Wish List To End Singaporean"s Suffering

[Guest ILoveSG]

As you all know, we singaporeans are suffering to the point of breaking down. Situation now has became so bad and our living standards, way of life is now no different to slaves. There is no difference living in singapore compared to those places in Africa. Judging from various comments from other readers here, am I not right. There are solutions to make us better, these are my plans for singapore and I hope you guys give your productive comments.

1-limit foreigners working in singapore to 100 000, including foreign maids, professionals, waiters, cooks. This will greatly reduce the number of people in sg.

2- limit Tourist arrivals to 2million a year. Imagine last year we had 11 million! No wonder sg felt so cramp, mrt so crowded. To solve the problem of less crowded transport system n dependency on foreign workers, we must limit the number of people entering singapore. Before I get critisize, all those money earned goes to companies, not distributed to us.

3-set a min salary pay scale by law. Entry level pay scale, >O levels $2000, O levels f $2.5k, A level f $3k, diploma f $3.5 k, degree f $4 k. Part timers min hourly rate from $10 per hr.

4-Singaporeans must be hired first, if a Singaporeans wants the job held by a foreigner, that ft must be ask to leave n make way for us citizens.

5- we contribute NO cpf, instead have a policy where employers pay 50% of our salary to our fund.

6- no gst

7-no tax for those earning less than $50k a year, limit personal tax to 5%. No property tax or bother cleverly hidden tax

8- retirement age set at 55. Pension to be given at 3/4 of average salary for life

9- medical cost limit to $1000 incl cancer treatment etc max, best treatment must be given for citizens, healthcare must be most impt as we worked hard for the country. Free at polyclinics and pvt hospitals must be charging same rate. Private go to bill govt for our treatment n we pay a nominal fee of $5 incl of meds.

10- hdb to be sold at flat rate 3 rm at 20k, 4 rm at 30k, 5 rm at 40k. Resale flats be priced 5% higher. Housing is not a profit but for living. Limit pvt housing to 1000 units a year, price cap at $200k. No speculation allowed.

11- banks must pay min interest of 5% a year for deposits.

12- public transport must be cap at $0.50 per ride.

13- food cost be controlled, by law, hawkers must charge no more than $2 per bowl of food. Shopping centers gd court $3 and so on. Fine dining bill must be capped.

14- child are leave of 9months paid for moms n dads after birth of child, after birth 2 months addition per year till child turns 12.

15- free child care up to 12 hrs a day

16- free education till sec sch, uni must be made for all who wants to study. Price be cap at $1000 per year.

Other suggestions n up for serious discussion.

[sgboy82]

lololololol

[EasleyLim]

Hahah, is this for real? Sure we're having a tough time but I think we're hardly at those african nations' standards.

I'll dissect this later when I have time. Where you gonna get the money needed for all those stuff sia, lol.

Edited February 2, 2013 by EasleyLim

[Guest Guest]

lololololol

why LOL? It's radical but solves all issues immediately! It's a Singapore for true blue Singaporeans!

[AyeMHappi]

You're wish are alittle too unrealistic in so many ways. LOL

[fiction]

1-limit foreigners working in singapore to 100 000, including foreign maids, professionals, waiters, cooks. This will greatly reduce the number of people in sg.

sure,we can limit the foreigners working in singapore. but are YOU willing to work as a waiter, cook, maid, bus driver? you see, we think so highly of ourselves that we don't wanna humble ourselves to fill those positions. who then, is gonna fill that void should we limit the foreign influx?

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2- limit Tourist arrivals to 2million a year. Imagine last year we had 11 million! No wonder sg felt so cramp, mrt so crowded. To solve the problem of less crowded transport system n dependency on foreign workers, we must limit the number of people entering singapore. Before I get critisize, all those money earned goes to companies, not distributed to us.

cool, yeah, the money doesn't get distributed to us. end of story huh. you might not see the butterfly effect in this. if the companies don't get the extra incentives, they might not be as compelled to set up their enterprise here. that'll lead to an eventual decline in our economy.

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3-set a min salary pay scale by law. Entry level pay scale, >O levels $2000, O levels f $2.5k, A level f $3k, diploma f $3.5 k, degree f $4 k. Part timers min hourly rate from $10 per hr.

what everyone needs to realise is with minimum wage as such, our costs of living will skyrocket. the reason why living in australia is so expensive is because of their minimum wage. A 15/16yo working in F&B earns at least $15-16 an hour. This results in everything being affordable. They have a higher purchasing power, retailers can jack up prices. I don't take economics, and the terms might be wrong...but it's common sense, no?

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4-Singaporeans must be hired first, if a Singaporeans wants the job held by a foreigner, that ft must be ask to leave n make way for us citizens.

if a singapore wants a job....? the foreigner must be asked to leave? last i recall, we are a society based on meritocracy.

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5- we contribute NO cpf, instead have a policy where employers pay 50% of our salary to our fund.

what fund?

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6- no gst

so how's the government gonna pay for points 14-16?

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7-no tax for those earning less than $50k a year, limit personal tax to 5%. No property tax or bother cleverly hidden tax

8- retirement age set at 55. Pension to be given at 3/4 of average salary for life

9- medical cost limit to $1000 incl cancer treatment etc max, best treatment must be given for citizens, healthcare must be most impt as we worked hard for the country. Free at polyclinics and pvt hospitals must be charging same rate. Private go to bill govt for our treatment n we pay a nominal fee of $5 incl of meds.

