Golden Period PM:Sinkies must work harder.

[imperialarms]

<div class="date">Nov 2, 2008
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<div class="top_headline"> S'poreans must work hard <!--<span class="timestamp">10 min</span>-->
</div> Country cannot afford to be weak, says PM at youth dialogue
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<td colspan="2" class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold">By Goh Chin Lian </td>
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<div class="caption">In giving this dose of reality, Mr Lee also strived to assure his youthful audience that their goals and aspirations can come true in Singapore. -- PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
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<p> BHUTAN has a yardstick for measuring success which some youth here yearn to have in place of Singapore's relentless pursuit of economic growth.
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<p> It was a longing that struck a chord in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday, but he was quick to explain why Bhutan's Gross National Happiness index was not suitable for Singapore.
</p>
<p> 'We are one small island in the middle of a very turbulent South-east Asia. You have to watch your GDP (gross domestic product), because if you are poor, you will be weak; if you are weak, something will happen to you,' he said.
</p>
<p> He gave this gentle warning to graduate student Chong Kwek Yan, 25, who posed the question at a dialogue Mr Lee had with 150 students and professionals.
</p>
<p> The Prime Minister then set out for his audience of 17- to 35-year- olds the overriding challenges facing Singapore in the short, medium and long term.
</p>
<p> In the present economic crisis, Singapore's most urgent concern is to keep the economy humming along and to look after the low-income earners.
</p>
<p> In the medium term, it needs to focus on how to produce enough Singaporean babies and attract foreign talent.
</p>
<p> For the long term, Singapore has to renew its political leadership and build up a sense of identity.
</p>
<p> But in giving this dose of reality, the 56-year-old Prime Minister also strived to assure his youthful audience that their goals and aspirations can come true in Singapore.
</p>
<p> The 80-minute dialogue, an annual event, was organised by the National Youth Council.
</p>
<p> Although political issues such as political expression and succession held sway at the start of the session, many were also anxious over what they see as the high cost of living here.
</p>
<p> Ms Sonia Ong, 26, director of a public relations firm, said the maid levy and heavy taxes here were making her wonder whether she might be better off in Hong Kong.
</p>
<p> Mr Lee pointed out that total taxes here, at 15per cent of GDP, were 'very, very low'.
</p>
<p> 'For nearly everybody in this room, if you were in Hong Kong, you would pay more tax than you would personal taxes.'
</p>
<p> He added: 'The trouble is our taxes come in places where you notice...so you drive less or think about whether you really need a maid.'
</p>
<p> Indeed, owning a car has become too costly, especially for the middle class, some felt.
</p>
<p> But Mr Lee was swift to point out that in charging drivers for using rather than owning a car, ownership has become much cheaper, which is why so many more cars are on the road.
</p>
<p> He also highlighted how the middle-income group is also benefiting from government policies which help ensure that its earners' wages go up yearly.
</p>
<p> On economic competitiveness, he cautioned against going down the road of Germany, which had a generous welfare scheme that gave workers six weeks of vacation. The result was that factories moved to former communist countries such as Hungary and Romania.
</p>
<p> Similarly, Singapore faces a region in which people in India, China and Vietnam are working harder. 'If we want to sweat less, are we going to be up there?' he said.
</p>
<p> Mr Lee agreed with lawyer Leon Yee, 32, who noted that, unlike Singapore, Hong Kong can more immediately tap a Greater China hinterland.
</p>
<p> Mr Lee said: 'That is a reason we need to work harder, because we don't have China next door which can rescue us, help us or defend us.
</p>
<p> 'We are Singapore. We are one country on our own.'
</p>

 

[zhihau]

S'poreans must work hard

beep beep beep! isn't that a no brainer? we can even see elderly folks well in their 70s and 80s collecting cardboard in the streets and aluminum cans from the food centres... not working hard enough ar?

 

[Black Swan]

Just working harder is so passe now. We should be working smarter, shrewder, dirtier,softer,etc etc depending on circumstances.

 

[chinkangkor]

Work so hard until health deteroriates and need medical care, do we earn enough for our future hospitalisation?

 

[eeoror88]

Work so hard until health deteroriates and need medical care, do we earn enough for our future hospitalisation?

Use your brains lah !! Go buy health insurance !! Go .... shooo ...

 

[Bigfuck]

You will get a pay cut is the real message. We are looking at 2500 and below per month. Bell curve will have pronounced peak and very left skewed.

 

[i1u12]

Why are we not optimistic about the present day situation?

 

[eeoror88]

Why are we not optimistic about the present day situation?

Are you dreaming or still half asleep ??? Wake up your fucking idea !!

 

[Bigfuck]

Are you dreaming or still half asleep ??? Wake up your fucking idea !!

Must be smelling too much LKY fart and intoxicated. Cannot see the giant foot going to squash Singapore economy. Short of signing up as a bitch of USA or some other imperialist country, we are screwed.

 

[melzp]

year in n year out, always tell us to work hard.
we are all tired already, ,,,,,,,,,,,ok ??
Now is the time for u to work to turn around the
economy....can u ?....mr Lee

 

[huahero]

Work Harder!!? Tell our President Nathan who earns $3 million a year to do more Charity shows, Wave more, shake more peasants hands and smile more. What else can he do?

http://cocoonman.blogspot.com/2007/04/politics-president-nathan-3-million.html

 

[The_Latest_H]

Singaporeans have worked hard; but they are the ones who had seen themselves unemployed because of government policies in relation to labour.

Singaporeans have worked hard; in spite of that wages have gone down in spite of higher productivity.

Singaporeans have worked hard and some have paid their taxes, directly, and many have paid indirectly; in spite of that, the money instead of being ploughed back into education, and healthcare for all Singaporeans, has been given to FT sportsmen/women and students who stay for a few years, and then leave after that.

So what's the point of working hard, when we are condemned to a mediocre life, massive debt and an abysmal career? If the government allows this to happen, and allow themselves to rake in millions of dollars in salaries, and then deprive Singaporeans of career, family and financial security, then what's the point of working hard?

Working hard seems more often than not, people would get some fair share of their rewards in their family, social and financial lives. But if they get nothing, more and more likely than not, young people will leave.

Especially if they see overseas young S'poreans like them, students and young professionals alike, be happy, able to afford a car and a house without over-mortgaging, and having healthy bank accounts, and generally having good careers, a happy family and with friends.

 

[depeche]

Work hard leh...CPF is no enough for us to invest oversea leh...work very hard OK!