Vivian Balakrishnan: ‘we are facing the crisis of our lifetime’

Hehehe, this is what Minister of Environment and Water Resources said. I am shivering in my pants. Pardon me Sir, excuse me Sir, who created this crisis of a lifetime? This crisis did not happen overnight right? This is the best run country in the world with super talented ministers and paid out of this world salary. How could they manage the country so well into a crisis of our lifetime? Now I am wondering who created this crisis? Who have been running this country for the last four or five decades? Did they not see it coming?

Do the people of this island want the same people who created this crisis to solve this crisis with another set of solutions that would create another bigger crisis in the future? By then I dunno what they will call it, a monumental crisis of several lifetime? Ya?

If there is a need for a natcon, this is it. This is the topic that affects every Sinkies. It can destroy their lives and the lives of their children and their children's children. Let this be the natcon of the people. The people are talking. The people want to tell the govt what is in their heart.

Uproar over 6.9m population

Less than a day after breaking news of the Govt White Paper on a projected 6.9m population in 2030 the internet was buzzing with cries of outrage. 5 articles appeared in TRE alone, 1. White Paper calls for up to 80% increase in foreign population in SG, 2. 7m population and the lack of foresight by Sorry Lee, 3. Govt White Paper plans for 6.9m by 2030, 4. Population White Paper projecting 6.9m. U-turn on influx…., 5. Poly student rebuts NPTD Population White Paper. And there were many articles posted elsewhere with the same view, against the huge population, Lucky Tan, Feedmetothefish, just to name a few. All says it is a crazy idea. Are the Sinkies that daft not to know what is good or bad for them?

The contents of these articles were similar, all were against the 6.9m population as unacceptable. And all received huge numbers of comments sharing the same unhappiness over this projected population in this little island.

What is very clear is that the clever thinkers and planners and the Govt are all marching to a different tune and in a different direction while the people are going the opposite way. Is there a meeting of minds? Nay is being too conservative. While the tone of the Govt is all in favour of this great projection to save Sinkies, and without the increase in population, the island will sink, the future will go kaput, the people disagree and do not think so.

With such a divergence of views, would this paper be pushed through in Parliament and the people just got to live with it? Would the outburst of anger and dismay lead to more serious challenges for the Govt to deal with? Or would the Govt, if it fails to convince the people, will simply ignore the people as lunatics, simple minded folks or daft, and that the Govt knows best and what is being done is for the good of the people? Would the people accept such a fait accompli given the admission of lack of foresight and the huge problems the country and people are facing due to the influx of so many foreigners here?

Are the foreigners the spice or the shit to the Singaporean’s life?

Poll - Do you support the 6.9m population

I have created this Poll on the right. Please vote and also ask your friends to vote. It is a yes or no thing. This is a very serious issue and the more the citizens make their views known to the govt the better. As for the internet brigade, please take it easy on this and don't mess it up with spurious votes as it will also affect you and your family and the future of your children.

Thank you.

PS. And while you are here, please click on some of the advertisements to pay for my breakfast : )
Thanks.

How has Boon Wan fared in solving the housing problem?

After the last GE the PAP took cognition of the housing problem and removed Mah Bow Tan, went in search of a minister that could rectify the problem he had created. Oops, my apologies to Mah Bow Tan, it was never a problem. Only some people saw it as a problem and the govt agreed to do something about it.

Boon Wan was brave enough to volunteer for the job. He was confident enough to take on this daunting task of a huge problem that was really not a problem depending on who you are. Of course he knew, and everyone knew it was a full blown problem and cannot be resolved overnight after so many years of neglect and mismanagement. I would presume, may be wrong, that Boon Wan would want to solve the supply and demand problem to ensure that all Sinkies can afford to buy a HDB flat and that the prices of flats would remain at least stable. And I think if anyone would to want to measure the performance of Boon Wan, these should be the two factors to look at.

Boon Wan started aggressively to ramp up the building or more flats, many more flats. Unfortunately this is not looking good enough as the number of Sinkies wanting to buy HDB flats are still forming a long waiting list and the new flats will take several years to come on line. And also many Sinkies that were unfortunate enough to fall victims to his predecessor’s policies are still unable to buy direct from HDB. They are still cursing at the govt for sure.

The other big problem of course is the price of HDB flats, the resale flats and private properties. Have the prices been stable, or have they shot through the roof, even at greater speed than under Mah Bow Tan’s time and to greater height?

Has Boon Wan solved the housing problem? Or has he revisited the history of HDB and asked why there was no such problem before and the people were happy and grateful for their HDB flats but now the big shit all over the place? Has Boon Wan achieved what he set out to do? Shall he be given a red card or a medal?

Would he do the necessary and do a major change by building public flats for all Sinkies instead of new citizens? Many true blue Sinkies have served NS, fathers, brothers and themselves but not eligible to buy HDB flats because of all the stupid rules and regulations. How could the govt do these to the true and original citizens while making things so good to new citizens at their expense? Pro Sinkies or pro new citizens who are really foreigners?

6.9m population – Would the Govt listen?

This is a queer question really. The Govt has been telling the people that it will listen to the people since the last GE. It even deprecated itself by calling the people as the masters and the Govt as the servants of the people. This means that the people should be telling the Govt what they want and what they want the Govt to do. And to make things look real, the Natcon is still in process where the Govt will talk and listen to the people. Now what is the purpose of talking to the people if the Govt does not listen to the people or listen but no need to register?

The Govt has come out with a White Paper detailing the whys and the needs for a 6.9m population. This Paper originates from the Govt and from its thinkers. And it seems that this is what the Govt has more or less decided, without consulting the people. Or maybe it is now going to consult the people. But would it listen to the people if the people decide otherwise, not to have 6.9m people by 2030? Would the Govt simply go ahead and implement the increase in population despite the protest and disapproval of the people? Has the Govt already unilaterally decided on this road and any discussion with the people is only cursory?

The Paper will be tabled in Parliament for discussion and a vote will be taken where 80 PAP MPs will likely to vote in favour of it. Technically the MPs represented the people. But what if the MP did not ask the views of the people and simply voted based on their own belief or party line? In such a case it is not representing the views of the people but the party. It is so easy for the MPs to have a dialogue with their constituents or in the Natcon and gather the views of the people that matter.

The increase in population is going to affect everyone in the island. Should there be a need to hold a referendum on this? Or would the Govt simply go ahead with it as it has decided and whether the people is for or against it nothing would change the Govt’s mind? A protest rally is being organised by Transitioning.Org in HongLim this Saturday against the 6.9m. How many people will attend to make their views heard?

Would the govt listen to the people and let the people decide on this critical issue? There are more than 3 million citizens. The Govt is actually the 80 odd politicians in Parliament and why should they decide a matter like this without wanting to get the approval of the people? The Govt is listening, the Govt is the servant of the people?

What do you think?

Hsien Loong – an admission of incompetence?

At the conference on Singapore Perspectives organized by the Institute of Public Policies, Hsien Loong surprised the audience of local and foreign dignitaries by admitting that the govt was not perfect and had caused a lot of problems related to the influx of foreigners and the squeeze on building housing and infrastructure to cope with this high demand. This is the second time after the last GE that he has admitted to flaws in govt policies. This is reported in Channel News Asia, ‘Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has admitted the government did not have 20/20 foresight, resulting in problems with inadequate infrastructure in the country….’

What is Hsien Loong trying to achieve for this admission? For a govt that prides itself as the best in the world and paying itself out of this world salaries, will the people accept such a grotesque mistake when you don’t need a university professor to see the problems coming up? When the govt brought in 2m people in such a short space of time and neglected in ramping up the supporting infrastructure and housing to provide for such a huge number of people, is it a case of mistake, incompetence or something else? It is not unbelieveable. It is amazing!

The most horrifying part is the freeze in building housing when any idiot will know that 2 million people would need that much more roofs over their heads. And this 2m number is nearly a doubling the population of slightly more than 3m, bringing the population to 5m plus. This is not an elephant in the class room. It is a dinosaur and nobody could see it and to provide for it. And we paid millions for the super talents to at least do a decent job. Can we expect them to see the dinosaur? Hey, no rocket science ya?

So what, shall the people excuse and forgive the govt for this oversight? We are not talking about any third world govt that are paid peanuts. We are paying everyone of them, the crème al crème, according to their weight in gold and more.

What do you think?

