'I don

[Requiemdk]

The overall collective effect is what is important. The influx of expertise is one of the reasons why California has one of the most vibrant IT and knowledge industry.

 

No offence meant, but I just wanted to use that quote of yours as an example. Nowhere in that statement is there a mention of the Californians and any benefits to the residents there are merely implied, indirect consequences of the state achieving the "status" of "one of the most vibrant IT and knowledge industries". Is that necessarily so? I mean, it's a very top-down view and one that assumes that such benefits eventually filter down to every single person there.

 

You see, the thing with the States and other large countries with a lot of land is that if people can't compete with globalization forces, they can always move out of the city and take it slow, though even that is becoming rather debatable now when you look at what's going on in Shanghai. They won't bask in the metaphorical, utopic sea of opportunities that businessmen and entrepreneurs love to foist upon others as a vision to work towards, but maybe they don't want to and have never needed that in the first place. A personal friend of mine, after getting 2 degrees and a wife said sod it to this city and went to JB to retire as a farmer even before working. Well, he makes money when he needs to through other means, but he more than fulfills his responsibility to his family. There're better things to do with the short time we have on Earth than work ourselves to ruin by running the economic treadmill till the day we die. I find that it's a fault of education that many people don't actually know what else they can do, like to do, or love to do with their lives and only know one thing - work. It's a success, evidently, because our education system was inherited from an age of industralization where putting money on the table was all-important and getting to university and through university was the only way people knew how. We have utterly failed to move away from that era. But that's a subject for another time.

 

Now in every society, you're going to get people who can't measure up and for some reason or other, and not always within their means to control, have been left by the wayside. Blithely exposing the citizenry to the full brunt of the forces of globalization leaves the less able out to die. And we are apparently doing jack-all about this when even giving a couple of extra dollars on top of a paltry $300 (was it?) as aid to the needy merits a minister's chiding, or having the world's most hilarious labour union with a chief that's more interested in (puke-inducing) cosplay and coming up cringe-worthy slogans, preserving the interests of businesses on the pretext of fighting for the longterm benefits of the citizens. We assume that the benefits will filter down to all the local citizens, however nebulous that concept is these days - is it really a benefit if you have to break your back to earn $400 a month? Hey, the businesses can take care of themselves or go form their own damn union to. A labour union is supposed to look into the welfare of the workers dammit.

 

This is none other than the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest. Do we really want that? How different are we from animals, save the superficial cosmetic differences of clothing and appearances? I forget the name of the person who first suggested this idea - the grace of a society can be measured from how it treats its elderly/animals/less able/etc. We aren't faring too well here.

 

Zi Rui's question essentially asks who we are defending if we do take up arms for the nation. Defend our family? That's easy. Book a ticket out of the country. If we are going to hold a rifle and defend this land, then this land had better be worth defending, because as many disenfranchised globalization-burnt workers see it, there isn't much difference between the soil here and the soil in other countries right now in terms of personal significance since if you look out there now, roughly half the population comprises people from foreign lands coming to displace the locals from jobs. In short, you live in a house, but you defend a home. The idea of this place being a home is fast fading.

 

 

Just for fun, we can use a SC2 analogy. Competitive SC2 play is quite technical and frenetic - expand or die, keep up with the macro, micro units in battle across several locations, etc etc etc. But there're many people who just want to dick around and have fun because that's what a GAME is about, having fun. There's a place for both types of players. Now imagine if Blizzard had designed it so that only competitive players could access Battle.net.

[Observer]

Not so smart though. He is already complaining about high living expenses and competition. Shouldn't he be worrying about getting a good job with high pay?

 

And now that he spread his 'good name' all over the internet and local news by voicing such thoughts - wouldn't it affect his employment chances somewhat? It's a small country here...

 

Employers - and not just the public sector - don't want employees with such defeatist, 'give-up' attitudes.

 

If he wants to be so 'famous' - at least secure a steady job first lah...

 

You, typical Singaporean, don't voice out publicly. Smart yet typical.

[Observer]

exactly. I find that increasingly, Singaporeans love to blame the gahment for every little piece of s--t in life.

 

To those who share the sentiments of that young man:

Don't know what u r defending anymore? When u see an invading army raping your mother, sister,wife and maybe even brother, u will know instantly what u r defending, what this nation means to you....a place where your family lives and grows,where u grew up with your friends and have all the memories that made up your life, whether for good or bad, better or worse.

 

watch a lot of shows sia u

 

can also rape FT mother sister wad

[Jman888]

in politic, the view and policies need to cover all ground, many views here mostly represent the average or above average singaporean (middle class)... the hardship is on the minority which comment like HDB, FT may not be a concern to us but to them which i think many of us were guilty of making comments on their lack of competitiveness and not progressing..... it would be an ideal world if we have 100% of people going at same pace!

 

However, we are equally quick in shooting some social impact cause by the FT/FW, which the younger generation are blaming without understanding the background.

[Damienic]

There are many many factors why local singaporeans dun feel a sense of ownership or belonging here anymore...I dun think its solely just becos of influx of foreign talents and housing becoming too expensive..there are various underlying factors in some of the ruling party's hard policies beside the above-mentioned which led to this...I think many of the ministers do not have a clue as to why this is happening..they would just scratch their heads and lament that young singaporeans these days too pampered/spoilt and take things for granted but actually it is not just the young ones whom are feeling this way...it is a phenomenon that is taking place among the 30's and 40's as well..I have even heard someone in their 50's who is doing well but lament that he is disillusioned and plan to retire in another country..

