PM NDP speech

[ChaoPappyPoodle]

The first thing that struck me was that they are again throwing money at a problem - the problem of controlling the inflow of FT. As one forummer has mentioned, the money barrier can be abused, and bypassed by tweaking arrangements, false declarations which overloaded govt depts cant monitor.

Why can't they think of other solutions/criteria to staunch the inflow such that Singapore can get the really bright ones, the really talented ones and the ones with skills that we dont actually have.

Of course they know what to do. They in fact changed their policies to allow for this inflow. The fact that continue with this new policy to allow thambi, ah seng and pinoys in shows that they dont give a hoot about you daft Singaporeans who cant see the light from the dark. You think you are so smart that you have the solution and that they are so stupid for not knowing how to curtail the inflow.

Wake up you stinking pathetic idea that you are some smart alec. You are a daft Singaporean. One of the 60% of daft Singaporeans who think they are so smart and that the PAP are so stupid.

 

[kingrant]

Notice how the time frame had been set at 4 years? Connect the dots and you'll see that work expands to fill all time, acc to Parkinson's law. Why complete it within a shorter time when you can drag it to 4 years and claim achievements and results for the next GE? Why finish them earlier only to give the people a chance to knock you down? Why do it quicker when you can use the excuse to ask the people for a convincing victory at the next GE? Or use it as mandate to get the job done?

 

[kingrant]

I dont agree. I think they purposely threw open the gates wide so as to grow the GDP at ALL costs. All it took was for somebody high up (Old Man) to loosen things up, and the cue will be taken up by all down the pecking order. When they realised what happened, they tried to pull back because of the groundswell, it was already too late. But the overshoot had already crossed the rubicon. Just like any overshooting system, the oscillations are still taking a long time to die down.

Of course they know what to do.

 

[Confuseous]

I give him good grades for presentation - quite smooth, reasonably well threaded line of thoughts, the usual.
Contents-wise, it was a mini-disaster.
It was the pefect platform to address real national issues but instead, shots of the new Geylang Serai, Punggol etc displays a lack of substance and discussing the real issues at hand, indepth. Quite often, it was the cliche of "it will take some time", "cannot be helped" and of course fear-mongering of bad economy ad nauseum.
Presentation of statistics show there are unfavourable numbers, like the missing data for the number of university places for Singaporeans between 2003 and 2010.
His speech said that there will be 2,000 new uni students per annum for Singaporeans but the chart shows 2,000 between 2011 and 2015. If intended, the charts are pulling wool over our eyes. If unintended, then it is a reflection of the quality of the civil servants and the ministers in the PM's office.

 

[LeMans2011]

The speeches are nothing new and i would be surprised at those who get pacified by it. Much like his apology on the eve of election.
You need "watershed" changes, not marginal and general commitments.

I would have expected a few concrete commitments:

1) Tighter control of FT intake - bring in only Tier 1 real FTs which every country in the world competes for, or Tier 3 low cost workers for jobs Singaporeans don't want to do eg. construction labor

2) Concrete measures to ease transport congestion issues.. lay out plans on what we can expect to see in the next 3 months, next 3 years and next 10 years. The existing "will improve gradually" falls short and demonstrates lack of urgency and concrete commitments

3) Put an end to these pseudo private GLCs and the government's pretence in regulating them. If you want them to be truely profit oriented companies that answers to shareholders, then allow competition and disband the oligopoly. Only an idiot believes that allowing more transport operators will result in poorer route coverage
These pseudo private companies cover various aspects of cost of living including transport, water, electricity, hospitals, cable-TV. The only model that benefits man on the street would be somewhat similar to NTUC.

4) The findings of the committee on Ministerial Salaries should have been released by now. At the very least they should have offered a 30% paycut and that would be really positive... even with 30% paycut they remain highest in the world.

