[redbean]

Money is not an issue
There is an article by a Gordon Lee on his recommendations to improve the public transport system. His title is ‘Why fares should double and other ideas for a better transport system’. He also made a comment, ‘As many people noted, the main issue that commuters have with public transport is not price, but levels of service. Nevertheless, I will propose ways to keep public transport affordable.’ Okay, I think he thinks differently from many people, and price is important. I just don’t like it when he used the word affordable. Affordable is a four letter word. Affordable to A may not be affordable to B and C.
If he sticks to his title, then fares should be double and many problems will be solved. That I agree. More problems will be solved if fares is tripled or quadruple. Everyone or many people are only interested in the quality of service.
Sinkies are mostly cash rich if one is to read the front page headline of the Today paper yesterday. COEs of big cars hit or nearing the highs of 1994 when the stock market was having the once in 50 years bull run. Actually it was more a once in a life time bull run as the confluence of all the favourable factors is unlikely to be repeated.
COEs of big cars, ie 2000cc and above and the Open category went pass the $80,000 mark. And COE is only a certificate of entitlement to buy a car. This amount is more than enough to buy several cars in other first world countries. Here, you need to cough out another $100k or more before one can buy a 2000cc car. The COE for cars below 1,600cc is $56,000.
Singaporeans are stuffed with cash, cash rich. Big cars are really affordable, more affordable than smaller cars. When the alternative to own and drive around in private cars is so cheap, the price of public transport is definitely a steal and people can afford to pay more. I think many people would not mind paying $6 to $10 daily for public transport when ERP charges could be more than that to drive a car. And taxi fares are now getting nearer to London and New York, but still very cheap. This could be good reason for the cab companies to think of raising fares more often. Just do it every six months or a year and people will get use to it.
They can learn from the pricing of public flats, from $7,000 in the late 60s for a 3 rm flat to $300,000 today. Overtime people will get use to it and would not mind paying more and more.
Everything is still relative cheap to cash rich Singaporeans. And everything is affordable.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Income ceiling raised for 2 rm flats in mature estates
The income ceiling to buy 2 rm flats has been raised from $2000 to $5000 for the affordable HDB flats in mature estates. But the ceiling of $2000 will stay for new estates to keep them affordable for the lower incomes.
This policy change is funny in many ways. If people can afford to buy a flat with only $1000 pm income, the raising to $5000 seems to be unnecessary. And if it needs a $5000 income to be able to afford a 2 rm flat, should not the other categories of ceiling be raised proportionately to make them affordable as well?
The official reasoning is that raising the ceiling would provide those earning $5000 another option to buy down instead of being forced to buy more expensive but still affordable flats. This is a dramatic change in policy direction from the HDB. In the past or current, the policy is to make sure that the buyer will expend whatever he has in his savings or his income to buy the most expensive flats available. If he earns a bit more, force him to buy from the sharks in the private sector. And this policy has singlehandedly led to the present situation whereby many did not have much left in their savings for retirement, and a 30 year mortgage repayment that eats up their disposable income. Oops, think I make a mistake here. Someone was reported in the main media that many Singaporeans have enough savings in the CPF for retirement. Believe me, it is true.
The old thinking of doing things right may not be right in this particular case. The little change in direction may help a little in allowing people to buy what they really can afford and still with some savings and a little more disposable income to go with. To focus on doing things right, HDB may want to seriously look at the old policy of forcing people to buy more expensive but still affordable flats and extend this policy change to all the other categories of affordable HDB flats. The right way to go is to remove the ceilings and build more flats to meet the demands. Don’t interfere with the people’s income and how they should spend their money. Many would want to buy smaller and really affordable flats and save at the same time for their retirement and a little luxury with the extra cash available.
The flawed policy of not building to frustrate the people by creating a false demand is obnoxious and definitely not right. Would HDB do the right thing and do it right by going all the way instead of just stopping at 2?
And believe me, some daft Sinkies will still argue that by not putting a ceiling on the income, there will be so big a demand for smaller flats that the lower income will be deprived of their chances of buying one. And some great talents will superimpose this view, when the simple thing to do is to build what the people want. If the demand is for cheaper 3 rm or 4 rm flats, then build it for the people.
Why insist on people spending all their money to buy more expensive affordable flats, or why not follow the private developers and build 650 sq ft flat to sell at $1m? Then keep harping that the quality of life will not be affected. Can do or no can do?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Making sense with numbers
Are we better off today than in the 1970s? In 1970, many average people could earn $600 pm. And that amount, $7,200, was enough to pay for a 3 rm flat in a year.
Today, what is the average income, per head, not household? $3000? Can that pay for a 3 rm flat in a year, ie $36,000? Even with two persons income of $6,000 pm, it is only $72,000. How much is a 3 rm flat, new?
Are we really better off than before? Or are the HDB flats really affordable?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

April 1 price hike in electricity
SP Services has increased electricity tariff by 4.3% to a new high of 28.78 cents per kWh. It is all due to higher fuel and gas prices. Can’t be helped.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Doctors crying foul

Inspection and certification of medical instruments are going to cost a bomb. And the doctors are unhappy and rightly so as the cost of medical services is already high and now adding more cost. This is the syndrome of creating jobs and income for doing more and more. Aren’t these equipment manufacturers subject to many international regulations and standards to ensure that their equipment is safe for use?

