12/25/2013

A thought for Christmas



Hsien Loong was reported to have said that the riot in Little India was ‘a good reminder to Singaporeans that even in a stable society, such an incident can happen’. And he added that what was important was ‘to have a Home Team that can deal with the situation in a calibrated, thoughtful and decisive way’.

I would like to look at it from another perspective with Christmas in mind. Many Singaporeans and Home Team officers may not be Christians but they too want to be home for Christmas, to enjoy the holiday with their families. And to expect and take it for granted that a riot would be a good reminder, and we are sure to have them, and what is important is to have the Home Team ready to deal with the rioting should not be the approach to this problem.

The key issue is not to create conditions to allow such riots to take place. And they are a host of obvious causes to this riot. These causes must be removed. And to fall back on a Home Team must be the last resort. Having our men there fighting and quelling a riot is risking their lives, and should the unfortunate happen to any one of them, no amount of kind words can ameliorate the pain and suffering of losing a loved one in the call of duty to the country.

Get rid of the causes and minimise the risk of putting our men in the front line. The best solution is prevention, not the cure, not to think it is ok to have riots as long as we have a Home Team to tackle them.

We want everyone, including the Home Team officers, to be home for Christmas. Every officer is a father/mother, son/daughter, husband/wife or sibling of someone and should not be put to unnecessary risk and harm if this can be prevented.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

riot in Little India was ‘a good reminder to Singaporeans that even when we pay millions in salaries to our Ministers, such an incident can happen’.

oldhorse42 said...

Our Minister visited the indian FWs at their dormitories to pacify and reassure them. Though some of them might have caused the riot in the first place.
Our PM breakfasted with the Home Team and praise them for the good work. Good work?
The sight of our HT officers hastily running for their lives in a fire engine which also crashed a police car, still etched deep in my mind.
The real victim in this sorry episode is the Chinese woman working for the bus company.
She was assaulted and picture of her swollen face appeared in the papers. Yet no VIP visited her or say any nice words for her.
Why? May be because she is a Singaporean?

Anonymous said...

Good observation.

Anonymous said...

/// Yet no VIP visited her or say any nice words for her. ///

Singaporeans are second class citizens.
Visit or don't visit, no difference.
She will still vote PAP tiok bo?

The power of PAP rests on 2 pillars.
Foreign workers and unquestioning sacrifice by Singaporeans.

Anonymous said...

We depend on NSmen to prevent any incident, in our conduct of foreign relations with our neighbours.

We screw them all the time (although not as hard as we do to the sinkies), knowing that we have sinkie men willing to lay down their lives to fight off any foreign aggressors.

Merry Christmas.

Saycheese

agongkia said...

@oldhorse
Have you seen how Sinkie aunties bully,harass,ill treat or boss their husband at home?
Sometimes those aunties who are use to ill treat and boss their hubby at home may tend to do so to others everywhere.
Its still early to say the Chinese woman is the real victim.

Anonymous said...

Rb: / The key issue is not to create conditions to allow such riots to take place. And they are a host of obvious causes to this riot. These causes must be removed. And to fall back on a Home Team must be the last resort. Having our men there fighting and quelling a riot is risking their lives, and should the unfortunate happen to any one of them, no amount of kind words can ameliorate the pain and suffering of losing a loved one in the call of duty to the country./

All these are plain HOLLOW words!!!

The seeds of recent troubles, possible near term failures and potential serious mid to long term failings were sowed in the 90s onwards.

Rb, whether you or anybody or the so called s(t)up(id)er "terrors", the causes and conditions are long planted and being added by the day.

Remove the conditions?

Remove what?

All are empty bullshit words.

Shame on them!

I suppose if anybody who does not wish to have "white hair send off black hair scenario and live in eternal sorrows", they probably may do well to re-evaluate the career options for their offspring.

Otherwise, to write or kpkb almost every single day about the hazards of working in some self-chosen occupation is not going to help much in the cause of alleviating the likely impending harsh realities to be faced by many sinkies.

Anonymous said...

Rb: / I would like to look at it from another perspective with Christmas in mind. Many Singaporeans and Home Team officers may not be Christians but they too want to be home for Christmas, to enjoy the holiday with their families. And to expect and take it for granted that a riot would be a good reminder, and we are sure to have them, and what is important is to have the Home Team ready to deal with the rioting should not be the approach to this problem./

To rb and some others, such may be what they wish in their hearts on Christmas Day.

This may be the "deepest" sorrow and regret in their hearts.

But, .......

There are many oldies in our midst working on Christmas day ....

...... toiling in food courts littered all over the island.

For many, no ot pay, no cpf contribution, no leave benefits, no nothing except less than even the most meagre pay .....

What is Christmas to them?

For some, if not many, they are paid a ridiculously low hourly rate of S$2 or S$2.50 or S$3.

Even after working for 5 hours on weekends and PHs, they are paid no more than S$10/= per day!

How RIDICULOUS!

All the "LEECHDERS" are not FIT to be where they are!

Bull to them.

SHAME ON THEM! ON CHRISTMAS DAY!

To bring such pain and sufferings to our elders, after 50 years of wtf economic progress, wtf inclusiveness.

Shame on them to build their everyday opulent luxuries on the back of such hapless old people who had helped to build up this place!

S(t)up(id)ers "terrors" are ungrateful ingrates who deserve all curse and no good wishes on this day!

They will live to see their offspring suffer from the horrible karma they planted.


Anonymous said...

From what is reported in the MSM, alcohol was blamed as the main cause of the riots. How true or how credible this argument is is left to be seen.

