Critics and cynics to be invited to share their disruptive views

The word disruptive is now being floated like a new panacea to cure the ills of everything. I thought I was dreaming when the island’s top 5 govt spokesmen and women proposed that critics/cynics aka disruptors, should be invited to sit in govt boards to share their opposing and disruptive views and ideas. Kishore Mahbubani, Tommy Koh, Chan Heng Chee, Han Fook Kwan and Danny Chan gathered at a seminar organized by the SMU to share their new and disruptive thoughts derived from the success of disruptive technologies. It is time to slay sacred cows and bravely confront the new forces of disruptive change.

Kishore has this to say, ‘We need more naysayers. Singapore cannot take its formulas for success developed over the last 50 years and apply them to the next 50 years, as the world has changed drastically. We need to create new formulas, which you can’t until you attack and challenge every sacred cow. Then you can succeed.’

Heng Chee too agreed with Kishore’s view by adding this, ‘But it is in policies and leadership teams that Singapore needs people willing to challenge authority. more robust internal discussions on policies with a wider range of people from different backgrounds. We need naysayers in leadership teams who can think the unthinkable.’

Tommy Koh, another doyen of Singaporean thought makers did not want to be outdone and added, ‘When we appoint people to boards, we can also appoint challengers who are subversive and who have alternative points of view. That’s the kind of cultural change we want to see. It makes Singapore stronger, not weaker.

I could not believe my eyes reading such disruptive comments from the thinkers of the establishment. I am not alone. Danny Chan, one of the panelists, could not help himself and took a dig at his fellow panelists. ‘You talk so much to me but when the minister is present, in front of him, you’re absolutely silent. This habit stems partly from a fear of looking bad in front of others and of failing.’ Oops, maybe he was referring to the audience.

Danny Chan could not stand the hypocrisy of the session. Maybe the talk shop was just a talk shop without any minister around and the message would be different when a minister is around. Maybe there is really such disruptive talks going around in the circles of natural aristocrats, that it is time to test the unknown and the unthinkable. Disruptive thoughts and disruptors are the new darlings of change, the change agents.

Critics and cynics like Philip Ang, Leong Sze Hean, Cynical Investor, Richard Wan and company may be receiving invitation letters to sit in some govt boards as disruptors to throw spanners into the works and hopefully things would get better. I would not include names of opposition party leaders as it would be too much to take to think that they could be invited. The non political individuals may have a rare and a one in a million chance to see this happening, definitely not those politically connected. I may even add the out of question candidates like Amos Yee and Roy Ngerng.

After saying this, maybe it is just another wet dream, too good to be true. Danny Chan should know better for highlighting the hypocrisy of the talk shop. If only the thought leaders are the decision makers, then there may be a little chance of it happening. For the moment, enjoy the musing.

World Affairs in Perspective: Diego Garcia US military base in the Indian Ocean. PART 2

US made irrelevant noise when China built self defense facilities in her own island territories in the South China Sea. US said China should not militarise the South China Sea. But US can sail its flotilla of aircraft carriers, destroyers, submarines and frigates in the South China Sea and within 12 KM of Chinese coast. US can conduct overflight of its bombers and jet fighters over the region. All this is done purportedly to demonstrate its freedom of passage and navigation through the region. But freedom of passage and navigation has never been a problem in the South China Sea. China has never stopped any vessel in the region. Nor does it intend to do so in the future. Then what is the problem? The fact is US has surrounded China with over 400 military bases since the end of Second World War. Are these American military bases in China's periphery for peace? No, they are a show of force to awe China and to contain China's peaceful development. The sellf righteous US says China is not allowed to progress too fast to be on parity or even overtake US in wealth and stature. Therefore the noise about China's self defense facilities in her own territories in the South China Sea is a bogey. It is an excuse to carry out insidious plan and strategy to stir trouble and conflict among the littoral states in the region so as to hold back China's peaceful development.

Instead US should take note of the world's deep concern about its illegal and illegitimate military bases in Diego Garcia of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. American military bases in Diego Garcia is a launching pad for constant US aggression against countries in the Middle East Arab Islamic countries, Central Asia and Africa. US had and is still using Diego Garcia military base to launch attack, bomb and invade Iraq,Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia. Yemen and Syria. US has been coveting the region which is rich in oil and other mineral resources.

In building a gigantic military base in Diego Garcia, US has committed a horrendous crime against the few thousand original inhabitants, the Chagossians of Diego Garcia and against humanity.

Immediately after the Second World War US started to look for a military outpost in the Indian Ocean. England which then controlled the Mauritius Island archipelago inclusive of the Chagos Islands and Seychelles was obliged to lease to US, Diego Garcia the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago because it still owed US a huge debt. The Chagos Islands which form part of Mauritius was supposed to be granted independence by England. But before granting independence to Mauritius, England at the behest of US annexed the Chagos Islands and then leased out Diego Garcia, the largest island in the group to US in 1966 for fifty years for just a paltry sum of money. US had used arm twisting on England to get the Diego Garcia lease at the expense of the Chagossians who eventually suffered tremendously .

