A biography of Goh Keng Swee

Before it is out controversy has already started. The wife does not want it published, claiming that it did not have his consent and thus disrespectful. The daughter in law claimed that Keng Swee did not object to it. Under normal circumstances, a book on the life of our pioneering leaders should be welcomed to shed light on the making of a giant and his contributions to the making of Singapore. It is part of Singapore's history and should belong to the people. Why would the wife want to distant herself and Keng Swee from the book? Are there unpleasant things that should not be there and it is better to say it out front first? Or is it the wish of Keng Swee that he does not want it to be seen as an ego trip while he is still alive? Definitely it is not a publicity stunt like another Harry Potter's magical book. All of Harry's books came out with a big bang and were instantly snapped up. Would Keng Swee's book be in the top sellers list? Or like he said, who would want to read about him? Let the people decide.

The power of feedback

Not the official kind where someone designated a box called 'Feedback' and expect people to throw their little slips of paper in and they vet whichever they wish to reply. That is the cheap kind of feedback, the sanitised version of feedback. The real and more powerful feedback comes from the spontaneous response of the people. The outcry that is heard. We have seen many, mostly through cyberspace recently. And we have seen the results without having to claim that it is effective. But there is a more powerful feedback that is in action. The silent feedback. This is a feedback where all those who knows, who matters, just keep quite and smile as if nothing happens. And the less they talk about an issue, knowing that the issue is so obviously foul, the more powerful it is. It is a kind of non communicated cynicism and waiting to blow up. And you can feel it, just like the force. It is not seen, not heard, but it is there.

Media's distorted truth

Fred Hilmer, the Vice Chancellor of the fallen UNSW(Singapore) has sung a different tune in 'The Australian.' And the fault, according to him, is EDB. He has his plans to continue with the Singapore campus, expecting EDB to foot his bill. And it was EDB's fault for the failure by not giving in to his terms. The right to make such statements in a press and be read, and if the other party is not given the same airing to tell the other side of the story, the one who is given space to print, will come out right. This is the distorted truth of main stream media. They take sides and present the side they wish to present. That is as professional or unprofessional as far as main stream media can be. EDB has now come out with a strongly worded reply in our local papers to explain its position. I wonder whether EDB's reply will be published in The Australian. Otherwise it is a purely waste of time as the target audience who read The Australian will still believe what Hilmer said without preview to the EDB side of the story. Or it is just for Singaporean consumption. Whoever controls the media controls the view of its readers.

A Declaration of War

It has begun. Ayman Al Zawahir, the number 2 man of Al Qaeda has order the 'Islamic fighters to strike Western interests worldwide and for regime change in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.' Al Qaeda is also talking about regime change. It is a struggle against corrupt regimes aiming at the interests of Crusaders and Jews. It is a war between Islam and Christians and Jews. "All those who have attacked the (Islamic) nation must pay the price, in our countries and theirs, in Iraq, Afghanistan, in Palestine and in Somalia, but above all where one can strike a blow against their interests,' he said. This is a very serious threat and all countries will have to take it seriously and beef up their securities. It is a cakewalk of a different kind. Expect more hits around the world. This could be the world war 3 that the world has been awaiting.

It is all Singapore's fault!

Juwono blamed Singapore for not having any intention to sign the DCA And Extradition Treaty. He claimed that Singapore intentionally made it difficult by insisting on having more days for military training just to make sure that the two treaties will not be signed. Now I understand why the Indonesians have no faith in the intelligence of their political leaders. They did not even know what they were signing and needed their Parliamentarians to show how stupid they were. And when proven so, they blamed the Singaporeans for conning them. One up for Singapore negotiators for being able to con simple minded negotiators from Indonesia.

What is happening?

The URA is urging the public to take media reports of rising office rentals with a pinch of salt. '...the public should take into consideration information on future supply of office space.' Now, does it mean that the media is not telling the public the full story? How can? How can? And the media is being accused of fanning the flames of high property prices. Now that cannot be. That will be irresponsible! The URA is worried about all the fanning and will give the public a 'more balanced perspective' by releasing more detailed data on office space vacancies and rentals. 'The media has played its role in increasing the profile of the property market, increasing the speed of the property sector,' said Mr Vasu Menon, chief editor of finatiQ.com. 'The public will worry about these media reports. People could get scared, thinking that they missed the boat,' said Menon. Wow, whacking of the media for not reporting accurately and misleading the public. What happens to all the professionalism?

