All Aboard!

This video has gone viral - the Singlish Minister addressing China Bus Drivers' Strike in Singapore.  The 'lead man' a great little actor.


 The thought of striking bus workers is enough to send shivers down the spines of older Singaporeans, many of whom have memories of the Hock Lee bus riots of May 12, 1955.
The Communists had organised a series of regular strikes and disputes and on that occasion four people were killed and 31 injured in a bloody riot.

Little wonder then that the government has come down hard on Chinese bus workers who have recently staged an illegal strike. They have just announced that they will deport 29 of the mainland Chinese bus drivers and prosecute five who were apparently the instigators.

Chinese bus drivers get their one-way ticket back to China

Singapore's last strike occurred in a shipyard in 1986 and the powers that be have no desire to see it repeated, even though there is some popular sympathy for the conditions in which the Chinese drivers lived and worked. But the country did not appreciate the way they went about sharing their grievances. Nor will they  tolerate any further disruptions to public transport on which so many of them rely.

44% of bus drivers in Singapore are from either Malaysia or China; about 22% from each country. So 275 of mainland Chinese drivers did not strike while 175 chose to.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued this statement and concluded:
"The actions of these SMRT bus drivers disrupted an essential service and Singapore's industrial harmony. While the SMRT bus drivers may have had grievances, these should have been raised through the legal and proper means available. 5 persons will face charges in court for the offences committed, and will be dealt with in accordance with the law. 29 persons who were blatant and persistent in their unlawful acts have had their Work Permits revoked and will be repatriated. Those who returned to work upon realising that this action was illegal will be issued warnings by the Police."
So the industrial harmony on which so much of Singapore's prosperity depends has been restored and the economic bus can resume its forward momentum.

In the words of the immortal duo Flanders and Swan in their Transport of Delight song "Hold very tight please, ting ting".

Sure To Rise

"Sure To Rise" is the slogan of a popular brand of New Zealand baking powder.

The same term could very well apply the era of  ever increasing food prices which have become a grudgingly accepted fact of life.

The first three months of this year will see a soaring cost of living in Singapore thanks largely to food price rises.

This, in combination with a 3.8% inflation rate, is impacting strongly on the lives of Singaporeans but they are not alone in facing such challenges.

In New Zealand though the figures are as bad and we have been bemused by the increases in basic food stuffs from 2006, when we left for Singapore, until this year when we returned.

There has been an 11.3% decrease in purchasing power over this period which means that a shopping basket of items and services costing $NZ200 in 2006 by the third quarter of last year would have cost an extra $25.58.

In the last quarter of 2010 New Zealand food prices alone rose 2.4% and as the graph shows almost every quarter since 2007 has shown an increase, with only two exceptions.

The recent spate of natural and economic disasters aren't helping matters and the figures reflect a classic case of over demand (largely from emerging economies) and under supply.

The other challenge the Singapore government has is to dampen down the rampant speculation in property which continues to drive up prices - prices rises are great if you own a property but not so great if you are trying to buy into one.

A sharp hike in sellers' stamp duty for any resale within four years of purchase has been legislated which will significantly increase transaction costs and lower the profits of Singaporean investors.

Related articles

• Singapore Budget Surplus of S$6 Billion (socyberty.com)
• Singapore Pledges Property-Bubble Prevention (online.wsj.com)
• Singapore Consumer prices rise at a fast pace (risingsunofnihon.com)

Of Mice and Council Men

I cannot imagine for a moment that the government of Singapore would spend thousands of dollars constructing a bridge for mice.

MICE maybe, but certainly not the rodent variety. However other authorities are not so reticent and news today that a British Council have spent £190,000 for a dormouse bridge over a road.

The Council (which is reportedly cash strapped) constructed the three high-wire walkways to keep the tiny rodents safe as they cross a new bypass.  Not surprsisingly the local residents think the money could have been better spent of fixing potholes and street lighting.

Any passing falcon will view the procession of high wire mice much as we would view a sushi conveyor belt in one of Singapore's Japanese style restaurants.

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• Council's £190k on mice bridges (thesun.co.uk)

Everyone Wants The Kiwi Dream?

The is a report on the New Zealand Herald Online this morning entitled "Everyone wants the Kiwi dream".

Apparently New Zealand is rated as the second most desired countries for potential migrants. Who I wondered was number one?

It came as no surprise to discover that first place, based on the Gallup Potential Net Migration Index, was occupied by Singapore.  This no doubt will delight the Singapore government but be of concern to its citizenry who are very sensitive about a further mass migration of new arrivals.

In New Zealand a researcher, Dr Elsie Ho, has diplomatically stated "New Zealanders may be more accepting of immigrants who come from similar backgrounds, such as Britain and America, but not so with migrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East for example"

With this she has touched upon the insular underbelly of racism in New Zealand.  Those Asian migrants bewitched by the clean green image of the country often become quickly disillusioned by the insidious undercurrent of racism they discover here.

They suffer worse than other migrant groups and this is born our by a second study on the barriers Asians face to equality in New Zealand.

The Herald also reports a study being resented to he Human Rights Commission today in which one of  its authors reports " Asians were the most discriminated against and earned the least income, despite barely featuring in social welfare statistics. Migrants felt most discriminated against in public places, employment and while shopping, according to a Department of Labour immigration survey".

I have met Asian migrants driven to the verge of suicide by their inability to find employment or set up a business in this country.

As a PR in Singapore I experienced no such feelings.  In the main this Ang Mo felt very welcome at all times and as a result made close friendships with a number of Singaporeans of all races that will always be treasured.

Singapore is a cosmopolitan republic and the government goes to great pains top promote racial and social harmony, even dictating the racial ratios within housing estates to promote integration.

In New Zealand our approach to immigration is piecemeal at best and it is the non European migrants who suffer most from this apathy and antagonism.

The Kiwi abroad is often regard as a warm and friendly bird.  In their home roost however things are markedly different and it shames me to have to say so.

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• In a borderless world, everyone would move to Singapore [Phantom Geography] (io9.com)

Car Pumping Power

New Zealand technology is about to be deployed in Singapore and by all accounts it is a nifty device they are testing.

The university I worked for, before heading to Singapore, (AUT University) has developed a PowerTread system, in which "tubes that are compressed by vehicles and pump hydraulic fluid to turn a turbine and generate electricity".

Powertread has already been successfully trialled on the Causeway providing lighting for one of the border booths for a couple of days.

The Singapore government is getting behind the product's further development and commercialization and one of the country's malls is going to be the next test bed..

They might have been best to put a unit on the road leading to the Integrated Resorts as the volume of gamblers making their way to Marina Bay Sands and Sentosa would give Powertread a real work out.

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• Powertread turns gridlock into electricity with a series of tubes (engadget.com)