Samuel Lai
Dearest PAP,
You have been running Singapore like a business, like a corporation, where you are the top management, where the people of Singapore are your employees and where all other institutions like education, health and transport, are your subsidiaries. No sir, this is not Singapore Pte Ltd, and we are not working for you.
Every policy that you have come up with has been made with economic growth in mind, i.e., to increase profitability for Singapore Pte Ltd, with retained earnings going into the national reserves.
Our education model has been structured to produce a quality workforce so that we can contribute efficiently and effectively to the nation’s economic growth. You dispense with the arts and concentrate on the commerce and sciences. You bring in plenty of foreigners into our schools so that we have to learn to work and study harder in the face of more competition. And you have succeeded. We now work one of the longest hours in the world with low wages.
This has been done at the expense of social costs. As human beings, we have needs to get married, to start a family, to have kids. As human beings, we have needs for work-life balance, needs for social activities, and needs for communal living. The culture and environment you have so delicately created have come at the expense of those needs. We don’t have time to play football and therefore we suck at it. Ok, in fact we suck at everything that does not make money. And we definitely suck at making children.
When you look at our low fertility rate, which you have so created because of the environment you have made, you try to improve it by offering stop-gap solutions in baby bonuses and tax reliefs. And in fact, the reasons you want the fertility rate to rise is to continue providing quality workers to work for Singapore Pte Ltd, put more money into the reserves through taxes, HDB profits, consumption, investment, i.e. increase Singapore’s GDP.
And of course, the other viable solution is to attract talented foreigners to fill up this institutional void. This causes another set of problems, like whether locals find it harder to get jobs, and whether these diasporic communities will take up citizenship, or leave without further contributing to birth rates. Well, what the hell, talented foreigners are always good for Singapore Pte Ltd.
You privatize our transportation system. You couldn’t run such a basic necessity of a first-world country with the same efficient and effective fervor. So, running it as a private entity was the only viable way? You talk about health tourism. Is that what the health sector is about, making money from foreigners?
Once in a while you declare dividends (grow and share) to appease us, so that we don’t remove you from your managerial posts.
Perhaps the most telling of Singapore Pte Ltd are the KPIs of top management. Our CEO, earning $3 million per annum, has his wages pegged to GDP growth, and so are the wages of the COOs, the CFOs, and the various department heads. Your main motivation is Singapore Pte Ltd’s profitability. And given that at least 60% of Singapore’s GDP is contributed by Temasek Holdings and GIC, it certainly makes sense to increase the coffers of the national reserves.
It’s all about economic growth, economic growth, and economic growth.
However, countries are not just rated by economic growth. There are many other indicators that one may use to determine a country’s standing in the world, such as the purchasing power of the average citizen, the culture and ease of living, the efficiency of transportation, the range of quality education, the cleanliness of the streets, personal safety risks, and so on and so forth. You have undoubtedly excelled in some areas, but certainly not in others.
You forget that Singapore is not a corporation, but a community of individual human beings who have feelings, who can discern between what is good for us and what is not, what is fair and unfair. We, who have basic needs to have a roof put over our heads, and food to eat, have willingly contributed to your goal of building up the nation’s economy not because we are your employees but because we want Singapore to prosper, to achieve the vision of a first-world nation in which its citizens do not have negative emotions of fear, fear to vote, fear to speak freely, fear of the struggles of putting food on our table.
So, let me remind you, dearest PAP, that we have voted to put you where you are today. This makes us the shareholders. We are social beings, not economic assets. Together, we the citizens of Singapore own Singapore. It is us, the citizens, with our problems of rising costs of living, and not the profitability of the country that you have to care more about. And if you, dearest PAP, continue to run Singapore not as a nation of citizens but as a business, there will come a time when us, the shareholders, the real board of directors, vote you out and replace you with another management team.
Yours sincerely,
A shareholder of Singapore Pte Ltd
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The structure of Singapore Pte Ltd modeled after temasek holdings and gic.
Totally agreed with the article. Since1959 I have been told and taught to work and workand work harder. Now I am not young and still need to work.I have enough too.question to young voters. Do you wan to be like us too? If we don’t make some changes we may have to go to zoo to see the extint species called Singaporean. Maybe we should sell singapore Inc now and distribute proceeds among true blue singaporeans!
