Pouring cold water on Chuan Jin’s optimism

 In his latest interview, Chuan Jin expressed confidence that the PAP would be in good stead in the next GE and likely to rule for at least another term. I do not wish to elaborate further on this assumptions and reasoning. All I can say is that the PAP is in for a rude awakening.
 
I just want to mention what happened at Punggol East as a good example of what is installed for the PAP. Punggol East may be just a single ward constituency. The message from Punggol East is loud and clear. And if I were to analyse for the PAP, it is most worrisome.
 
Punggol East was a total rejection of everything the PAP stood for, super talent, successful professional and big income candidate that was equivalent to a good and desirable MP. Punggol East said not interested. Punggol East was about PAP and the opposition and more, it was about a new alternative. The message was clear, anyone but PAP. Punggol East was about a careful and thinking electorate who knew what they really wanted and what mattered. Punggol East was about voting seriously, when every vote must count. The conscious choice of casting all their votes to one opposition party was a near miracle. It was like an invisible hand orchestrating the voters to vote for the WP. Punggol East was about sophistication and a new thinking, a new seriousness to vote for the best opposition candidate into Parliament. Punggol East is no fluke. Don’t pray pray.
 
All it needs now is for the voters of a few GRCs to think and behave like Punggol East and PAP will be history. And the likelihood of this happening is so real. It doesn’t take much really. It was the collective consciousness of the people fusing together as one. This is damn powerful to have happened. No politician could work out a thing like.
 
It is also good that PAP should continue to think that the people still support its policies and its chosen candidates and would not dare to say no, to fear rocking the sampan or changing ship. More good years, Medishield Life is really good, PWP is the best, more minimum sums, more foreigners, higher property and car prices…. It is good that the PAP continues to be confident that it can continue the way it was, that things will be the same and that it would be voted to form the next govt again.
 
It is good that the PAP can forget about Punggol East and think it is just an isolated event. It is good that the PAP thinks it has done well and has won over the voters again with all the pro people policies and the talented MPs and ministers in its stable.
Only the next GE will tell if the people are still with the PAP or have chosen the Punggol East way. What Chuan Jin or the PAP believes or what anyone of us believes is not important, irrelevant.

The labelling game ricocheting

For decades, the branding game was one sided. Names like communist, extremist, terrorist and a danger to country were quite often attached to the ‘undesirables’ and some unfortunate ones ended up behind bars while some left on a self imposed exile. The milder forms were anti govt, quitters, xenophobia, racist, betrayers and yes traitor, were also used on those not in favour.

With the advent of the internet, this branding game is now played with greater vigour by the other side. The anonymous bloggers have had a field day calling the govt all kinds of fanciful names, and yes, including traitor, selling out the people and country. Corruption, cronyism, greedy, untrustworthy, and many worse labels that were very personal and very unpleasant.

Not that these labels are true, but true only to those who did the labelling, the way they are being used is going to rub people the wrong way. The scathing attacks of course are undesirable and should not be encouraged on all sides. It is best that people avoid labelling people or boxed anyone into any pigeon holes they wanted to put the other party in a bad light. It reflects badly on the person who did the labelling as well.

The only good thing arising from this nonsense is that both camps must now know that both can play the game and both have their own avenues to do so. This is like the possession of nuclear weapons, both are just as destructive and it is best to avoid using them. In the internet, the use of labelling is quite new as this was not available to the users till now. The novelty of a newly acquired tool would entice the users to be more generous and frequent in its use. Hopefully both sides would know that it is to their best interest that this tactic of branding be ruled out and be avoided,

Let there be lesser or no name calling so that both sides can appear more civilised and nicer to each other. The playing field is quite level or at least being levelled.

The Most Congested Expressway MCE

The MCE opened to traffic on a hazy Monday morning and caught motorists by surprise when jams started to form near the Garden by the Bay towards the Marina Bay Financial Centre. The 4 photos are in sequence starting from the Garden, straight and running parallel to the empty closed stretch of ECP, turned right and under the ECP to a traffic light junction just next to Tower 3 of MBFC.

The cause of the traffic snarl was likely due free moving highway traffic converged and came to an abrupt halt at the traffic light. At this junction, traffic turning left towards MBFC and Lau Pa Sat entered a two lane road that was subsequently widen by the removal of concrete road dividers into 3 lanes. That did not really help that much and the 2 to 3 km jam was cleared only in mid afternoon.

Many motorists were held up by at least an hour in the jam. By the way, the MCE is underground and underwater, all $4.3b of it. The jam was on a new surface road leading from the exits of the MCE to MBFC.

A Jewel to save Changi Airport

There is an editorial piece in the ST stressing how important the Jewel is going to be to save Changi Airport as the preferred aviation hub in the region. Changi is facing competition from KL and Bangkok and needs a game changer to stay in the race.
Now, what is the race about? Are travelers choosing to fly into Bangkok and KL or Singapore because of a shopping mall or a shopping mall that is dressed up as a jewel? 

I will be equally thrilled to know that those travelers will fly to Changi when their destinations are Thailand and Malaysia just because they want to visit the Jewel. So, after visiting the Jewel, they will then fly back to Bangkok and KL? I am still scratching my head over this kind of logic.
 
I think the only big difference that the Jewel can make is to replace Paris and London as the fashion and shopping centre of the world. Now how to do that when a shopping mall is a shopping mall and when a fashion centre is not just a shopping mall? I think the Jewel can be different by pricing all its goods out of this world like our minister’s salary. So all the rich travelers who just want to buy the most expensive luxury goods must come to the Jewel and no where else. It is another kind of branding, the most expensive city with the most expensive expressway and the most expensive shopping mall. And all the goods bought will have a Changi Jewel tag as a statement that it is the most expensive caused it was bought at the Jewel.
 
Other than this most expensive branding, what else would make the difference for travelers to fly to Changi just to be in Changi to be in the Jewel when their destination is Bangkok or KL?

Is there a conspiracy to keep retard Sinkies from banking and finance?

Singapore is a financial centre but increasingly Sinkies are found wanting in banking and finance. There are very few Sinkies that have the experience for top and middle management in banking and finance. And this great financial centre has to go to the 3rd World where banking and finance are rudimentary at most to find experienced bankers to fill up senior banking and finance jobs.
 
Is this crazy or idiotic, I dunno. Is there a conspiracy to keep Sinkies out of these jobs? I dunno. What I do know is that in a matter of time no Sinkie or very few will have the experience to be even considered for such jobs. A Sinkie financial centre will be run by foreigners from the 3rd World when banking is but little finance companies and pawn shops.

A year of masturbation

I was quite amused by this article in the Today paper by Devadas Krishnadas. It has a title, ‘A year of maturation for Singapore’. He went on to list out some of the major events that happened and how PAP reacted to them. Let me take a different perspective on the events that were the highlights of 2013.
 
The most fearful and unhappy event was the Population White Paper with a 6.9m target by 2030. The two huge protests that were unexpected let to a series of masturbations with the 6.9m being explained as only a planning number. This was subsequently supported with great plans to build three mature housing estates that could take in enough people to fit in nicely with the 6.9m number. Maybe these housing plans are also for planning purposes only.
 
The attendance numbers of those protestors in Hong Lim were masturbated from a range of 10,000 to 2,000, the former reported in social media and the latter in the main media. The crowd was so big that the reporters had serious problems counting or telling the difference between a 10,000 crowd and a 2,000 crowd.
 
A related problem to the 6.9m population is the influx of foreign workers and how the citizens were losing out to foreigners in employment. The trick to soften, blur, diffuse or confuse was to throw out employment numbers with citizens and PRs lumped together as locals. This kind of masturbation did not bring about the ecstasy but more anger and ridicule by the unhappy citizens. They refused to be misled by such wishy washy data and are demanding that the masturbation stops. Unfortunately no one is listening and data for locals continue to be published as the right data.
 
