The farce of going green

Save Gaia, save the environment, protect the earth, go green. All these beautiful slogans are good only as slogans. Many people are crazy enough to use less water, save on a piece of plastic bag, a few empty cans, and think they could save the earth while on the other hand the big boys, the industries, the govts, are wasting precious resources without battling an eyelid in the name of growth and progress.

How many cars are scrapped in good working conditions daily? And think, how many plastic bags or tin cans needed to be saved to replace a good working car that is being scrapped?

How many handphones are being dumped or thrown away daily? Again, how many plastic bags and paper bags and tin cans are needed to produce one of these handphones that are thrown away? How much water and electricity needed to be saved to manufacture one handphone?

Look at the number of high capacity engine cars running around and burning fuel when a smaller engine car would do the same trick. How much resources and petrol are consumed unnecessarily to produce such high power cars? Are they necessary except to be toys of the rich?

Think, how many good condition blocks of flats that could last another 100 years are being pulled down only to be rebuilt? How much resources and energy are needed to build, destroyed and rebuild when it was unnecessary?

Think, how much food and resources would be needed for consumption if another 1m people are brought into the island for growth? Want to save some more plastic bags, paper bags and tin cans?

In order to really save the world, one main thing to do is to control population growth. Each person brought into this world is going to consume lots of energy and raw material, much more than to produce millions of plastic bags. The main destroyer of mother earth is population growth. And a corollary to this is economic growth and wasteful production for economic growth. A lot of economic activities are wasteful and unnecessary, even the new botanic garden.

Who is kidding who about saving the world? If this island stops importing more people, it will save many thousand or million times more than what it needs to do to cut on savings of plastic bags or tin cans or other equivalents.

The baby thing is in the air again

Looks like all the policies to encourage the reproduction of more workers did not work. Singapore will be ruined if it cannot find more workers to feed the system. And the people are increasingly getting angrier with the influx of foreigners into this piece of rock. What can the govt do to induce more babies from our women who don’t think it is their responsibility to produce more digits to please the statisticians and the govt?

The babies are not for sale. They are not another piece of machine to be bought for an inanimate purpose call the economy or growth. They are human lives, to be cared for, to be loved, to be given a good life, not to become slaves to an economic system.

What is happening today is that both parents are busy trying to feed the economy, to pay endless mortgages for homes and cars, to save to pay the hospitals when the time comes, to put aside money for the sovereign funds to invest, to keep paying and paying ahead for the time when they could not work anymore even when they are designed to work till they drop dead.

Many just do not have time for babies, to love and care for, and enjoy them. Babies will be farmed to the maids who would see them as another chore, another machine that generates jobs for them. What kind of babies will they be and how would they turn out when they become adults? And the maids are essential not only to the parents but also to the economic system as they generate a lot of revenue for the govt. Maybe that is the reason why the govt refuses to offer incentives to the grandparents to care for the babies, a much more healthy, safe and secure, and desirable for bringing up children when parents have to live an existence like worker bees. But incentivizing grandparents would undermine the needs for maids and remove a major source of income.

With the maids playing an important role in the lives of babies and their upbringing, it may be a good thing as they will imbibe the values, cultures and philosophies of life from these foreign talents. There will be more diversities and creativities among the future generations which will be good for the workforce and economy.

Who still wants to do national service and produce more babies to work the system, to feed the demand for goods and services, to pay for all the taxes, direct, indirect, disguised, so that the state can continue to exist as a glorious state? What is the baby for other than becoming another economic tool? NS men!

What about the monetary cost of bringing up a baby to adulthood? This is easily $1m till completion of tertiary education. Another million to buy a home, another million to buy a car during his useful life, another million to set aside for medical and hospitalization, another half a million for all kinds of minimum sums in savings. And these did not include his daily living expenses and things needed to amuse himself while being alive. Maybe another million for litigation.

A human life will easily feed at least $5m into the economic system. That is a lot of money counting another 5m or 10m people in ballpark figures. Now you see why a baby is so important for the survival of the state and the economy.

Demise of the stockbroking industry is imminent

With the trading volume petering off other than non commission generating computer trades, broking houses are finding it tough going to cover their overheads. Remisiers too are sleeping on their jobs literary with hardly a phone call daily. Many would have qualified as low wage earners going forward and should be entitled to workfare subsidies.

Someone would have to bear the operating costs of brokerages and pressure has been put on remisiers to push their clients to trade more or they would have to cough up the difference in operating cost. Some houses are dangling the carrot to induce sleeping clients to start trading.

All these are meant well measures but failing to understand the real cause of the dying market and are futile efforts, grasping at shadows. Not many investors have much money left to feed the big funds and their gambling computers. When entering the market is a certain loss, who would want to trade even if it is for free? Unless the real cause of the systemic flaws in the market are recognized and removed, the stock market will collapse in increasing speed.

Within a matter of months there could be an exodus of remisiers out of the industry. More would be applying for taxi driving licence as the last resort. Employees of brokerages are bracing up for the red letters as retrenchment is on the card when revenue fails to match operating cost.

How could a healthy and lucrative industry reach such a pathetic plight? Actually the writings were on the wall several years back when all the changes were introduced into the market. Anyone in the industry would know what is happening but no one would want to do anything, and the slide to the bottom and self destruct is only a matter of time.

The white mice syndrome

The famous white mice lab experiment is turning into reality in jam packed Sinkie land. This was an experiment on communal living and how a crammed environment could lead to the inevitable violence and mice eating mice.

A number of mice were introduced into a caged environment. They got along well when there were lesser mice and more space to move around, and more food available. As the population of mice increases, personal space for each mouse gets smaller, and food gets scarcer. At a point when living together becomes a competition for food and space, the mice became violent and even started to eat one another.

The increasing violence in the trains and buses is testimony to the findings of this experiment. The Sinkies are getting more irritated and agitated in the crammed environment and would grow increasingly intolerant and violent. Fighting for seats and space in buses and trains will become a more common daily encounter. Thanks but not thanks to this unthinking drive for growth through the addition of more people into this piece of rock.

Is there no other better solution than this ‘one and only’ solution of increasing population for growth? Is this why the people pay out of this world salary for this out of this world solution? Is this the solution that the people want or reject? Should it be time to find better talented people to run the country with alternative solutions? If there are no better people to lead, and no better solutions other than this ONE solution to solve all problems, this is the beginning of a downward spiral into the abyss.

There are definitely many more talented Sinkies available in this island.

My Holy Order

This is my Church, this is my Holy Order. I run my Church the way I run my Church. I spend my Church’s money the way I spend my Church’s money. Who dares challenge or question what I do with my Holy Order?

Apparently this appears to be the way the Holy Order was run and who dares challenge will be sued and disgraced. One did, was sued and was disgraced.

But time vindicates the righteous. Or is it that there is a bigger God who will take his time to deal with the abusers of power? When time is ripe, Holy Order or whatever, time to go. Time waits for no man.

Which Holy Order will be next to face the maker, the final arbiter of righteousness? Only God knows.

My apologies for the sermon. I am not religious and do not subscribe to any Holy Order.

A decent lawyer, a decent plea….

And a decent man. Some may disagree but that is a matter of opinion.

Howard Shaw pleaded guilty for having sex with an underage prostitute. That’s it. And this is his lawyer’s statement to the court, “Mr. Shaw is not asking for any special treatment” given his family background, said his lawyer Harpreet Singh, who asked the judge to impose a fine instead of a prison term as he had made a “honest and reasonable mistake” in believing the girl was at least 18 at the time of the offence.

Howard knew that his indiscretion had infringed the law and would accept the punishment for it like a man.

Welcome to Sin City

It was a joke, a pun, to call Singapore Sin City. It is no longer a pun and neither joke. The newspapers are splashed with news of corruptions in high places, and sex scandals. They don’t have enough space to write about them.

The clean and green and squeaky prude city is passé. The streets are dirty with litters. The trains smelt of human stench. The monks and priests and those wearing white robes are tarnished and stained.

Sin City is getting more vibrant and colourful. We have achieved as the City of happenings, fun and excitement.

No place for Sinkies

We have enough land and properties to accommodate 1.5m foreigners. And we are encouraging more to come, with open arms and red carpets. But sadly, we don’t have enough land to build a few nursing homes for the aged and the handicapped.

