SingapuraKini

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Malaysia's opposition hails election wins

Photos

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Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) supporters celebrate after Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat was won by PAS candidate

What is wrong with our Charities?

What is wrong with our Charities?

In Singapore, there are three ways for leaders to make a lot of money. One way is the government (or government linked corporation like CapitaLand). Another way is to use religion like the New Creation Church. The third way is through charities like the old NKF.

This recent scandal is a combination of the last two where you have Buddhist monk Shi Ming Yi being arrested for financial irregularities. (Why would a monk need $20,000 a month?!) Well this is not the only thing the monk lied about. It seems that he also lied about his academic qualifications too! For a man who claims to follow a religion that denies the material world, he seems to follow it really well (money and ego). Skeptic finds this contradiction unfathomable, just like he doesn't understand pedophillic Catholic priests who renounced sexual pleasures.

So don't be fooled by external appearance. Just because some people wear robes (while others wear all white during elections) doesn't mean they can be trusted.

But this post is not about deception, this single incident is just a symptom of a bigger problem that plagues our society. There is little transparency and an entitlement mentality from our Government and it is this attitude that seems to filter down to the masses.

"However, when the core leadership is clean, corruption can be gradually diminished. Both must be prepared to take on the big ones in the highest echelons of the government. This is most painful to do, as I know from experience.Corruption has to be eradicated at all levels of government. But if there is corruption at the highest levels of a government, the problem can become intractable." Lee Kuan Yew (see link for full full speech)

Lee Kuan Yew hit the nail on the head when he said that bad habits become intractable when the people at the top practice them. If we see little transparency at the top, we'll see people hiding their accounting books at the bottom. If we see an entitlement mentality by our ministers at the top, we'll see a similar mentality by the directors of our charitable organisations. It is strange that Lee cannot see that this situation is also applicable to the current generation of PAP leaders.

Ren Ci Hospital wasn't the first charity scandal in Singapore and Skeptic predicts it won't be the last. The CAD is only a reactive tool that can be used to treat the symptoms when they flare up from time to time. The only way to remove the root cause of this problem is to tackle it at the top.

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‘Was I making any difference?’

He realises his viewscould influence juniorpolicymakers

Wednesday • April 8, 2009

Loh Chee Kong

cheekong@mediacorp.com.sg

HE WAS the first Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) to proclaim his intention to re-apply for a second term.

But as Mr Siew Kum Hong (picture) revealed, he “struggled” for months before coming to a decision because he kept asking himself the same question: Was he making any difference?

Mr Siew, 34, told Today: “I ask myself why am I doing all this?”

After an eventful two-year term that included a failed petition and futile objections to the recent changes to the Film’s Act, the staunch advocate of civil liberties believes he has found the answer, somewhat.

Optimistically, from his perspective, his views would influence “junior policymakers” who would shape government policies in time to come. At worst, his dissenting views would go down in the history books — or at least in the Hansard — in place of a “near-uniform chorus of voices in Parliament endorsing everything”.

Having had no inkling at all what to expect in Parliament, Mr Siew confessed that it did not take too long for the former lawyer, who is now a senior legal counsel for Yahoo! South-east Asia, to find himself in the thick of the action.

Memorable exchanges are aplenty, said Mr Siew, as he recalled how his calls for greater public spending to help the needy saw him labelled as “reckless” — and even “dangerous” — by some of the ministers.

“I had to be on my toes in a way that I haven’t been since I stopped going to court,” said Mr Siew.

Ruling out the possibility of joining any political party — because of various reasons, including his inability to “toe the party line” — Mr Siew revels in his role of challenging underlying assumptions and principles of Government policies.

“I actually made a very conscious decision to question the fundamentals ... if you want to talk about policy refinements, the PAP MPs would almost always do a better job than me,” said Mr Siew.

Which brings him back to his first conversation with the Prime Minister whenMr Lee Hsien Loong met the fresh batch of NMPs over lunch in May 2007.

Mr Siew said: “That was just after theParliamentary debate on the ministerial salaries. So I asked PM: ‘After all the debate ... nothing’s changed ... so what is the purpose?’”

According to Mr Siew, Mr Lee pointed out the primary function of Singapore MPs is to make a “political contribution” — which Mr Siew understands to mean “putting on record” what citizens feel — unlike their counterparts in the Western democracies who, with the help of their own policy staff, dissect the nuts and bolts of policies.

Taking PM’s stance “to heart”, it is something he “consciously bears in mind” these days.

