National Kelong-versation: Yahoo! poll results differ from 154th's

[makapaaa]

[h=2]National Conversation: Yahoo! poll results differ from ST’s[/h]

September 27th, 2012 |

Author: Editorial

As part of the current National Conversation initiative launched by the Government, Yahoo! Singapore compiled a list of 10 important issues for netizens to vote on last week. Netizens were asked to vote for their chief concerns.

A total of 21,470 people cast their votes with each reader allowed to vote only once and on a single issue.

The cost of housing was voted the most pressing concern by netizens after the week-long poll.

28% of people voted for the cost of housing. The management of flow and integration of foreigners, which garnered 21% of the votes, came in second while narrowing the income gap came in third with 17% of votes.

In fact, at one stage of the poll, the issue of management of flow of foreigners dominated the poll. But news of million-dollar HDB flats in the last week triggered fresh concerns over the affordability of public housing, which could explain the swing in votes.

Yahoo! Singapore poll results:

1. Cost of housing (28%)
2. Manage flow and integration of foreigners (21%)
3. Widening income gap (17%)
4. Education and competition in schools (8%)
5. Cost and access to healthcare (8%)
6. Political/electoral reform (4%)
7. Social graciousness (online and offline) (4%)
8. Tackling baby woes (4%)
9. Inclusive society (GLBTs, single parents) (3%)
10. Public transport crunch (3%)

Yahoo! Singapore’s results contrast drastically from the results of poll conducted by The Straits Times also roughly at the same time (‘Are ST’s top 10 ‘Singaporean’ questions to ask PM Lee really reflective?‘).

In a Straits Times news report on 22 Sep, it proclaimed, “Singaporeans had chosen 10 top questions (to ask PM).”
Following are the top 10 questions picked by Straits Times according to the poll results:

1. How will you ensure the cost of living in Singapore remains manageable? How will you keep healthcare affordable? (10%)
2. Can we really have work-life balance? (7%)
3. Can we change the model of public houseing so it is a home, and not an investment asset? (6%)
4. We are trying to help parents look after children, what are we doing to help children look after elderly parents? (6%)
5. What is the limit to our population size? What do you, as PM, think is the optimum size? (6%)
6. Can the Govt do more for those with special needs? It should sign the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (6%)
7. Can we do more for those in the 50s and 60s who have been retrenched or are being rehired at lower pay? (5%)
8. Having a childhood is good in theory, but how do we reduce the reliance on exams? For example, do we need the PSLE? (4%)
9. Where do you see Singapore in 20 years’ time? What will our niche be? Will Parliament still be dominated by the PAP? (4%)
10. Could a percentage of a citizen’s CPF account be set aside for unemployment insurance? (4%)

Which poll is more reflective of the ground sentiment? What do you think?
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[makapaaa]

<CITE class=fn>lan jiao loong:</CITE>
September 27, 2012 at 9:32 am lan jiao loong(Quote)
Please don’t waste your time to participate the national wayang because decision has been made, direction has been set and only minor adjustment is allowed.
PM, MPs and ministers have make their point very clear and yesterday lky has already comfirm foreign workers are needed to boost our GDP whether you like it or not.
Once again, PM also ensure that housing prices will remain affordable and he did not mention how to tackle the high living cost or inflation which means those are not an issues anymore.
In that case, whats left to discuss in National CONversation? You want to talk about the sun, the sea and the sand? How to practise tai chi at 3pm?
A wayang is a wayang!

 

[makapaaa]

[h=2]Julius Baer: Singapore high-end property jumps 35% from 2011[/h]

September 27th, 2012 |

Author: Editorial

On 25 September, Julius Baer published the annual Julius Baer Wealth Report and Julius Baer Lifestyle Index ( LINK ).
Julius Baer is a leading Swiss private banking group serving private clients, family offices (private companies that manage investments and trusts for single wealthy families) and external asset managers from around the world. It has a large international presence in more than forty countries, including Singapore. Its main markets are Switzerland and Asia.

The Julius Baer Wealth Report and its accompanying Lifestyle Index analyse the HNWI (High Net Worth Individual) landscape in Asia. An HNWI is a person or family with liquid assets (financial assets excluding home) exceeding USD1 million. The Wealth Report figures there may be almost 3 million HNWIs in Asia with a stock of wealth equal to USD16.7 trillion by 2015.

One wonders how many of these “almost 3 million HNWIs” will end up in Singapore as permanent residents or new citizens, thus exacerbating the gap between the rich (which already include many foreigners and new foreign-born citizens) and the poor (mostly born-and-bred, hardworking Singaporeans who find it impossible to move up the social ladder, to make ends meet, and who literally have to work until they die).

The Report says, “The fact that the Index continues to rise, up 8.8% this year for the one-year period until April 2012, shows clearly that the cost of living in luxury in Asia continues to substantially outpace conventional Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures, which stood at approximately 6% for the same time period.” In other words, while the cost of basic necessities in Asia has gone up about 6% in the past year, the cost of luxurious living has gone up even more, by 8.8%.

The Julius Baer Lifestyle Index compares the cost of living in four Asian cities: Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, and Mumbai. The Index says, “Singapore was home to the highest price hikes in US dollar terms, followed by Shanghai, Hong Kong and lastly Mumbai. Across the region, the prices of high-end wine, wedding banquets, handbags and business-class air travel underwent the largest increases.”

Julius Baer spokesman Lim Li Koon explained that the hike for Singapore is mainly due to a 35% jump in high-end property prices, going from an average of USD9.7 million in 2011 to USD13 million in 2012. In Singapore, apart from high-end homes, many luxury items hardly increased in price. For example, jewellery, shoes and handbags saw no price change, while cars and wedding banquets cost 5% and 10% more, respectively. Hence the Singapore picture is heavily skewed by the massive jump for high-end property.

That high-end property has jumped 35% in a year will be of great concern even to Singaporeans who cannot dream of affording it, for surely it has a knock-on effect on property lower down the chain. A Yahoo! poll published 25 September bears this out, where Singaporeans considered the cost of housing to be their biggest worry. The week-long Yahoo! poll involved 21,470 people who were asked to indicate their greatest concern out of a list of ten. Everybody was allowed to vote only once, and on a single issue. At the top, 28% voted for the “cost of housing”, while “managing the flow and integration of foreigners”, which is closely linked to the issue of housing, came in second at 21%.

 

[scroobal]

That is why SPH has been discredited organisation and an organ grinder's instrument.