Spend more on defence, spend less on healthcare

Since taking over from Mr. "$8 bypass" Khaw, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong has been buy introducing a few cosmetic changes to our healthcare system:

• Under the Primary Care Partnership Scheme (PCPS), the qualifying age has been lowered from 65 to 40 to help citizens manage their chronic diseases earlier. The income criteria has been raised from SGD800 (US$616) a month to SGD1,500 (US$1,156) a month
• Subsidies for some higher-cost standard drugs will increase from 50% to 75% for eligible patients with healthcare benefits card
• Increase in Medication Assistance Fund (MAF) for selected drugs, up to subsidies of 75%
• Medifund to be extended to community- and home-based intermediate and long-term care (ILTC) services
• Medisave withdrawal limit for Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP) to be increased from SGD300 (US$231) (Medisave300) to SGD400 (US$308) (Medisave400)

Still, the changes will have minimal impact on affordability of healthcare due to a minor problem: The continued lack of facilities and beds.
According to a Straits Times report, despite the long overdue arrival of Khoo Teck Puat hospital, the new kid on the block had to divert patients elsewhere due to chronic bed shortage.

The problem actually lies deep within the PAP hierarchy.
The World Health Organisation puts Singapore's government healthcare expenditure as a percentage of GDP is a meagre 3.9%, way behind the region's average of 5.4%. Private healthcare expenditure, where patients bear the cost of healthcare, as a proportion of total healthcare expenditure is at 63%, a figure more commonly associated with developing nations. Indeed, this puts us in the league of Vietnam, Philippines and India.

International research firm Business Monitor documents that the government has drastically reduced its burden from 45% in the year 2000 to an all-time low of 32% in 2007.
In other words, as the colloquial saying goes "you die your business", the PAP has cunningly shifted the rising cost of healthcare to Singaporeans.
The situation is even more mind-boggling when you consider that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong opened the floodgates to foreigners as soon as he took office in 2004. Shouldn't increased population growth = higher government healthcare spending?

Singstat recently revealed that there are 1.9 million foreigners living in this red dot. More than one in three people you meet in the street has not taken part in our nation building nor contributed to national service but are enjoying the fruits of Singaporeans' labour, including our over-stretched and under-funded healthcare.

Yet the PAP continues with the archaic behaviour of spending huge amounts of our budget on Defence.
Indeed, we rank 13th out of over 200 countries in terms of the magnitude of our military spending, as a % of GDP. Looking at the table below, most of the high spenders are from the Middle East, a region notorious for religious unrest even till today. What's even more puzzling is that our % spend is so close to the proverbial global superpower and policeman, the United States of America.
While the US Congress is stabilising (and trying to reduce) military spending, still hovering at 4.8% in 2010, our Singapore leaders opted to increase the share to 5.4% in this year's budget.
So we officially spend more as a % of GDP on defence than the USA!!

In dollar terms, that's S$ 3,350,000,000 more than what we spend on healthcare!

I'm not downplaying the signficance of self defence. But in an age where nations are more worried about mortgages and defaults, and where cross border trade is the order of globalisation, how real is the external military threat?
Terrorism is here to stay but wouldn't a self sufficient, small but highly trained regular army do the job?
Not even the battalions of National Servicemen dispatched could find the limping Mas Selamat when he escaped.

And just imagine the Singaporean lives that could be bettered or saved with that extra 3 billion dollars every year?

Parliament finally convened, 5 long months after the General Elections. As usual, like a well-choreographed dance routine, PAP MPs pop up in numbers to endorse the President's opening address.
Dr Tony Tan used the usual catchphrases like "better life for all", "all inclusive society" etc etc.

What I would like to see is Parliament debating on whether it's necessary to spend such exorbitant sums on defence. If reducing the 10 year reservist cycle or duration of each in camp means billions of dollars channeled into healthcare and education, we should do it.

At least this is more productive then spending precious sittings bashing Singaporeans.

Fun Pack Song--- Sigh

Many people reacted with dismay when JJ Lin's infamous YOG song was broadcast from tree to tree.

Many people reacted with horror when Colonel Ong Tze Ch'in and his band of organisers for this year's PAP Parade aka National Day Parade (NDP) created a totally absurd version of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance song.

Just with previous attempts at hip-hop dancing and rapping, the PAP establishment bungles at every chance to be "cool".

When I was a kid, we used to sing community songs proudly. "Stand Up for Singapore", "Count on me Singapore", "We are Singapore" etc etc.
Now with the Singaporean identity lost in a sea of foreigners, the feeling is quite different.

But at least, the "Fun Pack song", as this debacle has come to be known, has helped draw some attention to the NDP, albeit unwanted.
More and more Singaporeans use the National Day holiday to visit Malaysia instead of watching the parade.
You can't really blame us for our indifference to our independence day when Lee Kuan Yew himself labelled some contents of our National Pledge as "high falutin" ideas.

Still, the light at the end of the tunnel is that the organisers may have to pull the song out of the parade due to copyright infringements. And it so happens that Lady Gaga is in town today.

Will the musical freak herself freak out at these lyrics?

Let’s start with the bag
That’s right grab your bag
It’s the fun pack pack
Attack the fun pack

Take out the flag, (inaudible)
You can wave it, if you feel like it
Let’s wave the flag
Wave, wave, wave
Let’s wave the flag

(Very nice Singapore, well done)

Take out your light stick, it’s two of a kind
It’s interactive, means you can join
Just pretend
Oh, oh, oh
(Inaudible)

I want Newater and water for a drink
You and me let’s share a bit
I want a biscuit and I want a sweet
You and me let’s share this treat

Kopi O o o o o o o
Time for the fun pack song
Kopi O o o o o o o
We like the fun pack song

Let’s start with the bag
That’s right grab your bad
It’s the fun pack pack
Let’s get the fun pack

I want Newater and water for a drink
You and me let’s share a bit
I want a biscuit and I want a sweet
You and me let’s share this treat

Kopi O o o o o o o
Time for the fun pack song
Kopi O o o o o o o
We like the fun pack song

Let’s start with the bag
That’s right grab your bad
It’s the fun pack pack
Attack the fun pack

One thing's for sure, the incident is frankly embarrassing Singapore.
It probably embarrassed Hitler too.

