The people are angry

Online and offline petitions by angry people to claim back money lost or to be lost in financial derivatives arising from the collapse of Lehman Brothers and other American institutions have started. And MAS is looking into it. In America, the FBI is also looking into it for fraud by those organisations selling such bonds and notes. At best I think we can look from the angle of not enough due diligence and misrepresentation. This is the first time such an action is being pushed to the frontpage news by aggrieved investors. It may be time for MAS to look at failed IPOs that went down after a few years on listing. Some even reporting losses within 2 years from listing when the prospectuses were full of praises and recommendations on how well the companies were doing. There must be lack of due diligence or even misrepresentation or even fraud in some cases. The investors must be compensated. The organisations involved in the listing of such failed companies must be held accountable and to compensate the investors. So far they have been getting away scot free.

Life is party in Paradise

If only I were the director of 10 companies or chairman of a few companies, and collecting millions and doing practically nothing, life will be so wonderful. Not only playing golf in free time or travelling under company expenses, it is party all year round. Now the world's biggest bash, a $100 million party is in town. The F1 promises to bring in the world's rich and famous here, the well heeled and well connected, to party. And for these somebodies, you got to be somebody, they are going to party for free. All expenses paid by the banks, big organisations and sponsors of the events. To live in the best hotels and hospitality suites, the best seats to watch the race, the best food and companies, wine and dance the night away, all for free. As for the nobodies, please dig into your pockets and find that $300 or $3000 to buy the tickets. And they will have to buy their own drinks too. Life is great in paradise, if you have made it.

4th least corrupt country in the world!

Singapore is the 4th least corrupt country in the world. Only 3 countries, Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand were better than us. In Asia, we are the least corrupt. Hongkong and Japan lie quite far away from us. Not a bad achievement. To take stock, countries that are more corrupt than us are Finland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Austria, Germany, Norway UK, US and many many more, in fact the rest of the world. The Americans, the Brits and the Europeans should stop criticising us about corruption. We are less corrupt than them. But it is all relative. It would be better if the survey by the Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index said that we are not corrupt. The survey just says that we are not as corrupt as others.

No need more regulations for cyberspace

Why is there such an obsession to want to regulate the internet? Who wants to regulate the internet and for whose interests? I don't see bloggers being too keen to want people to regulate their activities. In communist countries, dictatorships, authoritarian states, regulations and laws are the tools to keep the people in check and the rulers in power. Laws and regulations are aplenty, all for the sake of the rulers and not for the people. That is the reason why they are so obsessed with more rules and regulations. In our case, thank god, we have elected honourable people with high principles, morals and selflessness as our rulers. So the danger for abuse of rules and laws is not there. Our rulers are righteous people and will not interpret the laws to their benefit or to the disadvantage of the people. For such reasons, we are an exception. Actually I would support more rules and regulations as they will be made for the good of the people. Let's talk about govt and rulers in general, excluding our govt as we are different from the rest of the world. It is very common and easy for rogues to be elected as rulers or assumed power. Some will wear the mask of absolute righteousness. But when in power, the only thing they care is to keep themselves in power forever. And they will want to keep the people in control with more rules and regulations. All done for their own interests. Even without more regulations and laws, many tricks are available to them to intimidate the people. Calling up people to harass them, invite them to the police station for tea. Or worst, if all things failed, they can use the ISA and arrest innocent people on fictitious charges. If the people remains quiet, those arrested will be arrested for good. If the people make noise, they may release them and claim that the arrest was for the safety of the person. Do people really want to have more rules and laws governing internet? I feel that common law, the law of human decency, the law of respecting other people etc should be adequate. There are enough laws to regulate human behaviour and crimes. No need to have more. What for, for who?

Why no Tamil signages at the airport?

Red card was shown and a speaker was not allowed to talk on the above topic at Hong Lim Park. This is a sensitive issue on race. A K.Sabesan wrote to the ST and said, 'I wish to express my strong displeasure over the decision of the police to cancel a planned talk at the Speaker's Corner over the absence of Tamil signages at the airport and other tourist attractions...I strongly supported the initiative not out of hatred towards other races, but felt that the issue had to be addressed.' I have full sympathy with such feelings. We have so many Tamils and Bangladeshis here who don't read English or Chinese. We also have so many Thais, Myanmese, Filipinos and Indonesians and people from other countries. And we also have tourists from around the world coming here, including Arabs, Russians, East Europeans, Japanese, Mongolians, Vietnamese etc etc. As a global city welcoming the world to our home, we must show our hospitality towards our guests and our guest workers. We need to make our facilities friendly to all of them. And this is especially so to the valuable foreign workers and foreign talents sacrificing to build our countries and provide employments to Singaporeans. We should have signages for all the languages of the world in our airports and tourist spots. That is not only natural justice, we can also claim another first to do so. Soon big cities like New York, London and Paris will follow our example as truly international cities and put up language signages in their airports. If we are not going to do so, then we should do the next niciest thing, to cut down on the number of foreign workers and foreigners in our country. Then no one can be angry with us or complain that we are being unfair to them. We can't really blame them when there are so many of them here. We must treat them fairly, at least let them know how to go from A to B, in their own languages. Where on earth can you find foreigners demanding rights to have their languages in signages in our airports and tourist spots? Only in Sillypore!

Local fund managers grotesquely underpaid

Below is an article showing how well off American and European fund managers are being paid in year 2007 alone. Top on the list is John Paulson at US$3.7bn, second was George Soros at US$2.9bn and third was James Simon at US$2.8bn. We should quickly raise the pay for our local fund managers before they all ran to America and Europe. American hedge fund billionaire John Paulson 'American hedge fund billionaire John Paulson was his industry's biggest earner in 2007 thanks to a bet against sub-prime mortgages that netted him $3.7bn (£1.9bn) in personal profit. As the world's biggest banks reeled in the face of the credit crunch last year, the top five hedge fund earners took home at least $1.5bn apiece after their funds gambled the right way in exceptionally volatile markets. Hedgie Paulson's made it, now he must spend it. A survey by US hedge fund magazine Alpha, published yesterday, said the five - Mr Paulson, George Soros, James Simons of Renaissance Technologies, Philip Falcone of Harbinger Capital and Kenneth Griffin of Citadel - all individually earned more than the $1.2bn that JPMorgan will spend to buy Bear Stearns, the most high profile victim of the crunch. Mr Paulson, himself a former managing director at Bear Stearns, stole the crown after setting up the $150m Paulson Credit Opportunities Fund in June 2006 to short sub-prime mortgage-backed assets. Where other investors bet against the entire sub-prime index, Mr Paulson's team drilled down to the individual CDOs, delivering net returns of 590pc for investors in the fund by the end of the year. Number two on the list - 77-year-old Mr Soros, who called the dotcom bust - also owes his $2.9bn payday to his bets against sub-prime, as does ex-Barclays Capital man and Harbinger founder Mr Falcone, who pocketed $1.7bn. Hedge fund traders needed to earn at least $210m to reach the top 50, a feat achieved by eight London-based traders. Top of the UK's hedge fund performers, at number 13 with $450m, was the head of Atticus Capital's fund, David Slager. Others include GLG Partners' co-founders Noam Gottesman and Pierre Lagrange, who made $350m apiece, while star trader Greg Coffey made $300m. This was on top of the hundreds of millions of dollars the trio made when they listed GLG on the New York Stock Exchange last year. But GLG has entered more treacherous waters. News emerged yesterday that Mr Coffey - a specialist in emerging markets - unexpectedly handed in his resignation at GLG earlier this week, sending the fund's shares plunging by 12.5pc to $8.75. The GLG partner rescinded his resignation on Tuesday, but is locked in talks with Mr Gottesman and Mr Lagrange about his future, with no guarantee he will stay on.' I would like to give credit to the source of this article. Unfortunately the source was not disclosed.

A tale from NTU

I did something naughty last week by Terrence Lee What a week it has been. I'd expect my four years in university to be extremely peaceful, free from trouble and fuss. My idea of university life used to be that of dating, studying, and having fun generally. How things have changed in the space of seven days. Things are certainly getting interesting, right here at NTU. In one night, at the click of a mouse, I became an activist, and I did not even realise it then. So, what is activism, you wonder? It is standing up for certain beliefs, and fighting to get it recognised by the authorities and the wider public.... So, what exactly happened? Here's a brief: 1) Chee Soon Juan came down to NTU to gave out flyers and talk to students. They were generally apathetic, but student reporters were on hand to report the event. 2) However, the campus administration did the unthinkable -- they censored all coverage of Dr Chee's visit, wanting to "protect students." 3) Many of us at the Nanyang Chronicle, the school's campus newspaper, were infuriated. It showed two things: that the school has no regard for the opinions of students and that the school treats us like children, thinking that we will be easily influenced by whatever we read. That was when a thought came to me: Get it out! Get it out! Singaporeans need to hear about this!.... Above is an extract of a post by Terrence Lee and crossed posted in the TOC. It is a lamentation by a university student on how NTU, an institution of higher learning, dealt with the visit of Chee Soon Juan to the university. According to Terrence Lee, the students were treated like children and the university was trying to protect them. Where is papa and mama? If university undergraduates are so naive, so fragile, so innocent, that they need to be protected by the university from a politician, how could our children be exposed to the vagaries of life and to make informed opinions of the world? It looks like the undergrads are a cohort of kindergarten children. What happens to the old belief that the university is a fertile ground to nurture the young minds, to liberate them from ignorance, to acquire an inquiring mind, to deliberate and expound and exchange ideas, of youthful idealism? Looks like it is better to feed them with Vitamin C daily to protect them from the common flu. These are poor and helpless students and can be easily exploited and manipulated as they are quite mindless. I just make up my mind to send my children overseas to get a real education.