Leave the country to politicians. They can become real CEOs in their own private capacity earning billions after the elections to prevent conflict of interest.
http://www.yeocheowtong.com/Salaries.html
extremely good link, also can see how the relatives and friend of lee family in various governments sectors and private sectors…
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw02/020210gl.htm
the following above link was from year 2002… but many people should be still around…
WHO GOT THE UPDATED tables of relationship and positions!!??
SHOCKED and SURPRISE!!
Why it might be difficult for the government to withdraw from business…
no wonder!!
Yo fake Frenchman iPUSHleekingyouwheelchair
As usual begging plse don’t spam when you are disgracing yourself with your nonsense. Paid scriptwriter from WP? Need to work overtime tonight?
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?p=55160367
see the relationships
very good link also
@Disillusion
Totally agreed with the article. Since1959 I have been told and taught to work and workand work harder. Now I am not young and still need to work.I have enough too.question to young voters. Do you wan to be like us too? If we don’t make some changes we may have to go to zoo to see the extint species called Singaporean. Maybe we should sell singapore Inc now and distribute proceeds among true blue singaporeans!
great!! you finally understand the monopolized situation we are in now… not too late…
we are the horses who run fast for them and cow who work hard for them, now they want to even let us work till we die and still cant see our money(reserves) and deserved fruits… they give us four walls but we have to support it very very hard for 30 years hdb(and leasehold and got selective enbloc), too hard until we can only die, but cant be sick or unemployed… true disappointing and disillusioned and sad..
HELP! HELP! HELP!!! wake up wake up wake up
From 3rd world to 2 nd world economy was good we progress together . The old guards had done wonderful jobs in transforming Singapore with a wise and hard working population . They were not paid high salary and remain uncorrupted . Many of these good minister from pap never stay to become sm or mm . From 90′s we stagnant or deteriote in quality of life though we upgraded to 1st world. Pap always say we need opposition to check on the gov when their performance deteriote , we need them since gct took over. Now is of utmost urgency for more opposition members in parliament or majority from opposition parties. I am concerned and worried about where we are going.
tr.net is also down same or tr.com..
oh no.. help!!!
Although I don’t live in HDB, and also not having to squeeze in MRT, but i’m neither the upper echelon, nor the lower echelon. My heart is with you, my fellow Singaporeans. This is now not only the HDB dwellers who want them out, or lose a huge number of seats, including those people who did not have to bear with the skyrocketed public housing and the jam packed train also feel that they are completely out of their mind, instead of taking care of their people they choose to reward themselves with atrocious pay. I will join your votes !
Very well written from a man with passion and heart for the ordinary workers. God bless, down with the tyrants….
Ji Buy 25 April 2011
Yo fake Frenchman iPUSHleekingyouwheelchair
Paid scriptwriter from WP?
………
you meant the istana a-team got paid to write the way you write?
ow much? by the alphabets or by the postcounts?
so tonight istana canteen menu is dogbiscuit dipped in alphabet soup
You ever wonder where parents get the idea work hard then next time can enjoy life?
Needless to say they’ve been brainwashed by this INC machine to churn out robots like us to do their bidding and slave out like batteries while they maintain their elite status with so called work. For the past decade I have not once seen any MP in my area except for in pictures at the lifts. And with this they have the nerve to place themselves on a pedestal with arrogance. Mind you the top of the mountain is a small tip while the base is huge. If the base decides not to support the top, well you get the idea. :D
SPOT ON! This GE is the EGM, so let us shareholders do the right thing.
Wow, they need only work 1 term and will be able to retire whole life.
And we work whole life and still can not retire 1 day.
My personal view is & perhaps rather a simplistic one, if one may argue is:
It is our motivations that sets our core purpose, which then sets our core values, this then influences the Organization’s Corporate Culture & System it operates, which then determines the policies we plan, design, implement, which then translates into a country created/formed, followed by the impact it has on the lives of Citizens, followed by how a National identity or rather a Citizens culture is formed.
The PAP has to decide for itself, whether if there are any areas where it is gravely lacking or if it has done a remarkable job, that only requires certain enhancements, redesigning or overhaul or things can continue as per normal as everything is relatively fine. Its a decision that only it can make.
