Rogues in Malaysia medical practice

The message below was e-mailed to me by a friend.

         Subject: Fw: Rogues in Malaysian medical practice


                Beware of Errant and Unethical Doctors! Please read

"Dear friends,

I am a general surgeon in private practice in Kuala Lumpur. I would like to bring to the attention of the public the unethical practices of some doctors in private practice.

An 8-year-old boy was brought to see me by his father after suffering from fever, cough and vomiting for 1 day. He DID NOT HAVE ANY ABDOMINAL PAIN. He was initially seen by a general practitioner who insisted that the father bring him to see 'Surgeon G' at a specific private medical centre in Kuala Lumpur. The father at first refused and had wanted to bring his son to the medical centre where he was born but relented when the medical practitioner said that 'Surgeon G' will order some blood tests and will send his son home with some medications.

However, when he brought his son to see 'Surgeon G', the surgeon examined his son's abdomen and pressed so hard that he elicited pain. Then the surgeon told the father that the son had a perforated appendix and insisted that he be operated the same night. The father was baffled because his son did not have any abdominal pain prior to that excruciating examination but he reluctantly agreed upon insistence by the surgeon. About 1 hour prior to the surgery, the father suspected that something was not right and he asked for his son to be discharged. He then brought his son to see me.

The first thing I noticed was that the boy had a slight cough but he was very active. His father told him to jump to prove that he did not have any abdominal pain, which he did with great enthusiasm. After a thorough examination, I was convinced that the boy did not have appendicitis and definitely not a perforated one. I treated him symptomatically for upper respiratory tract infection and sent him home with some medications. The father was outraged with what happened to his son earlier but he was relieved that his son was saved from an unnecessary surgery. Professionally, I could not! tell him that 'Surgeon G' may have tried to cheat him but, in my heart, I knew that was the case because I knew 'Surgeon G' very well and had inherited a few of his patients whom he operated upon and had botched the surgeries.

The next day, 'Surgeon G' called me and asked what happened to the patient. I told him I was certain that the boy did not have a perforated appendix but he insisted that the boy was very sick and had rigors (severe shivering) when he first saw him. Surgeon G said the boy improved tremendously after one dose of antibiotics. In my years of practice, I have not come across one case where one dose of antibiotics can cure a case of perforated appendicitis. IT IS JUST NOT POSSIBLE! He also said that the boy's father was a liar and had lied about his son not having any abdominal pain. Well, dear readers, I am a parent too. No father will lie about his son's health because he would have wanted the best treatment for his son.

I suspect 'Surgeon G' is giving kickbacks to many general practitioners to send patients to him to operate. In return, he would pay these general practitioners for each patient referred to him. He would cooperate with the general practitioners to convince the patients that they need urgent surgery.  I have personally worked with 'Surgeon G' and I know that his skills are questionable. He told me once that it is alright for a patient to have a recurrent disease as a result of his incomplete surgery because he would then refer the patient to another surgeon to tackle the problem. He had caused one death from a thyroid operation and at least 2 cases of complications after gallbladder surgeries which he refused to admit fault. In his clinic he has medical books with pictures of dangerous diseases which he uses to scare his patients into accepting surgery.

I am writing this to alert the public that there are doctors who are out for money only and are unethical in their practices. It breaks my heart that there are such individuals practicing freely and fleecing off unsuspecting and vulnerable patients and giving this noble profession a bad name. The only defense patients have is to be knowledgeable about their own illnesses and not be afraid to ask questions. All patients have to right to a second opinion and no doctors should coerce their patients to accept treatment against their will. The only consolation I have is that most doctors, both in public and private practice, are still ethical and are sincere in helping their patients.

Please circulate this article to your friends and loved ones and lets hope no one will suffer in the hands of surgeons like 'Surgeon G'. Also, beware of the general practitioner who insists that you see a particular specialist in a particular hospital because he could be working hand-in-hand with that doctor.
                                                         

Thank you." 

 

The above message is an eye opener that we all must be aware that there are medical crooks all over the world includining Singpore so we have to be very careful when seeing doctors whether GPs or surgeons or specialists.

The flexible pricing formula for HDB flats

The clearest picture of what formula was used in HDB pricing was revealed by LKY last Sunday. It was at cost or cost minus. Though it was a general statement, let’s presume that it was construction cost plus a little land cost as the land originally acquired was at minimal cost under the Land Acquisition Act.

So the original formula is likely to be Price = Construction Cost.

Though it was not discussed, it was likely that after a while the Price was slightly adjusted to provide some profits for HDB. Thus the formula would be Price = Construction + profit.

I use a small p for profit as the profit then was really not much to talk about.

Then someone got an awakening. The CPF holders have a lot of money in their savings. They can afford to pay a more for their flats. Then I think the formula was changed to Price = Construction Cost + Profit.

I am now using a bigger P to equate a bigger profit being built into the price.

This went on for a while till someone got another enlightenment, like being struck by a bolt of wisdom, and the formula was changed to Price = Subsidised Market Price. There was no need for the big P any more. It was hidden in the Market Price.

Then more angry noises were heard and the formula was modified and explained in different ways. It was changed to Price = Resale Market Price with Subsidy.

Then more noises and anger. So the factor of Affordability crept in as many claimed that it was getting unaffordable. So the formula was modified to become Price = Resale Market Price with Subsidy subject to 30% of two incomes for 20 years and instantly it became affordable.

As price kept going up, the formula was revised to Price = Resale Market Price with Subsidy subject to 30% of household income for 20 years. More members can now contribute to make the price more affordable.

Again the price went higher and the formula was again revised to become Price = Resale Market Price with Subsidy subject to 30% of household income for 30 years. See, still very affordable. It was all over the media with the Housing Minister having his special pages to drum this affordability idea into daft Sinkies.

But this was not the end. The formula was again revised to become Price = Resale Market Price with Subsidy subject to 30% of household income for 40/45 years. 30 years simply were not sustainable.

This may not be the last change as the price is still going up. It is likely that the formula will be revised again and likely to be Price = Resale Market Price with Subsidy subject to 30% of household income for 60 years or 100 years.

Does anyone realize that the Cost factor has been missing since Price was changed to Subsidised Market Price? Yes, Cost is no longer a factor in the issue of pricing HDB flat prices. The price of future HDB flats will not be determined by Cost but by the 30% of household income and how long they allow the buyer to repay. It also means that the price of HDB flats, regardless of Cost, can keep going up as long as the salary goes up and the repayment period is extended.

This is called flexible pricing, or rubber band pricing, like luxury goods. It can go as high as the seller so wishes as long as it keeps to the 30% benchmark plus plus. The first plus is the household income. The second plus is the number of years for repayment which is inversely proportional to the Price. The longer the number of years taken, the higher can the price go up. The formula can thus be written as Price = Resale Market Price(with market subsidy) Plus Plus.

Where is the problem?

The basic in problem solving is to identify the problem, acknowledge the problem, then works towards removing or overcoming the problem. If all else fails, just avoid the problem or pretend that there is no problem.

