Outsourcing the government

A nation state traditionally should serve to protect the interests of its citizens. Standard measures include key statistics such as GDP, Health care, Education, etc.

Singapore, however, is not a nation state in the traditional sense. Ours is a country that now has so many foreigners in so many areas and at so many levels of society. What this means is that Singaporeans have to compete with Singaporeans for basic education, jobs, housing and even for space when we take public transport.

Singapore's performance, as measured by GDP and other standard measures however, have been nothing short of spectacular. But we seem to have confused good economic results with the well-being of Singaporeans. (I won't say "social well-being" since my aim here is focus on the well-being of Singaporeans only.)

We are today a nation with so many people who are non-citizens that it is difficult for government spending to benefit citizens only - except for handouts which of course the government is disinclined towards since it dampens productivity and is unsustainable in the long run.

Essentially then, Singapore is a very successful place, but it is not a nation. It is not a nation in the sense that it seeks to benefit and protect its citizens interests.

If future success of this place called Singapore is measured by such indicators of performance, and if government's role is to strengthen the Singapore brand and ensure that such indicators are favourable, then the next step is clear and logical.

We should outsource our government. The current government should identify a list of key performance indicators by which our success has always been measured. An agency should then be formed to identify the best people internationally who will maximize Singapore's success as measured by its key performance indicators.

In fact, such an agency to identify international talent and invite them to Singapore already exists, so its just a matter of giving them the assignment to scout for the next Prime Minister and Ministers for Education, Finance, Environment and so on.

The only justification for hiring a Singaporean into any of those jobs would be because he truly is the best person for that job.

Individually, it is time for all of us to think about what is the best nation for us to be a citizen of. If we decide to remain Singaporeans, it should only be because we are unable to obtain any other citizenship. Since even if we decide that we want to live in Singapore, being a citizen of another nation while living in Singapore would be at least equal to, if not better than, being a citizen of Singapore and living in Singapore.

China girl kicks Singapore butt in PSLE

I've just seen the news about a girl who came from China a few years ago getting the top score in the PSLE. Sometime ago, there was also some controversy over JJC fielding a largely PRC team to play against RJC in some sports finals. Now I'm in SMU, I see PRC (and India) students everywhere I go.

I think the general impression is that these people are gonna kick out butt.

I suppose it all makes perfectly good sense viewed individually.

1. Singapore allows PRC immigrants in to increase the pool of talent in Singapore.

2. We allow students in at the primary and secondary level because we hope that since they are practically brought up here, they'll continue to stay here and contribute to the country somehow but increasing the talent pool available.

3. The top secondary schools offer scholarships to the foreign students studying here, most likely hoping to improve the average standard of the students studying there. (When I was in sec sch, my headmaster would travel to China each year to interview Chinese students and basically recruit those they deem the best to study in my sch.)

4. We allow them into our universities because they provide competition for our local students and raise the average standard of our university.

I think logically, it all makes sense. At the end of the day, whether the PRC Chinese stay or not, they raise the standards in our local institutions. I'm not sure whether most will end up staying, I haven't got any figures on this, but someone with access to some data should at least take a look.

In the end though, I feel rather uncomfortable with the extent to which we have to compete with the Chinese individually all the way from primary school. I'm not saying its wrong, just uncomfortable. Not sure if its xenophobia or something.

But basically, while we're in the process of getting the best foreigners we can find, to the extent that they now make up a significant proportion of our population, I'm basically unsure what Singapore citizenship is anymore.

I'm not sure whats the advantage of being a Singapore citizen in Singapore.

Back to studying for stats... got my butt thoroughly kicked at math yesterday.

Restarting this space.

After a long hiatus, I've decided it's probably a good idea to start writing again. It's a healthy alternative to playing random online games and websurfing while I continue to procrastinate and put off revising for my exams.

I've been wanting to write about some aspects of my first term in SMU. Should probably get down to it soon. Issues coming up:

1. My perspective of the Uni's standard core modules (specific to LTB and MC since these are what I've done)

2. Project Namaste prep

Finisher of 42.195km

The results are out. I did it in 5hours 57minutes. A rather long time by any standards. Still, I finished!!!

Originally intended to write a post about my long 42km run/walk. But its too damn boring to write and too damn boring to read after that. So I'll just list some interesting observations along the way.

-There should be more toilets at the start point! I desperately needed to pee just before the race. Unfortunately, too many people had the same idea and the queue for the public toilets available was simply too long. I left the queue to hunt for the start line (with no idea where it was) at approximately 5.35am. The official starting time for the race was 5.30am.

-Bushes in dark areas make for good toilets! I learned this in NS, and have relieved myself countless times into the bushes on outfield training. Though I never thought I'll do it in the middle of the CBD. But thats what I did! Followed a stream of people turning off the main running route into some dark area. Figured that they must be headed for a toilet and I was right... if u count the bushes between 2 office buildings somewhere near Lau Pa Sat as a toilet. While peeing, out of the corner of my eye I saw 2 girls turn in to our toilet area as well, only to quickly head back out when they realised all the guys were simply letting loose into the bushes.

-I love the event organisers for the sheer amount of water points, 100 plus points, deep heat rub points, banana points, and toilets (though I didnt need the toilets anymore) along the running route. I had massive leg cramps somewhere around the 20-21 km mark. Paused to stretch abit and simply wouldnt have been able to finish if I hadn't limped to the next deep heat rub point for some relief.