10- hdb to be sold at flat rate 3 rm at 20k, 4 rm at 30k, 5 rm at 40k. Resale flats be priced 5% higher. Housing is not a profit but for living. Limit pvt housing to 1000 units a year, price cap at $200k. No speculation allowed.

11- banks must pay min interest of 5% a year for deposits.

12- public transport must be cap at $0.50 per ride.

13- food cost be controlled, by law, hawkers must charge no more than $2 per bowl of food. Shopping centers gd court $3 and so on. Fine dining bill must be capped.

14- child are leave of 9months paid for moms n dads after birth of child, after birth 2 months addition per year till child turns 12.

15- free child care up to 12 hrs a day

16- free education till sec sch, uni must be made for all who wants to study. Price be cap at $1000 per year.

you went on a downward spiral of myopia and idiocy. if you want to remove gst, the government has absolutely no way of providing all of the above. if you want a minimum wage of $10/hour, there's no way medical costs and food can be capped. labour is expensive. who's gonna pay the workers? their parents? free education? who's gonna pay the teachers if you're proposing no gst.

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yes the ideas are radical. but will it solve issues? Of course it would! it'll work for 1 week. and then we'll all burn in hell. we are not living as those in africa. or infrastructure is first world. but it's the people who are third world. the one solution we actually really need is for singaporeans to learn about contentment and optimism. singapore isn't that bad a place. stop being negative about it. it's getting annoying.

Edited February 2, 2013 by fiction

[abang]

Oh my goodness... that is the worst case scenario ever..

TS is myopic and lives in the stone ages...

Yes as a patriotic Singaporean who is 'suffering' from the sudden influx of foreigners, most of what you mentioned dont auger well with me. It would be frivolous to follow what were raised in the original post.

Unskilled and semi-skilled foreigners

They need not snatch our rice bowls directly as these are the jobs that Singaporeans scorned at.

We need them.. e.g. I hire a domestic worker to look after my mom so I can go to work with a peace of mind.

It would be a serious waste if I stay home (with zero income).

Tourism

We should never limit the number of tourist arrivals.

Their spending is good for our domestic economy.

Money matters

Yes there are some merits in setting a minimum wage.

No, Singaporeans cannot have too much cash in their hands - think how much will go to the IRs and Singapore Pools.

The collection of tax is a means of collection to fund public projects.

No tax means no funding.

Pension is ideal when there is a larger pool of younger citizens but by 2030, most of us from the baby boomers/X and Y generations will be 60 and above. Certainly we dont want to go the way North-European countries are facing with paying insurmountable pensions to the citizens.

Overall, these recommendations will increase the cost of managing a business and the domino effect is INFLATION.

Yes, medical cost escalates but with better facilities.

The only prevention is to live healthier.

Controlling real estate prices isnt as easy as ABC.

If the prices of HDB remain stagnant, then we are more likely to live in slums with zero growth potential.

It is correct that control measures are applied on private properties only.

Similarly, the cost of food and transport is not within our means.

Singapore does not have the raw materials and we depend almost 100% on imports.

So price control is not very feasible.

Hiring Staff

Instead of lamenting the hiring process, we should UPGRADE our skills and knowledge.

Be better than the competition should be our motto.

May the best man wins.

If I may use Singlish here, "Good idea but cannot work... if like that, very shiong and (in Hokkien), 无马跑。。。

[showqueen]

As you all know, we singaporeans are suffering to the point of breaking down. Situation now has became so bad and our living standards, way of life is now no different to slaves. There is no difference living in singapore compared to those places in Africa

Have you ever watched National Geographic? Do you KNOW what Africa is? Slaves?

Really?

Maybe this is a joke thread...

Abang pretty much says what I was going to say.

[Guest Guedt]

lol. So many PAP supporters here.

[Guest arowana]

post deleted 

Edited October 23, 2013 by arowana

[Guest arowana]

post deleted 

Edited October 23, 2013 by arowana

[SeannyShortcake]

Cut the salaries of the ministers.

Ta-da.

We have lotsa funds for public services now.

[Guest Guest]

People like abang and the rest of PAP supporters, did you not know that all of us are unhappy with the 2030 white paper? We had enough of foreigners invading our country! Many people pointed out that the govt is handing out work permits for foreigners like water! Enough is enough! Look at the number of domestic workers crowding orchard every week! Look at the number of pinoy and low class chinamen in our mrt! Look at the number of china bus drivers! Look at the number of china women working in our hawker centers! These people are stealing our jobs! Crowding our transport system breathing our air! It's time to stop! Singaporeans brothers! I urge you to agree that we must bring back our kampong spirit! The good old days where Singaporean kids play with Singaporean kids! We must bring back the days where a hdb flat cost $15 000 not $300 000! Our standard of living is dropping to a level that is not acceptable for any human being! Look at our old! We must stop work at age 55 n the govt must take care of us for life after all they are paid millions! So what is giving every retired Singaporean $30k a year n free medical n transport for life? Don't tell me my plans won't work! It's the job of the govt as they are paid millions.you talk abt where will the govt get taxes! Did they not earn enough from all the businesses? The billions in cpf, temasek, GIC and others?singaporeans should not be taxed at all! You guys don't have a feel of the ground about how all singapore felt! There are countless threads that expressed our unhappiness ! Singapore is for Singaporeans n no one else! Ain't it so? Like what many said, we must look after ourselves first! If any business don't like our policies they are always free to leave as we don't welcome them. Don't you agree?