The SDP has worked very hard, putting a team of professionals together to try to solve the high property price problem. They have come out with a very detailed proposal called Non Open Market Scheme to solve the problem that is on everyone’s mind. Actually I am wrong to say this. It is only in the minds of those who see high prices as a problem. Some are jubilant and celebrating the high prices. Where got problem?

LKY had said that his party has delivered the goodies to the people, built and sold housing at cost or below cost, and the people are now happily enjoying the high value of their properties, inflated 5x, 10x or even 20x. Such a great achievement, to make the people so rich cannot be a problem. It is something admirable to brag about. And the people are so grateful. This is even better than the savings in the CPF that put a smile on Swee Say’s face.

Come on where is the problem? If it is a problem, LKY would not be bragging about it. If it is a problem, Boon Wan, would have solved it. His remedies so far were not meant to bring down the high property prices, but to allow continue appreciation of property prices. The reality of price shooting through the roof may be a bit unexpected. But does anyone see any panic, any panic measures being taken to prevent the prices to go further up? They may be quietly celebrating the huge success of a housing programme where all buyers can look forward to more asset enhancements and appreciation of values.

Now, when the govt does not see this as a problem, don’t expect the govt to do anything. Only some people, mostly the younger people and those who have no properties, are crying out loud that high property price is bad. So, one say got problem, one say good thing to have. What will happen to the SDP’s NOM Scheme then? Redundant, unnecessary, uncalled for, unwanted!

Only when the SDP is in power, or when a think alike opposition party comes to power would the SDP’s proposal be considered. To the incumbent power, where got problem? Don’t come and ‘ka cho’ with unnecessary solutions that are not needed. Don’t be too clever when there is no problem to start with.

Alvin Tan’s punishment by NUS confidential

NUS Disciplinary Board has dished out their punishment to Alvin Tan, an Asean scholar, for posting his private sexual pursuits in the youtube. This has caused a furore among sinkies and taxpayers are up in arms wanting to know why public money was wasted on such a person that obviously have values and lifestyle that are unconventional and incongruent to the social norms of the day. Many were asking for the withdrawal of the scholarship and a return of all money dispensed to Alvin Tan.

NUS conducted its disciplinary inquiry and had since announced that punishment had been meted out but this was kept confidential. Is this acceptable, just by hanging a confidential placard over this case? This is no ordinary case and is of great concern to the public whose money is being spent on this scholar? Do the people, the public, have a right to demand to know what is going on, what kind of punishment was handed to Alvin Tan? Does NUS owe the public an explanation?

Or this is a confidential matter, a student disciplinary matter, an NUS internal matter? Is the gag order justifiable? Personally I don’t think this is a confidential anymore. Not disclosing the disciplinary action will only create more anger. The veil of secrecy or confidentially cannot be suka suka used to hide the ugly truth from a more vocal public that demands for more transparency.

Obama just said these in his victory speech

What is politics and what is political campaign? It is about America for Americans. It is about no Americans having to fight for a job with foreigners. It is about equality. It is about American children being given the best opportunities to be in schools and colleges.

Politics is all about the well being of American citizens. He is still speaking. He is still on the air as I type these few words.

Obama added that all Americans must have hope for a better future, that as long as they are willing to reach out, to work for it, there is hope for every Americans, better jobs for every Americans. That is what politics and running for the Presidency were for Obama, to better the lives of Americans, not foreigners.

Benghazi killing a just retribution

Now that the dust has settled and the war cry has died down, let’s revisit the killing of the American Ambassador Chris Steven in Benghazi, Libya. The Americans were angry, horrified by the bombing of the American Embassy. Actually it was chicken feat compares to the bombing of the country by the European and American military war machine. It is just dessert to pay back a little for the bombing of someone’s country because they wanted a regime change, and leading to the killing the Libyan President Gaddafi. Does anyone bother about Gaddafi’s death and the death and destruction of a country?

The attack on Libya was not provoked; a unilateral military campaign in violation of the UN Resolution Which only authorized the prevention of the Libyan air force from attacking the rebel positions. There was no UN permission to conduct air strikes into the country. The Americans and the Allies chose to attack another country for their secret agenda.

What about sending a cruise missile to attack the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and killing several Embassy staff? A totally unprovoked evil and hostile act. Only the Americans could commit such aggression and get away claiming it was a mistake, a wrong map or outdated map provided by their deadly CIA. The Americans were not remorseful in the missile attack against the Chinese Embassy. Neither were they remorseful about the invasion of Libyan and Iraq.

The bombing of the American Embassy in Benghazi was just retribution for the Evil Empire. Just a token of retribution for the enormous harm and damage to other countries and the toll of human lives. Evil deeds will return to the wrong doer, one day, most unexpected.

My eye balls rolling

The MOM is tightening rules for the PEP or Personalised Employment Pass for top tier foreign talents working in Sin. According to the media, this pass was introduced in 2007 to attract highly skilled foreigners to Sin. Pardon me for the pun. The terms of the PEP are so generous and liberal that it must be a privilege to qualify for one. Now the change, effective Dec 1, only those who earn a fixed annual income of $144k qualifies. Well, for such an exclusive pass and privileges, this should be the case.

Why are my eye balls rolling? Oh, it was also reported that when the PEP was introduced, this group of highly skilled foreign talents needed only $3,400 monthly income to qualify. Wow, must be some kind of exclusive talents doing charity works here. A new lousy local graduate’s starting pay is already more than $3000. So all our local graduates must be exceptionally qualified talents ya?

Now I can understand why Sin is so attractive to millions of highly talented FTs, all queuing up to Sin. My eyeballs haven’t stop rolling. We have 174,000 employment pass holders working here. I don’t have the number of PMETs that are unemployed, underemployed, or upgraded to become cleaners and masseurs and nurses. I am sure these PMETs, if health is ok, would not mind being reemployed for $3,400 instead.

The Human Resource professionals need a rethink, to look at the local PMETs as a trove of national treasure. Many are well qualified, highly experienced, and would be willing to take less, the same as cheap FTs, for a job. The HRs must be able to convince their bosses that this group of PMETs is value for money. They must not forget that they are paving a way for their own future and the future of their bosses who would very soon join the Dad’s Army and become redundant PMETs.

The strange thing about the HR profession is that they never grow old. The top management also never grow old. So growing old and becoming redundant will not be their problem. They will live forever young.

Instant citizen, instant wealth

This must be the best slogan to attract PRs and foreigners to take up Sinkie citizenship. It is not only a very attractive choice, to live in the world’s riches country with jobs aplenty, there are also many advantages to being a citizen. Education subsidy, medical subsidy, govt hongbaos, priority for children education etc etc all comes attached to instant citizenship. But all this pales in comparison to the instant cash to be made in housing subsidy. But that is not all. Getting a flat directly from the HDB and selling in the resale market after 5 years is as good as being guaranteed a return of at least 50% to 100% of the purchase price, more likely to be more as prices of HDB flats have proven to go up in 5x, 10x, 15x and 20x.