Sinkies cannot afford to be CBF

The call for Sinkies to be cheaper, better and faster is running contrary to the high cost of living and high cost of everything. How can Sinkies ever think of surviving in a city when the cost of everything is going up and still expect to work to be cheaper, better and faster? This kind of combination can only work when the workers are foreigners who don’t have to buy expensive properties, provide for a family and may even need to buy a car for transportation.

The end result of this formula is to have very rich elite at the top and very poor foreign workers at the bottom. Those in between, the average Sinkies, will be squeezed dry trying to be cheaper but paying for everything that is getting dearer.

How, what do you think? Can Sinkies afford to be CBF?

Punggol East – We are not daft

Whoever thinks that the voters, in general and those in Hougang or Punggol East, are daft got to get his head check. The maturity of the voters, mind you they may not have first class honours or top doctors or scholars, but many are very well educated, with tertiary education. And many are definitely smarter and more qualified that the plane loads of FTs being unloaded to replace them. At least our local FTs are carrying genuine certificates and qualifications from world class universities and from our world best primary and secondary schools with very well qualified and trained teachers.

The pattern of voting in Punggol East was simply brilliant. It was reported that in every polling station, the WP won. There was no exception or enclave where there was stronger or weaker support for the PAP or WP. Translating this, it means the support is from the overall majority of the voters.

And the voters made every vote count. There was no significant wastage where votes went to the two minor parties. All the votes were either for the PAP or the WP. The voters were serious, very serious. They wanted to make a real difference, and they did.

The last Presidential Election could be a strong factor to remind the voters that anyhow vote could be a very costly mistake. This time they made no mistake. They wanted Li Lian earnestly and every vote for Li Lian was carefully considered, or in the same way for Koh Poh Koon.

The smart voters have arrived. The voters today are not like the illiterate uncles and aunties when a little last minute carrot or goodies could sway them. They not only looked at municipal or local issues, they also understood the big picture. You can’t con them anymore. Welcome to the new Singapore and a more intelligent electorate. They are simply saying, ‘We are not daft.’

Dr Paul Cheung - 8m population no problem

'Singapolitics.sg, 28 Jan 2013

Singapore can, if it wants, accommodate eight million people. That is Dr Cheung's belief.

The Hong Kong-born Singaporean, 59, spent close to 30 years monitoring the interplay between Singapore's population and economic growth, including 14 years as the Government's chief statistician.

"We must always plan for the upper limit. We have to be creative and have in mind urban infrastructure for a much larger population," Dr Cheung says….'

I think Dr Cheung is being too conservative. I personally believe that this island can take in 20m or more, if we want to. But prepare to live a life of a 20m population city in a little piece of rock. What is the problem if one is willing to adapt and pay the price for it? Sure can one.

The question is, why bring this Dr Cheung and a 8m number into the picture? Is this a case of if our properties are expensive, just bring in another country with more expensive properties to make people feel that we are still cheaper? And we can claim we are better off? So if we are planning to fill the island with 7m, bringing in 8m will make 7m looks like small change isn’t it.

What is the intention and purpose of all these, and the 7m White Paper?

Ok, Dr Cheung qualified by saying if we want. Do the Singaporeans want a 7m or 8m population? Who really wants such a population and do they mind ask the rest of the Singaporeans if they mind?

Koh Poh Koon waiting for Hsien Loong

After losing the by election, Koh Poh Koon is now waiting for Hsien Loong’s decision on what to do with him. Hsien Loong has said that he would field him in the next GE. All things considered, Koh Poh Koon is quite a likeable guy unless one belongs to those who just detest elite and elitism. He said he still wants to serve the people. That is the easiest thing to do. There is no need to wait for Hsien Loong to decide his fate.

Koh Poh Koon is his own man, or at least that was what he said. Even if the PAP did not want to field him, he can serve the people in many other ways. There is nothing to stop him from serving the people in the opposition parties. But there is this unwritten command that a PAP candidate can only serve the people as a PAP and joining the opposition parties is not serving the people. Why like that one?

Even if Koh Poh Koon is not fielded, and even if he does not want to join the opposition parties, there are thousands of ways he can serve the people either professionally by giving discounts or subsidies to Sinkies that need his professional help. Or he could join many of the charities to help out.

When the heart is there to serve the people, there are many avenues to do so. There is no need to wait for anyone or any party. Just do it.

Punggol East – Another statement for social media

Apart from reading the ground well, social media played a very significant role in the toppling of the PAP candidate in Punggol East. All the track records, more carrots and all the big gun, and another elite served on the platter were not enough. Ah Lian was seen as good enough, better than all the things the govt could offer, to serve the people of Punggol East. Isn’t this something?

The most important role of social media in this case was its call for the voters to vote wisely, not to split their votes in view of another two more opposition candidates. Votes going to SDA or RP will mean votes going to the PAP. As a result, the two candidates received abysmally small number of votes, RP with 1.18% and SDA with 0.56%. Thus they could not do any harm to the chances of the WP. The call for a better future for the children and their children given the extremely high cost of living and very competitive working environment were well received. And all must remember the call for SDP to withdraw, which they did, to pave the way for a direct fight between the PAP and the WP.

I credited this honour to the netizens simply because there was no such call in the main media. The people were voting in unison, as one single united force, to put up another opposition candidate into Parliament. The great credentials and reports of Koh Poh Koon were turned around as reasons to dump him in favour of Ah Lian. The calls to support WP were quite widespread in the social media and totally silence in the main media. And if there was no social media, these calls would not have gone far and wide to the ears of every citizen. Now the citizens understood why and how they should cast their votes to make every vote counts.

One has to admit that social media alone could not do much damage. There was a confluence of events that made the call that much more meaningful and effective. Social media and its direct readership could still be small. But the impact it carries is not something to trifle with.

Punggol East – The big disconnect

The biggest statement of the result of this by election is the big disconnect PAP is experiencing without knowing. PAP claimed that it is doing everything for the people and is with the people. And all the policies are carefully thought out and implemented for the good of the people. Obviously the people in Punggol East did not buy it. And if this is what the people across the island are thinking, the days of PAP in power will be over very soon. How could PAP and all its pro people policies that are good for the people ended up in losing this by election? The PAP must believe that everything it did is for the good of the people, and it still believes so. But does the PAP know that the people do not believe so?

And the PAP is still believing that it lost because it was a by election and by election is always unfavourable to the ruling party. How wrong can it be and when is the PAP going to face the truth and see the ground as what it really is? The ground has changed, the people are unhappy with the policies and therefore the govt. Get it?

On the WP side, it has read the ground well and actually is connecting with the people, the citizens who wanted change. There is a big connect between the WP and the people in Hougang, Aljunied and now Punggol East. Where has the PAP been all these years to lose touch with the ground? What a statement! How could the PAP lose touch with the ground when it has so many grassroot leaders and institutions on the ground?

But surely something has gone wrong, something badly wrong. I try to figure out but couldn’t. I also cannot see anything wrong. So I rather believe that nothing is wrong. It is only a by election and in such election, the ruling party is always at a disadvantage. In the next GE the people will definitely vote the PAP back to power to ensure their own prosperity. Nothing to worry about.

As for Koh Poh Koon, he is likely to continue to serve the voters in Punggol East, and likely to be appointed as the grassroot advisor, to walk the ground, to connect with the people. He is still new and would want to hang around unlike some who quit politics immediately after losing an election.

Workers Party wins Punggol East

I dare not believe this will happen earlier in the week though I secretly hoped this would happen. My position then was a close fight, a 50:50 chance going either way. A two horse run by election. The strength of the ruling party was still too dominant for the opposition. And this by election was about a little girl facing a top notch elite supported by the ruling party, and in a 4 corner fight. It was too much to ask for.

Now it happens. At 2 am, I am still awake to the excitement of this game changing event. How could the PAP lose this by election, losing a very safe seat previously won by Michael Palmer with a clear margin in a 3 corner fight? This time the result, WP 54% and PAP 43%. The other two in the four corner fight were completely whitewashed. No need to mention about them. It is a good lesson to note that the voters today are very well informed and would do what is best for their own interests. Going forward, three or multi corner fight to disrupt a proper contest between two main parties will no longer be material.

The voters of Punggol East has rejected the PAP outright with a convincing victory that speaks more than just a by election. The repercussion is serious and the foundation of the PAP is rattling. The support of the voters can no longer be taken for granted. The claim that the party is for the people is rejected outright by the people. It also implies that the voters are rejecting most of the policies that the ruling party claimed to be good for them.

