Pity the British's youth

last SG · 2007-08-21T10:12:53+00:00

UK has one of costliest public sectors ROME (Reuters) - The cost of running France's public administration is the highest in Europe, followed by Britain and...

Gazelle SG

I suspose the tax payer are actually paying for such inefficency in the educational system huh?

Allowance for kids to study? thats not my cup of tea honestly.

maurizio13 SG

I think it's good for the UK society as a whole, because whether you are rich or poor, you will have the opportunity to get an education and be rid of poverty. Maybe the Singapore government can learn from the western countries regarding education.

EarlNeo SG

To them, it is a long term investment by the gov... if the average population is more educated, the chances are the return in the future will be better.... that is why i like about them. the gov go thru so much just to give the poor a chance to get out of poverty.

EarlNeo SG

i think i know why it din work out for them. Coz there is just too many ppl wanting to go there, hence the rule to become a PR there is very hard. But easier then USA. If u are not a PR there, then u dun get all of the benefit that i mention. Meaning u get to pay the same high TAX but not all of the goodies. Worse is that they just raise the min. of yrs u need to work there b4 becoming a PR is 5yrs. Up from 3yrs in the past.

Think ur fren made a mistake of bring his family there. Surviving there alone with a decent pay is alot easier then here. If u really know the system well, anyone with a brain can beat it. there is alot of mean to earn $$$ Infact alot easier then here. PPl there generally dun work as hard as us asian. that is why, we often perform better over there.

Oh have to edit coz i forgot to add this: Does ur fren know that he can get all the pension contribution back if he decided to sign a form, stating that u will never go back to UK to work or something like that.... Infact u can opt not to pay the pension scheme there b4 u start working there. there is alot of changes going on now.. till it is a bit confusing...

but uk sure isnt a heaven, it has it share of problem too...

maurizio13 SG

I think basically because us Asians and Singaporeans tend to use brute strength to earn our keep. Whereas more developed countries focus on innovations. I mean look at Nokia a well known brand originating from a Nordic country, every few months you get new innovations and gadget in your handphone. These calls for alot of innovation, something which Asian countries can't compete, because we lack the thinking out of the box solutions. We are so controlled, our thoughts and emotions, that I think that it's hard for Asians to test out new ideas. Maybe we are just born like that, who knows.

What the government choose to do, is focus on low cost (by importing 3rd world countries labour, to compete with citizens for wages), instead of innovation. This is equivalent to chasing a rock falling in a well, we can only go deeper.

Are you at work? I hope I am not taking up too much of your time.

EarlNeo SG

that is so true..... u remind me (when in uk) why i dun channel surf during advertisement time in between tv show or why i actually go in early in cinema just to watch the 10min of pre-movies advertisement. they are just too creative to be missed.

maurizio13 SG

Creativity sprouts innovation, which means you can charge higher value for your products.

Something which is not possible for Asian countries. Asians which accounts for more than half the world's population are not able to secure half the nobel awards in the sciences. There are only a handful of Asian nobel laureates.

Fingolfin_Noldor SG

The advertisements in Singapore are so dead boring and lame I wonder if they even succeed in their purpose.

Grief... America's ads are so much more .... convincing.

Fingolfin_Noldor SG

Part of the problem is that Chinese in general would rather make money than innovate and create new products. Most of the Chinese products these days are just cheap copies of Western or Japanese products.

The brightest in Japan, China, and Korea have potential to be Nobel Prize winners, but I were to look at Singapore, I wouldn't bother. As it is, most people are just following the crowd when it comes to picking majors in the universities. Never mind research. Getting them to go into research is a totally different story. Doesn't help that the powers to be don't actively encourage research in various areas to nurture interest.

caleb_chiang SG

SG also mah... Laughing

hloc SG

Thxs EarlNeo for sharing your view of life in UK..... since most, if not all of us haven't even set foot there before..... You bring before us a few very intresting facts......

