Singapore - a Nation or an Economy?

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

Did you read "Time to tolerate political diversity" by Cherian George in The Sunday Times 10/8?

We need to have good people taking the lead. Singaporeans need to see good people coming forward with initiative.

E-Jay

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

I can name one particular twat, one Gilbert Goh who now resides in Sydney but just loves to write in to ST and Today Forums with his crap.

Yes the adopted country will be superior in one's sense as it fills one's dream of what living should be. However one should also give credit to those who stayed behind to fight our own dreams of a more civil society.

Belittling Sporeans as incompetent fools who can't fit living in a other country (especially Australia???) is surely a misnomer.

 

[madmansg]

is this a trick question ? It is not nation or economy but a slave concentration camp for NS slaves.

 

[NgEjay]

Did you read "Time to tolerate political diversity" by Cherian George in The Sunday Times 10/8?

Yes I did. I will give a summary of it with one or two comments on my website later tonight.

E-Jay

 

[scroobal]

Yes I did. I will give a summary of it with one or two comments on my website later tonight.

E-Jay

Bro, put your website link to save us the finger movements.

 

[peasantJUDGE]

The first discernible change began in 2000 when when foreigners became quite conspicious in our estates, buses and trains, schools from Kindergarden to tertiary institutions, at eateries and drinking joints. In swimming pools and churches. They seem to come from all walks of life and from nearly all parts of Asia and Europe.

They became the engine of growth. To fuel the economy and to keep the country competitive.

The same tiny spread of land suddenly held over 4M people well above what we were told was 2.3M. With more mouths to feed, consumption levels rose, demand increased and prices began a steady and upward trend. CPF no longer could sustain us in retirement.

Our parents and grandparents became familiar sight in fast food outlets, forming the bedrock of cleaning crews for the multitude of buildings and facilities and retirement was no longer an option or a feature of a modern developing country. The clock seem to go backwards.

Space became an issue, jobs became an issue, accent became an issue, language became an issue, nationality became an issue, eating in MRT trains became an issue, streetwalking became an issue, cleanliness and hygiene became an issue, scholarships became an issue, roads became an issue, free flowing traffic became an issue, parking became an issue. Even crossing the the causeways to space and fresh airs became an issue.The country began to morph faster than any other any other country on earth.

This is not about foreigners or migrants as singapore was built on the backs of migrants. This is about nationhood and building a better society. Its about allowing every singaporean who is prepared to toil to be part of the country's wealth and future. Its about managing inflows and outflows of people. Its about identity. Its about National Service and loyalty. Its about a Nationalism and pride. It certainly not about the economy. And its certainly not about economic indices to be measured by. Its certainly not the place or the time for trials and errors.

You know you are in trouble when an expat tells you after 20 years that life was so much better then, when driving was a breeze, rentals were affordable, pubs had space and shopping was a delight.

Are we on the right track. Is there someone with an alternative view or an approach. Is there a safety meachanism to stop bad and misguided policies. Is there an opportunity to be heard and to asnwer the call for validation.

Have we taken a turn and can't come back. Are we going to lose a generation.

Singapore is Lee Kuan Yew & Family's corporation, and you and your fellow citizens are just the workers in it. That's all there's to it.

 

[Goh Meng Seng]

Planning is done so that the National Psyche is not bruised. Their citizens are not treated in a secondary manner and their needs are met without turning society topsy turvy. The final result is that their national identity remains intact while they progress as a nation.

Get the picture.

Well said Scroobal. Throughout the years and decades, we have become just an economic digit or slave to the whole system rather than a citizen with pride.

I am sadden by our PM's recent speech that he only sees the "complains and concerns" of high cost of living and influx of Foreign workers as just plain "complains" that should be side stepped for "bigger picture" when apparently, he and his cabinet of ministers could not really see the bigger picture of Nationhood.

Pathetic, really.

Goh Meng Seng

 

[Ramseth]

Singapore is already a nation, and therefore has nationhood. The world is globalising and expats are all over the world in most nations where there's a better likelihood for a better livelihood. Singapore's problem is the small size and how to manage it.

I estimate that there're more than 10 million Asian immigrants and more than 20 million Latin American immigrants in the USA. However, the USA has a population base of some 300 million and land mass of some 9 million sq.km. The immigrants may cause social problems here and there, but overall, these are isolated cases here and there.

In Singapore, with a population base of 3 million and land mass of 700 sq.km., an influx of a million is surely not an isolated case but an encompassing case.