To conscript or not to conscript?

Taiwan's former President Chen Shui Bian's Democratic and Progressive Party (DPP) pro-independence stance was always going to increase Cross Straits tension. Whether rightly or wrongly, he often irked Beijing with his combative style. So when Ma Ying-Jeou of the Opposition took power in 2008, all eyes were on his China policies.
Within months of taking office, Time Magazine documented that Cross Straits Relations had improved dramatically.
Among other things, Ma launched direct weekend charter flights between PRC and Taiwan for the first time, opened Taiwan to mainland Chinese tourists, eased restrictions on Taiwan investment in mainland China and approved measures that will allow mainland Chinese investors to buy Taiwan stocks.

Despite all this, it was reported in 2009 that China continued to aim more than 2,000 missiles at Taiwan. I may not be an armament specialist but that seems enough to level most of Taipei.
Nonetheless, diplomacy has probably reduced the chance that those warheads would ever be fired.

You would think that such real military threat calls for an extension of Conscription.
But that couldn't be further away from the reallity.

Taiwan wants to completely do away with conscript and have a full volunteer force by 2014. The draftee service period will also be shortened to 12 months.
This trend is prevalent in many countries today. Close to 100 countries have no enforced conscription.
Many are also reducing service period.
Other than South Korea and Israel who obviously live in fear of their neighbours, Singapore is the only developed state that has compulsory service over 18 months, joining the likes of Cuba, Angola and Syria.

I guess most nations see that the pen is mightier than the sword. In today's globalised world where inter- regional trade sustains most economies, the risk of armed conflict is simply too high.
Many armies are also reinventing themselves by leveraging on technology advancements. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is an example of replacing soldiers with machines. In the last Iraq War, the US Army also started using Unmanned Ground Vehicles to conduct dangerous missions.

The Singapore Armed Forces claims that it is transforming our military into a 3G Army. Yet one could argue that the manpower requirements seem to be the same as before.
Many people are questioning what they are defending, this compounded by the fact that over 40% of the population today are foreigners with no long term loyalty to Singapore.
Defence Minister Dr. Ng Eng Hen reiterated that he sees no reason why new citizens should serve National Service. (NS)
New walkover MP and former Chief of Army MG (NS) Chan Chun Sing shocked Singaporeans when he affirmed this view to defend another PAP MP who became citizen just three years ago without serving a single day of NS.
For those who don't know, the 2 years (plus 10 reservist years) of military service is a rite of passage for every Singaporean male.

I agree that we should never take security for granted. Which is why PAP officials should stop criticising other governments behind their backs.
It may be an opportune time to review the entire military service institution. If governments in warring or high tension regions can do it, why can't we?

To be honest, there is much more internal security issues to worry about considering that dead bodies have been turning up everywhere. And we had artwork done on our MRT trains, remember?

Opposition sweeps Thai Elections

Opposition Puea Thai won a clear majority in Thailand's landmark elections on Sunday.
Thai voters have overwhelmingly ditched the elitist Democrat Party in favour of populace policies of the poor that Thaksin's party stands for.

While nothing is black and white in politics, the fact that Thai people had the guts to vote for change after waves of red shirts, yellow shirts protests, speaks highly of the electorate.

In Singapore, a developed state, more and more people have fallen through the cracks. The poor has gotten poorer. Purchasing power is diminishing.
The middle class is increasingly sandwiched between chunks of foreigners who've taken away good jobs and depressed wages in the long run. Housing has become a life long burden, retirement a dream and marriage rates have dipped to an all-time low.

Yet 60% of Singaporeans didn't have the testicular fortitude to vote for change.

Singaporeans have lots to learn from our Northern neighbours. Or remain daft for life.

Higher...higher....high off the ground

The Energy Market Authority of Singapore has approved yet another hike in electricity tariffs in the city state. Tariffs have been on an upward trend for 33 months!!

I compared the latest household tariffs across select countries and Singaporeans pay alot more than other countries to keep our food chilled or play Xbox.

In fact, only UK and Japan from the chart above registered higher tariffs. Hong Kongers and Australians pay significantly less than us.

With the exception of Russia and Malaysia, all the countries on the chart are net oil importers. That means the lame reason cited by SP Services that increased power generation costs due to higher oil prices are to blame is invalid.
Higher oil prices effect nearly every economy in the world and yet many of these economies have found ways to either produce energy more efficiently or increase subsidies.

In 2004, Singapore Power forked out S$6.3 billion to buy Australian assets of TXU Corp.
It gets better.
Of that amount, $2.2 billion came from SingPower's own cash hoard. The only way a power producer cum seller can make that obscene amount from a tiny market is profiteering.
It doesn't stop there.
In 2007, the company was at it again teaming up with Babcock to buy more Australia assets spending $6 billion in the process. In addition, the consortium agreed to assume $6.5 billion in Alinta's debt.
Babcock eventually collapsed in 2009 so it is not known how much bad debt is on the books of Singapore Power.
Are Singaporeans being overcharged to shore up accounts?

Then in 2008, they sold a power generator PowerSeraya to Malaysian company YTL Power.

It seems that Singapore Power has put shareholder interest way above consumers whom they have been sucking blood from all these years.

Also, do you know that Singapore Power exports electricity to Malaysia? It has excess power generation capacity of over 3000 megawatts.

So with overhanging supply, basic economics ceteris paribus, prices should be low.
Yet Singaporeans continue to get ripped off month after month because Singapore Power is a complete monopoly.

In any case, it is unlikely for oil futures to go much higher for the following reasons:

1) Unlike the 2008 oil crisis, there is a supply glut. Half the OPEC countries want to increase production and half don't. Supply is there for sure.

2) Slowdown in US and Eurozone to dampen oil consumption in medium term.

3) While the Japan disaster has affected nuclear programmes globally, it is still currently the only long term viable solution to energy-hungry developing states. So as countries diversify from oil into renewables, demand for oil may decrease in future.

So why isn't the PAP stepping up to protect the interest of Singaporeans?

I'm dedicating this song to the 60% who voted for higher electricity bills.