We will be seeing more revenue created from unproductive administrative processes like more checks, more certifications and examination fees, more licences etc etc. The annual checks for cars, especially weekend cars, is another big concern. The cars today are very well made, and in our case many are very new, weekend car owners hardly used their cars, but subject to annual inspections at a hefty fee.

It is so easy to make money when you have the authority to do so. Just create some excuses for more training, more examinations, more checks, more certifications, and money will just flow in. No need to work the guts out in the field, in the factory, in the service outlets producing real goods and services. Better, wait for someone to complain and turn it around to impose more fees to look like trying to solve the problem.

The financial industry just print paper money, create complex notes and sell them to the ignorant. All part of the new industry of creating revenue out of nothing. Is it really that clever to do such things? What shall such things be called? Abuse of power, authority, robbery, trickery, selling snake oil? You don’t need any talent to do such things. The MLM, the holiday share schemes, ponzi schemes, charities and donation schemes , etc etc even the school dropouts, the laymen or conmen can do it. In fact they are more creative and effective than the super talents in such designs. Cheating is the easiest thing to do, and no thinking required if the power is behind cheats.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Bill Gates does not need a pay rise

After the shocking therapy of Prof Lim Chong Yah and the expected knee jerk defensive mechanism and reaction from you know who, the labour chief said today that the high cost of inflation and high cost of living mean that there is a need to raise the income of workers. It is good that he finally came to know of the problem. He also added that the high income gap must be closed.

Now that the dust has settled down, the good sense and propriety of the real pain are sinking in. The retort against raising salary of the lower income group and the need for a closing of the widening income is indeed a problem that cannot be allowed to run away without a leash.

Rhetoric and political expediency aside, some of the elite truly believe that the bread of the rich should be buttered 3 or 4 times over as they are deserving of the buttering because of their supreme talent. On the downside, the losers deserve to be losers and they should count themselves lucky that their bread is even buttered at all. Count the blessing that they still have bread to eat.

Such line of thinking coming from those who have no responsibility over the whole of the population is understandable. The private emterprises and developers would choose to maximise profits at all cost as they are not in the business of charity. But if they come from the political leaders, it is irresponsible and obnoxious. Political leaders is not there to look after self interest, to protect elitist interest but to spread the goodies, ensure a more equal distribution of wealth and social equality to the people, but not to the extent of all men are equal and all should receive one bowl of rice.

Bill Gates does not need another pay rise. He has so much money that he has to give them away. And so is his pal Warren Buffett. There is no need to reach such a position to distance oneself from the accumulation of wealth. No one is frowning against an entrepreneur or a businessman from acquiring his wealth forever. What is objectionable is to spread public wealth through public offices to those who are bursting at the seams with more wealth. A very good but disgusting example was to raise the President’s salary to $4m when the masses did not think it was justifiable, nor the office justifies that kind of pay. But the existing god in power is always right and would have the final say. It is right today but would be very wrong when the next god comes into power.

Distribution of public money must be measured to serve the majority, to benefit more people than a few yodas who have so much and do not have much time or the need to spend them. This sickness is infected across the industries in the private sector when the top few would grab the lion’s share while the rest, minority shareholders and workers were left with crumbs.

And it is this kind of unequal and unjust system of wealth distribution that is causing the runaway inflation. No amount of small increases at the bottom can catch up with this kind of distortion in the system. In a pure capitalist and elitist system this is cause for celebration, and eventually cause for destruction. Is this what we want, a system where a few elite could buy tens of private properties and tens of luxury cars and with plenty to buy more while living on public money or feeding on the minority shareholders’ money?

And once in a while, when it is politically opportune, to cry for the poor workers, to shout, pay rise for the workers? May Day is around the corner.