The next masturbation was the PSI numbers churning out and reported in the news as current numbers. These were met with another outcry when the people on the ground were engulfed by thick haze but the PSI numbers were reported as non hazardous. With the protest getting louder, it was further explained that a 24 hour PSI number is better than a current number. Of course no one believed in this baloney.
 
The new Media regulation to masturbate the new media needed no further explanation. It was crude masturbation under the glaring eyes of the public. What else is there to say?
 
And there was this huge National Conversation that was abbreviated to Natcon. Subsequently, after a few more sessions of masturbation it was renamed Our Singapore Conversation. And the intent was to get Sinkies involved in national policy making or like bringing the govt to ground level.
 
The Little India riot was unforgettable. How to masturbate a major outbreak of violence on the streets when policemen were injured and police vehicles were burnt? It ran short of calling it a once in 50 year happening. It was a once off incident caused by alcohol. And the rioters were very nice people. And some even said it was normal, they are like that. So no big problem really. It would not happen again.
 
The biggest and most natural of all the masturbations must be the two cases involving senior public officers in the car parks. And the icing was that the women were throwing themselves at the ‘pop stars’.
 
What a year of masturbation!

Descent to lawlessness

After so many years, the plague of loan sharks is still haunting the people. How many cases are happening daily? Is it so difficult to eradicate loan sharking in a little island? Maybe if the loan sharks are smarter and more shrewd than the best of our super talents?

And the scale of violence against the citizens is getting bigger. It used to be individuals beating up the citizens, mostly foreigners beating the daft Sinkies. The latest is a group of 7 to 8 viciously beating up a taxi driver for not wanting to pick them up, and his whole taxi was smashed. Whether they are locals or foreigners, this is an affront against the law, a kind of attitude that said to hell with the law, a dare devil lawlessness. Hope the police get them fast and deal with them harshly like the way they bashed up the taxi driver. And any complaint of police brutality against these assholes should not be entertained. These bastards needed to taste their own medicine.

At a bigger scale of lawlessness was a crowd of more than a hundred people in Geylang confronting a few policemen. They were willing to attack the police as they felt comfortable with their numbers. And of course the bigger one was the Little India riot when a few hundreds thought they were big enough to beat up anyone and burn police cars.

The bigger the number of people get together, especially foreigners from the 3rd World when rioting and disorder is normal to them, the higher the possibility of such violence happening. And with the latest incidents, more and more will be emboldened to be more violent when they see the law as weak on its knees. With so many silly cries of cuddling and kissing the rioters, and so many being given chances to get away with a warning, what kind of message is being sent to these village thugs?

And the smart rogues would turn around to accuse the police of brutality and the police would panic and start investigating their own kind for roughing out the very nice, innocent and gentle rioters the wrong way. Gone were the days when the red van was a sight to fear and entering one meant being given a physical lesson on muscle toning and rib massage. When the law is not feared by the rioters, when silly people kept saying how nice the rioters were, you can bet the rioters would be nicer and greatly encouraged to be even nicer in their next riot or their next taxi driver victim.

This descent to lawlessness is in a way encouraged by the softies living in our midst. They cannot see anything wrong with rioting and the violence on the streets. And they want to be gentle on the rioters. No one has any harsh words on the rioters, on the breakdown of law and order.

Welcome to this new 3rd World and 3rd World mentality, that rioting and violence are normal. I really hope they are not going to prosecute any men in blue for their rough handling of their darling rioters.

Be practical with education choices

Many parents are still spending millions on their children’s education. They often empty their nest eggs just to get their children a place in the best university, locally or foreign. This was a good thing in the past when such a degree will guarantee a good career and a good return on their investments.

The reality today is very different. A good education is not only a financially depleting enterprise, it can be very depressing and even suicidal to some when the good jobs did not come along with the degree but an outstanding debt for the parents and a child feeling so indebted and guilty to their parents. The simple equation of pay for a good education and ending with a good and rewarding job is not working anymore. There are many depressing and heartbreaking stories of jobless graduates or graduates ended up as waiters, temp staff, taxi drivers and even security guards. What is the point of an education, a very expensive one, when the end is a broken dream and joblessness?

Under such circumstances, it is important for parents to seriously understand the new ball game and be prepared for it, to know what they want and whether it is value for money. The time and money invested in the child must be proportional to the returns and the expectations. Study the job market and find out what jobs go to who and from where and work the sums and plan accordingly.

Those who want their children to be top civil servants or millionaire politicians, there is only one route, get a scholarship from the govt. A PM scholarship is useless, I mean a Papa Mama scholarship would be unworthy for such a quest.

For those who want their children to be in the banking and finance industry, there is only one place to go, India. Practically all the hires in the industry are graduates from Indian universities. The top guys are from India, the recruiting agents are from India, the people doing the interviews are of Indian origins. This is real, and if one aspires to be a banker, go get an Indian university education. And better still, marry an Indian and get the right connections. This is a piece of practical advice, a gem.

Not very long ago, all the Indians who want to be a top civil servant or minister would want to marry a Singapore Chinese. This formula is not going to work in the future. The trend is reversing.

And India is also good for those who want to be in IT. It is a must place to go. Forget about those top ranking local universities. They are good only on paper.

And for those who are looking for a career in the service industries, like waiters, counter boys and girls, telemarketing, the place to go is the Philippines. They are producing the best and the highest number of employees in these fields. Even answering services, the best place to go is now the Philippines. Use to be India. And the university fees and cost of living are also cheaper. The total cost for such a degree is probably 20 percent of those in our local universities and 10 per cent for one in Australia, US or UK.

Now, why would parents want to spend so much in the education of their children to become a counter service staff or a waiter or waitress when a degree in the Philippines will do? And why go to Australia, UK or US when a degree from India is so much cheaper and in demand?

Parents must think out of the box, be practical and realistic. The world is changing. Get a degree from a country that is marketable. And now India is tops and the Philippines is second.

Good luck to all of you and your children. Hope they will get their degrees and their waiter or counter service jobs. Of course a cheaper and better choice is not to waste the money, just be a hawker, no need degrees.

Snowden a role model for civil servants

Mandela is a role model for ex colonial leaders that were abused, beaten and locked up by the colonialists but was willing to let bygones be bygones, kissed the colonialists and moved on with life. Snowden is the shining role model for citizens working for their govt and made to do the unsavoury, the unethical and committing crimes against their citizens and brave enough to stand up to expose the trespasses.

Modern societies are hijacked by crooks in the govt and big corporations, all with the intent to exploit the innocent and ignorant masses for their own personal good. And while claiming moral righteousness and authority, they are doing exactly the opposite. The biggest culprits are the Americans that the gullibles across the world believed were angels, the guardians of human rights and human goodness. They are the most depraved and wicked of all human beans, perpetuating terrors, inciting and starting wars and killing the innocents in a scale never known before.

Snowden has reappeared in the news again. And he is proud to say that he has done what he set out to do, mission accomplished. Snowden told the Washington Post that ‘he was satisfied because journalists have been able to tell the story of the US govt’s collection of bulk Internet and phone records, an activity that has grown dramatically in the decade since the Sept 11,m 2001 terror attacks’. He added that he did not want to change society but want to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself. And referring to his employer, the NSA, Snowden said he was not trying to bring down the NSA but to improve it.

