THE TEMASEK REVIEW

SpitOnTheFace:

PAP and FTs and PRs spit on my face and piss on my head…sighs

And so it is also what it is today...:

With him diggin deeper and damaging his son’s career and pap’s foundations. Success lky! Failure lky too!!!

Globalworker:

The stance adopted by the people quoted above is highly unfortunate. Singapore, like NY or London, has been built by people brought “TOGETHER” and not separated by jingoism. People have come from all walks of life to contribute and develop Singapore and that is it’s beauty. Dont copy what cheap politicians in India or Pakistan are doing, look at their countries. Grow, with all, else you will die, alone

Exposer:

“What better magazine than an ANIMAL magazine to describe locals.”

National Geographic Society is inappropriate organization to interview old fart. The most suitable organization is Animal Planet because Old Fart is speaking as Emperor of all Kangaroos. Animal Planet will want to interview this rate species of kangaroo that rock the world by losing unprecedented billions of money and giving nonsense to boost his own ego and saving his face throughout the world. Australia can’t even come close to being call the Kangaroo Kingdom, only SinLand has that honour.

Frankie Tan Kim Cheng:

Globalworker, you must one of the foreign trash taking away our ricebowl and now pontificating on why we should let shiploads of buggers like you in. You may like fornicating with the powers that be but please remember that we are just a tiny dot and unlike New York or London, our resources can only absorb so much before everything collapses.

funny:

Great job LKY, well done!
So all the oppositions need to do in this coming election campaign is to repeat these quotes in the rally, and I am sure the we citizens will become very “hard-driving” and voted for change, as MM desired!

Oldster:

“The stance adopted by the people quoted above is highly unfortunate. Singapore, like NY or London, has been built by people brought “TOGETHER” and not separated by jingoism.”

Globalworker is but one of those HYPOCITICAL ang mohs — or ang moh wannabe — who’d say one thing to serve their selfish needs. But would go the other way when NON-WHITEY IMMIGRANTS flood their very own home countries.

And they are NOT happy when we NON-WHITEYS **DARED** tell them to fark off whence they come.

someone sad for singapore:

If PAP wins the next election,

Singapore is surely, finished by then.

Singaporean:

“Over time, Singaporeans have become less hard-driving and hard-striving. This is why it is a good thing that the nation has welcomed so many Chinese immigrants.” sounds like “Over time, ruling govt have become less hard-driving and hard-striving. This is why it is a good thing that the Parliament should welcomed more opposition.”

Dr Syed Alwi:

Dear Singaporeans,

I think that you have to do much more than voting for the Opposition. First of all – the Opposition cannot even field enough candidates to challenge the PAP ! Most Singaporeans are just screen critics only. Even if you do find enough courageous candidates – the balance of votes has been tilted in favour of the PAP by this huge influx of Foreign Talent. These FT’s owe it to the PAP and they will surely vote for the PAP.

I guess Singaporeans have a lot of serious thinking to do. This is where the SDP may be right after all……

One thing is clear to me though – the balance of votes is tilted towards the PAP via these FT’s………

For me personally – I guess migration to Australia has become a serious option. Why bother put up with nonsense in Singapore when a better life awaits in Australia ?

Regards
Dr Syed Alwi

Tom:

They forgot why we voted them from the begining . Its because PAP stands for people’s action party . Now since they don’t give a shit to us ( the citizens ) , time to kick their butt real hard .

ronin:

I will put on my spurs to decimate PAP at the next election!!!

PeterL:

Alwi-

That is not the Dr. Syed Alwi I perceive don’t throw in the towel so easily.

Dr Syed Alwi:

Dear PeterL,

The problem with Singapore – is the Singaporean himself ! Here we have all these people who want to vote for the Opposition. Well and good. But who wants to JOIN the Opposition and run for office ? No one ! Singaporeans are a timid and selfish lot. Its all just arm-chair criticism. But no one really wants to risk his or her neck by joining the Opposition and try getting elected.

Our Opposition parties do not even have enough candidates to field during elections.

As for me – I am very tired of it all. I’ve been in this cyberspace thing for well over a decade now. 14 years. Its the same old story. A lot of hot air but no one wants to do the job because of FEAR & SELFISHNESS.

Now the PAP has brought in this huge influx of Foreign Talent. These FT’s are going to vote the PAP. I can tell you that for sure.

Sometimes I think – Chee Soon Juan and the SDP are correct. You cannot beat this system by playing by its rules – which are rigged to favour the PAP.

Of course – I do NOT advocate that Singaporeans march through Orchard Road demanding Liberal Democracy. I think what is needed – are more Singaporeans willing to openly step forward and JOIN the Opposition.

Don’t just be willing to vote for an Opposition that cannot even find enough candidates. JOIN the Opposition and BE the change that you want to see happen.

Reminds me of Michael Jackson’s Man In The Mirror.

Dr Syed Alwi

Sekani Dorbai:

Dr Syed Alwi on Fri, 25th Dec 2009 4:47 pm

Bluntly put. But I like it!
You rock!
I hope to see you running for office in this coming election.
Register early to avoid missing the opportunity.
Cheers!

Political SalesMaN:

Singaporean are unhappy with the influx of immigrants, I would said “Yes”. The LKY regime has motive to “Murder & Slaughter” our last Generation, The policy ‘STOP AT TWO”.
Even “Sterile” the parent.Now end meet they just top up to influx of immigrant.A devilish way to end our Singaporean

lalaland:

To those who say that new citizens will vote for PAP in the coming GE, I beg to differ. Its not as simple as black & white. What makes you think that they are so different from the 3rd or 4th generation Sporeans when it comes to casting a vote?

Those from China are very vocal, they can smell a rat when they realize that a political party is too close to their Communist party for comfort that stresses party dominance, falling in line or else threats. They have gone thru a lot especially those brought up by grandparents & parents under the Cultural Revolution. They know what real repression and veiled threats are.

As for the Indians, they have a vibrant democracy and they are very used to vocal debates & challenges. They have many state parties and 6 national parties in India to date. They would want to hear what all parties have to say before casting a vote.

There is still hope for the Opposition to woo new citizens and explain why they too would be better under them. The problem that I see lies with the old citizens: the Elite electorate comprising lawyers, doctors, bankers, top end civil servants, entrepreneurs. If only this group can also see the light with the ordinary Sporean folks, Opposition may be able to squeak past the usual 30 to 33% against PAP.

And another group of old citizens stuck in a time warp: these are the ordinary Sporeans folks who just cannot get away with the idea that without PAP, Spore would fall off from the face of this Earth.

And lastly Dr Syed Alwi’s comments is right about screen critics, in the last GE2006, there was so much venting against PAP but it still translated to status quo of 2 seats for Opposition. Yes, there were some erosion of popular percentage to PAP but still status quo of 2 Opposition seats angered netizens.

PeterL:

Anonymous Friday-

Further to my last paragraph,with your grasp and command of the English language you may be a torch of hope or Mentor to the young “interactivist” good luck and I wish you well,definitely you will get our votes should you walk the talk.

As for me and my retired buddies we are apolitcal but that does not stop us from discussing politics.

Anonymous:

@ PeterL on Fri, 25th Dec 2009 6:33 pm

You are wrong to assume that everyone who disagree with the incumbent are NECESSARILY “smooth talker with personal agendas”. It is in the same “old” bunker mentality of “fixing” the opposition behaviour i.e. anyone not agreeing must have personal agenda and must be “fixed”.

There is a lot of DISENCHANTED people out there I spoke to who CLAMOUR FOR CHANGE AND DON’T HAVE PERSONAL AGENDAS because they are dissatisfied with the way this country is now and heading too.

On a practical level, GOD FORBIDS ALL AND EACH TO HAVE A “PERSONAL AGENDA” AND CONTESTING A VIEW OR ELECTION ON JUST A PERSONAL AGENDA AND EVEN IF ONE GETS INTO PARLIAMENT, IT IS ONE VIEW AND ONE VOTE INSIDE AGAINST 83 OTHER VOTES TO ACHIEVE ONE OWN’S AGENDA – can that succeed except in case of an absolute Machevellian dictator like Hitler or Joseph Stalin or Nikolai Ceausecu??

It is impossibility for one single opposition MP in Parliament – beyond the realm of even imaginative fiction at best!!

At worse, it is naivety in the extreme closer to todler’s thinking.