Wrong perception on power station sale

Jenny Teo, Director, Energy Market Authority, wrote a letter to Today to explain the rationale for the sale of power stations to private companies. The story that the govt was selling the stations for 'good profit' and to avoid 'having to explain to the public high (electricity) tariffs' were wrong. These were not the reasons why the power stations were divested. It was all a govt's strategy to open up the market for more competition, restructure the industry, which ultimately will benefit the consumers. And this is already bearing fruits. Otherwise the consumers will now be paying much higher tariffs when oil prices rose. The efficiency and productivity gains were passed on to the consumers. With the opening up, with participation of more players, with liberalisation, 'there will be more scope for innovation, better service and competitive pricing' which means consumers will benefit more. The main logic is still privatisation. Organisations that are not privatised will be inefficient and unproductive. This logic is quickly loosing its meaning and becoming stale. The civil servants of today are no longer the dumb and dull civil servants of yesteryears. They are the best of the crop, the best talents of the country. And they have all the resources to improve and better the system. They can do all their studies, go on study trips, all information and technology are open secret and available to them. The civil servants can do much better, given their talents, to run more efficient and productive organisations. There is no need to privatise, to commercialise, to be efficient. In the present context, a govt monopoly is an advantage and can be very productive given the scale of operations. Unless our civil servants are not as talented as they are make out to be. Then that will be a different story. And we should actually sack all of them. Why pay them market salary if they are unable to compete with the best in the market?

The housing bubble

Other than the genius of the best financial minds in printing worthless papers to be sold in the trillions of dollars, the basic ingredient in the American financial crisis is non other than the housing bubble. Property prices were allowed to run unchecked in parallel with more loans to those who cannot afford them. And when the bubble bursts, when the people no longer be able to afford the properties they could not afford in the first place, the house of cards crumbles. We are also creating the housing bubble here. Asset enhancement to make properties more expensive by the days. Great wealth creation. Great illusions will soon become great delusion. When the income is not rising, or shrinking, the runaway prices of properties are unsustainable. It is extremely hazardous to give loans in the hundreds of thousands and millions, at 80% or 90% of the property value. Even at 60% or 70% is risky when servicing such huge loans is dependent on the economy and the monthly salary. When the economy falters, when the income stops coming in, the dream house will vanish in the dream. The fundamentals of economics, of thrift and living within your means is an evergreen truth that one can ignore at your own risk. The American dream of living on future income, on borrowing, has come to an end. It is a miracle that it can go on for so long. The bubble has burst. The dream is shattered. The Americans will find it increasingly dependent on cheap Chinese products, not matter if the quality is not up to their expectation. That's what they can afford now.

The wrong vibration

The mantra of foreign talents is still being sung in high places. We need a new vibration. We need more concerts, arts festivals, F1s, bohemian corners, pot parties, gay parties, yatch racing etc etc. We need to fill up the Esplanade and the museums. These are the kinds of vibrations we are expecting to befit a first world city. Black tie parties, wine drinking and beautiful women in their expensive fineries. What kind of vibrations are we getting? The Geylang kind, the vibrations of litter, noise and stench. And we have little Geylangs aroung the islands. We are a first world city within a city of sleaze. We have kept the foreign workers in dormitories in graveyards and secondary jungles or industrial parks. But when these run out, or when the number can no longer be contained, we are going to see them swimming in the plummest corners of paradise. Serangoon Garden is only the beginning. They will move nearer to us as a matter of time. Nice vibration.

When the end is nigh

The dramatic change of fate of UMNO is a set piece of how things will be when the end is nigh. All the facade of confidence, of things looking right, of support from every corner, of supporters swearing and willing to fight for the cause, of the silence majority remaining as acquiescence as before, will take an about turn. First the brave will start to take sides. The Malaysian bloggers were the suicide squads that took the challenge of the media through the internet. And gradually the ground was won when the other side of the story got an opportunity to be aired and heard. The truth becomes tooth while the bigger truth emerges from the wilderness. The continued abuses of the people and the trampling of their rights were given a bigger airing and more were willing to stand up as in the Hindraf case. The Chinese community were the pathetic lot that continues to swallow all the discriminations and obstacles placed in their path, education, economic opportunity, religious freedom etc were accepted by the Chinese component parties in the BN. They totally discredited themselves remaining in the company of their abusers. They were abandoned. Then the Malay ground was worked up to face the truth. That they too were the neglected lot. And they too abandoned UMNO. UMNO was left with a bunch of politicians that were showering themselves with the wealth of the country but projecting the image of fighting for the interests of the bumiputras. The deception was unveiled and the conclusion was foregone. The royalties stood up to claim higher moral ground that they could not do so before. And now the judiciary and the legal profession are standing up to say no to the abuses of the judiciary and the police. They are saying no to ISA! Where would all these lead to for UMNO? More will stand up. All the injustices and unfair policies and practices will be challenged. And the last bastion of UMNO's supporters will revolt and tear down UMNO themselves. These are the eventualities of events when the end is near. It can happen in paradise too. The wrongs cannot be kept under the lid forever. When the time comes, people will stand up and speak up from the most unexpected corners. In the meantime, the incredulous and nonsensical will keep on piling up till that day, to be removed and sent to the dustbin of history.

Where are the accountabilities?

Should heads roll? The near collapse of the US financial system and the bankruptcy of several investment banks must surely see someone taking responsibility and getting the stick. Looks like it is not going to happen and they will live happily ever after with their loots over the years of mismanagement. According to Ann Williams in her article on the financial crisis in the Sunday Times, the CEO of Lehman Brothers, Richard Fuld, 'gets to keep the US490 million he earned.' If it was a simple case of business failure, fair enough. What if there were mismanagement amounting to fraud, cooking of accounts, hiding losses etc? From her article, she mentioned 10 reasons for the current turmoil and among which were the churning out of dubious financial products to unwary customers, raising loans and living off loans and more loans, 'keeping loss making investments "off balance sheet" and the failure of regulators to do their due diligence. All the policing and regulating agencies, including auditors etc that were supposed to check on the soundness of business practices and accounting systems were not doing their jobs. The accountability of failure of such a scale does not lie alone on the respective investment banks but a hoard of regulating bodies, including govt agencies. But as mentioned by Ann Williams, the Americans and those apeing the American practices, have been living on a culture of greed 'that gave outsized rewards for success and risk taking but did not penalise failure.' Do we have a mirror of similar practices and culture here? Are we harbouring a similar potential problem that is waiting to explode in our face? Have we been doing things like the Americans, for greed without any concern to the consequences of failure? This is what Tan Kin Lian said, 'There has to be stronger protection of consumers. Regulators should disallow unsuitable products form being marketed to the retail investors. Regulators also need to take stronger action against financial institutions that fail in their duy to provide good advice to their customers.' This should include financial institutions and regulators who have failed to do their due diligence. A case in point is the churning out of many IPOs into the stock markets which eventually failed within a few years despite the glorious accounting data dished out to the investors in the prospectus. Listing companies into the stock exchange with no control on their qualities is a crime. So far no one has been held accountable.

Uniqueness of space in Cyberspace

The nature of space in Cyberspace is very different from the space that we know. What we are accustomed to is a three dimensional space that can be define in physical terms. The space within our properties, the geographic space of a country, a space that is either yours or mine or share by all. Hong Lim Park is a physical space. What about the space in our minds? Cyberspace is very similar to such mental space except that one can actually visit such a space. Mysingaporenews, redbeanforum or any forum in cyberspace is just an abstract space in nowhere. Each space can actually be as big as the universe and can be ever expanding. And the best part of it is that everyone can have a cyberspace as huge as the universe but not at any time infringed or violated into another person's cyberspace. And that space literally does not exist if one does not key in the cyberspace address to enter that space. Why or how can such space that is there but not there be subject to regulations? If no one wants to key in www.redbeanforum.com or www.mysingaporenews.blogspot.com, these places do not exist at all. The person who enters into someone's cyberspace, enters on his own initiative. The cyberspace owner can openly announce to visitors that they need not visit if they are not comfortable with the space. The govt needs not visit any cyberspace site. The physical govt can exist in its own physical dimension and at the same time cyberspaces can exist in parallel but in a different dimension without encroaching on the physical space of the govt. So why the hang ups and the uneasiness of the existence of cyberspaces? Why can't cyberspaces exist without the interference of govts?

The pathetic being of politicians

The politicians are the leaders of the people. The honourable and righteous role model to be respected by the people. And rightly so, they shall not be objects of ridicules. They have big missions and noble roles to play in any society. And when they play their roles well, they will be held in high esteem, to be remembered in perpetuity in the history books. Why is it that politicians can become pathetic and lose the respect of the people? How could they land in a situation when they become a mockery or jokes in private parties? They will if they allow personal or non national interests to rule their thinking and policies. A good case is the arrest of journalists and parliamentarians in Malaysia. When they could not find any good reasons to arrest the opposition or critics, they threw the ISA at them. And what have these people done to be arrested? And the most ridiculous of all is for the Home Minister to turn around and said the arrest was to protect the journalist from harm. And Anwar Ibrahim is now pronounced as a threat to national security. This means that he can be arrested under ISA. For what? For having the majority of MPs to qualify to form the govt and replace the current govt? It is so easy to call anyone names or hang a security threat placard on anyone's neck and put that person in prison. A dog is a fish. Yes, a fish got two eyes. A dog also got two eyes. A fish got a tail, a dog too got a tail. You still don't believe that at dog is a fish? A fish can swim. Yes a dog can swim too. So a dog must be a fish. This kind of cock talk can only come from arrogant politicians. When politicians speak in this kind of logic, they deserve to be put into a gossip corner. People may politely smile at their cock explanations, but there is no running away that they have made a fool of themselves in the eyes of the people. And when that happens, all respectability, honour, moral authority etc is gone. Habis. That is how pathetic politicians can be when they take a wrong stand for the wrong reason.