From 1966 to 1973 USA carried out force dispossession and deportation of the native Chagossians to Mauritius and Seychelles in an extreme decrepit condition and without any compensation. The Chagossians were left on the disused docks in Mauritius and Seychelles without any support. They were left homeless, jobless and with little money. The Chagossians were put in overcrowded cargo ships which were used to carry guano. Throughout the five days trip to Mauritius and Seychelles they slept on top of guano, causing them to vomit, urinate and purge in the cargo hold. Their extreme predicament and living in abject poverty was later exposed by journalists.

The US lease in Diego Garcia expired in 2016 and according to the terms of the lease the Chagossians were to be allowed to return to their homes after the expiry of the lease. But both the British and the Americans were dishonourable and did not allow the natives to return. Instead US insisted on renewing the lease for another fifty years.

The Chagossians have been fighting for compensation and the right to return home to Diego Garcia but so far to no avail.

I t must be pointed out that the unconscionable forced dispossession and deportation of the Chagossians were illegal and illegitimate and that they should be sufficiently compensated and be allowed to return home.

In 2015 a United Nations Tribunal delivered a ruling which found UK continued to sideline Mauritius sovereignty over the Chagossian islands. But UK at the behest of US is adamant in keeping the Chagos Islands as its last colony and vestige of power in the Indian Ocean though actually it is done in submission to US coerce, might and power.

In the meantime the Evil Empire made it clear it was determined to renew its lease claiming that Diego Garcia is of vital strategic importance to US security. How can that be when US is more than ten thousand miles away? US always harps on its security. US security is always at the expense of other countries' insecurity. Now the whole world knows Diego Garcia military base is a staging outpost for US aggression and world hegemony. Diego Garcia is planned by US for staging future air strikes against Russia, China, India and Indonesia should US plans its future aggression and wars against these countries.

As a ploy to keep the Chagossians permanently out of Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia US connived with UK to declare the Chagos Islands to be a " Marine Protected Area " alledgely to protect it delicate ecosystem. It was just a contrived ploy to make it impossible for the original Chagos inhabitants to pursue their claim for resettlement on the islands if the entire Chagos archipelago were a marine reserve.

US occupation of Diego Garcia is evil and illegal. It had secretly built a huge military base in Diego Garcia for aggression, conquest and world hegemony. US forced dispossession and inhuman way of forced deportation of the Chagossians were illegal and a crime against humanity.

United Nations must bear on UK to hand back Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia to the people and government of Mauritius. US  must dismantle its insidious military base in Diego Garcia for good.

USA should stop complaining about China's self defense facilities in her own territories in the South China Sea. Unlike US military bases in Diego Garcia and all parts of the world, China is building self defense facilities in her own sovereign islands  and so it is of no concern to US, Japan or any nosey others. US is intentionally harping on China's defense facilities in her own islands just to sidetrack and distract the world of its own massive buildup in Diego Garcia,Japan, Guam, South Korea, Marshall Islands and the Philippines. America military bases in Diego Garcia and elsewhere are poised for aggression and world hegemony whereas China,s defense facilities in her own territories are for selfdefense against American and Japanese aggression.

The world will be safer If US gives up its Psyche of aggression, warmongering and world hegemony

Southernglory1

Tuesday, 28th February, 2017

World Affairs in perspective: S.China Sea & Diego Garcia

South China Sea     ( PART  1  )

The native Americans say " Whitemen speak with fork tongues and cannot be trusted. " This truth can be reflected in USA's position in the South China Sea and in US huge military base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. In the South China Sea, China owns the Paracels and Spratly Islands in which it has sovereignty and historical rights for thousands of years. In the Indian Ocean, USA stole Diego Garcia from the Chagossians of Mauritius and secretly and illegally built a military base for aggression and world hegemony.

US is ten thousand miles away and is not a claiment to the disputed islands in the South China Sea. For over two thousand years China hold sovereignty over the Paracels and the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. During the Second World War Japan invaded and occupied these islands. At the end of the Second World War Japan handed back these islands to China officially and legally through the League of Nations and later the United Nations and through legal documents signed at the Cairo Conference 1943, the Potsdam Treaty 26-07-1945, the Yalta Treaty 11-02-1945 and the San Francisco Treaty 08-09-1951.

At that period of time the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai Shek was the party in power in China. The Kuomintang was defeated in the Chinese civil war and fled to Taiwan with the help of US which then blockaded the Taiwan Strait with its Seventh Fleet to prevent Chairman Mao's People's Liberation Army from taking Taiwan to consummate the unification of China. US had wrongly and callously interfered in Chinese internal affairs. If US had not interfered there would not be a Taiwan problem or divided China today.

However, after the defeat of Kuomintang, the reign and sovereignty over the Paracels and Spratly Islands remain to be under China though under a new government of Mao's People's Republic of China.