Very interesting of your closing comment though -

“As for me and my retired buddies we are apolitcal but that does not stop us from discussing politics”

HOW DO YOU KNOW AND CONCLUDE TO ASSUME THAT OTHERS HAVE A PERSONAL AGENDA INSTEAD OF THAT SOMEONE ELSE INCLUDING ME COULD BE THE SAME LIKE YOU – “APOLITICAL BUT THAT DOES NOT STOP ONE FROM DISCUSSING POLITICS” AND CLAMOURING FOR CHANGE AND BETTER SOCIETY FOR THE NEXT GENERATION KNOWING THEIR OWN LONGEVITY ARE NOT DURABLE?????

Or Is is often the case of people projecting themselves in the opposite direction of what they actually are – that is they are actually intensely political and discussing politics?

ONLY YOU KNOW YOURSELF, Peter L,

Anonymous:

fpc on Fri, 25th Dec 2009 6:57 pm

Yes, you are right. They are NOT CEOs in the business corporate world I believe.

I believe Mr. Ng Kah Ting was a secondary school teacher before he was elected PAP MP for Ponggol Constituency. And some other MPs are just trade union grassroot leaders including Mr. Devan Nair and Mr.Phey Yew Kok?.

PeterL:

Anonymous-

One after thought if no agendas MP allowance $18,000×12x min 3 years is not too bad.(no offence to those who are dedicated)

Benny:

3 golden Rules to be good in politics

1 Must only say yes
2 Must be good at licking
3 Go back to rule no 1

btan:

LKY should resign and retire. He’s taking million dollar salary to do nothing and talking nonsense.

Competition:

We can see it like this. Either we face them here while they work “alongside” you, or you face them from New York or Shanghai as they work “against” you. This is global competition. It’s a “cruel” harsh world.

US and China can have trade disputes about unfair protectionist practices. Singapore can’t be protectionist even if we want to. What’s there to protect?

Competition:

Anonymous on Sat, 26th Dec 2009 12:09 am,

Pardon, I don’t understand what you’re saying.

I’m saying we will be competing with them whereever they are. They can stay back in China or they can go to US or elsewhere. It’s the same. We will still face them.

We don’t have really big consumer conglomerates because we don’t have the critical mass to support one. We don’t have oil or ore or any raw commodities. We don’t have many chips to bargain in such partnerships. We don’t even have any chips to protect at all.

Apart from people and a good location in the straits, what do we have? That’s the question to ask.

Singaporean:

I believe more than 50% of current people in Singapore are not locals. Permanent Resident, expatriates and immigrants .. whatever word the mainstream media use, they are foreigners in our hearts.

I’m a mid-level IT professional. I was jobless for slightly more than a year despite wasting my money on trips made to South West CDC and countless interviews. The government did not seem to really help locals.

That is why I know for sure our mainstream media is full of lies.

Life “was” great until they bring in foreigners (low, mid & high levels) to snatch our jobs away. It is almost the same as robbing in broad daylight.

ayama:

The Old Fart goes farting again with his mouth instead of his arse. No wonder it stinks every time he opens his mouth.

fair and square:

the very fact that the citizens have been the subject of lambasting by the PAP elites merely shows that TR and its’ readers are doing a fine job so far.
some folks are just trying to thumb us down as much they could but the pro-singaporean commnents here clearly demonstrates the true singaporean spirit.
it is the opposition’s task and duty to churn this spirited comments into a strong wind of change by standing frimly united
under “one banner” speaking for all “voiceless” singaporeans
who are already tired of the ruling elites’ cheap rhetorics.
if it is their strong opinion that singaporeans are less hard driving and striving,it is even more so our stronger opinion
that the gahmen people are the ones who are the LESS DRIVING AND LESS STRIVING! Just look at the ERP,they have no blinking idea how better to solve traffic jams than keep applying the sae old stupid idea?…look at the education system,is it any better? if any singaporean is to be called less hard driving and less hard striving,it must neccessarily be the gahmen people…the rest of us are working damn hard,so hard that we have “no time to make babies”?!…that’s why they implement the
going to disappoint FT POLICY…it’s just another idiosyncracy..just wait and see.
meanwhile,let us all,common hardworking moon-lighting 2 jobs to survive singaporeans must stand united and win back our
rightful dignity as sons and daughters of this nation we all have helped to build with our sweat and toil from our ancestors to our “displaced” generation…are we still SINGAporeans?

von hayek:

I do not think PAP can bring in FT indefinitely. We are already having a official jobless rate of 6%. The real unemployment or underemployment is definitely more serious.

Henceforth every FT inside is going to drive our unemployment figure north which eventually, PAP would alienated even the older FT themselves.

It would not be long for us to see, people starving, demonstrating and getting hungry.

At the time, PAP will fall.

Rainnix:

For our so called “leader” to insult us publicly by liken Singaporeans to be like some kind of workhorse in Animal Farm is double whammy. Why does he think that Singaporean are replaceable once they had outlived their usefulness?

He had betrayed Singapore to the Japanese before, and he will do it again to China. We should issue an challenge for him and his cronies to come out of their comfort “GRC” zones and contest with opposition in a SMC especially his useless son. Even with the nation’s spurs struck all over his body, he still can’t perform and needs 1MM, 2SM, 2DPM, 3PMO to help him.

papayakan:

Right , same for all countires ( Indo , Japan , Korea etc ). Once out of comfort zone , judgement day on the voting table .

PeterL:

ANON-

Gotcha Elfred,my den is full of crabbers besides us and MPs drop by very often for B/fast especially on Sundays and the distinction b/tx us and the crabbers are clear as daylight.
Anyway its nice bantering with you even though we have not met and should we do, have a teh-tarik,kopi-o if not than tau hway water on us.

Anonymous:

@ Competition on Sat, 26th Dec 2009 2:41 am

Thanks for the rejoin. I was too tired to stay up but here is further clarification.

Yes we DO DEFINITELY need foreigners to bring in skills set we don’t have BUT NOT ANY foreigners. Please allow me to elaborate a little further with example if you bear with my seemingly extended dialogue. Wed might need foreign law expertise on telecommunication (internet) law, law of the sea appertaining to oil exploration contracts, international dispute arbitration etc which we either lacking and lacking in sufficient number to build “critical mass”. These are EXCELLENT because the critical mass provide the opportunity to grow our local talent. As for
your misguided understanding of …

“We can use money to buy stakes in their corporations, then export our people there.”

I would say I did not meant it that way if my post was incomplete and misleading of thoughts of any reader. Take a look at the example of our neighbour – Malaysia’s Petronas. As much as I do NOT own a single share in them, I believe that they are doing quite well internationally. Petronas is part equity participant in a huge off-shore exploration project in soon-to-be independent Greenland. And in recent week, I read they won as a consortium member in Iraq to re-opened shut-down oil wells. The skills set involved in deep-sea oil explorations are DIFFERENT from re-entering, refrac and bringing into economically viable production previously abandoned oilfields and each time, the foreign partners are different. By these ACTIVE EQUITY AND PARTICIPATIVE INVOLVEMENT, Petronas is learning new skills to venture out on their own later and bringing Malaysians opportunities to work abroad and grow its economic development. SPC, our own petroleum company was a refiner and retailer of petroleum products and only in last few years ventured into limited oil exploration BUT THEY ARE SOLD OR TAKEN BY ChinaPetroleum. So where is our growth option to develop externally compared to Petronas is doing for itself and Malaysia???

General Moly is a molybdenum aspiring producer. Korea Zinc is in the zinc business. Zinc can be used stainless steel production and so is molybdenum ( in stainless steel hardening similar to nickel) which Korea Zinc (until its involvement in General Moly) has no molybdenum production anywhere else. So it is NOT a case of vertical integration and not even a horizontal integration of technology-based investment. It is simply product diversification of its business portfolio BUT THE INVESTMENT will bring exposure and news skills to Korea Zinc. The bargaining chip offered by Korean is money. There is another gold-copper project at Dipidio (??) Philippines, the Koreans went in with money when bankers shy. They create opportunity for significant stakes and direct involvement in project development – jobs for Koreans and skills set in mine construction BEYOND PASSIVE INVESTMENT quite unlike our GIC/TH investment in citibank or UBS. Where is the transfer of technical know-how and work involvement for future development.
Take a look at China Railway Engineering Corporation involvement in Australia’s third largest iron-ore producer, Fortescue Metal Group…

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/asics-reputation-in-tatters-after-failed-bid-to-chop-down-forrest/story-e6frg9if-1225813658504

funding AND BUILDING the railway AND DEMANDING A MAJORITY STAKE (finally forced to water down to minority stake) in actual iron
ore production. IT IS A LOT MORE THAN PASSIVE INVESTMENT. Plenty of Chinese are working in Australian mining operations from railway construction to actual mine development and operations. The Chinese gain skill and experience working in foreign environment and they can venture out on their own later to build their own international based operations.

