World Rice Shortage - is our Gov prepared ?
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what would the opposition have done?
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learn how to grow potatoes at home. go with beef steaks. yummy.
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For a small country, whose ruling politicians had formed the government for the last 45 over years, and had made a deliberately determined decision to be totally dependent on food import, it remains the moral responsibility of this same Politicians to be more pro-active in ensuring the continued stable supply of the staple food of all Singaporeans.
singapore isnt entirely totally dependent on food import....we do have a small food production capability despite our minute land size..... unfortunately... its little comfort to go around telling singaporeans that we can produce some food.. but not enough to be self sufficient.we have a very limited land size... short of throwing millions of our citizens into the sea... there is not enough arable land in singapore to feed every one of us.
the alternative to throwing millions of our people into the sea... is to obtain more land... land which are presently owned by our neighbours... you gonna ask us to go war?
if push come to shoves... i wont be surprised if countries do go to war over resources such as arable land... but its kinda extreme...
and if the cause of the global food shortage was nature... it makes even less sense to grab land that is no longer able to produce food due to other factors... though war could still be on the table due to the need to defend or rob food/weapon/energy stockpiles.
not many nations are able to self sufficient in food production... even countries the size of indonesia is dependent on imports of rice ,soya beans... during the asian financial crisis... singapore actually help to foot part of their bills for their food imports...
recent droughts in australia... also proves... that weather can seriously curtain food production irreguardless the size of your land...
so... the bottom line is... before you demand the govt to do something... at least ask yourself... if you are in their shoes.. what can you do about it? change the weather?
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No worries guys...
From ST website.. Posted on 29 March.
SINGAPOREANS need not worry about that next bowl of rice despite export cutbacks amid a global shortage and demand spike.
The country's rice supply is adequate, newly promoted Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran said on Saturday night.
Rice importers have enough in their inventories to ensure that there is no disruption in rice supply here.
Moreover, Singapore gets its rice from various countries. This diversification policy ensures that even if any one source is affected, there will be alternatives.
Singaporeans 'should not be unduly concerned.... The main thing for us is to just carry on with life as normal', Mr Iswaran told reporters at a lighting demonstration for the Formula One night race near the Padang.
His assurance came after the island's largest supermarket chain, NTUC FairPrice, raised prices of rice for three of its house brands last Friday.The supermarket chain has held back on raising its prices since the middle of last year, when the goods and services tax went up.
But world prices have jumped 50 per cent over the past two months and at least doubled since 2004.
Recent global grain prices have shot up 30 per cent but FairPrice is only increasing its rice prices by 10 to 15 per cent.
Read the full story in TODAY 30 MARCH' edition of The Sunday Times
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest+News/Singapore/STIStory_221857.html
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No worries carry on F1 night race waste electricity. More inflation coming your way. Does anyone in Singapore know about Earth Hour?
Also how much chicken rice / nasi lemak etc. price increase 15-20% as well?
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i want Earth Hour in sg leh.. sounds fun.. they countdown to zero den all black lol.. australia saved 1000 megawatts sia.. power..
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earth hour?? if you watch the news... you will know about it lor.. if not... then you wont.
wanna cut down of fossil fuel consumption? switch off your PC and keep it off.... -
Originally posted by tripwire:
singapore isnt entirely totally dependent on food import....we do have a small food production capability despite our minute land size..... unfortunately... its little comfort to go around telling singaporeans that we can produce some food.. but not enough to be self sufficient.we have a very limited land size... short of throwing millions of our citizens into the sea... there is not enough arable land in singapore to feed every one of us.
the alternative to throwing millions of our people into the sea... is to obtain more land... land which are presently owned by our neighbours... you gonna ask us to go war?
if push come to shoves... i wont be surprised if countries do go to war over resources such as arable land... but its kinda extreme...
and if the cause of the global food shortage was nature... it makes even less sense to grab land that is no longer able to produce food due to other factors... though war could still be on the table due to the need to defend or rob food/weapon/energy stockpiles.
not many nations are able to self sufficient in food production... even countries the size of indonesia is dependent on imports of rice ,soya beans... during the asian financial crisis... singapore actually help to foot part of their bills for their food imports...
recent droughts in australia... also proves... that weather can seriously curtain food production irreguardless the size of your land...
so... the bottom line is... before you demand the govt to do something... at least ask yourself... if you are in their shoes.. what can you do about it? change the weather?
