Kuok’s SCMP: Listen up Ass Loon, Cheap Migrant Labour is NOT the Way to Go!

[Asterix]

Do you want people to say
Strange place Sinkieland
Never seen such a wide disparity between rich and poor
Nothing will ever come out of that town any more

Oh by the way that Fragrant Harbour
Is having a genuine conversation now
On such matters and not a fake one
To justify Mai Hum’s incompetence

Keep wages down and we will all pay in the end
Rewarding the workers whose toil created the boom times will help HK move up to next tier

Labour and Welfare Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said the city should explore new ideas to bring in more non-local workers ...
SCMP, October 25

I think the union people are right on this one. Sure, bring in some people with special skills when truly needed but if "explore new ideas" means relieving the wage pressure on employers with cheap migrant labour, then no. All it means is greater income polarity.

Just look at how it works in Macau. They handed out casino licences there to the big gambling operators for free on the reasoning that the benefits would come through a booming economy and jobs for all.

They came that way all right - a booming economy for the gambling lords and jobs for anyone who cared to come to Macau. More than 35 per cent of the workforce is now non-resident. But go for a walk in the old harbour districts or in Coloane village and you get the feeling that some of the long-time residents can barely afford shoes.

The point about being a First World city is that people have to make some wrenching changes in expectations to achieve it. Imagine that instead of dithering over whether we can raise the minimum wage from HK$30 an hour, we make the immediate jump to the Canadian level, HK$77 an hour. Add further costs for unemployment insurance and workers compensation.

Would that be a bit of jolt, do you think? Then try a minimum wage of HK$95 an hour for Belgium at present exchange rates. What about HK$118 an hour for Australia?

And here is the kicker. I think it a good thing. It spreads the wealth more equitably and thus creates a livelier society where more people can devote their wits to great productive ideas rather than just to staying alive from day to day.

But of course not every society can do it. Enforce a wage of the equivalent of HK$118 an hour in Burundi and you bring what little productive effort Burundi yet manages to an immediate, crashing halt.

There are two ways of moving up the scale. The first, the crude way, is through enactment of a minimum wage. The second is through keeping borders closed to labour migrants and letting boom times and full employment push up wages for the people who have created the boom times through hard work.

The chart shows how tightly wage growth and joblessness in Hong Kong are inversely correlated.

Yes, if we persist in this course, it means that some of your favourite restaurants may close and others turn to eat-it-and-beat-it shops under the wage pressure. You may not eat out so often. Don't expect cheap massage spas any longer or building attendants who hold lift doors for you. Any service or domestically made product with a high labour content rapidly becomes much more expensive.

But, of course, we don't have to endure this. We can elect to keep this town in the Third World forever. Any time that wages start to go up, any time that a bar manager says he has trouble finding staff, we can bring in more Indonesians, or perhaps Kenyans if Indonesians start getting stroppy about pay.

Life will be very comfortable for those who have it made. There will be plenty of domestic help, the easy-to-sack sort, too, with the ample availability on hand, and plenty of cheap workers for any business you care to start. We may have to hire more police to keep unrest down in the worker quarters but that's cheap.

And people will say: "Strange place, Hong Kong. Never seen such a mix of rich and poor. Dull though. Nothing will ever come out of that town any more."

And they will be right.

http://www.scmp.com/business/article/1342131/keep-wages-down-and-we-will-all-pay-end

 

[Nomenclature]

One of my favorite website.

 

[Leongsam]

The guy is an idiot. No country in the world can legislate its way to prosperity without either printing money or running a continuous budget deficit that will eventually bankrupt the whole nation.

If eliminating poverty was as simple as passing a minimum wage law, no country in the world would have any poor.

 

[Asterix]

The guy is an idiot. No country in the world can legislate its way to prosperity without either printing money or running a continuous budget deficit that will eventually bankrupt the whole nation.

If eliminating poverty was as simple as passing a minimum wage law, no country in the world would have any poor.

Have you read the article in its entirety you twit? Legislate the way to wealth? Please did you miss the sentence about minimum wage not being able to work in Burundi?

The article is talking about an already affluent society that has hit the boom times and the question is whether to let in foreign workers to keep wages down or let wages rise and force businesses to adjust by using their brains such as more automation, better management of the factors of production, etc. And only let in foreign workers in areas where there is a genuine shortage of high value skills and not let in 60 year old Ah Nehs with no particular skills.