In the mid 1970s many South East Asian littoral states under the behest of US, stole some Chinese islands largely in the Spratly island archipelago. China then was not able to do much except to lodge some protest because of the presence of the US Seventh Fleet in the region. Vietnam stole 25 of the Chinese islands, Philippines 9, Malaysia 7 and Brunei 5.

Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia began to build forts and military naval strongholds with airstrips for harassing Chinese fishing boats. While these illegal activities were going on there was total silence in US, Japan and the whole of the western world and no one condemn the illegal provocative activities of these American minions except the only the official protests of China. China could have easily evicted Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia from the islands they stole from China but choose not to do so for the sake of peace.

In June 1986 US and the West tried to supplant China's sovereignty and historical rights over the islands in the South China Sea by floating a new concept of economic rights of a country within 200 KM of its continental sea shelf. Since China has a long coastline it agreed to the new treaty but only on the proviso that the treaty would not infringe the existing Chinese Sovereignty and historical rights of these islands. Incredulously US and a few western countries did not even want to sign and submit themselves to this treaty. On hindsight it can be seen US and the West were using this treaty as a ploy and strategy to rob off the Paracels and Spratly islands from China. Fortunately China had foreseen this chicanery and signed with the proviso that stated clearly that the new treaty would not be allowed to infringe on the Chinese South China Sea islands. In short the new treaty should not supercede Chinese sovereignty and historical rights over the Chinese territorial islands, shoals, atols and reefs in the South China Sea.

Thus US is speaking with fork tongues when it says China should not claim those islands especially those islands stolen from China by Vietnam, Philippinnes and Malaysia. US is being dirty when it tries to invoke the 1986 treaty to supercede China's sovereignty and historical rights.

With encouragement and some finance from US , Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia have seen fit to militarise the islands they occupy by building airstrips and naval stations to harass Chinese fishing boats. Of course China will not allow these wrongs done to her in her own territorial islands and seas. Instead of using force to take back her stolen islands China choose to dredge some of her islands and build light houses and selfdefense facilities in them to forestall American and perhaps Japanese aggression. Now America and the West and Japan were quick to raise a furore and accused China of militarising the South China Sea while at the same time US was sailing aircraft carriers and other naval vessels in the region and conducting overflights with jet fighters and bombers as a show of force to awe the Chinese. Who then is militarising the South China Sea?

US has no business to interfere in the issues of the South China Sea since they do not concern them. US is speaking with fork tongues when its says the South China Sea is of strategic importance to US security though it is ten thousand miles away. On the other hand US conveniently forgets that the South China Sea is vital to China's security and survival. China and South East Asian states are able to talk, negotiate and hold peace in the region. US should cease its military activities and illegal naval patrols in the region for the sake of peace and tranquility in South East Asia. South East Asian countries should bear on warmongering US not to turn the region into a second Middle East turmoil and destructive wars.

It must be pointed out before 2010, US like the rest of the world was supportive of those agreements and treaties that Japan officially and legally returned the Paracel and the Spratly islands to China. However in 2010, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in their streaks of insanity somehow reneged on those treaties in their pivot to Asia to contain China.

Southernglory1

Monday, 27th February,2017

NB:   PART   2  will be published on Tuesday, 28th February, 2017

‘We need a new govt’

This one not I say one. I received so many of such comments from all over. Some said this has been said many times and many years ago but nothing happened. To me this is surprising, not because it is being said but why it needs to be said. The people are all for the govt, behind the govt. Look at the result in the last GE and also the by election, all for the PAP. Then why is there this kind of talk about changing the govt, about the need for a new govt?

Didn’t the Singaporeans know that they have the best govt in the world, the most talented of talents in the govt, the most selfless, self sacrificing people working and serving them and everyday thinking of how to help them to improve their lives even if Singaporeans did not ask for it? Not only that, these are the most clever men and women that money can buy, most honest too and definitely incorruptible. Where else can one find such a fine collection of men and women who risk their lives, sacrificing the quality of life of their families just to serve the people for a few million dollars when they could make many more millions in the private sector?

After deep thoughts I finally concluded that the problem is that the daft sinkies are unable to appreciate what the govt is doing for them and did not know their blessings. The daft sinkies cannot comprehend what is good and an incorruptible govt made up of very clever men and women and very honest too. Maybe the daft sinkies are looking for less clever men and women, or not so honest men and women so that they don’t have to pay so much for the quality. Not too clever men would not think of being paid in the millions.

A good example of how honest and clever the men and women in the govt is the way they are telling the people about the need to increase water charges. They said the price of water has not been increased for the last 17 years which is a fact. No bluff one. Ok they did not say the cost of water from Malaysia did not increase for the last 50 years but the people did not ask so cannot blame them. Then again, the cost of water has risen with the growing population and the 13 or so reservoirs would not be enough. To keep up with a growing population, maybe 6.9m or 10m, more desalination plants must be built. And this is not only fact but innovation or a forward looking strategy for survival. A govt of not so clever men and women would not know how to solve the problem of shortage of water for a big population.