Your reply confirms the present precarious position that Singapore is in, yet your solution seems to be heavily colored by the historical events that led to WW1 and WW2 - have you not learnt from the foolishness of those past colonial wars of economic hegemony ?
Originally posted by tripwire:
singapore isnt entirely totally dependent on food import....we do have a small food production capability despite our minute land size..... unfortunately... its little comfort to go around telling singaporeans that we can produce some food.. but not enough to be self sufficient.
From the available statistics for 2007 { http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/reference/sif2007.pdf } Singapore's food output can be found in the statistics for Manufacturing - the first item in the list being ''Food, Beverage & Tobacco'' - producing an Annual Value of S$5,223.5 million - that is only 2.226 percent from an Annual Total Manufacturing Output of S$234,609.3 Million.
The labor employed for this Manufacturing sector is 301.7 Thousands from a total labor force of 1,796.7 Thousand, or 16.79 percent of the labor force.
The food manufactured in Singapore will probably be the processed food, and the small but concentrated high rise agriculture in the Lim Chu Kang area.
Given the size of the labor force employed in this sector, and the dismal productivity compared with the numbers available from the other sector - surely more support can be given to increase the productivity levels ?
we have a very limited land size... short of throwing millions of our citizens into the sea... there is not enough arable land in singapore to feed every one of us.
the alternative to throwing millions of our people into the sea... is to obtain more land... land which are presently owned by our neighbours... you gonna ask us to go war?
Have I hinted anywhere in my postings about going to war, or has it been your position to seek war to grab our neighbor's land so as to maintain our own survival ?
What is the purpose and direction of your shock approach that is nothing more then sensationalising your own assumed speculative position than put any effort to take any position to address the situation ?
Are you certain that more land cannot be given for the purpose of achieving some degree of being less reliant on food imports - at least for certain essential foodstuff ?
Could we not do something for the Food Manufacturing Sector in the same manner as we have managed to produce NuWater to reduce the volume of water that need to be imported from Malaysia ?
Even in Japan, where land is more expensive and scarce, the Japanese Government has never attempted to remove the rice farms nor reduce available land for agricultural unless it has to give way to infrastructure - as in the construction of Narita Airport.
if push come to shoves... i wont be surprised if countries do go to war over resources such as arable land... but its kinda extreme...
and if the cause of the global food shortage was nature... it makes even less sense to grab land that is no longer able to produce food due to other factors... though war could still be on the table due to the need to defend or rob food/weapon/energy stockpiles.
Are you still living in the 1900s, when it is common for countries to make land grabs to extend their own economic control over raw materials and markets ?
It is little comfort in your belief that ''it is kinda extreme'' - but what solution do you have to address the food shortage besides all the shocking sensational statements ?
not many nations are able to self sufficient in food production... even countries the size of indonesia is dependent on imports of rice ,soya beans... during the asian financial crisis... singapore actually help to foot part of their bills for their food imports...
recent droughts in australia... also proves... that weather can seriously curtain food production irreguardless the size of your land...
Australia and Indonesia are two different basket cases - even as Australia had encountered problems with drought, it remains self-sufficient to feed its own population living in the limited areas that can accomodate people along the West Coast, North-eastern, Eastern and South-eastern areas of the Australian land mass that remains largely uninhabitable.
The inability of Indonesia to feed its own is due very much to its own politics, social and cultural aptitudes; and the corruption that is endemic within its system that lock them in a perpetual path towards poverty.
Philippines used to be the leading rice exporting countries in the 1950s through the 1960s, but through decades of corruption and inaction during the Marcos rule, its position was overtaken by Thailand and Vietnam. Its present position is no different from Indonesia, with both countries having an inefficient production management system, and a non-existent or ineffective birth control program.