MUCH OF TH AND GIC ARE PASSIVE INVESTMENTS – LAZY OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR SELF-DEVELOPMENT. Petronas, Lion Corp, Hunan Non-Ferrous Metals (Singapore as small equity stake maybe but passive again as “third” party shareholding), China Railway Corporation are ACTIVE INVESTORS IN FOREIGN PROJECTS and they grow because bring in their own construction companies or associated companies or even their own national construction companies. A lot of Chinese are building mine development in PNG as well.

We don’t have these kind of sustaining and growing self-development opportunities externally anywhere near what Chinese, Korean and Japanese and even Malaysians are doing, saved of perhaps Keppel Group. Managing ports is not the same as building ports and bringing in our construction team as industry partners. Building industrial parks is just equity investor ( maybe part future landlord??) and transfering expertise to foreigners – WHAT IS THE GAIN FOR US in economic development except making China and Vietnam more competitive industrially in international market even against our own industry here. If the Vietnamese and Chinese can’t manage and build industrial parks like us, their industrialisation gestation period might be more difficult and jeopardising their industrial development. WE ARE MANAGING PORTS AND BUILDING INDUSTRIAL PARKS TO MAKE FOREIGNERS MORE COMPETITIVE AGAINST US WHEN WE SHOULD BE VENTURING OUT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FOREIGNERS AND GROW SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL ARM.

REMEMBER THERE IS A LOT MORE OPPORTUNITIES OUTSIDE SINGAPORE AND INSIDE SINGAPORE BECAUSE OF GLOBALISATION.

We do NOT need to import as Permanent Residents millions of foreigners of mediocre talent or no talent at all.

So my point of competition is NOT necessarily THEY (foreigners working alongside us or in foreign countries) in competition against us BUT MORE OF WE WORKING ALONGSIDE VERY TALENTED AND EXPERIENCED FOREIGNERS IN DISTANT SHORES AND COMPETING AGAINST THE REST OF THE WORLD.

We don’t need to crowd Singapore out with overflow of foreign residents – they add to economic burden. We need to venture out and grow Singapore and bring our construction companies, legal expertise, financial services, telecommunication services and all support activities FACILITATING OUR GLOBAL DRIVES GIVING SINGAPOREAN JOBS AND DEVELOPING SINGAPORE’S ECONOMY EXTERNALLY FOR ALL OF US.

Don’t you agree??

Anonymous:

Competition

MM Lee’s comment

“Over time, Singaporeans have become less hard-driving and hard-striving. This is why it is a good thing that the nation has welcomed so many Chinese immigrants.”

I believe is MORE APPLICABLE TO TH AND GIC. They, to my judgment are less hard-driving and hard striving PASSIVE investors compared to private sector initiative like HYFLUX who
has Singaporeans working in Middle East.

MM Lee should really shake up TH and GIC and support the hard-driving and hard striving efforts of emerging Singapore businesses like Hyflux water business. These are Singapore’s future.

As passive lazy investors, we could and indeed have lost HUGE BILLIONS, NO LEARNING AND SUSTAINABLE SELF-DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Don’t you agree with me, competition (sir or madam)?

do wake up:

@PeterL

1) You are definitely entitled to air your point of view. This is to be encouraged as it promotes a vibrant democracy. But attention also needs to be paid to whether your view is uninformed or outdated.

2) I believe you are not a seasoned user of the internet. If you are, my apologies. Therefore you would have had no exposure to other views on local political matters for most of your life. It would be accurate to say that you must have read the only Straits Times for a good 20-30 years. Please be reminded that this newspaper is not well-regarded by journalists as it speaks mostly for the establishment. Ditto for other forms of media. Therefore you have to be aware of the fact that you may be very thoroughly brainwashed.

3) The past struggles – the riots etc and subsequently the headly days of development – HDB flats mushrooming must really bring back bittersweet memories. Along with it, there would be a wonderful nostalgic feeling of idolation for strong leadership. Any political manuvers that were less than gentlemanly could be excused as Singapore was in dire straits. But we now live in a vastly different society. Always harking back to long gone days for justification of current policies is incorrect. Yes, you may have a lot of experience – but is your experience relevant to the current situation, both in Singapore and worldwide?

4) Only relying on experience is of no use if you have no foundation, especially in subjects requiring critical thinking. I understand that you have a Senior Cambridge Certificate, which hardly indicates rigourous training in critical thinking. And sorry, extensive reading of newspapers is no substitute. If it were, we would not need doctorate holders in our universities.

5) The above are just general observations. Now let me mention just a few examples of current policies which many find unacceptable. After reading them, please ask yourself – would I be able to accept them if I were 40 years younger?

a) if you were not a retiree already, would you be able too accept losing your job to a foreigner just because he was cheaper? He lives in a rented room and maintains a family/home in a country with far lower costs while you have to pay your housing loan and support your family here.

b) as the pay received by the ministers are the highest among the world’s politicians (and for running a country only 700 square kilometres in area), do you think that people are too demanding if they demand better results and less mistakes from our ministers? Can you just accept the excuse ‘it was a global phenomenon beyond our control’ or ‘it was an honest mistake’? Just like, would you accept a toilet that does not flush in the presidential suite of a 5-star hotel?

c) I do not know how much you paid for you HDB flat but would you be happy to pay 10 times more for a 5-room flat that only had its building cost doubled? The HDB provided housing for the masses, but does it still aim to do that? No wonder your daughter has a totally different way of thinking.
Do you know that while average salaries have doubled, HDB flats now cost 10 times more?

d) You would probably have been able to withdraw a good sum from your CPF. Would your daughter be able to do so as well?

6) There are too many other issues to list but I hope you will just ponder the few above. Try to look at them with the eyes of a younger person in the context of today’s situtation, and not with the rose-tinted glasses of a happily retired person, who does not bother to reason and but seeks to revel in the glories of the past.

jolly:

i think we need some one with the charisma of US president Obama. he gets things done by talking and inspiring . that is what leadership is all about. not criticism of the people. not threats to the people. not authoritarian rule of your fist.

in the meantime, i am waiting for any ministers to stand up and support lky for his remarks if he is right. the fingers are pointing at all the ministers as well. well fed pigs you are.

if the election is in March then it is high time the opposition to do battle.

Cheeze Off:

All you netizens are very ungrateful to a government that has done so much for us. We should reward them for all the sacrifices that they have made over the years. And here is how we should reward them:

Since they love money and foreigners so much, we should encourage them to pack their bags and take up foreign citizenships abroad, in any country of their choice. They can withdraw their millions and their entire CPF and go to their, “utopia country” where they can have the luxury of living with talented foreigners and not with useless locals whom they hate so much. We should see them off at the airport, give them our full blessings, shed a few tears, give them the opportunity to have their last say and celebrate their departure. Only one condition: Please don’t come back. Leave us alone and let us build a nation that we can truly call our own.

soufly:

jolly

probably after august 2010 YOG thereafter

风清扬:

Dear MM,
are you so lonely nowaday no one like to talk to you at home?
are you worried that once you stop keeping active, you would drop dead? Please take our advice, stop the jet setting, stop shooting off your mouth, do your successors and the people of Singapore a favor. Most importantly for yourselves, spend more time with your wife, she need your company more than anyone else in both of your twilight years.

Competition:

Anonymous on Sat, 26th Dec 2009 10:25 am,

To avoid misunderstanding, I try to interpret your long post. You are saying:

~’Countries like South Korea and China are doing their acquisition differently from Singapore. Apart from money, they also involve their own people in very large numbers at the newly acquired company.’

With all due respect sir, I’ll disagree. They are as passive (or active depending on perspective) as our companies. They may “rightsize synergies” like IT or assets. But they don’t move sizeable number of people into the new companies.