Not all of us are young & single.... althought I am ..... and also not all of us can earn a decent pay in some foregin land. So, the system might seems better in UK, but how many of us could go there..... are we even Welcome there at the first place..... or would the local see us as the way we see expat in S'pore, some foregin taking away locals job Exclamation Question

Yeah.... that seems to be the problem. Everyone knows and wants to BEAT the system. Everyone wants to get benefit/welfare/free stuff without paying for it..... And if I had to paid my taxes, die die also wants more & more to make my taxes worthwhile..... and in the end, the next GEN will pay for it. But Hi... I did my part why should I care if the younger GEN have to suffer to support me. I WANT MY WELFARE

And that my friend.... is why I think Daddy !! is feeling sorry for the youth in UK..... but pls correct me if I'm wrong..... Confused

Kuali Baba SG

I do see flashes of creativity from my schoolmates, among other people. Something must have fudged somewhere along the line. Confused

watchdog SG

Indeed a lot of British students are in debt when they graduate. One of the reasons is precisely because education is free and some have the grades to enter university though not necessarily the funds. In order for places like Cambridge, LSE & Imperial College compete with top institutions in the rest of the world the charging for university is a must, else the funding drags them down. The only way to do this is to give student loans, which is perfectly reasonable. The government recognises the need for an educated workforce and hence uses taxpayer money to grant loans that will be paid back. It's an ideal situation, government & taxpayers help graduates through their studies, and graduates help contribute & repay the investment by the people.

The other thing is the fact that although we pay huge taxes, and sorely feel it throughout our university life, we come out from recognised institutions and gain crucial experience/jobs that aren't always available in a place like Singapore. That temporary ride into debt is definitely worthwhile, which is why the trend is British graduates going to Singapore for expat jobs & not the other way round.

Atobe SG

The sad thing is that while British graduates are welcome into Singapore with open arms by the Singapore's Government insistence in having foreign talents to push the Singapore Economy, the British Government has an air tight selective policy of who they will accept into UK.

Singapore students on completing Polytechnic or University are similarly in debt, and for a larger amount compared to the UK students.

To make matters worse, Polytechnic students in Singapore are not accepted into local Universities until they have at least 5 years work experience.

Many have decided to go overseas for their University education - mostly to Australia or the USA, and some to UK.

Sadly all who returned after graduating - unless with Upper Honors - many languish for at least 2 to 3 years looking for jobs that will automatically go to local University graduates.

The parents are the ones who bear the burden of such overseas education, knocking a bigger hole in their retirement fund - which the Singapore Government lament about the Citizen's inability to plan for their future.

The vicious cycle goes on with the blame game.

Atobe SG

Originally posted by EarlNeo:

Well it is hard to say. I took a very different path. I started with an intention to teach or work in area (research) that can better benefit the human... that is why i took up the free PhD scholarship there after doing my degree in UK. Would have stayed there if not for my parent over here.

When i am back, financially I am way behind. One of my poly mate is now a millionaire. Others are married and most of them are doing better then me. Beside that, i had change my goals from doing something great to a more selfish one. That is to gain financials freedom and retire by age of 45yrs, where i will decide where to go from there. So itis more of catching game.

In fact, in term of a lot of things, I am way behind. But in term less materialistic measurement, in term of mental development such as thinking outside the box, creativity and way to do thing differently, I think i have become more humble and are less restrictive in my perspective and more willingly to get out of my comfort zone. I felt that I had progress from a rather tunnel vision to an open view, really get to see and experience what life have to offer and live it to the max. Cos over there, the society is created by the brit to suit their need. hence I have to adapt and change myself to fit in. In doing so... u start to understand their action and the how they think.

Some of the thing i observe there; The weather there might be gloomy but the ppl there aint. I see old folk (husband&wife), in their 70s&80s still very much active & in love. Driving or using the public transport, travelling the country, enjoying their time in the garden, etc.. instead of being dump in the old folk home or trap inside their home. Despite the problem they face, u can see that ppl are generally well manner and enjoying their live, peaceful and a lot less hectic. The main reason why ppl work is so that they can provide for their family. So if you have to work more then 44hrs per week... where does that leave u? A family that dun include u? I can carry on and on....

In term of vision, i would say I am way ahead most of my peers, coz i now have a wider view.I'd saw and know what other countrys (beside UK) have to offer and i dun really see the need to accept what that is being offer to me if I dun like it. The world is really big......

