The replies given by Lim Hwee Hua, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and Transport on Sunday during a walkabout in Bishan appears to imply that it might be impossible to track how our funds are being used, just like how it is difficult to prove how the Jobs Credit Scheme does save jobs, apart from saying that it does and it has.

Mrs Lim said retrenchments may not indicate abuse of the system. She added that abuse was also hard to define, as the subsidies go into the company’s cash flow. And it is up to the company to decide how it wants to use the government wage subsidy. Speaking to reporters later, Mrs Lim added that it is “technically difficult” to define what counts as abuse, as the scheme is a “blunt instrument” where the firm can decide how it wants to use the government wage subsidy. She explained: “Because it is basically cash to companies, it is technically difficult to define what is abuse, because it goes into cash flow. You also cannot judge that once a company has retrenched workers, it must be abusing the system, because some of them might just need to be restructured. “So I think it would be difficult to judge it quite quickly. But I think there is enough peer pressure out there for companies to feel like, if they had retrenched at the word go, they would feel quite bad about it. But if it is because of business circumstances, regardless of how hard they have tried, they still needed to retrench, then I think we would have to let market forces work its way.”

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1010703/1/.html#

So even though the money belongs to the people, and also because it is given to companies -technically- as a “cashflow”, it is not possible to tell the companies how to use the money. It comes to the beginning where handing out the money was a moral hazard since there was no way proper resources could have been assigned to make sure the money was used responsibly instead. Would there then be instances like how the money given by the Obama administration to bail out the banks was in turn used to pay out obscene bonuses to bankers and insurance agents? We would not know because the Jobs Credit Scheme is essentially turned into a ‘cashflow’ for the companies and it is ‘technically difficult to define what is abuse’, because it goes into… cash flow.

So what can be done about this to protect proper and responsible use of the people’s money? Apparently, in the end we will need to rely solely on peer pressure on the companies and believe that they will act on good faith and not retrench employees after receiving money from the Jobs Credit Scheme, because they might feel bad about it. Even though it is basically what the ‘credits’ are supposed to be used for – to help save jobs by not having the companies retrench their workers.

The government has dug a hole for itself by copying the bailouts enacted by the Obama administration. The Jobs Credit Scheme should never have been created because it can be abused in more ways than one. Due to technicalities, they cannot seem to ensure its integrity either. And now if companies do see the need to retrench, the government is happy to let market forces work its way, even though it would have been the right thing to do that from the start – it might have been more painful in the short term to have businesses fail and people losing their jobs, but in the long term it would have created more efficient and productive environments. Instead, we have a fall back for the companies to exploit if they do not wish to do anything to save their own bottomlines. But the budget shortfall used to fund the scheme would surely then have to made up by putting a bill on the people like you and me. The Jobs Credit Scheme should be stopped instead of being extended.

I will always remember the time when I had one of the best ever concerts in my life in Singapore when Michael Jackson thrilled us with his hits at the National Stadium. He was young, he was hot and the world was at his feet just like many of us were. Were you there at MJ’s concert in Singapore National Stadium eons ago? What are your memories of that concert and of him? Michael Jackson’s touch and death will reverberate amongst his fans and while he might have had many many dodgy moments later on in life, his work and music stand the test of time. Michael Jackson is finally dead now but one can still enjoy his music and legacy with albums like the aforementioned “Thriller”, “Bad” and of course the notorious “Dangerous” which started to signal his decline.

The families of those kids who accused Michael Jackson of inappropriate behaviour might not be sorry for his passing, but Michael Jackson’s death will be significant for his fans. MJ was to hold his last final farewell tour in July 2009 in London this year and tickets were snapped up fast, selling out in a number of hours when they were released on sale in March. However, the concerts were later postponed till 2010 amidst rumours that the pop star was in poor health. Denials were issued. His death via cardiac arrest could just have been a sign of what he was going through that prompted that decision. How true, we will never know now as MJ is now dead and has left us and the music world.

One girl surveyed stated that dining at cafes and fast food outlets was the norm and then spending $6 – $8 on a meal was reasonable, especially since they would rather eat fast food than at cheap coffee shops because the food at the latter “is not so nice”.

Another said that allowances are only saved for the sole purpose of making purchases of luxury items such as the latest gaming consoles or clothes. A teenager commented that spending $15 to $20 each time at cafes for meals was the norm and acceptable.

