Stratospheric Air

A HDB apartment owner is asking for $900,000? Shocking? Well, not really. I once owned a HDB Execute Apartment (a 5-roomer). In the heady days of 1996, it was not inconceivable for me to fetch $700K on the market for it. My brother actually sold his for a cool $600,000. That was the price at which it was valued at that time. Fast forward 15 years today. $900,000 looks right, in a red hot property market where all rationality has gone out the window. But when you consider how people have been willing to pay the high prices for DBSS apartments although they have the same restrictions as a public HDB apartment, you know the time is now to make a killing on your humble public housing apartment.

Why should anyone begrudge another about making good money on their properties? If I had the same opportunity, I'll put out my apartment too on the market at stratospheric prices, so long as people are willing to pay the asking price. And you say it's crazy? Honestly, who do you think is crazy? The one who can make half a million on a single property sale, tax free mind you, or the one standing red-eyed thinking about it? Come on, don't be hypocrites! Say you love the money. It'll certainly come in useful, if not for yourself, at least for your children?

How I love the Singapore property market. The only thing left to do is to cash out of the country and go find a more down to earth place to live.

Elections 2.0

Hmmm...Singapore's upcoming Presidential elections is becoming more and more exciting. Former PAP man - Dr Tan Cheng Bock, set the ball rolling first, although to date, he seems not to have collected the application forms from the Elections Department. Then Mr Tan Kin Lian, former CEO of NTUC Income Insurance, declared his intentions, and has picked up the forms. Dr Tony Tan resigned his positions from the PAP and his high profile positions in government-linked companies to offer himself a the 3rd candidate. Now "former" SDP man, Mr Tan Jee Say is throwing in his hat too.

What a Presidential election this is shaping up to become. With Mr Tan JS' entry into the fray, the elections feel like GE 2.0. Of course he has resigned from the SDP, reportedly with Dr Chee Soon Juan's blessings. He has openly said that he will use this platform to engage on "issue of conscience..." whatever that means. If this isn't opposition electioneering, I don't know what is.  Come on, the people have already cast their votes, and whether you like it or not, won or lost, the people have spoken. I, for one, am not interested in a activist President. There will be no end of to-ing and fro-ing. Instead, let our victorious opposition speak for us in Parliament. They have the mandate and the validity, not any elected President. If you asked me, we shouldn't even need to elect a President. Let the victors nominate and have it affirmed by Parliament. The President has limited powers, and largely plays a ceremonial role. And he will still do so, no matter how aspiring Presidential candidates like to fantasize about that position. If nothing, the money is good...

You want change? Then vote in opposition in numbers for them to form the government and then change the Westminster style of government to the American one. Then Presidential elections have real meaning. I am sorry, but I think JS is way off his rocker. But then when you think that he is associated with Chee Soon Juan, you cannot be surprised by this latest development.

End of the road

The word on many Singaporeans' lips yesterday was the closing of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. You never know what you miss when it is gone. Many Singaporeans turned up on the last day of operations of the KTM trains yesterday, to have a last look. But I suspect that many came to have the first look. Except for history buffs, and buildings buffs, few would venture into this railway station on a normal day. They'd rather hit the Malls where there are lots more to see and do than to come to this place where the most exciting thing happening is the arrival and departure of the, let's admit it, ultra-slow trains. And even then, once you've seen it often enough, it will probably be a bore.

I took this train up to Malacca a few years ago, and the entire journey took 3 hours! I would have almost reached KL in the same time if I went up by private car by the North-South Highway. It is a train system that probably has seen little improvements over the years. Truth be told, some parts of the train are rusted. But at least I sat in first class coach. It wasn't exactly the Eastern Orient Express First Class, but it was comfortable. Moreover, it was just S$50 from Singapore's side, and RM50 from Malaysia's side.

My wife and I were in front of the TV when the news came on yesterday. It showed many people milling around and taking pictures. We looked at each other with knowing glances. Were we glad we took this train some years back. At least we now have bragging rights.

Adieu KTM!

Almost Numero Uno

Wow, Singapore will overtake Las Vegas as the world's second largest gambling den in terms of gambling, err... gaming revenues this year? And we thought that Singapore has only just started. Resorts World Sentosa only opened in 14 January last year, and Marina Bay Sands a little later on 27 April 2010, all slightly more than a year ago, and we are already #2, worldwide?

Singapore are known for many first, and best's. Best airport in the world, best airline (SIA), busiest Port, best paid government (excluding under-the-table shenanigans of politicians in some countries), first F-1 night race... Add to these Singapore's record speed in reaching #2. At slightly over a year, it is early days yet to supplant Macau's number 1 spot right now.

