Sammyboy RSS Feed
11-07-2013, 05:50 AM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
The PM’s midnight musings (http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/07/10/the-pm%e2%80%99s-midnight-musings/)
http://images.dmca.com/Badges/dmca_protected_sml_120n.png?ID=f11d7371-0ef1-483b-888a-04e8d2ba2e94
http://www.tremeritus.org/wp-content/themes/WP_010/images/PostDateIcon.png July 10th, 2013 | http://www.tremeritus.org/wp-content/themes/WP_010/images/PostAuthorIcon.png Author: VD (http://www.tremeritus.com/author/void/)
http://www.tremeritus.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/lhl2-300x225.jpg
(Photo MediaCorp)
So now we know what keeps PM Lee up at night (http://ifonlysingaporeans.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/singapore-must-get-politics-right-pm-lee.html) is not so much Ho Ching’s
snoring but midnight musings over how to retain the “specialness” of Singapore.
This so that outsiders can look at us and say: “Wow, let’s go and see what’s
happening there.”
Appearance matters, after all, when keeping up with the Jones of the
world.
PM Lee also said that if he could persuade another ten billionaires to
Singapore, he would have no qualms doing so even if it results in higher income
inequality, “because they will bring business (http://www.sammyboy.com/#),
they will bring opportunities, they will open new doors, they will create new
jobs”.
Instead of losing sleep over how the world views Singapore, perhaps the PM
should ponder over how the average Singaporean views the government’s curious
fixation on the super-rich. So far, it has not done a very good job of
convincing us that the much feted trickle-down economics has improved the lives
of Singaporeans. Show us that we are wrong please, give us the numbers of
exactly how many businesses, opportunities and jobs have been created for every
billionaire who has relocated to our shores.
Tell us that it’s not just about the likes of Eduardo Saverin (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303877604577380131964661806.html) single-handedly shoring up the private night
club industry, of Jim Rogers (http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/07/17/american-kids-immersed-in-chinese-asian-education.html) competing with Singaporean parents for a place in
Nanyang Primary with his influence and resources just so that his daughter can
learn Chinese, or of Nathan Tinkler (http://www.news.com.au/business/companies/former-billionaire-nathan-tinkler-living-in-singapore-as-australian-creditors-line-up/story-fnda1bsz-1226483750701) supposedly moving here to escape his creditors,
because it is all we read of why these rich foreigners are here. Where of the
jobs, what of the businesses? And this is before we even get
started (http://www.sammyboy.com/#) on them buying up luxury properties and fancy cars that just makes
everything more expensive for everyone else.
Why not, instead of obsessing over ways to persuade another ten billionaires
to come to Singapore, spend more time thinking about how to help another ten
local companies grow?
A lesson from corporate finance is timely if we think of the PM as the CEO of
Singapore, Inc and every citizen as shareholder. As academics will tell you, the
first and foremost role of the CEO is to maximise shareholders’ value (http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/10/ceos_must_understand_what_crea.html), not to increase top-line revenues (http://www.sammyboy.com/#),
earnings per share or share price. Think of this as analogous to the role of the
PM in improving the lives of every Singaporean, where economic numbers are
either a means to this end or a by-product of this mission. As with CEOs, it is
all too easy to lose sight of this mission.
Corporate finance also teaches us to guard against management pet projects
and empire building. PM Lee proudly tells us there’s only one Marina Bay in the
world, like it is some eighth world wonder. Gardens by the Bay is our new pride
and joy while yesterday’s darling, the Singapore Flyer, was a borrowed idea and
is no longer sexy as it goes into receivership. What pet project next? His
government also tells us we need 6.9 million people to continue (http://www.sammyboy.com/#)
growing, like CEOs buying up companies to grow their empires at the expense of
quality of growth and value to shareholders.
Rising inequality leads to rising discontent and discord, regardless of how
true it is the presence of the super-rich will end up benefiting the rest. This
is because perception by the people matters as much as, if not more than, the
appearance to the outside world that PM Lee worries about. And, right now, the
social costs are much more visible than any economic benefit.
Void Decker
* The writer is a born and bred Singaporean currently residing in London,
England with his lovely wife. Despite the rather unfortunate solemn face and
reserved disposition, he has much to say on sociopolitical issues that continue
to plague his beloved homeland. He blogs at http://www.voiddecker.com (http://www.voiddecker.com/).
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?156721-Ass-Loon-Loses-Sleep-Over-Loss-of-Laundering-Opportunities&goto=newpost).