Once again, the blame is laid on the feet of parents who do not spend enough time with children and teaching them the right values of saving, while creating a false environment of endless comfort using the commodity of money. But judging by the values and attitudes of the Singapore youth and younger generation in particular, it is also the result of a weak educational and value system that has seeped into and festered in the local culture.

Learning from, and building on, the current generation of Singaporeans who think they are always right and above most people from all over the world, our youth have now been brought up on a steady diet of propaganda of being the best and that nothing they do will be, or can go, wrong. Singapore has been touted as the best country for everything. Most of us are wrapped in a bubble of comfort. The recent recession has hit us hard, and will continue to do so. If the global economy does not turn around quickly and with more losing their jobs, the loss of livelihoods will seep down to the youth.

Brought up in a life of comfort, not many will be able to understand or accept the situation. But the worrying effect could be a large percentage of youths deciding to give up on their futures as they struggle to cope. There are already signs that Japan’s lost generation phenomenon has reared its ugly head in Singapore society, with kids turning to virtual reality and video games to soothe their savage souls while neglected by families in the latter’s quest for financial wealth and comfort. And to make things worse, Singaporeans’ “holier-than-thou” attitude will result in denials.

Personal debt in the future is the least of our worries for the new generation growing up. It is the shrinking future workforce available to the country and their lack of proper financial values that could cause greater problems for Singapore.

In a statement issued by a deputy director of the MDA, a license had been issued to the choir to perform at the festival, but only with Singaporean citizens. The reason given was that the song contents touch on domestic issues and only Singapore citizens were allowed to participate in the public performances.

If you check out the lyrics of the song (included below), you would notice that they are part of the everyday grouses of people living and working in Singapore. I do not see the need to disallow foreigners who chose to spend their lives in Singapore from airing their grievances, since many of the complaints are shared by Singaporeans in the first place. In fact, it just shows how the authorities at the MDA are a bunch of old armchair fogeys who just cannot see the funny side in life and laugh at themselves.

The choir’s founders also posted a damning verdict of the restricted license issued by MDA:

“We see the symptoms of a neurotic society. We find it irritating that foreigners – people that built this city, nurse Singaporean kids and bring in their knowledge – are not allowed to complain.” Complaints Choirs of the World

While it must be said the above has been slightly exaggerated, it does highlight the prevalent contradictions in the image that Singapore has tried hard to change in recent years – that of a more open, transparent and modern society embracing change. How open can you be when you find it hard to swallow a few light hearted complaints from foreigners living in your country?

Watch the video clip of the performance below and tell me it is not tongue firmly in cheek. The melody is not that catchy and you might need the lyrics to know what they are singing about.

Lyrics:

THE COMPLAINTS CHOIR SINGAPORE LYRICS

We get fined for almost everything
Drivers won’t ‘give chance’ when you want to ‘change lane’
The indoors are cold, the outdoors are hot;
And the humid air, it wrecks my hair
Those answering machines always make you hold
Only to hang up on you

*chorus

The more interesting bit of news was that out of the top 10 students in Singapore, only 2 of them were Singaporeans. It would probably surprise some and the Ministry of Education might do a little study about it, as they are generally known to over react. Certainly I would think it is no surprise that foreign students are scoring better. Most of them have flown specially to Singapore to get their educational needs. They are paying top dollar for it. If I were a parent of a foreign student, I would drill it into my child to study hard and do their best.

Most of these foreign students (especially those from Asian countries) are immensely hardworking, but this is from my own experience many years ago and there were not many then. But I believe it all stems from cultural and general attitudes, so it should have remained unchanged. And at an age when the child is still young, their thoughts would first and foremost be on studying and doing well. Unlike teens who then fly overseas for a University education – they would want to experience life from that level. The end result is that only the most focused would go on to do well in higher education.

The 2007 O Level results are impressive, but at the end of the day, not too important. It can be used to get into the college of your choice, but if you end up chasing skirts or boys at that age, it would mean nothing being in a school like Raffles Junior College.

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated on the full moon of the Thai Hindu month, and devotees are to observe a day of fasting, thanksgiving and consecration where they make offerings to Lord Muruga. What draws in interested observers outside of the Hindu faith are the spectacular shows of faith by devotees who have to walk a three kilometre path of worship and thanksgiving. What you can see (partly in the picture here) are participants who carry huge decorations called kavadis which has a milk pots within. And these kavadis are often hooked onto the participants’ bodies, which can look extremely painful to the observer but devotees are known to experience no pain at all, due to their faith and belief, and this spectacle culminates on Thaipusam.

