Singapore Maid Levy

Here is a letter to the Straits Times online forum that describes my true opinion o on the Singapore's maid levy system. In short, I feel its unfair that 100% of the cost of the maid to me is not fully passed through to them maid. About S$265 or 40% is given to the governmen


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The rationale behind the maid levy needs to be re-examined. If the original objective was to control the number of domestic workers in Singapore, it ignores the fact that domestic workers are a structural part of Singapore's economy, allowing mothers to continue to work, aged parents to be taken care of, and undecided couples to take the plunge of having children in the knowledge that they can have help.

I also feel there is something amiss about the situation where a significant amount of the cost of the domestic help to me does not go to the domestic help herself, but instead contributes towards an already healthy budget surplus.

Here's a suggestion. Why not divert the maid levy to their own individual CPF-like fund, to be redeemed upon them completing completing their contract, and them leaving Singapore. This "forced saving" also performs a social role in that it prevents their savings from being diverted or otherwise spent whilst working here (in my experienece, there are many requests from home to wire funds for apparent emergencies). They can also look forward to a tidy sum of $7,000 or so (after a 2 year contract) to set them up when they return home. Yes, it's a little complicated, but we would perform a great service to the domestic helpers who indirectly contribute to the success of our economy.

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Malaysia General Elections 2008

I got the election results belatedly whilst I was in Perth with the family.

For the first time in a very long time, I felt like a Malaysian again. Ironically, the last time I felt this way was when Mahathir (and Musa - the 2M administration) came into power.

Singapore Budget 2007 - Off the mark by a factor of 10!

, I wrote a letter to the Straits Times forum on the (embarassing) budget surplus that the Singapore government garnered for financial year 2007. They would serve their citizens well by reversing their decision to increast GST to 7%.

A shorter, less caustic, version of the letter, was published in The Straits Times Forum the following week:

Dear sir,

Our Finance Ministry's estimate of a S$0.7 billion deficit for 2007 was off the mark by a factor of 10 (actuals were $6.4 billion surplus). Question is, why were we so off the mark with this estimate? A lot of political goodwill was exhausted persuading citizens to accept a 2% increase in GST. The $1.4 billion that this generated could have been covered by the surplus if we had done a more realistic budget last year. Even if you factor in an unprecedented year for stamp duty (caused by a sizzling property market), which yielded $2.3 billion more than anticipated (and this does not include proceeds from government land sales which are off-budget revenue for the government), from a planning perspective, we would still have a $2.7 billion surplus if we did not increase GST and if we assumed our stamp duty numbers were as projected.

Singapore is a world model for planning in general. Lets see if we can apply the same rigour to our fiscal planning. This is especially so since this impacts citizens directly, such as an increase in GST that have exacerbated current inflationary pressures.
Dear sir,

Our Finance Minsitry's estimate of a S$0.7 billion deficit for 2007 was off the mark by a factor of 10 (actuals were $6.4 billion surplus). Question is, why were we so off the mark with this estimate? A lot of political goodwill was exhausted persuading citizens to accept a 2% increase in GST. The $1.4 billion that this generated could have been covered by the surplus if we had done a more realistic budget last year. Even if you factor in an unprecedented year for stamp duty (caused by a sizzling property market), which yielded $2.3 billion more than anticipated (and this does not include proceeds from government land sales which are off-budget revenue for the government), from a planning perspective, we would still have a $2.7 billion surplus if we did not increase GST and if we assumed our stamp duty numbers were as projected.

Singapore is a world model for planning in general. Lets see if we can apply the same rigour to our fiscal planning. This is especially so since this impacts citizens directly, such as an increase in GST that have exacerbated current inflationary pressures.

Yours sincerely,
Malek Ali

State of race relations in Singapore - Not Good Judging by Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice experience

It was a Saturday night and the outdoor tables at Wee Nam Kee chicken rice at Thomson Road were almost full. There were only 2 spaces with elbow room, first, to share with a Chinese couple, the second, to share with a neat young Indian man. I chose the latter.

Before taking my order, the middle-aged waitress (a weathered Chinese lady) beckoned to me. She pointed to the table with the Chinese couple, and threw me a knowing side glance to the Indian man opposite me.

Gee auntie, I'm just sharing a table with an Indian man!

She look quite miffed when I waved away her concern.

Expect Some Brickbats - LKY interview with Tom Plate

Tom Plate recently interviewed Lee Kuan Yew on a wide range of topics (see transcript of full interview). One excerpt, the one on Malaysia Singapore relations, made me think "Here we go again!". So expect some brickbats from my erstwhile countrymen on this comment:

"Q: Who will come after you? Who would come after you?

Lee: There are assets here to be captured, right?

Q: Some unnamed bad regime?

Lee: When [Malaysia] kicked us out [in 1965], the expectation was that we would fail and we will go back on their terms, not on the terms we agreed with them under the British. Our problems are not just between states, this is a problem between races and religions and civilizations. We are a standing indictment of all the things that they can be doing differently. They have got all the resources. If they would just educate the Chinese and Indians, use them and treat them as their citizens, they can equal us and even do better than us and we would be happy to rejoin them."

The second part that caught my attention were the words he used to characterise the military junta in Burma. No mincing words here!

Q: (blah blah) With regard to Myanmar -- and I realize anyone's guess is as good as anyone else's -- but did you see that it's plausible to ask China, as it did at the Six-Party Talks, in some way to work skillfully and work behind the scenes to assume a role in moving Myanmar forward out of the Middle Ages and maybe into the real world?

Lee: I'm not sure the Chinese have got that power. And in Myanmar, these are rather dumb generals when it comes to the economy.

Q: They are!