NKF Story - Return of the Chairman

Richard Yong and his wife will be back after holidaying in Hongkong. He will soon be reunited with his right hand man in Changi. Maybe a new venture will be conceived given their enterpreneurial skills. Charity or Fashion Shows in aid of prisoners will be an innovative idea.

The nightmare that is coming

Another 10 or 20 years, many more Singaporeans will be in their 70s and 80s and 90s and still alive. All rich and happy with plenty of money in their CPF accounts. And thanks to the advancement of medical science, they will live to a ripe old age. Some may make do with a walking stick, some with a motorised wheelchair. Slow and a little feeble, life goes on. And in their midst, young, strong and sturdy foreign workers abound and plentiful. It is so tempting to take from the helpless and physically weak uncles and aunties. It is so easy. Will we see an increase in old uncles and aunties being robbed in broad daylight? Will old uncles and aunties fear living their homes? Will this nightmare visit us?

When cops doctored evidence

Lance Corporal Rohaniza, a key witness to the murder case of the Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu said that the police doctored her evidence. What she said was not what the police recorded and she was under harassment and pressure from the police who wanted to record what they want. This is a clear case of blind loyalty, where justice, right and wrong were sold away to protect people in high offices. When civil servants refused to think about justice, when they blindly accepted orders, the country will go to the dogs. How is it that civil servants can be so corrupted or feared power to become accomplices of crime against fellow citizens? Do they have any conscience or they can be easily bought?

political justice

Thaksin was ousted from power as the Prime Minister of Thailand. And what followed is a list of charges of corruption and misdeeds. His properties confiscated and his family members, practically everyone of them, is facing criminal charges or hefty fines. And there is a warrant out to arrest him and to extradite him from England. All these seem so right to the power of the day. No one questions the truth or validity of all the charges. It is political justice. George Bush commutes the jail terms of his former aide, Lewis Scooter Libby, after the latter had been charged and convicted in a court of law. Whether he is a friend, or a former aide, is not in question. He uses his power as the President to do what he thinks is just to him and his friend. Another kind of political justice.

Not in Our Name

This is the title of an artile by Asim Siddiqui in the Today paper. He challenges the Muslim intellectuals to take on the extremists who have hijacked Islam for their terrorist acts. He is against the Muslim extremists for using the western foreign policy of aggression against the Muslims as an excuse to wage a war of terrorism against the West. I fully agree with him that acts of terrorism, or as the West legitimised it by calling them acts of war, are unacceptable, immoral, and a primitive way of settling conflicts and disagreements. The Muslims should find a better way to tackle the West so that they will be treated better and as an equal to other human beings with a right to determine their way of life. But short of having the biggest gun and the biggest bomb, a language that the West understand, there is really nothing else they can do unless the West voluntarily gives up war as another way of bullying the rest of the world. But I find it hyprocritical in Asim's defence of England as a target of Muslim terrorism. He said that compared to the US, the UK has very few troops in Iraq. And the level of British troops in Iraq will get lesser and eventually no British troops will be there. So Britain should not be attacked. This kind of logic is the logic of the bully, where might is right. The British can go to Iraq and burn down the place. That is acceptable. And once they vacated Iraq, all must be forgotten. The British soldiers are no longer there. So leave Britain alone. What rubbish! If this kind of logic is what the world should live by, all the criminals should be spared. They have left the scene of their crimes. The British and the West must realised that if they start a fire, they must be prepared to be burnt. There is no escape.

Political Party Manifesto 3

The paternalistic policies of the PAP is from hole to hole, from cradle to grave. It is their policy, though not officially put, to manage the life of the people from the day they pop out from the hole till the day they drop into a hole. That is what the CPF is all about. What is the stand of the other political party on this? Do they also agree on this policy, that should they come to power, they will also manage the people's life in the same way? Or would they plan it differently? Under the present scheme, it requires a lot of savings from the people to provide for a flat, hospitalisation and retirement, excluding other uses that the CPF money can be released. On a broad brush basis, everyone would need $600k(for a 4/5 rm flat paying instalment over 25 years) plus $30k for Medisave and another $120k for retirement. These works out to $750k or $25k a year over 30 years, or approx $2k savings a month. Anyone with less than this amount will have nothing to take out at 55 if this withdrawal age is maintained. The first time they will get their monthly stipends will be 62 or 65 or 70 or whatever. It would be good for the other political parties to get feedback from the people, get in touch with the people and ask the people what they really want from them. This genuine connect with the people is essential as we enter another phase of our development when the people got sick of being treated like handicaps and never ever grown up children. The forever young policy will soon be a pain in the arse and it is a matter of time when people will insist that it be thrown out.