As for the other problems, deporting those responsible seems to be the easiest way out. Other underlying problems and causes have never been considered or looked at and have just been swept under the carpet, to be forgotten. Pray that those problems remain hidden because pent up frustrations can be a time bomb if not addressed.

Anonymous said...

"And to fall back on a Home Team must be the last resort."
RB

Their job is also to be ready as a first resort. And they are paid to do that but of course for NS men they are forced to do that at lower cost lah, tio bo?

Anonymous said...

What PM Lee want is economic growth, and not OK to have riots of course lah.

And what PM Lee is implying is that if economic growth can cause riots, then that is what a good Home Team is for, to deal with the riots lah.

So RB, please don't get confused hor.

Anonymous said...

If economic growth can cause riots, so be it lah.

And the solution is to get a good Home Team to deal with the riots if there is, not to slow down economic growth.

And pay well (exept NS men) to get a good Home Team. Just like pay well to get good ministers. It's the same logic.

b said...

This PM is just a toyboy for his FM and LM. Just look how he chickens around those two ministers.

b said...

Every word he speaks have to be approved by his FM/LM.

b said...

If KY is Emperor Qin, he is Qin Er Shi.

Anonymous said...

Emperor Qin is emperor of China.
Very big country lah!
LKY is only emperor of Singapore.
One of the smallest islands in the world.

And there is nothing Straits Times can do to change this fact.

Anonymous said...

As business cost rise higher and higher, business need to rely on foreigners more and more, from cheaper sources of the third world countries, which add pressure to the employers and foreign workers, these could resulting in foreign workers release their frustration somewhere?

With the world highest salaried ministers, possibly need the world highest indirect taxes to support them or find indirect taxes to support them, their pay is ten times that of the Nordic countries?

So business got to mitigate and find cheaper foreign workers and make them do more, as all the cost of indirect taxes they can't do much about it, what business can do is pressure the foreign workers to do more with less, as the levies or other indirect taxes increased and the inflation of more people coming in?

Tourist come is ok, they come to spend and went back?

If ministers salaries are reduce to that of the Nordic minister pay, we don't need so much indirect taxes and foreigners to support the economy, you can see all the side effect of relying on more and more foreigners? Because of the highest pay in the world, it need to import more new citizens to support their pay?

Oppositions need to spread the messages early and more, to talk to more new citizens, through door to door like Lee LI Lian in Punggol East Election?

More need to spread the messages across, everyone should help out to spread the message, don't wait until too late? They need to volunteering reduce their salaries to that of the Nordic, so Singapore don't need to to import so many foreigners, if one day foreigners are the majority.

What do you think, riots can be as frequently as the little India riot? We should wait until the days, those foreigners from the third world culture, if anything happen they can just go back to their countries, old Singaporean will be the receiving end? Now because of relying too heavily on foreigners to run the economy, more and more of the social ills creeping up, and the environment getting worse?

More and more oppositions need to co operate, united and reduce their differences, to make the main party a minority party so they can't change laws to suit themselves, Singapore future is at stake, It took many years to build up Singapore, it can be destroy by so serious rioting, SARS or so serious infectious diseases, which causes by overcrowding and overpopulation?

Singapore no resources but only it is in one of the most busiest place in the world, if any countries cut of their supply to Singapore because of various reasons, what will happen to Singapore, last with less citizens Singapore can cope with it, with more citizens can Singapore cope with it again, Singapore can't take too many chances?

Anonymous said...

All the levis, ERP, GST and COV etc are business cost, possibly one of the highest in the world to support the highest ministers salaries of the world, which is ten times that of the Nordic ministers salaries?

Business can't do much to these fixed costs, like Levis, ERP, GST and COV and other rising cost and inflation? To mitigate those rising fixed costs, they got to look for cheaper and cheaper foreign workers, which could increase the pressure on these foreign workers, as they will pay them lesser and want them to do more?

So with the frustration building up by the days, those foreign workers could will release their frustrations somewhere someday, if there is a single spark or catalyst, like the recent riot?

The leaders need to examine the real causes of the riot? More oppositions need in the parliament to reduce the main party to minority, so that they can't change law to suit them? Nordic countries do very well with their models of govt and little social ills, unlike Singapore, which many don't want to married or born babies due to worrying foreigner might take away their jobs. Jobs stability is one of the most important factor in getting married and born children?

More people need to spread the message to the new citizens, as they don't know much about Singapore histories, which all the glitter might not be the gold and got the shock of their life later as the increasing cost and indirect taxes, as more importing of foreigners need to run the systems and vote for them and to pay the indirect taxes to support them? As 500,000 permanent resident don't want to convert to Singaporean citizenship, they wishes only to make enough and went back to their countries to lower cost?

A few persons who spend all their CPF after the withdraw, is so pitiful that they got to be use as bogeyman for the rest who had withdraw their CPF and do well in life?

These few persons who had spent all the CPF, you think they can rely on the govt to support them like the Nordic, of course not they got to go back to work as usual as gardeners, cab drivers, security or cleaners?

But the sad things is that they were made used as excuses to lock away others CPF for life for the propaganda machines, if people able to withdraw their CPF at 55 as last time for emergency and they can get better dividends, recent survey saw Singapore blue chips give the highest dividends in the world?

Now they can't withdraw their CPF to improve their own life, and got to maybe use as funding to handouts to attract votes?

Anonymous said...

"The key issue is not to create conditions to allow such riots to take place."
RB

If I were PM Lee, the key issue is not to create conditions to allow majority Sinkies to vote opposition.

All other issues, key or not key or whatever lah, is secondary.

Who don't agree, kee chiu?