Lost in Translation

I was at Toys R Us the other day and wanted to buy an Elmo soft toy for my daughter. I approached this young chap for help. He was Mainland Chinese.
It's OK if he didn't know Elmo but he didn't understand what a soft toy was. Frustrated, I walked all the way to the counter to get assistance from a local staff.
How many of you have had similar experiences? Being a customer these days can be a harrowing experience because many PRC (and other foreign) service staff, who are employed in droves, do not know basic English.

Please don't get me started on the "effectively bilingual" nonsense. Since when is the national language of Singapore Mandarin? Lee Kuan Yew by his own admission said his insistence on bilingualism is wrong.

Further, the People's Action Party has prided itself for building a multi-racial society. It's one of the "core values". Therefore, there should be a unifying language for the service industry... English.

So I read to my chagrin in State Media yesterday that employers aren't sending their foreign workers for the Service Literacy Test. (SLT)
It's unthinkable that a developed country like Singapore doesn't have compulsory language tests for overseas hires.

Top immigration destinations like US, UK, Canada and Australia require foreigners to undergo some form of English literacy test. Hong Kong also adopts a point based test system for immigration.
Yet the Singapore government continues its arbitrary ways of assessing foreign residents.

A couple of reasons cited for lack of participation in the SLT.
1) Too costly to train for test
2) Too stressful for workers

Let's examine these reasons.
A worker who passes the test is eligible for a $100 reduction in foreign worker levy.
However, it costs each employer between $250-1000 per head for the preparation classes.
And the courses are not subsidised by the government.

Separately, the government has set aside $10 million of public money for programmes to integrate foreigners into our society. Curiously, I always thought the onus is on new immigrants to integrate with the locals.
You don't see the Australian government shelling out taxpayers' money to organise a Burmese water festival. If the Burmese want to celebrate their festival, they are free to do so on their own accord.
Still I'm not sure how splashing water on each other is the best use of a precious resource, considering we are already turning to recycled water for our daily needs.

Isn't the money better used to ensure quality service standards and raise the level of customer service in this country? Make English training courses mandatory and subsidise them.

Nevertheless, it's truly uniquely Singapore that the PAP takes in unskilled workers en masse only to train them on home soil. Shouldn't things be done in a more logical manner where workers are screened before they are given visas or even step onto our shores?

Granted, we are not asking for scholars to take up service jobs but there must be a minimum proficiency in basic English to communicate with our Malay, Indian and Eurasian brethren and our older generation who studied Malay as second language.
My Dad is one of them and he has so much difficulty interacting with PRC service staff in our food courts and restaurants.

Too stressful? Surely every kind of test brings some level of stress. Nonetheless, there have been reports that the SLT is "easy to pass". So it's probably just an excuse.
The reason why PRC workers aren't keen on learning English is because they just don't want to (and not compelled to) and expect Singaporeans to speak their language instead.

And by the way, this goes for Filipinos too. It's a misconception that every Filipino can speak English well. Many families live in poverty and can't afford to send their children to middle school.
And Malaysians too.

The SLT should be mandatory for workers of all countries where English is not the native language.
As I'm not bilingually blessed, eating can be pretty stressful when the PRC staff doesn't understand when I don't want bean sprouts and spring onions in my noodles!

Dr. Tony Tan, next President of the Republic of Singapore?

Presidential hopeful Tony Tan claimed that he is running as an independent and the PAP did not ask him to stand.
Surely, unless you believe raising GST helps the poor,  Dr. Tan can't be a neutral.
Let's take a look. Dr. Tan was an ex-PAP MP. He is still the Executive Director of the Government Investment Corporation (GIC) and  Chairman of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) until July 1st.

GIC is a rather clandestine operation ran directly by Lee Hsien Loong that supposedly manages our nation's money. Due to excessive exposure to the financial world, the Wall Street Journal reported that GIC lost close to S$50 billion in 2008. To date, there has been no disclosure of where our monies are invested.

SPH, as we all know, is the de facto mouthpiece for the government. Its journalists are well-trained in the art of spinning, deception and defamation. One of their most valuable players Melvinderpal Singh who writes for the New Paper is a master at these. He's receiving tons of online backlash for some of his work.

When George Yeo refused to run  (which is probably one of the best decision he's ever made), the PAP scrambled to find somebody whom they could trust. A President who could turn a blind eye to Temasek and GIC's activities, one who will not ask for our reserves to be published, one who can condone the worsening plight of average Singaporeans--- in short, a Yes man.

It is little surprise that PAP Ministers have one by one made public their support.  PM Lee Hsien Loong,  Goh Chok Tong and even Mr. Nathan himself have backed Dr. Tan.

He is no doubt the Chosen One.

Never before has the PAP needed to be all hands on deck for Elections of any sort. Like previous General Elections, the last two Presidential Elections were walkovers. And since S. R Nathan is unlikely to run for another term, he will leave office uncontested.

With12 years as uninterrupted Head of State, you would think he should have been able to "unify" the country. Maybe it's my forgetfulness but I can scarcely recall his contributions in this respect.
Instead, the haphazard scramble for imported residents has driven a deep wedge between native Singaporeans and foreigners. It's only a matter of time when Singaporeans will become a minority in their own country, one built by the hard work of their forefathers.
Mr. Nathan said that Singaporeans "just can't distance ourselves from the government".
Actually dear President, it is the PAP who has distanced themselves from the people.

When we say we don't want too many foreigners, we are likely to get another 900,000 on the way.
When many locals opposed building of a casino, we get two.
When we feedback that housing is unaffordable, they let private developers set the prices for HDB flats.
When we plead for some job security, we are told our spurs are not stuck to our hides and its our problem.

Dr Tony Tan is indeed PAP's choice. And with the help of the State Media, he will probably sail through the Elections because there are still too many daft Singaporeans around.

Most S'poreans want to work past retirement age: survey

In 2010, Lee Kuan Yew suggested that there be no retirement age.
I quote “You work as long as you can work and you will be healthier and happier for it. If you ask me to stop working all of a sudden, I think I'll just shrivel up, face the wall and just that."

And he continues, "(When) you have reached the maximum you can do at your age in that position, you move sideways and you take less pay and you move gradually, (getting) less and less pay because you are moving slower and slower, especially when you're doing physical work,"
So he exhorts us to take less pay when we are in our golden years but his pay as Minister Mentor (MM) kept on rising. Who would want to retire when they get paid millions just to do some periodic "forecasting"?