In fact, it was partly what drove Mr Siew to start a petition to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code — which criminalises homosexual acts — even though he already knew what would be the outcome.

“I didn’t expect anything to change,” he said. Still, “if my role is to make a political contribution, then I will do my best to provide one,” Mr Siew added.

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Leong Sze Hian on pay rise survey

5 Minutes With… Leong Sze Hian on pay rise survey

Wednesday, 8 April 2009

On Tuesday, Channelnewsasia reported a survey conducted by London-based research ECA. The survey found that Singapore is placed 43rd out of 53 countries in terms of pay rise ranking for 2009. TOC spends five minutes with financial and statistical expert, Mr Leong Sze Hian, and asks him about the survey’s results and what it means for Singapore.

Question: CNA says: “Employees in Singapore will see some of the lowest pay rises this year compared to their counterparts in other places.” Out of 53 countries surveyed, Singapore is in the bottom 10 - at number 43. Why is this so?

Our open labour and “GDP growth focus” economic policies may have contributed to this. Also, we may have overdone the call to cut wages, have shorter work weeks, compulsory leave, retrain at lower wages, etc, to save jobs - leading to perhaps even companies that may not have contemplated doing so, under similar circumstances in past downturns, to in a sense follow the herd and trend.

Question: CNA says the pay rise for Singapore will only be 2%. How many workers in Singapore will actually see this rise? Or will most Singaporeans not see any rise at all?

As I understand that the 2% pay rise may be on average wages, as has been the case typically in the past, the median wage and more so the wages of the lower-income may not rise as much as average wage rise (2%), or even decline. In real terms, after adjusting for inflation, the number without or negative pay rise may be more.

Question: Does this result from the survey mean that the various schemes recently dished out by the government isn’t working?

The schemes are focused on saving jobs, rather than pay increase. So, the eagerly awaited unemployment data for the first quarter, may be a better indication of the effectiveness of the various schemes. If indeed unemployment increases a lot as well as a substantial drop in wages, then we may need to re-evaluate our strategies in the current recession.

Question: Singapore seems to be among the hardest hit in all the recent data on the economy. Why, exactly, is this so?

Perhaps an over reliance on exports, not doing enough to fight inflation by lowering costs, allowing high growth in lower-skilled, lower-wage foreign labour, over-focus on the GLC sector relative to SMEs, etc.

Question: While the survey only refers to pay rises, what about actual pay? How many workers have had their pay cut or will see a pay cut in 2009?

Perhaps the MOM could try to provide these statistics. Anecdotally, many may have lost their jobs, had wage cuts, shorter work weeks and compulsory leave which means a wage cut, retraining at lower wages, business declines for the self-employed, etc. As the recession continues, the numbers and extent of the cuts may increase. Are unemployed workers undergoing training counted as unemployed in the employment statistics?

Question: What would you recommend the government do?

Provide loans directly to SMEs instead of through the banks, stimulate spending by assuring Singaporeans that a minimum per capita financial assistance would be given to those severely affected, and provide a stipend for those undergoing retraining who need income to feed their families.

Provide more clarity and details in the employment statistics, which may help to minimise the anxiety and uncertainty that some Singaporeans may be grappling with, in the current deteriorating jobs environment.

Follow the fine example set by the Ministry of Health (MOH) for being the first agency to provide an update of the jobs (1,100 jobs) that have been taken up since the beginning of the year, and the number of vacancies (2,600 jobs) still available now.

It is also good that the WDA has given an update of the number of job seekers (35,000) who found employment through career centres at community development councils and WDA-supported programmes last year, and that more than 43,000 have already signed up for training under SPUR since its December launch.

It would be better if the WDA can give us an update on the number of jobs placed through WDA since the beginning of the year, and how many vacancies are still available, like the MOH.

Question: Is it true that employers are still hiring, as reported in the media?

Tens of thousands of jobs available have been reported in the media almost every other week since the year began.

For example, the Employment and Employability Institute (E2i) had 12,668 jobs available, more than 10,000 at the annual Careers Fair, 2,000 at the JobsDB Fair, a few thousand at various Community development Council (CDC) job fairs, etc.

Is there any double counting of jobs available?

Question: What other information do you think the government should provide to the public, in terms of employment?

In the light of the continuing economic downturn and job losses, I would like to suggest that a periodic monthly update of the jobs availability statistics be given.

I think it would be a boost to the morale of unemployed Singaporeans by letting them know the total number of jobs available, rather than just media reporting in drips and drabs.

