If there was a justification for more opposition members in parliament to represent the people's interest, Workers' Party's Sylvia Lim provided it yesterday. Highlighting the shortcoming of the new law which escaped the planners, she said that the Government should "at least correspondingly provide for a more seamless transition of employment from 62 to 65."
She had joined in fellow opposition MP Low Thia Khiang's critique that the new law was "half cooked" and will result in Singaporeans "hanging in the air" - without a job at the age of 62, yet unable to tap their CPF savings. The Government had recently announced that the draw down age, when workers are allowed access to their life savings, would be raised to 63 next year, 64 in 2015, and 65 in 2018. The new law requires employers to offer re-employment to workers who turn 62, else to alternately compensate with a one-time "Employment Assistance Payment" to tide him over while job hunting. If the handouts are anything like the pittance from ComCare, the poor sod will probably fill his stomach better with his own savings. Provided the HDB housing loan hasn't bled him dry by then.
Both PAP members Heng and Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong, who insist on deferring drawdown as long as possible, don't seem to get it. When you're broke, you're broke. Who cares about life expectancy of 85, when you don't have food on the table for year 63? They keep harping on working to the grave, without respite to enjoy the fruits of one's labour.
The Retirement and Re-employment Act passed in Parliament is conditional upon the worker's job performance being at least satisfactory and he continues to be medically fit. There's a catch-22 right there. If his health deteriorates, as is expected with the physical ravages of the natural aging process, will his job performance, be it toilet cleaning or mopping floors, satisfy his employers? Not every employer is prepared to keep an octogenarian on the payroll at $3 million per annum, when all he does is regurgitate old war stories.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Height Of Kiasu-ism
"During our time, we went to school to learn. Now the school expects the kids to know the subject already, " was the lament of one mother who had to hire a tutor for her son in Primary Two.
Kiasuparents.com even suggests that children starting Primary One should be able to write all 26 letters of the English alphabet and construct simple English sentences. No wonder parents are rich fodder for unregulated "toddler enrichment" centers - known to charge as much as $20,000 a year - for pre-school preparation to give their tikes a headstart in the treadmill of Singapore education. It cuts no ice with the gullible if the Government said a year ago that there are no plans to nationalise preschool education, that standing philosophy is preschool goals should not be assessment based, but focused on social and communication skills development. Now the national sickness of fear of being left behind has reached the stage of the theater of the absurd. The stage when we renounce arguing about the absurdity of the human condition; and merely present it in being—that is, in terms of concrete stage images. Imagine the overnight queue on Sunday to get 3-year-olds on the 2013 waitlist of a Bukit Timah preschool - purportedly the alumni of Lee Hsien Loong and his children, and also prominent lawyers, scientists and architects.
Now imagine this: A former major in the Singapore Air Force is charging $499 for a National Service pre-enlistment preparatory course. The 6 session package, each of 1 1/2 hours length, is supposed to help pre-enlistees overcome their fears and "psych them up" before they report for the NS Basic Military Training (BMT). "If going for the course will give him an edge over his NS peers, why not?" said fifty-ish housewife Sim, who is willing to part with the cash to ensure his 17-year-old is mentally ready for his NS stint. To ace his BMT, the same way he aced his ABCs at preschool. The major even has a $999 course to ace the interviews to clinch SAF scholarships. Who knows, maybe an ex-Minister might start a course to prepare for the invite to tea at the Istana.
Fortunately some members of the younger generation can espy the scam of pay and puke. Ngee Ann student Melvin Poon doesn't see why he needs to pay so much just to learn how to do well, "Even if it is tough, we just have to deal with whatever is thrown at us." Attaboy, Melvin, that's the spirit!
Kiasuparents.com even suggests that children starting Primary One should be able to write all 26 letters of the English alphabet and construct simple English sentences. No wonder parents are rich fodder for unregulated "toddler enrichment" centers - known to charge as much as $20,000 a year - for pre-school preparation to give their tikes a headstart in the treadmill of Singapore education. It cuts no ice with the gullible if the Government said a year ago that there are no plans to nationalise preschool education, that standing philosophy is preschool goals should not be assessment based, but focused on social and communication skills development. Now the national sickness of fear of being left behind has reached the stage of the theater of the absurd. The stage when we renounce arguing about the absurdity of the human condition; and merely present it in being—that is, in terms of concrete stage images. Imagine the overnight queue on Sunday to get 3-year-olds on the 2013 waitlist of a Bukit Timah preschool - purportedly the alumni of Lee Hsien Loong and his children, and also prominent lawyers, scientists and architects.
