Population woes
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3Boys:
The foreign worker dependency ratio, with its quota and sub-quotas for this that and the other actually works against small businesses more than large corporations. Why? Because the number is rounded down.\"A quick check in the heartland revealed that it isn't just the big players that are suffering. If anything, it is the owners of small businesses who seem to be the hardest hit.\"
http://www.soshiok.com/multimedia/photos/1623limlim:
High retail rent is also problem. Plus, many REITs now operate on a rent + percentage of turnover formula. On the other hand, some strata-titled commercial buildings are so badly managed that nobody wants to go there even if the retail rent is as low as office rent. For this, owner occupiers must also bear some responsibility.Hit by what? High rental?
If we want to save the biz.. why only point to difficulty in hiring as the culprit? Why not point finger at the rental?
But when it comes to the restaurant trade, the other problem is that it is perceived to be unglamorous. It is also hard work. Hence, many children of the restaurant owners do not wish to continue with the trade. Although in some cases, graduate children are able to take over and grow the business. But they appear to be the minority. Many youngsters prefer the comfort of a fixed income job to the heat of the kitchen. -
pirate:
I just feel that Singapore is heaven of assets rich owners ( property owners, property developers, government etc...) but hardly reward creativity sufficiently.
The foreign worker dependency ratio, with its quota and sub-quotas for this that and the other actually works against small businesses more than large corporations. Why? Because the number is rounded down.3Boys:
\"A quick check in the heartland revealed that it isn't just the big players that are suffering. If anything, it is the owners of small businesses who seem to be the hardest hit.\"
http://www.soshiok.com/multimedia/photos/1623limlim:
High retail rent is also problem. Plus, many REITs now operate on a rent + percentage of turnover formula. On the other hand, some strata-titled commercial buildings are so badly managed that nobody wants to go there even if the retail rent is as low as office rent. For this, owner occupiers must also bear some responsibility.Hit by what? High rental?
If we want to save the biz.. why only point to difficulty in hiring as the culprit? Why not point finger at the rental?
But when it comes to the restaurant trade, the other problem is that it is perceived to be unglamorous. It is also hard work. Hence, many children of the restaurant owners do not wish to continue with the trade. Although in some cases, graduate children are able to take over and grow the business. But they appear to be the minority. Many youngsters prefer the comfort of a fixed income job to the heat of the kitchen. -
limlim:
I see, so the government should subsidise rents with taxpayer's money so that companies can pay higher wages to the same people who pay those taxes?
Hit by what? High rental?3Boys:
\"A quick check in the heartland revealed that it isn't just the big players that are suffering. If anything, it is the owners of small businesses who seem to be the hardest hit.\"
http://www.soshiok.com/multimedia/photos/1623
If we want to save the biz.. why only point to difficulty in hiring as the culprit? Why not point finger at the rental?
Why biz want to ask for govt help in getting workers..
Why cannot ask got govt help to deal with the rental cost?
High-salary, High-tax, High-cost of living environment, a-la Nordic countries. -
WeiHan:
Your baseline assumption is flawed, you divide the cost by the size of the portions to arrive at your comparison. The portion size is not the only driver of costs, labour is a big part too. So if the market in Singapore can stand a $10 bowl of noodles, I think you can get the equivalent or better quality.
I am not comparing with their economic model. I am just saying that even when we have cheap labor in F&B industry and in addition, even if we assume that Japan model is so much inferior than ours, I am saying that we are losing out in term of food, both in term of quality and price and that is even after we have exploited the cheap labor advantage.3Boys:
And why is Japan our economic model?
I didn't think sclerosis and decline were so fashionable.
High wages, high cost of living, low growth.......just what we wanted.......
Also, please compare apples to apples. Sashimi is an indigenous dish to Japan, they can obviously deliver better quality at lower cost than Singapore. Try getting a plate of chicken rice in Tokyo..... -
3Boys:
Your baseline assumption is flawed, you divide the cost by the size of the portions to arrive at your comparison. The portion size is not the only driver of costs, labour is a big part too. So if the market in Singapore can stand a $10 bowl of noodles, I think you can get the equivalent or better quality.
