I don't like driving in Singapore. Too many traffic lights, traffic cameras and pedestrians crossing the road expecting right of way. It's a frustrating drive. I luv driving in Malaysia. Can go fast and go hard.

5 bedrooms... that's a very rare piece of property there. Normally only landed properties have that many bedrooms. That would be like 6-room or 7-room apartment in Sg real estate lingo.

---

Added on February 1, 2010, 11:52 pm
Hard to drive, rather than drive hard... I reckon.


This post has been edited by seantang: Feb 1 2010, 11:52 PM

Might be nice if you first tell us what your opinions are about the issues you raised. You know, inject some of your thoughts into the discussion a bit. Much better than to simply write some questions and expect people to respond with opinions. Only school teachers and radio talk show DJs get to do that.

Most companies don't provide transport. Especially if it's Orchard or CBD area.

---

Added on February 2, 2010, 9:39 amThat's what I'm doing now on workdays. But taxis in Sg are definitely not seamless. Peak hours are still ok if you live along a main road, but just before and after 9.30am is a real hassle to flag taxis. 9.30am is when the peak hour surcharge ends and ERP generally becomes less extortionist. That's when everybody comes out to get a taxi.

And when it rains... NO HOPE of getting a taxi.

This post has been edited by seantang: Feb 2 2010, 09:39 AM

LKY once said not long ago that the target population for Singapore was 10M people. Lots of newpapers wondered where he plucked the 10M figure from. At that time, Singapore had a population of 4M. So the difference was 6M.

Malaysia has 6.5M ethnic Chinese citizens (2000 census). At least 0.5M are already living in Singapore. Voila... the numbers add up.

Actually no... it's not only foreign workers who are being limited, but also PRs. And there are not many PRs who don't have degrees.

Govt doesn't cut the JOBS. They cut the number of PR applications approved.

Therefore the govt cuts supply, not demand.

Your friends could be smoking something quite strong leh.

PRs don't get to vote in elections. Citizens vote in elections. And citizens always complain that PRs take away their jobs. Do you think the govt will approve more or less PRs near to an election, if they want to get citizens to vote for them?

Hoho... looking for bus tickets 11 days before CNY? And you want "decent price" some more? Anything available by now are at indecent prices only.

My advice is to negotiate (ie. beg) for a work from home deal with your boss so that you can go back early and come back late after CNY.

Does Keppel pay their staff the same basic salary as other similar companies with similar staff? If they give 15% less basic but 100% more bonus (ie. 6 months instead of 3), it comes back to the same total figure. Bonuses are discretionary, basic is mandatory.

I just called the country about your case, and the country said no. They don't accept you. Sorry Apache32. But don't worry, I'll talk to the country again tomorrow.

This post has been edited by seantang: Feb 5 2010, 12:32 AM

How come your current company is so funny?

When you career advances, there's is no $? Then is it really advancement?

Ok, then it's a SG vs MY decision.

If you say it's a S$ vs career advancement decision, then you are assuming that your career cannot advance in SG.

I think the reverse is true, that there are more opportunities for career advancement in SG compared to MY.

Doesn't that simply suggest that the managers in that industry is not as ''advanced'' as their titles suggest? In my company, we have finance analysts who are paid more than finance directors in other companies. That simply means our analysts have advanced farther in their careers than their directors have. Not that their directors are more advanced but the advancement is non-monetary.

---

Added on February 5, 2010, 9:58 am
The question to ask is why Keppel is paying 9 months bonus to their welders and fitters? Isn't it obvious that Keppel sees the value from paying these "hot work people" all that money? If there is no value, why would Keppel pay? Because they don't like money?

Therefore, doesn't this mean that these "hot work people" actually have more advanced careers than some people who sit in an airconditioned office but get paid a pittance? Aircond doesn't mean more advanced careers.

Btw, you're right. Bankers don't get 9 months bonus. They get 24, 36 or 48 months bonus. One of the bulge bracket banks is paying US$400,000 bonus ON AVERAGE to all their front line employees this year.

This post has been edited by seantang: Feb 5 2010, 10:02 AM

Opps, wrong term. Front "office" as in customer facing wealth managers, private equity managers, M&A advisors etc. Not front "line" as in retail bank tellers and bank officers.

But retail banks paying 6 months or more bonus was not unheard of when the times were really good, back in 2005-2007, for eg. But then again, bank tellers get a pretty miserly pay. Which goes back to my original point of low basic + high bonus vs high basic + low bonus.

Full page ad of civil service jobs in today's Today newspaper. Page 17 in the morning edition. Lots of jobs in various ministries and depts.

I already said which newspaper. Today newspaper lah. NST is a Malaysian newspaper. The one here is ST.

18 working days is only 2 days short of a working month. Add the 2 or 3 days family care leave (some Sg companies give this), it's a full month away from work.

Which company gives 30 days annual leave by the way? That's 6 working weeks away from work. Extremely good terms.

My company gives paternity leave. 3 days per child.

Then he better grow a v*gina soon.