SDU's role as Cupid comes to an end

In today's ST:

SDU's role as Cupid comes to an end

Govt matchmaker to hand reins to private agencies; it will accredit them

TWENTY two years, 42,400 successfully hitched singles - and a heap of scorn and bad jokes along the way.

Now, the Government's Cupid for graduate singles, the Social Development Unit (SDU), is hanging up its quiver and leaving matchmaking to the private sector.

It will not, however, quit the scene totally.

In an about-face from its early days - when the mere mention of it elicited a nudge and a wink, and when wags said its acronym stood for Single, Desperate and Ugly - the SDU brand now has cachet.

So its new focus will be on giving its stamp of approval to dating agencies and professional matchmakers, and on funding private-sector agencies and projects which promote dating.

The change in direction is perhaps a result of the national icon's acknowledgement that it has been unable to shake off its image as a state-controlled dating agency, and that private businesses will be better at helping the nation's singles pair up.

Yesterday, Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, under which SDU falls, said: 'We believe that the private sector is more creative and innovative. We hope it will play a bigger role in organising social interaction activities and offering dating services for singles.'

While SDU and its sister Social Development Service (SDS) for non-graduates had done well, 'there will always be singles who prefer a private set-up', she added. For the SDS, specially selected grassroots leaders will be appointed to take over the organisation of matchmaking activities.

Hahaha! Guess what! This news confirms what we all knew all along: the government cannot make it when it comes to match make couples!!!

This is an explicit admission that the govt's social engineering policies and attempts at getting Singaporeans to make love have been a failure.

Well, I'm glad I threw away all those SDU packets that they've annoyingly sent into my mailbox for the past couple of years... I don't need you stupid govt to tell me to date and to find a mate.

Expect to see more failed government initiatives being outsourced to the private sector. Why? Because the government cannot make it when it comes to things like this! Social engineering is a deluded policy set up by LKY and that is bound to fail, because the forces of nature are more powerful than any state administrator.

Seriously, isn't this obvious?

'there will always be singles who prefer a private set-up'

Anybody who has ever had any date knows that they don't like to have Daddy and Mummy watching over their shoulder. Except perhaps Lee Hsien Loong who has had Daddy to tell him who to date and who not to date - he and his wife Ho Ching are the ultimate engineered couple. But they don't seem very lovey dovey do they?

Well, most Singaporeans are not like him and are able to make their own decisions when it comes to choosing a mate. And I think they're a lot more romantic in their approach to love than the Lee family 'marry a woman who's more capable than you' utilitarian-logic approach.

Singapore does not need the Lee philosophy to dating. And this move by SDU proves it!

Singapore vs Hong Kong vs Shanghai as Financial Hub

Singapore makes a lot of noise about being a competitive financial centre - particularly a private banking hub with Swiss standard of private banking. But it seems that all the money is going to Hong Kong.

With the rapid growth of China, and multiple Chinese mega corporations having their IPOs lately, and the stumbling of Shanghai with huge instances of corruption (the former Shanghai governor was fired earlier this year for corruption), Hong Kong is emerging as the true financial centre of China.

Singapore, in comparison, picks up all the small bits and pieces with IPOs of small industrial Chinese companies with poor competitive positions.

A latest Knowledge@Wharton article confirms this:

"Most of the listed companies are state-owned. If you are a state-owned company listed in Shanghai you can't give your executives or directors [stock] options," Meyer says. "The Shanghai stock market has been on a long downhill slope for some time ... it also almost looks as if China has outsourced its capital markets to Hong Kong." He notes that the amount of capital raised on the Hong Kong stock exchange in the first half of 2006 -- fueled by Chinese company listings -- was greater than the amount raised in New York.

Hong Kong is effectively establishing itself as the New York of China - and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is becoming the New York Stock Exchange of the East.

Furthermore,

...Beijing also has learned in the last decade that "Hong Kong is a window to the rest of the world.... There is an advantage to keeping Hong Kong prosperous and not overshadowing it." Hong Kong has a deep talent pool of lawyers, accountants, traders, analysts and economists that can't be easily replicated in Shanghai, he adds.

And it also can't be easily replicated in Singapore. Despite Singapore's moves to be an private banking hub, the real bulk of the banking and financial services in Asia is going to be conducted in Hong Kong.

