As we embrace inflation…

As we embrace inflation and keep inflating the prices of everything as a sign of progress, the world goes on spinning. $147k hospital bill is real, if there is no subsidy. How did we end up with a C Class ward in a govt hospital charging this kind of bill? Sorry, I forgot, it is privatized govt hospital, privatized for quality and efficiency. Has this got anything to do with the multi million dollar property prices? I bet it does. The doctors too need to earn the money to buy that $6m property, plus all the other trappings of wealth and a good life. They need to be paid handsomely if they are going to be able to afford those properties and all the good things in life. So will the other people in the medical industry. So will all the professionals and talents in the other industries. It will keep on spinning with everyone demanding more to pay for the properties they have an eye on. The workers have their fears. Paying a $100k hospital bill is beyond many average Singaporeans. But have no fear, the Medisave will be tweaked to cover things like congenital illnesses. I don’t know just how much would the Medisave cost and be able to do with a $150k bill? I also don’t know how big is the bill in the B Class ward if mean testing says one cannot be warded in C Class ward. Thank god, they have tweaked the mean testing and allow those who pass the testing to stay in C Class ward but with lower subsidies. Does it mean that ultimately the bill will be nearer to B Class wards that they try to avoid? World class hospitals need world class patients with world class bank accounts to pay world class bills.

The issue of drums, cymbals and gongs

The new directive on what can or cannot be done during Thaipusam is going to become very contentious and a very difficult position to defend. The policy is going to cut very deeply into the credibility of the decision makers. In my view, the thinking behind it is half baked as the repercussion across all community festivals will bear through its naivety. The closest policy in the same vein is the banning of a bicycle event in East Coast Park, very similar thinking, and very short sighted. The controversy will only grow with everyday and with every festival in our multi cultural society. The danger of big festivals is obvious. The death toll of a cultural event in Cambodia was too vivid and recent to be forgotten. So were the cases in India and Saudi Arabia. In huge crowds driven to a frenzy, any small mistake will be multipled and can become a disaster or a tragedy. Even our National Day Celebration or New Year Eve Count Down could turn ugly. The trick is how to manage and control the crowds in big events. The bigger trick is how to introduce directives and manage an event sensibly and fairly without being seen to be discriminatory. Ah, the art of govt and the skills of the policy makers are very demanding in such circumstances. Any half baked idea will quickly back fired.

The man and his thoughts

The Hard Truths was a book about the ideas of a man, his thinking, his perspectives and how he related them to nation building. The reactions to his thoughts are expected from the respective corners of the communities. The rational and objective will analyse and rationalise what he had said. The irrational will react irrationally. The racists or extremists will behave as they are. A whole spectrum of reactions will go through its motion in respond to the sensitive comments in the book. Why would a man who could live life peacefully, kissing children, touring schools to tell grand father tales, did a thing like this, penning his personal thoughts and beliefs that obviously will incur the wrath of the wrong people? The Chinese have a saying, ‘Eat too full, nothing better to do.’ Is this the case of a man who is out to draw flaks on himself? Some have now accused him of chauvinism, racism, anti Malay, anti Islam and many things along this line of thinking. The polite ones will say they disagreed with some of the views expressed in the book. Did he set out to tell the world that he is a chauvinist, a racist, anti Malay or anti Islam? It is important to understand the agenda of the book and the hard truths. What does he want to achieve by saying the unpleasant things at this time of his life when he could say all the good things, all the politically correct things, niceties and to be praised and remembered as someone with kind words? If the readers of the Hard Truths miss out what he set out to do, or intentionally refuse to understand the bigger things, it is a cause lost. The book is all about the pitfalls that could untangle all the efforts in building a cohesive multi racial society, national integration and nation building. Unfortunately not everyone is sensible and composed when issues of race and religion are invoked. The primordial instinct of tribes and religious purity will surface to rule the day and hijack the agenda, even turn it into a contentious issue that requires apology or else. What is there so disagreeable or difficult to agree in the Hard Truths? Is accepting the Hard Truths so difficult and politically wrong? Compare this to the closing down of Nantah in the early days. That was a hot potato, highly emotional and touching the raw nerves of the chauvinists. Till today, the chauvinists have not forgiven the decision maker. Having Nantah teaching mainly in Chinese was divisive in a way. The graduates will present a serious social and political problem if their limited command of the English Language makes them less relevant to the national effort of integration through the primacy of the English Language in government and commerce. The chauvinists will argue that it is as relevant then as it is today. A difference in opinion, just like some will claim that whether under Lim Chin Siong or anyone, Singapore will still be what it is today. The point I am making is that the agenda or motivation of the incident was about national integration, not anti Chinese or trying to kill Chinese education though the direct effect was exactly that. The man and his motivation was and is all about how to make the country relevant and survive despite the opposing forces pulling in different directions. More flexibility, give and take, adaptation and accommodation are needed from every corner to the bigger good of the nation. Sticking rigidly to ones own little corner will undermine the effort of national integration. The Hard Truths was nothing about anti this group or that group. The intent is there for those who want to understand and appreciate it. For those who chose to deride the book and feel offended, it is all a matter of interpretation and looking at things from their own little corner and interests.

