The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed about 520,000 times in 2012. If it were Liechtenstein, it would take about 9 years for that many people to see it. Your blog had more visits than a small country in Europe!
“Our Alan Tang gave a speech about his blogging experience as a Singaporean blogger on 5th October in an invitation-only, closed-door conference and in my view was clearly the best speaker!
CENS, The Center of Excellence for National Security is a research unit of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Established on 1 April 2006, the think-tank is devoted to rigorous policy-relevant analysis of a range of national security issues. The CENS team is multinational in composition, comprising both Singaporean and foreign analysts who are specialists in various aspects of national and homeland security affairs.
Alan Tang, our celebrity blogger was invited to speak on October 5, at a workshop organized by CENS entitled: Social Media in a Crisis – Effective Engagement in the Digital Age
It is well known that social media is a double-edged sword in relation to crisis and crisis communication: social media can cause a crisis and exacerbate an existing one just as easily as it can diffuse a crisis and enhance an organization’s reputation. Deriving key takeaways from lessons learned and best practices can often be effective in managing this phenomenon. This workshop seeks to provide participants with useful strategies and techniques that would help them better incorporate and utilize social media in crisis response. Topics that will be discussed include: (a) the psychology of social media users; (b) working with social media influencers; (c) enhancing online credibility of government agencies; and (d) case studies from the UK, Malaysia, Australia and Singapore. Speakers comprise of local and foreign industry experts, government officials, practitioners, and academics.
Members of the Fellowship invited to listen included AG, Kamal, Alec M, Alec Ee, Freddie and myself. Since this was the first time Alan has ever spoken in public – his maiden speech so to speak, pardon the pun, we were there to support him.
Here is the full-text of the speech:
My name is Alan Tang. I blog at gintai.wordpress.com.
I chose the name Gintai because it means 昇泰 in Chinese – to rise or soar to greatness. It’s originally the name of a hardware shop I used to manage on a part-time basis. It belonged to my in-laws who were in the shoe business and knew little about hardware.
I’m a train officer working in Singapore Mass Rapid Transit. I drive trains. This is my second job. Prior to being a train driver I was a police officer. I am now 49 years old and I am looking to semi-retirement in six years’ time when I turn 55.
gintai.wordpress.com was started on October 20th last year. I was goaded into blogging by a friend, who has been blogging for more than 12 years. He is a retired psychologist and the author of 7 books. He calls me his “kindred spirit” as we used to have long email discussions about social issues. He then suggested that I start a blog.
In the beginning, I just blogged my personal thoughts and about rather inconsequential events. If you look at my profile, it says that I share jokes, anecdotes and other observations on my blog. It’s basically a personal blog recording whatever events and things I came across.
The first breakthrough came in December last year when there were two major train disruptions. This has never happened before. I thought I would just blog about my job as a train officer and a little about trains. The post “Train Officer” went viral. It was re-posted on Singapore Daily, Online Citizen and few other web sites. It scored more than 35,000 hits. Many Singaporeans commute daily by trains. As human beings, many are curious about the persons behind those trains. That blog post satiated that innate curiosity. I received overwhelmingly positive reviews and many comments.
There are many types of blogs in blogoland. They are also hundreds of them. Some are very private personal blogs, some concentrate on hobbies such as travels, photography or food. Even social-political blogs commenting on social issues and current affairs are varied. We have extreme, moderate and even pro-establishment social-political blogs. My blog is a mix of those mentioned. It is not entirely social-political commenting on issues of the day only. My readers even commend me for blogging about Chinese idioms, and for promoting multi-racial integration by posting articles on other races and cultures. Link: “My fellow Singaporeans ….”
I must say that every blog is unique. There may be similar blogs but no two blogs are the same. I have found my niche in blogoland with a following due to the sincerity and truthfulness in my articles. In short, I write from the heart, and straight from the shoulder. I see and observe what’s happening around me and I just blog about them.
Before I got into serious blogging, I borrowed some books from the library to read up. From them I picked up some pointers such as a blog post should not be too long to sustain the reader’s interest. It should be easily understood and relevant to him. Try to write in proper, good, standard English without resorting to expletives. If possible, backed it up with hyperlinks to news reports and other factual accounts to support what you are deliberating. It will be helpful if a few pictures are used for illustration in a post.
To garner more hits, try to use your moniker or User ID to post intelligent and sensible comments on other popular blogs or public forums. From there, more exposure will get more readers to click on your blog. By clicking on your moniker, it will lead to your blog.