Lee: How they can so mismanage the economy and reach this stage when the country has so many natural resources?

Q: It's a gift!

Lee: It's stupid. So I'm not sure. The Chinese, they've tried, and, in fact, we have tried to talk them out of isolation. I tried through a general called Khin Nyunt. He's the most intelligent of the lot. I sold him the idea, or at least he bought the idea, that the way for them to go forward was to get out of uniform and do it like Suharto, form a party -- Golkar -- and then take over as a civilian party. But halfway through, Suharto fell. So, it ended up as the wrong advice, they back-tracked. Then they chucked Kyin Nyunt out.

Q: Timing is everything!

Lee: Meanwhile, I had advised several of our hoteliers to set up hotels there. They have sunk in millions of dollars there and now, their hotels are empty. But, you know, you've got really economically dumb people in charge. Why they believe they can keep their country cut off from the world like this indefinitely, I cannot understand. And you know, you need medicines -- they smuggle in from Thailand. It doesn't make sense.

We will see how it is, but whatever it is, I do not believe that they can survive indefinitely. Look, the day they decided to close down the government in Yangon and go into this Pyinmana, or whatever the place is called where there's nothing and they are putting up expensive buildings for themselves and a golf course -- and the top general had a lavish wedding for his daughter which was then out on YouTube -- the daughter was like a Christmas tree! Flaunting these excesses must push a hungry and impoverished people to revolt. But what will happen, I don't know because the army has got to be part of the solution. If the army is dissolved, the country has got nothing to govern itself because they have dismantled all administrative instruments.

Economiust article on eve of Malaysia's 50th birthday

The Economist wrote a damning article on Malaysia's politics and governance on the eve of our 50th Independence day entitled "Tall Buildings, Narrow Minds".

Ouch. Truth hurts.

Singapore - Widening inequality between Malays and other races (2)

This is my response to an Insight article in Singapore's Straits Times article entitled "Malays' Progress: Why is Good Not Good Enough?"

It's a big problem with no easy, short term solutions. But I feel strongly that education is at the core of all solutions:

Education suggestion 1:
Allow Malays to choose Mandarin as a second language at primary and secondary schools instead or in addition to Malay. Education Ministry should not force Malays to choose Malay as a second language at school.

Rationale: The nexus of global economic growth is likely to remain oriented towards North Asia. Do not handicap Malays by disallowing them to pick up a language best positions them for professional advancement.

From a personal point of view, I remember Malay parents being envious at those Malay parents who managed to beat the system and get their children to learn Mandarin at primary school - it's sad that one has to "beat the system" to do this.

2. Education suggestion 2
Sex education for Malays. Throw out our religion's bias in this area. I like the way one how one Straits TImes forum contributor puts it - say no to pre-marital sex, but if you must, please use a condom. Make condoms easily accessible in toilets of popular malls.

Unfortunately, the moment religion gets put into the educational mix, there's no discussion about contraceptives, with attendant consequences for teenage pregnancy, young marriages etc. and 2 generations of social and economic problems.

Anecdotally, teenage Malays are more sexually mature and aware than their Chinese counterparts. Let's be pragmatic and deal with the issue.

3. Education suggestion 3
Whilst we can and should encourage more participation in the secondary and tertiary sectors, I think there's scope for natural competence for Malays in certain sectors, e.g. hospitality, military, sports, music and media. Encourage further skills advancement in all these areas.

IRs are coming up and higher skill sets in the hospitality will be demanded (with higher remuneration prospects). Again, do not let religion get in the way (I can just hear parents saying "haram, tak boleh"). Working in the gaming industry does not make you a bad person, just a pragmatic one. What's wrong with putting food on the table and earning extra to educate our children as far as we can?

4. Don't leave Malays to figure out all the solutions by ourselves.

We need the contribution of the best Singapore brains and pragmatists to help reduce the widening inequality (imagine Philip Yeo on the job) . Comments on policies should not just come from representatives of Mendaki or Association of Muslim Professionals, we also need external feedback. And for our part, do not be sensitive if comments are not sugar-coated. We are now at the stage when Malays can look back on good progress, and be self-confident that all comments are for purposes of improvement and advancement, and not snide criticism v

Singapore - Widening inequality between Malays and other races (1)

Here's an article in the Singapore's Straits Times on Tuesday on the progress of Malay community in Singapore. The full report can be found at :

http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/pdf/20070903/Progress%20of%20Malay%20Community.pdf

My personal take? I think Malays in Singapore have set themselves a reasonably good foundation for future economic advancement. But unfortunately it's not enough. Other Singaporeans have progressed much quicker through Singapore's meritocratic (but rather unforgiving) system.

I believe the way forward is a continued and relentless focus on education of Malays. And some bold strokes at the root causes of the community's current areas of dysfunctionality - teenage pregnancy, consequently early (forced) marriages, consequent high divorce rates, consequent single parent families, consequent child discipline problems, consequent truancy, consequent teenage pregnancy - the cycle continues...



Report card on Malay community out
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (above) gave an update on the Malay community's progress at the Mendaki 25th anniversary dinner and awards presentation ceremony on Sunday. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM
THE Government has released a report showing the progress of the Malay community since 1980.
More Malays are in school and getting better educated. They are also holding higher-skilled, better-paying jobs.
In 2005, 70 per cent of working Malays had secondary or higher qualifications, compared to just 19 per cent in 1980.
But at the same time, social problems remain, noted the report released at Malay-Muslim self-help group Mendaki's 25th anniversary celebrations on Sunday.
Divorce rates have risen, and the number of early marriages and births to teenage mums remains high.
In 2005, 16 Malay women out of every 1,000 married resident women divorced, whereas in 1980, only seven Malay women out of every 1,000 married women did.