Oh, the people also did not ask how many kinds of taxes have been added to the water bills though the price has remained unchanged. What are the taxes? Water borne fees, water conservation fees and GST. How much would these add up to the cost of water or price of water? Water borne fee is 28% for households and 48% for business use, water conservation tax is 30% and there is a 7% GST. How much would these add up to?

Someone has worked this out and I reproduced the numbers. I am not sure of its accuracy but it would give a good idea of how much the total price of water the people would have to pay despite no increase in price in the last 17 years. Assuming all these taxes are not there, the price of water would remain the same for the last 17 years, if one is paying $50 then, one would still be paying $50 now.

The picture is different if the taxes are added. The example worked out is as below.  Assuming a $50 water usage bill. Add 28% for water borne fee or +$14, and another 30% for water conservation tax ie +$15 and another 7% or $3.50 for GST, the total bill will become $82.50. What so much? Tiok or not? No increase in water charges for 17 years but the amount to be paid is $82.50 instead of $50?  I think my computation is not very right. Someone please correct for me.

Now the numbers given to me on the 30% increase by Heng Swee Kiat are like this.

$50 plus 30% will be $50 + $15=$65. Add 28%($18.20) water borne fee, add 30%($19.50) for water conservation, the total bill will become $102.70. Now add 7% for GST or another $7.19, the grand total for a $50 bill today will become $109.89. And this is for household consumption. For commercial use, the water borne fee is 48% instead of 28%. How many percent more is that?

The important thing is that the govt is telling the truth. No one is telling lies. The only lie would be the numbers given to me if they are proven untruth or incorrect.

Now back to the call for a new govt. Yes, perhaps a new govt that is not too clever would be good for Singapore. They would not know how to increase water bills without increasing the price of water for 17 years. They would also not dare to ask to be paid in the millions and pretend that they are also very clever. Not so clever govt also has its own blessings I supposed.

Come to think of it this is quite a logical deduction and a good call for a new govt, one that is not too clever.

What do you think?

PS. The above discourse did not take into consideration the increase in SC&C and electricity charges. Now you know how important it is to be earning million dollar salaries, can twiddle thumbs and talk cock when such increases are no more than spare change. Don’t have to worry about got increase or no increase in water charges.

Contact Singapore closing down on April 1

Contact Singapore, Singapore’s on line portal to attract overseas Singaporeans to return home will be closing down on April 1 claiming that it has succeeded in its mission. The statestimesreview has another take, that is if closing down due to its failure to attract Singaporeans home. Which is the truth?

This is Contact Singapore’s mission posted in the statestimesreview, “When the Contact Singapore alliance was formed in 2008, we wanted to make Singapore a place where global talent would call home, from which they could flourish and contribute. Nine years on, we think Contact Singapore has succeeded in its mission.”

I think by reading the above mission statement, Contact Singapore has indeed succeeded in its mission ‘to make Singapore a place where global talent would call home.’ The mission statement is not about attracting overseas Singaporeans to come home but about global talent to make Singapore home. And if you look around Singapore, when more than half of the population is foreigners, new citizens, PRs and EP holders, indeed Contact Singapore has succeeded in what it set out to do.

The notion that it is set up to attract Singaporeans home is not the primary mission. If that is the case, it would be said so specifically. What it said is global talent, not overseas Singaporean talent.

I am sure many overseas Singaporeans would want to come home, after all Singapore is home, where they grew up and all the memories, friends and relatives are. Why would they choose to stay overseas and not wanting to return home? Is it that the good jobs are given to foreigners and Singaporeans were sidelined in favour of foreigners? Looking at the tertiary institutions and many GLCs this is apparently so. When talented Singaporeans find themselves bypassed for top jobs, even terminated or not offered these positions, why should they stay at home?  If Contact Singapore is really serious in attracting overseas Singaporeans home, just offer them equivalent jobs that have been given to foreigners with dubious track records and there would be many willing to come home.

Has Singapore done something wrong to drive Singaporeans away from home? Or Singapore is encouraging Singaporeans to work overseas so that it can replace them with funny FTs to work in Singapore? Which is which?  No one would want to leave the comfort of home behind, to uproot and work overseas unless the offer is so attractive or they are being forced out by the deplorable employment scene at home where foreigners became the first choice to Singaporeans.

What is or was Contact Singapore’s real mission? Did it succeed or did it fail?

Totalitarian mindset in Sin City

Below are extracts from an article in the TRE questioning why students must give all their prizes and trophies won to their schools.

'What’s this new ruling about the Singapore Sports School indicating that any prizes, be it monetary or products, that the students of the school win while representing the school must be given to the school instead? Previously, the student-athletes get to keep their winnings as long as these prizes were not clearly awarded to the school....

