money or quality patient care

Reward for patient care or chalking up revenue This is the latest debate involving Wei Ling and Dr Ranjiv Sivanandan. Ranjiv's point is that in restructured hospitals, doctors and departments are rewarded based on the number of private patients treated. This underlines the whole Singapore ethos of existence, from state, organisations and people. Money is the only reason and the only reason that can justify work and achievements. Wei Ling came out strongly against this impression. And she quoted her department , NNI, as a living example of patient care first, quality care comes first. Bringing in money is not a criteria for performance appraisal. She knew what she was saying. That was her department and that was where she called the shot and set the ethos. The sick are very fortunate to have some of these special individuals who are passionate in what they do, without having to bother with how much they earned or how their rice bowl will be affected. Unfortunately, NNI is probably an isolated case. Will there be another hospital heads who will stand up to say they too are doing the same? Probably not, and Ranjiv's case still stands. We need mavericks, people who are high achievers, confident and secure, to stand up to the weight of bureaucracy to do what is right and not what the bureaucracy wants them to do, or they will have to face the stick.

nkf story - the good side of durai

NKF Story - The good side of Durai As in all stories, there are always the good side and the bad side. And humans are no difference. There are the good side and bad side in all of us. David Tan, a close friend of Durai, who was given $20k as a token of appreciation, was all praises for Durai. He had told the court that Durai was an honourable man. And he also quoted anecdotes of Durai telling him 'on two occasions' to tell the truth to the investigators. Durai must be worried for David, for whatever reasons. Durai, as reported in the Today paper, also called David Tan's nephew to remind David to 'tell the truth' in court. And in all the years that David had known Durai, he confirmed that Durai had not asked him to do any dishonourable thing. Here is the good side of Durai on display in court. At least we are now assured of some truth spoken in court.

good to have frills

Good to have if it is free Unless there is a breakdown or system failure, the next MRT train will arrive in 10 or 15 minutes at most. This could also apply to the buses. At worst, the buses will be late by 30 minutes. Anything more than that, the system must be very badly managed. This is the inbuilt advantage of being small. No need to think like big cities and big countries. It is good to have all the screens to tell the time of the next arrival, provided they don't add towards the operating cost and thus to the cost of the fare. Unavoidable if these perks are added. Imagine how many thousands of bus stops with one or more screens showing the arrival of the next bus? What kind of cost on the software and the maintenance to add these frills to the lives of the poor communters who just want the cost to go lower? Then there are the more affluent commuters who lusted for such thrills as they can afford them. It is important to look at the lowest common denominator, LCD, before implementating all these good to have gadgets. Be mindful that there is a large majority who still struggling to save a few cents on their daily trips. Not everyone can afford to throw away $10 or $100 as tips or small change.

biting the hands that feed

The call to ban granite export is on again. Which confirms that there was no ban and the arrest of our vessels was a violation of international law, Indonesian law and a wanton hostile act. The military commanders were acting in their own accord, in violation of Jakarta, a kind of mutiny or warlordism. Still want to help them, still want to develop Batam and Bintan? On a personal basis, on humanitarian ground, the feeling of wanting to help the victims of a disasters is unavoidable. There is the heart and emotion to want to help another human being. But if their government do not appreciate such acts of humanities and repeatedly acts in a hostile and unfriendly manner towards us, let them shoulder the burden of helping their own kind. Let them bear the guilt of not able to provide their people in times of need. We shall fold our arms and look elsewhere. Our resources are limited and there are many Singaporeans more worthy of our assistance. The money or aid can go to the needy instead of giving them one dollar more. We cannot help the world. We need to help ourselves and our own kind first. Why waste our time and resources when the hands that feed are going to be bitten?

a nation or just a mnc?

