TR EMERITUS

I shouldn’t say it too loudly but whilst Lee Kuan Yew did do many good things for Singapore, he committed a crime against the world of the world of mathematics by ensuring that what could have been one of the most notable mathematicians in history, never practiced math. That mathematician is his son, our current Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Hsien Loong. He was the Senior Wrangler (ranked 1st in the Math Tripos, the famously difficult Cambridge undergraduate Mathematics course) at Cambridge. He scored 31 alphas, 12 more alphas than the runner up. An army that would never fight a war would get a general and the world would lose what could have been a great mathematician. Whilst our current Prime Minister never had the chance to be the mathematician he should have been, there was one positive side of having a math wiz in politics. Singapore became a world-leader in the teaching of math, so much so that “Singapore Math” or the teaching method that were developed to teach math in our public schools have been adapted by school districts around the world. If there is a stereotype for us, it’s a good one. We are considered “good at math.” What is less well known is the type of mathematics that we are good at. Whilst everyone knows that Singapore’s kids are good at math and ace through most global exams, its actually our adults or specifically our politicians who are creating ground break achievements in a particular field of mathematics, which can be called “interesting math.” There is an annual display of “interesting math,” which takes place in February – this is called “Budget” Day. I guess, you could say that “Interesting Math” is what the Marvel version of Thor would call the point where science meets magic. It is so because the point of interesting math is the ability to take more in such a way where you can legitimately claim that you are benefiting the people you are taking from. Think of 2+2 being whatever you want it to be. The usual displays of “interesting math” come about when you talk about low wages. You will get adult Singaporeans who have not worked and have no income talking about how they cannot do menial jobs because they cannot afford to earn a low wage when they have no wage at all. It is better to be “0x0” (and its usually in the minus figures when they have bills to pay) and not “1+1.” However, this is what you’d call the low level of “interesting math.” The masters of this art have inevitably been our politicians, or more specifically our ministers of finance. You only need to look at budget day when the minister will find a way of increasing certain taxes and proudly claim that he is doing so to benefit the people they are taking the money from. Hence 2+2 was good but 2-8 is better. Our latest minister of finance, Mr. Lawrence Wong has proven that he is as good at “interesting math” as his predecessors when he argued that the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) would in fact be used to benefit the tax payer, in particular the low-income: [LINK] As with all aspects of “interesting math” there’s a certain amount of giving, especially to the lower income group. However, at the end of the day, when all is said and done, the sums inevitably work out in favour of the party taking the money. How does it work? Well, I’ve never been good at any form of mathematics, let alone in the “interesting variety.” However, there is rough pattern. Announce a slight increase in percentage terms. Hence, GST is always raised by two (2) percent. Nothing really dramatic. Then, announce that you are going to give everyone a couple of hundred dollars for the year so that they will have something to make the price increase less painful. Then you sit back and count the money. As with anything highly academic, the best explanation of how this works came from a taxi driver. He said “First they give me $300. Then they increase the rent for the taxi by $1 a day. In one year, I pay back the $300 they gave and then everything else is pure profit from the increased taxes.” Interesting Math is intriguing because unlike traditional mathematics, there are always variations and it creates emotional feelings. However, the results are inevitably the same. Observe budget day. Do your sums and you might be surprised by what you actually end up giving at the end of the year. This is the art of putting someone in the minus column but making them feel like they are in the plus column. This is the real genius of Singapore math and perhaps there’s a reason why we have yet to export this mastery.     Tang Li *Although I’ve been based mainly in Singapore for nearly two decades, I’ve had the privilege of being able meet people who have crossed borders and cultures. I’ve befriended ministers and ambassadors and worked on projects involving a former head of state. Yet, at the same time, I’ve had the privilege of befriending migrant labourers and former convicts. All of them have a story to tell. All of them add to the fabric of life. I hope to express the stories that inspire us to create life as it should be.      Read More →

