A Malaysian account on Singapore HDB

[congo9]

I tell you if one day goverment is to stop bringing all thie cheap labour for all these jobs , you think the whole Singapore will stop becos no ones wants to work there ?

For example , if there is a demand for better dish washers, i am sure the people who is marketing the dishwasher will comes up with a better design, more efficient in using water , easier usuage for operator. Or simply , buy more cutlery for usuage.

Same old saying , the employers is being too SPOILT by the goverment. Refusing to innovate or rather imagine for solution.

 

[Leongsam]

To the employers : Innovate at all cost. No point hiring cheap labour anymore.

The saying "necessity is the mother of invention" holds true in most scenarios. The labour cost issue is no exception.

Employers will only innovate if they are forced to do so out of necessity. Innovation involves considerable investment with no guarantee that the productivity gains will provide sufficient return on investment.

In NZ, the ever increasing minimum wage levels have done nothing to improve productivity in the manufacturing sector. All it has done is to push manufacturing operations offshore. Fisher & Paykel is moving all it's operations to Mexico. Telecom has moved its call centre to Philippines. As a result, every local employee loses from the daily rated worker to senior management.

When large factories close, it affects ALL the support industries too and scores of small businesses often go belly up as a result.

However, NZ (and OZ) have something that Sinkiepoor does not and that is industries that simply cannot relocate.. eg mining, dairy, agriculture etc and the job losses from manufacturing can be absorbed by other sectors of the economy.

If Singapore imposes a minimum wage, large employers will simply move operations and most sinkies will end up with NO wage rather than a minimum wage simply because the sinkie economy does not have the breath and depth that other countries have.

People have to realise that Sinkies have nothing special to offer the world. There is absolutely no reason why any corporation would want to set up shop in sinkieland if there are no cost savings. Sinkies aren't as smart as the Jews. They aren't as creative as the yanks or as innovative as the Nordic nations. Take away the cheap labour and Sinkieland is nothing.

The PAP govt is stuck between a rock and a hard place. If they don't allow cheap labour, what else is there to offer to world other than Singlish lessons?

 

[congo9]

I am not for pushing the minimum wage but I am all for drastic reduction of other varable cost and including land cost . Which this sick goverment has push it up drastically all these yrs.

Employers will only innovate if they are forced to do so out of necessity. Innovation involves considerable investment with no guarantee that the productivity gains will provide sufficient return on investment.

You are right, but even without trying to be constant innovating. How can we know that we are not as smart as Jews ? How can we know that we are not as creative as the Yankess ?

Being innovation must be a culture in Singapore and for singapore to thrive ! That culture must take place !

 

[OldPlaza]

why do you want to compare with countries with developing countries per capita income? it's more relevant to compare with developed countries per capita income.

No country is created equal. Can OZ compared with US, or UK compared with OZ. ? SG is probably right in the middle, not Top 5, and not Bottom 5 either.

but do you think it's acceptable for govt. to get fat paychecks when more and more of it's citizens are wallowing in poverty?

Obama might get 400K while in power. When he is done with presidency, his book deals, speaking engagements and etc... could make him a very-very wealthy man for a very-very long time.

Check out how vast wealth is created (secretly or openly) by those in power in My/Indo. At least, in SG they do so openly (I hope so).

In most part of the Asia, once a person is done with politic, he is DONE!!, and sometime may face prosecution or humiliation after that.

 

[Papsmearer]

Ha ha ha....this is the second pieces of UNMO mouth pieces written to Malaysiakini to counter the oppshition bashing ........and also to show their disapproval of pape gov for asking sand in return for third bridge.

So asshole here......shiok rite.....reading it......

I noticed fuck face, that u did not dispute his account. In fact, the local media has also mentioned such sad cases before. I have no problem when other people highlight our destitutes because, the Shit Times will not do it, and fuck faces like u automatically discount it as malaysian interference. Until u can prove that this sort of thing does not exist in S'pore anymore u can fuck off, u Kuan Yew balls sucker.