A nation or a MNC? I wrote about Singapore becoming an IBM, ready to be sold to the highest bidder earlier. How relevant is such an observation? PN Balji wrote an article on the Revolving Door Nation today. In his article he discussed about the real intention of the new economic migrants flying first class to our shores as opposed to the penniless migrants of our forefathers who came on cargo ships on a one way ticket. Balji started by saying 'Let's not kid ourselves. Most expatriates who come to work and live here don't do so because they want to make this place their home.' He had spoken to many expatriates and came to the same conclusion. He knew what he was saying which is not what people believe. It is ok for people to want to believe what they want to believe, that foreign talents love this little red dot and are all here to stay. But to believe in blind faith and trying to convince others to believe likewise is a very unjust thing to do. Feel free to believe in your fantasy, but reality as felt and seen by the people on the ground is reality. People with value or are wanted will pick and choose where they want to go. And people who did that are just doing it purely for their selfish reasons and more, they don't owe us a living. What is more humiliating and would in the long run do a long of harm to this young nation, is to self deprecate ourselves by glorifying the foreigners and dismissing ourselves as less than equals. When I look at Parliament, I don't think the foreign talents are that superior to any Singaporeans to be put on the high pedestals. If those are considered the best and better than Singaporeans, then Singaporeans do not deserve to exist. We need to return some pride to the Singaporeans. As Balji said, 'Without pride, there is nothing.' We will only turn into a country without a soul, without shame, just a corporation. Or as Balji said, a revolving door nation. Inevitable? That for our survival we must be soulless and become a flotsam of people, that to survive we no longer have any pride or self worth?

of billionaires and million hairs

It was really impressive to know that there are so many billionaires among us and around the world. These are no ordinary people to be able to acquire so much wealth in their lives. And many are self made. Bill Gates did it in less than 30 years. Warren Buffett did it about twice that time. The Singapore smaller billionaires did it in their life times. Would the lesser beings of Singapore suddenly think that they are less able and less worthy than these great men and women for earning less than them? After all the intelligence and respect in this island are measured according to how clever one makes money or how much is one worth? Would the Forbes Report make people lose their self respect because they were only millionaires in several hundred millions or in tens of millions? Would we see people going around trying to grab more monies to make themselves billionaires?

nkf story - of style and glamour

Move aside Caldecott Hill, you no longer have the honour for having the most well dressed and glamorous personalities in this island. The honour is now given to the old NKF. Other than the handsome and charismatic Durai and the meticulously well dressed Richard Yong, now appearing on stage or at Havelock Road magistrate is the cool and fashionable David Tan. Anyone at 62 will be green with envy to be able to look so good and so flamboyant, and so happy. And they danced away in Durai's office when he clinched a donation of $5 million for the NKF. They were jubilant and exhilarating for landing such a huge sum of money for the charity. And David was not even a member of NKF Board. But his joy for doing such a great deed for the needy NKF patients is something that every caring Singaporeans can share. Not sure if they pop a few bottles of champagne and a party after achieving such a big success, but for sure, David's effort was not forgotten.

Of Parliament and debates

Of Parliament and debates For those who are casually following the happenings in Parliament, it is excusable to think that the opposition in Parliament is the PAP. Where were the Cheam See Tong, the Low Thia Khiang and the Sylvia Lim? Never seen and never heard of in a Parliament that is most of the time 75% empty except for the first few sessions. They must be among the absentees. That is the impression if one watches the TV news coverage. Quite natural when the opposition does not really have a role to play in a Parliament that is overwhelmingly dominated by a ruling party. And quite natural that the debate in Parliament is just debate. Nothing happens after that no matter how much the speaker said. Everyone who bothers to be in Parliament, made their few comments and asked a few questions and things just 'move on.' Their comments and questions were answered, and that's it. Scanning through the main stream media and the TV, which rightly allocated about 10 minutes of their precious time to Highlights in Parliament as they have more important programmes to broadcast, tells how important were the proceedings in the house. And the camera cheekily showed the 3/4 empty Parliament every now and then to tell the audiences how heated and thoroughly engaging the debates must have been. With the impression that the opposition were non existence, at least from the reports available in the MSM as a measure of their contributions, the floor was all for the PAP MPs. And the notables who spoke passionately, and at times aggressively on the issues that they pursued were the likes of Inderjit, Lily Neo, Ong Kian Min and Sin Boon Ann. They were convincing in wanting to put their points across strongly. But despite all that, the greatest victory goes to Lily Neo. In her quest to help the poor and needy living on government handouts, she succeeded in getting another $1 a day for them. That was the greatest achievement that no other MP could ever think of doing. Halimah is the most persistent fighter for the working class on record. She practically spoke on every issue that affected the workers and plea after plea for the government to spare a thought for them and their plight. So far she has not won her $1 worth yet. Maybe she will get her desserts as events unfold in the years to come. But one thing for sure, as against all the cynicism by Seng Han Thong, the ERP is going to be more expensive and hopefully more effective. Definitely not more effective and less expensive.