China and Korea - as well as the USA - have been self-sufficient in most of their essential foodstuff, and importing little to meet domestic needs for those essential foodstuff, and this ability to meet their own needs remains consistent despite the natures rough abuses on their respective territories.
so... the bottom line is... before you demand the govt to do something... at least ask yourself... if you are in their shoes.. what can you do about it? change the weather?
If you had carefully considered what you have read in my post dated 29 March 2008 at 10.19 P.M - on Page 4 of this thread, before making your first response to this topic that came immediately below my post - perhaps you would not have asked what can I do about it if I were in the shoes of this Government.
The answers to your question were already given.
While we may not directly affect the weather, surely you will be able to apply some of your creative speculative skills in artificially creating and controlling the needed climate for our own comfort and security levels ?
With the advancement in science and technology, you may have a role to be a ''mini-God'' and control your own weather.
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SAF is the doomsday contigency plan that's good to hear.
Who is seriously worried about rice shortage other than the economic effect on inflation? Its not a FOOD shortage. Problem is Asians love rice. Suprisingly Jap rice price supposedly go down in Japan; dont know about import price. Personally like Jap short grain rice.
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Here got Earth Hour.
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Not during F1 night race, night race testing, night race qualifiers etc. You know Melbourne is willing to sacrifice F1 because of the electricity costs of night racing?
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Originally posted by Uncle Ver SG:
Not during F1 night race, night race testing, night race qualifiers etc. You know Melbourne is willing to sacrifice F1 because of the electricity costs of night racing?
If its not viable for them to do it then that's their problem and not ours ?
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Sure its Singapore's problem and cost to bear. If the ROI doesnt work out in the long term, whos going to take responsibility? Btw, I watched MotoGP night race Bahrain: not impressive.
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this is what u get for having too much educated people... no suprise.. goverment forces everyone to study but nv think for the food industry... those chicken who will breed and take care of them scienctist?
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Originally posted by Uncle Ver SG:
Sure its Singapore's problem and cost to bear. If the ROI doesnt work out in the long term, whos going to take responsibility? Btw, I watched MotoGP night race Bahrain: not impressive.
erm..so what you want now ?
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Melbourne is already losing a lot of money. $33 billion of tax payer money. + night race even more. If Singapore faces the same kind of losses, who will come forward and take responsibility? Mah Bow Tan will do a WKS.
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Originally posted by Uncle Ver SG:
Melbourne is already losing a lot of money. $33 billion of tax payer money. + night race even more. If Singapore faces the same kind of losses, who will come forward and take responsibility? Mah Bow Tan will do a WKS.
Now WKS is like those terms they use on Ocean's 11 to name con jobs.WKS: committing a mistake by letting a suspected terrorist doing a toilet con job, then go on camera to tell everybody to forget about it and work together,
then start a committee of inquiry to put the blame on some junior officer.
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Wong Kan Seng got a mention on Wikipedia.
On 27th February, an alleged JI leader escaped from the Whitley detention centre, leading to the largest manhunt in Singapore. Wong apologised in Parliament for the escape on the next day after the occurence. He revealed that Mas Selamat escaped when he was being taken to the toilet before a meeting at the Family Visit Room[5].
Criticism has been directed towards Wong Kan Seng, the Minister of Home Affairs in Singapore, with regards to the fact that news of Mas Selamat's escape was not disseminated to the public until 4 hours after its occurrence[6]. There have been calls for Wong to step down, given the severity of the security lapse. The fallout has also been exacerbated over the public's outrage over the major pay hike for MPs in Singapore.
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To be frank, I think to make singapore not reliant on food from other sources is impossible.
It is not like like making Japan not reliant on food from outside (they need to import food heavily too) They r much bigger and less densely populated than singapore in tis case.
Asking singapore to be self reliant on food is as difficult as making the city of Tokyo self reliant on food.
Which major city in tis world can actually be self reliant on the city itself on food ? It is impossible. No one even wanna try. Even if u use up some land to make agriculture, the land price is too expensive and the food is not gonna be cheaper than buying from other sources. Even if we bulldoze all the buildings down, the land size if not enough for us to be self reliant anyway and we still starve to dead if other sources of food stop their import. So wat is the point ?
