What’s up guys? U imaginative & xenophobic now? C’mon, contribute some ground-level facts for healthy & open discussion.

Because based on the definition of GDP, the prices of goods and services produced within a country, simply by hiking everything, GDP increases.

When GDP increases, their bonus is pledged to GDP also increases.

“….If FT is a silver bullet to all economis problem, why our government did not won Nobel Prize? ….”

I have absolutely no knowledge of the selection process for such Nobel Prize, but Singapore was previously snubbed with its submission of:- ‘Pay politicans astronomical wages so that they will not be corrupt’ theory. Somehow the REST of the world (including N.Korea and Myanmar) didn’t buy into that either.

OK, SG scholars, back to the drawing board……

Oh my, another voice screaming from the same script. No offense but I really need some intelligent discussion to keep me on this site.

Pls refer to my reply to “XiiAoGeNgEnX” at #54.

To clarify that you have the full picture of the impact of FTs, pls confirm the foreign content in some other countries, any country. Singapore = 36% (2008/09). USA = ?, Australia = ?, UK = ? You choose which country, we then can discuss.

I take it that your are just a chair-borne analyst somewhere relying only on the MSM and other official sources for info & details, with little interaction with the ground level. So it is understandable that if your info could be wrong overnight, you would label anyone imaginative. Still I will try:

1) Your link is only for … babies. In 2008, $250m was paid out in Baby Bonus and it was by reported in Straits Times that it was a FAILURE (I recall FAILURE was the word used by ST not me). My original point make it very clear that the TFR has been sliding for over 30 years, meaning whichever authority in charge is a failure for over 3 decades. Your contention that there are various schemes to help couples have babies is just an admission that we are throwing money at a problem hoping it will go away. There are however better ways to reverse the trend, beside the firing squad. Maybe you can look into Canada, France, Britain, etc.. But you may have to shift your butt if you think ST is gonna give you such answers soon.

2) I don’t know if you understand my point. I understand that there is like 200,000 Singaporeans undergoing SPUR, PCP, etc. . . that would know what is meant. To clarify your stand, pls confirm for us the “nominal wage” (in Singapore dollars), that you referred to. Give a range if you not sure, we are Ok with that.

3) You must have extreme faith in our labor triparitie system. Maybe YOUR boss will schedule another person to attend something which, to the company, has already sent someone to, and is now only looking for some payback for the expenses spent. Let me guess–you are in the public sector, right?

4) It seems you are not very practical with the ground. Generally what was announced 10 months ago is not the actual situation on the ground now. Anyway, maybe you can do an exercise to find out if 20b announced means 20b committed. Again, you waiting for ST to tell you such info?

5) Again, either your grasp of English is suspect or my writing is terrible! You mean having a PR that studied here and then high-tailed back to China is considered as a healthy mix, will raise the Uni standing, and locals have added value? I am seriously lost on such reasoning.
Say what you like about Taiwan. Their count-for-nothing graduates had captured nearly every desktop, laptop and nettop motherboard in the world. Compared to our scholars — what have we captured that is uniquely Singapore?

6) Your answer to this point shows you are definitely not a person on the ground — not even close. Do your homework and come back later, kiddo.

“…It’s a pity that people like you can only see the problems, and not the solutions…”

This is really talking like a whimper, Come back when you have some real experience … I will be waiting.

Amartya Sen’s work did shown that social problems are created by policy and thats how he got Nobel Prize.

If FT really does not harm, how come only Singapore are the one to practice it to such excesses.

Are you implying leaders all over the world are idiots?

If FT is a silver bullet to all economis problem, why our government did not won Nobel Prize?

You are terribly misguided if you feel that societal problems are created by policies. These schemes are created to help out the less fortunate or those facing difficult times in their lives. Singaporeans want sound policies which are both flexible and sympathetic to individual needs.

Unless you can draw a relationship or prove cause and effect, blaming FTs does nothing but show your xenophobia.

