Monday, April 24, 2006
ponderance: a first world government?
first ponderance: what doth it bespeak of, tt an unchallenged behemoth use all possible means to utterly and completely destroy the poor and defenseless who are unable to resist its might?
parliament has been dissolved since april 20th. this means tt until may 6, we effectively have no government. this concept doesn't strike most people, so i just thought i would highlight it. for someone else's thoughts on it, try reading xenoboy's entry on this as well. might give you something to think about, if you think tt you don't think enough.
anyway even with no parliament, we never fail to show the world tt we can still throw our weight around. or rather, tt they can continue to throw their weight around. does it make you sad? it makes me very very sad. it also makes this guy very very sad (we share similar sentiments lah). tt in this day and age, even though we would like to think of ourselves as first world, and some people might like to believe tt we already possess a first world government (in fact, the lack of reference to supporting evidence seems to reflect the belief tt tt is a foregone conclusion), one tt demands a first world opposition, i do not think we do. i do not even think we possess the first world laws worthy to justify a first world government.
what makes me sadder however, is the response of many singaporeans to the sad state of affairs. no one seems to question the behemoth and its tactics, choosing instead to subscribe to the biased one-sided justifications presented in the state's times. choosing instead to attribute things to csj's own stupidity. even though his actions may not seem smart to many people, it takes 2 hands to clap. and i see tt what he has done neither merits nor warrants the kind of extreme but sadly predictable over-reaction tt it has. this kind of over-reaction does not just harm csj, or even his party members, but also their families.
speaking of which, people are saying tt the sdp defamed 2 members of the ruling party with their article. my question to those people is this: have you even read tt article? if you have not, why not give it a read here. and then tell me if you think there was any defamation involved at all, and who exactly was supposed to be defamed.
not only is the way tt the law - the very promoter of fairness and justice - is being used is arbitruary, but also the kind of penalty tt it imposes - severely disproportionate damages for no visible evidence of harm done whatsoever, is very very saddening to someone who herself studies the law both at home and abroad and has been exposed to the very idealogies and principles behind it.
first world government?
what would you like to know about your government in relation to a first world government? (click on the link please).
how about listening to this take on what a first world government should not be?
and if you think tt all is perfect and dandy, tt all i am saying is but empty words at a time where the ideals of freedom and democracy should be subservient to an efficient government...
why don't you read this?
or better yet. i'll paste the whole article here. it's just one aspect tt people conveniently overlook for their progress packages.
Friday, April 21, 2006
High Cost of Homes/Cars/Education
* Singapore's private home prices are "obscenely-high" while HDB flat prices are "sky-high". For most S'poreans, a home is the most expensive purchase they will make in their lifetimes. Some 90% of our population live in HDB flats --- representing the less-well-off who cannot afford private property.
* Despite our high home prices, few buyers "feel the pinch" immediately because up to 90% of the cost can be financed by long-term debt (over 20 -30 years). Thus, many do not give a second thought to the fact if they borrow, say, $100,000 under a 20-year home loan, they could ultimately cough up some $200,000 in total capital and interest repayments.
* SIMPLE LOGIC - if a young couple in Singapore have to "sink so much monies" into their "brick and cement" HDB flat, how much monies will there be left to raise a family and sent the children to school/university (not to mention providing for their own healthcare/retirement needs in their old age) ?
* Since 2002, many HDB flatbuyers have become "suspicious" on how HDBnew flats are actually priced.
They asked how a 5-room HDB new flat is priced at $200,000 when its construction cost is only about $50,000 (as revealed from actual contracts of HDB Building Contractors). Adding on another, say, $70,000 for Land Cost & Other Related Costs, the Total Breakeven Cost per flat is only about $120,000! (which HDB should set as the selling price, as HDB flats are supposed to be low-cost public housing).
But the HDB chose this very ingenious "market subsidy" approach - "by pricing NEW flats just below the market price of comparable RESALE flats". So, HDB will look at the prevailing market price (say,$260,000) of a RESALE 5-rm flat --- and then "pluck from the air" a lower figure of, say, $200,000 as the selling price of a NEW 5-rm flat (NEVER MIND even if its actual Total Breakeven Cost is only $120,000).
The HDB can then go around boasting that the new flat buyer is getting a "market subsidy" of $60,000 --- when there is actually no "true cash subsidy", and the HDB is really making a very handsome profit of $80,000 PER NEW FLAT SOLD!
Several people (incl this writer) have written to newspaper forums on this important issue affecting some 90% of our population. Following which, there were many angry reactions on various Internet websites over the PAP Government's recalcitrant "lack of transparency" on the HDB Flat Pricing issue.
High Cost of Car Ownership
For S'poreans in marketing/service type jobs or those living in the East and working in Jurong area, a car is often a necessity and not a luxury.
At one time, a medium-sized car (Toyota Corolla) cost a whopping $110,000 (import cost from Japan was only $15,000). And at another time, COE prices nearly hit $100,000 !!!
