Post GE 2011 Discussion

[concern2]

Busymom:

Oppsgal:

[quote=\"verykiasu2010\"]if remember correctly, they wanted to operate the berths on their own, take over a number of quay from PSA, and nego on rental but PSA did not want to back down....and JB PTP came with a good offer and off they went. Ended up with lots of retrenchment in singapore, not only port workers, but also all the related supporting industries who used to support Maersk - all lost biz and close shop...... quite many thousand in total lost job, a few times the number of directly affected port workers. gov't had to step in


lesson learnt : don't be penny wise, pound foolish....same for airline industry, that is why MM said die die must make sure SIA is able to compete and cannot let the union politicise everything and strike....that will kill the industry

same for the foreign worker issue now. talk is cheap. close down lor to spite the foreigners ? end up singaporean also no job

just like when we invest in China, we put a few hundred million US$ and we put our singapore managers to jaga the operation -- not that the locals can't do - but the singapore managers take care of my vested interest, not the locals. if they don't agree, we close shop, they get no jobs, we go else where

But currently how many Singaporeans are jobless too :?

Our unemployment rate is very low now, can't remember the exact figure but it is 1+%.[/quote]People who become taxi-drivers, insurance agents, real estate agents, self-employed, tuition teachers, etc., are also considered employed, right? (Correct me if I am wrong). But this doesn't mean their income has increased. They have merely found other ways of being employed, so personally, I don't really see that as a good gauge of one's standard of living.

[Daddy D]

insider:

dunnoleh:

I doubt these are the percentages in many employers' minds. I have not seen one single job being replaced by a local in my company over the last 3 years.

There is a quota, quite strict ones if one is not in the service line, and so I am just curious how your HR manages to do this...

Correct me if I'm wrong....
http://www.guidemesingapore.com/relocation/work-pass/singapore-work-permit-schemes

Quota System: There is no quota official system for Employment Pass. (> $2,500)
Quota System: Yes for S Pass (<$1800)... (25% of workforce)

There should be similar info in MOM website...
So a lot of competition from \"cheaper\" Employment Pass holders?

[limlim]

concern2:

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan gives up his salary until the nuclear crisis in the country is over:

Will our leaders even gain that type of respect....?

[verykiasu2010]

WeiHan:

verykiasu2010:

Imagine i am a swiss bank

your government entice me to set up shop in SG and entice me to move my clients' fund to be managed out of SG and to invest in the region. For a start I may transfer 1 billion SFR to SG to manage.

look, I am going to relocate my Swiss managers from Geneva or Zurich to work in Singapore to continue to manage the client relationship while getting them to understand the region and make investment decision for their clients.

SG has no managers / prof equal to the job ? sure have, even cheaper, perhaps even more capable, but for the sake of my clients who have parked billions with my bank, I am not going to risk it. they can play the supporting role, gather market intelligence, do the credit analysis etc. make the investment decision ? No way, even when I know many SG citizens qualify for the job, because my bank's clients don't know them.

If the SG government does not allow my bank to relocate my experienced managers to work in SG, then I won't bring my bank to SG.

the same scenarios play out multiple times

This scenario is speculative.If they already have their billion dollars clients, then why do they need to locate to Singapore? Shouldn't the motive be that they need to hire local talents (managers) so that they can get billion dollars clients in this region?

this is not speculative

they have been persuaded to move fund management to singapore

i was at their geneva office

[concern2]

concern2:

Busymom:

Our unemployment rate is very low now, can't remember the exact figure but it is 1+%.

People who become taxi-drivers, insurance agents, real estate agents, self-employed, tuition teachers, etc., are also considered employed, right? (Correct me if I am wrong). But this doesn't mean their income has increased. They have merely found other ways of being employed, so personally, I don't really see that as a good gauge of one's standard of living.

Oh yes, and what about SAHM who decided to stay home and look after kids? Their decision means they are not actively seeking job, doesn't mean their standard of living has improved...Essentially, it means only husband bringing in income for the household, so standard of living actually drops, right?

[verykiasu2010]

limlim:

Funz:

People cheered when WP won Aljunied GRC, the fact that GY will be gone if he lost was talked about from the beginning but people consoled themselves that it's ok, he will be ok.

Why GY is in Aljunied and not EC whereas LSS moves to EC?

Why TPL in MP and not AMK?

I do not believe that the MIW doesn't know WP is targeting Aljunied.. they already started working the grounds long before the elections.

And.. MIW is well known to plan far.. nothing really can \"caught them by surprise\"..

and the jamban lady moved out from LHL's grc, or originally not there ?

[limlim]

Daddy

Correct me if I'm wrong....
http://www.guidemesingapore.com/relocation/work-pass/singapore-work-permit-schemes

Quota System: There is no quota official system for Employment Pass. (> $2,500)
Quota System: Yes for S Pass (<$1800)... (25% of workforce)

There should be similar info in MOM website...
So a lot of competition from \"cheaper\" Employment Pass holders?

S Pass is > $1800
Work Permit < $1,800

[limlim]

verykiasu2010:

and the jamban lady moved out from LHL's grc, or originally not there ?

What is jamban?

If they really want to groom TPL, they can always keep her by PM's side, instead of pushing to SM..

[Daddy D]

verykiasu2010:

solid examples : Shanghai's minimum pay is higher than Shenzhen, Shenzhen's minimum is higher than Chengdu......result : people like Foxconn is setting up inland and uproot production from their old place

If our garmen can attract Foxconn-style companies to SG, I'm sure they will go ahead... but at what cost?
Companies can relocate to any countries with cheaper labour... there's no guarantee that they will stay put in one.
So in order to entice these companies from relocating to other countries... we bring in those cheaper labour.
Sure, it helps our GDP figures... shows our good employment rate... but at what cost?

[WeiHan]

verykiasu2010:

this is not speculative

they have been persuaded to move fund management to singapore

i was at their geneva office

OK. Now, I understand it is their fund management. Do they have initial intention to move to Singapore or it is just the Singapore government that want to persuade them to come? If they are just going to relocate a few experience managers here but will bring along 20 new jobs. That is a good deal for Singapore. But if we allow a factory to set which brings in only a few managerial jobs but have to let in a few hundreds foreign workers, then it wouldn't be a good deal. I guess there is a balance. the government should come out with a quantitative outline of which kind is allowed while others are not beneficial for singapore.