What Snowden said was as good as telling govt officers to be morally upright and stand for justice to the people. When a govt is playing dirty, unethical, or demanding govt officers to stoop to disgraceful and morally wrong practices, the govt officers must stand up to stop the wrong, to expose the govt. By doing so, it is helping the govt, the agency he works and the fellow officers to be better, to not do things that are morally wrong, to prevent agency and officers from being made to commit crimes against the people.

This is a very strong message that Snowden is sending out to all govt officers. Do not be made an accomplice of crooked govt officials and be a part of the crime. A govt, a govt agency, can only be upright and do the right thing if the officers are upright and not be cowed or beholden to do the wrong things. Only then can the country and the people progress and live a life as free people and with dignity.

Snowden is labeled a traitor by his govt. The truth is that his govt leaders are the real traitors to his country and people.

Don’t waste your money on tertiary education

It is not worth it. Read the below comment by a mother posted in TRE.

‘mala:

December 20, 2013 at 7:04 pm 

I m 62years mum, my son nus graduate is jobless for nearly 3years.he is depress now and on medication.can the pap gov understand my pain and how my heart is aching.’

Sadly, many parents and their graduate children are in the same dire straits. Many have dug out their life savings to put their children through universities. Some sold their properties, downgrade from private to HDB, some from bigger HDB to smaller HDB flats, to squeeze the money needed for overseas university tuition fees, for the sake of their children. And what happened? They could not get a decent job in their home country, the same country they called home, served NS and pledged to defend with their lives, while there are more than a million good jobs taken up by foreigners.

I encourage all parents not to waste their money sending their children to universities, here in world best universities, or overseas in unranked universities. Many would end up jobless and suffer depression. And if they ended up working in part time jobs or driving taxis, they would never be able to earn enough to recover what the parents had paid for their education.  If parents do not want to heed my advice, never mind, just listen to the good ministers, no need university education, be hawkers or be other skill workers. These are good advices from people in the know, people who made policies that affect everyone of us. Don’t listen to me, listen to them.

I feel very sorry to so many parents and their graduate children who ended up jobless and had no better choice than to drive taxis while foreigners are swarming this Sin City to replace them. Sad indeed.
This is the real hard truth that more and more Sinkies would have to live with. Great place to live, and a great life, for the very rich and for foreigners. Sinkies must be grateful for their good fortune to live in this great city.

Kee chiu to support fare hike

The poll is coming to an end in a few minutes and 238 voters have casted their votes. 230 have kee chiu but not to support the fare hike. Instead they opposed the fare hike. So, what kind of poll will say many supported the fare hike when a simple poll shows that 96% is against the hike?

I think this poll here must be misleading, drumming, not telling the truth. Ok please ignore this poll. It is saying the wrong thing. Let's move on and welcome the fare hike whole heartedly, as sure as the sun will rise.

Thailand, Anarchy approved

The violence in Thailand is not a spontaneous uprising of a people under oppression. From the look of things, it is a carefully planned violence orchestrated by some very powerful forces that no one would want to talk about. The confidence and arrogance and law defying protestors speak volumes as to where they are coming from. This violence is going to increase in tempo and will lead to more bloodshed. And no forces, not the govt, is able or wanting to contain it. For they know what the dark forces are. And the rioters went about as if knowing that they have the licence to kill. So the govt cannot act, the army would not act. It is a kind of paralysis, and a stage set for anarchy.

Anarchy is going to be the order of the day. And the Yingluck govt may just stay its hand and let the mob do its utmost destruction to Thailand. Any attempt by the Yingluck govt will see greater forces being unleashed to bring it down. The dark side is bent on bringing down Yingluck’s govt by any means and waiting for the govt to act against the rioters. Maybe this is just the natural order of things to come when a dynasty is about to eclipse itself and a new mandate is being slated to take its place.

When the dark side has expended its forces and reveals itself as the forces of evil, a more powerful and spontaneous force will sweep across Thailand to welcome and establish a new order. In the aftermath of destruction will rise a new Thailand.

Would this be the fate of Thailand or will the old hierarchy be reinstated with the defeat of the Yingluck govt? Who will ultimately triumph, the old autocrats in Bangkok or the poor peasants across the country?

Time for affirmative actions

There are many things that the govt can do but not doing. And they choose to hide behind market forces, laizze faire, and allow Sinkies to be disadvantaged, cheated, discriminated in their home land and crying for help but no answers from the govt except some crappy excuses. For those without a job, go for retraining to take on a lower paying job that could be many times below their qualifications. For those without a home, go buy from secondary market or private properties like can’t afford chicken eat sharksfin. For those without a place in the local universities, go overseas. For those who cannot afford medical treatment, don’t worry, no one will be deprived from medical help because they cannot pay. The govt will work up better schemes so that they can afford to pay, like Medishield Life. In Medishield Life everyone will be made to pay even if they have no money.  Very affordable. For those who need financial assistance, don’t worry, just don’t demand for restaurant food.

There are many affirmative actions that the govt can take so solve its 3^rd World problems and only 3^rd World solutions. One, it is so easy to ensure every Sinkie a job whether in the govt services or in private sector. Just make a foreigner to ship out. Unfortunately the truth is that foreigners are shipping in to replace Sinkies.

Two, Sinkies that are still homeless, just offer them one within their means from the HDB. Stop using all the silly reasons and excuses. All Sinkies need a roof over their heads and not everyone can afford a private property. As for the later, no one should be forced to bankrupt their savings to buy private. Only black hearted idiots in the govt will insist on this. The Sinkies are paying and they are not asking for free housing or discount. But the govt insists on denying some Sinkies from housing.

Three, every Sinkie should be offered a place in the university if they are qualified. This is not easily done when the demands are so great. Don’t ask me for an answer. I am not super talent and am not paid super talented salary to provide solutions. If we can give so many places to foreigners, why not a few more to our own citizens? To hell with all the stupid rankings that insist on having foreign students and professors to get better rankings. We don’t need such silly stuff like the World Cup and more gold medals by foreigners.

Four, every Sinkie needing medical treatment shall not be denied treatment. This is an easier problem to solve even without the Medishield Life, which in the minds of many has a wrong motive. The govt cannot blame people for being suspicious of the intent and purpose of Medishield Life. It is too obvious to the people.

Five, every Sinkie needing financial assistance can be helped. What is the point of having trillions or hundreds of billions in our reserves? Stop wasting money on one silly mega project would have plenty of money for many hardluck Sinkies.

What say you?

One more charge for the rioters

I still remember clearly that the rioters accused the police officers for assaulting them while in custody. And the deputy police chief promised an inquiry.
 
Now you read first hand narrations of the officers under attack by the rioters. 39 of them were hurt. How many rioters were hurt? How many claimed they were beaten by the police?
 
I hope the police would conduct an investigation on the attack on police police officers and put another charge on those rioters found guilty. Or is it a case that the rioters can assault the police officers because they were rioting and they cannot be charged for assault but officers hitting them for rioting can be charged for assaulting them?
 
What kind of justice is this? Rioters have rights not to be beaten but they can beat up police officers apprehending them? The laws protect the rioters and not the police officers?
 
Is there any rioter being accused and charged for assaulting the police officers?

Abe unmasked, or should it be Japan unmasked?

The visit by Abe to the Yasukuni Shrine puts all doubts to rest as to the real intention of Abe and his administration. All the disguises have now been taken down and Japan is making its claim to remilitarize and resume its imperial ambition as a military power. The last cheap lie by Abe that his visit to the Shrine was to pledge for world peace is not going to deceive even the most pathetic believer that Japan is coming out to be a peaceful member of the international community. For the last couple of years of his administration, Abe has been doing one thing consistently, that is the rearming of Japan, increasing military expenditure and committing Japanese forces to foreign soils and the oceans, and making war cries of Japanese Imperial ambition.
 
