more novel ideas to save water

For the hardlanders it is very important that they should save on everything. Every single cent counts and it is good that there are campaigns to help and teach them to save, including 1 litre of water a day. Actually there are many novel ways of saving waters and money. They can delay flushing their toilets if they urinate. Flush only when they shit. After all saving money is more important than a little cleanliness and a little personal hygiene. The pigstys were cleaned maybe once a week. So should be ok if people don't flush their toilet so often. Another way is to visit the neighbourhood kopitiams or MRT stations to use their toilets. That would save more water. What else can they save? When they take MRT or buses, try to alight one or two stations before the destination and walk the last leg. Walking is good too and can be regarded as an exercise. They can skip a meal a day. Now that will be big savings. About $3 a meal can be saved. If that is not enough, eat instant noodles. For 60c a pack a meal, 3 meals a day or $1.80 daily, wow, who says living in Singapore is expensive. But please don't look down on them or tell them to get out of your elite faces. They are trying very hard to live within their means. And they need to or else the next transport increase or charges on essential services will not be affordable. Please contribute your ideas to help them save more. A few cents are also important.

effective ways of saving water

The most effective way to save water. I used to bathe twice a day. Now I bathe once a day. But to get extra savings, instead of taking a 5 minute bath, I have reduced it to 3 minutes. If the water fee is going to go up further, I will make do with bathing once in 3 days. Now that should be great savings. And all my washing, crockery, clothing etc shall use lesser water. One pail of water for the whole house and wash once a month. One pail of water to wash all the clothing. Now where shall I go for my $200 dinner with all the savings?

NUS alumni

Only 1% of NUS Alumni donated about $960k to a fund set up to provide bursaries to undergraduates for enriching programmes. Presumably the bursaries will only be given to local students. The main reason given for the poor response is that it is the Govt's responsibility. Now we have the elite taking a stand against another elite organisation, ie the graduates against the graduate's alumni. Both are supposed to be thinking people. Now who is more thinking? Should the graduates donate to help undergraduates? Or should the govt do it? Or is this another duplication of charitable work, a bursary created because someone thinks that it is a good idea or they need to do something like a charity? It seems like a fad here that everyone given an opportunity would like to raise fund to do charity. Isn't it strange that a first world affluent nation needs so many charities to help so many people and still some falling through the cracks and like someone phrased it, into the track? Is charity or bursary about helping the needy to cope with basic needs and tuition fees? Or is it meant for some luxuries like overseas attachments or enriching programmes which are now regarded as a necessity while the products are always below par compare to foreign talents? Why waste all these money or ask for donations to pursue something that is good to have, but the past times of rich kids? Does the Alumni thinks that they have a good and reasonable cause to ask for donation? I would like to start a charity for our primary school children to have attachment programmes in American Schools in the US. Anyone want to donate? It will give them a very enriching experience. Why can't the govt provide these if it can provide for so many foreign students here?

I want my blue dolphin fountain.

I want my blue dolphin fountain. There is this resident by the name of Lucky Tan who voted for a blue dolphin fountain to be built in his estate. He got it and is so happy with it. Whenever he is down and unhappy, all he needs to do is to spend 10 minutes beside the blue dolphin fountain. And all his worries will disappear. In the next election I think all the residents will want a blue dolphin fountain in their estates. And whichever party offers this magical fountain will definitely win the election. It is a pity that the estate of Tan Jee Suan did not have a blue dolphin fountain. Otherwise all his worries will be gone. Well it is all gone now. If only Tan Jee Suan's estate has an upgrading programme. If only 75% of the constituents voted for upgrading, Tan Jee Suan will have his blue dolphin fountain. Never mind if he had only $16 in his pocket. They will make it so affordable and so easy to pay. 10 years or 20 years instalments using his CPF. And if he does not have sufficient CPF, they will send him a gentle reminder every month in the form of a pink letter and gently telling him about the consequences if he does not pay. For people like Tan Jee Suan, their letter boxes must be stuffed regularly with pink letters from HDB, PUB, Telecom, Schools, and what not. But they must have got use to them. Lets vote for a blue dolphin fountain so that it can take all their worries away.