Regarding TH and GIC, with due respect again, I see a contradiction. Sorry to touch on this sensitive issue, but many people like you expect the government and its related corporations to do things for you, whether it be employment or social welfare. Yet, there’re complaints letting them.

Example social welfare, we can actually donate to public charity, yet we insist the government to do it. But I wonder will people be ok to donate to the government to manage. Either it’s tax or it’s donation, the money must come somewhere. If people don’t trust the bureaucratic government, then it’s better to let public charity manage the money.

But that’s off-topic. I still think we will compete with them even if they’re elsewhere. That’s because it’s impossible to “protect” us unlike big countries with big resources or big markets. Protectionism is no good, but we don’t even have that choice.

Happy weekend, Mr Anonymous.

SSB:

“Over time, Singaporeans have become less hard-driving and hard-striving. This is why it is a good thing that the nation has welcomed so many Chinese immigrants.” Lee was quoted saying.

Since when did he became the nation?

Avg Joe:

@PeterL on Sat, 26th Dec 2009 12:25 pm

I have a job. AND I AM CONVINCED PAP MUST GO! I will rock the book and push them to feed the crocs if I must!

I have a job and food. But I cannot afford a house, start a family or have kids. I don’t know much about politics and economics but life sure sucks.

Is it too much to ask to have a government who LISTENS, LESS GREEDY and PRO-FOREIGNERS?

You may be scared to rock the boat and believe them when they threaten that your sisters and mothers may become maids in other countries. But I am currently already a SLAVE to the PAP regime and the SADDEST part is I AM PAYING THEM to MAKE MY LIFE HELL!

PeterL:

Avg Joe-

I had stated many times that I voted opposition and support an alternative view since JBJ took a seat in Anson. like yours mine is a single vote can it make the change.All the rhetorics and Ra Ra had never put more than five opposition at best in Parliament.

Amonymous:

Competition on Sat, 26th Dec 2009 3:24 pm

You may not have read carefully my postings. Countries like China and South Korea even Malaysia are NOT passive investors by just throwing money in the shareholding pot and wait for dividend which is what TH and GIC did. No management involvement even at board level or not even interested in management participation. China, South Korea, and Malaysia are involved AT THE PROJECT LEVEL – be it an oil exploration off Greensland and re-opening shut-down oilfields in Iraq by Petronas for example where they learnt skills and “hands-on” experience from which they could move
on their own later.

What do TH and GIC do? Buy shares in UBS and Citibanks and sleep on them. If their share prices fall, panicked and sell at the bottom. This was what exactly happened. No learning or hands-on experience.

The Chinese railway company in Fortescue Metal forced a minority stake, bring in their railway construction technology and manpower and construction workers and management involvement in iron-ore mine development. Again skills acquisition and hands-on experience – that will facilitate their overseas venture elsewhere on their own.

Hyflux is a good success story for Singapore. My take is TH and GIC should abandon their passive (money only) investment strategy. Be proactive, be hard driving and be hard striving like MM Lee said, and invest in specific projects abroad with foreigner tie-up. Right now, TH and GIC are just lazy investors – no different from you personally buying shares listed on the New York stock exchange for example. Do you acquire any skills and do these invesment gives you opportunity to grow your private business if you are professional working in Singapore??? NONE of course! Buying shares, if you are successful, only enrich your bank account and nothing else. It does not grow for you a business to engage Singaporean workers and expand your business abroad.

And then your proposition …”They may “rightsize synergies” like IT or assets… is completely vague and empty of substance. The Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Malaysian did those globally, how come “rightsize synergies” does NOT affect them??? It is fallacious denial!!!

And then your distraction of charity in relation to TH and GIC – you admitted off topic and irrelevant and no even the remotess of any linkage to this thread at all.

Summing up, I said, we failed to grow a substantive international economic arm in the last 45 years. And MM Lee assertion of Singaporean being less hard driving and less hard thriving is MORE CONSPICUOUSLY RELEVANT TO TH AND GIC operating philosophies.

THEY SHOULD DO BETTER AND CAN DO BETTER. Question is would MM Lee shakes up both entities?

ANGRYSporean:

*I’m sorry if I sounded offensive, that is definitely not my intention, well at least to singaporeans.

P.S. typo error- i meant no ‘pun’ intended

Anonymous:

Competition on Sat, 26th Dec 2009 10:01 pm

No, I did not said money was the ideal route. Money provide the means but I said explicitly – passive money investment is useless which is exactly what I disagree with the orientation of TH and GIC. It is too lazy, lack hard driving and hard striving like what MM Lee lambasted of Singaporeans.

That is why I ended my last post with this question – Question is would MM Lee shakes up both entities?

Both TH and GIC could invest shareholding interest at the CORPORATE LEVEL AND also at the specific PROJECT LEVEL just like the China Railway Engineering Corporation involvement in Australia’s third largest iron-ore producer, Fortescue Metal Group.

Or they could do like Malaysia’s Petronas did – ONLY AT THE PROJECT LEVELS. Two of its recent projects including those in the pipeline are

- re-entering, refrac and commissioning previously abandoned oil fields in Iraq with foreign equity joint venture and

- engaging in off-shore oil exploration off the coast of Greenland.

IN BOTH INSTANCE, NO EQUITY INVESTMENT IN THE PARTICIPATING FOREIGN ENTITIES but direct investment in specific projects in joint endeavours with foreign entities who provide lead expertise and hands-on experience.

TH and GIC should be doing like China Railway Engineering Corporation’s equity shareholding AND project investment with Fortescue Metals Group or PETRONAS project level only involvement with foreign entities.

TH and GIC is just investing in shareholding in UBS, Citibank is useless to develop Singapore externally.

Your question then is would anybody wants to collaborate with us. Well, ask yourself, why did all these projects need foreign equity participation in the first place??? IT IS THE MONEY. We have that! If you are as aware as I am the gold-copper project in Dipidio in Philippines took nearly 8 years to structure financing support. Likewise, Fortescue Metal iron-ore project found difficulty to finance because it is so large and it needs investment in infrastructure beyond the mine development. Sometime it is one of the joint venture partners unable to raise their portion of capital investment needed and won’t sell out cheap to other consortium members, so that brings “project financing” needs.

Of course some of these projects won’t be available to us – like oil and gas because we sold SPC to PetroChina – big mistake. Oil companies work with only oil companies. Likewise iron-ore producers work with steelworks. Again we sold out our National Iron and Steel Mills – so that close our door of opportunities. In the last 45 years, a lot of big mistakes were made in economic management and still is. TELL ME HOW EASY TO BUY OVER ANOTHER OIL AND GAS COMPANY the way ChinaPetroleum took over SPC???

Competition is everywhere. No doubt about it. IT IS HOW YOU FACE COMPETITION. As I said it need not necessarily be US or THEM but it can always be US WITH THEM.

And competition need NOT be bringing in low quality PR by millions to flood this place with cheap labour. It can be working WITH foreigners and grow our economies EXTERNALLY – the way China, South Korea and Malaysia is doing to grow their economies.

Hyflux and Keppel are good examples. SIA flying to international destinations can’t be said to be growing Singapore business or is it??? Owning some properties abroad by local listed companies is investment BUT LAZY INVESTMENT LIKE PORT MANAGEMENT AND BUILKDING INDUSTRIAL PARKS OVERSEAS – THEY ADD NOTHING TO OUR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY AND GROWTH DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES. IF ANYTHING, THEY ADD TO OUR COMPETITION NEEDLESSLY!!!!

Why can’t we be equally achieving in the manner of MM Lee’s lamentation – be hard driving and hard striving and STARTING WITH TH, GIC AND GLC leading the spearhead?

Competition:

Anonymous on Sat, 26th Dec 2009 10:51 pm,

I still beg to differ. I agree some projects are too big to swallow by any one corporation, and that’s why they seek collaboration.

But that still begs the question. Why choose one collaboration partner over another? Ours may likely have money. Ours may also have the some level of expertise. But others do too, and likely, they have even a larger stack of cash and longer track records.

Like you said, passive financial involvement won’t lead to expertise. But if we seek active execution, then it still boils down to competition again. There must be some competitive advantage and bargaining chip to compete with other contenders.

SPC and NatSteel are listed companies. Some people probably made a good windfall in the takeover. Both are still around even though they aren’t under TH anymore. They still own assets in Singapore and business rights overseas. They still provide employment here.