$147k for a C Class hospital bill

Tan Guan Seng, calling himself an average Singaporean worker, was served with a C Class ward hospital bill from NUH. After deducting from company’s insurance, from Medisave, Medishield, he is still left with $50k outstanding. He probably forgot about the 3rd M which could reduce his bill to $8 like someone with a major heart operation. The facts of this case include the following: it is a work accident so no subsidy. The family ‘request to upgrade him to a private ward, the hospital’s staff informed her that the estimated bill would exceed the quantum to be borne by …Work Injury Compensation Act …at a cap of 25k.’ Also hospital has discretion to downgrade when it found patients may have difficulties to pay. Did the request for upgrading got through? Did the hospital downgrade the patient subsequently? These were left hanging without confirmation. As they were mentioned in the hospital’s reply, they must have happened. Otherwise they were unnecessary information to talk about. There were several issues that are interesting. Firstly, Singaporeans must be thankful that their lives are now so worthy that hospitals could easily charge them a few hundred thousand for admission. People with cheap lives will not pay such ransom and choose to die. The Work Injury Compensation Act needs a revision as the quantum provided to protect work injury accidents is definitely inadequate. The minimum sum insured should be at least $150k and increasing every year to meet the rising cost of hospitalisation. Insurance companies are smiling now. The vicious cycle is starting, much like motor insurance. It seems a norm that patients admitted to hospitals would like to upgrade, like upgrading from HDB flats to private properties. No one seems to ask how much would it cost. Or they may believe that with 3Ms, they only need to pay $8 or around that sum. The question is why the hospital never do a mean testing to make sure that patients who cannot pay cannot be upgraded? It seems that mean testing is to ensure that patients should stay in more expensive wards than the other way round. Oh, in this case the hospital did a downgrading subsequently I think. Otherwise the bill could be $300K. There are many issues and things to do to ensure that workers can afford to pay for their expensive lives. For one, the govt should not encourage the mindset of upgrading in hospitalisation. Perhaps only two classes of wards should be provided to keep the ignoramus out of harm and suddenly claimed ignorance and unable to pay when a handsome hospital bill is presented to them on a gold platter. (Come to think of it, this should be the manner to serve a bill of that size, by a specially appointed emissary). Just have a ward called Very Expensive Ward for the rich and those who can afford to pay. And Very Good Ward for the rest of the people at subsidised rate that is ‘affordable’ to the masses. Calling it Very Good will make the masses feel good. And calling the expensive ward expensive will remind them that it will not cost only $8 but $800k. Simple people need simple solution. The masses have a thinking brain and thinking pattern that are very different from the super talents, and very strange. The smart ones will always want to be admitted to cheaper wards which ended with a reprisal in the form of Mean Testing. The silly ones just don’t care and would want the best wards even if they cannot afford to pay. Paying is the last thing in their minds. Maybe the govt should seriously consider applying the mean testing to make sure people who cannot pay be admitted into cheaper wards and not the other way round. Of course there will be outcry by the people who would accuse the govt for not seeing them up and ill treating them and putting them in low class wards. That is why I suggested only two types of wards. Very Expensive Wards and Very Good Wards to cater to the rich and the masses.

Clever or stupid question?