Police are on-site to redirect traffic where necessary and to maintain order as massive crowds are normally expected during the Thaipusam festivities. I had to drive by the same road this morning and while there was a slowdown, traffic was relatively smooth, even compared to normal peak hour conditions when there are no festivities. Perhaps the Land Transport Authority could look at this as an alternative to setting up ERP gantries.

Perhaps it is best to re-look at our spending in these pessimistic times and be more frugal. Switching to public transport could help to save more in the long run, even if it is more inconvenient with the longer travel time, although to be honest, driving a car in peak hour traffic do not always guarantee getting to your destinations faster. Public transport in Singapore is quite convenient to say the least and still cheap relative to those of in other countries, even if the operators seek to increase fare prices every year. I have heard increasing complaints from locals and also expatriates who find the long travel times a pain but when I press further, they are finding things to pick at with average travel times of 30 to 45 minutes per trip. If you can wake up half an hour earlier, it can result in possible savings of a few dollars so why not do that.

Back to the upcoming shake-up of the Singapore public transport system. In future, bus routes will be open for bidding in order to promote better route operation and to the most efficient operator. However, I am not entirely convinced that this would promise lower fares as operators might transfer the cost to commuters. Even so, I believe the Singapore government will do its best to ensure commuters are not taxed too heavily otherwise they will face even more complaints.

If you think about it, taking public transport in Singapore, while providing cost savings for your living budget, might actually increase the quality of your life. You do not have to deal with driving in a traffic jam yourself and the accompanying stress. You do not have to wait in the office for anticipated traffic jams to dissipate (yes, I know colleagues and people who do that), so you get home relatively earlier and spend more quality time with yourself or family. I guess it is all to do with how positively you take the changes and work them to your advantage.

That bad habit is to slow down and start staring at incidents or accidents that have occurred near you while driving. Now it might be natural for everyone to slow down as the instinctive reaction is to make sure you don’t knock into anyone else and it is a safety barrier. But most drivers slow down and then start staring at the accident like what might have happened in the Pioneer Road accident, trying to figure out what went on and, of course, a major like of many Singaporeans – doing their best to spot the car plate or license numbers of the accident vehicles.

“What for?” you may ask. So that they can scoot off to the nearest Singapore Pools 4D outlet during lunch and buy the numbers in the hopes that they have the next ‘lucky’ 4D numbers to hit the top prize. It might not have been the same intention by the lorry drivers involved in this Pioneer Road accident, but allowing yourself to be distracted by accidents other than to slow down and drive safely is causing major road hazards.

Unfortunately there might not be an easy solution to this. It is after all, human nature, and most people are curious as to what happens around them, especially in morbid situations such as the Pioneer Road accident. Even more unfortunate is that curiosity may kill the cat, or us, in this case.

In earlier Singapore financial news, GIC has stated that their investment structure provides “appropriate downside protection” which will see long term expected lower returns despite the risk. Interestingly it raises GIC’s holding in Citigroup to 4 per cent, and GIC has stated that it does not have plans for a board seat at Citi. This no doubt comes after criticism leveled at other American financial institutions’ moves to seek investment funds from Asian and Middle Eastern sources.

This could simply be a move by GIC to strengthen its investment portfolio and provide a broader management of investing Singapore’s reserves. With the threat of 20,000 Citi jobs at risk, it might or might not have vested interest in ensuring that this does not have greater downstream impact to Singapore’s economy, which is enjoying satisfactory growth against the gloomy global economic outlook, as reported frequently in Singapore financial news. GIC has also sunk US$300 million with US property hedge Rosen Real Estate Securities to take advantage of falling values in the US property market and real estate.

Unfortunately, despite residents concern and some who have voiced it to the mainstream media, the authorities do not seem to take them to heart and continue to iterate the same reasons given – that the gantry will not be switched on unless traffic along the route fell between 20 – 30 km/hr. Given the number of people who have to use it anyway since ERP gantries were set up along the BKE, most expect the gantry to be used soon. Residents around this area now have to pay just to get out of their house to go to work in the morning.

There are some alternate routes to explore, but you would need to get up earlier to make up for the time required to make these extra turns. One way would be to enter Hillview and exit at the old firestation junction further up after the gantry, or to head straight for the junction at Beauty World and the PIE, also via Hillview. However, you can be sure that additional ERP gantries will be erected at these points in the near future as we endure more impractical attempts to curb growing traffic.