1. https://www.babybonus.gov.sg/bbss/html/index.html provides some great information for parents-to-be to plan ahead for their family and to get access to assistance, subsidies, grants etc. TFR isn’t a problem that can be solved easily, unless you’re willing to implement draconian measures to force couples to have more children or face the firing squad. Haha kidding.

2. PMETs have access to programmes from NTUC, and the Jobs Training Scheme allows greater flexibility of professionals considering other industries, and the govt actually pays you a nominal wage while you’re undergoing a training course.

3. well, if your boss feels strongly about this local gaining more exposure overseas, then he’ll be prioritized for the next event. Alternatively, you can approach MPS writers. Request for a letter to MINDEF manpower division, requesting for an alternative ICT session. DO NOT request for a cancellation of ICT session because that’s kinda unreasonable and it wont work.

4. It was announced and has since been implemented since early 2009, at the onset of the economic crisis. Breakdown of this package was announced in the Straits Times.

5. One of the criteria for university rankings measures how “globalized” a university is. So if you have a healthy mix of students from around the world, the university ranking rises, so the local students (that make up the bulk of the student population), enjoy an increase in the value of their degrees.

Contrast this to Taiwan, where they have a 97% university graduate rate, but their degrees don’t count for anything. At the end of the day, the cert is just a means to land a job.

6. Is this a hypothetical situation you’re drawing out of thin air? I don’t see any basis for it except your imagination.

Overall, Straits Times does publish the various programmes and projects and the relevant information on how Singaporeans can apply, which Singaporeans can qualify etc. It’s a pity that people like you can only see the problems, and not the solutions.

U have missed the point completely. What Singaporeans want is change, not help. Why should we have 30+ programmes, CDC, CC, MYCS, blah, blah… spending 20+b “helping” problems that were created in the first place? I’m sure the 36% foreign population here is contributing more than 20b to the GDP while creating all sorts of issues for us.

Thk you for informing us where to look for help. Pls further enlighten us on how to get help for following, or are you simply telling a story tale instead:

1) Our TFR is now 1.28 or lower. This issue has not been addressed for past 30+ years. Import of FTs is supposed to remedy this declining birth rate. However this “import” has been going on for past 10+ years, yet the TFR continued to slide even with such foreign influx. Who is currently “helping” on this?

2) A Singpaorean PMET earning $5K was wearing 2 hats in his company. His company replaced him with 2 lower paid persons for total <$4K, one for each hat. Both were FTs. There was no union to help this PMET. After he left, he still got calls from his replacements on how things should be done. Within half year, one of the replacement left. Who can help our PMETs in such situation?

3) 2 PMETs worked in a company – a Singaporean and a FT. There was an opportunity to go overseas for technical exchange and the company initially wanted the S'porean to go. But then it clashed with his ICT. The exchange was organized overseas so the company had no control to reschedule it. Logically, the FT went, while the S'porean lose out on gaining useful knowledge serving to protect this FT/his country. Which of your mentioned "help" organisation can help this?

4) Can you breakdown the 20+b spent on helping Singaporeans? Is this the allocated/announced budget or the actual paid-out amount?

5) Zhang Yuan Yuan used up 1 place in our university & got an offer for $4K before high-tailing back to China. Who can help ensure that 1 local will get into university IINSTEAD of an uncommitted FT if this S'porean is committed to stay in S'pore after graduating and will work for less than 4K? Who is answerable to the resources used up by Zhang?

6) The 30+ programmes have a lot of overlapping chasing the same opportunities or jobs. The "help" most down-and-out Singaporeans get are for jobs that are paid lower than the imported FTs. And these are S'poreans PMETs we are talking. Who can help in this situation?

I really hope you can show us you know what you are talking about…..

ha ha ha that a good 1…
the mps writer will interrogate you liked a ss gestapo officer before you can even see the mp..
do you know how many mp s writer to change a lightbulb in your home if its blown? try usin all the toes as well…
meet the people session? are you jokin or what?
when i kannaed roadbully tatic from a ntuc taxi driver..got injured…bleedin..polis men in short takes no actions..traffic also act blind..ntuc inc challenged me to take them to court (i went to court..bought a sofa instead) i seek the mp for assistance..they replied try legal aids if you are qualified..