I hate to say this, but for the proprietor of a forum such as this, your comprehension skills leave much to be desired.

 

[Poomer]

The guy is an idiot. No country in the world can legislate its way to prosperity without either printing money or running a continuous budget deficit that will eventually bankrupt the whole nation.

If eliminating poverty was as simple as passing a minimum wage law, no country in the world would have any poor.

Singapore can!!! They only need to bring in more foreigners.

 

[Leongsam]

Have you read the article in its entirety you twit? Legislate the way to wealth? Please did you miss the sentence about minimum wage not being able to work in Burundi?

The article is talking about an already affluent society that has hit the boom times and the question is whether to let in foreign workers to keep wages down or let wages rise and force businesses to adjust by using their brains such as more automation, better management of the factors of production, etc. And only let in foreign workers in areas where there is a genuine shortage of high value skills and not let in 60 year old Ah Nehs with no particular skills.

I hate to say this, but for the proprietor of a forum such as this, your comprehension skills leave much to be desired.

Burundi is a stupid example as it's a basket case. He mentioned it as a cop out to try to avoid being branded as a moron. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with me.

He might as well add Ethiopia and Chad and the rest of the African continent.

The fact remains that Singapore and HK are not productive or innovative enough to command high wages. The sooner the citizens of these countries realise it the better it will be for everyone. What Singapore/HK needs is a reality check not a minimum wage.

Look what happened to the European countries with far more resources when they tried to prop up a standard of living which they did not deserve.

 

[Poomer]

Have you read the article in its entirety you twit? Legislate the way to wealth? Please did you miss the sentence about minimum wage not being able to work in Burundi?

The article is talking about an already affluent society that has hit the boom times and the question is whether to let in foreign workers to keep wages down or let wages rise and force businesses to adjust by using their brains such as more automation, better management of the factors of production, etc. And only let in foreign workers in areas where there is a genuine shortage of high value skills and not let in 60 year old Ah Nehs with no particular skills.

I hate to say this, but for the proprietor of a forum such as this, your comprehension skills leave much to be desired.

It's selective comprehension, you better get used to it. We are all blessed to hear Leongsam's wisdom on labour issues. He is definitely much smarter than a manpower minister.

 

[Poomer]

Burundi is a stupid example as it's a basket case. He mentioned it as a cop out to try to avoid being branded as a moron. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with me.

He might as well add Ethiopia and Chad and the rest of the African continent.

The fact remains that Singapore and HK are not productive or innovative enough to command high wages. The sooner the citizens of these countries realise it the better it will be for everyone. What Singapore/HK needs is a reality check not a minimum wage.

Look what happened to the European countries with far more resources when they tried to prop up a standard of living which they did not deserve.

The high wages that Singaporeans or Hongkies demand is largely a result of high costs of living. It is clear the ones who need a reality check are those who allow the costs of living to spiral out of control.

What happened to Europe was too much welfare coupled with a large government, not minimum wage.

Edit: I forgot to add a continental currency that really took out the productivity of smaller developed economies without large industrial bases?

 

[Leongsam]

It's selective comprehension, you better get used to it. We are all blessed to hear Leongsam's wisdom on labour issues. He is definitely much smarter than a manpower minister.

These sorts of disclaimers are slipped into articles in an attempt to prop up lame arguments. Journalists do it all the time.

Why didn't he use Cyprus as an example instead....

Cyprus' 2nd bailout review gets under way


9:39 PM Tuesday Oct 29, 2013NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) International creditors have begun their second review of Cyprus' bailout program to ensure authorities are faithfully implementing its tough terms.

Officials from Cyprus' eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday will be meeting Cyprus' finance minister and central bank governor.
The review is expected to run through November 8. Teams of EU and IMF officials will scrutinize the restructuring of Cyprus' gutted banking system, public finances and plans to privatize government-owned enterprises.

Cyprus in March received a 10 billion euro ($13.78 billion) loan to save it from bankruptcy on condition that uninsured depositors in the country's two largest banks take huge losses on their savings. Authorities also imposed capital controls to prevent a run on the banks.

The answer is obvious. It destroys rather than bolsters the rest of his crap.

You guys are lucky you have me around to expose the propaganda and falsehoods that the anti PAP IB constantly spew.

