TR EMERITUS

In spite of the prevailing public sentiments, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan repeated his stance yesterday at Parliament that HDB flats are still “affordable” to Singaporeans. Mr Mah used a formula called the debt service ratio (DSR) which compares the monthly mortgage installment to the monthly household... 

The House “voted” yesterday in favour of the amendments to the Constitution to increase the maximum number of Non-Constituency MPs from six to nine and entrench the Nominated MP system. The result is a foregone conclusion since the ruling PAP controls 82 out of 84 seats in Parliament. Prime Minister Lee Hsien... 

OPINION For far too long, the Singapore opposition has been campaigning on the need to provide some sort of checks and balances to the PAP in Parliament during every general election. Though each individual political party has their own manifestos, they are more of academic interest since no single opposition party is strong... 

A hapless George Yeo said in Parliament yesterday that he was “puzzled” by Romania’s latest diplomatic note to Singapore that former “charge d’affaires Silviu Ionescu continues to enjoy diplomatic immunity for the hit-and-run case of Dec 15.” In a reply to a question from PAP Irene Ng... 

Dear Mr Teo,   I refer to the Straits Times report of your speech at the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum dated 6 Apr 2010.   Your reported answer to worried young couples who asked you how they can afford a flat with prices going through the roof is to look at the Sengkang and Punggol flats right before their eyes.  These... 

作者:费言 一对年轻的中国夫妇在乌节路开餐馆，没半年就倒了回中国老家去，许文远部长说： 『我被他们的年轻、无畏和创业精神所打动。但是他们还年轻。我希望他们不会因为这次的失败而沮丧。毕竟创业做生意，从来不适合那些胆怯之人。』 就和那位花几万元到法国巴黎学烹饪，然后快乐大呼非常值得的环境部常任秘书一样，许文远的心情总和我们这些愚民不一样，总是看到光明积极的一面，总是轻松快乐的。 如果换成是我，大概会赶快叫他停止装修少花钱，告诉他千万别在新加坡开店开餐馆。尽管也有许多餐馆在新加坡赚了大钱，甚至开了许多连锁店。 在新加坡，每个月都有十几家餐厅关门和开门，也许这并没有什么新鲜的地方。不过，这对中国夫妇回到陕西老家后，也许会在早报网或其他中国网上发表“吐口水文... 

作者:费言 【一】处处趁火打劫的奸商思维 最近冰岛火山灰爆发，弄得几万名游客滞留在新加坡世界第一的飞机场里面天天窝屎拉尿，早报吴俊刚看得不顺眼，发了点牢骚，给旅游局一点压力： 『很遗憾的，在新加坡，连日来，我们看不到旅游局也有类似的送温暖的报道。有国人因此提出了意见，旅游局的答复是，他们其实也有所行动，那就是连同一些相关的旅游机构，为一些搭客安排酒店，也给他们送上价值约200元的温暖礼包，其中包括圣淘沙的免费入门票，免费市区游览，动物园和飞禽公园入门票折扣优惠等，截至目前为止，已发出了约千个礼包。 也许，我们缺乏应有的应变机制，也许这又一次凸显我们服务DNA的欠缺。我们更习惯于关注抵境... 

According to the 2009 Redundancy and Re-employment report released by MOM’s Research and Statistics Department, Professionals, Managers, Executives & Technicians (PMETs) saw the largest increase in the number of workers made redundant from 6,200 in 2008 to 9,570 in 2009. This represent an increase of 3,570 workers... 

In an extensive interview with the Straits Times published today, NTUC Secretary-General and PAP minister without portfolio Lim Swee Say said he was “heartened” that employers “did not disagree with the need to raise the contribution rate” though they have expressed reservations about the timing. The... 

ALTHOUGH the next general election is not due until early 2012, there are signs that political parties are already gearing up to do battle. Now may be the time to consider and prepare for a television debate as part of the anticipated political contest. What I have in mind is Britain’s unprecedented series of American-style...