Government determined to increase population to 7 mil in 2030.

[Temperament]

If you don't agree and you don't want to show up at the rally to be counted to tell the PAPYs you don't agree, who knows what actually is your thinking?
And who says we can't change a thing before 2015/2016?
If the Papys still have a conscience, Papys should allow the people to have a referendum on this white paper.
Or if more than 50 % of the population shows they want a referendum, who says we can't do anything?
It is all a matter of perception and whether the people of Singapore dares to show to the world what they really want for themselves and their future generation.
Just for imagination sake, if > then 100,000 people turn up and ask for a referendum, do you think the Papys will be able to arrest all of them?
And don't forget the World's Media journalists will be there too.
Hope it will be a peaceful show of what Singaporeans want. And Papys will not turn the rally into a "Tian Ann Men Square of Singapore" Or an "Arab Spring of Singapore"
Nevertheless, i will be there to give my wee bit of support to all true blue Singaporeans.
i really don't know what is on your mind?

NB:-
One of my favorite quote from the most intelligent man ever live.
"Imagination Is More Important Than Knowledge"

Think for a moment why the most knowledgeable person ever live still can say that?

What he actually said:-

“I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am… [but] I would have been surprised if I had been wrong

“I am enough of the artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

IMO
So, can we use your imagination when our knowledge is limited?
In another words, if GOD doesn't gifted us with imagination how can we have new knowledge?
How can we are what we are, today?
IMAGINATION.
Shalom.
Amen.

[pianist]

weather forecast for sat - afternoon showers over many areas...bad omen

[Temperament]

weather forecast for sat - afternoon showers over many areas...bad omen

Not necessary. How about we consider the rain is a shower of blessings from Heavens or the GOD or GODs -depending on individual's belief?

Anyway, rain or shine shouldn't we stand firm on our support for this rally? Which is actually for ourselves, all true-blue Singaporeans.
Just bring your umbrella, lah. If you don't want to get wet.

[safetyfirst]

The bottom 20% Singaporean households in the "Key Indicator of Household Expenditure Survey" in 2007 was $1274. The latest Survey is currently being conducted and results should be finalised by end of this year.
http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/hhld/hes2007.pdf
(See page 22)

Does anyone like to comprehend how a household can support itself with $1274? Even taking into account of another additional of 50% increment due to increase in GDP per cap plus all the subsidies available, what are we looking at? The children of these households will forever be trapped in a viscious cycle, as they will be highly disadvantaged in education and therefore their career path.

The upper middle class and elite class would simply be climbing themselves every higher with increasing number of assets and therefore making their children richer. Thus this is the reason for the widening of the Gini coefficient.

My heart goes out to families living on $1274 per month, if you do not believe it, you can try it.

And the interesting thing about the gahment is they can come up with numerous reasons to oppose the minimum wage; they claim that we become less competitive due to higher wages.

On the other hand, the gahment insists that a larger population boosts the economy, increase productivity and as a result raise our salary. Wont higher wages make singapore less competitive as they have claimed? -- why this contradiction?

[pianist]

They build more infrastructure in the future not for free one.just look at garden by the bay, public garden yet charge 28 buck for a single visit. So population boom justifies more infrastructure which in turn charges peope. Same for rail lines.

[Temperament]

我不跟你一般见识。lead a long and fruitful life and learn to lose the anger.

LOL! Not angry. Just want to point out that before you say others make sweeping statements, then you should refrain from making exaggerations in your own post.

Have a great weekend.

Ha! Ha!

“道不同不相為謀，志不同不相为友”

Even if it's true, shall we come to "blows"?
Yes, no matter how much we disagree, we should just keep our mind on the topic and talk facts. We are all here to exchange views not "blows"; including the person you dislike the most some how or other ( read-“道不同不相為謀，志不同不相为友”).

i am always amazed by pictures of people (politicians) become physical in their parliament; Maybe if they do it on the street with the police in their station, we can understand.
Of course, we need to practise "moderation" all the time if not i can easily become like the man on the street using physics (blows) to solve my problems with you.
For this many thanks to the MODERATORS of this FORUM. If not we can not carry on enjoying, talking here.

Keeping our mind on the topics and facts is the secret weapon to stay rational in talking to anyone;

[RBM]

Interesting, well written piece on cnbc.com regarding the impact of tightening foreign labour laws on business in Singapore. Particularly interesting to note the reference to the 2030 target and its implications ………. the author quotes "experts" who believe there will be further restrictions on foreign worker numbers.

I am wondering what the longer term impact will be on smaller construction companies (Lian Beng, BBR etc.) and restaurant companies (e.g. BreadTalk, Sakae, Tung Lok etc.)................

QUOTE
Singapore Firms Hit by Foreign Labor Laws
Published: Thursday, 14 Feb 2013 | 11:24 PM ET
By: Ansuya Harjani

From designing the decor to drawing up the dessert menu, Venezuelan national Carlina Maldonado and her husband spent months preparing for the launch of their new restaurant venture in the Asian financial hub of Singapore. But as the opening day approached, there was just one thing missing: staff to serve their South American fare. Hiring challenges, stemming from the government's tighter controls on foreign labor, postponed the launch of their restaurant, Sur, by a month – an expensive delay that left them with a high rental bill and zero income. "We had an overwhelming response to the job ads we posted online, but 99 per cent of the applications were from non-Singaporeans, mostly Filipinos. They were extremely qualified but we couldn't employ them because of the hiring restrictions," 33-year-old Maldonado, a former bartender, told CNBC.