 

[Asterix]

...
The fact remains that Singapore and HK are not productive or innovative enough to command high wages. The sooner the citizens of these countries realise it the better it will be for everyone. What Singapore/HK needs is a reality check not a minimum wage.
...

Now let me educate you a little about economics. Traditionally, there are 3 factors of production: land (natural resources), labour and capital (machinery, infrastructure, etc). You may add a 4th factor – management or entrepreneurial skills – the factor that blends the first 3 into an optimal combination.

Labour productivity cannot be taken in isolation. Let me give you a real life example. When I was in Sinkieland, American companies in my trade were already using networked computers. Except for the accounting department (better for the bosses to count their money), there wasn't a single computer in the entire Sinkie company where I worked. My efforts to persuade the owners were in vain. So, I decided to bring my own PC and installed it in my room. Of course not everyone can do that. Most employees don’t have a room to themselves to start with. Did my productivity increase? Yes, immensely. However, I did not give my employers a free ride. The main motivating factor for bringing my own PC to the office was simple – to trade on the only casino available in Sinkieland then – the SGX!

If you give the cleaner a broom and ask him to clean the entire factory floor, his productivity will be less than the cleaner who is given more advanced tools to do the job. Cheap foreign labour has allowed Sinkie enterprises to underinvest in capital assets and that has affected labour productivity. The cleaner didn't have his own room, so he wouldn't be able to adjust in the way that I did. Ultimately, I decided to leave cheapskate Sinkie employers to their own devices and upgraded to a First World country - like what you did.

 

[Leongsam]

Now let me educate you a little about economics. Traditionally, there are 3 factors of production: land (natural resources), labour and capital (machinery, infrastructure, etc). You may add a 4th factor – management or entrepreneurial skills – the factor that blends the first 3 into an optimal combination.

You seem to have this idea that I'm taking labour to task. I'm not. Labour is dumb regardless of country. They need to be taught how to be productive and given tools to do the job. We all know that. It's basic to any manufacturing process.

What I'm referring to is the psyche of the whole damned country. Where is the innovation? Where is drive and determination to succeed on the world stage? It doesn't exist amongst sinkies.

Drive away the foreigners and the country is nothing. The last real Singaporean to make a small dent in the Universe was Sim Wong Hoo and he got carried away thinking he could go head to head with Apple.

 

[Asterix]

... ... ...
What I'm referring to is the psyche of the whole damned country. Where is the innovation? Where is drive and determination to succeed on the world stage? It doesn't exist amongst sinkies.
... ... ...

You are right to correctly identify the psyche of the country. On the other hand, we need to look further and understand how that psyche came about. Was the education system manipulated to achieve political ends?

Was it always like that? Before Hong Kong became a hub for the movie and entertainment industry, Singapore was already such a hub for Southeast Asia. Why did Sir Runrun Shaw decide to relocate to Hong Kong?

Did you know that Sir Runrun Shaw's TVB owed a large part of its success to a young Sinkie who just returned from studies in Australia? Why did that young Sinkie not stay in RTS but decided to up sticks and join Sir Runrun?

 

[Leongsam]

Was it always like that? Before Hong Kong became a hub for the movie and entertainment industry, Singapore was already such a hub for Southeast Asia. Why did Sir Runrun Shaw decide to relocate to Hong Kong?

You have to thank the Ang Mohs for that.

The Brits governed HK with a very light touch. Since the 99 year lease removed politics from the equation, it left HK pretty much free to do whatever it wanted in all other areas.

Film makers and other creative oddballs like operating in environments where there is no censorship.

 

[Asterix]

You have to thank the Ang Mohs for that.

The Brits governed HK with a very light touch. Since the 99 year lease removed politics from the equation, it left HK pretty much free to do whatever it wanted in all other areas.

Film makers and other creative oddballs like operating in environments where there is no censorship.

The Brits also governed the Straits Settlements with a light touch. That's why the Shaws chose SG as their base. Other reason being the chaos of China's civil war, but once they realised that Harry Baboon was going to be far worse than the Brits they did what you too would have done to protect your business.

It was evident long ago that we are going into a knowledge based economy where "creative oddballs" add the most value. Why did Lightning not make the necessary liberalisations? Because creative oddballs are less likely to vote PAP?

We digress from this:

...
I think the union people are right on this one. Sure, bring in some people with special skills when truly needed but if "explore new ideas" means relieving the wage pressure on employers with cheap migrant labour, then no. All it means is greater income polarity.

