TR EMERITUS

I can’t stop laughing at Gilbert Goh’s assertion that downtown Orchard Rd and in particular Civil Plaza Ngee Ann City is so sovereign a place that by partying there our sovereignty is being threatened. Civil Plaza Ngee Ann City is sacred soil. The Filipinos can celebrate it in the embassy ground, hotel ballroom or even in a park but doing it in downtown Orchard Road is a slap to our face and more importantly give us the feeling that our sovereignty is being threatened. We also guard our independence zealously and would not want to share it with any other nationality. - See more at: [ LINK ] Somehow GG, I don’t think the Filipinos are claiming sovereignty, de jure or de facto, over downtown Orchard Rd, even though I’m sure that if they wanted to they could claim de jure sovereignty over Filipino Lucky Plaza. But the Pinoys have two fights with the Chinese (Chinese giving pinoys the bird) over rocks in the South China Sea and are begging Uncle Sam to help them. Taz Pinoy Pride for you: always relying on white elder brudder. I can understand (though not agree with) the call to make the Pinoy event on 8 June a private affair on embassy grounds, or a hotel ballroom. But why is it OK to hold it in a public park (last yr) but not in downtown Orchard Rd? Waz so special about downtown Orchard Rd, that a party there means our sovereignty is being threatened. Does GG understand the meaning of “sovereignty” as it is understood in public int’l law? From those who know this topic, apparently not. BTW, GMS in a comment here promised a thesis on how our sovereignty is violated by Pinoy partying in Civil Plaza. Still waiting lor. Suspect that by the time GMS stands in in next GE, he still wouldn’t have delivered his analysis. It’s a shame as I  didn’t do public int’l law at law school and had looked forward to GMS analysis. Maybe they are mixing up sovereignty with our national religion and our nation ideology, crass materialism? Downtown Orchard Rd is our temple of materialism, our sacred soil, our Holy of Holies. If then say so. Oh, but then maybe GG is another alien brought here in UFO Goh Meng Seng. He, like PM, the police chief, Kirsten Han and Heart Truths are aliens. In GG’s S’pore in another time and space downtown Orchard Rd is disputed sovereign territory juz like the rocks in the South China Sea are in this world. Double confirm he’s an alien here via Goh Meng seng’s UFO. He asks the Pinoys, Moreover, will you be happy if we celebrate our national day in a downtown shopping belt in Manila by the thousands openly waving our flag and signing our national anthem? Having lived in Manila, I’m sure the Filipinos wouldn’t mind, though they would ask us to also fly the Filipino flag and sing their nation anthem. But most probably thaz not the case in GG’s Philippines in another space and time. My serious point is that the antics of GG, Goh Meng Seng and friends make it easier for the likes of PM and his Pappies and  Kirsten Han to paint tar people like me who oppose the PAP govt’s policy of “FTS all the way” as irrational. And I resent that GG uses “We” to include me. I’ve not given him my permission to include me among his nutters. Cynical Investor Source: Thoughts of a Cynical Investor  Read More →

High-rise residential apartment buildings in Singapore. (Photo: Roslan Rahman/AFP) (29 April)   Anyone in the market for a luxury apartment in Hong Kong, London or Washington toward the end of last year was in luck. The rents on prime flats were sagging a bit. Billionaires could lock in leases on pieds-à-terre at a slight discount. You might suppose that those savings would trickle down to regular working Joes, but no — middle-market rents in those cities continued their apparently inexorable upward march. The developed world’s wealthiest cities are facing housing crises so acute that not only low-income workers, but also the middle and creative classes, find them increasingly difficult places to afford. Redfin, the real estate website, recently found that there was not a single home on the market in San Francisco that would be affordable on a teacher’s salary. And that was just for buyers; in many cities, renting is even more expensive. Read more: www.nytimes.com/2014/05/04/magazine/rent-too-damn-high-move-to-singapore.html?_r=1  Read More →

Belgium I'm pretty certain that the SPF & MOM may already be commending themselves for thinking 'out of their comfort zone' to dream up such a solution. Unfortunately, based on the track record of a leadership shown to be rather distant behind the curve, I’ve to stay skeptical, cynical even that they are still behind the curve. These measures are no more than managing at the edges - not the real issues themselves. There is a good reason why the workers are called ‘migrant’. -The issue of fair treatment for foreign workers for all their talk of knowing SGP's need for their roles and showing appreciation for their contributions under the hot sun. Hello? These fellow-men born poor or living under ineffectual govts or facing a lack of opportunities are here PRIMARILY to make money in order to, first pay their agents and then save enough to give their loved ones a better life than what they have been 'blessed' with - recreation in SGP is far from their minds when waving their loved ones goodbye. If you want me to tell it like it is; these are mostly virile young men prized for their physique. The recreation they may well prefer is sex. Is the SPF & MOM going to bring in enough prostitutes for them and throw in free condoms...whilst turning a blind eye to the activities? Deal with the real issue, not what's peripheral. - The issue of greedy businessmen who want everything on the cheap, to gain more for themselves. Therefore, their feedback to policy wonks are all couched with the threats of damage to the SGP economy - which the latter are too happy to buy into and pass on as the truth to daft citizens. How many businessmen or senior mgrs have we met in our lives who honestly believe that the macro interests of society precede their own micro ones? Deal with the real issue, not what's a decoy. - The issue of lazy businessmen who prefer cheap labour which is easier than making productivity work. Or, at least in the short term, no need to train or expense on technology/equipment. Cost-wise, nothing beats cheap ones that are easier to use, abuse and refuse Deal with the real issue, not the vicarious. The Belgian way of managing foreign labour For all the enjoyable study trips that ministers and policy wonks have taken at taxpayers' expense, why is no one considering the Belgian Way of managing foreign labour? My understanding is that, at its most basic, the Belgians pay the going rate of what a local is paid, issues permits that will allow for the guest workers to stay in Belgian, enjoy the amenities and then leave once the contract is over. The results: Belgians apparently get what they want done, at a competitive price due to the more productive and trained workers who are attracted to the deal that is better than back home (as a skilled labourer). Belgium does not appear to be straddled with such worker welfare problem because their welfare is dealt directly in a focused way. In the progress, the ‘secondary profit-driven concerns’ of businessmen are well-served as they earn their dues while remain assured of a steady stream of skilled, highly-productive labourers. Hence, treat and keep the ‘migrant’ workers migrant and decently. Deal with the real issues. THE win-win solutions are all within our reach. Singapore gets less crowded with less rowdy and less migrant workers – and taxpayers are not made to pay indirectly for all these needless bells & whistles that are, in the first place, the employers’ concerns not society’s and with better-paid migrant workers, are there not more opportunities of higher value-added businesses for locals? And, this has to be said with the evidence before us; no thank you for govt & civil service leaders who create yet more work for themselves (which means more expenses) using taxpayers’ money while paying themselves a huge bundle for being top talents of such bottom-pit non-solutions. If someone knows the Belgian way better, do enlighten us further. Thanks. Change we Must. End PAP’s dominance or, as you can see in this instance, PAP’s dominance will s-l-o-w-l-y but surely end us with their 3rd-class leadership with their back-to-3rd-world solutions. 2cents * The author blogs at 2econdsight.wordpress.com.  Read More →