This victory in Punggol East is no joking matter. As I had posted earlier, this is a by election that the PAP cannot afford to lose. Losing Punggol East is the harbinger of more losses if the govt still thinks it can do whatever it wants and shafts the policies down the people's throats. It is as good as game over. The PAP's sure win formula is no longer working.

All the opposition will be gearing themselves up for the GE in about 3 years time. Punggol East has shown the way and they can see it coming now. The netizens were reading the ground very clearly. Unfortunately the PAP was not. It was a two horse race as the netizens have predicted correctly.

PAP is on the side of Singaporeans

This is the position of the Govt and spoken by Hsien Loong on Thursday to wrap up the by election campaign. Many Sinkies are startled into disbelief. But I tell you the truth, it is true. Look at all the living examples around you and you will agree.

First, the foreigner influx is a good thing. Wait for 7m population, it will be even better. Don’t believe me? Look at your property prices! Every Sinkie is now so rich, sitting on multi million dollar properties. This must be really good, extremely good.

Another example, crowded public transport especially the trains. Some are complaining. But only rich and fast growing countries would have such jams in public transport. Look at Japan, we are not even near there. The jams and the foreigners in the trains are signs of progress and they make the SMRT make very good profits too, and good for all kinds of businesses.

Some were complaining about giving university places and scholarships to foreigners while our own children were deprived of places and have to go overseas on PM’s scholarship, ie Papa and Mama Scholarship. But we need these foreign talents to boost our dying and degenerating gene pool. Think about it, these foreigners will enrich our lives and the quality of our future children. We will have a lot of kopi susu and tea with milk children growing up soon. And the foreign talents contributed to our economic growth too, when they stayed to work. And our boys can do NS happily while the foreign talents oil the economy.

No need to add more examples, the more foreigners here the more vibrant is our economy, and the value of things all go up to help our economic growth. And the Sinkies will benefit directly with all their properties going up in prices. No need to work, just sit on your properties and see them appreciate in values, and at the same time can collect rentals.

The prosperity of Sinkies can be seen by the amount of money they are willing to pay for a piece of paper, COE, to be allowed to buy a car. You think poor Sinkies can afford this?

Sinkies must see the good side of having all the foreigners here. They make us very rich or at least feel very rich. See, understand or not? All the policies are for the good of Sinkies. As for the money in the CPF, the minimum sums, it is all for Sinkies. All the Sinkies will be able to afford the world best medicare and world best prices. No sweat. And many will die very, very rich. There will be poor Sinkies alive. But all dead Sinkies will be very rich with the minimum sums they left behind.

I am sure you are now all convinced by my clear and simple logic. It makes cents right? Er, I mean sense.

SPH employee arrested for threatening Kenneth Jeyaretnam

This is the latest news on ST online that a 23 year old employee of SPH has been arrested for threatening Kenneth Jeyaretnam’s wife and son in London using emails. The administrative assistant with ST classified ad has since resigned and is out on bail.

The brave or provocative Philippines

Depending on how you look at it, some may think the Philippines are very brave to want to stage a fight with China. Some will think it is a very provocative thing to do. Anyway, the Philippines are taking the disputed island claims in the South China Sea to the UN International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas(ITLS) unilaterally as if it is a very brave act against China. And everyone knows that the ITLS has no jurisdiction over such claims if the interested parties could simply ignore its findings or recommendations.

So what are the Pinoys trying to prove? Or who is really behind this silly move, of a little mouse trying to pull the whiskers of the dragon? They have not forgotten how they threatened to arrest Chinese fishing boats only to flee when the Chinese wanted to sink their biggest antique called a warship. Or maybe they are still angry of that sheepish incident and wanted to prove that they are made of stronger stuff?

By making this provocative affront, it has forced Singapore which has always tried to be diplomatic, to take a stance to distance itself from the Philippines. Singapore has made an official statement that this is strictly a Pinoy initiative, nothing to do with Asean. And it added that such territorial claim can only be settled by the claimants and Singapore is not a claimant.

Singapore’s position would have undercut the Philippines if it ever thinks of using Asean to fight this spurious claim with China. And maybe the only country in Asean that would support such callous and silly move will be Vietnam. The rest of Asean would rather choose either to be neutral or to discuss with China through dialogue.

The Philippines have opened its cards, that it wants a confrontation with China, to provoke China, to raise tension, which is the last thing Asean wants with China being the biggest trading partners with several of the Asean states.

Is Lui Tuck Yew kidding?

‘Given Singapore's limited space for new roads, the government plans to further curb vehicle growth from next year, revealed Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew.’ This is quoted from Yahoo News.

We have just heard of a White Paper discussing about Singapore having a population of 7m from the current 5.3m. Can the island have enough space for an additional 1.7m people when it cannot find space for new roads and have to curb the growth of vehicles on the road? It is either the island still has a lot of space for more people or the island has not enough space. It cannot have more space for more people but not enough space for vehicles unless these people do not need the use vehicles in their lives, for private or public transport. The growth of road network will also be halved. Lui said, "You can't allow it (the vehicle quota) to grow at the rates in past years simply because the road networks are not expanding as what we have done before,"

It is getting very confusing. When population growth is concerned, we can grow and grow and build and build more housing to support the growth. Then we cannot have space for more roads for more vehicles.

Subsidies are like crutches, for the richest people in the world

More subsidies, more subsidies, as if the govt is the Santa Claus. Oops, no, not the Santa Claus but the rich man doing charity and those stretching out their hands must feel grateful to this demi god. Without this demi god there will be no subsidies and the cost of everything will be unaffordable. So the grateful citizens that need subsidies will be forever grateful that the demi god is around. And this group of grateful will stretch from the low income to the middle income. This is a lot of grateful people.

Really, subsidies are like lelong sales. Price marked up exponentially only to give an equally big discount for the recipients to think they are getting a good deal. For that, they may even be cheated as the cost could be much lower and the price could be much lower too. If the prices are not marked up so high, there is no need for subsidies at all. It is all a matter of packaging. What really is important is the bottom line, what the people have to pay for it.

The other negative aspect of subsidies is that the recipients are portrayed as helpless, dependencies, desperadoes and needing charity, needing handouts. When or if the price is priced correctly, there is no need to queue for handouts. The dignity of the recipients will not be thrashed. Why make people go and beg for subsidies?

There are better ways to bring down the cost of operators or service providers without having to make the recipients queuing up for it, submit their particulars to plea for help. Things can be done much simply and respecting the pride and dignity of the recipients.

The proposed babies and parenthood scheme will eventually be eroded and the fees be raised by the operators to near the same level, with subsidies. The calibration to fine tune the handouts according to level of income is a very tedious and embarrassing affair, micro managing the life of people. The govt could work out the subsidies with operators and service providers, controlling their fees by giving more subsidies to more reasonably priced services while the upmarket brand be given less or no subsidies.

Still this is not the best option. It will, yes, become another crutch mentality thing. Making babies, bringing up babies must depend on govt subsidies! Why no one is talking about crutch mentality anymore?

Sinkies have become a people living on crutches, on govt handouts, despite being millionaires, multi millionaires or half a millionaires. Weird isn’t it? The richest people in the world but needing govt subsidies in almost everything to get by!

Punggol East – So far very tame, very civilised

For the watchers of this by election who expect a lot of fire and storm, it must be a big disappointment. So far everything appears to be very mild and tame. There were great expectations given the indiscretion of the ex MP who was also the ex Speaker of Parliament. Many could remember the fire and ferocity of the attack by the ruling party against the WP then in Hougang. All the big guns were firing in full force and the WP was finding no place to hide. It was shame, shame and shame all round. It was high morality against individual failings and indiscretion. It was monks and priests against sinners.

In this case all the shame, shame and shame somehow disappeared. There was a lack of viciousness from the WP side. Even the name Michael Palmer was not even mentioned, I think, forgive me if I am wrong on this, but I wasn’t following the rally speeches closely. I can only feel the kindness and the politeness in the whole tussle from all quarters. My respect to the honourable men and women in the opposition for not spreading the swill and shit out into the open for airing.

And even the AIM saga that was a time bomb waiting to explode but got defused. Or was it that no one is willing to light the fuse? Minus all the drama and fiery speeches, this is really like a tea party. Perhaps the politicians have matured and are less quarrelsome and less vicious. No longer behaving like little school boys or ruffians picking up on petty quarrels to look saintly. And this is good.

