sinkies song boh ?? hard truth
- Thread starter rambo22
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There is not enough talent amongst Singaporeans to take the country forward. If we start putting obstacles in the way of foreign talent they'll simply take their skills somewhere else and Singapore will slide backwards into oblivion.
Guarding a country's assets is the basic function of every citizens and is part of the total defense strategy. FT are a significant part of our asset base. They deserve to have their security taken care of. In return they are helping Singapore to progress way beyond the levels that Singaporeans are capable of.
The whole pap leadership, esp LHL, ought to be charged for betraying Singaporeans
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The few hundred thousands of Ah Nehs here are not talents. Period.
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Take DBS bank as an example after the ah nehs took over the running of the bank it has rocketed up the charts to become one of the top 50 banks in the world.
When it was run by mainly home grown Singaporeans it was wallowing in the doldrums.
These ah nehs bring real value for money to the country. They give back so much more than they receive.
Agree. Many of them have fake skills and fake qualifications. Many of them are unskilled labour. What they are is nothing more than cashcows for pap to collect worker levies from the employers. Same like domestic maids
DBS has unfair advantages over OCBC and UOB. DBS got POSB for a penny. All civil servant pays and govt transactions were automatically done through DBS. It's like Lee and Lee law firm by default gets all HDB contracts
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What proportion aof FTs in Singapore that comes with skills against those that are just a pair of hands ?
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Wat drugs are u on? Is party drugs legal in kiwi land now? U seemed stoned.
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FTs in Singapore are most importantly cheaper than Singaporeans this helps make Singapore a more competitive country for overseas investors. It also help bosses save more money for investment. By the way I'm a FT in Thailand and my Thai boss constantly use me to threaten the Thai staff if they don't work hard enough he will import more of me and sack them. You see, I'm a model worker here, hard working and never give problem.
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Oh yes such talents. U mean singkies can't do the job? Singkies are being marginalized in their own country so they don't overthrow the pap. N DBS has state backing in a controlled environment. N POSB was given to DBS on a silver platter. Tat why DBS seems to perform better. U think this is a free market? If ah nehs so good, why is their country still a shit hole? Even the yanks regret letting them in.
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A ripped flag image, Internet outrage and a family life destroyed: Avijit Das Patnaik's story
Singapore
A ripped flag image, Internet outrage and a family life destroyed: Avijit Das Patnaik's story
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avijit das patnaik
Avijit Das Patnaik in Bali with his son. (Photo: Avijit Das Patnaik)
By Jalelah Abu Baker
26 Jan 2019 06:29AM
(Updated: 26 Jan 2019 01:52PM)
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SINGAPORE: “I feel like I have committed the greatest crime of the century.”
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Avijit Das Patnaik looks baffled as he utters these words, as if he is still trying to make sense of what has happened in the five months since making headlines for sharing an image - created by someone else - on social media of a Singapore flag being ripped to reveal an Indian flag.
“If you Google my name, there are more hits and searches against my name than against leading terrorists and scamsters,” the 45-year-old tells Channel NewsAsia.
The consequences of sharing the image on a Facebook post in August last year have been devastating for the Singapore Permanent Resident, who is originally from India: He’s now jobless and he, along with his wife and two young children, will now likely have to leave the country that's been their home for the last ten years.
Their HDB flat is now on the market, and all that is left is for it to be sold.
READ: Man who posted image of torn Singapore flag on Facebook no longer with DBS Bank
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Any potential buyer will be greeted first by Chinese New Year decorations hanging on the door, which the family liked enough to keep from last year’s festivities.
Inside, more such decorations are in the living room, along with Christmas posters on the wall that nobody has got round to taking down quite yet. A home-made sign of his and his wife's name is displayed proudly above the dining table.
LOVING EVERY NATIONALITY, RACE AND RELIGION
The former vice-president at DBS has now been branded a “troublemaker" by some, he points out, but his fervent desire is clearly to explain how he is sensitive to being a foreigner living in a country he says he loves.
“I can never imagine disrespecting any country or any religion. If you look in my house, you will see Chinese decorations. You will find many Muslim things. We visit mosques. We celebrate Chinese New Year every year, including doing 'lo hei' within the family. That’s how we’ve brought our kids up, that you must love every nationality, every race, every religion,” he says.
His words spill over one another as he tries to explain his affection for Singapore and its cultures.
His wife, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Patnaik, chimes in to support that sentiment.
“These are the kind of values with which we are bringing up our children, and suddenly to see what their dad has been accused of, which they know is not true … I know when he posted that forwarded picture what his intentions were, and (what) his interpretations were,” she says.
HIS BODY IS “SINGAPOREAN”
So what did he want to convey with that now notorious Facebook post, which so many people found insulting and offensive?