William Choong, senior writer of ST, asked a Chinese professor and a Chinese Ambassador about transparency and Chinese military build up. And he deservedly got told off by the Chinese for asking those questions. Why wouldn’t he ask the Americans for more transparency in their weapons development and what their military arms were for? I believe the Americans will tell him it is just a hobby, or toys for the big boys to play with. Would that be good enough answers for him? There is this group of analysts and reporters who have run out of wits and did not know what to write, and so whenever they see a Chinese official, they will ask the same stupid questions. What are China’s military build up for? The Chinese should simply say, to screw your arse. China had been a victim of foreign aggression and nearly lost its independence as a country because it was militarily weak. Does that answer all the silly questions? A smart analyst will know what military weapons and soldiers are for. There is no need to announce their stupidity in the public. The stealth fighter is a problem? What problem? What is the range of the aircraft and its armaments? Can it fly to the US? Yes, it has attack capability. But with its limited range, it is good only to defend the Chinese coast against enemy attacks. And when the enemies are at the door step, what should the Chinese do? Do I have to explain what an aircraft carrier is for? I hope no military analyst or expert is going to ask that silly question. Just look at its range, and the weapons it is carrying. Yes, an aircraft carrier is to party. It is an offensive weapon! William Choong wrote in his article today explaining his line of questioning. He said, ‘…my question had been open ended and harmless…I had posed a question that was deemed a tad too critical.’ I must praise him for his child like innocence. The Chinese reply to his childish questions was most appropriate though he thought that the Chinese were over reacting. And no, the Chinese were not trying to be smart. They were smart. And definitely they were not incompetent and did not want to answer silly and naïve questions. The Chinese should adopt a practice to say, ‘We don’t answer stupid questions. Next please.’

The danger of racial riots

In LKY’s book on Hard Truths, he touched on the dangers of racial riots and the Muslim community’s ability to integrate with other communities. These have touched on raw nerves and attracting several replies from across the causeway and from our Malay Community. In cyberspace, Solo bear is putting his views on his interpretation of the issue of race and riots. It is healthy if this issue can be discussed in a rational manner, even in the main stream media, without provoking racial tension and worst, a racial riot. I hope the parties involved could go on discussing for as long as they like and keeping an even keel. Not discussing it openly does not mean that there is no problem. However, discussing them does not mean that the problem can be discussed away. Race and religion are divisive by nature, with each have their own characteristics and beliefs that would want it to be different from others. Some would not want to be compromised by others or worst, insisted that others must be like them. Believing or claiming that race and religion are for harmony and peaceful coexistence is self deception. The seed of division is in every race and religion. It is a me against you kind of mentality. There will be no end to the troubles that can be caused by such divisions in race and religion. They will not go away. LKY is talking about racial riots. Solo bear is talking about riots, any kind of riots. Solo bear takes it that the Malays are somehow identified as the cause of riots but actually the Chinese were involved in most of the riots in Singapore. He quoted the Maria Hertogh riot, the National Service riot, Hock Lee Bus riot, the Chinese student riot, the 1964 and 1969 riots. Of the 6 quoted, 3 were racial riots and 3 were political. The Hock Lee and Chinese student riots were rooted in anti colonial movements. In the absence of colonial masters, they are unlikely to happen again. But anti govt riots could still be possible. What would not go away is the pugnacious racial riot. This is so sensitive and so easily instigated that a fight between two neighbours could ignite into a racial riot if the race element is played up. Even a fight between two commuters in a train can be turned into a racial riot if the flame of race is fanned. We live in a multi racial society and the three major racial groups have a significant presence. At any one time there could be a significant presence of any one of these groups in a location engaging in occupational, cultural or religious activities. Without a forceful govt intervention to ensure peaceful coexistence, the potential for racial dispute is really very high. All races must always bear in mind that avoiding racial dispute or preventing any dispute from becoming racial is vital to the well being of everyone here. What happened in the past, pointing at any one group will only incite anger. No one, even if guilty of racial trespassing, will want to admit guilt of wrong doings. Everyone can judge from the records of history and form his own private and personable opinion and let it stay there. It is pointless to say who was at fault as the guilty party would come up with hundred and one reasons to deflect its action. What is important is to know that racial riots can happen today or tomorrow. Everyone needs to be exceptionally sensitive to avoid such a scenario at all cost.

