When I read that Georgina Rinehart told Australians that they need to cut labor costs in order to compete with Africans who are "willing to work for less than $2 a day," my first thought was Gina and our PAP ministers are so alike - filthy rich, out of touch with humans beings and have fantastic PR skills. It is a match-make in heaven indeed. Not surprisingly, the billionaire heiress casually dropped S$57 million of loose change from her bulging pockets onto the streets of sunny Singapore and got herself property in Sentosa Cove as her littering fine.
It is no secret that our government love these super rich, and they know what tugs the heartstrings of the likes of Gina Rinehart. Individuals are taxed on income earned directly in Singapore, capped at 20%. It is obvious Gina Rinehart is not going to operate a Ya Kun franchise or work in McDonald's. There are 0% capital gain tax imposed on foreigners, so should Gina changes her mind and decided to move to Africa, where she could hire workers for $2, Singapore will gain zero from her in tax. There are only so much hand bags and coconut juice to sell to Gina on her occasional visits. I'm not sure what Singaporean peasants really gain from these. There are so many things I do not know, there is so much to learn here.
Fat bitch aside, it was interesting to read how the leaders of Australia responded to that "less than $2 a day" statement. The Australian Greens Party leader Sen. Christine Milne call Rinehart the "epitome of the greed and the abuse of the environment that has become such a characteristic of the mining industry in Australia." Well okay, the Greens are not the power party over here, though they could pack a decent punch. In Singapore, it isn't uncommon to see leaders of lesser parties speaking out for their countrymen. When you see Dr Chee of SDP standing up for Singaporeans, did you applaud him or called him a lunatic?
Ok, that was nothing. How about this?
Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan said Rinehart's words were an "insult to the millions of Australian workers who go to work and slog it out to feed the kids and pay the bills."
Wow. Imagine Teo Chee Hean telling the Straits Times something similar instead of his, "What do you think?" I'll vote for him. Seriously. I promise. But oh wait... If that is not good enough for you, how about this one?
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said "it's not the Australian way to toss people $2, to toss them a gold coin, and then ask them to work for a day. We support proper Australian wages and decent working conditions."
Wow. Can you imagine PM Lee in his pink shirt declaring something like that loudly in his National Day Rally? I just jizzed my pants. Alright, let's just take it that Australian politicians are better politicians. Perhaps they could lie through their noses with a poker face. Maybe they are too good in performing vote-buying antics. Let's just take it that our PAP ministers are too honest, they love their people too much and they don't want to tell them anything but the truth. I'll be happy to vote for honest people if so. But how then can you explain statements like, "HDB flats are affordable", "HDB flats size remained unchanged for the past 15 years" and "Foreigners create jobs for Singaporeans." Not totally honest doesn't equate to truthful.
Not a single Singaporean will realistically expect their leaders stand in front of their people to keep their dignity intact, against a wealthy investor in a similar situation. We do not even expect our top government officials to stand up for Singaporeans when a foreign student insulted us, we know it was asking for too much. We should be happy to be asked to "reflect" in cyberspace and told we were "self-centred" on national TV. We should be grateful. That was the way we show affection - Singaporean style.
On 2 May 2012 , Mr Khaw said the following :
ReplyDeleteHDB flat sizes not shrinking: Khaw Boon Wan
SINGAPORE - National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said on Wednesday night that HDB flats have been the same size for the past 15 years, and are not shrinking, contrary to popular belief.
Mr Khaw was responding to a National University of Singapore (NUS) student's question on HDB flat sizes at the annual REACH Contributors' Forum.
He added that they will not be reduced to the size of Hong Kong flats, which are far smaller, reported The Straits Times.
He told the audience that he would "consider that a deterioration of our quality of life and we should avoid that".
Constrast with this statement by HDB CEO on 10 Nov 2011 :
SINGAPORE: Public flats in Singapore may be getting smaller but this has not lowered quality of living, says Housing and Development Board's (HDB) CEO, Dr Cheong Koon Hean.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a housing forum on Thursday morning, Dr Cheong noted that there were now fewer persons living in one flat which works out to increased living space per person.
"Our families are smaller. In the old days, we have very large families living in a flat. Today, the family is two, three, four (people)."
The size of HDB flats has shrunk by five to 10 per cent over the last 20 to 30 years.
Half truths everywhere
DeleteRinehart's in trouble. No smoke without fire.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-gina-rinehart-bubble
wait till Julia and Wayne make enough money to join the same country club, or dine at the same restaurant or shop at the same stores, then it would be very difficult not to give face to someone who share jokes with the same maitre d' or take recommendation from the same sommelier or kids play catching with the same concierge ...
ReplyDeleteOf course, this is moot, it is near impossible to be any way near what Gina is making (www.howrichareyou.com.au)