Singapore’s limits: The curse of the GDP
August 11th, 2009 | 
Author: By Eugene Yeo, Consultant Editor
[In this two part series, Eugene Yeo writes about the two chief limiting factors of Singapore's success: the growth-at-all cost economic policy and an unthinking, unquestioning, subservient citizenry]
In his National Day speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Singapore is now in a stronger economic position after a turbulent start to the year. (read full article here)
‘As a result, growth in the first half of the year was minus 6.5 per cent – a very significant contraction, but less bad than we had feared,’ he said.
There’s no guessing that the ‘growth’ he is referring to is Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product or GDP, the perennial barometer of our nation’s success.
Singapore is a nation obsessed with numbers and none the more so than the GDP. It is on the lips of every minister and it is little wonder since a substantial portion of their astronomical pay is pegged to the GDP.
Every few days, the mainstream media will update the entire nation on the latest GDP forecast. When the GDP growth is good, the government takes credit for it and raises its own pay. If the growth is negative as is of now, it is an inevitable consequence of the global financial turmoil.
No leaders in the world is so beholdened to the GDP like ours. Malaysia’s Najib Razak waxes lyrical about “1Malaysia”, China’s Hu Jintao talks about building a “harmonious society” and Hong Kong’s Donald Tsang frequently promises to ensure the “civil liberties” of the people.
How many Singaporeans even understand the meaning of GDP?
By definition, the GDP a basic measure of a country’s economic performance, is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a nation in a year.
It is a sum of the total output of a country, but tells us virtually nothing about the income gap, the cost of living, the per capital consumption and most importantly the welfare of the people, especially the poor, needy and destitute.
The Singapore government’s selective and myopic focus on the GDP has led to a gross neglect of other areas culminating in a widening income gap as shown by our Gini Coefficient, which is one of the highest amongst the 30 most developed economies in the world.
Though Singapore’s per capita GDP is roughly 11% higher than Hong Kong’s, our per capita consumption is about 21% lower. This means that the average Singaporean spends 21% less than the Hong Konger. We have to save much more and spend less to maintain the same standard of living.
Unlike other first world countries, Singapore lacked a social safety net. Recent studies have shown that the CPF is hardly adequate to meet the retirement needs of Singaporeans as it is mostly used to service mortage loans for inflated public housing.
The high cost of living, coupled with education and medical expenses mandates most young parents to work long hours and save for the future leading to a low domestic consumption which increases our reliance on foreign investments and exports.
Singapore has one of the highest saving and investment rates in the world, During the past 20 years it has averaged about 37%, and for several years during the 1980s it approached 50%! Thus, Singapore typically invests between two and three times as much of its income as the United States. (Source: FRBSF)
U.S. economist Kenneth Kasa wasn’t impressed by the Singapore model of development:
“We cannot rule out the possibility that Singapore invests too much and is dynamically inefficient.”, he wrote.
Where have all our budget surpluses gone to? Not surprisingly, a portion of it ends up with our two sovereign wealth funds – Temasek and GIC, flushed with billions of dollars.
Kenneth Jeyaretnam of the Reform Party argued that our budget surpluses can be better utilized by re-investing it in the people, our most precious asset:
“The budget surplus having been taken from the pockets of Singaporeans then represents money that not only could have, but should have, been returned to the citizens of Singapore in the form of lower taxes, fees and charges. It could have also been used to finance much higher domestic investment in education or in health and welfare.”, he said. (read full article here)
The GDP growth over the last three decades which is contributed by every Singaporean has gone to enrich mainly the state with the ordinary citizens “improverished” by standards of the developed world.
We may have a roof over our heads and three meals a day, but everyday life is a continuous struggle to keep ourselves and families afloat especially for the middle class which is becoming squeezed by the rising costs of living and stagnant wages.
To assess if our nation’s GDP growth from the years 2002 to 2008 has really benefitted us, we only need to ask ourselves these questions:
1. Are we happier?
2. Are we having an easier life?
3. Do we feel secure about our future and that of our children?
The key task of the government is to care for the people and not primarily to generate GDP growth which is only a means to the end. If the current growth-at-all cost policy cannot provide for the well-being of the people, then an urgent rethink of the economic blueprint is necessary.
Can Singapore afford to grow at a slightly slower rate and yet able to reap more intangible benefits from the “software” of the citizenry.