Well, who shall we thank for for such a civilized election campaign? Could it be a repeat of another Hougang dirty saga if the fallen MP was an opposition party MP? Would the niceties be exchanged for ‘please tell, please come clean’ for all to see who is cleaner or whiter than white? Thank God that things did not go down the longkang way. And no opposition speakers claimed or peddled to be men and women of high morals or of religious pedigree. And they still maintain a very respectable decorum and conduct while pitching for support from the voters without trying to tarnish or destroy anyone for personal flaws.

What more is there to say?

Obama's inaugural speech " sheer rhetoric" . BY Linh Dinh

Obama’s inaugural speech ‘sheer rhetoric’     Written by  LINH  DINH

Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:47AM

U.S. President Barack Obama’s inaugural speech was a “sheer rhetoric,” which many Americans know that “the situation is much different,” an analyst said.  

“In his inaugural speech, Obama said a decade of war is now ending and that the U.S. will walk to resolve future crises peacefully, but that is all rhetoric,” author and activist Linh Dinh told Press TV’s U.S. Desk on Tuesday.

“Because Obama is starting new wars, you know it is the attack on Libya and the hell that he is creating in Syria is entirely instigated by the United States, and he’s now provoking China.” he added. “The Prime Minister of Japan is visiting Washington DC next month, and this man is quite literally a nutcase. He is a very dangerous man. He denies that Japanese troops committed atrocities during World War II. He denies there were comfort women, that is, sex slaves, Korean sex slaves, during World War II, so he is the new Japanese prime minister, and he is an ally in the US provocation of China, so that’s another crisis that the US is starting, and why is the US doing that? It’s because the USS thrives in the war business. That’s the only business it has left.”

After taking his second inaugural oath of office in front of the Capitol building on Monday, Obama declared misleadingly that “a decade of war is now ending,” while pledging to maintain America’s superpower status through a global military presence.

“America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe; and we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation,” Obama said in his speech.

Jonathan Tan - The AIM saga taking the spotlight again


The internet is buzzing again with more disclosures of the AIM saga. Someone has disclosed an ex staff of NCS, Jonathan Tan, posting his achievements that included his work with the Town Councils amounting to $30m and a software licence fee of $5m. (S$30 million deal with Singapore Town Council. Software license at S$5 million. This is found in his Linkedin page). How are these numbers related to the cost of developing the Town Council Management System is going to be interesting. The $30m could include hardware and software development and the $5m could be a one time license fee, or would the Town Council be required to pay more license fee for continuous used are not clear.

Some netizens are already screaming their heads off by assuming that the management system costs $30m and being sold for $140,000. On face value it looks quite ugly. But given proper and creative accounting, everything will be in order. There will be fair wear and tear and a large portion could go to hardware and equipment.

There is this thing called depreciation or writing down of goodwill. So if all these have been written off as goodwill or depreciation, there is no value left to the software. And those who think that a $30m system selling at $140,000 will incur a big loss will be mistaken. When the residual value is 0, the $140,000 will become pure profit. Yes, selling the software for any amount is profit.

You may choose to disagree with my ingenious reasoning and explanation.

When the govt starts to throw money…

The latest babies and families $2b package is another of the govt’s way to throw money at the people. This is not a bad thing and the people welcome it. What I think the govt should take heed is that before they start to throw money, please be reminded that the money is from the people, it comes from the people. And if not enough, the govt will introduce more direct or indirect taxes on the people. The people will ultimately foot the bill and some will benefit some will not, some will benefit more and some less. What the govt should also be mindful is who the money is given to.

The unequal distribution of the country’s wealth could become unacceptable and a big problem when some recipients are deemed as undeserving of the handouts or should not benefit fully from such programmes. What some Sinkies have in mind are the direct beneficiaries of such govt schemes especially when they are new citizens. Giving new citizens equal rights and opportunities as a citizen is not an issue per se. What is troubling citizens is the throwing of money from the public coffers to new citizens. There are many schemes, from housing to education and medicare when being a citizen could mean a lot of savings and may even lead to a lot of instant monetary gains.

New citizens receive immediate monetary profits in housing when they are eligible ot buy direct from HDB while some Sinkies are not even allowed to, in education fee subsidies, in subsidies for public hospitals, educational opportunities etc etc. Should new citizens be entitled to such monetary rewards almost immediately when they become a citizen? A new citizen could reap hundreds or tens of thousands of dollars by simply becoming a citizen and scoot off when it is time to trade in the profits.

The latest $2b package would likewise benefit the new citizens most. Should new citizens qualify for such monetary or money equivalent benefits like all citizens? Should not there be a qualifying period to phase in govt benefits and subsidies for new citizens? Could there be a gradation of benefits in relations to how long a new citizen has been here? Why should new citizens be eligible or be entitled to financial reward when they have not done much in this island?

What do you think?

More schemes, more conditions for babies and housing

All the rules and restrictive conditions are simply unnecessary when the fundamentals are right. Today the govt is rolling out another $2 billion package to stimulate more births and more babies. It also tweaked the conditions for housing priorities.

All these are reactive policies, measures that try to patch holes caused by bad policies and assumptions. Why is the govt now so desperate for Sinkies to have more babies when all it needs is to import more fully grown adults, immediately productive? Why are the people not having more babies in the first place? What kind of life will our children lead when everyone is just an economic digit and each one will contribute to buy a million dollar pigeon hole and keep several hundred thousand dollars in the CPF dunno for who to use?

Then the housing fiasco that is going to balloon into the biggest monster Sinkies have to live with and many will have to suffer for the 99 year lease pigeon hole and paying for the main part of their lives. A 3,500 sq ft landed property can be had for $400k just across the causeway. Sinkies are going to live and work for the pigeon holes over their heads. And they cannot afford to stop work, both must work to pay for it. How to make babies and look after babies? No sweat, hire foreign maids and the babies will grow up speaking and behaving like FTs and can blend with FTs easier.

Why has the housing problem reach such a scale? And the tweakings and the conditions, are they really helping when all the govt needs to do is to do away with most of them and just simply build for the Sinkies. A caution here. Don’t turn every foreigner into a new Sinkie to add to the demand and the problem. The solution is so simple and no need more complex rules and conditions to confuse everyone without solving but adding to the problem.

Punggol East – What if the PAP loses?

At this point in time, the PAP and WP are looking quite evenly matched and it could be anyone’s game. If the PAP were to win this election, it would just be another by election and all things return to its normal state of affair. A new face just got elected to replace another PAP MP.

What if the PAP loses and WP wins another seat? There are many things to read into such an eventuality. Firstly, it is another chip off the PAP’s fortress. It would add another opposition party into parliament. What I think would be of greater significance will be the perception of the voters and future of the political scene. Would this win by the WP be seen a milestone of sort that will chart the direction of the next GE?

From the opposition camp, it will be a comforting assurance that things are looking brighter, that the PAP is no longer the party to watch. It will definitely be encouraging for those wanting to join the opposition in the next round. It will be much easier for the opposition parties to recruit more supporters and potential candidates.

On the other hand, those thinking of saying yes after being invited for tea could have second thought. When such a well qualified professional with all the potential to be an office holder could lose to an average Singaporean from the opposition camp, it must mean something. It would be a reminder of Chiam See Tong’s less than pristine academic papers beating an elite, the best of the best that the PAP could find.

The myth that a highly qualified candidate donning the PAP’s white and badge is a sure win formula will be just a myth. It is something else that is the deciding factor. PAP brand, high and impeccable qualifications, big potential, all the praises from the ministers and even the PM would mean nothing now.

What is this new element that will henceforth decide the fate of an election? What is apparent is that it is not about the candidate as long as the candidate is good enough, decent and willing to serve the people. Then could it be the party, PAP or WP? Or could it be the ruling party and any opposition party?

Or could it be the policies, the more good years that are being rejected by the people, that the people want change and the PAP brand is no longer what the people want? It may be a combination of many factors for the people to want a change, a breath of fresh air. The old formula and the old policies are no longer workable. The people have lost faith in a party that has lost its bearing and leading the people and country down the wrong path. This would prove very difficult and costly for the PAP to make a comeback.

Many will be wondering. Many academics will be thinking. Many strategists will be asking and wanting to know why, and to make new prescriptions. All will be back to the drawing board, to do some deep thinking, to seek enlightenment and hopefully a new way forward.