For instance, how many of the jobs available that have been announced, have already been taken up? How many are left and still available? How many are new jobs available that have been added since the last announcement?

How many of the jobs are available now, versus those available in the future?

For example, how many of the 5,300 jobs in the two integrated resorts (IRs) may be paying salaries only when they open at the end of the year and next year?

What percentage of unemployed Professionals, Managers, Engineers and Technicians (PMETs) who undergo training are getting an allowance? What percentage are retraining without any income? What percentage have jobs waiting for them under the jobs matching scheme? How many are on the on-the-job training scheme?

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Malaysian stimulus bigger than Singapore

Malaysian stimulus bigger than Singapore

Malaysia has a bigger stimulus package than Singapore, as this Wall Street Journal map shows. While Malaysia is spending $18.5 billion or 9.3 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), Singapore is spending $13.6 billion or 8 percent of its GDP. In GDP terms, Singapore has the third biggest stimulus package in the region, smaller only than China's and Malaysia's.

South Korea has the second biggest stimulus package in absolute terms, worth $53.1 billion, but in GDP terms it is the fourth biggest, at 6.8 percent.

China is spending $586 billion or 12 percent of its GDP.

The East Asia Summit beginning in Thailand this week will try to boost the region through regional cooperation.

But there is already trouble with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's car attacked by demonstrators in Pattaya yesterday as he was leaving a cabinet meeting there. The demonstrators smashed the rear window but didn't cause any serious injuries, says the Wall Street Journal.

Is Singapore's Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam attending the regional finance ministers' meeting due to be held today? The Bangkok Post and the Nation are reporting mass anti-government protests by Thaksin's Red Shirts.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Diplomats and economic analysts predict China, in particular, will attempt to shore up its growing clout on the global stage at the three-day regional leaders' meeting, which begins Friday at the Pattaya beach resort. Topics up for discussion include plans to lessen dependence on exports to the West by broadening regional free-trade agreements. The leaders also will discuss how to release funds from a proposed emergency cash stockpile valued at $120 billion.

China and Japan have indicated they will contribute the bulk of the funds to the planned $120 billion emergency fund, known as the Chiang Mai initiative.

The summit kicks off with regional finance ministers meeting on Wednesday before leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations meet their counterparts from Japan, China, South Korea and India, beginning on Friday. They will be joined by leaders from Australia and New Zealand on Sunday for the broader East Asia Summit.

The heads of the IMF, World Bank, World Trade Organization and Asian Development Bank will also be in Thailand for a separate global dialogue with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The regional summit was supposed to take place last year but was postponed because of long-running political conflicts in Thailand, which saw Bangkok's international airports taken over by antigovernment protesters. The newly formed government of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva last month decided to host the East Asia summit in Pattaya, rather than Bangkok, to decrease chances it would be disrupted by protests. Pattaya, known for its racy nightlife, is about 150 kilometers southeast of the Thai capital.

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Sell Singapore dollars, advises UBS

Sell Singapore dollars, advises UBS

Investors are being advised to sell Singapore dollars by the Swiss bank UBS, in which the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) has a big stake.

Investors should sell both the Singapore dollar and Malaysia’s ringgit against the dollar and the euro to profit from a forecast weakening of Singapore’s currency at a policy meeting next week, according to UBS AG, Bloomberg reported yesterday.

“The ringgit would be dragged along with the Singapore dollar if, as we expect, the Monetary Authority of Singapore eases the Singapore dollar monetary policy at the April 14 meeting,” Ashley Davies, a Singapore-based strategist at the world’s second-biggest currency trader, wrote in a research note. Given the Malaysian central bank’s “apparent guidance to keep the ringgit within a tight range against the Singapore dollar, this is also likely to weaken the ringgit.”

The Bloomberg currency calculator shows Singapore dollar has now fallen to about 1.51 Singapore dollars against the US dollar, down from about 1.50 Singapore dollars yesterday.

GIC invested a massive 11 billion euros in UBS in December 2007, according to the Straits Times.

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Exploitation by the Elite

Thought for the day: Exploitation by the Elite

"The history of mankind is a history of the subjugation and exploitation of a great majority of people by an elite few by what has been appropriately termed the 'ruling class'. The ruling class has many manifestations. It can take the form of a religious orthodoxy, a monarchy, a dictatorship of the proletariat, outright fascism, or, in the case of the United States, corporate statism. In each instance the ruling class relies on academics, scholars and 'experts' to legitimize and provide moral authority for its hegemony over the masses." : Ed Crane

Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power: Benito Mussolini

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