The reality of having nursing homes for Sinkies in JB is now a reality. Is this something to be proud of? Is economic cost, pragmatism good enough reasons to justify sending our useless and hopeless aged to some foreign land to die? What kind of values are we imparting to the young, from the govt? And we bragged about the billions and maybe trillions in our reserves. For who’s benefits? Whose money is in the reserves?

If there is any prioritizing, the first group to go should be the dead. The half dead, undead and waiting to be dead, are still alive. We treasure the dead more than the living with spacious land allocated to them when what is needed are a few blocks of HDB flats.

And everyone spoke as a matter of fact, without emotions, as if there are no better solutions. Bring in another 100,000 foreigners, we have all the land and housing for them. Now you know why the poor grandmas and grandpas would have to be abandoned to JB?

City Harvest Pastor Kong and 5 arrested for CBT

Five members of City Harvest Church (CHC), including its founder Pastor Kong Hee, have been arrested early this morning for alleged criminal breach of trust and falsification of accounts of the church.

The other four arrested were John Tan Yee Peng, Lam Leng Ham, Chew Eng Ham and Sharon Tan. It was also reported that 3 other board members of the church, including Ho Yeow Sun have been suspended from duties.

The five will be charged tomorrow. This seems to be an endless list of cases involving prominent people and celebrities in the island. City Harvest is probably one of the most successful new church in the island and the news is going to be shocking.

Tee ah, this country does not belong to you, you know?

The govt leaders think this country belongs to them and they can do anything they want, bring in as many foreigners as they want, and issue as many citizenships as they want.

Did they ask the citizens if this is what the citizens want, to flood the country with foreigners and new citizens? The citizens elected them to be the govt for only 5 years, not forever you know. Don’t forget and think they own this country.

This is not your grandfather’s country.

The humanitarian and disaster centres are in place

With all the humanitarian and disaster centres in place, the Americans and its allies are ready to create a few disaster and war zones in Asia and Southeast Asia. Vietnam and the Philippines are all ready and eager to have a go at it by testing the military might of Chinese in claiming Chinese islands as theirs. This simple recipe for war and disaster is well tested everywhere, with American backings of course. With the Americans in the dark, these two countries would think they can pull the whiskers of China with impunity. China has made it clear that such nonsense will no longer be tolerated and is prepared to go to war with anyone, including the US.

In the north, the US and the South Koreans are provoking the North Koreans practically on a daily basis with war games on the North Korean borders. If there is a war between the two Koreans, the South Koreans deserved to be destroyed by the North. The beneficiaries of such a disaster would be Japan and the US. But the South Koreans can be comforted by the presence of US humanitarian and disaster centres to pick up the South Korean refugees.

Asian and Southeast Asian countries should take a closer look at the pathetic plight of the Arab countries and how they are constantly fixed by the US and European countries to be at war perpetually. The human tragedy of the Arab and Middle Eastern world should be a grim reminder to the rest of the world of what they could become if they allowed the western powers to subvert their national interests and ended fighting among themselves, and dragging their people to the stone age.

East Asia and Southeast Asia are at the brink of becoming another flash point, mired in conflicts and warfare, egged on, and under the tacit support of western powers. The regional culprits that are willing to go along will be the two semi colonies of the US in South Korea and Japan, and the newly crowned semi colonies of Vietnam and the Philippines. Would Asean and other Southeast Asian countries be sucked into such stupidity of self destruction against their will and national interests?

War is fun, full of opportunities for the rich and powerful, and full of opportunities for the ignorant masses to be maimed and to die for.

Singapore is a welfare state. Period.

I totally disagree with Tan Jee Say and his Lord Butler for thinking that Singapore is not a welfare state. And many people will believe in them. The official position of the govt is that it is against welfare state and adamantly said that Singapore will not become a welfare state. Really?

In reality, Singapore is a welfare state of the extreme kind. It benefits the elite with state welfare that puts many welfare states to shame. Think about it. Who is getting the most from state welfare by the millions?

Our welfare is not meant for the low down jobless, cleaners or poor retirees. Agree or still puzzling? Just look at who are the recipients of our state welfare and how these are being disguised to look like something else.

Funny isn't it? You need to be somebody to qualify for such expensive welfare payout.

Is there still a need for NS?

‘Mr Lee(MM) goes on to say that the economy and defence are closely interlinked and “without a strong economy, there can be no strong defence. Without a strong defence, there will be no Singapore.’ Rajiv Chaudhry

I was thinking about this same issue when I read Rajiv Chaudhry’s article. Rethinking of Singapore’s Defence Needs. He came to the conclusion that Singapore was overspending on defence and also there was no need to defend Singapore for its wealth. He also repeated the point that Singapore was indefensible and thus it was all a futile attempt and a waste of valuable resources to build up a huge defence force.

My earlier view coincides with the establishment’s view, that it is necessary to build a capable and effective defence force to protect country, people and our sovereignty. My views have since changed with the new developments in our national policies. We used to have something to defend and die for, our country, our national wealth, our sovereignty, our way of life, the future of our children. All these are passé, no longer relevant in current context.

Our military is to defend the country from foreign aggression, preventing foreigners from coming in to occupy our land. This is irrelevant today when we open our doors to invite foreigners to live with us and help themselves with everything we got, and with the citizens having to compete against foreigners in a playing field that is tilted against the citizens. Why waste trying to defend something that is already given away? Why defend something that is no longer a right or a special privilege as a citizen?

What about our national wealth, our national reserves? Another illusion that is no longer of any meaning to the people. What national wealth? It is only hearsay, like our CPF savings, a statement to feel good but benefitting who? Who is being paid in the millions from our savings? Even our own savings in the CPF, in a sense, are no longer our savings. So what is there to defend when it is no longer yours?

Our national assets, strategic assets, land and properties, even islands, could possibly be put on sale when the price is right. Who knows, Sentosa will be on the auction table and going to the highest bidder one day. What is there to defend?

Our way of life is no longer to be treasured. It is being adulterated, diluted by the worst of the new immigrants. And with so many here, the call for integration of migrants to our way of life could be the reverse, the locals integrating into the migrant’s way of life.

The rationale for NS is no longer valid with the new circumstances and economic situation. Some may still remember that one of the reasons, other than defence, was the flood of employable young men and women coming of age. The British were withdrawing and the economy was still very backwards. There was a big problem of employment and a way must be found to delay these young people from entering the job market. NS could absorb and delay the males for two and a half years, taking the pressure off for a while.

What we are facing today is exactly the opposite. By keeping the men in NS, we are causing more shortages and strains in the supply of workers to the economy. There is no need to hold them back anymore, and rightly they should be released to the job market instead of crying father and mother that there are not enough workers available and we need to import more. When the need to defend the country is no longer there, no longer necessary, when everything can be sold, when foreigners are invited to share our wealth and our land, NS has outlived its usefulness and no longer needed. What is there to defend when there is nothing to defend? The only thing left worthy of defending for the average NS men will be their HDB flats and the wealth and properties of the rich, including foreigners. The foreigners need not pay or contribute to our defence. They got a free right at the expense of our NS men.

It is so strange that we have arrived at such a scenario as a nation, a country, when we are no longer a nation, a country, but a hotel. A hotel only needs to employ security guards like the Gurkhas. At best we are just a city state for citizens of the world.

Time to ask the NS men what do you think, or what are you defending?

The Briton and his victim, who is the racist?

When news of the Briton being bashed by his victim for racist slurs, I read some comments that the Briton is not racist because he married a local girl. Is that good enough a factor to clear him of the racist tag? Maybe indeed he is not a racist. Maybe he did not even know that he is a racist. Maybe racism is just part of him and is unrecognisable.

The fact is that this young Briton carried with him hundreds of years of European history and racism. These have probably be in his blood, in his history lessons in schools. How else would a young Briton told a Chink, anyway, to all westerns, Sinkies look no different than another Chinaman, the racist joke of being laundryman and asking him to go back to his laundry shop in China?

This racist discrimination of Chinaman and condemning them into lowly trade like cooks and laundry men, was enshrined in the American Constitution in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Other than tagging the native Red Indians as savages and good for the slaughter, and the enslavement of African human beast of burden, the Exclusion Act is the third most hideous crime against humanity committed by the Americans. Thank God Sinkie Chinks are not Chinaman and can laugh at this Act or simply ignored it as nothing to do with us. I take exceptions to this kind of denial.