Different kinds of equality

In communist country, all men are technically equal. So all gets about the same pay. And this is bad as the talented or more hardworking type will not want to work as they will be working like a fool and earn the same as those who refused to work. In our case, everyone is equal in paying GST. All pays 7%. The rich may pay more by their higher consumption. And they are happy as it is a matter of choice and lifestyle. The poor, who are unable to make ends meet, also have to pay the same rate. Just too bad. Everyone is equal and treated equally.

Please return my money

This is about as far as what was suggested. Singaporeans should go down on their knees to beg the govt to return them their CPF savings. Have mercy, many have not seen anything more than $10k in their life and now that they have some money in their CPF, please return to them. Let them touch the thick wad of notes or feel the 5 digit number in their POSB passbook for once in their life time for they may not see tomorrow. How long must the govt continue to father the never to grow up children? Or will the govt only let go when they are about to die?

The New Undeclared War

The war that is starting in England is a new kind of war. It is undeclared war, fought in undefined territory by undefined enemy using undefined methodology and weapons. It is sporadic and erratic. And this war makes the soldiers obsolete. It is a war being fought by the police against an enemy hidden among its people. It is a war where the targets are the people and not the soldiers. It is a war when the police find themselves fighting and not patrolling the streets to guard against petty crimes. The world should brace up to this new warfare, the newborn child of the Iraqi war.

Good news, property prices up

There must be a lot of cheering and happiness going around for all the property owners, including HDB flat owners. Then there are cries from analysts and property trading firms that the red light is on. It is alarming that the price is running to the pre crisis level of 1996. They are calling for the govt to take appropriate measures to curb the exuberance. When the crisis hit in the late 1990s, harsh measures were taken to curb property speculations. So far nothing much was done except some cautionary words. Maybe we need the bubble to burst before something harsh will be introduced. In the meantime all the rich property owners are laughing to the bank. Their money and assets growing in leaps and bounds. For those who are genuinely looking for a home, sorry mate, your money value has just gone down by 7.9% if you are looking at the private property market and 2.9% in HDB resale market. Yes, your money is getting smaller. Not forgetting that practically everything is going up. Are the people really benefitting from all these price hikes and property boom? Some obviously are. The en bloc owners will be very happy too. Who is the last to laugh?

Political Party Manifesto 2

What should be the priorities of political parties? The current ruling party's main priority is economic development and growing the pie. There are progress in many areas. Many people are getting very rich. But many people may not feel that way. Many are expected to continue to work and work and never ever think of retirement. There should be a relook at the priorities of govt. The people and their lives, their well beings must be the first priorities. Not the obsession with accumulation of money. The top 20 percent are quite happy with what they are. But the 80%, the sloggers, horses and the cows, whose lives have become one of non stop working and with no security in old age. Everyone will get poorer by the day. Forget about the money in the CPF. Those money will never be enough. Forget about falling sick and getting hospitalised. That will be the end of whatever savings one have. What happened to the long term planning of the people's life? The planning from cradle to grave does not seem to be right. Compare to the older days, just 20 or 30 years ago, many did retired and managed to survive quite well. Why is it that people are now expecting to have more than $120k in their savings and still not enough? Still living in fear? Would any political party be able to come out with another super plan from cradle to grave that is not so precarious? What has gone wrong? Why is it that the people must be made to put aside more and more money and still not enough?

