TR EMERITUS

For years and years, we have been told that Singapore’s reserves are only meant to be used for a rainy day. But now that we are in a storm and the reserves have been unlocked, there is an endless stream of reminders about how fortunate we are to have a government that is able to tap on reserves. Is it a concerted effort to make Singaporeans feel beholden to the government? We have been getting reminder after reminder from Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat about Singaporeans benefiting from the government’s prudence, planning and good governance. Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah has also reminded that government help is possible because of “prudent management of public finances and the strength of our reserves.” As if all that is not enough, we have had several PAP MPs taking turns to make the same point, including Vikram Nair (Sembawang GRC), Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok) and Tin Pei Ling (Mapherson). Tin Pei Ling takes the cake for the eye-popping claim that Singapore is among the world’s most generous countries in terms of relief given at $23,225 per capita. To top it off, the cash handouts to Singaporeans are seemingly timed to coincide with a general election that’s just around the corner, for obvious reasons. It makes us recall MP Lee Bee Wah’s labelling of Singaporeans as ‘si kui kia’ (ingrates) for being ungrateful to Ah Gong (government) who scrimps and saves for the benefit of the people. Is this what it all boils down to? Are Singaporeans ingrates who have to reminded again and again that it is our duty and responsibility to show gratitude to the government? Perhaps the citizens should give a reminder of what former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said: Let us never forget this fundamental truth: the State has no source of money other than money which people earn themselves. If the State wishes to spend more it can do so only by borrowing your savings or by taxing you more . . . There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers’ money. In truth, the State has no money other than taxpayers’ money; if the State wants to spend more, it has to borrow the people’s savings or tax more. The government has already told Singaporeans that taxes, including the GST, have to be raised to fund healthcare and infrastructure spending. And now that some of the reserves have been dipped into, all the more reason for the government to find ways and means to claw back money. Never forget that Singaporeans have been told often enough that nobody owes us a living. And there’s definitely no such thing as a free lunch!   Augustine Low      Read More →

In the first of a series of Ministerial speeches to Singaporeans, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged Singaporeans to work with him and his team of 4G leaders as they lead us into an uncharted, troubled and uncertain future. There was nothing new or inspiring in PM Lee’s speech. He again harps on exceptionalism, but really, how exceptional have his team of 4G Leaders been? The way they handled the Covid-19 crisis has dented our international reputation. Let us be mindful that the global community is aware that we went from being the ‘gold standard’ in pandemic care to being a ‘cautionary tale’. And this happened because they turned a deaf ear to the warnings of people who work with foreign workers, that the living conditions of such workers may be cause for concern for the coronavirus to spread like wildfire in the community. How can we trust leaders who are like a little deaf frog? At the start of the pandemic, when people were instinctively seeking ways to protect themselves with masks, these very same leaders came out to say that “masking-up was not the best thing that every Singaporean can do to protect himself”. Only a leaked audio clip revealed the real reasons why these leaders may have been discouraging universal masking – because of supply chain constraints, they had to conserve the surgical masks for our medical system. How can we trust leaders who are not truthful to us? In his speech, PM Lee took credit for keeping the number of fatalities in Singapore low. That the number of fatalities is low reflects on the diligence of our nurses, doctors and other essential workers in our healthcare sector. How can our leaders take credit for keeping the fatalities here low, but not take responsibility for the number of infected persons in Singapore which has exceeded the 40,000 new cases mark? Also, are our number of new cases kept artificially low because fewer swab tests are being conducted? Of course, more aggressive testing will drive up the number of infected cases but further risks of community transmission could be curbed. Unless our political leaders want to keep the infected numbers down before the elections. But then, how can you trust leaders who put electioneering first before properly fighting the pandemic? Panic-buying, empty supermarket shelves and hoarding of essential items are just some of the knee-jerk reactions of a public concerned over potential food shortages triggered by the pandemic. And our leaders’ response to this is to diversify our food sources from countries further away. Doesn’t that seriously worry you? While we are importing our food products from countries further away, our local farms have to cease operations as the government wants to take back the land to build more housing. With a declining total fertility rate, why the need to rush and build more housing? The question for me is, should Singaporeans continue to trust a team who have blamed their shortfalls on the lack of hindsight? Should we continue to trust a team without foresight? Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, believed that a system of a few good men (and some women) would be the best fit for Singapore. He said in his memoirs, “My experience of developments in Asia has led me to conclude that we need good men to have good government. However good the system of government, bad leaders will bring harm to their people. […] The single decisive factor that made for Singapore’s development was the ability of its ministers and the high quality of the civil servants who supported them.” This is one main reason why we do not have strong institutions and rigorous processes. This system of Government, however, could be dated and can only work when we have good, capable leaders with foresight. This pandemic is unlike any other crisis many of us may have seen in our lives. But there may be many more unknowns and perils ahead of us. And with the many twists and turns before us, we must come together and work hand-in-hand to chart the way forward. We cannot rely only on one man, or even one band of men and women. We cannot let these men amass so much power especially when they have readily admitted that they do not have the foresight. It is a massive task – but united, we can!   Ravi Philemon          Read More →

