why no singaporean blogs/forums?

Should The Singapore Media Or Culture Be Shot First? by Let Children Breathe Your Smoke I mean seriously, don't you guys have better stories or issues to discuss? Blogs? Seriously? Blogs are what you have to talk about? I copied the above from Singapore Surf. And today, Sunday Times devoted an entire Editorial Page on Blogs. Two third of the page was on an article by Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Correspondence, titled 'Bloggers rising to the fore in Malaysian politics.' And an editorial comment on the negative impact of bloggings with the title, 'Bereaved Netties.' And I quote some of its comments: 'A scan of blogs and random postings would suggest the national IQ has not risen (how patronising), but then the sober, sombre types are not in the habit of sharing their thoughts. (They are most heroic after wine and good food at house parties.) Attacking under the belt. Has the Net goaded famously guarded Singaporeans into the habit of venturing opinions? Political parties' research depts are the people to ask, as sounding off on public affairs is a reliable measure of a society's engagement.' in bold are my comments. Then it went on about Net and effect on marriage, Social Development Unit and Cupid and dating agencies. I think it is the last part that it is really interested. There seems to be a conscious effort to refrain from mentioning the names of Singaporean blogs and forums, especially the political ones. I don't believe that professional journalists whom we were reminded by Andy Ho that they did a lot of research before writing an article, would not have known the existence of many quality blogs and forums by Singaporeans. I am still waiting to see a major article on Singapore blogs and forums, not the food, hobbies, travels type of blogs/forums or blogs about who dating who and who is the most well dressed teenager in Orchard Road.

Myth 109

'What is God up to?' I spoke to God. I asked him why all the sufferings, the floods, the earthquakes etc? Why didn't he make a better world of happy and rich people? God said, 'If everyone is rich and happy, they will forsake me. They would not come to me. So I must make them suffer, make them feel the pain, then they will come to me for help. And I can be there saving them, giving them a little alms. And they will all be so grateful. I am the all compassionate and caring God. Psst, don't tell them that it was I who caused them all the sufferings and deprivation. Look at my palace, I have everything in abundance. But that's for me, and a little for them to make them come begging again and again. I am so great.'

Myth 108

Globalisation and Free Trade Temasek A fundamental question Can this state entity simply walk into a foreign country and buy its major assets – as an ordinary MNC? Letters Dec 28, 2006 In the wake of its troubles in Thailand and Indonesia, reader Aloysius Tan writes about the growing sensitivities facing Temasek’s ambition to control or invest in crucial foreign companies. The following is his letter to us and cc to reach@reach.gov.sg. The above question was copied from littlespeck.com My answer is a simple yes. For Singapore is a free country. We are totally free and we allowed everyone to come in and buy up whatever they like. And since we open ourselves up for others to buy, than logically others must allow us to buy into them. This is the same logic as Singaporeans who called themselves international citizens. Singapore is an international city state. We welcome everyone, especially foreign talents. So others must also welcome us with open arms. We called ourselves international citizens and the world must accept us as international citizens. We set the rules and the world must listen. It is like letting the world to screw us and we expect others to be screwed by us. Unfortunately, the world have their own rules. And they set their rules for us to obey. They will come and screw us. But they will not allow us to screw them.

My New Year Wish

How I wish that greed is non existence in the life of the super rich. Not that greed is a bad thing. Not that greed can be wished away. The poor and greedy must be poor and greedy all the time. They are poor and so must be greedy. And they must be greedy to give them a kick to want to work to have more. But for the employees in huge corporations, I mean employees, people earning a living being employed, not the real owners of wealth, I wish that greed is not in their minds. For as long as greed is there, they can never be satisfied even if they are paid US$40 million as bonuses. They will only ask for more. And as the money are public money or money belonging to minority shareholders who did not have a real say, these greedy mercenaries will just keep piling up from money they don't own, other people's money. But if greed is no longer in their mind, when they know enough is enough, when they know that what they are taking is obscene, then they may spend their time working for their shareholders' interests, for the interests of the public and people of the world. And they will not be spending time on how to scheme another chunk for themselves. Many such high level executives are wasting too much of their precious time devicing ways or finding ridiculous formula to justify more pay for themselves when they already have enough money they did not know what to do. Hopefully greed can be removed from their thoughts and they can become more charitable.

