TR EMERITUS

(Click to enlarge) (1 Jul) - Rising joblessness among new university graduates in China and India is creating an army of educated unemployed that some fear could destabilise these huge economies. Both India and China have experienced a higher education revolution in the past decade, with the number of young people completing university degrees rising from a few hundred thousand a year to many millions. Dramatic expansion of university education should have provided new graduates with opportunities unheard of in their parents' generation. Instead, with an alarming rise in the number of unemployed and under-employed graduates, a large group of educated young people are becoming alienated, unable to become part of the growing middle class. The numbers are staggering. In India one in three graduates up to the age of 29 is unemployed, according to a Labour Ministry report released last November. Total unemployment in the country is officially closer to 12%. Universities and colleges turn out five million new graduates each year. .... "There are some who see it as fuelling violence and destructive politics," said Craig Jeffrey, professor of development geography at Oxford University, an expert on India's unemployed youth. "In many government reports they are seen as hostile to the state. Some believe there could be huge migration of educated young people across borders. "In the past, India was seen as the country of the bus conductor with a BA. Now it is the country of the MA manual labourer. It has got so much worse," said Prof Jeffrey. "It is a revolution of rising aspirations and the economy can't keep pace." .... "Their parents are on their backs wanting them to get a job. But they don't have the English language skills or knowledge and confidence to be able to compete for the small number of, for example, IT sector jobs, that are emerging in India." .... "At the ground level educated India's underemployed young people are not often firebrand radicals," ....  it is a surprise they are not more angry as in the case of Arab Spring youth. Nonetheless there is disappointment and in both countries the educated unemployed have become detached from wider society. They are adjusting their expectations rather than taking radical action, researchers note. "Grievances are accumulating but these young people are not yet ready for confrontation with the Chinese authorities," Prof Cheng believes. .... experts now talk of a "gargantuan national crisis", a ticking time-bomb of unemployed and under-employed youth unable to contribute to the economy. China's plan to transform from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge-driven innovation economy by 2020 could be jeopardised. Getting more Chinese into universities was meant to help build the innovation-led knowledge economy. "Instead it is creating new vulnerabilities," Many factory jobs are now paying more than entry-level office positions. It has led to a deterioration in China's export competitiveness as its goods become more expensive, reducing its current account surplus.   [Read the full report at:  BBC News - Asia]  Read More →

