This post was inspired by this picture.
I think it's simpler to list down our current problems and see if we can draw any possible links. Also, it happens to be my first train of thought seeing as I am the cynic that I am.
Good education, over-taxed teachers. No "soft skills" taught. Little creativity encouraged.
Good roads, high COE, too many cars on the road. Public transport failing these past 2 years. Esp MRT, bus and even taxis.
This past year, I have been deeply disappointed by our transport system. It's the first time where it has failed and to such an extent. Firstly, MRTs break down and passengers were not given any real sense that things have changed. It genuinely feels like we are doing the same things hoping that they won't go wrong again. Now I get that it could be a case of old machinery breaking down. But the least the public can expect is an improvement. I tried to come up with an apt analogy but I couldn't, because of the crucial importance of the transport infrastructure and the role it plays.
The bus system also messed up spectacularly recently. With the recent bus "strikes", 2 things can be seen. Firstly, that the past fare hikes apparently have not made a significant dent in the high operating costs of SBS and SMRT that they actually need to raise fares again just to compensate the bus drivers properly. I was led to believe that the past hikes were SPECIFICALLY meant to reduce such issues. Secondly, our system of handling strikes is retarded. No self-respecting citizen in a developed country right now can look at the way we dealt with the PRC drivers and be impressed. It's clear that they are being taken advantage of and it's shameful that we dare to call ourselves a first world country when a public transport company (and by extension, the government which backs it) blatantly disregards the concerns of the its employees. I honestly cannot believe that they are being deported. Seriously. Right now, nobody will deny that anyone who participated in that strike are on some sort of blacklist handed among the employers right now, deemed as the troublemakers that they are. (this is conjecture and should not be taken as fact)
It is precisely this behaviour that scared citizens into voting for the PAP for the last 40 years. Singaporeans have always been too scared of what the government is capable of.
Media censorship more prominent, with the rise of social media. More people displeased with govt and starting to speak up. Voter apathy still an issue with regards to "real" change.
Issue of immigration. Locals emigrating seems to be a universal goal among the young, as opposed to choosing to stay in this country. This speaks volume about not just the economic environment of Singapore but the social aspects as well. A point to consider might be the fact that even though travelling is now significantly easier, many people have not truly considered the implications of emigrating long term or even "mid" term (i.e 5-10 years).
In terms of foreigners entering Singapore, the trend is that we have become a lot closer to Malaysians as a result of the "perceived" "threat" of PRCs. Currently, foreigners (key note people who are "visibly" foreign, e.g. Bangladeshi, PRCs, Ang Mohs, occupying the low, mid, high income and social status respectively. of course this is an over-generalization.) are starting to make up a significant portion of our society. And to put this bluntly, they are no longer a small enough population that we can hide them in our construction sites, hawker centers and super atas bungalows and housing areas. It's easy to dismiss large groups especially when they are grouped because we can avoid them and pretend they don't exist in our larger picture of the local society. I think we passed that proportion of foreigners-to-locals roughly 5 years ago or even earlier where most people could sense their "territory" and "culture" being encroached upon. The white collar workers probably sensed it much earlier because that's been on the lips of most unemployed since forever.
Currently, it doesn't "feel" like there's an employment squeeze. But from what I hear everywhere, it appears to be so. Unfortunately, I don't know any job market to comment intelligently. The only thing I know is that we appear to be outpaced in industry, outmatched in sought-after skill sets and losing out in terms of wages. Everything we can do, foreigners seem to be able to do faster, better and cheaper. So the question comes up. Can we realistically compete in such a market, or are we doomed, to put it in simple words? Putting aside the question of wages because I feel that the cause is pretty simple (cost of living combined with high expectations), what are we missing in terms of quality? I think that if we are able to make ourselves distinguishably better (broader skill set for example), it would solve both problems because we would be creating an additional value for the employer which would (hopefully) outweigh the additional cost, particularly in knowledge-based economies where value is based not on the quantity but quality. Currently, I feel that, perhaps as a human folly, we have not been able to fully quantify the value of quality and hence, there is a leverage for "quality" employees.
Then again, I'm not young enough to know everything.
PS. I'm too lazy to elaborate on half of them, so I'm leaving them as it is.