Prof Lim Chong Yah is absolutely right. He must have seen the greed and the amassing of unjustifiable and unnecessary wealth by a few at the expense of the greater good. What is so painful for a few years without pay even if one is not Bill Gates or Warren Buffett when one can live a few life times without having the need to earn a single cent?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Workers say no to wage hike
While the workers of the world rose in protest over their low wages, the workers here were celebrating their good fortune. All of them looked so happy, and so rich. And they expectedly rejected the shock therapy of Lim Chong Yah that offered them a 50% pay rise in 3 years. Unbelieveable!
I think the workers are reading Lim Chong Yah’s therapy selectively. For one, Lim Chong Yah is no ordinary academic and he is definitely Not mad. How could an eminent economics professor make a recommendation that the workers and the super talents all objected in unison as if it is flawed? How could they counter with the argument that the rising cost of production due to higher wages would make the companies not competitive? It cannot be. The money paid to the workers must come from somewhere to balance it. And this is the part that no one wants to talk about. Where is the money coming from?
What Lim Chong Yah did not say directly is that the fat cows are too fat and can afford not to stuff in more food for the next three years. With their current intake, they could continue to be fat cows. The real objection to Lim Chong Yah’s proposal is likely to be this, that the fat cow wants to eat more and more and their current intake is not enough. That is why if raising the worker’s wages did not come with a salary freeze at the top it will spell disaster. And that is right. But Lim Chong Yah did not ask for this disaster. He is asking the fat cow to take a break and stop taking more for a while.
When rejecting Lim Chong Yah, one must look at his full recommendations, not just raising worker’s wages alone. But workers are workers, just lead them and they will follow happily.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Wage hike = inflation, salary increment no inflation
The workers are scratching their heads again. Why wage hike will lead to inflation and salary increment will not? Very simple. The answer was given in the ST a few days ago. Singapore’s inflation rate hit a high of 5.2%. But this inflation rate will not affect the workers because hor, it only affects the rich who buy expensive cars and pay high COEs or expensive multi million properties. The inflation is only at the high end. There is no inflation at the low end as workers did not buy these big ticket items, or at least workers are not affected. Heng ah!
But when there is a wage hike, all the workers will be having a spending spree at their favourite food courts or hawker centres, and the prices of food will shoot up, leading to high inflation. Some will spend like a king in Batam, Bintan and JB. Now I am scratching my head also. This logic sounds right or not?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Help, help, monkeys everywhere!
When you pay peanuts you will get monkeys. Now we must be having monkeys everywhere except the ministers and admin service. These are the two places in public service that are not paid in peanuts. And in the private sector, the workers, hmmm, are they being paid peanuts also?
Monkeys are in every corner of the world. In fact all the state leaders and civil servants across the world are all paid like monkeys. Not many are paid anything decent enough or better than peanuts.
Eeek, there are so many monkeys around.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Workers want pay rise to fight inflation
Just as I posted that workers were rejecting the pay hike recommended by Lim Chong Yah, today’s ST front page news screams, ‘Give pay rise to fight inflation’. And what is this nonsense about pay rise to fight inflation when we just heard over May Day that pay rise will cause inflation? I think I better shout, May Day, May Day, May Day…
I am getting very confuse. On one hand the good old professor wanted to help the workers by calling for more pay hike but got slapped by workers left and right. Now workers want to have pay rise, and to fight inflation when pay rise is the reason for inflation.
KNN, dunno what to say anymore. Who is right? Or who is talking rubbish?
I think it is time to engage a foreign consultancy to look into this confusion and come up with a good explanation to please everyone. Money is no problem.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Miserables rebelling
The signs of the miserables rebelling are beginning to show. On one corner, those against pay rise for workers. On the other corner, those who feel that the workers have been underpaid and need a boost in their income to keep pace with the high cost of living.
The interesting thing, who are the people standing up for the workers’ plight? We are hearing voices from the luminaries crying out for the workers, and some prominent members of the establishment. Conscience pricks? This is unheard off since the centuries of revolutions in France, Russia and China. Today, the human resource professionals are also standing up for the workers. They understand the lot of the workers and how they are coping with the rising inflation. They have pooh poohed the myth that workers can buy a decent public flat with a $1000 monthly income or things along this line of thinking.
Now, who are at the other corner that are against giving workers a decent pay rise, a decent income to live a decent life? Maybe they believe that the workers are having a really good time and a really good life. No need to pay the workers crazily. With half a million dollar of subsidies, the workers are all half a millionaire. They are the envies of the world.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Fuck you! They cheered.
Was in this nightspot and in the company of many young and beautiful people with a lot of money to burn. Not Holland V for sure. These were the young and upward mobile people, talented, well educated and enjoying life. But listening to their conversation was quite enlightening. They were fucking and fucking at you know who.
This singles were obviously very angry. Of course they were. Several still did not have a place of their own. Single and too rich and not eligible to buy HDB. One confessed he had quite a bundle in his bank account and could afford a private flat. Then his temper shot up. ‘What the fuck must I pay half a million for a shoe box or a million for a private flat. I served my NS, I am supposed to defend and die for this fucking country. And they refused to sell me a HDB. What am I defending for? I am homeless!’
He had many comrades who were in the same shit, and all started, ‘Fuck you, fuck you.’
Some in the group were married. And they too were shouting in chorus, ‘Fuck you, fuck you.’ For they too were not eligible to buy HDB. Too talented and too high an income for their own good. They were victims of their own success. So what it they had served NS and still needed to do reservists? The new citizens are definitely much better off than them without having to do NS and burdened with a life of reservist liabilities. And fuck you, they all cheered.
I share their grievance. I understood, and feel they have every right to fuck the buggers. The people they are fucking deserved to be fucked. No doubt about it. Not a single shred of doubt.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[admin]