A good initiative turned bad? Or simply not making enough effort for it to work? Jobs Bank was created for employers to recruit locals but was used as an excuse not to employ locals instead. Thousands of locals tried to use the portal with millions of resumes submitted and realised that with minimum or no reply, and interview if any were a waste of time. Great idea from MOM to insist employers to advertise a job position on Jobs Bank for 14 calendar days before they can apply for an Employment Pass (EP) for that position. MOM needs to show it is making an effort to help locals get jobs and employers need to show difficulties in employing locals, perfect showmanship for both at the expenses of locals seeking jobs. Other culprits are employment agencies. If MOM wants to make Jobs Bank to work effectively, it needs to change employers and employees’ mindsets. Lever the playing fields for both to interact on the portal and create rules and incentives. 1. Allow comprehensive data capture, incentivise ($50-100) job seekers to input essential info for employment on the portal. A reasonable large pool of job seekers would be created for a reasonable search with the necessary criteria. 2. Insist employers to select listed candidates on the portal based on their needs, say 5 applicants to be interviewed. There are various incentives for employers now. 3. MOM needs to do more policing and ensure locals are “really” considered before an EP application, let alone to issue a pass. Attached and review the 5 failed local job applicants against foreigner’s criteria. 4. Apply the above and constantly improve the employment of locals and the needs of employers. With 400,000 foreigners permitted to work as PMETs in Singapore, it does not need brain to see how badly locals are affected. Imagine 100,000 Singaporeans whom are underpaid or underemployed and another 100,000 jobless looking for jobs? The government is to be held responsible for making lives miserable for these groups of Singaporeans, be accountable for creating policies to disadvantage locals. Where are all the economic scholars and ministers? The government needs to tighten the rules, get their priorities right: Retrenched EP holders should leave Singapore instead of allowing them to stay to compete with locals for jobs. Existing Pass holders switching jobs should be cancelled and leave instead of allowing them to stay and compete for another job. Forbid jobs hunting and interviews for tourist visas and no extension allowed. ICQ should block foreigners out at the gate as a first line of defence. Look at USA, EU, Japan, etc. Immigration Officers are trained to seek out tourists or job seekers. Make it illegal for both employers and foreign applicants. Real talents are paid in excess of $15,000, not $3,600. Close the loop and not disadvantage the locals for jobs between $3000 to $15,000. Disastrous for our middle incomes to be hit, especially below the belt. And tolong hor, not another motherhood statement on FT from any government official, not another excuse from any association to justify employing foreigners over locals. Damn to-lan leh! With local unemployment rising rapidly, we should not allow more foreigners onto our shores to get jobs at the expense of locals. The government needs to wake up and work smarter and harder for its worth, take care of we the citizens of Singapore.   M Gen          Read More →