In a less stressed society, young Singaporeans may be more inclined to get married and start a family. Increasing our birth rates will reduce our dependence on foreign workers. Instead of spending their entire lives in pursuit of the 5Cs, Singaporeans may find more worthy and meaningful goals in their lives. An increased emphasis on citizens to show that they matter to the state will instill a far greater sense of belonging in them than just mere decoration of the the neighborhood with flags.
In the early years after independence, when we are still a developing country, GDP growth matters above everything else. We need foreign investments to generate years of growth in order to jump-start the economy.
Now, we are already a developed economy. We are losing our advantage as a low-cost manufacturing hub to neighboring countries like China, Vietnam and India. We have to progress to the next stage of an intelligent and creative economy that generates real value to keep us ahead of our competitors. A ‘top-down’ approach simply will not work because creativity can only thrive in adversity.
Singapore needs to produce a Bill Gates, a Larry Page, a Bernard Kouchner, a Barack Obama who dares to go against conventions and fight for their beliefs, ideas and vision.
We have one of the highest education standards in the world. Our college students excel in Mathematics and Science, often triumphing over the Americans and Europeans in international competitions, but why are we so far behind them in terms of creativity?
The real problem with Singapore is that we have produced too many technocrats, bureaucrats and yes-men. We need more thinkers, innovators and visionaries who dare to blaze a trail of their own against conventions.
The government needs to liberalize the political arena to allow the people to freely question its policies without any fear for there is a rebel in every genius, innovator and visionary. We are a nation of sheeps, obeying orders and following blindly what the government says without ever thinking or questioning and this is another limiting factor to our future success as I will elucidate on in my next article – An unthinking and unquestioning Confucianist society”.
Other articles by Eugene Yeo:
>> Do we know the real meaning behind the words of the National Pledge?
>> Debunking the “constructive opposition” illusion
>> How Singapore manage to lose its opposition over the years
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Posted in Opinion
i think one contribution factor is because students are not given sufficient space to express their creativity. when they do something different, more often than not, the teachers will reprimand them. but can we blame the teachers if they themselves grew up in such an environment.
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@wayangtimes on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 10:20 am…Greetings… and yes…. in the practical world…CATERPILLAR MENTALITY is very much alive and thriving even in the universities I bet.
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GDP figures??? Who is eating the cake – the MNCs dominating the banking and manufacturing sector or Singaporeans in employment or Singapore’s businesses?? China too has 10% plus growth for decades, are the factory floor workers “rich” once the foreign MNCs shift out? If you make and grow your own wealth like the South Koreans, it is yours forever as long as it is globally competitive but if you are working for a MNC, you are living with a begging bowl of foreign-dependent employment. That can disappear very fast along with GDP.
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Why focus on GDP? That’s where the money is, the GDP bonus!
Why no Bill Gates,Larry Page? If they were born here, they will either be sued or immigrate.
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“An unthinking and unquestioning Confucianist society”
What is Confucianist society?
Shallow monkeys here know what?
Confucianist society = Thinking society la.
Go and read a few more books before you talk la, shallow monkeys!
Ha ha ha!
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The elites already have the master plan to ensure their prosperity for the next 20 years – by growing the population to 6 million and more.
Singaporeans who are unable to fit into their plans can continue to complain or emigrate. For every Singaporean that emigrate, there will be a “hungrier” foreigner to replace him. Singaporeans are not compulsory.
A core of Singaporeans is still needed because they provide cheap labour for the national security forces. Moreover they can be motivated by the thought of defending this “nation”. This is the only industry where Singaporeans are more value for money than the foreigners.
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Confucianist society = Thinking society la….??? Really, anyone heard of this one..
When rape is inevitable, just lie back and enjoy it, morons
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http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_china-should-get-rid-of-its-gdp-growth-target_1276955
Check out this interview on topic “China should get rid of its GDP growth target”
I hope someone sees the similarities.
Point is, there is No Point in focusing on numbers when reality differs. These numbers are unsustainable, and not indicative of life on the ground.
Similarly, exam grades are often an indication of how much u crammed. Not how much u KNOW.
When u see numbers, ask why, ask how. Majority do not. That’s why there will always be mass idiots getting themselves burnt by blind faith. Blind faith applies only to religion. Anywhere else, u will bang into a wall, fall off a cliff, or get yourself seriously injured one way or another.
