Month: January 2011

Random Discourse – Singapore’s Low Fertility Rate

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I saw these comments on Twitter. I do not know what to make of them. As far as I am concerned, she basically just aped the government gahmen line without giving a much serious thought of the issue. Such pro-gahmen comments in general shows a lack of deeper understanding of the matter and lack of empathy towards the plight of fellow Singaporeans. I even detect a faint trace of selfishness there.

Let me explain the reason for my strong reaction… and just like my favourite character Lai Wuji [賴戊己] used to say in the Taiwanese drama series ‘Love’ [愛], “You listen to me carefully.” (你給我聽清楚了。)

First of all, the Aussie comment that was mentioned. I was told several years ago that if you are a plumber, it is not difficult for you to migrate to Australia because you are the kind of skilled labour that it lacked. However, while the Singapore gahmen tells us that we need more foreign fallen talents, I for one am ignorant of what in specific are the skilled labour that our education system has failed to provide either in part or completely. Even though the rational middle voters and most understanding Singaporeans know for a fact that investors will pass us by if we can’t provide enough workers to fill the jobs (as the gahmen claims), there are often murmurs on the ground that certain foreigners are taken in because they accept a lower pay. Yet, in spite of all these, our lapdog main stream media took matters even further by suggesting that we Singaporeans would probably all starve if we don’t hire foreign workers! (see screen shot attached below).


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It wasn’t long before some of us believe that certain companies deliberately discriminate against locals by hiring foreigners, and not even a younger and better educated Singaporean who are generally offered a lower starting pay. If wages for Singaporeans are too high and making us uncompetitive, to what are we making that comparison? Now, this is not arguing that we Singaporeans ‘deserved’ a job, but one of the roles of the gahmen is to create jobs and what is the purpose of creating jobs for foreigners when it is the job of the gahmen of their native countries to do so? What evidence is there that hiring foreign workers lower cost of operation or even our cost of living when prices go up all the same? Perhaps we should all just fool ourselves saying that the cost isn’t going up faster than it already is.

This perception is made worse if we know of a friend who remained unemployed for long periods while a foreigner took the job he is capable of doing. Very little is done to help the Singaporean. Instead he is admonished for being demanding or being complacent and lazy. Thus, this self defeating foreign worker policy continued to run its course while wages continue to be depressed for local workers allowing the cost of living out paced it. It is no surprise that the cries for minimum wages are getting acceptance in some quarters, even when I don’t believe a minimum wage is necessary across every sector or for all jobs.

That brings me to address the next point – declining birth rate. It maybe true that we require immigrants to keep up with our population decline. However, the real issue behind our population decline – i.e. the high cost of living – has never been addressed. While wages are depressed and the pricing of our so-called ‘affordable public housing’ pegged to that of private property, how the Tali-PAP gahmen continue to call it affordable is unimaginable. For e.g. A 3-room in Tanglin Halt costs $9,000 in 1971 (the year I was born) and a worker who earns $500 a month could pay it off in 10 years. The cost to wages ratio is 18:1. Today, a brand new HDB cost $300,000. Assuming that a graduates starting pay in $2,500, the cost to wages ratio is *gasp* a staggering 120:1!! (Even if they get $4000, it is 75:1 and many of them have study loans to pay off.) For many of us, to pay off my housing loan in 10 years is almost next to impossible. We can however console ourselves that the cost of a home in Beijing or Shanghai is no better, and is perhaps worse when we consider the wages there.

The gahmen may argue that quality of the flats is now better, but in most cases they are also smaller. It now requires a couple to both work for almost the entirety of their useful life to just pay for the roof over their heads. I don’t even want to talk about how the gahmen hoodwinked us into believing that their discount is a subsidy. Is it a surprise that couples don’t intend to have kids because it probably costs at least another quarter of a million dollars to raise a child from infancy to university graduate? Or that kids end up wielding parangs and chopping up people because their parents are never around to mentor and discipline them?

Let’s not forget, even though the gahmen insists that there the skyrocketing property prices aren’t caused by foreigners, we had to question **who** is offering obscene amount of Cash Over Value [COV] to obtain local properties. It almost sound contradicting that Singaporeans accused foreigners of depressing wages while we also accused them of pushing our property sky-high. But remember that it only require one high-flying foreigner to complete a deal to bring up the prices, even though he isn’t a part of the horde of FTTFs [Foreign True Talent False] which are pushing wages down. Some might say we should be smart and walk away from sellers demanding high COV, but where to? Into the blue sea around us? When there is scant evidence that foreigners are doing us any good, it is a no brainer why Singaporeans reject foreign immigrants! After all, the general perception is that they played a big part in screwing up our lives!