The new citizens got the govt to thank for for this great opportunity to become a Sinkie and with instant monetary rewards in the hundreds of thousands, not $300 or $400. The govt has made it so easy for them to buy a flat at market subsidized price. The govt also ensures that there will be demands for these flats at market prices which often are several hundred thousands more. The PRs have no choice but to buy from the resale market. Then the silly Sinkies who were too hurried to sell for a small profit, and after two bites of the cherry would now have to buy from the resale market.

The most pathetic group would be those disqualified by the govt from buying direct from HDB. This group would have to pay more than double the price in the resale market for being citizens of Sin. And the new citizens must thank the govt for it, for this group of Sinkies to have no choice but to buy from them, to make them rich.

Instant citizen, instant wealth. Unfortunately some Sinkies will be intant poor, or robbed to pay for flats in the resale market. How not to attract the best FTs into Sin?

A pixiu painted by Mother Nature

This is a mythical pixiu, recommended by geomancers to improve and protect the wealth of its owners. This is entirely conceived and painted by Mother Nature, not a human imagination or creation. The lines are beautifully drawn and the pixiu is full of life and appears to be flying. Its body is covered with intricate patterns and colours.

This painting is one of my exhibition at Kent Ridge Guild House.

Wah seh, the Wen Jia Bao Way

China’s Premier Wen Jia Bao is accused of corruption by the New York Times and threatens to sue the paper. But before he does that, he did the needful. He voluntarily called for an investigation into his family wealth. Can anyone beat that? Either he is clean or he is an idiot. No one in the democratic world or free world would dare to affront an accusation of corruption and to open his own house for a shake out. Many would hide, run or erase all records or regulations that could reveal their corrupt ways.

Wen Jia Bao is setting a new standard for ethical govt for the world to follow. This is the new communist and a new world standard for a clean govt. Hello America, anyone there would dare to take up such a challenge? Check my family wealth!

Am I disappointed with SDP’s NOM?

The main thrust in SDP’s housing proposal is the Non Open Market Scheme, ie buying flats from HDB and must sell back to HDB. I think this is like reinventing the wheel and trying to look clever. No need to.

Look, the problems and unhappiness are caused by the current housing policies. 1. Not building enough to meet the demands of Singaporeans. 2. Selling HDB flats to PRs, in the resale market. This is a very dangerous thing to do if the PR population is not curtailed. In the future, many public flats would end up being owned by PRs. 3. Selling HDB flats at ‘airy fairy’ market subsidy price. Stop this scam and go back to cost plus pricing.

Just address these problems. There is no need to reinvent the wheel to come up with more ‘airy fairy’ schemes if the fundamentals of public housing are put right, ie building flats to ensure all Singaporeans can buy them at cost plus and shit away with all the market forces and market subsidy nonsense. Just build more HDB flats for the people and keep it for Singaporeans only, even in the resale market. The prices will stabilize and be lowered progressively. Owners of public housing must not aspire to see their flat prices shooting to the roof like private properties. But the good news is that all Singaporeans will have a roof over their heads and not having to pay through their noses and emptying their CPF and savings. There will be money left for retirement and some finer things of living. The flat would still have real value and no need to sell back to the HDB and creating more unseen problems in the future.

The Housing Minister has made public housing so complicated and confusing. That does not mean that the solution must be complicated and confusing. Do not create new schemes that would make the situation more complex and hazy. Just work with the current system, get rid of some of the nonsense.

The solution must be straight and simple. Build more flats for Singaporeans at cost plus, not that the govt must make a loss, but with the aim of providing the citizens, not PRs, with decent and genuinely affordable housing. Not the kind of flexible affordable housing that can be stretched like rubber bands. Is this so difficult to do? Think simple. No need to think clever. When a house is infested by termites, there is no need to build another house. Just treat the termite problem. And often the problems in a country are due to too clever people in charge. What a country needs is good men and not very clever men. With good men and good intention, many unnecessary problems will not arise, like the housing woes today.

How far has PAP deviated from its original goals?

‘This was the plan which we had from the very beginning, to give everybody a home at cost or below cost and as development takes place, everybody gets a lift, all boats rise as the tide rises. "We are investing to bring it up to date and you pay a token sum, the government carries the rest and HDB has been doing a fine job to give you an environment that you have today," Mr Lee shared.’ This is part of his speech during a Tree Planting session at Havelock Road last Sunday.

In his latest speech LKY recalled the original plan to give every Singaporean a home that would appreciate its value over time. This the PAP has done very well. In his speech he also touched on the pricing policies of HDB flats. ‘…you pay a token sum, the govt carries the rest…’ Is this still the case?

We must give full credit to his generation of leaders for doing what they preached and delivering them, cheap housing at a token price and appreciating home values. They have been there and done it. I think all the older Sinkies who have bought their flats during the early years will confirm this truth.

What is the new social contract?

The issue or trouble today is the mission of the new leaders. Are they still practicing the old policies of giving every Sinkie a home at cost of below cost? Are there Sinkies being deprived or disqualified from owning a home? Are Sinkies being made to pay sky high market driven prices?

The support for the old leaders for their good policies for the good of the people was genuine. Are the new leaders and their pro people policies gaining the same kind of support for the older leaders?

What do you think?

How to save the Stock Exchange

How many people believe that the Stock Exchange is in the pink of health? I think no one knows, or no one believes that it is dying, that it can go on a standstill the moment the computer traders decided to call it a day. But no, the truth is that the Stock Exchange is doing fine, doing roaring business, volume increasing, especially derivatives, and will be the biggest stock exchange soon, over taking Hongkong and Tokyo. The daily trading volume is in the billions and expanding, I think. I also agree that it will be a very big success. All the talks about retrenchment and remisiers going out of job or earning less than $2000 a month is bullshit. How can remisiers be earning less than a clerk or a taxi driver? Cannot be lah.



I think, despite the Stock Exchange doing so well, there are some things that can be tweaked to make it even better, with real trading and more retail participation instead of computer trading among themselves with no change of ownership. This boils down to a return to the basics. A stock exchange must not be turned into a casino for the thugs to do what they like. A stock exchange is for investment, long term, medium term and short term, and not for gambling or day trading only. A stock exchange must provide a level playing field for all players big and small. A stock exchange must operate a system that is fair to all players and no one must have any special advantage against others, to plug their computers into the system, to corner the market, ram shares up and down. I think these are all stated in the Rules and Regulations and by laws, no unfair competition, no insider trading, etc etc.



I cannot imagine any stock exchange would allow such violations to go on, or design its trading system to violate its own regulations and by laws. If it does, everyone will know unless the market players are all like the proverbial 4 monkeys, see nothing, hear nothing, do nothing and say nothing. If such is the case, then one can commit murder and rape in broad daylight.



There is a genocide going on in the New York Stock Exchange at the moment. But the regulators’ hands are tied as the big bankers and funds are preventing any laws to be passed to make their looting, rape, murder and arson a crime. So what they are doing at the moment is all legal, no crime.



Our Stock Exchange has adopted all the latest technology and practices of the industry and is the finest in the world, with the fastest computers that can service all the algos and computer tradings with or without retail participation. This is progress. Soon it would not need any retail participation at all. And this is what I think need to change. Retail participation may be bad for a world class super speed stock exchange that can handle millions of trades per second. The slowness of the retail and their small trades are really an irritant. So is the existence of things like remisiers, or key board operators, with little value add to the advanced and leading edge system that cost hundreds of millions.



