12/16/2013

The simplicity of it all

As life gets more complicated, as solutions to problems get more complex, some things are getting simpler. The Little India Riot is a case in point. It was all because of alcohol. Stop the selling of alcohol and the problem will go away. And the govt did just that over the weekend, and yes, no more rioting in Little India after the ban. It was a peaceful and quiet little place for the families and children to walk around and feeling very safe from the fierce bottle hurling and car burning mob. This is like a miracle.
 

The solution is simple and effective, like what Singapore is all about. It also sent a signal to all the drinkers around the island, if they want to continue to enjoy their booze, keep the peace. Any sign of trouble will mean no more booze. Yes, got it. Who says complex problem needs complex solution?
 

In the MyPaper today, Dr Koh Poh Soon diagnosed his election defeat to something he said or should not have said. The offending statement was ‘everybody has a car’. And to make it worse, he added that he and his wife had two cars, one each, caused they were professionals. Another reason was the parachute. He was seen as a paratrooper dropping in from the sky. These two reasons caused his electoral defeat to an unknown. And the margin was quite a trumping.
 

Dr Koh is still walking the ground in preparation for his next election. By then he would not be seen as someone dropping down on a parachute. So this problem would be a non issue. As for the two cars he and his wife owned, he can either not talk about it, or to make a bigger show, sell one away. This should make him more like everybody else, owning one car and could give him the votes for a victory.
 

Thank God that life is getting so simple. Time to reconsider cutting the salaries of ministers when solving problems is so easy.
 

What do you think?

28 comments:

oldhorse42 said...

Dr Koh was staying in a 5 room HDB flat and has two cars.

We all know that in HDB estate parking facilities are limited. Priority purchase of season ticket is given to first car in the family but not the second car.

So how his family managed to get season tickets for two cars to park in the same car park?

patriot said...

Oh yes, me agrees wholeheartedly with the Rulers that it must be the Alchohol and gambling that have caused much of our social sickness. It is time tohave both banned. Failing which, the Rulers mustbe held accountable for not acting responsibly by removing the causes and problems of our social illnesses.

Me am a victim of alcohol, gambling and smoking myself and i dare say without hesitation and doubt that me certainly agrees that alcohol is a very undesirable item that got to be removed.

How about banning it at Clarke Quay and ZoukOut? Before a larger riot happens and live and property get harm.

patriot

Anonymous said...

Riot In Little India
++++++
Is the riot the problem?
Or is the riot just a symptom of a deeper underlying problem?

When you get a fever.
Is the fever the problem?
Or is the fever a symptom that you have a serious disease like tetanus?

Is Dr Koh Poh Soon treating the symptoms of his electoral loss?
Or is he treating the underlying disease that caused his electoral loss?

What do you think?

Is it possible that the once in 50 year riot and the once in 50 year bus strike are signs of an underlying disease?
Are they (PAP government) treating the disease or the symptoms?

Anonymous said...

Why the PAP can win every election is simply because the strongest Sinkie opposition is not ready to be govt.

This is the mother of all simplicity why Sinkies have to bear with PAP govt, warts and all.

Anonymous said...

Then get the strongest Sinkie opposition ready to be govt lah.

It's that simple, yet so difficult. So difficult to be ready lah, of course.

Anonymous said...

So just simply accept PAP leadership and solutions lah, like banning alcohol to prevent riots. And it worked! That's what really matters.

Why want to make things complicated, like voting opposition to be govt, tio bo?

Anonymous said...

No wonder majority smart Sinkies don't want to join opposition or vote opposition. They want things to be simple and functioning (for them), something that PAP can provide.

Anonymous said...

With such simple and workable solutions, I think PAP has emerged even stronger after this rioting incident, in the eyes of smart majority Sinkie voters.

This will definitely help to improve on their votes come 2016.

This is indeed a blessing in disguise for PAP.

Anonymous said...

Who rioted? People, not alcohol. Send all the people home. No people no riot. So simple.

Anonymous said...

Who brought all the people here who rioted? Ah Loong. No Ah Loong, no people, no riot. Sack Ah Loong. So simple.

The said...

So, how about cancelling the COI?

Anonymous said...

