TR EMERITUS

For many football lovers in Singapore, World Cup 1998 held in France was perhaps the most memorable and unforgettable football event shown on television.It was the first World Cup to feature 32 teams-in 8 groups of 4 each.Best of all is:It was shown exclusively on Premiere 12,on a free-to-air television channel for the arts and sports. 4 years on,Premiere 12 had already been gone.Mediacorp offered to show the 2002 World Cup's opening match plus the 4 quarterfinals,2 semifinals,the third place playoff match and the final itself on Channel 5 instead. For the first time ever,the ENTIRE tournament would not be shown on free-to-air television after all.Instead the sole Cable TV operator back then,Starhub,would have exclusive rights to cover the whole tournament. I still could remember very clearly,in the 2002 Football World Cup held in South Korea and Japan,Starhub charged their subscribers like me only just S$15.92!The coverage of the tournament was excellent and one could view different channels during the same match for different camera angles and shots.Be it at the players on the pitch or at the coach on the sidelines. And during the final round of group stage matches,one could also watch 2 live matches simultaneously on different channels. Since then the price has rocketed:To $40 in 2006,and then to $80 in 2010 and now $112 this World Cup! And many Singapore football lovers like me had put up with price increases in 2006 and 2010 by tuning in to Indonesian TV networks SCTV (2006) and RCTI (2010),watching the World Cup matches for free.Never mind the football presenters in Jakarta spoke Bahasa Indonesia as the commentary during matches was given in English. For the 2014 World Cup,Anteve was given the rights to show the tournament in Indonesia.Unfortunately,unlike SCTV and RCTI, Anteve could not be received in Singapore at all. Once again,Singaporean football fans,put off by the escalating subscription prices offered by Starhub and Singtel,resorted to desperate measures such as going across the causeway to Johor Bahru just to watch the matches for free. Or simply just go to your nearest Community Club,Macdonald's or SAFRA Country Club to watch a match for free with your fellow peasants.Oops! Sorry,wrong word used. Or simply stay at home,sit down in front of your laptop or desktop PC and watch the match on live Internet Streaming.And pray that the football action on the pitch goes on smoothly on your live HD player. Over the past 12 years,I had observed and came to a conclusion:Thanks largely to the 55 year one party(PAP) rule and in the pursuit to be ranked Number One in practically almost everything,we $ingaporeans have become so self centred,greedy,money-centric,kiasu and kiasi that our country have now become the costliest place in Asia to watch the Football World Cup.Well done $ingapore,$ingtel,$tarhub and Pay And Pay! Even in Communist China,the entire World Cup is shown on their national free-to-air China Central Television (CCTV) network. And one could expect the subscription prices offered by the two telcos,$ingtel and $tarhub,to rise even further:To S$150 for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and to S$200 for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar! And the two telecos would still expect-in spite of such ridiculously high prices,football hungry,mad and desperate people and subscribers in Singapore to be daft enough to pay the money nonetheless. Time for a change,$ingapore.Time to vote out Pay And Pay (PAP).And time to say sayonara to Plunder And Plunder (PAP) once and for all.   Liew Chin Fu * Submitted by TRE reader    Read More →

