are we becoming a police state?

there is a big article in the straits times on youth loitering after 11pm. and loitering after this hour is a no, according to the police definition. these youths were found either drinking or chit chatting or some even attempting mischief. on first thought, all youth should be tucked in bed by this hour. or they should be mugging their books. no reason to be wasting their time outside or being tempted to try the unacceptable. yes, these youth must be controlled and sent home. now, by who? who is responsible for their nocturnal activities? what if the parents allowed them to do so? some may not and did not know. do we want all our children to be in bed by 11pm? is it wrong, if parents allowed it, for children to hang out after 11pm? now what's wrong with that? what's wrong with a city that does not sleep? do we really need the police to go about rounding up children and packing them home? are we afraid of the children's safety or the safety of others at the hands of these children? there are bound to be some who are up to no good. guilty till proven innocent or innocent till proven guilty? if the police shall go around checking on children, would it amount to guilty till proven innocent? or does it mean that loitering around after 11pm is a violation of some sort? and the police is in the thick of things. i have a very funny feeling about this.

workfare bonus: different views

some pap mps were concerned about the expectation of the bonus by the people. opposition mps were against it as an election gimmick. so don't have workfare bonus! uh huh. there are always different ways of looking at it. understandable for opposition to whack it as another form of pork barrel politics. understandable for mps to raise concerns that people will expect more of it in the future. but whatever, it is the people's money. it is profit from investing the people's money. and there is no better way than to return them to the people, and make the people feel that they are part owner of the nation's wealth. what other nonsensible ways to dispose of the money? pay big fat bonuses to the managers of the nation's reserve? give away to foreign talents like mercenary footballers? splash them to make beautiful parks or landscapes, pay more to political leaders, give the presidency another perk? or what? there are many ways to waste the money. it is sinful to just keep the money and not benefitting the people. it is all how to explain and package it. the best way is to link it as returns from investment and treat every citizen as a shareholder of the nation's reserve. and to return to the shareholders when there is a surplus. have a transparent formula so that people know what to expect. and don't do away with it because mps are very rich and don't need the money. the people, many of them, need every cent that they can lay their hands on. ok, rich mps, please back off.

lky welcomes good opposition

the mood seems to have changed. the tone set by lky and his message to chiam and low to put up good men to contest came out quite genuine. gather some good men and win a grc, serve well and pave the way for more opposition members in parliament. this is a welcome change. but how many good men will take the bite? how many will brave the possibilities of being ridiculed for the smallest demeanour in their lives? how many have not pee along the roadside in their younger days? how many have not climbed the fence to steal a few rambutans? how many have not taken a few pieces of papers from the office for their private use? how many have not called their wives or girlfriends using office phone and time? everyone is human and erred in some ways, or being playful or mischievious at times, smell the wild flowers, paint the town red. but if coming out to stand for public office means having their laundries hanged up for public scrutiny, then not many good men will come forward. only a few monks and priests will deem themselves worthy enough to stand. or those who know they will not be exposed by being in the right camp will have the cheek to stand. and walk around like saints. unless such stigma of running down potential candidates are no longer in the cards, many good and decent men, who have strayed a little, will not offer themselves to serve. and we will have those who have nothing to lose to come out screaming and fighting. politics is a dirty game but need not be made too dirty.

demographic swing or change

the electoral register saw an increase of 45,000 voters over the last 5 years, giving a net increase of only 9,000 a year. assuming a birth rate of 30,000 in the corresponding period, it means 21,000 have left. and if one is to include the new citizens, maybe more have left, after netting off death. what does this mean to singapore? are we really becoming a hotel for foreigners? would we reach a stage when foreigners, including prs, outnumber citizens? maybe it has already happened. and if the citizens become a clear minority, i think we are in for trouble. why this demographic shift? why are people leaving for greener pasture? why being the best in everything did not attract our people to stay but to leave? when people vote with their feet, no amount of explanation can say otherwise. the negative factors are stronger than the positive. so is there any reason to crow about how good we are? the pattern of flow is serious in the sense that the able middle class are moving out. the leftovers will be the heartlanders and a few super rich. so we have those who either cannot leave or the small minorities who are so comfortable that they would not leave. why? are our policies that difficult for citizens to find living here bearable? the general perception is that our policies are more in favour of non citizens, prs and guests but very unfavourable to our own citizens. what we need is positive discrimination to favour citizens. $2.6 billion is pi sai to the people, a light drizzle. the expensive education system, the expensive healthcare, housing etc are basic things that make life untenable to many. those who think, will know how expensive it is to bring up a child through university education. and they must make sure they have a hoard of savings to pay their hospital bills. and housing will tie up all their little spare cash. for the few rich, no problem. the answer to the woes of the citizens is in the people living. these statistics cannot lie. no amount of explanation can hide this fact.