 

[Papsmearer]

Funny that recently, there has been a number of Malaysia-related people writing about their screw-up experience in Sinkapore and how fucked up it is to live in Singapore...

Are they trying to divert the attention of their people from the core probelm within? Nowadays not bashing the MIW so try something new?

I noticed fuck face, that u did not dispute his account. In fact, the local media has also mentioned such sad cases before. I have no problem when other people highlight our destitutes because, the Shit Times will not do it, and fuck faces like u automatically discount it as malaysian interference. Until u can prove that this sort of thing does not exist in S'pore anymore u can fuck off, u Kuan Yew balls sucker.

 

[Papsmearer]

This Malaysian is right regarding the pricing of the Governmental subsidised flat. Indeed SGD200K for a 3 rooms and SGD300-400K for 5 rooms. The issue of his essay is that it is taken out of context. In the first place, he pays SGD700 to rent a room, the amount is more than enought to offset the utility bill of the household and enough to subsidise monthly expenditure. Yet the electricity was cut off? Something is seriously wrong with house owner in money management.

The author further claimed that the land lord was "surprised" that he own a car and even ask him to drive the car out so that they can go on a car ride? There is no surprise that most of the Malaysians own a car, that is because their public transport system sucks big time!

There is seriously something wrong with the article or the land lord is seriously stingy, ignorant and greedy. Most likely this guy is staying in a poor part of Singapore, like Tajong Pagar GRC.

The article hide the fact that such family system would likely to occupy 5-10% of Singapore households. However, the household in Malaysia with same or worse scenario is probably at 20% mark.

Moron, there is nothing wrong with his money management. the article mentioned that he has a sick mother to look after also. U think $700 is just to pay his utility? He needs it for his other expenses too. Of course the landlord is surprised that he own a car, because in S'pore, car ownership is so expensive. In Malaysia, if u are not picky, u can buy a used car in good running condition for RM$10,000 or less. If such a car was availablein S'pore, lots of people will buy it too, regardless of whether the public transport system is good or not. In case u have not noticed, malaysia is many times bigger than singapore. Its impossible for their public transport system to be as efficient as ours.

 

[Papsmearer]

This Malaysian is right regarding the pricing of the Governmental subsidised flat. Indeed SGD200K for a 3 rooms and SGD300-400K for 5 rooms. The issue of his essay is that it is taken out of context. In the first place, he pays SGD700 to rent a room, the amount is more than enought to offset the utility bill of the household and enough to subsidise monthly expenditure. Yet the electricity was cut off? Something is seriously wrong with house owner in money management.

The author further claimed that the land lord was "surprised" that he own a car and even ask him to drive the car out so that they can go on a car ride? There is no surprise that most of the Malaysians own a car, that is because their public transport system sucks big time!

There is seriously something wrong with the article or the land lord is seriously stingy, ignorant and greedy. Most likely this guy is staying in a poor part of Singapore, like Tajong Pagar GRC.

The article hide the fact that such family system would likely to occupy 5-10% of Singapore households. However, the household in Malaysia with same or worse scenario is probably at 20% mark.

Moron, there is nothing wrong with his money management. the article mentioned that he has a sick mother to look after also. U think $700 is just to pay his utility? He needs it for his other expenses too. Of course the landlord is surprised that he own a car, because in S'pore, car ownership is so expensive. In Malaysia, if u are not picky, u can buy a used car in good running condition for RM$10,000 or less. If such a car was availablein S'pore, lots of people will buy it too, regardless of whether the public transport system is good or not. In case u have not noticed, malaysia is many times bigger than singapore. Its impossible for their public transport system to be as efficient as ours. In malaysia, there is poverty too. But the poor living in kampongs already have a low cost of living, unlike in singapore whether u poor or not, the cost of living is high. Fucking shit head like u dont even understand this.

 

[Papsmearer]

i dont see what he will get by bad mouthing HDB, i assume he is a born looser! typical umno ball licker! if malaysia got some thing better than changi, sia, psa, hdb, cpf, mas, sgx, termasik, gic, or else he should get hes head examine!