No change in Dictation Culture

The CPF ruling on sale of property for those above 55 has changed again without any discussion with the public. The rulers think that it is good or their right to keep the people's money. So when you sell your property, your money must go back to make up for the shortfall in the minimum sum. Now they did not even go through the motion of letting people know of the impending change, no need for feedback. Just dictate it. And it's done. No need to put up a farce of consulting the people. The rulers shall rule and the people shall be ruled. It is our money!

More hugging and embracing may do the trick

MP Lim Wee Kiak, who sits on the Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development and Environment, suggested that employers work with grassroots leaders to organise dorm visits for residents, to foster mutual understanding. Quoted from TodayOnline. This is a good suggestion. We should organise more social activities, visit the foreign workers more, have more parties with them to get to know them better. Then they will understand the locals and the locals will understand them. And with such understanding, they can live happily together. Problem solved.

Foreign workers due to poor planning

Mr Mah, meanwhile, admitted to possibly “poor planning” on the authorities’ part when it came to accommodating foreign workers. . “We plan for a certain level of increase (in the influx) but we never expected the demand to go up so high,” he said. In 2006, the increase in foreign workers numbers was 55,000, compared to 102,000 last year. . So is Singapore planning adequately, going forward? “If we get more people to accept the trade-offs, I am confident we can meet demand,” said Mr Mah....Quoted from TodayOnline Lin Yanqin yanqin@mediacorp.com.sg Oh, can we accept poor planning as an excuse?

The Loot Chain

The trouble financial institutions in the US did not happen yesterday. It did not happen last year. It happened many years back. But all these institutions were reporting glorious profits all these years. And the top management were paying themselves crazy for turning in profits after profits. And they all looked so real. These are high profile public companies and are audited annually by the top auditing firms. Cannot be wrong. And there are top notched regulators regulating them. Everything is above board. Now they have turned out to be cans of worms. Why nobody knows? Why no whistleblowers? Yes, there were. Read a Bloomberg article posted in http://www.littlespeck.com/ for the full story. Whistleblowers were threatened inspite the laws to protect them, and threatened by the regulators who were supposed to look at these companies carefully. The moral of the story is to check who are behind these looters before you blow the whistle. US$900b have been pumped in so far to save all the fallen blue chip companies. Would the investors be able to take a single cent back from the management who have been looting the companies? Would the auditors and regulators be hanged? Unlikely. They are all in the loot chain. Would this happen here? Unlikely. We have the best brains administering the system and watching over them like a hawk. Even people who bought a single lot of 20c share and recorded the date wrongly will be caught. This is how meticulous and detailed we are. We have the resources. And there will be more resources to watch over the big boys. Then we have the best auditing firms, and top notched management team. If they play around with the accounting system they will be caught. No way will it happen here. But if 'sway sway' that it happens to some of the big companies, just pray hard that they are not managed by foreign talents. For most foreign talents will come in with a golden parachute. Anything wrong, company goes bust, they will still bail out safely with a soft landing and a big bag of loot to retire happily.

Game over in Wall Street

The financial wizards and witches in Wall Street are running out of magic and tricks. All the derivatives, paper money, junk bonds etc that they have concocted to be exchanged for money are not working. By the stroke of mid night, they will be transformed back to their original forms, worthless papers. We have seen Merrill Lynch, Citibanks going down. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Lehmah. AIG barely breathing. Now who's next? Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sach? Is there anyone that would be spared? The game is over. But the wizards and witches are still very, very rich. It is the poor investors in America and the world over that have paid the price. Someone care to explain why these people are paid millions and millions when they are gambling with other people's money? And when the game is up, they just pack up and go. They only lose other people's money, not their own money.

Thumbs up for CPF staff

Nothing to do with the policies and the need for people to contribute till death do they part. Wondering why people who are economically active after 60 would still be needed to contribute to their CPF? Just a side track. I was at CPF the other day during lunch time and there were quite a lot of people waiting to be attended. Quite normal as lunch time is a good time for many employees to do their personal chores. What struck me was the attitude of the counter staff at the reception. There was a kind of purpose, enthusiasm and dedication to their job. They came across like self employed people running their own business and knowing that every customer counts and every second counts. They attended to their customers as quickly and attentively as they could. For those who needed to join the long queue, they were advised to go for lunch and return later after collecting the queue number. For those that could be attended to quickly, they did it immediately. I have never seen a govt dept or stats board that is so fired up. Whoever is motivating these staff to work that way deserves an award.

The immigrants of Malaysia

I have received the following note which I think is quite informative. *Mahathir's father who speak Malayalam came from Kerala, Southern India. Badawi's grandfather, Ha Su-chiang (also known as Hassan), was a Chinese Muslim who came from Sanya in Hainan, Southern China. Syed Hamid Albar's father is of Hadhrami Arab descent. Khir Toyo His father, Joyo Erodikromo, was an immigrant from Java, Indonesia. And even the current 'racist' Ahmad Ismail that went into hiding came from Sumatra. And all these people dare to call others squatters & immigrants in Malaysia?!

The official definition of what is political

What is political and what is not political were clearly spelt out by Ho Peng Kee in Parliament. He also explained what can cause people to debate with politicians in public events and cause security concerns and what cannot. The definitions were the most explicit that one can get and I don't think any political scientist or lawyer will be able to dispute it. The gem was not about what he said. I didn't pay any attention to them. What was impressionable was the seriousness in the way Ho Peng Keng explained his position. His face muscles were all taut and tense. And I think Parliament must be very silent with all the Parliamentarians listening intensely to what he had to say. He passed with flying colours for his no nonsense approach to an issue that is becoming a talking point in every gossip corner. It was a very brave delivery. The best gem was a little clip in the news that I caught a glimpse of. It was on Sylvia Lim listening to Ho Peng Kee's discourse on what is political and what is not. You should see the smile on her face. It was all lighten up. That was the most exquisite smile that I have ever seen. And it told so many things without her saying a single word. It would be good if the full clip can be made available in Youtube. I will call it the smile that says everything.

The Malaysian Revolution continues

Just a matter of a few months back you would not believe that it can happen. Two muslim groups and the Mufti of Perlis, Asri Zainul Abidin, are speaking out to defend the arrest of Chinese journalist and Chinese DAP parliamentarians under the ISA. The racial divide is breaking down and the different races are finding a common ground as Malaysians. This is impossible and unimaginable. And it is happening. The mindset of the Malaysians of all races are changing. The voodoo spell of UMNO has been cast away. Malaysians are uniting as one people for a new Malaysia. And all of a sudden UMNO is looking like a bankrupt political party, running out of ideas except threats of violence and the abuse of police authority.

Power of The Old Media (TOM)

DAP leader Teresa Kok was arrested under the Malaysian ISA when Utusan Melayu published a report alleging that she was involved in an effort to prohibit Azan, the muslim call to attend prayer. This is despite the denials by the authorities of the respective mosques that she was involved. See how powerful the media can be. No one is questioning how the report came about or who wrote the report and the basis of the report. A Malaysian citizen, a politician, is now in detention for 28 days and can be extended, all because of a newspaper report. Don't under estimate the power of TOM.

New laws to protect mentally ill

This law is timely given the statistics that 1 in 6 are mentally ill. With so many of them around us, it is important to protect them from harm by people who are responsible for their well being and people who are to protect them. Are there any laws to protect people who are not mentally ill but treated as one? Psychiatric problems sometimes are not clear cut. There have been instances of geniuses being diagnosed as cracks. The line between brilliance and insanity is very thin. There must be laws to protect the innocent from being wrongly diagnosed as mentally sick too.

Notable quote - Petra Raja Kamaruddin

A powerful quote from Raja Petra Kamaruddin There should be no bloodshed and loss of life. And ask the Malays in the opposition to come out in defence of their non-Malay brothers and sisters and warn the Umno Malays, in no uncertain terms, that they take to the streets at the risk of facing fellow Malays from the opposition who will defend their non-Malay brethren to the last drop of their blood. I, for one, am ready to stand by my Chinese and Indian comrades. So let Umno be warned." - Raja Petra Kamarudin, editor of Malaysia Today now under ISA detention. I copy the above quote from www.littlespeck.com. This is how far the progressive Malays in Malaysia have come, moving away from racial and parochial politics, into a new world of multi ethnicity, a future where all men are brothers.

Police arrest citizen to protect her

Well, that was what Syed Hamid said about the arrest to Sin Chew paper journalist Tan Hoon Cheng. He said he had information that harm might come to her. So the ISA was invoked to arrest her to protect her. Why didn't he go after those people that want to harm her? And now releasing her would it not expose her to harm again? The use of the ISA is now being questioned even by UMNO leaders and the de facto Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim is threatening to resign if not stopped. The Malaysian govt's use of the police against its political rivals and the willingness of the police officers to go along with it have turned Malaysia into a country not much different from Myanmar or other authoritarian states. Malaysia is quickly slipping away from its democratic principles. And this abuse of political and police power is no longer acceptable to the Malaysians both within and outside the govt. Maybe democracy will triumph against the evil of power.

'Silly' people working for free

Are there silly Singaporeans who are willing to work for free? Apparently there are. But given a society that believes in nothing is for free, that talents will not work for free, people who work for free must be non talents. Logical? If you are good, you must be paid handsomely. You must demand to be paid for your talent. Once you are afraid to demand for your talent, then you jolly well accept that you are not a talent. Only non talent work for free and thinking that they are talents. Obviously their work will amount to nothing much and no attention will be paid to them. I acknowledge that the TOC proposal on public transport requires a lot of effort, time and energy and talent. Is there anything new? The supertalents would have even more better ideas than the 6 points of TOC. These are full time employees, carefully selected, the creme al creme. Just tell them what you want and they will come up with the answers that you want. The problem is not in the solution. The problem is what does the govt want. If profit is the mission, no problem. If world class is what the govt wants, no problem. If you tell the supertalents that you want something good, reasonable, and reasonably cheap, they will give it to you. If you tell them you want a transport system that moves people, as many people as possible, at the lowest cost, not for profit, they will give it to you. There is no need to take more money from the motorists or anyone. No need to rob Peter to pay Paul. We are going in circles with this Peter and Paul formula. There are enough money in the system to provide an efficient service, with lesser profits.