Back to the Sinkie Chink that was taunted by the Briton. A commentator posted that the Briton was not racist because of his Chinese wife and it was his victim that played the racist card. So insulting him with the laundry tag on his expensive designer shirt was not racist. Calling him a laundry man was also not racist. Telling him to go back to his laundry shop in China was not racist. Now where did this Briton hide this part of Chinaman/laundryman in his memory for instant recall, to be used against Chinaman?

What did the victim did that was racist? For beating up the Briton for passing all the friendly and innocent laundry man remarks? Maybe the Sinkie Chink could not appreciate Brit humour, or got no sense of humour. Since the end of colonialism, not many former subjects of the Empire would want to appreciate deprecating racist humour from their colonial masters anymore.

How could someone called a Sinkie Chink racist when he spoke and dressed and behaved like a westerner and enjoying every bit of it in a western establishment, a pub. And if you read him carefully, he even called himself Alexander Lincoln despite his parents giving him a Chinese name. Or maybe the Alexander Lincoln was given to him by his parents too. Would this fact be enough to say that Alexander Lincoln is not racist, or at least his parents too were not racist as his name speaks of their aspiration to be more like angmoh?

In my view, if the Briton, Richard Jonathan Mills, would to invite him to his table, Alexander Lincoln could be so grateful for such an act that he would probably buy the Briton a drink to drink to that. The Brit was too full of himself and to me, deserved to be beaten by the Sinkie Chink for not knowing that his racist slur was no longer acceptable even to Sinkie Chinks who would not associate themselves with the term China man. It was double insult really. Sinkie Chinks despised China man and would not want to have anything to do with them. They might even agree and approve the Chinese Exclusion Act as something necessary and the right thing to do.

The frightening tags of the past

There was a time when the British tagged the nationalists as terrorists or insurgents to put them in prison. The tag was changed to communist after the war. The communist tag was very dangerous even after we became independent. It was a tag of death or life imprisonment. Reading or holding a piece of communist literature or listening to communist broadcast was serious enough to have the tag pinned on for a life behind bars.

There were other tags like chauvinist, racist, religious bigots etc etc that were used in the past. Even anti govt or anti establishment tag can be dangerous. Was there an opposition camp tag?

Then, with the resurgence of terrorism, the terrorist tag became the new fearsome one. They are useful and important in genuine cases when terrorists are tagged correctly and kept from mischief and destruction. The concern is if someone is mis-tagged or wrongly branded for the wrong reasons.

There are signs of a new tag appearing. The xenophobia card is being waved furiously these days. Would this become the new tag to be pinned as a badge of dishonour and for more sinister things to come?

Branding is so easy a thing to do.

Are Sinkie smug or daft?

Over the recent furore of xenophobia as claimed by the media and people in high places, it has somehow added fire to feed the anger of Sinkies towards foreigners. There were many comments by bloggers in TRE showing contempt for foreigners for not being able to speak English.

Language has become the latest kid for bashing. Foreigners coming here must speak English and nothing else. Hindi, Tagalog, Thai etc are not acceptable. Sinkies refused to speak to them if they can’t speak English. What is laughable or obnoxious is that they even rejected Mandarin as a language of Sinkies. What’s happening?

The immediate question is whether Sinkies are daft or smug or both. The next question is that our education system and our national policy on bilingualism must have failed miserably. These Sinkies, true blue Sinkies, not newly minted type, did not know that Mandarin is one of the four official languages of Sinkieland. Cannot speak, refuse to speak Mandarin, feeling hurt, insulted when foreigners speak to them in Mandarin! And sadder still, many knew how to speak Mandarin but refused to communicate with the foreigner in Mandarin. The foreigners must speak English.

What is the justification? Sinkies will not bend backwards to accommodate foreigners by speaking to them in the foreigner’s language, which happens to be one of our official languages, and deliberately making things difficult to the foreigners by demanding to speak in English and nothing else.

Other than creating four official languages to level the playing field, other than having the mother tongue as a social ballast to keep the westernised Sinkies rooted to their own culture, language is simply a tool for communication. The basic aim of bilingualism is to arm Sinkies to be able to communicate with East and West, which is one of our strength. Now jokers did not want to speak anything else except English to spike foreigners. Jokers refused to acknowledge that Mandarin is one of our official languages. Maybe some jokers don’t even know of this fact.

It is not funny.

Untitled - A piece of RAR Art

More of my RAR Art pieces can be viewed at www.artofrar.blogspot.com

The innocence of scrapping estate duty

Many rich Sinkies were over the moon when estate duty was scrapped. Now they could hang on to their assets and inheritance forever, and not just one property but unlimited number of properties, assets and cash. This is extremely good for the old rich and the super rich. Even the HDB owners were in a way happy with it as they too were hoping that their flats would be worth millions in the future. And this is not far fetch given the way things are moving.

What people failed to see is the impact of abolishing estate duty on inflating property prices. Without estate duty, no one needs to be concerned about how high the prices of properties can go. The higher the better, $50m, $100m or $1b, it is okay, very good indeed, for the owners. Govt too need not be unduly concerned once this is taken out of the equation. It is no longer a source of revenue for the state.

Seriously, it is this disregard to the high property prices that is directly affecting property prices here. Everyone, from owners, speculators and developers would want the prices to go even higher. And this will trickle down to all other property prices.

And unthinkingly, the people that benefited most from this no estate duty affair are the foreigners. They could come and buy up everything, as investments or to park their money, which in turn drives up prices even higher. And the foreigners are benefiting more than Sinkies as they have much more money to invest in real estates. They need to park their money somewhere. And we don’t have enough properties for them to acquire. If we are blind to this fact, it is only a matter of time when foreigners would own all the properties they are eligible to buy up. The number of rich foreigners is unlimited and so is their wealth.

Another sordid tale of foreigners dumping their money here is that some are ill gotten gains. Unintentionally or intentionally, our property market is turning into the biggest and legal laundry machine for such black money. There were many tales of foreigners buying anything at any price without bargaining or batting an eye lid. They need to wash their dirty money and where else allowed them to do so so freely and easily.

For those who are pissed off by the unfair advantages foreigners are enjoying here, this is another point of contention. Foreigners are taking full advantage of this situation, to exploit the property markets for huge benefits. They are talking in terms of tens and hundreds of millions, not the few millions which Sinkies are talking about or the few hundred thousands of our HDB millionaires.

When property prices are in the tens of millions and hundreds of millions, it is big money for the state in estate duties. Why are the super rich and foreigners given such great privileges to multiply their wealth which in turn fuelled the property bubble at the expense of the average Sinkies?

It may be time to reconsider reintroducing estate duty to tap on this very rich gold mine of properties in tens and hundreds of millions. Considerations can be made to allow Sinkies to continue to enjoy a tax free property at $5m or $10m. Anything more is reasonable for the state to impose an estate duty on them, a tax to defray the country’s expense, and to curb the uncontrollable escalation of property prices. And why not tax on the ill gotten gains of foreigners and also on them to pay for pushing up property prices here. They must be made to pay for the pains and sufferings of those who could no longer buy what they wanted to buy because of them.

The scrapping of estate duty is not so innocent after all and have very wide implications and consequences.

Ah Kong kenna fined for protecting his family

My hero, Ong Long Hock, broke the jaw of a gangster and was fined $3000. He could have been jailed if not for his age and for self defense.

The gangsters, three of them, harassed his daughter in law, whacked his son and he as well when he tried to protect his son. They ran when the daughter in law called the police. Luckily or unluckily, Ah Kong and son caught one of them and that’s when Ah Kong gave the gangster a broken jaw.

Then the law took over. The law is the law. And Sinkie law is the most civilized and kind of all laws against gangsters. When gangsters beat you up, you must be careful not to hurt the gangsters in self defense. Ah Kong forgot, and in the heat of the moment, after being beaten by the gangsters, and seeing his son being beaten, gave it to the gangster. For beating the gangster, Ah Kong kenna fined $3000. Well done, prosecutor. You have done your job well. Justice is blind. The symbol of blind justice is on the front façade of the court.

The gangster has yet to be charged and his two accomplices are still at large. But they need not worry. The law will be kind to them. Poor Ah Kong, kenna hit still want to hit back. Didn’t know how civilized our laws are. Cannot anyhow hit people lah, even if they are gangsters who hit you!