You may recall Ms Jasmine Tan who, not so long ago, complained to TTSH for poor service rendered to her mother and her family. To refresh your memory, here are the TRE reports: Health Minister Gan Kim Yong Feedback on bad service at TTSH Feedback on bad service at TTSH – Part 2 and a TRE editorial: TTSH bad service resolved after official complaint Apparently, this time she is being given the runaround by MOH concerning their less than acceptable dental services. Ms Tan first wrote to MOH on 4 June: To: MOH QSM (MOH), [email protected] Subject: Request for Earlier Appointment Dear Mdm, I visited the Geylang Polyclinic today for polishing and scaling to remove the severe tartar on my teeth as I fear an impeding infection. However, I was informed that I have to wait at least 9 months in advance at the soonest. Hence, I was perplexed as I previously heard announcements on state TV that the government has since ramped up on the efficient delivery of medical services. Yours faithfully, Ms Jasmine Tan She received a reply from MOH QSM on 13 June (9 days later): Dear Ms Tan We refer to your email to the Ministry of Health and we wish to apologise for the delay in our reply. We share your concerns on the long waiting period for your dental appointment to remove the tartar on your teeth. To meet the rising demand for subsidised dental care by Singaporeans, Ministry of Health (MOH) and the two Polyclinic clusters have been working to improve the capacity. For example, registered oral health therapists are now working alongside polyclinic dentists to perform basic dental services like scaling and polishing.  We have also introduced measures to remind patients to keep to their appointments or cancel/re-schedule them in advance so that their appointment slots can be given to others who need it more should they be unable  to turn up for their sessions. However, there is a huge number of patients seeking subsidised dental treatments at the polyclinics and patients that require emergency dental care would be given priority at our polyclinics.  You may approach the Polyclinics if emergency dental care is required for your condition. In order to relieve the patient load at the polyclinics, MOH has also enhanced the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), which provides subsidised dental care at more than 290 participating private dental clinics island-wide. This will also shorten waiting times for Singaporeans seeking subsidised dental care. The list of subsidised dental treatments was also expanded to include more dental procedures, such as crowns, dentures and root canal treatments. Besides these procedures, CHAS clinics can make referrals for subsidised care at specialist centres for necessary treatments. With the removal of the CHAS qualifying age in January 2014, more Singaporeans will be able to receive subsidised dental care at these clinics. Nevertheless, we will share your request for a shorter waiting time for your next dental appointment with the SingHealth Polyclinics (SHP) for their consideration.  Thank you. cc SHP: The email below is referred for your attention and follow up. Please forward a copy of your reply to the Ministry at [email protected] for our records. Thank you Yours sincerely, Chen Fulai for Quality Service Manager Ministry of Health, Singapore And a reply on 23 June from SingHealth Polyclinics: Dear Ms Tan We refer to your feedback that was forwarded to us by the Ministry of Health concerning dental appointments at  SingHealth Polyclinics – Geylang. We apologise that you were unable to obtain an earlier dental appointment at our clinic.  The demand for dental services is high and our appointment slots are usually fully taken months in advance. The well-being of our patients is important to us.  Notwithstanding the limited slots available each day at the dental clinic, we will attend to patients with dental emergencies such as severe trauma dental injuries (which can include fracture of teeth, profuse bleeding, facial swelling/abscess and fever arising from dental problems).  For patients with tooth pain, our dental officer will assess and check the patient’s dental condition.  If the patient does not present any dental emergency conditions, we will offer the earliest available appointment date. We recognize that some patients may prefer to be treated earlier and we provide these patients with a list of dental clinics located in the vicinity of our polyclinics for their reference. We assure you that we will continue to strive to improve our service to patients and to better manage our dental patient load. Thank you for your feedback. With regards Dr Stephanie Neo Dental Surgeon SingHealth Polyclinics Ms Tan's retort to MOH: Dear MOH, Please refer to your institutional response to my request which is not helpful at all. In essence, SHP is trumpeting what it is trying to accomplish in vain since G.E. 2011 where a slew of measures were announced to curb surmounting resentment of citizens towards inefficient governmental services. In my case, I do not appreciate that SHP Geylang is redirecting the problem for a private practitioner to handle.  I would also like to know who is going to foot the privatised fees as well? I have heard that MOH is finding it hard to cope with massive influx of foreigners and I would like to enquire whose health care needs does the pap government prioritise? I shall await your reply and solution to this persisting issue. Yours faithfully, Ms Jasmine Tan Once again we are seeing a typical 'we are doing the best we can' reply which doesn't really address one's problems. They are simply telling you that demand exceeds supply so "appointment slots are usually fully taken months in advance". If you need priority attention, you need to go to a private dentist, never mind if you are a taxpayer. This is the standard 'sorry but we're doing our best so don't blame us' replies which we get so often from Govt agencies where our tax dollars are supposed to buy first world services. Unfortunately it appears that we may be paying top dollar to our Ministers and civil servants but what we are really buying is nothing more than third world class. We don't have enough hospital beds and now, not enough dentists or dental facilities. We even have to wait 9 months for a dental appointment! What is our Health Minister doing? Is he oblivious to the problems that people are facing? Are we beginning to see the effects of the mindless immigration policies of the PAP and if so what will happen if we are suddenly faced with another SARS epidemic? Will hundreds or even thousands have to die because we are sorely deficient in our medical facilities? As we sail mindlessly towards the PWP goal of a 6.9m population, will people, especially the old and the poor, have to be left to die because they can't afford treatment and the Govt did not have the foresight to keep our hospital facilities up to pace with the population explosion?  Read More →

[Letter first appeared in transitioning.org an unemployed support site run by Gilbert Goh.] Jobless PMET wrote in to warn fellow Singaporeans of ominous situation Good morning Gilbert, I have applied many positions but only received one rejected reply. This job has the lowest salary and qualifications. Yet, I was rejected. All the jobs I applied are within the government. If MOM can’t help much, I’m turning my direction towards the government. Our government encourages Singapore employers to give priority to Singaporeans when it comes to hiring employees. I am sure the civil sector would lead an example in helping jobless fellow Singaporeans. It’s very sad. Now, whenever I wake up, I always ask myself, “What ever happened to my beloved Singapore?” A place where I always pick up litter whenever I see one. I am shocked and dazed. We, Singaporeans are like the lions in the Singapore Zoo. Once they put wildlife lions in our cage, we have nowhere to run. Many are chased out of the cage to go into the wilderness like Johor Bahru, Batam, Indonesia and Thailand. Our zoo handler tells us to be competitive, to keep up. They promised in-house training to let us catch up. Can we? Either we are starved to death or get out of the cage. Or, we keep fighting with the wildlife lions, living in constant struggle. I thought joining the civil sector would provide me a protection barrier against these wildlife animals. They don’t play by the rules. Every now and then, I have to watch my back constantly. After all, it’s a jungle game out there. Twenty years ago, I would have never guessed this coming. I was so happy when Lee Hsien Loong became the PM. I even prayed for his good health. What a twist of fate, as now I must pray for my own survival. I am asking you to post my letter to warn fellow Singaporeans. Don’t laugh at your fellow Singaporeans and read their story like a gossip column. One day, your turn will come. Regards Lynn  Read More →