TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent An irate Potong Pasir resident Chan Mia Lee has written to the Straits Times Forum complaining that the PAP has not kept its promise of upgrading the opposition wards. "It has been almost a year since Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu announced that the Government's Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) would be launched in the two opposition wards of Potong Pasir and Hougang. The news thrilled residents like me, who live in the selected LUP precinct of Potong Pasir constituency. It gave us much cause for excitement. However, this euphoria seems to be evaporating as no work has been done," she wrote. It was announced amidst much fanfare last year by the PAP that the two opposition wards of Potong Pasir and Hougang would finally be upgraded after waiting for several years. The announcement waas not made by the opposition MPs themselves, but by the PAP's grassroots leader Eric Low of Hougang which sparked a massive outcry in cyberspace. The PAP claimed in its defence that as the funds are disbursed by HDB, a government agency, it needs to work with its grassroots leader to get the work started. However, it seems that Mr Eric Low has not fulfilled his promise yet. "There is not even an announcement of a date when work is to begin. I am starting to wonder if the project is on track or if some unexpected problems have cropped up," Ms Chia asked. Over 85 percent of Singaporeans live in over-priced leasehold public housing built by the HDB, an agency under the National Development Ministry. As the bulk of their life-savings are tied up to HDB flats, Singaporeans are very obsessed with their assets. The PAP has made use of this to coerce Singaporeans to vote for them during the elections by threatening to withdraw upgrading funds from opposition wards which may dampen the value of the flats there. A former PAP Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong once threatened to turn Hougang and Potong Pasir into "slums" if they continue to vote for the opposition. As such, many Singaporeans have no choice but to vote for the PAP not that they support its leaders or policies thereby enabling the PAP to win elections after elections. Ms Chan is unlikely to get a clear reply from the PAP or HDB for it is nothing more but a gimmick to entice residents of the two opposition wards to vote for the PAP in the next general election. The residents of Hougang and Potong Pasir pay income taxes and serve National Service like the rest of Singapore. They are punished simply because they do not support the PAP. With anti-PAP sentiment gaining ground, it is unlikely that the PAP will succeed in using the same scare-tactic to discourage Singaporeans from voting for the opposition again. Who will care about estate upgrading when one's livelihood is increasingly threatened by the hordes of foreigners whom the PAP is mass-importing to shore up its flagging support base? Let see whether the PAP will be able to carry out its promise to deny the opposition wards of upgrading funds again if the opposition wins a significant number of seats in the next general election.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans.    Read More →

Agence France-Presse, 8 April 2010 Singapore’s housing sector is still sizzling despite government measures to cool it down, with demand fuelled by a strong economy and foreign investor confidence, analysts say. Hefty price tags have not dented the market, with buyers flocking to pre-construction sales offering blank cheques to reserve condominium units which they expect to rise sharply in value after the projects are finished. All 202 units at a private condominium in the central business district — costing 1.2 million-2.0 million Singapore dollars (870,000-1.4 million US) — were snapped up in just one day at a preview in March, agents said. About 25 percent of the 56 multi-million-dollar units offered at an invitation-only event at an exclusive waterfront development, The Residences at W Singapore Sentosa Cove, were bought in just one weekend preview. Waterfront homes boasting unobstructed sea views, marketed as the ultimate experience in lifestyle living, have been prime among the recent launches. “The market is driven by confidence fuelled by the recovering economy and employment market, and supported by low interest rates,” Tay Huey Ying, director for research and advisory at property consultancy Colliers International, told AFP. “Market optimism is also riding high on the anticipated potential for Singapore to rise in prominence in the investment radar of foreigners, particularly the high net-worth individuals and high-rollers, as a result of the opening of the two integrated (casino) resorts in 2010.” Singapore in February opened its first casino resort complex, which includes Southeast Asia’s first Universal Studios theme park. A second casino built by Las Vegas Sands will open next month.The city-state, a regional financial centre, is also promoting itself as a hub where the world’s growing ranks of multi-millionaires can park their money safely. Warning of a possible bubble that could derail the economic rebound, the government in February imposed new regulations to stem property prices, and warned it was prepared to take further measures if necessary. But the move, designed to discourage investors who buy and sell for a quick profit, appears to have had limited impact. Private home prices rose 5.1 percent in the first quarter from the previous three months, government figures showed. Although this was slower than the 7.4 percent rise in the previous quarter, property analysts said prices are expected to continue going up for the rest of the year. “Barring unforeseen circumstances and further cooling measures, the residential sector is expected to continue to lead the property market in price movement in 2010,” Tay said. Singapore’s economy is expected to grow up to 6.5 percent this year after contracting 2.0 percent in 2009 due to the global financial crisis. Even prices for government-built residential highrises, which do not have security guards, swimming pools and other luxuries offered by private condominiums, are heating up. They rose 2.7 percent to a fresh