I noticed fuck face, that u did not dispute his account. In fact, the local media has also mentioned such sad cases before. I have no problem when other people highlight our destitutes because, the Shit Times will not do it, and fuck faces like u automatically discount it as malaysian interference. Until u can prove that this sort of thing does not exist in S'pore anymore u can fuck off, u Kuan Yew balls sucker.

 

[Char_Azn]

Japan is bigger then Malaysia and as far as I know, their transport system is just as good if not better then ours. And like us most of their pple do not own cars either

Quite frankly someone that poor should be able to get help for medical issues. At least most pple I know who have existing medical conditions are able to get financial help one way or another. I think one of the problems they face is that they have no idea where to seek help. As I said earlier, one of the main problems we have here is not that help isnt available, he has more to do with the fact that no one knows where to find help. For example when my dad was diagnose with Cancer years back and I was still schooling, we had no idea where to seek financial help. Took us quite a while before we managed to find out how to get subsidy for his treatment.

Cost of Medical treatment however is expensive for pple like us who are supposedly middle income. Of all the dumb models PAP wants to follow the screwed up American one. Good luck to anyone in here who doesnt have insurance.

 

[Papsmearer]

I agree with Denzuko1. I think he might be one of those who pull random bullshit out from his mouth

First off lets look at some facts

He is renting the flats at $700 a month

Both homeowner are working. So assuming at the very worse case scenario, each earns only $500 a month, I seriously can't think of anyway they can actually get lower then $500. Even working at McDs will net you more then that a month. Take away CPF, the take home for the 2 is 800.

So far the total is $1.5K.

For someone with that low income they can get help from the government.
If they apply for Workfare, they will get additional $516(258 * 2) cash a month on top of the $600+ each in cpf(I'm assuming workfare applies to individual income and not family income, someone please correct me if I'm wrong)

CPF alone should be enough to cover their home loans in the scenario above

Utility bills are very low for these types of family so utility bills should not be too great and issue. Usually shouldnt go more then $50 a month, if they find themselves lagging in paying utility bills, PUB has a pay as U use scheme which usually helps the family reduce wastage and find themselves able to manage the bills.

Conservancy fees are usually waived for them. Same goes for TV License fees.

School usually have a number of help funds for needy students so there is really no excuse for the girl not to go to school.

Oh yeah and the poor are also given food coupons/vouchers.

On top of that their flats get a free makeover once in a while. A friend of mine just got his windows and door changed and the entire house repainted by the government.

That makes a bit more then $2K every month. Its frankly speaking, not a lot but its just barely enough to get by. I think this guy is either making some of these things up or the family simply does not know where to seek help. In which case the guy who obviously is educated should be helping them seek help from the relevant authorities

look who is the asshole pulling random bullshit from his mouth. YOU ARE!! The article already mentions he has to may the medical bills for his sick mother, as well, his daughter got very sick also. We don't know how much all these medical costs are. they are probably in the thousands of dollars. This guy sacrifice his utility to pay his mother's medical bills and so asshole liek u say he pull random bullshit from his mouth. U better pray your mother don't have as useless a son as u.

 

[Char_Azn]

Japan is bigger then Malaysia and as far as I know, their transport system is just as good if not better then ours. And like us most of their pple do not own cars either

Quite frankly someone that poor should be able to get help for medical issues. At least most pple I know who have existing medical conditions are able to get financial help one way or another. I think one of the problems they face is that they have no idea where to seek help. As I said earlier, one of the main problems we have here is not that help isnt available, he has more to do with the fact that no one knows where to find help. For example when my dad was diagnose with Cancer years back and I was still schooling, we had no idea where to seek financial help. Took us quite a while before we managed to find out how to get subsidy for his treatment.

Cost of Medical treatment however is expensive for pple like us who are supposedly middle income. Of all the dumb models PAP wants to follow the screwed up American one. Good luck to anyone in here who doesnt have insurance.