By the way, if I were in the Ah Kong’s place, I would not break the gangster’s jaw. I would break both his hands and legs as well. And let the court sentence me to jail, for justice to prevail. The law is the law. The law is to protect the citizens from harm, including gangsters and provocateurs.

Xenophobia, bloggers jump into action

Several bloggers are concerned about the rising trend of xenophobia and are setting up blogs and forums to try to foster better understanding between the foreigners and locals. Really? How many foreigners have been beaten by the locals for no reasons? Nay, nigh, not even one. The latest report of a Briton being beaten up by a local was because the Briton passed racist taunts at the local in front of his friends. In this case, it was more a self defense, or a reaction to a provocation.

The locals are timid, faceless and self debasing creatures in the presence of superior talented foreigners. All foreigners will swear that they were treated extremely well in all service outlets, starting from SQ. Foreigners are treated as best as they could to make them feel good. And in public places, foreigners would always get all the help they wanted if they asked a local. Of course there are some exceptions when foreigners think they were some royalties and demanded to be treated that way. Then they would only piss off the locals.

What’s happening here is the frequency of foreigners bashing the locals at their whims and fancies, and some just for fun. It has been reported in the media very frequently and the locals, when bashed up, would be told to take up a civil suit against the foreigners at their own expense. And the locals are not supposed to hit back or they will be charged in courts for retaliation. Just stay calm, avoid the blows as best possible. And if landed in hospitals, then engage lawyers to sue the attackers.

As for foreigners, in the case of the Briton being beaten by Abraham Lincoln, the beater was charged in court and fined $4000, four times more than locals who made false reports to the police. This is how civilized our laws in protecting the one who provoked or started the beating.

There is a rise in Sinophobia, a unique kind of reverse xenophobia in this island, where there is contempt for the locals, where the foreigners seemed so at ease in making locals their punching bags. Why are there no local bloggers feeling any discomfort about such a pathetic state of affair and wanted to do something about it? Sinkie land is the only country where foreigners feel so at home, so comfortable, that beating the locals is a past time, really. There is no other country in the world where foreigners would feel so at ease to beat up the locals. Many would feel a fear of the locals and would behave very decently so as not to provoke or anger the locals when in contact with them. Why is this not the case in Sinkie land, but the other way around?

The act of the bloggers is a manifestation that beating up locals is an acceptable thing, but being rude or speaking up to foreigners is bad and unacceptable. And in the work place there have been many complaints that the foreigners ganged up to bully locals. And when they are in charge, they will employed more foreigners to replace the locals. And they have good reasons for it. The foreigners are definitely cheaper to hire.

For economic reasons, for business competition, I fully agree with this trend. All local companies must gradually replace all the expensive locals with foreigners. Start with the top. Once the CEO is a foreigner, the change will be easier. And from the industries, this can be replicated in the civil service and the govt as well. The savings in monetary terms will be tremendous. If we can replace the govt with foreigners, the cost could be down to 10% only. Definitely good value for money.

Oops, I digress a bit. Can I call on bloggers to think about how to plead with the foreigners to be nicer to locals and stop using them as their punching bags or telling them to go back to China or India? Please be kind and gentler to the meek locals. They all wear spectacles and weigh 50kg. A strong breeze would have blown them away. Be gentle with them, especially the taxi drivers. Some are grandfathers trying to make a living.

I am not PRC

I read this article about a Sinkie complaining that a PRC waitress would speak to him in Mandarin for his orders. This is not the first time Sinkies felt offended when spoken to in Mandarin. Am I surprised? Is speaking to another Chinky, oops, I mean Sinkie Chink, in Mandarin an offensive thing? Isn’t Mandarin one of the four official languages of this country?

But I can understand why Sinkie Chink did not like PRC Chink to think that he is also a Chink. There is a difference of course. Sinkie Chinks are westernized, modern, sophisticated, with good manners, unlike PRC Chinks.

I think I have a solution for this agonizing dilemma faced by some Sinkie Chinks. And since it is not possible to ask the Sinkie Chinks to dye his skin white, have his slit eyes rounded, or his flat Chinkie nose sharpened, the next easiest thing to do is to wear a head band to say, ‘I am a Sinkie Chink.’ Then all the PRC Chinks would have no problems telling them apart and may take the hint to speak to them in English, the mother tongue of Sinkie Chinks.

And they should wear the head band overseas too as the PRC Chinks are everywhere, and richer too, driving Ferraris and Lamboghinis in New York and London. The Europeans are finding them so common and so numerous that any Sinkie Chink could be mistaken to be a poorer version of the PRC Chinks. So bring the head bands and wear it everywhere to be noticed and to be known.

When Rome burns

When Rome was burning, Nero was fiddling on the roof. Why was that so? Why did Nero have all the time to play his fiddle when Rome was burning? He had too much time on his hand. He had appointed a cabinet of very talented ministers to run the empire for him. They were the best the empire could find. He was happy and at ease that he had all the able men in his team. And he spent his time in his favourite past time, fiddling on the roof.

Nero presumed that all his ministers were hard at work. So there was nothing to worry about. And that was why he was alone at the top, on the roof. Unfortunately he did not know that his ministers were either busy making themselves richer or on holiday with all the wealth they had accumulated. But aren’t they supposed to do their parts. These were very able and talented men. They knew that they could not do their jobs. They were not trained for them. Some were experts in deciphering the Dead Sea Scroll. How on earth would they be able to know what was happening in defence, in finance, in education? Or how much would a physician know about engineering, trade, building the country’s infrastructure. Because they were smart enough to know of their limitations, they outsourced their jobs to super talents, even imported talents. They had the money to buy the best talents.

So all the ministers needed to do was to buy talents to do their jobs. And they could sing song all day long or go on vacation. The super talents were supposed to know their stuff. Did they? Or were they snake oil sellers? Very likely, for Rome was burning under their charge. Did Nero know, or did the ministers know that Rome was burning? Nero did not. The ministers either did not know, or did want to know, or hoping that the super talents knew their stuff and the fire was temporary. But most chose not to know, making more money was their main preoccupation.

But the citizens knew that Rome was buring. So were the firefighters. Why didn’t the firefighters fight the fire? They were waiting for orders. They were waiting for someone to raise the alarm. No orders, no alarms, no action. And they all sat on their fat arses watching Rome burnt. They were paid handsomely and no need to sweat or work or think, if no one asked them do.

And Rome continued to burn while Nero played his fiddle on the roof, oblivious to what was happening. Everything must be fine as no one was there to tell him.

Would Nero wake up in time to save Rome, to put out the fire? According to history, he did not and Rome was burnt to the ground. Could he have save Rome if he knew that Rome was burning? He might, if he started to ask a few relevant questions, called up his ministers who would question his super talents about what was going on, about the fire. But these might not happen as the ministers knew nothing about what was happening and were fully dependent on the experts who turned out to be snake oil sellers, and who actually started the fire and did not know how to put it out.

Raising the alarm was useless for many reasons. For one, no one was listening, or no one wanted to listen. Everyone chose to hide their heads in the sand, didn’t want to hear, didn’t want to see, didn’t want to know. They all had options to move out of Rome with their wealth, or to rebuild a new Rome after the fire.

There was a fire, and the fire was burning. And everyone was looking the other way, with Nero on the roof top having a blissful time.

PS. Many would be guessing what is this all about? That is a good sign. Those who know will know what I am talking about. Those who don't, never mind, ignorance is bliss. Just hope that Nero knows, or at least interested enough to want to know before it is too late.

Faisal Wali wrote: Cherian George, Stop Pontificating

In his reply to the pontification by Cherian George that netizens need a code of conduct, Faisal quoted him as saying this, ‘Cherian wrote that the kampong spirit that we Singaporeans are cultivating is kay-pohish petty-mindedness, a small-town mentality that tells us that no event is too trivial to turn into a national issue.’

Hmmm, kampong spirit is small town mentality and pettiness. Now who in the right mind would want to promote such pettiness as a way of life for Sinkies? I fully agree with Cherian that if kampong spirit is all about small people and petty mindedness it is better to dump them into the dustbin man. Or would any super talent think that kampong spirit is something worthy to preserve, or think that kampong spirit is more than pettiness?

Anyway I walked up Mount Faber last night hoping that God would show himself and give me 10 tablets. Then I can command the sinners to obey me and abide by what I think they can or cannot do. I am the messenger of god. And I know what is best for the sinners. Even if god did not issue me his commandments, I will know what they are. Prostrate before me, for I am the one to tell thee on what is good for you.

