Tharman: no point restricting loans for COE

[Speedsun]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1177383/1/.html

 

SINGAPORE : Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has said that not allowing banks to finance Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices will not be effective in moderating the rise in premiums.

 

Why he did not provide any statistics which is their strength to convince people? How can he be so lazy???

[Speedsun]

OK, brother. If it's an honest mistake, no worries.

 

You know why I believe you when you say "honest mistake"? Because you don't wear white, like me.

 

Bro, I don't even know the use of "kek leng" is racist. Since young, I always heard people mentioned it, thought it was just another term referring to Indian. So What is the meaning of "kek leng"?

[1fast1]

It is still not racist. It is at most a stereotype, because people in the old days do not get to travel or read about the outside world. So when an old ah ma say she's "teng lang", she's really from Tang Dynasty is it ? Then is Chinese a degrading name ? Just because Tiong Kok exports a lot of china, does it make everyone a Chinese ?

 

I'm not promoting these old words, but there's no deliberate need to "ban" them unless they are vulgar or degrading in nature. There is often a historical heritage in these old names, which is now lost.

 

Hope we don't go the nationalist path, like renaming Hanseong to Seoul just to erase the historical links with China.

 

Whether there's a racist intent or not is really beside the point. The word has been used, and continues to be used as a racist slur by many jokers. And, no offence, but it's really not up to you to decide if we (Indians) should be offended by the word or not. You can't dictate our feelings. If I say to you that many Indians do consider the word offensive, then would you still be happy to use it, guided by your own certainty that it's "not racist"?

 

Why not just use the absolutely neutral "Indian"? Even the Chinese newscasters use the variant "Indu-che" (I think) which even a non-Chinese knows is absolutely non-offensive because it's just a phonetic transliteration of "Indian". If "keling" or "kekling", etc. are completely inoffensive and OK to use, why doesn't the Chinese news adapt this instead?

 

I also know there are certain Chinese (Hokkien) words for Malays that many people claim are neutral but the literal translation is quite rude. I don't want to mention these because my wish is not to offend, but hopefully you know which ones I'm referring to.

 

Just because something has been "traditionally" used does not mean it's OK to continue using it in a modern, more sensitive age. In the past, in the US, Blacks used to be called "Negro" and even "N*gger" without any offensive intent (unless you consider the then-contemporaneous ethos that they were subhuman slaves to be offensive). Try doing that now to their faces and see what happens.

 

Things change. You have to be more sensitive to the feelings of others who share your space. I've seen this sort of racist taunts being used against FTs, and while I don't condone the racist nature of the insults, I close an eye because it's not Singaporeans being insulted. But Tharman is a Singaporean born-and-bred. Even if he "wears white" politically, if anyone starts using racist slurs against him, I'll have something to say about it because that's a line you *just don't cross*.

Edited January 19, 2012 by Turboflat4

[Des_k]

After reading today ERP profit new, I started to think of other SG gahment income.... scary... So hugh amount....

 

Imagining every 2 weeks bidding, example : Cat A 650 pcs X $48,000 / pc = $31.2mil .... That is crazy... every month take in $60mil just on Cat A...

 

How abt other Cat ??

 

ERP alone is taking around $150mil per year... Wow... crazy crazy crazy....

 

There are more than 600,000 cars in SG... each average road tax around $700.... 600,000 x $700 =$420mil....

 

Definately there are more cars than 600,000 and alot road tax are higher than $700 per year....

 

SG are making tonnes and tonnes of $$ by collecting from SG ppl... my calculation also gone crazy... too many digit...

 

 

[1fast1]

Bro, I don't even know the use of "kek leng" is racist. Since young, I always heard people mentioned it, thought it was just another term referring to Indian. So What is the meaning of "kek leng"?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keling

 

Wiki is having a blackout today (in protest of the SOPA/PIPA bill in the US), but you can still read the page if you press "Esc" just after it loads.

 

This is the most relevant part, and it should end the discussion of whether anyone should use it freely in conversation:

Keling (pronounced /kling/) is a word used to describe people originating from the Indian subcontinent by native Malaysians and Indonesians. It is now generally considered offensive by majority of Indians.