[Guest 永春门副帮主]

4-Singaporeans must be hired first, if a Singaporeans wants the job held by a foreigner, that ft must be ask to leave n make way for us citizens.

Let me share you a true account and it is still happening.

SIA is a full private company (nothing to do with Government) and it is our national carrier.

However, SIA is one god-darn bloody arse-hole, hiring foreigners to fly. Priority given to foreigners! Believe me or not, is up to you.

More than 50% of SIA and Silkair pilots are non-Singaporeans! WOW! :clap: At one-time, SIA acted "ya-ya" that they went to India (not once) many times to do Cadet Pilots recruitment from India. Lots of poor RSAF pilots and local Uni grads did not make it into SIA! Amazing isn't it?! WOW! :clap:

1. Airline Pilots Association of Singapore (ALPA-S) long has given stern warning to SIA.

2. RSAF and SIA guys knew foreigners took their piloting jobs. It is not RSAF pilots not capable, it is CAAS make it extremely tough for RSAF pilots to convert Civilian license. CAAS is the only aviation authority in the whole world make it tough and super strict for their local citizens.

However, many wrote in to Prime Minister LHL and Ministry of Manpower BG Tan Chuan-Jin, and their reply was, they cannot interfere because SIA is privatised.

Anyway, PM and BG-Tan have more things to do, than disturbing the entire national carrier fleet operation. PM and BG-Tan both are unable to do anything about it.

First airline in the whole world doing wonderful foreign pilot recruitment!

Singapore Gov't wants to be number 1 in the whole world, giving free PR and Citizenship like water! Foreigners will still continue to come, get PR and obtain Citizenship eventually.

[Guest guest]

Let me share you a true account and it is still happening.

SIA is a full private company (nothing to do with Government) and it is our national carrier.

However, SIA is one god-darn bloody arse-hole, hiring foreigners to fly. Priority given to foreigners! Believe me or not, is up to you.

More than 50% of SIA and Silkair pilots are non-Singaporeans! WOW! :clap: At one-time, SIA acted "ya-ya" that they went to India (not once) many times to do Cadet Pilots recruitment from India. Lots of poor RSAF pilots and local Uni grads did not make it into SIA! Amazing isn't it?! WOW! :clap:

1. Airline Pilots Association of Singapore (ALPA-S) long has given stern warning to SIA.

2. RSAF and SIA guys knew foreigners took their piloting jobs. It is not RSAF pilots not capable, it is CAAS make it extremely tough for RSAF pilots to convert Civilian license. CAAS is the only aviation authority in the whole world make it tough and super strict for their local citizens.

However, many wrote in to Prime Minister LHL and Ministry of Manpower BG Tan Chuan-Jin, and their reply was, they cannot interfere because SIA is privatised.

Anyway, PM and BG-Tan have more things to do, than disturbing the entire national carrier fleet operation. PM and BG-Tan both are unable to do anything about it.

First airline in the whole world doing wonderful foreign pilot recruitment!

Singapore Gov't wants to be number 1 in the whole world, giving free PR and Citizenship like water! Foreigners will still continue to come, get PR and obtain Citizenship eventually.

it is crazy for our national airline to charge us Singaporeans an arm and a leg for the flights! Since its a singapore airline owned by the govt, its only right for true blue Singaporeans to travel at subsidized rates and all staff be Singaporean and not hire foreigners. singapore airline must serve Singaporeans first! If not why use our name? Don't call it SINGAPORE airlines than! Don't be a laughing g stock in the world!

[Guest buayTahan]

it is crazy for our national airline to charge us Singaporeans an arm and a leg for the flights! Since its a singapore airline owned by the govt, its only right for true blue Singaporeans to travel at subsidized rates and all staff be Singaporean and not hire foreigners. singapore airline must serve Singaporeans first! If not why use our name? Don't call it SINGAPORE airlines than! Don't be a laughing g stock in the world!

agree! Let me relate an incident. My nephew told me that he can't book a KPop concert as its full. He found out from his Singaporean friends that there were many foreigners in that concert! These foreigners are infact allowed to buy tickets overseas for a concert held in Singapore for Singaporeans!!! How absurd is that!!its becomming a worldwide joke! People are laughing at Singaporeans in the world stage now!

[fiction]

agree! Let me relate an incident. My nephew told me that he can't book a KPop concert as its full. He found out from his Singaporean friends that there were many foreigners in that concert! These foreigners are infact allowed to buy tickets overseas for a concert held in Singapore for Singaporeans!!! How absurd is that!!its becomming a worldwide joke! People are laughing at Singaporeans in the world stage now!

...what's wrong with watching a concert overseas?

seriously guys, it's not being pro-pap, or anti-opposition. it's being rational.

"Singapore is for Singaporeans n no one else!"

Same logic then. Let's never ever leave our country. Never ever travel for holiday, for work, for a sabbatical. those countries are for the locals. Does that make sense?

[Guest Busytahan]

...what's wrong with watching a concert overseas?

seriously guys, it's not being pro-pap, or anti-opposition. it's being rational.

"Singapore is for Singaporeans n no one else!"