The escalating fear of foreign intervention in our way of life.

‘AMRITSAR: The Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, has marked an inquiry into complaints and allegations that Sikh prison inmates in Singapore are being forced to cut their hair against the community's 'maryada' (code of conduct).


The takht has acted upon complaints filed by Madan Mohan Singh, a social activist, who works for a Singapore-based anti-narcotics association.


Madan Mohan Singh had urged the Akal Takht to issue directives on the issue so the Sikhs of Singapore could take up the matter with the Singapore government and prevent further "humiliation of Sikh jail inmates."


He alleged on Monday that despite prison directives on regular hair grooming, the jail authorities in Singapore cut head and facial hair of Sikh jail inmates if they were found to be involved in taking drugs, smoking and drinking alcohol.


Singapore's ministry of home affairs had also conducted an investigation after Madan Mohan Singh had raised the issue.


The Sikh Advisory Board (SAB), the highest council of Sikh affairs in Singapore, had wrongly advised the Singapore government by labeling Sikh inmates as non-practicing and non-traditional, he added.


"The SAB has misrepresented the Sikhs in Singapore by condoning and accepting the sacrilegious act of cutting a Sikh's hair by a government department. In doing so, it has underestimated the hurt feelings of the community," said Madan Mohan Singh. –Times of India

The more foreigners we took and issued them with pink ICs, the more pain we will get if we allowed them to impose their wills onto our system. The foreigners, the greater their numbers, are likely to make increasing demands for the system to accept and adapt to their ways of life, culture and religion. The Govt must make its stand very clear now that foreigners coming here and given citizenship must accept our way of life, social norms and our laws. They must adapt, integrate and change to fit into our system and not the other way around.

In the above case, it is not a matter of whether the Sikh Advisory Board made the right and wrong advice. It is a case of foreign agencies thinking that they have a right to impose their whims and fancies on our Govt and our way of life. And our dull Govt may have to act to answer to all kinds of frivolous demands, trying to explain or adjust or appease foreign agencies.

Now there is an organization from India demanding our Govt to answer to them. What next, from Italy, the Philippines, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, China or where else demanding that their citizens or believers be treated according to what they wanted and deemed fit.

Hey, we are a sovereign country and not answerable to any foreign agencies. And any foreigners taking up citizenship here better behave and accept what we are or else piss off. The Govt has to make this stand very clear to all foreigners before giving them the pink IC, and to all govts or non govt agencies to stay clear of our domestic affairs. We are not any country’s colony and answerable to no other countries, powers or what shit they think they are. We don’t even have to do anything when outside agencies make ridiculous and unjustifiable demands on our system, sovereign and constitutional rights.

Racist beaten by Chinaman victim

Finally one daft Sinkie stood up to the racists. Alexander Lincoln Chew Yew Wah was taunted and insulted by a Briton, Richard Jonathan Mills, in a members only club in Robertson Quay. He was insulted by the Briton with the third most racist act of the white Europeans centuries ago. Basically the Briton called him a laundryman and told him to go back to his laundry shop in China.

For the ignorant and uninitiated, the Chinamen of old that went to work in the US, and probably in many European countries, most ended up as laundrymen and cooks. The Americans had a racist law that forbade Asians from taking up jobs in other professions. They were only allowed to work as labourers in the construction of the American railroads and yes, cooks and laundrymen. Shit if the same law is applied here, many of us too would be cooks and laundrymen and no dignity to talk about.

Imagine in the 21st century you still have assholes taunting Chinaman, and thinking that Sinkies are Chinamen, with this age old racist taunt. Can’t blame the Briton as all Chinese Sinkies still looked like Chinamen even after they dyed their hair blond or called themselves Alexander Lincolns. It is written all over the face and body that Chinese Sinkies are still Chinese in racial origin.

The must audacious thing for this Briton to do was to taunt Chinese in Sinkie land when the Chinese are a majority. This is racism and arrogance to the first degree. Maybe he still thinks Britain is still the colonial power and all the Chinese here are fit only to be cooks and laundrymen.

I salute Chew Yew Wah for standing up to the racist and bashed him up even when the racist is a much bigger man. Daft and silly Sinkies must stand up to be a man when people spit at them and not be like Ah Q. Otherwise all the foreigners will just go on taunting and insulting them and even beating them up in their own country. And home is no longer safe for Sinkies.

For those ignorant and daft Sinkies, stereotyping Chinese as cooks and laundrymen is definitely derogatory and of very bad taste.

Sandwiched class needs more govt help

A Lim Wan Keng wrote in the ST forum today asking for changes to the stupid and outrageous HDB income ceilings that put many genuine home buyers in a fixed. With inflation running like a wild horse, many middle income earners would quite easily exceed the $12k ceiling. And the prices of HDB DBSS and exec condominiums are not cheap either. Why is this ceiling still in place when it is as obsolete as the thinking of its originator? Haven’t the message sank in that it is and was not affordable though some jokers insisted that it was?

Lim Wan Keng’s case, family growing but income exceeded ceiling and cannot upgrade to exec condominium, and not rich enough to be robbed by the private developers. This is the kind of fix the pro active, thinking and caring govt is placing on its citizens.

But she should count herself lucky as she already owned a HDB. What about those for some reasons like getting married late and found their income exceeded the ceiling and don’t even qualify as first timers? All inclusive society, no one is left out, every first timer will be able to buy a HDB. My stinking foot!

And there are many who have bought twice from the HDB and wanted to upgrade or downgrade as their needs have changed, or finances have changed. No way. After two bites of the cheery, that’s it. It is such thickness in the head that makes life very difficult for the Sinkies. With a lifespan of 70 to 80 years or more, the needs for housing will change. Two times are definitely inadequate and the buyers would be stuck in a shitty situation except those who could upgrade. If they are in some financial binds and need to sell, they will be in bigger shit.

Then there are those divorcees or from broken families. It is their faults huh? What is inclusiveness and caring all about?

Would there be a change in mindset and silly rules and regulations made by silly people be thrown into the dustbins? As for the too rich for HDB and too poor for private properties, vote for a change of govt if they want a policy change. There is no way for stubborn mules to change their mindset. There is no way to talk to the arrogance of power, or deaf frogs who think they are so right.

Don’t give the dumb craps that too many are waiting in the queue. Just go and build for the people. A roof over the people’s head is of utmost importance. Don’t give the excuse of the speculators making lesser profits. Make it clear that public housing’s main purpose is a home for every Sinkie. Profit is secondary and good if there is and good if there isn’t. Let the speculators go and speculate in the private sector.

Let all Sinkies be allowed to buy and own a public flat and also allowed to speculate in the private property sector. One as a home for all time, one to get rich if possible. Don’t mix the two. They can co exist. Do not force the young people into big debts by forcing them to buy private.

Singapore’s money stashed in Swiss Banks

How much money did Singaporeans stashed away in the safe haven in Switzerland? According to Swiss banking data, foreign money deposited in Swiss Banks amounted to 1.53 trillion Swiss Francs or about US$1.6 trillion. Of these, UK has a 20% share or about 300b Swiss Franc followed by US at 18%. This is followed by Germany, France, Hongkong and Japan with Singapore at 14th position. Singapore is ahead of countries like Australia, Italy, Netherland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE and even India. The latter is ranked 55th .

How much is the net amount Singaporeans hid away in Swiss Banks for safety reasons and who are the real owners? A ballpark figure could be in the region of US$50b to US$100b. This is no small change for a small little island, standing way above the heads of bigger countries like Australia and the oil rich Saudi Arabia and UAE.

Interesting numbers to ponder over, the whys and the whos.

Justice for the small Sinkies

The cost of going to court is becoming very prohibitive to many ordinary Sinkies. It can be worst than hospitalization especially when there is no equivalent of the Medisave or the 3Ms to lower the cash outlay. There is a piece of good news announced by Wong Meng Meng, Law Society President, that measures have been taken to allow the average Sinkies to have their legal matters settle through Alternative Dispute Resolution methods such as arbitration, mediation and adjudication. Such methods would spare the average Sinkies from expensive legal bills payable to the courts and the learned counsels for their services.

