The contradictions and fallacies showing

With each passing day, the cracks get bigger and bigger. It was only hairline cracks and could easily be covered up with another thin layer of paint. Now you could sink a whole hand into it. And you need the experts to certify that there is no danger of a collapse.

Just a few decades back, the song was, ‘We are the best, the crème of talents, the best money can buy. And we can solve all the country’s and the Sinkies’ problem. We are simply the super talents.’ With this kind of branding, everyone went gaga, and it went to the extent that the spin doctors too believed in the spin. And because the daft Sinkies would just put up with all the craps, the super talents convinced themselves that since they were the best, the best in the world, they deserved to be paid the best in the world. The rest is history.

Fast forward today, after some tears and apologies came the admission that mistakes were made. When the cracks were so huge and for all to see, you can’t say there are no cracks. The fouling up of a national home ownership scheme, the high cost of living, unbelieveable influx of foreigners as PRs and citizens, the discrimination against the citizens, a superb national savings scheme that went sour, transportation and high cost of car ownership, and many more, could not go away without an explanation.

And today, the govt is asking what the people want for their children and this country. Isn’t this the job of the govt or what the govt had been doing? What happens to the super talent tag, that the immortals knew it all and no need to listen to the people, deaf frogs are top brains? See the contradictions and fallacies? How could the super talents be seeking views and ideas from the daft and the ideas are free? Anything that does not have a price tag that is out of this world is not worthy. Remember that? You want good stuff, you must pay for it, quality education, quality healthcare, quality govt.

If the quality is a suspect, don’t pay for it. Why pay astronomical prices for things that are not worth its value? The open admission that the govt cannot solve everything, or even creating messes and messing up the people’s life, is a rude awakening. So, what about the out of this world pay when the govt is quite ordinary, really? Remember again, the huge pay for politicians is meant for top and super talents that claimed to know best and would solve all the problems of country and people, pro active, forward looking, nipping all problems in the bud before they become full bloom problems. With that kind of pay, they should be solving the problems of the world, not this tiny little island. The people will be very grateful if they did not create more problems while trying to help the people with their problems.

What an irony if the politicians, the top and super talents, are saying that they are not that good after all? Where are the immortals? Is the National Conversation an admission of a national myth?

The National Conversation so far

It was touted as the conversation for all Singaporeans to have a say in what kind of future they want for Singapore and their children. This is as national as it could get. Somehow the other part of Singapore is not being represented, the political oppositions that don’t agree with the govt’s point of view. The fact that none of them seems to be included or invited to join the conversation is beginning to tell. You cannot have a National Conversation by excluding 40 per cent or more of the population to call it a National Conversation.

And as some bloggers have pointed out, it has drifted towards a conversation of the converts, of the ‘safe’ people who share the same belief and ideology of the govt, of what the govt thinks is good for the whole population.

What makes this task predictable is that the converts would agree with the agenda and would not stray to topics or issues that have been OB marked. Some things are just not meant to be discussed and have already been pronounced as good forever, despite the claims of no stone unturned.

The National Conversation is looking like a divisive conversation dividing the ‘with us and the against us’, but including some the fence sitters. The eventual recommendations will not be too far off from the findings of the Ministerial Salary Review Committee, a recommendation that is expected and put up by like minded people. How different the recommendations would be if the members were neutral and have no political affiliation or interests.

And, how different would the findings of a committee and audience in this National Conversation when the composition of the participants already in a big way predetermined the agenda and the outcome? The future that is desired would be very similar to the future envisaged by the govt, more immigrants, bigger population, more growth, work till one drops dead, higher property prices, higher cost of living, no free lunch with some exceptions, and please, do talk or ask question about the CPF savings and its future.

A naked Japanese lie

The ownership of Diaoyutai is now the hottest topic in East Asia and could turn into an open military conflict. The conflicting claims to the island put set aside by Deng Xiaoping and the Japanese govt for the near future and to be determined by the wisdom of future generations. This brought about a period of stability when things were kept at status quo.

The latest development arose when Japan fabricated a lie, producing a Japanese owner of the island and trying to conduct a sales/purchase agreement of the island among the Japanese militants and the Japanese govt, ignoring completely the rights and interest of China and the sensitivity of the Chinese people.