Positive impact of fare hike

Fare hike is not going to bring about better quality of service except better hardware if the revenue is reinvested. But there can be positive impacts with higher fare. As fare goes up, some will definitely feel the pinch and will avoid taking public transport if possible. Walk or cycle or not travelling at all. This will cut down on usage and free up some space in the trains and buses. The foreign workers will be the first to feel the pinch. They will be the first to stay away from MRT. Unfortunately transportation is necessary and many cannot but must travel. These groups will have no choice but keep on paying. Actually, if not for these poor buggers whose pocket is already burnt with a big hole, I would like to see transport fare to double so that the trains and buses will be more empty and more comfortable. But again this is only a fleeting dream. When usage is lower, the transport companies will just cut down on the number of trains or buses to keep them full and packed. The commuters cannot win in this game. They will always have to put up with packed trains and buses. That is the only way to reflect that we are like Tokyo or some big cities. A visual affirmation of progress and high social and economic activities.

The silence is more frightening

Malaysians are appealing for calm and not to provoke the UMNO led govt. The govt is suffering from a sieged mentality. It knows that it can be out of power any moment. Drastic measures will be taken when things turn out that way. Anwar may face the greatest crisis of his life. And so will Malaysians. Hishammuddin and Khairy and the other ultras have been quiet. In fact too quiet and it is becoming more frightening. What are they thinking and planning to do next? And they are going to be joined by Mahathir, the man who singlehandedly turned Malaysia into what it is today, and a crisis of his own doing. Do not light that match or press the door bell. The spark could ignite the tense and highly charged atmosphere and engulf the whole country in flame.

One crime too many

It is time to justify the presence of foreign workers in our midst. Yes, fewer of them were arrested on a per 100,000 number count. So they are safer than Singaporeans. There were 435 Singaporeans per 100,000 as to 286 foreigners arrested. Statistically speaking, foreigners are safer and we should actually replace Singaporeans with foreigners and our crime rate will be lower. Wait a minute. We are talking about number of criminals arrested. How many crimes were still not solved and were committed by foreigners? Can we have an absolute figure on the number of crimes committed by foreigners and the nature of such crimes? The reports in the main media gave the impression that crimes by foreigners, given their numbers, are tolerable and acceptable. And many Singaporeans also think so. Anyone ask the victims and their families of such crimes whether they are acceptable or not? The Serangoon Garden residents obviously think not. One crime committed is one crime too many. One serious and vicious crime committed means many people will suffer for it. Somehow I got the impression that Singaporeans are comfortable with crimes and they do not mind being victims of crimes. Or is it that they think the crimes will not happen to them?

A day without LKY

I posted about this a few weeks back. The news that LKY's heart is fluttering is troublesome even on a Sunday morning. Would his heart dare to attack him? My earlier post was on the transition of power and of a Singapore that can continue to hum quietly and efficiently without LKY in the govt. And we have all the time in the world for that to happen with him retiring to a non govt position. But LKY is around and in the govt, for an uninterrupted period of half a century. The thought and fear of what Singapore will be like without him is going to be very uneasy. Modern Singapore has never had a day without LKY. Now this can happen without notice. The possibilities are endless and the uncertainties are unhealthy. If only LKY had backed out from the govt 10 years ago, life will go on as per normal with or without him when his time is up. Now the suspense is just beginning. Nothing is settled until the so called fat lady sings.

First break into the world of free speech

Not bad for a first appearance at Hong Lim Park by TOC and a spectator size of 150. TOC reported the number to be 150 to 200. Whatever, I would not call it a crowd. But given the high cost of public transport, it is lucky they got the number. They should get a better crowd on a weekday lunch time when the office workers are around. But the midday heat may be too much heat for the speakers and spectators. This is a first for a civil group to stage a mini rally in a public place and the first for them to do so without needing a police permit. It is also a first for the main media to give them a bit of publicity with a generous photo showing a speaker and 10 spectators. Everything starts with a small step.

You want medals?

You want medals, we give you medals. This is more or less what our Paralympians were saying to Singapore. First Laurentia Tan gave us two bronze medals. Now Yin Pin Xiu gave us a silver medal and a world record. So did Theresa Goh with another world record of her own. Yin Pin Xiu is lined up to deliver a gold. The irony of life comes in the most unexpected places. When Singapore was hungry for an Olympic medal and willingly splurged on its sportsmen and women in the tune of a $32 mil annual budget, the medal harvest came where the expectation was low. With only a budget of $3.2 mil, a fraction of the main budget of the Singapore Sports Council, the Singapore Disability Sports Council is bringing home 3 medals and maybe another gold in the waiting. This may be the secret of our success. No need to pay so much for a medal. We can find our sporting heroes and heroines in the fields of the disadvantaged.

Road to a better transport system

Without fail, whenever there is a fare hike, the message is always about an improvement in the service and quality of the transport system. If every time it becomes better, we would have been better by 10 or 20 times over the years. This time the good thing is that the message is only about a better transport system and not about a world class transport system. What's the difference? A better transport system means you have to pay a bit better to get the better system. A world class transport system means you would have to pay world class fare. I hope it will be kept that way. A better system should be good enough. Hong Lim Park should be busy this evening with The Online Citizen making an appearance to talk about our transport system. I hope they will do a comparison of the quality and service of the transport system 20 years ago and what it is now and look at the difference in the fare over the same period. Are the increases in fare deserving of the improvement in service and quality? Another area they may want to look into is the land and infrastructure cost of the train system. How much land were given to SMRT and at what cost, and how much were invested in the infrastructure? And were these returned to the state or people or did they just become the asset of the current shareholders? The issue of public transport as a national service and not just a private business to generate profit to shareholders must be the key issue to be thrashed out. Why should an essential service that can cripple the whole economy be privatised just for profit? Or would it be better to operate under a different premise, to facilitate freer and cheaper movement of people which will benefit the whole economy? Should the system be returned to the state as a statutory board and the bull concept that only privatisation can make it more efficient and effective be dismissed? Would the activities at Hong Lim Park resulted in more revelations of what our transport system is all about or would it be another roadside selling 'koyote' session?

Laurentia Tan got us two medals

Paralympics: Singapore's Laurentia Tan wins second Equestrian bronze By Ryan Huang, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 11 September 2008 2116 hrs HONG KONG: Singapore's Laurentia Tan has won a second bronze medal in an Equestrian event on Thursday, giving the country its second medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. Overcoming the odds in the Individual Freestyle Grade 1A event in Hong Kong, Tan performed to music, despite being born with profound deafness. Tan also has cerebral palsy. She made history on Tuesday by becoming the nation's first and currently only paralympic medallist. - CNA /ls Now I am wondering who sponsored her training and how much did it cost to get us the two medals. It may be the Paralympics, but still an international event. Should put more money to train our Paralympians. Chances of medals are better.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul

Bus and train fares up on 1 October Posted: 12 September 2008 1032 hrs in CNA online SINGAPORE - Most bus and train journeys except those for children, students and national servicemen, will see fare changes from 1 October 2008. The Public Transport Council (PTC) has given the green light for an overall net fare adjustment that will result in fare changes that will range from a 7-cent reduction to a 4-cent increase per journey. Adult EZ-Link fares on buses and trains and the senior citizen concession EZ-Link fare, will see a flat increase of 4 cents per ride. However, this will be offset by the 15-cent increase in transfer rebate from the current 25 cents to 40 cents. Public transport operators have also decided that they will bear 10 cents out of the 15-cent increase in the transfer rebate. ... Anyone did not see this coming? Anyway the amounts are small and affordable. And please just accept the increases and don't ever complain. We would not want the suggestion to raise road tax for motorists to subsidise these increases do we? It is a good and useful suggestion no doubt and the input comes from the people. More acceptable to implement such a suggestion.

TOC - A false start

Sep 11, 2008 The Straits Times Transport suggestions put forth By Maria Almenoar and Yeo Ghim Lay IF THE Transport Ministry were run by the people behind the socio-political blog The Online Citizen (TOC), car owners would be one unhappy lot. The band of 15 say that, instead of giving road tax rebates to motorists, the Government should up the tax - and use the revenue to subsidise public transport.... This is the gist of what TOC's stand is all about in its maiden public forum at the Hong Lim Park. I call it a false start simply because the high cost of public transportation is mainly due to the high profit the transport companies are making. They do not need to rip the motorists of more money to subsidise public transport. What is needed is to repriortise the mission of public transportation and change the profit motive to providing an efficient and cheaper public transport system. TOC's call to make the motorists pay even more is unnecessary.

Can professionals get their terms right?

Goh Eng Yeow from ST reported that David Loh and Han Eng Juan were 'executive directors of UOB Kay Hian. The heading of his article screamed, ' 'Dream Team' remisiers fined by MAS. Anyone reading the headline will quickly form the impression that remisiers got fined. And remisiers are always in trouble with their practices and in trouble with the law. Some times back there was another director that was sent to IMH. He too was called a 'remisier.' According to my professional knowledge of this industry, remisiers are independent sub contractors working in broking houses. They are never directors of broking houses. Directors of broking houses, eg executive directors, are normally company employees. They are not remisiers. I stand corrected if some broking houses actually give titles like directors or executive directors to their remisiers. Can professionals get this simple terminology and distinction right? Would the Remisier Society correct this impression that remisiers are not always infringing the laws and got fined?

