FT's (Foreign Talent) view on 2% GST increment

Nov 16, 2006
From Mika Sampovaara who left welfare state to come to Singapore

"I WOULD like to commend Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for sticking to the Singaporean economic model. I read with interest his views regarding Scandinavian welfare states. I am from one of them: Finland. While it is true that there is more 'welfare' in Scandinavia, it comes at a price. Public spending in my country stands at 25 per cent of GDP, twice that of Singapore. The government in Finland spends vast amounts of money on free health care and education, nearly twice the 8 per cent of GDP spent in Singapore. Having been to Changi hospital I can say that health care here is no worse than in my country and the charges are very reasonable. My point is it doesn't have to be free. It's a question of choice and pricing. The public sector typically does not run the most efficient services, because the services are non-competitive. Singapore runs a tighter ship, because it's only partially subsidised. Compulsory savings schemes for health care and pensions are a far better way. So is taxing consumption over income. Many people in my country give up half or more of their gross incomes to finance the almighty welfare state. This serves to promote equality of sorts and creates a vast middle class. It also stifles entrepreneurism and leads to voluntary unemployment. The cost of living is higher too, with GST at 22 per cent. I disagreed with the crushing taxes in my country. It is for this reason that I came to Singapore, and was happy to give up the benefits I had paid for over the years. Long live the Singaporean model."

(Picture courtesy of TheoDR, Hardwarezone)

Some Jokes

Two cannibals, a father and son, were elected by the tribe to go out and get something to eat. They walked deep into the jungle and waited by a path. Before long, along came this little old man.The son said, "Ooh dad, there's one.""No," said the father. "There's not enough meat on that one to even feed the dogs. We'll just wait."Well, a little while later, along came this really fat man.The son said, "Hey dad, he's plenty big enough.""No," the father said. "We'd all die of a heart attack from the fat in that one. We'll just wait."
About an hour later, here comes this absolutely gorgeous woman.The son said, "Now there's nothing wrong with that one dad. Let's eat her.""No," said the father. "We'll not eat her either.""Why not?" asked the son."Because, we're going to take her back alive and eat your mother."


Little Johnny needed $100 very badly and his mother told him to pray to God for it. He prayed and prayed for two weeks, but nothing turned up. Then he decided to write God a letter requesting the $100. When the postal authorities received the letter addressed to God, they opened it up, and decided to send it to the President.The President was so impressed, touched and amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little Johnny $5. He thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy.
Little Johnny was delighted with the $5 and sat down to write a thank-you letter to God which reads as follows: "Dear God, Thank you so very much for sending me the money. I noticed you sent it through Washington. As usual those *******s deducted $95 as tax. "


Her husband has been slipping in and out for a coma for several months yet she stayed by his beside every single day. When he came to, he ask for her to come nearer.As she sat by him, he said, "You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times.""When I got fired, you were there to support me. When my business fell, you were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you gave me support. When my health started failing, you were still by my side.""When I think about it now, I think you bring me bad luck."


Two guys are walking down the street. The guy on the left is dragging his right leg, and the guy on the right is dragging his left leg.
The guy on the right says to the guy on the left, "What happened to you, man?"
The other says, "Viet Nam, 1969. What about you?"
He replies, "Dog ****, about two blocks back."


And here is my favourite:
A woman was out golfing one day when she hit the ball into the woods. She went into the woods to look for it and found a frog in a trap. The frog told her, "If you release me from this trap, I will grant you three wishes." The woman freed the frog, and the frog said, "Thank you, but I failed to mention that there was a condition to your wishes. Whatever you wish for, your husband will get it ten times!" The woman said, "That's okay."

For her first wish, she wanted to be the most beautiful woman in the world. The frog warned her, "You do realize that this wish will also make your husband the most handsome man in the world, an Adonis whom women will flock to". The woman replied, "That's okay, because I will be the most beautiful woman and he will have eyes only for me." So, KAZAM-she's the most beautiful Woman in the world!

For her second wish, she wanted to be the richest woman in the world. The frog said, "That will make your husband the richest man in the world. And he will be ten times richer than you. " The woman said, "That's okay, because what's mine is his and what's his is mine." So, KAZAM-she's the richest woman in the world!

The frog then inquired about her third wish, and she answered, "I'd like a mild heart attack!"

Moral of the story: Women are clever. Don't mess with them!

Attention female readers: This is the end of the joke for you. Stop here and continue feeling good!
Male readers: Please scroll down.



















The man had a heart attack ten times milder than his wife!!!

Moral of the story: Women are really dumb but think they're really smart! Let them continue to think that way and just enjoy the show!

PS: If you are a woman and are still reading this; it only goes to show that women never listen!!!

Multi-talented

Multi-talented? Or good at nothing? A 23 y.o. with a dip in biotechnology, working in a travelling company as an IT consultant, planning to start a business, learning business & management skills with another company, training up on his physique to be like vincent ng, training up on his soccer skills to be the next kaka on the field, playing 'Fable' on a new pc......

I reckon its the latter


DECISIONS MAKING (part ii)

i)Mark out the parameters of the decision clearly: What choices do you have? Are there more than two?

ii) List down pros and cons for each decision. Prioritize which considerations are very important to you, and which are less so.

iii)Put an end to collecting information about your decision. Avoid thinking that with just a little more time and information, you'll be able to make the one perfect decision. Remember that no decision is perfect and that all choices are made in a condition of some uncertainty.

I had the honour of making a simple yet seemingly difficult decision yesterday. The situation is as follows: I had a interview right after my work which the former required me to wear former clothings, while for the past 1mth+ , i have been wearing casual (t-shirt/polo + jeans). Thus the decision was between wearing casual while bringing the former clothings and leather shoes in my bag or simply wearing former to work. The warm morning simply made it that little more difficult to decide...... In the end, i am glad i made a good decision.

Am i here?

There are two kinds of people in this life
Those who walk into a room and say,
“Well, here I am!”
And those who walk in and say,
“Ahh, there you are.”

Making Decisions

It all started when you parents decided to make you, or not. At birth, they had to decide your name, after which your kindergarden, primary school, secondary school before you start to gain more control in deciding. Decisions like what to eat for dinner, whether to buy that nice shirt on display, mrt or bus, to exercise now or perhaps tommorrow since you are feeling lethargic, what job to do, what course to study, the list goes on...... Life is indeed full of decisions; people can influence you to a certain point, but the end state is it must be made by you.

Singapore is a strange place to live in. Everyday, people is complaining about the government, their job, their family, their lives yet did nothing about it, why? Life of a singaporean is kind of systematic to an extend; the educational route from primary to secondary, then either poly/jc/ite, NS for guys, after which, university if permits. With the qualification, get a job, then a family, have kids and the cycle repeats. No, i am not saying anything bad about this system, actually it IS give us a comfortable life even though it can be stressful at times. For those whom i had talked to regarding this issue will know something call 'comfort zone'. Most human being is like that, its the human nature to want to stay in this comfort zone since venturing out to the world of unknowns only means stepping out of the current comfort zone, which proofs to be a tedious step to take. Successful people took this giant leap out of their comfort zone to obtain their status, to be someone special and not just another pedestrian on the road. Everyone hates failure, but only through failing can we succeed. I myself am guilty of all the above, are you? But i am trying, just to be more successing in life, so as not to be that normal guy, since being normal usual means boring.

Let's step out of our comfort zone now.