Loan shark Country – An effort in vain

Many loan shark runners have been arrested recently when the police stepped up their acts. Many were jailed or caned. When the police meant business, no way can the criminals hide. Those who are still engaging in this activity, to threaten the innocents and to paint graffiti everywhere they like should take note. It is only a matter of time before they go behind bars, and their behinds will be sore too. And ouch, another photo in the media showing another O$P$ graffiti at the Kallang Tennis Centre when an international tournament is in progress. Talking about arrogance, who can beat them? The loan sharks really believe that they are one step ahead of the law. They are as good as flipping their nose at the law. This problem used to be other people’s problem for too long. Innocent victims have suffered for months and years at the mercy of the loan sharks. As long as it remains as OPP, nothing much will be done. Would the latest affront against the law at the tennis centre be enough to provoke the law to come down harder and extinguish the light of the loan shark activities? By reading the reports that only little runners were being caught all the while, it looks like the law is just scratching the surface of the problem. If the big sharks are not in the net, there will be an unending supply of runners running around in circles in loan shark country.

Crying foul again!

Super computers and high speed trading system in equity and derivative tradings. These traders are armed with the latest technology, computer systems and algorithms to place their bets in the stock markets. The technology gives them the advantage to buy and sell at the best price after having a quick peep at all the orders in the market. And they have a big war chest to back up their bets to drown out the small traders. Now, is this a game of pokers, a game of chance, or stock trading? Is it investing or gambling? Who are the big traders with their expensive gambling machine playing against? Are they gambling against their peers with the same formula 1 machine or are they cheating or violating the small investors? When they are competing against the same kind with the same level of resources, technology and equipment, it is fair play. But if they are employing their mean machine to take advantage of the small and ill equipped investors, someone must cry foul. Fair play is what stock markets swear to do. Protecting the small investors against foul play, against being taken advantage of by unfair practices is what the stock markets stood for. By allowing such machine to maul down the innocent small investors must be a serious breach of the integrity of stock market principles and operations. If not, stock markets must be renamed as casinos and be governed by the rules of gaming applicable to casinos.

Beating the inflation beast

Govt policies have long term implications, some good and some bad, and some effects can be very extreme. Today everyone knows that Singaporeans are asset rich and cash poor. Everyone knows why. Singaporeans used to be very rich in their savings. Today, not many can smile at their CPF monthly statements as most have been depleted by you know what. Whatever little left will be schemed away and becomes untouchable. It all started when someone realized that Singaporeans have a lot of savings. Then schemes started brewing. How to get hold of this money while they laid idle in the CPF accounts? The rest is history. Today practically everything is priced to empty those savings. Of course they don’t said it this way. They said, Singaporeans can afford to pay because there is money in the CPF accounts. And everything is priced, carefully calibrated, to be affordable according to how much money there is available in the CPF accounts. Brilliant but disastrous. Clever but very short sighted. On one hand encouraging the people to save and on the other helping the people to spend at double quick time. Then utter the big surprise, why money not enough? Now there is a problem when it should not be. So we blame the inflation beast. It is all because of inflation. And inflation eats up a life time of savings at 40 to 50% of one’s income. If only time can be unwound to bring back to where it started and this asset inflation nonsense be killed before it gets wilder. So how? How to return to the time when housing was really affordable, medical fees affordable etc etc and people’s savings keep growing and they can smile at their CPF monthly statements? The inflation beast needs to be beaten. But there is no way to bring down the price of housing or medical fees. Doing that will be even more disastrous. Perhaps inflation can be beaten by inflation. How about inflating the CPF accounts of Singaporeans to the tune of $300k or there about? This will return some cash to the Singaporeans whose savings have been whittled away by inflation. And it will help Singaporeans wanting to buy those inflated HDB flats or pay for those inflated medical bills. It will cost he govt nothing. It is just printing money like all countries are doing. Follow our role model America and we can’t be wrong. When the rest of the world is printing money, we will lose out if we don’t. The buying power of our dollar is shrinking in a frightening way for domestic purchases. This must be done right. And there is no need to throw the whole amount to all Singaporeans. It can be carefully calibrated to the young and old, and to new and old citizens. We cannot repeat the silly thing by throwing all we got to new citizens. More thoughts can go into this little idea of inflating the CPF savings accounts of Singaporeans to fight the inflation beast. And the amount must be meaningful to right the excesses of the last 30 years. Let’s see what Tharman is going to say during his budget speech. Would it still be $1 for you and $1000 for me again?