Many minor or frivolous cases have been applied for judicial judgement that were not necessary, and often an abuse of the legal system by parties that have the money to do so and to use the court as their hatchet men. Poor Sinkies who have no money to engage brilliant counsels often have to suffer injustice at the mercy of the rich rogues. And it is this very injustice that the Law Society is trying to prevent, to ensure that all Sinkies could have a fair hearing and justice, and not be deprived of justice because they could not pay for it.

The ADR methods or alternative method to allow petty and frivolous cases to be heard in a manner without prohibitive legal fees is something that is badly needed for the average Sinkies. Maybe appearance in such courts should be made simpler and less costly by not allowing legal counsels to represent their clients. The military has been practicing such a system for ages. The litigants could explain their cases or maybe with the assistant of a court appointed representative if they are unable to do so. Such cases are normally factual in nature and a good judge should be more than adequate to assess the merits of the parties involved.

Such an alternative will free the courts and legal counsels to handle more important legal conflicts and issues. And legal counsels could upgrade themselves to a higher level of litigation instead of petty quarrels between neighbours. It is quite malu for learned counsels to be making their pile from petty quarrels of the small people.

With the opening up of the legal practice and the establishment of an international arbitration centre, legal counsels could have plentiful of meaningful and rewarding cases to handle and need not depend on poor Sinkies to feed their overheads and profits.

There is plenty of money to be made in serious legal disputes. Spare the average Sinkies from hefty legal fees. Spare the courts to deal with legal issues befitting the attention of the judges. Spare the legal counsels to attend to cases that will tax their training in law schools and their understanding of the law, and an improvement in their incomes.

And most important, allow the average Sinkies the right to justice without having to pay an arm or a leg, and preventing the rich rogues to abuse the courts to attack their victims.

Sinkies are getting naughty

Why are there so many skepticism and criticism about the Woffles case? The law is the law. The Law Minister has explained it clearly on the technical aspects of the law and why it was administered that way. The AGC has also done the unusual, to explain the legality and correctness of the law. The Sinkies should be very grateful that the AGC was kind enough to explain the position to show how fair and proper is our legal system. There is absolutely no favouritism or any undoings.

Now, would Sinkies just accept that it is the law, simple and clear, fair and just? How could laypeople question the legality of the law when the two most authoritative person and body in charge with administering justice in the country have already said that it was right and proper? So what if senior counsels also have their doubts?

Sinkies must accept the law of the country. This country is ruled by the rule of law. And when the law says so, it says so. Let’s move on and let the good surgeon go about with his practice to make many more beautiful people happy. And good thing nobody was hurt.

And like all fairy tales, they all lived happily ever after. A happy ending. Won’t that be nice?

Humanitarian and disaster relief centres everywhere

‘Thailand and the United States have agreed to set up a working group to jointly develop a regional humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief training and readiness centre at U-Tapao airport in Rayong.’

The Americans are setting up such centres everywhere in Asia, from Vietnam, Thailand to the Philippines and Singapore, maybe Indonesia and Malaysia next. Such centres are set up wherever American military bases are not present like in South Korea and Japan.

On paper the Americans are spending a lot of money and resources to save the world with such centres. Are these centres really for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief work? Your guess.

The silly rationalisation of Sinkies

At one time they were saying road congestion was good, a sign of progress. Without road congestion, when the roads are wide and empty, it means no progress, not enough cars on the road. So people cannot afford cars. Then the same kind of reasoning was used to show progress in train services. Trains must be crowded, the more crowded the better. Tokyo was then the role model. If trains are not packed enough, something is not right. At least profit is not right. So trains must run packed like sardine. Then we have achieved Tokyo’s train service standard.

And in the same mouthful some would talk about gracious living by taking trains. KNN, how to be gracious when everyone is squeezing with everyone, and pushing and rushing to find a place to sit? Now that is too much of a luxury. Everyone should get use to pushing and squeezing just to board a train, or would have to take the next or the next train.

Now the famous call, small flats are good. It would not lower the quality of life. But it stops short of saying the smaller a flat the better the quality of life. There is no need to move around. Turn your head and there is the tap. Turn the other side and there is the fridge. Turn another way and there is the TV. Turn around and there is the toilet. So convenient. Don’t have to move. Save on energy to get around.

This stupidity made Liew Mun Leong so angry that he made it known that small flats are inhuman. He could never be so right. Just look at the dog and its kennel. It is a dog’s life. Now how can people disagree with the king of property developer? But not to worry. Some will come out with better argument to say Liew Mun Leong is wrong.

Last time 10 or 20 people lived in a single cubicle not bigger than a HDB room also no problem. Today, putting two people in such a room cannot be a problem right? It is very spacious and comfortable, a luxury.

Some will say, last time people lived next to the pigsty also no problem. Why should people be complaining about nursing homes, hospices or foreign worker’s quarters next door? Last time Eve hung a fig leave as her dress.

Sinkies are damn good at self justification or to make silly things sound good or right just to win an argument. $1000 pm can buy a public flat and came out with a lot of statistics to prove it some more. When are they going to prove that a $1m 3rm flat is cheap and good even when the lease is only 30 years? It is going to be if they are going to make expensive public housing more affordable. First cut the size, then extend the repayment period, and next shorten the lease. They make sense and very logical. The flats will only get more affordable.

If a 3 rm flat with a 99 lease is too expensive, shorten the lease and it will become cheaper. A 3 rm flat of 80 sq m is too expensive, build one that is 50 sq m, it will definitely be cheaper.

What else will they be justifying next? More people in the island are good. One can learn to live with people of different cultures without having to fly to their countries and without even having to leave the flat if they are invited to live in the same flat. The life experience will be so much richer, learn different languages, cultures, cooking, and the idiosyncrasies of foreigners. We will be able to understand the people of the whole world better. For what purposes I don’t know. Maybe to become the Secretary General of the UN. The experience will be an asset when apply for such a job. Or as ambassadors of the UN, if they need such people.

Fish and his fishy justice

Fish wrote in his blog about the flaunting of injustice in broad daylight, in an article ‘Forget justice in Singapore.’ Fish is angry when things get fishy.

I would like to calm the Fish down a bit, take a deep breath of water and try to look at things from a different perspective, then everything will be right, nothing fishy, the fishy smell will be gone. Fish should try looking into the fishbowl instead of out of the fishbowl. Sure different one.

Fish main gripe was about raising GST to help the poor. He sincerely, honestly, did not believe that it was so. Let me explain. The poor are in much much better off position here. Look, they can easily buy a flat with $1000 pm income. And they are the most blessed poor in the world, the envy of the world.

Look at the real poor. The real poor are those that did not have enough to spend. It is not how much you earn, but how much is your expense account. I can empathise with those earning $50k pm and finding life very tough, and their quality of life being affected if they earn a bit less. The GST hike is to help these higher income poor. They have big expense account and need the money to live decently.  For the low income poor, a $50 increase in their income could mean a choice of eating in a hawker centre, foodcourt or even restaurant. Of course it is cheapo restaurant lah. For the high income poor, you can’t help them with $50, not enough even for tips.  They really need help.

As for estate duties, it is to help the poor definitely. In every funeral wake, the normal comment about the chap lying in the coffin is ‘poor bugger’. See, the bugger is poor and any help will do. And abolishing estate duties is definitely to help the poor buggers. When does the rich come in? Where got help the rich buggers?

In the Woffles and Charlie Lim case, or the principle and the odd job labourer case, justice have been done, fair and fair.  Law Minister Shamugam already explained the rationale. It is all about the time spread, like HDB flats have not shrunk in size over the last 15 years. Perfectly accurate statement of facts.

No miscarriage of justice lah. Sorry lah Fish. Can you see my point? What the Fish?

Char Kway Teow with egg or eggs

Not a very good choice for breakfast for many. Too much oil and lard and very greasy too. Char kway teow normally comes with one egg. Some customers would ask for two and pay for it. Eggs and sausages are about the most expensive items in a plate of char kway teow. I always have mine with one egg.

The two eggs char kway teow are not normally done. In very rare and unusual cases, char kway teow may come with two eggs without the customer asking for it. This is nothing unusual to the recipient or the char kway teow man. It all depends on who is the customer. And he does not need to ask for it. It is given, freely and happily by the char kway teow man as respect and recognition of the customer.

Some still feel irked by such little favours. What is an egg? How much would it cost? To the favoured customer, he may not even blink an eye if someone were to offer him a million bucks under the table. What is a few million dollars to the rich today? Many are giving millions away for good a cause, like charity or helping a good friend.