With massive IPOs, it only makes sense for fund managers and investment bankers to headquarter in Hong Kong where they can get access to the best companies. It doesn't make sense for fund managers to stay in Singapore, away from the action in Hong Kong.

And what about the argument that Singapore has a much cleaner environment and that Hong Kong is polluted and drives away talent? Well, Hong Kong is realising this and cleaning up its environment:

Environmental officials in Hong Kong have begun working more closely with mainland Chinese authorities and are posting pollution data on public access web sites. They have also sharply criticized Exxon Mobil for failing to install equipment to clean the smoke from dirty coal-burning electric units that supply Hong Kong with electricity.

"This is part of economic development," Rowse says. "Forty years ago, there were oxygen tanks on the streets in Tokyo. They cleaned it up." Hong Kong can't point its finger at China for air pollution "because much of it is coming from Hong Kong-owned factories. We're not innocent here." As for the threat of pollution to the city's growth, "Individual executives are very critical of the air, but the companies still know they have to be in Hong Kong to earn a profit."

The smog presents a temporary disadvantage to Hong Kong because employees don't want their families to have to breathe in polluted air. But with a strong resolve to clean up the air, Hong Kong should be able to fix this problem. Once it does it, its underlying structural advantages will establish Hong Kong as the financial centre of the East.

Some confusion over your philosophy, PAP?

"I believe at the end of the day, it is possible to create a society which is both competitive and compassionate"
-Vivian Balakrishnan

"...a well-educated university graduate who works for a multinational company should not be bemoaning about the Government and get on with the challenges in life. ... Some people cannot take the brutal truth"
-Wee Siew Kim

How ironic that just after Wee Siew Kim and his daughter establish that they are 'elite' and 'uncaring', Balakrishnan stands up in parliament to claim that the govt is building a 'compassionate' society.

Well they better start with their own MPs. Making such statements in parliament while your own party members make insensitive, uncaring and uncompassionate comments reeks of hypocrisy and is unacceptable for ministers and MPs who are amongst the highest paid in the world.

PAP, prove yourselves with actions, not empty words.

Building an Inclusive Society in Singapore

Indranee Rajah brought up several good points about groups of Singaporeans "not feeling included."

1. Those who drop of school at a young age and find it difficult to integrate into society because they cannot get into skills upgrading courses e.g. courses which require 'O'-levels are not accessible to those without the academic qualification - someone with relevant work skills and experience cannot attend a course which he/she is skilled or experienced in.

Her proposal was to remove this 'O'-level barrier for such courses, and to take into account relevant work experience.

2. Singaporeans (mostly males) with foreign spouses who cannot purchase a flat because the spouse is a foreigner - because policy makes it difficult for them to get a secure roof over their heads. So these Singaporeans find it difficult to settle down and have a family and... make babies.

Solution: Don't disallow them to rent the hdb flats altogether

3. Single unwed mothers who are not allowed to rent HDB flats - an outdated policy. MND does not want to encourage them to have babies out of wedlock.

Solution: Get the mother and child in a stable environment where the child can be educated and where the mother does not have to worry about extraneous circumstances

4. Can only rent if 2 singles above 35 - elderly's friends pass away and they cannot rent flat.

Solution: find rental housing for the elderly - integrate the elderly into the rest of society where there are young people etc.

All solutions proposed by Indranee are good ones, but there are deeper underlying structural problems with society and government that need to be addressed:

A. The first issue brought up about the O-level barrier is symptomatic of a society that has a myopic definition of talent and skills and only recognises academic performance, not practical life skills and other talents which are just as crucial to the functioning of a balanced society as are academic skills. In fact, given that the education system mostly focuses on dumb memorisation and rote learning, I would argue that those who have dropped out of school and have acquired real work experience and skills e.g. mechanics, cooks etc. have made better use of their time outside the education system than within it.

The focus on academic skills is simply too narrow minded and fails to take into take account multiple intelligences (musical, artistic, athletic, technical etc.) that make up a diverse humanity and that can contribute to the building of a richer society than a unidimensional one that is absurdly skewed towards 'scholars.'

It is this mindset that permeates the Singaporean psyche that needs to be purged and destroyed - and it is this mindset that is the real problem.