R&D have its limit as well. Food need land, time, sunlight and manpower. We do not have land. Then it is game over. If u compare with water, it just need a water sources. Even if u can make food out of no land, it will be so heavily modified and chemically laden tat it is not popular nor healthy to eat. People r going for organic food now, not chemical food.
Furthermore, research in agriculture have gone for centuries and even if u give it another 10 years, there will be little improvements to it. It is already a matured field of science. U want tomato to look redder it is redder. U want mushrooms to be bigger it is bigger. U want chicken wings the size of your fist it is already done. Do u wanna pump in billions of dollars of tax money into something which have no outcome ? I think it is futile.
Asking singapore gov, who have totally no experience in agriculture and food to take a world leader role and pro active role in argiculture and food issue, is like asking babies to teach their grandmother how to plant rice. To be frank, most countries in the world have more qualification than singapore.
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Your reply confirms the present precarious position that Singapore is in, yet your solution seems to be heavily colored by the historical events that led to WW1 and WW2 - have you not learnt from the foolishness of those past colonial wars of economic hegemony ?
mankind has been fighting for resources since recorded times.... and last i check... its still the same in this modern day and time... as nations jeolously guards their border and their resources within.the only reason that is holding back every nation from conquering their neighbours is simply because its cheaper to trade than going to war.... when there are excess resources for sale.
wat if there is a global shortage??? are we suppose to believe that you will gladly see your family starve or thirst to death because its "smarter" than going to war to obtain those resources your family needs like those past colonial wars of economic hegemony?
From the available statistics for 2007 { http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/reference/sif2007.pdf } Singapore's food output can be found in the statistics for Manufacturing - the first item in the list being ''Food, Beverage & Tobacco'' - producing an Annual Value of S$5,223.5 million - that is only 2.226 percent from an Annual Total Manufacturing Output of S$234,609.3 Million.
The labor employed for this Manufacturing sector is 301.7 Thousands from a total labor force of 1,796.7 Thousand, or 16.79 percent of the labor force.
The food manufactured in Singapore will probably be the processed food, and the small but concentrated high rise agriculture in the Lim Chu Kang area.
Given the size of the labor force employed in this sector, and the dismal productivity compared with the numbers available from the other sector - surely more support can be given to increase the productivity levels ?
lets be honest... food is a low price goods compare to the price of a PC chip... one laptop computer is easily worth 1500 plates of chicken rice. thus its no surprise to the learned minds that the value of singapore food output could not possibly constitute a major proportion in the overall GDP.to produce sufficient output in food production to match the output value of other manufacturing sectors requires massive amount of land... a luxury that singapore do not have.
considering the high opportunity cost of farming in singapore due to our lack of arable land... its insane to put food production above that of other more high value goods production.
Have I hinted anywhere in my postings about going to war, or has it been your position to seek war to grab our neighbor's land so as to maintain our own survival?
What is the purpose and direction of your shock approach that is nothing more then sensationalising your own assumed speculative position than put any effort to take any position to address the situation ??
just in case you have not realised... let me remind you that food production requires land... lots of fine arable land... do you see that in singapore?
Are you certain that more land cannot be given for the purpose of achieving some degree of being less reliant on food imports - at least for certain essential foodstuff ?
Could we not do something for the Food Manufacturing Sector in the same manner as we have managed to produce NuWater to reduce the volume of water that need to be imported from Malaysia ?
sure we can give abit more land to the agriculture sector... but as we face ever rising opportunity cost... we would not be even one step closer to self sufficiency... at least realise that part.
with regard to water from malaysia... we were blessed with access to unlimited water from the sea and the sky... tell me friend.. where can i find unlimited land in singapore?
Even in Japan, where land is more expensive and scarce, the Japanese Government has never attempted to remove the rice farms nor reduce available land for agricultural unless it has to give way to infrastructure - as in the construction of Narita Airport.
for your information... even japan have grudgeingly accepted the fact that they have become more and more dependent on food import to meet demand... the recent food poisoning has brought that much to light if you have follow the news...
Are you still living in the 1900s, when it is common for countries to make land grabs to extend their own economic control over raw materials and markets ?
