Sylvia Lim's Parliamentary Speech against Ministerial Salary Hike

If you never knew that Worker's Party had ever raised a speech against Ministerial Pay hike, you should watch the fantastic speech by NCMP Sylvia Lim in the Parliament.



Do you still want to vote for PAP?

Some of the Majulah! articles you should read before voting...

I'm digging out some of the old articles that I had written way before the election fever set in, and I want you people to be able to put things into perspective. NOTE: This articles are written during "peace" time, and is still relevant on this very critical juncture of Singapore's fate.

Foreign Labour Issue - PAP's addiction to Foreign Labour and its GDP boosting effect:
http://youngsingaporean.blogspot.com/2011/02/addiction-of-cheap-foreign-labour-drug.html

PAP's Psychology and a reminder of how they like to blame it on everyone but themselves:
http://youngsingaporean.blogspot.com/2011/01/fas-disband-national-team-saga-inside.html

Our CPF becoming more and more like Income Tax and that you will never get your money back
http://youngsingaporean.blogspot.com/2010/12/cpf-becoming-income-tax.html

Election Issues that worth you thinking about:
http://youngsingaporean.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-suggestion-on-some-policies.html

Overpopulation:
http://youngsingaporean.blogspot.com/2010/01/overpopulation-beginning.html

The "For Show" nature of PAP and their hypocrisy:
http://youngsingaporean.blogspot.com/2009/10/its-just-all-wayang.html

My Prediction that at least one GRC will be lost be PAP, more election issues you should think about (reminder, this is a 2009 article, and its still perfectly relevant and reminds us of some issues that we forgotten):
http://youngsingaporean.blogspot.com/2009/09/learn-from-obamas-administration.html

Singaporeans are underpaid:
http://youngsingaporean.blogspot.com/2009/08/singaporeans-underpaid.html

Another salary issue, for this one, I proposed that we should become a nation of entrepreneurs:
http://youngsingaporean.blogspot.com/2009/08/singaporeans-contemporary-coolies-my.html

My political disillusion and the unfairness of it all:
http://youngsingaporean.blogspot.com/2009/03/political-disillusioned.html

People forgot about this issue - Town Councils investing using our money:
http://youngsingaporean.blogspot.com/2008/11/town-council-use-our-money-to-invest.html

Happy Reading!

A "Dud" of money thats coming your way.

These few days, PAP rebuff that the high GST is off-set by the Government payout from GST-Rebates and that the PAP shares the fruit of growth through the Growth Bonus. Every statement from the PAP big guns seemed to make sense and that in normal circumstances, the common man would really find it hard to deny the argument.

BUT...

The problem is that, this year is no longer the first year Singaporeans receive "money" from the Government; either through GST rebate or whatever nonsense they call it.

Unfortunately, it did not change the fact that ppl are still unhappy with PAP; i'm sorry, correction: ppl are increasingly unhappy with the PAP. Why is this so? Why are the people so pissed off with the PAP if the policies of rebates and "counter-measures" are on paper working perfectly fine.

"Its no longer a secret that PAP frequently hand you a carrot but extort you to return that carrot with compounding interest through other means."

The popular unhappiness with PAP is a very clear indication that the payout DID NOT do its job, it DID NOT elevate people from the difficulties they faced, it DID NOT make the people's life happier... Its a CLEAR INDICATION that there are a lot more other issues that's to be address.

"The popular unhappiness with PAP is a very clear indication that the payout DID NOT do its job"

Its no longer a secret that PAP frequently hand you a carrot but extort you to return that carrot with compounding interest through other means.

Problems compounded year on year. Why there isnt so many issues in the past and why there is this time round. Apparently something is not right.

Lets put things into perspective: For a bottom 10% uncle whom is already too weak and too old to earn much money, the GST rebates and Growth Dividends/Bonus are a welcomed relieve to the hard life.

But this very uncle will pay back all these payouts very quickly to the PAP government, thru the increasing cost of healthcare (this uncle probably rather die than going thru a much needed operation which he cannot afford to pay for), thru the GST and thru the increasing cost of Transportation in Singapore.

So what problem did the payout solve? Is the payout solving the root of the problem?

"Problems compounded year on year. Why there isnt so many issues in the past and why there is this time round. Apparently something is not right."

So dear fellow Singaporeans, do think through the entire spectrum of issues and perspective; imagine what PAP would do in the very near future (something they do after every election victory) and cast your vote wisely.

Fog of War; The issue we should be concern about.

Of all the hurrah and mudslinging for the past weeks up to till now, the hottest election topic had been HDB and cost of living.

But in my opinion, more "costly" issues are at stake that were not talked abt or talked about enough: Healthcare Cost, Electric Bills / Privatisation of Power Supply, Education.

