TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent According to a reader who worked as a HR manager in a company based in China, when he put up a job advertisement to hire locals (mainland Chinese) for a few engineering positions in Shanghai, he received a deluge of resumes from PRC NTU students instead. "I have got 78 PRC China national resumes on FREE Singapore Govt sponsor scholarship expecting to graduate from NTU this March. All of them already got a work permit and are allow to apply for PR within 2 month of working in Singapore. But these 78 PRC NTU students are not finding a jobs in Singapore, because jobs position is in Shanghai. They are planning to get a free scholarship and head back to China upon graduation, not planning to come back and without serving the bond," he wrote. The scholarship these students are holding is the Khoo Teck Puat Scholarship Programme which only Singaporeans (excluding Singapore PRs) and People’s Republic of China (PRC) citizens from both NUS and NTU are eligible to apply. The terms and conditions include: The Khoo Teck Puat Scholarship Programme covers tuition fees and provides an annual living allowance of S$5,800. For PRC citizens, an annual accommodation allowance (pegged to the lowest room rates) as well as one-way airfare at beginning of course and two-way air return passage upon graduation will be provided. The scholarship is tenable for the minimum period of candidature for the respective undergraduate course at NUS. This scholarship is tenable for any course leading to a first degree, except Medicine and Dentistry, Nursing and Music. Only Singaporeans (excluding Singapore PRs) and People’s Republic of China (PRC) citizens are eligible to apply. There is no scholarship bond attached to the Khoo Teck Puat Scholarship. PRC scholars are required to take advantage of the Tuition Grant Scheme and serve a 3-year Tuition Grant bond under the Scheme upon graduation. [Source: NUS Office of Admission] [Source: NTU Admission office (added on 28 February 2010)] Despite the generous terms offered to PRC students studying in Singapore institutions, an increasing number of them prefer to return to China and further their careers rather than staying on here. In a Gallup poll done in July last year, the top three emigration destinations for college students in China are the United States, France and South Korea. Singapore was not featured within the top five. One PRC student we know told us that though he earn slightly less in China (RMB), the cost of living is comparatively lower there and he is closer to home with his families and friends Another still find it harder to adapt to the lifestyle in Singapore after spending six years here. "The culture in China is very different from Singapore. Though Singapore is predominantly a Chinese society, the locals here have a completely different mindset from the Chinese (in China). The motherland is always a home in our hearts," he said. A common trait among mainland Chinese is that many of them are strongly patriotic about China. They would rather offer their services to China than to swear allegiance to Singapore. A PRC national and Singapore PR by the name of Zhang Yuanyuan sparked an outcry last year by proclaiming her loyalty to China proudly on a Chinese television. Many Chinese nationals from Singapore universities have since returned home including a famous broadcaster from CCTV who came to study in NTU in the 1990s. With China becoming an economic power to reckon with, the brain drain will reverse in the next few years as Singaporeans flock to China in search of new opportunities and challenges. As for the Singapore government which has been happily sponsoring the education of these PRC students, it is unlikely that they will get any returns on their investments when even the top students are abandoning Singapore for "greener pastures" in China.  Read More →

OPINION With public anger boiling over its disastrous policies which have affected the livelihoods of many Singaporeans, one will expect the ruling party to reduce or at least freeze the salaries of its ministers to soothe frayed nerves, especially with the next election around the corner. It is therefore most incomprehensible, outrageous and disgusting that it will be giving its ministers, senior ministers of states and parliamentary secretaries a massive 8.8 per cent pay hike when the majority of Singaporeans are either retrenched, unemployed or having their pay cut. According to a TODAY report on 23 February 2010: "Salaries for political appointments – ministers, ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries – are estimated to be $58.28 million, or 8.8 per cent higher than last year." [Source: TODAY] Since a certain percentage of the Singapore ministers’ multi-million salaries is pegged to GDP growth figures, the salary hike is not surprisingly with the Singapore economy expected to grow by 4.5 to 6.5 per cent this year. While it may be technically and procedurally correct to do so, most Singaporeans