2011 election slogan

Get out of my elite uncaring face This should be an interesting general election slogan for 2011. Any takers?

tough ride hard landing

Singapore tough ride and hard landing. Singapore's relation with Thailand, especially the Thai Palace, is in for a tough ride. The Thaksin coup can be directly linked to the Shin Corp acquisition. And Singapore is seen as the cause of his downfall. Even a quick congratulatory message to the coup Prime Minister did not appease the displeasure in Thailand. We were the first to send the message in spite of the fact that we don't approve of military coups. And in his quick tour of Asean countries, Singapore, the largest trading partner, and once seen as the closest ally of Thailand, was bluntly left out. They do not want to talk to us. Then Temasek wanted to appoint a 'private secretary to the crown prince' as a corporate advisor for its Thailand office. This again backfired and the appointment was called off. Then the palace issued a statement calling the would be advisor, Tongnoi, as 'cunning and immoral.' Or is that a message to tell Temasek but taken out as against Tongnoi? A kingdom is a kingdom and thinks and behaves like a kingdom. A king and crown prince think like a king and a crown prince. Modern leadership from a modern state, a republic, will find it difficult to fathom or relate to them. The values and interests are different, I supposed.

dream team for survival

My dream team for survival in Singapore With the strong competition Singaporeans are facing today from foreign talents, it would require very exceptional skills, talents and characters to survive and do well in Singapore. Morality has to give at times. And there is no room for the bleeding hearts and compassion. It is all about survival and being the fittest to get all. If I were to run a corporation, the key marketing man must definitely be Durai. His charisma and ability to raise funds, lots of funds, and to run a tight and professional company are great assets in a competitive dog eats dog environment. Next in line must be Chia Teck Leng. His consumate skills in gambling and fund transfer are legendary. Whatever money raised by Durai can be invested by Chia in the casinos and transfer to anywhere without any traces. Hmmm, tax evasion. And there is another legend, a foreign talent in the name of Nick Leeson. Just place him in another bank that is targetted for takeover and he will deliver the bank with all its cash and assets. It is so easy. We need people who are highly motivated, by greed. Greed is a very strong driving force. The greedier they are the better. And once in the team, they will gel and help each other to do well. They must be smart to know that they are all in the same boat and should not rock the boat. If there is any legal issues to settle, there are many great legal counsels to call on. For a small island we really have many great legal brains to choose from. Davinder, no, I think Francis will be better. More international and senior in the hierarchy. For the next generation, look for some of those heartless young talents from a rich background. The richer the better. Then they can think big and be ruthless as well. You need tough and dedicated people to run the ship. And with so many young monsters to choose from, there is great future for such a corporation.

myth 84

'The Kiasi Singaporeans' The remarkable Singaporean traits of Kiasi and Kiasu are best exemplified in their willingness to obey all the rules and regulations, law abiding and follow whatever campaigns that the govt throws at them. Everything the govt says, goes. And we end up with a world class workforce and a very discipline people. If only the Singaporeans were really that sheepish or obedient, Singapore will be a much better place. And the govt will have lesser headache persuading the people to do all kinds of things. Singaporeans don't really listen to the govt or follow govt policies. If they do, all our problems will be solved. There will be no litters on the road, no smokers, no opposition in parliament, etc The most painful campaign that the govt is pushing and not getting any success is the population growth. If Singaporeans were to listen to the govt, every family would have 4 or 5 children. And given that there is 1 million households, our 6 to 8 million population target will be reached overnight. Imagine what a socially and economically vibrant city state we will be. Hospital beds all taken up to full capacity. Retail business doubles or triples because of the doubling or tripling of the population. All the excess HDB flats will also be taken up and more flats need to be built. And all the property prices will go up too when demand is growing. And no need for foreign talents since we can produce more of our own talents. Ok, maybe this is not true since our local breed may not be good enough and we need fresh genes to add to the ageing pool of old genes. And the Ministry of Defence will be most happy with all the NS men, 100k a year or more. We can have soldiers everywhere. What else, the IRs, the shopping centres, Sentosa, etc will be doing roaring businesses. The trains and buses and taxis will be chalking up threefold profits and fun at full capacity, all packed with commuters. And ERP collection will automatically shoot sky high. All happy problems. And socially the impact will be greater. We will have bubbly and happy little faces running around the estates and playgrounds instead of grumpy slow moving oldies waiting for their days to be over. If only Singaporeans listen to the govt and do as they are told.

Quote of the Century

Quote of the Century "This country doesn't torture, we're not going to torture," George Bush was quoted by the Associated Press news agency during a photo session in Washington DC.

we should thank wee shu min

Someone posted in YPAP forum about thanking Shumin. I thought it was a joke. On second thought, I think he had a point. Without Shumin telling the brutal truth, Singaporeans would still be living in a state of ignorant bliss. Hopefully Shumin's frank talk could jolt them up and face the ugly reality of life. The earlier they know the truth, the earlier they can take actions to look after their pathetic life. It is the same as the peanut story. Otherwise we still would not understand what a peanut cost and what people meant by peanuts. It is another brutal truth that Singaporeans must live with. You people must be grateful to Shumin. That's why they always said that an innocent child will tell the most enlighten truth. You cannot lie to a child.

how real are american professors?