So far, from what I had seen, only SDP seemed to have covered every concerns I have for the future.

From my personal experience, Healthcare cost have reach a point where its becoming crippling for the average families. No one can afford to fall critically ill, and that the reason is not because of the welfare of the self, but because of the cost of the healthcare bill that follows it. People like my mum had to push back any operations or procedures, or simply follow the "long queue" to get diagnosed and appointment with the specialist at Public Hospitals. I'm sure many folks simply refused to get treated for their otherwise critical situation just because of the money sake.

My grandmother's stroke required all 6 of her children to fund the medical bills and the cost of hiring a elderly care giver; while me, staring at the prospect of paying my mum's inevitable medical bill all alone in the future when she is much weaker and frail. I'm not sure how well will our Medisave and Medicare work when that time come (considering the healthcare cost have never stop increasing for thus far, and I dun see it stopping either).


What about electricity? The privatisation of electric company and the intention to change to a prepaid system which we "buy electricity" from a device that would be installed in our home... the whole thing just sounds so.... I dunno...it disturbs me.


No matter who got elected, I just hope that their minds are on the side of Singaporeans and committed to make Singapore a better and happier place to live in (and i have to add: FOR EVERYONE.)

The Sim Ann Phenomena

Today (technically, its yesterday), on Nomination Day at Greenridge Secondary School, SDP Holland Bukit Timah team lodged an objection against Sim Ann of PAP's candidacy as she is still under lawful employment in the Civil Service while she reportedly identified by herself as 'unemployed', thus effectively proved to be a 'misrepresentation' by the PAP team for the Holland-Bukit Timah team.

However, the objection is over-ruled without reasons by the Returning Officer at the point of time. There after, the Elections Department said in a statement later that the Public Service Division has confirmed that she is no longer in the civil service.

Based on understanding thru the sources online, the PAP candidate is still serving out the rest of her Notice of Resignation from the Civil Service and is technically still a civil servant at the point of nomination.

"The employee serving the notice of termination is still considered an employee of his current employer."

According to the Employment Act (http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/employment-rights-conditions/contract-of-service-termination/Pages/contracts-of-service-and-termination.aspx)

Starting Work with New Employer while serving Notice of Termination with Current Employer

The employee serving the notice of termination is still considered an employee of his current employer. Unless his current contract of employment allows him to work with another employer before the date of termination, he has to seek written permission from his current employer to do so.

So technically, She is still a civil servant no matter what the Civil Service answered. Just like we guys in the military, we can only get back our pink IC on the very last working day of our service.

Right or Wrong, you decide.

Successful projects are lead by great visions - not tyrants.

A response to this article: Why People-Powered Projects Are Ruled by Tyrants - http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/02/st_essay_assange/

Actually, because "democracy" leads to infighting; projects that are successful are often born of the vision of one or a few individual. These few individuals gives "power" and "freedom" to the masses where themselves continues to steers and control the "rules" to make sure its going the right way.

Facebook would become MySpace if you give ppl unlimited freedom. Wikipedia will lose its credibility as an encyclopedia.

So rather than saying it ruled by Tyrants, its more like "guided by the vision set forth by the creator; with rules/limitations set to keep the entire project in the right direction to create the desired outcome".

=}

--extended response as continued--

Living in Singapore, there is nothing more apt than using my country's history and personality as an example.

The best example would be Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Minister Mentor of Singapore, the former Prime Minister whom led Singapore from a 3rd world nation without any natural resources, to one of the most vibrant nation in Asia.

He is definitely in all aspects and perspectives, a Tyrant/Dictator; BUT, he is guided by a vision, a philosophy and a strong conviction. It is thus, this vision, philosophy and conviction that path the way for Singapore to what it is today.

The vision that the entire stretch of the west coast be used as the port of Singapore - Jurong Port. A vision so ambitious and ahead of its time, many detractors laughed it off as a joke in the beginning - until the groundwork began that people realised its going to happen.

It is also his principle that Singapore will not have a National Airline just for the sake of having a National Airline, survived by Ego and Pride. SIA began right at the beginning as a profit driven airline, and takes drastic steps to differentiate and became the top airline in the world.

He also credited for making Singapore a "Garden City"; a result of his vision of a green city, with plants planted everywhere, along the roads; importing of new species of trees and flowers that fits Singapore's climate and etc... Not to mention his investment into the cleanliness of the country which became the hallmark and the most remembered aspect of Singapore.

"Tyrant", in the form of the article, isn't always bad. But tyrants without visions and guiding principles are the ones that we should be worried about. As far as the history had shown: Tyrants without vision, without principles, without an ambition of greatness/benevolence will go nowhere; failure and infamy beckons.