...

The point about being a First World city is that people have to make some wrenching changes in expectations to achieve it. Imagine that instead of dithering over whether we can raise the minimum wage from HK$30 an hour, we make the immediate jump to the Canadian level, HK$77 an hour. Add further costs for unemployment insurance and workers compensation.

.......

I think it a good thing. It spreads the wealth more equitably and thus creates a livelier society where more people can devote their wits to great productive ideas rather than just to staying alive from day to day.

........

There are two ways of moving up the scale. The first, the crude way, is through enactment of a minimum wage. The second is through keeping borders closed to labour migrants and letting boom times and full employment push up wages for the people who have created the boom times through hard work.

The chart shows how tightly wage growth and joblessness in Hong Kong are inversely correlated.

Yes, if we persist in this course, it means that some of your favourite restaurants may close and others turn to eat-it-and-beat-it shops under the wage pressure. You may not eat out so often. Don't expect cheap massage spas any longer or building attendants who hold lift doors for you. Any service or domestically made product with a high labour content rapidly becomes much more expensive.

But, of course, we don't have to endure this. We can elect to keep this town in the Third World forever. Any time that wages start to go up, any time that a bar manager says he has trouble finding staff, we can bring in more Indonesians, or perhaps Kenyans if Indonesians start getting stroppy about pay.

Life will be very comfortable for those who have it made. There will be plenty of domestic help, the easy-to-sack sort, too, with the ample availability on hand, and plenty of cheap workers for any business you care to start. We may have to hire more police to keep unrest down in the worker quarters but that's cheap.

And people will say: "Strange place, Hong Kong. Never seen such a mix of rich and poor. Dull though. Nothing will ever come out of that town any more."

And they will be right.

http://www.scmp.com/business/article/1342131/keep-wages-down-and-we-will-all-pay-end

 

[winnipegjets]

The fact remains that Singapore and HK are not productive or innovative enough to command high wages. The sooner the citizens of these countries realise it the better it will be for everyone. What Singapore/HK needs is a reality check not a minimum wage.

The country can never move up the value chain if it keeps importing cheap labour to delight the cheap business owners. They won't invest in new technology or explore better way to do business. This cheap labour approach has been adopted for decades and we are still there. Time to move on.

Look what happened to the European countries with far more resources when they tried to prop up a standard of living which they did not deserve.

Look at the Northern European countries and see how well they are doing.

 

[winnipegjets]

What I'm referring to is the psyche of the whole damned country. Where is the innovation? Where is drive and determination to succeed on the world stage? It doesn't exist amongst sinkies.

When the GLCs dominate all areas of business in this country, there is little room for innovation. An entrepreneur can't make money in sinkapore because of the overwhelming domination of GLCs.

Drive away the foreigners and the country is nothing. The last real Singaporean to make a small dent in the Universe was Sim Wong Hoo and he got carried away thinking he could go head to head with Apple.

We have 2.3 million foreigners and what have they achieved for sinkapore? Ziltch! That's the reality.

 

[JeanGrey]

Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.

When the GLCs dominate all areas of business in this country, there is little room for innovation. An entrepreneur can't make money in sinkapore because of the overwhelming domination of GLCs.


We have 2.3 million foreigners and what have they achieved for sinkapore? Ziltch! That's the reality.

 

[Leongsam]

The country can never move up the value chain if it keeps importing cheap labour to delight the cheap business owners. They won't invest in new technology or explore better way to do business. This cheap labour approach has been adopted for decades and we are still there. Time to move on.


Look at the Northern European countries and see how well they are doing.

The Northern European countries have a Northern European population not an ethnic Chinese population from peasant stock who complain about censorship and then ask for more of it.

 

[Leongsam]

When the GLCs dominate all areas of business in this country, there is little room for innovation. An entrepreneur can't make money in sinkapore because of the overwhelming domination of GLCs.


We have 2.3 million foreigners and what have they achieved for sinkapore? Ziltch! That's the reality.

Here is what they have achieved....

ASIA


24 October 2013 Last updated at 03:38 GMT

Why does Singapore top so many tables?

Singapore is a small nation with few of its own natural resources. Yet in the past 50 years it has transformed itself into one of the world's economic powerhouses. Here, Tenna Schoer, a Danish journalist based in Singapore, counts some of the measures where the country comes top of the class.