The question is – are they more competitive now than before? Normally, state-enterprises aren’t viewed as competitive companies.

But frankly, even if we have many companies venturing overseas, they don’t actually contribute much to the economic well-being locally, in terms of gainful employment. China, Malaysia and Korea can’t grow their local economies by virtue of companies venturing overseas. Ultimately, they need local innovative enterpreneurs. They need to attract overseas investments into their local economy.

Bird Talk:

MM is the cause of evetual Singaporeans extinction.

PeterL:

lee hsien tau-

Read anonymous and you will get your answers.

PeterL:

Gentlemen i.e. ANONYMOUS & COMPETITION-

After the toing and froing from both of you although “CHEEM” I will give my 2 cents worth.

1.Singapore survive on Entreport in the beginning and still do

2.We achieved “1st world” status today according to our govt.subject to interpretation.

3.We are churning out more graduates faster than std. 6-7-8-Snr.Cambridge and GCE passes before.

4.Govt. changing stance from entreport trade-low grade manufacturing to high grade BioScience etc.etc

5.Govt.turning to finance,banking and services need FT for these(ours standard not good enough”kia si & kia su” no offence to those who think otherwise)

6.Graduates cannot compete, go overseas China, Brazil and other less developed countries to be their FT(most are Singapore govt.companies)

7.Business: 90% owned or partly own by Govt.Hence Fiddler Pays and Calls the TUNE

8.Singporean Businessmen some OK some not too good or bad so sad so COMPLAIN

9.Low end jobs too low even for school drop outs so import FW no talent i.e. Bangla,Indians,Filipina,Malaysian etc.etc……But from China see how?? if Ok PR to replace shortage of babies especially Chinese babies.

FINALLY COME TO THE SAD BUNCH-Retirees without much to look forward to,failures owing to circumstances best known to themselves,the true financially strapped families and not forgetting the middle age PROS not willing to take on jobs befitting their Qualification.All told, very unhappy situation so complain and whine.

That is my layman observation of fifty years,I may be wrong but than who can be right at all times? LEE KUAN YEW???? your guess is as good as mine.

One last entry .If you cannot fight them join them i.e. TOTO 4D, Casino,strip club,legalised prostitution and more to come. This my fellow Singaporeans,” IS THE FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL,THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST OR UGLIEST ”
Sorry if you disagree after all I have the right like all of you to say my piece too.

Angie:

I came back to spend Christmas in Singapore to see all this crap – and maybe that’s why we’ve been away almost 7 years in China and no motivation to come back. Better to be well paid foreign talent in another country than slammed in your own. We’ve paid our dues – husband did NS and when son is due to serve NS, he will do so to pay the price of being born with a SGP passport and then he can move on.
We don’t know where we will be in the later years but sad to say, there is no strong pull to come back here.
Don’t get upset at these remarks, take your skills and venture abroad, Singaporeans can show our positive side, contribute and be equally if not more successful and happy in other countries rather than to be 2nd class in our own.

PeterL:

Correction: the fiddler are the employees and govt.pays the fiddler.Humble apologies “grey matter” tends to fail sometimes, unlike LKY’s no apologies even “it” fails quite frequently, “LATELY”

New Threat:

@Competition & Anonymous
I think what Anonymous is saying is that by working with other foreign companies, we can learn from them and then use our new skill to benefit SG.
For e.g. if we work with Samsung LED TV team to set up a factory in China, we provide the $$ and they provide the R&D, the skills that we gain, eventually we can build our LED TV factory in SG

PeterL:

New Threat:

Is that not what most of the Multi nationals & Hight tech co. is doing in Singapore or is it insufficient of them to generate jobs??or worse still our salary and expectations are too high???

No offence, just voicing my opinion.

PeterL:

Angie:

If you are still around ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY, this is your roots and I agree with you,seek your fortune elsewhere if you can and return to your roots or roost where your family and friends are just like Dr. Poh. We can roam the world but the call and yearn for home will mostly remain with us.

Anonymous:

New Threat on Mon, 28th Dec 2009 8:14 am

I get a sense that “competition” is either fudging around the abysmal edge of lies or obfuscate around reality to avoid the substance of this debate. “Fair and Square” could agree with my positioning as PeterL and now you.

What you said it exactly correct. You can see from his threatics – unfortunately despite my explanations that everyone else seems to understand.

His favourite catch phrase was pleading “misunderstanding” and after accepting my cogent argument still comes back with ” I still beg to differ” and back to now strangely “I sense your misgivings about TH and GIC”. This reference was after he wrote ” Sorry to touch on this sensitive issue” and bringing irrelevance of “social welfare” and “donations” in ealier post and dismissing the irrelevance of his wandering thoughts and posts as “But that’s off-topic.” regarding TH and GIC.

For goodness sake, this is a debating board and floor on economics. Who cares about what sensitivity or why.

Obviously he does not want to deal with substance but dancing around theatrics of pussyfooting. Anyone could see his/her hypocritical play acting.

The simple truth is

- the Government screwed up the economy for 45 years having failed to build a strong external economy unlike S. Korea, Japan, and even Malaysia and China now. An external arm give us global reach, footprint to build our success and fortune. SPC and NISM divestment is part of that failure of economic and political considerations. Everywhere, other nations blocked the sales of strategic businesses and assets. We sell everything when there is a bidder – forgetting that our success story like Hyflux is very hard to build and sustain. When South Korea sells car on global stage, global recovery will boost their GDP from world demand, lifting their domestic industry and those South Korean firms supporting Korean car manufacturing the same way as their global domination of shipbuilding etc.

South Korean industry invest in mining projects in Philippines, use their engineering and technical skills within South Korea to design mine construction and use their workers in mine construction. Chinese invest in mining projects in PNG, use their construction skills and workers there, the same way as China Railway Corporation did with Fortescue Metals in Western Australia – finance, AND BUILD RAILWAY AND ALSO BUILD MINES using technical and engineering skills source in China.

If we had similar investment and opportunities on teh global stage, we can have our Singaporean-owned MNC investing abroad but using Singapore office for engineering design, legal firms for contract services, telecom services to connect, support fabrication of parts by Singapore-based SMEs etc etc. In simple words, OUR FOREIGN INVESTMENT LIFTS OUR DOMESTIC INDUSTRY AND DEMAND FOR SERVICES HERE IN SINGAPORE CREATING JOBS AND LIFTING OUR GDP.

We don’t need to import a lot of no talent and mediocre foreign talents by millions displacing Singaporeans HERE SIMPLY BECAUSE we don’t have external opportunities like South Korea, Chinese and even the Malaysians.

Our economic model of depending on foreigner LABOUR AND FOREIGN POPULATION is WRONG. We need some foreign investments BUT IN THE AGE OF GLOBALISATION, WE NEED TO BE ACTIVELY INVESTING IN BUSINESS AND OPPORTUNTIES ABROAD A LOT MORE.

AND THAT WE HAVE FAILED AND CONTINUE TO FAIL.

MM Lee lambast of Singaporeans lack of hard-driving and hard striving is VERY OBVIOUS in TH and GC. They are just passive financial investors INSTEAD OF AGGRESSIVE PROJECT LEVEL INVESTING UNLIKE SOUTH KOREAN, JAPANESE, CHINESE AND NOW MALAYSIANS.

I believe that if MM Lee wants to change this ‘lack of hard driving and lack of striving mindset, IT SHOULD START WITH TH, GIC AND various GLC because they have the financial muscle to do so and by doing so can bring our SMEs along and build our external economic arm.

As you show understanding of my point, New Threat, PASSIVE INVESTMENT in Citibank, UBS or properties in South Korea or China does not give us expertise NOR THE DOORWAY TO OPPORTUNITIES. This is the problem of our economic model.

Will MM Lee shakes up TH and GIC????

PeterL:

Anonymous-

O.K. point taken,but I am no idiot not to understand when any view makes sense.I may brows the papers watch the news which may or may not be true or propaganda.Who cares, and most ordinary Singaporean feel the same.(again my opinion)don’t waste good space throwing flaks at me but positive and rational comments appreciated.