Professor Susan Shirk from the University of California and Director of the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation wrote an article reprinted in the Straits Times today. She was US dep asst secretary of state responsible for China from 1997 to 2000. 'N.Korea nuke crisis: China's tough stance may help fix Japan ties.' Her article reveals the standard kind of western bias and understanding of Asia and Asian politics, and this is how Rice and the Bush made all those decisions based on the same kind of thinking and assumptions. Let me point out those that I don't agree. 1. That China is willing to take a tough stand against North Korea and would choose to ally with Japan and the US against its tradition ally, North Korea. How foolish can this be? Has China or Russia raise a whimper that North Korea's nuclear test is a threat to them? China may have to worry over the long term if North Korea falls out and join the US camp. But as long as North Korea is on its side, it will do anything it can to keep it that way. North Korea is the strongest Chinese card against the US and Japan. Without North Korea, the Bush administration and Japan will be playing monkey tricks against China and prodding Taiwan to go independence. And there will be many nonsensical human rights issues and trade issues to pressure China. 2. It is China's intention to keep North and South Korea separated as China fear a united Korea led by the South and under the influence of the Americans. Or is it the other way? The truth is that the Americans are twisting the South Korean's arm and refuse to let them reunite as a single Korea. The Americans fear that a reunited and independent Korea will mean no more American bases in Korea. Didn't Susan Shirk know this or is she pretending that she did not? 3. China voted for a stronger sanction against North Korea? China and Russia stubbornly resisted the US proposal to do a regime change in the North. And they would not allow the US to use the military option. It was forced by the US to accept some kind of sanction unwillingly and had to compromise half way. 4. China compromised its North Korean ally for the reason of pride? The North Korean trump card is so valuable to the Chinese that should the US dares take the military option they can expect the Chinese troops to be there facing them. 5. The perception or impression that all the Americans and western media try to tell the world that North Korea is suffering from food epidemic and its people are dying of hunger as the conventional truth. How true is that? Why are the North Koreans not revolting? And the pictures of hungry babies were of chubby faces with rosy cheeks. Compare them with the skin and bone children of Africa and some third world countries. These children looked so well fed and far from dying of hunger. And those are the worst pictures that they can find and put on air. 6. China is worried about its position in the elite nuclear club being diluted. Horseshit! Did China complain about North Korea, Pakistan or Iran being nuclear powers? The country that fears this dilution of its nuclear power status is the country that makes the most noise and threatening military intervention. Now which country is that? Difficult to guess? 7. China will join Japan and the US against a common enemy in North Korea? She must be mad! How could a professor have such a simplistic view? 8. Chinese politicians didn't dare invite Koizumi to China or meet him outside China? It was China who refused to talk to Koizumi despite his many attempts to visit China and talk to the Chinese leaders. Our poor professor is still reading History 101? 9. Many Chinese political elite blame the dangerous deterioration of relations with Japan on former Jiang Zemin? Where is she from? Venus? 10. Hu Jintao was eager to patch up with Japan and work out a pragmatic understanding with Abe? Partly truth but mainly because Abe has to promise not to visit Yasukuni shrine. At least if Abe wants to keep China Japan relationship on an even keel and if he wants the Chinese leadership to talk to him. My goodness! What kind of history and political science are they teaching or being taught?

we have more than 800 unique readers daily

As we progress up the social and economic ladder, as we become more well read and informed, as we become more aware of the our role and responsibilities to ourselves and our people, we no longer want to sit still and be fed with whatever news people think are fit for our consumption. We want to decide and judge for ourselves what is good or bad, right or wrong. News reporting is no longer a one way street where the reporters and journalists regard all readers as captive peking ducks to be force fed with whatever they deem fit. News reporting has to change. It is interactive and responsive to the needs of the readers. The readers now demands what they want to hear and know. This is where Cyberspace comes in. Only Cyberspace can play this kind of role of news as there are and not news as the MSM want them to be. And when the news are biased, not up to expectation, the readers are there to change them, correct them, rebut them and present their own version of the the news. Everyone here can and should play a part in this new development. The fact that you are all in Cyberspace is enough evidence to show that this is the trend. The only thing that is holding many people back is the apprehension, the self doubt that people may disagree with your views. It is time to remove the apprehension. As for self doubt, this is a natural expectation and there will be people who agree with you and those who disagree. We are all different and see things differently. No one is absolutely right or wrong. There is a growing trend for the young and restive to want to say their peace. This trend is unstoppable.

