foreign manpower tightening

[JR8]

Thought we were running out of fossil fuels? New technology means Britain and the U.S. could tap undreamed reserves of gas and oil

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... s-oil.html

[offshoreoildude]

There's a very useful ratio to keep in mind with these new discoveries.... energy return ratio (called other names as well). Essentially the energy ratio between the energy found or recovered and that expended to get the energy. Conventional oil is about 5000:1. Shale 40:1. Tar sands is very low I believe as well. Some bioethanol processes are actually as low as 1.4:1 and there are some arguing that biomass is actually reversed at 0.7:1.... I'd be interested in knowing what the energy recovery is for these new finds.

[Brah]

Some news for the day, some a few days old:

Want Job Security? Move to Dubai
http://news.efinancialcareers.com/sg-en ... -to-dubai/

More Graduates Shun Investment Banking
http://news.efinancialcareers.com/sg-en ... t-banking/

Top Technologists Turning Away Investment Banks
http://news.efinancialcareers.com/sg-en ... ent-banks/

[ScoobyDoes]

I thought i would bring this one back from the dead......heck, it's a new year with the same problems, right? Happy New One, by the way.

I did say some time ago, in a thread somewhere that I can't find, that if Singapore follows the West down the road of teaching kids they can do no wrong, they are the best at everything and we will never make them 'feel bad' about themselves because it's demeaning then the importation of foreign labour here is inevitable. This is based on the fact there won't be any locals left to do those kind of jobs......they think (and already do) they are above that!

I found this article on the BBC website very informative. You have to bear with it cause it feel longer than War & Peace but it is a good insight into where local culture is heading.

One line I think deserves attention in this thread's discussion.....


"An intervention that encourages [students] to feel good about themselves, regardless of work, may remove the reason to work hard," writes Baumeister..


You might like to take the Narcissistic Personaility Test I tried to answer as honestly as I could and I was pleased I scored below average narcissistic tendancies, with just a score of 8. Sorry, was there too many 'I' in that sentance

[JR8]

Hi Scooby,

Did you forget to include the link to the article?

If so can you repost it please?

Thx!

[Mi Amigo]

Happy New One from me too. Here's the article that Scoobs was referring to; makes interesting reading IMO:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20756247

I scored 7 on the Narcissistic Personaility Test. For me, overcoming the shyness of my earlier years and developing the self confidence to take on new challenges was something that took me many years to achieve. Even now I still have doubts about my own abilities from time to time. Growing up in a working class area of London in the 60s gave me the feeling that my early schooling was geared to preparing us for a life on a production line or similar. (Not that there's anything inherently wrong with working on a production line, but you get my drift). I distinctly remember being told by a teacher that I was lazy and would never amount to anything. The 'lazy' tag may have been true for all I know but in any case the school wasn't exactly a motivating environment.

Seeing my own children come out of school with tons more self confidence than I ever had at their age has been a very rewarding experience for me. The difficult part (I believe) is to balance this self confidence and willingness to take on new challenges with a sense of modesty and realism - we can't all be brilliant at everything and need to instill in young people the realisation that it's OK to say, for example, "I don't know (but I'll find out)." Fortunately I think my own children are quite balanced in this way, but I believe an education system does a dis-service to its students when it makes them believe they are all omnipotent superstars. That's propbably just as potentially damaging as grinding down their self esteem as used to happen sometimes in the olden days.

[JR8]

----------------------------------
"What's really become prevalent over the last two decades is the idea that being highly self-confident - loving yourself, believing in yourself - is the key to success.

"Now the interesting thing about that belief is it's widely held, it's very deeply held, and it's also untrue.

This bewitching idea - that people's lives will improve with their self-esteem - led to what came to be known as The Self-Esteem Movement."
------------------------------------

Very interesting. I scored a measly 5! Perhaps I'm suffering from Self-doubt Personality Syndrome or something

I'd be interested to retake this in the summer, as the depths of winter in Northern Europe can be very bad for the soul (aka Seasonal Affective Disorder)
http://www.mind.org.uk/help/diagnoses_a ... e_disorder

This also applies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSM-IV_Codes
These are the professional diagnosis codes for all the recognised personality disorders.
NPD is here (hidden away under the chapter under 'Axis 2 disorders')
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissist ... y_disorder


The other related subject is 'personality types' (not disorders, this is about what kind of personality type you are, your strengths/weaknesses, ego etc.
This describes the Myers-Brigg Personality Indicator test.
http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-pers ... ti-basics/
You can take the test >>> https://www.mbticomplete.com/en/index.aspx


p.s. And no I'm not some kind of nutso I had to learn about the DSM-IV to protect myself against someone capable of doing extreme evil against me, and as I think I said a while ago, even the existence of recognised PDs was both an epiphany and a life-saver. It just helps one understand people better.