But not everyone in Singapore are necessarily happy about this dubious position. Behind this spectacular result lies many broken hearts, homes and businesses. What else do you think those numbers mean? And this also goes to show the big fat 'lie' when proponents in government, of gambling, pitched it as an Integrated Resort. Unfortunately, time has a way of making us forget a lot of things. Well, Marina Bay is not known for its Conventions, Suntec City, and even the grand old Raffles City are bettered used. Hotels? Any tourist agency worth its salt will direct customers to more location friendly hotels in the city, except if you are a gambler. And how much would the just opened Science Art Theatre have contributed to the overall revenues? I am not sure if it is even making money. Dining? Who dines there except the gamblers? The only non-gaming place worth going to, in Marina Bay is the SkyPark, and Universal Studios Theme Park in RWS.

So I am just one damned confused Singaporean what INTEGRATED really means.

Much ado about nothing

Mr K. Shangmugam and Prof Jayakumar have made it abundantly clear that the President has no executive powers, only custodial ones. In other words, his work is that of a goalie and woe is he if he takes the ball right across the field to put one in the opponent's net, not that it has not been done before. President Ong Teng Cheong tested these waters and came up against a brick wall, and Mr Ong Teng Cheong was once a Deputy Prime Minister. The PM and his Cabinet are still the 'boss'.

Why do we even bother to elect the President of Singapore? The vote will make absolutely no difference to the endgame because the 'real' powers still reside in the government. And if the sitting government wants to play punk, I am sure it can think of ways to go around the toothless powers of the President. That power can easily be circumvented because the President is still a human being. You don't really have to empty the Reserves to enrich yourself. Just 0.0001% is more than enough to last you a lifetime. What counts is that the 'right' government be put in place - honest and 'clean' people. If this turns out not to be the case, that the powers that be are raiding the coffers, I am sure Singaporeans will protest in numbers, both online and probably offline too. That's better than a President whose powers are so limited in the first place.

The only reason Singaporeans are given the right to choose the President is that it gives a certain accountability (ok, it also called 'blame') when things don't work out - 'it is not the government's fault...'. But given the stringent criteria for standing, the presidential candidates are effectively already filtered without any campaigning. So no Fullerton Square speeches, no knocking on door to door, and certainly no TPL. Things will be a lot less controversial. The result will just be about bragging rights, with no significant consequence.

This is why I feel that Mr George Yeo should not stand for election. He is way too young to be some people's mouthpiece. And the young people who are supporting him? They are just so ignorant. Energetic perhaps, but haven't considered what they are asking of Mr Yeo. They think this is a consolation prize, or even a First Prize, a GE 2.0, perhaps? Rather, Mr Yeo should turn his talent and effort to more substantive work, where a greater number of people stand to benefit, probably on the world stage.

Having said all that, all of us can do with another public holiday, though business owners may not be all that enthusiastic about the lost of productivity over an inconsequential event.

The Phoenix will rise again

Well, I got half my wish. Mr Mah Bow Tan is out of the Cabinet, though he remains a government backbencher. I am ambivalent with his replacement, the former Health Minister, Mr Khaw Boon Wan. One hopes that he doesn't do a rabbit trick in the National Development Ministry by acquiring a BTO (Build-to-Order) apartment for $8 for himself. But then again, he has breached the income ceiling, so no chance.

Somehow, now that Mr Mah is out, I feel a tinge of regret. The blame for the skyrocketing prices of public apartments was not his alone. The Permanent Secretary probably bears as much responsibility, if not more, for not alerting his political masters about an impending problem. But then, they are civil servants, so they just do what they are told. But Mr Mah has taken responsibility and lost his job. And that's that. Of course, his generous government pension will not leave him begging on the roadside. He will be well taken care of. Some chairmanship position will come along, and he'll be a hero (hao han) once again.

I wish him the best.

The Young and Old Ones

I am now sitting in a cafe restaurant having a late afternoon lunch. In the background, on the loudspeakers, I hear Cliff Richard singing "The Young Ones" - a song recorded in 1962, ohh,,,47 years ago. The lighting is somewhat dim, giving you a cosy feeling as you await lunch that your significant other is getting. There are a smattering of youngsters hunched over their books and notes, no doubt preparing for their exams. These exams are held around this time of the year. Never mind, the restaurant has many unfilled seats. Better to look somewhat filled than have an empty restaurant. It is, after all, 3pm. The lunch crowd has thinned and the dinner crowd is not due till 6pm, or later.