Students should not be forced to channel back whatever they have won to the school. Let them enjoy the fruits of their labour. For the school, isn’t seeing your students winning things under your umbrella enough, rather then go after their prize winnings also? By Prem Shankar'

A professional athlete or sportsman would have to share his prizes and monetary awards to his coaches and the organisation that was paying for his training and expenses. That is fair. Why should a school be demanding that students representing the schools must give them their winnings, trophies and monetary awards? What have the schools contributed to the sportsmen and athletes success? Other than allowing them to compete in the name of the school, what financial and non financial contribution and assistance did the school provide to the sportsmen and athletes?

Do the schools know how much the sportsmen and athletes have contributed to their own success in terms of time, expenses in food, supplements, nutrition, medical bills and pain? Many sportsmen and athletes paid a heavy price, financially and the time spent in their sports, many suffered injuries, poor academic results for spending time training and the discipline regime, forgoing other activities and commitments.

The big question what have the schools contributed to the success of the sportsmen and athletes and how much did they contribute financially, not counting physical, emotional and other sacrifices that the sportsmen and athletes have to put in, to demand the sportsmen and athletes to give them all their winnings, awards, trophies and monetary gains? Is it fair?

The MOE has any instruction or policies on this matter? Their diam diam stance towards this matter is as good as agreeing to what the schools are saying. Smell of a totalitarian state.

What do you think? Another syokan incident in the making? Are the schools bullying and taking advantage of their hapless students that got no one to turn to short of offending the school authority?

I hope this thing is not true. Please correct me if I am mistaken.

Najib behaving like Aquino

The assassination of Kim Jong Nam in KLIA is turning out to be another big farce and Najib is looking like another Aquino in the making while Malaysia is looking like South Korea during the sinking of a South Korean warship Choenan.

The Kim Jong Nam case should be a criminal case where a person was killed in Malaysian soil and the Malaysian authority should go through the due process of their law to investigate the case, try to apprehend the culprits. The body after autopsy should be returned to the next of kin or the country claiming it. This is the first time that I have heard of the demand for the victim's DNA as precondition for the release of the body. What if no DNA is produced, is Malaysia going to set up a cold store to keep all the dead bodies of foreigners? What is so difficult to return the body to the next of kin, or is the Malaysian authority having doubt of the dead person's identity? What is Malaysia hoping to gain or what game is Malaysia playing by making it so difficult to return a dead body after autopsy has been done?

Now this has been turned into a political row between Malaysia and North Korea, from friends to foes so unnecessarily. What is Malaysia up to? Is Malaysia acting under instruction from some outside parties to make things difficult to the North Koreans? If so, how is it going to benefit Malaysia except to be seen as another puppet of some outside powers?

The way the Malaysians went about arresting so many Koreans is not funny. Imagine the resources put in to cover this case involving a foreigner that has nothing to do with Malaysia other than a crime being committed in Malaysian soil? Even those not North Koreans arrested, an Indonesia and a Vietnamese seemed so questionable. Ok, the Indonesian has admitted that she was part of the team that attacked Kim Jong Nam. What about the Vietnamese woman? She did not look a bit like the woman in white T with the LOL logo on it. It is so obvious that they were completely two different people. Today's paper reported that a photo of the Vietnamese woman was posted in her blog with the LOL Tshirt. Is this an after thought that the two women did not look alike so need further proof to convince the public that they were the same person?

And the story of how Kim was killed kept flipflopping, from injected by needle to splashing water on him and then a video clip of a woman covering Kim's face from behind with a towel. Or the latest, they wiped his face with their hands covered with poison. What is the truth?

And so many cctv clips were shown on the news. Accepted that some were old clips of Kim. But the few that were supposed to be of Kim Jong Nam during the incident showed him wearing dark blue jacket and then light blue jacket. And there were reports claiming that the video showed him stumbled to the check in counter and some said he walked calmly to the check in counter after the incident.

Finally the Malaysian authority admitted that they did not know the cause of his death. The poison theory is yet to be confirmed as no known poison was detected. Malaysia also refused to have a joint investigation or let the North Koreans in to at least witness how they investigated the case, just like the case of Choenan.

Just like the Choenan case, all the fingers were pointing at the North Koreans as the culprits with evidence as well. In the Choenan case the South Koreans even fabricated parts with writings from the North Koreans only to be proven false and the case was dropped and closed.

Would there be fabrication of evidence to show that the North Koreans were guilty and subsequently the whole case fall flat like the Choenan case when preliminary evidence and allegations were all against the North Koreans?

The biggest joke in this case would be that the victim is not Kim Jong Nam but someone else. Cannot rule this out if the Malaysians are asking for DNA to prove that it is him.

Talking about fake news, fake reports, false flags and conspiracy? What is this case all about?