It is little comfort in your belief that ''it is kinda extreme'' - but what solution do you have to address the food shortage besides all the shocking sensational statements ?
ask the lion if he will starve his cubs to preserve the lives of his preys.... we live in a finite world with limited resources... with an exploding population... its a matter of time before one side must give... which side would you sacrifice? yours or others?
Australia and Indonesia are two different basket cases - even as Australia had encountered problems with drought, it remains self-sufficient to feed its own population living in the limited areas that can accomodate people along the West Coast, North-eastern, Eastern and South-eastern areas of the Australian land mass that remains largely uninhabitable.
The inability of Indonesia to feed its own is due very much to its own politics, social and cultural aptitudes; and the corruption that is endemic within its system that lock them in a perpetual path towards poverty.
Philippines used to be the leading rice exporting countries in the 1950s through the 1960s, but through decades of corruption and inaction during the Marcos rule, its position was overtaken by Thailand and Vietnam. Its present position is no different from Indonesia, with both countries having an inefficient production management system, and a non-existent or ineffective birth control program.
China and Korea - as well as the USA - have been self-sufficient in most of their essential foodstuff, and importing little to meet domestic needs for those essential foodstuff, and this ability to meet their own needs remains consistent despite the natures rough abuses on their respective territories.
and wat is holding back singapore from being self sufficient? where is our massive INVISIBLE chunk of arable land may i ask that i kept failing to notice?If you had carefully considered what you have read in my post dated 29 March 2008 at 10.19 P.M - on Page 4 of this thread, before making your first response to this topic that came immediately below my post - perhaps you would not have asked what can I do about it if I were in the shoes of this Government.
The answers to your question were already given.
and thus i ask you my martian friend... how is the weather back on mars?
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Originally posted by stupidissmart:
To be frank, I think to make singapore not reliant on food from other sources is impossible.
It is not like like making Japan not reliant on food from outside (they need to import food heavily too) They r much bigger and less densely populated than singapore in tis case.
Asking singapore to be self reliant on food is as difficult as making the city of Tokyo self reliant on food.
Which major city in tis world can actually be self reliant on the city itself on food ? It is impossible. No one even wanna try. Even if u use up some land to make agriculture, the land price is too expensive and the food is not gonna be cheaper than buying from other sources. Even if we bulldoze all the buildings down, the land size if not enough for us to be self reliant anyway and we still starve to dead if other sources of food stop their import. So wat is the point ?
R&D have its limit as well. Food need land, time, sunlight and manpower. We do not have land. Then it is game over. If u compare with water, it just need a water sources. Even if u can make food out of no land, it will be so heavily modified and chemically laden tat it is not popular nor healthy to eat. People r going for organic food now, not chemical food.
Furthermore, research in agriculture have gone for centuries and even if u give it another 10 years, there will be little improvements to it. It is already a matured field of science. U want tomato to look redder it is redder. U want mushrooms to be bigger it is bigger. U want chicken wings the size of your fist it is already done. Do u wanna pump in billions of dollars of tax money into something which have no outcome ? I think it is futile.
Asking singapore gov, who have totally no experience in agriculture and food to take a world leader role and pro active role in argiculture and food issue, is like asking babies to teach their grandmother how to plant rice. To be frank, most countries in the world have more qualification than singapore.
lol.. our MPs can teach other countries how to earn big money..
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Originally posted by purpledragon84:
what would the opposition have done?
You will know when they take over the gov. -
"ask the lion if he will starve his cubs to preserve the lives of his preys.... we live in a finite world with limited resources... with an exploding population... its a matter of time before one side must give... which side would you sacrifice? yours or others?"
Its every man for himself when that occurs. My side doesnt include LKY slaves. You will see plenty of assassinations and coups my friend.
It will be quite like the French Revolution when Ho Ching says "Let them eat gui" when everyone else is starving. I mean they are paid millions now already arent they; what do you think will happen when bad times occur?
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"lol.. our MPs can teach other countries how to earn big money.."
Everyone knows how to make money from monopolies and when you have inside information and government agencies collecting commerical data from your privately run rivals. They cant teach people to innovate or make anything useful though...