Friday...
TGIF! Thank God It's Friday!!!
Another week has passed, time flies, as I reiterate the speed at which time zooms by...
It's the weekend, and I'm giving myself a well-deserved break tonight....I have not done any work tonight at all, except for clearing my mountain of emails and doing some easy reading of news and entrepreneurship related stuff....
I reckoned that I would be better rested to tackle any work I have after taking a rest tonight and after the shopping spree tomorrow afternoon....
I also want to take this chance to type a long post....nothing special in particular but I just want to talk about any issue that comes to mind....so it's kinda random....
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First up, I'm very very happy for my 2 friends who got back their O lvl results yesterday,....Well, they hit their targets and now, I guess they'll be busy with deciding about which JC to apply for and which subject combination to take....
Good, they have been rewarded for their diligence... =)
Feel really happy for them....
MQ was talking to me about the rationale behind studying and going to university to get that degree....she questioned about the individual desire to earn more money as a main motivation to enroll in a university programme...
Well, I probably won't have the best answer for her, but it was holistic enough as a generalization....Regardless of the reason people choose to get that much needed degree in Singapore, it has, to a certain extent, to do with the potential monetary rewards one can benefit from in future, upon graduation...
After having said that, high salaries are of course, not a guarantee and as much as people would like to complain about studying, I'm afraid that in Singapore, owning a degree these days has become more of a mainstream norm, a need, rather than a bonus....
Human resources are perhaps the most important resource our little city state has, and is a much coveted resource in many other countries envious of our respectable educational standards...
I would just follow the old adage and dish out the most sensible advice I can without taking more than two-tenths of a second to ponder about it, and which is to follow your real interests....
This can be tricky though, and is not something I want to discuss here...at least not now.... =p
Still, congrats to MQ and KR though.... =) Jiayou!
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My WiseUtd bros and I have been discussing about Singapore's position towards raising the GST...
With Budget day coming up next week right after Valentine's Day (is there any reason why so? =p ), this is becoming a real hot topic, with unionists, academics and the public speculating what kind of budget changes and allocations there will be this time round....
In the US, the federal budget for FY2008 was announced last week by Bush. Critics wasted no time in slamming it, in criticizing it and well, I guess that is always what happens when there is even more requests for supplementing the Iraq war effort....
Lemme just dwell on this issue a little more; I'm quite familiar with it because I was doing the market research for the business plan and the military market was my main focal area.....
The Bush administration is requesting hundreds of billions of dollars for what it calls the 'Global war on terrorism'....It is extremely difficult to justify such costs, especially when they run in such astronomical figures...
I expect the Democrats, who have control over Congress now, to put up an extremely tough fight against the Republicans....
Alright, back to the original issue....
Just a little elaboration about the Workfare bonus....It's meant to be the 4th pillar of Singapore's social safety net after MediShield, CPF and hmm...well, I can't remember what....
Anyway, I believe the government believes that with the 2% hike in GST, it will generate another millions of dollars of revenue which will be channeled to the lower income group to assist them, to bridge the growing income gap, to ensure a more equal distribution of disposable income....
Well, this kind of measure always brings with it all kinds of opinions; and when it has to do with more money expenditure, it is usually more opposition than the other way round...
Having said that, I do not know if it is the best solution, because it can be actually very complicated in accessing its success....there are many variables that need to be appropriately tweaked to ensure that the Workfare Bonus scheme is actually benefiting the group of Singaporeans who need it the most....
Will the bonus reach everyone in that group? I don't think so....the qualifying criteria will almost never be able to be adjusted such that it is perfect and benefits everyone....
Before the bonus can reach the lower income group, can they even survive the onslaught of the GST hike? I guess this is more of a cash-flow management problem....
Without cash on hand, it is futile to have a sum of money in the accounts receivable (workfare bonus)....
The government perhaps will need to look into this issue....
There are tons of many other issues which I believe many Singaporeans have brought up....
But, is there, or are there better solutions which can solve all the problems?
Again, there is a question mark hovering over that question....I guess no solution will ever be a panacea to this income distribution issue...
If you look at the motivation for this measure, one of it is due to the growing income gap and the need to restructure the economy....
And what are the causes? Many of them!
One of them is globalisation, and that is an external force no one has control over....
I can go on forever, but I just want to say that we should acknowledge our government's efforts in trying to do the best they can in the interests of Singapore,....
Yes, no doubt they might make mistakes too; no doubt their policies might not be the best; but will other parties or anyone else be able to bring about even better solutions?
Perhaps, perhaps not....
Right, I'm not in Singapore currently and over the last 7mths +, maybe many changes have taken place; maybe there are more old people who have to sell tissue paper at hawker centres...
But I guess, it is always very difficult to implement policies that will both be popular with everyone on such a large scale....
Most reading this should have experiences of working in small groups, in teams, in small companies, in huge corporations and the levels of hierarchies and bureaucracy are enough to turn any brilliant idea into a stale entry in the queue....
Nonetheless, all of us are working to make Singapore a more successful country; the word 'successful' can carry many definitions, and so I leave it to individuals to invent their own definitions....
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I want to briefly touch on a topic which I have been wanting to address a long time ago but always too lazy to type it out....and that is about a business that is taking the world by storm....