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

How to win the perception battle

P N BALJI


editorial director [email protected]

.
IF POLITICS is an art that combines practice and perception, then the Prime Minister and his team have their work cut out.
.
Devoting nearly one-third of his National Day rally speech to what is really an old story — what the Government has done and is doing to help you fight inflation — one could almost notice a sense of exasperation in Mr Lee Hsien Loong’s voice when he thought aloud: How come some Singaporeans don’t appreciate all the goodies that are being given to them?
.
Or, in keeping with the spirit and tone of his three-hour speech on Sunday night: Why money no enough?
.
The PM had some answers. The Government does not make a song and dance of the help dished out. The help is indirect, not as direct as putting cash in your hand. And many don’t connect it with the prices of essential items that are going up atunstoppable speed.
.
These make up only part of the story. The other part is both fundamental and core to the way Singapore is governed.
.
It has to do with the way the goodie box is given out. Most of the goodies have caveats attached to them. To get the Workfare Income Supplement, low-skilled older workers must first contribute to their CPF Medisave accounts. To qualify for the Home Ownership Plus Education scheme, poor families cannot have more than two children, the wife must be 35 years old and under, and there must be no divorce.
.
Underpinning this approach is the belief that the government should not be seen as a Santa Claus. It has worked for Singapore as it bulldozed its way from a sleepy backwater fishing village to amodern metropolis.
.
In the process, the country moved from one that was careful with money to one that began to slowly loosen its purse strings.
.
This year alone, $3 billion was given out. This is no small sum but to the average heartlander trying to keep his head above water, the figure is not something he can grasp, let alone imagine.
.
You can go down to the ground and try and win the perception battle by explaining, like the PM did very patiently and very graphically on Sunday.
.
You might get a few converts but when they come face-to-face with the harshreality of a shrinking dollar, rationality will take a back seat.
.
What also needs to be done is to see how the giving, at least for those who need immediate pain relievers in extraordinary situations like today’s, can be done in a give-now-talk-later fashion. Move away as much as possible from aid that is tied to too many conditions. And don’t pay out in instalments, please. Wherever possible, hand out money in one lump sum.
.
For these to happen, the Government needs to move away from relying on the “What If ...” questions. What if he considers it free cash? What if he spends it allon unnecessary things?
.
Those questions can be asked when times are good, not when what many are looking for is quick and easy relief. That will call for a further tweak to the way Singapore has been governed all these years.
.
In his fifth Rally speech on Sunday, traces of that approach were still evident. The PM talked about getting Singaporeans to meet and, hopefully, get hitched. He also spoke about how Singaporeans should be more gracious.
.
Both bring back memories of years gone by and should really be left in the realm of individual and independentaction.
.
What we also saw on Sunday night was a modern-day PM not just showing his mastery of the nuances of policy making but his display of connectivity with a handphone doubling up as a video camera, live phone chat with our man at the Beijing Olympics, charts ... the works. Even the words he chose — lobang, for instance — showed his willingness in wanting to connect with the ground.
.
The next step is to show how his Government will stamp its mark by getting his ministers, MPs, civil servants and grassroots activists to fight the perception battle and win it.
.
It is not just the Singaporean’s mindset that needs to be changed.

Well said Scroobal. Throughout the years and decades, we have become just an economic digit or slave to the whole system rather than a citizen with pride.

I am sadden by our PM's recent speech that he only sees the "complains and concerns" of high cost of living and influx of Foreign workers as just plain "complains" that should be side stepped for "bigger picture" when apparently, he and his cabinet of ministers could not really see the bigger picture of Nationhood.

Pathetic, really.

Goh Meng Seng

 

[zhihau]

... Even the words he chose — lobang, for instance — showed his willingness in wanting to connect with the ground ...

willingness in wanting to connect with the ground? take home only SGD$50K a year and to feed your entire family with this SGD$50K and you'll immediately connect with the middle class

 

[Porfirio Rubirosa]

I guess the ministerial pay issue shall be a perennial albatross around the PAP government's neck

willingness in wanting to connect with the ground? take home only SGD$50K a year and to feed your entire family with this SGD$50K and you'll immediately connect with the middle class

 

[Shi Jin]

I guess the ministerial pay issue shall be a perennial albatross around the PAP government's neck

Well that is because it was alway immoral!

 

[veritastruth]

Money tends to sap the soul away after a while. We have been at it for over four decades !

 

[peasantJUDGE]

The first discernible change began in 2000 when when foreigners became quite conspicious in our estates, buses and trains, schools from Kindergarden to tertiary institutions, at eateries and drinking joints. In swimming pools and churches. They seem to come from all walks of life and from nearly all parts of Asia and Europe.

They became the engine of growth. To fuel the economy and to keep the country competitive.