Same logic then. Let's never ever leave our country. Never ever travel for holiday, for work, for a sabbatical. those countries are for the locals. Does that make sense?

than don't travel! Simple! If you cannot accept the country"s law, don't go. No one force you to travel! If foreigners don't like than do not come as we will not welcome you! If they Insist on comming to our country, they better observe out rules like do not seat on the mrt and allow Singaporeans to board first. You are too idealistic ! Did you not read about how unhappy we are and how much we singaporeans are suffering? You must be a foreigner as you failed to understand how we singaporeans feel.

[abang]

Salah.... I happened to live in an electoral ward that was won by Mr. Chiam See Tong for 28 years.

In fact, I have been supporting him and now, Mrs Chiam up to the 2011 Election since 1984.

Furthermore, I really find my current PAP MP disgusting..

I had shouting battles with him at his meet-the-people session..so, I cannot be a PAP man...

Never once in my life did my vote went to the "Lightning" clan.

I am sorry TS and I do know that we are very concerned about the omni-presence of foreigners here.

It is just a global trend of transmigration. Instead of "shutting ourselves inwards", we should embrace the really talented ones.

The increasing number of tourist arrivals means more income for the domestic economy.

We simply cannot depend on our local spending alone, even with the projected 6.9 million.

It is not good for our local currency without an influx of foreign spendings.

The job market, regardless of vocation and levels, should truly be based on merits.

The example of SQ is slanted as SIA just retrenched and terminated a bunch of foreign pilots.

(see:http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Business/Story/A1Story20130131-399168.html)

Of course, I dont have the figure whether or not, local pilots were laid off (anyone with real statistics?)

Senior citizens (aboe the age of 60) do enjoy discounted/concessionary transport fares during off-peak hours.

There are already hefty subsides available.

It is, therefore, incorrect to say nothing had been done.

Of course, more can be done to improve our standard of living.

By the way, I find it laughable that concert tickets were mentioned as one of the grievances.

Those tickets aint cheap.. so it is not BREAD and BUTTER issue, at all.

[Guest BuayTahan]

Salah.... I happened to live in an electoral ward that was won by Mr. Chiam See Tong for 28 years.

In fact, I have been supporting him and now, Mrs Chiam up to the 2011 Election since 1984.

Furthermore, I really find my current PAP MP disgusting..

I had shouting battles with him at his meet-the-people session..so, I cannot be a PAP man...

Never once in my life did my vote went to the "Lightning" clan.

I am sorry TS and I do know that we are very concerned about the omni-presence of foreigners here.

It is just a global trend of transmigration. Instead of "shutting ourselves inwards", we should embrace the really talented ones.

The increasing number of tourist arrivals means more income for the domestic economy.

We simply cannot depend on our local spending alone, even with the projected 6.9 million.

It is not good for our local currency without an influx of foreign spendings.

The job market, regardless of vocation and levels, should truly be based on merits.

The example of SQ is slanted as SIA just retrenched and terminated a bunch of foreign pilots.

(see:http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Business/Story/A1Story20130131-399168.html)

Of course, I dont have the figure whether or not, local pilots were laid off (anyone with real statistics?)

Senior citizens (aboe the age of 60) do enjoy discounted/concessionary transport fares during off-peak hours.

There are already hefty subsides available.

It is, therefore, incorrect to say nothing had been done.

Of course, more can be done to improve our standard of living.

By the way, I find it laughable that concert tickets were mentioned as one of the grievances.

Those tickets aint cheap.. so it is not BREAD and BUTTER issue, at all.

another so called Singaporean who is a minority. You are obviously well to do and rich and don't know how much we regular Singaporeans are suffering! Situation is so bad on the ground that we are no different than any 3rd world country. Housing is bad, healthcare is terrible, education is a joke, the stress the govt place on our kids as young as 7 is u bearable! Food cost is sky rocketing, you want more examples? You are living in your bubble, wait it bust than you know how extremely terrible we are suffering.

[fiction]

than don't travel! Simple! If you cannot accept the country"s law, don't go. No one force you to travel! If foreigners don't like than do not come as we will not welcome you! If they Insist on comming to our country, they better observe out rules like do not seat on the mrt and allow Singaporeans to board first. You are too idealistic ! Did you not read about how unhappy we are and how much we singaporeans are suffering? You must be a foreigner as you failed to understand how we singaporeans feel.

i'm a singaporean. and you're unhappy and suffering because you're not contented with what you have. that's it. i'm not rich, and i'm a minority. i work 6 days a week outside of school and i barely make ends meet. but i treasure what i have.

[EasleyLim]

1-limit foreigners working in singapore to 100 000, including foreign maids, professionals, waiters, cooks.

I wouldn't throw out a fixed number or bracket of limitations. Maybe keep it in check in accordance to the citizen population I.e 1 ft for every citizen.

2- limit Tourist arrivals to 2million a year. Imagine last year we had 11 million! No wonder sg felt so cramp, mrt so crowded. To solve the problem of less crowded transport system n dependency on foreign workers, we must limit the number of people entering singapore. Before I get critisize, all those money earned goes to companies, not distributed to us.

Are you insane? You want limit the amount of people whose sole intention is to spend money on your country?

3-set a min salary pay scale by law. Entry level pay scale, >O levels $2000, O levels f $2.5k, A level f $3k, diploma f $3.5 k, degree f $4 k. Part timers min hourly rate from $10 per hr.

Min wage will work for pt jobs, not full time. If you wanna see how well fixed pay work in accordance to education level and not work performance, just look at SAF.