Understanding my MBTI type was taught when I was in outplacement or what-ever they call it. I.e. When you get sacked/canned/retrenched, and your ex-employer funds an agent that provides workshops and coaches and mentors you in finding another job. It was about recognising your true strengths and weaknesses, and hence directing your search in that direction (perhaps a parallel to the book 'What colour is your parachute?' Just the MBTI is the professional test).

[Brah]

The other related subject is 'personality types' (not disorders, this is about what kind of personality type you are, your strengths/weaknesses, ego etc.
This describes the Myers-Brigg Personality Indicator test.
http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-pers ... ti-basics/
You can take the test >>> https://www.mbticomplete.com/en/index.aspx

p.s. And no I'm not some kind of nutso I had to learn about the DSM-IV to protect myself against someone capable of doing extreme evil against me, and as I think I said a while ago, even the existence of recognised PDs was both an epiphany and a life-saver. It just helps one understand people better.

Understanding my MBTI type was taught when I was in outplacement or what-ever they call it.

So which is your MB type? Mine is ENTJ, the Field Marshall, and I've tested this way consistently 5 times over a few years. But I'm not so sure I'm really a Field Marshal: http://www.keirsey.com/4temps/fieldmarshal.asp

While I do like and do dabble in this kind of self-evaluation, I remain unconvinced, even though MBTI has been around a long time and has been used by many prominent people. I spent a lot of time reviewing each of the 16 types, and I actually printed out each profile, highlighted for each in different colors the traits I identified with and didn't identify with, and I had marks of both colors on all 16 profiles. I think we all would.

DiSC is another tool gaining traction in business, it' simpler that MBTI (4 types vs. 16): http://www.123test.com/disc-personality-test/ . Like MBTI it's meant to be used to understand how to work with other types.

"I don't know (but I'll find out)." - I wish I had the courage to say that when I was younger, or starting out in my career, as that was how I felt but the words never came out that way. Plus it's also how you say it, and better to not be over-confident or cowering when saying it. Some of this stuff is so simple, but some of us learn it too late in life.

Ironically, what I've witnessed in Singapore is people attempting to faff their way though things they clearly don't know, when all they really have to say is, "sorry, I don't know", because we can see that from a mile away. In their cases it's not a false confidence thing, it's a fear of showing a weakness thing. Which is a fatal weakness.

[JR8]

I think I was INTP, but to be honest I did the test a looong time ago and 'the scientist inside me' says I should do the test afresh before making that statement

From your link, I suppose that makes me 'Architect'. But as an Architect I prefer to use the DSM-IV which is clinical [sic] than a site such as this which seems to want to smother you in flattery.

The thing with MBTI is you will tick boxes on all types (after all you can't characterise everyone in the world in just 16 types) , but I think the point is to find which type you believe best describes you.


re: the Keirsey test:
A/Compliance - 41%
B/Influence - 32%
C/Steadiness - 27%
D/Dominance - 0%

Don't know but that sounds rather alarming to me

[excessuk]

I scored 21

[JR8]

Hey.... maybe we both got Auto-traumatic Personality Disorder ah?

[JR8]

But more seriously, life is more complicated than 'completely normal', and, 'in the looney bin'. There are 20 shades of grey between.

And many people who are 'bonkers' who expend all their waking effort to 'appear, and so be normal, and battle to get through a day'. THAT latter point was a big awakening to me as a naive young idealist....

[Sergei82]

ppl, Im a bit pissed off. A little bit of off-topic is fine, but its taking too long already. Manpower tightening is very important subject (at least to me). Please, create a separate thread for ur recent discusson.

[Sergei82]

ppl, Im a bit pissed off. A little bit of off-topic is fine, but its taking too long already. Manpower tightening is very important subject (at least to me). Please, create a separate thread for ur recent discusson.

[JR8]

Fair point Sergei.

On the old boards I mod'd the rule of thumb was 'Everything goes off topic within 8 posts'.

But you're right,people should be jolted back to the topic title. So point well made.