Be-Longings

“Perhaps in response to my earlier call for more subsistence Rallies, PM Lee is following up very quickly with a Teacher’s Day Rally tonight. More emotional food for survival. Lets look into the crystal ball again and see just what might be broached tonight. Two related phrases:

National Education.

Connecting/Rooting the Young.” …more (Xenoboy)

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Citizenship and Loyalty

“While the KTM is pro-immigration, he is of the view that granting citizenship is an altogether different matter from allowing people to come in to work. There were two letters that appeared in the Forum Page two days ago (29 Aug 2006) on this matter.

In the first letter, the writer questioned if we have granted citizenship to foreigners from countries for which it would be easy to have his/her citizenship reinstated. In the second letter, the writer is trying his luck in making a plug for the Garmen to relax the current no-dual-citizenship stance.” …more (KTM)

The Population Problem (Suggested Solutions)

“It is not just Singapore having the problem of aging population. According to UN 2005 Human Development Report, this is an issue faced by (except only 18 countries) every country and region across the globe. It is such a major problem that coincidentally, Newsweek’s feature story for the current issue is “Whatever happened to having babies?“.

There may be many reasons for the decline in birthrate. The more commonly cited reasons were generally financial concerns, the inability to find time to balance work and family, job stress, career etc.” …more (Cobalt Paladin)

What Andy Ho must know (but isn’t saying)

“When you first consider the matter, it would seem logical to treat the MSM and the ‘New Media’ as Andy Ho refers to internet-based alternative media, in the same fashion in regards to regulation. Hypothetically, media is media, and the same rules should be applied equally to all… right?

Wrong.” …more (Mercer Machine)

Too many foreign talents could deprive S’poreans of jobs. Control the quality and number of immigrants

“As a 41-year-old Singaporean, I have seen the country’s progress and cannot but greatly appreciate the government’s efforts since 1965 in shaping the economy and bringing in foreign investments.To keep the economy growing despite intense competition from neighbouring countries, it has outlined a policy to keep the population growing.” …more (Shanmugam Manohar @ STI Online Forum; Recommended by PTC)

Of Wild Goats and New Citizens

“A Goatherd, driving his flock from their pasture at eventide, found some Wild Goats mingled among them, and shut them up together with his own for the night. The next day it snowed very hard, so that he could not take the herd to their usual feeding places, but was obliged to keep them in the fold.

He gave his own goats just sufficient food to keep them alive, but fed the strangers more abundantly in the hope of enticing them to stay with him and of making them his own. When the thaw set in, he led them all out to feed, and the Wild Goats scampered away as fast as they could to the mountains.” …more (Dr Huang)

Also, a reply by Whispers from the Heart

Immigration

“The world is facing the problem of population aging. This problem is not uniquely Singapore (sic). It is a natural phenomenon occuring more acutely in developed countries. We may have given too much credit to the government’s “two is enough” policy. In retrospect, without the introduction of the “two is enough” policy, Singapore will still have an aging population problem as it moves from third world to first.” …more (Cobalt Paladin)

Why the government’s fetish for foreigners is not a matter of numbers

“The government is resorting to foreigners because it has lost faith in the competency of Singaporeans

People cried foul when, on his customary annual bore-speech, prime minister Lee Hsien Loong effectively blamed the government’s increased efforts to attract ‘foreign talent’ on Singaporeans’ lack of interest in conceiving children, a situation instantly understandable ten minutes into a visit of one of Singapore’s dilapidated national libraries on a Sunday afternoon.” …more (Twilight)

Selling Immigration

“One of the chief topics in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech (20 August 2006) was the need for foreign talent, and by extension, immigration. Predictably, the Straits Times then annoyed me (and perhaps many others) by featuring “new Singaporeans” – you know, happy nuclear families, doing well in life. More importantly, they all sang praises of Singapore: this is great, that is great and that’s why I relocated my family here, and took up Singapore citizenship.” …more (Yawning Bread)

A Reprise to “Singapore’s Resilient Strategy”

“Through Singapore Surf, I came across this article Singapore’s Resilient Strategy by the Enterprise Resilience Management Blog by Stephen F. DeAngelis and Bradd C. Hayes. The central theme of the article is that Singapore adopts an resilient strategy to maintain its economic miracle, by importing foreign talent and positioning themselves such that they are relevant with the global scene. In this short commentary, I shall illustrate a few simple arguments that this resilient strategy is a double edged sword to the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.” …more (SG Entrepreneurs)

Smile For Them Too

“Its coming soon. The IMF/WB meetings in Singapore. The event has galvanised the country’s PR machine, road paving work, tree pruning activities and a massive phased campaign to bring out 4 million smiles for them rich folks coming into town.

The corresponding part of the travelling entourage, civil society groups and NGOs who protest against the IMF/WB have been warned off with the dreaded cane, well drilled riot troops, pepper spray and the gamut of enforcement activities which signal clearly that the protesters are not part of the 4-million smiles welcome package. Instead, these folks will be shunted off to Batam for their trouble-making activities.” …more (Xenoboy)

Machiavelli on Singapore Media

“In order to get a sense of the rationale behind the recent apparently erratic attitude towards blogging in Singapore, it’s instructive to turn to Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’. Specifically, what he has to say about the difficulties inherent in conquering centralized versus decentralized states is remarkably relevant when applied to the mainstream media (MSM) compared to alternative media, specifically the blogosphere.” …more (MercerMachine; recommended by Cobalt Paladin)