The Otak Stall is closed

The Otak Stall is a new site in Delphiforum set up by Otak69 after Sammboy Coffeeshop was disbanded. It has been in existence for a few weeks and has to be closed down due to mysterious circumstances. This is what Otak69 posted in Singapore Kopitiam on his reasons to close it down. 'I've received a threat, possibly from ISD (or an impersonator), to face a lawsuit unless I close this forum before 2359 tonight. The person claims to know my I.P. address and had correctly named my ISP host, amongst many other details. I hope fellow bros will understand that this is a tough call for me to make to close this forum prematurely even though I do wish I didnt have to. I will risk facing a lawsuit if his claim is true. Bros may proceed to the other ficklebug's forum. Do get organised there ASAP. Otherwise, you can be sure that the same fellas will be trying very hard to disrupt your efforts there. I wish you all best of luck. http://forums.delphiforums.com/3in1kopitiam/ Note : I've made up my mind to kill off this nick, otak69. It will perish with the closure of this forum. It will never arise again and all subsequent iterations of this nick are clones. Do not respond to them or be lead by them if they try to impersonate me. I had a lot of fun with you fellas. Will miss you. otak69, signing off from The Otak Stall. 10/9/08' There have been many accusations and cross accusations by the forumers in The Otak Stall on their backgrounds and who they really are behind the nicks. We don't really know what is the truth and the details of any conspiracy if any. What is important for all bloggers is to use the internet as a tool for communications and stay away from crimes or dubious activities. We stand by what we post.

Too much money!

This should be the title of the next movie for Jack Neo. The concept of Money Not Enough is over used. He should talk about people with too much money, when they do not know where the money is coming from and what to do with the money, and still crazily asking for more money. My definition of Too Much Money is one month's income that is more than enough for one years expenditure. But it should exclude purchases like bungalows, yachts, exotic wild parties etc. To include such big ticket items, then there is not limit. You can buy a bungalow or ten bungalows everyday. Having dinners every night in a restaurant for the whole family are normal for people with too much money, but acceptable. People with too much money should be able to spend without batting an eyelid on the best food and best quality daily needs. The moral of the movie shall be how crazy and greedy people are when they fall into the category of Too Much Money and still asking for more money. And another plot should be on how those with Too Much Money are turning to doing more meaning things to better the world and other people's life instead of chasing for more money.

How to tell your own tooth

How to tell your own tooth with the backing of statistics? Piece of cake. I saw this chart on sales of private homes in My Paper today. The heading of the article is 'More HDB owners upgrading'. Reading from the chart, it quoted a 'DTZ's analysis of caveats captured by URA's Realis system,' and said, 'The number of private homes bought by those with HDB addresses also increased 35% quarter on quarter to 1,199, outpacing 3% increase over the same period in the number of private homes picked up by those with private properties.' Now comes the interesting part. Comparing the 1Q08 to 2Q08, the numbers were 888 and 1,199. So we see a 35% increase. But if you compare 2Q07 and 2Q08, also quarter on quarter, the numbers were 2,982 and 1,199. This is a fall of more than 50%. If one just read the heading, it gives the impression that more HDB owners are upgrading. Which is true if one is comparing 2Q08 with 1Q08. A rosy picture. But when comparing 2Q08 against 2Q07, it is like a recession is coming. And looking at the bigger picture, total purchases of private homes in 2Q07 is 13,513, 3Q07 is 9,441, 4Q07 is 5,,069. Then look at 1Q08 at 3148 and 2Q08 at 3,518, we are seeing a shrinking private housing market, from a peak of 13,513 to 3,518. Depending on how one uses statistics, it can tell all kinds of stories.

Statistically speaking

The Americans spent 16% of their GDP on healthcare. The Japanese 9%. So statistically speaking, we should spend more on our healthcare. The numbers must be right. Don't compare the lifestyle of the Americans and the chunks of meat, alcohol and tobacco they are consuming. Don't worry about their income level and the carbon monoxide they are breathing in from their 6000cc limousines running on the road. We need to spend more as others are also spending more. Singaporeans should spend $15 out of $100 on healthcare. This is reasonable. For the poor buggers and the losers, who have to spend every single cent of their income every month, $7 out of $100 go to GST. This would mean that for every $100 they earned, $22 must be set aside just for these two items. How much must go to public transportation? Well. this is a first world country. Nothing is for free. And we give good quality. Our medical care is world class. And this is the cheapest we can go. And don't expect our world class hospitals to provide less than world class services and healthcare. For that type of services and quality, please go to neighbouring non first world countries. They are definitely cheaper. And patients are asking for titanium inplants instead of cheaper steel products. That is the quality of our patients and their ability to pay. So medical care must surely cost more.

Let it be other people's problem

See, I don't live in Serangoon Garden. Should I just support the plan and let the foreign workers be housed in that school and the problems stay there? This island is just too small and running out of space. Not there must be somewhere else. Maybe they will house them next to my estate. Ok, I support the location of the foreign workers in Serangoon Garden. Another way of solving the problems of foreign workers is to engage them. Embrace them as your long lost brothers. Organise welcoming parties for them. Invite them to have dinner with your family. Recruit them to patrol and guard the estate. The problem becomes the solution. The people the residents fear become the people to help the residents. What an ingenious strategy. Turning adversity into an advantage. PS. Don't pray pray with unknown elements. My mother told me not to talk to strangers. Old mother's tale.

The heat is on

As the Ahmad Ismail controversy continues to boil, the dividing line becomes clearer and partisan politics is gaining ground. The pro Ahmad Ismail camp is digging in as the other side pushes the govt to take action against him. The frightening picture of May 13 is flashing across many people's mind. Could this be the excuse to thwart Anwar's effort to become the next PM? The Armed Forces Chief, Abdul Aziz Zainal has spoken and calling the Malaysian govt to take stern actions against those stoking racial sentiments. The Police Chief, Ismail Omar, said his men are ready to keep things under control. When the two uniform chiefs are showing concern, things are looking dangerous. Some opportunists may seize this as an opportunity to start a fire. Will Malaysia burn again?

No voice in cyberspace

This is just unbelieveable. The govt has no voice in cyberspace! And cyberspace is now being dominated by the pro opposition voice, the critics, the angry, the cynical and the unhappy. This is surely not looking pretty and very precarious. The govt used to have all the official media to communicate with the people, telling the people whatever their stories, in whatever ways it wants, from whichever angles. And no one can talk back. If there are any token voices from the people, they are likely to be carefully selected for printing in the media forum pages. Now the old media is helpless in singing the songs of the day. Many are not listening and even very critical, dissecting every bit into pieces. Only the converts still read the old media. The troublesomes have sought solace in cyberspace. And that is where they speak out in unison. A different song, a different tune, a different melody, a different sound. What is happening, the govt has no voice in cyberspace? What to do? Can the govt afford not to engage netizens and allow cyberspace to be the forsaken space, no control and no defence? Isn't this an interesting development? A control freak govt having no say in an area that is expanding and growing in importance?

Myth 189 - The Foreign Talent Myth

Myth We have seen Merrill Lynch, UBS, City Banks, Barclay Banks, Bank of Scotland and what else, all needing to be rescued. Then came Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Today we heard that Lehman Brothers, another giant investment house in deep trouble. I believe, not a difficult think to do, that all these banks and financial institutions are run by the best talents the US and Europe have. And they all ran their companies into deep shit. So much talks about foreign talents. Count ourselves lucky that we did not engage the top talents of these organisations and pay them hundreds of millions to run our financial institutions. We would have been broken by them. It is lucky that we only managed to get the 3rd or 4th rate talents. Now, when all these talents loses their jobs, will we queue up to invite them here with handsome pay package as our best foreign talents, just like we went for fire sales for UBS, Merrill Lynch etc etc? These talents must be up for grabs at a discount.

Increase fare for better services

Did I hear silly Singaporeans saying that they don't mind fare increases if the service is better? How many years of fare increases have we been through? Ten times, twenty times? Has the service improved by ten times or twenty times? If this kind of justification is true, we will be riding on golden trains with hostesses serving drinks by now, or akan datang. We have been seeing increases in fares, in fees, in minister salaries, should we be seeing increases in the quality of services and productivity from them. Do we see the improvements commensurate with the increases? Silly Singaporeans should stop using this excuse to let service providers keep increasing fares and fees. The quality of services are not determined by the amount of increases. There is no direct relationship except to buy hardwares. You can pay more and get 'worstest' services.

Time to stand up, time to speak up

Who says that Singaporeans are compliant sheep? We have seen the spontaneous uprising against the abuses in the old NKF saga. Now we are seeing another mass action against a potential govt decision that will adversely affect the people. Yes the sheep have spoken. They have rounded themselves to take a stand. They did not want to be pushed around. The more significant of this petition is that it is not against an individual but against the authority. They are saying no to the authority. In other countries, this is chicken feed. In paradise, this is a kind of uprising. And you can see that the people are not going to take no for an answer. They are up in arms. Would the govt bulldoze its way through or would the govt back off and announce that it was only at the discussion stage? No decision has been taken and the workers will be sited elsewhere that are more suitable?

Different interpretation of Serangoon Garden Incident

There have been different reactions to the Serangoon Garden petition with some calling them snobs while some raising the flag of racism. I see this rather as a case of social misfits where hardworking people, having worked for a better lifestyle and seeing what they have worked so hard for being threatened. Do we find this disgusting? Do we believe that people should work to improve their lives, their environment, and choose to live in an environment they are comfortable with? Do we want people to level up or to level down, accept the degradation of an environment that they have built all these years? Are we being fair to just look at the interest of the foreign workers at the expense of the residents who have been there first? Are they selfish? I will say no. They are just decent human beings who want to live life decently. And if you raise your lifestyle to their level, you will surely be welcomed. No one who wants a better quality of life will want to live in the ghettos or the slums. And it is normal for them to protest when people want to bring the slum to their doorstep. This is a microcosm of what Singapore is all about. We have move up to the first world in terms of quality of living and infrastructure. Do we want to level down? The influx of millions of poor workers into this first world city will definitely bring with it the graffiti culture along. Do we want that kind of environment or choose to be in a first world environment, F1 racing, fine dining, culture and concerts. Yes, snobbish appeals and past times. What do we want? Return to the third world? Racism is definitely not an issue. It is social class. A mismatch of social class and a clash of social lifestyles and habits.