I apologize for the lack of details, because I actually posted a comprehensive discussion regarding the various forms of help available in Singapore somewhere in TOC before. Kinda lazy to repeat it. =P

1. During the economic fallout of 2007-08, the govt rolled out a nice 20+ billion in programmes. On a per capita basis, this is 50% more than what US provided in terms of welfare + bailout combined. (assuming SG population 1/100 of US population. accurate statistics can be found online. actual number closer to 1/97)

2. During “normal” times, there are more than 30 different welfare/workfare/assistance programmes in Singapore. depending on your employment condition and where you live, it varies between 5-15 different schemes available per person. Some are constituency/racial/age specific.

You can find details of what kind of plans are available for you via a)Community Centre b)Comunity Dev Centre c)CDAC, Mendaki, (and the indian association whose name i forgot, sorry!) depending on which race you come from d) MCYS which supports many NGOs

The most convenient method of search is to go to a Meet-the-People Session. Request specifically for a meeting with the Welfare or ComCare representative. (Don’t expect the MPS writers to know everything. They’re just volunteers and their skills are only in general letter-writing)

I hope this information can help you, and others you know who are facing difficulty. Do pass this information on to anyone else who need help but don’t know where to look. :)

the reason why ministers are paid millions is because we assumed they have the talent to ensure that there will be no or minimal pain and great or at least steady progress inspite of globalisation.

if they can only think of ideas like what u said (& i, and certainly many many other sgreans) can think of, why do they deserve to be paid so much???

if they weren’t taking such obscene salary (and double standards at the same time) i guarantee u that the ground will not be so sour.

in fact if they were drawing pay comparable to other countries, i would have commended that they are doing a good job.

“…..We have to understand that unless we are able to compete on a global level, our jobs will follow your decision… pack up and move out. So the govt’s policy of exposing Singapore to the rough competition of the world forces us to improve our competitiveness. It’s painful, but necessary in the long run….”

This is only true in a very, very narrow sense of …. GDP. Taken in the full context of sustainable population growth, cost of living, foreign intake policy, productivity, “interests of Singaporeans will always come first”, National Pledge, chasing loyalty of PRs over loyalty of citizens, etc., this argument is absolute rubbish.

To show the absurdity of this argument, why don’t expose our top ministers to more realistic salary levels since it has been shown that by paying a leader of a “more-powerful-than-SGP” nation a lower wage, he can bag a Nobel Peace Prize within 1 year in office?

The rough patches we are going through can be traced to failed or misdirected policies of yester-years, notwithstanding changes to the global economics/dynamics which is beyond the control of any country, whether large or tiny dot. I am not saying all our policies were bad, but definitely there are many screwed ones which are just stone-walled and the effects conveniently blamed on the world situation.

1. Yes they do use GDP per capita as a gauge when crafting policy, which is something that all countries do. Raw GDP is only used when looking on an international platform.

2. In the 1990s, America felt the first pinch of globalisation when American firms began the process of “outsourcing”. Industrial plants moved to China and services were outsourced to India. Today we live in a globalized world, where it is so easy to cross borders.

We have to understand that unless we are able to compete on a global level, our jobs will follow your decision… pack up and move out. So the govt’s policy of exposing Singapore to the rough competition of the world forces us to improve our competitiveness. It’s painful, but necessary in the long run.

Life has certainly gotten much much worse for me and my family, in every aspect- finances, transport, human interaction, outlook in career and life. I have made up my mind to move out already.

Singapore is attracting and has attracted a lot of so-called talents.

My question is, because i have no answer,
IS THERE ANY Whiz Kids ATTRACTED HERE TO BECOME Citizen?
Has any parents of any country of any Whiz Kids?

Why?