1/07/2012

I was overwhelmed

The events that were unfolding over the last two days must have numbed many Sinkies. After reading all the information laid out on the salaries of ministers, I am still in a state of shock.

The GE was like a minor earthquake of 5 in the Richter scale followed by an after shock in the Presidential Election. This revelation is like a 7. There will be bigger after shocks, and maybe a tsunami over the horizon. Things are happening very fast. The People’s perception and support for the ruling party is going to take a hit.

As an observer of political events, the GE was a small shake up and a little warning of worst to come. Seven months past, other than Boon Wan, who seems to be sensing something wrong and hastily trying to do some damage control, the rest do not seem to see any urgency for change. The 7 months of grace period to regain lost ground were wasted in a way. The expected hikes in fees and charges are flowing in predictably and in orderly fashion. Even minimum sums in CPF were raised as a non event. There is absolutely no need to consult the people, taking the people for granted.

Now this huge earthquake is going to shaken and loosen every foundation there is, and if a tsunami is to strike, it is going to be a waste land like Fukushima. I am still wondering how this salary thing is going to impact the ruling party and whether they can weather this perfect storm. At the moment there is no answer to the shocking revelation. What was being reported, written in blogs, are just the tip of an iceberg. The true sentiment of the people is simmering inside and would not come out in full, at least for the moment. There are still too much restraints and refrains from telling the truth. The PAP will never hear the truth.

What is more troubling is that there are some who are praising the Salary Recommendations. This will give the PAP a false sense of confidence that the prescription by the Review Committee is the solution they are waiting for. The more congratulatory support for the recommendations the more delusion they will get into. When the imperial physicians diagnosed that the emperor was only having measles instead of syphilis, there was a big sigh of relief and self congratulations. The physicians were brilliant. And the prescriptions were equally brilliant, just a few days of panadol and Vitamin C and the emperor will be back to good health. The diagnosis was what they wanted to hear and the prescription was what they wanted, and the imperial physicians did what they thought was best for everyone, including the emperor and their own good.

Is there any more goodwill left, any more political capital left, for the ruling party to survive this crisis, or I am just imagining things? What crisis? There will be a resurrection! Would the party be given a new lease of life after this storm and come out stronger? Or this is just a tropical storm and nothing more to it, and things will be back to normal in no time, with bright and sunny sky? Those who wanted the diagnosis to be measles would tell you that this is just a tropical storm and will blow over. Let’s hope they will be right again.

As a political observer, my crystal ball is revealing a different story.

12 comments:

s.arul said...

Very true,50 years pap never listened and it is difficult to change bad habits.Grace Fu is wondering what her new standard of living will be, earning basic 100k,then what about the rest 99.9% Singaporeans living in the most expensive city???

arulsan

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Hi arul, welcome to the blog.

Maslow's 5th level of needs, after self actualisation, is self delusion.

Sinkies used to feel so blessed when a new supertalent came on board and could go to sleep and enjoy their sweet dreams.

Today they are wondering if it is a blessing or a curse.

Anonymous said...

Earthquake is the right word to describe the political development.

Anonymous said...

Haha RB , same sentiments expressed here :

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/1/7/focus/10213453&sec=focus

Anonymous said...

Maybe, just maybe, some of the ladyfolks in Singapore could cause a big change in the Sin political landscape.
And
maybe, Singaporeans should thank them.

patriot

Anonymous said...

Saw , Halimah , Fatimah , Grace Fu , Hole Jinx ... many many women folk causing PAP to 乱了阵脚 , there's more muppet show coming up ... FOLKS ! Sesame Street has come to Sinkie Land !

Anonymous said...

Of course,the thinking that the more you earn,the more talented you are,other things are immaterial, is already casted in stone,this cannot be changed.

Anonymous said...

//Saw , Halimah , Fatimah , Grace Fu , Hole Jinx ... many many women folk causing PAP to 乱了阵脚//

Ling Ling Tin Pei Ling is quite a big star too.

Anonymous said...

Share these two posts below. The posts are very logical.

ONE:
Propose a formula for your own salary and present the proposal to the parliament for approval. The parliament is dominant by you and your cronies and you know your proposal is definitely passed.



After the people object to your proposal, you appoint one of your cronies to review the proposal and he recommend a revised proposal that you and your cronies (not the people) are happy about it. Then you present the revised proposal to the parliament again for approval. You know that all your cronies in the parliament will support the revised proposal because the revised proposal is for their own good. The parliament is still dominant by your cronies and the revised proposal will be approved. 



Tell me what sort of parliament system is this? Is this corruption at the highest level? If not, what is it?

TWO:
You propose a salary formula for you and your cronies to base on a group of top earners who are mostly from GLCs and your cronies' companies. You also know that your controlled parliament will pass your proposal. 



Next thing you do is to get GLCs and your cronies' companies to pay the chief very very well. As such, your and your cronies' salary will be increased accordingly. 



What is this? Is this corruption at the highest level? 



After the revised salary proposal, one of your cronies can say she suffer pay cut by joining politics. She claimed she can earn much more in 'private' sector. Look at what 'private' sector she has worked before joining politics. Are GLCs really 'private' sector? If she is right, GLC must have paid her very very high salary. This proves that you have artificially raised the GLCs chief salary having know that this will effect higher salary for you and your cronies. 



You see, based on logic and deduction, the people can prove the current system is very very clever. On the surface, it is not corruption at the highest level and abuse of power granted by the people to you. Is this 'legalized' corruption at the highest level?

Anonymous said...

Declare yourself as chosen, anointed, talented or highly favored by God. Declare yourself as sons of God with heavenly entitlements. Since God owns the universe, and all the wealth, naturally being King's kid will grant you many folds return.

Why be legally corrupt when you can be the CEO of a church?

Laugh yourself to the bank today. Join the spiritual elites and spit(from the pulpit) your way to health, wealth and prosperity.

Anonymous said...

Let them have the money lah, legalized or otherwise.
How long can they live to spend
them???
Money will only buy them a bad
name long after they are gone.
So what, if they have millions
or even billions!!!

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

When you people said let them have the money, please think your CPF huh. If you want your CPF back, better know what you are saying.

And also the high cost of fees, services, charges, rentals, to feed the high salaries.

There is no free lunch and the money to be paid must come from the sinkies.