1. Low crime rate

Take a ride on the subway in Singapore and you'll quickly notice that it is only the tourists firmly holding on to their bags. The locals are very relaxed about their belongings and show no hint of fear that somebody might snatch their smartphone. Unsurprising perhaps when you consider that Singapore has one the lowest crime rates in the world.

Crime has fallen in each of the past three years. Last year had the lowest recorded crime rate in more than two decades - there were 80 days in which not a single robbery or "snatch theft" was recorded.

Not only do you not need to worry about your belongings, your life isn't in very much danger either.

According to UN data, Singapore has the second lowest murder rate in the world (Data excludes tiny Palau and Monaco.) Only 16 people were murdered in 2011 in a country with a population of 5.1 million. Compare that to similarly sized Norway which had 111 murders and Slovakia with 96 murders in the same year.

You don't have to look that hard to discover why this might be, though. The little city state is well known for its harsh punishments for crime, even for low-level offences. Recently, a security guard was sentenced to three months in jail and three strokes of the cane for spray-painting "democracy" on a war memorial.

The police are also putting in place a network of cameras that will eventually cover all public housing blocks and car parks. In Singapore there are seemingly few concerns about "big brother is watching" when it comes to fighting crime.

2. The healthiest people in the world

When the sun is up, so are Singaporeans, doing their morning exercise. Take an early stroll in the beautiful Botanical Gardens and you'll find young and old, men and women jogging around the pond or doing tai chi.

Maybe that's one of the reasons why Singaporeans are ranked as the healthiest people in the world. Based on health-related indicators from the United Nations, World Bank and the World Health Organization for 145 countries with at least one million people, one survey placed Singapore in an overall first place with a health grade of 89.45%.

However, like most developed countries Singapore is also seeing an increase in obesity. So, in order to shape a healthier workforce, the country's Health Promotion Board recently announced the "1 million KG challenge".

This campaign is trying to get Singaporeans to collectively lose one million kilograms within the next three years through more physical activity and healthier eating behaviours.

3. The easiest place to do business

Roughly, half of those living in Singapore are here on a temporary basis, working for the many foreign companies that have a regional office in Singapore.

These businesses didn't just choose the city state because of its convenient location close to the rest of Asia and the Pacific.

Last year, Singapore was named by the World Bank for the seventh consecutive year as the best country to do business in. The bank highlighted Singapore's standards for trading across borders, dealing with construction permits and protecting investors.

4. The largest manufacturer of jack-up oil rigs

Singapore doesn't have a drop of oil to its name but it dominates the oil industry in one crucial sector: it is the world's biggest maker of jack-up rigs, the platforms used for off-shore oil exploration and drilling.

Since the 13th Century, the country has benefited from its strategic location at the confluence of major shipping lanes through the Strait of Malacca. Today, it remains a magnet for the world's shipping industry.

Until recently, when it was overtaken by Shanghai, Singapore was the largest port in the world.

Out of its shipping heritage grew two giants of the oil industry, the local conglomerates Keppel and SembCorp, which have been transformed from humble ship repair centres to global leaders, helping Singapore command 70% of the world market.

The Singaporean marine and offshore industry employs some to 75,000 workers and had a total output of 12.9bn Singapore dollars (US10.3bn, £6.42bn) in 2011, one of the fastest growing sectors in the country's economy.

5. One of the least corrupt countries in the world

Situated in a region where corruption is sometimes a part of life, it's notable that Singapore scores as well as it does in the international rankings for corruption, currently number five on the list of least corrupt countries in the world.

Most Singaporeans praise the Republic's first and long-serving prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, for building an environment almost free of corruption. But several years before Mr Lee took office, Singapore decided to fight corruption by establishing the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau in 1952 in order to attract foreign businesses to invest in their land.

Today, when it comes to any kind of corruption the country doesn't distinguish between white or blue collar crime. It tries all cases according to Singapore's stringent penal code, with long-term jail terms and large fines up to 100,000 Singapore dollars (£50,000).

Singapore also keeps the salaries of politicians and civil servants high in order to repress economic incentive to engage in corrupt activity.

6. Where millionaires are minted in the shortest time

Take a walk in almost any residential car park in Singapore and you'll find a handful of luxury cars such as high-end Audis, BMWs and Mercedes, a couple of Jaguars, and at least one Ferrari or Maserati.