“On the day that I posted, I was sort of declaring that my body is Singaporean, only my heart remains Indian,” Mr Patnaik says. Over the years, he says, his friends from India have felt that he has completely changed and "become loyal to Singapore".
“That’s the interpretation that my friends have, and that day, I was actually saying yes, my body is now Singaporean,” he adds. He thought it was “socially acceptable”.
Still, that was not how many people interpreted it, and over the slightly more than one-hour interview, as he describes in detail life after the incident, his mood changes. At first, he seems hopeful that his family's life in Singapore can be rescued. Then he becomes deflated as the reality sinks in that his situation may not change. Finally, resignation seems to set in.
THE CLICK THAT CHANGED HIS LIFE
It all started on Aug 15, when the former DBS employee posted on Singapore Indians & Expats, a Facebook group with 12,000 members, the image that was already circulating elsewhere on social media.
Netizens seemed to rise in near unison to decry the image as disrespectful. He was shocked by the uproar, but was then faced with an even bigger problem than the online criticism. He was suddenly jobless.
While Mr Patnaik does not go into detail on the circumstances of what happened, DBS said at the time he had been counselled and that he was “no longer” with the bank. It said it “strongly disapproves of such actions by our employees”.
He regrets upsetting so many people, but he maintains that the image was a piece of art that was open to interpretation. There is a website that makes such images and sells them and all he did was share it, he points out.
“Even if you see the website’s definition, there is no malice in that picture. It says I live in Tanzania but my body belongs to Estonia, something like that. It is an interpretation of art, and if we go like this, we are leaving no room for the interpretation of art. Anybody can get offended by anything today,” he says.
But maybe misinterpretation was not the issue, he says. Sitting on the yellow sofa that fills the living room of his executive flat in Sengkang, Mr Patnaik leans forward as he starts on an issue which he believes is the real problem.
“It was only when certain ‘junk sites’ came out, and gave a very different twist to it (that the problem started). They said this guy has been arrested, and he has created this pic. From there, the problem started, and it was based on false reports.”
Such reports stoked the emotions of an already angry online crowd as an arrest would have made the whole issue more serious and made him look more culpable, he explains.
READ: Former DBS employee given stern warning by police over torn Singapore flag image
In fact, he was investigated by the police and given a stern warning.
THE HUNT FOR A JOB
“I thought there is light, there is clearly light, but the fact is that over the next three or four months I realised that the decision (to be given a warning) doesn’t mean anything for me on the job front,” he says.
He remains jobless despite seeking employment relentlessly. He estimates that his curriculum vitae would have reached about 2,500 potential employers.
“Every discussion ends the moment they ask ‘What is your reason for separating from your last job?’.”
Even looking for a job overseas has been difficult, with news of what happened reaching as far as South Africa, the United States and Dubai. The moment a potential employer looks him up, there are only negative things that turn up, which makes it harder to get a job in another country, he says.
“For an expat, his job is everything, his job is his lifeline."
He has been looking for a position for someone of his experience, and said he would not opt for a job that would leave his family living a “hand-to-mouth” existence. When asked if his wife could work and support the family here instead, he says she had previously tried applying for jobs as a teacher but was unsuccessful as she does not have the required qualifications.
CONSIDERING SUICIDE AT HIS LOWEST
Things have not been easy for the children as well, with their photos being circulated online and their friends approaching them to ask if their father has been arrested.
It was with all this in mind that, at his lowest point, Mr Patnaik considered committing suicide so his wife and children could get insurance payouts and continue living in Singapore.
“Our lives have completely fallen apart,” he says. He adds that he wakes up sometimes not knowing what to do the entire day.
To get himself out of a rut, he has taken to writing and has produced two books on Amazon on football and budget travel.
WHY WOULD I ADOPT A SON HERE?
Even as he struggles to deal with his unemployment and judgement by friends, family and strangers, he frequently questions others’ logic that he was being disrespectful as he was aware that this could jeopardise his life in Singapore.
His rattles off a series of rhetorical questions to try to highlight his commitment to Singapore.
“Why would I adopt a son here?”
“Why would I not have a home or retirement funds anywhere else in the world?”
“Why would I try to give back by teaching financial literacy in schools and helping construction workers to write letters?”
Such questions are borne out of exasperation, that his actions and words before the incident are unknown to his critics, and would probably make no difference in their eyes.
He and his wife openly marvel at how safe the city is for women, including for his 12-year-old daughter, who travels alone by train.
"We so deeply love the country. We always wanted to be here. We never intended anything like that," he says.
Their nine-year-old son, who they adopted in 2012 after his previous adoptive family was forced to give him up after just a month, wants to join the army when he grows up.
Mr Patnaik says that the siblings have friends from the neighbourhood they meet and play with on a daily basis. This is home to them, but that may have to change in the near future.
They have not decided on their next move, but returning to Mumbai, where they are from, is an option. It is a difficult choice for him, as they had wanted to live in Singapore “forever”.