myth 107

When saving is not enough How many people around the world can afford to consistently save 20% of their income over a life time of employment. And how many can afford to save 33% of their income? This is a ridiculous amount of savings for anyone over a life time. The sad thing is that this amount is not enough for a peaceful and satisfying retirement. Not enough to live, travel and see the world for many Singaporeans. This is the plight of many Singaporeans. How is this so? What is wrong with the formula?

myth 106

The Engaging Myth Engaging the Netizens has been brooded for a while. Did we see any real engagement? Would those little boys that slammed and taunted other bloggers and forumers be a party to a concerted effort to engage netizens? If that is the kind of engagement, then it is very disgraceful. It is disgraceful on the part of those boys who are aspiring elite and future leaders to stoop so low to attack other bloggers/forumers and called that as engagement. I said if. These attackers could be paid by unfriendly sources to impersonate as supporters of a party and creat havoc in cyberspace to give a bad impression of the party they appeared to be supporting. We don't really know who they were. But whoever they were, it also reflected very badly on the people who authorised them to behave that way. It shows a sick and immature mind behind the act. Engaging the netizens is to share and exchange ideas. There are many good and serious netizens and bloggers who are ready to discuss or chat seriously. But where are the serious engagers? Or are they afraid? There is no need to be afraid of the abusive types. Those are easily identified as ill bred and will not be taken seriously. Their bards only discredit themselves. Yes there is the danger of exposing the truth or the real values or real person behind the saint that is walking around. Everyone who articulates often will eventually reveal his true feelings and values, his true self. Sometimes the fangs will flash momentarily. Sometimes the horns will protrude only to recede quickly when noticed. But that is a price to be paid to really engage netizens. It is better to have the truth or true self out earlier than later. Lets see some real engagement in the new year.

'Non Indians Preferred'

'Non Indians Preferred' IT Manager N Prasannakumar was fuming when he read this in an advertisement by Frontline Technologies on 21 Dec in JobStreet.com. I too will. No Human Resource Personnel, even an assistant, will put up such an advert for jobs in Singapore. It is taboo. It is common knowledge. The Ministry of Manpower, the MSM, within the Human Resource community, in Human Resource Depts, this is a topic that has been hammered over and over again. Even JobStreet.com has no reason to repeat such a mistake. How did it occurred? It was a mistake, said Frontline Tech HR Manager Tong Suit Ping, probably a FT or a new citizen. That may explain why it happened though not necessary the case. Race discrimination is a very sensitive issue to all Singaporeans. No Singaporean will pass such an advert up for print unless it is intentional to create mischief. In this particular case, race discrimination was less likely to be an issue as Tong Suit Ping said the project team has 3 Indians, 3 Chinese and one Filipino. For such a lapse, I am very agreeable with the word fine. Fine must be slammed at any organisation violating this ruling, written or unwritten, legal or not yet legal. And the Media, MSM or dotcom, must be fined even more for allowing it to be in print.

serious people in parliament

48 people interested in becoming NMPs This is an encouraging sign as more people find it important to step out to have a say in the running of the country. And there are many big and recognisable names and professionals in the list. All broods well for a more thinking and serious Parliament. Sitting in Parliament is not a boy boy game. What is important is that children should not be allowed in Parliament. And if they think that they are there to look after the interests of children, please don't. Let the parents do it. And if really necessary to have children, lets have a boys scout version or a school cadet version instead of the real thing. Trial and error, training or gaining experience should be done in training schools or in a training environment. Lets be serious in Parliament.

Why pay when you can have a free ride?