Since the annexation of the island, which is a historical fact in 1895, Diaoyutai was officially taken over by the Japanese and renamed Senkaku. The Japanese even quoted its authority over the island by this official commentary, ‘Japan incorporated the Islands into Okinawa Prefecture after conducting thorough surveys from 1885 on, while ascertaining carefully that these islands had been uninhabited and showed no trace of having been under the control of any state including China.’

The arrogant Japanese ignored completely the ownership of the island by China since the Ming Dynasty in the 15^th Century, and as they put it, since nobody was there when they conducted the survey, they could take it over. This kind of arrogant logic would allow Japan to take over any island even today if they conduct a survey and conclude by themselves that no one was controlling it. There must be plenty of islands in the Philippines and Indonesia that can be annexed by the Japanese.

Diaoyutai is no uninhabited island in the vast Pacific Ocean. It was Chinese territory since the Ming Dynasty. And Japan is claiming that those were not historical records but the annexation of the island in 1895 was. No need to look further back.

The situation has come to a boil and it may be time for China to reclaim the islands and help the Liuchiu Islanders to regain their independence from Japan. The Liuchiu Islands, annexed by Japan and called Ryukyu Islands, were an independent kingdom that paid homage to the Qing Dynasty. The islands are now sacrificed as the military base of the US and host to nuclear weapons. They would have to bear the brunt of a first attack should war breaks out. It would be opportune for the islanders to declare independence from Japan and become an independent country again, free from foreign dominations, and free from the risk of a nuclear attack.

China has sent 6 surveillance ships to patrol the Diaoyiutai and would encounter the patrol ships of the Japanese coast guard. This is no time for blinking, having come so far, with the Japanese acting more aggressively in their claim on the island. A stand off and naval clash is unavoidable with the Japanese govt officially fabricating and pushing this naked lie of ownership of the island. It is unimaginable that China would surrender its territory for a naked lie.

China would not tolerate another Marco Polo Bridge Incident again and fighting Japan is a must if the provocation continues. The wisdom of the future generations appears to be now.

The Prosecutor

A piece of rar art created by Mother Nature.

US a convenient scapegoat in Arab World

My dentures almost flew out when I saw this heading in the ST yesterday, of an article by Jonathan Eyal. He went on to describe the hatred for Americans by the Arabs as, ‘instinctive and often irrational hatred of the US remains one of the region’s most depressingly common features.’

The Americans and the Western journalists and their world view still believe that the Arabs are daft and unthinking primeval tribes that did not know what is going on to their countries? They believe that they could continue to bully and oppress the Arabs, divide and rule, and exploit them for their oil and oil money while running their economies to ruins with wars and sanctions.

The depressing thing is that the Americans and the West really believe so, that by telling the Arabs that they are their saviours, they could do anything they want to them, bombing their countries to ruins, killing the Arabs without acknowledging that they are also human beans, and conveniently calling them collateral damages.

The rise of nationalism after WW2 had swept across the world to liberate countries and people from the imperialists and colonial West. Unfortunately this liberating force is still not enough to help the Arab World to break free from the Western domination of their countries and people. Now there is an even more powerful force, the power of religion that tells the Arabs to die for the honour of Allah, people and country. And terrorism becomes a part of their lives. Believe me, the Americans and the West are blind to these forces. Seeing the dictatorial regimes as opportunities to increase their influence in the region, the West masterminded and bankrolled small dissident groups to over throw the established govts only to find that the new comers were all steeped in their religious cause and more anti American and the West than the dictatorial regimes. And they are even more gungho, more deadly, with Allah as their reason to die for.

The Americans are convenient scapegoat? Nay, the Americans are simply enemy Number One. The Arabs know who their enemies are. It is not a naïve interpretation of scapegoat or irrational hatred. It is deep seated hatred built up over the years by western domination and oppression.

Can the Americans and the West get it? Sending in more warships and inciting more regime changes? This is the 21st Century. The Arabs cannot be blinkered forever. Once they band together as an anti American and anti Western force, they are a very formidable force to deal with. How long can the western tactic of divide and rule be effective and to prolong the domination and oppression of the Arab World?

This latest provocation against the Arab World is unnecessary and would only fume their anger and hate for the Americans and the West to a greater height. Who is the real mastermind in the movie? The result is staggering and the consequences are grave. Please, the Arabs are not idiots and definitely not daft.