Positively uplifting and spot on.

It is a big World out there, and we should make it our ''play ground''.

While Singapore and UK share some common background, the politics and attitudes of governing each country differs like ''day and night''.

While the UK government is benevolently democratic, the Singapore government is autocratically paternalistic - despite the common tradition in English Law and Constitution Systems.

The ''no free lunch'' philosophy is the operating paradigm in Singapore, with Singaporeans having to pay for everything in Life as dispensed by the Government monopolistic dominance in all the essential political, economic and commercial spheres that makes life meaningful.

Is it any surprise that an elderly person in UK will have the luxury of leisurely time to pursue a university education in their late years, while a similar elderly person in Singapore will have to wipe tables and pick-up used drink cans at hawker centers - so as to eke out a living to support themselves in their late years ?

The Higher Quality of Life is clearly seen for the elderly UK citizens in its un-announced real First World status, compared to the illusionary First World loudly proclaimed by MM LKY for Singapore.

Gazelle SG

If you want to compare please compare apple to apple lah. American economy is worth trillion of dollars hence it is common for company to have million dollar budget for the TVC, especially during superbowl.

As for Singapore TVC are targeting at the only 4.5m population, about 50% of them watch channel8 and or which some are elderly singaporeans who dont even read and speak english.

American ads are convincing? I thought alot of the TV viewers are just stupid americans. No? Have you forgotten that those stupid sell on TV TVC we used to watch in Singapore that were created in America for Americans?

Please stop being a white di.ck sucker lah..

Gazelle SG

When I was in london, i do see quite alot of homeless elderly lying on the street, begging for money at subway station etc. is that how the elderly in UK spend their leisurely time? Or are you making a very bias comparison for the sake of trying to discredit Singapore?

AndrewPKYap SG

If you allow the elderly to beg on the streets of Singapore and sleep on the void decks, you will see them... just as if there is transparency in government.... Laughing

Atobe SG

Originally posted by Gazelle:
When I was in london, i do see quite alot of homeless elderly lying on the street, begging for money at subway station etc. is that how the elderly in UK spend their leisurely time? Or are you making a very bias comparison for the sake of trying to discredit Singapore?

Are you coming back to talking to me ?

Did you decide to change your mind after sniffing some real stuff from your flight of fantasy ?

Were you in London on a mission to count the number of homeless elderly so you can chirp your bias PAPa's tune that Singapore has no homeless and discredit your host in London ?

Is London a city of elderly beggars ?

How many elderly beggars did you see when you walked down a London street ?

Which part of London were you to ''see quite alot of homeless elderly lying on the street, begging for money at subway station'' ?

London Central, East End, its suburbs, or were you on the sly - sniffing out at the Red Lights ?

One subway station - how many homeless elderly did you see them begging ?

When were you in London - winter, spring, summer or autumn - to ''see alot of homeless elderly lying on the street'' ?

If it was spring or summber, surely you must be brilliant enough to know that it is normal for the northerners to strip down and soak in the sun - and you probably think they cannot afford garments and are beggars lying around.

On the street ? Surely you mean on the pavement ? If there were alot of them, they must be blocking the human traffic at the subway stations ?

Surely, the good London Bobby could not be so sloppy on the scene to let you see such alot of homeless elderly lying around on the street ?

Did you see elderly folks cleaning tables or collecting drink cans or paper cartons at the malls and shopping centers in London ?

At least you should know that not everyone in London is a citizen ?

Perhaps you were not even born when it was discovered that some of the London beggars were found parking their cars a few streets away, and make a handsome sum in daily begging from suckers like you who visit London about once in your entire life.

Instead of soaking in the London atmosphere, it had to be a Singaporean Gazelle to sniff the worse side at others just to make yourself and Singapore look better.

Daddy!! SG

i know for sure that in singapore, there are poor elderly who are housed in neat, tidy, clean 2 room hdb flat at very low rent, like S$50 ish per month. perhaps thats the reason nearly everyone in singapore has a roof over their heads.

recall now, some died due to cold during winters (because they are on the streets without a house with heating) and died due to heat during hot summers (because they are on the streets without a house to protect them).

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