China and the Koreas have been reading him rightly all this while and refused to speak to him. With the encouragement and backing of the Empire, Abe is unstoppable in his pursuit of a militant Japan to reclaim its place by the use of force. It is flexing its military muscles in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, vowing to support countries to challenge China.
 
Japan under his administration is edging closer to war with China and the Koreas everyday. China and the Koreas, and those Asean states should remind themselves of what an aggressive and expansionist Japan could do to them. History must not be allowed to repeat itself with the Japanese running across East and Southeast Asia. Japan is no longer hiding this ambition. It will commence its imperialist plan to expand its military might to resume its former status as the number one military power in the region, unless it is being stopped. This is going to be very difficult when it is not going alone but with the full support of the American Empire.
 
It would take the might of the Chinese, Russian and the two Koreans to be able to resist the military dominance of Japan and the American Empire over East and Southeast Asia. The naked ambition of the Japanese and the Americans are no longer a pretense. It is very real. The American pivot is not for peace but for domination.

I fainted a third time

Yesterday I sent a reminder to all my clients telling them to reply and confirm that they would want to continue to receive my messages so that I would not violate the new DNC regulations and be fined $10k. This morning I read the media and found that it was not necessary to do so. Businesses can continue to send messages to clients that have an existing relationship even though they have signed the Do Not Call Registry. Shit, why did they not said it earlier?
 
The official excuse is that they did not receive enough feedback from the public so they are now amending their earlier policy directives. Ok, Sinkies, please take note of this. The govt needs your feedback or else they cannot think properly and cannot come out with a practical and workable solution. It is your fault. They cannot think very much and very far when making sweeping policies unless the people feedback to them, not with all the super talents being paid super talented salaries. Uniquely Singapore?
 
Boon Wan is also amending his housing policy because he received feedback that the policy is outdated. I also want to tell him his income ceiling for HDB flats is outdated when the prices of public and private housing have gone bonkers and unaffordable to those outcasts banned from buying public flats. They are the new sandwich class, earn more than the average but cannot afford private properties unless they want to be trapped with a huge mortgage and be cursed for the next 30 years. And they are the new homeless in this country they pledged to defend with their lives. Thanks to the kind govt policies that many of them would be migrating since the govt treated them as unwanted citizens, worse than new citizens.
 
Let’s see if this feedback will get to Boon Wan’s ear or his ear is only for selective feedback, hearing only things he wants to hear.

Could Chuan Jin rise above the heap of mediocrity?

There are a few urgent issues affecting Sinkies and Sin City that would make or break the dominance of the PAP. Housing is obviously a major one and Boon Wan has to some extent avoided the fall over the cliff. But he could not do more than what he has done now without turning everything topsy turvy as the problem is now too big and too complex to rewind the damages done. And there is still a big batch of young people caught by the dastard policies and still cannot buy HDB flats cause their incomes have exceeded the stupid income ceiling. They will be forever not allowed to buy HDB flats, like the outcasts or lepers of Roman Empire. They can only curse and swear to vote the govt out for causing the harm and damage to their lives, the ONLY group of Sinkies that cannot buy HDB flats.
 
I would not bother to deal with the others but just one, ie jobs for Sinkies which is also related to the high presence of foreigners here. To unravel and solve these two issues would put a minister in a position of great admiration by the Sinkies. Chuan Jin is strategically placed to tackle these issues and could make or break his career as a result. He either succeeds or become just one of them, seen as anti Singaporeans. He has all the potential to rise above the heap of mediocrity, to make a real difference to the lives of Sinkies and the future of this island.
 
What Chuan Jin needs is the confident to go where the heart is and what is right and good for the Sinkies. To do this, he must be prepared to take on the big wigs of his party and the foreigners making outrageous demands on the system. Get the jobs for Sinkies, cut down the unduly huge foreign presence especially in PME positions and even top jobs. It is a bit nationalistic but there is no reason why talented Sinkies cannot replace the foreign imports. We built this City on the back of local talents. The foreigner are here standing on our shoulders, on what we have built. They did not contribute much or anything towards our achievements but being rewarded unashamingly.
 
Would Chuan Jin have the courage to answer this calling and be prepared to challenge the conventional wisdom of the party, and risk being kicked out from the Party or being called traitor to the party? He has the all wither to go for it.
 
The only misgiving is what he said about Sinkies preferring contract jobs instead of permanent jobs. I hope he is fed with misinformation and know that this is false. If he really believes that Sinkies wanted short term contract jobs instead of a long term career, then I take back everything I said above. For if he believes that Sinkies are so daft, then I see no hope in what he will do as the premises on which his policies will depend on is misleading. He would thus be pursuing a policy direction that is not attuned to the aspirations of Sinkies, or he could not understand the aspiration of the Sinkies. That means he would be working and walking in a different direction and ending in nowhere, no difference from where he started. Then everything will be in vain.
 
Whither will Chuan Jin be heading? Would he seize the moment and be the one that makes the difference at a critical time when a maverick is needed? Or would he squander his chances and just crumble and merge into the same heap of mediocrity?

The compulsory Medishield Life is the best thing to happen...

Before you read further, let me clarify that this view is only applicable to those who have all the money to pay for the premium and living an extremely good life and want to live forever. I came to this view after watching a short 2 mins of the SG+ on the Medishield Life and the views expressed by a super talent who was obviously very rich and paying was not an issue. This super talent was so excited and exuberant, and was all praises for the Medishield Life Scheme and I can understand why.

The Medishield Life has to be compulsory so that the cost of premium can be shared by everyone to be affordable. If you allow those losers, those that cannot afford to pay for the premium, those whose life is better dead than alive to opt out then the premium would have to be much higher. So it is crucial that no one be allowed to stay out of this wonderful scheme.

Did I get the feeling that the rich and those who have a wonderful life to live on is roping in all the poor who rather die to help to finance their good life? The TV crew did an on the spot interview with some of the heartlanders and one interviewee pointedly insisted that he wanted to opt out of the scheme. He was a pensioner, no income, how to pay for the premium? Without an income even $10 is too much for him. Unfortunately he cannot get away. It is compulsory and he would have to find a way to pay.

As for the rich, they would all love to pay. And it would be so nice if they can get the poor to help out to defray the cost. The reluctant poor, the unwilling poor, the poor that wanted to die than to live, must not get away from paying. It does not matter whether they want it or not, it does not matter whether they need it or not, just make them pay.

No one bothers about lowering medical cost which is the main cause of fear of not being able to pay. And if there is such a great Medishield Life Scheme, the medical cost can continue to go up and away since there is this scheme to pay for it. Did anyone mention that they want to prevent a buffet syndrome? Didn’t they know that with this scheme, they are actually encouraging the buffet syndrome directly as everyone would feel more comfortable to seek medical services? Those that would have little reason to want to live would also choose to seek medical treatment since they have been compulsorily made to pay for it.

Shouldn’t those that have a good life to live and to live forever and so happy to have such a medical insurance scheme be paying for themselves and not imposing or compulsorily forced those that cannot afford to pay to be robbed into paying? I am so happy too, I think I can afford to pay with the help of those that cannot afford to pay but forced by compulsion to pay and reduce what I have to pay. I would say a big thank you to them too. Needless to say, I too would be very happy with this Medishield Life. The only problem is that I do not know when misfortune will strike and I would find that I would not have the money to pay for the premium. Then I don’t think I would be happy like the happy rich anymore.

Mind you, don’t ever think that you would always have the money to pay even if you can afford it today. If you don’t care a damn about those who cannot afford to pay and still wanting them to cough out blood to defray your cost, you are likely to end up like them one day. What goes around will come around. Getting the poor to subsidise the rich is simply wicked.