 

[Papsmearer]

I agree with Denzuko1. I think he might be one of those who pull random bullshit out from his mouth

First off lets look at some facts

He is renting the flats at $700 a month

Both homeowner are working. So assuming at the very worse case scenario, each earns only $500 a month, I seriously can't think of anyway they can actually get lower then $500. Even working at McDs will net you more then that a month. Take away CPF, the take home for the 2 is 800.

So far the total is $1.5K.

For someone with that low income they can get help from the government.
If they apply for Workfare, they will get additional $516(258 * 2) cash a month on top of the $600+ each in cpf(I'm assuming workfare applies to individual income and not family income, someone please correct me if I'm wrong)

CPF alone should be enough to cover their home loans in the scenario above

Utility bills are very low for these types of family so utility bills should not be too great and issue. Usually shouldnt go more then $50 a month, if they find themselves lagging in paying utility bills, PUB has a pay as U use scheme which usually helps the family reduce wastage and find themselves able to manage the bills.

Conservancy fees are usually waived for them. Same goes for TV License fees.

School usually have a number of help funds for needy students so there is really no excuse for the girl not to go to school.

Oh yeah and the poor are also given food coupons/vouchers.

On top of that their flats get a free makeover once in a while. A friend of mine just got his windows and door changed and the entire house repainted by the government.

That makes a bit more then $2K every month. Its frankly speaking, not a lot but its just barely enough to get by. I think this guy is either making some of these things up or the family simply does not know where to seek help. In which case the guy who obviously is educated should be helping them seek help from the relevant authorities

look who is the asshole pulling random bullshit from his mouth. YOU ARE!! The article already mentions he has to pay the medical bills for his sick mother, as well, his daughter got very sick also. We don't know how much all these medical costs are. they are probably in the thousands of dollars. This guy sacrifice his utility to pay his mother's medical bills and so asshole liek u say he pull random bullshit from his mouth. U better pray your mother don't have as useless a son as u.

 

[Char_Azn]

look who is the asshole pulling random bullshit from his mouth. YOU ARE!! The article already mentions he has to pay the medical bills for his sick mother, as well, his daughter got very sick also. We don't know how much all these medical costs are. they are probably in the thousands of dollars. This guy sacrifice his utility to pay his mother's medical bills and so asshole liek u say he pull random bullshit from his mouth. U better pray your mother don't have as useless a son as u.

I'm not prepared to be brought down to your level and start throwing insults around. Read my previous post

Japan is bigger then Malaysia and as far as I know, their transport system is just as good if not better then ours. And like us most of their pple do not own cars either

Quite frankly someone that poor should be able to get help for medical issues. At least most pple I know who have existing medical conditions are able to get financial help one way or another. I think one of the problems they face is that they have no idea where to seek help. As I said earlier, one of the main problems we have here is not that help isnt available, he has more to do with the fact that no one knows where to find help. For example when my dad was diagnose with Cancer years back and I was still schooling, we had no idea where to seek financial help. Took us quite a while before we managed to find out how to get subsidy for his treatment.

Cost of Medical treatment however is expensive for pple like us who are supposedly middle income. Of all the dumb models PAP wants to follow the screwed up American one. Good luck to anyone in here who doesnt have insurance.

 

[Papsmearer]

Japan is bigger then Malaysia and as far as I know, their transport system is just as good if not better then ours. And like us most of their pple do not own cars either

Quite frankly someone that poor should be able to get help for medical issues. At least most pple I know who have existing medical conditions are able to get financial help one way or another. I think one of the problems they face is that they have no idea where to seek help. As I said earlier, one of the main problems we have here is not that help isnt available, he has more to do with the fact that no one knows where to find help. For example when my dad was diagnose with Cancer years back and I was still schooling, we had no idea where to seek financial help. Took us quite a while before we managed to find out how to get subsidy for his treatment.

Cost of Medical treatment however is expensive for pple like us who are supposedly middle income. Of all the dumb models PAP wants to follow the screwed up American one. Good luck to anyone in here who doesnt have insurance.

