer than most Singaporeans She was very smart when she first arrived to S’pore, she only interested in Condo not the cheap HDB flats. She only go for good areas. At first, she got no money but she was very clever and know how to play the game. Now her own daughter is Singapore citizen!! I am so proud!.”
Another Chinese girl said :
“I like SIngapore. My father like it because the flats bigger than Shanghai ones. Also, we are Chinese and Singapore also Chinese country and Mandarin is the main language (so she thinks).”
Listen to things that are going on in Singapore. **SIgh**
Listen to the conversation of those Chinese who have children now living as S’porean citizens there.. They are having better life than the average SIngapore. **Sigh**
Look at those Filipino mates working in affluent landed property in S’pore’s private estates. They are having a better life than the average Singaporean. **Sigh**
Filipinos now invade Singapore not so much as maids, they come as white-collered workers. **Sigh**
And all the Great Leader, Dear Leader can say of the majority of Singaporeans is that they are “losers” and that his government will have to provide for them with a roof over their heads.
How could those born in Singapore even think of being patriotic? Billions spent on defense. WHO ARE THEY DEFENDING??
the exact same question I ask myself when I get called back every year.
WHO THE F**K AM I DEFENDING?
148)
If it were me, I’d have told the person in the third remark, that Singapore is not a Chinese country, and made my point in Pasar Malay. Haha.
Talk about ignorance of one’s intended emigration destination….