The Thirty.sg Site

It is an website that, for 30 days before National Day, allows anyone to submit concrete and executable ideas that can make Singapore a better place. So far ideas have ranged from small suggestions (more study tables in libraries) to the big stuff (education). More importantly, we are building a community around those ideas- where people discuss, debate and refine each idea. We then bring the best ideas to the people who can make them happen.

It has been interesting seeing the community grow and develop. We started out barely 2 weeks ago with a free website from Ideascale, and as of 2 minutes ago have almost 60 ideas, 505 votes, and 143 comments. Many of the ideas are really good. The team behind it is the reason for this rapid growth- I have learnt a lot from working with some of the most talented people around. Working with them has only increased my belief in the collective power of a small group of people to make something happen.

Check it out- I promise you’ll find the site interesting. I’m pretty sure at some point in our lives we’ve thought of something that Singapore could do, or should have. This is a pretty good way to get it out there- so put your idea up there!

PS: If you could help us evangelize the site, it would be a great help. At the moment we’ve been doing it solely through word of mouth, and anybody you tell about this site helps our efforts a lot.

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1. Making Ideas Happen I
2. Wokai, Venture Weekend
3. Engineering in Singapore?

There’s been a fascinating conference that I’ve been following for the past couple of days- the Gov 2.0 Expo in Washington D.C. It’s a really interesting topic- especially for those in the government. Singapore’s civil service is pretty efficient (compared to what I’ve seen overseas), but there is always immense potential for improvement- particularly when it comes to the adoption of technology.

I’ve been on-off interested in this subject for quite a bit of time- great blogs that covers this topic is GovFresh, and Gov 2.0 Radio. There’s been a flurry of recent activity on the topic as well, with Obama’s OpenGov initiative sparking a lot of applications built on government data. Conferences such as Gov 2.0 LA (for Los Angeles), and the Gov 2.0 Expo have brought a lot of renewed interest to the subject. I’ll blog about some key ideas from these conferences after my exams, which end next week.

iLink@Aljunied: Feedback

I wrote earlier on open helpdesks and idea aggregators and how they could help the government. This is already starting to happen in Singapore- iLink@Aljunied (what a name!?) is somewhat of a open helpdesk, for Aljunied GRC, and you can find a really good review of it at e27. It should be interesting times- I’m working on something in this field, and will write about it soon.

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I can’t help but feel that the “no-eating-or-drinking-is-allowed” law is being taken a bit too far here- fining a lady $30 seems really extreme- and if I may say- completely ridiculous.

I don’t blame the station manager, who is only doing his job. It, however, is a manifestation of an greater underlying philosophy in Singapore- the “slippery slope”. It is succinctly put in the video: “[if we allow you to eat a sweet], then everyone will also start doing that, then where are you going to [draw the line]?” The fear of the slippery slope has often resulted in policymakers going for the most extreme rule possible.

Is going for the extreme rule a sign of prudence, safeguarding society from its ills? Or is it just lazy policymaking, an excuse to not put in the hard work to find out where the metaphorical “slope” has its “plateaus”- middle grounds where rules can give people more breathing space, yet still safeguard society. I’m not sure, and I’d like to find out someday.

PS: You can also read about this incident here and here.

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Dear Singapore Citizens,

Bukit Batok Grassroots Organisation (GRO) is organising a Water Festival specially to welcome the New Year in Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.

The funds used to host the event are likely to come from the mega $10-million dollar Community Integration Fund unveiled by the Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports (MCYS) last year to make the foreigners feel accepted and happy in Singapore.

I hope that those who are not supportive of the government wasting taxpayers’ money on foreigners to turn up in BLACK on that day.

I must admit that xenophobia (anti-foreignism) is possibly one of the easiest impulses to give in to. When I was back in Singapore during the summer, it was difficult not to feel that way, trying to squeeze onto an MRT train after work. Yet as a foreigner in America I can see why, to an extent, foreigners are necessary. The riches of Silicon Valley were as much built by Americans as by the scores of immigrants.