The same tiny spread of land suddenly held over 4M people well above what we were told was 2.3M. With more mouths to feed, consumption levels rose, demand increased and prices began a steady and upward trend. CPF no longer could sustain us in retirement.

Our parents and grandparents became familiar sight in fast food outlets, forming the bedrock of cleaning crews for the multitude of buildings and facilities and retirement was no longer an option or a feature of a modern developing country. The clock seem to go backwards.

Space became an issue, jobs became an issue, accent became an issue, language became an issue, nationality became an issue, eating in MRT trains became an issue, streetwalking became an issue, cleanliness and hygiene became an issue, scholarships became an issue, roads became an issue, free flowing traffic became an issue, parking became an issue. Even crossing the the causeways to space and fresh airs became an issue.The country began to morph faster than any other any other country on earth.

This is not about foreigners or migrants as singapore was built on the backs of migrants. This is about nationhood and building a better society. Its about allowing every singaporean who is prepared to toil to be part of the country's wealth and future. Its about managing inflows and outflows of people. Its about identity. Its about National Service and loyalty. Its about a Nationalism and pride. It certainly not about the economy. And its certainly not about economic indices to be measured by. Its certainly not the place or the time for trials and errors.

You know you are in trouble when an expat tells you after 20 years that life was so much better then, when driving was a breeze, rentals were affordable, pubs had space and shopping was a delight.

Are we on the right track. Is there someone with an alternative view or an approach. Is there a safety meachanism to stop bad and misguided policies. Is there an opportunity to be heard and to asnwer the call for validation.

Have we taken a turn and can't come back. Are we going to lose a generation.

Final answer: Singapore is an ECONOMY.

 

[scroobal]

4. The civil servants have taken the easy way out in terms of selling or creating value for business and Singapore, instead of selling or making better, they have tried to make labor cheaper with foreign imports because everything else will not budge
Locke

Bro, no matter how you cut, slice and dice this, I have to agree with you fully that the civil servants have indeed taken the easy way out.

I suppose its easier to measure economic and monetary changes than it is to benchmark societal quality measures.

If you look ove the years, wages has been central key to our economic managment. If you recall, Lim Chong Yah used to chair the National Wages Council for donkey years and worked with NTUC, Employers etc to tweak this. There were moves to value add, high tech and pharmaceuticals and lately Life Sciences but the addiction to cheap labour continues to leach on.

Sometime in the late 90s, they just gave up and opened the gates to foreign cheap labour across the workforce. It became all too hard. Its looks like Old Man and GCT at least were better at it.

 

[scroobal]

I am sadden by our PM's recent speech that he only sees the "complains and concerns" of high cost of living and influx of Foreign workers as just plain "complains" that should be side stepped for "bigger picture" when apparently, he and his cabinet of ministers could not really see the bigger picture of Nationhood.

Pathetic, really.

Goh Meng Seng

LHL is very different from Old Man and GCT. Both never attempted sincerely or otherwise to talk down. Their speeches tended to be tough, had direction whether you liked it or not and it did not sound apologetic.

LHL is still trying to push across the message that he is a Kaki, knows the lobangs etc and the part that I thought looked silly was the suggestion that they don't like to make the sing and dance about their contribution to needy.

No much of a leader. Some of the imbeciles in the RC chairmanship post might goiven him a run for the money.

 

[Wang Ye]

LHL is very different from Old Man and GCT. Both never attempted sincerely or otherwise to talk down. Their speeches tended to be tough, had direction whether you liked it or not and it did not sound apologetic.

LHL is still trying to push across the message that he is a Kaki, knows the lobangs etc and the part that I thought looked silly was the suggestion that they don't like to make the sing and dance about their contribution to needy.

No much of a leader. Some of the imbeciles in the RC chairmanship post might goiven him a run for the money.

That's what happens when you got no substance. Guess someone must have told him that better be buddy buddy with the masses since you got no talent. Anyway Ah Boy has never been much of a leader.

 

[Wobble]

former economics teacher told us: "Singapore is a communist state like China with a slight difference...we allow easy job hops"...but that was 19years ago...

to me, we have become an economy...a bubble economy

 

[scroobal]

That's what happens when you got no substance. Guess someone must have told him that better be buddy buddy with the masses since you got no talent. Anyway Ah Boy has never been much of a leader.

One gets worried when the opportunities to show leadership is not used. He behaves like the modern civil servant who will never make a public comment unlike the Mandarins of the past.

 

[scroobal]

former economics teacher told us: "Singapore is a communist state like China with a slight difference...we allow easy job hops"...but that was 19years ago...

to me, we have become an economy...a bubble economy

Singapore certainly fits into the centrally planned economic model.