Even if property prices and depressed wages are not the most compelling reason for Singaporeans not to have babies, don’t forget that commercial property prices will also go up in tandem with that of residential ones. Certainly there won’t be one price for land sold for residential properties and another for commercial ones, right? As a result, rentals increase for shops and hawkers, and that translates into higher costs for daily necessities and food. It is not uncommon that a simple meal can cost $6.50 or even $10 at certain food courts while the poor hawker at the hawker center would lose business when he raised prices by a mere 50cents, or when he cut the portion of his servings. It is no wonder why I noticed an increasing number of empty stalls in hawker centers of ageing estates, and the traditional provision shop is almost extinct replaced by mini-mart chain stores? No wonder even McDonald’s restaurants are packed during lunch! After all, McDonald’s value meals at discounted prices during lunch is at times even cheaper than food sold in the food court!

The writer who wrote the comment asked, “If we don’t want an influx of foreigners, are we going to pay for higher taxes for our ageing population as a result of our declining birthrate?” The fact is, I am already paying more here and now to just survive with an influx of foreigners. So just what the #@%$& are you talking about? And last I checked Singapore is not a welfare state so is there even an allocation in the budget for the aged? *sigh*

That brings me to the remaining comment – “without immigrants we are a piece of wasteland”. Perhaps that would be true in 1819. But by the time we were expelled from Malaysia in 1965, few of us could claim to be immigrants. Many of our parents are either born here or in Malaya, which is hardly consider ‘foreign’ back then. In fact, Lao Lee himself admitted that he was convinced that Singapore only had a future within the Federation before Dr. Goh Keng Swee negotiated the separation. Not to mention that 4 years after the separation, racial tensions in the Federation spilled over to Singapore after May 13, 1969.

I must ask, in the first 20 years of our nations existence, did our fair country ‘spread her legs’ freely to foreigners? Why haven’t we perished and turned into a waste land then?

I would be surprised if the high cost of living and property prices that enslaved us all hasn’t act like some kind of anti-Viagra / anti-Cialis that kept the Singaporean male (except the mini$ter$ and the high paying civil serpents servants) from getting an erection and making babies. It is certainly cheaper to just get a pack of condoms. ‘Phiak phiak raw and shoot inside’ is a no-no not just with prostitutes.

In short, the best way to raise the fertility rate is to give us real affordable housing and bring down the cost of living. All of this will require some hard work and far reaching policies that will take time to be effective. Unfortunately for us, this gahmen has so far taken the easy way out with our population issues by simply accepting more foreigners (just like how it has resorted to cheap foreign labour to attract investments instead of raising productivity). So much for these so-called top talents paid millions a year! If this policy is allowed to continue, the problem will only worsen with no end in sight.

Fortunately, other than the old man still being ‘tee kee’ [Hokkien for ‘iron teeth’, which means ‘stubborn in words’], it would appear to me that even the ruling party has realised that the current immigration policy is a untenable position in the upcoming election. I would love the old man to just repeat the famous ‘If native Singaporeans are falling behind because “the spurs are not stuck into the hide”, that is their problem” statement. The middle voters definitely need a little shove to cross the line.

Anyway, I do hope that the current property cooling measures and the reduction in number of permanent residency [PR] issued to foreigners are going to be long term policies and not just an election gimmick. Or else there will be no light at the end of the tunnel for the true-blue Singaporean.

Before I end, it was no surprise to me that a recent poll showed that our youths have no sense of belonging and would prefer to leave and work elsewhere if conditions permit. Food for thought?

Recommended Reads:
Amy Chua: Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior
Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld: Why I love my strict Chinese mom

Current Affairs – TOC Gazetted as Political Association

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On Jan 11, the Prime Ministers Office [PMO] issued a letter informing the ‘blog’ known as ‘The Online Citizen’ [TOC] that “The Prime Minister intends to declare the owners, editorial team, and administrators of The Online Citizen (TOC), by order in the Gazette, to be a political association for the purposes of the Political Donations Act”.

I started reading TOC around late 2008, some time after the financial crisis. I liked the way the TOC provided the poor ‘ah pek ah soh investors’ who have ‘lost their pants’ in Lehman-linked products an avenue to seek redress, even though I do not necessarily have a good opinion of Tan Kin Lian. I felt what was done was meaningful and good, even though I have no self interest in the matter. After all, I had no investment in Lehman-linked products, nor had my parents lost anything in these products.

I then continued to read the TOC on and off – since my friends or acquaintances would post links to TOC articles on Twitter, Plurk or even their own Facebook wall from time to time. From March 2009 onwards all the way until the AWARE EGM in May, I was disillusioned with the seemingly liberal and pro-HBT [Homosexual, Bisexual, Transgendered / Transvestite] agenda. In fact, there was very little difference reading TOC or the Peoples Daily Straits Stooge Times.