The elitist Presidency

Do we need an elitist President? I can’t imagine an elected President saying. ‘Get out of my elitist and uncaring face!’ Of course this is unlikely. No got chance for a President to say such things. The barriers have been set up so high that only a select few elites would qualify. The door has been shut on the general populace. I still think that there could be loop holes. For instance a Stanley Ho would definitely qualify. Or a char kway teow seller who went on to build a food chain and got his company listed in the stock exchange could also qualify. Similarly a construction worker who could turn around a small construction firm into a construction giant must surely qualify. I don’t think a school principal or a lecturer in the university will qualify. A doctor of a small clinic will not qualify. This would rule out many talents and good people from standing for the Presidency. No wonder there were so few candidates, actually only one candidate, that stood up in the last election. A dearth of president material. What if the rules are relax and less stringent? What if Wally becomes qualify and gets himself elected? I bet he will be asking someone to write a book about his conquest as emperor of Lijiang. Or Matilah, the longkang intellectual, he would want to write a book about his amorous adventures and his fun loving vagabond lifestyle. Just these two examples will be enough to convince me that an elitist President is a right one. Oh, need to tighten the rules a bit more to exclude successful people like char kway teow chefs and construction specialists from the University of Hard Knocks.

Policies that are anti family

Low fertility rate and lesser babies seem to be the problem of this little country. And we have many positive govt policies to encourage more babies with cash even being thrown in to help the mothers to be. Why is it not working? Let me venture to make a few educated guesses. Babies mean family and family support groups plus a social and economic system to support their growing up to be healthy and well balanced individuals. They need good homes and space to grow up too, without having to worry about the finances and high cost of living, education and medical expenses. What are the policies that are anti babies and anti family. 1. Housing. You need affordable, I mean really affordable and not a life time of debt to be serviced by two incomes, and reasonably spacious living spaces for the children to grow. Ideally a 3 tier family with the grand parents or other siblings lending a hand when needed to look after the babies. The alternative is for maids, but with someone at home to supervise, thus proper living space for maids. Are shoe box flats good enough to bring up children? Sure, the midgets will tell you. You don’t need more than a store room size room to live in. Ok, the ants and bees live in smaller niches, so don’t complain. And Hongkong is a good example to prove how luxurious our shoe box flats are. 2. Now, the problems of housing policies against families and babies are obvious. Without housing, how to start a family? Wait and wait, and queue and queue for housing? By the time one gets to the front of the queue, several years have gone by. By the time one gets to the housing unit, several years have gone by. Not forgetting the years needed to save for the down payment. 3. Two income family. Is this conducive to family life? With a 3 tier family, workable. If both parents have to be out most of the day and return home dead tired, what is there left for the family? And if the couple is on their own, the burden and responsibility of looking after babies will be passed to someone else that may bring more problems, stress and even tragedies. 4. Medical cost is not cheap to bear a child and to see them through in good health. 5. Education, transportation, living costs etc all adds up to a huge bill to pay. 6. Cannot afford cars, take public transport. Who doesn’t know? One baby with the pram and all the accessories will be more than enough to lug around. Taking public transport once in a while may be bearable. But to do it for several years, ferrying the kids to grandparent homes or nurseries for day care, kindergarten, play schools, schools, my god, how to cope? And if both parents have to rush to work, and what if there are more than one child? Private transportation is essential! No joke, it is no luxury. Now COE already $70k! KNN. So you want everyone to be economically active, you want everyone to produce children, what for? And you don’t want to build housing. You demand that people book first and wait for 3-4 years. Lao liao by the time the flat comes. And the govt is telling people cannot afford buy smaller and smaller flats. Cui kong lan par song. With the kind of prices for a flat, many young couples will only have to buy smaller and smaller flats or shoe box flats. Oh ya, some will be buying private and landed properties. Now grandparents also must work as cleaners. Why don’t govt provide incentive for grand parents to stay at home and look after grandchildren? Cannot lah, welfare state is bad lah. Looking after children and grand children are individual’s responsibility. Ok, then what the shit is the govt complaining about not enough babies and asking people to produce? Individual responsibility what! There is such a word called holistic approach. But if left hand doesn’t know what right hand is doing, or left hand does one thing, right hand does another, then the balls will ding dong all the way. Oh, they also have a saying, have your cake and eat it as well. Now that is simply ingenious if it works.