An economic and military East Asia Pact

China, the Koreas and Taiwan should sit together and work out an economic and military pact in the face of unceasing territorial aggression by an incalcitrant militant Japan. Japan is still arrogantly sticking to its militaristic past and wanting to hold on to the war loots it seized from its neighbouring countries. And they would not return them unless defeated in a war.

And the Japanese Foreign Minister, Koichiro Gemba, got the cheek to call on the Chinese and Koreans to remain calm in the wake of Japanese reasserting their control over the islands taken from the two countries from conquest, and to look at the bigger picture. What bigger picture? The bigger picture is that it is time for Japan to return the war loots if it ever thinks of having a cordial and lasting relationship with its neighbours. Do the Japanese really believe that the Chinese and Koreans would accept the loss of their territories and would take that lying down and the Japanese peeing on their faces? It is a national shame, national humiliation, every day the islands are in the control of the Japanese.

The Chinese, Koreans and Taiwanese should form an economic/military pact to deal with Japan directly. Not only the Japanese and Americans can sign military pact. Take on the Japanese economically and if necessary, militarily, if the Japanese persist in humiliating their neighbours by not returning the islands looted from them. No more trades with Japan for a start by the three countries and be prepared for war as the Japanese are infamous for sneak attacks, like Pearl Harbour.

After banding, what’s next?

The quashing of the banding system for schools seems to be a most welcomed move by parents, educators and students. Although it is symbolic, it is still a big step forward to want to change, to want to listen to the people, to want to do good for education and make the parents happy. Malaysia made that move many years ago when parents complained that it was too difficult to use the English Language, and they took English out of their system. We almost took Mandarin out of our system as well. Any way the standard of Mandarin taught in schools today is way below par from yesteryears.

Before people get too excited and go overboard with the relac mentality, before we enter the age of narcissism, let’s look at the status of our education system and its products. Is our education really good? Are the products really first class? I am putting aside the other greater values of education, like opening the mind to see the real world, critical thinking, an educated and better person, values, goodness etc etc.

For the first question, relatively, yes. Compare to the third world countries, we have a good education system. Or at least the infrastructure and the hardware are first class, brand new and with modern comfort and facilities.

What about the quality question? Forget about the older generations of leaders that were mostly the products of foreign universities. In fact many of our top talents in govt are also products of foreign world class universities. What does this say of the quality of our local education?

In the employment scene, are our local products, all those with straight As, good enough? I think so, at the middle management level. Would they also be good at the top management level? This is a tricky question. Apparently it seems that our local products are not good enough for top level management, both in the govt and private sector. In those govt positions where there is no competition from foreigners, it is hard to tell.

And many organisations, including govt linked organisations, are happily recruiting foreigners or foreign educated professionals in preference to local graduates. Why? Foreigners are cheaper or are foreigners better? If foreigners are found better, then we have a problem, a real problem. And if foreigners are from third world countries and found to be better to boss around with our world class straight A products, now this is not funny. It simply says that our super products are useless or not worth their grades on paper.

The situation on the employment scene is not speaking very well of our local products. And this is in spite of the high pressure cooker system, including banding and branding of schools, to squeeze out the best from each cohorts. Would it be worst if the high pressure is slackened to appease the parents? Would we produce junks that are not even good enough to work in third world countries when everything is relaxed? Can we afford to lower our standards, make schooling fun and stress free as all parents and children would love to have, and everyday a happy and carefree day, a fun day in schools?

How far and how low would the education system go when we are not even producing graduates that can compete with third world countries even now? Would there be a day when all the top and senior managements must be imported, from third world countries, to manage our happy and stress free products from our friendly and wholesome education system?

What do you think? Did anyone say levelling down? There must be competition to get the best to be the best. There must also be moderation so that those that are meant for better things in other fields could excel and not feel dumped into the rubbish heap. Let’s not have an Olympic Games to compete for sportsmanship and not to excel. There can be another Olympic Games for other purposes like not winning and every participants would come home with a medal, the same medal for everyone to make everyone happy.

Will there be a shift in the direction and mission of our education system?