Singapore is a welfare state. Period.
I totally disagree with Tan Jee Say and his Lord Butler for thinking that Singapore is not a welfare state. And many people will believe in them. The official position of the govt is that it is against welfare state and adamantly said that Singapore will not become a welfare state. Really?
In reality, Singapore is a welfare state of the extreme kind. It benefits the elite with state welfare that puts many welfare states to shame. Think about it. Who is getting the most from state welfare by the millions?
Our welfare is not meant for the low down jobless, cleaners or poor retirees. Agree or still puzzling? Just look at who are the recipients of our state welfare and how these are being disguised to look like something else.

[redbean]

What is price fixing?
Below is copied from the Competition Commission of Singapore’s website.
‘ A particularly serious type of anti-competitive agreement would be those made by cartels. Cartel agreements are usually to fix prices, to rig competitive tendering process, to divide up markets or to limit production. As a result, the cartelists have little or no incentive to lower prices or provide better quality goods or services. Based on economic studies, cartels overcharge by 30 per cent on average. There are four main types of cartel agreements:
• Price Fixing
Price fixing involves competitors agreeing to fix, control or maintain the prices of goods or services. It can be ‘direct’ fixing of prices, where there is an agreement to increase or maintain actual prices. Price fixing activities can also take the form of ‘indirect’ fixing of prices, for example, where competitors agree to offer the same discounts or credit terms. Price fixing agreements do not have to be in writing, a verbal understanding at, for instance a trade association meeting or at a social event, may be sufficient to show that there was a price fixing agreement. It does not matter how the agreement was reached or whether it has been carried out. What matters is that the competitors have agreed to collude.’
On 29 Jul 12, it was reported that 7 Town Councils announced that they would be revising Service and Conservancy Charges in their respective areas. My first impression is that here is a cartel of 7 Town Councils working together to fix prices at the same time. But then again, I think these Town Councils would know what price fixing is all about and knowing the law, they would be well advised not to violate it. Further, they are not commercial enterprises but govt or semi govt agencies and price fixing offence may not be applicable even if they did have some agreements to raise their fees together with or without any intention to fix prices.
As a layman, I would be hard pressed to try to interpret and understand what is price fixing by a cartel and whether in this instance there is any, or whether the Town Councils are guilty of price fixing. I have no reason to doubt the integrity of these govt officials and would believe that they have done the correct and proper thing and there is thus no price fixing.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

The mysterious utility bill hike
Many bloggers are complaining about the mysterious hike in their utility bills in the recent months, more accurately after they have a little cheap thrill of receiving $110 U Save out of the blue. The little happiness is quickly turning into a nightmare and demanding a quick explanation.
An example of the complaints is a comment by Poor Singaporean in TRE.
‘My utility bill averages around S$80-90+ a month. So far, our electricity, gas & water consumption have not varied much until July according to SP Powers.
I got a rude shock upon receiving the bill, our electricity consumption had doubled. I don’t understand how is this possible when our lifestyle still remains the same. Our electrical appliances are still new; we have just moved in to our BTO HDB flat a year ago only.
After deducting the U-SAVE Voucher of S$110, my bill amounts to S$95+. Which is around the usual range for our monthly utility bill. No savings in the end, so what’s the point of giving us the voucher?’
If what Poor Singaporean is experiencing is widespread, it must warrant an explanation from the govt and an investigation on this strange phenomenon. It could be an error that affects only a few Sinkies knowing that errors and glitches are now a common occurrence in many areas. Just hope that it is just a glitch and nothing more to it.
Was there a hike in the utilities charges that was not announced? If so, this is unbecoming and unacceptable. If there isn’t, and if the surge in the bills is true, what is happening?
CSI bloggers would be welcome to do a more thorough investigation on this matter as they are much more efficient and zealous in discovering the truth and the concerns of Sinkies. There are the only reliable and dependable investigative reporters available today. And this is a very serious issue that affects all the average Sinkies. Every Sinkie should take a close look at their utility bills to make sure that there is no error in the bills.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.