Why pay when you can have a free ride? Sim Kah Choon, a new citizen, and formerly from Sarawak, has had no urgency to take up citizenship here for more than 20 years. There were all the good reasons for not taking up citizenship. And the best reason was given above, 'Why pay when you can have a free ride?' Yes, it took us more than 20 years to realise how good the PRs were until all the kpkb in cyberspace prompted a rethink about giving PRs a free ride. Funny that nobody thought of it except the PRs who knew and quietly enjoyed the good time for as long as they can. We need to do more to make citizenship more valuable, more desirable and more meaningful, and not cheap. No body wants cheap stuff. The Americans sent their new citizens to Iraq and Afganistan and if they survived, they will become Americans. Now that is a heavy price for a citizenship. Or maybe we knew that becoming a citizen isn't a big deal and people may not be interested and will run away when we force them to make a choice.

collecting donation an enterprising biz

Repeated calls were made to the homes of Goh Kian Huat to donate to the NUS Alumni to help needy students. 'For the past three weeks, members of my family have been receiving calls from the Alumni Office asking why I had not responded to their request. It appears that NUS is aggressively trying to raise funds from alumni.' But the methodology is so frighteningly familiar. To be able to make so many calls requires manpower and resources. According to Goh Kian Huat's article, 'The NUS was corporatised in March and is now a limited company...there is more pressure for it to operate like a commercial entity, with making profit as its main objective.' All sounded too familiar. There was once an organisation that made collecting donation a commercial business, employing a huge full time staff just to make calls to donors to make donations. I just hope NUS Alumni is not taking the same road.

daylight robbery?

Daylight Robbery 'On Sat, on my way to Vivi City for the first time, I made a wrong turn - I followed the road sign - into the road leading to Sentosa. I told the girl in the booth about it, but was told I had to pay $2 to make a U turn. This is ridiculous, day light robbery.' By Cheo Liew Kiat No this is no robbery. This is Singapore, the unthinking part, the no thinking part, the rule that justifies the means.

a time of peace and love

Christmas is a time of peace, love, giving and sharing. Though the weather was bad across the world, nothing like the tsunami of 2004. There were some cheers and gloomy dark clouds. But a tsunami of a different kind is brewing. Below is a short article which I copied from littlespeck.com which says anything but the above. And if violence befallen on the owners of the article, I think they deserve it. Iran's president Punked by Danish group 'Sympathetic' ad published in Tehran press insults Ahmadinejad with hidden message. WorldNetDaily.com Dec 24, 2006 Less than a year after Danish cartoonists ignited protests across the Muslim world with their depictions of Muhammad, another group from that country has risked offending Iran's president by calling him a "swine" in a hidden message included an advertisement that got past censors and editors at the Tehran Times. Surrend, a Danish art group that targets world leaders, successfully submitted an advertisement to the newspaper that, at first glance, expressed support for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The half-page ad, submitted under the name of "Danes for World Peace," features a picture of Ahmadinejad and a series of statements sympathetic to his regime: Support his fight against Bush, We are also tired of Bush, Iran has the right to produce nuclear energy, No US aggression against any country, and Evil US military stay home. Surrend's members told the editors they wanted to express their solidarity with Iran and make amends for the publication of cartoons of Muhammad published in their own country, reported the German daily, Der Spiegel. But what the advertising editors at Tehran Times missed was that the first letter of each phrase formed an acrostic that, top to bottom, spelled "S-W-I-N-E." On it's website, Surrend describes itself as a "street-art group" that was started in the winter of 2006 "during the funeral of Serbian war criminal Slobodan Milosevic." "The idea behind Surrend is to make fun of the world's powerful men," the group proclaims, through the use of "stickers, ads and posters with ironic texts as its expression medium." Despite listing only two members – Jan Egesborg and Pia Bertelsen – Surrend plans projects that will require "20 different travels," having already targeted authoritarian leaders with their pranks in Serbia, Belarus, Turkey, Poland, Sri Lanka, Faroe Islands and, now, Iran.