Yes, a resounding victory for the WP would send many reeling into disbelief.

Hsun Tze on The Evil Empire 's war plan against China

	HsunTze	2013-01-21 15:19
	"The region welcomes the US if it acts as a peacemaker, not if it acts as a provocateur". China seems to give the USA a lot of face saying the above. When has this ugly wasp ever been a true peacemaker? The Global Tyrant had been digging up places for meddling and causing instability to gain advantage and for own selfish interest. In Korea it was not peacemaking. It was using its military and allies to divide the peninsula for a future agenda. In Vietnam, it lied to attack the North so that it get a unified but pro USA regime but unfortunately it miscalculated and had to run from the fight. If I continue with other incidences, I would be writing the sad history of the world and the USA would still be the wasp that people despise. I believe that there is one special set agenda that all US President will undertake to carry out (probably written in the constitution or in the handbook for Presidents). Was it why GWBush had said that "if you are not with us you are against us" and the agenda is to dislodge all not in the US good list, starting with the lesser nations. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya were the recent entities removed and replaced by pro US regimes. The USA eyes are now on Iran and DPRK for now. Interestingly, China gets into the picture and the USA seems to be gearing to have a go at China. I believe the USA is now weighing the pros and cons and does not want to miscalculate or it may find itself going down much faster than later. In a way it is very busy with its internal woes and potentially irreversible debt throes. I have that feeling that the Obama warmongering machine is calculating whether to go along the righteous route to gain credibility and dignity as well as have a new restart OR to go for war to get out of the quicksand Yes, the USA may want to risk third world war to dig a way out of its own blues. So it is never ever in the interest of Japan? Japan interest? Japan actually has no right to China's Diaoyu Dao just as the USA has no bloody right to hand over adminstration rights to Japan. The USA would have to respect that MIGHT IS NEVER RIGHT. The evil nation had done just that when it arrogantly and unilaterally handed over control to Japan and it was bilaterally arranged without the participation of the rightful owner who protested the bloody action. Just as Japan, the other evil has still not shown true remorse over its brutality in the past, the even greater evil USA has not shown moral and credibility to reverse its wrongs like the handling of the Diaoyu Dao issue nor of the other blunders and evil deeds done after the war. Are the USA, Europe and Japan having such irreversible woes because they all did good things for the world? Of course the USA still has influence in the world and why not with such message as "If you are not with us you are against us" and those lowly dog nations obeyed with tails between the legs. Though there are growing signs of the USA imploding, the country is still the most powerful nation on Earth and such countries like Vietnam and Philippines whimper like little dogs in the presence of the patriach dog of the pack. Take a look at Japan's Abe. His first wish was to go meet with the master Obama and other master Hillary Clinton (may be to say Sayonara to her). Hmmm, the Japanese side surely will be missing the grand matriach when she finally departs from the scene. Yes, to Abe's dismay and surely displeasure his trip was postponed to next month andthe able nationalistic leader had to go to Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia instead. Wow, did they really welcome him with open wide arms and say yess yess, Nippon, we support you? Of course diplomatic protocal must be given and that was what Abe got. How can ASEAN and Asia allow the running lackey of the USA come to cause more division? And the Japanese have been running around, here and there to try to gather more support for its case on the dispute and yet if you hear right, Japan had said there was no dispute. Do you guys see the hyprocrisy here? When you put two nations with double speak and hypocrisy together what do you get? Double whammy. Vietnam, Philippines, ROK and Japan are getting along very fine with the USA but the most pariah Asian of the lot is Japan. Why? simple. Japan is the first and so far only country to be slammed by Nukes with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of casualties. Who did that? its great friend the USA. Japan's economy was then the 2nd largest but was never allowed to grow to surpass that of the USA. Why? The USA pulls the strings and Japan has no chance at all to do its best. It has to listen to the master USA. Japan had thought the USA would help it stay at number two but alas, China caught up and took over and never looked back again. Wow, with all the things spoken about China taking over the number one place causes panic in the USA and that is the reason why we see the USA instigating or making irresponsible moves to try to prevent China from gaining that position. Is it possible without going to war? China's peaceful rise seems impossible to stop unless the USA goes to war with China. If China is stopped this way will the USA get to get out of the woes and grow??? This must be the catch 22 situation in the US think tank's minds bursting without solutions in mind. That may be why some people in the USA have gone crazy and shooting at kids. In this modern age and time, going to all out war is crazy and thinking about doing it is also mad. I know my beautiful China is a responsible country but as for the USA, I have reserves. It is already a war monger, it needs to have conflicts to feed its oversized military which itself has some weird tendencies too. The US national debt is almost touching the sky and no sign of improvement. Yet the people are not ready to save and go for austerity and the leaders just cannot cope in the normal way. They do not know what is hunger, what it is like without a roof and all they know is about their rights and those stipulated in the constitution one of which is to keep guns. Phew, as we get to learn more of the USA the more worrisome it gets. The USA is about to crack like a volcanoe about to erupt. You now see steam or smoke rising here and there. Well, time will tell. Yes, yes yes, time will always tell. Meanwhile my beloved China, just get our PLA all equiped and prepare for possible combat duties. We cannot be with them so we will be seen as against them. WE MUST WIN THIS CHESS GAME.
	Concerned	2013-01-21 11:42
	China should avoid any war now but instead deploy it's economic might to bring Japan's ALREADY fragile economy to its knees by economic sanctions and boycotts if Japan won't come to the negotiating table over the Diaoyu islands dispute. Japan's National debts is already about 25 times the government's tax revenue. And 21% of Japan's total exports go to China. Printing more yen won't help as inflation will rise to beyond the 2% that Abe wants. It's like fighting fire with gasoline. Japan is totally vulnerable if China decides to slow down trade with it through sanctions and boycott. If the US intervenes then sell all the nearly US$1 Trillion US Treasury bonds and other US dollar assets China hold in one fell swoop to buy gold and silver and precipitate the crash of the US dollar and Wall Street.

British em,pire manipulates situations to wage global wars . By Mike Bilington

Sunday Jan 13, 201304:04 PM GMT



British empire manipulates situations to wage global wars: Mike Billington
Thu Jan 10, 2013 3:15PM GMT





Interview with Mike Billington


View of London and of Obama and not necessarily the US military by the
way; is that they need a war, they need a war especially with Russia
and China to prevent an alliance of the Russians, the Chinese and the
US, which is the only alliance that could break the power of a
London-based financial empire.”
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A prominent analyst tells Press TV that the London-based empire is
after waging war between the US on one side and Russia and China and
other Asian nations on the other side to maintain its financial power.


The US’ arms sales to China’s and North Korea’s neighbors appear set
for significant growth amid regional security jitters. Washington’s
provocative decision comes as territorial disputes between China and
Japan over a disputed group of islands in the East China Sea are
raging. Meanwhile China’s Foreign Ministry has warned about
infringement of its sovereignty by Japan with regards to the islands.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Mike Billington, wit the
Executive Intelligence Review from Arlington to shed more light on the
issue at hand. Billington is joined by two additional guests on Press
TV’s News Analysis program: Chris Bambery, political commentator from
London and Linh Dinh, writer and political analyst from Philadelphia.
What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Mike Billington, our guests have mentioned the US in a
number of occasions so let me introduce the US in this scenario. It
just came out last week, US arms sales to Asia set to boom, that is
what the headline read. White House to boost security partners armed
might, economic rewards for the US to lead to enough US sales in South
and East Asia to more than off set a slowdown the European
arms-buying.

I mean how do you see that? Is not the US in a sense fanning a rise of
militarism in the region? And on the other hand why does not the US
want to enforce diplomacy between the two countries?

Billington: Well, I think that you have to look at to this
historically first of all. That you are dealing here with a classic
British policy.

Remember that the British successfully manipulated Japan into
launching two world wars. One, when they went to war with China over
Korea in 1894 which led ultimately into World War I, and then in the
1930’s when British and their allies in the US around JP Morgan and
his friends financed and pushed Japan into the Manchurian invasion and
what ultimately led to World War II.

And it is certainly the hope of Wall Street and London and Obama, the
puppet to the Wall Street-London crowd, that they can push Japan into
a confrontation with China now, whose purpose is to break up any
alliance between the United States and China and with Russia as well.

