12/05/2008
Living dangerously
PowerSeraya, the third and last power station is sold to YTL, a Malaysian conglomerate. Irrespective of whichever country buying it, should a strategic asset like the power stations be sold and be managed by any country other than the state? Should we sell our water treatment plants as well? Next, shall we sell out ports, Changi and PSA? Or shall we sell SIA and NOL? Where will the selling of strategic assets ends and when will the people stand up and ask, is this the right thing to do? Or are the people so complacent that nothing will worry them?
I just don’t feel comfortable going down this road. Do we need the money so badly? Are these money put to better use than to hold on to these assets? Or are we trading our strategic assets for non strategic assets? Why are Singaporeans so indifferent to what is happening to the country and their future wellbeing?
I have seen privatized security services hiring foreigners, including carrying of arms, to guard key installations and controlling movement of people. Does anyone think it is a good idea that foreigners should be allowed to carry arms in our own backyard? Having a contingent of Gurkhas is already an aberration. How far down shall we go down this road? We still have the police force and the armed forces in our control.
When will they be filled by foreigners? Oh, I heard that the obviously foreign looking personnel in uniforms are PRs or new citizens. So, issuing them PRs and pink ICs immediately qualified these foreigners as one of us?
We are living in a very dangerous world. Having people with unknown background guarding our buildings and installations is not a joking matter. Or maybe I am wrong.
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8 comments:
Please go read http://www.yoursdp.org/
and followed by reading the uncritical Singapore news media:
http://www.straitstimes.com/ and http://www.channelnewsasia.com/
and judge for yourself what Singapore really is like.
Francis Chua, Singapore
My personal experience in Singapore is that the many directors and senior managers of Singapore companies are unscrupulous or dishonest, sometimes subtle, sometimes gross, and that apply to the senior government appointment-holders and senior religious leaders as well. Many of their so-called lower ranking employees or followers dare not tell them to their face, if they do anything wrong. Many of them are often so full of false pride, they refused to meet persons they perceived as 'lower' than themselves. Some of them are inhuman. I have seen and heard of this so many times. It is an openly known fact in Singapore. Many Singaporeans are emotionally numb to this fact. National election in Singapore is conducted under a cloud of threats, fears and uncertainty created by the news media, sometimes subtle, sometimes openly, from the incumbent political party, known as PAP. The uncritical news media simply print sweet sounding untruths to the face of the Singaporean readers, thus distorting their sense of reality. There is an endless list of issues to write about in dictatorial Singapore. Only the affluent foreigners are treated like human beings with human rights. Singaporeans are treated like human 'beans' without human rights. Some Singaporeans are treated nicely only if they behave nicely to the expectation of the ruling party supporters. Others are treated like 'rats'. Discrimination is rampant in Singapore, along the line of educational attainments, age and other factors. Even kids are full of prejudice and bias, indoctrinated by their parents and friends. Male law-breakers are often prejudiced against, compared to female law-breakers, going by the impression given by the uncritical news media. Please stop being hypocritical, preachy & moralistic.
There is still a long way to go before Singapore becomes a developed nation. Just because some Singaporeans can speak and write good English, and have high educational attainments do not make Singapore a developed nation. There are many who cannot. Please take the initiative to invest in Singaporeans to speak and write good English and other languages, and stop complaining that they cannot speak and write good English and other languages. Please invest in Singaporeans to develop themselves culturally, and stop complaining that Singapore is a cultural desert. Please invest in Singaporeans educationally and not discriminate those without educational qualifications. Please invest in the poor and needy Singaporeans, and not be disgusted with their living habits and distanced from them emotionally.
Please give people unlimited opportunities to correct themselves. Rarely are people born perfect. That is why there is always a need to get the foundation of our society of individuals correct. And when it is discovered that it is not correctly built, built it correctly again. Again and again until it is correct. No city is built correctly in a single day.
Francis Chua, Singapore
Foreigners are here to manage, manipulate and safeguard the profits of this state - this I am certain. However I am also sure that I have no say in this state as citizen. Thus, it is proper that foreigners should become citizens so that their controls over "our" state are neutralised.
The best way to run any organisation solely focused on production of essential goods (all goods are "essential" on some level), is to do it as full PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.
If people are good at their jobs, and are self-reliant and responsible, they usually make excellent employees. Being "foreign" or "local" is simply irrelevant — unless one is trying to fan the flames of nationalism for political gain.
the chefs at taj mahal hotel will tell you that their trainees were not there to produce goods. neither would it make any difference if they were happy or unhappy.
different missions, different priorities.
the world is getting more dangerous out there.
Dynastic rule have proven they built up wealth and influence. They become so powerful, the line between tyranny and do-gooder become vague. Worse when people worship them in blind faith.
There is no extreme hunger to change the human face enough to push out the dynasty.
Then there must be idealogy. Idealogy gyrated by circumstances, with extreme bitterness, to challenge the dynasty. The circumstances is both bitter sweet making grey the energy for the final push.
American politics self promote their own prodigy and propel them upwards and forward at disadvantage to the poor and downtrodden. SIN had headed this way with elitism.
There can only be change with idealogy.
BTW, on your comment about selling NOL, do you even know what NOL stands for? It stands for Norwegian Orient Lines. And NOL owns APL which stands for American Presidents Lines. Hard to imagine that shipping companies starting with the words Norwegian or American could be considered Singapore stragegic assets.....
ohh, i thought it was still Neptune Orient Line. i must be sleeping.
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