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Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 - 23:29 SGT
Posted By: Gilbert

Flavours Of News

Hung out at Switch by Timbre this Friday night, to commemorate colin winging it to CMU for his studies. twm seems to be going that route too, which means that engineering has lost yet another to finance. It was helpfully suggested that Mr. Robo could help out with my thesis, but that would be improper, would it not (and give new meaning to "ghostwritten")?


Striking tables


Well, an NMP finally brought up the glaring unfairness (pointed out here like five years ago, and likely long before that) of the co-savings matching grant component of the Baby Bonus scheme, the potential returns of which potentially dwarf the guaranteed incentives, and the incumbent position was... that there are social assistance programmes for the poor (State's Times April 9, B3). So, there goes the "sincere attempt" hope. Then again, I suppose why it was structured this way was more or less an open secret, but still.

Following on, Mr. Robo's midweek study on media bias could be instructive in analysing typical locally-packaged drivel. Some background: the persistence of pension plans in the upper echelons of the civil service has long been a source of grumbling among the less iron-ricebowled, particularly as such security has become almost non-existent in the private sector. Bowing to pressure, the pension scheme has been scrapped for political appointments (which are generally still paid well over market rate, but fair do's)

Continuing, it seems that pensions have been cut from the civil service too! The administration is listening! They are adjusting! But just a moment...


The bold print giveth, the fine print taketh away (as usual)
(Original source: channelnewsasia.com)


More specifically - the headline loudly proclaims "Pensions removed for administrative officers and judicial appointment holders" (wow!). Those that actually bother to read the details will however find, after many paragraphs, that "...a long-term retention package will be introduced in its place for the administrative service to retain officers for leadership and policy continuity within the public service. A gratuity plan will be introduced for judicial and statutory appointment holders."

From another source, "no further details were given of the package", other than that "...both the retention package... and the gratuity plan are essentially of the same value as the pension.", which leads one to wonder at the point of it all; wouldn't "Pensions renamed" be a far more candid headline?

I mean, if they truly think they're worth that much, and insist on it publicly (and take the backlash at the polling booth from those who don't agree), that's fine. If they don't think so, slash benefits, and proclaim the selfless act to the world, that's fine too. But teasing at a change that turns out to be practically no change at all, only to still present it as such for credit, with the contrivance of the totally fair and balanced local media?

Mr. Ham: I believe that's called 换汤不换药.

Me: Ah, so that's where you are. That's not the end of it either, with the relevant minister belatedly declaring that the HDB as chief supplier of homes shall henceforth be a price-setter instead of a price-taker, with property prices at a bubble-like level - quite an understatement, and which begs the question of why they ever saw themselves as a price-taker in the first place.

Mr. Ham: And it only took a few decades for them to realise that! Well done! I note that while the linked article lauded him for delinking the prices, there was no footnote going in depth as to what "delink" actually means, as discussed in Feburary. Hmm, seems like they are angling for solutions again.

Me: *glumly* If you read the story, his justification to peg the price to four years' salary remains that home prices cannot be low since subsidies are needed to make up the shortfall. As long as they're sticking to the line of "the HDB is in debt (because they have to pay the SLA whatever they say the land is worth)", it's hard to see how any conversation can progress.

Actually, only a few questions need be answered to spark a very fruitful and honest debate:

  1. How much does it actually cost to build a HDB flat, on average (broken down into 2/3/4/5-room categories)
  2. How much of the price of each flat goes towards land costs, and how this land cost markup is justified
  3. The level of reserves targeted, since that seems to be the main justification for high land valuations

...but I won't be holding my breath, from how the official conversation website is set up for "suggestions":


Have your say!
(please pick from the options we have prepared, which implicitly imply that current prices are fair value, so you have to give up options to get what you should have been entitled to in the first place)


Mr. Ham: Sometimes I wonder, how do they do it? I would love a job where I can take credit for immediate accomplishments, and then barefacedly ask for ready-made answers on how to fix the rather-predictable side-effects.

Come to think of it, this looks rather like Thatcherism - while both emphasized home ownership and minimal welfare, the biggest congruence might yet be in the availability of a one-off source of funding - North Sea oil for Britain, and a demographic bonanza for us - papering over the cracks. While that Lady's not for turning - not anymore, at least - I would hope the equivalents here are thinking very hard about it.

Me: Oh, by the way, the AIM report's been held up.

Mr. Ham: Yes! Yes!

Me: And what does that have to do with you?

Mr. Ham: They might be considering using my template! I'm so excited! I mean, Herr Ahm's template.

Me: That reminds me. Before I forget again, what were you doing, uninstalling the running wheels from the home of the new Mr. Ham and Mr. Fish?

Mr. Robo: *materializing* Yeah, and what about paying me my back wages?

Mr. Ham: Um, ah, ah, look at this chart now! BUY BUY BUY! NOW! *grabs Mr. Robo* BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

Mr. Robo: *taken aback* Huh, I don't know, I...

Mr. Ham: NO TIME TO EXPLAIN! JUST SIGN HERE AND HERE AND HERE AND HERE!

Mr. Robo: I, um, ok, er...

Mr. Ham: THANK YOU, SIR!

Oh, and you appear a tad overextended now. No worries, a few more months under me, and your debt will be cleared.

Me: ...can't say I approve of your hiring practices.

Mr. Ham: I like to think of myself as having an eye for talent. Right, Mr. Robo? No reducing employees into binary digits for me!

Mr. Robo: What just happened?

Me: Too late for that. I would like your opinion on why Microsoft bothers with pinning any hopes on any release immediately following a successful version, with Windows 8 predictably tanking.

Mr. Robo: Beats me, but at least it has done its part for world peace.

Me: Ouch. *to Mr. Ham* And what have you got the newer generation up to? They've been bustling about for the past few days.

Mr. Ham: Oh, I got them running around to get some marketing experience, after I heard that your linkage managed to drive some sales. Didn't charge them too much for the internship, either. It mostly consists of knocking on doors and asking:

"Excuse me, have you heard the No News?"




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