The Leaning Lamp Post of Singapore

Tower of Pisa it is not. This newly installed street lamp post has been leaning precariously for at least the past week when I first noticed it. I am highlighting this because it is an issue that has been bugging me for a while.

A while back, a car was crushed by a falling tree during a storm and the driver unfortunately lost his life. The authorities then embarked on a tree trimming rampage. I do not know if this was done with the intention of appearing pro-active given that the general elections was then not far off.

Since then, it is a common sight to see road crews going around trimming trees to such an extent that they are shorn almost bald. Sidewalks that used to be shaded from the sun are now exposed to the full glare of the sun. Roads which used to be green cool tunnels with tree branches arcing over from both sides of the road and meeting in the middle are now transformed into hot tarmac shimmering in the heat.

But if you will remember, a few years back, a schoolboy was killed by a falling lamp post. However, I didn't notice the authorities embarking on a lamp post checking frenzy :) In fact, for the entirety of my life when travelling along our roads, I've never had the privilege of EVER seeing a crew inspecting a lamp post. So, why the difference in reaction between an accident caused by a tree (an act of nature) and the one caused by a man made object (man's fault by poor maintenance)? Anyone?

Given that the probability of someone being killed by a falling tree or branch (one in ten years?) is far more unlikely than someone striking the lottery (usually at least one person a week) I would suggest that the authorities instead award the family of the unfortunate victim of a tree accident a million dollars, sponsored by Singapore Pools instead of going around vandalising our trees. The million dollars would serve to meet the family's financial needs a lot more than some grand gesture (or publicity stunt) of going around trimming trees which may or may not be posing a clear and present danger.

In the meantime, a lamp post is still leaning precariously somewhere in Singapore. If the authorities can only see past the trees, perhaps they will spot it. Hopefully by next week it will be fixed!

The Little Sampan That Is Singapore Is Sinking

By design. Imagine if you will, a boat that is built with holes drilled in its bottom. The only way for the occupants of the boat to keep afloat is to keep bailing out the water that seeps in. It's the same for every country actually. Bailing out the water from the boat is a metaphor for economic activity. Nobody owes us or anyone else for that matter, a living. We have to make ourselves useful and relevant to the global economic system to survive as a modern society.

To that end, we have to build the necessary infrastructure as the foundation and put in place policies that will put that infrastructure to good use eg: a good education system and sensible policies that encourage and make it easy for business and industry to set up here and hence generate employment.

In Singapore's case, we have become a victim of our own success. With everything chugging along nicely with visible improvements year by year, we just plain got greedy. From bailing out the water to keep the boat from sinking to keeping our feet dry, we have proceeded along the path where the governments' seeming ambition is to bail out the water so fast that the boat will actually levitate out of the water! It is against the laws of physics or in our metaphorical case: the physical limits of our country and the resources available to us makes it impossible.

With improving living standards and the concomitant rise in the cost of living, Singaporeans' expectations of what they want to do and how much they want to earn would naturally rise in tandem. This would lead to a rise in the cost of doing business and a drop in productivity and hence GDP. The governments 'solution' is
to allow in foreign workers, first to do jobs that Singaporeans shun because they do not pay well enough and then to keep wage costs down so as to artificially boost productivity and GDP. Easy availability of cheaper foreign labour provides downward pressure on wage costs and serves as a natural cap on what Singaporeans can expect in terms of higher wages. Even better, the government is shielded from blame as Singaporeans will first blame employers rather than the government for this. (This is changing though.)

This trick worked so well for a while that the government started building multiple decks on our little boat to accomodate the influx of foreign workers to 'help' with bailing out the water. From the Singaporean workers' perspective, this 'help' is no help at all. Has their work-life balance improved? Are they earning more or having more time to spend with their families because the foreign workers have taken some of the workload off their hands? NO. The foreign workers as it turns out are just bailing out fast enough to carry their own weight. Worse, they are taking up space and possibly stinking up the boat :) The Singaporean worker does not see a line item in their payslip that says that that amount extra is due to some foreign workers' contribution. The government however gets exactly that from the foreign workers levy. Worse, the Singaporean worker is being threatened by their employers to work even harder just to KEEP their jobs.

There are several category 6 typhoons or hurricanes swirling around the globe at the moment. Our multi-decked little sampan is top heavy and not rated for heavy seas. It would not take much for it to capsize. Should we start lightening the load on our boat now while we still have time to pick and choose or wait until the last
possible moment when we are swamped and panicking with bedlam and chaos reigning on deck? That is when the proverbial baby gets tossed out with the bath water. The Captain of our little sampan fancies himself a Captain of a little ship. What do you think?