The same is beginning to be so for Singapore- when I visited the incubators in NUS last year, I found that more than 2/3 of the entrepreneurs were foreigners. Arguably, they will be the key creators on jobs in the future, as Singapore moves toward a start-up/innovation driven economy. Of course, the crucial question is always how much (and what type of) immigration is the right amount of immigration (has there been too much?)- and the debate should rightly focus on that.

Yet this event scares me. In their effort to make their point to policymakers (which is not wrong), they choose a method of doing so (gatecrashing the event) that might unknowingly/knowingly seek to intimidate foreigners. Worse, the only ones who would care about such a message are ironically the ones Singapore needs the most (the highly skilled entrepreneurs with lots of other options), even though we hate to admit it. The lower-skilled ones with few other options will not care at all whether or not you like them- and will come anyway.

Let’s not do things that way. I’m in no position to say this- I am a 20 year old who took a government scholarship 2 years ago. I have never lost out on a job to a foreigner, nor been retrenched because of one. Yet the little learning I’ve done has taught me to look a bit further into the future than the mere present, and think about the issues beyond the emotion. And I’ll put this out there, just in case my voice makes a little bit of difference.

PS: Had this idea while I was typing- that everyone on that day wear black (organizers, foreigners included)… see how that works?

Update: There’s now a counter-gatecrash group, which you can find here. Not sure whether its legitimate, though… (the founder only has 5 friends…?)

Related posts:

1. Singapore and its foreigners
2. Are there too many golf courses in Singapore?
3. Thirty.sg: Crowdsourcing ideas for Singapore

Via the Straits Times Forum, comes an interesting suggestion: to free up golf courses for other uses. An excerpt:

Yet, in contrast, to date we have built 22 golf courses, most of which are 18-holed oases to cater to a sport whose following is a mere 2 per cent of all regular sports participants, according to the Singapore Sports Council’s National Sports Participation Survey in 2005.

An interesting suggestion, though I wonder why there are so many in the first place. Perhaps they are “filler uses” for newly reclaimed land, which might not be able to handle high stress loads. They probably also play a huge role in the business community, which probably doesn’t fall under the “2 per cent of all regular sports participants”.

Nevertheless there’s definitely some merit in the question “are there too many?” in a small island state- and a water scarce one at that, especially when golf courses are known as notorious water-hoggers (something I gleaned from my Earth Systems class).

Related posts:

1. Anti-foreignism in Singapore, and the Bukit Batok Water Festival
2. Engineering in Singapore?
3. Thirty.sg: Crowdsourcing ideas for Singapore

It is interesting being an Asian in Poland- my group of friends and I are almost like a tourist attraction. Everywhere we walked, people would turn and look at us. My travel mates recounted to me of how in Romania (where they were before I joined them) a little boy had come to poke them to see whether they were real. Little children here are quite fascinated with us- or scared, as a little ~5 year old kid was when I smiled at him. Apparently, there are not (or have not been) a lot of Asians in Poland.

Race and ethnicity is an important question that I have had to try to understand, especially after coming to the US to study. For the first time, I understood what it was like to be a minority- and on top of that a foreigner. To be fair, Stanford isn’t racist at all- in fact, it is (by far) one of the most open and welcoming places. Rather, it was about getting used to the subtle slights and insensitivities, and more importantly winning my own war within my head- building my own confidence to not be affected by all of it, but rather reach out to society than expect society to reach out to me.

Yet Poland is perhaps the first place in the world where white people have paid me so much attention. Granted, it is more of curiosity than anything else, but it was definitely weird for me. Even weirder was my experience talking to a young Polish man on the train who struggled to speak English to me, and apologized if I didn’t understand him. It did, however, make me realise that a large part of “inferiority” that arises now is that of economic background, and English accent- and perhaps less of race.