Another reason not to have babies

A 3 year old toddler had his thigh bone broken by a maid who was hired to take care of him. This piece of news was reported in the media several weeks ago. I feel so sorry for the poor child. There must be many children out there who were in the charge of maids and suffered pain and injuries, victims of maid abuses. And the parents had to be out earning a living to pay for the maid and hoping to bring up the child, to give the child a good home and a good life. It is not just brave but foolish, silly, to trust your children to a stranger, called maid. Do these parents feel any pain leaving their children to strangers while they could be battered or tortured in their absence? I can feel the pain for the poor children. This is another reason why it is difficult for young couples to bear children. It is very expensive. And if they are unable to take care of them full time, or with reliable help, it is torturing for both the parents and the children. A double income family has a huge social price to pay in parenting and bringing up children. When everyone has to earn a living, who is to look after the children, where is the normal family environment? Who says go forth and multiply? So easy meh? Please have a heart for the children and their parents. Not many can afford to bring up children and have peace of mind when the cost of living is so high. Don’t think having children is just for fun, for economic reasons. It is a life!

Shock waves and tsunamis in the next GE

The PAP election machinery is whirring as it should be and everything is running as per normal. Every single step is as planned, like the last election, like the election before the last election. The efficiency is time proven and nothing will go wrong. The electoral electoral boundaries have been redrawn, electoral list finalized, the new MPs are being interviewed, the grassroots all activated and ready to go. Next will be the budget which will send the MPs going oohs and ahhs, the best budget of the century, a people’s budget, everyone should be happy. Where on earth can one find such a good govt? The people can expect something real big this time, big pay rise, bigger bonuses, bigger angpows. Maybe not as big as the $300k I wish for as it is unlikely that the govt will print $600b like the Americans to give away. But it will be damn big. But will there be shock waves and tsunamis? I personally think there will be plenty and many coming from the PAP itself. Let me guess what the shock waves will be. 1. The yodas will be gone. The PAP can’t be talking about a younger set of leaders and advising other countries to have younger leaders while it hangs on to all the yodas with some becoming centurions soon. LKY and Jayakumar will likely be dropped. 2. Shock wave Two could see the dropping of ministers without portfolios. With the huge pay package, it is very difficult to justify to the people why ministers without a ministry to run should still be paid that kind of money. Zorro is the exception as the NTUC is a national institution, as large as any ministry. Chok Tong and Boon Heng’s positions should be hanging on a thread. 3. The third shock wave must be the dropping of ministers that are sure goners. Whether the PAP drops them or they stand for election, they will not be in the next govt. It is thus a tough decision for Hsien Loong, dropping the ministers or losing them together with the GRCs and the team of MPs. 4. The next shock wave will be the dropping of young MPs who are no longer interested in politics or are not perceived to be with the people. Reviewing their attendance in Parliament sittings will give one an idea of who would want to be dropped. From the opposition camp, the shock wave will come when they are able to contest every single ward and every GRC. And the bigger shock is that many professionals and credible and able candidates are coming out to stand. The biggest shock wave will come when the election result is announced. I was gazing very hard at my crystal ball and all I saw was smoke. I could not figure it out. It was so tumultuous and earth shaking that the crystal ball went poop after that. It could not take the shock of what was coming. Looks like a tsunami hitting the political scene.

Tiger Mums

There were several discussions on this phenomenon of so called Tiger mums and their extraordinary babies created under pressure hot house regime. The children turn out to be more than extraordinary. And the Tiger mums undoubtedly must be very proud of their achievements and the methodology applied in the process. I congratulate all the Tiger mums for their blessings for having some fine children. For parents whose children are lesser endowed or poorly endowed, please do not despair that your children would not turn out to be exceptional like the children of Tiger mums. Life is a gift, or a reason for it to be that way. Just live life and don’t feel down because one doesn’t have the blessings of Tiger mums. Every life is there for a reason. Every morning I met this auntie fetching her precious little girl to school. She has to help her as her ability to move is not normal. Nonetheless you can see the great love and devotion of a mother caring for her loving child. This little girl will not excel even under the best Tiger mum. The bus that came to fetch her is from a special school. The special is not meant to be extraordinary, extra brilliant. It means she needs special care. Mothers of special care children deserve more attention and recognition for what mothers do best, simply providing tender loving care for their children, against all odds. Never mind about no straight As. Life is not just about achieving straight As and not all children are gifted for that.