Singapore might brag or publicise its GDP growth, and twist it in a light to instil blind optimism in the general population to keep them quiet and sedate and STUPID. But remember, Reality asserts itself in painful ways.
Saegate shuts down its plant, landing possibly 2000 workers out of work. But cause our government is so fantastic, so good, so caring, so forward thinking, it has safety nets in the form of SPURs, retraining, assisted help in getting these workers new work, or relocating them into other depts within Seagate. Get real. A company who is looking into cutting cost due to massive losses will not be interested in keeping unnecessary headcount.
And then u have the mass media reporting about how Singaporeans are still choosy about their job requirements, not willing to join the service sector, blah blah blah.
There u have it! Our government is fantastic, beyond reproach. Our general population are ungrateful brats who take things for granted. That is the Singapore problem. Fix the Singaporeans, by comparing them to foreign talents who would take more shit for less money. Eventually a equilibrium will ensue with more & more Singaporeans earning less, expecting less, taking more shit. And we shall again have our perfect, tranquil society.
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Silvir, having said that….
Which country does a better job to protect the retrench ?
If not, what in your view would you have done?
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The problem is never going to be what damage is already done but how to retrieve the situation from deteriorating further. Putting together an economic strategy reform committee ( to redesign strategy???? )after the first hint of recovery after the meltdown has all the hallmark going through the rubble searching for whatever valuable remains to pick up the pieces after the fire of destruction has swept through.
It is never getting into the underlying cause of why the fire erupted which hit our neighbours like Indonesia and Malaysia less than us.
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Lenoxs, protecting the retrench is like putting a new paint job on the cracks in the wall.
Have u read the article on the link provided?
Have u even tried to get the points being made here?
Are u disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing?
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@silvir24 on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 5:37 pm….Greetings….maybe we should leave that little fucking maggot alone. He proably does not even know basic economic to understand the link you attached.
I read the link. Whilst the economy looks strong now in China, I am ALSO NOT CONVINCED. My reasons are following
- a lot of money meant for infrastructural spending leaked out of the banking system into PROPERTY AND STOCK MARKET SPECULATION – not just property and heading toward bubbly conditions as well
- a lot of money went into speculation of physical commodities. Just look at the massive import of mineral commodities BUT NOT FERTILISER (THIS IS VERY TELLING OF CONSEQUENCES) with the result that their ports are CONGESTED AGAIN AND NOT MATCHED AS YET BY DEMAND FOR MANUFACTURING END USER NEEDS. Steel sector suffers from overcapacity and the expected strong demand pull for steel in infrastructure and manufacturing has NOT yet materialised. That means that all those commodities like iron ore, copper, zinc, molybdenum, metallurgical coal, coking coal are SPECULATIVE DEMAND and restocking awaiting economic recovery. In statistical term, I suspect that all the commodities restocking are treated as part of “infrastructural spending” boost to the economy when instead of roads, railway, power stations, airport construction, money flowed into also SPECULATIVE MOTIVES OF PROPERTY AND SHARE INVESTMENTS – no real capital formation takes place. The lack of fertiliser import STRONGLY SUGGEST that tight credit still exists even in critical essential economic sector like food production – dammned farmers got no credit for spending on fertiliser!! So the loose talk of easier monetary policy is exactly loose talk because money went into property market and stock market. And if you look at the Shanghai stock market indices relative to its LONG HISTORY, there has not been such a STEEP INCREASE in 10 years evidencing excessive stock market speculation.
- onother reason why Chinese manufacturing has not rise in tandem and same rate of commodities import is because end consumer demand in major chinese manufactured goods export market has NOT yet revived.
My take is that the artificial spending growth is temporary. If the bubble keep boiling, the Chinese Government might pull back its easy monetary policy, bringing growth rate down as your link suggested.
Nearer back home, our Government is NOT expecting remotely anything near the kind of this 2nd qtr rebound and even if there is recovery in US, it would be tepid and modest.
There will be more retrenchment as foreign MNCs retrench their overseas operation and consolidate production to cheaper places given excess capacity forced by reduced GLOBAL DEMAND.
Seagate is NOT the last major retrenchment and even with recovery, I expect a lot more retrenchment to come. SPURs are crab of short-term limit relief because job losses are gone forever. Even new industries coming in will require news skill sets and foreigner have no reasons to set up plants here in the lack of relevant skilled labour.