new trend in news reporting

As we progress up the social and economic ladder, as we become more well read and informed, as we become more aware of the our role and responsibilities to ourselves and our people, we no longer want to sit still and be fed with whatever news people think are fit for our consumption. We want to decide and judge for ourselves what is good or bad, right or wrong. News reporting is no longer a one way street where the reporters and journalists regard all readers as captive peking ducks to be force fed with whatever they deem fit. News reporting has to change. It is interactive and responsive to the needs of the readers. The readers now demands what they want to hear and know. This is where Cyberspace comes in. Only Cyberspace can play this kind of role of news as there are and not news as the MSM want them to be. And when the news are biased, not up to expectation, the readers are there to change them, correct them, rebut them and present their own version of the the news. Everyone here can and should play a part in this new development. The fact that you are all in Cyberspace is enough evidence to show that this is the trend. The only thing that is holding many people back is the apprehension, the self doubt that people may disagree with your views. It is time to remove the apprehension. As for self doubt, this is a natural expectation and there will be people who agree with you and those who disagree. We are all different and see things differently. No one is absolutely right or wrong. There is a growing trend for the young and restive to want to say their peace. This trend is unstoppable.

join me to give MSM a run for their money

Cyberspace is more than just a venue for venting frustrations. It has a very vital role to provide an alternative view, a citizen's view of what is important to the people. The things that netizens discussed are matters that they choose to discuss, spontaneous and unfettered, not imposed by anyone or subject to anyone's approval. It is the people's platform. We have seen how MSM present their news, very selective and with a high dosage of self censorship. The way MSM are going about their roles, they are, yes, many of you have said it, losing their credibility and influence on their readers. In redbeanforum and mysingaporenews, there are hundreds of you fellas out there, all very well educated, concerned, opinionated, articulate and well read. All of you have your own interests and your own views of things. If we can share all these in Cyberspace, we will be a very important platform for people, Singaporeans and international readers, to come here to hear us out. Our strength is our free spirit and freedom of expression. We decide what we want to say or discuss. This will put us well ahead of all MSMs. And we are the pioneers in Cyberspace. We should not miss this opportunity to craft out a niche of what Cyberspace and citizen reporting are all about. Our time is precious. Our effort is precious. We should use these constructively and meaningfully. We can be as creative as we want. Say whatever we want. But we need to develop our own netiquette and professional conduct to be respectable and taken seriously. All of us have different views and opposing views. But as long as we respect each other and discuss on issues, we cannot get too far wrong. Just stay away from attacking people personally or libels and scandals. This is our country, our space. Make it counts. Make our views heard and be taken seriously. For those who are posting in mysingaporenews blog, there is a limitation in that you cannot initiate new topics. Use the forum to tell your story. Talk about things that are close to your heart. We can talk about them passionately, sensibly and sincerely. If we can do that, our effort will not be in vain. The fact that all of you are here is that we share some common values and approaches to what posting and discussion in cyberspace should be like. Let us be the beacon for others who will come after us. Let us show our way. As a first world nation, we must be confident of ourselves and our voice, and be prepared to take a stand on domestic or international issues. Redbean

child prank or cold sore?

Wee Shu Min's case is but a child prank. In many cases of such nature this will be treated like a child prank and be ignored completely by the general public. It may at most deserves a little comment and will be forgotten. But this issue now has generated so much heat in cyberspace that it appears to become a political crisis of sort. Many of the bloggers and forumers are seeing things that are more than meet the eyes. Just like the Durai case, it is not an issue of a young girl making an off the cuff statement in the heat of the moment. Many are questioning the thinking, values and philosophy of the elite which is symbolised by the ruling party. Anyway, such perceptions only appear in cyberspace and appear serious for those who are reading the fierce comments posted. But is it really deserving of such attention in MSM? Obviously not. The general public will probably see this as a little disturbance, a little annoyance. And rightly the professional journalists in the MSM will not be bothered to spend time reporting on such a small issue. If it is that important and affecting the ruling elite or the party, you can expect some comments coming out from the highest places. The silence tells us that it is not important and no need to sweat over it. It is more like a cold sore. It will appear for a short while and will disappear by itself and the skin will be as smooth as before. Not a little blemish will be left behind. Whether it will disrupt again in the future will depend on the nature of the cold sore. If it is syphillis, it will surely rear its ugly self once again at the most uncomfortable moment. But it could be just a normal cold sore that will just come and go and will not affect the person having it. The elite have made their assessments like the MSM journalists and they are right. The forumers and bloggers are making a mountain out of a mole hill. Whichever party is right in their assessment, only time will tell.

what would i do?

