[redbean]

Tharman has the making of a PM

We need strong and tough leaders who dare to tell the brutal truth even if it hurts. It is bad if leaders say all the nice things to gain popularity. Leaders must say the right thing and do the right thing. And Tharman has just done it. He said the most unpopular thing, but good for Singapore. He has warned employers against giving pay rise to workers to offset inflation.

And the best judge of his wisdom is that the union leaders also support this view. And not only the union leaders, 2/3 of the people also voiced out in support of his position. I have read 6 comments in the ST and 4 were in agreement with him. Only two were slightly in disagreement.

This only shows that the people are reasonable and thinking and will support hard policies as long as the reasons are sound. And in this case, 2/3 of them support Tharman. That is a good sign of Tharman's potential as the next PM.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

A new beacon of light

The centre of growth has shifted to the East. The two old giant civilisations have woken up and powering ahead. Then there is the revitalised Russia in the north, and the Koreans slightly to the east. And the old war horse, Japan, and Taiwan, Hongkong etc. Then there is Australia to the south and the world's biggest commodity producers, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Singapore is strategically placed in the midst of these spectacular growth and growing economies. And we are gradually becoming the centre for the region. We will be the beacon of growth, playing the role as a capital city for these countries. We will draw their talents, their products and services and their funds here. We will manage and process them with our expertise and first world infrastructures and systems. We will grow with them. We have everything they need, and the ability to balance the delicate sensitivities of these countries by being neutral and acceptable to all of them. We have a bright future as the centre of this growth.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Workers' right to ask for more pay

Hong Wai Leng wrote to ST forum saying that it is the right of workers to ask for more pay. This is only natural and it is the right of management to decide to give or not depending on the business and their ability to pay. To tell management not to give pay rise to workers because it will lead to inflation is pure nonsense.

And she went on further. Why didn't the minister tell the oil companies not to raise petrol prices, the govt not to have more ERPs, govt services not to raise their fees, as all these must lead to inflation?

Good questions. Very good questions.

The govt is elected by the people for the people. Obviously someone has forgotten this.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Authoritarianism is good

The new mantra that everyone is singing is that authoritarianism is good. At least it is good for Singapore. And China and Russia are coming here to learn our new authoritarianism.

I think this could be our national day message. Singaporeans prosper under authoritarian rule and Singaporeans love it. Long live authoritarianism. We are going to teach the world about this new authoritarianism.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Money babies

Have babies, more babies. We will give you money.

No one wants to know why must have more babies. No one wants to know what life will be like for the babies when they come. Having babies is no longer an emotional or sentimental thing. It is about got money or no money. It is not about loving the children and giving the children a life that is worth living. No need to think about such things.

How much you need? Tell me how much you want for each baby you produce. Very clinical. Very economic.

The state needs your babies. For what?

Come to think of it, it is better to produce babies for money. At least there is a reason to do it. Many produce babies without knowing why? No reasons, just keep producing.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Top rated men and top team

LKY said we have a Division One team in charge. And the team is made up of top rated men and women. The best surgeons, doctors, lawyers, soldiers, architects, men at the top of their profession. Is this what a top political leadership team should be? Or can top professional skills be translated into passion and caring for the people, to uplift the quality of lives of the people? Is a top medical man or legal man automatically becomes a good political leader?

Yes, we have the best brains, academically and professionally, from the various professions. Sometimes I got this feeling that they are better off remaining in their own profession and making themselves rich and contributing more in an area that they are excellent in.

We not only need top talents, but we need top talents that are willing to serve and not self serving. I am not saying that our top talents are self serving. I am saying that national leaders are best when they are more selfless and put more priority into serving the people. I think it is safer to claim at this point that our leaders are all selfless and the people's welfare is their top priority.

But as we go down the road this may not be the case. We have seen this blind worship of talents becoming a virtue here. Talents are embraced like gods or idols, even if they are found to have serious character flaws, cheats, or plunderers of public funds. When the society or people can no longer see more than one metre ahead and do not place much importance to integrity and high morals, where else can we go?

Soon we will be clamouring for cheats to be Prime Ministers. No sweat as long as they are talented. No need to fear a third division team to destroy the country. A Division One team with one or two cheats could do more harm than a weak team.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

The Golden Formula

Yes it works. After testing it out for the last decade or so, the formula works and is showing results. Singapore is finally on the road to an Olympic medal, maybe even a gold. The whole nation was glued on the TV screen, sharing the oohs and the aahs, one moment thumping in triumph, the next moment the heart sank in despair as our table tennis players battled the South Koreans for a place in the final.