Is Valencia Worth It?

‘$418 million! That’s the amount of debt Spanish football club Valencia but it’s no deterrence to Singaporean businessman Peter Lim. The Singaporean businessman has a net worth of $2.3 billion and has pledged to wipe out the debts and make money available to buy new players for the club.

Now this is not the first time Mr. Lim had tried to buy a football club. In 2010, Mr. Lim made a failed bid for Liverpool so this bid does not come as a total surprise, but…why Valencia?

I don’t get this purchase. Valencia is so heavily in debt that Mr. Lim would need a sixth of his asset just to clear the debt. Add to that the money needed to buy new players, the money needed to finish their stadium; the total money involved would be well above $500 million….’

The above is copied from an article appearing in Musings from the Lion City.

Someone once asked a senior gentleman why he would spend $200k to put his uncle in Mt Elizabeth for an operation that had a 90% chance to fail when the condition of the illness had reached its terminal stage. The money could be better spent giving it to the family of the sick uncle. It was just being practical and realistic. The gentleman simply said it was his money and he was happy spending it.

I am not saying that Peter Lim is just happy spending his money on a flimsy project. He is a very successful and shrewd businessman and must have done his due diligence before putting the money where his mouth is. He is not spending other people’s money. Even if he loses his money, it is his money to lose.

I can’t say of people who spent OPM indiscriminately, often with minimal due diligence. I can’t say much of people who spent OPM on fetish projects that are at best good for personal egos. I can’t say of people who spent OPM for knave ideas they dreamt of during a wet dream.

There is a huge difference between spending your own money and OPM. The latter owes a huge obligation and responsibility to spend the money wisely, carefully, with great due diligence and not wantonly like an asshole thinking he is spending his grandfather’s money. The plan for a huge year long celebration to commemorate the good relations between two countries is one such example. It is so easy to spend OPM without thinking of where the money is coming from and what good the money can do for the people.

I will say Peter Lim has all the right and excuses to spend his money anyway he wants it. It is his money. Is Valencia worth it? It is for Peter to answer or not to answer. But when one is in authority and spending the people’s money, it is the people’s problem and it is the right of the people to ask if it is worth it.

And there is a 5 billion dollar question that the people should be asking. Is the F35s worth it?

Get every Sinkie a job

The stories of many Sinkies that are jobless for months or years are very depressing and make one boils down under. On the other hand, more than a million foreigners are here gainfully employed, some through foul means make things more difficult to swallow for the Sinkies. And many foreigners are coming in forming a long queue, I hold your hand, you hold another, with jobs fixed up for them by their countrymen. This is not only not cute but disgusting, intolerable and must be put to a stop.

There is this latest letter by a Susan posted in Gilbert’s Transitioning.org blog. I reproduce a part of it here.
 
‘I graduated from NUS in July this year, and have since been unemployed.
Over the past 6 months, I have been sending out – I would say 50 or more – resumes daily via Jobsdb, Jobstreet, Jobscentral, NUS’s career site for their Alumni etc. You name it, I think I did it.
 
I did receive invitations to attend interviews for around 3-4 times each month.
Unfortunately no offers were presented after each interview.
 
To know that my friends from the same course have since found a job or attended paid internships after graduation does place stress on myself.
 
I have tried several times to contact someone and ask for assistance to review my resume and cover letter, but not much improvement on the process of my job hunt has been seen.
 
Months of staying at home without a proper job is tough, even tough my family is still doing fine with my father still working. I would love to be able to lessen his burden by finding a job. After all, they worked hard to get me through to a university and placed high hopes on me being able to get employed with a decent salary….’
 
Why are Sinkies ended up in such a deplorable state in their own country when they did everything that was needed, to get the necessary qualifications, to actively job hunt for an entry level job, but getting nowhere? Young people trying to do their bit to help their families could not even do so because of a system that favours foreigners.
 
This is not a challenge for the govt, but a responsibility to the people. If the govt does not see this as its duty but to look after foreigners, then the govt does not deserve to govern, does not deserve to be elected. Every Sinkie that is willing to work, actively seeking to work, except those that are a problem themselves, must be employed within a short period of job search, and employed in a job commensurate with their qualifications and experience. It is sick and arrogant to demand a qualified Sinkie to downgrade and be underemployed. Not acceptable. It is an abuse of the Sinkies.
 
We have a full employment situation and jobs must not be so difficult to come by for a willing Sinkie. I am not going to tell the govt how it can be done or should be done. It is their responsibility to see it done, and if necessary, cut down on foreigners, get the foreigners replaced by a Sinkie and NOT the other way. It is a fact that foreigners are here replacing Sinkies in good jobs. It is unacceptable to close one eye and pretend it is not happening.
 
There are many Susans and PMEs that are still unemployed or underemployed and are willing to take on any job that are reasonable and they are not demanding for the sky. Why are they still unemployed? It is not only a matter of no income, it is depressing, humiliating, psychologically painful to go on searching and getting rejection after rejection when the govt is claiming that there are so many jobs around and so many foreigners are happily coming in daily to make up the 6.9m. Can you blame them for feeling betrayed?
 
The govt owes the people a job, NOT the foreigners. If the govt refuses to act on this, let it be. The people shall decide who they want to be the govt to look after their interests. There is a social contract between the govt and the people. Who brays about betrayal when MPs tried to do something good for the people?

A thought for Christmas

Hsien Loong was reported to have said that the riot in Little India was ‘a good reminder to Singaporeans that even in a stable society, such an incident can happen’. And he added that what was important was ‘to have a Home Team that can deal with the situation in a calibrated, thoughtful and decisive way’.

I would like to look at it from another perspective with Christmas in mind. Many Singaporeans and Home Team officers may not be Christians but they too want to be home for Christmas, to enjoy the holiday with their families. And to expect and take it for granted that a riot would be a good reminder, and we are sure to have them, and what is important is to have the Home Team ready to deal with the rioting should not be the approach to this problem.

The key issue is not to create conditions to allow such riots to take place. And they are a host of obvious causes to this riot. These causes must be removed. And to fall back on a Home Team must be the last resort. Having our men there fighting and quelling a riot is risking their lives, and should the unfortunate happen to any one of them, no amount of kind words can ameliorate the pain and suffering of losing a loved one in the call of duty to the country.

Get rid of the causes and minimise the risk of putting our men in the front line. The best solution is prevention, not the cure, not to think it is ok to have riots as long as we have a Home Team to tackle them.

We want everyone, including the Home Team officers, to be home for Christmas. Every officer is a father/mother, son/daughter, husband/wife or sibling of someone and should not be put to unnecessary risk and harm if this can be prevented.

Our Immigration Act to protect Singaporeans

‘WHEN I was pursuing my undergraduate studies in the United States, a Taiwanese classmate of mine was deported at the border when she entered Vancouver ("Law allows minister to decide who is deported"; Sunday)

It turned out she had been in the US under a wrong classification of student visa. She was not given any due process, much less time to return to her residence to pack, but was immediately ushered into a plane and repatriated….

Singapore's Immigration Act serves to protect its citizens….

Security is important in Singapore. While we can empathise with those who were repatriated, we must stand by our Immigration Act as our safety comes first.’

The above is a letter in the ST online by a Juliana Ang. The USA is a big country that professes an open door to immigrants. But it also has a strict immigration law to decide who it wants and who it does not want.

We too have our own Immigration Act that is under attack for deporting some foreign workers that were involved directly or indirectly in the recent Little India riot. Some corners are demanding that the 53 that were deported must be given the right to defend themselves under our law.