Its what done or seen to have been done that counts.Just like when the govt. dispense money why keep it?? UNITE and pool the money for the more deserving and make it clear for all to see that your Party or whoever walk the talk. Singaporeans by nature had the good life after a wobbly start they may be simple minded and not highly educated(i am talking about earlier generations and some current ones too) but they are not stupid or idiots that is for SURE.

What is needed is enlighten views which make sense to the ordinary Singaporeans not “highfalutin”pardon me for quoting LKY, from all sides i.e.PAP & anti PAP or opposition.

There is a new article lets wade in and hear some sensible debate and comments.I am retired and can spare the time but should readers find my postings idiotic or silly,too bad, only senior cambridge lah! no Phd. or degree.

Anonymous:

PeterL on Mon, 28th Dec 2009 12:08 pm

My apology if you felt I slighted you as “idiot” – your term of descript, not mine. IT IS DEFINITELY NOT by a trillion miles, PeterL. The expression “not as well-informed” DOES NOT say you are “idiot” or any of such descript. It is JUST SIMPLY “NOT AS WELL-INFORMED” just as I am NOT well-informed of medical science or nuclear technology even assuming that I may have a PHD in linguistic or a degree in sexology.

As I said before to you somewhere, I said you could correctly, fairly and reasonably conclude I failed my kindergarten leaving examination. You said you have got senior CAMBRIDGE CERTIFICATE, so you are definitely a LOT SMARTER – even if you are not as “well-informed” in something else that interest me!!!!!

All said, I disgree with your post on this thread. BUT AS YOU SAID CORRECTLY, you are entitled to your opinion and I shall leave it at that.

But rest assured that the word “idiot” or such descript have NOT entered my mind while I did my post on this thread to you or anyone else.

fair and square:

@Anonymous-PeterL

you did right to clarify with PeterL.
That’ the spirit all TR readers should adopt…afterall,most of us here are merely trying to voice our opinions and hopefully be the relevant voice for all our “voiceless” fellow
true blue citizens.
let’s strive together in our small ways to make this little red dot the house of the lions we pride ourselves in until
some seemingly smart people with degrees from some remote ivy league universities make it unbearable for all of us with their silly antics.

New Threat:

While I was having dinner at Tampines Mall’s food court less than a month ago, I saw an old lady clearing the trays. Its not hard to miss her. She has a hunch back. I felt sorry for her so I asked her how old she is. She said she is in her 70s. She asked y i ask, is it because i want to treat her coffee? I didnt reply but that is what I did. I went to queue for coffee for her. When I gave her the coffee, she politely declined, saying she has to work. She was very professional and hardworking since she is actually working in her retirement age.
I know some of you will say that she may worked by choice. But who in the right mind will want to work as a cleaner?
Unless you dont have a choice. Given a choice, I want to be like PeterL, I want to drink coffee everyday with my khakis. I want to play with my grandchildren or play MJ. Some retirees may want to work. But definitely not as a cleaner. Probably as a clerk, a baker (can derive a bit a satisfaction when u see the cake u baked) etc…
Imagine what will she say if she heard what LKY has said.
@PeterL
She is part of your generation. What do u think she will feel?

Competition:

PeterL on Mon, 28th Dec 2009 6:21 am,

Thank you, Peter. I don’t deserve that. I’m sure the words “competition” and “vulnerability” are at the back of everyone’s minds. It’s just that they don’t articulate it. For those who move around and see the developments firsthand or even just on TV and news, they will be able to feel the trepidations personally.

New Threat on Mon, 28th Dec 2009 8:14 am,

Peter has replied. Singapore has been attracting these manufacturing all along. But for R&D, do we have many local doctorates? Sad to say, I see we are more the practical hands-on system integrator rather than the clinical boring researcher. Lets see how things go in our varsities.

As for ploughing money overseas to gain R&D, it’s a matter of competition again. I can’t say Samsung will want our money when we asked to be involved personally. Would Samsung be willing to put some R&D in China if China wants that? Very probably. China has a large nascent market that she’s working to make accessible. Many people want a part of that, not just Samsung. China also has more than enough doctorates. These’re her bargaining chips which are very big and solid.

But lets assume we’re able to get the expertise in that way. Unfortunately, we still can’t set up a manufacturing base armed simply with expertise. China probably can, with her big market. There are many unheard handphones there with lots of functionality. For us to establish a Singapore brand LCD TV, locally we don’t have the market. Overseas, we don’t have the brand and the distribution channels. We see the same problems when we ask ourselves if we can have our own version of Malaysia’s Proton.

Anonymous on Mon, 28th Dec 2009 10:11 am,

Frankly, I don’t know whether we own Hunan or not. I’m just guessing it’s not a problem if we want to. If it’s strategic and profitable, some money can always be put aside for it.

For overseas ventures, yes, some materials and services can be local. To happen in a big way, we can’t just have a few local teams. We need a sizeable base where we are much more than system integrators (which is another problem here). Can we keep a sizeable base viable? If so, we won’t see those occasional relocations in our news. Don’t we also read about global MNCs moving a chunk of their bulk away from their home origin? They do it to be competitive. On the flip side, “luckily” for the same reasons, we find sizeable MNCs here in Singapore, servicing the region. They come here away from their “home”. Hopefully, they stay.

I think the assumption here is that a Singapore brand is obliged to show “loyalty” and do “national service”. So, if we “force” it hard enough, we can keep the bulk of it on shore to “serve” us while it services the region. But this is business. Beyond a certain extent, we’ll likely cause its fall. We simply don’t have the scale locally to engage in protectionism. Just look at some US brands now. Even with the biggest consumer market at their doorstep, these are suffering partly due to this “obligation”. You can infer this from the news.

If Singapore can have her own Coke or Google, that’ll be great. In certain ways, we already have some notable brands. Recently, there are also some features about promising local furniture makers/designers, franchise owners, confectionaries and so on. So, more promising private entrepreneurs and public companies may join them in time. They can serve us, but they also need to be nimble and mobile if they don’t want to become dinosaurs. They can’t help us if they can’t help themselves. They don’t owe us that obligation. We won’t share in their failure, don’t we?

Sleeping giants are already stirring out there. Look at China, even traditional “adversaries” like US, Japan and Taiwan can’t afford to ignore her. Without doubt, China is the undisputed upcoming nation. We see her everywhere in the limelight. Everyone out there is getting in touch with her. In Copenhagen, we even look to her for the weather.

Frankly, I won’t be surprised if US has more Chinese foreign students, researchers, white collar personels and entrepreneurs than we can ever accomodate. We are so small. Inwardly what can we do? Are we good at fishing? Better don’t be too complacent and dependent.

Anyway, lets agree to disagree. My first post was just a short simple one about competition. I never meant to go into long essays. This is a discussion on a blog, not an evangelist mission. So, no need to be disappointed. No need to be so serious. Since you don’t like this, I’ll just excuse myself. Pretend I stopped at the first short post. Life’s short. So many things to worry. No need to worry about a blog.

PeterL:

I am afraid I cannot contribute much on the business point of views but I am truly glad it is being shared among us SINGAPOREANS??? without negative senseless postings.

It may not receive better coverage like CNA or ST but at least we can hear some views without having to read edited reviews or articles.

New Threat- It saddens me whenever I read and see these sad episodes around me.I too face this in my HDB food centre and I truly empathize and sympathize with them, but I admire the pride they show in what they do and for that LKY should see for himself that though some may have work their butts out in the 60s and retire contented, there are others less fortunate through no fault of theirs.
There is an elderly lady at the end of the staircase of Commonwealth MRT selling Chinese newspaper that i cannot read,after buying and paid for it,I return the paper saying I don’t need it.She politely returned my 80cts and say that she is earning a living and not seeking charity.I reluctantly took the paper sad but proud that this is my fellow Singaporean that walk with her head held high even in times of hardship.This is true, try it and see for yourself.

competition:

No one in particular xx:xx ..,

This is just for fun only. Please don’t answer.

If there’s really a Singapore car more expensive than Proton and Kia, but less than Toyota, how many of you will choose it over Toyota?

We all know the Apple Ipod. Many of us probably bought it for ourselves or our kids or just as gifts. Can anyone name me the latest mp3 offering from Creative?

Anyone been to Korea and Japan? What cars do you usually see on the roads?