I say if someone woke up one day on the wrong side of the bed and decided that remisiers and retail traders are needed even in a sophisticated world class stock exchange, and commission is really necessary to feed the backroom staff in the brokerage, below are a few suggestions that I think may help.



1. Separate the trading of ordinary stocks and warrants from the covered warrants and derivatives. The ordinary stocks and warrants should be traded in a closed system like before, for the small time retail traders and remisiers that are too slow and unsophisticated. The covered warrants and derivatives can continue in the present system and can be further expended to cater to the big funds and their high speed computers and algos on their own without the retail as a hindrance. They will be very happy trading among themselves instead of wasting time with small retail traders and the irritating remisiers. It is also a kind of levelling the playing field and the big funds will be most happy to take on competitive players of the same size. The volumes will shoot to the sky definitely.



2. Scrip lending must be stopped. Short selling is ok as long as traders are able to cover their own trades. But it is just not nice to ask someone who owns 1 million DBS shares to lend his scrips to a short seller for $2000 and see his share value sold down by $1m. Can investors be that stupid?





3. Variable commission rate must be normalised to prevent anyone from taking advantage of paying minimal or no commission to beat other players. Can such thing really be in practice, that big funds or proprietary traders been taking advantage of negligible commission rate to make profits against small traders that have to pay higher commissions? Cannot be right ya?. Level playing field and the regulations would not allow any party to have special advantage. If not, insider trading should also not be an offence.





4. Commission needs to be standardised and raised as this is the blood line that pays the salary of the all the remisiers and administrative and support staff, including the CEOs and operations managers of the brokerages. Without commission or little commission, who is going to pay for their salary and the overheads? See, commission is very important to keep the industry going.





5. The teeny weeny bit size is good for the machines to churn their trades. Is churning an offence? This, couple with negligible or no commission means that the computers can trade in the millions and to make profits by one single bit either way. On the other hand, the greedy little traders need several bids before they can make a little profit. The system should be modified to increase the bid size to the previous levels for the big funds and their machines to make bigger profits in a separate system detached from normal stocks. It is good for them and the small traders as well. Who does not want to make bigger profits unless, unless, the small bid size is specially designed to favour the big computer traders. This definitely cannot be. The system is definitely designed to be fair to all. Let’s make it fairer for the big computer traders by increasing the bid size, let them make more money from the small retail traders who are expert enough to trade derivatives with them without the aid of high speed computers plugged into the system. I am so thoughtful for the big computer traders.





6. Oh, no lunch break and continuous trading. I think the remisiers would not mind having a lunch break when the stocks and derivatives are traded under two different systems. Before I forget, the ordinary stock and warrant trading system must be a closed system and no one is allowed to plug in their computers to gain an advantage over the less sophisticated and cheapskate small traders that cannot afford to invest in high speed computers and software. When this system is back in place, the remisiers can afford to make less with lesser trading volumes and be quite contented. The computers and their algos can continue to trade in a separate derivative system without lunch breaks and churn as much as they like. Who cares? Anyway computers need not have to eat or to pee. In fact the Exchange should provide a non stop 24 hours trading system to please the algo and computer traders, but just spare the remisiers as they are human beings and need a break every now and then.





These are just some minor changes that I think could make the stock exchange even better and healthier. This is free advice, no need to pay big consultation fee unless a comprehensive and detailed proposal is needed.

The Art of RAR

The most compelling story of a new photopainting technique developed by a Singaporean is waiting to get some notice from the local art scene and the critics. I am still promoting this new art form/technique locally and if I fail to get any support or notice, then I would have to go out of this little island to seek the attention of the world. While our local critics and reporters are busily covering the works of foreign talents, incidentally my work was first featured by a Malaysian lifestyle magazine, the Essenze, a couple of months ago.

The most remarkable feature of this technique is that I could create many pieces of artwork, on paper or canvas, just by pointing my camera to a pond of the water. With proper set up, I could create many never seen before paintings and concepts that no human artiste could think of.

My work is a collaboration with Mother Nature with the latter doing the conceptualisation and the main features of a painting and I doing the finishing touches. These unique and revolutionary paintings are now on show at NUSS Guild House at Kent Ridge till 21 Dec 12. More than 30 pieces of my work are being exhibited and all are welcome.

Admission is Free.

Is Sinkieland a cheap third world joint?

Is Sinkieland a first world city or a third world joint? Are people and companies coming here because they see value in this island that could make their investments worthwhile as a package or just a cheap joint for low cost industries?

The picture painted is that this is a first world city where the talents of the world would like to be. And from the statistics on the huge influx of foreigners into the city to work, to become PR or citizens, this must be a choice place to be in. Surveys by international agencies also supported this view that Sinkieland is top choice for expats living and working.

If the finding is real, the city need not worry about companies setting up operations here and threatening to leave if foreign labour or half baked talents are not available. The city should be able to pick and choose and tell those companies that think low cost labour consisting of foreigners is the comparative advantage to set up operations elsewhere. But if we are being deceived and the reality is that this is another shit hole that no companies would want to locate here unless they can bring in third world cheap talents, then we have a serious problem to think about.

What is the truth? Is the city being held ransom by cheap labour intensive companies or really a choice destination, with good infrastructure, rule of law, ease to do business etc as the trump cards that put low cost labour as irrelevant?

One of the truths is that the high cost of operations is at the top and high rentals. Thus anything below top management has to be cheap. This makes sense to recruit more cheap foreigners to fill the ranks. And the reports that Sinkies are a minority in many foreign owned companies here is true. What choice do Sinkies have?

Are sinkies prepared to be a minority in the workplace eventually in the little island they called home? And not to forget, foreigners depressed wages but cost housing prices to go up, as well as cost of living. They are tearing away at the heart of Sinkies basic concerns.

Incestuous relationship and self gratification

The natives of Sin should stand up to applaud Prof Tommy Koh for his vocal support to the lonely voice of Prof Lim Chong Yah in his call for narrowing the income gap and inequality in our society. And thank the ST for publishing his view on this. One or two individuals, no matter how distinguished, could not make any ground against a pack of hyenas. There is an urgent need for the intellectuals with a conscience to stand together to make the voice heard.

In his article in the ST today, Tommy Koh was hitting hard by quoting British PM David Cameroon’s comment about incestuous relationship in high places, ‘I scratch your back, you scratch mine’ in the UK. Among the pseudo elite who are there to protect each other’s interest and pocket, there is a race to pay one another as much as they could. This kind of self gratification or in colloquial terminology, ‘pah chiu cheng’ is getting so serious and prevalent that it has become a norm. The elite thought nothing of it, that it is their right of passage to richness and instant gratification.