So, from 5 April 22, NTUC Fairprice Group will have a new chief in Vipul Chawla, an eminent business leader who last ran Pizza Hut International (PHI) and oversaw markets in over 100 countries with a combined revenue in excess of US$7.5 billions annually. Professionally any way one looks at him, he is indeed, very, very impressive. NTUC Fairprice too is a large organisation with very respectable turnover exceeding S$4 billions annually but when compares to PHI, the size and scope of its businesses are much smaller. In fact, not even half. Reading the news, a thought sprang to my mind. I am one person who is not easily or blindly awed or stunted by anyone's eminence or reputation etc. To me, I consider Vipul Chawla's acceptance to head NTUC Fairprice Group''s 'provision shop' businesses as a demotion for him and that puzzles me. If I or anybody were him, it is only logical to think that the person accepts an offer equals to or exceeds his/her current scope of responsibility and status etc. He is after all only 54 years of age and unlikely to be looking for a semi-retirement job. NTUC Fairprice, to put it bluntly, is merely a big fish in a small pond, much lesser operating in markets of over 100 countries... I repeat. I consider Vipul Chawla's agreeing and accepting to head NTUC Fairprice Group provision shop businesses is, in my straightforward talking manner, a clear demotion for him. It beats me. I wonder what do fellow netizens think? Think.   Simon Lim      Read More →

Our society is so terribly lop-sided that it is not sustainable in the long run. When the cracks become more pronounced, life will become intolerable and society may breakdown altogether. We need to right the imbalance before it is too late. In any eco-system, there are always opposing forces that keep each other in check, thereby maintaining a fine balance. For example, if too many predatory fish are introduced into a small pond, the smaller fish that feed on aquatic plants will soon be wiped out by the predators. In turn, the predatory fish will have fewer and fewer small fish to eat and will soon perish themselves. The aquatic plants may flourish for awhile as the plant eating fish dwindle, but as the predatory fish follow suit, the lack of carbon dioxide previously produced by the fish, will also lead to the demise of the aquatic plants as they need the gas to survive (photosynthesis). Likewise, the forces exerted by big business in our society is balanced by forces exerted by the labour unions and ordinary people in society. The objective of big business is profit maximization. If the labour unions are weak, big business will push wages to the lowest possible rate. It will try all ways, including getting itself into the government, lobbying the government, bringing in foreign workers and resisting any efforts to organize workers into a cohesive independent force - all the while with the help of the government. People should rid themselves of the notion that governments listen to the people when they form policies, they don’t. They listen to those who control the economic life of the country, and that means big business and very rich people. If people in society are conditioned to be apathetic and leave matters to the government, big business will slowly but surely push for a bigger population via the government since that translates to more workers and customers; it will push for a lower tax rate and the government will have to tax the apathetic population more to make up for the shortfall; it will push for more and longer protection of patents and the apathetic people will have to pay more for medicine, software, merchandise, movies and sports; it will insidiously form oligopolies and charge more for their products since they have the monopolistic power. In the end, the apathetic people will have to work harder and longer just to keep head above water. But the people are by nature, not apathetic. They have become apathetic because of propaganda, oppressive laws and punishments meted out by the government to people who dare speak up against the mainstream narrative. So if the collective voice of a couple of million workers and the collective voice of the people are muted, and the profit maximization instincts of big business is unchecked, the natural outcome is that big business will drive workers and people to their breaking point and society will break down. And yet, we have to be realistic and recognize that our livelihoods, one way or the other, depends on big business currently. Many of us get our salaries from big business, big business pay taxes to our government, the 2.5 to 4% interest in our CPF nest egg depends on big business earning decent profits. So, how do we extricate ourselves from this conundrum? The first is to pry the labour unions from the clutches of the government since the government works closely with big business, so that the unions can speak freely for the welfare of workers. The second is to allow all interest groups of societies to speak up for their rights so that they can counter opposing forces and thereby maintain equilibrium. In other words, we need to promote democracy. The main pillars of democracy are freedom of speech, freedom of information, freedom of peaceful assembly, a free press and independent labour unions. We need to make these pillars mainstream features of our society and only then will we have proper check and balance. But big business, foreign governments, and by extension, our government, will resist tooth and nail. Short term investors will withdraw their money. The process will be fraught with acrimony, tension, chaos, sacrifice, progress and regress, perhaps even loss of lives. But try we must, and having been there, we will be a more civilized nation and our long term future will be bright, unlike now, where we are headed for implosion.   Foong Swee Fong      Read More →