This luxury doesn't come cheap in the first place, never mind after adding a car sales tax rate of 150% plus the 84,000 Singapore dollars ($42,000) it costs to obtain the certificate to own the car. (Not to mention the 90kph/60mph speed limit in Singapore.)

But wealthy Singaporeans don't mind spending several hundred thousand dollars on a luxury car. Why? Because they can.

According to a recent wealth report from Barclays Bank, over half of Singapore's wealthy people have taken less than 10 years to accumulate the majority of their wealth, the quickest rate across the globe.

Not only does money grow fast, the concentration of millionaires is also among the highest in the world. With 8.8% of the population with a private wealth of at least one million US dollars, Singapore comes in as number five on that list.

7. Top of the class

In 1965, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew created the master plan behind the modern Singapore, a "first-world oasis in a third-world region", as the now 90-year-old Mr Lee has put it.

Having few natural resources, Singapore invested heavily in education in order to build and maintain a well-educated work force. Currently, approximately 20% of government spending goes into education.

According to the latest OECD report on education performance around the world, it seems like that effort is paying off.

Based on rankings achieved in mathematics, science and reading literature, Singapore comes second in the overall results, just behind Shanghai. Some 12.3% of students in Singapore attain the highest levels of proficiency in all three assessment subjects.

Students work hard and do more hours of maths and science than the OECD average. Not only do the students feel a notable pressure from their "tiger parents" as well as the society in whole, there's also a sharp focus on the teachers.

Teaching in Singapore is a highly respected profession. They are selected from the top third of each cohort, and to keep them on track with the newest teaching techniques they are entitled to 100 hours of professional development every year.

The country's education system is often criticized for not producing "out-of-the-box" thinkers, but efforts are being made to change that. The Ministry of Education recently cut academic content to create space for schools to develop critical thinking.

8. The lowest drug abuse in the world

Most places in the world have a neighbourhood known for its drug problem, but not Singapore. The country has the lowest level of drug abuse in the world when it comes to opiates, cocaine and ecstasy, and the second lowest for cannabis and amphetamines, according to a UN World Drug Report.

Punishments for possessing drugs are harsh - possession or consumption of cannabis can earn you up to 10 years in prison, a 20,000 Singapore dollar (£10,000) fine, or both. And the zero-tolerance approach can also mean a mandatory death sentence.

Getting caught trafficking 30 grams of cocaine or 15 grams of heroin will put you on death row, where some 34 people are currently facing execution.

9. The third-largest gambling market

The quick moves of the slim hand reveal both anxiety and routine as the young woman places her bet on the roulette. In front of her are stacked several piles of tokens worth more than 5,000 Singapore dollars.

It is Thursday night and the giant casino is buzzing. Singapore legalised gambling only three years ago and licensed two large casinos to attract more tourists. Visitor numbers have jumped nearly 50% since.

What's more, the casino industry paid 2.2bn Singapore dollars (£1.1bn) in tax and contributes an estimated 1.5-2% to Singapore's GDP.

There is a long tradition of gambling but to keep scandals (and suicides) to a minimum, locals have to pay an entrance fee of 100 Singapore dollars, whereas a foreign passport gives you free access to the glittery machines and freedom to win or, more often, lose money.

Singapore's casino industry pulled in an impressive US$5.85bn in 2012, up 8% on the year before, putting it in third place globally. That's close to Las Vegas' US$6.2bn, but some distance from the world's number one gambling market, Macau, which generated US$38bn.

Though the Singapore casinos have seen a decrease in visitors as the novelty factor fades away they still attract around 17,000 people a day.

10. The most unhappy people in the world

In Singapore you can find almost anything you desire but one thing in short supply, apparently, is happiness.

A recent Gallup report revealed that Singapore's wealthy population is the unhappiest, or least positive, in the world, less happy than people in Iraq, Haiti, Afghanistan and Syria.

When asked if they had been well-rested, treated with respect, if they had smiled or laughed a lot, and had done or learnt something, only 46% of the Singaporeans replied "yes".

 

[Poomer]

The crime rate was lower before the influx of foreigners.

And Singaporeans, much happier.

The Northern European countries have a Northern European population not an ethnic Chinese population from peasant stock who complain about censorship and then ask for more of it.

Every single Chinese in this world is of peasant stock, Mao Zedong made sure of that.