After paying the lumpsum COE upfront, the motorist next have to pay recurring ERP charges !
Revenue for Govt from COE payments = $200m every month (on average)
Revenue from ERP = $??? per month.
Revenue from Parking/Traffic Offence fines = $??? per month.
Increasing Cost of Education
(a) Why such costly/posh educational institutions (sinking so much monies
into brick and cement???):
* $435m SMU new City Campus in Bras Basah area.
* $322m Republic Polytechnic new Woodlands Campus (latest amongst 5 Polytechnics). Designed by a famous Japanese architect (expensive Foreign Talent! Singapore architects not good enough?)
* $370m new ITE College East Campus (near Singapore Expo). A really ULTRA-POSH "mega-campus" (for hands-on technical education???). Hold on -- another two more such mega-campus coming up (Central Campus and West Campus) !!!
(b) See how, in tiny red dot Singapore, the 4 Universities (NUS,NTU,SMU,UniSIM) and 5 Polytechnics try to "outdo each other" in offering "duplicating courses" and resorting to costly Press/TV advertising campaigns? The students will, of course, have to pay for all these costs !!!
News report on NTU Business School buying as many as 300 top-end "ergonomic" Herman Miller office chairs costing $2,200 each (when chairs costing $300 to $400 are just as good and lasting !!!)
(c) "University fees have increased by an annual average of 5% since 1990 and they have gone up every year, Mr Tharman said" (BT 2 Mar 06).
Mr Tharman, we all know that already. But why are you not telling the people the detailed numbers of Govt bursaries/scholarships generously given out to Foreign Students (most of whom are "making use" of Singapore as a "stepping stone") ?
(d) $1m - Consulting Fee which the MOE will pay an External Consultant to review teacher's pay and career structure (annouced recently [clever timing!] as yet another Big Election Carrot).
MOE has been around for donkey years, and has a massive Personnel Division headed by 1 Director, 3 Deputy Directors and 12 Department Heads. And yet have to pay so much in consulting fee to external consultants ?
Why can't they do most of the work with so much in-house resources?
i can do very little about things as they stand, and as a matter of fact i have no interest in joining politics whatsoever. i have great confidence in the opposition and the coming elections, and in the workers' party under sylvia lim's charge. i do believe tt they in their policies and their candidates, have what it takes to show singaporeans tt a 40 year long system can still see change and be properly updated in time to face a new and dynamic global future.
i just hope tt a few more singaporeans will also just wake up their lan jiao idea and see this also.
now playing: hotel costes - cafe de flor
parliament has been dissolved since april 20th. this means tt until may 6, we effectively have no government. this concept doesn't strike most people, so i just thought i would highlight it. for someone else's thoughts on it, try reading xenoboy's entry on this as well. might give you something to think about, if you think tt you don't think enough.
anyway even with no parliament, we never fail to show the world tt we can still throw our weight around. or rather, tt they can continue to throw their weight around. does it make you sad? it makes me very very sad. it also makes this guy very very sad (we share similar sentiments lah). tt in this day and age, even though we would like to think of ourselves as first world, and some people might like to believe tt we already possess a first world government (in fact, the lack of reference to supporting evidence seems to reflect the belief tt tt is a foregone conclusion), one tt demands a first world opposition, i do not think we do. i do not even think we possess the first world laws worthy to justify a first world government.
what makes me sadder however, is the response of many singaporeans to the sad state of affairs. no one seems to question the behemoth and its tactics, choosing instead to subscribe to the biased one-sided justifications presented in the state's times. choosing instead to attribute things to csj's own stupidity. even though his actions may not seem smart to many people, it takes 2 hands to clap. and i see tt what he has done neither merits nor warrants the kind of extreme but sadly predictable over-reaction tt it has. this kind of over-reaction does not just harm csj, or even his party members, but also their families.
speaking of which, people are saying tt the sdp defamed 2 members of the ruling party with their article. my question to those people is this: have you even read tt article? if you have not, why not give it a read here. and then tell me if you think there was any defamation involved at all, and who exactly was supposed to be defamed.
not only is the way tt the law - the very promoter of fairness and justice - is being used is arbitruary, but also the kind of penalty tt it imposes - severely disproportionate damages for no visible evidence of harm done whatsoever, is very very saddening to someone who herself studies the law both at home and abroad and has been exposed to the very idealogies and principles behind it.
first world government?
what would you like to know about your government in relation to a first world government? (click on the link please).
how about listening to this take on what a first world government should not be?
and if you think tt all is perfect and dandy, tt all i am saying is but empty words at a time where the ideals of freedom and democracy should be subservient to an efficient government...
why don't you read this?
or better yet. i'll paste the whole article here. it's just one aspect tt people conveniently overlook for their progress packages.
