Tag: Singapore

(Reader Contribution) I’m An Engineering Graduate And I Haven’t Secured A Job For Months Now

The issue of our graduates still being unemployed after months of applying for one. How best do we solve the high unemployment rate among graduates?

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“So after 1 month since my convocation, 3 months since my last exam in NTU (should be 6 months since I applied for job), I still couldn’t secure a job. I am worried of not being able to get a job by end of this year as the economic is getting worse and worse.

Only went for < 3 interviews so far… Below are the prob I can think of now:

1. My resume sucks. Well, I have edited (don’t know how many times) my resume to make it more professional.
2. Working experience.
2.1 I was working in the lab and helping them in their research project. Nowadays most of research companies are hiring Phd and Science students but not engineering student.
2.2 I did apply for engineering job which is related to my major. I worked as engineering intern when I was a poly student but most of the job I have done was just office job.
3. Academic results. Not even 2nd upper class honours. So this maybe the reason? I’m not expecting my salary will be very high. My expected salary range: $2700/2800 to $3000

I wonder anyone is in the same situation as me? Anyway, all the best for those still looking for a job.”

Source: Engineering student

August 26, 2017
Osman Sulaiman And The State Of Affairs In Singapore

1. We were promised Swiss standard of living. Instead we got the most expensive city to live in.

2. We were promised equality, instead we thrive in elitism.

3. We were told that our nation is built on meritocracy, instead we are ranked 5th in Crony Capitalism Index.

4. We pledged to build a democratic society but instead we got an autocratic government.

5. We spent billions of taxpayers money to increase productivity, but instead these measures are counter productive when we flood our workforce with cheap foreign labour.

6. We planned for a long term sustainable economic growth, but instead history has shown that our economic growth model is nothing meaningful except to increase our population digits by granting new citizens.

7. It is our objective to reach the world cup by 2010, but instead we are 7 years late and our football association is in the doldrums.

8. Our gov pledged no one will be left behind but today, many are slipping through the cracks with reportedly high numbers of citizens seeking assistance.

9. We were told that our CPF can be withdrawn at age 55 with a minimum sum of $30,000. Throughout the years, the goal post has been shifted many times and today, the minimum sum stands at $161,000 at age 65.

10. We pledged to transform our country for the better, but today, we keep electing the same leaders expecting a different result.

Be the change you wish to see.

Source: Osman Sulaiman

August 25, 2017
Town Council’s Default Bill Of $1688

It’s really crazy to live in Singapore if you’re poor.

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Was shocked to chance upon this town council’s default bill of $1688 of which the penalty fee is $249 and legal charges a massive $721. The total penalty and legal fee is $970 – much more than the actual town council owed fee of $718 dating from Aug 2015 to Apr 2017. One can’t imagine the government allows a needy Singaporean family to be fleeced off by so much legal cost when their last GE’s slogan is “For you, with you…”?

The family stays in a 3-room flat and suffers from under-employment. To avoid jail sentences for owed town council bill, the family has been slowly paying them off whenever they have the money. They also have to show the receipts to the town council whenever they have made payment. We also know of some who have to go to jail because of accumulated town council default – after the jail sentence they still have to pay their bill! Its a shame to see so many of our poor vulnerable families living like this – struggling to pay bills of all kinds while living in the world’s costliest city (for expats only as claimed by the government).

The proposed sugar tax will simply add on to their living cost and deepen their misery. The recent 30% hike in water cost, existing 7% GST and a whole slew of increases for basic living usage imposed early this year will simply drive one to depression by just looking at the bills. Many in fact have avoided opening the bills every month and just throw them in some forgotten corner hoping that they will just evaporate into the thin air magically. Its no wonder many of us can’t avoid to go cashless the right way as we are already very cash-less before we hit the month end.

Source: Gilbert Goh

August 25, 2017
Yaacob Ibrahim: Halimah Is Consistent And Never Shy To Speak Her Mind, I’ve Known Her For A Long Time

I’ve known Halimah for a long time. We first met in 1976 when I was an undergrad at the University of Singapore and she was in her third year of law school. We were at the University of Singapore Muslim Society orientation camp, where she was a senior shepherding the starry-eyed freshmen into the intricacies of Islam and its meaning in our lives. I was one of the freshmen.

Though we went our separate ways after graduation (occasionally meeting at weddings of mutual friends and at community events), I would often hear stories about her commitment to the struggles of low-income families and vulnerable workers.

If there’s one word to describe the Halimah I’ve known all these years, it is Consistency. Over the years, she has consistently shown her devotion to helping those in need, especially vulnerable women. She is never shy to speak her mind if it means getting more attention for them. Even when she became a parliamentarian in 2001 and later as Speaker of Parliament, Halimah never departed from her causes. I believe this consistency, as well as her dedication to helping our Muslim community navigate and integrate fully into the Singaporean family, will remain a lasting legacy.

I would like to thank Halimah for all her contributions and wish her the very best in her future endeavours. As she embarks on her new journey, I hope that in the years to come, in whatever capacity she finds herself in, she is able to convince the wider community to look beyond her race, to assess her beyond her gender, and to judge her beyond her religion, into becoming fully one with Singapore and Singaporeans. #yaacobibrahim

Source: Yaacob Ibrahim

August 24, 2017
Three Possible Reasons That Can Lead To A Walkover Election And Win For Mdm President Halimah Yacob
1. No signs of preparation for the election
Knowing that the PE2017 would involve the whole nation to be at the voting booths, it is very unlikely that the government will mobilize its civil service officers at a short notice without any prior briefing. Has there been any information from sources in the civil service about blocking of leaves?

2. PAP candidate might lose if there is a straight contest between candidates

Therefore there is a high possibility that the two non-PAP candidates Salleh Marican and Farid Khan will be disqualified by the Election Department, making this upcoming reserved election for Malays a walkover victory for Halimah Yacob who is walking into Istana with her status as former Speaker of Parliament, and not as a CEO of a company with $500 million shareholders equity.

3. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is not his father

There are rumors going around saying that there would not be an election, but some questioned if the PAP administration dare to fix the presidential election so blatantly enough to appoint its chosen candidate. Some argued that it will not be let off easily if it did so happen.

Again, many Singaporeans may have lost interest in the upcoming reserved elections due to the amount of tasteless drama and conspiracies surrounding it. Yet, despite the outcome of the election, no matter who the president is, we need to think about one important thing, “Just how far is the PAP willing to go to protect its monopolistic stranglehold on political power?”

Rilek1Corner
August 24, 2017