TR EMERITUS

By Leslie Lau from The Malaysian Insider DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is likely to use his party’s national convention this Sunday to issue a stern warning to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) that it must quickly bring concrete and tangible changes to the states it governs, in order to convince voters that the DAP, PKR and PAS can be trusted to take over the federal government from Barisan Nasional (BN). The Malaysian Insider understand from DAP sources that the party boss will use the convention as a platform to set clear goals not just for his party but for its partners in the coalition as well, ahead of general elections which many political pundits expect to be called by next year. Lim’s address to the party faithful will be the first significant acknowledgement that the PR coalition needs to do more to convince ordinary Malaysians it is capable of taking power. “We cannot just continue to use the excuse that we are new at ruling the states we control. “We have to bring about substantive reforms,” a party source told The Malaysian Insider. The DAP, PKR and PAS combined to deny BN its traditional two-thirds parliamentary majority in Election 2008, before coming together to form the PR alliance. The tripartite alliance initially controlled five states, before losing Perak to BN in a power grab last year. While BN and Umno are still grappling with the fallout from its disappointing showing at the ballot box in 2008, PR parties have also been hit by their own squabbling. BN, under Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has also seized some momentum away from PR. PR officials have privately acknowledged as well that the federal opposition coalition must regain the initiative. At this weekend’s convention, Lim will put forward his argument that how PR runs the states it still controls will be crucial to whether it can win federal power. The Malaysian Insider understands that Selangor and Penang are key states in PR’s strategy of showcasing its abilities to the public. As a measure of the urgency faced by PR, Lim, who is Penang Chief Minister, has been busy travelling abroad in an effort to secure foreign investments for his state. Selangor, which is led by PKR, has seen the recent appointment of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as state economic advisor. Anwar’s appointment is seen as an effort to boost the state’s economic performance ahead of national polls. Prime minister Najib is also staking BN’s hold on power on the economy. It is understood that Najib is hoping to grow the national economy by at least six per cent and bring back a feel-good factor before he considers calling snap polls. Another important message Lim will deliver to his members this weekend is that PR can no longer hope to be just “not as bad” as BN. He will tell his party that they must be an attractive choice for voters, in what is an acknowledgement that PR must stop behaving like a perpetual opposition and instead, showcase its abilities at being a ruling party through the states it now governs. - The Malaysian Insider  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Furniture retail mart Courts had launched a recruitment exercise in Johor Bahru on 18 January 2010 for Malaysians to fill various positions in Singapore according to a tip-off we receive from a reader. In his latest speech on 31st December 2009, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong promise Singaporeans that his ruling party will 'manage and moderate' the inflow of foreign workers, so that Singaporeans are not overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday. "We need the many foreign workers who work here, to build HDB flats and MRT lines, to work in factories especially on late shifts, and to help man the IRs," he added. [Source: Straits Times, 31 December 2009] Is Singapore Courts recruiting Malaysian workers to work in factories on late shifts? Let us take a look at the positions offered by Courts to the Malaysians: The vacancies needed to be filled by Courts are: product specialists, cashiers, operation executives, assistant accountants, credit officer and customer account assistants. Now these are not highly specialized positions which can only be filled by professionals and talents not available in Singapore or menial jobs shunned by Singaporeans. Any Singaporean equipped with a ITE or "O" level certificate will be more than qualified to take up these jobs. Why is Courts recruiting Malaysians instead of Singaporeans? The ruling party blamed Singaporeans for being fussy, demanding and inflexible and urged us to accept any jobs which come along our way. To be fair to Courts, it is a company and it has to keep its labor costs low and since the ruling party allows it to employ large number of foreigners to keep its business profitable, why not make full use of it? Singaporeans should not be taken in by PM Lee's "sweet talk" that Singaporeans will remain his government's "priority" as even when he is saying this, companies based in Singapore are still recruiting foreigners en masse! If the ruling party did not open the floodgates to foreigners and give companies so much leeway to employ foreigners, then they will have no choice but to employ Singaporeans. Instead of saving on labor costs, they will have to innovate to increase their productivity with the local workforce they have. The period of transition will be painful for some, but eventually everybody will benefit because the companies will be able to raise their profit