An extra egg for a plate of char kway teow still would be seen as not right. It is not the amount that matters. It is the act, the thought of inappropriateness, impropriety. It is like some used to say, a crime is a crime, no matter big or small.

The media is filled with many minor indiscretions which can be easily pooh poohed away. Why make a big issue out of a mole hill? That is not the point. That is exactly the point. In a society that is run by the rule of law, when corruption is unacceptable or thought non existence, minor acts of indiscretion can become a big thing. How can? Why, he very important ah? Who is he or who is he related? Can like that ah? Why poor people cannot leh?

An egg is an egg. Nothing more nothing less. But given in an improper manner it may crack a wall. To say one more egg is okay, within the limits, only makes it more not okay. It makes it look really bad. Amen.

Happy Red Series

This piece is called Eternity. It is one of my Happy Red Collection. A piece of rar art created by Mother Nature using the Art of RAR technique. More rar art pieces can be viewed at www.artofrar.blogspot.com/.

Woff woff….Woffles Wu or Who?

Wah lau eh. Even Hri Kumar, an eminent lawyer and part of the establishment, cannot tahan oredy. Woff, woff, woof, wolf.

Woffles Wu is a nice guy, very talented and doing a good business in making many people look good and happy. The biggest wrong done to him, I think, and many would agree, was to fine him $1000 for what he had done. I am sure Woffles would gladly pay $100k fine and say a big thank you to close the case and everyone say, yes, it is fair, he did wrong and paid for his wrongdoing.

Now the kiss on the wrist is going to cause Woffles more embarrassment as well as the establishment. Everyone is crying foul. It is a big shame indeed. Nothing to do with Woffles. Now he is being dragged deeper into the shit hole.

The precedence set cannot be wished away and were in the papers. Everyone knows what the minimum penalty should be. Luckily no one claimed in mitigation that he is a super talent and should be treated differently or else he will migrate and Singapore will lose him.

Stop telling the people to integrate the foreigners

Enough is enough. This is our country. Foreigners coming here better respect and accept our way of life, and INTEGRATE into our system. What is this shit about Sinkies integrating with foreigners? Are Sinkies supposed to invite the foreigners to screw their arse?

The foreigners are here with our consent and there are conditions attached. They don’t come and give us a list of conditions to accept. They don’t come here to insist that the Sinkies respect their way of life. If they can’t accept or integrate into our system, good riddance. It is unbelieveable that we have developed a first world system to the envy of the world and we are inviting third world people to share this with us and we have to bend backward to stone age and accept their third world culture, uncouth behaviours and way of life. Do they come here to be first world or do they come here to bring us back to the third world?

Are we that daft? Are they here to help us go backwards as well, to accommodate their nonsense that we have given up long ago in the name of progress?

Malaysia lost 40,600 citizens to Singapore

According to Hishamuddin, Malaysia lost 47,769 citizens due to emigration between 2002 to 2012. Of these, 40,624 ended as Singaporeans. In the same period Malaysia received 74,092 applications to be PRs. Thus Malaysia will have a net gain, so nothing to worry about.

This is quite similar to the Singapore situation. Though more Singaporeans are migrating, to cash out or because of their children’s education, many many more foreign talents are queuing up to replace them. Singapore will end up as the net gainer with more talented foreigners coming in to replace the lesser talented Sinkies that left. Singapore must be very happy with this state of affair, a very fair exchange in its favour.

Think Malaysia too will be gaining more foreign talents to replace their unhappy and not so talented citizens that have chosen to move out since they could not make it there. It is a win win situation really. The two countries got to get rid of the people they did not want and got in return talents that they want. And those who left are happier and those who came are even happier.

It saddens me

‘To New Citizen: You may be appreciated PAP for being offered as “New Citizen” but after 10-15 years, you too will be replaced if the PAP still there and will not change its pro-foreigner policy!’

Someone wrote this comment in an article warning that Sinkies would be replaced by foreigners and new citizens too will be replaced when they became Sinkies. He thought this would be a good way to warn foreigners not to become daft Sinkies and fall into the same trap. Now, shall I call this comment daft? No, no need. Sinkies are daft anyway.

The foreigners are not as daft as Sinkies for sure. Not even the masseurs and the hawkers or the foreign workers. They may not received the education we had, but that does not make them stupid. Stupidity is inborn or can be formed by the environment.

Foreigners have their sums all worked out. Take up citizenship, buy a subsidised HDB flat which will appreciate in 5 or 10 years to give a 50% or 100% return on investment. Get a good job and live decently. Enjoy all the benefits and subsidies of citizenship, good medical facilities, schools for children, learn everything they can, and when the price of the flat is good, sell and go home to be a rich man. This is a simple sure win formula. And some daft Sinkies who need a flat, because they have sold theirs, or for whatever stupid policies, not allowed to buy direct from HDB, must pay a ransom to him as profits. Sinkies have limited options. The new citizens have plenty of options to game the system and win/win and win in all counts.

There is no need to strike fear in them not to take up citizenship. The system is so good, so brilliant, designed so perfectly to encourage foreigners to sink root here. And die die they will want to come and become citizens. And when it is time to scoot, their sons too will leave with them and no need to serve NS.

Now who is daft? Sinkies too can scoot and benefit from the system. For the average Sinkies, this is the only way to game the system too. If they don’t, when the leases of their million dollar flats expire, it will be like waking up from a wet dream.

Actually I am very sad reading that advisory statement. It just goes to show that Sinkies are really daft, beyond redemption, and they did not know, thinking that foreigners are daft. The foreigners are laughing all the way to the banks at their expense and stupidity. The foreigners are smart enough to take full advantage of the system but the Sinkies don’t, or can’t.

Singapore encourages more babies

Singapore wants its citizens to produce more babies. The govt will help definitely, in many ways. It discourages sex other than with the spouses. It discourages sex in the outdoors. The children may grow up a bit wild. It discourages sex overseas, especially in Paris, in case the child grows up with expensive taste or wants to be quitters. It definitely frowns on oral sex and makes it a crime. Hopefully this will promote productive sex with babies.

And public flats are very affordable, really. The minister spoke and swore about it many times, and reported in the main media. A Sinkie only needs to earn $1000 pm to buy a 2 rm public housing flat. Where to find such good deals?

And the govt is concerned about the flats becoming too small. One spokesperson even called it inhuman to have flats smaller than 350 sq ft. So 350 sq ft would be it, just about right for raising children. To make this more convincing, there was a documentary on how ingenious a Hongkonger fitted up his 350 sq ft flat for 7 with the most modern gadgetry. Quality living at its best. You must believe!

Many of the spokepersons have already started a talk to the Sinkies campaign on how liveable is a 350 sq ft flat for a small family of 4. And many Sinkies are out defending the merits of such big and comfortable flats. Some spokespersons also went on record that the quality of life would not be affected.

With such authoritative people championing the cause of smaller flats, the Sinkies must be really convinced. They should be, as they are known to be easily convinced. They drink shit water too, when told to. No sweat. Sinkies can go home to multiply happily and help to grow the economy and themselves as well. More head counts mean economically richer, more contributions to the economy.

Don’t worry, 350 sq ft is great living for a small family. Other countries were worst off with smaller space.

Good riddance Manchester United

It must be the happiest news today to know that Manchester United is listing its IPO in the US instead of SGX or HK Exchange. The investors here were saved for once from ploughing their hard earned money into another precarious stock. Let the Americans celebrate this great listing.

The local investors would have to thank SGX or Magnus Bocker for this failed listing here. He has saved the local investors big time this round. His service has been extended for another term and let’s hope he will do more to save the stock market. The scrapping of the lunch break and the carrot of increasing trading volumes and commission has failed quite miserably. Maybe extending the trading hours may improve volumes and commission.

At the way the market is moving, and the pathetic volume and commissions generated, many broking houses will be looking at the retrenchment card soon. Let’s hope Bocker can do something to save the stock market or it will go pissed, like a flat tyre, during his watch. And there will be many red faces with no where to hide. Bocker is going to be the savior of the stock market and the industry, or else many will be retrenched soon.

Europe offers good opportunities for gamblers

The situation in Europe offers great opportunities to throw in big money to bet big time. It is a once in 50 years opportunity, just like the American financial crisis that became an international financial crisis, and too big to fail banks kept falling one by one.