Our Wages And CPF: Time For The Government To Explain Why They Have Not Grown I had posted two status updates on Facebook on my thoughts of our wages and CPF in Singapore, which I have reproduced here.  Roy Ngerng Spoke to a nice old lady working at a coffee shop. She shared how tired she was as she had to start work at 6am every morning. Auntie had stopped work for 4 years but went back to work because she said that prices of things have increased, so she has no choice but to go back to work. I asked auntie if she has CPF. She said she has but it's not enough. She still has to take care of her parents, pay the utilities and household bills and buy daily necessities. Auntie is more than 60 years old but still has to work to support her parents. Auntie earns $1,100. She has children but says that even her children do not earn enough for themselves, so she has to support herself. She also said that her wages are low but blamed herself for not being able to have a good education. I thought to myself - in other countries which have a similar cost of living to Singapore, the lowest a Japanese earns is $2,000. It is $3,000 in Australia and $5,000 in Norway. Yet, auntie earns only $1,100 and the average cleaner in Singapore earns only $850. It is not just about her education level though. If wages had kept pace with our economic growth and inflation, a low-income Singaporean would be able to earn at least $2,000 today. But why has this not happened? If the auntie had been paid fair wages, she would have been able to save enough to retire by now, and she would have enough to use. Wages for the low-income workers in Singapore haven't grown for the past 20 years. It is impossible for them to earn and save enough to cope with the rising costs in Singapore. Also, our retirement funds, the CPF, pays the lowest real interest rates in the world. It might be no wonder that with the low wages and CPF interest rates, that many Singaporeans are today unable to retire. It's also sad to hear that the auntie's children are not able to earn enough, even for themselves. It's something I hear many younger Singaporeans talk about. Also, it's sad that auntie's parents have to rely on her, instead of their retirement funds for retirement. At the end, you ask - what happened to our wages and retirement funds? Why didn't they grow to catch up with the cost of living, but yet why did prices escalate out of control? Singaporeans are a contended lot, but when our lives are at stake and we thus ask rationale questions, it is only appropriate and reasonable that the government answers us. Why did our wages and CPF not increase fast enough? It is time the government needs to be transparent and accountable with us on these issues. ***** According to a study, the poorest 30% of households spend 105% to 151% of their incomes. According to a survey conducted by The Straits Times, two-thirds of middle class Singaporeans earn enough to buy what they need, but nothing else more. This means that at least 50% to 60% of Singaporeans only earn enough to make ends meet. 30% of Singaporeans do not have enough to use. Another 30% have just barely enough. When we look at this in terms of wages, about 30% earn less than $2,000. 60% of Singaporeans earn less than $4,000. Does this mean that Singaporeans need to earn at least $2,000 to $4,000 to be able to live, even in the most basic way? In countries with a similar cost of living, the minimum wage in Japan is $2,000, it's $3,000 in Australia and low-income Norwegians earn $5,000. Is it time for Singapore to set a minimum wage for Singaporeans? Up until now, the government has still refused to define what the poverty level is, or what the amount required for subsistence living is. However, we know that the qualifying salary for the CHAS medical scheme is $1,800 and for the Workfare Income Supplement, this is $1,900. Does this mean that the government recognises that the poverty line is around $1,800 to $1,900? If 30% of Singaporeans are earning less than this, does this mean that 30% of Singaporeans are living in poverty? If 30% of Singaporeans earn less than $2,000, does this mean we need to gradually phase in a minimum wage of $2,000 at some point? (Note: this is where Japan is at now) It is time the government is transparent and accountable to Singaporeans. What is the official poverty line? How many Singaporeans are earning below poverty wages? Importantly, how are wages in Singapore determined, and why has wages for the poorest in Singapore not grown for the past 20 years, even as Singapore has now grown to become the most expensive city to live in, in the world? It is time the government is transparent and accountable to Singaporeans. Roy Ngerng *  The author blogs at  The Heart Truths.  Read More →

This year’s NDP theme is to honour every Singaporean. It has been a long time that being Singaporean is an important thing. After a couple of decades of honouring foreigners and foreign talents, finally someone starts to notice that there are Singaporeans that deserved some recognition. A reader wrote to Today’s forum to honour our past and forgotten heroes. There were so many historical figures that fought and die for this country. This reader, Edwin Teong Ying Keat, recalled a Tan Chong Tee of Force 136, a military unit set up by the British and its soldiers were mainly locals, fighting against the Japanese that many SE Asian countries today want them to return to be our policeman. To remind the people of Force 136 is proper and important at this juncture given that most young people have forgotten about these heroes and the cruelties inflicted on our forefathers by the barbaric Japanese soldiers in WW2. For those who are still harbouring on the idea of honouring the foreigners, now that every one of them is claiming credit for building this island into an economic powerhouse, we have not forgotten them. Maybe next year our NDP theme shall be honouring every foreigner and foreign talent, the new migrants. And many Sinkies can also feel like them, shouting, ‘We are immigrants too!’, ‘We are also foreign talents before.’ And all Singaporeans can hug the new migrants and foreign talents like one people. With such a theme, it would make the statement that Singapore belongs to everyone here, new or old, more meaningful. After all the Sinkies never believe they own this place. It is ok to share with the whole world, and welcome everyone, especially the talented, as Singaporeans. Singapore will be the country for everyone, everyone is welcome. Sinkies don’t own this place. Sinkies are foreigners too, albeit earlier migrants, nothing special. How about that huh? A NDP theme to honour every migrant, new and old, with Sinkies calling themselves migrants and very happy to share or give away their country to foreigners? When a people do not even know that they are the masters of their land and willingly share or give it to foreigners, they deserve to lose it. The honour foreigners theme would level the playing field between new migrants and old migrants ie Sinkies. And Sinkies love that I think. Sinkies love a level playing field to compete with foreigners in their home country, or in a place they do not believe belongs to them. They too are migrants, forever migrants and very proud of it. And before every Sinkie forget they are migrants, let’s celebrate being migrants. Just hope they don’t end up as new migrants in other countries, after being chased out from this island they once owned and called home. Be happy sharing your home country with the whole world. This island belongs to everyone here. Let’s hope this year’s theme of honouring every Singaporean is not the last time Singaporeans are honoured here.   Chua Chin Leng aka redbean * The writer blogs at http://mysingaporenew.blogspot.com    Read More →