否极泰来 Piji Tailai

  From Fixing the Opposition to Limited Political Space, the unchanged mentality and belief of the PAP or Lee Hsien Loong? Is Lee Hsien Loong talking about the same thing?  Perhaps, it is the same mentality, the same belief in a soft landing…However, like the fall of flowers, it is nature and there is nowhere to prevent it. 无可奈何花落去，似曾相似燕归来。 Lee was the PM when he expressed his belief in 2006.  Now, Lawrence Wong is the new PM.  Will he follow the same mentality like Lee?  Wong uses a soft approach and acknowledges there is no guarantee the PAP will return to power. Wong wants to make a difference.  He wants to redefine success, beyond academic results and money.  Is limited political space a soft approach that the PAP wants to prevent the nature and the trend?  Voters need to reset their mentality and belief too.       

  越夸耀建国先贤，越显得现任领袖无能。 新加坡如何在先贤和非先贤的肩膀上再超越自己。 纪念先贤有个度，过了度，就变成相形见拙。 李光耀生前已经意识到，人民行动党的接班人，很可能不如建国先贤，因此，不建议大事纪念先贤，而他本身，甚至，不同意保留故居，建议把故居拆除。这是不是李光耀的先见之明？ 新加坡目前取得的成就，根据教皇的访后感言，认为是亚洲的纽约。这个比喻不知道适当吗？新加坡在很多方面，治安、基础设施、公共卫生、穷人和移民管理，应该都在纽约之上。 纽约的先贤们和一大批劳工，经过两百多年的努力，才取得今天的地位。新加坡的先贤们和一大批劳苦大众，以几十年的辛勤努力，也取得世界高收入国家的前位。以新加坡和纽约相比，似乎警告我们要注意治安，基本服务、基础设施、卫生、公共服务等方面，不可松懈。

  First to worry, last to enjoy. The Pope sees the weakness of our richness: Inequality. The Pope calls for more care and concern for poor, elderly, vulnerable, and foreign workers in Singapore despite our merit-based success.  Whether it is welfare or fair wage, the Singapore story seems to treat them differently over the years. Consistently, the haves and haven’ts in Singapore face two different lives. Up or Down. Up is increasing at an increasing rate and Down is increasing at a reducing rate.  So, the rich and poor gap becomes bigger and bigger.  Not fair to say the government does nothing to improve the haven’ts. But it is certainly not enough.  The Pope, as spiritual leader, is just expressing His kindness and concern and hopes the distribution of wealth can be improved.   La lingua italiana è bella ma non basta.

  祭之丰，不如养之薄也。 失去了，才来喊爹喊娘。 原来我们的远见，是建立在短视的利益上。当然，也不排除，嫁祸他人，借口文化沙文，来一举的把对手消灭。现在，转过头高谈华文、中文、方言，让人浑身不自在。 母语无用，英文万能。从建国开始，一路走来的新加坡金科玉律，似乎走到了尽头。因为，英文独大的时代，已经结束。世界走向亚洲，多元多极的地缘关系，不得不让小红点寻回初心。但是，真的这么容易吗？香蕉人寻根，根在哪里？ 新加坡一直高喊，团结! 团结！团结的根，在哪里？信约里的 ‘誓愿不分种族、语言、宗教，团结一致’ 的精神何在？当初的不同背景优势被淡化，发展到今天的单语单文化，是喜是悲？

  Lessons from the UK, what does a bankrupt country look like?  It is the long-term failure of the political elite. Look at the UK, we now have a real life example of a long-term failed government from both the Conservative and Labour parties.  Singapore is much better in many areas than the UK. But sustainability is always a challenge in Singapore, whether it is ‘fiscal fantasies” or “growth over development”.   The PAP government always warns Singaporeans not to use reserves unnecessarily, otherwise, we will be a bankrupt country.  You hear this every time you ask for transparency, check and balance in and outside parliament. So, what does a bankrupt country look like? The new labour government in the UK declared their country is “broke and broken”.  It is a failed state with many problems. The new government can easily blame the previous Conservative government. Is this true and fair?   The political elite from Cambridge or Oxford have been running the government for so many years.

  从居者有其屋到可负担组屋，几家欢乐几家愁？几家有本难念的经？ 以前，拿到新组屋钥匙，心安了。心存感激，居者真的有其屋，虽然，设备设施不如现在，愉悦之情还是表露出来。市场机制后，组屋变成可负担组屋。既然变成可负担，就很可能有人负担不起，政府就通过津贴、援助把它变成可负担。 几家欢乐几家愁，以前是欢乐的多，还是发愁的多。现在呢？欢乐多还是发愁多？以前，组屋被认为是廉价屋，尽量做到人人负担得起。现在的市场定价，考虑负担性，已经不是廉价组屋。老一辈获得组屋的人，似乎居者有“小金库”，套现就能赚一笔；不然抵押给政府，缩短组屋年限，也可以得到一笔养老金。 以前，不叫可负担组屋，新加坡人却觉得负担得起。现在，名为可负担组屋，国人反而觉得压力重重。市场竞争，讲究成长，推高房价，也推动GDP。因此，人均年年增加，房价也步步高升。这叫成长，还是发展？ 报道说，70%转售组屋是可负担，那么，就有30%变成不可负担的组屋。以前，转售组屋，红利不多，尽量做到可负担范围，因为，当时人均还没有达到世界级。现在，人均比发达国家还高，百万组屋已经常态化。但是，贫富悬殊无法解决，当然出现，中下层人们焦虑的负担问题。 报道也说，百分四十的国人，永远无法取得财务自由。这当然和贫富悬殊有关。政府如何津贴、援助，让更加多国人获得财务自由？如果经济上不可能取得自由，在政治上，在选举投票时，有可能取得自由吗？ 组屋转售价高，政府认为是心理因素。国人认为组屋价格还会一路上涨，因此，房价居高不下。事实上，政府也警告国人，99年后，组屋房价归零。一个未来价格是零的组屋，为何还压不下房价？我们如何衡量新加坡人的心理因素？为什么买家不相信，不信任组屋归零的警告？