Seems that Malaysiakini.com has a number of anti-Singapore articles out on the Internet. One problem I see on the web is that many Singaporeans hate the PAP so much, they fail to distinguish an attack on the country from an attack on our style of governance. As such, articles on Malaysiakini are greeted not so much as outrage by our own citizens but its saddening to see that Singaporeans are cheering Malaysians on when they write nasty articles about our country.
Today, I would not dispute the facts behind these recent articles because its possible that they are true but I would rather challenge the conclusion that came out of it, these articles attempt to demonstrate that Singapore must be quite a terrible place to be because of the plight of our poor. But to be fair, we have to ask ourselves if a society without poverty exists and whether the author of the article chose to examine his own society before casting that rock against ours.
When positioning ourselves in front of criticism, sometimes its helpful to look at recent studies from neutral parties to assess how good or bad a society can be. One example I would like to quote is a recent study done by the folks here :
http://www.happyplanetindex.org/learn/download-report.html.
The Happy Planet Index is broken down into three components.
In the first component, life satisfaction, a survey which measures how satisfied Singaporeans are, Singapore scored 7.1. The only place in South Asia or East Asia which did better was Hong Kong at 7.2. Malaysia was behind us at 6.6. Another words, based on a survey done by a third party, Singaporeans are generally more satisfied than Malaysians.
The second component, life expectancy, Singapore scored 79.4 versus Malaysia's 73.7. So in such a case, not only are we more satisfied with our lives, we live longer as well.
Of course, many netizens will remind us that Singapore lost to Malaysia in the third component which measures our ecological footprint. It would take a lot more resources to sustain Singapore than Malaysia per unit acre - a fair result given that we're five million people crammed on a little red dot. Singapore's score of 4.2, while larger than Malaysia's 2.4, is much smaller than the US which is at 9.4 or even Hong Kong.
I welcome netizens to go through the website and share with us more findings and expose more biases in the study but I urge Singaporeans to remind ourselves that we're much bigger than our government. Criticising the PAP and Singapore is our job and I might even say that its our duty. But when foreigners criticise us, we should react in a measured and objective manner that preserves respect between two neighbours.
When our nation is attacked or criticised, it's up to us and not PAP to defend us but our own fellow countrymen.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Friday, July 03, 2009
Alternatives to Emigration for Unhappy Singaporeans.
SM Goh has, once again, brought up the issue of emigration amongst our citizens. There is sufficient finger pointing on the web on how the PAP has socially engineered our society into one which does not value our citizens. The aim of this article is to neither support nor oppose the main thrust of what the web is feeling collectively but to acknowledge that it is within our control to do something about this without taking the drastic step of giving up their NRIC cards.
Here's some suggestions on what I think can be viable alternatives to emigration:
a) Adopt alternative benchmarks.
A lot of emigration arises from feeling insecure as Singapore is perceived to have a very small group of winners versus a collectively larger group of losers. Winners get comfortable jobs in the civil service, live longer lives and have more autonomy and life satisfaction. One way of coping with this is to develop an internal benchmark on what success really is. While you may not excel in the area of achievements, you may excel in relationships or have attained a higher level of spiritual attainment. while you may not be a scholar, you may a very successful raid leader in WOW managing a number of players that a company director would envy.
b) Understand some advantages of being a Singaporean.
Singaporeans are stressed out at work. Local managers are sub-standard and a lot of bad management practices is inculcated during NS. But Singaporeans have low taxes and can save more money. Very few societies makes it so easy to gain access to maids to look after children and estate taxes are no longer a burden for those who wish to pass along money to future generations.
c) Leverage on the free lunches in Singapore.
There are free lunches in Singapore. Ridiculous low income taxes are one. Low corporate taxes and subsequent negligible taxes on dividend income is another. Singaporeans can use it to their advantage provided that they do not make the mistake of over-consuming too much and paying too much GST and subsidising the civil service through paying COE and road taxes. Getting from one point to another in Singapore still costs less than $3 if you plan your journey well and use public transport.
d) Stop thinking about what others feel about careers and family.
A lot of pressure comes from sabotage from one's own family. Many Singaporeans are comfortable being single as it is a very efficient arrangement. Others get married but never have children as they want to take advantage of dual incomes. A lot of stress disappears if you live your life the way you want to. So what if a relative thinks that being single and not having kids is abnormal? if you want to be a couple, have one kid or no kid but you want to travel 4 times a year, so be it.
Anyway, I'll do a post on this item again and examine some other suggestions but keep the feedback coming.
Here's some suggestions on what I think can be viable alternatives to emigration:
a) Adopt alternative benchmarks.
