I’ve just returned from a short trip to Singapore. As usual the hotels will be jacking up their rates come the Formula-1 again. Staying at 5-star (that was what my friend claimed) InterContinental Singapore at S$200 a night was a steal considering the cleaniness and spaciousness of the room. Broad-band was provided complimentary although I still can’t figure out why the hotel management could not provide a single bottle of mineral or distilled water as part of the service. Maybe they thought I can just walk to the Cold Storage which was a walking distance to get it. But I’m sure any travelers would prefer at least a bottle of distilled water that costs S$0.60 at the Cold Storage than a hand-written welcome note from the hotel management.Other Articles That May Interest You …
Anyway I found out the food in Singapore is getting better thanks to many Malaysians who travel daily (I bet many of them have actually become citizens) to work on the island. My friend took us to try some of the Singapore foods which turn out to have similar taste compared to Malaysia. After some conversations it seems many restaurant owners or their workers are Malaysians so it seemed they have taken the advice from some of Malaysian politicians (current government) to go back to China, India and wherever their father or grandfather came from, if they are not happy with the racism policy the BN government is practicing. But instead of going back to China or India as threaten by these politicians, the Malaysian Chinese have migrated to Singapore instead.
One of my friends who were having dinner with us was actually a Malaysian. He decided to accept the Singapore citizenship after much considerations and he has never look back. He’s now attached to a MNC company in Singapore and the reason he chose Singapore was the fair opportunities and better education system for his children although he missed the durians a lot. Another pure Singaporean friend was super-excited when I shared with him the latest political happenings in Malaysia although I’ve to admit he seems to know a lot about Malaysian politic – ever since the opposition parties captured the developed states previously controlled by BN government.
He even told me that Lee Kuan Yew was actually neutral with a slight preference towards the opposition parties (at least that was what he claimed) and his recent visit to Malaysia that received extraordinary welcome by Najib’s administration confirmed my theories that the grand old man was there to smell the ground or peoples’ majority support. Based on the Singapore medias writeup it was obvious that Lee Kuan Yew was ready to accept a new government should the people decide to kick Najib out of the office – that is if certain stupid PAS leaders stop hurting the partnership with DAP and act quickly enough to cut the cancerous cells from PAS such as those who seemed to have been bought over by UMNO.
If a normal Singaporean could tell me that such PAS men have been bought over to create troubles within PAS, you don’t think the latest fiasco about UMNO-PAS joint-government was a gimmick, do you? Well, maybe it was deliberately done to such scale as to warn Anwar that the prime minister office does not belong to him but the damages done was too great. And now you have the latest fiasco in Kedah. However the Singapore government has not decided whether to pump in huge money into the so-called Iskandar Development Region, not after the police blatantly pulled the Speaker out of the House. But I argued (with a grin) that Najib has just announced that business owners do not have to give away 30% stake to the bumiputra. Of course my Singaporean friend smiled back at me and said that if Malaysians are not stupid to fall into such temporary policy, surely the Singaporean are way smarter than us – to which I can’t help but laughed.
- Najib Rosmah Sdn Bhd – LKY came with Hammer and Nails?
- PAS to abandon DAP and PKR – Greed or Stupidity?
- PKFZ’s RM12 Billion Scandal – Where’re the Sharks?
- Foreign Funds My Foot! Learn from Genting Singapore
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July 5th, 2009 by financetwitter
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Comments
Dear Encik StocktubeYou know why theres no bottled water in your room? Go green – Save our Mother Nature from bottles! 🙂 Plus, the water is clean there you can even drink straight from the tap.Yes Sir, we are not that stupid and i wonder if the government ever realised that instead of committed, reliable statemen, we have too many 'comedians' in the August House.Have a great week ahead Sir! Cheerio!
Stop thinking no 30% bumiputra ruling, it's a red herring. Who wants to invest in pricey unproven new listings on Bursa Malaysia when many good existing companies are trading below net asset value and single digit PEs? The days of easy money from new listings are over. It's a different game now.Did you note the RM500 million for a new fund Equinas to help develop bumiputra entrepreneurs? Ultimately to be increased to RM10 billion? Can you recall what happened to similar funds in the past? And have you heard of success stories that such funds generated? What about stories on corruption, mismanagement and fraud? More tax dollars to be sucked out.
What is there to be excited about? Have everyone forgotten the Industrial Co-ordination Act. It is this act which legalises the robbery of non-Malays and foreigners. The FIC has its origins in this piece of legialation. Unless this act s repealed the government can always flip-flop and legally start robbing the non-Bumis again. The foreigners are smart they have left very little in Malaysia for UMNO to rob and they will never take this bait.
HI, yes the food in singapore has gotten better and better. I live in JB and sometimes I do go over to Singapore to dine, eventhough I am paying double the price, sometimes.cheers
30% stakes removed..but, half of the free flow shares hv to sell to bumis.. it could kills the non-FBM30 index counters..
the 30% stake thingy… when i first read about it, i just rolled my eyes. there's nothing to ensure that in the future, such bias rule would not come back. and how far out in the future, no one knows either, tomorrow? 1 week later? 5 months later? 1 year later? there's always a tendency of flip-flopping when comes to the government view…so if i'm in a businessman, i have no assurance on that '30%' policy.