Run from the Hippo

I made the bold move last year to leave a comfort zone and ventured out into the open waters. Friends around me had warned me that things out there are different. I was to believe that the sharks are all around and you will likely be bitten from your own kind.

Mentally preparing myself for all this…. Office politics and competitions are impossible to avoid in the private sector. After all I rather have that competitiveness than to be in a organization that endlessly protect the lazy and weak. I always obey the animal kingdom rule. The strong will survive.

I have been out in the shark infested waters for 8 months now and I am glad I have moved.

There was a fair share of people who goes around stabbing backs and some who was bolder (or foolish) to stab while you are facing them. There were plenty of smiling faces who have their hidden agenda. And of course there are friends among them I could trust.

Sadly, I have to find another water body soon. This little pond is running dry of water. Lots of fishes have left and there is a strong chance there would be a drought. On top of that, that hippo in my opinion, is making more and more bad moves. One of which has made me come into conflict with my former colleagues.

I seek to find an ocean this time. Small little ponds have a tendency to run out of water. Hope there is some good news in the coming days.

Privatising

During lunch, a colleague mentioned that the govt made a terrible mistake. They should not have privatise the transports. Giving that the situation now, the govt has to step in to pump in more money in order to keep the fare lows and the bus coy profitable.

However, I think the govt made a bigger mistake. They should have kept transport coy under their wing and should have privatise HDB instead. My colleague was shocked when he heard that.

I laid it out to him. Private coy always look at their bottom line. If they were to build something, they have to ensure they sell it and make money.  If HDB goes private, all developers out there will panic. HDB will go into building not just HDB, but Condos, landed, industrial, commercial etc.

It be the biggest developer out there. As such, all the other developers will have to drop their price in order to compete.

Of course, with HDB being in the private sector, the mass market low cost HDB will be priced higher. BUT the other sectors will drop owning to their entry.

In time to come, some developers will enter into the mass market HDB in order to protect their bottom line. This will create competition that is healthy for the first time buyers.

I guess in the short term, we will see lots of panic and price fluctuation. In the long run, we should see a better controlled property market.

Till then, I guess the govt will have to see if they are willing to let go of this golden goose.