myth 121

Ang Pow is an acceptable customary practice Giving ang pows (red packets with money inside) is a traditional Chinese practice. During the Chinese New Year, the Chinese parents will give ang pows to their children, unmarried ones, for good luck. And they extend this by giving it to the children of all visitors to their homes or neighbour's children. This practice is further extended to workplace where employees are given ang pows too by their bosses. Nowadays, ang pows are also given to friends in the business circles as a show of appreciation. It used to be $1.10, then $2, $4, $10, and now $20,000! I will be deeply moved if anyone were to give me a $20,000 ang pow. It is just a customary practice.

futuristic singapore

Then we have countdown at traffic light junctions. I supported that. It is not only a convenient and useful information, it is also a safety feature to cut down on unnecessary risk taking and accidents. Then we have road signs telling motorists how low it takes to reach certain roads. Dunno for what? Then we have satellite technology to tell bus commuters when the next bus will arrive at the bus terminals. Great piece of information. Then we have signs telling passengers when will be his turn hop into the next taxi or he can change his mind and join another queue somewhere. Now we are going to have signs at all bus stops, did they say all bus stops?, to tell commuters when the next bus will arrive. Too much money to spend? Like Sam Tan raising the issue of a small length swimming pool in a public hospital for the benefit of patients to admire and relax. Something like the beautiful marine aquariums in NKF for the dialysis patients. No cost is mentioned as they were paid for by donors. So nothing to worry about. As long as someone else is paying for it, it is ok. The bus commuters are likely to have all the signs paid for by somebody else for their convenience. Great idea. At the rate we go, we are going to be an ultra modern, technologically advanced and futuristic island. World class facilities and leading edge technology on the road side. Somebody needs to pay for it, surely.

parliament - i scratch you, you scratch me

The MPs have done their part to praise this 'Made in Heaven' budget. It is time to reciprocate and praise the MPs for their angelic chorus. The quality of debate has been good beyond recognition if we are to learn from Kan Seng's summation of how good parliamentary debate is today. But he also dropped a hint that time and effort should be apportioned to more important issues and not wasted on issues that are of lesser importance. That is as frank and honest as Kan Seng can be. Now what after the great debate? Is there anything that is going be changed or all the papers submitted will be passed lock, stock and barrel? Are we going to have our 6.5 million population, increasing ERP charges, higher cost with world class facilities and infrastructure, or spending more money on not so important mega projects and lesser on the bread and butter issues facing the pathetic poor by giving them another $1 a day for a meal? Will our MRT go the Tokyo way to be world class and be packed 100%, 20% more than the current under utilisation? It must be a great sight to see MRT staff shoving and pushing commuters into an already 100% sardined pack carriage so that we will be more like Tokyo! The 6.5 million population is a very serious proposition that no one, no matter how conceited he is, is in a position to guarantee that nothing can go wrong. For when it does, it will go drastically wrong. We have made all these great plans only seeing it from our own point of view and interest. I cannot imagine the conditions at the causeway and second bridge every weekend and how our neighbours will react to the massive jams. Maybe next time not only no sand or granite, but no causeway as well. Who knows, as the problem that a 6.5 million population can contribute to our slow and leisure pace lifestyle of our neighbour is yet to be fathomed. A Richard Lim Siong Kheng wrote to the ST, 'There ought to be smarter ways to grow our economic pie, for examples, through increasing productivity...In other words, emphasise quality rather than size in the Little Red Dot. Let us do things the smarter way and leave something for posterity.' This kind of problem solving is nothing different from increasing ERP charges. Like Ong Kian Min said, '...there is a "psychological limit" to how high the ERP rates can go before drivers "will be up in arms". When there is only one aorta in our system, all the blood must go through it no matter how hard one squeezes it. And this is elementary and does not need supertalents to see the problem and does not take so long for anyone to realise why increasing ERP is not the solution. Or as Seng Han Tong said, 'lets make ERP more effective and not more expensive.'