I wonder why Lui Tuck Yew, with his sharp proboscis, detected only alcohol. Everyone can smell the sharp tangy aroma of curry in Little India, especially with the thousands of people milling around on the Black Sunday. Eating too much of this, especially the hot and fiery southern Indian version, can cause a distemper, and can lead to a riot. They should have banned curry as well!

Anonymous said...

hokkien "wisdom";

"take others backside and use it as a facial mask"

.... aka

financial, food subsidy etc to the needy ... okay good to help these needy group

various type of subsidies, name one and you probably find it

education bursary ... a joke?? better lower the fees for all student instead of selected few


BUT where the money come from??
personal pockets???


knnccb .... i also vote for papig if given umeployment benefits subsidy too!!!

PSS said...

Mr CCL: " Who says complex problem needs complex solution? "


“If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” Professor Abraham Maslow ( 1908-1970 ), psychologist, famous for his Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, author of the book: “The Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance”, published in 1966. Named “Humanist of the Year” in 1967.

PSS said...

"One friend, one person who is truly understanding, who takes the trouble to listen to us as we consider our problems, can change our whole outlook on the work." Professor Elton Mayo ( 1880-1949 ), psychologist, sociologist and researcher of the Hawthorne Studies, author of the book: “The Human Problems of an Industrialized Civilisation”, published in 1933.

Anonymous said...

Mr CCL:"In the MyPaper today, Dr Koh Poh Soon diagnosed his election defeat to something he said or should not have said. The offending statement was ‘everybody has a car’. And to make it worse, he added that he and his wife had two cars, one each, caused they were professionals. Another reason was the parachute. He was seen as a paratrooper dropping in from the sky. These two reasons caused his electoral defeat to an unknown. And the margin was quite a trumping."

"The pertinent question is not how to do things right, but how to find the right things to do, and to concentrate resources and efforts on them." Peter F Drucker ( 1909-2005), management expert and authors of 39 books including "Managing for Results" published in 1964

PSS said...

The Hawthorne Studies carried out between 1924 to 1932 greatly altered the views of many management experts on the importance of human relations in the field of the approach taken on management of organisations. The application of scientific management technique and the prescriptive management approach expounded and adopted by modern management pioneers and sociologists such Frederick Winslow Taylor, Max Weber and Henri Fayol came under heavy criticism for their obvious flaws of over emphasising the importance of the element of efficiency in expense of the other hierarchy of human or employees' needs. The scientific approach apparently overlooked the social and interaction needs of workers.

Professor Elton Mayo's studies on the importance of human relations in organisational management approach were further enhanced by Professor Abraham Maslow, especially on the publication of Maslow's hierarchy of needs in 1966. As seen from Maslow's hierarchy of needs diagram, obviously what is advocated and practised in the scientific “prescriptive” management approach probably satisfies only the lower hierarchical needs of individuals. Social upheavals tend to result when even needs at the lowest level are frequently not met.

Anonymous said...

When even needs at the lowest levels are not met, conflicts result. Usually, the management or authority resorts to several methods to resolve conflict and this aspect is often known as OBM – organisational behaviour management. That leads to development of behavioural sciences in three main fields namely psychology, sociology and anthropology.

Four areas are instrumental in the study of organisational behaviour namely individual behaviour, group behaviour, organisational structures and organisational processes. Other important concepts in the study of OB include stereotyping, halo effects, perceptual defence and projection.

PSS said...

There are five basic powers identified in organisational behaviour management that leaders and managers used to influence behaviour and outcome namely reward, coercive, legitimate, referent and expert.

Leaders and managers in their attempts to wield their powers usually resort to political means via 1) blaming others, 2) praising some, 3) forming alliances etc to achieve their objectives. As such, inevitably conflicts result. In OBM, means are devised to try resolve conflicts such as 1) mutual problem solving, 2) compromise and 3) avoidance.

As an example, in the aftermath of the recent Little India riot of 8 Dec 2013, one of the follow up actions by the authorities is banning the sale of alcohol over this coming weekend on 14 and 15 Dec 2013. Also, the ferrying of workers from their dormitories to Little India by 25 bus services company is suspended in the mean time. The employing of the #3 means - avoidance, likely is being applied in this instance.

