TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Mr Mah Bow Tan may be the world's most expensive National Development Minister, but it seems that he lacks some basic understanding of statistics. In an extensive interview with the Straits Times on 7 April 2010 to defend his dismal track record, Mr Mah claimed that contrary to populat opinion, housing prices have not moved faster than household incomes in the past decade. To substantiate his claims, he revealed figures collated by the HDB and Department of Statistics which shows that the median household incomes actually outstripped resale home prices from 1999 to 2009: "So, when people say prices have moved faster than incomes, it's not true...Realistically, in the last 10 years, prices have moved in tandem with income - except the last year. And this was an anomaly," Mr Mah added. [Source: Straits Times, 7 April 2010] An unsuspecting reader will be completely deceived and misled by the Straits Times yet again, but thanks to the internet, we know that the statistics were fudgy at best and not an accurate reflection of the reality on the ground. The trick lies in the base year used in the computation of the statistics, according to Reform Party member Hazel Poa. Ms Poa is a former PSC scholar and a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Finance before venturing out herself to start her own business. The statistics used by Mr Mah appeared to be so because the prices of resale HDB flats are low and remain stagnant during the years 2000 - 2006: As we can see from the above figures, the RPI remains in the range of 101 - 104 from 2000 to 2006 and only start picking up in 2007 before reaching a record high in 150.8. The price increase is contributed largely by the rising demand fueled by immigration in the face of limited supply of new flats built by HDB. The ruling party had made known its ambitious plan to increase Singapore’s population to 6.5 million via immigration as early as 2005. However, only slightly more than 11,000 new flats were built between the years 2006 – 2008 when there were over 90,000 PRs and 20,000 new citizens alone in 2008:   [Source: HDB Financial Report 2008/2009] Below is a graph illustrating how the rise in the prices of resale flats coincides with the rise in the number of foreigners in Singapore between the years 2000 and 2008, courtesy of Kojakbt, the moderator of 3in1kopitiam: Due to the ruling party’s liberal immigration policy, foreigners now made up 36 per cent of Singapore’s population, up from 14 per cent in 1990. The influx of PRs also contribute to a spike in the prices of resale flats as they have higher spending prowess and are willing to spend more. The Straits Times reported a Taiwanese couple paying a record $650,000 for a four room flat in Bras Basah lately. Another Indonesian PR forked out $653,000 for a 4 room flat in Queenstown. Now if the base year is shifted to 2006 when the prices start picking up instead of 1999, the graph will appear to be drastically different: [Source: Hazel Poa's blog] As the above graph has depicted clearly, if the base year of 2006 is used, the resale price index (RPI) would have far outstripped that of median household income (MHI) Ms Hazel Poa has rebutted and demolished Mr Mah's claims completely in a very short, sweet and succinct reply on her blog here. It is most embarrassing that a millionaire PAP minister can make such a juvenile mistake and present a half-truth to Singaporeans. Perhaps Mr Mah can consider taking some simple lessons in statistics from Ms Hazel Poa who will surely be glad to share her knowledge with him.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join the discussion about this article on our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to help us raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans.   Debunking official myths of HDB flats series: 1 Part 1: Singaporeans are “owners” of their HDB flats 2. Part 2: HDB flats are affordable to most Singaporeans 3. Part 3: Rising prices of HDB flats generate wealth for Singaporeans   Related articles: >> Mah Bow Tan: "Unrealistic" expectations to blame for unhappiness about flats >> Taiwanese PR paid record $ 650,000 for 4-room resale flat >> Grace Fu: PRs are helpful to HDB flat owners selling their flats >> HDB launches “traveling exhibition” to trumpet its achievements in the heartlands >> PAP to upgrade 12,000 HDB households ahead of next election >> Mah Bow Tan: We do not want flat prices to go down >> Prices of resale flats to rise further as PR quota reached >> Taiwanese PR offers $50k COV for resale flat >> Mah Bow Tan: PRs have minimal impact on resale flat prices >> No empirical evidence to suggest that public housing is affordable in Singapore >> When will Singapore’s property bubble burst? >> Why HDB is unable to reveal break down costs of new flats now >> HDB to consider introducing rules to curb property speculation >> HDB blames Singaporeans for not selecting flats when given the chance >> Singaporeans worried about retirement after depleting CPF to pay for over-priced HDB flats >> Mah Bow Tan acknowledged that rising HDB flat prices has sparked “fresh concerns” >> PM Lee: Govt does not have control over prices of resale flats” >> COVs of resale flats shooting through the roof >> HDB resale price index hit record