The Singapore government, which is facing growing public opposition to the country's liberal immigration policies, has announced a slew of measures to limit the influx of foreign workers in the past year, including lowering the foreign manpower dependency ratio for the manufacturing and services sectors by 5 per cent each, in addition to steep increases in the monthly levy paid for hiring overseas employees which have taken place every six months since 2011.

For Maldonado, the new policies mean she needs to hire five Singaporeans before she can employ one foreign worker with the appropriate qualifications. Before the measures were implemented in July, the quota was four Singaporeans to one foreign worker. "The lack of manpower has made the market extremely competitive. Restaurants are entering bidding wars for employees," she said, adding that higher-than-anticipated labor costs have drastically altered their return on investment.

Singapore, which has topped the World Bank's global ranking on the ease of doing business for seven straight years, has long been lauded for its business-friendly regulatory environment. But measures to boost domestic productivity, through limiting the inflow of foreign workers, are denting the attractiveness of the Southeast Asian nation as an investment destination, and could weigh on the economy's growth, according to economists. Foreigners – which make up almost 40 percent of Singapore's 5.3 million population – are an important source of cheap employment, particularly for the country's manufacturing, construction and services sectors. "Businesses that have not made the necessary adjustments to survive in the country's high cost environment will find it increasingly difficult to compete. We expect the less productive companies to start to get weeded out as restructuring bites, which should have an impact on GDP" said Michael Wan, research analyst at Credit Suisse.

Barclays economist Wai Ho Leong expects Singapore's annual growth to decelerate to 2-3 per cent in 2020-2030, from the current 3-5 per cent, as a result of the slowdown in overall employment. The annual intake of foreign workers, for example, is forecast to decline from the peak 70,000-80,000 seen in the past five years to around 20,000-30,000 by 2020. "More labor curbs will be put in place, there is no u-turning – it's a reality that labor resources will grow at a much slower pace in the future, and costs will go up," said Leong of Barclays.

Experts say Singapore's release of a white paper last month, detailing a population target of 6.5-6.9 million by 2030, will put further pressure on authorities to limit access to foreign workers. According to Credit Suisse, this means the expansion of Singapore's overseas population would have to slow to 2.6 percent per annum from 7 percent in 2012.

Satish Bakhda, head of operations at Rikvin, a firm that provides company registration and employment pass services, noted that it is harder to obtain employment passes for service sector jobs compared to just a couple years ago. "Bringing in a manger for a restaurant, for example, is tough. They [Singapore government] want to ensure that foreigners aren't taking jobs away from Singaporeans – they must complement, not compete," he said. "Even banks and multinational companies are being questioned – do you really need this guy? The real problem is the lower end salaries, less than S$4000," Bakhda added.

Worst Hit
The government's clampdown on foreign manpower will hit small-to-medium-sized enterprises the hardest, said Ho Meng Kit, chief executive officer at Singapore Business Federation, which represents more than 18,000 companies operating in the city state. "The impact will be felt through the business community and more painful with SMEs because they are the ones that rely on low skilled foreign workers, face greater competition, and profitability isn't as high," Ho said. "These are sectors (that) Singaporean (workers) don't want to join," he added, noting that businesses will need to innovate to compensate for the lack of manpower, or think about whether it makes sense to operate in the city. The concept of self-service, for example, which isn't widely adopted in the country, will likely become more common.

Manpower constraints are expected to contribute to a pullback in investment in the country this year, according to the country's Economic Development Board, which is targeting S$13 billion in fixed-asset investments in 2013, lower than the $16 billion hit last year. "This is the first time they are targeting a lower figure than the previous year," Wan of Credit Suisse noted.

While labor intensive businesses could be deterred, Vishnu Varathan, market economist at Mizuho believes Singapore will remain an attractive investment destination for knowledge intensive operations including research and development and legal and financial services. Ho of the Singapore Business Federation agreed, "If you look at overall factors – it's still compelling for new businesses in terms of infrastructure and rule of law."
UNQUOTE

[Contrarian]

> staff to serve their South American fare. Hiring challenges, stemming from the government's tighter controls on foreign labor, postponed the launch of their
> restaurant, Sur, by a month – an expensive delay that left them with a high rental bill and zero income. "We had an overwhelming response to the job ads we
> posted online, but 99 per cent of the applications were from non-Singaporeans, mostly Filipinos. They were extremely qualified but we couldn't employ the >, cause of the hiring restrictions," 33-year-old Maldonado, a former bartender, told CNBC.

1. I have travelled to Malaysia, Japan restaurants. Our SIngaporean restaurants are the least productive in terms of technology adoption. In malaysia, japan even china, I see tablet ordering devices and staff alert and bill machines. I dont see such devices used here, very rare in Singapore.

2. Paradise Inn has been opening one outlet after another. No labour shortage. How come they can do it and the rest complain? I see 60+ staff working there as waiters too. The COO is now planning management programme for young graduates to join their company.

3. Philippinos and other foreigners want to come here, because exchange rate is strong. They rent a room, share 3-4, keep the rest as savings.

4. Some restaurants are resorting to illegal practice of hiring tourist style filippinos who come on monthly visas.

There is plenty of cheap labour, the restaurants dont want to come up with innovative plans e.g. two 6 hour shifts for >50 workers.

Now it's our turn to tell the bosses dont complain, adapt and follow the rules. See how others do it. When u are in rome, do as the romans do.

[cfa]

Cheap FTs benefit employers and gov. Gov make billions from levies, they are seriously addicted to cheap FTs.

[brattzz]

Cheap FTs benefit employers and gov. Gov make billions from levies, they are seriously addicted to cheap FTs.

totally agreed!

why make a poor chap work 16 hrs per day when u can hire 2 chaps to work 8 hrs each?

Don't kill the people!