When you invite wolves into your home

The last few weeks we have heard the foreign talents calling us silly and shallow, even printed in the main stream media for every Singaporean to read. Now they are even beating up Singaporeans in our own country. If things are not put into proper perspective and the foreigners made to know that they are here as guest workers, by our grace and generosity, tomorrow Singaporeans may fear for their own safety walking in our streets. Just watch these two clips. Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx0iszVuLKw Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-mRTKC_sz4

Western high and mighty justice and ethics

The Professor Simon Shorvon case is another glaring example of what Western justice and high ethics are all about. They decide their own rights and justice. Small and weak countries have no rights to their justice and ethics. Simon Shorvon's unethical and unprofessional practices in Singapore, ie, 'recruiting patients and altering their medications without their informed consent or the knowledge of their neurologists' were serious ethical and professional breaches. Singapore Medical Council(SMC) sacked him only to find him appointed in the prestigious University of London College and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London. Such serious violations of professional and ethical conducts in an important field of medical sciences cannot be allowed in any civilised world. It can only be practised in third world countries on third world patients by first world eminent professors. The third world people, govt and patients have no right to a little decency. That is what the case is all about. And the SMC has a duty and responsibility to see such disgraceful acts be made known to prevent further repeats of the violations. However, the British General Medical Council(GMC) had turned down SMC's request for a public inquiry on technical grounds. And they conveniently ruled that SMC was only an informant and not complainant and thus 'the GMC owed no duty of subservience ot the SMC' to inform the SMC of its decision. The issue here, to the British, is a case of subservience to a small country. For its pride as a big country, it refused to hear a complaint from a small country to be seen as subservient. It brushed aside the more important issues of professional breaches of conduct and ethics. This is the kind of Western justice that the rest of the world had lived with for centuries. But for a declining power, a small power like Britain today, they can no longer rule away their hypocrisy. And should Singapore and the rest of the world send their students to the University of London when such misconduct lives among their eminent academic community? And this also applies to the University of Birmingham.

branding works

We have many heroes. It is only a matter of recognising them and blowing up their achievements, add in a little drama, a little exaggerations and sensations, and we can have the best fairy tales or world shattering stories. Just write on the good and beautiful side and ignore the bad stuff. Look at all the celebrities and ask yourselves how many are just simply punks and outrageous bums that you would not want to be seen around them? But they are idolised as long as the dark side is not exposed. But to be serious, we have great names and marketable names. The Americans have their Roosevelts, Eisenhowers, the Brits have their Chamberlains and Wilsons. And now the more marketable names are the celebrities in arts, entertainments and sports. Tiger Woods, the Levis Strauss, Michael Jordan, etc. Let's cook up some great brands among our greats. Remy Ong, Ang Peng Siong, Mardan Mamat or Dick Lee and churn them into world class brands. SIN is not bad when FCUK is nice. Shall we have brands like the Ongs, the Angs or Siongs, or Mamat or the Lees? The Lees somehow sounds better, more familiar and more universal and recognisable. Lets launch the Lees brand for a start and see how far it goes. Dick will love it. he is so famous. Branding works.

sunday morning again

I like Sundays. On Sundays, I let my mind wanders to uncharted territories, toy with wild ideas and things that are unmentionable. Last Sunday I expressed how envious I was about young professionals making 3/4 of a million or more. Geez, was I envious? I have to harp on that theme after some sad experiences that happened to some earlier batches of high earners. The housing agents, insurance agents, stockbroking agents, the conveyancing agents or they also called them lawyers. They were the high flyers of a short era. It happened so fast and gone just as fast. I happened to meet up with a conveyancing agent, or lawyer, the other day. And he said he was just waiting to close shop. Huh, conveyancing agents or lawyers, closing shop? What happened to the good time? And what happened to the million dollar housing agents, the million dollar insurance agents, the million dollar stockbroking agents? They are all marking time. Some quit, some earning pittance, worst than a clerk. Some waiting to call it a day. The moral of the story is that when one is earning big bucks, shut up. You would not know what is coming next. Things may change so rapidly, by the act of god, that good time will be over in a matter of days. Maybe there is some hope today. Now the perception is different. If one can earn more, I can make sure that I can earn even more. So the bigger is the income of others, the better justification for me to earn more. I deserve to earn more than anyone. And I will find a way to do so. So please go and earn as much as you can. But just don't get carried away.

how wrong ntuc leaders were?