Frederick Forsyth in “The Cobra” says “a blog is the bizarre offspring of the internet.” It’s generally acknowledged that blogging is one of the holy trinity of new social media. The other two are Facebook and Twitter. My blog is linked to my Facebook and my Twitter. Whenever, my blog is renewed with a new post, the link is automatically uploaded to my Facebook and Twitter accounts. There are dedicated Facebook and Twitter links on my blog allowing anyone to “like” or “follow” my tweets. Followers are captured in this manner. The three holy trinity of new social media in the cyber world synergize each other in a multiplier effect to spread and travel relentlessly without us knowing it – even in our sleep. It could be a powerful platform if you have a hit in hand.That is what happened to my all time “best seller”, “Is this my Singapore? My country and my home?” That simply written post published on April 23rd went viral in cyberspace. Within three days, it garnered over 150,000 hits. More than 300 comments within two days! The link was copied and pasted in every nook and cranny of cyberworld. At least 10 netizens copied and pasted this link on our Prime Minister’s Facebook. It was also pasted on Minister Of State Tan Chuan Jin’s and Foreign Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam’s Facebooks. It solicited a reply from MOS Tan on his Facebook at 4.00 am. That article also led to Minister Shanmugam, granting a private audience to me two months later.
From the look of it, “Is this my Singapore?” seems to be quite an ordinary looking article – simple and straightforward. But it hit a raw nerve. The post started off by telling how I spent one week with a Malay colleague taking our meal breaks together. It shows how we get along as Singaporeans in a multi-racial society and then went on to describe our common preoccupation with affordable HDB flats. Our conversation then went on to how PRs benefit the most from our country. Two major themes ran along the entire post – rising housing costs and the pricing out of locals (versus Permanent Residents or foreigners). It reflected the general frustration and unhappiness of large cross sections of Singaporeans. I provided real examples in the post to underscore my points.
If I didn’t close the comments section, even more comments would have been posted by readers. After this article was published, my blog attracted even more followers. It has come to a point where I could easily garner about 1,000 hits each day. If the post is a controversial topic, like “My Meeting With Minister Shanmugam,” then 10,000 over hits are not uncommon. Social issues such as “Our homeless sleeping in public places” got me about 5,000 hits. “Is this my Singapore?” is still getting readers after nearly six months when it was first published. Total number of hits since I first published it is about 180,000. Total views on my blog have already exceeded 500,000 hits.
I’m using WordPress for blogging. It allows me to track my traffic and see where they are coming from. If a website like Hardwarezone re-produced my blog post, the WordPress dashboard will show.
After nearly a year of blogging, I have become a household name. Most Singaporeans know that I am that blogging train driver from SMRT. My colleagues’ children, my relatives, etc ask about me. Just recently, a station staff told me that when he visited Faith Clinic at Tampines Street 45, the doctor, Dr Wong asked about me when he realized that my colleague was from SMRT. They are all followers of my blog. Some of my colleagues even ask me what my topic will be for tomorrow? One of them told me that he cried when he read my post about a colleague who has passed away. Link: “Remembering my buddy …”
That is the power of new social media. Unlike the mainstream press, I could write and publish what I fancy without the need to go through censorship or editing. But the power to influence or sway public opinion also comes with responsibility. We have to be careful of what we write. We do not want to invite lawyers’ letters do we? I have not really reached the level of some other bloggers like Mr Brown or Catherine Lim. When these personalities tweet, blog or comment on their Facebooks, the whole cyber world moves in tandem! Much chattering is initiated especially if they comment on hot issues of the day.
To give myself a fair assessment, I would say that generally I have been quite a successful blogger. Out of the so many hundreds of bloggers, my perseverance and tenacity as a blogger has reaped handsome, non-monetary dividends. I’ve carved a niche in blogoland with a loyal following. I’ve also made new friends meeting some of them. We communicated via FB, tweets or email.
Still I am not immune to cyber thugs for their attacks and public lynching. They are usually anonymous devious characters without the guts and courage to reveal their real names.
When I innocently posted an article calling all Singaporeans to fly our state flag during the National Day, I was attacked mercilessly when it was re-produced in Temasek Review Emeritus. There were 124 comments, mostly negative. I was called all kinds of names – “lackey”, “dog”, “bootlicker” etc. Even my job was attacked. Like what our Prime Minister said at the recent National Day Rally, “anonymity brings out the worst in humans.” I do not know how to stop such uncivilized and uncouth cyber behavior. I just ignore them but if they do come to my blog to hurl insults, I usually retort.
Some blogs do not allow comments. Some moderate comments to the owner’s discretion. I allow all comments so long as it is not racist, defamatory or libelous. My blog thrives on comments. Allowing comments enables me to interact with my readers and attract more readers with opinions and views to broadcast to others. I know some of them use my blog as a platform to propagate their opinions and views on a cause or current issue.
I have even blogged about public institutions and establishments such as Nanyang Polytechnic. and Starbucks. When I related how the security officer refused to entertain my request to hand over a Nanyang Poly result slip after office hours to the admin, I attracted lots of comments. Few days later, I received an apology from Nanyang Poly and they told me that they would collect it at my convenience from my place. I duly published that apology on my blog. It was the same when I blogged about the bad coffee my friend complained about. My advice to establishments is to respond to such negative publicity by getting in touch with the blogger. Rather than ignoring such negative blogging to the detriment of their reputation, it is better to damage-control. Whether you like it or not, new social media such as blogging cannot be underestimated.