margin by producing more in the same period of time while Singaporeans are gainfully employed with a decent pay to support themselves and families. With a higher pay and standard of living, Singaporeans will be inclined to have more children, thereby boosting our birth rate and decreasing our perennial dependence on foreigners. Unfortunately, nobody in the PAP seems to realize the intangible social benefits of having a highly trained, well paid and happy workforce as they are too obsessed with GDP growth rates which can be artificially increased temporarily by importing large numbers of cheap foreign labor, but we will soon lose our competitive edge once our neighbors like Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam catch up with us. For unemployed or retrenched Singaporeans who are still looking for a job, they will stand a better chance giving up their Singapore citizenship to become a Malaysian and apply for a job based in Singapore in Malaysia instead where Singapore companies are having a field day recruiting their "talents" and "baby-producing machines" for the ruling party. EDITORS' NOTE: If you come across any such advertisements employing PRs and foreigners and NOT Singaporeans in the future, please email us and we will write a story on it. We have to keep harping on the matter again, again and again till we shatter the myth propagated by the state media forever once and for all.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent According to a report in Channel News Asia, prices of private properties in Singapore from the luxury housing sector to the mass market are likely to go up in the year 2010 due to more foreigners coming to Singapore. Real Estate agency Savills is forecasting that prices in the luxury segment will rise 15 per cent in the year ahead and prices in the mass market and mid-end properties could see values move up by about five per cent. The completion of the two integrated resorts is likely to spur demands together with more foreigners flocking to find work in Singapore. "We do see strong demand because of the population growth. Again a lot more foreign workers are expected to come in over the next 12 months, so I don't think there will be a correction downwards in that sense. But certainly not the same kind of growth as seen last year, more moderated, but healthier," CNA quoted Michael Ng, managing director, Savills Singapore as saying. The relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore is a key reason why property prices in both the private and public sector have stay up despite of the recession last year. Due to the ruling party's liberal immigration policy, foreigners now make up 36 per cent of the population compared to 14 per cent in 1990. In the face of a limited supply of housing, prices are expected to sky-rocket with that of HDB resale flats hitting a record high in June last year. Even National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan admitted that he was "caught off guard" by the high prices. Despite evidence showing otherwise, Mr Mah continues to insist that HDB flats remain "affordable" in Singapore and blames Singaporeans for being too "choosy" in getting a home of their choice. In a recent speech in parliament, he said “the onus is on Singaporeans to play their part by buying a home within their means.” Quoting the affordability benchmark of 30 per cent used frequently by HDB to show that HDB flats remain affordable to ordinary Singaporeans, Mr Mah said a family with a monthly income of $3,000 can buy a flat worth up to $250,000 and spend only 30 per cent of their income every month on the mortgage. "Similarly, a family with a monthly income of $4,000 can afford to buy a new flat worth up to $333,000 without spending more than 30 per cent a month on the mortgage. This means they can comfortably buy any of the flats offered in the latest BTO projects this month,” he added. However, Mr Mah fails to take into account the bank interest rates and inflation over the years which will lead eventually to the family spending more than 30 per cent of their monthly income on the mortgage. Rich foreigners who accounts to about 70 per cent of the buyers in the private property market are responsible for the rising prices which have priced locals desiring to upgrade to a private property out of the market altogether. Middle class PRs are snapping up resale HDB flats sometimes by paying astronomical prices for them. An Indonesian PR paid a record high $653,000 for a resale HDB flat in Queenstown when he could well afford a private condominium. Mr Mohamad Ismail, the CEO of Propnex estimated that 20 per cent of the buyers in the resale market are PRs while ERA and C&H real estate agencies quoted figures of 40 and 50 per cent respectively. Despite rising resentment and anger on the ground at the ruling party's pro-foreigner policy, its leaders continue to insist that Singapore requires foreigners in order to grow its economy which has become unproductive due to over-reliance on cheap foreign labor. Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said in a recent speech that the government "cannot shield Singaporeans from competition" though it will try to allow Singapore children a "head start". There is no opposition in parliament to check on the ruling party which has been governing Singapore for the last 50 years with a "blank cheque" often so with little or no consultation with the people.   Related articles: >> Mah Bow Tan: HDB flats are affordable >> 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 →