Internet
It's not all dark corners...
Leaders-mainstream media often speak of dangerous web ideas,
seldom bloggers' good efforts. Here's an example of one...
By Seah Chiang Nee
Jul 9, 2008
I must
say that none of these opinions had come from me. I wish
they had. They were expressed by ordinary Singaporeans chatting
away in one of our forums.
I merely
put them together in my site last Sept 18 year - and I'm
glad I did.
It was
a disucssion of a subject from someone who asked in 2007:
"What would Singapore be like in three years' time?"
Their replies - the most articulate ones - were well put
in simple, succinct language, and showed foresight.
Although
they were in general terms, they - most of them - are incressing
becoming pronouned in ours lives - two years in advance!
Judge for yourselves... Editor.
Singapore
In three years’ time
Some interesting views of what this city could be like.
CNA forum (edited).
Sept 18, 2007
kairen
I was wondering..
In three years' time, Changi T3 will have run for two years,
integrated (casino) resorts will be running. Orchard Road
will be even busier, one degree north and Sentosa Cove will
be filled with more glitzy rich people.
St Jame's, Clarke quay... all these are the marks of the
super well-off. How about the man in the street?
Brandonn
I suppose no one can tell whether with all the glitz and
buzz, spore's economy will continue to grow.
But for sure, the mass of sporeans will still have little
or no passion, politically apathetic and uninterested in
social/cultural events.
I sensed that u may think of the income disparity amongst
the haves and haves-not. My take is, the government should
provide some basic healthcare to Sporeans, do not lock cpf
for too long, and release a certain of financial freedom
to sporeans. If pple can make it, that is their own right;
if they can't make it, then sporeans should not blame anyone
else.
For sure, Singaporeans should be given a chance to grow
up.
red_kop
The salary increase will always be smaller than the hike.
Morning
The rich will enjoy the prosperity while the commoners will
serve them.
Jackson
Given the falling birth rate, I say Singaporeans will be
displaced from their own country and be replaced by immigrants.
Because there are more females than males in Singapore,
(many) females eventually will marry abroad.
kairen
There are thoughts about widening income gap and indeed
the possible social problems that we may be facing. The
wealthy will of course be very rich given the opportunities
open for them already.
Singapore will be a place for the very well off and certainly
a place where you can really splurge on different types
of luxuries.
For the commoners, I suspect we may have to find our niche.
Most of us will find the prices of goods and services climbing
up further.
With two IRs (casino resorts) completed by them, I am wondering
if there will safety nets put in place?
Brandonn
As things are, there is currently a dual economy occurring
in Singapore. Look at the property prices of Districts 9,
10 11 etc as compared to the non-moving HDB prices.
Singapore is making it very clear that in future, one must
be economically viable as in able to make a living. Rich
foreigners are coming in to buy property, to enjoy the medical
care, to park their investments and money here.
In the past, Malaysians used to be the 'catchment' of new
residents, but now, as long as one can contribute can get
a PR.
For the locals, as long as you can continue to stay in the
race, you can continue staying here.
Many chaps in the forum are lamenting and comparing the
have's vs have-not's, but the 'uniqueness' of the country
will not pause and wait for the poor and have-not's.
I am sure the government knows about this, but nothing beats
the economic survival of Singapore, hence the unskilled
and poor chaps will continue to be worse off.
There is no right or wrong, but this is the strategy for
Singapore to stay afloat (and try becoming a global city).
kairen
True; but that comes to a harsh reality that the weak will
suffer.
Though the country owes no one a living, it is also the
fact that the poorer ones who fight may well be fighting
a loosing battle.
If the situation gets bad, there is a danger that we would
have a very nasty environment in the future. Which is not
good to our social economic progress...
ricsal
It will get even nastier when poor people from other country
migrate here to do the low skilled jobs at a very low pay
that the poor Singaporeans are not willing to do.
Henryling
Not to worry. The IRs will be white elephants after the
initial buzz, like the Van Kleef Aquarium, the Haw Par Villa,
the Cable car, the snow city and soon - the Ferriswheel.
The super rich will not want to expose their families to
IRs. Too many bad guys will be watching them. They will
be in Macau alone, without their families.
Brandonn
Frankly, I don't see how the society in Singapore will turn
'nasty'. The government is constantly giving out Singapore
shares ($). Even the bus (or train) companies are giving
out vouchers for the low-income families.
We have schemes like CPF, ElderShield, MediShield etc. And
soon, we are going to have an annuity scheme. Government
is 'taking care' of its citizens by increasing the age for
the withdrawal of CPF etc.
Whether these are agreeable or not, to me this is socialism
at work.
Our system is not capitalistic like in Hong Kong. In Hong
Kong, the disparity between the rich and poor is wide, but
the rich are really very, very rich. And this system makes
the people strive harder to be on the right side.
And I suppose, partly that's the reason why Singaporeans
are not as 'motivated' as Hong Kongers to strive to make
a living, not to mention making it big.
Coupled with a comparatively lack of a competitive environment
(against HK), Singapore is naturally lagging behind in energy
and vibrancy.
An
Heretic
In three years time, there will be roughly 20,000 Chinese
sex workers in Singapore, mostly masquerading as students
in Singapore's own "Visa Factories".
The ICA should tell its people not to be so diligent in
their work trying to prevent illegal workers trying to sneak
into the country. The STUDENT PASS department lets them
into Singapore through their lax checking up on Student
Pass holders.
virgin
killer
I agree. Just stepped into any of the top five nightclubs
in Singapore - TianAnMen, Lido, Las Vegas, Orchard KTV,
Century, etc. You can see more than 90% of the "Service
Ladies" inside are from China and almost 40% of them
or higher are holding a student pass.
The ICA and Anti-Vice know the situation but are not taking
any action to curb the matter.
When ICA issue a student pass to foreign student, there's
a clause stating not allowing them to work but still when
the Authority knew the situation, they're not doing anything
to stop it.
So the next three years for Singapore is that this tiny
island is turning into a destination for foreign sex workers
to feign as students to offer sex service in Singapore.
With casinos coming up in Singapore by 2009, I'm sure the
demand of sex workers in Singapore will be higher!
blurr
Perhaps the authorities are already aware of this loophole
but choose to close an eye for these reasons:
1. We need more Chinese babies; imported ones also welcome
since Singaporean boys and girls are not marrying and producing
local babies
2. 20,000 Chinese sex workers translate into 6,000+ paid
hotel rooms. Good for the economy!
3. Gives Singapore women a bit of competition for the Singapore
men's attentions. Competition is good isn't it?
Hopefully the Chinese girls will marry a Singaporean male
and you have one more Chinese in statistics..
The
aricle can be read at: http://www.littlespeck.com/content/lifestyle/CTrendsLifestyle-070918.htm