Friday, April 21, 2006
High Cost of Homes/Cars/Education
* Singapore's private home prices are "obscenely-high" while HDB flat prices are "sky-high". For most S'poreans, a home is the most expensive purchase they will make in their lifetimes. Some 90% of our population live in HDB flats --- representing the less-well-off who cannot afford private property.
* Despite our high home prices, few buyers "feel the pinch" immediately because up to 90% of the cost can be financed by long-term debt (over 20 -30 years). Thus, many do not give a second thought to the fact if they borrow, say, $100,000 under a 20-year home loan, they could ultimately cough up some $200,000 in total capital and interest repayments.
* SIMPLE LOGIC - if a young couple in Singapore have to "sink so much monies" into their "brick and cement" HDB flat, how much monies will there be left to raise a family and sent the children to school/university (not to mention providing for their own healthcare/retirement needs in their old age) ?
* Since 2002, many HDB flatbuyers have become "suspicious" on how HDBnew flats are actually priced.
They asked how a 5-room HDB new flat is priced at $200,000 when its construction cost is only about $50,000 (as revealed from actual contracts of HDB Building Contractors). Adding on another, say, $70,000 for Land Cost & Other Related Costs, the Total Breakeven Cost per flat is only about $120,000! (which HDB should set as the selling price, as HDB flats are supposed to be low-cost public housing).
But the HDB chose this very ingenious "market subsidy" approach - "by pricing NEW flats just below the market price of comparable RESALE flats". So, HDB will look at the prevailing market price (say,$260,000) of a RESALE 5-rm flat --- and then "pluck from the air" a lower figure of, say, $200,000 as the selling price of a NEW 5-rm flat (NEVER MIND even if its actual Total Breakeven Cost is only $120,000).
The HDB can then go around boasting that the new flat buyer is getting a "market subsidy" of $60,000 --- when there is actually no "true cash subsidy", and the HDB is really making a very handsome profit of $80,000 PER NEW FLAT SOLD!
Several people (incl this writer) have written to newspaper forums on this important issue affecting some 90% of our population. Following which, there were many angry reactions on various Internet websites over the PAP Government's recalcitrant "lack of transparency" on the HDB Flat Pricing issue.
High Cost of Car Ownership
For S'poreans in marketing/service type jobs or those living in the East and working in Jurong area, a car is often a necessity and not a luxury.
At one time, a medium-sized car (Toyota Corolla) cost a whopping $110,000 (import cost from Japan was only $15,000). And at another time, COE prices nearly hit $100,000 !!!
After paying the lumpsum COE upfront, the motorist next have to pay recurring ERP charges !
Revenue for Govt from COE payments = $200m every month (on average)
Revenue from ERP = $??? per month.
Revenue from Parking/Traffic Offence fines = $??? per month.
Increasing Cost of Education
(a) Why such costly/posh educational institutions (sinking so much monies
into brick and cement???):
* $435m SMU new City Campus in Bras Basah area.
* $322m Republic Polytechnic new Woodlands Campus (latest amongst 5 Polytechnics). Designed by a famous Japanese architect (expensive Foreign Talent! Singapore architects not good enough?)
* $370m new ITE College East Campus (near Singapore Expo). A really ULTRA-POSH "mega-campus" (for hands-on technical education???). Hold on -- another two more such mega-campus coming up (Central Campus and West Campus) !!!
(b) See how, in tiny red dot Singapore, the 4 Universities (NUS,NTU,SMU,UniSIM) and 5 Polytechnics try to "outdo each other" in offering "duplicating courses" and resorting to costly Press/TV advertising campaigns? The students will, of course, have to pay for all these costs !!!
News report on NTU Business School buying as many as 300 top-end "ergonomic" Herman Miller office chairs costing $2,200 each (when chairs costing $300 to $400 are just as good and lasting !!!)
(c) "University fees have increased by an annual average of 5% since 1990 and they have gone up every year, Mr Tharman said" (BT 2 Mar 06).
Mr Tharman, we all know that already. But why are you not telling the people the detailed numbers of Govt bursaries/scholarships generously given out to Foreign Students (most of whom are "making use" of Singapore as a "stepping stone") ?
(d) $1m - Consulting Fee which the MOE will pay an External Consultant to review teacher's pay and career structure (annouced recently [clever timing!] as yet another Big Election Carrot).
MOE has been around for donkey years, and has a massive Personnel Division headed by 1 Director, 3 Deputy Directors and 12 Department Heads. And yet have to pay so much in consulting fee to external consultants ?
Why can't they do most of the work with so much in-house resources?
i can do very little about things as they stand, and as a matter of fact i have no interest in joining politics whatsoever. i have great confidence in the opposition and the coming elections, and in the workers' party under sylvia lim's charge. i do believe tt they in their policies and their candidates, have what it takes to show singaporeans tt a 40 year long system can still see change and be properly updated in time to face a new and dynamic global future.
i just hope tt a few more singaporeans will also just wake up their lan jiao idea and see this also.
# posted by Kitana @ 4/24/2006 12:29:00 PM 