After 1960, we have nothing to shout or look for at the Olympics except to send a couple of calefares, for the experience. And we echoed that sports was about participation and sporting spirit. Win or lose did not matter.

But sports has transformed itself into a different kind of battlefield for nations to stamp their mark of success. Millions and billions have been spent on sports and sporting talents to win that gold medal. The money is no small change and every country is doing it, grooming and paying their local talents or buying foreign talents. We are no exception.

Tonight is a big night for Singaporeans. Even the live telecast of the National Day Rally has been delayed to make way for the table tennis final when midget Singapore will take on mighty China. You can bet, critics or supporters alike will be glued to the TV, biting their nails and groan when we go down to China. I can't imagine the explosion of joy if the Great Wall crumbles.

We can see more of such events in the future now that the golden formula has been confirmed to work. If we increase our budget tenfolds, we could have ten times to cheer and feel elated. But that might be asking for too much.

Perhaps we can be more targeted in spending the money by going for individual sports. One talent is enough to win a gold. Go to Jamaica for sprinters, and Australia for swimmers. Discover a raw diamond that may turn out to be a Bolt or a Phelp.

An Olympic gold is not within our reach. We can afford it.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Singapore style entrepreneurship

The term 'entrepreneur' connotes a certain kind of adventurism, dynamism, gungho, pathfinders, self reliance, risk taking etc etc. The Singaporean style entrepreneurs are slightly different. It is all about reliance, about relying on the govt.

Singaporeans want a gold medal at the Olympics. The govt knows the answer. Singaporeans want to venture overseas, the govt will take the lead. The govt is the pathfinders. They beat the path to China, India, the Middleeast and Russia. And the Singapore Inc follows.

Now, Singaporeans who are lonely and not knowing how to go dating, the govt steps in. The govt will teach them how to go dating and find a mate.

Actually the one and only entrepreneur in Singapore is the Singapore Govt.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Another secret formula

I think I have just discovered another secret formula for Singapore's success, or to be specific, the Table Tennis Team's success. Firepower! Firepower not only among the players, but the management team. The latter is even more critical.

There are 38 talents in the STTA's Committee. And these include a Minister of State, 3 MPs and one ex MP. This is a powerful combination of some of the best brains that a sports association can ever dream of. We almost got Zhang Yi Ning in the team if things had gone our way. She was spotted long ago by one of the committee members and was chosen. But the Chinese refused to release her. That was a golden choice.

This Committee is the brain behind the STTA's success. They did all the planning and talent scouting and laid the foundation for the development of a solid team.

All the sports association can learn from this secret formula. Recruit more supertalents into the association first. Then the medals will come.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Laurentia Tan got us two medals

Paralympics: Singapore's Laurentia Tan wins second Equestrian bronze
By Ryan Huang, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 11 September 2008 2116 hrs

HONG KONG: Singapore's Laurentia Tan has won a second bronze medal in an Equestrian event on Thursday, giving the country its second medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.

Overcoming the odds in the Individual Freestyle Grade 1A event in Hong Kong, Tan performed to music, despite being born with profound deafness. Tan also has cerebral palsy.

She made history on Tuesday by becoming the nation's first and currently only paralympic medallist. - CNA /ls

Now I am wondering who sponsored her training and how much did it cost to get us the two medals. It may be the Paralympics, but still an international event. Should put more money to train our Paralympians. Chances of medals are better.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

You want medals?

You want medals, we give you medals. This is more or less what our Paralympians were saying to Singapore. First Laurentia Tan gave us two bronze medals. Now Yin Pin Xiu gave us a silver medal and a world record. So did Theresa Goh with another world record of her own. Yin Pin Xiu is lined up to deliver a gold.

The irony of life comes in the most unexpected places. When Singapore was hungry for an Olympic medal and willingly splurged on its sportsmen and women in the tune of a $32 mil annual budget, the medal harvest came where the expectation was low. With only a budget of $3.2 mil, a fraction of the main budget of the Singapore Sports Council, the Singapore Disability Sports Council is bringing home 3 medals and maybe another gold in the waiting.

This may be the secret of our success. No need to pay so much for a medal. We can find our sporting heroes and heroines in the fields of the disadvantaged.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

The goodness of obedience

The thoughts of what is happening in Thailand today, when protestors were fighting and shooting at the police must give a great sense of gratitude that we are such a peaceful country with peace loving people. Those who still have doubts about the cancelling of the cycling event in East Coast Parkway should better appreciate the foresight of the decision. You need talents who can look a few steps ahead to make wise decisions.