Mickey Mouse flats is a correct policy

It is only right and the way to go forward, to build more small flats instead of bigger flats. Our population of duds is not going to reproduce themselves. So it is useless to waste resources to build bigger flats. What for, when only two persons will live in them, maybe three. Come to think of it the developers are more far sighted than HDB. They already see the trend in the future. People are getting married but not reproducing. Three cheers to the builders and developers of small flats. Despite the kpkb about low fertility rate and wanting people to produce more children, the reality speaks for itself. You can’t believe anyone telling you to produce more children when he builds flats for two. You can’t take him seriously when he says one thing and does the other. On the other hand those people buying Mickey Mouse flats may regret one day when they don’t have extra room to let out for retirement income. They need a room for themselves and one or two extra rooms for renting. This is now the only compelling reason to want to have bigger flats, not for babies and children.

Demolish my house when I am gone

This is the will of LKY. It is spoken in public and everyone now knows what he wants. Being a public figure of such a stature, a kind of celebrity, I think his wish may not be granted. There are those who want to keep it as a national monument to preserve a little bit of history and historical buildings that are still around. There are some who sees the monetary value of that piece of land and its surroundings. How much more money can be made. Yes, making money is all that we can think of. The argument to gazette the place as a historical site may be losing ground when money is at stake. Who cares about our history, or who cares about LKY, some may argue. Money talks, and money talks louder. Let me try to use the money argument that may favour the keeping this house as it is. Fengshui plays a vital part in the life and fate of people and country to the believers. I think the location of this house is in an excellent fengshui location. The site has given birth to two Prime Ministers and three President scholars. How much more auspicious can one get? And with the site being kept as it is, without changing or altering the fengshui, Singapore prospers for the last few decades. So, anyone want to risk changing the fengshui of the area and demolish the house? You may not know what you are demolishing. Singapore could also be demolished in the same effort. Whatever little money made by the developers will go up in smokes. Now, did I frighten the shit out of those who want to make some money from the site and replace it with a 30 storey condo?

Am I amused?

I got this impression that foreigners are much more politically savvy than Singaporeans after reading an article in the ST yesterday. It was about the slowing down in giving PRs to new applicants. The rejection rate is growing and the criteria for acceptance have gone up. Official statistics said the number of PRs approved last year was down to 29,265, less than half of 2009’s 59.460, much less than 2008’s 79,200, and 2007’s 63,600. Nothing was mentioned about the comparative numbers for new citizens. I bet that must also have gone down. But I may be wrong. So more unhappy applicants are going to threaten to apply for PRs in other better countries? Horrors! How can we lose all these talents to other countries? Quick, quick, reverse the flow, accept more or else… they will leave. I can sense the panic of those clamouring for more talented PRs to join our workforce. Some applicants are more sanguine about the situation, or maybe smarter. They knew that it is the election year. No sweat. After the election things will be back to normal. The govt is now appeasing the anger of the people and closing the door a little. After the election they will apply again. Is this amusing? The foreigners know exactly how the system works here. They are bidding their time now and know that they will get their PRs in double quick time after the election. How come Singaporeans don’t understand or never understand how the game is being played? Things before an election and things after an election will be poles apart. Maybe they are hoping that the leopard will change its spots. Maybe this time it will be different, or from now on it will be different. So, who is smarter, the foreigners or the citizens?

