Of course along the way there were some more. But of course, the social standing of Malays in Singapore have improved alot over the years. I believe Malays study better, work better, are smarter and better positioned as compared to the older days. I am Malay, and I graduated from NUS in 2009 with a Bachelor in Computer Engineering. Many might think that there are only a small number of Malays in the Singapore universities, but I was quite surprised that this isn’t the case! I mean if you take into consideration the ethnic ratio in Singapore, there’re actually an exceeding number of Malays in the universities. Meritocracy in progress.

During my time, there were more than 10 Malay undergraduates in the faculty of ECE for the graduating batch of 2009. Now if you look over to the Science faculty, there are more. Now over to Arts faculty, an even greater number. Off to Business, there are a few. Now if you go over to NTU/SMU and repeat a similar count, you’ll find that the numbers are impressive and will definitely improve over the coming years. Keep into consideration the many students whom decide to pursue overseas education or private degrees, sometimes because of fortunate/unfortunate circumstances.

But where does my worry come? When the new Malay graduates go out into the working world. Why? Well, your education is only part of the equation of how someone judges your race as a whole. Your job matters as well. In fact, it’s the most important part of the equation. There are good jobs out there, good jobs that pay a good amount. By good, I mean jobs in the private industry.

What worries me exactly is when it seems to me that the educated Malays are “ponding” in one area, particularly the Ministry of Education (MOE). It’s a waste of talent, and definitely a missed opportunity to do justice for your race. It is simply another opportunity for the majority race to build on existing stereotypes. I do not like it when people stereotype the Malay race. Because I know and I have seen the value that we can offer to companies and corporations. Indeed, we have got what it takes to do better and get to a better place than we are now, and I believe we have the capacity and determination to do so.

So do not settle for less, do not settle for comfort, do not settle for that iron rice bowl, do not settle for complacency. Take risks, of course calculate them, aim high, diversify, push further and always want a better life for yourself or your family.

I’ve seen MANY Malay ex-JCmates or friends whom upon graduation, settle for an MOE job…to become a teacher. Passion you say? Believe me, when you listen to all their complaints and plans to resign after their bond ends, you wonder why they signed up in the first place. Some tell me 2009 was a tough year and they couldn’t get any job offers. Some wanted the high starting pay of $3,200 (for basic degree) and the huge bond completion bonus. Some just didn’t know what else to do.

But more importantly, aren’t there better private jobs out there that pay better? Why settle for less? Why volunteer yourself to work under a hierarchical system that would probably take you maybe 15 years before you are called a senior teacher? Why sign up for a job which binds you for say 5 years, and thereafter ruins you of the chance to do something else? What if you found out teaching wasn’t your thing? What are you going to do AFTER the bond ends 5 years later?

Please, diversify. You guys are Malay degree holders man, that alone is valuable. In fact, it puts you at an economically greater advantage. Look, Singapore is surrounded by Malaysia and Indonesia. No problems there definitely. China and its influences you say? Well then, learn Mandarin!

The people I know, they are hardworking, have a good personality and definitely could do well in the private sector. But why they decide to “pond” in MOE, remains a mystery to me. I think that such “ponding” attitude will only serve to reinforce the existing stereotypes that the majority race have on us.

How could we? Newly wed couples cant even afford to purchase a HDB flat! No home, no family nucleus. It’s as simple as that. Afterall, it WAS the gahmen’s policy in the first place. ;)

Don’t even get the Singaporean citizens started on the competition of jobs with foreigners/PRs.

Oh and how come as inflation increases, wages don’t increase in tandem? What is MOM doing?

Just some thoughts ;)

Which one is more worth it?

Owning a car is! Why?

Well, because you can sell the car midway and lose much less. You can’t possibly obtain back the money spent on taxi fare, can you?

:)

Apart from that, you get the convenience of owning a car!

Job market still looks bleak, despite the propaganda news to forcefully influence the market. Let’s not kid ourselves. We are hardly recovering as a world.

I am afraid of the impending double dip recession.

But Singapore? I don’t even need to get started, it’s extremely depressing! Honestly, when I saw the NDP on TV, and I saw all the faces of those people…I went “Damn, those hypocrites!” Everyone there were hypocrites.

The resentment among Singapore Citizens is truly unbelievable man, I am awed. Reading the papers and discussion boards, as well as getting inputs/views from friends, I realise that most Singapore Citizens are sick and tired of all the empty promises and trash talk.

