frenchieinsg

5 ms·

1.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
Regarding the ad hominem: I emphatically disagree. Here's 2 libertarian countries, 1 social-democrat Western country, and 3 local emerging markets for flavour (pasting full link since I've read HN doesn't like URL shorteners)
2.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
This is where I will venture outside purely presenting ideas, and into the personal. I wish the French government had done this with the Soviet agents that shaped the direction of government post WWII (indeed, many resistants were communist
3.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
They are. The market rate for a maid might be $2k/month locally, and $500/month + food, board and health insurance for a pinay. Singapore is rather unique in that it accepts the existence of global labour market instead of closing
4.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
Well, I'm on an S2 pass (so not that high) but I know people from 2k/month to 30k/month, and they're all pretty happy - in particular, the lower classes appear considerably happier than those in the UK, France, the US, a
5.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
On 1) I would argue that the government in power adopting good policies from the opposition is what they should be doing anyway, provided it fits within the framework of their ideas (and larger class sizes appears to be an implementation, n
6.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
In Singapore Herman Cain would be a PAP MP :P I did see (in the Straights Times) a PAP politician about 1.5 years ago go down for having accepted sexual favours from the sales staff of a corporation in exchange for granting that corporation
7.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
The big difference between Singapore and Israel is motivation. Israelis will probably stay and fight to the death (in fact, they have, during the Yom Kippur war, where Golda Meir forced the US to act by arming nuclear weapons). Ask a Singap
8.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
I misread your earlier position as assuming racism, and forced labour from the Singaporean system, and defended accordingly. What you are now talking about, specifically "people deserve in equal measure", is a completely different
9.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
I had a chat with the maid of a place I stayed in for a month. She was pinay and very happy to be in Singapore, housed, fed and paid around $500 a month with a few hours off on Sundays. The FOB expats of course fumed at the idea, but the al
10.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
As an example of the problem with rumours in the press, look at the candidacy of Herman Cain. The opposition (be that his own, or on the other side) dug up a few women who had a dubious story of sexual harassment (something the US public is
11.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
Isn't government (even in a representative system) supposed to listen to the people? So why complain when they do (by adopting opposition policies that the people want)? [leaving aside the "within the constraints of respecting the
12.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
Wording like that is not encouraging: "[Why would Singaporeans] rather live as Labrador Retrievers and not human beings? Why do they accept a life where they have to live no better than slaves, where they have no rights and completely
13.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
Or fear of missing out on a table at Kopitiam, booking 6 seats for your 2 friends with a couple tissue packets at rush hour whilst you spend half an hour choosing what stall to get lunch from. One of these days I'll muster the courage
14.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
Often said by tourists. Singapore is a lot less online that similarly developed Western nations (in part because professional PR staff game all the ratings and reviews), so it's harder to source the nice places. But it has a thriving &
15.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
I'd love to hear some examples, particularly recent. I was personally impressed by how light handed the country was with its enemies; for example, communist agitators and Chinese agents were merely exiled from the country (and in some
16.
by frenchieinsg 12y ago
I think the article gets (as most Western media does) one thing very wrong: the nature of the relationship between the citizen and their government. What singles out PAP is that throughout its existence, it has offered the citizen exactly w