Foreign talents feel slighted

Foreign talents should not feel slighted by the recent debate. Singaporeans are not xenophobic. Real foreign talents are welcomed and if they are, they should know this. It is the non talents, the pretenders and the conmen that are not wanted. And the foreign workers are also welcomed up to a point, up to a level when they start to squeeze the locals for space and facilities. That point has reached in Serangoon Garden. I have read in the media that PRs called this place their home as well. Well in a way. They are permanent residents. But this is only their temporary or secondary home. It is never the same compare to a citizen. The citizens are here for good while the PRs are here when the weather is fair.

Ferrari no match for Mercedes

A Ferrari Spyder was chased by a Mercedes C Class and went out of control, crashed. Driver robbed and beaten up in daylight robbery in the NS highway. Talking about lawlessness. And the robbers attempted twice to rob the group of Ferrari convoy and only third time lucky on the single Ferrari. Funny, didn't these rich drivers own any handphones to pass the message to all the drivers in the convoy? Or they panicked and did not know what to do? What they were only too concerned for their own safety and the safety of the rest of the drivers was not their concern? As a warning to all Singaporeans driving up, the robbers are not only more daring, they are able to do whatever they want, like the wild wild west. These robbers are obviously targetting Singaporeans and waiting for them. And there must be many of them operating in such manners. And they could get out of the highway so easily. That speaks a lot about the intricate organisation of these robbers. Some kind of immunity definitely.

Sizzling debate

The presence of foreign workers and the concerns of the people have been brewing for many years. Now it has come to a head and a sizzling debate is going on. As the number grows, as empty space near rubbish dumps and cemetries got used up, they will be moved closer to the residents. It has to be. The hardlanders are less vocal when their private space were encroached. Anyway they are seen as nothing much better than these foreign workers and their lifestyles should melt into each others quite easily. They might not look too different either. Now the encroachment is getting a bit too near for comfort for the more well off segment of our people. And they are not going to take this sitting down. But can we do away with them? They have become integral to the well being of our economy. They may be here to stay for good, helping us. One solution is to increase the dosage. Bring in more, another 3 million foreign workers will do the trick. That will dump the Singaporeans into a minority and drown their voices. And we can develop a bigger infrastructure to take care of the existence of this group of people. We can designate a Dep PM to look after the 4 or 5 million foreign workers, a Minister in charge of their welfare, another for their housing, another Manpower Minister to look after jobs for them. And more MPs to be elected from the foreign workers to represent them. This will also help to bring our population to the optimum level of 7 to 8 million. Then no need to bring in any more. And our economy will then be sustainable, self sufficiency, and we can all live happily ever after. Another option to dilute the great divide between them and us is to offer Singapore citizenship to all foreign workers. That will make them one of us. No more distinction and cannot call them foreigners anymore. All problems solved. And we can revive the great HDB building programmes and all properties will increase in value too. Both are great solutions that are worthy of serious considerations.

The numbers are numbing

A recent indication of the scope of the dilemma was the rising number of Singaporeans who asked for a document needed to apply for permanent residency overseas. It has exceeded 1,000 a month to reach 12,707 last year from 4,996 in 1998, or a rise of 170% over 10 years, said Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng. These people, over the age of 16, could be leaving for good, but they also included students and businessmen, who may eventually return. In 10 years, they totalled 97,990 Singaporeans (a far greater number if children were included).... By Seah Chiang Nee in the Star online News on Sep 06. These numbers are worrying to some but not to everyone. The more they leave, the more we replaced them with new citizens. What is the problem? Our intake is so big that we have a net gain. Good riddance. This a statement of truth. Singapore is just a social political construct. The citizens are just people given a piece of paper. If all the Singaporeans leaves Singapore, they can be easily replaced by more new Singaporeans. It is a non issue. So no need to cry over spilled milk. And for those who have been saying, if you are not happy here, please leave. I must admit that they have a point. I can read the message clearly. This is the Singapore that I have created. And this is the way it is. You like it, good. If you don't like it, also good. Just go.

Senoko Power sold

Senoko Power is sold to a Japanese consortium. 2 out of 3 power stations have been sold. One more to go. Will we also see the water treatment plants be sold? If that be the case, electricity and water bills will be generated by private companies. And when they raise prices, it will be a commercial decision. These are private organisations are there to provide a service and to make money for their shareholders, just like SMRT and Singapore Bus and privatised hospitals and HDB. One thing that the people can expect is better quality of service and higher efficiency. Good for the people, good for the economy.

Hey you're mad. No, you are.

Would such a statement be sufficient ground to suspect that someone is mad? Would someone heard cursing and swearing at a religious ceremony in the neighbourhood be arrested for disturbance? The law of a state is to protect the people from being harmed. If someone beats you, you are to take up a lawsuit yourself against that person. It is a private matter. If someone disturbs a wedding procession, is it a private matter? How serious would a disturbance be good enough for one to be arrested and sent to psychiatric checkup to determine his sanity? And if the psychiatrists could not find anything after two or three weeks, can the psychiatrists demand that one shall continue to be detained for further observation? How long would such observations become unacceptable? Shall I warn all those bloggers calling people stupid, mad, irrational, fools etc not to do so for their own good? Will such libellious remarks be a problem between the parties involved or can one party insist the other party be sent for psychiatric observation? Freedom of expression or anonymity in the internet has led some bloggers to go shooting from their hips. Some even fabricate stories and half truths. Would they end up under the microscope of the psychiatrists? Oh, the heading of this post is just an illustration only. I am not calling anyone mad.

Matilah Singapura is Alive!

I have to repost this thread here as the original thread is too far deep down and many will miss it. This thread is posted by Matilah in the earlier thread which I started, 'Matilah, wanted, dead or alive.' Nice to know that you are still kicking, chum. From Matilah Singapura. My dear fans, and redbean,Let me begin by thanking everyone for their concern.I hope that I am wanted more ALIVE than I am dead, but then again I have no control over such things as 'other people's opinions' :)Unlike Gopalan Nair, I don't tease the state of S'pore, and challenge them to come after me...so to one anonymous poster...sorry to disappoint. I quit Thailand 2 months ago--at least for the foreseeable future. The political situation is not good and staying there, IMO, is exposing myself to unnecessary risk on several fronts. Frankly speaking the novelty of Soi Cowboy gets old quickly when your office is a mere 7 minute walk away.S'pore is also out of the question--I stopped by for a week or so to recce and decided 'no go'. It's way too expensive (i.e. factors of production), and my margins would be too lean to make it worth my while. On the upside, returns from rentals are the best they've been for years...so the best position to be in is a landlord and to be elsewhere. I am back in Aust, settling into a new home and getting started on projects which I hope will bear fruit. Aust is still very strong economically depite the naysayers. The average weekly wage is now over AUD1k and the spirit of 'can do' private enterprise is the best it has ever been. I have therefore decided to hang-out here for awhile. It is truly a wonderful place, especially now that the weather is warming up!So that's basically an update of my ordinary life. I've posted a bit on Singabloodypore, but my internet time is essentially restricted to an hour or two a day now as my time is taken up with more "social" activites—interacting with real people in the real world. The only reason I stopped by to post this was I did a Goggle on 'Matilah Singapura' and redbean's post was at the first listing. Such is the efficacy of the web!SE Asian politics are, for the most part, a part of my past. It saddens me to some degree that my social, political and mostly my economic predictions (all derived form natural laws and understanding of 'spontaneous orders', like 'markets' and the nature of collectivism) have come true, and Singapore proves itself more and more to be on a path of decay—on many fronts. My ego doesn't require 'stroking'--to be honest, I hope to be wrong.Unfortunately I do make part of my living from using methods to 'manipulate' human conciousness. I'm not the only one who knows how to do this, but I do understand how EASY it is once you know how. I also know that governments use these tools to manipulate their voters, such that the average person lives in a world of MYTHS. As if this wasn't bad enough—the surprising thing is how readily the avergae person will DEFEND these myths from any form of critical analysis or criticism. That is how effective states can be—the people don't 'govern' themselves, they IMPRISON themselves. Anyway, I wish all of you well, and hope you find the truths you are seeking on your own terms. Redbean, it's good to know that you're still blogging furiously. Well done. Warmest regards MS