 

[red amoeba]

My own take is this

- they are right in the sense that the HDB problem can be solved. Supply, as long as there is enough, will do its part to suck demand away from resale market and private housing and gradually moderate prices.
- tertiary education is probably next easiest to handle, the capacity of universities have been boosted in recent years to take in foreigners - they would need to just do some adjustment to increase local allocations but not too far that the quality of grads suffer like Matland where every mother son can quality for uni including straight D students
- they have expanded medical care for low wage workers and will increase public hospital capacity - its a good start but long way to go
- foreigners are the hardest to manage as businesses here have grown addicted to the use of cheap labour from overseas. Profitability in many cases are unrealistically high due to the influx of low-wage workers. Everyone is clamouring to hire in Singapore due to low income taxation, ease of getting permits and good living conditions. Both SMEs and international branches of MNCs are guilty of this.

I think there is a change in tone this year. Less boasting about how great this place is, and recognition that they need to do something and stop the rot. Lets see if they can change.

HDB, shows they lack thorough fwd planning. You commit to build 25,000 units next year ...build only, not complete. Building flats typically takes 2 - 3 years, they don't appear overnight. The supply crunch is NOW. Singaporeans need houses NOW, not 2 -3 years down the road. He is asking people to wait 2 - 3 years...why din't he say - ok, i am sorry, HDB fucked up, the former minster MBT screwed up becos we scared like the recession last time, all the HDBs stand empty. And it is going to be deja-vu again when these flats are completed.

The world wide economy is going down, and it will set in very soon. By then, people will dump properties and you will get the repeat of what is happening now.

University places - he is doing the wrong thing. Increasing local places by 2000 by 2015. Thats like 2000 in the next 4 years or 500 per year. The foreign students intake remain the same. Now, what he did not say is, how he define foreign intake? So long the student is foreigner? Does he include those that are here for college and then fight for an university place after 1 -2 year and thereby classified as local student?

Why don't he cut the foreign student intake? By raising the overall number of university places, how is the economy going to absorb this cohort. He mentioned, every year 10m graduates emerge from PRC universities - already there are concerns that there are insufficient jobs for these graduates. By 2015, how is he confident that these new 2,000 places will have a job when they graduate 2 - 3 years later (2018 - 2020)?

A swifter and more practical method will be to cut the foreign students to 10% and make this 10% really competitive.

Then he went on to show how attractive ITEs are...is he telling us that most Singaporeans should just go ITE and leave the uni places to foreign students? Or he is telling us, given the intelligence level of our Singaporeans, we are most likely to end up in ITEs, so i build you good ITEs so that you come out and work as lower paid workers?

 

[thefarside]

At least 90% of FWs are here because the PAP regime promised jobs to China, India and Philippines as part of trade agreements. In exchange for allowing GLCs to invest more and in greater areas in those countries and while protecting GLCs here, the PAP sold off over a million jobs in SG to these countries nationals.

I urge you to try to go to a first world country and try getting a legitimate job there. You will have grave difficulty not only finding jobs but also the work permits and PRs. Only Singapore allows third world country residents to come in freely to stifle wages, add undue stress to public services, crowd out job availability for locals and increase the cost of housing.

The PAP regime has sold a majority of its cititens out, log stock and barrel. You've all been fucked and you have been wondering why and worse yet you think that screwing has stopped. You are going to be screwed as well as your children for as long as the PAP regime is in power.

You have a point in all that you have said. Those who have voted against PAP this year may have felt that they have moved mountains (the effort) with precious little to show for it except one GRC and a government still very much in charge. I see this as a tangible result that the poll box do provide Singaporeans with a voice. And we should continue to pressure them. You can go around fucking people upside down for what you perceive as their daftness, but that will not bring about changes any faster than what the election cycle and the people's change in mindset can bring about.

My own parents in law are an example of what PAP can rely on for their vote bank. My fil, not the sharpest knife on the block, pointed to the Shin Min daily news and said, "vote for the brylcreem hair, he has experience. the rest are lightweights". God knows how many of his type are around. Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, selling themselves and their children (us) down the river. But change can only come when the collective majority of the enlightened can outweigh (and outvote) these people.