A lot of emigration arises from feeling insecure as Singapore is perceived to have a very small group of winners versus a collectively larger group of losers. Winners get comfortable jobs in the civil service, live longer lives and have more autonomy and life satisfaction. One way of coping with this is to develop an internal benchmark on what success really is. While you may not excel in the area of achievements, you may excel in relationships or have attained a higher level of spiritual attainment. while you may not be a scholar, you may a very successful raid leader in WOW managing a number of players that a company director would envy.
b) Understand some advantages of being a Singaporean.
Singaporeans are stressed out at work. Local managers are sub-standard and a lot of bad management practices is inculcated during NS. But Singaporeans have low taxes and can save more money. Very few societies makes it so easy to gain access to maids to look after children and estate taxes are no longer a burden for those who wish to pass along money to future generations.
c) Leverage on the free lunches in Singapore.
There are free lunches in Singapore. Ridiculous low income taxes are one. Low corporate taxes and subsequent negligible taxes on dividend income is another. Singaporeans can use it to their advantage provided that they do not make the mistake of over-consuming too much and paying too much GST and subsidising the civil service through paying COE and road taxes. Getting from one point to another in Singapore still costs less than $3 if you plan your journey well and use public transport.
d) Stop thinking about what others feel about careers and family.
A lot of pressure comes from sabotage from one's own family. Many Singaporeans are comfortable being single as it is a very efficient arrangement. Others get married but never have children as they want to take advantage of dual incomes. A lot of stress disappears if you live your life the way you want to. So what if a relative thinks that being single and not having kids is abnormal? if you want to be a couple, have one kid or no kid but you want to travel 4 times a year, so be it.
Anyway, I'll do a post on this item again and examine some other suggestions but keep the feedback coming.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
What is the best possible response towards Elitism ?
We can find Orang Asli in Malaysia, but in Singapore, there are plenty of Orang Atas.
Coming in a little late in the game, I noticed that a fire-storm has been brewing because a blogger called Intellectual Snob has managed to offend the sensibilities of Singaporeans worldwide. ( http://theintellectualsnob.blogspot.com/ )
Well it does not really matter that this so-called snob has been exposed as an NTU undergrad. What matters is that snobbery and elitism is very real in Singapore and no amount of finger pointing at government scholarships will change humanity's tendency to benchmark themselves and build hierarchies to dominate others. Wallstreet in New York will always have their big-swinging dicks, the French have their Enarchs so it comes as no surprise that Singapore will have it's elite group of Mandarin scholars.
If you think being riled by a blog is bad, I can imagine that many readers may have snobs within the family. An aunt of mine, until recently married to a pretty big shot in Singapore, made a Freudian slip during a karaoke session and declared her children a different "kettle of fish" from us inferior cousins. That's part of Singapore living, my mum tapped rubber for a living when she was 14 and now her sister has given birth to a different "kettle of fish". ( My mum had a big argument with me today over this article, I agreed to present the facts more accurately, she actually started tapping rubber at the age of 14 )
As an engineer, I want to focus on Elitism and what we can do about it, rather than parcel out blame on Singapore society, here's how I think we can react to this:
a) Understand that its inherent in human beings to strive towards superiority.
Striving for superiority is likely to be an evolutionary adaptation. Our ancestors had to look good to attract a mate. Males needed to hoard food and and hunt to attract females. Needless to say, we evolved to become a pretty competitive species on this Earth.
b) Do not dehumanise a group of people based on the actions of a few bad hats.
No matter what you face at work or at home, there will be good scholars and civil servants that work hard to sustain their families. We fail and lose out on a great friendship if we lump them along with the Wee Shu Mins in Singapore society. Give folks the benefit of the doubt and act only when your self-esteem comes under direct assault and don't heap scorn unnecessarily.
c) Build up your self-esteem in this harsh society.
The Singapore education system focuses less on self-esteem and more on skills excellence. No wonder graduates from an American-style of education are louder and more confident if only at first glance. With this realisation, we have to adopt the policy of setting small goals and succeeding in them to bolster our own self-confidence. We have to read widely and understand the weaknesses of our own education systems and supplement them. MIT has released their lectures to the world at large so there's no excuse for not being able to get a top flight education.
d) Find areas where you can excel in
You don't have to limit your success in academics just because the government chooses scholars based on this criteria. You can excel at building great relationships, spiritual attainment, superior craftsmanship or even by getting the best loot on World of Warcraft. The key is to enjoy the journey and when doing something you like, try to get into a state of Flow and be immersed in your work.
e) Seek financial independence
Okay, I'm a finance writer, what else can you expect? Financial independence is not a state of being wealthy, it simply means generating enough investment income to cover basic living expenses. When this state is achieved, you begin to make peace with your ambitions. You become more effective dealing with people because you strive to get your objectives met and not to simply cover your ass at work.