I wondered how many in the restaurant knew Cliff Richard, or how old this song really is. It probably pre-dates the year that many in the restaurant were born. It certainly pre-dates mine, if only by a year. Certainly those young people behind the service counters also fall into this group. Has the young really changed all these many years since, the so called Gen Y? They seem to be enjoying this tune, the same tune that their parents danced to in their youth. I don't know what Cliff Richard's generation is called. They represented the baby boomer generation after World War II. Gen A perhaps? Much has been made of how the Gen Y are a different breed today, the incessant connectedness on Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and, of course, their SMS via Handphones. These gadgets weren't there for the Gen As, perhaps for the Gen X, but not as pervasive as today's youth. However the change, "The Young Ones" remains evergreen.

Which raises the question, that at heart, are the Gen Y really different? The last General Election seems to suggest that the government needs to engage the young ones more, that more young people are needed in politics and government. The disaster for them, of course, is to find someone as young as Ms Tin Pei Ling , only 27 years old, keyed into the consumer-oriented culture of the young, such as hugging a Kate Spade bag. She stood for the General Elections and won, albeit through a back door. There was immediate calls for her to be sacked because many people felt that she is undeserving. But are these young ones all the same? Not really. One doesn't need to look far. Nicole Seah, only 24, spoke with conviction and maturity well beyond her years, and consigned her team mates to playing second fiddle to her, people old enough to be her parents.

So it is not the young ones. Rather, its is the conviction, the imagination and the creativity, young or old, Nicole Seah and George Yeo, that really matters. Let's not swing from a lost end to solely the young generation, only to lose the older generation, in time to come. Surely MM Lee and SM Goh's admonition to "always have in mind the interest of the older generation...the generation who has contributed to Singapore must be well-looked after" bears remembering. For after all that is said and done, we are one big family, young or old, Gen A or Gen Y.

Encore!

Calling time

Mr Lee Kuan Yew will no longer be called a Minister Mentor. He will now simply be called the Honourable Member for Tanjong Pagar. He has announced his retirement from the government cabinet, the first, and perhaps the last time since Singapore's independence in 1965, almost 46 years ago.

He has done the right thing. Not that his views are no longer valued. I enjoyed reading him in  Hard Truths, and find agreement in much that he had to say. But there is a sense that his politics, built through the struggles in the 1950s and 1960s, and surely thereafter putting in tough policies to ensure Singapore's survival and prosperity, reiterated in Hard Truths, is perhaps past due. This is not to take away the incredible achievements of this man. It takes a coup or an uprising in some countries to push a sitting leader, such as Hosni Mubarak, and Ben Ali of Tunisia, off their seats of government. Fortunately, in Singapore, it took a General Election, a democratic process no less, for both Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Goh Chok Tong, 2 former PMs, to call time on their stay in the Singapore Government Cabinet.

I wish Mr Lee Kuan Yew more great years of health and happiness for he certainly deserves them.

For Mr Goh Chok Tong, becoming a tuition teacher towards the tail end of his political career isn't too bad either. One only hopes that the student is worth his time.

Point of inflexion

As post-mortems and celebrations are going on island-wide over the results of the General Elections, some people are still quite sore about Ms Tin Pei Ling becoming MP-designate. There is even now a Facebook petition to remove her from this honorable position, such is the extreme dislike for her.

Well, I don't think it will happen, much as we wish for it, unless she voluntarily tells her shi-fu (Master or Teacher), Mr Goh, that she wants to do the right thing and quit. But I don't think Mr Goh will have any of it. Instead, he will probably tell his tu-di (student) that lessons have begun. Mr Goh mentioned that it will take a good 3 years for her to graduate. But  never mind, the tax payers are picking up the tuition fees, which amount to at least $15,000 x 12 months x 3 years, which is $540,000, You know how many zeros there are in that number? And for just one unproven person? The rest of us have to mug multiple sleep-deprived years for a scholarship which may not even pay that kind of money and comes with a title to boot. But well, its an unfair (PAP) world, something that MM Lee Kuan Yew keeps saying in the book, "Hard Truths".

For much of the vaunted incorruptible system that the PAP government has spent the better part of 40 years putting in place, they have now arrived at the point of an 'inflexion', a point in which the level ground is starting  to slope ever gently downwards...

God help us all, and especially our children and children's children if this continues...