There are no illusions that the leopard has changed its spots. They will probably never do. But I cannot go everyday being so angry about life.

 

[red amoeba]

You have a point in all that you have said. Those who have voted against PAP this year may have felt that they have moved mountains (the effort) with precious little to show for it except one GRC and a government still very much in charge. I see this as a tangible result that the poll box do provide Singaporeans with a voice. And we should continue to pressure them. You can go around fucking people upside down for what you perceive as their daftness, but that will not bring about changes any faster than what the election cycle and the people's change in mindset can bring about.

My own parents in law are an example of what PAP can rely on for their vote bank. My fil, not the sharpest knife on the block, pointed to the Shin Min daily news and said, "vote for the brylcreem hair, he has experience. the rest are lightweights". God knows how many of his type are around. Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, selling themselves and their children (us) down the river. But change can only come when the collective majority of the enlightened can outweigh (and outvote) these people.

There are no illusions that the leopard has changed its spots. They will probably never do. But I cannot go everyday being so angry about life.

its true...ask the older generation, they are die-hard PAP fans. Cos they said, they were poor and have nothing, they viewed LKY as the savior that lifted them out the poverty. I cannot say they are wrong.

As long as it is PAP or PAP endoresed, they vote for it.

 

[ChaoPappyPoodle]

I dont agree. I think they purposely threw open the gates wide so as to grow the GDP at ALL costs. All it took was for somebody high up (Old Man) to loosen things up, and the cue will be taken up by all down the pecking order. When they realised what happened, they tried to pull back because of the groundswell, it was already too late. But the overshoot had already crossed the rubicon. Just like any overshooting system, the oscillations are still taking a long time to die down.

No one does any one thing for a single reason when they can have many reasons to do so.

The influx of FWs from CHina, India and Philippines are all directly linked to trade agreements between Singapore and these countries. The trade agreements allowed GLCs a wider playing field as well as higher percentage ownerships in companies there. In exchange, the PAP regime promised to open the floodgates to their citizens. In other words, the PAP regime doesn't give a fuck about low and middle income Singaporeans losing their jobs, getting lower salaries or not being able to afford a home.

As long as the influx continues to allow the PAP regimes and their cronies to earn a lot of money with FWs coming in and GDP is increased this will conitnue. Even better, the more FWs that take up citizenship then it's a win-win for the PAP regime. Singaporeans as far as the PAP regime is concerned can go and fly kite day and night.

I can assure you that the influx which you deem to be too many, too fast is well within sight of their plans. They are not idiots, they will of course expect Singaporeans to complain but the PAP regime as I told you earlier doesn't give a damn about low and middle income Singaporeans.

 

[ChaoPappyPoodle]

HDB, shows they lack thorough fwd planning. You commit to build 25,000 units next year ...build only, not complete. Building flats typically takes 2 - 3 years, they don't appear overnight. The supply crunch is NOW. Singaporeans need houses NOW, not 2 -3 years down the road. He is asking people to wait 2 - 3 years...why din't he say - ok, i am sorry, HDB fucked up, the former minster MBT screwed up becos we scared like the recession last time, all the HDBs stand empty. And it is going to be deja-vu again when these flats are completed.

The world wide economy is going down, and it will set in very soon. By then, people will dump properties and you will get the repeat of what is happening now.

University places - he is doing the wrong thing. Increasing local places by 2000 by 2015. Thats like 2000 in the next 4 years or 500 per year. The foreign students intake remain the same. Now, what he did not say is, how he define foreign intake? So long the student is foreigner? Does he include those that are here for college and then fight for an university place after 1 -2 year and thereby classified as local student?

Why don't he cut the foreign student intake? By raising the overall number of university places, how is the economy going to absorb this cohort. He mentioned, every year 10m graduates emerge from PRC universities - already there are concerns that there are insufficient jobs for these graduates. By 2015, how is he confident that these new 2,000 places will have a job when they graduate 2 - 3 years later (2018 - 2020)?

A swifter and more practical method will be to cut the foreign students to 10% and make this 10% really competitive.