PSS said...

Nonetheless, such solutions are often temporary. The in-depth study of organisation structures and processes are often carried out to pursue permanent resolutions to organisational conflicts and how these two factors affect individual and group behaviours. In the Little India riot example, it seems immediate measures such as banning of alcohol sale in stipulated time period and the suspension of bus services ferrying of workers from their dormitories to Little India are solutions interim in nature while permanent solutions are being sought. The setting up of the COI ( Commission of Inquiry ) in this instance may be a likely case of the means to a permanent solution.

PSS said...

Again, if we look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, some answers as permanent solutions to preventing a recurrence of the Little India riot incident may lie in fulfilling more of the needs even at the lowest level which in this case may not be fulfilled given the actual conditions on the ground. What is officially recorded in many aspects such as the workers pay etc may not be the true reflections of the eventual transactions between workers, employers and the labour agents.

Going back to what is stated above about other concepts in respect to the study of OBM ( organisational behavioural management ), in the Little India riot, some of these concepts might have been employed in the aftermath of the riot such as 1) perceptual defence and 2) projection. It is being perceptually seen by some in the authorities that the riot could have been due to the drunken state of the workers involved in the fracas and thus leading to the interim solution of alcohol ban during weekend for the time being while more permanent solutions are tossed about, discussed, debated and weighed upon. Likewise, it seems the concept of projection is also being employed in the handling of the aftermath of the riot.

Anonymous said...

In a longer term perspective, the Little India riot may be a symptom of some systemic imbalances. Just like in human being, having headache could be due to many causes. Often, human being undergoes the five stages of a trauma and the first reaction usually is self denial. As a society, we may be in self denial mode and the faster we get past this stage and move into accepting certain realities and dealing with the "real causes of the illnesses" displayed, the sooner our society will move on to the renewal stage and having a better chance of overcoming and resolving the "real" underlying causes of the displayed "symptoms". Perhaps, adopting a more humane management approach in the pursue of our national objectives and goals could be a better means to ensuring the long term viability of a small city state. Nonetheless, being humans, it is not easy for grown up power agents to adapt to the change needed and often due to such inabilities, historically the change needed to solve the malaise existent in societies has to be brought about via a quantum political change. As a small city state, whether the society has the sufficient wherewithal to withstand such a transition and emerged stronger is cause for concern. It is therefore a dilemmatic proposition which only the power agents are in the position to weigh carefully and make informed and careful calculations and decisions.

Anonymous said...

Many people know the problem. But some chose to put the blame on liquor.

Anonymous said...

/// Dr Koh Poh Soon diagnosed his election defeat to something he said or should not have said. The offending statement was ‘everybody has a car’. ///

Wah! So boy, boy so clever.
Dr Koh.
Why not you extend your new found expertise and tell PAP why they lost;
Hougang SMC
Aljunied GRC
Punggol East SMC

You are a clever Sinkie right?
So remember to also ask PAP to pay you a consulting fee for your advice yes?
You don't want PAP to develop a subsidy mentality by doing things for free for the PAP yes?

b said...

Since they are so troublesome, they should start importing FWs from other countries and reduced the number of FWs from a particular country. This is a better solution.

Anonymous said...

Only rubbish that cannot go elsewhere will come here.

Anonymous said...

The simplicity of it all ...

Another simple step: employers whose foreign worker gets jailed or deported should continue to have that worker included into the company's foreign quota. This is a simple idea which addresses a huge flaw in the current system.

Think about it. At present, employers have no incentive to vet the background of their foreign workers or to look after them when they are here. Perversely, in reverse, employers even benefit when they force their workers to work beyond limits, for example driving aggressively on our roads to make the most trips.

When their workers get into trouble, the employers simply replace the workers with new ones, leaving us taxpayers to pay for the damages. This is bad for the workers and bad for us taxpayers, it's the cheapest for the employers. See the problem?

The best way to make employers hire good foreign workers and take good care of them is to make the foreign workers count in the quota when they are jailed or deported.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Agree. Employers must be held accountable and even fined if they are negligent and irresponsible in the recruitment of foreign workers.