4-Singaporeans must be hired first, if a Singaporeans wants the job held by a foreigner, that ft must be ask to leave n make way for us citizens.

I wouldn't say we should make it the law that sporean must be hired first, but make it attractive for the employers to hire singaporean. Make it expensive to hire fts (more levys), make it cheaper to hire sporeans (less cpf or whatever the fuck employers have to pay)

5- we contribute NO cpf, instead have a policy where employers pay 50% of our salary to our fund.

Contradicts to the previous point. Abolish cpf, make everyone pay more income tax.

6- no gst

Only on daily essential items. If you wanna buy a diamond encrusted watch, you will damn well pay gst for it.

7-no tax for those earning less than $50k a year, limit personal tax to 5%. No property tax or bother cleverly hidden tax

Absolutely not. Progressive tax in which the rich gets tax more is way better. Like I said previously, if you can afford to buy all the expensive stuff, you can afford to pay more tax.

8- retirement age set at 55. Pension to be given at 3/4 of average salary for life

No CPF, pension who give? Average salary of which position? Junior ah? Entry ah? Vice-president ah? Liddat private companies would rather employ ft then fire them than hire locals and pay them forever. I rather increase their corporate tax than make them pay pension.

9- medical cost limit to $1000 incl cancer treatment etc max, best treatment must be given for citizens, healthcare must be most impt as we worked hard for the country. Free at polyclinics and pvt hospitals must be charging same rate. Private go to bill govt for our treatment n we pay a nominal fee of $5 incl of meds.

At least you got one point correct. Healthcare should be made free for non-serious illness and minor operations (I.e flu jabs, polyclinic consultations). Costs of major ops or complicated illness should have a cap too. Long-term illness should be left up to the discretion of the family and doctors.

10- hdb to be sold at flat rate 3 rm at 20k, 4 rm at 30k, 5 rm at 40k. Resale flats be priced 5% higher. Housing is not a profit but for living. Limit pvt housing to 1000 units a year, price cap at $200k. No. speculation allowed.

Not well-informed about this to critic this.

11- banks must pay min interest of 5% a year for deposits.

Only if it's balanced out by lesser regulations on investment with your money.

12- public transport must be cap at $0.50 per ride.

Sure. But only within certain time period. Can help with congestions and peak hours too.

13- food cost be controlled, by law, hawkers must charge no more than $2 per bowl of food. Shopping centers gd court $3 and so on. Fine dining bill must be capped.

No way. You'll limit the variety of food you get. Some type of food are fucking cheap to make, some are more expensive. 2 bucks XO fish beehoon might sound nice until you realize your you tiao and tau huey also becomes 2 bucks.

14- child are leave of 9months paid for moms n dads after birth of child, after birth 2 months addition per year till child turns 12.

9 months of paid leave for the first year AND 2 months after for every year till your groispawn turns 12? Lol no, like that I rather employ and fire fts. How's this? I let you keep your job before AND after you pop one out and give you less unpaid leave in addition to your pre-existing maternity leave. If possible, I let you work from home.

15- free child care up to 12 hrs a day

Govnt paid childcare up til 12 years old.

16- free education till sec sch, uni must be made for all who wants to study. Price be cap at $1000 per year.

Free education up to uni.

In addition to all these, the govnt should drastically increse all personal, income and corporate taxes. Want so many free things of course make you pay for it lah. Give back to the society that help you with so many things.

Your measures are lacks foresight and does not focus on long-term sustainability. At best they can only 治标不治本，at worst, you just destroyed a nation in 3 generations or less. Congratz.

Edited February 2, 2013 by EasleyLim

[fiction]

another so called Singaporean who is a minority. You are obviously well to do and rich and don't know how much we regular Singaporeans are suffering! Situation is so bad on the ground that we are no different than any 3rd world country. Housing is bad, healthcare is terrible, education is a joke, the stress the govt place on our kids as young as 7 is u bearable! Food cost is sky rocketing, you want more examples? You are living in your bubble, wait it bust than you know how extremely terrible we are suffering.

food costs are skyrocketing. it's not a simple matter to combat inflation. simply raising wages will aggravate that situation. i'm not saying that our wages are fine now -- it's not. but to simply to that is not the solution..

we are very different from third world countries. their environment is much, much worse. and their people are much, much better. please never insult their strength and resilience.

[butterjampeanut]

Your measures are lacks foresight and does not focus on long-term sustainability. At best they can only 治标不治本，at worst, you just destroyed a nation in 3 generations or less. Congratz.

Agree. Too many flaws with the suggestions.

In another note, don't everything also blame foreigners la. I realised some people just blame the foreigners for everything that happens to them even though the foreigners are not the direct cause.

[doncoin]

I don't have time to reply in full but I am amused by iLoveSG's post. Lots of whining and no foresight. Basically he expects a welfare government. Nobody owes you anything in life. You work for it.

[Gray]

As many other posters have already stated, the countermeasures that you are proposing are highly unrealistic. Singapore is a small country with virtually no natural resource. We can't manufacture, we can't farm. How do you think Singapore has risen to become what it is today, which is a glaring anomaly of First World Country right smack in the midst of the not so well off and the downright destitute neighbours surrounding us in South East Asia? Because of our brand image and policies that make it attractive for businesses to invest in Singapore and make Singapore a global hub for operations in SEA or whatever. Tourism is a billion dollar industry, the foreigners are basically giving us $$. We LIVE off human resource and wealth and it would kill Singapore if that was taken away from us. Where else are we going to get the money from to finance all of the policies you propose above? The money has to come from somewhere.