Actually, what is the farce about deporting 53 foreigners that were found undesirable to our social security and safety? Actually, what is the purpose of an Immigration law when millions were let in indiscriminately under the least scrutiny? Our Immigration Act is a farce for sure, but not for deporting 53 undesirables, but for letting in millions that included many undesirables, fakes and trouble makers, people who discriminate, exploit, assault and cheat our law abiding citizens of jobs and a decent life.
53 may have been deported, but how many thousands or millions will be let in tomorrow? What is the real farce?

The real farce is that our Immigration law, if there is, is there to protect foreigners more than the citizens. Foreigners are here to compete with citizens unfairly, often by fraud and deceit over many areas of enterprise. If the Immigration Act is to protect citizens, it should give good jobs to citizens first, or citizens should have the first right of refusal. Only jobs that citizens do not want or cannot do should go to foreigners. If not it is a betrayal of the interests and rights of the citizens. Our Immigration Act is as good as no Immigration Act. Not forgetting allowing the world’s rich to buy up the few properties in the island and pushing the prices beyond the average citizens.

Our Immigration Act should not just protect the social security and physical safety of the citizens but also the jobs, rights and well being of citizens over foreigners.

DEAR TRS, I JUST TURNED 55 AND CPF DON'T WANT TO RETURN ME MY MONEY!

Dear The Real Singapore,

My well wishes to the next General Elections. Pray and hope the best last longer.

Sir, my name is UTHAYA KUMAR S/O P. THANGIAH, NRIC No: S1338799J. I am a Singaporean and on the 2nd December 2013, I have reached my 55 and I had great plans to utilize my CPF money, where my first priority is to get a nice place to live in and put my daughter to school in Indonesia. Purchase essential items for the home including a motor bike for transportation. 




All he got from his CPF savings was $5,000.

The above is the intro para of a letter written by Kumar and posted in The Real Singapore. This plea is going to be repeated by many Singaporeans when the hit 55 and found their savings untouchable. The Govt has decided to keep it for them for safe keeping to last them a life time.

Merry Christmas. No present for this Christmas for Kumar.

Appealing to the wisdom of the masses

What is the best education model for our children? This seems to be the hottest topic since the parents showed their displeasure on the PSLE. Some of the concerns are genuine and logical, some emotional and hazy. With the amount of research done in the field of education, with the great number of our teaching professionals being educated in the best universities, with a string of degrees to prove, we must have plentiful of them to tell the MOE what is the best system to adopt. If that is not enough, scouring the information available around the world should not be that difficult.
 
Why is there a sudden realization that things are not doing well and things must be changed? The obvious answer is that among all the experts in education, there is no agreement as to what is the best model for educating the young. There are so many schools with different values and assumptions of what is considered good for each country, the truth is that no one is wiser.
 
Now this perennial problem that is driving the parents and children crazy is given a new platform for airing, a kind of natcon. And the MOE is seriously looking into this issue and is also sounding out the parents for their wish lists. How many super talented Education Ministers have gone through the mills in their terms of office and how many changes have been made throughout the years? And strangely, the answer seems to be so elusive. Maybe every minister stepping into the MOE shoe deserves to tour the world to scout for the best education system.
 
There is the utilitarian school that advocates competitive education and making high demands from the children, to draw out the best from them, leading to hot housing. There are the advocates for a less stressful school system to allow the children to enjoy and be happy while in schools. There are many other variations in between. The bottom line is that parents want their children to be happy, less stressful and came out excellent in their education. Of course this combination is the best but unrealistic. The problem facing everyone, the MOE, teachers and parents, is how to find the right mix, less stressful, more fun, to give the children a good time in school and without compromising on the quality of education. A daunting and impossible task to think that this is achievable.
 
Maybe a buffet spread with all the variations and allowing the parents to make their choice and knowing very well the consequences of the different models. What I think the likely choice would still be the current system of high pressure hothousing model. What the parents would like is no choice, just an easy going, less stressful model for all children to enjoy schooling, with lesser competition. When they are faced with a buffet spread, many would have no choice but to want the best for their children, and sacrificing the more forgiving model when the children will grow up a happier child.
 
If there is a perfect model in the first place, the super talented ministers of the past would have found and delivered it to the happy parents and children. Maybe at primary level the schools should be more loving, more forgiving given the fact that nature would make most children to be children. Let the children have an easier time in primary level. The competition should come in at secondary level when the children are more mature and able, and a little better to know what they are in for.
 
I don’t think any education expert has the right answer. Ok I am not kpkb so I am not supposed to provide a solution. Neither am I paid to provide a solution.
This is Christmas. Relac.

3rd World in 1st World or 1st World in 3rd World?

Still vividly remember the slogan Garden in a City or City in a Garden. It is a nice cliché, sounds nice and meaning nice. What about a 3rd World in a 1st World City or a 1st World in a 3rd World City? Whichever way you look at it, it sure sounds just as nice. And it does not give one a sense of drama.

Is Sin City now a 3rd World City or is there a 3rd World in Sin City? The recent happenings that filled the pages of the media do not give the impression that it is a 1st World City. With a population of 5.4m of which more than a third came from the 3rd World, the composition will ensure that the visual impact is not going to be 1st World. Just hop onto a train and you will instantly be hit by the presence of 3rd World. The noise, the smell, the mannerism, and ungraceful and uncouth attitude speak all of 3rd World. There is no denying this truth.

What else are on the media? Street rioting with rioters throwing stones and bottles at the police, and cars burning? This is definitely 3rd World stuff. Unruly mobs in the tens or hundreds of thousands, all straying aimlessly, eating, drinking, urinating and shitting in the very same place. Confirmed, 3rd World. Open your windows for a whiff of the scented air, better than haze.

How about the bizarre, headless and limpless body floating in the canal in the heart of the city? This must be one notch better than floating pigs in the river, or floating body in the water tank flowing into the homes for consumption.

What about jilted lovers slashing their potential ‘bribes to be’ in broad day light? What about daylight robbery? Road rages where people got beaten up, especially taxi drivers? And there is a booming red light district that is growing and expanding across the island, even into the heartland. Good stuff for the GDP.

And there are drunken brawls for the sake of vibrancy and fun with innocents being bashed for no reasons. Women being rudely accosted in public by the drunkards? And tropical diseases are spreading in the most expensive part of the city cause by mosquito breedings.

Welcome to the 3rd World in a 1st World City or a 1st World in a 3rd World City. How about a new slogan for the tourist board, ‘Welcome to experience the 1st World and 3rd World in one stop’? Or better still, ‘See the 1st World cohabitating in harmony with the 3rd World’ and witness how 3rd World commits less crime than 1st World. Or see how the 3rd World is helping the 1st World by creating good jobs for the 1st World.

Sin City is getting more attractive, more exotic and full of surprises.

Let’s make nasi padang affordable

 HDB flats are affordable as they are priced according to the income of the buyer. It is quite easy to compute the income of young home buyers and price the flats according to how much they would have saved in the CPF and how much they would be able to pay for monthly mortgage over 30 years.
 
I think it would be equally easy to make the price of nasi padang affordable to the young people and also to those who are earning millions. For the former, a plate of nasi padang at $2.50 would be just right since they have not much left after paying for housing and if they dare to commit to a car, and to live perilously by having children too.
 
For those big earners, a $50 a plate nasi padang should be very affordable I am sure. Can throw is a glass of bandung for free and for good service a pack of tissue to wipe the mouth clean after the makan.
 
This is how the affordable formula is supposed to work. The price is pegged according to what the buyers can afford.
 
What do you think?