Now imagine this: A former major in the Singapore Air Force is charging $499 for a National Service pre-enlistment preparatory course. The 6 session package, each of 1 1/2 hours length, is supposed to help pre-enlistees overcome their fears and "psych them up" before they report for the NS Basic Military Training (BMT). "If going for the course will give him an edge over his NS peers, why not?" said fifty-ish housewife Sim, who is willing to part with the cash to ensure his 17-year-old is mentally ready for his NS stint. To ace his BMT, the same way he aced his ABCs at preschool. The major even has a $999 course to ace the interviews to clinch SAF scholarships. Who knows, maybe an ex-Minister might start a course to prepare for the invite to tea at the Istana.
Fortunately some members of the younger generation can espy the scam of pay and puke. Ngee Ann student Melvin Poon doesn't see why he needs to pay so much just to learn how to do well, "Even if it is tough, we just have to deal with whatever is thrown at us." Attaboy, Melvin, that's the spirit!
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Campaigning Has Begun
During the last general election, they attempted an unsuccessful ban on podcasts and blogs about the hustings. This time round, the one day "cooling-off" period introduced to dampen voter enthusiasm is probably deemed dead in the water even before the election is officially launched. Hence the blatant exploitation of the main stream print media and national television.
Following the grandiose Aljunied GRC announcement of its 5-year plans, Jalan Besar GRC predictably unrolled it's own road show. Note George Yeo in Aljunied and Yaacob Ibrahim in Jalan Besar, both individuals similarly identified as highly endangered species in the current political atmosphere. Why else link the Orchard Road (lack of) flood control issues with "artistic landscaping" and "latest street furniture" for Jalan Besar, the ward where MP Lily Neo has to contribute from her own wallet the occasional $10 note to help out the destitute? The same people who could not afford three full meals a day. No point in sitting pretty at a landscaped park with growling noises emanating from an empty stomach.
The $460 million promised for one of the oldest wards in the island does not came from Yaacob Ibrahim's personal stash, or the war-chest of his political sponsor. These are monies taken not just from the taxpayers of Jalan Besar, or the other GRCs (East Coast, Ang Mo Kio, Marine Parade and Hong Kah) whose 5-year improvement plans are slated to be announced in the coming weeks. The 5-year plans for the whole of Singapore should deserve equal billing, not just the GRCs under perceived threat of the growing opposition front. Note also the hot potatoes in some of the GRCs selected for national attention: Raymond Lim, Seng Han Thong, Goh Chok Tong, Yeo Cheow Tong. Oh, silly us, we forgot, MM Lee Kuan Yew said that there's no such thing as a level playing field in Singapore politics.
Following the grandiose Aljunied GRC announcement of its 5-year plans, Jalan Besar GRC predictably unrolled it's own road show. Note George Yeo in Aljunied and Yaacob Ibrahim in Jalan Besar, both individuals similarly identified as highly endangered species in the current political atmosphere. Why else link the Orchard Road (lack of) flood control issues with "artistic landscaping" and "latest street furniture" for Jalan Besar, the ward where MP Lily Neo has to contribute from her own wallet the occasional $10 note to help out the destitute? The same people who could not afford three full meals a day. No point in sitting pretty at a landscaped park with growling noises emanating from an empty stomach.
