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http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/05/14/is-it-the-govts-fault-or-plain-old-singaporean-greed/ Is it the Govt’s fault or plain old Singaporean greed? May 14th, 2014 | Author: Contributions Blame our own True Blue Singaporeans, not others Recent discontent with influx of foreign workers has always placed blame on the Government. There is always another story to other side of the coin. I did a renovation project for a wealthy Singaporean family years back, I spent quite a long time in their bungalow for almost a month. Somehow, I followed their life a little bit and heard many of their conversations. When it comes to spending on themselves, name it Prada bags, cars, overpriced restaurants, renovation, they NEVER complain. They can spend $2k for a feast at a restaurant to please their friends or relatives (to show off), or $35k for a watch, or half a million for a car, but when it comes to increasing their maid’s salary by just $100, they can argue for an hour with the agency. YES, that’s our True Blue Singaporean. Their $1 is very big when it comes to your salary. But a $5,000 Prada bag is cheap. In fact, those foreign workers are VICTIMS. They are being used as cheap labour for years without any prospect of getting better, because the bosses in the first place never had intention to spend more on them. Do you know that those foreign workers have to work for FREE for months to pay the employment agency fees? Nobody forced them to come here, it’s your own TRUE BLUE SINGAPOREAN BOSS that asked them to come here!!!! And the Government is a VICTIM too. We have nothing in this small island, therefore, Gov has no choice but to be PRO BUSINESS for our country to survive. Gov tries their best to keep as many businesses alive as possible, but it’s been taken advantage of by those greedy Singaporean bosses. They will do anything they can to get a cheap source of workers. They will declare their uncle, mother, sister, auntie as working at the company, just to get a bigger quota of foreign workers. One of my True Blue Singaporean friends who runs a very profitable business, gets so angry that his application for foreign workers is rejected by MOM. He went to MOM, bangs at the door of the officers, and scolds them for not being pro-business. Then he goes to the Business Association and laments his woes and asking for help. The Association then helps him to talk with MOM. He also goes to speak to his MP, complaining how tough the business environment is, but in fact he is doing very well. So he goes through all the hassle just to avoid hiring locals. Somehow, our own Singaporeans never trusts our own Singaporeans. Because of these greedy people, the Government gets the blame for bringing the foreign workers. But in fact, it’s our own True Blue Singaporeans that die die must get foreign workers. They will do whatever they can to get the cheapest manpower they can. Somehow, Singaporeans are always not in their choice. They will share experiences among bosses on how to get around Gov rules and regulations to get as many foreign workers as much as possible. I lost count on how many of my own Singaporean boss friends always complaining about Singaporean workers, and always find ways to get cheap foreign workers, even though they drive BMWs and have a couple of properties. The only Singaporeans they hire are their own family members. And how about Singaporean doctors? You blame Government for importing foreign doctors? Not because we are short of good doctors, but because True Blue Singaporean Doctors prefer to be RICH then serving the society. Irony isn’t it, our own Singaporean serving rich overseas patients, and we import foreign doctors to serve Singaporeans. Is it Government fault? Can Government stop them? NOP….simply human GREED. I can guarantee you, even one day when Singaporean is ruled by another party, this problem will NEVER go away. This is the MENTALITY of our Singaporeans, plain and simply GREEDY. If GREED is at the first place, they will close the option FOREVER, no matter what rules and laws you implement. In America, where law is super tough, there are still companies hiring illegal Mexican workers, although the companies are generating billions in revenue. They can actually hire many homeless Americans, but they just don’t bother. For shareholders, PROFIT is above everything, including humanity and country. We all talk so much about nationalism, but when it comes to money matters, the color is only green. Yeah, this is capitalism. Have you heard recently that many rich China’s businessmen want to switch nationality? Do they care about their own country that gave them wealth in the first place? And do you think our own Singaporeans will not do that? SAME, LAH !!! There are netizens saying that if war happens, foreign workers will flee first. Let me tell you, it’s our own True Blue Rich Singaporean that will run first. They already own properties in other countries. Recently, you heard many FAMOUS eateries closing shop, complaining that cost is too high. Netizens quickly blame the Government for their problems, without realizing the other side of the story. Those famous eateries have basically been operating for decades, and reaping HUGE profits, some eateries’ profit will make your jaw drop, really. They close down NOT because of the cost, but because they had ENOUGH and are not willing to share with others. They simply do not want to spend more on manpower. If they can’t get cheap foreign workers from China/India, they threaten to close down, and tell the media that the cost is too high. But have you checked their bank accounts and previous sales figures? These are our own True Blue Singaporean BOSSES. They just can’t share their profits with their workers. For them, to get cheap workers is their right. And how much they want to pay, is their choice… without realizing that the workers are humans too, and have families to support. So, before you put the blame on Government, you should see the real culprit in your office… your own BOSS. Your boss wants to buy a new BMW series, therefore, he needs to hire another Pinoy… greed knows NO limits. This is my proposal. I find it’s ok for small companies, or newly started companies to hire foreign workers. This is not only to lighten their cost, but they also can’t find Singaporeans to fill the positions because most of us are not interested in small or startup companies. BUT, for those companies that have been running for a while, or at least where sales exceed $1M (meaning those who pay GST), they should no longer be allowed to hire as many foreign workers anymore; die die must hire locals. Cut their quota. They should be able to afford hiring locals and give proper salaries already in their financial situation. NO EXCUSES. If those bosses threaten to move out, let it be… there is ALWAYS another company to take over their market. Once again, our problem is not the Government or the foreign workers. There is NO SUPPLY if there is NO DEMAND. You can’t blame those sex workers in Geylang for coming here if not for our local uncles’ needs. They are simply working like you and me. But it’s our own Singaporean who gets them here, sells them, profits from them, and abuses them. It’s our own True Blue Singaporean after all… SUSU BESAR * Submitted by TRE reader. http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/05/14/is-it-the-govts-fault-or-plain-old-singaporean-greed/

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malaysian-states-face/1011176.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16552623 It has started. Run for cover!