But ultimately, it is the Voters who will decide the direction of the Country.
THIS ARTICLE HITS THE PROBLEM (NAIL) AT THE HEAD.
WE NEED A MAJOR RE-FOCUS. MUCH OF THE GOOD CAN REMAIN, BUT AS SOCIETY PROGRESSES, IT CANNOT BE WORK, MONEY, WORK, MONEY………
@kukujumuku
Stay relevant with your postings or shaddup lah!
Spammer.
Thankgoodness the majority of contributors here have a brain.
What’s the use of economic growth when most of the local jobs/benefits go mainly to ‘FT’s & your children are driven out of their own countries to far away lands? The collusion bet govt. & businesses exploits the local populace for their own selfish interests – it’s as clear as daylight!
I too, voted for PAP to secure our economy so that we don’t have to worry about our future, and need not envy the lives of citizens from 1st world countries. Now, we have had a first class economy for so many years, yet many of us haven’t enjoyed the fruits of our labour. The PAP sure is good at running our economy, but this time we need people to put some heart into our government. While we were focusing on the economy in the past, we forgot that many of our fellow countrymen have been left behind. It’s time to build a country with compassion, which is not only are good at making money, but know how to take care of each other too. And the people who can help us can only be found in the opposition. There are some highly qualified people there who really care about the future of this country. We are a bunch of really hardworking people, and not all of our success is attributed to the PAP. So, please, on polling day, don’t just vote for PAP to fill up your wallets, vote to repair the soul of Singapore too.
Same as True Heart, I am with the general population because it is just not right to pay themselves millions of dollars per annum such that their pay is considered one of the highest in the world, yet the people whom they are said to be serving are facing living difficulties, due to the relentless release of foreign talents into this economy to take away jobs from the people.
yawn @ this stupid article!
Go live in Greece and Portugal and enjoy the wonders of a broke economy! But wait, oh yeah they do have a great parliament!
Ignorant. Get a life, or education.
I have worked hard, harder and harder until a foreigner came in and took my job. Into my late 50′s now, I have nothing to show. My retirement nest egg gets smaller by the day, and I can’t find meaningful employment even though I am willing to work.
PAP – I have trusted you for so many years. You denied me a chance of venting my disapproval by blocking out the opposition, now it is pay back time for you.
Whatever you say now is not going to change my mind. I want to see real changes before I change my mind – in the next GE 2016.
Economics 101: Standard of living is not defined just by GDP. There’s a non-material aspect to address as well. We are humans, not machines. And happiness can never not be engineered by some political party but from within ourselves. Let us rebuild our social fabric the way it should be!
i am thinking why you guys keep comparing our government’s annual income with other federal when you guys claimed that it is a Singapore Pte Ltd.
I have friends from other private sectors who claimed that their CEO earns 2.9 million too! I can only say that you have not seen other neighbouring countries who took under table $ when they were paid low.. if this is what you guys want… i have no eyes to see
If the world is always changing, Singapore is not adaptable we will forever remain this level. Then you guys will start complaining why no internet etc.. hard to please huh?
Uh. All this matters if Singapore has grown strong and firm. What now PAP is doing, is building out foundation for our future. Without these basics, without such “harshness-you-call-it”, Singapore wouldn’t even be here today! Go plant more veggies, boy.
Dearest writer,
I like the way you have put your paragraphs together but if you could have just spent that time figuring out how to make Singapore a better future, then you’re one day less away to Prime Minister seat and do what is right for us.
Happy we are thinking of the matters of the heart and not the head.
No wonder , we dont have enough babies, more economic growth, more economic growth , more economic growth.
I just wonder, If I was born here, will I have low fertility count.
Because all I am being thought and geared to do, is to excel , strive and be the La Creme.
It just reminds of the Movie "ET". Where the guys become like teletubies , on the lighter side.
No doubt we need to be hard working, again, raising our retirement age to 65 , making sure all of the people work ,
This is definitely not a healthy way to go.
How can one have low divorce rates, high birth rates ,
when we become more balanced in our work and Play attitude.
A country is a melting pot of many talents, attitudes and values.
Trying to shape Singapore in a un-natural fashion makes us a country of TELETUBIES. ( Did you forget the theory on Graduate spouses give rise to a intelligent generation)