In news from State Media today, a story was published claiming that most Singaporeans want to work past retirement age. This possibly to prove a point that the pressure cooker society is no fault of the government.
They made this conclusion after Ranstad Group surveyed 405 out of over 3,000,000 Singaporeans.
Statistically, this is sufficient for a confidence interval of +-5%.

However, what the survey (and State Media) didn't reveal is the background of these 405 people.

Generally speaking, there are two groups of people who don't want to retire.
1) Those who can't afford to retire financially
2) Those who can afford to retire but want to continue working

I suspect a large number of Singaporeans fall into the former. Why?

A HSBC survey published 20 June found that 42% of Singaporeans DON"T have retirement financial plans.
That's a very significant proportion of the population. And by the way, HSBC's sample size was 1,046.

So if such big numbers of Singaporeans don't have retirement plans, you can conclude that they cannot afford to retire. Hence the need to continue working past the official retirement age. (quod erat demonstrandum)

A Japanese friend of mine visited the country recently. Through the media, he thinks that Singapore is a modern society full of rich and happy people. But his view changed when he saw: (There's a problem with posting videos/pics on blogger. Will get the video up asap. In the meanwhile, please see this).

He couldn't believe that elderly folks were carting used cardboard boxes in the 34 degree heat. He couldn't believe that old women were wiping tables at food courts.
You wouldn't see these things in Japan.
You wouldn't see these things in most developed countries.

Yet State Media publishes a meaningless story stating the obvious. The hard truth is that many Singaporeans fear retirement because they don't have enough savings in their later years.
Instead of probing the government for answers and accountability, our media continues to sweep the harsh reality of life in Singapore under white coloured carpets.

Singaporeans work past retirement age because of failed social and government policies:
1) CPF
2) Depressed wages
3) Cost of living
4) Immigration

Retired Ministers like Mah Bow Tan, Wong Kan Seng, George Yeo etc continue to receive multi million dollar pensions.
Yet the Minimum Sum (which stands at $131,000) has prevented thousands of retirees from accessing their hard-earned money. Just across the Causeway, the difference could not be more apparent. Malaysia's EPF allows full withdrawal without any outrageous conditions.

If citizens can't spend their twilight years playing with grand kids, touring the world, pursuing hobbies, hanging out with friends or just relaxing, then the system has gone horribly wrong.

Singaporeans' purchasing power or lack thereof

In the August 2010 edition of the world famous UBS "Prices and Earnings" study, Singapore was ranked a dismal 48th out of 73 countries in terms of domestic purchasing power. (DPP)

DPP is calculated using gross and/or net hourly wage divided by the cost of the entire basket of commodities

excluding rent.

In the same edition, Singapore was also ranked the 9th most expensive city if rents are included.

Putting two and two together, it means that Singaporeans would struggle more financially compared to even cities like Kuala Lumpur and Moscow. It also alludes that Singaporeans need to work alot harder to obtain  the same standard of living as many of its peers globally.

In a study by the International Labour Organisation which was published in The Business Times last year, Singaporeans clocked the longest work hours on this planet.

Which explains why most Singaporeans feel stressed all the time.
Which also explains why workers in Raffles Place use tissue paper packets to "reserve" tables. There is simply no time for a proper break. Hence the "Kiasu" society.

In the State Media today, a survey by HSBC found that most Singaporeans will hardly have sufficient funds when they retire. An obvious cultprit could be the unaffordability of housing

In April 2010, a paper from the National University of Singapore researched by Mr. Ng who then was pursuing a Doctorate in social policy, claimed that 68 per cent of annual CPF contribution is spent on housing, while health took up 18 per cent and pensions 14 per cent.
Needless to say, the paper was immediately refuted by then Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Vivian Balakrishnan.

Singaporeans must wake up and realise that we are indeed a long long way from Swiss standard of living..... 47 places to be exact.

Our government has set in stone policies that combine to depress our purchasing power and make us work Cheaper, Better and Faster so that our Ministers can continue to justify their multi-million dollar salaries.

The lack of independent Unions, influx of foreigners, sky-high housing prices, expensive medical care and the general lack of social welfare has inevitably stagnated our wages and living standards.

It's little wonder that we've been accused of being "champion grumblers".

Double Standards

The case of caregivers at Nightingale Nursing Home at Braddell abusing a stroke patient is a stark reminder of the kind of society that our government has created.

Again, the perpetrators are not punished by law and the nurse/s in question continues to work at the home. As always, the relevant Ministry will only do so much as to conduct "reviews".

In a separate incident, a deliveryman caused an uproar in cyberspace when he posted in a forum that he was proud to have beaten a Singaporean Malay in a traffic scuffle with remarks laced with racist undertones. To date, despite numerous police reports filed against him, we haven't had any official word of any police action.

These two events, while totally unrelated, his one commonality. The offenders are foreigners.

In January last year, a PRC family "hijacked" an SBS bus for over fiver hours when they refused to disembark because they weren't allowed to bring a wheelchair on board. The police just stood and watched and SBS eventually chartered a cab to drive them home.

In 2009, hundreds of Bangladeshi and Chinese workers protested outside the Ministry of Manpower Building on different occasions and none were arrested. In a country where the right to peaceful protest is outlawed, the police inaction is perplexing.

Contrast these to the incidents involving Singaporeans.

In March 2008, a small group of protesters and their families (including children), were hounded (some arrested) for planning to protest against the unbearable cost of living on World Consumer Rights Day.

In May 2008, a Singaporean was promptly arrested after a couple of people lodged police reports against his alleged racist blog posting.

In January 2009, two Singaporeans were charged with criminal trespass for protesting outside MOM. Remember they didn't lay a finger on the hundred foreign workers who did the same.

We appreciate that every country has its own legal systems and practices.  I fully applaud the PAP for trying hard to stamp out racism. I fully understand that public demonstrations can cause problems to society if unchecked.

What I cannot fathom is the apparent double standards when it comes to foreigners.
Drawing parallels, what I cannot accept is legislation that is applied at the whim of the ruling party.
The SDA team contesting Tanjong Pagar GRC was unequivocally disqualified for submitting their forms 30 seconds late.
Yet Tin Pei Ling, then candidate for Marine Parade GRC, appears to have escaped unscathed for breaking the law when she posted a sarcastic remark on political rival Nicole Seah on "cooling off day".