The pseudo elite are not blind or stupid. They knew exactly what they were doing, selective objectivity. Tommy Koh quoted the choice of using the flawed American model to pay themselves crazy instead of the more conservative Japanese model when the loot is much smaller. It is so glaring that the American model is running down the American and the world economy, but the pseudo elite are turning a blind eye to the dire consequences awaiting. They refuse to acknowledge or discuss the flaws of the system as long as they can continue to ‘pah chiu cheng’ and have a good time at the expense of the other extreme end of the social economic spectrum.

Tommy ended his article by saying, ‘In conclusion, I wish to thank Prof Lim for being our moral conscience. He has reminded us that our mission is to achieve growth with equity. Our mission is to build a fair and prosperous Singapore. What we have achieved so far is a prosperous but unfair society. Prof Lim has warned us that we have deviated from our original path and that we are dangerously close to a point when our inequality could adversely affect our cohesion and harmony.’

Thank you Tommy. To those elite with a conscience, Tommy added, ‘those at the top, should, however, reflect deeply on Prof Lim’s proposal and on their responsibility to society.’

Unfortunately many are busily trapped in the act of ‘pah chiu cheng’ and have no time to reflect and simply shoot off their hips at the proposal of Lim Chong Yah, without taking their attention off their act of self gratification for a moment. Just wait for the hyenas screaming in chorus to attack Tommy this time.

I don’t want to be a cab driver

Official media are written by paid professionals who carefully checked and verified their facts before printing. They even have editors and proof readers to go through their writings before appearing in prints. The quality and credibility of official media as far as factual reporting is concerned is unquestionable. Who would believe that NYT or Washington Post or CNN or Foxy News etc would print half truths or misleading articles to con their readers? No, they are very respectable media according to their believers and followers.

I was so convinced that a cab driver can earn $7000 per month less cost, which means his gross income was likely to be more than $10k, that I wanted to upgrade to become a cab driver. I am so lucky that I also read the unprofessional media written by unpaid and unprofessional bloggers. They are saying that this $7000 cab driver is a fake. Now I have to choose to believe the unprofessional whose information, not news, seems to be more reliable.

I am now changing my mind. I am not going to be a cab driver. I was almost taken in by a temporary or occasional truth. I am so gullible. Thank God there is the social media to counter check to find out the truth before I make a grave mistake with my career change.

The flexible truth

We have all been convinced that 30% of household income is the reference for affordable housing. What does this number really mean? To begin with, household income can be one income family, two incomes or several income family. This part is really very flexible and can be anything. The problem with the number of income in a family is that it is not a certainty and can vary over time. But the house/flat, when bought, the amount to be repaid in a 30 year mortgage is inflexible and will remain the same. So one day it is affordable within the definition of 30%, the next day could be very affordable or very unaffordable.

When breaks up, when children got married and left the family unit, the affordability reference can change drastically. Same as when a household loses one or more incomes. The affordability can become meaningless.

The other issue of this affordability is the rubber band of time. To be stretched to 30 years, 50 years or 100 years to be affordable is a playing of rubber time. This kind of interpretation of affordability is treacherous and deceiving and can be adverse to the home buyers.

What about the type of housing, rental or bought, 30 year lease, 60 year or 99 year lease, or freehold? Comparing a 99 year lease with freehold and using the same yardstick of 30% household income surely would make the meaning quite different. When a 30% income is for the purchase of a freehold property, and applying it to a 99 year leasehold, it is like comparing apple with orange.

Would the type of properties or size of properties matter in this affordable formula? 30% to buy a 1000 sq ft unit and a 500 sq ft unit surely must be quite different as the quality of living condition will be affected. To make this clearer, look at yesteryears fresh graduate spending 30% of his income for a landed property and today’s graduate spending an equivalent percentage to buy a 99 year leasehold shoebox flat. It is affordable in both cases, but are they the same?

This flexible truth is now being waved daily to tell the Sinkies that housing is affordable. Is this kind of truth acceptable and responsible? What kind of credibility is the person spouting this kind of reasoning? Is his or her intent honest, sincere and well meaning?

The testimony of St George

The ST gave George Yeo half a page of coverage and a great and adorable photo as dessert. George has put on weight, his hair is growing and getting darker. He is not only looking younger, he is looking more relax and happy, yes, genuinely happy. Life must be good for George in the private sector. His fallen from grace could be like the blinding of Paul to help him see the truth. At worst, George is now spared from the daily curses of ungrateful citizens.

The interview and George’s comments were very interesting. The more interesting part is not what he said but what he did not say. For instance he said, ‘When I look back on my various portfolios, there were opportunities to do good.’ He did not say whether he seized those opportunities or he did not. Later he added that he had more freedom now, and less of that constant pressure.

On the issue of credibility he added, ‘In the old days you’re protected by ritual, by hypocrisy, sometimes by ignorance. Today, it’s no longer possible. If a picture is too perfect, you know it can’t be real.’ Wow, in these few words he said so much. Great George!

How could people be protected by hypocrisy and ignorance? This is very interesting. Can hypocrisy really protect anyone? Or can anyone think he can be protected by ignorance? The part about being too perfect is just too much to be true. It is like the picture perfect Avatar Garden, so perfect, and yes, how real is it?

Singapore as the perfect city of growth and development is just perfect, economic growth every year, like 15%, a world record, property prices can only go up, the people all becoming millionaires, salary can only go up to make sure that all the properties are affordable and the people will have so much money in their CPF to live a rich and happy life in retirement when they are 100. Everything is so perfect.

It is great to read George Yeo in the ST in such a favourable mood.

Asia at the cross roads of being being enslaved by the Evil West again

The troubles, crisis and wars in Asia in general and in East Asia and South East Asia in particular have all been instigated and churned up by the Evil Empire, USA. The evil and satanic white American politicians in the White House, the Pentagon and CIA can't bear to see peace and prosperity in Asia especially East Asia.They fear illogically that the rise and prosperity of East Asia will relegate USA to rank behind Asia eventually. So, they try to change the natural trend of events of the rise of a peaceful and prosperous Asia by evilly engendering crisis after crisis in creating proxy wars through creating fears,  suspicion and dissension and playing constantly on the psychological fears among the unsuspecting Asian countries , hoping thus these perennial crisis and wars will push back Asian development and prosperity and allow the Evil Empire to pretentiously play the good guy and gain power to lord over all Asian countries again. Asian countries especially India, China and Japan must rise above their narrow interest to unite and build a prosperous and harmonious united Asia and be aware of the wicked insidious schemes of the West headed by the Evil Empire, USA .  Asians must either unite or be enslaved by the satanic Evil Empire, USA and the West again.

Southernglory1
1st November, 2012

Comparative advantage of a FT in Sin

Sinkieland is not only a paradise, a Disneyland to the FTs. It is a gold mine, like the gold mountain of California in the early 20th Century. Every poor peasant would risk life and limbs to go the beautiful country called America. Singapore is everything a FT can ask for, especially those from the third world countries when the comparative advantage is simply too good and too many. In America of old, they were exploited, discriminated, the govt and system were hostile to foreigners. In Sin, the foreigners were welcomed with open arms, govt budgeting funds to help them to assimilate to the new environment and people. The govt treats foreigners even better than the locals. Many came for top jobs, replacing the locals with full blessings from the govt, as foreign talents. What more do the foreigners want?

