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By Khaliesah binte Mohamed Hatta from The Campus Observer The weakening economy, rather than race and religion, is the greatest threat to national harmony, according to NUS students. In a non-scientific poll of 30 students from various academic disciplines conducted by the Observer, 70 per cent of respondents said they did not agree with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that issues of race and religion have the greatest potential to cause social unrest in Singapore. Lee highlighted the twin issues of race and religion as “the most visceral and dangerous fault line” in Singapore during his National Day Rally speech on Aug. 16. Instead of the double threat posed by race and religion, a majority of the students polled cited the current economic downturn as having the greatest potential to cause a rift in society. Sangeetha Yogendran, a final-year student in the Faculty of Law, said that race and religion are not such pressing issues because Singaporeans have been educated in a pluralistic society and exposed to different types of people all their lives. “At least with the younger and more educated Singaporeans, races and religion won’t disrupt our harmony at this point, as volatile as those issues can be,” said Yogendran. Read rest of article here  Read More →

译者:冀居·谢 21、政府应该要对这些问题有更快、更好的反应，当然不是为了延长执政的寿命，而是这么做是对的跟应该的。 22、信仰的第二宗旨是我们一定要达成“誓愿不分种族、言语、宗教，团结一致。” 23、 我们生活在一个多元的世界--人们有不同的背景、利益、信仰和目的。要团结这些人谈何容易？但是我们不能轻易就说我们办不到兼容并蓄。这个集体不是为了什 么经济或物质层面的获得，而是基于相信无论我们要从这里出发到什么地方，这个系统都是值得我们信赖的。它非关什么利益分享，而是有一个核心价值是我们共享 的。从那里可以找到自我、价值、认同和抱负。它让我们成为一个民族时如沐春风，知道除此之外别无他寻。它也有力量去抚平你我有关社会、政治和经济的差异。 24、要找出这个核心价值，我们必须超越表象，超越约定俗成的因循。与其问：“我们该做什么、什么最拿手？”不如问：“作为一个民族，我们的要求是什么？” 25、按商业的说法，我们要从“执行任务”改成“遵守信条” 26、 一般组织开始时都是照顾底线和盈利，然后转变成花红派送给员工。随着生意越做越大，底线和盈利已渐渐变得一般，因为员工已经习惯收到花红，敌手可以用更高 的诱因把员工拉过去。当你一帆风顺的时候，老是只想着底线反而增加你的风险。人才之所以留下来，是来自满足、挑战和引以为豪。所以那些高度成功的组织都是 尽量去做正确的事情，把人们争取到它那边，与它一起奋斗，这样的组织让人艳羡。 27、就我而言，新加坡吸引人的地方和独特之处，就是我们的 多元种族和多元宗教的组成。还有我们诚实、透明和可依靠的政府，以及我们从不放弃把机会都提供给国人。这是我们多年努力的成果，今天已经成为我们灵魂不可 分割的一部分，我们的文化也必然是一个民族的。时不时都有朋友或海外访客提醒我，要我懂得惜福，能够生活在种族和宗教这么和谐的社会里，我们不能把这一切 当成理所当然的。我们应该不厌其烦地向我们的子弟举例说明、灌输这些价值，以免将来失去。 27、为了避免我们人民对于今后的怀疑，特别是年 轻的一辈，越来越变得犬儒，我们作为一个整体，有必要直面目前一些表面上矛盾和紊乱的讯息。比如说马来回教徒在新加坡武装部队里的角色、特选中学以及文化 精英主义。以种族来区分的福利团体，我们目前需要维持的各族人口平衡，甚至新加坡是不是接受一个少数种族总理等等。 28、自拉惹勒南先生为 我们写下国家信约之后，大家又走了这么长的一段路，沿途起了些变化，有时是好的、有时却对国民团结设下重重障碍。特别是恐怖袭击，它让我们逐渐建立起来的 互信和融合倒退了不少。我们当然不能因此畏首畏尾，但是我们也不能自满，并且假定一切都会风轻云淡。 29、政府主动加强种族和谐和社会融合 让我欣慰。种族和谐圈和社区接触计划，还有像OnePeople.com这类组织，都能辅助促进社区的应变能力。同时，政府及时和坚定地反驳一些损害种族 宗教和谐的谣言或行动时，都能把正确的讯息传达给民众。贾古玛资政上个月接受海峡时报访问时认为，把种族和谐当成是理所当然是鲁莽大意的行为，很能够说明 这点。更不必说李总理在国庆群众大会上清晰、诚恳和充满热忱的辩说是多么的及时。对我来说，自满就是从表面现象来断言种族和谐，其危险性就好像在薄冰上滑 溜一样；我们从表面上看，就说冰层够厚，其实它需要的只是一道裂痕，然后一切都会分崩离析。当我们惊醒的时刻，有可能已经太迟了。 30、我 们必须坚定信念前进；虽然裂痕已经造成，有些还加深和变阔，但是自1960年以来所形成的凝聚力将帮我们渡过这一切。我们要避免的倒是过度的官方宣导，因 为这会造成反效果。其实我们可以通过运动、美术、文化和大众媒体作介，再一次把大家拉在一起。提到媒体，让我建议他们应该扮演一个重要的角色。1963年 电视在新加坡开播，那时只有一个频道，所以不管什么语言大家都看。然后它有了两个频道--第五波道是英语的、第八波道是华语和淡米尔语，那很有趣，因为转 台很不方便（遥控器还没发明），淡米尔新闻播报员去到牛车水还有人认识，同样地，华语新闻播报员去到小印度，人们也是认得！今天我们各族都拥有自己的频 道，我们已经少掉在媒体上碰触的机会。我相信明文规定各个频道介绍一些他族事物的播映时间是会有帮助的。（待续） 摘自大马论坛  Read More →