high in 2009 >> Singaporean wants PRs to live in rented flats instead of buying resale flats >> Singaporeans wants PRs to be banned from selling HDB flats at a profit >> Shanmugam: Singaporeans likely culprits for driving up HDB flat prices >> Mah Bow Tan: HDB flats remain affordable >> Means testing for PRs to buy resale flats >> Immigration and public housing: should the govt or people plan ahead? >> Grace Fu: hard to predict demand for housing >> Indonesian PR bought 4-room flat at $653,000 >> Mah Bow Tan asks home buyers to be realistic >> PAP MP blames young couples who cannot get a flat for not planning ahead >> Home affordability: HDB versus the public >> Demand vs supply: so many applicants, so few flats >> Number of applicants exceed number of flats >> HDB to increase supply of flats >> Mah: don’t compare with prices in the past >> ERA: 40 per cent of HDB flat buyers are PRs  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent First, it was Singapore companies putting up jobs to recruit Malaysians in Peninsular Malaysia and now it seems that Sabah has been "conquered" by Singapore too. Due to the PAP's ultra-liberal labor policies, Singapore companies are free to employ foreigners with few restrictions. In other countries, foreign migrant workers are employed strictly in sectors with a chronic shortage of local workers. For example, Australia has a detailed scheme stipulating the industries which are allowed to employ foreigners. In the United States, employers have to show that they try at least three times to recruit a U.S. citizen failing which can they hire a foreigner. There are no such regulations in Singapore - the PAP opens the floodgates to foreigners while exhorting Singaporeans to remain "cheaper, better and faster" at the same time. Despite evidence showing otherwise, PAP leaders continue to insist that there is no evidence that Singapore companies are hiring foreigners over Singaporeans. PAP MP and NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Madam Halimah Yacob said in an interview with Straits Times two days ago that based on her "counter-intuition", foreigners are not preferred by employers. “Wise employers know they should look strictly at merit so that they get the best talent for the organisation.” [Source: Straits Times, 7 April 2010] We invite Madam Halimah Yacob to look at the job ads found in the Sabah Times on 4 April 2010 sent to us by an angry Singaporean: He added: "Dear Editors, Please refer to the Sunday copy of “The Sabah Times.”   Like our Sunday Times, the Sunday version of the Sabah Times is the least read and the most expensive to advertise. Yet, ¼ of the classified in the papers for jobs were dedicated to vacancies in Singapore.   At closer scrutiny, you will realise that they offer jobs with the age range between 16 -50 years old. Furthermore, the salaries were anywhere between RM 1,900 to RM 3,600 (equv. SGD 826 – 1,560). Given the cost of living in Sabah is even cheaper than peninsular Malaysia, these is considered lucrative jobs to the locals in Sabah, although they may not considered the fact that living in Singapore during their employment period will be astronomical compared Borneo.   What grabbed my notice was that they are vacancies up to the age limit of 50. This would mean that cheaper Sabahans will compete with retirees in terms of jobs. How is the retiree in Singapore able to compete with a Sabahan’s expectation? The cost of living is grossly different. Low wage foreign workers have the options of cheap rentals in dormitories or slumps in Geylang and Chinatown. The average retiree will still have an expensive house to maintain, utilities and conservancies to pay.   Does this mean an end to the Singapore dream? What can a person do if he can neither retire nor find work to support himself?   It comes as no surprise that the main stream media is trying to generate debates on euthanasia to push the agenda for it’s legality according to the desire of the state. And we now know why." A wide range of jobs are offered by the Singapore employers such as airport cleaners, food court attendants, supermarket cashiers and electricians. These are jobs which are NOT shunned by Singaporeans. In fact, many Singaporeans in their 50s and 60s are willing to accept them. Why then are these Singapore companies recruiting from Sabah? Are Sabahans more "hard-driving" and "hard-striving" than Singaporeans too? Our elderly workers are forced to accept a CPF cut when they reach 50 years of age and face the constant threat of being replaced by a cheaper foreign worker. What job security is there to speak of? Is it a surprise that the median income of our lower income group has remained stagnant for the last few years with the easy availability of cheap foreign labor? Singaporeans must realize that they will never have any economic rights under the despotic PAP rule without reclaiming their political rights first. Unless Singaporeans vote out the PAP in the next general election, they will soon be relegated to being second class minorities in their own country of birth being swarmed by the hordes of foreigners that the PAP is mass-importing to replace them.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans.   