Anonymous:

competition on Tue, 29th Dec 2009 1:31 am

The world has been changing and continue to change. In business, you either dominates or you segment the market. In layman parlance, it is called “change the rule of the game” If you are NOT GM on scale economies, you can be Chrysler and even if you are not Chrysler, you can be American Motor Corporation which caters for US military contracts instead of CONSUMER motor market competing against Chrysler, Ford GM and foreign imports but still in the same industry.

Not many people realise perhaps that two competitors serving US and global markets, in today’s competitive landscape, actually source IDENTICAL COMPONENT PARTS FROM SAME CONTRACT MANUFACTURERS as costs reduction strategies. The old economic imperatives of economies of scale no longer works like theory says but instead batch production and the power of logistic management globally becomes key competitive variable and a means of setting up market barriers to competition from new entrants. So those who have not started would find it very hard to enter the industry except from scratch. SO if you buy an air-conditioner or a car from Korea, Japan or Malaysia, it does NOT matter because some of the IDENTICAL component parts came from SAME CAR PARTS MANUFACTURER IN THAILAND AND CONSUMERS DON’T KNOW! They know they bought different “brands” but beneath the ‘brand” is same component parts.

South Korea went out consciously building global scale industry domestically from scratch and reaching out EXTERNALLY in foreign manufacturing and industries TOTALLY UNFAMILIAR PRIOR. FORGET THE ECONOMIES OF SCALE BULLSHIT AND THEY HAVE DONE WELL. Where is the proof? Koreans do NOT need 2% perhaps of the ships they are building now. Japan dominated this industry. From the so-called economies of scale of 1 ship, they now surpassed the Japanese who can’t keep up. The Chinese has huge shipbuilding industry but unable to compete against Koreans on the global market. South Koreans operates INTEGRATED INDUSTRIES from investing in iron-ore supply, thermal coal etc abroad, to steel mills inside Korea, metals fabrication parts to finally ship design and production in South Korean yards and they improve their process technology each stage. Same thing with mining. South Korea has no significant mining industries but has been building mines outside Korea in places like Philippine and the Chinese is still learning the ropes in PNG and Australia. They don’t ride the size economies BUT MANAGING THE EXPERIENCE CURVE so to speak instead. Every thing starts from zero base and build it up to global scale – not only domestically but internationally. They were in huge construction projects in Middle East and Malaysia’s tallest tower is also build with Korean expertise and manpower.

NOT EVERYONE IS AWARE THAT TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED THE ECONOMIC IMPERATIVE OF ECONOMIES OF SCALE ACROSS DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES from consumer goods to oil and gas exploration and development. Give you a simple example below

http://www.enermaxinc.com/directional-drilling/

With one drill-hole, you can now do directional drilling to penetrate two oil-wells. In times gone past now, you need to drill 2 different holes to access two different well, that makes the exploitation of both oilfield uneconomical or marginal of economics to risks. Now you can exploit two oil well with just one drill-hole and very profitable. The world has changed. And in many industry sectors, it is a matter of segmenting opportunities, partnering foreigners and acquire skills from experience and GOING OUT ON YOUR OWN WHEN YOU ARE READY. Petronas started from scratch but now has global reach as far as Sudan, Greenland and Iraq. Our SPC is gone forever.

South Korea sees the globe as its opportunity long ago. In globalisation, 99% of the opportunities is outside domestic economy – the FOCUS SHOULD BE OUTSIDE OUR OWN SHORES. In Singapore, the focus is the reverse – no strong external sector of significance and focus is competitive pressures within and worse still NOT even the IMPOSSIBLE domestic market (even if we increase our population base to 20 million to contained inside this little red dot) to give industry a start in some sector. We had no BASIC industrial base in support development and to grow industry here.

This place is in dire straits unless and until TH, GIC and GLCs changed direction. SMEs supporting foreign MNCs will die a natural death when foreign MNC shifts out.

Just watch and see. I have no illusion of our bleak future ahead after 45 years of failed economic management surviving like cockroach capitalism of relying on foreign investment, then foreign workers and now foreign population. THERE IS NOTHING WE COULD CALL OUR OWN IN THIS AGE OF GLOBALISED COMPETITION AND WE ARE NOT EVEN PARTNERING OUT WITH FOREIGNERS TO GROW OUR ECONOMIC LIFE LINE.

PeterL:

Anonymous-29.12.@ 1.27am

Kudos for your simple explanation/analogy,my take… GIC/TEMASEK adopts a passive and no great risk attitude “kia su Kia si” in Singlish.

Govt. or their “think tank”??? may counter by saying we take calculated risk of growth potential to stay ahead of our neighbours in other words lets just stay ahead of the Tortoise and not match the Hare not realizing that the Tortoise may catch up one day and soon.Where would that leave us.(this round to you anon).

I may or may not be around to see this happen but I really dread should that day arrive.Lets hear more of such rational and positive debate on this posting the subject may be beyond many ordinary folks but reading in between the lines it does make very good sense and you will never find such debate in the press as they will only give us the lopsided view from writers wet behind the ears.( no offence if the press writers think otherwise )

PeterL:

TR editors- further to my postings,please keep the racists,ra ra showists and vulgar postings out to show TR’s maturity in this particular column, the other column you can pop the champagne bottle for all I care.

PeterL:

Anonymous-

again I agree with your latest posting, even though I may not be well informed or understand these big league and big boys with their latest tech and hi-tech stuff,BOTTOM LINE-”kia su & kia si”.

admin:

Hi PeterL,

How about hosting a phpbb forum like CNA under TR? We tried one in the previous site, but wasn’t really successful as readers still prefer to post comments here.

anonymouse:

New Threat on Tue, 29th Dec 2009 8:59 am,

IPod. IPHONE!!!

I dare not open them to check the chips. I want to keep them safe and sound. Scratchless too. Haha.

PeterL:

admin-
sorry lah! honestly!, I am IT no savvy (phpbb)?????. Maybe we stick to what Kannasai suggested @ TR Suggest more stringent…………

Competition:

New Threat on Tue, 29th Dec 2009 8:59 am,

Yes, there are korean brands everywhere. Lorries, vans, cars. They are all korean. Maybe this is their culture? Pride in their own products?

You are talking about Chartered? I hope he doesn’t see this…… He’s so fixated. He’ll sure say this is another strategic failure of TH.

(We can assume that) Chartered will make chips for IPhone (competition aside). But (disastrously) TH has already sold Chartered to Abu Dhabi. So, there goes the chance. Why did TH make this mistake? Well, for some reasons (competition), Chartered has been making losses.

On hindsight, we could’ve asked TH to be more forceful and spur the people in Chartered (do we leave out the PRs there?): “Go out and do something now. Talk with your neighbourly competitors. Get someone clever. Come up with innovations. Money is no issue. Just do it.”

Sad, but not everything will work according to wish (same for Daewoo motors or Niigata Engineering who lost to their competition). But we do have brands that are notable now.

I feel safe to conclude we’ve succeeded thus far (though the usual competition rhetoric rattles on……). I won’t really conclude that TH or the government (actually they are both just bureaucratic holding companies. All along, it’s really the human people in all these corporations who are the real hands working the physical grounds locally and even venturing abroad for business) have been failing for 45 years.

The global consensus says the first conclusion, using words like “miracle”. Oh well, in business, it can’t be 100% gain without risk.

LeeKongChianScholar:

Our parents slog like mad at work, often working overtime just to keep our household together. And like many other Singaporean students, we have to slog our arses off in school to compete with the foreign students who were apparently given priority placements over capable and efficient fellow Singaporeans, forcing them to study abroad or in less preffered institutions like SIM because they could speak better English than the China students in our local universities. How disgusting is the system? And trust me, its no longer easy life being a student. We slog endlessly like full working adults, even to the extent of going without sleep for 3 days straight. Are we not hard-striving enough?

Obviously, the man at the top is getting too contented and comfortable in his gold-plated armchair. What a shame for a supposedly respected leader to make such derogatory remarks towards his own fellow countrymen. Even a top leader like Barack Obama doesn’t insult or degrade his own American countrymen to that extent. Clearly, these are wise words from the man who we, the people of Singapore, voted in to power. I’m disappointed and disgusted.

And we do not need foreign talents in our first world economy. We are intelligent and efficient enough to get the job done for we have been trained and educated, and the older citizens have a wealth of experience. We don’t need the China-man or Bangalore labourer to replace our jobs and I dont care how hungry they are. The government needs to learn how to feed its own people before helping others.