money can buy anything

we bought two nigerian footballers for $50k a piece and capped with a $5k salary plus perks for every match they played. and our citizenship was also given away. and itimi and agu ran away. money can buy anything, but at best mercenaries. who ever is the higher bidder will get his mercenary. it is a neat deal. no sentiments, no emotion, no attachment, no care two hoots about loyalty, decency or citizenship. how much is all that matters. we shall keep our football league as strictly a business enterprise. no tax payers money shall go to buying foreigners. no citizenship shall be given to mercenaries. let the business run as a business. if the clubs can afford to pay a million, good for them. if they can't, please leave taxpayer's money alone. and please show some respect for our citizenship and stop throwing them around to shits.

golf and politics

sunday morning is good for a round of golf, after posting on sex video. dr geh min used the term golf to describe politics in singapore. 'they compete against themselves. what do you expect from people whose favourite game is golf?' what has golf got to do with politics? in golf, they set up exclusive clubs where only members are welcomed. and in the past, members must be introduced by members, making it a very exclusive party for a close knit group of people who scratched each others back. outsiders are kept far away by the stringent club membership rules and golf regulations. and the golf clubs are also located in areas that are out of bound to the ordinary folks. and yes, golf is a game where a golfer plays against himself. though at times he will cheat on his flight mates, if they are not watching. preferred lie, finding a lost ball drop from his pocket, not counting air shot as practised swing etc. and after a good game and with some winnings in the pocket, time for enjoyment at the nineteen hole. golf is all about good time, fun and beautiful people.

tammy nyp video: internet power

a self made video is now the craze in blogosphere around the world. it is even converted in dvd and on sale. one cannot understimate the power of the internet. the news can spread world wide by the push of a few buttons. nothing the media can beat. fox, bbc, cnn or whatever, now have to contend with the power of the blog and internet. you can no longer control the media the way it was. welcome to the brave new world. tammy is world famous. nyp is world famous. these two words are the most hit in the internet search engines. no need to spend a single cent for the publicity. singapore is also well known for this teenage escapee. putting morality aside, tammy is going to be more famous than paris hilton, william hung or annabel chong. maybe tammy should bank on it and launch a career in hollywood. many have taken this route even in hongkong and taiwan. did i hear exclusive film rights being offered?

peter costello: adapt or leave

the anointed successor to john howard told australian migrants bluntly that they adopt australian values or leave. it is about time national leaders stand up and say what needs to be said. nations shall not accept immigrants who do not share their values and laws, and worst, choose to live a lifestyle and under a law that is in conflict with the host nation. how could they be accepted as citizens of their adopted country? the saudi arabia example where foreigners must accept the saudi way of life and law is the most simple and explicit way to get this message across. you come to my country, you be like us and not unlike us. otherwise don't come or leave. why should the muslim community in australia be upset? shit, if they like to live a lifestyle like the saudis, go to saudi arabia. don't try to live like a saudi in australia. and this must apply to all countries. the immigrants have a right to make his choice. and so does the host nation to decide what is acceptable. why be a sore prick and try to stick it in a hole that would not fit, and then be angry with the hole? immigrants coming to singapore must accept this as a condition before coming here. and the govt has a right to set its conditions.

s rajaratnam: speak up. if you don't who would?

a bulbir singh from seremban, malaysia, wrote to the straits times forum on his encounter with rajaratnam in the 1960s when raja visited seremban. during the visit raja said that young people of malaysia must take a keen interest in what was happening in the nation and speak up. 'if you don't, who would? and if you don't, some day your kids and grandkids would ask, "pa, grandpa, you were there when these matters were discussed. why did you not speak up then? what would i say?" bulbir singh said that ever since he had not stopped speaking up for his country. and he did that often. as concerned citizens of singapore, if we don't speak up, why fight to be a citizen? why called yourself a citizen? might as well be a pr. no responisibility and no obligation. just live your own life and be an anarchist. just concern with self and nothing else. if the govt think it is their right to gag the people, then they will have to answer for it. and if the people abscond or surrender their right to talk, then they deserve it.

uob makes $1.7 billion profit

wee cho yaw has done it again. $1.7 billion profit. i think uob makes the most money compare to all the other local banks. and i think uob is the only one without foreign talents. the talents are found in the father and son team. both local talents.

mr mean is here

school tuition fees are subject to means testing? how much a student pays depends on the affordability of his parents? well, is this 1984 or 2084? when such mean mentality is put to practice in all sectors of our lives, we have to be tagged, with all information made available to the authority. a loaf of bread will be priced differently according to the income level of the consumer. in fact everything will have a different price. from each his best and to each his worth. hey i thought this is an outdated socialist or communist concept. from each his best and to each his needs. now ain't the world getting meaner when mean people are in charge? i mean mean testing. they are not mean but they love mean testing and adore mean testing. mean is the way to go. lets all get comfortable with being mean. mean or mean testing is going to be our way of life.