B. Issues 2,3, and 4 are HDB problems, and Indranee's proposed solutions are good, but they are only short term problems that, once again, attack the symptoms, not the underlying problems.

These problems arise because the government has this 'daddy knows best' attitude that is downright condescending, and often, completely wrong. It comes from misguided attitude that the government can socially engineer Singapore society into a utopia without single mothers and where the elderly find friends easily and where singaporeans only marry singaporeans.

What needs to be fixed is this arrogant attitude of the ministers who think they know everything, when in fact they only create more problems in the social fabric of singapore with their dysfunctional policies. Somebody needs to teach these people that the forces of nature are larger and more powerful than them and their arrogant 'philosopher king' attitude should be trashed. Lee Kuan Yew is one person in particular who harbours this attitude and the fastest way to see change in parliament is to kick the bugger out.

A longer term solution is to just abolish these stupid social engineering policies and just let nature take its course. The private sector and a free market can do fine to accomodate single mothers, foreign spouses, and the elderly. It does not need egotistical bureaucrats to mess things up - many of the problems Singapore faces could have been avoided if not for the meddling hand of the government.

All in all the government needs to be weakened and the private sector needs to get stronger. It is time for change to get under way.

And as can clearly be seen, the PAP's vision of a society where 'nobody is left behind' is so flawed, it's almost delusional. these groups of people are just a small number of the numerous groups are being left behind and Lee Hsien Loong had better get cracking on these problems in order to justify his cabinet's multi-million dollar salaries.

The Economics of Online Publishing

A.Blogging

Fragmented Industry

The blogging landscape is highly fragmented. The exceptionally low barriers to entry allow many individual bloggers to set up their own websites and start publishing straight away - this acts as a major deterrant against 'industry domination' or 'monopolisation of talent' that may be attempted by any individual website.

Furthermore, the multitude of topics that are available for blogging make it extremely difficult for any individual blogger or group of bloggers to be all things to all people. Instead, individual bloggers are given the opportunity to specialise in what they know best for their own tailored audience.

Blogging Strategy

With this in mind, the best thing bloggers can do is to try to specialise in specific topics and create their own niche. They have to differentiate themselves from others and have a unique blogging proposition (UBP). Those who are able to do so create a unique brand and following of readers which are able to tell the difference between a certain blog and other different blogs.

Successful blogs differentiate by

• tone of writing
• specialising in topic
• specialising in writing for a particular audience
• have a unique way of differentiating their content from other blogs
  

Strategic Traps

Trying to dominate the blogging landscape is a sure recipe for failure. This is because the underlying structure of a fragmented industry makes seeking dominance futile, unless the structure can be fundamentally changed. The low (virtually non-existent) barriers to entry into blogging make this an unlikely proposition. Trying to be all things to all people maximises the vulnerability of a website to the competitive forces of other bloggers who are able to specialise and focus and produce content in specific niches, much better than a website which tries to dominate, can.

Hence, blogs or other websites which try to create a 'one-stop shop' or to be all things to all people are almost doomed for disaster. Take for example this website which is trying to be a centre for opinion and commentary - it is fighting a steep uphill battle against the fragmented nature of online publishing and looks set to struggle unless it changes its strategy to address the fragmented nature of online publishing.

B. News Operations

Unlike blogging, news operations are not highly fragmented. This is because it takes massive investments and a large managerial effort to produce a coordinated news production operation. Websites like the newyorktimes.com and iht.com build off the platform which consists of a global staff of journalists and news production crew. The large economies of scale make news production operations a naturally consolidated industry - it is important to distinguish this feature from the blogging industry.

C. Online Magazines

Online magazines are somewhere in between the large scale news operations and the small scale fragmented blogging landscape. And because they are somewhere in the middle, the face both competitive forces from individual bloggers and the large scale news operations - online magazines have to clearly differentiate themselves in order to survive.

This can be accomplished when a group of writers with a common goal, and unified editorial style - band together. This can form operations like 'group blogs' which are clearly centered around particular topics, like this website. A set of common minds with a clear niche can succeed, without falling into the trap of trying to 'dominate' or to be a 'one-stop shop.' Successful group blogs can continue the evolution into online magazines where they can start to derive the benefits of scale economies, learning curves, and managerial efficiencies.