will find it hard to stomach another round of pay rise for their multi-millionaire ministers again given their dismal performance over the last few years. What have they done exactly to justify their obscene salaries? As Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stilgiltz has correctly pointed out, GDP growth is a very poor indication of the quality of life enjoyed by citizens in any country. Singapore's astronomical GDP growth in the last decade is fueled largely by the influx of cheap foreign labor and few safeguards for local workers which help keep labor costs down and therefore increasing the GDP as a result. It does not take a genius to realize that GDP figures can be manipulated artificially and neither do Singaporeans need to pay millions of dollars to their ministers to do so. Though Singapore's GDP growth has been impressive, the fruits from the growth are not shared equally among all Singaporeans. The income gap between the rich and poor has widen considerably saved for the last two years due to the global financial crisis which decimated the earnings of the very rich. The median wages of Singaporeans remain stagnant at $2,600 monthly while the cost of living, especially that of public housing has sky-rocketed. At the same time, the quality of life has declined - Singapore is the only first world country to be ranked outside the 50 most desirable places to live in the world in a survey conducted by International Living. According to a UBS report last year, Singaporeans have the lowest wages and domestic purchasing power among the Asian Tigers - Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea though Singapore workers clocked the longest hours at work weekly. We have a standard of living which is closer to Russia than Switzerland and many Singaporeans cannot afford to retire as their salaries are low to begin with and the bulk of it is tied up in mortgage loans for over-priced public housing. From the escape of famed terrorist Mas Selamat Kasteri, the $8 million dollar investment loss suffered by the PAP Town Councils, over-crowding caused by too many foreigners, astronomical HDB flat prices to the lack of social welfare benefits for Singaporeans when the government can afford to lose billions of dollars saving foreign banks, all of these have the marks of incompetence, impotence and ineptitude stamped on them. Do the PAP ministers seriously think they deserve a pay higher than that of U.S. President Barack Obama? After mismanaging Singapore and screwing up our lives big time, the PAP has demonstrated to us once again with its unimaginative Budget this year that it is fast running out of ideas to govern Singapore. Without reforming Singapore's obsolete political economy dominated by its state-linked companies, there is no way for R&D, innovation and entrepreneurship to thrive in Singapore and for us jump-start our economy ahead the likes of China and India. As Singaporeans are ultimately paying their salaries, the ruling party has the moral responsibility to justify to us why its ministers and senior civil servants deserve a 8.8 per cent pay rise when most people are simply struggling to get by. It should come up with a KPI for each ministry and reveal to the public how the performance of each individual minister are being assessed. Ministers who fail to perform up to standards and public expectations should be removed including the Prime Minister himself. In addition, it is time to re-formulate the method used to derive the salaries of the ministers. Instead of pegging it to the top six earners in society and to GDP growth figures, it should be brought down to more reasonable levels comparable to other first world countries like United States, Australia, Canada and Great Britain. It makes no sense that the Singapore Prime Minister or a Senior Minister for that matter is being paid more than the combined salaries of the leaders of the G7 nations or a Minister of State earning much more than the President of China, the leader of a nation of more than one billion people. If the PAP ministers have to be paid such high salaries to prevent them from being "corrupted", then there is no difference in them being "corrupted" legally. Where is the sense of public service in our PAP ministers? Even if all their salaries were halved, they would still be more than enough to enable them to afford a decent standard of living in Singapore. The fact that they dare raise their salaries ahead of the next election shows how confident they are of romping home with another electoral victory again. Singaporeans should register their displeasure clearly when the time comes to"encourage" the PAP ministers to "revise" their salaries downwards by making them lose a few seats in Parliament. There are plenty of talented Singaporeans who will be keen to serve the nation at a fraction of their cost if not for the PAP's control and dominance of the political landscape here.  Read More →