That is why after the last watershed General Elections; the government has been reaching out to netizens and the blogging community. Some of our ministers continue to take the initiative to engage bloggers, myself included. Even the Prime Minister recently met 19 bloggers and netizens at the Istana to promote mutual understanding and engagement. That is recognition of our drastically changed social political landscape where the Internet is becoming a major part of our lives. Almost everyone is connected to the Net with a smart phone or tablet computer. It used to be just personal computers but not anymore. Opinions and views used to be heard only on radio, TV or forum or letter pages of the local papers – not anymore. It used to be unhappy citizens writing complaint letters to the relevant government departments – not anymore. The Internet is bridging the gaps.
This is not only happening in Singapore. It’s happening all over the world – Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street were movements fueled by the new social media. Even in one-party China, through Weibo – their version of Twitter – many corrupt officials in the countryside and far-away provinces have been exposed and brought down. The Chinese saying “The mountain is high and the emperor is far!” 山高皇帝远 (shān gāo huáng dì yuǎn) is no longer true.
#There is also this latest case of a Buddhist boy in Bangladesh. He had his name tagged to a partially burnt Koran uploaded to Facebook. A “friend” of the Buddhist boy tagged him to that image to make sure he sees it. Other “friends” of the boy see it and commented on it, “liked” it, friends of those friends commented on it, “liked” it …. and before long the image is spread to thousands and thousands through geometric progression. It started a wave of protests and violence which resulted in 7 temples being burned, 5 others destroyed and over 50 houses belonging to the Buddhist minority being damaged.#
The power of new social media has increased exponentially. We ignore such powerful platform at our own peril. Only those able to tame and harness the holy trinity of the new social media shall prevail.
PS:
I would like to thank Lohcifer for the above write-up. He is too kind and generous with his words. I would also like to express my appreciation for the six members who came to support me by their mere presence when I gave the speech. I must also thank Dr Damien D. Cheong of RSIS – NTU for inviting me to the event.
This is my last entry. Today marks one complete year of this blog. I shall be taking an indefinite break from active blogging. I thank all the readers (whose nicks are not mentioned here) for their invaluable comments on my blog.
Special thanks go to Patriot, Agongkia, Ape, Lohcifer, Dr Chan of Dewdrop, Darkness2012, Expensive Price, Azizan, Auntie Lucia and SG Girl for their many varied comments. This blog would not have been that lively without your contributions.
Lastly, I must also mention The Singapore Daily, The Real Singapore, Temasek Review Emeritus, for their encouragement and support.
Not forgetting Rita Chan and Sydney Fong for ‘liking’ every post. Cheers to all of you.
Oh I almost forgot to thank my 15-year old nephew, Benedict Tang living in Vancouver for setting up FB page for this blog and monitoring all my blog comments and activities. He is also my blog admin. My indispensable assistant. He’s the first to alert me to Dr Damien D. Cheong’s invitation.
Till we meet again. Farewell my friends!
“When I visited Singapore last month, I was shocked by the large number of PRC FTs in the City. They seem to be everywhere, pushing, shouting plus exhibiting all the bad habits from China. I have lived and worked in China for more than ten years and have known lots of intelligent, well mannered and polite Chinese. Somehow, these Chinese FTs in Singapore are taken from the very bottom of the barrel. It looks as if China has deliberately released their undesirable people to Singapore to relieve it of its social burden. Very, very few FTs can speak English, Singlish or the basic Chinese dialects of Singapore. They speak their own Mandarin with heavy countryside accents. From my experience, these are the rough and tough Chinese I have seen in China who cannot be easily intimidated by police as they have nothing to lose. It would be a nightmare for Singapore police if these FTs decide to go on riots because of lack of jobs. The police cannot assume that it would be as easy as dealing with kiasi native Singaporeans. For example, I was physically attacked by a Chinese FT in Chinatown just for telling him not to ride his bicycle in the pedestrian path. These people have no qualm beating up an old man or anybody.
Native Singaporeans are losing out in every sector of the economy – jobs, housing, education, etc. to this huge influx of new immigrants. They take over most of the jobs in the service industries, i.e. hotels, food courts, retail centres, hawker centres, etc. and now native Singaporeans have to speak their language in order to get any service or anything done. Most local food are no longer authentic but blended with Mainland Chinese cooking flavor. Native Singaporeans are losing their identities, culture, local cuisine and very soon their Singlish and future.”
The Last of the Native Singaporeans – Written by Sg Quitters
The above excerpt of an article was written on 1st May 2012 by a native Singaporean migrated to Canada. I’ve read the above article few times. I’m still trying to make sense out of it. It is written with a heavy heart filled with raw passion. I do not believe that the writer is trying to stir any social unrest. Why should he? Will he gain anything out of it? He spoke the truth indeed.
In the article, he started by quoting statistics and figures from reliable sources on how remarkable Singapore has done internationally. In terms of wealth, health care, education, housing etc, Singapore is always ranked top by foreign agencies. He then dropped the bombshell that a majority of locals are earning less than $2,000 a month implying that the spectacular economic miracle is not shared and well distributed resulting in the wide income divide getting wider!