It made me question TOC’s agenda. In fact, I removed the link to TOC soon after. When Wayang Party gave itself the new atas name of Terbalik Revue Temasek Review, my experience with TOC put me off the idea of linking it. I had no clue Wayang Party has merely changed its name, and I thought it has simply disappeared. It was fortunately I didn’t, because I would have regretted my decision as I have a very low opinion of the content on Wayang Party all these while.

Even though I have stopped linking TOC, I have not written it off completely. But I am further disillusioned when TOC made a fuss over the death sentence of Yong Vui Kong and championed for the abolition of the death sentence. Every drug trafficker has his own sad story to tell. In fact, some violent criminals maybe a doting father, a loving husband or a filial son. But does that justify the pardoning of their crimes? The entire premise behind the objection to the death sentence seems to be that someone innocent may be sentenced to death, and then it would be too late when proven otherwise. But this implied that our police officers have failed in their due diligence in their investigations. It suggests that our police officers are sloppy in their work. It suggest that our courts simply go through the motion of sentencing people to their deaths and are nothing more than a rubber stamp before people are put to death. (The perhaps sort of explain why Alan Shadrake got into trouble.)

I have since then almost stopped reading TOC. I only read it when I am compelled to by the title of the articles linked. That’s the complete opposite from the Terbalik Revue, which I had ceased reading completely (Their exaggeration of the bad food served during the YOG sealed their fate). Thus, I wasn’t aware TOC held a F2F (Face to Face) where all the local political parties (including the Tali-PAP) was invited until it was too late.

I didn’t really follow the event but it appears that the Tali-PAP declined to attend, and the Workers’ Party was accused by certain quarters for being disrespectful for sending someone else other than their own secretary general or even their chairman. I thought that times have really changed, because I was expecting the government gahmen to find some obscure law to stop the event from happening. I was under the impression something like this would never be allowed to be held in the past, and I was expecting some kind of response from the gahmen, if not the ruling party itself.

So it didn’t really come as a surprise that TOC was subsequently gazetted. A few opposition parties erupted in indignant fury, and the Workers’ Party remained quiet. It wasn’t really unexpected, since I am in the opinion that the Workers’ Party has departed from the way of lofty and meaningless ideology a long time ago. What is the point of endlessly talking about democracy in the first place? It serves no purpose other than to expose some of these opposition parties superficial understanding of democracy being nothing more that ‘participation’ while ignoring the fact that most Singaporeans are generally indifferent, if not uninterested. It never cease to amaze me that some of these political parties attempt to have the electorate align with their agenda, while failing to align themselves to that of the electorate. The bad showing of the Singapore Democratic Party [SDP] in the last few elections is a clear testimony of their lack of understanding of their voters.

Above which, these political parties failed to talk more about the other pillars of democracy. I am not talking about the tripartite institutions of democracy such as the executive, the judiciary and the legislative, but the rule of law, the middle class and nation building. Few could argue there is no rule of law in Singapore, as even a mini$ter had been hauled up by the Corruption Practices Investigation Board [CPIB] and he killed himself while in custody. Opposition members like Chiam See Tong has sued the ruling party and won his case. If I am not wrong, there was even a case in which a Tali-PAP MP who was investigated for breach of trust was asked to resign. Very few Singaporeans would argue our courts were ‘opened by the Tali-PAP’ (法院是行動黨開的) like the Taiwanese used to say about their courts being ‘opened by the Kuomingtang [KMT]’ (法院是國民黨開的).

The middle class is Singapore is more concerned with job security and law and order. Cases of a resurgent triad or secret society, or the fear of losing their jobs and slowly slipping into struggling to make ends meet is of greater concern to them. The dissolution of the true-blue Singaporean middle class, replaced with one that is filled with foreign migrants with different aspirations and indifferent to our values and traditions while true-blue Singaporeans are left with the scraps would be something that would be of greater concern than anything else. As far as I am concerned, the usual few opposition parties who makes the most noise about democracy have been utterly lacking in addressing this. Do I really care about ‘participation’ when I am staring at my bowl of rice that is rapidly getting smaller, and even worrying that it would disappear? I am really more concerned with the cost of living and job security. Only after I can feed myself and feel secure can I start looking at the other levels on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, yes?