Thailand – Democrats do not believe Democracy

The Democrats in Thailand have had enough of Democracy and proclaimed that they do not believe in Democracy anymore. Can you believe it? They claimed that Democracy does not guarantee majority rule! They are the majority and always lose in a general election. So they want to do away with Democracy and replaced with the tyranny of the minority, with the leaders being appointed by self appointed righteous men and women who professed that they are not corrupt while others are.
 
Why the Democrats want to throw away Democracy? Since 1992, they have not won a general election. So they believe that they have the majority but the winners of the general election are supported by the minority. Strange that a minority can win a general election when the winners must be the majority.
 
They have big turnouts in street demonstrations recently. They did want to know that if the Red Shirts were to march in the streets, they would make the Yellow Shirts look so small. But the Democrats are claiming that the majority of the people are behind them. Then why not stand in the next general election if they have the majority supporting them? The truth, the majority, if there is, is only in Bangkok among the rich elite. The masses of Thai electorate across the country are the majority and this majority is not with the Democrats. The Democrats know this and know in a democratic election they will lose as the majority of the Thais are not with them. So they are now going to turn away from Democracy and to install a govt by a few self appointed elite.
 
Down with Democracy!

An oasis in the 3rd World

What makes Singapore so different and so special? Someone once said, we build an oasis in a 3rd World region. In this oasis of modernity, everything works. We have an infrastructure that worked, an environment for creature comfort and a safe and clean environment. We created all these for people who are looking for such an environment to live and work in. And these are the people from the rich industrialized west and also the rich warlords and royalties of the 3rd World.
 
You can say that much about impressing the westerners from the developed world. And they would be pleasantly surprised to find such a place in the 3rd World where everything works. The water is drinkable from the tap. You press a button it works. You press a switch the light comes on. We take these simple things for granted. But they are miracles in many 3rd World countries. The people from the developed world would die to be here than elsewhere to do their business.
 
And those from the 3rd World, even if they are royalties or filthy rich, they have not seen anything like this outside of their palaces and mansions except filth. It is something they would feel comfortable and like to live in. Yes, they would prefer here than their 3rd World environment unless they did not want to leave their homes when taking a step outside is a walk into poverty, disorder and filth.
 
And for the rest of the 3rd World creatures, they have never seen anything like this in their life times and would never be able to enjoy them in their home countries. The road sides or the pavements, the walkways, are many many times cleaner and more comfortable than their homes. Walking into a shopping centre is like walking into a palace, and much better, much more comfortable.
 
Why do we need to go around the 3rd World countries begging for them to be here? They are crawling here, forming long queues. Even those from the developed world would want to be here than elsewhere.
 
We are selling ourselves too cheaply, like unwanted cheap prostitutes. We even offer ourselves to cheap foreign workers in large numbers. Is it something to be proud of, something that we want and can called achievements? We created a 1st World environment, 1st world public transport system, 1st world infrastructure only to flood them with more than a million or two million 3rd World inhabitants. Is that really what we want? Swiss standard of living amidst the 3rd World?

Be prepared for a glut in dormitories

According to Chuan Jin and his MOM, there are some tightening in the intake of foreigners into the country and some SMEs already kpkb like backside burning. So this must be true and the inflow of foreign workers is slowing down. What is surprising is the announcement by Hsien Loong that the govt will be building more dormitories for foreign workers.

Remember just a few years back when the country was faced with a severe shortage of public housing when more than a million foreigners were brought in while HDB wound down its building programme? Many simply brushed this off as a case of left hand and right hand not knowing what the other was doing. A case of bad synchronising of govt policies, or is it? Could it be perfectly synchronised to achieve the desire results, high property prices? The shortage was criminal and let many Sinkies emptying all their savings just to get a roof over their heads. And now everyone is talking about downgrading except the super rich and the ministers and top civil servants. And the young people are the most badly hurt, just starting to work, save a little bit, all coughed out including blood, and not enough, and had to buy smaller and smaller units of public flats.

What has this got to do with a glut in dormitories? If Chuan Jin is going ahead with his tightening of foreign workers policy, the number coming in must go down. And if we are going to build more dormitories when lesser are coming in, would there be a possibility of building too many dormitories for too few workers resulting in a glut of dormitories?

Or it has all been perfectly synchronised, the net inflow is still going to be higher and the pool of foreign workers will keep on increasing, thus needing more dormitories. This makes sense if one is looking at the 6.9m target in 2030. So they is no mismatched, no such thing as left hand not knowing what right hand it doing. There would be no glut of dormitories as more foreign workers will still be flowing in. Tiok bo?

Support fare hike, the poll so far

163 bloggers have responded to this little survey to support or not to support the fare hike. 159 or 97% have kee chiu not to support the fare hike. Only 2 or 1% kee chiu to support the fare hike and another 2 just say chin chai.

KNN, why so many people kee chiu not to support fare hike? Why this sample is so different from those who told the minister they are supporting the fare hike? Ok, netizen's views are always wrong view. The views of netizens are never representative of the silent majority that are presumably always right.

We still have a few more days to see if there is a real swing, or a last minute swing like the Presidential Election when Cheng Bock was leading until the very last hour when suddenly the votes changed and ended with him losing. So there is always this likelihood that nearer the end of the counting things may take a dramatic change.

Those who don't support the fare hike better kee chiu to make their point and not let last minute changes swing the vote.

Cheers.

How to programme the unthinking to think the way you want them to think

Heheheh. I think many people would not like what this statement implies and would not think they have been programmed to think by other people. The pathetic truth is that many have been programmed unknowingly, unconsciously, and are not aware of it.

Let me just quote one simple example. Singaporeans like to complain, like to kpkb. So the top talents turn around and said, if you want to complain, please come out with a solution. It is so easy to complain, but no one wants to offer any solution. So the buck is passed back to the complainant. You see, just because I am paid several millions, it is not my job to solve your problem. It is you the complainant to solve your problem, if you want to complain. Passing the buck is a carefully honed skill you know. Now the monkey is off their back and back on the back of the complainants.

And this is what unthinking Sinkies have been programmed to accept and think it is right that the people who complained must come up with a solution, if not just shut up. It is not the responsibility of the people who are paid millions to do his job to come up with the solution. And the silliest of it all, you are a nobody, you come up with a suggestion, and you think it can get implemented by a ministry or a stats board? You think as a nobody, people will listen to your solution, you have the in dept knowledge to get a problem solved? If it is so easy for a layperson to offer a solution, it would have been solved long ago. In reality, many solutions are simply rejected for the right reason or wrong reason or because of other vested interests. Not that they are not good, not that the super talents did not think of it. It is just not in their interest.

Now where did I get this idea that unthinking or daft Sinkies are being programmed to think like this, cannot complain unless one must have a solution? I was listening to the Talk About programme hosted by Kenneth Liang, and this kind of thinking came out from a young man. That was exactly what he said without knowing that this kind of thinking was planted in him by people in authority. He must have heard it many times in many reports in the media and in parliament as well. So it becomes a part of him, you want to complain, where is your solution?

See, it is so easy to get such silly ideas in the minds of unthinking Sinkies and it becomes part of their psychic and mentality. And they unconsciously believe that this is the right thing to say. They did not know that no one would take them seriously, maybe some lip service like ‘good idea’, and next please… if they really and stupidly come up with a solution.

They did not bother to know that these people are collecting millions and are supposed to solve national problems, not create national problems and ask the grumblers to solve the problems themselves. Weird? No, just uniquely Singapore. We are brought up in a system of falsehood and false reasoning without knowing what is the better truth or better quality reasoning. They think it is alright and very clever for someone who is paid millions to ask the layperson not paid a single cent, not a professional or expert, to solve the problems raised.