The fact that our two combined casinos in Singapore rank second in revenue after Macau and outperforming Las Vegas despite the former having 33 casinos and the latter having 44 casinos. Something doesn’t seem right, he says.
Like what our ex-MM says, native Singaporeans may one day be replaced by foreigners. The writer devoted a greater part describing his shocking experience at the huge number of Chinese FTs when he returned to Singapore for a short visit. Many examples of the kind of Chinese FTs were quoted based on his observations. He was clearly overwhelmed by those Chinese FTs of lesser breed from the outlying areas – “bottom of the barrel?”
If we look around, every corner of Singapore there is construction going on either building more condominium or HDB flats. I have seen so many condominium estates along the entire East West MRT line completed and snapped up by FTs. My colleague just related to me that his friend in the renovation business bought a 99-year unit at $700K near to Lakeside MRT when it was first launched. After completion, he received the key to his new condo – Caspian View I think, for only 3 days and sold it for a cool $1.2 million. Nett profit after deductions is about $400K! FT bought it with cold hard cash. Most of us can’t earn that kind of money. Majority of us work for life yet will never retire with cash of $400K.
Singapore has become the playground for the super rich and famous from around the world. Just think of glamorous F1 night races, Sentosa Coves, Casino resorts, tons of high end food outlets and shopping malls and yes ever rising property prices especially private property and condos etc – but where do the shrinking number of heartlanders who are the true natives of this land fit in? Benefits from the super economic growth of 14% at one time don’t seem to trickle down. Rising HDB prices, rising costs of living, rising medical and education fees, rising transport costs etc keep moving northwards but pay is stagnant or even depressed with the huge influx of foreign workers. The fear, disillusionment and discontentment are quite obvious as seen in the new social media and the many town-hall dialogues.
There are many like Sq quitters who still keep track of events here – native Singaporeans who have emigrated overseas but still remain as true Singaporeans at heart. They may not not be living in Singapore but they still harbour feelings and emotions about their birthplace. Sg Quitters, Winking Doll and Roaming Bears are some of them who still blog about Singapore even though they no longer live here.
When I was a little boy, I used to hear adults talking amongst themselves who and who or so and so – Indian or Chinese neighbors going back either for visit or retire to ‘唐山’ (tang shan, pronounced as deng shua in Hokkien). Those older generations of China or India born immigrants always longed to return back to their roots. When there was any disaster or hardship in China, they would rally around to collect used clothing or cash to remit back to their hometown.
Today, we are number one in many things on many fronts. Apparently, we are a highly successful country. Imagine what if one day, Singapore falls. Those immigrants would surely go back to their own country of origin since there is no more economic advantage left. To remain here is to whittle and perish. Whereas natives got no choice but to stay put unless they are young, talented and rich able to seek refuge elsewhere. Will the once “despised diaspora ex-Singaporeans called the ‘quitters’” render help to us? Will history repeat itself like that by-gone era where the older generations of Chinese and Indian immigrants remit money and clothing back to their hometown like I described earlier?
I would like to hear from them – those native Singaporeans migrated overseas pls tell us if you would come to our aid if we were on our knees?
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 04, 2012
Exhaustipated
Today is my 2nd anniversary of landing in Canada.Today marks a decision point — for today, I meet the requirements to renew my Canada PR (i.e. reside in Canada 2 years out of every 5 consecutive years). From the looks of it, I am staying.
Within the timeframe of 2 years, I have “Canadianized” in some ways. E.g. I check the weather before going out. E.g. I learned how to queue at the bus-stops. E.g. From defining travel time beyond 30mins as far, to accepting travel time of under 1 hour as reasonable. E.g. From finding the “harm reduction” philosophy of public health spending a waste of money to accepting that the empirical outcomes prove otherwise. E.g. From not knowing what to make of acquaintances’/friends’ offer to try their “pot”, to understanding it as their gesture of trust and goodwill. E.g. From finding it weird to meet people with mental health issues in public, to considering it their right to co-exist so long as they are not a threat to themselves or others. E.g. From finding the empty sidewalks of Richmond strange (i.e. no one walking in-front-of or behind me) to finding the busy sidewalks of Seattle* strange. [*Note: I visited Seattle last weekend and I was suddenly reminded of Singapore. It struck me that I do not miss the hustle and bustle of a big city.]
I have changed, but IMHO Singapore’s socioeconomic and political scene has remained pretty much the same during these past 2 years. A case of 换汤不换药 ["changing the soup, but not the drugs in the decoction", i.e. "making at superficial changes only".] When I read online of Singapore’s recent political “dances” and wayang, e.g. the National CONversation, I can only shake my head and tell myself that I am lucky — I have a choice to remain here in Canada.
Going forward, I will probably not write much about the things happening back in Singapore. Many other online sources and bloggers have written eloquently on such matters. For example:
A Singaporean in Australia. Click here, here and here and here.
Diary of a Singaporean Mind. Click here, here and here.
Gintai_昇泰. Click here, here, and here.
Jentrified Citizen. Click here, here and here.
