Who Moved My Singapore Cheese

Always felt the death penalty should be limited to cold blooded murderers.
I'm not all that involved but just thought I could spread the msg on.

Goosebumps-level songs...






You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere

Any place is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
Me myself I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
I got a plan to get us out of here
I've been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
Won't have to drive too far
Just cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And fin'lly see what it means to be living

See my old man's got a problem
He lives with the bottle that's the way it is
He says his bodys too old for working
I say his bodys too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebodys got to take care of him
So I quit school and that's what I did

You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so we can fly away
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way

I remember when we were driving driving in your car
Speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
We go cruising to entertain ourselves
You still ain't got a job
And I work in the market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You'll find work and I'll get promoted
We'll move out of the shelter
Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs

I remember we were driving driving in your car
Speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I'd always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me'd find it
I got no plans I ain't going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving

I remember when we were driving driving in your car
Speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away
You gotta make a decision
You leave tonight or live and die this way

Just thought we should revisit old issues from time to time as the next election draws near. I hope Singaporeans will not allow this farce to continue after the next election.

Sweet Victory =)

Just 2 crazy good songs from Radiohead

True Love Waits


Street Spirit

This post is more of like a reminder for myself in the future...

I read with utter disbelief 3 days ago on the Straits Times that Singapore's inflation for 2009 is heading for a big fat zero. [See Link]

My disbelief stems from the fact that I have felt ever poorer by the day for the past 3 years, all due to housing inflation.

I have always been bewildered when yet another news article on Singapore's inflation pores over the prices of food, but neglects the costs of housing.

Let's face it. Singapore does have very cheap food. If you cannot afford food prices in the newly opened upmarket japanese or italian restaurant, why not hop over to the food court? And if you cannot afford the food court prices, why not hop over to the hawker centers? (Better heed this advice or else a certain Minister Vivian might tick you off ;)

A solid delicious piece of roti prata in its purest kosong form still costs less than 0.1% of your monthly salary (assuming you earn $2k a month, which is just for the sake of this discussion) . Let's inflate its price by 300%, it should now cost you $3 from the original $1. For convenience sake let's say you are a roti-prata-monster and you eat it 3 meals x 30 days. How much is that? 90 x $3 = $270 per month.

You used to spend $90, now you spend $270 per month on your pratas. That's an increase in spending per month of $180 in the ultra unthinkably horrible event of a 300% inflation in food prices

Now let's look at our reality's version of inflation - the one that does hit us. We all know HDB prices went up like its suddenly made of gold in the past months. How much did it inflate by? I'm sorry I do not have the accurate data to support an average dollar amount claims here. But I can safely drop a ballpark figure of $50,000 at the very least, for the normal HDB flats, not those in Tanjong Pagar or Boon Keng or Marine Parade.

Now how does this $50,000 increment hit us in comparison? Let's say you take out a 30yr loan at HDB's 2.6% rates, this increase of $50k translates to an increase of $220 in mortgage payments per month...for 30 years!. I don't need to illustrate that $220 is slightly greater than $180. What does that mean? This means that the dollar equivalent parallel universe of what has happened to us Singaporeans in the past few months, is as if our pratas suddenly shot up to $3 a piece, or our teh-O became $3 per cup, or our "mee-siam mai hum" *made famous by a leader of ours* became $9 a bowl !

You can downgrade from Lawry's to Food Republic western food to "downstairs' kopitiam", but you cannot downgrade from HDB! Because that one is already the "upstairs" of the downstairs' kopitiam.

Zero inflation? Singapore needs better statisticians.