The UBS Series: >> Part 1: Singapore has lowest wages and domestic purchasing power among Asian Tigers >> Part 2: Moving towards a Russian standard of living >> Part 3: Why Singaporeans are paupers in a first world economy   Related articles: >> PAP mass-recruiting Taiwanese PMETs to compete with Singaporeans >> Halimah Yacob: Not true that employers hiring foreigners over Singaporeans >> Conversation with a PRC prostitute given Singapore PR by the PAP >> Teo Chee Hean: PAP’s immigration policy has always been “strict” >> How the PAP allows foreigners into Singapore to compete with locals for jobs >> Why Singaporeans ‘fear’ of new immigrants is absolutely rational >> SM Goh reassures immigrants that they are still welcomed in Singapore >> Singaporean working in China lashed out at grouses of Singapore PRs >> Eight reasons why foreign workers will be preferred over local ones >> Declining wages of Singaporeans and the continued denial by PAP leaders >> Halimah Yacob refutes UBS study findings >> Halimah Yacob: Productivity drive will be derailed if foreign worker challenge not addressed  >> Exposing the six major flaws in the PAP’s immigration policies >> Wong Kan Seng promises to tighten immigration policies >> SM Goh: Foreign workers numbers may still rise >> Malaysian car mechanic applying for Singapore citizenship >> PAP launches Singapore Citizenship Journey to help new citizens integrate >> Compulsory for new citizens to attend “sharing sessions” with grassroots leaders >> Wong Kan Seng urged Singaporeans to be more tolerant of foreign workers >> Tharman: Foreign workers increase income of low-income families >> Sylvia Lim: Pace and influx of foreigners over last few years is wrong >> Amy Khor urges Singaporeans to welcome foreigners >> PAP MP wants more money to be spent to make new citizens feel welcomed in Singapore >> Shanmugam: Foreigners generate jobs for Singaporeans >> Vivian happy there are 4,500 new citizens serving as grassroots leaders >> Cosmetic changes made to immigration policy >> SM Goh: New immigrants needed to make up population shortfall >> PAP ministers hailed contributions of foreigners >> SM Goh expressed support for Zhang Yuanyuan >> State media: citizens have more rights over PRs >> Zhang Yuanyuan got her Singapore PR in only 2 months >> Official reply from government on the Zhang Yuanyuan fiasco >> Singapore PRC PR proclaimed loyalty to China publicly >> PRC resident hung China flag to celebrate its National Day >> PRC student in Singapore wants more scholarships for foreigners >> PRC prostitutes solicit for customers on Singapore’s cyberspace >> ERA: 40 per cent of resale flats buyers are PRs  Read More →

By Joe Street Ever being blamed as a citizen that the influx of immigrants was due to our failure to produce more babies? Importation of Foreign Talent does not solve the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) issue. On contrary, it may actually exacerbate the bleak looking TFR. It is important to note that TFR is not the equivalent of population number or vice-versa just as we cannot equate the rate of production on the production line with the number of finished goods when we discuss the issue. As loose immigration polices creates higher competition for employment and labour in the society, scarcity or the perception of it may negatively affect the fertility rate[1] for both the migrant as well as the natives. Infrastructural congestions such as packed to the brim trains, limited space, congested roads, low supply of public housing and the rocket prices of both public and private housing further increase and reinforces this scarcity view. Parallel to the scarcity view is that evolvement of a ‘fertility trap[2]’.' As more women are not having children, those who do consider it finds that the opportunity costs rises for them- peer to peer it is commonly accepted that folks without children have more financial freedom than those having children and having children would meant disadvantages in employment or career mobility or even competitiveness as an employee. A research identifies the drivers of low fertility[2]: 1.: The provision of gender equity through an opening up of opportunities for women beyond the household 2.: Increasing levels of risk aversion among young people of both sexes in an increasingly competitive labour market. This further suggest that uncritical importation of foreign talent in high numbers could result in further sinking of the TFR. A study in Canada suggests that immigration policy alone cannot was not sustainable in demographic development of the country[3]. Demographic data in the United States also shows that immigration has little impact on the issue4. Fertility rates without the immigrants were 2.0 and considering the immigrants altogether were 2.1. This somehow suggests that incoming migrants has no significance or bearing to improving the fertility rate in US. In Singapore, the same phenomenon is being observed. Despite a sharp increase of migrants, fertility rate remains low and is beginning to head south in congruence with the perceived scarcity effect. Solving the dwindling TFR issue cannot be achieved by increasing the population through migrants and attempting to do so may actually backfire. It is worthy to note that the longer young people stayed unemployed and hence starting late in career and marriage impacts negatively on the TFR[2]. This has