TR EMERITUS

By Neil Gough from South China Morning Post What happens in Vegas may indeed stay in Vegas, but the fortunes of America's Sin City are becoming increasingly dependent on what happens in mainland China. The Las Vegas Strip finally showed signs of a turnaround late last year, snapping an unprecedented 22-month losing streak that saw casino revenues decline to their 2004 levels despite the addition of tens of thousands of new hotel rooms in the US gaming capital. But a closer look at the numbers shows that the tentative recovery has so far been one-dimensional, and it appears to be coming from an unexpected source: China. High-rolling baccarat players flown in from the mainland, which is awash in cash, appear to have single-handedly driven the recent turnaround in Vegas. Las Vegas Strip baccarat revenue - considered by analysts to be a proxy measure for high-stakes Chinese play - rose 26.5 per cent last year and 100 per cent in the fourth quarter. By contrast, revenue from Americans' beloved slot machines and all other casino games contracted 14.6 per cent last year and 11 per cent in the December quarter. That non-baccarat downtrend continues, as the strip's usual core clientele of domestic holidaymakers and corporate conventioneers are still reeling from the effects of the financial crisis. US unemployment remains high, many business travel budgets are still tight and consumer spending is unlikely to return ton its credit-fuelled binge levels any time soon. "Baccarat gains are likely a function of inbound play from China, where high-rollers have enjoyed the benefit of material real estate and stock market gains in 2009," says Bill Lerner, a Las Vegas-based analyst at Union Gaming Group. He said several major high-end strip casinos were prompted to increase betting limits by 30 per cent, to US$300,000 per hand, during this month's Lunar New Year holiday. Vegas has been courting high-rollers from Asia for at least the past three decades, particularly during Lunar New Year, but since the opening of Macau's casino market to US operators such as Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and MGM Mirage, the competition for China's gambling dollars on both sides of the Pacific Ocean has increased greatly. Read rest of article on SCMP  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent YPAP member Genesis Shen has expressed his concerns about the government spending "generously" on the middle and lower income families as announced in the recent Budget speech made by Finance Minister Tharman. In a comment posted on the YPAP Facebook, Genesis, currently a law undergraduate at NUS wrote that it may affect the PAP's long term policy of fiscal prudence: [Source: YPAP Facebook] Genesis claimed that the Singapore Budget has been "reliant" on the "Net Investment Income Contribution" from Temasek Holdings and GIC which have continuously generated income for "programmes" which benefit Singaporean families. He did not quote any examples of such programmes which are funded directly from Singapore's two sovereign wealth funds. Genesis also seemed to be ignorant of the fact that Temasek Holdings and GIC have lost billions of dollars in failed overseas investments which could have been better used to help needy Singaporeans. As expected, his one-dimensional, unimaginative and sycophantic comment to please his political masters have attracted similar expressions of "support" from other PAP members and supporters. Ibrahim Hassan added the Budget signifies that the PAP is listening to the people: "It is indeed heartening to note that the Government has finally decided to tighten the tap on immigration by increasing the foreign worker levy. This will level the playing field for our low-wage workers, and give them added incentive to compete with the foreign workers, who will eventually cost more for companies to hire......Although more can be done to tighten immigration flow, particularly at the middle-income brackets, this latest measure signifies a bold move in the right direction. The Government is listening to the ground." Chioh Hui Leong praised the PAP for a "great job" done: "Do not worry, I am sure with a higher educated population, Singaporeans are better equipped with knowledge for them to be more independent. Remember how we are when we are kids compared with these kids nowadays? They know so much things than us when we were young. We are already facing a global recession for the past year, if the govt still thinks that now is not the time, I wonder when exactly will the Time come?? Great job!" When asked by the media about their views on the Budget, all the PAP MPs interviewed were equally "impressed" by the Budget and sang in unison in support of it. In the eyes of these PAP members and supporters, it does appear that the PAP can do no wrong. If this is indeed the case, then why did the PAP now reverse its policies to "slow" the intake of foreigners after telling Singaporeans repeatedly over the last few years that we cannot do without them? How does it explain the billion dollar losses suffered by Temasek Holdings and GIC? Actually, Singaporeans cannot really expect the PAP MPs or the YPAP for that matter to speak otherwise. After all, they are paid $13,000 a month just to keep their mouth shut. As for Genesis and co, the safest way to move up the PAP hierarchy is to parrot whatever its leaders say.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent In its latest press release on 23 February 2010, the Reform Party issued a call on the PAP to widen the social safety net in Singapore and include all Singaporeans in the growth of the nation in response to the latest announcements made by Finance Minister Tharman in his Budget speech. While Mr Tharman waxed lyrical about boosting Singapore's labor productivity and increasing investments in R&D, he made no mention of providing an adequate social safety net for Singaporeans, especially those from the lower income group. Though GST was raised from 5 to 7 per cent in 2006 ostensibly to "help the poor", the income gap between the rich and the poor in Singapore has widened considerably over the last few years saved for the years 2008 and 2009 due to the decrease in the earnings of the rich caused by the global financial crisis. In fact, Singapore is the most unequal society among the thirty most developed nations in the world if Hong Kong is taken out of the equation. The situation is exacerbated by the ruling party's liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies which are making lives difficult even for the middle class. According to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, the relentless influx of foreign workers into Singapore has depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living, especially that of public housing, decreased labor productivity and led to an overall decline in the standards of living. The Reform Party opined that "the social safety net is very meagre compared with other economies at a similar stage of development yet far from improving our economic performance this has damaged it." While the ruling party can well afford to lose billions of dollars in failed overseas investments via its two sovereign wealth funds, it has been especially stingy with Singaporeans. It has always claimed that providing more social welfare benefits will create a "crutch mentality" in Singaporeans, thereby retarding their competitiveness. The Reform Party felt that "there is increasing evidence that very high levels of income inequality are correlated with undesirable outcomes in terms of a whole range of indicators of a society’s well-being." It calls for a series of measures to enlarge the social safety net for Singaporeans such as reducing the taxes on the less well-off, introducing a minimum wage, investing in a basic universal health insurance to replace Medisav, introduce universal, free and compulsory education from pre-school to secondary level, privatize Temasek and GIC to distribute equity back to Singaporeans and dismantle the GLC structure in order to adopt a more pro-active competition policy. It is highly improbable that the ruling party will dare to implement these changes as they will undermine their power base. Singapore's political system has been engineered by the ruling party deliberately to perpetuate its political hegemony of which control of the economy is essential. Unless Singaporeans vote out the ruling party from power one day, it will be impossible for any other political parties to reform Singapore's obsolete political economy which will have lasting repercussions on the future development of the nation.  Read More →