Brazen challenge on modesty

Below is a post submitted by a forumer. On Saturday 30 JUN 2007 @ about 1045 am, i met my client a SIN PR @ East Coast hawker centre. My client chose a seat (4person away from a Singaporean man) on same long bench. After buying coffee, i joined my client on the table. That man turned towards my client and said somewhat in this manner " Excuse, my wife is coming back here, can you put your legs down...it is not nice." My client was in his shorts & running shoes and i noted he was cross-legged while seated opposite me. My client was shocked and so was i. My client muttered, "there is nothing indecent here .." I added to the man " there is nothing indecent here.. you are acting out of jurisdiction..." My client insisted i carry on our conversation on the property and not to be distracted. In fact, i wanted to address the man again, but my client said to ignore him, which i did as we had important issues to talk about the property. The man man drove off first while me & my client continued our discussion in the car-park. The crux of issues was,... i do not think my client was acting indecently by crossing his leg which is very common. Besides it was a hawker centre not an air-con restaurant. Besides it is Saturday, it is encouraged that we do sports and take regular exercises. Neither was my client out of syn in his choice of running short. It was a decent running short. Why did the Man acted in this manner shocked me till today.. I personally do not think we had escalated matters here but think there was a serious breach of individual freedom & ways which makes SIN an attractive place to do business and deemed us an international cosmoplitian society. This incidence showed a) imposing one's standard of dressing on another using decency issues to intimidate. Using a "so-called" sikit atas attitute to impose, frustrate and cause maximun anger. b) Using the "wife" as the sufficiency of reason or to act as the actual barometer to issue a compliance to a fellow SIN resident. Is the wife the moderator of LAW & Compliance? Is the wife a walking judge issuing out arbitrary judgement based on his/her feelings of the day? Going around ticking people off for their behaviour based on his/her judgement... c) my client is small built but he was decently dressed except in his running shorts.He is well travelled and had lived in many bigger cities elsewhere. He is a banker not a Ah Beng. d) a form of extremism using method of intimidation through asking for compliance over a matter which possibly could cause conflict and to put challenge to the concept of racial harmony and/or written rule of Laws. . Using a upper crust scholarly attitute imposing one's standard using "decency" as a cover to disrupt harmony, rub society,imposing on one's civil liberty rights; as an excuse for rights of engagement ; this causing fractionalism & subtle anger to built up to disrupt another person's way of life. I hope SIN will not head down this road where individual rule the street using subtle methods of intimidation, imposing on other civil liberty rights and./or imposing on others their arbitary judgement. The above post describes a normal outing that could turn ugly when another person starts to impose his values and conduct or morality on others. What is unacceptable to him may not be acceptable to others. The danger is that it is very provocative and could start an argument or fight that could turn ugly. Every community and religious organisations should take it upon themselves to teach and educate their people to accept that in a multi racial society we must accept that other people are different and have different values and way of life. Modesty, morality, decency should be confined to one's own group and not imposed onto others. Obvious obscenity in the public is of course not acceptable. I would like to goreng that man's pisang. Tolerance man!

Too much caring

Anyone who is working, irrespective of his age or income or wealth, must contribute to Medisave and CPF. This is good for them. For by the time they reach the elusive withdrawal age, not likely to be a fixed number, they can withdraw a few hundred dollars a month from their CPF to pass the day. And very wealthy people like our millionaire bankers, property owners, ministers etc will benefit from this withdrawal, to keep them going on their retirement. How nice. I am sure people like Ong Beng Seng and Wee Cho Yaw or Quek Leng Beng or Ng Teng Fong would be very grateful. Their retirement pocket money is well conceived and protected. They will not run out of money. Straight jacket?

Political Party Manifesto

We are seeing new parties being formed. And every party has its new aspirations and aspirants to serve the people and country in their chosen way. Everyone will swear that whatever they are doing, it is always for the good of the people and country. But often the people do not believe. The people are seeing political parties existing for their own sake, for the politician's self interest. Am I right to make this generalisation? Definitely not all will agree to my observations. Some will die worshipping their chosen party and only see goodness in them. This can be see from their unstinging support for their parties in the msm and in cyberspace. Some even make it their personal quests to defend those positions and parties. What would be the expectations of the people of the politicians and political parties? The party must be for the people first and nation second, party third and politicians last. The nation is there for the people and not people for the nation. And definitely not people for a political party. Politics must be for the good of the people. A nation or country is just a non living entity, a concept that has no life. What is the point of a Singapore that is all dressed up to the finest, but the people struggling to keep up with the high cost of living? The wealth created by the nation, the taxes collected, revenue generated, must go to the people, their stomach, their health and their brainware. No need to build disneylands. Those are fantasies. But good if we can afford it without compromising on the well being of the people. The cumulation of wealth cannot be the end all of the govt. The wealth must be ploughed back to the people, for the people to live a better quality of life at an affordable cost. There must be a compromise between money for beautiful and wonderful infrastructure and money for living. Is the working of people to their death beds a people's choice, the way to live life? Is the savings for retirement just to eat 3 miserable meals and constantly fearing that a major sickness will turn one into poverty as compare to savings to see the world during the sunset years? Retirement has taken on a new meaning. There is so much fear of affordability of healthcare. So is saving that is never going to be enough. Golden years too have taken on a new meaning. More specifically, no more golden years. For all the savings will never be enough except for the few very rich.