From our Correspondent In yet another erroneous and misleading headlines that put its credibility into serious doubt, Joyce Teo from Straits Times wrote that "More want pricier homes". (read article here) A reader glancing through the pages of the Straits Times will be misled into thinking that Singaporeans are really flocking to buy pricer properties in the current market which has been described as "unsustainable" in the long run by many analysts. The title by itself makes no sense at all: who in the right mind will want to more for expensive homes when they can afford to pay less? Joyce wrote that the "property boom is fast spreading to the upper reaches of the market, with more people buying premium-priced homes, according to data from property consultancy DTZ." The firm’s analysis of caveats lodged shows that 22 per cent of total private home sales in the second quarter were for homes priced above $1.5 million, compared to 10 per cent in the first quarter. What was not mentioned is the number of foreigners who bought these homes. About 70% of buyers of luxury homes in Singapore are foreigners. She also added that "resilient HDB resale prices have created a wealth boost for HDB upgraders, causing the proportion of buyers with HDB addresses in the second quarter to reach 44 per cent." HDB upgraders and first-time homebuyers typically buy into mass market condominiums, which are usually lower-priced homes in suburban areas. This is not true as HDB prices have been kept artifically high by the government and the rising numbers of foreigners working in Singapore. As a HDB flat is a basic necessity, there will always be a demand for it due to a limited supply of new flats. Though HDB prices have risesn over the years, they do not generate wealth for the owners because they will have to fork out additional cash to purchase a more expensive unit in the present market. The mass market condominiums have already exceeded peak prices in 2007. The Centro Residences at Ang Mo Kio, a 99-year old leasehold project was recently launched at prices of between $1,100 and $1,200 psf which are the typical prices for condominiums in central districts such as Novena and Balestier. Many HDB upgraders may have misjudged the time to purchase condominiums based on one-sided reports from the media whose main intent is to whip up market sentiments. In the face of persisting economic uncertainty, stagnating wages and rising cost of living, it is highly doubtful that the current property "boom", if it is the correct term to use, is sustainable for long. For HDB upgraders who forked out a large part of their savings to finance their purchases, they will be stuck in dire straits if they were retrenched, had their wages cut or the market crashed subsequently like in the 1996 housing crisis. It is utterly irresponsible for the media to continuing to protray a false sense of security in order to drive continued demand for overpriced properties which will only benefit the developers. Singapore is still not out of the economic crisis yet despite improving trade figures. NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say warned lately that it is too early to predict a recovery. The media should be preaching prudence and cautiousness when buying a property now instead of giving Singaporeans the wrong impression that prices will continue to go up indefinitely.   Related articles: >> High cost of HDB flats a key reason for failure of Baby Bonus by Jeremy Koh and Eugene Yeo >> Mass market buyers now inflating property prices by Jeremy Koh >> Record home sales: a boom or bomb in the making? by Jeremy Koh and Eugene Yeo  Read More →