We don’t need a white man to head our companies given his seniority and experience, we have equally capable and experienced Singaporeans who can do the job. Why pay the white man triple our salaries when half the time he’s just having beers at Muddy Murphy’s and Harry’s or having a game of golf with his khakis while we are cracking our heads in the office, often relying on coffee to keep us awake? Surely he’s one hell of a Foreign TALENT! Well done… I’d tell you that the only thing that his talented at is putting a hole in one!! Too bad the white man is still more hard-striving than us.

It’s such a disgrace that we are working so hard, paying our taxes promptly and abiding to the government’s policies only to end up paying a senile grandfather more than $3mil a year (inclusive of ownership in state-owned corporations) to act as a forecaster for our nation. We’d rather pay a competant white-man (a True Foreign TALENT in its purest sense) to do that same job. At least he wouldn’t insult our Singaporean citizens. Even Allan Greenspan would serve in a better capacity than our contented MM Lee whose the only senior citizen allowed to be employed at that age. Clearly, double standards in play..

Anonymous:

PeterL on Wed, 30th Dec 2009 1:13 am

Hares and Tortoise? While I agreed with your broad categorisation of Hares (Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea) and Tortoise ( our immediate neighbours), there is no uniformity in each categorisation.

Of the tortoises, Malaysia and Vietnam seems to have the brightest future, I view with greater pessimism of Indonesia and Philippines. Just compare Pertamina and Petronas – both oil and gas entities – the former heading for extinction and the latter spanning the global stage. I have a view that in 10 to 20 years time, Malaysia could be riding the trajectory take-off again and we downhill slide.

THERE IS ONE FUNDAMENTAL INESCAPABLE REASON AND TRUTH FOR, THIS BESIDES COMPETITIVE ECONOMICS, I will let you do the guessing for now.

Of the “Hares” South Korea is very different.The late Park Chung Hee set South Korea on the industrialisation path in the early 1970s. Until then South Korea was an agrarian economy – very poor, much poorer than us given the protracted consequences of the Korean War and the state of military tensions with its northern neighbour. The G7 grouping was formed in 1974 and of most recent past, the South Korean economy was closed to overtaking Australia and even Canada ( a G7 nation)in GDP terms. This is the GLOBAL SCALE achievement and GLOBAL FOOTPRINT of no historic parallel of milestone saved off perhaps China now, Germany and Japan postwar.

Where are we then? We also had GDP growth but who owned and gained from this GDP GROWTH? Foreign-owned enterprises mainly and a slew of GLCs BIG ONLY INSIDE SINGAPORE. Our focus – foreign investments, NOT Singaporean investments Globally. So where is our GLOBAL ACHIEVEMENT AND GLOBAL FOOTPRINT?? I see scare evidence of that leaving out Keppel and Sembawang of industrial enterprise.

The economic gain goes mainly in the pocket of foreign enterprises – some of them like GE, Phillips, Plessey, National Semi-Conductors and Texas Instruments are not much around anymore. Yes, they are here for the perks and when the perks is less juicy, it is bye bye, and thanks for the party whilst we enjoyed of the past. So some of the historic “GDP” somehow “disappeared” of economic existence from our landscape – migatory “birds” of fortune as you might want to call it, Those who build up our past GDP have gone elsewhere. IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN AND CONTINUE TO HAPPEN -NO ONE DOUBT ABOUT THIS.

So where is that great Singapore “home grown” wonder of economic “miracle” – nice fiction. When foreigners leave, what are we left? A slew of GLCs dominating and intimidating inside Singapore and not even farting the hot air outside the 700 km little red dot? Do we have a great future like the Korean and shipbuilding industries that is domestic home grown? I am scratching my head day and night.

PeterL, we restructure our economy in 2003 with TH to spearhead our Singapore international arm. In 2009, that strategy was abandoned after Goodyear left. In simple analogy, we build a new house in 2003 to stay for 20 to maybe 30 years (economic jargon is called long-term restructuring) and after 6 years, we tear the house down again, to rebuild for long term again. The house you want to build in 2003 cannot survive the weather impact of sunshine ( good economic fortune) or the rain ( competition). You cannot work, eat, sleep and progress safely in this house called Singapore. THIS REBUID FOLLOWED A REBUILD CAME AFTER 45 YEARS OF NATION AND ECONOMIC BUILDING

IS THAT 45 YEARS OF SUCCESS OR FAILURE, PeterL, leaving rhetoric aside and living with reality??

Sometimes, I feel too many Singaporeans are blind of reality after reading too much of Shitty Times favourite memu of “we-alway-praise-ourselves-and-our-leaders” EVEN IF THE FAILED THIS COUNTRY COMPLETELY.

Singapore’s economy will survive this yet-to-be-formulated new strategy is UNKNOWN AHEAD. It is my nightmare.

fair and square:

The truth in our local economy is that the “invisible hand” which is supposed to regularise any off-tangent socio-economic
activities has had from a long time ago and still is a “meddlesome” visible hand, elbowing out all kinds of entreprise that were build up by the early immigrants,our forefathers.
this is an ELITE who thinks that the rest of us are merely
economic digits that are to be discarded and replaced every so often.
business acumen and enterprise requires constant practice much like the practice of kung-fu or the apllication of warfare strategies.If the gahmen “ban” its citizens from engaging in meanigful ways the constant practice of such enterprise by involving itself so visibly in almost all aspects and sectors of businesses,how could even enterprising citizens morph into
a Bill Gates or a Warren Buffett.The glcs and tlcs can’t even allow a “sam walton” to develop in the supermarket?
honestly,i don’t want to and i can’t simply point my finger at singaporeans for this sad state of out current economic environment when in the first place,even educated and experienced and still useful singaporean workers and executives are being rendered effectively redundant by this gahmen’s short-sighted FT POLICY?
It is always easy to criticise our lack or enterprise but the truth remains that NOT MANY AMONG US have enough huge savings
to decently explore enttreprenuership.This coupled with the
unfair competition from glcs and tlcs and the initial and recurrent costs of running business has killed the enterprising
spirit.
the stark reality is that in our little one resource economy,the gahmen has of itself and by its ’smart’ policies,kill the enterprise spirit brought here by our forefathers from all over Asia a long long time ago.

PeterL:

Anonymouse-

Precisely,Hares i.e.KOREA,Hong Kong & Taiwain and Tortoise i.e.Our immediate neighbours ie. ASEAN.

We can’t match the Hares admittedly for each step we take they are two steps ahead.

We are supposedly ahead of Tortoise i.e. ASEAN bros.who will catch up in no time or may be par if not better in other fields especially with their resources i.e. minerals and land base.

Where would that leave us when that time arrive???? hopefully we re-merge with a more sane Malaysia on our terms or sadly on their terms.Than GOD save Singapore.

fair and square:

@Anonymous
thanks for sharing the same common thread of thoughts and expanding on it.
cheers.

fyl:

I think the problem hugely lies on the remarks made. I don’t think Singaporeans are less hard-driving, not to mention less hard-striving. I suppose MM Lee thought his supposedly ‘motivating’ remark is going to act as a “catalyst” to make Singaporeans more hard-driving & hard-striving.

It is amusing for a prominent figure such as MM Lee to comment such callous & selfish remarks to the people who are indeed contributing to the economy, who have helped to build Singapore to what it is today, and yet, ironically, is also one of the respectable figures to have earned so much more than other figures such as Barack Obama, who works much more, not to mention, very much more clever with words.

I have my greatest respect for MM Lee. What becomes of him today is what he truly deserves. Without him, I believe Singapore will not be as successful as it is today. But without the Singaporeans, there wouldn’t even be a Singapore.

MM Lee should need to know that it is his brain but the brawns of his fellow Singaporeans that built Singapore. It takes two hands to clap.

I am disgusted by the remarks made, which sounded for a second as though it is from the words of an uneducated & sarcastic individual who speaks blindly.

It is evident that MM Lee wanted to motivate his citizens. But it is the way the remarks were addressed that has caused such overwhelming responses or should I say, “motivated” Singaporeans to speak up their mind, and at the same time, widening the gap between Singaporeans and foreign talents.

For such a talented & educated individual such as MM Lee, I believe he knows something is wrong with his remarks. And I hope he is apologetic to his citizens, though it is quite unlikely to happen.

But still, such remarks’ worth to be condemned.