There is an aged old proverb that goes "All are equal in the eyes of the law"

Have they forgotten?

Singapore Housing Bubble?

The PAP announced today that it will release more land sites for new homes to meet demand for housing.
A record 17,000+ homes are expected to be built.
You kind of wonder what the former Minister of National Development Mah Bow Tan was doing all these years.

But will increasing home supply solve Singapore's housing woes?
Yet again, the PAP is failing to address the root of the problem

What are the reasons for sky-high public housing prices?

1) Like all the other social problems in Singapore, our housing bubble is a result of sudden surge of demand due to PAP's lax immigration policy. Lee Kuan Yew remarked in April this year that we need another 900,000 workers cramped into this tiny island. Even if 17,000 more homes are built, where do we house  these foreign workers? And it's not like houses appear instantly as in Sim City, it takes 3-4 years for their construction.

As of mid 2010, data from United Nations put Singapore's foreign population at almost 2 million or a whopping 40% of the population!
Similar data for other developed states: South Korea (1.1%), United Kingdom (10.4%), USA (13.5%), Australia (21.9%), Hong Kong (30.8%)

2) Cash over valuation (COV) is what a buyer agrees to pay the seller when he feels a particular flat is worth more than its valuation.  A friend of mine told me that he recently got a foreign couple offering $60,000 COV for his flat in Bukit Panjang. Many richer foreigners from China and Indonesia can easily afford outrageous COVs for resale flats. A young Singaporean couple will have to "outbid" COV or wait several years for a Built-to-Order flat. This overinflates the value of the resale market.

The above is taken from the HDB website. The resale price index has shot through the roof and is at an all time high! It has even easily surpassed the 1996 peak. And we know that prices of new HDB flats do trend the resale index.

And to debunk the PAP's claim that housing is affordable to ordinary Singaporeans, this chart clearly shows that resale flat prices has oustripped median household income by 2:1 in the last two decades.

In November 2009, Member of Parliament Chiam See Tong asked how much HDB flats cost and the profit margin added to the cost when selling the flats to which then National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan replied in Parliament:
“The total cost of building flats varies based on when we build, where we build and what we build. It includes cost of land, as well as cost of construction of the flats and ancillary services. It varies from $230,000 for a 3-room flat in Punggol to $530,000 for a 5-room flat in Tiong Bahru.”

But in order to make a fairer assessment of the costs, we need a breakdown of cost of land and construction which the PAP has refused to do.

Since the government owns most of the land, there is no excuse not to do so.
Besides, the Land Acquisition Act empowers the President to acquire land cheap for public purpose, except that it is not always the case.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that land has been acquired, left barren for years and then sold to private developers to build condominiums, obviously at a handsome profit to the government.



In any case, PAP policies could very possibly lead the country to the point of no return. Although never mentioned in our state controlled media, there is a housing bubble waiting to burst.

In 2008, it was reported that 33,000 or about 8% of HDB households defaulted on their payments. That is about the same scale as the sub-prime crisis which plunged American homeowners into the abyss. Many Americans were (and still are) in a position of negative equity- a mortgage debt higher than the value of the property.

The one and only reason why the Singapore housing bubble hasn't burst is because waves of foreigners come in the shore up demand for flats, this at the same time where the Ministry of National Development has deliberately kept supply low. The result is that property prices continue to trend higher.

So what good will raising supply of housing do when immigrant numbers continue to swell?

And what will happen to home prices when 60% of Singaporeans finally wake up from their slumber and decide to vote for policies that will see significant reductions in foreign residents?

Unfortunately, there is no pain free way out of this mess that PAP has created for Singaporeans.
And as the saying goes, what goes up must come down.

For the sake of restoration of social sanity and to pursue a Singaporeans first policy, and in the interests of our future generations, we have to bite the bullet hard.

This country cannot sustain the uneven proportion of foreigners in the long term as our physical infrastructure and cultural fabric is already at breaking point.

The housing bubble will burst...but when?

PUB continues to fail Singaporeans

El Niño/La Niña-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO causes extreme weather (such as floods and droughts) in many regions of the world.........The expression of ENSO is potentially subject to dramatic changes as a result of global warming, and is a target for research in this regard.

Well El Nino is a phenomenon that is known to man for years. It seems the CEO of the Public Utilities Board (PUB) Khoo Teng Chye isn't aware of this.
Hence, heavier than expected rainfall in Singapore has continued to wreak havoc annually and even started to devastate our main shopping district.

In a country where it rains half the time, you would have thought PUB and the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources would have taken action at all costs to solve a potential disaster in the making.

Shopowners have lost millions of dollars due to our inept drainage capacity and design. Has the government granted any compensation to them? Greedy landlords only care about raking in the profits and would never spend hundreds of thousands on improved anti-flood measures.
Taking the cake though is Mr. Khoo who said that  "The other alternative is to really create a diversion canal from where this pond is to the Singapore River. But given Singapore's built-up situation, these are very, very expensive schemes."
So there is actually a physical solution to the floods!! But PUB won't spend the money, which in any case is taxpayer funded, because it's expensive?
The amount of damages caused to hapless shop owners and businesses isn't expensive?
I guess it's OK for Temasek to lose billions while beefing up our flood safety is too expensive.
Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan in principle, did the right thing by visiting Tanglin Mall on Sunday. But his comments to the media raised more questions than answers.
He was quoted thinking aloud "has the weather changed?"
How can a country rich enough to pay its Ministers the highest salaries in the world and one that can shore up shaky US banks not invest adequately in weather research?

Today, the Orchard Road Business Association came out to say they are disappointed with PUB.
My question to you guys is how many of you endorsed the PAP in the May Elections? How many of you supported the former Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim?
It is he that should shoulder most of the blame for failing to ensure that the PUB took corrective actions after last year's once in 50 years flood.
Also, CEO Khoo and the top brass at PUB must also be held responsible.

60% of Singaporeans allowed PAP to continue ruling for another five years.
What did your votes stand for?

A 15 year old Indonesia boy is a casualty in the latest series of floods. How many more lives do we need to lose before the government starts to do something meaningful?

Isn't the loss of human life more expensive?