The first pain in Middle East

After lording and messing around with the lives of the Arabs, and killing so many of them, the Americans are tasting the first bitterness of their aggressive intent in the region. Bombing Libya, killing Gaddafi, turning the country in civil war and probably messed up for the next 30 years, the table turned yesterday. The Libyans turned their guns at the US Ambassador Chris Stevens. He was killed with 3 other officers.

And Hillary gasped, ‘How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save?’ She believed that the Americans were there to liberate and save the Libyans. Did she ask the Libyans if that is what they wanted and what they asked for? Or was the help unilaterally offered, like it was good for the Libyans and must be done? The pain of war so far is only felt by the Arabs, not the warmongers.

Now the answer came from the Libyans, a kind of thank you America, for killing Gaddafi and turning their country into ruins. And here is our present and our gratitude. You can bring the present home in black plastic bags.

A country that makes war a way of living will have war brought into its home soil.

Sinkies are not xenophobic

The accusation and branding of Sinkies as xenophobic is simply bad. It must not be allowed to stick. Sinkies have never been xenophobic. Other than some bad encounters with criminals, most visitors or foreigners working here have pleasant experience and memories to bring home with them. Many also have enjoyed the hospitality and generosity of Sinkies when they were here and some when in deep trouble. Those who have bad experience here are the racists that would not find any place good enough for them, not even their own countries. They will be the first to bad mouth any country that welcomed them to stay.

Sinkies must protest against this unjust labeling as anti foreigners. No one from any country would want their home to be flooded by so many foreigners in so short a span of time and with the infrastructure stretching and barely able to cope. The anger of Sinkies is not against the foreigners but against the policy of having too many foreigners leading to over crowding, unwanted competition, high cost of living, and a better future for our children.

No, Sinkies are definitely not xenophobic. Sinkies must denounce this xenophobic branding. It is having too many foreigners that is hurting the average Sinkies. The only good that can come from this branding is to frighten foreigners from thinking that Sinkieland is a good option to migrate.

First sacred cow slaughtered

The abolishing of the banding of schools is a major policy change in education. With this change, it could impact many areas of educating the children as it would in a way release some pressure on competing for good schools, good grades and a very demanding not doing well is not an option system. The annual panic of school selection when going to a school in the lower band brought immediate stigmatization could be less felt by parents and children with the change. It is a big step to make education less pressurizing and maybe more enjoyable for all, parents, teachers and children. Just don’t go over board and do away with examinations and grades as well.

Heng Swee Kiat is new in politics but his approach is like a veteran. Make the necessary changes that are needed, not the piece meal approach like the other veterans in the game. This is exactly what is happening in housing. It is all piece meal and the major policies are still hanging over the head. Would Boon Wan do the necessary and dismantle the wicked policies of his predecessor and make housing, choosing a flat, buying a flat, less stressful to the citizens? The babies may come faster too.

Would there also be more major changes coming the ways of health and manpower, the latter more with respect to the population size of this little rock, and not blindly looking at economic growth as the sole determinant of how many people it can take.

The mistakes of the govt have been so gross in so many areas, that without acknowledging it, are hardly unrecognizable. Despite all the great numbers and data that this is a miracle island, the flaws are so painful that they erased whatever goodness and goodwill that should be duly acknowledged. Funny, with so much wealth, talent and resources, the problems are found so difficult to solve. Just throwing more money at the problems will and can work, if the govt is willing, like throwing money into the pay of the elite to attract the best of the crème la crème into politics.

It’s time to bury the hatchet, when there is still time

The news of Chee Soon Juan’s offer of $30,000 to settle his defamation damage awarded to LKY and Chok Tong, and the acceptance by the two, came as a relief after so many years of acrimony. It is time that the age of brutal body blows to opposition politicians be put to an end and a new and clean chapter be allowed to start anew.

All Sinkies know what happened and how ugly that things had been and at times feel very shameful over the whole ordeal, but keeping a disinterested silence. It does not mean that Sinkies are apathetic to the unpleasantness and smell of the politicking that went against the grain of human decency.

Now that we are seeing a closure to this ugly past, let us all hope that it will be the last and will not happen again. We have civilized politically over the years, I hope, and any animal instinct or savagery should not stick onto the new designer suit. We have to progress politically and individually to be a better country and better people.

But until the last nail is in, anything untoward can still happen. Pray that things will be better as we step towards a brighter future of genuine inclusiveness and not just another hope or inspiration.