We did have people fighting the police in the past. But those were the days gone by. Today we have a different set of people that believe in the goodness of obedience. It is a diffferent kind of obedience, not those of a dictatorial regime, an authoritarian state or an archaic kingdom. Those were imposed obedience through the use of force or ignorance of the populace. That is one of the reason why some old feudal states chose to keep their people under educated. For with education comes knowledge and a questioning mind. The more education the people received, the more they can see falsehood from the truth and the lower will be their tolerance for inepts and bad policies.

This is a little contradiction which requires a little explanation. We have a very high level of literacy in our people. Many are highly educated. But this does not bring about disobedience. In fact the people become more obedient than before. Thanks to several good men and their wise policies that brought us so far. And the people are grateful to the point that they will stand up to defend the govt against any critics. Critics are frown upon and set upon especially in the cyberspace.

The kind of obedience among Singaporeans have been carefully cultivated through young and has become second nature to them. This is an achievement which many countries could not do. I cringe when I heard educators talking about teaching the students to learn critical thinking. Raising literacy in an orderly society is an achievement that many failed to appreciate. For that, our govt should receive a Nobel Price for Peace. More specifically, it should go to the good leadership. Not just anyone in the govt.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

The Golden Formula not working

Earlier I posted about the Golden Formula that brought us the Olympic medals. It was working or starting to work. But the flaws of such a formula are starting to reveal itself. It is a short sighted formula. It depends on foreign talents that can be bought but can go away as quickly as they come. Foreign talents that come to us in this way have no commitment to us. They are not one of us. Unlike our own children who are born and bred here. Even paying them peanuts or not paying them anything, they will still be here.

We need to rethink this parasitic principle that we can live off the talents of other countries. it is poaching in one way. And we are happy when we poached other people's citizens but obviously we would not be happy if others do that to us.

Now the table tennis fiasco is beginning to tell us to wake up and look inward at our own children. For they are all we have to depend on in the long run. And this does not apply only to sports. It is applicable to all industries. Take care of your children first, look after them well. Don't be infatuated by foreigners. They come smiling when you put money into their pockets. But they will not hesitate to turn around and slap you on their way out.

We need to be more self sufficient in our own talent pool. Depending on foreign talents can only be a short term measure and opportunistic. Come to the crunch, the citizens are all you got. Don't neglect your own children.

Did I hear that we are going in a big way to get more medals and more foreign talents?
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Give the people a stake in the country

This was the magic formula of the first generation leaders in the early days of our history. They really built affordable, I mean really affordable, HDB flats for the people to live in. A 3rm flat in Queenstown cost about $7000! Ok, for a better perspective, that was a time when a teacher would probably be getting about $500 pm or $6000 pa. Today, a 4rm flat is $450k against a teacher's pay of $3k, $45K pa. Affordable!

What has gone awry with this magic formula? Isn't it good that the flats are now costing half a million or 1 million? Don't the people feel richer with all the asset inflation?

The trick then was that the people can live comfortably with their $7k flat while other costs were also relatively low. Living here was comfortable and manageable when compare to living in other countries.

Today, living here is a big struggle even with a half a million dollar flat. Everything is too costly relative to options in other countries. The previous magic formula attracted people to want to stay here and have a decent living. The new formula says you will be better off selling what you have here, collect all the cash and move on to a relatively cheaper country where your wealth can be multiplied several times over.

Yes, the system is designed for the average citizens to sell out and move out. The option of staying behind is a life of struggle to make ends meet while bragging about being very rich in the CPF and a half a million dollar flat.

The new formula is flawed. Or maybe it is intended that way. Make your money, grow your assets, and go away in your golden years.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Paying the best and getting the best

This must be an open secret to all. We pay the best for the best to give the people the best. The result of this brilliant policy is for all to see. We have the best govt, the best infrastructure and one of the biggest national reserve on a per capita basis in the world. We have billions and billions to spend or to fall back on. We are the envy of the world.

At the people level, more than 80% are home owners. The people can afford to buy anything that they want, and paying top prices for them too, happily. For they can afford to. They buy cars at a price beyond anyone's imagination. They pay for a govt flat that can buy them a sprawling home in Australia or in some cheaper countries. They are learning to pay more for medical and legal bills. All these are in tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. No sweat. Singaporeans can afford to pay.

They also pay top dollars for the best people to manage an efficient and reliable power system. And they have the privilege to pay one of the highest electricity tariffs in the world. This is what they get for getting the best to enable them to pay more for things which others will pay less for it.

And at the end of the day, many will have several hundred thousands in their savings when they retire, or if they ever retire. And they can carry along with them into the next life with plenty to spare.
_________________
what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.