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Just in on Yahoo news - PAP MP Inderjit Singh confronts Singapore’s hard truths in wide-ranging Facebook post.... https://sg.news.yahoo.com/pap-mp-inderjit-singh-confronts-singapore-s-hard-truths-in-wide-ranging-facebook-post-090404111.html "Quote" People’s Action Party Member of Parliament Inderjit Singh has written a lengthy – if surprisingly critical – commentary on the performance of the government under the ruling party in the past three years. The disconnect between Singapore’s wealth and citizens’ well-being, the importing of talent, the complacency and elitism in the top ranks of civil servants, and the national identity for Singapore’s young people – these were the issues the former deputy government whip raised in a Facebook post Monday night titled “Response to the President Address At the Re-Opening of 2nd Session of Parliament May 2014”. Known to be vocal about political issues – he spoke against the population White Paper that projected as many as 6.9 million people in the city-state by 2030 and eventually abstained from voting on it – Singh explained that he was sharing his thoughts on the social media platform since he was currently overseas and could not participate in the parliamentary debates on President Tony Tan Keng Yam’s address. An MP for the Ang Mo Kio group representation constituency, along with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singh noted that after the general election in 2011, the government got a very clear signal from Singaporeans about the issues that affected them most and the government spent considerable time fixing these problems. The problems themselves were “created as a result of a decade long series of policy misjudgment linked to its ‘growth at all cost’ economic strategy” but he added that since then the government has done well in many areas, particularly in sorting out issues in housing, healthcare and even transport to some extent. He then elaborated on the areas that he believed had yet to be sufficiently tackled. Disconnect between Singapore’s wealth and citizens’ well-being Singh said that while the country has become richer, not all Singaporeans are reaping the benefits of that growth as some citizens face even tougher times coping with the rising cost of living than before. Even though Singapore has emerged relatively unscathed from the 2008 global economic crisis, Singh questioned if the lives of average Singaporeans had improved. He commended the Pioneer Package, but said that beyond it, “If someone were to ask me honestly whether the lives of all Singaporeans have become better in these last few years, I would not be able to do that.” Singh also disagreed with the government’s approach of linking asset appreciation to homes. He cautioned against “overly emphasizing the role of the home in providing for retirement adequacy” as this asset appreciation would instead create stress on the younger generation who would have to deal with rising house prices. He called it “an inter-generational transfer of wealth”, where young working Singaporeans pay elderly retirees inflated prices for their homes. The MP also criticized the promotion of medical tourism done by government restructured hospitals amid the crunch in hospital beds. He said, “Shouldn't the services in our government restructured be for Singaporeans and residents first?” Importing talent and creating wealth for citizens According to a recent wealth report by Barclays bank, Singapore has the fifth-highest concentration of millionaires in the world and was the fastest place for one to accumulate wealth, but Singh doubted that the rise in wealth had been equitable. Instead, he believed that a large number of the wealthy resident millionaires are new citizens or PRs who had “transplanted their wealth” into Singapore. He also suggested that the reported increase in Singaporeans’ median income was highly correlated to the increase in the number of new citizens and PRs. Singh wrote, “Today we are willing to achieve growth by transplanting what others, including foreigners can do into Singapore – an 'instant tree' mentality of sorts -- what pride do Singaporeans have in such a prosperity?” He added that “the ends have too often been used to justify the means.” While he praised the government for heading in the right direction with its “inclusive growth strategy”, he identified low wages as the root cause of the problem in creating wealth for citizens. Singh said, “I urge this government to further develop the [progressive wage] model”. He said, “Why not instead give everyone a decent salary so that they do not need to depend on government handouts to live comfortably?” Is Singapore a home — or a hotel? Singh also expressed his concerns about how members of the younger generation envision their future in Singapore. He shared his friend’s thoughts about the country. A 30-year-old man was quoted saying, “At times, I do not feel like Singapore is my home. Yes Singapore is a brilliant place to make money but not to live anymore.” He also lamented that Singapore “seems more and more like a 6 star hotel - emphasized by the huge amount of imported wealth and labour - where everything is perfect if you can pay the high room rates.” Singh believed that the influx of foreigners has “destabilized” Singapore a little and has “reversed our gains on building a national identity”. He admitted that “the government made a mistake of bringing in too many foreigners [too] fast”, as he had indicated in his speech on the White Paper in 2013. While it is not possible to ask new citizens and residents to return to their countries, Singh encouraged the government and Singaporeans to focus on making things work with “those who are committed to Singapore and treat Singapore as their own home" and not "bend backwards" to give privileges to those who see Singapore as a stepping stone. Singh also emphasized the need to keep in touch with talented Singaporeans students studying overseas, to “make them feel more wanted and welcome to come back” instead of having to bring in foreign talent. Complacency and elitism in top ranks of civil service Singh also spoke out against the complacency and elitism he “detected” in the top ranks of civil servants. He said, "today’s policy makers live in a different society from the average Singaporean”. The MP said that during his Meet-the-People sessions, he had encountered a number of residents who questioned the rationale of government policies. He urged the government to consider reorganizing the policy making process, to “reverse it to make it more bottom-up and driven by the man in the street” instead of the top-down approach of policies crafted by those seated in “an ideal clean and sterile policy lab or an ivory tower”. Singh had observed that the civil service’s top ranks are populated by scholars chosen for their academic achievements. He expressed concern that these scholars, who are “parachuted” to high positions at a young age, may not have the experience or understanding to craft policies for the rest of the population. Singh supported a different approach to talent management in the public service, saying that “we need the best people for the respective jobs not necessarily the best academically qualified for all the jobs.” Since it was published on Monday evening, Singh’s post has been shared over 400 times on Facebook, garnering over 400 likes. Comments thus far have been positive, applauding Singh for his insights and thanking him for speaking out. The CEO of a Singapore home appliances and electronics company, Singh has been an MP for 18 years. "Unquote"