Extreme Results

Most.Least	Why / Why Not
Greatest Regret	George Yeo voted out of Parliament. He was an excellent Foreign Minister and one able to empathise with the electorate.
Greatest Disappointment	Mah Bow Tan retains his seat in Parliament. He cannot empathise with the electorate. Period
MVP (Most Valuable Politician)	Nicole Seah. We want to hear more from her from now on.
MUP (Most Undeserved Politician)	Tin Pei Ling. Now an honorary Member of Parliament who said all the wrong things getting there. We want to hear what she delivers from now on - in Parliament, i.e.
Most Exhilarating Moment	The Workers Party capturing a GRC. Let us look forward to more to come.
Most Boring Moment	The Returning Officer (Mr Yam Ah Mee) reading "Pursuant to Section...". I think he can recite it even in his sleep now, not that it is particularly nightmarish, i.e.
Most Predictable	PM Lee Hsien Loong's and DPM Teo's teams winning in the mammoth GRCs of Ang Mo Kio and Pasir Ris-Punggol

GE 2010 Results

Results of my General Election wish list

Result	Wish List
	PAP returned to power with reduced majority
	WP captures Aljunied GRC with a landslide
	Mah Bow Tan voted out of office

2 out of 3 isn't that bad.

Wish List

This is my wishlist for these elections:

1. PAP returned to power with reduced majority
2. WP captures Aljunied GRC with a landslide
3. Mah Bow Tan voted out of office

The Wait

Its amazing. The mechanics and voting process in Singapore. Its entirely manual. I don't know about you. But I don't think I saw a single computer in the voting centre. You can transfer billions of dollars online, but when it comes to voting, at least in Singapore, the good 'ol pen-on-paper way is still the safest? It appears to be an aberration in Singapore. We spent billions on automation, telecommunications, IT, etc. but cannot trust it enough to conduct polling.

I'm glad I went early. In fact, I arrived on the hour, at 8. Its not that I am kiasu or kiasi. Typically, Singaporeans don't get up early on Saturdays, after 5 straight days of toil. So I didn't expect too many people at 8am. I was right. The queue wasn't long. Probably 13 or 15 like-minded people in front of me. The polling centre was just a stone's throw away from where I lived. If it is going to be as hot as the last few days, I pity the people showing up later in the day. Better bring along a portable electric fan, failing which, a hand fan might be essential. Yes, the polling centre has airconing, but you're going to spend a considerable amount of time out with nature before you can get into the cool room.

Remember, the whole process is manual, with checking and double checking processes, and joining empty queues that are not your designated one is not an option. There will be several queues. Your queue number is listed on your polling card - A1, A3, A3... And you can't change queue. That's because the register, with your name on it, is only with the election officers in that queue. So if most of the people turning up with you at the polling station has the same queue number as you, you'll really have to wait, even though there is no one in the other queues. And you'll have to put up with official queue-jumping. The elderly, infirmed and otherwise handicapped will be ushered to the front of the queue, over everyone else, by the election officials.

Have a happing outing at the polling stations today!

Do's and Don'ts of Voting
Prohibited Items

The Choice

Just cast my ballot. Mine is a GRC. Took 15 minutes from queue to booth. Took less than 5 seconds to mark the ballot paper and deposit it in the ballot box. Its ironic that some have waited all their lives for this moment. I have voted a couple of times before, so there is no novelty but there was still a tinge of excitement. After all, you don't do this everyday, and what you do today will decide your next 5 years.

Voted for the party that I believe will work for my constituency and the nation. The other party is just not credible right now. Never seen the candidates before, until this past week. This is not to say I endorse every menber of the GRC team that I voted for. If given a choice, I'd vote for another, you know, that one next to Hougang. As far as GRCs go, you have no choice but to vote along party lines. Its as if the person does not exist. Sigh...

I hope the other party gets its deposit back. Not that I am doubtful, but its a lot of money. Nobody should get hurt in these elections, not financially, not psychologically, not emotionally. We are all honest and sincere people trying to give choices to the people.

So far, so good. Its a credit to the government.

Lion and the mice

These Elections has thrown up several new faces. After all that has been said and done in the last 9 days, I cannot but have the impression that PAP's 2 Generals plucked from the SAF and 'plonked' into PAP has been relatively silent - like a mouse. On the other hand, the very young Ms Nicole Seah has roared like a lion and captured the hearts and minds of many.

Her eloquence is a stark contrast to the highly touted generals who cannot speak enough to leave an impression. Is PAP seriously looking to them to lead the 4th generation of its political leaders? What a disappointment.

Vote wisely tomorrow.