Indian doctor wants to end hostility against foreigners

Many PAP supporters have labelled Temasek Review Emeritus and its readers as a boisterous band of hooligan just out to criticise the government.

It's probably because they don't actually read the content of the site.

The comments on this thread about another Indian "FT" giving his two cents' worth (rupees actually) are rational and most of all, intelligent responses.
It proves that netizens who prefer alternative views are educated and can contribute good ideas for the purpose of nation building.

I've picked out some random comments:

"The way I see it, India Health Care is in an even more “dire straits” with many poor unable to seek treatment. So what is your motive for coming here instead of staying back in your country to practice and help out the poor?"


"The issues are not of racism and discrimination but one of qualifications. Countries like Australia, UK and NZ are stringent in their acceptance of foreign-trained doctors. In NZ, the medical degrees have to be recognised by the Medical Council of NZ, there is a need to have passed approved medical registration exam, the need to have work in a country with a health system comparable to NZ for some years….and other conditions to be satisfied. So, even if the doctors had graduated from top Indian Colleges (which by the way are not recognised in NZ) and have experience working in India, they cannot work in NZ. They would have to go for re-training and work under supervision before being able to get registered and work as a medical practitioner."


"It is absolutely understandable that you “don’t know the solution”.
It needs to be a “native” Singaporean who has gone through political thick and thin and with a conscientious character to understand the problem first before thinking of the solution.
The hostility is not really the FTs. Much less, you as a medical practitioner serving the sick Singaporeans.
It is the tyranny and nepotism in Singapore politics thrusted into the citizens over the past 50 years coupled with the policies and attitudes of the evil regime that gives rise to this phenomenon – hostility towards FTs/foreigners."


In any case, I mentioned in my previous post that the PAP, through the myopic grow-at-all-cost policy of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's team, has caused severe harm to our medical system.

It is unimaginable how then Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan failed to sufficiently expand our medical resources during the decade-long loose immigration policy which saw over a million foreign residents make Singapore home. Was he not on talking terms with then Manpower Minster Gan Kim Yong?

Worse, instead of addressing the root of the problem, which is uncontrolled immigration, the PAP sees fit to lower requirements for doctors and as a result, a wave of medical professionals from third world countries flocked to Singapore for a chance of earning strong Sing dollar and to live in a community where foreigners are sometimes treated better than native citizens.

If the intention was to benefit Singaporeans, the Health Ministry should have hired well qualified doctors from Western nations. But the centrepiece of PAP's masterplan is to depress wages so that greedy government linked companies will continue to rake in supernormal profits.
Healthcare is no exception.

My reply to this Indian doctor's comment is this--- Admit that you are working here for the money. If you were as noble as your profession would make you out to be, you should be treating the millions of poor in India who desperately need access to basic healtchare.

As such, come down from the moral high-ground you are standing on and keep your thoughts to yourself.
Do you think a Singaporean will go to India and publicly tell Indians what to do?

He would probably get mobbed.

Lee Wei Ling steps up for Singaporeans

A couple of days ago, someone wrote to ST Forum accusing Singaporeans of becoming racist.
I don't think Singaporeans are racist.

I think Singaporeans are more cowards than racists.

Why do we not even make a noise when half the people in our office are foreigners? Because we are cowards.

Why do we accept the unbearable squeeze in our trains, buses, hospitals and malls due to the massive influx of immigrants without a single protest? Because we are cowards.

Why do we allow almost 2 millions new citizens and PRs to go without a single day of national service and not confront our MPs about this? Because we are cowards.

Kudos to LKY's daughter Lee Wei Ling for writing a letter to the ST Forum arguing that Singaporeans are not racist.
In her letter, she mentioned that nearly a third of doctors from the National Neuroscience Institute are Indian nationals!

For years, NUS, a government university, has refused to increase the intake of medical students.
This despite the desperate need to train more doctors to meet the burgeoning demand for healthcare caused by the sudden surge in foreign residents and a fast ageing population.
The PAP has also been positioning this tiny country as a medical tourist hub for rich foreigners and as many as 200-300k flood our hospitals annually.
Obviously,our former Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan must have been "caught off guard".
His solution, like all his counterparts in other Ministries, is to import more foreigners.
They even went to the extent of expanding the list of recognised foreign medical schools, including several from India.

What's worse, and I quote
"Foreign-trained specialists now need only to complete two years of supervision, compared to three previously, while for foreign-trained non-specialists, the duration has been halved - from six years to three."
It doesn't take an expert to conclude that we are playing with fire here and the chance that the quality of medical care will fall is very high.
If Singaporeans were less cowardly, they will take the Health Minister to task.

I for one would not trust an India trained doctor...not even for $8.




Two days ago, a PAP supporter Yap Yien Li wrote to the ST Forum accusing Singaporeans of becoming more ‘racist’ based on comments posted on a TR Facebook (started by fans) about a photo showing three expat Indians sitting in strange positions on a SMRT train.
An unlikely public figure came to the defence of Singaporeans – Lee Wei Ling, the only daugther of PAP paramount leader Lee Kuan Yew. In a letter published in the Straits Times Forum today, Lee who is also the director of the National Neuroscience Institute argued that Singaporeans are not racist.
Using herself as an example, Ms Lee wrote that two of her best friends are Indians and she has many friends who are of mixed Indian-Chinese heritage.
She then made a shocking relevation that 27 percent of doctors in NNI are Indians:
“At my hospital, the National Neuroscience Institute, we have a disproportionate percentage of doctors who are Indians – 27 per cent. There are many Indian doctors in other hospitals. By and large, race is not an issue for patients, except for a few among the less educated and the older among them.”
Ms Lee did not reveal the number of expat Indians among them, but MOH has been increasing the intake of Indian doctors with M.B.B.S from Indian universities to make up for the shortage of local doctors in Singapore.
Besides working in unpopular specialities in public hospitals like Neurology, many expat Indian doctors are also deployed to work in the polyclinics. One polyclinic in the central part of Singapore has 6 Indian doctors and only one Singapore doctor among its staff.

Foreigners- be thankful

An Indian "FT", in a desperate attempt to justify his existence in Singapore, commented on a Temasek Review Emeritus post:

"There is nothing that an “FT” cannot do here that he cannot do back in India or China."