implications to Singaporeans as the economy is moving towards a knowledge based model (thus requiring more college time) and coupled with the fact that almost all Singaporean males will have to add another 2.5 years to their unemployment time due to national service (NS). One may view this as a looping trap for the dismay TFR: Extended unemployment, less competitive employee compared to Foreign Talent due to NS call ups and increase in competition in every aspect of the citizen such as employment, transport, recreation and education. In addition to all these issues, some conventional family programs (citing examples from the US) were being mounted by feminist[5] whom advocates 'pro-choice' and had successfully challenged states in areas such as access to abortion. The overbearing feminist rights movement may actually encourage poor TFR performances and much moderation is needed in finding a balance between sectarian rights and social responsibilities. I remembered that there was once I poked my colleague on why he remained single, his response was, "Go read the Women's Charter.' The problem does not source from young people but the society that they live in2 that are controlled by older people. So how do we improve the TFR for Singapore? A policy reform is necessary[2] and must have the support of the main powerbases in the country including business groups, politicians and women’s groups. Lowering the number of Foreign Talent in Singapore would ease the competition for resource infrastructures as well as well as freeing substantial amount of jobs especially for the lower and middle income groups. Investments in upgrading the workforce without the pre-condition that it must be channelled through corporations so as to ensure a more even distribution of upgrading benefits and its resources to all citizens (this also prevents misuse or manipulation by existing corporations). The creation of a more moderate social system that is able to accommodate more flexible lifestyles2 could help as well as the review of the current social, economic and legal policies that may be unfavourable to the males, females and both. So can the authorities please stop making use of the low fertility rate to justify its indiscriminate importation of foreign labour and yet at the same time blame Singaporean?   References:   1 - www.jstor.org/pss/4236336 2 - www.ipss.go.jp/publication/e/R_s_p/No.9_P47.pdf 3 - www.ipac.ca/documents/Conference_Paper_Hong_Qui_Immigration_Policy.doc 4 - www.cis.org/AgingImmigrants-BirthRate-SocialSecurity 5 - www.faqs.org/childhood/Ar-Bo/Birth-Control.html   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans.   The UBS Series: >> Part 1: Singapore has lowest wages and domestic purchasing power among Asian Tigers >> Part 2: Moving towards a Russian standard of living >> Part 3: Why Singaporeans are paupers in a first world economy   Related articles: >> PAP mass-recruiting Taiwanese PMETs to compete with Singaporeans >> Halimah Yacob: Not true that employers hiring foreigners over Singaporeans >> Conversation with a PRC prostitute given Singapore PR by the PAP >> Teo Chee Hean: PAP’s immigration policy has always been “strict” >> How the PAP allows foreigners into Singapore to compete with locals for jobs >> Why Singaporeans ‘fear’ of new immigrants is absolutely rational >> SM Goh reassures immigrants that they are still welcomed in Singapore >> Singaporean working in China lashed out at grouses of Singapore PRs >> Eight reasons why foreign workers will be preferred over local ones >> Declining wages of Singaporeans and the continued denial by PAP leaders >> Halimah Yacob refutes UBS study findings >> Halimah Yacob: Productivity drive will be derailed if foreign worker challenge not addressed  >> Exposing the six major flaws in the PAP’s immigration policies >> Wong Kan Seng promises to tighten immigration policies >> SM Goh: Foreign workers numbers may still rise >> Malaysian car mechanic applying for Singapore citizenship >> PAP launches Singapore Citizenship Journey to help new citizens integrate >> Compulsory for new citizens to attend “sharing sessions” with grassroots leaders >> Wong Kan Seng urged Singaporeans to be more tolerant of foreign workers >> Tharman: Foreign workers increase income of low-income families >> Sylvia Lim: Pace and influx of foreigners over last few years is wrong >> Amy Khor urges Singaporeans to welcome foreigners >> PAP MP wants more money to be spent to make new citizens feel welcomed in Singapore >> Shanmugam: Foreigners generate jobs for Singaporeans >> Vivian happy there are 4,500 new citizens serving as grassroots leaders >> Cosmetic changes made to immigration policy >> SM Goh: New immigrants needed to make up population shortfall >> PAP ministers hailed contributions of foreigners >> SM Goh expressed support for Zhang Yuanyuan >> State media: citizens have more rights over PRs >> Zhang Yuanyuan got her Singapore PR in only 2 months >> Official reply from government on the Zhang Yuanyuan fiasco >> Singapore PRC PR proclaimed loyalty to China publicly >> PRC resident hung China flag to celebrate its National Day >> PRC student in Singapore wants more scholarships for foreigners >> PRC prostitutes solicit for customers on Singapore’s cyberspace >> ERA: 40 per cent of resale flats buyers are PRs  Read More →