Eat That Peanut

Couple of days after I'd written about Singapore Airlines (SIA) losing market share, the company shocked the business world today by reporting that Q1 profit dived 82% from a year ago.
I don't like to say this but hey... I told you so!

As usual, they said fuel prices were to blame. Which airline isn't affected by it?
And seeing that they, together with subsidiary Tiger Airways, have been appointing "foreign talents" to head up operations, we would expect them to do better.
Instead, competitors like Emirates and Cathay Pacific have been steadily chipping away at SIA's market share.

Former Straits Times journalist Rodney King's book "The Singapore Miracle - Myth and Reality" threw doubts on the PAP's claims of "cutting-edge efficiency, global competitiveness, economic freedom and transparency."
A must read for anyone concerned about our future sustainability as an economic success. While it may not be as ubiquitous as a certain other politician's books, you should be able to find it at Kinokuniya at Ngee Ann City and Select Books at Tanglin Shopping Centre. And there's always Amazon.com.

When ex-SDP candidate and current Presidential hopeful Tan Jee Say introduced his S$60 billion National Regeneration Plan (NRP) during the lead up to the May Elections, many PAP Ministers including his former employer Goh Chok Tong rushed to shoot it down.
The reason is simple.
This plan benefits Singaporeans, not PAP.
Part of it involves training another 30,000 teachers and building 300 more schools. The aim is to bring down class room size which has remained the same (40) since I was in primary education in the early 80s!
It will also save Singaporean parents the unnecessary grief of the daunting balloting for primary school places.

Another part of it advocates a regeneration of our manufacturing industries and move towards higher productive and higher valued service-related industries. Currently, the MNCs and Government Linked Companies are enjoying huge amounts of tax breaks, rental subsidies etc but are creating lower quality jobs for Singaporeans. Many MNCs are also guilty of exploiting the lax foreign labour laws and hiring foreigners to occupy the better positions.

Why is the PAP so apprehensive of the NRP? Afterall, it is endorsed by a former British Head of Civil Service. (The British incidentally were responsible for many of our institutions, including our Civil Service)

- MNCs might start to pack up and leave. This reduces demand for foreign workers and affects population growth. GDP is hit and Ministers lose some of their bonuses.
- GLCs may be dismantled much like what happened to the Chaebol. With so many of the party's fraternity related to these GLCs, it's anathema.
- They will have to start spending more on healthcare, education and social services. Which leaves little for Temasek and GIC to play with.

In 2008, a political storm swept across Malaysia resulting in Barisan Nasional's worst electoral showing ever.
And to this day, the storm hasn't let up.
This minor democratic success served as a wake up call to the country's ruling elite culminating in the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

Call it funny, creative, cheesy or anything else, its exactly what Singapore needs. Malaysians may already have surpassed our quality of life. The ETP should help them race ahead one day.