Let me correct this to " If an employer cannot prove that Singaporeans cannot fill a role, then "FTs" cannot be employed"

Actually, the phrase "foreign talent" has been over abused. 10, 20 years ago, the foreigners we employed from Western countries were indeed foreign talents- they were expatriates who brought skills and knowledge Singaporeans had very little of.
Today, the foreigners you see here are mostly just foreigners.

In the same period of time, Singaporeans have acquired these talents that should enable us to manage and lead on our own, unless the PAP's much touted education system has failed. To date, we have yet to hear any admission of failure.

It may be argued that the cream of the crop in India and China prefer posh government jobs in their own countries or head for US and UK.
Indeed, A Chinese publication stated that most of the top Chinese scholars end up in the US.
So what talents are we really attracting?
Are some of them here on fake qualifications?

It is totally unacceptable that mediocre foreigners are employed to do jobs that Singaporeans want to do, especially in the PMET area.

For any foreigner reading this, these are the only reasons why you are here:

1) Your mere presence would add to GDP growth. Our Ministers' bonus are tied to this

2) HR managers are foreigners themselves and so the affinity to hire their own. In some countries, HR managers must be locals

3) You are happy to work for lower salaries because you don't have long term commitments that Singaporeans have and the Sing dollar is alot stronger than your home currency

4) Our Ministry of Manpower does not properly scrutinise foreigners and there are lapses in due diligence. My company has an application for a foreign hire approved in ONE hour

5) You could somehow decide to turn citizen and add to the ruling party's voter base

My advice for foreigners is that be thankful for getting the chance to live in a modern, clean and safe country that Singaporeans have built over 40 years.
Be thankful that hundreds of thousands of Singaporean men sacrifice their time and careers to protect you if the inevitable happens.
Be thankful to know that for you to stay in your job, a Singaporean has by default made way to accommodate you.
Singaporeans are more than capable bankers, strategic planners, project managers, IT specialists, academics, sales leads etc etc.

Do foreigners bring wages to people's pockets?

PAP defends its pro-immigration policy by claiming that foreigners help boost GDP growth and hence create jobs and grow wages.

Newly appointed National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan was quoted yesterday:
“We thought (taking foreigners in) was important to bring wages to people’s pockets, so that we can grow as fast as we can… (and) catch up with other countries. But now, we get the message that ‘we don’t want so much growth, that we are prepared to accept slower growth’”

The hard truth is ordinary Singaporeans are arguably not better off than before the immigration floodgates were opened.
Where is the empirical evidence that local wages, adjusted for inflation, have gone up substantially?
What is the official employment or unemployment rate of Singaporeans (not PRs)?
Are these jobs that were created "good" jobs?

According to the World Bank, Singapore's GDP per capita in 2009 was S$51,152, one of the highest in Asia.
However, using data from the Department of Statistics, you can roughly derive the median personal income is S$2,500 or S$30,000 annual.
The Reform Party's Kenneth Jeyaretnam, an economist by training, argued that as much as 45% of our GDP goes to foreigners.
So it is obvious that all this immigration-led GDP growth did not benefit Singaporeans as much as PAP through state media will claim.

Consequently, if the fallacy of foreigners bringing wages to people's pockets is exposed, then the PAP must stop importing them immediately.
In fact, their numbers must be reduced so as to ensure that the fruit of the country's growth is more equitably shared among Singaporeans, not foreigners, even if it means slower growth.

SAF scholar and National Solidarity Party's Tony Tan rightly suggested in his Choa Chu Kang GRC rally that the government should also be measured by other key performance indicators such as wage growth.
You can watch his speech here:

The People's Association must have no association

The People’s Association (PA) was established in Singapore as a statutory board on 1 July 1960 to promote racial harmony and social cohesion.
It was supposed to be a non partisan group interested in fostering better ties between citizens of all races.

The PA also oversees various grassroots organisatoins like Citizens' Consultative Committees, Residents' Committees, Neighbourhood Committees etc.

Therefore, the mission of the PA is clearly non-partisan.

The Chairman is none other than PM Lee Hsien Loong himself.
What's worse, they've just added even more PAP MPs into the ranks.

Further, the PA is funded by grants via taxpayers' monies.

Because of the one-sided nature of PA, it's obvious that the grassroot leaders all toe the part line.
These activists are blamed for not passing on proper feedback to the Ministers. In all likelihood, they would rather paint the rosiest picture on the ground firstly to impress the Ministers and secondly to save them the trouble of explaining otherwise.
This has prompted PM Lee to openly defend the activists.

It can be argued that PAP activists are a huge factor in General Elections. Using taxpayers grants, they hire "volunteers" to go door to door, distribute pamphlets, attend rallies etc etc.

The end result is they end up representing the views of the PAP and alienate the views of non supporters. The goal of promoting social cohesion is invariably lost.

Therefore, I would like to request for a radical overhaul of the PA and committees under its charge.

1) The management of the PA should consist of memebers from each registered political party
2) The Chairman of the PA is decided by a popular vote
3) Disallow PA funds from being used for party campaigning during elections

Obviously, it's not going to be easy.
MM Lee once told Chinese Officials visiting Singapore to see how the former ran his country:

“They discover that the People’s Action Party (PAP) has only a small office in Bedok.

But everywhere they go, they see the PAP – in the RCs (residents’ committees), CCCs (citizens’ consultative committees), and the CCs (community clubs).”

That to me, smells of a party wanting to perpetuate it's grip on power indefinitely, regardless of the hard truths on the ground.

If PM Lee is sincere about engaging Singaporeans better, there's no better place to start than a total overhaul of the PA.



So why then is it OK for the PA management to include only PAP MPs?

TODAY newspaper goes 7 days a week

Heaven helps us.
We are already getting SPH's nauseating propaganda 7 days a week.
And now Mediacorp is going 7 days a week.

In the 70s, Singapore used to have many newspaper publishers including one called "Singapore Herald". It was shut down by the PAP because it did not toe the party line.
Only Straits Times survived and we all know the reasons why.

Total media control is one of the most important tools for the PAP. With all TV channels and newspapers dishing out only pro-PAP stories, it is easy to keep the populace in check and on their side.
Nowhere else in the world would you get 75% of popular votes going to one party, except in Communist  regimes and dictatorships.