Many Sinkies support fare hike

Someone quoted Lui Tuck Yew, the Transport Minister, that he was glad many Sinkies support the fare hike by the Fare Review Mechanism Committee's recommendations, particularly those concessions. Should one read the support for all the recommendations and concessions together, or support only for the fare concessions, or support for the fare hike and others? Read that sentence in one mouthful gives the impression that the Sinkies are in support of fare hike and fare concessions, all in.

Just to make things a bit clearer, I have set up a poll on the right column. This poll only refers to one item, fare hike, so as not to be too confusing. Those who support the fare hike can kee chiu. Others can vote anyhow. Vote ching chai also can.

Myth 235 - They myth of difficulties in getting a job in Sin

Many Sinkies are crying father and mother that getting a job is so difficult in Sin City. Some have experienced writing and sending out hundreds of letters without a reply. As for the PMETs, they knew what it was like and many have refused to apply anymore, given up hope. Same goes to those above 50 years old, also no hope, has beens, finito, unless they are very well connected.

This is the general impression given and repeated in cyberspace. There are so many horror stories posted in Gilbert Goh’s Transitioning.org blog for the unemployed. The cases sounded genuine, and in most cases are.

The funny thing is that foreigners have no problem find a job in this Sin City except Sinkies. Maybe they are called Sinkies not for nothing. Sinkies have no place in Sin City. There are more than a million foreigners happily employed here and in many high paying jobs. How could Sinkies claim that they could not find decent jobs here? This must be a lie or a myth.

Many foreigners don’t even need to set foot here before landing a job. They are offered jobs in their home countries and could start work the moment they landed in this island of opportunities for foreigners. And many many more are coming as Sinkies make way for them and reduced themselves to social scums, whole day kpkb for no reasons but only themselves to blame. They are just not good enough. And many Sinkies are saying so too, from the top to those quitters who came back to soak up whatever they could find here.

The only thing one can say about these Sinkies is that they deserve it. They no longer know how to fight back, how to scratch, and happily let the assholes tagged them as daft, lazy, expensive, timid and good for nothing, unemployable. And everyday they can only see plane loads of foreigners happily landing in Changi to take up jobs waiting for them here.

How did this happen and for so long, and everyone is so comfortable about this state of affair?

PS. Max posted this in TRE.
'I have a Master degree in Logistics from a top ten Australian university. Been jobless at 48, for 3 years having been laid off after losing job to foreigner. Applied for PR for my foreigner wife whom I met and married while working overseas but was rejected by ICA.
Having applied numerous jobs without any response, finally found one without competition and an all Singaporeans company. Am now driving a taxi, no complains about foreigners, because 100% Singaporeans in this company.'

The truth is that Sinkies have been urged to go for higher education and now found out that they are over qualified. So must downgrade to be taxi drivers. Their high qualification becomes a liability. Top jobs are reserved for FTs, low jobs for FWs. Sinkies with high qualifications unfit for both.

Contract jobs getting popular with irresponsible employers

More PMETs are being hired on contracts, according to figures from MOM showing that some 70,000 PMETs were hired on contracts last year, up from 67,000 the year before in 2011. The contract period for PMETs typically runs from 6 months to 1 year.

Ask the Sinkies how many can afford to survive on contract work when they are committed to a 30 year mortgage and a host of family and social commitments that must be paid in cash every month?
Ask the foreigners and none will be against it as they know they are not here for the long haul or their commitments are not like the albatross on the neck of the Sinkies.

These conflicting realities and demands in the lives of the Sinkies are simply brushed off as non issues. No one will bother about it. Sinkies are soft, timid, lazy and it is their fault. Why can’t they be like the foreigners and work on short contract terms?

Now, would the Sinkies know who to blame for the plight and the fix that they are in now? Do they understand that the system is designed against their well being? Would the Sinkies wise up and decide what is good for them and do the necessary to help themselves, to change the system that is loaded against them but in favour of the foreigners and the elite?

The housing mortgage is a 30 year monthly repayment that must be paid every month. The household expenses cannot wait. The children’s schooling and expenses cannot wait. The monthly bills cannot wait. Contract jobs is contrary to the well being of Sinkies when they are faced with continuous barrage of bills and payments and any period out of job and without income is unbearable and crippling to their life style.

The proliferation of contract jobs offered to Sinkies must be regulated and reduced. How can Sinkies live with impermanent and temporary income when the expenditure is continuous? Companies offering contract jobs to Sinkies when the job is permanent in nature is irresponsible and unfit to be good corporate citizens. They are exploiting Sinkies and compromising their livelihood for short term benefits.

There are jobs that are temporary in nature that requires short term contracts, fair enough. But there have been many cases exposed that the nature of the jobs are permanent in nature but being offered on contract terms that detrimental to Sinkies with their list of family commitments.
So?

I fainted twice

Many of you must be quite happy registering yourself in the Do Not Call register to stop cold calls or nuisance calls from marketing people from disturbing you. I have been informed of the Personal Data Protection Act.
 
S37(1) of the PDPA, a message is a specified message if the purpose of the message or if one of the purposes is to offer, to advertise, promote or offer to supply or provide any of the following
ii. goods or services or
ii) a business opportunity or an investment opportunity
 
What is the meaning of all this? It is like that, with the Do Not Call thing in effect on 2 Jan 2014, if a sales representative is to make a cold call or to invite a client to attend a seminar or something like that, and the client has registered with the DNC, the sales representative can be fined up to $10,000 for making the call to the client. Damn serious offence, better be very careful who you call.
 
And it is the responsibility of a sales representative to check the DNC list before calling. I think you have to pay everytime you check a number. I can’t believe what I read. I fainted, woke up and relooked at the message again, and fainted again.
 
Is this real, that it is the responsibility of a sales person to check if a person he is calling is in the DNC list? My God, I have no word to describe this insanity. No sales rep is going to call anyone anymore. And many of you will not be receiving any calls for fear of being fined $10,000. A thief that broke into a house may be fined how much? A hooligan or road rage case when someone is severely beaten, how much would be the fine? In this DNC thing, making a call can be fined up to $10,000. And oh, a text message like SMS or fax is the same as calling.
 
What is happening?

The Americans bullying another superpower wannabe

The way the Americans manhandled the female Indian diplomat in New York is simply humiliating. She was handcuffed in public, stripped down and even had a cavity search done on her. The Indians are furious about this demeaning conduct of the American police. There was no respect for decency and courtesy extended to a diplomat of another country. They are treating her like another of those from the Third World country. It was abused and an assault on human dignity.
 
India is rightly not bemused and angry. And India is behaving exactly how a big power should, go for a tit for tat. India is not going to be push around, not even by the Americans. India is going to subject the same treatment to American diplomats in India.
 
This is something that China must learn. As a big power it has to behave like a big power and mush give the other guy a bloody nose if being whacked. If not, China would be kicked around not only by the USA, but also by Japan and pesky countries like the Philippines.
 
In international relations dominated by the American and western powers, the language is power. And if one has the power, one must use it. There is nothing to be shy about it. Let the pesky countries scream. That is the only thing they could do and the screaming will die down after a while and they will learn not to misbehave. If not dealt with this way, they will keep on coming back to scratch at China.
 
After this incident, India will be accorded the respect it deserves as a big power from the Americans. The Americans would not dare to do it again to any Indian diplomat or abuse India in any way.
 
China must look at this case and learn the India way to deal with another country, big or small. As a big power, you have to behave like a big power to be respected. If not, just sit on them and let them feel the weight. That is what the Americans have been doing all the while and this time on India. And India is shoving the Americans off its back. It is not going to be a pushover. China must not be a pushover or it would be pushed to a corner in a very humiliating way that is unbecoming of a big power.