    Keep in mind that we are in the midst of the biggest financial
breakdown crisis in the history. The entire European and American
financial system is bankrupt, they are printing money at unprecedented
rates, creating a hyperinflation and the view of London and of Obama
and not necessarily the US military by the way; is that they need a
war, they need a war especially with Russia and China to prevent an
alliance of the Russians, the Chinese and the US, which is the only
alliance that could break the power of a London-based financial
empire, which is now in the state of total collapse, and replace it
with a development-oriented creditary system.


Now the view from London, as you know, from the economists in the
Financial Times is that they are going to be successful in
manipulating this war calling the new Japanese government of Shinzo
Abe, rightwing, anti-China and so forth.

I do not believe that. I think that it is possible but it is highly
unlikely. Remember that this entire incident was started by Mr.
Ishihara, the former mayor of Tokyo, a British asset who views Russia
and China as Japan’s enemies, who wants nuclear weapons to counter
them and who intervened here, in a peaceful situation to buy these
islands; the government then foolishly, under the previous government,
stepped in and had them nationalized, but it was Ishihara, a puppet of
this global financial crowd, who launched this confrontation,
precisely to stir up this confrontation with China and to try to drive
the United States into a confrontation with China, which
unfortunately, this idiot president that we have here in Washington
[President Obama] is following London on every step, pushing for an
encirclement of China as he is with an encirclement of Russia with ABM
systems and military policies in Syria and Iran, which are aimed at
provoking a war with Russia, a war that will likely be thermonuclear.

Press TV: Mike Billington, let us cut away the fluff here. If you were
to give us a timeline in terms of a confrontation that may occur; how
quickly do you think that this may happen? Given the fact that I would
think that the US also needs to ..., well they have said, the Pentagon
Chief, Leon Panetta, defense policy in the region calls for the US
military to expend military-to-military relationships well beyond the
traditional treaty allies.

He is referring, I assume, to the Association of South East Asian
Nations [ASEAN]. So what about looking at it in terms of Taiwan?

Billington: Not only the South East Asian Nations [ASEAN], the irony
here is that the US military headed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General Dempsey are probably the leading force that can prevent this
war.

They do not agree with Obama, they do not agree with Wall Street or
the city of London and your previous speaker [Chris Bambery] who
identified the London-Wall Street axis is exactly right.

    This does not serve British interest, it does not serve the
American interest as nations. It serves the interests of the empire,
the financial institutional empire, which has always been historically
known as the British Empire or the Venetian Empire but the timeline is
extremely short because we are looking at a situation where if Obama
continues with his colonial regime change policy with Tony Blair and
Cameron backing it up full steam by launching a war against Syria or
perhaps even before Syria Iran; this will provoke a war with Russia.

    This could be literally in weeks and if it becomes a war it is
going to be a thermonuclear war and if it is a war with Russia, the
likelihood is that they will immediately be at war with Russia and
China.


So it is in that light that you see the placing of these X-band radar
systems, second one in Japan and the one that they plan to put in the
Philippines. The upgrading of the ABM systems and a ring around China,
claiming falsely that this is a defense against North Korea just as
they claim falsely in Europe that the ABM systems are [in] response to
Iran, when in fact those systems have only one purpose which is to
prevent a counterstrike from Russia or from China and therefore it is
very serious strategic threat to both Russia and China.

So we are sitting on the brink. If this president, Obama, is not
removed through impeachment or through forcing him to resign now, on
the grounds of his very, very serious crimes in Libya, in allying
himself with the al-Qaeda forces in Syria and in Libya; removed and
prevented from pushing this imperial British line of warfare, so that
we can get down to the busin bess of the implementing of a new world
financial system around the Bretton wood’s approach with a
Glass-Steagall [Act] so that we can begin working with our true
allies, Russia and China as great nations, with whom we can work to
develop the world, as Franklin Roosevelt [32nd President of the United
States] wanted to do and as the best of the US military leadership and
intelligence leadership wants to do.

This is not American interest that are pursuing this insane war policy
nor the hyperinflationary bailout of the British-American banking
system.

This is an empire, which is the enemy of the Americans as much as it
is an enemy of the British people and China and Russia. This is what
is at stake and it is very, very short-term. This could be literally
any day or any week if these wars are kicked off through an attack on
Syria or Iran or perhaps, even to start in Asia as it has [had] in the
past.

7 million population a working target

The news were splashed across the main media that the mass rapid transport system would be further enhanced with a couple more lines across the island, the Cross Island Line and the Jurong Region Line, plus the extension of a few other lines in progress. What are these expansion and upgrading for? Are they being developed to ease the problems of public transportation today or are them meant to cope with a bigger population in the future?

A White Paper would be discussed for a population of 7m, not 6.5m. Is this the main reason for the big news on the future MRT lines? If this is it, then the congestion and all the problems the commuters are facing today will become a matter of normal discomfort and commuting using public transportation. The commuters just need to get used to them. Nothing much is likely to change if the population is to hit 7m. And the 7m million is not going to be the final stop.

When 7m is hit, and the economy stagnates, the call for an increase in population to stimulate growth will become another no choice option. Sinkies need to prepare for 10m or more people in this island, to build more flats and other supporting facilities, roads and to sell more COEs.

Japan, revival of the monstrous barbaric Imperial Power

Japan is trying to revive its role as the number one military power in Asia. It is talking about rearming itself, about militarism, about war. It has just completed a tour of Southeast Asian countries, visiting countries that it thinks will support its militarization and military role in the region. It visited the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar to drum up support to be the top military power and leader in the region, to take on China in a war if needed. These countries are expected to support a neo militant Japan, as the cronies of a new Japanese Imperialism.

The irony of it all is that all these countries were victims of Japanese aggression, conquered and colonized by the Japanese, and ruled by the Japanese during the Second World War. Now the Japanese want these countries to come under its influence once again, willingly, and to fight China, the biggest investors and the biggest market for their exports.

Are the Japanese in delusion, that these countries are blind or crazy? Some are, for short term benefits and interests. What would the leader of Asean, Indonesia, do with the flirtation of Japan? Should Asian countries welcome the return of this evil and barbaric power? Are the memories of the suffering from the Japanese Imperial Army so easily forgotten?

People’s Power in Sin City

People’s Power has been an alluring phenomenon around the world since the days of President Aquino. The People’s Power swept her to the Presidency of the Philippines, to overthrow the Marcos family. People’s Power has filled the streets of other Asian and African countries where people took to the streets in demonstrations against their govts. The Arabs have had their Arab Springs. The Hongkies, Taiwanese and the Malaysians have had their mass demonstrations. Even in PRC, mass demonstrations are quite common.

In Sin City, you are not going to see such a public outcry against the govt. The laws forbid it. 4 persons together in a public area is illegal assembly except when approved like in Hong Lim Park. The only public demonstration of a similar nature was the spontaneous celebration of the by election victory in the last Hougang election.

Would there be a surge of People’s Power in Sin City in the same mould as those happening around the world? It is not going to be under the present govt and legal constraints. The kind of People’s Power that is showing signs of life is likely to be of a different nature. It would be the voices of the people, to be heard and listen to. We have just witnessed a nascent stage of People’s Power last week when strong views of the netizens were recognized and acted upon by a political party, the SDP.

The SDP was quite adamant to throw in the gauntlet in the by election. The voices of netizens were loud and clear, get out or you will be history. Much as SDP would like to contest the by election, rational voices in the party understood the ground sentiment and voted against those who wanted to join in a multi corner by election that would spoil the chances of the opposition parties. Yes, the voices of the people, the voices of reasons are echoing loud and clear. Dismiss them at your own peril.

The same voice was and is very harsh on the Presidential candidates that led to a candidate that most did not favour while the favourite candidate was ousted. The people were angry and still harping on the missed chances. They find it very difficult to forgive and would take every opportunity to lambast those they felt have cheated them of the right to choose their President.

The Sinkies have found a new power tool to let their voices heard and be taken seriously. They will not walk down the roads to confront the forces of power. But that did not stop them from telling the power of the day, the political leadership of what they want. This is a new kind of People’s Power in Sin City. And this Power is going to be stronger and louder by the day. The Sinkies have found their way, a measured and effective way to be heard and to be noticed and be taken seriously. The people matter and the Power is with the people.

Listen to the voices of the people or court your own doomsday.

RAR art in Chinese ink style - Untitled

This is a piece of rar art done in Chinese ink style. It is untitled.