While social media has taken away some of that monopoly, the hard truth is that the majority of Singaporeans still read SPH newspapers.
On the positive note, the Internet will continue to get more and more prevalent in societies all over the world, including this tiny country. And social media can only grow increasingly unstoppable.

The day will come when most of the 60% will no longer be daft.



SINGAPORE: Singapore's second-most read newspaper, TODAY, will go seven days a week - with the launch of a Sunday edition from 29 May.

Published by MediaCorp Press, it will add a new reading experience, with features, personality-driven columns as well as topics such as parenting.

It will also offer local and international news and sports.

Readers can also enjoy The New York Times International Weekly as part of their Sunday read.

TODAY on Sunday will be distributed to homes and will be available at major shopping malls, selected convenience stores and all Starbucks coffee outlets.

Managing Director of MediaCorp Press, Patrick Yong, said: "Being only 10 years young and built on a free newspaper business model, the team has decided to make the bold move to introduce a Sunday edition. This shows our dedication to deliver the best and complete reading experience for our readers."

More residents have been turning up at meet-the-people sessions

One can understand the interest surrounding Aljunied GRC's Meet-the-People's Sessions (MPS).
For the first time in history, an Opposition Party has managed to win a GRC.
So it's a momentous occasion and a small step forward for democracy.

PAP on the other hand, have almost 100% dominated Parliment for decades.
You should expect that their MPs will be so used to MPS by now.

Apparently not. Why?

It's because for the past 46 years since independence, there were hardly any opposition voice in the political process and their share of the popular vote has been unwavering.

Now, they've seen a dramatic rise in the number of disgruntled citizens spurred on by the wealth of alternative information supplied by social media.
And of course, they finally lost a GRC!

Never before did PAP MPs expect to work for votes! Never before has PAP MPS sessions ended past midnight.
Never before in the last five years has Goh Chok Tong made a single appearance at Marine Parade GRC's MPS!

But it's early days and we don't know if this is just "wayang" or for real.
If it's "wayang", Singaporeans must take away a few more GRCs to make sure the spurs stick to their hides.

SINGAPORE: More residents have been turning up at meet-the-people sessions (MPS), after the recent General Election.

Members of Parliament (MPs) whom Channel NewsAsia spoke to said there has been a surge in the number of cases, with the increase being at least 30 per cent.

They said most of the new cases concern housing and financial assistance.

MP for Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC) Tan Chuan-Jin, who oversees the Kampong Ubi-Kembangan ward, said he saw 213 cases at his last MPS.

Writing on Facebook page, Brigadier-General Tan described it as the "mother of all MPSes", which only ended around midnight.

In comments later, BG Tan said he saw the majority of the cases, but has to look at the "internal triage in terms of prioritising time."

He said better IT support can help boost efficiency.

MP for Marine Parade GRC Seah Kian Peng said: "(BG Tan) covers a very big area -- in terms of the coverage and the number of residents, (his area) is very huge.

"Indeed, 213 cases was a shock to me. It may be a record, really a record in any constituency.

"We know that in every GE, there is a surge in the number of cases, partly also to catch up on those that we were not able to conduct in the course of the hustings.

"But I think after this GE, all of us have seen a bigger surge in MPS cases".

MP for Jurong GRC David Ong, who oversees the Bukit Batok ward, said he saw a doubling of cases - something he described as "a natural response".

From the usual 40 cases before the election, it has now jumped to about 80 to 90 cases.

"After the election, they... want to see what the MP can do for them," Mr Ong said.

"They want an MP who can listen, (want to know) what they stand for and (if they) can make a difference for them.

"As an MP myself, now is (the time) for us to make sure that we also deliver as much as I can for our residents.

"We do see a fair bit of financial assistance cases where they need help to just cope -- some are more temporary, some are more permanent.

"We do see more requests for rental flats -- some are downgrading, and we are also seeing people who are trying to get new flats.

Meanwhile, Mr Seah said he too, has seen a 30 per cent spike in cases for his Braddell Heights ward.

Some cases concern those looking for interim housing such as rental flats.

Most MPs say a 30 per cent rise in cases after the GE is normal.

MP for Moulmein-Kallang GRC Denise Phua said her "new clients" are "a lot more politically aware".

MP for Aljunied GRC Faisal Abdul Manap said most of the 50 cases at his first session were about housing matters.

He said he expects cases to go up at least for the next two months.

"Of course, I cannot work alone, and I believe we are going to start a grassroots made up of local communities and we do have a list of names already, and we do have more and more people coming forward," Mr Faisal said.

The rise in number of cases comes at a time when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has pledged for the government to serve the widest possible spread of society.

-CNA/wk

Please "Like" my Facebook page

It seems that PAP MPs just don't get social media. While Opposition candidates have mostly embraced social media like ducks to water, the men and women in white continue to bumble and stumble like a gymnast constantly falling off the beam.

The PAP's REACH website meant for citizens' feedback to the government has far less views than the Temasek Review.

Then there is the infamous Wee Shu Min, daughter of PAP MP Wee Siew Kim, asking a disgruntled Singaporean to "get out of her elite uncaring face".

Even the Young PAP has had numerous faux pas online where they succeeded in antagonising netizens more than anything else.

Just this past week, Tampines PAP MP Irene Ng erected banners all over her constituency asking people to "Like" her Facebook page.
If that isn't lame, I dont know what is.

By the way, she is also the same MP who whined about the Workers' Party "excessive" media coverage of its first GRC MPS.

While I applaud PM Lee's attempt to engage voters over Facebook during campaigning, it's all just too contrived and insincere. Just like their previous attempts to do rap videos and hip-hop dances to woo the younger generation.

Since we are on the topic of Facebook, here are the top 10 Opposition candidates by number of  "Likes" as of 26 May 2011, 9pm. Achieved without any form of solicitation. (Please let me know if I missed out on anyone. Thanks!)

1. 104,525- Nicole Seah
2. 27,558- Chen Show Mao
3. 20,227- Low Thia Khiang
4. 12,702- Chiam See Tong
5. 11,632- Sylvia Lim
6. 9,492- Dr. Vincent Wijeysingha
7. 5,137- Pritam Singh
8. 3,031- Michelle Lee
9. 2,859- Chee Soon Juan
10. 2,802- Glenda Han