D. Conclusion

So, which category does your website fall into? Take heed of the strategic landscape and pitfalls, and take the write strategy to online publishing. And if you do so, you should find your hits rising rapidly, along with all the benefits that entails.

This essay is also published at SGE

Virgin's Corporate Strategy

1. Richard Branson and the Virgin Group

Virgin’s first and most obvious distinctive resource is Richard Branson and the ‘Virgin People’ that make up the organisation. Richard Branson’s charismatic style and entrepreneurial flair is an asset that other organisations are unable to replicate, and it is his personality that is synonymous with the Virgin Brand and that makes the company unique. Similarly, the Virgin group attracts ‘Virgin People,’ who are ‘only a certain type.’ Together with Branson, the Virgin People form the human capital that is distinctive to Virgin that is impossible for other firms to copy.

Related to the people who make up the firm, is the ‘Virgin culture’ that has been built over decades and that distinguishes the work environment within Virgin Group from other organisations. It is a culture that is ‘not looking for clones,’ that is ‘like a family’ and is one that requires employees to have the ‘Virgin Flair.’ These unique attributes present in Virgin employees meld together to create a distinctive corporate culture that only the Virgin Group can claim to have.

Richard Branson’s personality is synonymous with Virgin’s strong branding & reputation. The brand was ‘recognised by 96 percent of UK consumers’ and is associated amongst consumers with ‘fun, innovation, success and trust.’ Virgin has been able to sustain the Virgin identity across multiple businesses in a way that that very few other corporations have, and the pervasiveness of the Virgin brand creates unique brand equity that is difficult for competitors to replicate.

2. Corporate Synergies

The corporate strategy of the Virgin Group is to operate like ‘a venture capital firm based on the Virgin brand.’ This strategy involves non-related diversification at the individual business unit level. Meanwhile, synergies are created from hierarchical relationships and the interaction of the corporate head office with individual business units. By leveraging the Virgin Brand which has established prominence in the minds of consumers, Virgin is able to enter new business areas with a bang and shake up existing orders. The unique Virgin culture also allows Virgin to break into new markets and execute its ventures very effectively.

Virgin’s corporate strategy is best described in the Virgin Charter – the individual businesses are focused and develop as autonomous enterprises under a single unified brand name. This decentralization of organizational structure and decision making allows an entrepreneurial environment for managers to pursue their businesses effectively, while avoiding the bureaucracy associated with large centralised corporations. At the same time, the individual businesses benefit from the world-wide, inter-industrial reputation of the parent corporation’s Virgin brand and are able utilize this brand recognition in their marketing efforts. This benefit of corporate parenting would not be available to them if they were operating under their own subsidiary brands, and is perhaps the greatest source of synergy within the Virgin Group. In this manner, Virgin is able to enjoy the benefits of both smaller entrepreneurial organisations and large conglomerates without the associated problems of bureaucracy and brand conflict that can often feature in diversified corporations.

Furthermore, Virgin has been able to deal with the potential downsides of autonomy and decentralization. To prevent the breakdown of communication links and individual business units pursuing their own strategies in an uncoordinated fashion (that could potentially be detrimental to the umbrella Virgin brand), the Virgin Charter sets out a management system and internet business strategy that takes advantage of information technology and the digital age to further establish the Virgin brand. A single web address, Virgin.com, is where consumers can go to have access to all the Virgin services under a single portal. This strategy helps to reinforce the corporate parenting strategy and enhance the synergies already derived from the corporate branding of the Virgin Group. By aggregating all the services into a single Virgin portal, the customer is able to access multiple services through a single distribution channel, and is enticed to turn into a ‘Virgin Customer’ where he comes to Virgin for his telecommunications, banking, terrestrial and extra-terrestrial transportation (Virgin Galactic), entertainment and internet service needs. In this way, the disparate Virgin businesses are able to gain from the successes from their corporate siblings – Virgin Rail gains customers referred from Virgin Mobile visiting the Virgin.com portal, while Virgin Money gains customers referred from Virgin Records, and so on. In comparison, competitor banking companies would hardly dream of marketing their services to a music crowd, while competitor railway companies would be hard pressed to market to mobile customers of an unrelated company. Even though the individual business units are in unrelated fields, the unified corporate strategy allows them to contribute to each other in a synergistic manner.