The Addiction of the "Cheap Foreign Labour" Drug

The latest hoo-ha for the recent days had been about the 2011 Budget, as well as the fierce debate about the relentless dependant on Foreign Labour in our work force.

On one side of the debate, "supporters" are saying things that are inline with what the PAP is advocating: that we Singaporeans should up one ante and go up the value chain instead on stagnating at our comfort zone.

One example I quote: "If more jobs are going to foreigners, we should reflect on why we are getting less competitive in the job market, compared to complaining about the government policies. The demand comes from the companies as there is a lack of talent almost everywhere. Why is the debate always centered around foreign talent being "cheap"? Closing the door is only going to lead us to death."

"The demand comes from the companies as there is a lack of talent almost everywhere. Why is the debate always centered around foreign talent being "cheap"? Closing the door is only going to lead us to death."

But on the other side (which I'm probably on), people are arguing that the Government's tweaking of the economy is causing things to go haywire and that its just an "easy/lazy" solution to pump up the GDP.

I quote: "If so, all the more PAP should not interfere the labour market. Let the labour market correct on its own based on supply and demand. If local engin supply is low, firms will have to increase wages to a level to attract back the supply, which will also allow Singapore to build its own local talents accordingly in that niche area. Instead of spending efforts to make engineering a more lucrative career, the PAP takes the shortcut, importing cheap labour from China and India, suppressing the local engineering wages. There's a limit to how many ppl u can fill up in this little island and the result is over-reliance on foreigners- a habit once addicted cannot be kick. And, once the foreigners made enough, they move back to their country while there are firms abusing this cheap foreign labour policy. What's the point of having locals in managing role whom only knows how to "talk" but cannot do real work? My view is such economic model may not be sustainable over the long run. What innovation hub can u create out of a labour system like this?

Go take a look at the welders, the technicians, the construction workers in Australia, for example. Why they can gets locals to fill up and why Singapore can't. It's addiction."

"My view is such economic model may not be sustainable over the long run. What innovation hub can u create out of a labour system like this?"

The thing is that, the existence of Cheap Foreign Labour is similar to the use of Drugs. Its an addiction thats difficult to kick, and had been served by the PAP for the past 10 years. Today, many of companies today are addicted and very dependant on Cheap Foreign Labour, and locals whom are doing the same job are relegated to excepting the "inevitable" and had to accept stagnation or even decrease of salary just to keep up.

I'm not too how much "upgrading" can do to actually increase your salary in most of the industry. Take my profession as a designer. I'm competing with foreigners whom are willing to take up lower than market-rate pays, just to secure a job and hopefully gain PR status very soon (many of them graduated in Singapore). And take your imagination on a ride, how different can a designer's job be or "advanced"; as an employer, you are given a chance to hire a cheaper worker - you would do it!

"And take your imagination on a ride, how different can a designer's job be or "advanced"; as an employer, you are given a chance to hire a cheaper worker - you would do it!"

A company or business owner have little incentive to "invest" in human resource when the margins can be increased just by sacrificing local workers and hire foreign ones (despite the increase is very little). The decision to not invest in the people would also mean that the company would not lightly be embarking on a strategy of offering higher value products and services (since they wont have the people to do it, nor the courage to take up such a risk) nor taking a serious look at improving "productivity" - since you cant expect newbies and PR-wannabes to perform extraordinarily.

"The decision to not invest in the people would also mean that the company would not lightly be embarking on a strategy of offering higher value products and services"

Remember, foreign talents, especially those PR-wannabes' focus is to keep their job until that get PR and thats it. Most of them do not have the mindset of excellence or have a look at advancement. The life and death of the company they are working is of the least of their concern. As such, cheap foreign workers and PR-wannabes have little loyalty or pride in their job and given the chance to slack, they would probably take it. (I'm not guessing, its based on conversations with business owners whom hires foreign workers and from observations)

The most disastrous thing now is that, Singapore is already addicted to this drug. We are now hooked by the ready and steady flow of cheap labour; and the government seemed keen and determined to continue on this short-term policy.

----

This reminds me of the story of our water supply in Singapore. Its purely because of our lack of water resources that Singapore decided to invest and develop our own water resources and technologies. Its because that water is in short supply that we innovate for solutions and increase it. If Singapore had taken the easy path of only importing cheap portable water from Malaysia and decided not to develop our own source of water supply like Desalination and NEWater, the future would not be as certain as it is...

And if we had not depend so much on Foreigners for labour, our industries would have innovated to make better use of the increasingly more expensive workers than the current situation of sticking to the same "proven" formulae; and our workers would have increased their productivity purely because of the companies initiatives to make better use of them, and not get criticised and humiliated by our PAP leaders whom thought they knew better.