[Skunk]

How different are we from animals, save the superficial cosmetic differences of clothing and appearances?

 

frankly, not very different. At least wild animals know their place in their own society, they do not covet whatever the Alpha Male has. In human society, every bloody tom dick n harry also wants to be an Alpha Male LOL laughable.

 

[Skunk]

can also rape FT mother sister wad

 

FT mother and sister not in SG. That's the prob LOL

 

[RadX]

Well, one thing that we have to realise is the philosophy is

 

'Do what is RIGHT, not what is popular'

[Requiemdk]

frankly, not very different. At least wild animals know their place in their own society, they do not covet whatever the Alpha Male has. In human society, every bloody tom dick n harry also wants to be an Alpha Male LOL laughable.

 

That's a rather sweeping statement isn't it? The way I see it, many people are actually contented with just having a comfortable life with their family. Then we have Tharman a couple of days ago lamenting that people are contented with being competent instead of striving to be exceptional without mentioning anything about the costs of doing so.

 

Yes there're idiots there who go and buy a BMW while earning 60k a year and then complain about life, but those are more the exception than the norm, at least from what I've seen of people so far.

[Requiemdk]

Well, one thing that we have to realise is the philosophy is

 

'Do what is RIGHT, not what is popular'

 

True, but it feels like some people there have confused that philosophy with "What's popular is not right."

[Kelpie]

That's a rather sweeping statement isn't it? The way I see it, many people are actually contented with just having a comfortable life with their family. Then we have Tharman a couple of days ago lamenting that people are contented with being competent instead of striving to be exceptional without mentioning anything about the costs of doing so.

 

Yes there're idiots there who go and buy a BMW while earning 60k a year and then complain about life, but those are more the exception than the norm, at least from what I've seen of people so far.

 

Like that hor, that young officer is being exceptional wah...isn't it what they wanted as a role model ?

 

Regards,

[RadX]

Like that hor, that young officer is being exceptional wah...isn't it what they wanted as a role model ?

 

Regards,

 

 

Yup...exceptional until maybe ISD now looking thru his records

[Damienic]

True, but it feels like some people there have confused that philosophy with "What's popular is not right."

 

exactly...I totally concur with that...these days I get the feeling that many thought that unpopular policies have to be in place in order to make things right or be successful...basically this is what the ruling party influenced us and want us to feel which is not true..

[Requiemdk]

Like that hor, that young officer is being exceptional wah...isn't it what they wanted as a role model ?

 

Regards,

 

Haha looks like they need to be careful with what they ask for.

 

But really, usually the government's definition of "exceptional" isn't the same as the people's definition. To them, a person is exceptional if he can do extraordinary things for the nation, i.e. rake in money, medals, etc. Once the person starts questioning those in power, he is no longer exceptional but someone to be exterminated. The people's definition doesn't include that last condition.

[Kelpie]

Haha looks like they need to be careful with what they ask for.

 

But really, usually the government's definition of "exceptional" isn't the same as the people's definition. To them, a person is exceptional if he can do extraordinary things for the nation, i.e. rake in money, medals, etc. Once the person starts questioning those in power, he is no longer exceptional but someone to be exterminated. The people's definition doesn't include that last condition.

 

Toyota model of herd instinct ?

 

Regards,

[Bystander50]

Life wasn't easier when we graduated 20 odd years ago. We had to save, give tuition to get through studies, put off buying a car etc. When I finally got a car on my own with full payment from savings, I opted for a 2nd hand Hyundai Excel and kept it for a long while.

 

That's how we get by.

 

Hearing from the younger generation, they seem to expect everything to be made available for them easily.

 

They better think: If they cannot compete with FTs on our homeground, how can we as Singapore compete with FTs boosting the economy oif their homelands that are rich in size and resources in the global economy? Better to get FTs working in Singapore to sustain our edge in the global economy, than for Singapore to become irrelevant economically.

 

I've seen a few examples. It is not true that s'poreans are unable to compete with FTs in our homeground.

The problem is we are competing on uneven grounds. It all boils down to costs. If MOM did not have any quota, employers will be all rushing to employ these foreigners. Will locals stand a chance? These FTs can demand lower pay than locals because they have few financial comittments here. Single FTs can squeeze and share a flat with 10 others, their rental costs drops to a mere $100-$200++. Does a local fresh grad have a choice? Housing, giving parents allowances, repaying debts ... all inclusive, how to demand a lower pay? On the other hand, a FT remits say S$300 back. Upon foreign exchange conversion, this S$300 back in their hometown can get more than what our S$300 we give to our parents here.

 

And getting foreigners to work here, why is there a need to offer them PR or citizenships? 10 years back, I have a relative in PRC saying sg is a land of gold and bugging us for years to bring him over. Any sxxt job he willing to do. If the gov reads the situation correctly, we DO NOT even need any special incentives to attract these people over by offering them certain benefits. These trash are more than willing to come.

 

The avenues of getting a PR is so much easy. Just coming over here to study in a polytechnic or university and you get it. And we call these people who have not even proven themselves Foreign Talents. Did ICA over-indented too many blue ICs and looking of ways to dispose them quickly?

 

I rather the gov comes clean with the real reason of offering PRs so easily than covering up 1 reason with another.

 

 

[Timex1441]

very easy to reply.

 

supply and demand

 

then the next question is why hdb screwed up on the supply side....was it really caught offguard or an evil planned move?

[Jp66]

Yup...exceptional until maybe ISD now looking thru his records

Then comes next in-camp training, he is no longer a officer but a other-rank