As to nation building, no one can say that the Tali-PAP has no policies for nation building. Municipal wise, one can look at the plans in place for improving our transport system, plans to rejuvenate certain city centers or to move parts of gahmen departments and services out of the CBD. The two Integrated Resorts [IRs], the industries in Tuas or the many industrial parks stand as a testimony to the plans for nation building. Our only complaints about this may simply be that the Tali-PAP gahmen is more interested in building the hardware or the economics more than the software – the people. If there’s anything lacking it would be fostering a sense of belonging to our nation, or to encourage the people to participate and take ownership of the decision and policy making process. This is where TOC could have served as a platform.

It is interesting that in TOC’s response to the Prime Minister’s Office [PMO] and Media Development Authority [MDA] on the PM’s decision to gazette the TOC, it mentioned that ‘our nation-building efforts will be set back by years’. Yet it is short on details on why and how. I dare to hazard a guess that in the end the TOC will have no choice but to register itself as a political association, since few would have cared to take a harder look into the potential of TOC other than a whiners’ platform – even though they could have been ‘whiners’ that make good points at times.

Fortunately, while I am a even worse whiner at times, I have a low readership and too insignificant to gazette… 😛

Random Discourse – Politicians and UFOs

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I find this hilarious article while flipping through my dad’s Shin Min a few days ago. I quote:

” 本報上月底曾報道，美國權威組織驚爆，3艘載有外星生物的巨型太空船，正從冥王星行駛軌道外向地球駛來，預計明年12月抵達地球。

國民團結黨秘書長吳明盛看了這則報道後，在網絡發表文章，稱自己曾見過像是飛碟的不明飛行物體 (UFO)。”

(Translation summary – Goh Meng Seng, secretary general of the NSP published an article on the web claiming he has also seen a saucer like UFO after it was reported on the Shin Min Daily that SETI reported 3 UFOs near the orbit of Pluto and is heading towards Earth. They are estimated to arrive in Dec 2012.)

I sincerely hope Shin Min Daily News [新明日報] was just blowing its own trumpet when it claims that Goh Meng Seng has made his UFO claim after seeing that article. The fact is, the article in question was not found in any other major newspapers in Singapore, other than making a brief appearance on the online version of the Straits Times. As far as I know, it was not reported on TV either. In other words, the article is false. It is about as true as the news of Facebook closing down in March 15 (or April 1st). Just how people can get suckered by that after Goldman Sachs Sux invest US$500 Million into it and valued it at US$50 Billion is beyond me.

The first point I want to make is this, whenever I come across such outrageous or shocking news, the very first thing I will do is to simply ‘google’ for it. Had the news been real, it would be all over CNN, MSNBC, BBC and the likes. Yet, I turned up completely nothing on the main stream media. The second thing to do is look it up at snopes.com. While snopes.com may not be the final authority in the topic, at least it would digest the article and explain what is true and what is not.

So what is the point I want to make here? The point I want to make is that Goh Meng Seng is not some nobody Ah Beng but the secretary-general of the National Solidarity Party [NSP]. He claimed that he does not really know whether the news about the three gigantic spaceship is real or not, but as I have mentioned earlier the news is easily verifiable. If he had indeed made this claim after reading just the Shin Min article without having even check how true this article is, I would consider him a fool. I would count myself fortunate that he had made it clear he would be contesting only in Tampines GRC, and not anywhere else. Had he made it known he’ll be contesting in my constituency, I would be forced to do something that is against my principles – i.e. to cast a bad ballot in the coming elections.

Frankly, just how can I trust someone who never verify the facts before making a statement? While it maybe statistically true that out of the billions of stars in the universe, there could be other life bearing planets and thus space-faring alien races, I am not particularly enthusiastic about meeting any of them. In fact, I would consider fleeing to Tora Bora to live in a cave just like a Osama Osalah Bin Laden if an alien arrival is imminent. The aliens can hunt me down and kill me like a rat in the caves, but I will not be slaughtered like cattle while gathering around with everyone else to welcome the ‘visitors’.

It makes me wonder what was Goh Meng Seng’s objective in making his UFO claims? Was he trying to reach a “certain segment of the electorate” using these outrageous claims? According to the Shin Min Daily’s article, Goh Meng Seng allegedly claims he is not worried to be considered a loony for making his ‘UFO sighting’ public. In spite of that, this reinforced my personal opinion that some of our local opposition politicians have some kind of mental (if not moral) problems. It reminds me of Dr Chee Soon Juan barking screaming madly at Goh Chok Tong and Steve Stiff Chia taking photo of his maid.

Perhaps, the rabid opposition supporters would dismiss this as yet another attempt by the local main stream media to discredit the opposition. After all, the local main stream media has always been considered a lapdog and propaganda machine of the Tali-PAP government gahmen. Fortunately for them, they can all flock to the biased sites like Temasek Review Terbalik Revue and The Online Citizen.

The SPH’s yang to the TOC / TR’s yin. Both sides have to exist to maintain the balance.