The AIMS Paper

My general impression of the AIMS Paper is that it is a very comprehensive report on the existing status of internet activities and where to go from here. AIMS stands out as a fairly neutral body and its recommendations were free from the encumbrance that one would normally expect from a govt agency. The only area that it could not help to detach itself from is the need to control and manage political discussions of the people in general and the political parties in particular. The need to control and manage is entrenched in any govt in power. It is in their interest to ban or block any criticisms or comments that challenges their position and power. This assumption that it is normal for the govt to control and manage opposition and criticisms has moderated AIMS recommendation on Section 33 of the Films Act. Section 33 is simply a provision that favours the govt in power. Period. The other recommendations on the protection of minors, crimes, pornography, sedition etc should not see any objections and rightly so, and the Bloggers 13 have left them untouched. The recommendations to remove all the obstacles placed on netizens are welcomed. This can only come about with a positive assumption that netizens are responsible and decent people and can be trusted with the freedom of expression. Maybe AIMS should try to address the issue of a level playing field whereby the power to control and to dictate to the opposition be removed and all parties operate under the same set of rules. Would this be asking too much from the realities of politics? But liberalization of the internet must bring about a freer and fairer environment for all parties if criticisms and cynicisms are to be avoided. Transparency, fairness, soundness of policies will be demanded and anything less will only be ridiculed openly. It demands a higher level of sophistication and consistency in policy making. To liberalise involves big changes in many areas, including how the political games should be played and how the govt conducts itself and its relations with the people. AIMS has recognized that this is a process in its infancy and incremental changes is a better way to go, to learn and change along the way. The govt will have a tough time deciding on how much to let go on political activities, outside and during an election campaign period. A lot of resources and manpower will be needed to engage the netizens, including setting up of many support organizations. A lot of jobs will also be created, maybe even a ministry in charge of cyberspace and netizens be appointed. It is a new constituency. The boldest part of the recommendation is the recognition and acknowledgement that the internet is the future, uncontrollable and unstoppable. The govt is strongly encouraged to step bravely into the future, engage the people, be less uptight, and be less abrasive, be prepared to share the political space with the opposition and people who don't agree with them. This is a tall order. It is a great departure from the obsessive need to control, like pronouncing cycling in the park as dangerous to social security, even harassing young students, that makes the govt looks clumsy and ridiculous. The other positive assumption is that netizens are not the illiterate Ah Pek and Ah Ma, and many are thinking people that can see things as they really are and can contribute to the general goodness of country and society, that is, if they are embraced as part of the whole decision making process, even in a small way like e-engagement. AIMS has invited the govt to take a path into the future that is full of uncertainties but also full of promises and opportunities, to tranform our way of life and how we communicate, a freer and all inclusive society where the divisive line between the people and govt is blurred for the better of everyone. Will the govt bite?

YOG - Whole NATION must be involved

The CEO of the Singapore YOG committee, Goh Kee Nguan, is calling the whole Nation to be involved in the Youth Olympic Games. Wait a moment. If Singaporeans do not know what is a Singaporean, do they know what is the meaning of a Nation? Does the Nation includes citizens, PRs and all the foreign talents and workers working here? Who will be involved? If we are thinking of an all inclusive society, shall we include everyone here, citizens or non citizens, every residents? We have taken for granted the meaning of Singaporeans and it now loosely even include PRs and residents. Even Singaporeans do not know the meaning of being a Singaporean. I am sure the word 'Nation' will stump everyone here. We shall rise as a Nation. Sounds quite hollow and empty isn't it? Are we a nation? After 43 years of nation building...

As we grow older...

As the population grows older and less nimble with age, many things becomes frightening. The old, ing experience for them to walk alone in the presence of young and strong foreign workers and their wild stares. You do not know what is going on inside their heads. We are growing older for sure. And we have a few hundred strong and hungry young men in our midst. It is a great recipe for more tension and crimes if we are not careful. We must find a way to deal with this dilemma. We want them or need them, but we fear them. For they can create a lot of potential problems for us. Singaporeans must not be complacent in their thoughts. We are going to become a minority in a sea of foreigners and security and safety will become a bigger issue to face on a daily basis. It is not just 1000 foreign workers in Serangoon Garden. The clusters living next door or a few doors away, or in the nearby construction sites can be equally dangerous.

What's the fuss?

I did not really follow the on goings on what Aims were trying to do, to regulate the internet, when the govt is talking about liberalisation. What Aims is trying to do and what the govt is trying to do appear to be contradictory. One argument is that you need rules before you can run free. Quite true. But rules are aplenty and is all we got. We have rules and laws against sedition, scandals, libels, pornography, false or misleading information and also the mother of all laws, ISA. What more do we need? The only area that is really troubling the authority is political openess. How much can one say against a political party, in this case the ruling party. The simple line to be drawn, or has always been there, is truth and facts. If you are telling the truth, then why fear the truth, why ban the truth? Admittedly, two persons' truth may disagree, my truth against your tooth. Often such things will be a matter of interpretation or opinion. But the truth must be the truth and not the tooth. So what is the big fuss? We should know better. My position thus, is still the same. There are already enough rules and laws to regulate the internet. And everyone is responsible for his postings and can be hauled up by the law or another party to answer for his rambling. A little fine tuning of the current laws may be necessary to take into account this new technology, terminology and how it works. What the blogging community should worry about is how the laws are to be applied and whether they are fair and just. Then again, how to be fair and just when what is fair is in the eyes of the beholder or the one holding the big stick? Can the opposition party organise a cycling event? Oh yes. But would it get a permit to go ahead?

$126 mil to instal screen doors

SMRT will spend $126 mil to instal screen doors in its stations to prevent people falling onto the track accidentally or intentional. Another $29 to instal CCTV to monitor such incidents. Should these money be spent to prevent people from jumping on the track if they already planned to do so? If that is the case, HDB should instal grills on every floor of flats to prevent people from falling. For those who wanted to jump, such measures are a complete waste of money. Even the CCTV is only good to tell you what happened after they have jumped. For accidental falls, some minimal railings should do. If the MRT reasoning is valid, then screen doors must be erected to all the roads to prevent people from straying onto the roads. We even need to block out all the canals to prevent people from falling in.

It is going to get uglier

600 residents of Serangoon Garden signed a petition against the conversion of a school to house 1000 foreign workers. This is the first time we are seeing so many Singaporeans standing up for their rights. And they have a good and valid reason to speak up. And Lim Hwee Hua acknowledged that it is good that the residents are speaking up. This is the best and most direct feedback coming from the people. The problem is why can't the govt see the problem? We are too small, living too closely together. Bringing in a few hundred thousand foreign workers is going to eat into our private and social space. And there are all the good reasons for the residents to fear for their safety other tha the general cleanliness and orderliness of their neighbourhood. We must stop fooling ourselves that we are as big as America and have a lot of open space to accommodate all the foreigners. We are no bigger than JB! The social consequences and price we are paying are too big. Those living in their little palaces may not feel the crunch and the squeeze. But don't forget that more than 80% of the population are going to face these foreign workers and rub noses with them. I am waiting for the day they run riot and refuse to go home or back to their quarters. We will see how law and order can be restored. This is a sickness of small people with megalomaniac dreams.

Blessed are the corrupt?

This is the heading of an article by Maria Siow, Media Corp's bureau chief in China. She was commenting about the anti corruption process going on in China and how corrupt officials were allowed to return to hold positions of responsibility. She has not been back in Singapore for too long. We have this Yellow Ribbon Campaign and reformed criminals are welcomed back to lead a normal life. Some, the more talented, are still praised in the media and given high paying jobs. She should not be grumbling and thinking that the Chinese are doing the wrong thing. People made mistakes. Give them a second chance, especially the talented ones. Perhaps the Chinese are learning from us and are becoming more sympathetic and compassionate, and forgiving, like us.

A tragic comedy on CNA

I stumbled over this programme aired after 8.30pm over CNA last night. I was attracted by the topic, ‘Are citizens the new minority’, an issue which we have been talking almost everyday in cyberspace. There was a female, stated as a MBA student, a bright adolescent, an older man with age on his side and presumably wiser, and two young men, one a co host of the programme and another whom I am still trying to figure out what he was or is. He didn’t say much and throughout the programme appeared a bit lost. Oh, the older man was the other host. As the programme got on its way, I started to wonder what kind of programme it was. I was expecting something serious or at least intelligent from CNA, and I can’t accept anything less. Could it be a comedy or just a light hearted talkshow? The key question that was popped subsequently was the meaning of being a Singaporean. The MBA student, a new citizen, still new after 14 years, could only manage to say she was proud to be a Singaporean. The adolescent was honest by declaring that he did not know what a Singaporean meant. This is the best proof that we should shelf our nation building programme. The older host was laughing all the way, not knowing what he was laughing at. He was the jester of the show. Neither did he volunteer any explanation or definition of the term Singaporean. He just laughed it off. The other young host was at ease with himself and his profession. He just talked and talked, which was what he knew best and did best. As long as he was talking, he had done his job. What came out of it, meaningful or meaningless, was not his concern or cup of tea. The other young man, oh, he was listening intently, and by the end of the programme still probably trying to figure out what was going on. If it was meant to be a serious discussion, they picked the wrong guys and gal. Either too new, too young, or too old or too ignorant. If it was meant to be a comedy, it was tragic, a tragic comedy. Singaporeans new and old, young and not so young, all five of them did not know what a Singaporean meant? Don’t they ever knew or heard of what nation building is all about? Why nation building if being a Singaporean is not important or no better than being an immigrant or a foreign talent? If we can easily throw away the concept of a nation and being a citizen, then we need not be bother about nation building, and neither is it important to call ourselves Singaporean. Forget about National Day Parade as well. Maybe that is what we have become, stateless. We don’t even know the difference being a citizen or belonging to a country and a non citizen. And the old juvenile in the discussion told them, and over the air, that Singaporeans must grow up and accept all immigrants here, welcome them with open arms. His simple reason, or simplicity, is that we were immigrants, So the immigrants and us were the same. Didn't he want to know why our forefathers were immigrants and forced to come here and built this nation? My goodness, what is the message coming out from that programme? I hope CNA should give a pre warning or notice on the category of such a programme. If it is meant to be a fun talkshow without substance, then tell the audience. If it is meant to be a serious discussion, say so, and make sure the main casts are up to it. Discussing about what is a Singaporean must be done by well informed and knowledgeable people. Not jokers or people who just talk for fun as a profession. Maybe it was all meant in jest. I am being too serious and expecting too much.

Special Branch probes defection rumours: S'wak MP

This is a post in Malaysiakini. How come the Malaysian Special Branch finds it their duty to question MPs from crossing over to the opposition? This is politics and nothing concerning the police. It is not a threat to national security. It is the right of the politicians to join whichever party they want. The police, as the executive arm of the govt, civil servant, should not be involved in the politics of the country. They should remain neutral. Once the police and army get into politics, Malaysia could end up like Thailand and Indonesia. That would not be healthy. Maybe it is too late. The Anwar saga before and the new Anwar saga in the making do not speak well of what is happening to the police force.