Higher taxes no problem, just think positive

“New taxes or higher tax rates are not causes for alarm, but a call for Singaporeans to recognise that there are difficult things that we have to do together, rather than leave problems or difficulties for the next generation.”
Prices of water was raised 30% and a new tax for motorcycles was introduced in the Budget 2017 announced last Friday. – Lawrence Wong.
‘In a question posed by a radio listener over the rising cost of living due to the water price increase, Minister Indranee Rajah told Singaporeans to raise their salaries instead:
“It all comes back to how people can increase their incomes, and how the revenue that comes into the household can be increased so all the other things can be managed.”’
Both the above quotes were from thestatestimesreview. I fully agree with the two ministers on what they said. The people must think positively. Higher taxes are necessary and it is either now or tomorrow. So might as well bite the bullet and take it now. And once it is out, daft sinkies must be brave and resolute to take these tax hikes positively and think of how to overcome them.
And yes, the best way is to raise your income and all the taxes would be non issues. If you are earning $1m, just a 10% increase in your income would make you rich, what is the problem with a 30% increase on water bills? Better still if you can write your own pay check. And if you are jobless, go get a job and you will not have any problem with more taxes. Regard paying taxes as a privilege like serving NS. You are very lucky if you can afford to pay higher taxes and do NS, to sacrifice for your country and people.
Now get off your butts and go look for a job. There are plenty of jobs at the job bank and there are also many job fairs to attend. If still cannot get a job, go for more training. Ask someone to teach you how to write a beautiful CV. There are plenty of jobs in Singapore, no need to worry, just don’t be choosy.
And if all else fails, go to be an entrepreneur, like being a hawker. Hawkers are earning big bucks. If not, try to be your own boss, like driving taxis. Now driving a taxis got many choices, Uber, Grab, Comfort, SMRT etc etc.
See, after all the good suggestions above, the problem of higher taxes no longer a problem. We are all in the same boat, one for all, all for one. And if still cannot pay your water bills, don’t feel so sad, we can empathise with you and your predicament. Even if you are poor, you are still the luckiest of the poor in the world to be able to afford to live in this most expensive city in the world. It is your good blessing to live in this fine city. Count your blessings.

Tension rising again in the South China Sea

The devil would not go away. The Americans have returned with a nuclear powered aircraft carrier Carl Vinson to patrol the SCS as if it is their private swimming pool in the name of freedom of navigation. China has stood firm and warned the Americans not to challenge China’s sovereignty in the SCS. The gloves are off. After failing to get the Philippines to be the point man to provoke China to stake its claim in the SCS, after failing to get other little USAs in Asean to take over from the Philippines, the Americans have no choice but to challenge China without the veil that it is an innocent bystander. The latest developments in Asean are saying that the little USAs are active again to get Asean to go against China.

Here comes the first batch of trouble makers in the SCS and more would follow suit. The Americans are thinking that they have superiority in bigger and more aircraft carriers and naval ships. So they can bulldoze their way in the SCS with no resistance from China.

The Americans forgot that this is China’s little pond guarded by many batteries of anti ship missiles in the mainland. The SCS is within the range of China’s anti aircraft carrier missiles and every aircraft carrier and big battleship would be tracked and locked on by these missiles a few thousand miles away. This would be a game of picking out the sitting ducks in the pond.

Did the Americans really think that they have superiority in numbers with their aircraft carrier facing a few Chinese coast guard patrol craft? Just be careful not to touch one of these patrol craft or the missiles will come down for target practice. And don’t forget the Chinese submarines are all over the SCS. China may have only one refurbished aircraft carrier, but any war in the SCS would be raining missiles of which China has hundreds or thousands waiting for the Americans to fire the first shot. Would the mad cowboys dare to pull the trigger? They would not know what hit them for the Chinese would be playing their computer games in the mainland, pushing buttons away.  There is no need for any Chinese ship to engage the American fleet.

What the Americans can hope to achieve is to hold their pricks and wave around to show the whole world they are in the SCS. The Chinese patrol crafts would watch them from near distance to see how long they could keep their boys and girls holidaying in the SCS before they get homesick.

Tension no doubt has returned to the SCS with the presence of aggressive and offensive American naval ships. The Americans did not name their warship as aircraft carrier strike group for nothing. They are offensive war machine made to conduct wars, to attack enemies anywhere.  When would the tinder box blow up? Would any little USAs still want to be part of the plot to attack China with the Americans? Shouldn’t have asked this question. In the latest Asean foreign ministers gathering they are already showing their hands. No one needs to ask the little USAs to say what they are up to. They just do it.

PS. Some of you may ask when am I saying these about the evil American Empire? It is necessary for if no one is saying it, some jokers may think since no one is complaining then all the American actions are right. The Americans have been doing these things for decades, branding Iran, Iraq, especially now the North Koreans as the Axis of Evil and Kim Jong Un as a mad man. In fact Kim's father and grandfather were also branded as mad men. The sad think is that many jokers after reading such fake news daily really believe so without thinking and without questioning.

The Americans must protect international law? How silly! Everywhere the Americans are present they are the one that is breaking international law but the stupid just would not want to see it.