Political Writings – A new look at Singapore politics. Click here, here and here.
Yawning Bread. Click here, here, here and here.
2 years. A lot can change within 2 years if the person involved chooses to open his/her eyes. E.g. Watch Tin Pei Ling at 0:55 and 2:30 in the video clip below dated Apr-2011. Back then she was also quoted as saying, “Many people are complaining and blaming the government for this problem. But is this really the responsibility of the government? I don’t think so.”Check out Tin Pei Ling’s Facebook. It seems that she realizes now that there are many people struggling to make ends meet, and the government is responsible after all. She even wrote in June-2012,
“In a way, Singapore has to go into “cold-turkey” after years of allowing huge inflows of foreigners.”One cannot help but wonder what did TPL see, hear and experience to induce her change of heart? Perhaps the same transformational experience can be repeated for her colleagues, especially her boss.
A matter of will –
highway cutting through mountain from BC to AlbertaTo quote Lucky Tan, “All ideas are there – it is a question of political will!”
Oh! As for the title of this post, I saw it from an acquaintance’s Facebook posting. “Exhaustipated” means “too tired to give a shit!”
For me, the train has already left the station.
[Addendum on 07-Oct-2012]
Check out Jentrified Citizen’s latest blog post “More than half of Singaporeans polled in survey want to migrate! What will our Government do?”
The Last of the Native Singaporeans
Singapore with its highly publicized world rankings in having the best education, best healthcare, best welfare, best law and order, best country for business, the third richest country in the world, etc. etc., is the latest magnet for the rich and famous – the good, the bad and the ugly, – looking for low tax havens to park their money.
The two casinos in Singapore combined rank second in revenue after Macau and outperforming Las Vegas. Yet, few people wonder why two casinos in Singapore could out perform the combined revenues of 42 casinos in Las Vegas Strip especially when most of these casinos have the same or more gambling tables than Singapore’s two casinos. In other words, it means that two char kuey teow stalls do more business than 42 char kuey teow stalls combined. It is a remarkable feat that with less than 10% of Las Vegas Strip casinos workforce, Singapore’s two casinos have managed to do better. Macau needed 33 casinos to outperform Las Vegas. There is something questionable in the poll or fishy in the business.
Singapore was listed in Feb 2012 by Forbes magazine as the third richest country in the world with GDP (PPP) per capita of nearly US$56,700 (SG$71,200). Again, this ranking is questionable when the majority of the workforce in Singapore are getting less than S$2,000 a month. Perhaps the reason is that the billions of dollars brought in by the super rich to park in Singapore has raised the per capital income to a ridiculous and deceiving figure. The middle class is a dying breed in Singapore, you are either the super rich like the ministers who are paid obscenely by the millions or the poor working class who are paid peanuts.
When I visited Singapore last month, I was shocked by the large number of PRC FTs in the City. They seem to be everywhere, pushing, shouting plus exhibiting all the bad habits from China. I have lived and worked in China for more than ten years and have known lots of intelligent, well mannered and polite Chinese. Somehow, these Chinese FTs in Singapore are taken from the very bottom of the barrel. It looks as if China has deliberately released their undesirable people to Singapore to relieve it of its social burden. Very, very few FTs can speak English, Singlish or the basic Chinese dialects of Singapore. They speak their own Mandarin with heavy countryside accents. From my experience, these are the rough and tough Chinese I have seen in China who cannot be easily intimidated by police as they have nothing to lose. It would be a nightmare for Singapore police if these FTs decide to go on riots because of lack of jobs. The police cannot assume that it would be as easy as dealing with kiasi native Singaporeans. For example, I was physically attacked by a Chinese FT in Chinatown just for telling him not to ride his bicycle in the pedestrian path. These people have no qualm beating up an old man or anybody.
Native Singaporeans are losing out in every sector of the economy – jobs, housing, education, etc. to this huge influx of new immigrants. They take over most of the jobs in the service industries, i.e. hotels, food courts, retail centres, hawker centres, etc. and now native Singaporeans have to speak their language in order to get any service or anything done. Most local food are no longer authentic but blended with Mainland Chinese cooking flavor. Native Singaporeans are losing their identities, culture, local cuisine and very soon their Singlish and future.
Are these Chinese FTs, LKY said are smarter and more hardworking than Singaporeans?
In Chinatown, there were PRC women in their forties flirting with local old retirees. The Singapore consulate in China must be blind and daft to grant PR status to these women. What economic values can these middle age women bring to Singapore except to con those dirty old men of their retirement fund and hopefully cast a vote in favor of PAP? The government should check it out in Chinatown. If they bring in another million FTs as planned, the City is going to explode with overloaded infrastructures.
Instead of assimilating into the Singapore culture, the new immigrants from China are demanding that curry and sambal cannot be cooked in HDB estates because they stinks and they cannot stand the smell. They insult native Singaporeans by calling them “dogs”, “pigs” and lately “chimpanzees”. Just imagine if these Chinese FTs start to call Australians dogs, pigs and kangaroos in Australia. They would be packed and sent home. In Singapore, native Singaporeans were told by their leaders to reflect on themselves???