[Tigerwoods]

OK, brother. If it's an honest mistake, no worries.

 

You know why I believe you when you say "honest mistake"? Because you don't wear white, like me.

You Icing on Chocolate cake izzit ?

I Choco coated Banana cake...

[Rayleigh]

I agree on this solution

 

dealers want to close deal, so madly outbid each other.

 

While this is a good suggestion, it can be circumvented easily. The dealer can easily factor in the potential COE bidding cost into the selling price and buyer will be able to secure a higher loan. In so doing, the buyer did not use his own money to secure money. Instead he is using his to be loan-money to finance his COE purchase. Hence it goes back to square one.

 

[Rayleigh]

Why he did not provide any statistics which is their strength to convince people? How can he be so lazy???

 

 

There is either NIL or little data to support a statistical analysis. Cos this practice in not the norm. You can only make assumption with imaginary boundary. Hence, will one accept such result? Somehow I still feel that the root cause of the problems are 100% financing option and taxi operators competitive bidding.

[1fast1]

You Icing on Chocolate cake izzit ?

I Choco coated Banana cake...

 

That sounds very....gay. Wait Porker come and listurb us.

[Blueblack]

The Govt just has to say loans on COE is not recognised & will not be enforced by the Courts. They also wont help the common folk. Well maybe their job is to squeeze the people mah [laugh]

 

Yeah... the point is which dept control car population than which that dept should act, if not hire so many scholars for f

And not let MOF step in. MOF should just step aside on this matter.

Their objective is make more money :angry:

[Falcon1668]

After reading today ERP profit new, I started to think of other SG gahment income.... scary... So hugh amount....

 

Imagining every 2 weeks bidding, example : Cat A 650 pcs X $48,000 / pc = $31.2mil .... That is crazy... every month take in $60mil just on Cat A...

 

How abt other Cat ??

 

ERP alone is taking around $150mil per year... Wow... crazy crazy crazy....

 

There are more than 600,000 cars in SG... each average road tax around $700.... 600,000 x $700 =$420mil....

 

Definately there are more cars than 600,000 and alot road tax are higher than $700 per year....

 

SG are making tonnes and tonnes of $$ by collecting from SG ppl... my calculation also gone crazy... too many digit...

if not how to meet their annual budget and multi-months bonus?

[Porker]

That sounds very....gay. Wait Porker come and listurb us.

 

I know you miss me deh but just call me out lah. No need to be shy

[Tigerwoods]

That sounds very....gay. Wait Porker come and listurb us.

He jio u oredi...

Just don't bend down to cut your cake, you will be safe...

[1fast1]

Bro, "keling" is not even a Chinese word to begin with. Chill lah. The meaning has been mutated over the years as the young Singaporeans hardly even know their dialects and native language.

 

All the more reason that it's *really weird* they use a word they don't know the origin or true meaning of to refer to another racial group.

 

Why don't they just stop? Especially after being told that many Indians find it offensive? I certainly hope you will stop.

[1fast1]

He jio u oredi...

Just don't bend down to cut your cake, you will be safe...

 

I think he wants to blow out my candle before injecting his icing on my wedge (of cake, of course!).

[1fast1]

I know you miss me deh but just call me out lah. No need to be shy

 

[yoda]Knew you would come, I did. The gay is strong with this one.[/yoda]

[1fast1]

What is the offensive meaning in the word that you are so against ?

 

Already given references, look them up. No point wasting any more of my time. It's already clearly been stated that the people you are referring to find the term offensive, so if you keep using the term, you cannot act innocent anymore.

[Ngck]

While this is a good suggestion, it can be circumvented easily. The dealer can easily factor in the potential COE bidding cost into the selling price and buyer will be able to secure a higher loan. In so doing, the buyer did not use his own money to secure money. Instead he is using his to be loan-money to finance his COE purchase. Hence it goes back to square one.

 

if i am the buyer today, even if i have unlimited credit, i will not bid more than 30k for a COE.