I'm sure many readers will be able to come up with better ideas on how we cope with elitism and the pain of dealing with the so-called Elites.
Do enlighten this small Frog graduate from NUS and share your ideas with all.
Coming in a little late in the game, I noticed that a fire-storm has been brewing because a blogger called Intellectual Snob has managed to offend the sensibilities of Singaporeans worldwide. ( http://theintellectualsnob.blogspot.com/ )
Well it does not really matter that this so-called snob has been exposed as an NTU undergrad. What matters is that snobbery and elitism is very real in Singapore and no amount of finger pointing at government scholarships will change humanity's tendency to benchmark themselves and build hierarchies to dominate others. Wallstreet in New York will always have their big-swinging dicks, the French have their Enarchs so it comes as no surprise that Singapore will have it's elite group of Mandarin scholars.
If you think being riled by a blog is bad, I can imagine that many readers may have snobs within the family. An aunt of mine, until recently married to a pretty big shot in Singapore, made a Freudian slip during a karaoke session and declared her children a different "kettle of fish" from us inferior cousins. That's part of Singapore living, my mum tapped rubber for a living when she was 14 and now her sister has given birth to a different "kettle of fish". ( My mum had a big argument with me today over this article, I agreed to present the facts more accurately, she actually started tapping rubber at the age of 14 )
As an engineer, I want to focus on Elitism and what we can do about it, rather than parcel out blame on Singapore society, here's how I think we can react to this:
a) Understand that its inherent in human beings to strive towards superiority.
Striving for superiority is likely to be an evolutionary adaptation. Our ancestors had to look good to attract a mate. Males needed to hoard food and and hunt to attract females. Needless to say, we evolved to become a pretty competitive species on this Earth.
b) Do not dehumanise a group of people based on the actions of a few bad hats.
No matter what you face at work or at home, there will be good scholars and civil servants that work hard to sustain their families. We fail and lose out on a great friendship if we lump them along with the Wee Shu Mins in Singapore society. Give folks the benefit of the doubt and act only when your self-esteem comes under direct assault and don't heap scorn unnecessarily.
c) Build up your self-esteem in this harsh society.
The Singapore education system focuses less on self-esteem and more on skills excellence. No wonder graduates from an American-style of education are louder and more confident if only at first glance. With this realisation, we have to adopt the policy of setting small goals and succeeding in them to bolster our own self-confidence. We have to read widely and understand the weaknesses of our own education systems and supplement them. MIT has released their lectures to the world at large so there's no excuse for not being able to get a top flight education.
d) Find areas where you can excel in
You don't have to limit your success in academics just because the government chooses scholars based on this criteria. You can excel at building great relationships, spiritual attainment, superior craftsmanship or even by getting the best loot on World of Warcraft. The key is to enjoy the journey and when doing something you like, try to get into a state of Flow and be immersed in your work.
e) Seek financial independence
Okay, I'm a finance writer, what else can you expect? Financial independence is not a state of being wealthy, it simply means generating enough investment income to cover basic living expenses. When this state is achieved, you begin to make peace with your ambitions. You become more effective dealing with people because you strive to get your objectives met and not to simply cover your ass at work.
I'm sure many readers will be able to come up with better ideas on how we cope with elitism and the pain of dealing with the so-called Elites.
Do enlighten this small Frog graduate from NUS and share your ideas with all.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Word Cloud for Sowing the Seeds of Prosperity
Well here's what the word cloud for my third book looks like courtesy of the www.wordle.net website.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Cover Page of Sowing Your Seeds of Prosperity
After much thought about keeping the prices of my book affordable and lowering the break-even rate, I have attempted to give myself some lessons on cover design. Here are the results of weeks of back-breaking effort.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Harvesting the Fruits of Prosperity : Table of Contents
We have our first addendum !
Apologies to any of the readers who find that the table of contents do not point to the proper page. My design and layout guy has already sent me an addendum to the Table of Contents, seems that as we translate a page from Word to PDF, some page numbers slip and the TOC needs to be rewritten.
Anyway for everybody else, here's a glimpse of the table of contents for this new book on seeking happiness and Financial Independence in Singapore !
http://www.badongo.com/file/3221377
Apologies to any of the readers who find that the table of contents do not point to the proper page. My design and layout guy has already sent me an addendum to the Table of Contents, seems that as we translate a page from Word to PDF, some page numbers slip and the TOC needs to be rewritten.
Anyway for everybody else, here's a glimpse of the table of contents for this new book on seeking happiness and Financial Independence in Singapore !
http://www.badongo.com/file/3221377
Monday, May 28, 2007
Harvesting the Fruits of Prosperity
Harvesting the Fruits of Prosperity is now available in the World Book fair. The retail price is $22.90 but the nice folks at Marketasia will be selling it at a discounted rate on that day.
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