PS: My time as a minority in the US has made me often wonder what it is like to be a minority in Singapore. My Malay friend once remarked that my experience abroad reflected his own back home- an interesting thought to keep in mind.

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Landed in Poland today in the morning, after a sleepless night on the chairs of Heathrow Airport. Amazingly, my British Airways flight wasn’t cancelled, and made the 2 hour trip to Warsaw.

The first impressions of Poland are that of its buildings and design. The buildings here are very rectangular, with few frills, and usually in drab pastel colors- a relic of the communist era. They very much resemble the Singapore’s early-era HDB flats (public-built housing apartments) that one can see in Delta Crescent and Old Airport Road. One of my travelling partners, upon seeing the block numbers at the side of the apartments (similar to Singapore’s) exclaimed “HDB!”- very much to my amusement.

High rise apartments in Poland

Thinking about the HDB, there is perhaps that defines Singaporean architecture than the HDB flats. It is perhaps an authentic Singaporean construct, with its bamboo poles, potted plants, void decks (open space on the ground floor), and corridors that run along the outside of the building (not a common site outside Singapore). These were the villages for my generation, and I wonder how much it has defined out collective psyche- or how much it describes it.

I attended a talk a while ago that touched on how the design of buildings/workspaces could either build community, or destroy it- and it would be interesting to research which of these roles the HDB has fulfilled. In other news, recent debates about rising costs and access have raised interesting questions about the HDB’s future, and it will be interesting to see how things pan out.

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The current look of the Redsports site

It was interesting listening to why Les talk about how he started Redsports. He had started off developing Redsports as a photography news site, and slowly gathered volunteers and helpers to cover the many sports events in Singapore, while also finding advertisers and sponsors to keep the site going. The sheer scale of what he had accomplished was amazing- he had effectively started a sports media company of his own, with volunteer reporters and photographers, and a revenue model to sustain it- all of this from his home coffee table.

Talking to him confirmed my belief that sometimes all it takes to spark change is a dedicated individual who is willing to change things. I was a not-very-good waterpolo player in secondary school who did not continue the sport in junior college. A small part of the reason was that nobody seemed to notice whether I played or not (how immature I was then!). Though my eventual decision was based on many other factors as well, I wonder if a few mentions on a site like Redsports would have given me the positive encouragement to continue playing. In a society where academic achievements are perhaps over-recognized, sites like Redsports provide crucial recognition to the arena of athletics in Singapore.

It was amazing listening to Les. In Singapore, where the local newspapers’ sports desks consist of re-broadcasting foreign sports news, Redsports fills a crucial gap in the news industry. By covering the school/varsity sports scene he attracts the eyeballs of the youth population- most notably the 16-25 crowd who are in JC/Poly/Uni. The marketing opportunities of Redsports, if fully exploited, would be incredible- and knowing Les, the funds would probably be put into developing the sports scene in schools.

PS: I talked to Les about a few ideas on how to improve the usability of the site- and how to make it easier to crowdsource photos and articles- something like the Bleacher Report. If you’re an expert in web usability and are interested in helping the school sports scene drop me an email and I’ll put you in contact with Les.

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I recall visiting friends in NUS and SMU over the summer break, and the general reaction to me telling them I was now an engineer was one of “what?!” Many of them were studying business (or some combination thereof), and a great many harbored ambitions of going to work in a finance or banking outfit. The remaining lot either wanted to be doctors or lawyers, and some perceived engineering subjects as somewhat of a “dumping ground”. The few technology startups I saw were staffed by mostly foreign students.

It was in general a huge difference from what I was used to in Silicon Valley, where engineers are in the greatest demand by startups and corporations alike. Singapore’s push to become a financial hub has created jobs in the banking and finance sectors, but perhaps we have not yet developed a “dependable” technological innovation industry that makes us less suspect to the vagaries of global finance. The earlier Solow, and later Romer and Jones model of economic growth unanimously point to productivity growth (either through technological innovation, or more efficient allocation) as the key driver of sustained economic growth. Singapore arguably has a limit to which it can further reallocate its resources; thus technological innovation may remain Singapore’s long-term option for the future. And innovation does not mean research- it means research that can be spun off into start-ups (e.g. Google, etc) or sold as commercial technologies.