One of the rapidly emerging global market is that revolving energy conservation, greenhouse gases removal, efficient harvesting of renewable energy sources, etc.
Silicon Valley, which has always been known for its high-tech startups that mainly deal with PC products, have seen, in recent months, or even the past year, huge investments by venture capitalists in startups that are selling solar energy technologies....
In late 2006, the weird weather worldwide compounded this trend after scientists repeatedly point out the extent of the damage to the ozone layer and the atmosphere brought about by excessive emissions of CO2, which is causing global warming and causing all kinds of problems on Earth....
The CEO of Virgin just announced that he will be offering $25 million (I believe it's in pounds) to the best solution for CO2 removal in the atmosphere...and it has to be able to remove at least 1bn pounds of CO2 per year I think....
Yupz, just some food for thought, for aspiring entrepreneurs, for technologists, for scientists.... =)
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whoo, this has become such a long post unknowingly...
I'm kinda sleepy already and it's time to finish up my stuff for tonight before heading to bed....I think I might want to give my mum a call to say goodnight, and sms my dad too... =)
I'm going shopping tomorrow, but I will watch my spending..... =p
Below is a photo of my desk, with special focus on the photos which I have stuck on the wall....They really help a lot in making me feel closer to home....hahaz....
i will take more photos of this place in time to come....I think I will start to have the 'cant bear to leave this place' feeling in a couple of months to come....
Moving back to Singapore will probably be stressful too because I'm already so accustomed to the lifestyle here, to the streets, to the landmarks here...and everything....
It will be so entirely different.....but I still definitely am looking forward to going back.... =)
Well, it's not the time to think about that for now, prolly a topic reserved for a few months later....which will come really soon....
Ohh, and did I mention about the vdae surprise gift I received today??? =p
It's the photo right on top if you have read till this point....hahaz....
from who?
it's for the sender and me to know.... =p
Right, nitez for now....
miss u all my dear frens!
Let's work hard together for the place we call...
HOME!
6 comments:
there are certainly other alternatives to gst hike. if the govt is so interested in helping the poor..the most obvious option should be a multi-tier gst system..where gst for basic needs(rice, vege, meat) at 3%, everything else 5% and luxury goods (sk, lee hwa, goldheart) 10%..
and why are tourists getting gst rebates at the airport? increase the amt of tourists? and who earn the most from increased tourism? hokkien mee aunties or tissue paper uncles? i dont think so. why not just charge the tourists 5% gst and then the money go to the poor? and there are so many other things to tax like environment waste tax, cigarettes and liquors tax, carbon tax. i'm not complaining because we have to pay more now..i'm complaining because the govt seem to be strictly thinking along that gst line..
and we shouldnt even be comparing to other countries where the consumer tax is 10% or 20%..why? because different countries simply have different needs to fund. so why compare? some countries have free education system, some countries have a war to fight, some countries have a welfare system for its homeless and penniless. if MR Lee thinks comparison with other countries will make us feel better, i think we should be disgusted that he even think we are stupid and easy to deceive..
if u choose to be skeptical like me, i think the govt has lost some part of its credibility..for me, i choose to believe "helping the poor with gst hike" is a disguise to do sth else..who knows where the money goes to? there's simply too much things we are not seeing..after all, when they want to build the casino, the reason they sight was it will increase revenue..now we got no money? contradicting hur? i jus wish they can come out cleanly and say where the money is going into.
haha..hope i dont sound too chong dong!! lol
okiE... the only "opposition" amongst our wiSe bros has decided to speak uP once again... hAha... heY wl, u shud try sending in ur comment to new paper! i remembered tat time they were asking for the public's opnion lor... well... i certainly hope nxt time huat will not be some PAP nominee while u, an opposition one... otherwiSe i really dono who to vote for! LOL...
My view - WHY BOTHER?! Be it 5%,7% or 10% GST hike, I will still be datelesS for Vday... So i wont be affected! (at least for tat day) err... out of topiC... =P
haha..maybe i live in hougang so i am pro-opposition..
but well, i am quite fair. of cos they did gd things b4..nobody can deny that without them, we will not be enjoying life now..
but like all other things, there's no such things as forever..perhaps the PAP has brought us thus far and can no longer improve us like before. perhaps it's time for a new leader? it's like alex ferguson winning so many titles..but if tis year and next year he doesnt win, i doubt man utd will still keep him..no point being loyal..they did the country good, we say "thank you for your service, but it's time to move on.."
hahaa... its not the point of being loyal... its just tat there r no other leaders around who is better or even on par as him... nOt anyoNe can kiCk awaY theiR beSt players - Stam, Beckham n Keane like nObody's biz! Alan Pardew don even dare to drop Tevez!
We need a leader who not only has the gumption but the strength to adhere firmly to his vision and not craves in to pressure and follow the majority... Like the NKF saga, we dont need a "rubberstamp" to rule an organisation!
IF possible, nobody wants to serve NS, nobody wants to pay tax.. the opposition may do tis to win more mandate... but is tis really the beSt solution?? its hard to argue n there is certainly no right or wrong... but until our Government makes a grave mistake, eg, corruption or Fergusion leading Man.U to mid-table, i suggest we stick to wat's best for nw!
btw, i m datelesS today too... LOL...
1 more comment - NO ONE can win the league YEAR after YEARS after YEARSS... unlesS they can restart every game like me! =P
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