Dear Friends,I attended my budget presentation meeting two weeks back. The budget has been revised many times and I found it ambitious to write the assumptions. Revenues are declining, or flat at best. The last grounds if the business does not thrive, is to look for ways to reduce expenses. For some sanity, this is where the mindset of hoteliers turn from driving profits to basic survival. Having been there in 1997, I understand how tricky it is to operate a hotel in times like this. Making those decisions, what to cut, what to keep, is one of the hardest parts.
Through some friends,I had a chance to meet Jessie Phua, a Member of Parliament from Singapore last Saturday. We were discussing about lifestyles and this led to the topic of recession. My last trip to Singapore was a few months back. I was window shopping and I noticed droves of people trying to enter into designer outlets. Yes, they literally needed to queue and I wondered to myself where was the recession? I shared this with Jessie and she jokingly said that these were not Singaporeans but Mainland Chinese, when I said that they were mostly dressed in shorts. The point I am driving here is, our friends from Kiasuland acknowledges that the recession has hit their shores and they have been taking measures to overcome.
Recessions always result in compressing the marketplace; that Sheraton and Hilton, full service hotels down the street will now be after my business. As the business pie shrinks, the number of hotels in my competition set will increase; everyone wants to propagate their slice of the pie. Hotels which present the best value to consumers will succeed, not hotels with the lowest rates. I had a meeting with my hotel EXCO members recently and I suggested not to press the panic button yet and they agreed. Resist the overwhelming urge to just reduce rates; that has never worked and usually starts the dreaded downward spiral.In my beloved Bolehland, I feel that we are still in rebuff. Never once has the authorities acknowledged that the recession has arrived. But, at least they apprehend that the economy needs to be stimulated. I find comfort reading in the papers today, that some RM3.2 billion worth of projects will be awarded this week. With this so soon after the mini budget, I guess the authorities are trying to demonstrate their seriousness in dealing with this crisis. I am also hopeful that they are really dignified about my well being rather than their own personal agendas. What struck me was when the Deputy Prime Minister said that he would make changes to the New Economic Policy (NEP) when he comes in power. Now, that is the true spirit of the NEP, which is to eradicate poverty among all races and not just the 'chosen ones'. At this moment, the policy is seen to profit only a certain thus the dissatisfaction amongst the rest.
I am hoping that the new 'Boss' will practice what he has preached. I am hoping to see a Cabinet that is credible and able to institute the reforms much needed. To the new 'Boss', please select a Cabinet that have the credentials to deliver the reforms and not some fanny licker that will probably do better as a Post Master. I am hoping that his government will wade through the current murky political scene with much meritocracy and not because it is some 'divine appointment' that it is now their turn.
'Enough - lah' with all these money politics, 'stop-lah' all the 'katak-ing' around, 'don't-lah' change-change the government that we have voted in. Like what Anas Zubedy has said, a truce is what is needed now.
A dim light at the end of the tunnel maybe visible if all that is 'affirmed' come true. I want to see clear directions for my beloved country and it will all be revealed this June, the 100 'litmus test' days of the new 'Boss'.
The basics never change and they never fail. Don't even think about going beyond the basics until they are learned and practiced until perfected. I see too many politicians who are anxious to get into the more sophisticated techniques without first nailing-down the most fundamental principles, first. Time is their most precious commodity; don't squander it.
Let the show begin.
The media encourages and amplifies this ostentatious consumption. Perhaps it is good to encourage people to spend more because this will prevent the recession from getting worse. I am not an economist, but wasn't that the root cause of the current crisis - Americans spending more than they could afford to?I am not a particularly spiritual person. I don't believe in the supernatural and I don't think I have a soul that will survive my death. But as I view the crass materialism around me, I am reminded of what my mother once told me: 'Suffering and deprivation is good for the soul.'My family is not poor, but we have been brought up to be frugal. My parents and I live in the same house that my paternal grandparents and their children moved into after World War II in 1945. It is a big house by today's standards, but it is simple - in fact, almost to the point of being shabby. Those who see it for the first time are astonished that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's home is so humble. But it is a comfortable house, a home we have got used to. Though it does look shabby compared to the new mansions on our street, we are not bothered by the comparison.
Most of the world and much of Singapore will lament the economic downturn. We have been told to tighten our belts. There will undoubtedly be suffering, which we must try our best to ameliorate. But I personally think the hard times will hold a timely lesson for many Singaporeans, especially those born after 1970 who have never lived through difficult times.No matter how poor you are in Singapore, the authorities and social groups do try to ensure you have shelter and food. Nobody starves in Singapore. Many of those who are currently living in mansions and enjoying a luxurious lifestyle will probably still be able to do so, even if they might have to downgrade from wines costing $20,000 a bottle to $10,000 a bottle. They would hardly notice the difference. Being wealthy is not a sin. It cannot be in a capitalist market economy. Enjoying the fruits of one's own labour is one's prerogative and I have no right to chastise those who choose to live luxuriously. But if one is blinded by materialism, there would be no end to wanting and hankering. After the Ferrari, what next? An Aston Martin? After the Hermes Birkin handbag, what can one upgrade to? Neither an Aston Martin nor an Hermes Birkin can make us truly happy or contented. They are like dust, a fog obscuring the true meaning of life, and can be blown away in the twinkling of an eye.
When the end approaches and we look back on our lives, will we regret the latest mobile phone or luxury car that we did not acquire? Or would we prefer to die at peace with ourselves, knowing that we have lived lives filled with love, friendship and goodwill, that we have helped some of our fellow voyagers along the way and that we have tried our best to leave this world a slightly better place than how we found it? We know which is the correct choice - and it is within our power to make that choice. In this new year, burdened as it is with the problems of the year that has just ended, let us again try to choose wisely. To a considerable degree, our happiness is within our own control, and we should not follow the herd blindly.