More chilling revelations in paradise

A few years back a stockbroker was found to turn cuckoo for harassing the former Chief Justice. He was then sent to the IMH for observation and recuperation. Wonder if he is still there? Today the ST reported that a lawyer, M Ravi, who claimed to be a leading Human Rights lawyer, was also found to have unsound mind. He was also sent to the IMH. The new bill to scan lawyers for unsound mind is very timely. It must be the stress in this world class city. Too competitive. And more professional people are going to go cuckoo at the rate it is going. Quite a chilling thought. Who's next? I think the most sane people will be the bloggers. They are blessed with the internet to let off steam and frustration. They will be the last to go cuckoo. The internet is a great invention for stress relief and keeping one's mind sane. Better not to keep harping on one being sane. The more one claims to be sane, the more insane one will sound.

Another secret success formula

I think I have just discovered another secret formula for Singapore's success, or to be specific, the Table Tennis Team's success. Firepower! Firepower not only among the players, but the management team. The latter is even more critical. There are 38 talents in the STTA's Committee. And these include a Minister of State, 3 MPs and one ex MP. This is a powerful combination of some of the best brains that a sports association can ever dream of. We almost got Zhang Yi Ning in the team if things had gone our way. She was spotted long ago by one of the committee members and was chosen. But the Chinese refused to release her. That was a golden choice. This Committee is the brain behind the STTA's success. They did all the planning and talent scouting and laid the foundation for the development of a solid team. All the sports association can learn from this secret formula. Recruit more supertalents into the association first. Then the medals will come.

Speaking up in Speaker's Corner

Do we need a Speaker's Corner to speak up? With the internet, would it be good enough? How would Speaker's Corner add up to the right to speak up on Singapore issues? The first thing that came into my mind is money. No, you don't need money to speak at the Speaker's Corner. But the spectators need money to get there. With the high cost of travelling, $3 average to and fro to listen to someone speaking at the Corner, would it be too expensive? Many Singaporeans are more or less confined to their homes and neighbourhoods unless there is a real reason to spend $3 to take public transport. They will have to think very carefully to want to go down to the Speaker's Corner. There will be some listeners, the same people day in and day out. Those that happen to stay around the Speaker's Corner, and those lunch time crowd of office workers working in the area. That may be all there is. And if public transport cost keeps going up, the number of spectators will likely to go down unless there is a hot issue that everyone wants to listen to. Or maybe a great orator will appear to enthral the crowd. Come to think of it, tranport cost is a big factor to decide how big the crowd is. For the many who have been used to the new media, the Speaker's Corner will be too far away.

The people behind our Olympic medal

Singapore Table Tennis Association Board Members. This list was posted by a forumer in TOC. Advisers Ms. Grace Fu Hai Yien Mr. Liang Eng Hwa Mr. Yeo Guat Kwang Mr. Chan Soo Sen Mr. Choo Wee Khiang Honorary Presidents Mr. Goi Seng Hui Mr. Tony Phua Mr Seah Moon Ming President Ms. Lee Bee Wah Deputy Presidents Mr. Jack Soh Tze Churn Mr. Ng Ah Hwee Mr. Seah Chwee Lim Vice Presidents Mr. Low Chee Seng Mr. Chew Soo Sheng Mr. Teo Hock Hoe Mr. Han Ngge Juan Mr. Lau Pub Taai Honorary Secretary Mr. Soon Min Sin Honorary Assistant Secretary Mr. Teo Nam Meng Honorary Treasurer Ms. Judy Sim Hock Cheng Honorary Assistant Treasurer Mr. Tang Shiuh Huei Legal Adviser Dr. William Koh Hai Keong Committee Members Mr. Foo Soo Peng Mr. Chia Wing Yew Mr. Tang Mun Fai Mr. Pang Tow Chai Richard Mr. Oh Eng Tiong Mr. Ong Teng Dit Mr. Tan Guan Kee Mr. Thomas Yong Mr. Loh Men Kuan Mr. Chan Pong Heng Mr. Steven Loi Mr. Chang Foo Chiang Mr. Timothy Ng Cheong Lum Mr. Ho Kok Khun Mr. John Tan Wui Meng Chief Executive Officer Mr Jackie Tay Auditor C C Yang & Co While everyone is celebrating the success of the Table Tennis Team, we shall not forget the contribution of all these people who have worked very hard behind the scene to make it possible. They are the unsung heroes in this saga and some recognition must surely be due to them. All 38 of them, including one minister of state, 3 MPs and one ex MP.

The joy of keeping pets

It is a big industry out there for pet lovers. Dogs, cats, birds, fishes, and whatever, are treasured by pet lovers who willingly part their hard earned money just to have them. Having them is only the beginning. Then comes the joy of raising them, feeding them, caring for them, looking after their health, their grooming and fetching them to the doctors. Some will bring them out to play, to restaurants for that special meals. It is a great experience to love and care for the pets. If only the pets can be children, lively, jumping, screaming precocious little ones. Now, would these children bring an equal amount of joy and laughter to the lives of the owners? If we can make Singaporeans love children more than pets, we may not have lack of babies problem.

A passionate plea by feedmetothefish

'Even though a commoner heartlander, I believe that I have as much right as the next guy (elite) to voice my concerns. As much as I've been talked down, insulted and idiotised by the "gracious" government, I'm as Singaporean as the Lee's, Goh or Khaw! The only difference is I'm much poorer and don't have a voice in parliament. As much as my friends and loved ones are fearful of me being "fixed' and done in by my politically incorrect blog, I still do so because I believe that "Sedikit sedikit, lama lama jadi bukit!" If enough people speak up or blog, the power will be forced to step out of their ivory tower to do some decent work, like knowing that there are poor and homeless beggars in Singapore, and actually helping them. Yes, there's fear in speaking out. I'm sure they have the machinery to track me down and sift me out even I'm blogging anonymously. But if we continue to accept their chutzpah and high handedness without a whimper, we are doing more harm than good to our country and ourselves. As long as there are people to remind the rulers that life for the masses is different from the elite, we are doing something right. At the risks of being charged for defamation, sodomy and what have you, I think if we do nothing, we deserve the crap that's dished out. In fact, ministers should be happy that feedback from some bloggers helps them do their job better. If I'm as audacious as they are, I'd say part of the million $,$$$,$$$ salary (paid to ministers) should go to the bloggers for their contribution (time & effort in writing blogs for free) in building an "inclusive society" that can "stay and move ahead together". Yes, the feedback and comments worth much! feedmetothefish' I extracted the above post from The Otak Stall. Bravo feedmetothefish! All bloggers must have this kind of spirit. Keep blogging. If more people blog about an issue, someone will here about it. The more people talk about an issue, the more weight it will carry.

Strike Toto also cannot pay

Read a posting in YPAP about a Stomper complaining that his mother's medical bill from a private hospital was $700k! Toto's normal payout is $650k. This is the kind of money that Sinkies are made to accept as reasonable. You want quality service, world class service, this is what you should be prepared to pay. Our lives are so good that we should pay several hundred thousands just to keep ourselves alive. The unthinkable thing is that private hospitals got the gumption to issue a bill of such an amount. This is ridiculous beyond any count. Hospitals must make it known to the patient how much it will cost or at least an ideal of how big the bill may come to. This will give the patient a choice to opt to die and save the money for his/her family. Hey, this kind of money is like a fortune to all the losers here.

Another crack in the armour of NS

The only real national service that is being done today is uniformed service by NS men under the coercion of the Enlistment Act. And here it is pure sacrifice in terms of money, effort and opportunity cost. The rest are only lip service. Statutory Boards and public services have been transformed to money making machines when making money is the sole reason for their existence. From health, education, to public transportatio or anything, it is all about money first. I read in the paper about parents griefing that their little 2 or 3 year olds having to pay transport fares once they grow above 0.9m. It is like flogging a dead horse. No, the transport companies are private companies and they must make profits, as much as they can, and if they can make babies pay, they will. It is not a public service to serve the people. It is about making money and more money. They need not do any national service.

Myth 188 - Myth of anonymity

In the absence of legal provisions, netizens are not accountable to what they posted in cyberspace. And to take it one step further, just remain anonymous. Cyberspace thus becomes a lawless world for the irresponsible and those who are out to do mischief. This is far from the truth. Everyone in cyberspace is accountable for his actions and words. There is no escape unless one can really make his postings untraceable. Those who are still posting vicious and scandalous messages are only allowed to go free at the mercy of their intended victims. Once the wronged party decided it is enough, the net will be pulled in and the guilty is not going to get away. The arrest of the paedophiles that posted in crypted messages, twirled his image etc is a case in point. When the law is ready to haul you in, you will be in. No netizen can afford to be irresponsible and feel safe even in cases of libel and scandal. You cannot hide one day longer. It is a fallacy to claim that netizens feel safe to be irresponsible in cyberspace.

The merciless increases in prices

No matter how bad the people are affected by the high cost of living and the shrinking dollar, price increase must be it. No let up, no one is going to bother about how it will affect the people. Just tell them to tighten belt. If they can't, go for charity. And even with charity still cannot tahan, go for more charity. Hospital charges have gone up during these difficult times. I have copied the numbers from: http://singaporenewsalternative.blogspot.com/2008/07/price-watch-updated-10-jul-2008.html Medical SGH inpatient room rates rose in all the 3 classes selection: 1. C class rose the highest by 7.69% from $26 a day to $28. 2. B class rose by 7.55% from $53 a day to $57. 3. B+ class rose by 6.6% from $106 a day to $113. Come to think of it, the increases are small. Very affordable. Ok let's move on. And no one should be blamed. These are private hospitals and run for profit. Privatisation is good. Now cannot blame the govt also.