However, he takes heart in having friends and family who have stood by him and who believe that his intentions were not malicious. His remaining time here may not be long, but he is unwavering in how he sees Singapore.
“I still feel this is the best country in the world,” he says.
Source: CNA/ja
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U earn in USD or Thai baht? N u joke lah, Thais very Jaga their own, most countries Jaga their own except singkieland
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by your reckoning
all the ministers , the ceo of big corporations in every countries
would be extremely talented
if they are not , all these countries would had slide backwards into oblivion.
how cum they neber ask for astronomical salary ?
please dont cum with the reason of perks they get.
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Thai baht of course
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Yeah right.... equivalent to Ur USA earnings...after conversion
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Uh CEO of big companies are earning damn well. Tat way pap MPs want to catch up. Didn't 1 minister say if his pay too low he very Lao kui to talk to CEOs? So must catch up lor
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CEO pay deals surge to highest level in 17 years thanks to 'persistent and increasing' bonuses, report shows
BY SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT PETER RYAN
UPDATED TUE 17 JUL 2018, 3:04 PM AEST
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Domino's Pizza CEO Don Meij in one of his company's stores
PHOTO Domino's chief executive Don Meij topped the list at $36.8 million.
SUPPLIED: DOMINO'S
Chief executive pay hit record highs over the past year as wages growth for workers continues to flatline and trust in big business ebbs amid fallout from the banking royal commission.
Key points:
ASCI chief executive Louise Davidson says results show boards out of touch with community standards
Almost one in three ASX 100 chief executives awarded at least 80pc of maximum bonus
Investors likely to use power to send protest vote at upcoming AGMs
The latest CEO pay report from the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) shows pay for company bosses is at its highest level in 17 years thanks to, "persistent and increasing bonus payments".
The startling results come against the backdrop of the banking royal commission which has revealed unlawful, unethical and possible criminal activity in some parts of the banking and insurance sectors.
Banking probe poorly judged
Banking probe poorly judged
The Government's misjudgement on the need for a banking royal commission has come back to bite it, writes Michelle Grattan.
ASCI chief executive Louise Davidson told AM the results showed chief executives and company boards were out of touch with community standards, especially given the Federal Government's campaign for corporate tax cuts.
"At a time when public trust in business is at a low ebb and wages growth is weak, board decisions to pay large bonuses just for hitting budget targets rather than exceptional performance are especially tone deaf," Ms Davidson said.
"This may be a sign that boards have lost sight of the link between a company's social licence and the expectations of communities and investors."
The survey says median-realised pay for ASX 100 chief executives rose 12.4 per cent to $4.36 million and rocketed by 22.1 per cent to $1.76 million for ASX101-200 company bosses.
Bonus payments rose more than 18 per cent, with close to one in three ASX 100 chief executives awarded at least 80 per cent of their maximum bonus.
The top three ASX 200 earners in the 2017 financial year include Domino's Pizza Enterprises chief executive Don Meij at $36.8 million; Peter & Steven Lowy of Westfield at $25.9 million and Macquarie Group chief executive Nicholas Moore at $25.2 million.
A list of the ten top earners
The surge of chief executive pay in the face of public-trust issues raises the likelihood superannuation investors will use their power to send a protest vote at coming annual general meetings under Australia's "two strikes" law.
Under an amendment to the Corporations Act, a protest vote of 25 per cent or more at two consecutive AGMs against the adoption of a remuneration report can spark a boardroom spill.
"It's a sad state of affairs when bonuses have become such a sure thing," Ms Davidson said.
"If this issue is not addressed voluntarily, we may need legislative intervention to give shareholders a greater say as we have seen in other markets like the United Kingdom.
Murky world of corporate tax cuts
Murky world of corporate tax cuts
Who really emerges as the winners? Business editor Ian Verrender looks at the push for a 25pc company tax rate.
"If they [bonuses] are not transparent and reflective of performance, we will be recommending that our members vote against those remuneration reports."
In a sign of recent investor unrest, AMP's remuneration report was rejected by 61.4 per cent of shareholders at its annual general meeting in May — the biggest rejection of executive pay in Australian corporate history.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Melbourne radio station 3AW he finds "the pay rates of people working for a lot of big publicly listed companies extraordinarily high".
"It is a free market, but shareholders, I think, are increasingly objecting to it," the PM said.
"And I think you are seeing more activism, and that is the way it should go."
The report notes there were too few female chief executives to analyse a program on gender pay diversity
"There were more CEOs called Andrew in the ASX100 sample than women," the report said.
Average wages growth has flatlined in recent years with the Wage Price Index edging marginally higher to 2.1 per cent in the most recent reading, barely keeping up with inflation.
Follow Peter Ryan on Twitter @peter_f_ryan
POSTED TUE 17 JUL 2018, 4:51 AM AEST
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