3. Threats to Virgin’s corporate strategy

The success of Virgin Group hinges upon the corporate parenting strategy which is led by founder Richard Branson. The sustainability of Virgin Group’s competitive advantage depends on how well it continues to retain the Virgin culture and execute the strategy of decentralization under a unified branding. At least in the short run, with Branson continuing to lead the company, the strategy looks very strong and almost ‘unstoppable.’

In the longer run, however, Branson will have to put in place a strong succession plan and fill the corporate head office with executives who are able to understand and execute the Virgin Charter. While Branson himself might be irreplaceable, he can leave his legacy by ensuring that his vision is sustained through the Virgin Culture and Virgin People.

Virgin also has to ensure that it selects the industries it wants to enter very carefully. A single misstep could tarnish the Virgin Brand, and this could be disastrous for the group as a whole – unification under a single brand is a double-edged sword that can cut both ways. In addition, Virgin needs to continue to ensure that the individual business units perform in line with the greater Virgin brand, and not branch off in an unrelated manner. Doing so could dilute the Virgin brand if business units perform their operations in a way that lacks the fun, trust and quality that is associated with Virgin.

If Virgin is able to build a strong leadership engine, carefully evaluate future business opportunities, and retain the branding coordination between its diverse businesses, then its corporate strategy is well positioned to deliver a bright future for the company.

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References:

Dess, G., (2007) “Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages,” McGraw-Hill Australia

Dick, deVries and d’Avaucourt (2000) “The house that Branson built: Virgin’s entry into the new millennium,” INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France

This essay was also published at SGE

Lee Kuan Yew's Comment on the Marginalisation of Chinese - Looking Back

I exchanged an email with a Malaysian friend over LKY's comments and the events that have panned out since then. Here are his insights.

I think its undeniable that Malaysian minorities suffer a form of negative discrimination ( a kind of reverse affirmative action) when compared with the majority. And factually, it would be quite hard to counter-argue what LKY said about Chinese minorities being politically defanged as in Indonesia and Malaysia. So far at least from the mainstream media - most seem to denounce the comments as inciteful and dangerous, Most Malaysian Chinese however secretly seem to be in profound agreement with LKY - namely most are disappointed that Badawi seems to have extended the priviledges in the NEP without any signs of a change in policy. LKYs comments came right after several incidents that made the Malaysian Chinese community feel vulnerable esp. after the PM's son-in-law and head of UMNO youth made comments about MCA (the Chinese party in Barisan national) as well as a concerted effort by some UMNO youth members to get rid of a Chinese politican in Penang on charges of not doing enough for the Malay population there. I doubt most Chinese would disagree with LKY about the marginalisation of Chinese.

Personally, I think the marginalisation proceeds from a policy of appeasement by the Chinese community given that they have given up most of their political presence in order to safeguard their economic interest especially after the race riots in May 69. However currently they too are finding their economic positions being under attck due to corruption, biased quotas on licenses and being muscled out on govt contracts. No doubt the Chinese community (the wealthy ones at least) mantains its economic position through buying off politicians in order to obtain contracts and cheap loans but for most of the rank and file - their economic superiority is decreasing. I see very little that can be done currently however - but a current of discontent has always been present.

I think the political reactions are quite predictable - a delayed grudging apology on LKY's side, Badawi acting as the moderate good guy while more fringe elements of UMNO making loud noises about Singapore's treatment of its own Malay minority. Nothing suprising there - the newspapers make all the right noises mixing nationalist puff-talk while ignoring the biased accounts from their own sides. Politically nothing much has changed except the continuous illustration of the fact that regionally we remain below the standards of political civility and that we cannot transcend playing the race card and prefer to enflame its attendant suspicions. Though LKY started the whole incident, discrimination was and continues to be a problem in Malaysia - the roots are complex including the fact that Chinese politicans and businessmen (sometimes they are interchangeable as those that fuel continued corruption.) It disturbs me that because we unable to transcend such dialogue - we may be fated to realise its consequences in increased and more dangerous regional tensions.

As usual the Singaproean press was completely muted over the apologies demanded by the Malaysians and the Indonesians. I just think that even though LKY might be speaking the truth it was probably an unnecessary comment that adds to strained relations, esp. considering that its coming from an 82 year old man who should be finding better things to do during his retirement than to inconvenience his son's government by inflaming sentiments around the region.