I am not comparing with their economic model. I am just saying that even when we have cheap labor in F&B industry and in addition, even if we assume that Japan model is so much inferior than ours, I am saying that we are losing out in term of food, both in term of quality and price and that is even after we have exploited the cheap labor advantage.WeiHan:
[quote=\"3Boys\"]
And why is Japan our economic model?
I didn't think sclerosis and decline were so fashionable.
High wages, high cost of living, low growth.......just what we wanted.......
Also, please compare apples to apples. Sashimi is an indigenous dish to Japan, they can obviously deliver better quality at lower cost than Singapore. Try getting a plate of chicken rice in Tokyo.....[/quote]There are Japanese restaurant in malls that sell equivalent noodles that I was talking about. The price will be approximately S$15-$18 in these malls in Singapore. In Tokyo which i mentioned above, similar bowl of noodle will cost S$8-S$10.
I love to use Tokyo as a comparison to make the point that food in Singapore is no longer cheap when compare with one of the most expensive Asian city. Don't even need to mention our neighbor north of us.
Talking about chicken rice and the irrelevance of comparing Sashimi,their fried pork rice taste so good and cheap.
I hypothesise that the problem is that no talented people want to take up food businesses in Singapore. one of the reason being that when their business is good, the land lord want to increase the rental. There is no way they beat the game. It is just not worth the effort. It is better to own a property and just rent out for passive profit rather than making money through hard work and creativity. -
3Boys:
I see, so the government should subsidise rents with taxpayer's money so that companies can pay higher wages to the same people who pay those taxes?
Hit by what? High rental?limlim:
[quote=\"3Boys\"]\"A quick check in the heartland revealed that it isn't just the big players that are suffering. If anything, it is the owners of small businesses who seem to be the hardest hit.\"
http://www.soshiok.com/multimedia/photos/1623
If we want to save the biz.. why only point to difficulty in hiring as the culprit? Why not point finger at the rental?
Why biz want to ask for govt help in getting workers..
Why cannot ask got govt help to deal with the rental cost?
High-salary, High-tax, High-cost of living environment, a-la Nordic countries.[/quote]I didn't suggest that.
They can ask workers to bite the bullet.. can't they ask the landlords to bite the bullet? if the biz fold, who is going to rent from them? -
limlim:
So what exactly should the government be telling the landlords?
I didn't suggest that.3Boys:
I see, so the government should subsidise rents with taxpayer's money so that companies can pay higher wages to the same people who pay those taxes?
High-salary, High-tax, High-cost of living environment, a-la Nordic countries.
They can ask workers to bite the bullet.. can't they ask the landlords to bite the bullet? if the biz fold, who is going to rent from them?
Sink your funds in the property, take all the risk, take all the headache of managing a property, but make lower returns than you can from sticking the money in a bank...... -
From the proprietor of one of my fave restaurants, a nice down to earth Singaporean guy....
http://www.soe.org.sg/files/59.htm
\"Tell me some stories that would give me an idea of the hardships involved in starting a business from scratch. What are some of the things you have had to overcome to succeed?
Setting up a restaurant isn't very hard in itself; the problem lies with finding good service staff in Singapore. Most Singaporeans are very fussy over jobs; they want high pay and short working hours, and they complain a lot. It is much easier to find dependable workers in Malaysia, but the government has a policy such that a restaurant can only hire foreign workers after the first three months of operation.\"
And this was years ago even...... -
3Boys:
The same thing that they are telling the workers?
So what exactly should the government be telling the landlords?
I feel, the media should not always focus on workers.. they should take a look at the landlords. -
limlim:
No, I ask again, what specific things should the government be telling the landlords. You say bite the bullet, I don't understand what that means in the case of landlords. In the case of workers, they may not get paid well, but they don't make losses on investments, they don't have to incur the cost of capital.
The same thing that they are telling the workers?3Boys:
So what exactly should the government be telling the landlords?
I feel, the media should not always focus on workers.. they should take a look at the landlords.
Are you saying that landlords should 'bite the bullet' in terms of making losses so that they can subsidise worker's salaries? Are you telling the landlords that they should sink in capital in a property, pay taxes on it, engage a property management company, and make poor returns on it, after taking all the risk.
So, what should the government be telling landlords?
How about the hundreds of thousands of Singaporeans holding on to residential investment properties? Should the same thing apply?
You see, you cannot making vague sweeping statements in a vacuum of understanding.
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