The Foreign Concessions

In the dark days of Chinese history, China was branded the Sick Man of Asia. In its own territories there were places designated as foreign concessions, The British Concession, French Concession, Japanese Concession, Russian, American etc etc . In these concessions, the foreign powers ran the places like their colonies, their own laws, police, and treated the Chinese as foreigners to be victimized and kicked around. They have no regards or respect to the Chinese who owned the land that sat the concessions. They humiliated the Chinese and ignored the catchphrase, 打狗看主人, or showing some deference to the owner before whacking the dog.

I was reading the plight of the local PMETs in Gilbert’s Transitioning.Org and could see the similarities in concessions being sprouted in this little island whereby foreigners held the locals in contempt and treating them as pariahs. I hope the cases mentioned in Gilbert’s blog are not true and not even exceptions. Sinkies cannot be treated as pariahs by foreigners in their own land. Sinkies cannot have concessions in their own country where Sinkies are bullied by foreigners. When foreigners did that, it is the end of the nation. Foreigners should try to belittle the locals in the Middle East and see what will happen to them.

But it cannot be true here. It must be Sinkies bullying the foreigners and that is why we have this integrate the foreigners call, help and love the foreigners campaign. Incidentally the foreigner that bashed a local taxi driver, a Sinkie, has returned to face judgment. Another two bashers were still at large. Let’s try to integrate this Sinkie basher since he is already given a PR as reported. He can become one of us. Maybe he can then direct his disgust at foreigners when he becomes a Sinkie.

Are there foreign concessions in Sinkieland where Sinkies are ill treated, mistreated and their presence unwelcomed? Have Sinkies lost their country?

What do you think?

The owner of this bull is having a party. His manager told him the bull is in the pink of health. Some suggested blowing hot air into its arse and it will spring to life.

What do you think?

China again the Sick Man of Asia

Despite its new status as the second super power, China is behaving like the Sick Man of Asia once again. And Japan is treating China as such and telling the Chinese it is ok. They are going to proceed with a scam to buy Chinese islands they looted from China during the days of gunboat diplomacy and Unequal Treaties. And they even said the Chinese would not feel hurt.

The whole episode tells two things. The Japanese are back to their militaristic past and will gang bang China and think they can get away with it. On the part of China, it is behaving like the Sick Man of Asia of the past, allowing the Japanese to kick it around at will.

Though it is China’s policy of not bullying a smaller nation, and trying to use diplomacy to solve international problems, Japan is no small power but a military power in its own right. It is bullying China and not the other way. Japan is not the Philippines or Vietnam. It is necessary to stand up to this militaristic nation that is bent to assume its imperial past as a military power.

China cannot avoid a conflict with Japan as Japan believes it can take on China. China cannot avoid trouble when trouble comes knocking at its door. Like the saying, 无事不早事，有事不怕事, China have to act in the Diaoyu case. Once the Japanese get away with the buying and selling of Diaoyu and China could not do anything about it, it becomes a fait accompli, a justification to be used in the future to strengthen the Japanese claim on the island.

It is time to send in the naval ships to patrol the island, and even erect a sentry post to tell the Japanese China means business. As Deng Xiaoping said, sovereignty is not negotiable. Definitely China cannot negotiate with the conniving and cheating Japanese. Doing nothing is not an option and will be seen as a sign of weakness, and in the Japanese mind, inviting trouble.

Pension gone!

Read in the paper that the pensions for office holders, MPs and top govt officers have been scrapped. I presume office holders include ministers as well. And those still serving, on reaching 55 and eligible for pension will not be able to get paid their pension together with their monthly salary, which in toto, is getting two salaries at the same time instead of one.

As they said, things that cannot stand the scrutiny of justice and fairness will have to go when discovered. The principle of clean wage system as Chee Hean said, must stay clean. Anything unclean must go. The disturbing question is how could unclean stuff get into a clean system manned by highly honourable and righteous men and women?

This one is definitely not about bad policy, just unclean.

Consequences of bad govt policies

When a murderer killed his victim, only the victim and his closed ones would suffer the consequences and live with the pain. Even if the murderer killed two victims, at most 4 families will be badly affected. When someone in govt makes a bad policy, thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions will be affected, good or bad. The karmic retribution is not some to fiddle with and to be ignored. When a bad policy affects thousands of people, the grievances and curses of the thousands of people would be directed at you know who.