Soft Truth #1: The trend in the motor industry is to appoint a top-notch mechanic as storeman to make sure nobody, not even the bosses or tou-jiu, can take parts out without approval. One such top-notch mechanis is called Anthony, he headed the mods/major-repairs dept for the past 20yrs, all the juniors mechs called him 'Chairman', and he guided the workshop to reach the top name in the local motor industry. Last week he decided quit as senor mechanic to apply for the job as the workshop's storeman as the current one has worked 12 years since he was 75 as the storeman and he's now 87. The industry was puzzled with the resignation as chairman-mechanic's experience and knowledge are useful to the workshop but not the storeroom. The outgoing storeman said:- "Enough is enough, although many customers say i have been slacking the past 12 years, but i did try hard. I thank everyone for being kind to me although frankly I havent been doing much even the boss paid me 40k a month as a storeman. Hey, dont blame me, its the boss who decides to pay me 40k...... Also, the next storeman better come from the workshop floor, ie a senior mechanic will be just nice as he will know very well which parts are 'in demand' and he himself has stolen from the store (i didnt stop him from stealing, coz we're 'ka-ki-nang', and my best performance as storeman was saying 'yes' to everything...), so he should perform the job as storeman well after i leave and go count my money in my bank accounts. Anthony chipped in and said: the next few years will be crucial for the workshop, and it definitely needs a high power ex-senior-mechanic to be the storeman to jaga all the parts. When asked about his past association with all the mechanics in the workshop and how he can possibly avoid showing 'ka-ki-nang' favour if the latter try to steal parts from the store, Anthony avoided the question but just said "I am well suited for the storeman job because i know the in and out of the workshop's operations...." The reporter mumbled "Hey, is the sleeping quarter for the storeman actually an old folks' home where all inmates start life there at 75 and will be discharged at 87, in between these 12yrs the home did not charge him for the stay but instead paid him 40k??" The good things about this old folk home are two: There will always be only one inmate On special public holidays, it will be open to the public for visit FOC. Anyone knows the address of the old folk's home? The above is pure frictional, any resemblance to any live persons is clearly coincidental.

Read this from somewhere... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyone read the book or watch the video? This thread is for the discussion/review of this book. I only have time to watch the video, some part quite confusing In the video dId MM says that HDB flats are sold to us MINUS land cost? Is it true?

Hard Truths (mrbrown edition) Hard Truths 1. You may never get to vote in this lifetime. Hard Truths 2. Those who CAN vote will complain & complain about the Govt but when elections come, will end up voting them back in. Hard Truths 3. People want an opposition in parliament but not in THEIR estate please. Hard Truths 4. Singaporeans will forget all their grievances if you dangle a carrot just before elections. Hard Truths 5. Some things are not forgivable. Like the S-League. Hard Truths 6. The year of the rabbit may be a good year for carrots to work Hard Truths 7. Foreigners are the solution to economic growth, low fertility rates and just about everything. Hard Truths 8. No matter how right your argument is, They are more right. Hard Truths 9. When elections are around the corner, every minister, president and their mother will publish a book. Hard Truths 10. When elections are around the corner, the newspaper will print pages and pages of excerpts of these books, saving you the convenience of buying the books. Hard Truths 11. When the Minister Mentor says, "We can integrate all religions and races except Islam" and that Muslims can integrate better if they were "less strict on Islamic observances", it is a hard truth. When anyone else says it publicily, it is probably going to be an invitation to drink kopi and get to know the Religious Harmony Act better. Hard Truths 12. Before election: Gahmen will give us chicken leg. After election: Gahmen will collect one chicken from us. (via @aromacookery) Hard Truths 13. F1 can make noise at Marina Bay/Civic District for 3 days; Thaipusam cannot make noise between Serangoon Road & Clemenceau Ave for 1 day. (via @bubblevicious) Hard Truths 14.You may lose your home so that the govt can build an expressway. (via @bubblevicious) Hard Truths 15. No choice

pls feel free to add onto the list 1. Nite - Sleep with air-con; Day - Bathe with heater on 2. Day - Cannot Wake up; Nite - Cannot Sleep 3. Cigarettes - Convenient to buy; not convenient to smoke 4. Chewing Gum - Can Chew, Cannot buy?? -Restrictions on buying 5. Smell Of rubbish besides letterboxes; Rubbish inside Letterbox 6. Private Cars - Cheaper & Cheaper to Buy, harder & harder to maintain 7. Education - Teachers teaching Less but expects students to learn More 8. High-tech barbaric singaporeans - know how to use state-of-the art equipment, but dunno how to use a simple dustbin or a toilet 9. There are quite a number of rich/poor in spore - They have Car, Credit Card, CPF .... but no Cash and lots of loans 10. Translation is needed between Singaporean Chinese and Mainland China Chinese 11. S'porean never like to vote, but like to complain 12. Half Sporeans rushed to buy Hello kitty, but the other half busy killing stray cats 13. Public Bus - Half the crowd squeeze in front section of the bus, second section is for carrying ghost