Tough times ahead. We bet your begging bowl on MNCs and we are reaping the harvest of regret. Too late to cry over spilt milk. We are not as clever as South Koreans.
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Hey, I often wonder if someone could provide the figures of how much medical costs have increased vis a vis the subsidies and also the cost of living in the last four years! Even better, if someone could also show how much new hdb flats prices have increased vis a vis the subsidies!
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I won’t be affected too much actually. But thanks for all the info. I’m not knowledgeable enough to comment on China’s economy, but from what I’ve been reading they say China’s collecting their own bubble to burst if they keep things up. And Silvir24 thanks for the link. I’ll say perhaps Singapore should also spend less time trying to hit our own GDP target at the expense of our citizens. But I’m too inexperienced with the global economy. I don’t deal with such things often, after all.
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Fairplayplease,
诸子百家
诸子 = 指孔子、老子、庄子、荀子等。
百家 = 指儒家、道家、墨家、法家等流派。
诸子百家的许多思想给后代留下了深刻的启示。如儒家的“仁政”、、“己所不欲，勿施于人”的“恕道”；孟子的古代民主思想；道家的辩证法；墨家的科学思想；法家的唯物思想；兵家的军事思想等，在今天依然闪烁光芒。便是那“诡辩”的名家，也开创了中国哲学史上的逻辑学领域。
Shallow monkeys even spent whole life study also cannot finish.
Want to talk about Chinese cultures?
Kids….
Ha ha ha!
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My . . . my . . my . . we have now come to the point where universal or international yardsticks are no longer good except for others. How interesting.
How on earth do we measure the subjective or untangibles when the core statistics are absent?
Surely without the core the rest are generally absent.
Anyone for Zimbabwe, Blangladesh, Indonesia, Cambodia, etc?
I don’t anyone can be happy without money. Even monks o pastors want to make money = good food, great clotes, gyms, travels, massage, etc.
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Shallow monkeys know why Chinese prostitutes in Geylang also look down on Singaporean guys?
Because their brain contain nothing except ’sex’!
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孔子、孟子、墨子、荀子、老子、庄子、列子、韩非子、商鞅、申不害、许行、告子、杨子、公孙龙子、惠子、孙武、孙膑、张仪、苏秦、田骈、慎子、尹文、邹衍、晏子、吕不韦、管子、鬼谷子等。
Shallow monkeys had read which one?
Or…shallow monkeys had heard of which one?
Ha ha ha!
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silvir24 on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 4:49 pm …. greetings….
CHINESE policy makers are tightening the credit taps to avoid banking problems, asset bubbles and inflation, amid the first signs of deceleration in the resurgent economy.
Wu Xiaoling, who stepped down as the deputy governor of China’s central bank last year, has warned that lending could be as high as 12 trillion this year, compared with 5 trillion last year, ”and that will sow bad seeds for economic adjustment”.
She had told a meeting of central bankers and economic policy advisers that half of all new lending this year could end up as bad loans,
Read on
http://business.smh.com.au/business/china-pulls-back-on-bankcredit-throttle-20090811-egzv.html
warning of asset bubbles….
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Hi Great Asia,
Thanks for showing us your ignorance of Chinese history and philosophy.
Don’t you know that Confucianism was rejected as a study and blamed as the cause of the decline of China by intellectuals towards the end of the Qing dynasty?
Even the Empress Dowager Cixi ordered the study of the classics to be removed in the imperial civil examinations.
Confucianism is only revived recently by Hu Jintao to further consolidate the CCP’s control of China which is facing the threat of social upheaval with widening income gap between the rich and the poor.
During the Cultural revolution, Confucianism is blamed as a tumor of China. During Deng Xiaoping’s era, – the mantra is “to get rich”.
Confucianism is only used as a political tool to control the population. It can never be adopted wholesale as a model of governance. The West has no Confucius, and that explains why they are so far ahead of China and other so-called ‘Confucian’ countries.
You should seriously read up more before disgracing yourself here again. Cutting and pasting without understanding only goes to show how shallow and ignorant you are.
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@ Great Asia on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 11:54 pm…greetings..This is an English forum. Write in English, otherwise, stuff it up your arse.
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Great Asia on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 11:57 pm…greetings….you got deep knowledge??? Yes about Geylang sex and prostitutes. maybe you could write a chapter for a reader’s perspective of your surreal life expeiences about Joo Chiat, China town, Patpong, Shinjuku,Jalan Chow Kit, Amsterdam, King’s Cross etc for all of us to read.