-Tiq came to see me at East Coast Park! By that time I was already walking. It was rather embarassing, so I tried running. And usually when my calves cramped, I stretch my calves and when my thighs cramp i stretch my thighs. After running for a bit at East Coast park (I think this was the 24-25km mark) both my thighs and calves were cramping simlutaneously, the only time it happened during the 42km. I had the painful problem of wondering how the hell to stretch when as I knew, stretching one would cause the other to cramp.

-I had gastric along the way, and stopped because I fell like barfing a couple of times along the way, only to belch out gas along with whatever internal bodily motions that accompany barfing. Besides gastric, I also had hiccups, which was terrible because I couldnt regulate my breathing to run when I had hiccups. By the time I got to around the 30km mark, I was incredibly hungry and immensely happy to see that they were giving out bananas to the runners. Though by that time, I was a "walker".

-Meeting Andrew by sheer chance along the way was wonderful. Walking and occasionally jogging and talking cock with him helped make my last 7 or 8km easier. In retrospect, I think first timers should attempt the 42km marathon with a friend.

-By the time Tiq spotted my again near the finishing point, I was a happy walker. And her nagging helped ensure that I at least ran the last 1km or so, resulting the only marathon-photos.com pic of me actually running instead of walking.

-The feeling of finishing it is fantastic. Like one of the big boards that the organisers placed to encourage runners along the route said, "The pride you'll gain will be worth the pain." And indeed it was.

What is my mother tongue?

Coming out to work as a clerk in the operations side of a big Asian bank, I find the Chinese is the most commonly spoken language amongst the Chinese staff. Which is a language I can communicate rather well in, but its not my most proficient language. As 2 years of army proved.

So I'm just wondering, what is my mother tongue? Yes, Chinese is the language of my ethnic group but its neither the language I first learned at home nor is it the language I'm most proficient in. My dad's Chinese is atrocious, and my mum's is decent. When my sisters and I were younger, she tried making an effort to speak to us more in Chinese given that my Dad clearly couldn't, but as we grew older, it simply became easier for everyone to use English in my home.

As Wikipedia suggests, there's no strict definition for "mother tongue", but highlights Singapore's definition of "mother tongue" as the language of one's ethnicity. I've been brought up with that definition such that I only found out today about all the other definitions of mother tongue. Seems like its the only definition that allows my to state Chinese as my mother tongue. By all other definitions, it would be English. With that Singaporean accent. Whatever it is.

Fundamentals remain sound, but...

According the the government, Singapore's fundamentals remain sound. I suppose it means that our economy remains competitive, and relevant, compared to other developed economies. However, a quick skim of the headlines on channelnewsasia.com today suggests that however strong our "fundamentals" are, it is going to be irrelevant in the short term.

The following is every single headline from the Singapore section of channel news asia. Every news headline today concerns the economy.

"Manufacturing sector's outlook dims as external demand weakens"

"Analysts, developers applaud MND's move to reduce land sales"
(due to insufficient demand that might result in lower than usual bids)

"Singapore shares close mixed as investors turn cautious"

"UOB's Q3 profit down 5.1% as financial crisis hits"

" 800 workers retrenched after wafer fab plan collapse"

" CapitaLand's net profit drops 26% to S$419m in Q3"

"Services sector less upbeat about business prospects for next 6 months"

"Chartered turns in net loss of US$24.4m in Q3"

"Asian tech outlook down; relief to be found in BRIC economies"

"Future investment in S$6.3b solar plant may be affected"

Can it get any more gloomy for the economy? The only positive news comes from SMRT.

"SMRT posts 7% rise in H1 earnings to S$82.9m"

It is usually not a good sign when multiple sectors of the economy are weak and the only good news is that a transport operator that operates only in Singapore and has a near monopoly with very inelastic demand for its transport services has posted a good increase in earnings. According to its media release, the rise in revenue is attributed to rise in ridership and rental and advertising revenue. Though I can't see how much of the change in revenue is attributed to which component. Which I suppose is better than a rise in revenue attributed to rise in fares.

We, the Shareholders of Singapore Inc.

Note: The following is just one way to view Singapore. It is not necessarily the right way. Just something that popped into my mind. Not intending to fully develop this view beyond what little bit I've written below.

Singapore is a pragmatic country. We pursue economic growth relentlessly. We are concerned about our bottomline. Every few years, we re-invent ourselves to keep up with the latest in economic trends. In good years, we even get dividends.

Our ministers and top civil servants are extremely well paid. This is to compensate them for their time and effort, as well as reduce their incentive to take kickbacks and their likelihood of being corrupt.

We serve NS not because of loyalty, a sense of servitude, or any feeling of pride in the country. We serve because we have a stake. We're born into the position of shareholder. Our lives have so far been intertwined with Singapore's excellent track record as far as the economy is concerned. As with any investment however, it is the future rather than the past that matters.

Going forward, we expect Singapore Inc. to continue to perform well. We expect a safe environment, we expect subsidized housing, we expect political stability, we expect accessibility and convenience.

Question now is, if our gains on this investment start to decline, or worse, we take losses, and Singapore Inc. starts to decline such that we are able to spot better opportunities elsewhere and the opportunity cost of migration goes down, should we then sell our stake?

What happens to the smaller shareholders (ie. the poor, the homeless, and other groups so heavily vested they cannot afford to sell)?