If I have a lot of money, I too would be very eager to pour some into the big hole and hopefully it will reward with several times the value of the chips. I dare say that with a clear conscience because I will be gambling with my own money and losing my own money. I too will encourage anyone with money to lose to try their luck.

But I would strongly advise against such an act if people are taking charge of national reserves that cannot afford to lose. Banks who are custodians to depositors’ money should also tread very carefully and don’t think it is time to gamble with the money held in trust.

Fund managers are no different but they will take the jump. This is a once in a life time opportunity to strike big time and to lose big time. Losing big time is ok as it is other people’s money that they are gambling with. Go fund managers, go, invest everything you got. If win big, one time bonus will be enough to retire for life. If lose, the worst is to lose the job. But that is also secured by a severance package that will be big enough to retire happily. Nothing to lose really, head, fund managers win, tail, fund managers also win. Only the owners of the money risk to lose their life savings. If I am a fund manager, I will be damn garang in times like this.

How to be a millionaire in Sin?

Think Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg. No, they are billionaires, wrong role models. In Sin, there are several easy ways to be millionaires, and don’t take the entrepreneur route. That is too difficult and treacherous and many will fail along the way.

One sure and easy way is to buy a public flat and sit on it. No need to work. Just wait, 10 years, 20 years or 30 years. The price will surely go up. It will definitely go above $1m in time. And there is a luxury of 99 years to wait for it to happen.

The other sure way to becoming a millionaire is to be an employee, a civil servant. Many in the Administrative Service are millionaires many times over. And it is sure and fast. Once one reaches a certain level, in the super scale, one could be a millionaire every year on. That is how easy to be a millionaire as a civil servant.

The other route is to be a politician. This one is even more rewarding. Many of the politicians, even MPs, are multi millionaires in their own right. And if one is senior enough, one could retire and continue to receive millionaire income every year, maybe faster than that without having to work.

Why would anyone want to be an entrepreneur when the success rate is so low? Be an employee, a public employee. Or just buy a public housing flat, and it is a matter of time to become a millionaire. One qualification with regards to this type of millionaires. Many are taking public transport to work not by choice but because they could not afford to buy a car. And many are waiting for govt handouts to make ends need. But is it still a very good feeling to know that one is worth a million in asset terms.

Can anyone understand why the queue to be citizens is getting longer?

Elected MP versus rejected MP

Elected MP of Hougang, Png Eng Huat, will have to seek the support and approval from rejected MP, Desmond Choo, for the housing or upgrading programmes for Hougang residents. The former is elected by the ultimate authority of the country, the people, the real owner of the land. The latter is appointed by a political party that happens to be the Govt of the day.

The title of Desmond Choo is grassroot adviser. Is it a part of the govt? Is Desmond Choo an employee of the govt, earning a salary? Why is a grassroot adviser vested with so much authority over a people’s elected representative? Is this the right or correct way of how democracy should be practised?

In a democracy, it is always of the people, by the people and for the people. The Elected MP is of the people, by the people and working for the people. The rejected MP cannot be of the people and by the people. He is an appointee of the govt in a capacity that is neither an employee nor the govt. I am not very familiar with this thing called grassroot adviser. Why must an elected MP, the people’s representative who earns a right to sit in Parliament, have to seek the approval of a grassroot adviser whose authority lies in where?

What is a grassroot leader? An official or unofficial community leader of the people, by the people or appointed by the govt?

This I really cannot understand.

Nathan Tinkler, the foreign talent Singapore needs

At 36, he is the richest Australian below the age of 40. He is making Singapore his home, to be nearer to his customers. He is one of the few real high net worth people after Jim Roger and Eduardo Saverine to make this island home base.

Tinkler was quoted to have told a journalist who approached him for a story, “You’re a f**king deadbeat, people like me don’t bother with f**king you. You climb out of your bed every morning for your pathetic hundred grand a year, good luck.”

For sure the journalist did not get an apology from him. And Reuben Wang should not feel too bad in such company. As long as Tinkler did not shoot at our minister, I think he should be ok. He needs not adapt to anyone. Sinkies better adapt to him. Singapore loves this kind of foreign talent. Ministers, please stay clear of him. He was a coal miner and you should know what coalminers are.

Someone needs to give him a lesson on social etiquette and decorum in the company of our dear leaders. He will have plenty of opportunities to be in their good company, or even be invited to the Istana. Just hold your cool, mate.

One thing, this guy is real. He doesn’t hide his feelings. He is no hypocrite. Matilah will make a good companion for him, same lingo.

Nordic system not good enough

How can the Nordic system be good enough for Sinkies? Sinkies must not be easily satisfied with any system that money can buy. We must demand the best and must expect the best and nothing else.

The Nordic system is good but not good enough. We have the most talented ministers, paid the world’s highest salaries to match their talents, how can they be expected to deliver less? Let’s not insult our talented ministers by asking for half baked system. We can depend on them for the best system the world can ever had.

Sinkies cannot be shortchanged. Every cent we paid must be matched in quality and value. If Sinkies are willing to pay out of this world salary to their political leaders, it will be daft of them to expect anything less than out of this world quality and system.

In another 10 years or 20 years, Sinkies will get the best system money can buy. Just be patient. The Nordic system is nothing.

Fuck you! They cheered

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Was in this nightspot and in the company of many young and beautiful people with a lot of money to burn. Not Holland V for sure. These were the young and upward mobile people, talented, well educated and enjoying life. But listening to their conversation was quite enlightening. They were fucking and fucking at you know who.

This singles were obviously very angry. Of course they were. Several still did not have a place of their own. Single and too rich and not eligible to buy HDB. One confessed he had quite a bundle in his bank account and could afford a private flat. Then his temper shot up. ‘What the fuck must I pay half a million for a shoe box or a million for a private flat. I served my NS, I am supposed to defend and die for this fucking country. And they refused to sell me a HDB. What am I defending for? I am homeless!’

He had many comrades who were in the same shit, and all started, ‘Fuck you, fuck you.’

Some in the group were married. And they too were shouting in chorus, ‘Fuck you, fuck you.’ For they too were not eligible to buy HDB. Too talented and too high an income for their own good. They were victims of their own success. So what it they had served NS and still needed to do reservists? The new citizens are definitely much better off than them without having to do NS and burdened with a life of reservist liabilities. And fuck you, they all cheered.

I share their grievance. I understood, and feel they have every right to fuck the buggers. The people they are fucking deserved to be fucked. No doubt about it. Not a single shred of doubt.

Hsien Loong’s speech on growth

Hsien Loong’s speech to the Economic Society of Singapore has attracted critics to question some of the premises that he used. One is the soundness of our SWF and the other, the almost flogged to death horse, the need for more immigrants as the only way for growth.

I read Kenneth Jeyaretnam’s comments on how much was really left in our SWF or the possibility that we don’t really have much money in our reserves. To this I have a simple answer. Our reserves or money available for our SWF is unlimited. Our people will contribute in one way or another to ensure that the funds will always have plentiful of money. The supply is unlimited. Even dictators will be envious of our suppliers of money for our SWF. The people are happily providing the money without complaining or without knowing that they are doing so. Thus they did not even bother to know how much is there or not there. The only thing that needs to worry about is whether the people ended with any money for retirement or hospitalization.

As for more people for more growth, I think the people have not been cooperative, or not listening, or at least the Chinese and Indians. They need to support this policy by increasing the number of headcounts per household. They need to multiply more aggressively, even have more spouses if desperate measures are needed. More spouses, more children, instant growth. And if both can’t work, bring in more foreigners into their homes. The growth formula that is applicable to the country must also be applicable to households as well.

The only catch is that if one has two members living in a 1,000 sq ft flat, having four members will reduce the space per head from 500 sq ft to 250 sq ft. And if there are 10 members, each will only have 100 sq ft and this may impact on the quality of life. Then again it may not be so as some are advocating for smaller units. Dogs being quite comfortable in their little kennels are good examples to emulate. If Sinkies can be convinced to think and live like dogs, then space should not be an issue at all. Just a spot to lie down will be more than adequate.

When the Sinkies are conditioned to accept such quality of living, then having 10 member households would be a normal thing and every household will surely enjoy good growth. And if they want continuous growth then they just have to continuously make more babies to increase the number of people per household.

It is such a simple and logical solution and it is exasperating to find Sinkies unable to grasp such beautiful logic. More heads mean more growth, dummy. The farmers used to share this logic in the farms.