Former foreign minister, George Yeo once bragged that membership fee to be a Singapore citizen was $500,000. Now they are giving away citizenship free and in some cases even gave money and begged them to come. Singapore will go down in history as the only country in the world that surrender their country to foreigners without a fight making National Service a complete waste of time. All the sacrifices and hard work by native Singaporeans over decades are going to be handed over to unappreciative foreigners.
What are the chances of the native Singaporeans having a decent and respectable living for future generations. From the looks of things, it is not good.
First, you have the vision extraordinaire senior Statesman, LKY, calling his own citizens daft and needed to repent despite bragging about having the best education in the world. He further insults his own citizens by saying that PRC immigrants are smarter and more hardworking than native Singapore despite bragging that Singapore has the best workforce in the world? Few ministers or new immigrants have any respect, sympathy or concern about the plight and welfare of native Singaporeans. Social problems like transportation, floods, housing, are dismissed as “unavoidable” or “once in fifty years”. or housing are “affordable”.
The plight of native Singaporeans would be left unheard as no one in power would plead their case. Former foreign minister, George Yeo once warned, “know your place in society before you engage in political debate”. If you think, it is bad now, it would be worse in the future.
The descendants of ministers with obscene multi-million salaries and those kiasi citizens who were in the 60% that voted for PAP would not be spared as new Chinese, Pinoys and Indian immigrants do not depend on their votes to win elections. It is a damn disgrace to give away the sovereignty of your country and become second class citizens in your own country. If this irreversible immigration policy was done by the opposition, the entire opposition would likely be put in jail for treason. With the present 1.5 million FTs and more coming, you do not need to be a genius to calculate that within two generations, Chinese FTs, Pinoys and Indians will outnumber native Singaporeans and they will govern Singapore. Sadly that will be the extinction of the once happy, hardworking and peaceful race – the last of native Singaporeans and like the Indian tribe, the Mohigans, they will fade away unceremoniously and be lost in history. Paradise gone for the native Singaporeans, betrayed and abandoned by their own MIW leaders who promised them Swiss standard of living.
Ironically, it would be left to the once despised diaspora ex-Singaporeans called the Quitters to tell this sad story.
Going extinct is no fun at all …
By Michael CookLee Kuan Yew, the founding prime minister of Singapore, is one of the
great statesmen of the 20th century. At 88 he is a bit unsteady on his
feet and attends a lot of funerals, but his mind is as clear as ever.A man of steely resolve, he turned a tiny, defenceless,
impoverished,racially and politically divided island with no natural
resources into an economic powerhouse.Today Singapore is a leading financial centre, is the world’s easiest
place to do business, is ranked number 8 in foreign exchange reserves,
has the world’s top-ranked education system, and is the world’s least
corrupt country. Economically Singapore is a miracle and Lee Kuan Yew
is its wizard. Last weekend the Lion City celebrated the 47th
anniversary of its independence with cheers and fireworks.But there is a cloud over Singapore’s existence. Although it is
situated in a volatile part of the world, the threat is not war or
tsunami or cyclone. It is its own imploding birth rate. In finances,
Singapore is at the top of the league table; in fertility, it is at
the bottom. With a birth rate of 0.78 it has been ranked by the CIA
World Factbook at 222 out of 222. To compensate for the falling
number of babies, Singapore imports people. About 35 percent of
Singapore’s workers are foreign-born and about 23 percent of all
residents.In short, like the great man himself, Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore is
slowly dying. The government is trying desperately to boost the birth
rate with generous benefits, dating services and louche
advertisements. And still the birth rate falls.Lee is watching this tragedy with tears. Speaking at a National Day
celebration dinner on Saturday, he sounded desolate: If we go on like
that, this place will fold up, because there’ll be no original
citizens left to form the majority, and we cannot have new citizens,
new PRs to settle our social ethos, our social spirit, our social
norms. So my message is a simple one. The answer is very difficult
but the problems, if we don’t find the answers, are enormous…Our educated men and women must decide whether to replace themselves
in the next generation. At the moment, 31 per cent of women and 44
per cent of men are opting out. Not leaving a next generation.So, just ponder over it and you will know the solution is not simple.
But we’ve got to persuade people to understand that getting married is
important, having children is important. Do we want to replace
ourselves or do we want to shrink and get older and be replaced by
migrants and work permit holders? That’s the simple
question.Perhaps it’s rude to ask this of a man mourning the mortal illness of
a child whom he conceived, dandled on his knees and coached through
adolescence, but who is responsible for this disaster?The answer is Lee Kuan Yew. Great men make great mistakes. In the
1960s and 70s he worried about the Population Bomb and enacted stern
population control policies. He encouraged sterilisation, urged
Singaporeans to “Stop At Two”, and imposed harsh financial penalties
for those who didn’t. By the late 80s, the government had panicked
and changed its tune to “Have Three or More (if you can afford it)”.