While the NTUC leaders were mulling over the increase in CPF contribution of employers, they are conscious of how any increase will affect our competitiveness and the concerns of employers. John De Payva commented that 'Employers have said the increase in CPF contibution may result in them lowering the annual wage increase...' Its a case of LPPL. You pay here you cut there. So more CPF, less increments. 'On the other hand Lim Swee Say noted that some employers did not want the rate to be raised.' How wrong can the two be. Consult the views of our foreign talents and they will get a surprisingly different picture. This is what Faruq Shadhili(foreign talent) said, 'Foreign companies are eager to raise the CPF contributions for employees.' Or maybe Fauq is referring only to foreign employers while the NTUC leaders were referring to local employers. And foreign employers like Singapore so much that they are willing to pay more to Singaporeans and will not relocate to China or India. The NTUC must engage some of these foreign talents to get a better feel of the real situation on the ground. And they are relatively cheaper to hire. Good value for money.

well done gerard ee

Gerard Ee and his team has done a good job at NKF. The cost of dialysis is coming down, the subsidies going up, the patients paying less. Imagine how much injustice to the poor patients if things were allowed to go on as before and the whole country being deceived that everything was done best for the benefits of the patients? And how many of them and their families will continue to suffer financial hardship while others are enjoying and having a great time at their expenses? And enjoying the glory of being idolised as the new age saviours of the sick, and honoured and feasted by the peers of supertalents. Well done Gerrard. But more can still be done.

myth 105

'The Foreign Myth' Lately the foreign talent debate has taken a higher profile with foreign talents openly calling local talents silly and shallow. If we may take a step back and ask ourselves, what we have today, are they the contribution of these new foreign talents? Technically we were all foreign talents once as we were all migrants. But these migrants have settled and sunk roots here, indigenised and formed our first and second generations of local talents. These are the talents that built what Singapore is today. And we have them to thank for, not these new upstart foreign talents who came here yesterday and trying to claim all the credits. If these foreign talents are that talented, they should have elevated the poverty in their home countries. But they are quitters of their own countries and coming here bragging how good they are. Just show us what they have achieved for their countries before they tell us we are silly and shallow. But sad to say, they are right in this last comment. We are indeed silly and shallow to bring them in to insult us. If this foreign talent madness is not straightened out, one of these days these foreign talents are going to line up the local talents and screw them nicely one by one, including those who idolised foreign talents.

what FT said of local talents

What Faruq Shadhili(foreign talent) said of Singapore talents 1. Foreign companies are eager to raise the CPF contributions for employees. 2. Most foreign companies would like to put a local to take charge, BUT... 3. Singaporeans(with MBAs) are industrious and can be entrusted to carry out routine management duties,...do it by the book, ...lack the independent mind to take matters to the next level. In short, unthinking but hardworking, good as production line operators. 4. Singapore talents are egoistic and worked for their personal interests instead of company's long term interests. 5. Singaporean talents 'had the gall' to disagree with European directors just to look good to his local subordinates. Would unthinking and mindless Singaporeans dare to disagree with their bosses, just my view. 6. The first contradiction to 5, local talents would cut salary of staff to please foreign bosses. I thought they would talk back? 7. Local talents would fly first class but cut cost of other departments. I only knew of one such talents that appeared in the big news that travelled first class. And this practice is rampant here according to Faruq. 8. Local talents think that foreign bosses are daft. 9. Curry favours is commonplace and employees got rewarded for that. 10. Local talents hired employees and demanded that they speak mandarin which actually is unnecessary. And foreign bosses disagreed but got along to please local talents. 11. Local talents demand workers to have proper qualifications. Foreign talents can perform without proper qualifications. Faruq quoted an example of an O level engineers training new aeronautical engineers. Phew, which part of the world could this happened? And Faruq commented the CEO of the airline for doing just that. I will fire the CEO first. 12. He concluded that not all Singaporean bosses are that shallow. So many must be shallow. Before any shallow Singaporean bosses reading this article and start to sack all the local talents and replace them with foreign talents, and before they start to hire O level 'engineers' to train qualified aeronautical engineers, they better examine this concept of foreign talent is better than local talent before they be called silly and shallow by foreign talents in their employ.