It's not as simple as telling the businesses to go away if they don't like our policies. If they go away, it means that A LOT of Singaporeans are going to lose their jobs. Already MNCs are considering other countries to invest in. Our position as the regional hub is very shaky and can be easily taken away. It is VERY easy for Singapore to regress into a state the likes of Vietnam or Cambodia if we allow it. And by the way, Singapore is nothing like countries in Africa. I'm really sorry to say that it is a very ignorant statement. Do we have starvation, war, child rape, genocide and the likes happening in this country? Worse crime I can really think of here are inconsiderate litterbugs, that's all.

I agree that locals aren't well taken care of but still, if you were the PM, I think Singapore will sink in maybe a year.

[Guest iLoveSG]

As many other posters have already stated, the countermeasures that you are proposing are highly unrealistic. Singapore is a small country with virtually no natural resource. We can't manufacture, we can't farm. How do you think Singapore has risen to become what it is today, which is a glaring anomaly of First World Country right smack in the midst of the not so well off and the downright destitute neighbours surrounding us in South East Asia? Because of our brand image and policies that make it attractive for businesses to invest in Singapore and make Singapore a global hub for operations in SEA or whatever. Tourism is a billion dollar industry, the foreigners are basically giving us $$. We LIVE off human resource and wealth and it would kill Singapore if that was taken away from us. Where else are we going to get the money from to finance all of the policies you propose above? The money has to come from somewhere.

It's not as simple as telling the businesses to go away if they don't like our policies. If they go away, it means that A LOT of Singaporeans are going to lose their jobs. Already MNCs are considering other countries to invest in. Our position as the regional hub is very shaky and can be easily taken away. It is VERY easy for Singapore to regress into a state the likes of Vietnam or Cambodia if we allow it. And by the way, Singapore is nothing like countries in Africa. I'm really sorry to say that it is a very ignorant statement. Do we have starvation, war, child rape, genocide and the likes happening in this country? Worse crime I can really think of here are inconsiderate litterbugs, that's all.

I agree that locals aren't well taken care of but still, if you were the PM, I think Singapore will sink in maybe a year.

obviously another foreigner whom the pap govt gave you citizenship! Did you do your NS? Are you telling me that PAP is doing that good a job? You and the pap cronies once again want to paint another doomsday picture! Sg govt has uncountable billions and billions! We won't starve if the govt invest 100k a year in its own people! Did you not read from the Internet how much we true blue Singaporeans are suffering day after day? Did you not hear complaints that price of everything keeps on increasing? That hdb kept on rising? All the govt need to do is sell brand new flats at 20k to us! That's all we want! A place to live! The govt can afford not to tax us a single cent and give us back the billions earned per year thru temasek and GIC! I bet you with so much money we don't even need to work! How long have you been a new citizen?

[Guest IloveSG]

And our public transport system, did you not read how many Singaporeans complaint abt it everyday? Situation is so so bad that our transport system is the joke of the world and many thinks its one of the worst transport system in the world! Even Thailand"s transport system is so much better than ours! I am so ashamed abt out mrt! Not mention our sad sad sad state of busses that even china workers went on strike! Don't you know the world is laughing at us!

[EasleyLim]

And our public transport system, did you not read how many Singaporeans complaint abt it everyday? Situation is so so bad that our transport system is the joke of the world and many thinks its one of the worst transport system in the world! Even Thailand"s transport system is so much better than ours! I am so ashamed abt out mrt! Not mention our sad sad sad state of busses that even china workers went on strike! Don't you know the world is laughing at us!

Have you taken NYC's subway or UK's metro? In all honesty, ours already quite bloody good liao compared to theirs. SMRT is a victim of setting the bar so high in the older days that they fail to live up to it. I'm not excusing their lack of foresight for infrastructure sustainability but your measures are no better than PAP's import-FT-until-we-burst policys, it's just on the other end of the specturm.

Edited February 2, 2013 by EasleyLim

[Guest Is-This-True-Abt-SQ]

do we know that it's cheaper for foreigners to take SQ flying into Singapore

and more expensive to take SQ flying out?

even award redemption for flights those surcharges, etc are more for SQ flights out of SG than those coming in (!)

do a search on SQ website, compare.

[maturedude]

stupid wish lol

[Guest PHD]

I wish the HDB can build more HDB flats that rent out to Singaporean family with total income less than $3,000 monthly. The rent money should be 10% of the household income and unlimited tenors. For example if household income is $2,000, then the monthly rent is $200. And tenant family can stay in the flat for as long as the like.

In Brunei, the sultan builds houses like that scheme for his people. Any young adult couple can apply for the house.

[Guest IlovrSG]

New hdb must cost less than $30k with interest free loan! There must also be no town council service charge! Electricity be cap at $20 max.if u don't want to buy flats, rental be at $100?these will make Singaporeans want more babies.instead of cash hand outs. Every block has full day or night care child care centers fully paid by the million dollar paid govt. if they can employ cleaners to clean our flats at $50 a month that will eliminate the need for thousands of maids that fill our island every weekend!

[fiction]

I bet you with so much money we don't even need to work! How long have you been a new citizen?

wow, how i wish our country never needs to work.

[Guest 永春门副帮主]

The job market, regardless of vocation and levels, should truly be based on merits.