The bad housing policy of the past decade is a ‘bad’ example of what bad policy is all about. Take the current revision of eligibility for singles to buy direct from HDB. If they were allowed to do so 10 years ago, they need not have to pay such a high price of today. Some may no longer be able to afford the current prices even from HDB as their income may not have kept pace with the price surge. Some may no longer be eligible as the 10 years could see their income exceeding the HDB ceiling. For those who could buy, the price is so much higher. They were all victims of bad policies.

The single mother and divorced parents too become victims with the runaway prices. Allowing them to buy now instead of 10 years ago is no real reprieve as the prices would be beyond many. They too would have to pay for the price of bad govt policies.

The policy of not building until the order book is full and the 4/5 year wait also affected many adversely in monetary terms. Many waited, from being eligible to ineligible as their incomes grew. Many Sinkies could not even buy a HDB flat while foreigners who just turn citizens could do so and profited from those Sinkies who were forced into the resale market, and to buy from the foreigners. How crude and callous could govt policies be, favouring foreigners and discriminating against its own citizens. Many have to pay so much more, like paying a fine for a crime, to buy from the resale market or the private developers. Could clever policy makers realise that something is wrong in their bad policies?

There are others who were affected not financially but equally bad. The haughty and arrogant demand that young people who want to buy flat better quickly get hitched to be eligible had seen many rushing to the ROM to register as man and wife. And after the 4/5 years’ wait, before the arrival of the flat, they could end up as divorcees, without even married in the traditional way. They could have still stay apart, like two individuals. Now they would be classified or known as divorcees. If the divorce gets through quickly and smoothly, things may not be so bad. Some drag on and on, all because of the edict from the HDB, get married or else no flat. And get married fast to get flat earlier.

Then there would be those who saw a good financial gain by getting married, get a flat, sell it for a good profit without thinking much. And by the time they sold their second flat, they will find themselves at the end of the road. No place to stay, no more HDB flats to buy except from the resale market. The profits they made could be enough to buy that new car that would no longer be new and gone in 10 years. So they ended in the beaches or the parks, or waiting for rental flats.

But not everyone is suffering. The happiest people are the new citizens who bought direct from HDB and could sell to these loser Sinkies at a huge profit and to renounce their citizenship and disappear. Great job and sure profit that daft Sinkies would have no choice but to pay.

Many Sinkies are badly affected by the bad housing policies. And there is no recourse, no restitution, no apologies, no regrets. It is just too bad. It is all their fault, not the bad policies. No policymaker has to miss a heart beat for these losers. They have all done their jobs very well.

While Boon Wan is still trying to unravel the mess, would he bother to look at those victims of the bad policies still hanging and dry? I doubt so. Not his problem. He did not create them. Life goes on and the thousands that were affected are history. How many were made much poorer, how many still cannot buy a HDB flat, how many are divorcees and unable to remarry because of their past status?

Putin puts Hillary in her place

If a photograph says a thousand words, there were two interesting photographs emerging from the APEC Meeting in Vladivostok. One very nice photograph of a very nice Yingluck in a very nice long skirt and with several male admirers around her appeared in the ST today. Yingluck must have soften the harsh and tough image of the meeting where non other than the macho Putin was hosting.

And Putin made no one guessing who was the boss man. In the group photograph of the leaders, he chose to have the Sultan of Brunei on his side at the centre of the photo. And he made his feelings for Hillary or the US clear to all by banishing her to the back row on his far left. This must be a very uncomfortable position for Hillary or any American dignitaries to be in, having all the time claiming the spotlight and be the centre of attraction in any gatherings.

Maybe I am reading too much in the photos. Maybe Hillary was keeping herself clear of the Russian bear by staying far far away from Putin. Maybe there just walked into the photo shoot at random.

National Conversation topic

One major topic to be addressed in the National Conversation is the amount of authority to be given to an elected govt of a 5 year term. A democratically elected govt with a short life span of 4 to 5 years is very different from a dictatorship or a dynasty where the country in a way belongs to the dictator or the royal family. The people living in a dictatorship or a dynasty have no choice but to live with whatever decided for them by the dictator or the royalty. They can do whatever they want with the country without the consent of the people. They owned the country, not the people.