cpf top ups

Changes of CPF rules for top ups Why would people want to put in money into CPF for top ups of relatives when they could simply put the money aside or into their savings account? For the 2.5% or 4% interest? Is that good enough to put give up good money which one has full control and put into a fund that one loses complete control over the money? Once the money is in the CPF, CPF is in full control of the money and any changes to the rulings, if unfavourable, cannot be reversed. Once in, that's it. But it is a great scheme for Singaporeans who cannot manage their own money.

nkf story- chap 3 part 2

Richard Yong and Loo Say San were charge for failure 'to exercise "reasonable diligence" and casued the charity to pay excessive fees to an IT company.' The IT company wanted to charge NKF 9,219 man days spent. But the IT department disputed the claim and NKF agreed on a new figure of 5,310 mandays, a savings of nearly 50%. Under normal circumstances it should be a great job done. But in this case the former IT head of NKF, Jayaraman, actually computed the number as only 538 mandays. But after that Jayaraman was out of the negotiation when the final number was accepted, ie 5,310 mandays.

good employment opportunties for singaporeans

Enough jobs for Singaporeans Lets look at some of the numbers quoted by Eng Hen in the Today paper. 173,000 new jobs were created last year. And another 90,000 jobs will be created annually over the next 5 years. Singaporeans could only filled 30,000 jobs annually. And for every 'additional foreigner brought in has resulted in three jobs being created for Singaporean workers.' What does all these mean to the employment of Singaporeans? If Singaporeans can filled in 30,000 jobs annually, then out of the 173,000, 143,000 must be filled by foreigners. Am I right or wrong? And for the next 5 years we will need to bring in 60,000 x 5 foreigners or 300,000 foreign workers to fill all the new jobs created. Correct? So from last year, 143,000 and another 5 years, 60,000, we will have brought in 203,000 foreign workers. Now comes the happy part. For every foreign workers brought in 3 more jobs will be created for Singaporean workers. So how many jobs will be created for Singaporeans as a result of this 203,000 workers? 609,000 jobs! Wow, we will have more problems don't we? Singaporeans can only filled in 30,000 jobs annually. I am just drawing a simple computation from the numbers and reasons given. It is a happy problem for Singaporeans. No Singaporeans will be unemployed. Employers will be begging Singaporeans to work. There will be more pay rises when demand exceeds supply.

it will come, an economic slump

The Straits Times editorial raised a very pertinent question today as it discussed about the reemployment of the aged workforce. While the govt is planning to revitalise the employability of Dad's army, if another economic slump hits us, the first to go will still be the aged. And if we have 6.5 million people, the problem will be multiplied accordingly no matter how much assurance we are going to get. And with the world economy going in cycles, it is only a matter of when it will hit us again and how serious.

over supply of HDB flats good

Over supply of HDB flats is a good thing The building of HDB flats should be treated slightly different from commercial properties. The original objective to provide a roof over the head for all citizens is still relevant today. Too much speculation in these flats, if it leads to everyone making money will be the best. But when wild speculations lead to people losing their homes, then it can become a negative event. The appreciation of flat value should be allowed to take place gradually and not be left to the mercy of speculators. And building flats, and with some excess capacity for those needing one, should be the main objective of HDB. Not too obsessed with profits as the reason to build. People who really need a place to live and are not fuzzy about location will then be able to get a HDB flat without having to pay a ransom. Those in choice areas will fetch better value depending on market demand. Of course the over supply should not be over excessive to cost a big overhang and tying down too much capital. Let there always be flats available to the people without having to push the price beyond their means.