The example of SQ is slanted as SIA just retrenched and terminated a bunch of foreign pilots.

You do not know anything about SIA Flight Operations at all. You believe what media wrote.

Tiger Airways. Jetstar and Scoot recruited foreign pilots and there are still lurking around. CAAS, ICA and MOM have no control on this. By the way, foreign pilots still keep coming in.

I knew exactly what's is going-on in CAAS Licensing Section. Till now, nobody dare to probe this matter. Local Gov't is not protecting citizens' job. (that is one of the typical real cases - whereby foreigners have really taken away our poor local born Singapore Citizens' job!)

CAAS deliberately make it so tough (near impossible) for RSAF pilots to convert military pilot's license to CAAS pilot's license. Also, CAAS made it extremely impossible for local Singapore born citizens with foreign professional pilot's license to convert to CAAS pilot's license!

CAAS reasoned that they must follow according to ICAO licensing conversion terms. WTF?! India, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, China, Indonesia, USA and etc do not pound hard on their citizens.

For your information -

US Navy/Airforce Pilots convert to FAA pilot's license with just finger snap.

Royal Australian Air Force Pilots, got their CASA license fairly easy.

Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia welcome allows RMAF Pilots convert their military pilot's license to DCA Pilot's license.

... ... The list goes on and on.

Did you know how CAAS acting cruel towards its own local born citizens?

I can tell you, CAAS is one of the most f***ed-up satutory boards. No wonder Singaporeans have been saying "Committee Against Aviation in Singapore".

Singapore is the only country in the world that did this to its own Citizens. Well done CAAS! Wonderful job SIA! Please keep it up! :clap:

[showqueen]

agree! Let me relate an incident. My nephew told me that he can't book a KPop concert as its full. He found out from his Singaporean friends that there were many foreigners in that concert! These foreigners are infact allowed to buy tickets overseas for a concert held in Singapore for Singaporeans!!! How absurd is that!!its becomming a worldwide joke! People are laughing at Singaporeans in the world stage now!

No, we're laughing at YOU.

[showqueen]

And our public transport system, did you not read how many Singaporeans complaint abt it everyday? Situation is so so bad that our transport system is the joke of the world and many thinks its one of the worst transport system in the world! Even Thailand"s transport system is so much better than ours! I am so ashamed abt out mrt! Not mention our sad sad sad state of busses that even china workers went on strike! Don't you know the world is laughing at us!

Singapore has one of the nicest, clean and timely MRT in the world. I've been to quite a few different countries and there's no comparison. Singapore's Circle Line is the Mercedes Benz of subways. The busses are quite nice as well.

The Chinese bus drivers went on strike over pay, not because of the sad state of busses.

You sound spoiled.

[glowingember]

Have you taken NYC's subway or UK's metro? In all honesty, ours already quite bloody good liao compared to theirs. SMRT is a victim of setting the bar so high in the older days that they fail to live up to it. I'm not excusing their lack of foresight for infrastructure sustainability but your measures are no better than PAP's import-FT-until-we-burst policys, it's just on the other end of the specturm.

Hmmm...not tried the Subway but have taken the Tube more than 10 years ago.

I remember appreciating SMRT then.

But recent travels to Seoul, Hong Kong and Taipei made me think otherwise.

if these countries/cities can make public transportation cheaper, faster and less crowded, SMRT can learn from them.

I for one wish the ministerial pay be lowered. Anyway, whatever happened to the pay review of the ministers?

Last I heard they were taking the recommendation into consideration and that's it.

[Guest 永春门副帮主]

do we know that it's cheaper for foreigners to take SQ flying into Singapore

and more expensive to take SQ flying out?

even award redemption for flights those surcharges, etc are more for SQ flights out of SG than those coming in (!)

do a search on SQ website, compare.

Not surprising of your findings.

In other countries, Citizens entitle to discount on their own airlines.

SIA is a private company and they can do whatever they want. SIA is our world-wide famous national carrier, however, they do not belong to Singapore Government, pilots are non-Singaporeans, mostly all beautiful Air-Stewardess are from Mainlander China and foreign countries, SQ airfares are freaking expensive and etc.

Yet, I do not understand why Singaporeans feel so proud?

Those poor local born Citizens cannot make it into SIA to become Air-Steward/Stewardess, joined other carriers and many gave up.

Well done SIA! Keep it up! Let our national air carrier continue to soar high in the sky throughout the world! :clap:

[Guest IloveSG]

Singapore has one of the nicest, clean and timely MRT in the world. I've been to quite a few different countries and there's no comparison. Singapore's Circle Line is the Mercedes Benz of subways. The busses are quite nice as well.

The Chinese bus drivers went on strike over pay, not because of the sad state of busses.

You sound spoiled.

shut your filthy mouth! Are you blind? Don't you know how Saw ran mrt to its knees? Don't you know true blue Singaporeans are complaining abt the 3rdworld transport system day after day and here you are saying we are lairs! Do you even take public transport? You must be a scholar or a new citizen!

[Guest Guest]

Singapore has one of the nicest, clean and timely MRT in the world.

Just which Singapore have you been living in? The one in the 1980s when the MRT first started? Please get back to reality. And FYI, there is a phone app called MyTrasport by LTA which will announce any train breakdowns for you, just in case you are unaware of the frequent breakdowns of our MRTs. LOL!