In a democracy, the country belongs to the people and the elected represenative govt is only a caretaker govt that can be kicked out of office in the next GE. Should such a govt be given so much authority to decide the future of the country and its people without the latter's consent? Issues that will affect the people for a long time is the population, property ownership, freedom, the people's savings, the national reserves, among other things.

This National Conservation should look into the power of a democratically elected govt and remind such govt that the country belongs to the people, not the few elected representatives, and major and far reaching policies must have the consent of the people, preferably through a referendum. Bringing in so many foreigners as new citizens, selling land and properties to foreigners are critical issues that should not be decided by a few without the consent of the majority shareholders.

Of prudence, prudence and prudence

This funny word seems to be appearing more often on the lips of people in authority. Prudence is taking on the image of a good word. It used to be a good word to the old and wise. Prudence or being not wasteful, careful in words and money, not extravagance, is an old value of goodness.

Prudence can be practiced by the govt, by organizations and by individuals. Prudence in the layman’s view is not overspending, or spending within one’s means. Extravagance is just the opposite, spending beyond one’s means, spending without a care of tomorrow or spending every cent one has.

How is this word prudence being practiced here? Are the govt’s policies based on prudence? Is the govt extravagant, encourages over spending instead of prudence in its own spending and in policies dictating to the people to over spend, or to be prudent?

Think of hospitalization and mean testing? Are they policies of prudence or extravagance? I think they are of extravagance than prudence. Any disagree?

Similarly, housing policies, despite all the crap calls about affordability and buying within your means, it is all about extravagance, buying at max with what one has in the CPF or according to one’s income. See the hypocrisy? The pricing of public housing cannot be prudence, and the income ceilings dictating one to buy more and more expensive flats according to one’s income, are all about extravagance.

Prudence, anyone talking about prudence? If prudence was the intent and purpose, why are people now finding that they savings are not enough for retirement? It must be the result of extravagant spending. It cannot be otherwise. If the people are prudent in their spending, they must have a lot of savings for retirement. What has gone wrong? Prudence? Yes it must be prudence that has gone wrong.

Developing properties for investors

I was kind of, er, uneasy when I heard someone from the property industry talking about developing properties for investors as the next big thing. This statement came after the announcement on changes to allow banks to manage the conveyancing money of buyers. We had a few too many cases of honorable lawyers running away with their clients’ money.

Properties are perhaps the only local produce that we can sell to foreigners for huge profits. We cannot prevent the property developers or anyone who want to make big bucks from selling this product. But we need to be very careful as land is a very limited resource here. Once sold, especially in freehold properties, it is sold forever, like selling Alaska to the Americans by the Russians. We need a policy to limit how much land and freehold properties can be sold to foreigners. If not, all will eventually be sold. The foreigners have all the money to buy up everything on the table.

The other main concern is the public housing market. In the absence of a long term policy to protect housing for the citizens, we may plunge into a deep hole and unable to climb back up. Like it or not, when private property prices shoot to the sky, they will drag prices of public housing along. Good huh?

For now, everyday we are hearing people trumpeting that our public housing prices are affordable. Even so, there are already people living without a roof on their heads. Blame them on their stupidity, losers, misfortunes, luck, etc, they are still citizens of the country and they need a roof over their heads.

And as the prices hit the roof, the number of homeless will only increase. Not everyone is born lucky to be a minister’s son, not everyone is able to inherit a fortune, not everyone is born with super talents. Then there will be the silly ones, the couldn’t care less ones, the ones that live for today and think about tomorrow when tomorrow comes, and the irresponsible ones. Still they need housing.

At the moment the problem is small and a few of these homeless can be kept away from sight. When the problem snowballs, they will be in every corner, every void deck, and the parks and beaches. Someone selling a 4 rm flat the second time could still downgrade to 3rm flats. Those selling 3 rm flats can only hope for a rental flats as the money could not buy them anything in the resale market and neither would HDB sell them a third time.

There must be safeguards and protection of the people’s housing. Public housing must be sheltered from the greed of developers and speculators. If public housing is also thrown into the ring, many will become victims of circumstances and their own wrong doings. In a sea infested with hungry sharks, the hapless will quickly fall victims to the predators.

The superficial huge profits to be gained by some will soon be the misery of many. Don’t play with people’s homes and run people to the streets or the beaches.