I can read any topical interest from accounting, law, finance, politics, geology, economics, philosopy which I bet you have not the slightest fucking clue. And you??? dance around this forum thread without your todlers’s pampers on if you are a kid and if any order, I have to remind you I told you before – you are good at
“mouth full of pussy and hands full of shit” in a kneeling position…your mother must be estacy, what are YOU DOING?????
And just if you want to show you got a little shallow knowledge of anything, how about telling everybody here what you know about
- hollow log accounting
- sword and shield in law
- epigentic and synegetic in exploration geology
- relevance implications of compelling comprehension doctrine at law
- lithium and electric car
- explain in chemistry why you cannot store fertiliser for more than 6 months
-foss v harbottle rule in corporate law
If you can’t, I suggest you worm your way back into your mother’s worm through her dark wet tunnel, ask her to give you more nutrition and fertilise your intelligence a bit more before you KICK HARD AT HER EXIT DOOR AND COME OUT DEBATING WITH SOME CLASS IN THIS FORUM
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Great Asia on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 11:57 pm…GREETINGS
I can read any topical interest from accounting, law… SHOULD READ AS…… I CAN READ AND WRITE ON ANY TOPIC OF INTEREEST FROM ACCOUNTING….
and if any order, I have to remind you I told you before – you are good at…. SHOULD BE READ AS…..AND IF YOU ARE ANY OLDER, I HAVE TO REMIND YOU I TOLD YOU BEFORE…
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Hi Great Asia,
Since you have been monitoring our site so often, let us teach you some basic Chinese history.
The Spring and Autumn period in China was marked by great intellectual fervor leading to the flowering of a “hundred schools” of thought.
Confucianism which was founded by Confucius and later promulgated by his disciples, the most prominent of whom is Mencius, is only one of the many schools.
Arising around the same time as Confucianism is Taoism, represented by Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, Mohism by Mo Zhi and Legalism by Xun Zi, Shang Yang, Sheng Bu Hai, and Han Fei Zi. Sun Wu, Pang Juan and Sun Bin are Fa Jia or militarists, Zhang Yi, Su Qin are the “Zhong Heng Jia” which belong to neither schools.
The most influential school of thought during this period will turn out to be Legalism and not Confucianism.
During 330BC, the state of Qin under Duke Xiao appointed Shang Yang as its Prime Minister. Shang Yang is a strict legalist who change the entire Qin bureaucracy along the principles of legalism – the aristocracy lost their place and power, rewards were given to those who contributes to the state, harsh punishments were meted for offenders, the King is regarded as above all – the reforms Shang Yang introduced into Qin transformed it from a weak backward state in western China into a military powerhouse in less than 3 decades – not quite unlike the Meiji Restoration Japan were to experienced centuries later.
Shang Yang was subsequently put to death by Duke Xiao’s successor, King Xiaowen on false charges of formenting rebellion. His body was torn apart by 5 chariots, ironically a punishment which he introduced himself. However, by then, Qin was arguably the strongest feudal state in China. Further expansion and consolidation by King Xiaowen, King Zhaoxiang and King Zhuangxiang (Lee Buwei was his premier) lay the foundation for the unification of China under Emperior Qin Shi Huang.
So to say that Emperor Qin Shi Huang united China was not entirely correct for by his reign, Qin became so powerful that it was only a matter of time before the remaining six states are wiped out. If Qin adopted Confucianism as the state idealogy, it will never have grown strong, let alone unite China!
After Qin was overthrown by the Han, the early Han Emperors Wen Di and Jin Di are Taoists. They adopted Lao Zi’s “Wei er bu zhi” doctrine to rule China, leading to the golden era of “Wen Jing Zi Zhi”, a rare period of stability and prosperity in China’s tumultuous history.
Confucianism is only adopted as a state idealogy and governance during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han – “Ba4 Chu2 Bai3 Jia1, Wei2 Zhun1 Kong3 Shu4″ and Confucianism became the sole dominant philosophy in China subsequently and even then there were periods where it was displaced by Taoism (Ming’s Jiajing) and Buddhism (Northern Wei’s Xiaowen Emperior).
