Are you ready for 7 million people on tiny Singapore?

[limlim]

The thing is, they make it such that less pple can afford to buy a car now, but the car population never decrease, then, what’s the point???


Why cook up a policy just to allow the rich to be able to buy cheaper cars? (say, COE drop due to reduce competition)

Same number of cars on the road. No increase in revenue…

What for?

[limlim]

Maybe it will be better if they implement the policy with a corresponding decrease in COE issued… at least there is some benefit of a reduce car population.

[Funz]

limlim:

Maybe it will be better if they implement the policy with a corresponding decrease in COE issued.. at least there is some benefit of a reduce car population.

COE issued has been reducing.

[MR06]

You guys are fantastic! Come back from CNY break and the pages had doubled. :yikes:

Can't catch up....... but it also shows a lot of us feel strongly about the White Paper.

As it had been passed against the wishes of many, problems associated with congestion and foreign talent better be fixed, solved, eliminated or alleviated quickly. Otherwise, some people will have to face the wrath of the voters come 2016.

[pirate]

MR06:

You guys are fantastic! Come back from CNY break and the pages had doubled. :yikes:

Sorri lah. Cannot afford to go away for CNY... :siam:

[Harlequin]

pirate:

Sorri lah. Cannot afford to go away for CNY... :siam:

Ai yah, with data roaming to boost, you go away also no one notice lah, har? :evil:

[Just relax]

Funz:

limlim:

Maybe it will be better if they implement the policy with a corresponding decrease in COE issued.. at least there is some benefit of a reduce car population.

COE issued has been reducing.

I think the tightened loan requirements is a good move. With interest rates at all time low people who can barely afford cars are buying. Now with the loan restrictions those who can afford to buy will buy and those who cannot can rely on our public transport system. The number of taxis will be increased as well so those who require a car to travel around will have a greater number of taxis to use. This restriction on car loans is good and follows the restriction in home loans. The objective is to prevent prices from ever increasing both for houses and cars. the big difference though is that public housing is an asset that retains its value and in fact increases in value over the years but a car just continues to fall in value.

Cars are a luxury especially in Singapore where taxi fares are among the lowest in the developed countries and where the transport network will continue to expand. The number of COEs has also fallen so in the end only those who can really afford to pay all the various charges such as ERP, road tax, insurance, car park charges etc. should buy a depreciating asset that after 10 years has to be removed from the road unless the COE is extended.

[concern2]

Anyone seen this funny video? Checkout Thy Neighbours in Singapore:


http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4553403749921&set=vb.1136226995&type=2&theater

[raysusan]

[quote]The signs of overcrowding and urban stress are palpable to any visitor. Prices are surging, public services in a nation famed for nanny-state tendencies are slipping and some of the finest infrastructure anywhere is buckling under the strain. Locals blame the influx of immigrants, which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s ruling party touts as one key to Singapore’s success in the years to come.


The city-state, with about half the area of New York City, has 3.3 million citizens and 2 million foreign residents, many of whom have contributed greatly to Singapore’s growth in finance and construction. Yet complaints that overseas workers deprive locals of jobs and drive up housing prices fill the air. Singapore is the third-most-expensive Asian city and ranks as the sixth most costly in the world, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit ranking of 131 cities.



Sadly, some of the rants one reads in the media and online veer toward xenophobia. If Singaporeans are so livid, they should stop supporting Lee’s party. After all, isn’t the government, by seeking to import more human capital, telling its own people that they lack the skills to compete?




The human-pyramid scheme works like this: Population growth, either through births or immigration, boosts demand for goods and services, increases borrowing, boosts tax revenue and adds to corporate profits. Everything seems grand and leaders take a bow. It’s a bubble, though, and it eventually bursts when population growth stalls. Incomes top out, high debt crushes consumption and investment, the need for public assistance rises, environmental degradation increases and angry people take to the streets.[/quote]http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-14/ponzi-schemes-built-on-people-always-crash-too.html

[3Boys]

pirate:

Mdm Koh:

Not necessarily, pirate. They can still hire foreign talent if the job requires relocation to countries that Singaporeans are unwilling to move to.


Anyway, I do have friends who travel frequently for work and know of families that have relocated to countries like China. Let's not assume that only foreigners are willing to travel or relocate. The companies just need to hire the right Singaporeans and offer the right benefits.

I never say all Singaporean PMEs unwilling. I am sure those who are willing to do so are highly capable, motivated and resilient.

I only say the PMEs back home should not be surprised if the head office/towkay drops the problem on their desks. Isn't figuring out how to improve productivity the PMEs' jobs?

Anyway, if any of our PMEs have to relocate to other countries, they are no longer locals. They become the FT... over there. Then they can enjoy competing over there on a \"level playing field\" with Malaysian, Indian and PRC FTs. :evil:

Exactly right! And the original post was made without even the slightest hint of irony.

It's ok for Singaporeans to be FTs elsewhere, but not ok for FTs from elsewhere to work in Singapore.......