Take the cost of bringing up and educating a Sinkie here compare to those from the third world, the latter costs nearly a pittance to the millions needed to bring up a child. The cost here ends up with every child a losing concern. For a FT from a third world, it is big profits, plus exchange rate advantage, the return is unimaginable.

And the education of a child, the education system and infrastructure there and here, a Sinkie child will be given the best in education, but the sickening thing is that they are found not good enough compare to a third world product who could even be bossing him all over. The straight As that our students are getting must be fictitious that even our employers, both private and govt, don’t see them any up. Someone or the employers must be thinking that the grades are all fixed up while the grades of third world products are genuinely good, excluding the fake degrees that are not discovered.

The third world FTs are here for an upgrading, upgrading everything, from lifestyle, housing, income, jobs, status etc etc, it is all one way, up. The natives or Sinkies are also one way, down, except for the rich and powerful. Sinkies are downgrading in everything, in income, in lifestyle, from car ownership to public transport, from good paying jobs to driving taxis or as self employed agents, from landed properties to non landed properties, from bigger flats to smaller flats, from managing foreigners to being managed by foreigners, from renting rooms to foreigners to renting rooms from foreigners, from employing foreigners to begging to be employed by foreigners, from defending our country to defending foreigners. And people on the streets, from being kind to foreigners to being beaten by foreigners.

What is happening?

Having children is a bad economic proposition

When one looks from the angle of profit and loss or the yield of an investment, having babies is a bad gamble. Statistically, only the top 20% of a cohort would be making decent returns in terms of profit. Maybe 30% will break even and the rest outright losses.

Let me show some numbers. Bringing up a child will easily cost between $500k to a million or more. Giving an expectation of 5% per annum return and a productive life of 30 years, the return should be 150% plus cost. A million dollar upbringing cost would need a return of $2.5m and a $500k cost will need a $1.25m return. To earn $2.5m a Sinkie must bring in an average of $83k pa for 30 years. How many average Sinkies could earn this amount? For a return of $1.25m the average income should be $42k. This is likely to be the bulk of the average Sinkie’s income.

Put the money in properties, a $500k investment over 30 years is likely to give a return of 10 or 20 times, capital gain and rental income. This means between $5m to $10m in the Singapore context. Why would people want to indulge in the precarious and risky venture of child bearing for so little return and so many angsts?

Bringing up a child can be a bad dream, some a nightmare, and worst, could be a life time of hellish experience. To make things more disgusting, you have a govt lusting at every child as a digit to contribute to economic growth, to pay for someone’s sports car or multi million properties, and to defend and die for dunno what.

When everyone is looking at child bearing from the economic point of view, it just does not make sense to bring up a child. It is too costly, and to most parents, a losing proposition. Many would have to write it off as bad debt or capex to be depreciated over 30 years if lucky, or a lifetime of cost incurring negative asset. Does anyone look at a child as a new life, to be cared for, to be loved, to be provided for, to live life and to enjoy life, instead of becoming any inanimate cog in the economy?

What is the purpose of paying foreigners to represent Sin?

The govt is still paying a lot of money to foreigners to represent the country in sports. No doubt some have taken up citizenships before donning on the national colours. Would it be better to spend the money to develop and train our own children, our own stocks, to represent the country?

Yes, the table tennis team won two medals for the country at the Olympic Games. So what? Where was the euphoria and the pride of achievement, that we won Olympic medals? The victory seems so hollow. It was as good as forgotten the day after.

When would the govt start to think Singapore, spending money on our own children, giving jobs and opportunities to our own? Or shall we continue down this path of paying good money to foreign sportsmen at the expense of our own kind just to look good, or giving good jobs to foreigners instead of foreigners creating good jobs to jobless PMETs?

How many millions of dollars have the govt spent and will continue to spend on these foreigners, some PRs, some turn new citizens and some still non citizens. Do we need to spend this kind of money, or want to spend this kind of money? What is in it for us? So that we can go to London to cheer them on?

Have you seen a PSLE child cry?

The PSLE results are always met with joyous celebration and recognition for the bright little boys and girls who have done well. The parents will be proud, the schools and teachers will be proud, the community will be proud too of the children’s success. How many people will notice the little boys and girls sobbing in the corners, starring blankly at the result slips which said, failed, or average, no good?

At the tender age of 12, little children must face a devastating blow of knowing that they are NG. When the parents are understanding it may be a consolation. When parents are unreasonable and daft to place all hopes and desires on the poor child’s PSLE result, life can be very miserable. Many children will live in fear when the results are not up to their parents’ expectation.

Is it fair to put the poor young things through such a traumatic experience when many did not really know what is going on? Actually, for those who are less sensitive and a bit dull, it is a blessing. It is those that are aware of the hopes and wishes placed on them by their parents and knowing what the parents want and what it means to fail to achieve that will face the full might of being a failure at such a young age. And they would not know what to do, and who to turn to. The sight of their disappointing parents could be so frighteningly cold and ruthless.

I am no expert in child education and child psychology or schooling. I can only express my feelings for putting little children through such a pressurizing situation and the trauma they must faced, alone, no counseling to ease the pain and fear. As adults, are we being too cruel to the children because we think it is good for them, or because we don’t bother to think and look at how things will affect them emotionally and psychologically from their perspectives? Children can feel hurt and rejected too.

Would it not be better to delay this big cut to a later age when the children are older and stronger mentally to take the blow? The assessment of children at PSLE level and the stakes involved have put a lot of pressure on the parents and children, and many would have their childhood deprived, just to make the mark. Can the system be tweaked to delay this assessment and allow the children to grow up as children and load the pressure when they are in their teens?

No doubt some kind of assessments must come their way to shift out the better from the less academically inclined. Must it be done at so young an age? Would it make any difference to do it later and let parents and children have a more enriching life when the children are growing up, to have a childhood to hold dear to?

Can the PSLE be scrapped and children be allowed to remain in the same schools till Secondary Two when all the streaming can then come in? Admittedly such a major change would affect a whole complex system of education and the infrastructure that is supporting the system. It is a massive task to change and many lives and jobs and systems will be affected. But if it is for the better, no matter how mammoth the task is, how arduous the problems, it is worth the effort to change.

We need to be kinder to the children. Putting so much burden and responsibility on a 12th year old is too much for the child to bear. The adults are simply too ruthless in their expectations from little children. Then again all the talks about kindness and graciousness are mere talks, aspirations, not to mean anything. Let’s talk economics and growth. Children are invisible and cannot feel pain, hurt or suffering.

All residential properties will be 99 years

Someone commented that the most effective measure to bring down property prices will be to convert all residential properties to 99 year lease. No more freehold, no more 999 years leases. Such a scenario or idea will send shivers down the spines to the landlords, the rich and powerful that have hoarded multiple freehold properties to last till perpetuity. Their ambition was to protect their wealth, to continue to be theirs longer than the life of dynasties that do not last a couple of centuries.