What would I do if I were to give some fatherly advice. Option 1. Make an earnest apology that she had spoken wrong. Even if she is young, at 18, she must show more care and compassion for the less fortunate and less able in society. She has been counselled and hope she will be wiser and be more caring and more thoughtful in the future. Option 2. She is a 18 year old young adult. She must be responsible for what she said. If she has done or said things that are wrong, she must stand up to face the music. She should not close down her blog but to reply and explain her position and apologise for her erroneous views. She has her right to have a view which I don't agree in this case. It is good that other forumers correct her wrongful thoughts and lack of compassion and humility. Hopefully she will learn a good lesson from this episode. As a father I can support her and correct her to become a better person. She has erred like many other young persons. The important thing is to pick herself up, admit her erroneous views, apologise to Derek Wee and whoever she has offended and move on.

the hsienloong dilemma

The HsienLoong Dilemma Now what shall Hsienloong do? To side with his soldier/MP or to side with the people?

duck can sing and cock can swim

Wee Siew Kim has formally apologised today after his earlier reply was deemed unacceptable in cyberspace. Not sure how MSM would interpret his reply, but if we take the lack of reports or forum letters as an indicator, maybe we can assume that MSM has let the matter rest. Only in Cyberspace, the modern day Liangshan that the mood is different, and the protest vehement. Talking about two different worlds, indeed there are two worlds apart. And one is speaking like chicken and another like ducks. Some would want to let the matter rest but some will still be angry. What I think needs to be reviewed is the policy of inducting or co copting successful supertalents into politics. These are able men and women for sure. They have done well in their chosen fields. Politics is a different ball game. There are many reasons why these able people should not be in politics. One of which is interest. Are they really interested and have the people's interest at heart? Or are they coerced to join, or just jump into the bandwagon for a little ride and fame, and fortune? Or they are in for a totally different agenda? Whatever, these people have very little time given their tight schedules in their professions and family. People may want to believe that they are superhumans and can work 25 hours. But remove the facade of their achievements, they are basically another human being who needs to eat, sleep and rest and a little time for themselves. It would be more merciful to let them enjoy their success in what they are doing than to bring them into politics to suffer, and if not being careful, be disgraced in front of everyone. By so doing, we are doing injustice to them and to the people. Wee Siew Kim will now be very bitter for having accepted the call to be in politics. Why did he mess up his life, his family's life, to go into politics when he could be very happy as a CEO in the corporate world. We must be fair to our people, especially the highly valued few supertalents that we have. Do not abuse them by forcing them to be supermen and superwomen. A duck can swim but not run. A cock can crow but not sing. Lets not assume that a duck can sing and a cock can also swim.

the insensitive americans

The insensitive Americans still living with the 19th Century colonial mentality. 'The US military would have to rely more on 'brute force' if faced with another war, such as on the Korean peninsula.' Genera Peter Pace said. He added that war against North Korea will cost greater lives than if the US were not already fighting in Afgan and Iraq. He was commenting about a potential war with the North Koreans and regard the South Koreans as transparent. He could not think how the South Koreans would feel if the US go ahead and kill their North Korean brothers and sisters. I doubt the West Germans would take it too kindly if the Americans commented about killing the East Germans during the days of two Germanys. The Americans simply assume that the South Koreans hated the North Koreans as much as the US hated them and would do anything to them without any qualms. The best reflection of how the South Koreans feel is best described by the criticism of the US's war like ways by Song Min Soon, chief presidential secretary of security of South Korea. Song was quoted as saying, 'The US has probably been in the largest number of wars in the history of mankind. If we leave our fate in the hands of the US just for the sake of falling in step with the international community, it would amount to giving up our own destiny.' Would such an open statement of disapproval mean anything to the Americans? Or would they still want to kid themselves that this is only an isolated comment by a small minority and the South Koreans are still a compliant colonised people that do not think for themselves as a people and as Koreans? That they will still kill Koreans because their colonial master said so?

myth 83

'Govt does not take care of pensioners' In the past many pensioners had complained that their pensions were all eaten up by inflation and the unceasing rise in the cost of living. Within a few years these pensioners will find that they cannot make ends meet with the little pension that they are receiving. Having experience such mistakes in the computation and implementation of the pension schemes, the new pension scheme will make sure that pensioners will be very comfortable for many years of their twilight years, drinking wine on their rocking chairs. Their pension will be enough not to be affected by any inflation and high cost of living. This will be a great incentive and motivation for talented people to serve the govt.