At this point it is interesting to look at another country which has done so. Israel, a country of relatively similar circumstances, has one of the largest technology industries in the world, as this fascinating article writes (it also includes a reference to Singapore, in a not-so-positive way). A quote from the article:

Israel’s economic growth has not been based on easy credit or a real estate boom, but on the technology-driven productivity gains that economists believe is the key to sustained economic growth.

Interesting stuff. Perhaps Singapore’s future lies away from her entrepot past- where the country’s fortunes were made on her being a hub for business, trade and finance- and instead lies in producing ideas, the new goods of the global economy.

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1. Thirty.sg: Crowdsourcing ideas for Singapore
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I admit visiting NUS was like being a resident tourist, a Singaporean being led on a tour of his own local university by a student from China. I noted the large number of foreign students in NUS (almost 30%, compared to Stanford’s 7%). The importance of these foreigners was only realized when I visited an incubator on campus- about two-thirds were foreigners working (or starting) different start-ups. Few Singaporeans, apparently, wanted to work in start ups.

Picture from Wikipedia.org

Foreigners in Singapore

Foreigners in Singapore remain a touchy subject to many, especially in a recession climate. The opposition to foreign talent stems from numerous quarters- much of it in the job market, where it is perceived that there are more privileges awarded a foreigner than a Singaporean like a blogger writes here. With no national service liaibility (40 days), no CPF and no “resign” privileges, foreigners are indeed a ‘good deal’ to employers in Singapore. Moreover, there is discontent that education scholarships and places go to foreigners, as described here. Many proposals have come up, including one that proposes that new citizens be made to learn English and undergo a modified National Service, though others have argued it is not practical. Another proposal suggests new citizens do community service.

In a way Singapore is not the only one struggling with foreigners in its societies (Silicon Valley itself does too, as this article illustrates). Singapore’s 1st wave of foreigners came  with Raffles’ free-immigration policy; perhaps we are now witnessing the 2nd wave of foreigners. Four key questions remain: to what extent we should open our gates, how we can integrate them as Singaporeans, and how we can get Singaporean society to accept them- all while balancing the last question of how Singapore can remain competitive in the race for global talent.

The first and last questions are ones that are beyond me. I admit I do not know how to answer the question of whether “should a government treat its citizens better than immigrants”, as it is a tenuous balance between the need to remain competitive and the natural wants of the country’s citizens. Is it too much? Is it just right? I don’t know. But perhaps there are other ways to make it less painful.

Another Way?

Perhaps there is a way both foreigners and Singaporeans can benefit. I went to an elementary school built by the Hokkien Huay Kuan, an organization founded by the immigrant forefathers of Singapore. Its earliest goals were to look after the welfare of the new immigrants, and later expanded to donating and contributing to Singapore as time went on (building schools, etc). Its role can be seen today in organizations such as New Citizens in the UK, which seeks the “active involvement” of new citizens in UK civic life.

I have asked many foreigners in Singapore whether they feel unwelcome in Singapore, and many do to some extent. But perhaps they are the only ones who can change that perception. Like the Hokkien Huay Kuan of years ago, perhaps they could come together to help each other ease into this country, and also do a little something for Singapore. It could be to help the poor in Singapore, or any other act of goodwill towards the Singaporean peoples. The root problem it might not solve, but at least it would make it less painful. Then again, the devil is always in the details- but only if!

(Would love to hear your comments or feedback!)

Related posts:

1. Anti-foreignism in Singapore, and the Bukit Batok Water Festival
2. Summer in Singapore
3. Engineering in Singapore?