The ground rule has been designed by the rich and powerful to ensure that their family fortunes will last forever, or at least 999 years. That is normal as anyone in a position of power will only think of their own interests first. In many third world countries, the assumption to political power is like owning the right to be rich, to build their family fortunes.



Converting all residential properties from freehold to 99 year lease is unlikely to happen in the near future. No way will the rich and powerful allow this to happen as long as they are in control. Reality will see them consolidating their interests and wealth even more firmly, to the extent of being enshrined in the constitution.



The rich and powerful will continue to amass their fortunes in freehold properties. And with the removal of estate duties, there is nothing to prevent them from keeping their fortunes for many generations to come, forever. The new rich too will be doing the same, acquiring whatever freehold properties they could lay their hands on.



The unfortunate part is that the number of freehold residential properties is limited. A time will come when there will be hardly any left for the newcomers. The other unfortunate development is that the new rich and powerful would likely come from the HDB flat owners or 99 year leasehold owners. The super rich and powerful cannot be blessed with good fortunes forever. It has never been the case. All the good things must come to an end.



When the latecomers find themselves fenced off from the freehold properties they so desired and untouchable, it will be their turn to fiddle with the laws to give them a chance to acquire them. When all the freehold properties are no longer available, and no new freehold properties can be created, the new power brokers are going to do things to get a hold of the freehold properties. If they can’t buy them, they will change the laws to get them.



One possibility is to amend the land/property ownership laws to make all residential properties 99 years. If such a change takes place, no one needs to bother about estate duties anymore. The wealth and fortunes of the old rich will be recycled more regularly and the cycle is shorter. And it will be their own selfish wrong doings, to corner everything for themselves to the point that the new rich and powerful will be left with nothing but force to manipulate the law and the system to get what they want. By then the situation will be so ripe for a property ownership revolution.



It can happen and will happen when the new rich and powerful are shut out from their desires and wants. In human nature, all schemes are designed to self destruct no matter how superficially brilliant they appeared to be. Because of greed and selfishness, all such schemes will breakdown eventually.



What could be used as the excuse is the need for more land with an increasing population. The Land Acquisition Act will be reintroduced to acquire all landed properties in the Bukit Timah and Tanglin areas for redevelopment. The interesting part will be that these properties would by then be worth several hundred millions each and the govt of the day would not be able to compensate them adequately. History would be re-enacted when such properties would be acquired at a pittance to the govt on grounds of national interests. The carefully crafted laws and social political system to protect these properties till kingdom comes will go up in a wisp of smoke. Why not, when empires and dynasties could crumble, why can’t such inequitable laws make ways for a more equitable system? The more intractable is the system, the more unjust it becomes, the faster it would be done away with. The law of natural justice and social justice must prevail. Man proposes, heaven disposes.

I want to be a cab driver

The glorious reports of cab drivers earning $6k to $7k must be very attractive to many out of job PMETs. This used to be peanuts at one time. But today, with a stock market that is dying and performing worst than a fish market, when the income of many remisiers is less than a fishmonger or butcher or vegetable seller in the wet market, becoming a cab driver is now an attractive option. I am seriously thinking about this and would have jumped in if not of the risk of being beaten up by a drunk or murdered by a desperado. There is no need to risk life and limbs to be a cab driver. Leave it to the younger heroes that could defend themselves when attacked or their youthful bulk will keep the attackers at bay.

How about being a school teacher? Read that there is a great advertisement flying in Australia that our MOE is recruiting experienced teachers from down under. Some commented that with so many PMETs available, and a few thousand remisiers waiting to join the queue, perhaps MOE may want to send its flyer to these professionals who are also armed with quite a few pieces of papers and a mountain of life experiences to share with the young. Would not the MOE pick on our locals to educate our young or prefer to choose from some unknowns who would expect to be paid more than the locals, with housing and relocation allowances added?

I may seriously thinking of sharing my blogging experience with the youth in schools if I get an invitation to do so. Oh, I also got history as my background, having done some lecturing in National Education at one time. I may be an old ginger but physically fitter than many 50 year olds. Maybe MOE is specifically looking for the breath of experience that foreign talents can bring to educate our young with a new set of values and outlook in life. I have so many things to impart to our impressionable young, and to teach how not to cross OB markers as well. Or I may apply to go for retraining to be a masseur or a male nurse or to assist as a helper in a nursing home or hospice. Think of it, there are plenty of jobs available for unwanted PMETs. Just go for some training to downgrade the expectations.

Why the obsession for FTs?

Many CEOs are chirping and blowing their trumpets about the virtues of recruiting foreign talents. We need talents from all over the world, with a world view, with diverse views, to grow, to be competitive and innovative. Sure, when your company is an international company competing in the international market and needing an international team of staff with cross country knowledge and information to keep the company in touch with the rapid changes overseas. No body can argue against that. So Citibank has a very international staff, recruiting people from all over the world, as they have branches all over the world.



Why does a local company with local operations and local interests like the SMRT or the NTUC need foreign talents? For what? Why would the ministries, the stats boards or GLCs need foreign talents, to be international in their staff composition, to look international, to show people they are international when they don’t need to? There may be a need, an important need for some companies or institutions to want an international outlook, an international perspective that only foreigners and foreign talents can provide. But many do not need to do so. And this is simply commonsensical in a local operation when the customers are locals. Even banks like Citibank do not need to fill its staff with foreign talents when the branch is serving their own locals, in the cities or counties.



The obsession for foreign talents must not be allowed to become a blind fetish fad, a nice to have thing. Hiring foreigners must have clear and distinct objectives, a comparative advantage. Foolishly hiring foreigners for foreigner’s sake has an economic cost, a social cost and also a political cost. When our citizens are unemployed, especially the qualified, this is going to turn into a serious problem for families and the downfall of a govt.



In the medical industry when there is a shortage of local professionals, there is a need for foreigners to fill the vacancies. The doctors and nurses, preferably local to be able to relate and communicate with their patients could come from foreigners and with acceptable consequences. There are many jobs and professions that don’t need foreigners. Such companies and organisations are pretty obvious and when they do employ foreigners they will stand up like a sore thumb when locals are available. Worst, such institutions may be national in nature and have a national duty and responsibility to its own citizens.



The other big danger of padding the top management with foreigners is that the organisation could be hijacked and turned into their own fiefdom at the expense of the local owners. Citibank and many MNCs are good examples of being hijacked by their international crews and lost their identity and purpose of who they are and whose interests they are serving. The Americans and Europeans are facing this problem when the MNCs uprooted and left America for greener pastures.



The govt should seriously come out with a policy to curb this wanton recruitment of foreigners for the sake of looking international when there is no need to and when the local PMETs are left redundant, left in the lurch. I am referring to local and govt linked companies or govt institutions and ministries. For goodness sake, why do you want a Greek god as your PR man or Jolie Angeline as the receptionist for companies like NTUC or SBS or Pasar Malam Incorporation? Or why would you need a foreign accountant in your backroom? Your domestic operations and businesses do not need foreigners or foreign talents for their world views and perspectives.



There must be a place for the natives and for the natives to be gainfully employed with dignity and pride as citizens of the country. They must not be treated as expendables to be discarded ASAP when a FT is available.

