Hi Wuqi,
Great to be safe for you and family. So many times when one is in deep shit and life threatening incidents, he will realize he is willing to trade his wealth for everything he already have.
Was talking to some Malaysians just now. They were saying security and education is what they look for in Singapore. Yet for them who live in a kampong, big lands, lots of fruit trees, grow their own foods...some time these are what a retired Singapore folk would look for and the irony is the Malaysians already have that when they are in their 20s...
Our pigeons hole might worth 1m.. However people living in it without paying it in full might be worried that they will lose everything if they lose their jobs..and such life is not healthy. Yet our great govt treat all of us like an object..that can be eliminated anytime not for the benefits of the majority, but for the benefits of some good ones. Any talents are welcome to work in Singapore and be PR..sometime the talents don't want to come.. So they get anyone as long as they are cheap..just for the short term GDP gain.. Just like the sales folk working for most American MNC..just going for short term gain and shareholder values.. They forget Singapore is not an organisation. We are a country. When the people are laid off, they got no where to go.
Fully agree with your response below.. This expensive country is a great place to work..that's all.. Got to plan your own life.. As a country that is always commercially right and always working for shareholder value as priority, will have no time to waste resources on the economically not too useful ones...
Kids in Singapore also have a hard time entering local universities where they are deemed not good enough while we have free food, education and lodging for foreigners who do not need to sink roots here to be entitled to all the freebies. Not everyone in Singapore is benefitting from all the policies and there are lots of people who live from hand to mouth. These are not complainers, no no, they even refuse help from passersby, they would prefer to continue collecting cans and odds and ends and sell.
The government thinks too little of its own people sometimes. Now, with the burgeoning of private and accredited universities in both Singapore and Malaysia, it has improved education opportunities for both. I have quite a few Malaysian friends who did become citizens, some were PRs and were able to buy HDB flats, yes they did not get the subsidized prices as they had to buy resale and could not get HDB loans but they are free to convert to citizens and get all the benefits without needing to go through NS, having their CPF money stuck there, etc. Not every Singaporean is eligible for HDB loan or help as well. Thats why they are revisiting means testing etc. At least as PRs, they can withdraw full sum at 55.
Even recently, i have some friends who have invested here and wanted to use their CPF to invest in HDB flats since their CPF is sitting there, in their own words "might as well do something about it." Raising the prices of flats first and then giving grants is one thing but its not massive a massive one. Malaysians also get to buy their houses now with 10% off. They also have way more housing options than any of us unless we come out here.
I know of some who converted, the son did NS and later became my officer who i really respected. He was also placed in a sensitive unit. Back then, the education differences between getting a PR and citizenship was really neglible. Till today, some of us still have old injuries from the service to the nation and some of my friends, at 39, still thinks that he cannot leave the country without a exit permit.
Someone shared with me "Its only lately that people realised that they should serve the customers already inside and waiting in the restaurant then always serving those outside who may not be paying the bills when the check comes."
I would beg to differ with the 20 years statement, how many Singaporeans can afford to only work 20 years and retire? Who takes care of their needs when the time comes? Themselves and their family, thats it. No one is saying a welfare state will be better but thats the way it is. I do have young Malaysians in their late 30s who work in Singapore and are talking about early retirement to me. People are still thinking of working until 65 and way past that in Singapore as they have to. It is their right (and plight) to slog until the day they die.
Malaysians can at the very least retire comfortably in Malaysia with key necessities like utilities, medical and many more still being more affordable. There are so many states for them other than Johore as their country is vast as compared to Singapore. Their country, for all its faults, has so many layers of protection for their own people that many locals are unaware. Even a learned Malaysian neighbour still did not know that foreigners can only buy 3 storey shops here and houses above a certain limit until recently. They can also work in Singapore and get the same benefits we do, i have quite a few in my company, none of them are drawing any less than me. Except probably those in menial or manufacturing line where they may face some discrimination, i see very little discrimination in corporate life where some are in high positions due to their own abilities.
Unless things have changed, quite a few of those Cisco and the auxillary police who helps to ensure security and carries guns in Singapore are from Malaysia. We trust them to carry guns in our own country and these are not for special purposes like gurkhas, etc. They are able to do almost everything that Singaporeans do.
When Singaporeans goes to Malaysia, there are way more restrictions which protects the interests of locals(as it should be).
My firm here employs 100% Malaysians and i am already employing 8 local staff. One of the staff was working in Singapore and felt very stressed out though she had a flat in Singapore that she bought rather cheaply in the early years. She can now afford not to work anytime and recently asked to become a part timer even though we offered her more money. The lowest paid staff drives a car and lives in a single story terrace house. How many Singaporeans can do that in their own country?
One time, an employee was saying how bad Malaysia was as he was searched by Singapore customs guys who he claimed was searching him when he was entering Singapore because of his language(heavy smoker by the way).
Both myself and my dad speaks English yet we were checked multiple times and my dad even had all the car seats searched as well. I even had a yaya guy asking me, Why are you going in Singapore, why are you working in Singapore? Which part of Singapore? Why that part of Singapore. This is after showing him my passport and i was dressed ok as i was meeting a cli. Its all about luck sometimes and whether they are free or not.[/QUOTE]