In short, Confucianism led to much stagnation in the intellectual progress of China especially during the Ming and Qing dynasties which saw the West catching up and exceeding China. The industrial revolution could never have happened in China then because of the rigidity and dominance of Confucianism. Western ideas and inventions were looked upon with scorn by Confucianists who advocated that the Emperor is the “Son of Heaven”, China is the center of the universe and did not need playtoys of the western barbarians. This would prove to be fatal as China was reduced to a semi-colony status with its treaty ports and foreign settlements by the western powers towards the end of the 19th century.
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admin on Wed, 12th Aug 2009 8:21 am …GREETINGS.. you are absolutely right about this caerpillar.
He monitor this website intensely…Other than attaching abusive labels like shallow and laughing himself like a little naked ape of no class compared to late Ah Meng, he has NOT CONTRIBUTED A SERIOUS THREAD OF SUBSTANTIVE DEBATE ON ANY TOPIC RELATING TO BUSINESS, POLITICS, LAW, ACCOUNTING, FINANCE,INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS, ECONOMICS
except his GEYLANG SEX EXPERIENCE with PRC whores and maybe other such foreign talents
Admin, don’t take him serious…treat him abusively is the way to do
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Great Asia on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 11:54 pm … Greetings…..
moronic naked ape with a caterpillar mindset of intelligence. Since you are so ‘DEEP OF KNOWLEDGE”….EXPLAIN TO ALL READERS HERE WHAT YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT THIS LINK AND THE EXPLORATION SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT in simple english without the technical details….
http://imagesignal.comsec.com.au/asxdata/20090313/pdf/00936291.pdf
I am waiting…..
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I really do not understand the stupidity of these idiots who come in, rattle off some random bombastic words, name call people, splatter insults behind them like bird shits and then take off, without having contributed a single intelligent word.
Their associates, family n friends must have been really polite around them to leave them so utterly ignorant of the pathetic state of their crippled mind.
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[...] Day 2009 – Temasek Review: Singapore’s limits: The curse of the GDP – ErniesUrn: We, the citizens of Singapore… – The Lycan Times: 44 Years of Nationhood – [...]
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The government and the ministers need to look beyond GDP growth, total GDP, Swiss Bank accounts, and their landed property in Australia. High GDP growth is good but we need to look into deeper issues like whether the middle class and lower class are benefiting from the GDP growth instead of struggling against inflation of housing and necessities and the increasing gap between the elite class and the rest of the population.
We should move away from importing any Tom, Dick, Muthu, Ali or Ah Tiong into Singapore for the sake of reducing labour costs but the productivity also drop and also those aunties and uncles with young children are forced to take home less pay to become more cost effective. If the ministries, government linked companies and multi-national companies want to attract first class talents then they have to be prepared to pay them market rate salaries and accept people who dare to challenge their managers, directors and authorities. Cheap labour may be hardworking, compliant and obedient but they don’t create much value to the society either. If an employer pay $1200 for a cheap ah neh programmer most probably he will get buggy programs.
In conclusion, we need to shift from a grow at all cost, export orientated and cheap labour dependent economy to a entrepreneurial, creative and innovative society which adds value to the economy and not by create economic bubbles in the property or banks. PAP’s economic model have served us well before the turn of this century but it is not going to be sustainable in the long run when it turned out that those lower class people cannot get out of their poverty cycle anymore.
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@Admin 12th Aug 2009 8:46 am
Your reply is too long winded.
In short, the decline of almost every Chinese Dynasty (post Qin, with exception of Mongol Yuan) was marked by the rise of Confucian Thought.
Why? when u are crap, the easiest way to retain power is blind obedience.
Btw, u realised “Great Asia” dun even know what he is pasting?
He equated “Hundred thoughts” with confucian when it is just one of many. In fact, the among the least successful/useful. Confucius and many of his disciples died in utter poverty and his state defeated.
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When your only solution is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail.
As long as the old man is breathing, FT + FDI will be the solution to all our problems.
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As it has always been – Eventually (GE) the lighting rod strikes them all OUT!
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Great Asia on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 11:59 pm …Greetings..
NOW EVERYBODY HERE KNOWS YOU ARE A FUCKING MORONIC CATERPILLAR …could not answer even one of my 7 questions..
YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE MONUMENT TO CLUELESSNESS.