The PM’s midnight musings (http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/07/10/the-pm%e2%80%99s-midnight-musings/)
http://images.dmca.com/Badges/dmca_protected_sml_120n.png?ID=f11d7371-0ef1-483b-888a-04e8d2ba2e94
http://www.tremeritus.org/wp-content/themes/WP_010/images/PostDateIcon.png July 10th, 2013 | http://www.tremeritus.org/wp-content/themes/WP_010/images/PostAuthorIcon.png Author: VD (http://www.tremeritus.com/author/void/)
http://www.tremeritus.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/lhl2-300x225.jpg
(Photo MediaCorp)
So now we know what keeps PM Lee up at night (http://ifonlysingaporeans.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/singapore-must-get-politics-right-pm-lee.html) is not so much Ho Ching’s
snoring but midnight musings over how to retain the “specialness” of Singapore.
This so that outsiders can look at us and say: “Wow, let’s go and see what’s
happening there.”
Appearance matters, after all, when keeping up with the Jones of the
world.
PM Lee also said that if he could persuade another ten billionaires to
Singapore, he would have no qualms doing so even if it results in higher income
inequality, “because they will bring business (http://www.sammyboy.com/#),
they will bring opportunities, they will open new doors, they will create new
jobs”.
Instead of losing sleep over how the world views Singapore, perhaps the PM
should ponder over how the average Singaporean views the government’s curious
fixation on the super-rich. So far, it has not done a very good job of
convincing us that the much feted trickle-down economics has improved the lives
of Singaporeans. Show us that we are wrong please, give us the numbers of
exactly how many businesses, opportunities and jobs have been created for every
billionaire who has relocated to our shores.
Tell us that it’s not just about the likes of Eduardo Saverin (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303877604577380131964661806.html) single-handedly shoring up the private night
club industry, of Jim Rogers (http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/07/17/american-kids-immersed-in-chinese-asian-education.html) competing with Singaporean parents for a place in
Nanyang Primary with his influence and resources just so that his daughter can
learn Chinese, or of Nathan Tinkler (http://www.news.com.au/business/companies/former-billionaire-nathan-tinkler-living-in-singapore-as-australian-creditors-line-up/story-fnda1bsz-1226483750701) supposedly moving here to escape his creditors,
because it is all we read of why these rich foreigners are here. Where of the
jobs, what of the businesses? And this is before we even get
started (http://www.sammyboy.com/#) on them buying up luxury properties and fancy cars that just makes
everything more expensive for everyone else.
Why not, instead of obsessing over ways to persuade another ten billionaires
to come to Singapore, spend more time thinking about how to help another ten
local companies grow?
A lesson from corporate finance is timely if we think of the PM as the CEO of
Singapore, Inc and every citizen as shareholder. As academics will tell you, the
first and foremost role of the CEO is to maximise shareholders’ value (http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/10/ceos_must_understand_what_crea.html), not to increase top-line revenues (http://www.sammyboy.com/#),
earnings per share or share price. Think of this as analogous to the role of the
PM in improving the lives of every Singaporean, where economic numbers are
either a means to this end or a by-product of this mission. As with CEOs, it is
all too easy to lose sight of this mission.
Corporate finance also teaches us to guard against management pet projects
and empire building. PM Lee proudly tells us there’s only one Marina Bay in the
world, like it is some eighth world wonder. Gardens by the Bay is our new pride
and joy while yesterday’s darling, the Singapore Flyer, was a borrowed idea and
is no longer sexy as it goes into receivership. What pet project next? His
government also tells us we need 6.9 million people to continue (http://www.sammyboy.com/#)
growing, like CEOs buying up companies to grow their empires at the expense of
quality of growth and value to shareholders.
Rising inequality leads to rising discontent and discord, regardless of how
true it is the presence of the super-rich will end up benefiting the rest. This
is because perception by the people matters as much as, if not more than, the
appearance to the outside world that PM Lee worries about. And, right now, the
social costs are much more visible than any economic benefit.
Void Decker
* The writer is a born and bred Singaporean currently residing in London,
England with his lovely wife. Despite the rather unfortunate solemn face and
reserved disposition, he has much to say on sociopolitical issues that continue
to plague his beloved homeland. He blogs at http://www.voiddecker.com (http://www.voiddecker.com/).
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?156721-Ass-Loon-Loses-Sleep-Over-Loss-of-Laundering-Opportunities&goto=newpost).