Thursday, January 18, 2007 / 3:54 PM
Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007, with Switzerland ranking first, and Singapore the
fifth, beating United States at the sixth position. This goes to show that you can never undermine the potential of Singapore, despite its' size. When I was travelling in Cambodia, I get to know this guy from Germany, he asked where I came from and I said Singapore. His reply (with hesitant):
'Hmm, OH! That country. A very clean country, huh?!' He has yet to visit Singapore and does not really know where Singapore is. I can't really blame him for not knowing Singapore as yet. In time to come, perhaps people living on the other half of the planet will go wow-ing at the achievements of Singapore. It took Singapore, merely 40 years, to climb from a 3rd-world to a First World Country. To ask, who has taken this baby seriously 40 years ago?
We have so much to offer here, despite the size (even smaller than Johor Bahru). We have the greatest discount when come to shopping (LV, Gucci, Mango etc), the most convenient public transport system, the upcoming Integrated Resorts (IR), and not to mention all sorts of entertainments. In complement to the upcoming Integrated Resorts in Sentosa, we have trains that leads to the Sentosa Island directly at a decent rate of $3 (back and forth) per pax. Well, as things might seem to be going very well, the pace might be getting too fast for some Singaporeans. Can Singaporeans cope with the pace that Singapore is moving, with the inflation rates and increment in GST? While our Government seems very aggressive in moving the country's economy, the people might have to suffer a little if we are not moving as aggressively as the Governemnt. The details of the welfare package that will help to offset the effect of increment of GST on consumer are going to be announced next month.
Las Vegas Sands is selected to build and operate the Marina Bay Integrated Resorts while Genting International is selected to build and operate Sentosa Casino and Resort, both planned to complete by year 2009 and are anticipated to change the face of tourism in the region. While Cambodia is trying to create the world 7th Wonder, Singapore is going to create the 8th Wonder. Is this like playing the SIMS City? Seeing the caption scrolling by the side of the television screen, reminds me of SIMS City by which they announced news in the same manner. So is the reality inspired by the game, or the game is an inspiration of reality? While playing the Government in SIMS City, we need to build wonders in order to attract other 'country's residents' to migrate into ours, this is happening right now isn't it (though it is not really on the migration part, it is more of pushing the country's economic)?
There is this
weird website, which consisted of the IR's pictures, looks very nice! We are small, but definitely we have a lot to show off.
So how do Singaporeans get use to the pace of Singapore?
1.
Being Ignorant. They do not even know that Singapore is moving on so fast as compared to her neighbours. Without knowledge of how fast Singapore is moving, thus there is no need to get used to the pace.
2.
Invest your Cash. Knowing that inflation is heading upwards, and things like properties and cars will get more expensive. Holding money in your hands is akin letting it to depreciate without knowing, so we spend our money in exchange for real assets eg. buying properties (buying properties is akin investment in Singapore), or buy securities, of course those who are smarter have already put their money with Genting P.L.C or you can always go for blue chips for steady earning. Just two days back ago, I overhead this conversation between a girl and a guy in my lecture room:
Guy: Hey are you into buying stocks?
Girl: Not really, do you?
Guy: Ya I do play a little.
Girl: Hey you know when is the best time to enter the market? It is when it's crashes.
Up to here, I almost want to laugh out hahaha! Market crash. Can anyone recall how hard life is the last time market crashes? Retrenchments and unemployments are hitting almost everyone near you, be it your family, relatives or friends. Do you think by then you really do have spare cash to invest in stocks? As usual, the stock market when crashes will bonuce back, it does seems to be the best time to enter the market,
in theory sense. In reality, regardless how much savings you have, I do not think that anyone in the right mind will buy stocks unless of course you are a millionaires with tons of money to try things out, for you will not be able to know how bad the economic is going to get and how long it is going to last.
3.
Open more Income Streams. Regardless in good or bad times, you need to open up more income streams to in order to have financial securities. Passive income stream like writing or doing part time property/insurance/car agents also not bad, though just servicing your relatives and friends.
4.
Sourcing Out for Bargains. Things, like shampoos, conditioner, cleanser, tampons etc etc, are selling in Chinatown is only like 50% of the price in Watsons, online shopping sometimes offers you more discount. And of course, cutting down on unnecessary expenditures will lessen the impact of increment of GST has for us. As the chinese sayings goes, the very wealthlty is a gift from God, and riches can be obtained through frugality.
5.
Beware of Your Slient Spenders. Our slient spenders are usually our phone, internet, electricity. They are so part of our life and we just use them wilfully without realising, that the charges comes at the end of each month. We should always check our usage, especially on a whole (inclusive of our family), so as to appropriately choose the plan which suits us the best.
Singtel's latest promotion on
Generation Mio which combines residential and mobile phone line with Singnet broadband might seems ideal for Singtel's users, but do look carefully at the terms and conditions, due to complexity of the Mio Plan, you might need assistance from Singtel to elaborate and do the planning for you to cater your needs.
Starhub do, however, have the residential line to comes free with Maxonline. So take one which suits the family usage the best. Of course, there is no plan or alternative service providers for electricity users, and thus the best way to save bills, is not to waste electricity, turning off when not using. In this manner, you not only saves bills, at the same time, you are cutting down on global warming.
Global Warming is another pressing (long overdue) issue, so yet save money and at the same time, save this poor earth.
Move along with the flow.
Labels: Economics, Money Management, Singapore