Budget reading – A path to self destruct

The few key words about budget are raising fees or taxes, grants, safety nets, rebates etc are words related to a welfare mentality and are not sustainable. Where are these money coming from, our reserves? Where do our reserves come from, CPF savings?

Just the thought of a 30% increase in water fees can become a nightmare to many households. To those that are earning millions, what is a few dollars more? To those who don’t have, even $1 also don’t have. This is the divide that the natural aristocrats would not be able to understand. When the day the subsidies stop because all the reserves are used up or the govt could not find enough money to pay the million dollar salaries of the elites, the full might of no subsidies would fall on the lower income households and all hell will break loose. The people would have to pay all the high fees without subsidies one day. A society cannot live forever on subsidies and grants.

The ministers talking in parliament were like chanting verses from the holy books. The Chinese said ‘liam keng’. ‘…water prices would go up after remaining unchanged for 17 years. The scarce resource has been underpriced…and the increases are due to higher operational costs and greater investments in water infrastructure’. Said Masagos Zulkifli.  Heng Swee Kiat added, ‘Water sufficiency is a matter of national survival…We have priced water to reflect the higher costs of desalination and NEWater production because every additional drop of water has to come from these two sources.’

And they are so happy to quote two so called FT experts that water is too cheap and must be priced higher. Some twits would definitely be in line for National Day Awards next year, if they have not already been given. Dunno how many low income households are going to suffer from this water hike, to price to market, to price to be sustainable, too cheaply priced?

And the increases for non domestic users were higher than households. What a comforting statement. What do you think the commercial users would do to cover the cost of higher water fees? Pass it down to the consumers of course. And who would be screwed at the end? No need to tell you who.

Singapore’s households consumed 45% of the water used and this would go up to 70% in 2060. How come? Why? What is the main cause of this higher consumption and the need to build more water desalination plant and laying more pipes? Dunno leh.

The basic cause of all the problems in the island, particularly cost of living, like super expensive housing, expensive transportation, food and now water, is high population. Why the fuck is there a need to keep building and building and building just to add in more people into a land squeezed piece of rock, to bring in more foreigners into the island? Is this the reason for the existence of this island, to bring in all the rejects from around the world here, so that we can build more flats and sell more properties, to build more shopping malls, more hawker centres and food courts, therefore needing to build more water desalination plants? What would be raised next, electricity?

Raising the costs of basic necessities is a very serious problem to the general population. When would this govt stop this silly trick of increasing population thinking that it would solve economic problems but refusing to see the serious consequences to the cost of living and the quality of life of the people? Oops, sorry, I am referring to those that don’t have million dollar salaries. The few dollars of increases here and there would not affect the natural aristocrats in anyway, maybe go to their salaries like another few plates of char kway teow.

We don’t even have a little room for a few cocks to run around but got space to bring in another 2 million assholes. Stupidity has no cure. This forced fed population growth is a road to no return. Everything and everyone would be squeezed just to accommodate more assholes for superficial and unsustainable economic growth.

Know your history and your past

The Syokan Gallery, not sure if I got the spelling right, is history. The untimely reappearance of this word and the painful memories it aroused and the disgusting discourse are a good reminder for Singaporeans to know their history and their past. Without these knowledge, it is easy for one to innocently embraced the names of the rapists of their country without question and walking around like a fool.

The abominable crimes committed by the Japanese invaders were more than just being slapped by a low down Japanese soldier for not greeting him on the street, they were more than the brutal massacres of innocent civilians by the Kempetai soldiers assisted by hooded local informers. Many women were raped and had their guts cut and disembowelled, babies were thrown into the air to be skewered by bayonets, for bayonet practices and for fun. Heads were chopped and hung everywhere. Many were tortured by pumping water into their stomach, and many unspeakable forms of torture that would put Guantanamo Camp to shame.

There were many horror stories of victims that did not live to tell. As the survivors of the time like Elizabeth Choy, not the deads like Lim Boh Seng and Adnan and the many unnamed soldiers at the Kranji War Memorial. Ask the British, Australian and New Zealanders that lived through the days as POWs in Changi Prison and lucky enough to walk out alive to live another day of their sufferings under the hands of the Japanese beasts.

 

These are the painful memories of the days when Singapore was invaded, conquered and ruled by the beastly Japanese, the  type that looked so innocent like Abe and his gang in Japan. Remember, they have the same DNA and they are not hiding their true nature till this day.

Know your history and your past. It is a favour you do to yourself.

Trump making Singaporeans angry

It is not what you are thinking. No it has nothing to do with the killing of the TPP. Trump could not do much to the believers of the TPP as the TPP is still alive in their scheme of things. The believers of the TPP would soon change tack and be very nice to Trump as they are hoping to be in Trump's good book. Abe has been trying to cosy up to Trump and got himself invited to the White House twice in less than two months hoping to gain Trump's favour and revive the TPP in whatever form.

Now what did Trump did that is making so many Singaporeans fuming? Let me give you a clue. Kishore said that anyone who believed that the western media is objective, fair and unbiased got to have their heads checked. Kishore refrained from calling these mindless unthinking creatures twits.

