National Day Rally 2010

[mrswongtuition]

Lilac66:

KSP:

No ang-pao means election not so soon.

Actually, it's also ang pao from another angle. At least they are addressing all the legitimate concerns of Singaporeans , whether foreign talents, education etc, all close to our hearts. But he gave up on the childbearing part.

I was hoping to hear something about more incentives for couples to have more kids (not necessarily monetary incentives but more support and educational opportunities for the kids).

I'm happy to hear about the IP schools. Many schools have fought hard for it, spending alot of time developing their proposals and getting their school ready for the big change; only to be met with disappointment when they were rejected.

Many students deserve a chance in the IP programs. I think they rejected many schools previously as they had to be conservative and wait till results show before they could implement it at a larger scale.

No $$ goodies this year. I constantly remind my students (NE message - http://www.ne.edu.sg/ne_messages.htm
No one owes Singapore a living.
We find our own way to survive and prosper, turning challenge into opportunity.

Don't wait for goodies to drop into our hands.
Use your hands to work for the goodies you want.

[Way2GO]

mrswongtuition:

Lilac66:

At least they are addressing all the legitimate concerns of Singaporeans , whether foreign talents, education etc, all close to our hearts. But he gave up on the childbearing part.

I was hoping to hear something about more incentives for couples to have more kids (not necessarily monetary incentives but more support and educational opportunities for the kids).

Opening d floodgates to encourage more immigrants to
grow roots here is also to address dis issue of declining birth rates
n an aging population.
Why with all d incentives already on d table
ppl r still reluctant to hv more kids?
d Singapore system itself needs more tweaking. :lol:

[jon00]

Having not enough babies to replace the aging population is not unqiue in Singapore. The mindset of the affluent younger generation on family planning has to be changed. Incentives alone is not going to do the job.

[3Boys]

Way2GO:

I beg to differ, fren.

The sweeteners of past years are not going to appease the citizenry this time round;
d discontent runs much deeper wrt housing, jobs, transportation n education.
This host of problems were associated, rightly or wrongly,
with the huge influx of immigrants n ‘FTs’.
D gahmen of d day recognizes this n d PM spent a good part of his speech
addressing d issue of immigrant n foreign workers n associated issues.
Did u notice he didn’t use d term foreign talent like bf?

Less than half a year ago, d PM said this country will allow in 100,000 FW;
now he says dis will be adjusted to 80,000.
Isn’t dis proof dat d gahmen listens to d citizenry outcry?
Isn’t dat a good thing?
The measures to be taken were all aimed, at first sight, at mollifying the
ground in preparation for the coming election.

Expanding d education system to cater to a broader range of academic abilities
n other talents is a good move which shd hv been recognized n implemented earlier;
PSLE shd not be d only gateway dat determines a child’s future so early in life.
Children shd be given every opportunity to find a path to succeed in life or
at least earn a decent living n be a useful citizen.
Recall d heated debates about MT earlier dis year?
U see, d gahmen also listens to u n other parents in a similar plight too; though in a round-about way. :lol:
Now, isn’t dis a good thing? :lol:
or d gahmen has no spine?

hee hee

Considering that in my younger days, I was as rabid an anti-Papaya as you could find, I find that I prefer the good old days when policies were Policies, and the g'ment officialdom moved unimpeded by the rabble.

Is it good that the gahmen listen to 'the people'?

It depends on the quality of the input that 'the people' are giving them.

If a decision is taken solely based on feedback from the ground, with a view to securing votes, IMO it is almost without exception a cop-out.

If for instance yesterday PM Lee announced that they were going to institute universal free healthcare and spend $40bn on subsidising it for 2011, no doubt many people would cheer and many votes garnered, but I for one would be doubting the sanity of our leaders and whether they actually had the backbone to lead and make tough choices.

If you are our leader, then show some spine and lead, don't pander.

Sort of like managing young immature kids, some feedback you take, others you ignore....

..... and I generally prefer ignore , but thats just me lar!

Cheers

[toddles]

thought he made a little sarcastic swipe at the baby incentives, cos he said the last time he gave, the birth rate then dropped.


hiyah! recession mah.

any form of help, monetary or regulatory, would help those with children. but oh well.

thought he devoted sufficient time to immigration and education. also housing policies - good for my friends who are considering getting married. but the housing policies to cool the market don’t seem very significant - wonder how much impact there’d be.

I suppose there might not be goodies even in budget 2011, if elections are after that. perhaps they are trying to steer away from pork barrel politics, which will appeal to a smaller and smaller pool of people as time goes by. those who will vote opposition will still take the goodies and vote opposition, with the rallying cry of ‘don’t think you can buy my vote’.

so… might as well dun give lor…

[tankee]

mrswongtuition:

.......

I was hoping to hear something about more incentives for couples to have more kids (not necessarily monetary incentives but more support and educational opportunities......

The birth rate dropped further with the last increased incentive to have babies. Thus, probably why PM is not doing anything more this year.

[tankee]

I find the choice of 2 institutes renamed after late Dr Goh to be very apt.

[duriz]

tankee:

I find the choice of 2 institutes renamed after late Dr Goh to be very apt.

:celebrate:

[tankee]

do you think the new measures to cool HDB's prices are suffice?

[Gecko]

Well,


I get $9K (I hope) one way or another


Gecko