Old and New PAP

When one put up a topic like that, it simply implies that there are issues between the new and the old. Definitely there are and many, both good and bad. What distinguishes the old from the new is that it was a highly respected party, with a few rough corners for making tough decisions for the people. It was a lean party and the people knew that whatever it did, it was really for the good of the party. And the leaders lived by the principles that they shared the woes of the people and would carry them and walked a long with them through thick and thin. The people might not be too happy with some of the policies but went along, and elected the party to power elections after elections. The leadership was impressive. Not that all of them were super talent material, but their hearts were together with the people. The ministers were well regarded, each a tower of strength. Any GRC that was deemed to be weak or facing tough opposition, just threw in a minister and the GRC would be as good as in the pocket. What is the situation today? The party is still doing a lot of good work for the people. I perceive that in spite of this, the ground has shifted. The people are angry, really angry. OK, not everyone is angry. There were many policies and decisions that were seen as bad and unacceptable. It may be only a perception, it may be real too. On the party side, it thinks and sincerely, honestly believes that it is doing everything for the good of the people. They forget that it is the people that is the judge. Why is there such a big gap in the people’s perception and the party’s own thinking? An erroneous perception can be easily explained away with some effort. Bad decisions and policies don’t go away, no matter how much trumpet blowing, and will end up as sophistry. They said you cannot bluff the people all the time. Too many untruths propagated as truths would surely back fire. It is no longer palatable to take the position that the people are stupid and unthinking masses, can be easily manipulated, or unable to see the goodness of good policies. Our superb education system must at the least do some good, make the people more knowledgeable and critical of the things they see or are happening to their lives. They cannot be unthinking people with all the exposure to the world and the high educational level they have attained. Are the people with the new PAP? There are hard core supporters and oppositions on both sides. The important segment is the middle ground. Has this moved? If the anger expressed in the new media is true, forget about the views of the old media as we know what they are, then the writing is on the wall. But it is not just the perception of the people that has changed. The leadership in the new PAP is quite fragile to be polite. Many ministers today are liabilities to the GRCs they are helming to the extent that fielding them will guarantee that the GRC will be lost. I know some may read this point with eyes popping out. Believe me, quite a number of ministers no longer carry the ground. The only thing that has never changed is that the PAP, old and new, is still led by one man, the same one man that started it. Even though LKY does not hold any decision making position directly like a ministry, he is still the man. It is still his party, his Singapore. Can the man carry the party again one last time, really, that he will stand for one more election? Or is the party coming to an end together with the fading away of the man that is synonymous with the PAP from day one to his last days?

US lawmakers rip into Hu Jintao

MR HU GOES TO WASHINGTON: ‘MONSTER’:Members of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs did not hold back as they focused on human rights abuses in China under Hu Jintao’s leadership By William Lowther / Staff Reporter in WASHINGTON Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) came under an unprecedented personal attack at a US congressional briefing on Wednesday at the very same time he was being welcomed with a 21-gun salute at the White House. Members of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs referred to him as a “monster” and the committee chair, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, said that it was estimated that his regime was holding close to 7 million people in labor camps. “It is as if the entire population of Switzerland were being held behind barbed wire,” she said. It is highly unusual for visiting heads of state to be subjected to such biting criticism while they are guests in the same city. However, analysts said that feelings were running so high about Hu’s human rights record that some US lawmakers simply couldn’t contain themselves. Representative Christopher Smith, a Republican who on Tuesday held his own conference on Chinese human rights abuses, said: “Who is Hu Jintao? In 1989, just a few months before the massacre in Tiananmen Square, Hu was Beijing’s iron fist in Tibet.” “This was the man who ordered the savage beating of Tibetan nuns and even children were pummeled to death. He presides over a gulag state — clearly a dictatorship. He has been directly responsible for the systematic detention and torture of millions of Chinese,” Smith said. “Cattle prods are put into prisoners’ armpits and at their genitals.” “I believe Hu ought to be at The Hague being made to account for his crimes rather than being treated with a state dinner,” Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican, said. “We should not be welcoming the world’s worst human rights abuser to our White House. It is wrong. We should not be granting respect to this monstrous regime,” Rohrabacher added. “I think the Chinese have a hidden agenda — world domination. We seem to be helping them in their goals. We just don’t seem to get it,” said Representative Albio Sires, a Democrat. “There is this monster developing right before our eyes.” The American lawmakers think that they were the saints of modern history. I am wondering how many of those named above were descendants of slave owners and Injun killers? Or were these small town law makers descendants of the Jeremiahs or the hill billies? Does anyone of them remember Kunta Kinte?

The 3 blind men and China experts

Every time I read an article from the China experts it never fails to remind me of the 3 blind men and the elephant. Yes they all claimed to know the elephant very well, a kind of expert. They have touched the elephant and smelt the elephant. One claimed that the elephant was like a tree trunk. Another professed that it was like a snake. And another swore that it was like a rope with loose ends. The beauty of it all is that they all believe that they were right and the elephant is what as they described. If only they could go pass beneath the skin of the elephant, if only they could look at the whole picture. But China experts are plentiful and of different degree. Then again, most of them are just like the 3 blind men. The betterer part is that they are propounding their theories of what China is all about and trying to con everyone of their expertise. Put it in another way, how about a Malaysian asking a Singaporean who visited JB once on where to buy cheap and good Malaysian local products? And the Singaporean happily went about explaining like an expert of Malaysian local produce and where to get the best deal!