Taking photography to new heights

40 years ago when I held a SLR it was like holding a precision machine with very accurate engineering to be able to do what it was designed to do. Today, a DSLR is still a very precise machine and more. It comes with a computer inside. This is the kind of power in the hands of a photographer.

40 years ago I was messing around in the dark room all alone, with chemicals and fearing a little ray of light sneaking into the room. And the processing of the negatives and printing were mainly done manually with a lot of guess works. Manipulating them for different effects was tedious and failure rate was extremely high. Today, every thing a dark room processing can do can be done much better and easier, with more control and refinement using a processing software loaded into a computer. No more messy stuff and expensive errors that had to be thrown away at great cost. The software can work practically at anywhere with no fear of sneaky lights. And any error can simply be erased and redo again at practically no cost.

The tools of photography and the nature of photography have taken a qualitative leap to allow photographers to do many things that they could not do before. With such powerful tools and computing power, there are many avenues to explore for the photographer. I was not content with just doing and repeating the same thing all over again, shooting the best portrait, the best bird in flight, night photography, sports photography, travel photography, macro or micro photography. In many of these areas, everything has been done and shot by the professionals.

With two computers, one in the hand, one sitting on the table, and a more power third computer in the head, I started to explore and experiment with the untouchables, the taboos, the things that were frowned upon, striking out into new frontiers, to capitalise on the power of 3 computers. Photographers must do justice to the enormous creative powers their tools are able to perform today.

The first step I took was to embrace refraction, something that was nearly totally disregarded by photographers for the distortion it caused. Conventional photography is all about reflection, shooting an object to get a clear and crisp image. At times blurring and zooming effects were introduced, bokehs etc, but still an act of reflection.

Refraction is about seeing light travelling through more than one medium of different density. The bending of light through a prism to reveal the rainbow colours is a basic example of reflection. Light contains many things that the naked eyes could not see. Light is after all an electromagnetic wave. The signals received on radio or the television, through the phone, are all electromagnetic waves with information of sound and images embedded in them. The decoder in the TV unscrambles the information to make them visible and audible.

Light entering and exiting a medium like water are distorted by refraction and reflection. It also picks up other information that we could not see but exists. If only such information can be translated into something visible, revealing what they were like a TV image through a decoder, the final image can be stunning and unpredictable.

The Art of RAR or Reflection and Refraction is a technique that I have developed exactly to do this function. The images taken in the water will not be seen through the naked eyes or the camera sensor. The water will still appear as an image of water in the sensor. Through processing, the multiple images hidden in the light that came out of water can be seen in all its glories.

The Art of RAR is a key or a decoder to do this job. Many unseen images cannot be obtained from a seemingly non existence object in the water. With this methodology, photography is now able to do something new, something that was impossible and now possible. The images that came out from this technique can still be like a photographic image or an image that looks exactly like a painting with no trace of it being a photograph. It is a new field of photography that modern technology makes possible with the help of the creative and imaginative mind of a photographer. The possibilities are unlimited and photographers, with their creativity and imagination, could move beyond the confines of conventional photography, to explore new frontiers using the camera to produce new art forms.

The Art of RAR is not the only new technique available and more creative usages of the camera and technology would likely to lead to more innovative ways to expand the art of photography and how to use the camera. The art of photography is beginning to see new light.

Chua Chin Leng

Natural selection in Sin

Survival of the fittest is the oldest law of Nature. In the wild, Nature ensures that the fittest survives to continue the existence of specie. There is no exception, survive or perish.

There is a NYT article in the Sunday Times today on the success of Asians in American elite or specialised high schools. Of 14,415 students admitted to New York City High Schools, 59% were Asians. In 1971, Stuyvesant High School was mostly white, with 10 % black and 4% Hispanics. Today, it is 72% Asians and less than 4% black or Hispanics and the rest white.

There were protest that the admission system based on test or academic abilities is unacceptable as it would edge out the blacks and Hispanics. The govt stood its ground. NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, ‘You pass the test,…you get the highest score, you get into the school, no matter what your ethnicity, no matter what your economic background is.’ There is no affirmative action for the less able blacks and Hispanics.

After centuries of practicing racial discriminations against the Asians, the US of today is living up to its Constitution, of equal rights for all. Of course in many areas, this is still far from the truth. In this particular area on education, in New York City, this is the way forward.

Close to home, how far is this meritocracy being practiced? In many ways we are like New York City, the most able academically will be allowed to go to the best schools. Meritocracy in practice by the human beans is closely mirroring survival of the fittest in the wild, a process of natural selection. Of course there are exceptions.

The practice of natural selection has its consequences. The less able will eventually be extinct or elbowed out of the system. In New York City and in Sin, there is this other element that is not recognised or not spoken. The New Yorkers are protesting against meritocracy for their own reasons. They do not want to lose out economically. In Sin, when ‘foreign talents’ are imported in large numbers, as much as 50% of the population, and if they really are more talented than the natives, the outcome would see the natives being discriminated by meritocracy when the foreigners moved in to secure the places in the good schools, the good jobs, the better housing and everything else.

It is only a matter of time when the less able natives will have to move out, to make way for the foreigners, the new citizens, the more meritorious. Is this what we want, is this what nation building is all about? Do the natives think that their country should be inherited by the more talented and they have no place of existence or be around just to serve the new and more deserving citizens? Is this a country, or just a hotel.

Persistence, perseverance and tenacity

These are the cornerstones of a man with a purpose. Professor Lim Chong Yah is so filled with a mission to do something for the country and people that he is not going to be dismissed and ignored. He is coming back again with his prescription to erase the wrongs in our economic and social system. We need more able and distinguished men like Lim Chong Yah to stand up, and stand up again and again, when pushed down, when ignored or when attacked. It is not only the calibre of the man at stake, it is his ideas, his conviction to do something right that is the powerful force behind such men with a mission.

Those able men out there who believe in the cause, that the country is going down the wrong way and wanted to do something, it is now. Join the likes of Lim Chong Yah, stand up and be counted. Speak the truth, push your ideas, your views of what Singapore needs and should be and could be. We need intellectuals and professionals, people with many years of experience and wisdom, to speak out in the genuine Natcon.

If the Natcon is going to be the stage for the aunties and uncles in the kopitiams to tell us what they want for the future of this country, what do you think you are going to expect? Let’s be serious and get serious people of substance to do the thinking. I am not dismissing the young in institutions of higher learnings to speak up. Unfortunately many are still too inexperience to have a full grasp of the complexity of nationhood, of a people, of a country, and what and where the country should be heading, the good life for the people, not just for a few.

This is the time to stand up for Singapore, by well meaning Singaporeans. You need not be invited to speak. You must have the gumption to speak out without being invited for the show. Your country needs you in such dire times.

When more professionals and people that count stand together, they carry more weight. It is time to tell the boys and girls to go shopping for their branded handbags and sports cars. Let the real thinkers, those who have more wisdom, to do the serious thinking.

Lim Chong Yah is showing the way, the dedication to stick to a worthy cause and not be brushed off as a little noise in wilderness.