Neither did Trump. Trump just said simply that the western media were selling fake news, even the most reputable ones. The more reputable they are believed to be, the greater are their lies and fake news.

What has this got to do with making Trump a hated person in Singapore? Many did not know or took it for granted that the Singaporeans are well educated and well informed and thinking people. In some way this is true. But there is a catch. Many Singaporeans are brought up with a diet dished out from the western media, from their days in schools, their breakfast, lunch and dinner, even teabreaks and supper, are all western, potatoes and hamburgers. Their minds are now filled with potato chips and hamburgers. They believed every word, fullstop and comma printed in the western media. They will swear by the truths printed in the western media, without question, fear to question as if they are questioning the bible. How can they question the words of the white gods?

And now Trump is telling the Americans that the words of the white gods printed in the western media are bullshit. Oh my god, how could this be true, that they have been fed with bullshit all their life and swearing by it, without noticing the stench? Now they are supposed to vomit all the shit out. Trump has done the darnest thing, to make these dumb twits to want to throw out. But no, they would not throw out. They would say it cannot be true. What they were told were the truths, the western truth, the white gods told them.

You can imagine how mad they are with Trump for waking them up from their delusion and knowing that they were so stupid to believe everything the western media said but was fake. How could they take it other than hating Trump for exposing their stupidity? Trump would not know that he has thrown a stick into the hornet's nest. He is now their number one enemy, for telling the hard truth they did not want to know but so gullible to believe in their entire life as silly adults.

Trump better don't visit Singapore or he will need more security guards to ward off the rotten eggs and mash potatoes.

Talking cock in Parliament

David Attenborough did a small series called Wild City to parade the few and little wildlife that he could squeeze from this island of concrete jungle. He was really hard pressed to show to the audience what were left from the invasion of the forest by the specie homo sapiens for their selfish interest to make more money, to exploit every little inch of land to be sold as properties with little regards to the wildlife that they destroyed.

The handful of wildlife captured on film by Attenborough include white belly sea eagles, jungle fowls, otters, monkeys, bats and a solitary ant eater plus a few snakes. These are the fortunate and surviving inhabitants left on this little island and were the pride of our possession. We have a sanctuary to protect these wildlife headed by a MP for doing such a great job.

It was so disheartened to hear that the AVA had culled the handful of jungle fowls in Sin Ming estate due to some complaints from intolerant homo sapiens, of noise and fear of bird flu. If these little reasons are justifiable and strong enough to warrant such an execution of the harmless but beautiful jungle fowls, then there is no place for the crows and mynahs and the sparrows living in our midst. It is so regrettable that our children would now have to see what a chicken looks like in the supermarket, all featherless and lifeless. AVA has came out with the explanation that it was about health of the people, about bird flu.

How could such people be so intolerant, so small hearted, to demand the culling of these fowls when the homo sapiens are the invaders of their living space? And they could not find alternative space for these fowls and needed to terminate them? How many? 5 or 10 chickens? Would it be so difficult to dump them in the nature reserves like Sungei Buloh or the neighbourhood of Lim Chu Kang?

It is not nice to cull chicken in the Year of the Cock. Not a very good start, not a good omen.  All the cocks are reminded not to anyhow crow or you will be dead meat. There is no tolerance for irritating cocks,... and hens too.

I bet if Attenborough were to be invited to do another series on wildlife here he would show the middle finger to the hypocrites of this wicked city. 3.5m people and stuffing more millions of foreigners here but cannot spare the space and life of a few jungle fowl!

Parliament now finds it important enough to talk about the cocks in the coming session. This time talking cock may save a few wildlife before they are terminated forever. Killing cocks in the year the Cock is not a good omen.

Singaporeans have the chance to elect their president

Some Singaporeans still did not know that they did not elect their Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was elected by a special group of elites within the party. Maybe now more Singaporeans know that the electoral system is such that they only elect the MPs and the rest of the ministers, including the PM, are elected by themselves, not the choice of the Singaporean electorate.
 
But come September Singaporeans could enjoy the benefit of electing their president by casting their votes to the candidate they like. Yes, they are going to elect the president directly. But who would this candidate be? By the way, who would be selecting the candidate for the Singaporeans to elect? How many candidates would be selected for the Singaporeans to elect? Some think there will be one candidate selected, some say maybe two.
 
What is important in this election of president process is that the Singaporeans would have the chance to go to the poll, which is compulsory, to cast their vote for the elected president. This is a privilege rarely bestowed to the electorates in many democratic countries. Singaporeans are so lucky. They can choose their president and elect the person of their choice. This is democracy at its best. A president from the people, by the people and will be for the people.
 
What more do you want? Just be grateful. By the look of things evolving, it looks like the Singaporeans would have the chance to elect Halimah as their next president. And Halimah, when elected, would have the mandate to check on the govt. This is called checks and balance to prevent a rogue govt from running away with the country's reserves.