1) don’t worry about having no rice in Singapore, our trusty government will never let that happen. oh, you mean people are stocking up rice because the prices are gonna be higher? ohhhh…then better continue stocking up cos the backup rice supply is not going to become a mechanism to keep prices down. rice is still gonna become more expensive. for the low-income group people, don’t worry! the GST offset package is about to save your life in July. it can buy you a year’s supply of rice! no, wait. wasn’t the GST offset package supposed to help everyone with the increase in GST and not inflation?

what’s growth dividends anyway? am i eligible for that? i seriously have no idea and i can’t keep track, with so many different schemes to help needy people like me. i’m gonna be unemployed and utterly broke in july.

2) plenty of ways we can spend money and we choose to develop a place that is constantly developing. yeah, i know Orchard is the MAIN shopping belt every tourist has to visit and stuff like that, but the way they have to make every tourist destination state-of-the-art simply reminds me why there are no historical districts in Singapore. to the people in charge of planning and developing Singapore, the very few few-decades old buildings and handful of barely-a-century-old buildings scattered around seem to suffice as historical value.

3) fortunately we’re not only spending on town areas. the government has decided to invest in Jurong! oh wow! Jurong will no longer be The Industrial District and All Places Weird of Singapore! i cringe when i think of the Discovery Centre, the Science Centre, the abandoned Tang Dynasty, etc. finally, the place i’ve lived in all my life would no longer be the kampung of Singapore. that is, if all things turn out well and Jurong doesn’t become a white elephant. i mean, a place in the extreme west is a place in the extreme west and i guess i’m not overly confident about how things will turn out.

one point remains baffling: they want to build 2,800 hotel rooms in Jurong in anticipation of visitors? who the hell would want to rent a hotel room which is so far away from everything else? turning Jurong into a commercial hub doesn’t mean it will become popular with tourists right? or maybe Jurong hotels will become the popular place for business travellers cos hell, it’s just next to Tuas where a lot of MNCs are located, you know? like the time i was stunting as a receptionist at The Office and this overseas business visitor called in advance to ask if there were any hotel rooms within 30 minutes drive from The Office. hurhurhur.

4) now that Jurong is gonna be the location, maybe those who had rejected HDB flats in Jurong would change their minds. better to buy them cheaply now and sell them a decade later when prices rise. for the next ten years, just tahan a bit and travel to town more often lor. maybe that’s what they mean when they say there’s no housing shortage in Singapore, there are still plenty of vacant flats in Jurong available. all along there were plenty of flats in Singapore hor, this very same guy said it’s because applicants were fussy whaaat; want good location, good price, good schools, etc. etc.

5) am i the only one who doesn’t remember any problem gambling campaigns before the IR was decided upon? the IR is still far, far off from operating and there are like, a million and one campaigns for problem gambling. problem gambling is a problem Singaporeans should never have. we must have a casino in Singapore so that we can attract more visitors, but don’t get negatively influenced by all the evils yeah? Singapore Pools not that bad an influence what, they only offer 4D and Toto and Big Sweep and soccer betting and dunno what. not as sinister as a casino mah.

6) lastly, duh. young, affluent Singaporeans expect world-class standards. world-class standards of what? are they sure it’s only young and affluent Singaporeans? i’m young but not affluent and i expect world-class standards also what. i thought being affluent wasn’t a criteria to become a world citizen? strange, strange.