Diaoyu/Senkaku, the gloves are off

The latest official statement by Hillary Clinton telling China to respect the islands as under Japanese administration is as good as an open declaration of hostility towards China. The deceit and treachery of the Americans over the last 60 years is finally out in the open. It was the Americans that handed the Chinese islands to the Japanese and claiming neutrality. China was not able to do much then as it was a very weak nation in all fronts. China today is no longer the weak and bankrupt country that can be kicked around and be the victim of gunboat diplomacy. China is very capable and able to defend its own national sovereignty and territorial integrity. China will show its middle finger to the Americans and will go all out to reclaim its territories lost during its dark days as a poor and military weak nation.

The Japanese have been escalating the tension in the island dispute. It started by nationalising the islands as if they belonged to Japan and wanting to create a fait accompli. The old China could not do anything to respond to such aggressive acts. Not today, when China could run all over Japan if hostility starts. The Japanese still think it is the unchallenged military power of the past and China is a minnow, waiting to be invaded again by Japan. They used their patrol craft to harass Chinese civilian ships in the area, scrambled fighter jets to threaten Chinese civilian aircraft. China is responding might for might, with every escalation made by the Japanese, the Chinese is returning the courtesy. China is also scrambling its fighter jets to meet the Japanese. If the Japanese continue to raise the tension level, it is only a matter of time before hostility breaks out.

In the meantime Japan is visiting some Southeast Asian countries that it once conquered and colonised, to ask for support against China. It wants to involve its ex colonies, the countries it plundered and looted, the people it raped and killed, to come to its assistance in its fight against China, for wanting to keep a piece of war loot belong to China. Some of the silly ex colonies have received their ex colonial masters with open arms. Are they serious in wanting to be on the side of the barbaric colonial master in a matter that does not concern them?

The Evil Empire has made its hostile intention very clear. And China cannot back down anymore. The stage is set for a military confrontation in East China Sea.

Meritocracy with no respect for citizenship

We have seen how meritocracy in some sports have led to the replacement of citizens by foreigners, with the foreigners making a very good income paid by tax payers’ money. We have seen how the rich from all over the world are allowed here to speculate, they called in investment, in properties and making money from the daft Sinkies. We have seen how foreigners claiming to be foreign talents coming here to take away good jobs from the citizens.

This kind of mentality, translated to govt policies, is as good as amounting to a selling out of the people’s interests. Ordinary citizens can be mercenary, but not the govt. There is statehood and nationhood to consider. This country belongs to the people and their children, not to any foreigner. The govt has a responsibility to care for the citizens and their children. The govt owes nothing to the well being of foreigners. There cannot be a simple trade off on the basis of merits and put our citizen’s interests away while benefiting the foreigners.

A closer analogy will be parents love, commitment and loyalty to their children. No matter how dull or physically disadvantaged are the children, the parents would always put the interests of their children first. They would never bring in clever and smart children into their homes and kick out their children or lock them up in the storeroom.

If this treacherous trend and policy is not stopped, Sinkies will eventually find themselves as the Dalits in their won country, as the untouchable class. And foreigners will be here to master over them and kick them around. And there will be no turning back, just like the Dalits in India. The Dalits will be condemned for generations till eternity. We cannot afford to allow this to happen to our citizens and their children.

Put a stop to the foreign talent policy that is anti citizen’s interests. The citizen’s interests must come first. This country belongs to the citizens. We must take care of our own citizens, our own children and their children.

Kenneth Jeyaretnam attacks WP

‘Reform Party Chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam has launched a tirade against the Workers Party (WP) for not doing anything for Punggol East residents’. This is quoted from an Editorial in TRE.

Kenneth has a double first from Cambridge, so he must have a very intelligent mind. So, why is he attacking the WP and not the PAP? I think the reason is simple, he must have thought that the WP is the front runner and he is competing with the front runner in the election. Only by beating the front runner can he win the contest. He cannot be attacking a loser to be the next best loser in the contest. That would be quite a silly thing to do.

Given that Kenneth is an intelligent man, he must have read the situation very well. He claimed that he had done more for Punggol East than the WP and had raised the stalled renovation work at Riverdale Plaza and the WP had not done so. What could the WP do when it is not the MP of the constituency, not the ruling govt, not the

Town Council? The best the WP could do is to kpkb just like he had done and that is about it. It is the job and responsibility of the MP and Town Council to get the job done. Why didn’t Kenneth attack the PAP for the stalled renovation work?

Maybe he already knew that the PAP will lose this by election. So there is no need to waste time pulling the PAP down. It is a contest between Kenneth’s Reform Party and the Workers Party.  I hope this is true. But I am no double first so I am unable to see the picture as clearly as Kenneth. PAP sure lose this time if Kenneth is right.

The voters could see more of Kenneth going after the WP. But Low Thia Kiang is likely to ignore him as his target is the PAP. So the WP would be attacking the PAP in full force and allowing the RP to attack them on the flank. Hope Low Thia Kiang is right and the attack by the RP will not cause any dent to his campaign.

COE and high property prices are daylight robbery

Why must Sinkies pay $100k for a piece of paper to buy a car? Why are public flats built by the govt using public funds, using govt land or land acquired at the price of peanuts be priced like freehold landed properties? When a flat can be had for $200k or less, why should it be costing $600k or $1m?

Sinkies are being robbed just to own a car or a roof over their heads. And it is not going to get cheaper. Why? Are Sinkies willing to live with this kind of daylight robbery? Who are the beneficiaries of these robberies? Is it a good thing, a good govt policy?

The biggest angst is that many of the beneficiaries or profiteers, some called them investors, are foreigners, PRs etc. And the silly victims are the poor Sinkies. The Sinkies have no choice but to buy a roof over their heads. Why are Sinkies been put into such a lose lose situation? Who causes these financial burdens to be loaded onto the Sinkies, the citizens of the country while foreigners laughed all the way to the banks?

Chee Hian: Govt delivering GE promises

In his first battle cry for Punggol East, Chee Hian was reminding the voters of the PAP’s promises in the last GE, in housing, transport, education and health care. He forgot to mention about population increase and the influx of foreigners. But what were these promises? Housing prices have shot through the roof. A huge bubble has formed though no one dares to call it a bubble. Transportation, is it getting better or getting worst? Education, my view is that it is a very subjective issue and its consequences would only be felt in the long run. The immediate pain is the high cost of education in the tertiary level. Health care is great, super great. We are having the best health care in the world. But many would be patients fear using it as it will bankrupt the average Sinkies in double quick time. It is better to go to the sinsehs or self medicate, or leave it to nature to take its natural course.

The biggest bugbear is definitely housing. Boon Wan has quoted another 200,000 units of housing being available in 2016. He is claiming credit for building more flats. In the first place who screwed up the housing issue for the citizens? We do not need a govt to screw up things and then telling the people it is going to fix it and claiming credit for it.

The 200,000 units are too late, and many Sinkies have already been screwed. And the 200,000 units would not be enough if the foreigners keep coming in and are allowed to keep buying and buying, be it private or HDB flats. The foreigners have unlimited funds and are here to make money from the Sinkies that needed a roof over their heads. This is elementary. When every joker foreigner or speculator makes money from properties, it means some pathetic Sinkies would be the ultimate victims, having to pay ever higher and higher prices for something that need not cost so much.

The market forces theory is a big farce. It is govt policy, not market forces that drove up property prices. And as long as the demand from foreigners is not stopped, building another 1 million units would still not be enough. Get it?

Punggol East – A by election PAP cannot afford to lose

The PAP is looking like a party on the decline. It has gone past its golden years when support from the people could be more or less guaranteed. This support has been quite badly eroded over the last few years and it is now clinging onto the hard core supporters and party members to keep it going. The unhappiness against the party could be seen in the last few election results.

Starting from the 2011 GE, it was the first time the PAP lost a GRC and a couple of ministers in one go. If this was not enough, the Presidential Election saw its sponsored candidate winning by a whisker and could have lost if there were less candidates in the foray.

Next came the by election in Hougang when the WP was in a defensive mode. The indiscretion of its MP Yaw Shin Leong, who eventually resigned, was a great opportunity for the PAP to retake the ward. It could not do so and the more than 60% votes for the WP was a very significant statement that the support is for the WP or the opposition.

