TR EMERITUS

From our Correspondent Faced with increasing public pressure and backlash over her past conviction for credit card fraud, Miss World Singapore Ris Low backs out of finals in Johannesburg, South Arica in December this year. The organizer of the pageant, ERM World will announce a new representative shortly. It had told the state media earlier that it would be seeking legal advice on the matter. ERM World said it has met Ms Low and her parents and 'they have agreed to allow their daughter to resign from the crown as we feel is in the best interest for the Miss Singapore World Pageant and Singapore at large'. On Ms Low's conviction in May and her bipolar disorder, ERM said there was no way of checking if a contestant has a criminal record or suffering from depression. 'Ris Low was determined, well behaved and performed well throughout the 2 month competition and even went on to win eight special awards. This is not easy task to accomplish from a group of 22 contestants. With her good performance and beauty, she excelled in the competition.' ERM said it felt sorry for Miss Low but added: 'We cannot compromise on our contest rules, regulations and the image of the Miss Singapore World Pageant.' The embattled Miss Low had attracted controversy since her crowning first with her sub-par command of the English language followed by the sensational relevation that she was convicted in May on charges of credit card fraud and is currently on probation. While the majority of Singaporeans had called for her to be stripped of her title, some felt that she should be given a second chance in life. In an interview with the Straits Times last week, Miss Low expressed remorse for her past mistakes and hope she can be given another chance to fight for her dreams. It appears that Singaporeans are not a forgiving people after all and given her untenable position following the negative publicity of her case, it is only a matter of time before the coveted crown is removed from her head. With the fiasco drawing to the close, the state media should leave Miss Low alone and allow her to move on with her life. At the very least, she had the courage to resign for the sake of Singapore unlike some public officials who still linger on shamelessly at the expense of taxpayers despite making horrendous, unforgivable mistakes.  Read More →

From our Correspondent In a speech made at the Human Capital Summit opening today, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Singapore is well-placed to be a "Home for Talent" and is creating programmes of value to companies and talent. To take it futher, it will cluster research, practice and teaching institutions from the region and world. Among the new initiatives, the Economic Development Board (EDB) is spearheading the Singapore Leadership Initiative for building Networks and Knowledge (Link) at One-North which will bring together business schools, corporate universities and professional services firm in a single campus. PM Lee did not indicate if his "talent" refers to locals or foreigners, but from the plans revealed, it appears that it will mark another round of mass "import" of foreign talent or FTs from the region and world. Singapore's population reaches almost 5 million in June this year with foreigners (including PRs) making up 36 per cent of the population, a rise of almost 10 per cent over a decade. In a desperate attempt to increase Singapore's flagging population, the government has made it easy for foreigners to take up Permanent Residencies and Singapore citizenship. Unlike Australia and Canada which require prospective immigrants to pass an English proficiency test to even work there, Singapore offers free language courses to the newcomers who are unable to speak the language. The rising concerns and disgruntlement on the ground from Singaporeans at the relentless influx of foreigners prompted PM Lee to promise to reduce the "inflow" of foreigners lately. The former head of civil service Mr Ngiam Tong Dow wrote a commentary which is published in the Straits Times last week expressing his doubts if Singapore is really getting the first world talents. Mr Ngiam wrote that as migration is economics driven today, Singapore risks being made used by foreigners as a stepping stone as foreign fathers may advise their sons born in Singapore to leave when they reach the national service age of 18. (read his article here) “Singapore will be left with the second tier of average people. Educationally, they would hardly measure up to the Singapore average. When they are given citizenship and the right to vote, they will use their new-found electoral power to demand equal access to social services as other Singaporeans. The difference is existing citizens would have paid for those social services over a lifetime of tax payments; the new citizens would not,” he added. Though the initial intake of foreigners are restricted largely to unskilled laborers and highly qualified professionals, the number of semi-skilled foreigners on S-Pass has increased in recent years. These foreigners compete directly with locals for jobs which they can otherwise hold such as IT engineers, tele-marketeers, administrators and clinic assistants. Instead of highlighting the difficulties faced by locals, the state media has lampooned Singaporeans for being "fussy" and asked them to lower their expectations. With the government firmly controlled by the pro-foreigner ruling party and no opposition to speak of in parliament, Singaporeans have no choice but to continue to complain to one another within the confines of cyberspace.   EDITORS' NOTE: The Temasek Review is setting up a TV unit to produce short documentaries and interviews on the ground. If you own a videocam recorder and have the necessary expertise in video editing and production, please contact us at [email protected]  Read More →

I refer to the letter "How family's fortunes have grown over the years" by Ms Mabel Tan dated 26 Sept 2009. (read letter here) Ms Tan's bemusement is understandable. She is bemused because she and her family are totally unencumbered by the recent sharp increases in property prices. Like the person watching a fire from the safety of the opposite bank of a river, she feels neither anxiety nor pain. She shares with us her good example of being able to stay with her in-laws for 8 years and so she expects everyone else to be able to do so. But I know of a colleague whose husband slept in the living room of his parents' flat before their marriage because his family was too big. Does Ms Tan expect my colleague to sleep in the living room of her parents-in-laws' flat? Ms Tan shouldn't have moved out after 8 years but should have continued to stay with her in-laws to uphold the example she had been setting. Ms Tan claims that her family's fortunes have 'grown' over the years, but she provides no details as to how it has actually grown. Let's see, there is no doubt that from a one-room flat to a four-room flat, Ms Tan's parents have benefitted from asset inflation. But has Ms Tan's extended family benefitted as a whole? Let's say for simplicity's sake, Ms Tan's parents' flat appreciated from $30,000 to $300,000, that's a cool $270,000 that Ms Tan's parents pocketed over the years without doing anything. But what about Ms Tan and her siblings? If the price had stayed at $30,000, Ms Tan and her siblings would have been able to snap up units at $30,000 each only. But because of asset inflation, Ms Tan and her siblings now have to fork out $300,000 each. In fact, Ms Tan and her two siblings would have to fork out a total of $900,000 instead of $90,000. Collectively, they would have paid $810,000 more. The extra burden of $810,000 that Ms Tan's generation has to bear far outweighs the gain of $270,000 that her parents pocketed. So that is the truth behind the fallacy of asset appreciation. We can of course adjust all prices for inflation but what this simple example illustrates is this: the so-called gain from asset appreciation of one generation will be borne by the future generation. It becomes a debt for the future generation to bear. Unless salaries can keep up, that debt will keep increasing and increasing until it becomes totally unbearable. Thank you Ng Kok Lim  Read More →