The $460 million promised for one of the oldest wards in the island does not came from Yaacob Ibrahim's personal stash, or the war-chest of his political sponsor. These are monies taken not just from the taxpayers of Jalan Besar, or the other GRCs (East Coast, Ang Mo Kio, Marine Parade and Hong Kah) whose 5-year improvement plans are slated to be announced in the coming weeks. The 5-year plans for the whole of Singapore should deserve equal billing, not just the GRCs under perceived threat of the growing opposition front. Note also the hot potatoes in some of the GRCs selected for national attention: Raymond Lim, Seng Han Thong, Goh Chok Tong, Yeo Cheow Tong. Oh, silly us, we forgot, MM Lee Kuan Yew said that there's no such thing as a level playing field in Singapore politics.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
If You Can Pay, You Can Afford It
Everybody knows about the $8 bill Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan paid for his surgical bypass. What we don't know is whether he had lobotomy done on the side to take advantage of the special rates he seems to enjoy. How else to account for his comment on the report that the average bill for a subsidised C-class patient has almost doubled in the four years since 2006? "The bottom line: We have good high-standard public hospitals that are affordable because of the 3Ms, " he said, referring to Medisave, Medishield and Medifund.
That's like Development Minister Mah Bow Tan saying HDB housing is affordable since a 25-year-old can always take out a 30 year loan. Never mind if he discovers decades later, at age 55, there's nothing left for retirement.
Khaw claims the majority have no difficulty in paying their bills, and four out of five of them are able to use Medishield and Medisave to cover the whole bill. There are good reasons why Singaporeans pay up bills: 1) the authorities will not hesitate to haul them up to court, 2) the loan sharks will spray paint their house-gates for free. And if it comes to jumping in front of the MRT tracks, you betcha LTA will make the surviving kin pay for messing up their shiny trains. When one guy decided to leap out of a hospital window while waiting his turn for a scan, he wasn't mentally disturbed as one reporter wrote. In all probability, the nightmare of a horrendous hospital bill may have contributed to his choice of drastic measures.
Asked to comment on the issue, unionist and fellow PAP MP Halimah Yacob would only call for healthcare costs to stay affordable and for the poor to have access to the various help schemes, a lame but politically correct response to a gross social injustice.
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| Click for more upsetting statistics to increase your blood pressure |
That's like Development Minister Mah Bow Tan saying HDB housing is affordable since a 25-year-old can always take out a 30 year loan. Never mind if he discovers decades later, at age 55, there's nothing left for retirement.
Khaw claims the majority have no difficulty in paying their bills, and four out of five of them are able to use Medishield and Medisave to cover the whole bill. There are good reasons why Singaporeans pay up bills: 1) the authorities will not hesitate to haul them up to court, 2) the loan sharks will spray paint their house-gates for free. And if it comes to jumping in front of the MRT tracks, you betcha LTA will make the surviving kin pay for messing up their shiny trains. When one guy decided to leap out of a hospital window while waiting his turn for a scan, he wasn't mentally disturbed as one reporter wrote. In all probability, the nightmare of a horrendous hospital bill may have contributed to his choice of drastic measures.
Asked to comment on the issue, unionist and fellow PAP MP Halimah Yacob would only call for healthcare costs to stay affordable and for the poor to have access to the various help schemes, a lame but politically correct response to a gross social injustice.
Friday, January 7, 2011
The End Of Free Parking Is Near
Already anger is simmering over the HDB "experiment" to do away with free parking on Sundays. Free parking on Sundays and public holidays was first mooted in 1985 to encourage Singaporeans who have set up their own households to visit their parents and grandparents, since extended families are difficult to accommodate in high-rise pigeon holes. At least once a week, the senior citizens get to enjoy quality time with their children and grandchildren. Before they get shipped off to nursing homes in Batam, Bintang and Johore. Of course this Asian trait of filial piety has to be totally alien to the Ang Moh. To reinforce the issue, China is now drafting a law to let the elderly sue children who fail to drop by. The proposed legal amendment comes amid reports of growing numbers of "empty nesters" in China as its population ages.
What is really inexplicable is that grassroots leaders reportedly first asked for the removal of free parking at carparks near the Serangoon Nex shopping mall. Even before before the mall opened in November. The garish red signs declaring implementation of the new revenue collecting exercise are slowly being introduced at carparks across the island, carparks that are not in the vicinity of any shopping mall - and endangering the survival of kopitiams and HDB businesses. Are they trying to be useful, helping their political masters to finance the "budget goodies" planned for the imminent elections? Expect hordes of tongkatted grandmas insisting on being wheel-chaired to the polling stations.
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