A future prime minister was already warning Singaporeans that
“passively watch[ing] ourselves going extinct” threatened national
survival.It was too late. Singaporeans had acquired a taste for shopping and
small families. Now their country’s future belongs to immigrants and
workers from nearby China, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Singapore has to face the possibility of cashing in its chips.Singapore’s woes may be of its own making but there is a lesson here
for the rest of us. In a small nation, the impact of an ageing
population is felt more keenly and more swiftly than in larger
countries. Singapore has to face the possibility of cashing in its
chips.But demographic trends are inexorable everywhere. When birthrates fall
below replacement level, as they have throughout the developed world,
migrants with very different cultural values replace the native-born.Going extinct is no fun at all. Just ask Lee Kuan Yew.
“There are 13 private golf clubs plus another 3 public golf courses. Each club standard with 18 holes. SICC is the biggest with 72 holes or 4 courses. We have a total of more than 20 golf courses.”
My friend, an avid golfer was relating this to me when I casually asked him how many golf courses in our tiny Red Dot. I goggled on the net and I found very little literature on the subject. I can’t produce the exact figures or statistics about our state of golf courses.
One thing for sure is that our land is limited. We are using up more and more scarce land against the needs of nearly 6 million people. We used to have only about 2.2 million when we became independent in 1965. Now it is more than 5.3 million and keep growing. Our population density is already the highest in the world having overtaken Hong Kong. Precious land, besides housing is already set aside for natural water catchments, public parks, more roads and highways and other social amenities etc. The tearing down of Bukit Brown Cementary, despite a huge public outcry to make way for a new highway is an excellent example of the competing needs of a growing population on this piece of 710 sq km land.
Some may argue that golf courses are similar as parks. It is akin to nature and greenery to cushion off the concrete build-up of our society. My answer to that is if it’s a public park, no one would fault it. But the fact is that golf clubs are private exclusive clubs catering to the powerful elites and top 2% of the sporting community. Money will give you access to that privileged membership of exclusiveness. I am not against it in principle. But do we need so many to cater to the rich and powerful of our society at the expense of the remaining 98% of the population? That is the question!
If they tear down public icons such as Bukit Brown Cemetery, Aljunied Cemetery, Rochor Center, Pearl Centre etc, what about those private golf clubs all over our tiny island? Is it becuz they possess clout that they are untouchables? Why are they so special and exclusive? Do they have the special privilege in our land scarce country? Will they stop building more golf courses which is a well known fact that 18 hole golf courses are water guzzling greens or maybe reduce the number in view of our exploding population to cater to the growing needs of the majority in our society? Or is it another case of let market forces decide where money is the ‘king’ and the deciding factor? No money no talk is it?
I am not a city planner. I am no expert on land use. But I know that as a tiny country with only 710 sq km, we should not increase any more luxurious private golf courses! It is as simple as that. But then, pure common sense can be blurred by powerful vested interest groups of the land at the expense of the poor and dispossessed! What do you think?
Read another related article here.
Quote
“Anonymous 10/01/2012 4:26 PMWhat type of help are we entitled to – are we beggars? You profess to want to support the caregivers of the elderly and disabled. What help is it when the maids that we need to look after them are taxed (levy). We still pay $170 after the Levy Concession of $95. And the costs of FDWs are going up all the time.
Now you come out with a Foreign Domestic Workers Grant (FDWG) of $120 per month from the MCYS. It is exactly like taking from one hand (levy) and giving back with the other (grant). Moreover to get this grant we need to jump through multiple hoops – means testing, doctor check, maid training, even if we satisfy all the requirements. This grant has been approved for only 50 care-givers so far, and a lot of song and dance has been made on this.
Get rid of the FDW Levy altogether, for looking after the frail, elderly and disabled, if you are really sincere in wanting to “help”. The government is profiteering from this, which makes it a hypocrite.” Unquote
I came across the above comment on Tattler’s blog. Basically, the commenter is saying that the government should not give grant on one hand and impose tax (levy) on the other hand with the nett result that the government still gains from the urgency of employing maid to look after an invalid parent. Is it right and proper to “make money” from low income earners? (Households who wish to apply for this grant must have a per capita monthly income of $2,200 or less) Is it right and proper to “tax” filial piety when I employ maid to look after my parents? I am not asking for free hand-outs from the government. Neither am I asking the government to look after my invalid parents. No. I am paying from my own pocket to employ a maid to look after my invalid parents so that I could go out to earn a living. Given the circumstances, why should I be taxed by the government? Why is the government so ‘hard-up’ on this revenue – tax on filial piety. Is it right and proper?
What is worker levy actually? From my understanding, it is a levy (a form of government tax) imposed on foreign workers seeking employment here. It is not only a form of revenue for the government but could also be used as a tool to control the population of foreign workers. It works hand in hand with foreign worker quota. For example, every foreigner you employ, you will need x number of locals. Even if you fulfill the foreign worker quota requirement, all foreign workers are still subject to tax. This is to encourage businesses employing more locals so that they need not pay the foreign worker levy. In principle, it is a necessary tool to regulate and control the population of foreign workers in our country. It also protects locals from being priced out by cheaper foreign workers.