Medisave, a stubborn question

Until today, I am still not convince why people covered by Medishield or their own medical insurances must still have a large chunk of their money locked in Medisave. Can someone enlightened me on this? If a citizen has provided himself adequately with medical coverage, even setting aside a sum in the Medisave in case he cancels his insurance coverage, would that not be enough? Why forced people to leave excessive money in the Medisave?

national education in cyberspace

National Education in Cyberspace 40 or 50 years ago, life was simple, at least for the children. Go to school and home to play. Not many would even consider tuition. The schools were there to teach the children everything that was needed to know. And parents expectation were simple. Learn to read and write and make sure that there was no red ink in the report cards. A pass was a pass and was good enough. Today we want the teachers to become magicians, teaching the children more knowledge than ever before. Other than the 3Rs, there are the languages, the computer knowledge, the ECA, social works, how to do business, how to gamble in the stock market, how to have good EQs and IQs, how to be the best by having straight As, how to be a star sportsman or sportswoman or a musician. In other words, a supertalent in all fields. They don't even have time for their pimples. Today they need to be politically aware of national affairs as well. National education will be taught. What, from the angle of the children, would they want to spend their precious time on while growing up? Play, play computer games, hip hop dancing, dating, sports and fun. Do they have the time to do all these wonderful things that children are supposed to do? It is tough to be a child today. As for national education, why not let them go into cyberspace or visit sites like this and they will stand to learn a lot more and more interesting than what the teachers can teach them? The schools should allocate an hour a day for the students to surf the nets and explore the social and political discussions taking place, and discuss about the issues that are being posted. Now would that be far more interesting than the regurgitation of teachers from prepared text? Bring the children into cyberspace is like going live, be there and experience it.

Medisave versus Medishield

Medisave versus Medishield Would any MP raise the necessity of having Medisave and Medishield at the same time? Why is there a need to keep so much money in Medisave when people already opt in to for Medishield? Shouldn't this be an either or option? And many even have their own medical insurance in addition to Medisave. Do the people need to be covered 2 or 3 times over? Isn't it a waste of money kept in the unproductive care of Medisave? The people must be given a choice to decide which option they so desire, Medisave, Medishield or Private Medical insurance. Surely one should be more than enough.

Of Living Hell and Paradise

Of Living Hell and Paradise I was in Chinatown during the CNY to take in the sight and I strayed into the little corners around Sago Lane. The very old of Chinatown are there. Many of them. Yes they are alive, heart pumping and breathing. But are they living? There are many of these pathetic souls that can be found in all corners of the heartland. Sitting in the void decks or some little corners oblivious to what is around them. They have defied nature, humans have distorted the course of nature, when they should have moved on and be in paradise. Many still cling to the idea that keeping people alive for as long as they can is a good deed. Life must be preserved on this living hell for as long as possible. And now we have created this enormous problem of the aged, not knowing how to deal with them. For nothing can be done unless youth can be restored and vitality returned to their fading lives. What could have been done is to make them live the last leg of their lives with dignity and with peace and without pain. The latter medical science can do quite a bit. For them to live with 3 decent meals, without worries should be the minimum the country can do for them. What is the cost of 10 packet of 3 in 1 coffee or tea a day? Or 3 meals of sweet potato porridge and vegetables or beancurd? For the lonely and destitute and unable to work, shouldn't they be taken care of by the state? Or shall we say that they deserved to be where they are? It is very cheap to provide some free meals and coffee for those above 60 or 65s in the citizen's corners. It would not cost more than a couple of hundred bucks per head to do it. Not all senior citizens will need them. Only a handful will. Welfare state? It is welfare in a way and a necessary one. Whose fault to keep them alive for so long when their bodies are no longer useful for work to pay for their own living cost?