Now the PAP is presenting the opposition a chance to take away another ward for the same reason. In Hougang, the indiscretion was to the WP’s disadvantage. In Punggol East, the indiscretion is to the PAP’s disadvantage. And there are several other very serious issues that the PAP has to answer and would not be able to answer

Losing Punggol East would be a serious matter, it would be like the confirmation of a trend that the PAP is on its decline. It would be saying that it could retake Hougang but unable to do so. And it is now unable to even defend its position in Punggol East. Losing Punggol East is going to create a very serious impact on the fate of the PAP in the next GE. PAP would have to win to hold on to its political fortune. Otherwise it will see its fortune being chipped away, a piece at a time. And there could be another few by elections on the way before the next GE if the wheel of fortune is to dictate the end of the PAP. PAP must win this by election.

Punggol East – What the voters want

All the candidates will be telling the voters that they are there to serve them. And this is likely to be the first and last time some candidates will be saying this. Once elected to the parliament, some may start to behave as masters and regard the voters as their servants. The master will tell the servants what is good for them, and if the servants don’t like it, just too bad. Wait for the next GE or by election and this lie will be repeated. Vote for me, I am here to serve you.

Even in my blog, often we blogged about asking the govt for help, to look into issues that affected the people badly. Some bloggers would be so cynical and obnoxiously frank to say it was a waste of time. The govt was there to serve themselves, not the people. Don’t waste time, don’t kpkb. The people deserve the govt they elected. I cannot disagree with such truism.

The people deserve the govt they elected. So the Punggol East voters would have to think very carefully who they are electing to represent them in parliament. There are many local and national issues that are affecting the people’s life adversely. Would the elected MP be there to speak up for the people or would they be defending the govt’s policies because they belong to the govt and the ruling party? Or would they be speaking against the opposition for raising the people’s concern and problems in parliament?

No matter what a candidate is promising now, that he is independent and has an independent mind, there is always a whip to make him or her toe the line. When the whip is in force, every MP of the particular party would be kuai kuai speaking for the party and vote for the party even if the bill or policy is not good for the people, even if they personally are not in favour of the bill or policy. They can only speak for the people, defend the people’s interests and vote for policies that favour the people if the policies so happen to be for the people.

How many of the candidates will be there in parliament, representing the people’s interests first and party interests second? How many will be in parliament to represent party interests first and people’s interests second?

What has the A Team been doing?

In the last election, the PAP was touting that it had the best A Team and not enough to form a B Team. The A Team is the best, to solve all the problems for the country and people.

How many problems have they solved or how many problems have they created. Which is which? Have they solved the high population problem or created it? Have they solved the high property prices or created it? Have they solved the transportation problem or created it? Have they solved the high cost of living or created it? Have they solved the baby problem or created it? Have they solved the high medical fee problem and shortage of medical professionals or created it?

What do you think?

Punggol East- How the cards are stacked?

Koh Poh Koon is every inch a super talent. His credential is impeccable. He looks a fairly decent chap and could be ministerial material too. And he has the backing of the ruling party and the whole machinery to support his quest to be the next MP. And there is the whole gang of ministers and top talents rooting for him. Would this be enough for Koh Poh Koon to win this election?

Lee Li Lian does not have the string of top notch qualifications to back her up. She is a member of a small opposition party and would definitely lack the resources of the ruling party, but adequate to put up a decent challenge for the job. She has walked the ground, the voters there had given her 41% in the last GE. Would this still be the case or could she add in a few more percentages to tip the scale?

What about the negative parts? The PAP camp would have to face the embarrassing story of Michael Palmer and to explain why they had led the voters down, for troubling them with this by election. This one is going to be sticky and a lot of emotions and subjectivity will be attached to it. The other big issue that the PAP cannot run away from is the AIM saga. This is a very dirty can of worm. And the opposition parties are going to extract every little piece of morsel from it. Not easy to ‘siam’ this one no matter how.

Then there is the whole load of cost of living issues, from influx of foreigners to housing, cars, medical, education, GST, COE, transportation, all providing the opposition a lot of ammunition to fire at the PAP.

What about the weaknesses of WP? It would have to do with her less than sparkling degrees and appointments. She would be more ordinary, more like everyone in Punggol East. She did not have anything to brag about, not even poverty or richest. She is just a person that the people would have to decide whether she is good enough to represent them in Parliament. Of course she would have all the time to do so, may be even resigning to be a full time MP.

The two candidates are stacked in the same way as in Hougang. A brilliant star against an ordinary person. The Hougangkias did not vote for a super talent. They were contented to put Png Eng Huat to Parliament against all odds. In Hougang, the WP was on the defensive with the same problem as PAP in the Michael Palmer affair. The WP was in a much weaker position than in Punggol East.

The additional minus factor against the WP must be the presence of two other contestants. Though they are not seen to receive much support from the voters in this election, but every vote counts. They could take away the few critical votes needed for the WP to unseat the PAP. This could be the most serious factor in this election against the WP. Would the voters cast all their votes for the two major party candidates and reduce the spoilt votes or votes going to the two spoilers? If the voters are clear in what they want, then Lee Li Lian of WP could stand a chance to do an upset. If too much votes are wasted on the two spoilers, then it looks like the PAP will have a better chance to winning. There is no doubt that the two spoilers’ votes will play a major part in the final outcome of this by election.

Punggol East, 4 corner or 2 corner fight?

It is now confirmed that four candidates have submitted their nomination papers and accepted for the by election. Koh Poh Koon(PAP), Lee Li Lian(WP), Kenneth Jeyaretnam(RP), and Desmond Lim(SDA) will be standing for their respective party. Somehow I still look at this as a straight fight between PAP and WP. As for the other two, very likely both will lose their deposits, $16k!
This looks set for an exciting battle with the individual candidate’s credentials being less of an issue as they are all reasonably qualified professionals. The main issue is really more of a battle against the PAP and the side issues will be what had happened recently in the constituency and of course AIM. The latter will be high on the list of the opposition camp to take a good dig at the ruling party.

I am wondering whether there will be any turnout or how small the turnouts will be for the rallies of RP and SDA when the main contestants will be slogging it out in centre court.

How many dirty linens will be aired this time?

Punggol East – A straight fight

By now everyone would have known that the SDP has withdrawn from the by election. This is the best news yet for people who want a straight fight between the PAP and the WP. And yes, it will be a straight fight. No? You mean there are two other possible parties like the SDA and the Reform Party standing as well? Are you sure they are political parties and are you sure they will make any difference? I am quite sure both will lose their deposits if they dare to stay on to fight. Anyway, they are inconsequential, just some side shows that no one needs to pay any attention to.

The SDP could pull in some serious number of votes that will weaken the chance of the WP. That is what the SDP could do if they contest the by election. But it would not be like winning a battle to lose a war. SDP will not win this battle and their participation will cause them the war in 2016 as well. It is better to save the money for the war that is coming. The decision to withdraw will put the SDP in a better state comes the GE. Thanks to their Central Committee, they have saved themselves from a major disaster that would have finished their chances in 2016.

While the whole picture of the by election has changed, the biggest winner is the cyber citizens. They have put enough pressure on the SDP to withdraw. And this is through a concerted effort of reasons and logic that convinced the SDP that going against them would be a great folly. Internet has never been such a powerful and persuasive tool in any general election. In this instance, the persistence of netizens and their forceful logic have forced the SDP to do the rightful. The internet is real and the voice of the internet is immediate, and to be ignored at their own peril. Without the internet, such vital feedback would not come about. The SDP took heed to save an otherwise embarrassing and costly by election.

The other internet brigade has also been very active trying to throw reasons into disarray and advocating a multi corner fight, appealing to the egos of individuals in political parties to try their luck. If this disinformation prevails, a multi corner fight would be inevitable. It seems that the people could not be easily swayed and those trying to support a multi corner fight had lost. Though there were a lot of contradicting views, the stronger view of reasons emerged to rule the day.

What the internet could do, the power of the internet, is much more superior to the main media. The internet penetration is much wider than the main media in a political situation like this. The main media would not be able to do what the internet could do, fresh and constant news or views straight out of the oven. The internet is now a game changer and no amount of internet brigades could distort the picture and the views of an enlightened population of netizens.

Should the WP win this by election, it has the internet to thank for. At least a multi corner fight has been avoided. No need to waste time on the jokers that are willing to throw away $16,000. The voters are smart enough to dismiss them as rubbish. Maybe by the end of the day, both could also withdraw.