The above is applied to all sectors of the economy where there are foreign and local workers. But why is it applied on maids? I am referring to foreign domestic workers. (maids) Do we have local maids? In other sectors of the economy, we have foreign and local workers. But for maids, have you heard of any local working as household maid? Is there any quota for maids? What is the rationale for paying levy on maids? In other countries, there is no levy on maids. Why do we have it here? To bring in more revenue for government coffers?
I don’t employ maids. I won’t know much about maids. But the day may come when I have no choice but to employ a maid to look after my invalid parents. If I earn sightly more than $2,200 per month, I am not entitled to any grant. I will have to pay the full amount of levy (tax) on a maid. It is clearly a form of revenue for the government. How could I afford it? I will face financial hardship for sure. It is pure common sense. Do I have a choice? What can I say?
Maybe, the government thinks that by imposing a levy on foreign maids is to control the number of foreign maids here. They do not want every family to own a maid. If that is the case, then the government will have to assess the needs of each family. If I earn about $2,500 a month and I really need a maid to take care of my invalid parents, I should not be paying the levy if the government is sincere in helping citizens like myself. It is also not cheap to send our invalid parents to the old age home unless like someone suggested send them to JB nursing homes instead which are much cheaper! No GST and no levy!
Our income tax or GST may be low, but there are all kinds of indirect taxes. COE, ERP, cigarettes & beer tax, water & electricity tariffs, WC waste disposal, refuse tax, property tax, used to be TV & Radio licence fees, fines or surcharges for late payment of bills, petrol & diesel tax, All kinds of licences eg selling liquor or cigarettes, hawkers, entertainment licence, security airport tax, etc etc. What about all the fines collected on petty offences such as illegal parking even though no obstruction is caused etc. In other words, there are one hundred and one taxes & fines around you; just like a minefield where you’ve to walk carefully. One wrong step, it might explode on your face and blow away a limb or two! It’s getting rather stressful and headache living here.
Hence, if you read at the comment quoted above, you will notice the bitterness, frustration and helplessness of the writer. Why must we pay maid levy? Why give grant on one hand and then put terms and conditions or obstacles if one wants to apply for the grant? The needs and urgency of getting a maid to look after invalid parents so that the children could go earn a living far outweighs the need for revenue right? Most of the citizens feel that the government is always looking at ways and means to “tax” everything from the people.
With reducing earning power due to the massive influx of foreign workers, high costs of living, aged parents to look after and higher levy on maids getting more expensive, people like us earning between $2,500 to $3,000 are the hardest hit. It is citizens within this income bracket – majority of heartlanders are falling through the crack. Pls do not say that we could apply for government grant on a case by case basis when “we need to jump through multiple hoops!” like what the writer said.
Think about it for a moment – Just forget about taxes on certain things. Levy on maid for lower income needy families is a case in point. Do not get addicted to taxes and levies on all things thinkable. Just do your part by spending tax payers’ money prudently and stretch every dollar. Like I used to say if you earn $10,000 a month but spend lavishly on high dinning, clubbing and luxury goods, money sure not enough. It is the same with government expenditure. If you harbour the morbid mindset bent on buying $2,200 bicycles or office chairs costing hundreds of dollars with lofty justification, surely money is not enough? Even my 13-year old boy knows this fact! But some don’t and still insist it is worth it; value for money. Langgar.
Needy families to get monthly $120 maid grants
AsiaOne
Tuesday, Aug 07, 2012SINGAPORE – More than 6,000 households will receive $120 per month over the next five years under the Foreign Domestic Worker Grant when it starts this October.
The grant will provide support to families whose domestic workers help to take care of family members who are frail or with moderate disabilities.
Households who wish to apply for this grant must have a per capita monthly income of $2,200 or less.
For those with no income, the annual value of their property should be less than $13,000.
In addition, the foreign domestic worker must be taking care of an elderly person or person with disabilities who have been assessed as having at least moderate disabilities by a panel of general practitioners.
For instance, they require assistance with activities such as showering, bathing, feeding, dressing, toileting, transferring or mobility.
The estimated budget for the grant over the next five years is $25 million.
It was first announced by Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Mdm Halimah Yacob, at the MCYS Committee of Supply debate in March this year.
Mdm Halimah said the grant will help alleviate the cost of families who hire Foreign Domestic Workers to take care of frail or disabled family members.
“As caring for the frail elderly and disabled can be challenging, I also hope that more families will send their foreign domestic workers for training so that they can be better equipped to serve as caregivers,” she said.
Households will need to send their foreign domestic workers for relevant training in care giving.
The existing Caregivers Training Grant (CTG) can be used by eligible persons to defray the cost of training.
The grant is now open for application. Application details for the FDWG are currently available at CEL’s website (www.cel.sg).
Households currently receiving the Foreign Domestic Worker Levy Concession will also receive a mail package containing information on the application procedure and the necessary application forms in the next few weeks.
失民心者失天下！