half mast: consistency or to be not

s rajaratnam's departure and the honour of a half mast has raised questions. and many were thinking, how it causes a lot of discomfort in several quarters. devan nair may be a doubtful starter. but teng cheong seems to receive many sympathetic calls and grumbling about the half mast he was not given. this will go down our history book and will resurface every now and then. a half mast is given to a founding father who rightly deserves the honour. for consistency, we can expect keng swee, chin chye, othman, pang boon and nyuk lin to be given the same honour when they take their turns to go home. after this batch would the honour be bestowed to the second generations of leaders? chok tong as pm, would likely be given a half mast. what about the rest of the ministers? so far all are living their lives quite correctly as honourable people. but one slip and tongues go awagging.

dependency strategy

the more people depends on the govt, the more they need the govt/ruling party. if this dependency relationship can be created, then the ruling party will have the people at its beck and call. the trick is to make the people eat from your hand. now how to do that? make everything very expensive or make things just a bit difficult to afford or need to be helped. then offer help to them. they will forever be grateful. this is the real part. on the fiction part, just shout everything is affordable. and we all know what affordability means to different people. affordable to who? a millionaire or a beggar? affordable to someone who earns $20k a month or someone who earns $1k a month? how could anyone shout 'affordable' when the term is so relative?

business times headlines: s rajaratnam dies

don't you people find the heading a bit bland, a bit too direct? why can't they put in a little more effort in choosing a few nicer words to describe this man of words? a giant passes away, or a titan fades away. even called home to be with the lord would sound so much more pleasant then, s rajaratnam dies. he dies. so kopitiam lingo. he dies. die already. die liao. sometimes, in some matters or things that we treasure or value, people will put in that little extra effort to phrase things in a more graceful manner, and sounds so much better. i hope our media could spare a little thought on this.

s rajaratnam, a founding father gone home

not too long ago we heard the passing away of devan nair. today we witness the passing away of another founding father of our nation. his is a generation of men that changed lives and charted the path of our nation, created history for future generations to read about. and it is good that they have all live to a ripe old age and see the fruit of their labour and conviction. they must all have been pleased for what they had done as young men, freedom fighters and nation builders. rajaratnam is one of the few men whose speeches are worth reading. speeches that are colourful and interesting and meaningful. other than lky, perhaps rajaratnam is the only person that could capture the attention of his audience. i could still have vivid glimpses of his fiery speeches of independence and self rule. we wish him a good journey home.

singaporean version of pride

i just read a post in soc.cul.spore by a 'zipper' writing an open letter to the prime minister. his contention is that singapore regulators must quickly put in regulations to control bloggers. his reason. the story of a school boy and a school girl having sex on video hitting headlines in usa. and this is bad as the news was spread by bloggers. so bloggers must be gagged. i have awarded him a pbm, pingkat boleh 'cari' makan' for his sense of loyalty and righteousness. his suggestion is perhaps the most intelligent yet heard over blogosphere.

mtouche suspended

what about those telcos who thoughtlessly sent out demands for payments and even collected payments on behalf of mtouche? need they be warned that if they thoughtlessly and negligently do it again they should be taken to task as well. commercial organisations need to abide by strict standards of operational procedures with regards to demanding payments from clients.

air travel: aussies protectionism!

how can the aussies got the cheek to talk about free trade when they cornered the asia pacific route and blocked out everyone? come on oz, let's be fair and be a gentleman. don't live in your own world in the outbacks and only come back to civilisation when you need to. the world is watching you. and singapore must understand that the whole world is not playing fair and there is protectionism everywhere, in usa, europe and japan. so lets not strip our pants down and walk naked everywhere asking to be screwed, for free. we need to be careful about our financial institutions and job markets. we need some protection or one day we will be bought, lock stock and barrel. and even africa will not sell us a piece of wasteland for whatever price, for us to squat there.

desperate and neglected housewives

the most mistaken and underrated group of working people, the housewives or homemaker or whatever. they are the general manager of the home. but no one would accept that they are working. and no value has been attached to their contribution to the economy or at least to the homes. and many now added the responsibility of looking after grandchildren. the grandmother's home is the best nursery. any commercial value? would these unemployed housewives or homemakers be given due recognition for their valuable contribution to home and society, providing the anchor and support, and an environment for children to grow up safely? so far nothing heard from the govt or anyone, even the aware or woman's rights groups are quiet about this issue.

ge: internet kopitiam no talk politics

Bloggers, podcasts online may be subject to Parliamentary Elections Act By Farah Abdul Rahim, Channel NewsAsia i think people can talk politics in kopitiams and the markets or in the pubs during the general elections. there are many people who are not members of any political parties but have their own websites and blogs featuring general elections related matters. if people in the kopitiams can talk about politics, why can't individuals in internet kopitiams talk politics? is freedom of expression to be curbed? kopitiams and internet kopitiams all cannot talk politics or subject to what, parliamentary election acts? huh?these people are encouraged to be less apathetic and show more interests in politics during non election time. but during election time, only politicians can talk politics. the rest must be apolitical. encouraged not to be interested in politics. after the election is over, every kopitiam can reopen for talkshop sessions and pretend to be interested in politics again. would bloggers be curbed? why can't singaporeans say their peace as long as they don't spread lies or libels? should people be allowed to talk politics in kopitiams and not in internet? do we know why singaporeans are not interested in politics?