The fact of the matter is that if u want to apply for medical financial assistance in singapore, good luck to u. They make u jump thru so many hoops. The means test, the forms, etc. If u are an uneducated or primary level english, good luck to completing everything acurately and according to their specifications. The whole system is set up to deter people seeking financial assistance, that is why u have no idea where to seek financial help. If they really want needy people to seek financial help, they would simplify the system and publicise it.

 

[Papsmearer]

This just came to me after reading the article. We are in fact poorer than many malaysians and 3rd world country pple. What is wealth? Sure, we have more zeroes in our bank accounts and jobs with bigger figures on the paycheck, but we actually own less than a decent M'sian citizen. At least they have their own houses and cars, a big countryside and more leisure options.

Why do we accumulate money? To buy the things we want right? The house, the car, the leisure time? If we have $1 trillion in the bank, and get none of these basic things, the money is useless! And that's the problem here! We have bigger paychecks but actually own less when we try to translate the money to the real stuff we want!

U are right. The third world country have low income, but also low cost of living. That is why they are not as bad off in absolute terms as a sinkie might be in their situation.

 

[Char_Azn]

The fact of the matter is that if u want to apply for medical financial assistance in singapore, good luck to u. They make u jump thru so many hoops. The means test, the forms, etc. If u are an uneducated or primary level english, good luck to completing everything acurately and according to their specifications. The whole system is set up to deter people seeking financial assistance, that is why u have no idea where to seek financial help. If they really want needy people to seek financial help, they would simplify the system and publicise it.

Its seems to me that U have never actually applied for any medical assistance before. I cant comment too much on this since I've only done it once but just to share my experience. When we approach the hospital for help settling the bills, the hospital contacted the relevant organization who contacted us. As for filling up the forms, most of it was done with the help of the pple in charge. U do not need to be highly educated or medically trained to fill up the forms, they will do it for you.

And if you were wondering why my dad doesn't have insurance coverage like I mention earlier, it was because we were trying to buy insurance for him that we discovered something was wrong during the medical checkup. Oh and BTW my dad never recovered and has long left this world so I'd appreciate if U dun throw insults his way too

 

[Papsmearer]

Foolhardy to draw conclusion from his personal episode (other than "feel good comparison" of what they have across the causeway). Point being, put this in right context

Diverse and diff social, macro models are in play here, so it's like proverbial comparison durians vs apples. Like, the car is a necessary mode of transport (never mind old jalopies coughing badly) over there. When you can have a humble kancil or perodua for less than ringgit 40k, you get more than 1 car in surburban garage.

And since when can he suka2 bring his car over, save for twlight hours or weekends.. unless he's paying daily premium? Most of us here do with public transport, despite warts and all. Wait till you experience public buses that run through most towns.

Of course u can draw conclusions from his personal experience. Given the obsene amount of pay our minister get, as well as the supposedly swiss standards that we have achieved, NO ONE should live like this in singapore.

 

[Papsmearer]

TPGRC poor? U must be kidding.

The properties there are highly valued...

This densuko is a moron, the article clearly says Clementi

 

[Papsmearer]

why do you want to compare with countries with developing countries per capita income? it's more relevant to compare with developed countries per capita income.

No country is created equal. Can OZ compared with US, or UK compared with OZ. ? SG is probably right in the middle, not Top 5, and not Bottom 5 either.

but do you think it's acceptable for govt. to get fat paychecks when more and more of it's citizens are wallowing in poverty?

Obama might get 400K while in power. When he is done with presidency, his book deals, speaking engagements and etc... could make him a very-very wealthy man for a very-very long time.

Check out how vast wealth is created (secretly or openly) by those in power in My/Indo. At least, in SG they do so openly (I hope so).

In most part of the Asia, once a person is done with politic, he is DONE!!, and sometime may face prosecution or humiliation after that.

Whatever, u are so full of shit. U think Lee Con You after retiring from PM is facing prosecution or humiliation or still running all over the place collecting honorary diplomas and shit like that. Is mahathir facing prosecution or making a lot of money running his own business after his retirement? Only people who are forced from govt. face what u say, otherwise, if u retire, or leave office thru the elections, u will be rewarded with directorships, book deals, etc. Just like the US.