record in the first quarter compared to the previous three months, according to official data. Tay said foreigners, including permanent residents, accounted for 28 percent of all private home transactions between January and March 16, surpassing the 26 percent seen at the market’s peak in the first half of 2008. Desmond Sim, Jones Lang LaSalle’s associate director for research and consultancy, added: “More foreign buyers are looking to the Singapore residential market as the properties offer further potential for gains given the country’s long-term positive economic growth prospects and stable political climate.” Analysts said the government may introduce more measures if home prices risked forming a bubble.” The fundamental concern is overt asset prices that could destabilise economic recovery and affect home affordability,” said Sim. But Justin Chiu, executive director of Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong (Holdings), was unapologetic at the recent launch of his company’s latest development in Singapore.”I like bubbles. It’s my religion… If there is some bubble, people will be more enticed to go into the market,” he said. - AFP  Read More →

By Joe Street In his speech, Finance Minister highlighted that “at the lower levels, foreigners are taking up the jobs that Singaporeans shun. Meanwhile at the upper levels, those foreigners coming in ended up improving job prospects for Singaporeans.[2]” But given that so many PMET[3] jobs are now hiring only foreigners in the same way they hired lower skilled workers, what is there left for the average Singaporeans? Singaporean citizens have a few distinct disadvantages in competing with “foreign talents” in their own labour market: 1.       National service takes away 2.5 years of college time and potential professional experiences for the males in Singapore. This lead to a unnecessary and tremendous effort on the Singaporean males to catch up with their foreign peers in terms of education and professional experiences. 2.       National service call ups are a great disincentive for hiring firms to hire a Singaporean Citizen. As business competition increases, there is little allowances or tolerances for disruption to business operations. A Singaporean on in camp training (or reservist duty) although reimburses the salaries for absences due to reservist cannot reimburse the same for the opportunity cost4 incurred by the company. Hence, it is only natural that companies prefer any candidate without national service liabilities. 3.       High cost of living and a rooted family means that a typical Singaporean will have to ask for compensation that way exceeds what a foreign talent would ask for in order to maintain the same standards of living. 4.       Employers are constantly mindful about hiring local women as when the women do get pregnant, the employers will not just lose their opportunity cost in the absence during maternity leaves, having to pay the wages for the months of absences, but also risk the backlash of discriminatory complaints shall the company do anything that may suggest to the employee a form or discrimination. This makes the companies hire foreign talents in an unproven assumption that these talents will not one day also become be on maternity leaves. Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugratnam said, "We must continue to attract top quality people from around the world, while investing further to provide the best opportunities for Singaporean talents to grow and develop, to the highest levels of expertise in a range of fields.[5]" However, his statement appeared to be begging the question.[6] If Singapore does not have top quality people and thus need to import them, why didn’t the government invest earlier and shape policies to produce local talents? Was it myopia on the government’s part that caused the current need or was it because it is a cheaper solution to government investing in talent building and nurturing? In view of this we have not seen any real investment in developing local talents for the projected national needs. There are no real road maps, milestones, or even a vision for the future economic demands in line with developing the country’s core competencies[7]. This makes the following speech by Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan even more perplexing: "But this is also why subsidised housing, healthcare, education and other essential services must be slanted in favour of Singaporeans.  We cannot shield Singaporeans from competition but we can try to give Singaporeans a headstart.  And we must allow our children, native born Singaporeans, to get a headstart by nurturing them to allow them to fufil their potential, and picking up Singaporeans when any of us stumble.  I said, "put Singaporeans first". But do it in an enlightened way.[8]"   With NS and indiscriminate FT9 policies, Singaporeans will never have a head start in our own economy compared to foreigners. This in addition to the fact that there are no real investments from the government to nurture local talents and the absence of providences to a strong social safety net for the citizenry unemployed, we have strong doubts on the truth and sincerity of the government when they proclaim “Singaporeans First.” Will the government ever have the integrity to really stick to what it professes in the very own words of Dr. Balakrishnan: "We have to start off with the perspective that we have to help Singaporeans first. Singaporeans must have jobs and be able to afford the basic things.[10]"     References / Glossary: 2 - http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1031319/1/.html 3 - Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMET) 4 – Definition: The value of the use of resources in an alternative way that is not obtained when the resources are used in the current way. 5 - http://www.pressrun.net/weblog/2010/02/singapore-will-continue-to-welcome-foreign-talent.html 6 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question 7 - Core competencies are those capabilities that are critical to a business achieving competitive advantage. 8 - http://www.pap.org.sg/articleview.php?id=4375&cid=84 9. – Foreign Talent 10 - http://www.pap.org.sg/articleview.php?id=4375&cid=84  Read More →