One might say that the ones complaining are those with worse off situations e.g. bad debts, low income blah blah. But it’s interesting to know that the resentment exists with well educated, reasonable income earning Singapore Citizens too.

It would be a blatant lie if I was to say I don’t harbour any resentment. In fact, I hate it how Singapore Citizens are mistreated. I’m pretty competitive by nature, so I don’t really care whatever fug foreign talents, I know I can kick their asses. But what happens if you are denied the stepping stone such as job hunting?

Say for example, our universities are prestigious and world-class. Naturally, our graduates are of high calibre and quality. One would expect our graduate to earn a starting pay of minimum $3000. But wait. India’s best university is placed somewhere along the 200th, and a similar graduate from there is probably earning more than our graduates (working in Singapore).

Some companies provide a yearly increment of about 2%. Come on, that amounts to $50-100 per year. The national inflation rate is more than 2%. Even the HDB loan interest rates are pegged at 2.6%. Wait. CPF Ordinary Account earns 2.5% (I think) per year. Do some simple calculation and we Singaporeans are getting poorer every single day.

How cheap is cheap? Why do employers favour quantity & cheapness over quality & productivity?

If I had money, I would want to migrate my family and I to someplace better. Forget Singapore. Get citizenship somewhere, leave my CPF to earn interests, when the time is ripe I’ll renounce, and then enjoy with my money and family!

Just from personal experience, the carpark at my block goes out of lots fast. Only a couple of lots are marked for season ticket holders like me, so if I happen to get back late at night, I’d usually have no more lots left. I will then be hunting around for a white lot (or just about any lot!). I end up parking a distance away from my house, so I simply have to walk abit. Good thing my carpark is huge. OPEN AIR FTW.

Last time, the situation was worse! There would be no lots at all, even when I went so far away (like 5-6 blocks away). Now why would HDB/URA sell me the season ticket when I couldn’t even get one lot that I PAID for? Okay that aside, I noticed that many lorries took up the lots. AND THEY HAD NO SEASON PARKING TAGS. Some don’t even put coupons!

Shouldn’t lorries be parked in some heavy vehicle carpark? To me, anything bigger than a Class 3 license is a heavy vehicle. I hate those lorries.

Now the nightly charge is $4, but cmon what difference does it make even if it’s $10? The solution is not to charge higher, although it helps to somewhat deter. But if people need the lot, they’ll still pay any amount, or simply: buy a season parking tag. For me, the solution is to require heavy vehicles to be parked at their rightful places. And then, demand of season parking ticket goes up. With limited supply, HDB/URA can increase the prices of the season tickets :D And then Singaporeans will complain for a brief time, but lan-lan pay up because they need to park their cars. Btw what happened to Jack Neo? Singaporeans no talk?

One more thing. Maybe the reason we run out of lots is because Singaporeans are getting too fuckin rich. Some families own 2-3 cars, how like that? But end up only 1 driver for each car. Waste of space. What to do, so rich right. Then price increase abit, kaobei so much. Singaporeans! Hahahaha.

Boy I was wrong. It lasted me 1 year before I switched over to my current Motorola Milestone. Two days back, Singtel sent me an email saying that I could buy the iPhone4 and have my $300 penalty waived.

WHAT?

Why should I buy an inferior product in the first place? I’m sure you’ve heard all the Jango Fett about the reception issues. Not an issue to you? Well, it’s still an inferior product! Go and buy a second class product and be a second class consumer.

Secondly, multitasking. Iphone apps must be written and developed to accept multitasking. For me, this means an inferior OS. It’s pretty simple really. I want to be able to download ANY app and have it multitasked-ready. How many developers out there are going to upgrade their product to make it multitaskable? Willing to pay?

Thirdly, the iOS is closed source. I’m so sorry Apple fanboys, this means lesser market share => less profits => less inferior products => More Android phone sales => Android RULES. Phone manufacturers want flexibility and option to produce their own “version” of an OS without having to develop one, and Google has made this possible with Android. Phone manufacturers want profits, sales volume and consumer preference. Android allows them to tailor new apps/system functionalities that makes their products stand out differently from the other competitors at LOW COST. This means CHEAPER phones for you consumers.

So you can jailbreak your iPhone? Go ahead and play the waiting game over and over again ;) Go wait for a compatible jailbreak patch, and wait, and try and fail, and wait :D

There’s more but I shall stop here. Well if you want to know what I’m using my iPhone 3g for now, well it’s basically an iPod touch to me now. Fun for entertainment ONLY.