Then he went on to show how attractive ITEs are...is he telling us that most Singaporeans should just go ITE and leave the uni places to foreign students? Or he is telling us, given the intelligence level of our Singaporeans, we are most likely to end up in ITEs, so i build you good ITEs so that you come out and work as lower paid workers?

All these are simple basic knowledge. You should start believing that the PAP regime doesn't give a damn about low or middle income Singaporeans. The sooner you do this the better it is for you because you will then be able to scrutinise their policies and looking at the way that they work.

 

[annexa]

I quote a "solution" a learned friend of my highlight to me.

NARIC

In my opinion, the whole system and process of selection for immigration, and not just the criteria, need to be scrutinised and quality control ensured. Nothing should be left on auto-pilot and instead of Ministerial discretion, exceptions shld be handled in a transparent manner.

 

[melzp]

The same old, old thing, really, juz like his father.

""WORK HARD, WORK HARD""....................for their salary.

In the years at this job (ie: PM)....................Is the job done , for better or worse??

 

[jw5]

It's all lip service. "Bluey" was just talking to pacify some and console others.
Didn't even watch the rally and I could tell that what he said was insignificant and would not really help hardworking and needy Singaporeans who may have suffered bad luck or illness. Time was better spent watching 0-0 between Stoke and Chelsea.

 

[scroobal]

Let me attempt to summarise what I thought were good points raised by many in this thread;

1. No structural changes, same formula but tweaks will take place primarily in housing, admission to university and foreign workforce ie. More houses, more places for locals, lesser foreigners with lower qualification.

2. No addressing the underlying issues such as better education to drop the reliance on foreigners for high end jobs

3. Putting up fires that became evident during the GE.

4. No desire to change the system but the tone was more friendly to appease the people

5. Singapore Inc ie. GLC, Govt bodies will continue as per normal with little or no competition and price rises is expected to continue.

6. No measures seem to directly impact the lower and more needy classes.

 

[liongsum]

Let me say my piece. You can add with your opinion.

I see a tone down of language. Even yesterday LKY also tone down. For this I give him my guarded trust. He earn back some points from me for at least being honest about the past 5 year cock ups and put into action to solve them.

For sure, the opposition is used as a barometer to guage how much citizens can be exploited, how much pain citizens can stomach before they vote opposition, otherwise it will be business as usual. If they don't change tack, somewhere down the road, water cannons, guns and fire will have to be used to coerce the "correct" attitude. Thank goodness for the opposition.

 

[ChaoPappyPoodle]

it's the same old shit but packaged with even more outright lies.

The biggest feedback that got the MIWs scared from GE2011 was that they were seen as arrogant by the populace. Hence the wayang apology from pinkyboy. Without the apology the PAPzis would have lost many more votes.

Their gameplan is now to do the same but to put on a more caring face but underneath it's going to be the same shit. In fact its going to get worse because the influx will continue. 900,000 over the next 4-5 years is what they have already targetted. How many times do you want to hear it from them before you actually listen? :oIo:

 

[ChaoPappyPoodle]

Let me say my piece. You can add with your opinion.

I see a tone down of language. Even yesterday LKY also tone down. For this I give him my guarded trust. He earn back some points from me for at least being honest about the past 5 year cock ups and put into action to solve them.

For sure, the opposition is used as a barometer to guage how much citizens can be exploited, how much pain citizens can stomach before they vote opposition, otherwise it will be business as usual. If they don't change tack, somewhere down the road, water cannons, guns and fire will have to be used to coerce the "correct" attitude. Thank goodness for the opposition.

I can assure you that them having to use watercannons and ISA is exactly what they would love to do. This will give them an opportunity to kill off another generation or two of opposition voices. Till then the squeezing will continue. Fascists are not called fascists for no rhyme or reason. Wake up people!

 

[halsey02]

Let me attempt to summarise what I thought were good points raised by many in this thread;

3. Putting up fires that became evident during the GE.

You mean, he is fanning the flames? or putting out the fires!?