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singapore cannot produce a bill gates or larry page.
you have to listen, obey and follow to rise to the top.
and you better have good grades as well.
if you don’t, i don’t think you will rise.
trying to grow successful entrepreneurs from our education system is akin to attempting to develop athletes who have been selected from a prerequisite criteria of having to be over a BMI of 40.
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SINGAPORE risks ’severe asset inflation’ during the economic recovery, a local economist has warned.
But this danger can be averted if the Government acts now to control the prices of HDB flats, said Mr Paul Yip, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) associate professor of economics.
Asset inflation – meaning a rise in price of assets such as stocks and property – is a possible consequence of the United States’ current expansionary fiscal policy, Professor Yip said on Tuesday.
He was speaking at an NTU symposium – on exchange rate systems and Asian macroeconomic policies – which brought together 11 macroeconomists from institutions such as Stanford University and Delhi School of Economics.
‘Many people say that the property market is rebounding, but I don’t think so; we are still bottoming. Recovery will be slow … and a few years later we might have severe asset inflation, much more than the rise today,’ Prof Yip said.
‘So if you are a stock investor or property investor, it’s very easy. Just hold your stock and shares for another three or five years – the price will climb to be much higher. But if you lose money, don’t blame me,’ he quipped.
Prof Yip noted that the US government has lowered interest rates and expanded its money supply in a bid to avoid a repeat of the Great Depression.
But post-recession, the government may fail to shrink the money base back to pre-downturn levels, he said. In that case, excess US dollars would flood the market.
‘For Singapore, there may be an inflow of money from the US, increasing the money base and therefore the money supply… When the recovery comes, there will be wage inflation and consumer price index inflation, and this will fuel asset inflation,’ he told The Straits Times.
‘Rents will rise and then people will be able to charge even higher rents, causing a vicious circle,’ Prof Yip said.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_415372.html
SO is this something we should worry about or shall we leave matters in the competant hands of our million dollar millisters?
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Hi xISD Tay,
Where did you obtain this article? Care to post the link?
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Admin, its from the shitty times.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_415372.html
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Wow!!!!
- hollow log accounting
- sword and shield in law
- epigentic and synegetic in exploration geology
- relevance implications of compelling comprehension doctrine at law
- lithium and electric car
- explain in chemistry why you cannot store fertiliser for more than 6 months
-foss v harbottle rule in corporate law
Shallow monkey want me to teach Goooooggle….?
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the present leaders should not pushed up the GDP by simply increasing the population to show that they are capable. This method is not going to be sustainable. They are simply taking the easy way out and pass the problem to our future generations.
A golden era is a period where the people live happily, not in a never ending rat race.
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@Great Asia on Wed, 12th Aug 2009 10:23 pm
want to teach you goooooogle?. NO. I am sure you know how to gooogle but YOU SURE DO BETTER SUCKING YOUR MOTHER’S PUSSY AND COLLECTING YOUR SHIT COMING OUT OF HER ARSE-HOLE. FUCK HER AFTER THAT!!
Mod’s Note: Fairplayplease, pleassssssseeeee tone down your language a bit. Thank you.
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Mod’s note.. I was just adding to his quirky sense of humour.
http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/nz/cases/NZBSA/2008/43.html?query=^FUCK
However will oblige your request.
Mod’s note: Thank you for your understanding, much appreciated.
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of course they want you to engage in a never ending rat race, they feed on your efforts.
Tell tale sign: when they are challenged, they redirect your inquiries to somewhere else when they know they would lose.
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After singing their creativeness on job credits scheme to help the workers, how many singaporeans actually benefited? How come the unemployment does not seem to halt? Why seagate chose to shut? How about the effect on supporting industries, surely they will be affected by the shutdown. Can our shitty times stop spining TH half truths (coz thats long term) and report what is happening on the ground (immediate term).
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When one joker accuse the Worker’s Party of being a wayang party, that they have no solution for inflation and increases in costs, how many Singaporeans realized that the solution is for papa to lose power.
Look at the defintiion of GDP, when they inflate everything after 2006 General Election, GDP increases.
GDP a basic measure of a country’s economic performance, is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a nation in a year.
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[...] Singapore National Day 2009 Parody Song by mrbrown & the band, electrician – Temasek Review: Singapore’s limits: The curse of the GDP – ErniesUrn: We, the citizens of Singapore… – The Lycan Times: 44 Years of Nationhood – [...]
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[...] >> Singapore’s limits: The curse of the GDP [...]
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