[Guest Guest]

Just which Singapore have you been living in? The one in the 1980s when the MRT first started? Please get back to reality. And FYI, there is a phone app called MyTrasport by LTA which will announce any train breakdowns for you, just in case you are unaware of the frequent breakdowns of our MRTs. LOL!

how bad is our public transport system? Uneven Somalia will reject it!

[showqueen]

shut your filthy mouth! Are you blind? Don't you know how Saw ran mrt to its knees? Don't you know true blue Singaporeans are complaining abt the 3rdworld transport system day after day and here you are saying we are lairs! Do you even take public transport? You must be a scholar or a new citizen!

I take MRT every day to and from work. It is quite nice. Dependable and clean. Nicer than some of the taxis.

And, btw, you sound a little 'off'

[showqueen]

Just which Singapore have you been living in? The one in the 1980s when the MRT first started? Please get back to reality. And FYI, there is a phone app called MyTrasport by LTA which will announce any train breakdowns for you, just in case you are unaware of the frequent breakdowns of our MRTs. LOL!

Just how many other world-mrt systems have you been on?

[Guest guess]

i guess every country transport have breakdown. just that we dont know about it right ??? HDB prices are ok i guess i have a 4 room flat i am happy with it. 30 k for a HDB i think i can buy many of it ............. building it i think it cost more then 30k hahahahahaha.if u are ao unhappy then go other place to stays.

[showqueen]

Oh yes, let's not forget to add to the horrible things in Singapore:

MDA blocking Xtube on Starhub. That should be #2

[EasleyLim]

Hmmm...not tried the Subway but have taken the Tube more than 10 years ago.

I remember appreciating SMRT then.

But recent travels to Seoul, Hong Kong and Taipei made me think otherwise. If these countries/cities can make public transportation cheaper, faster and less crowded, SMRT can learn from them.

I for one wish the ministerial pay be lowered. Anyway, whatever happened to the pay review of the ministers?

Last I heard they were taking the recommendation into consideration and that's it.

Iirc, Seoul's train system also quite packed during peak hours. But yeah, I agree smrt definitely can learn a thing or two from other asian countries.

[glowingember]

i guess every country transport have breakdown. just that we dont know about it right ??? HDB prices are ok i guess i have a 4 room flat i am happy with it. 30 k for a HDB i think i can buy many of it ............. building it i think it cost more then 30k hahahahahaha.if u are ao unhappy then go other place to stays.

If I'm not wrong, the land price sold by URA to developers are very high, that's the starting reason for the high price of our housing units. The property tax and valuation of our houses are affected by the similar units sold. Who's buying them besides born Singaporeans?

A 4-room flat in Marine Parade cost $25000 in 1977. The same unit was sold at $140000 in 1993 and now it's worth more than $400000. My colleague thought it was great as it meant higher value for her flat too. Base on this rate, I asked how much her teenaged daughter would be expected to pay when it's her turn to buy and how much loan is her daughter going to take? She started to be worried.

Go to other places to stay if you're unhappy? That's the basis of then-PM Goh Chok Tong's 2002 message to Singaporeans: Are you a stayer or a quitter?

[gongtang]

Lolz, u sound ridiculously greedy. Please lah, even if we were to wish, wish for something more realistic leh. Wish for something smaller. The only two wishes i agree to r 10 & 12..

[dannysuz]

People like abang and the rest of PAP supporters, did you not know that all of us are unhappy with the 2030 white paper? We had enough of foreigners invading our country! Many people pointed out that the govt is handing out work permits for foreigners like water! Enough is enough! Look at the number of domestic workers crowding orchard every week! Look at the number of pinoy and low class chinamen in our mrt! Look at the number of china bus drivers! Look at the number of china women working in our hawker centers! These people are stealing our jobs! Crowding our transport system breathing our air! It's time to stop! Singaporeans brothers! I urge you to agree that we must bring back our kampong spirit! The good old days where Singaporean kids play with Singaporean kids! We must bring back the days where a hdb flat cost $15 000 not $300 000! Our standard of living is dropping to a level that is not acceptable for any human being! Look at our old! We must stop work at age 55 n the govt must take care of us for life after all they are paid millions! So what is giving every retired Singaporean $30k a year n free medical n transport for life? Don't tell me my plans won't work! It's the job of the govt as they are paid millions.you talk abt where will the govt get taxes! Did they not earn enough from all the businesses? The billions in cpf, temasek, GIC and others?singaporeans should not be taxed at all! You guys don't have a feel of the ground about how all singapore felt! There are countless threads that expressed our unhappiness ! Singapore is for Singaporeans n no one else! Ain't it so? Like what many said, we must look after ourselves first! If any business don't like our policies they are always free to leave as we don't welcome them. Don't you agree?

Very contradicting.

1. You want to go back to the old days and yet you want high pay.

2. You want to have cheap HDB and yet you want the HDB like condo.

3. You do not want to work as low pay cleaner and yet you reject FWs.

4. You want to have jobs but yet you do not want foreign investors.

5. You want govt to take care of you after 55 years and yet you do not want to pay tax to them.

If you want to go back to kampong spirits, please be contented like a kampong man. simple life. If every singaporean is like a kampong man, singapore will be back to kampong spirits. For example, if everyone walk to work, there will be no mrt or bus and the cost will be lower. If every parent is happy with their children performance, there will be no top school and fee will be lower. If everyone stay in their HDB for life, there will be no new HDB and the cost will be lower. This is 因果