I like to thank Rony Tan for his public apology to the Buddhist community for the insensitive things he said. However, as a Buddhist I am still concerned. Due to the hype surrounding this incident, many people have watch the video clips where Rony Tan belittled Buddhism. Numerous remarks made against Buddhism were misleading and untrue. If not corrected, this could lead to greater confusion in the general public regarding what Buddhists really believe. This article is an attempt to clarify numerous misconceptions made by Pastor Rony and his two interviewees in the video clips. Misconception 1: Pastor Tan interviewed an ex-monk* According to the Joseph Wee's testimony, he joined the Buddhist monastic order for a period of only two weeks. If this is true, he was a novice and not a real monk. Monkhood is a serious commitment that requires years of dedication and training in order to develop deep understanding of the Buddha's teachings.. A novice who wants to become a monk actually has to go through a second ordination. Misconception 2: Pastor Tan commented about Buddhist chanting: "One could chant oo-ee-oo-ah-ah-tik-tank-wala-**bing-bang, it doesn't mean anything"* Traditional Buddhist chanting is usually in Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan or classical Chinese. Buddhist chanting have specific meanings. Some chants remind us of the Buddha's teachings of avoiding evil, doing of good and purification of our minds, while others are to reaffirm our faith. Many Buddhist organisations today have English and Chinese translations of these chants so that the faithful understand what they are chanting. Misconception 3: Pastor Tan and Joseph Wee commented that Buddhists want to be more powerful than God Buddhism does not subscribe to the concept of God found in the Abrahamic religions. Nor is it the Buddhist goal to be a powerful god. The goal in Buddhism is Enlightenment - to be free from greed, hatred and ignorance, which are spiritual defilements that cause the world much suffering. Misconception 4: Pastor Yan's comments on the Buddhist concept of Karma* The Buddhist concept of Karma does not equate to fatalism. Buddhists do not passively accept it when bad things happens to them. Karma means "intentional action". While Buddhists believe many of the things we experience are due to past Karma, we are also reminded that we are active participants in influencing our present and future situations through our present actions. Misconception 5: Pastor Tan commented that since we could not remember our past life, we cannot learn from our mistakes Through honest contemplation of our present state and correct understanding of how Karma works, we can know what we have done in our past-lives. Similarly, by looking at our current actions, speech and thoughts, we can know what we can expect in the future. As an ancient Buddhist saying goes, "If you want to know about your past lives, just look at your present. If you want to know about your future, look at your present too!". Misconception 6: Pastor Tan comments on the status of women in Buddhism Having read hundreds of sutras from the Pali Canon (Buddhist scriptures), I've not come across any statement by where the Buddha considers women to be of a lesser birth than men, or that rebirth as a women is result of bad deeds performed in past lives as men. In fact, the Buddha said that women, like men, have the capacity for Enlightenment and founded the monastic order of nuns, thus allowing women to actively participate as seriously as men in practising the Buddha's teachings. All these took place before the Greeks introduced democracy to their society, which incidentally, did not allow women to vote. Misconception 7: Pastor Tan commented that sounds made by gongs and bells is like music to him The use of gongs and bells are not meaningless rituals. They have specific functions in Chinese Buddhism. They are used as aids to guide devotees to chant at the same pace, as well as for signaling to devotees when to bow and rise in unison. Misconception 8: Joseph Wee (the "ex-monk") commented that he and other monks do not know what Nirvana (or Nibbana in Pali) was "Nirvana" literally means putting out the flame. In this context, it means putting out the flame of greed, hatred and delusion. The Buddha described Nirvana as the "deathless", "sublime", "peaceful", "purity" and "freedom". The Buddha clearly said that practicing the Noble Eightfold Path leads one to Nirvana. Misconception 9: Pastor Rony commented that the Buddha's last words were "I am still finding the way" Prince Siddhartha Gautama attained Enlightenment at the age of 35. From this point onwards, he was known as the Buddha, the Awakened One. He dedicated the rest of his life to showing others the way to Enlightenment and many of his disciples attained Enlightenment as well. The Buddha's last words were that of a dedicated teacher urging his unenlightened disciples to not be complacent, but to work hard. The Buddha's last words were "Subjected to change are all conditioned things. Strive on with diligence." Tok Meng Haw  Read More →