Kiasuism, new biz potential

Heard of this mother asking around on how to prepare her son for National Service. Other than the tough training and regimentation, there is also the social and health risk of training in Taiwan. Entrepreneurial Singaporeans could think of starting a course for Pre NS Enlistment Training. The course should include all the Do's and Don'ts and the hazards faced by NS men. I am going to start tuition classes for pre NS men.

Celebrating Singaporeans - Sim Kee Boon

Sim Kee Boon Another stalwarts of Singapore passed away. He was 78. So far not one of these pioneering leaders have survived the magic number of 85. In the next few years we may see more of them leaving the scene forever. What drove these men to do what they did for Singapore, and were paid much less than their present successors? They were paid well, no doubt, relative to other Singaporeans. They could easily buy several landed properties. But their preoccupation was not money. They were driven by a mission, by the challenges ahead, and by good leadership. And they strove to build a little paradise from the swamps and jungles. What were the motivations of today's leaders and men in similar positions?

Passing the cost

A forum writer complained about the rising property tax and that this should not be passed to the tenants. This is a hope that is futile and unrealistic. All the cost, business cost, will be passed to the consumers, including tenants. Commercial organisations, privatised, exist to make profits. There is a front page report in the Today paper about shoplifting and how all the cost to instal security equipment and staff will go towards to the price tag. And the consumers pay. Right, nothing new. It is only new cause people are talking back, discussing it openly in the media. Every single cent will be borne by the consumers. There is no escape.

What is Parliament?

The English word Parliament is just a mouthful. Very pleasant to sound and say. But it does not connote the importance of the institution as what it is called in Mandarin, 'kuo hui'. These two words literary mean 'country' and meeting. They reflect on the importance of the meaning of a country meeting or national meeting, discussing national issues. We are so lucky that all the important issues and problems have been solved and the country is so well managed. And this has caused problems to our MPs. They may find themselves having nothing of national importance to bring up in Parliament. And if they have nothing to say, it will not look good on them too as they are the people's representatives and should speak out for the people. So what shall they bring up to discuss in Parliament? Disciplining children and bringing up children, what couples do in bed? There must be a lot of interesting things to discuss in Parliament and then beam to the TVs in all the homes.

Switch to cheaper stuff

This is a ministerial advice for people who cannot afford to keep up with the rising cost of living. And a well intended advice from a million dollar mind must be taken seriously. So I have switched from eating rice to eating porridge. I will wear Panda brand t-shirt instead of Giordano. And I will have one hair cut lesser every month. I will like to substitute the pipe water I have if there is another provider who can supply filtered urine and shit water at a cheaper rate. I will ask for a plate of char kway teow, mai sum, to save 50c. Now, Mr Wang Says So and Molly Meek, my suggestion is to go along and accept the high value added advice. Then your cost of living will definitely go down. As for the standard of living, err......never mind, can live from day to day good liao.

Time to redefine what is good for all the redbeans

The apolitical and apathetic redbeans from this little red dot have been living in an aquarium for too long. There are pluses for life in an acquarium. The temperature, water condition, etc are controlled. The type of fishes in the acquarium are controlled. The type of food and amount of food to consume are controlled. In fact everything is controlled and well. Control is a bad word to use. Everything is planned according to The ONE's plan. The ONE, the knows all, will plan everything for the redbeans in the acquarium. What The ONE thinks is good, it must be good. It is time the redbeans redefine what they think is good for themselves. Starting from what and who they think should be allowed to be the President or stand for election to represent the people. The terms and conditions should be decided by the redbeans for the good of the redbeans. The redbeans must decide what is good for them, how to live their lives and how to spend their own monies, what they want and need, and not let everything be decided by The ONE.

Ridiculous kampong mentality

One of the key reasons why Malaysia took Singapore to court over the Pedra Branca claim is that Singapore is trying to change the status quo by reclaiming more land around it. So, this is a justified reason, like the same reason they objected when Singapore reclaimed land in Tuas and the northeastern islands? These are our domestic matters. We do what we like within our own national territories. This is interference in our domestic affairs. Why can't we claim land within our national borders? Kampong headmen going gila!

Dr Wong Wee Nam - notable quote

'It is not for any individual to decide who is fit to stand for election. It is for an informed and intelligent electorate to decide who should be elected. This is a very fundamental principle of the democratic process.' Dr Wong Wee Nam. Have Singaporeans been robbed of this right to decide who can or cannot run for election and who can or cannot be elected?

Singaporeans obsession with preparing for tomorrow

'Living longer, must work longer, must draw down later, must save more, and must take care in case you live beyond 85.' Lee Hsien Loong Hsien Loong is talking about CPF and the need to keep more money for beyond 85. What I would like to tell Singaporeans is to prepare for life after 85, after death. What happens if one goes to hell? Singaporeans must prepare now, what they should do in case they go to hell or to avoid going to hell. Going to heaven is a happy problem.

The rise of Alternative Media

Below is an extract from littlespeck.com showing how important is alternative media and how hypocritical main stream media has become. We are gradually seeing the demise of msm when serious news is concerned. The credibility of msm is at stake and soon it will be buried for good. Coverage News blackout With the press silenced, Ma;aysian city-folks rely on new media and foreign agencies for protest coverage, but not so for many rural Malaysians. Nov 13, 2007 By mediaslut The Malaysian government was reported to have ordered a blackout of any news and photos in the country’s main-stream media of the BERSIH rally held in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, on Saturday, Nov 10 2007. The rally was well publicised and with a blackout in old media, where did the curious or concerned go to get information about the protest? They went to the blogs of Malaysians and protest participants who took photos and wrote their account of the demonstration online. They went on Technorati and searched the keyword “Bersih” and probably visited one of the 493 blogs post tagged with the keyword “Bersih”. Jeff Ooi reported a spike of visitors to his blog, Jeffooi.com, over the weekend. From an average of 5,000 - 6,000 visitors on sleepy weekends, Jeff reported 24,600 page-views with 21,000 unique visitors to his blog on that Saturday itself. There was a time when the medium was only the radio, television and papers. The cost of producing anything for them was expensive and out of the reach for the common man and woman. The cost of distribution was also exorbitant. Today, the medium is the Internet and the tool they call a blog. Another can set up a blog and go “live” on the internet within minutes, for free. The cost of distribution has also gone down with blog search engines such as Technorati or Google. The cost of creating such content’s also now affordable to the masses. A mobile phone is even touted as the ultimate journalist tool and could be bought at a relative low price depending on the plans provided by the service provider. It takes photos, records audio and video, and can be uploaded to the blog in minutes. How effective is a government ordered old media blackout today? Ahirudin Attan, the person behind rockybru.blogspot.com and a former journalist, called the blackout a severe blow to Malaysian journalism as “people had to rely on foreign TV stations, blogs and wire news to know what happened at the rally”. (mediaslut) Meanwhile, Jeff Ooi wrote in his Screenshots blog: - The BERSIH rally remained top news of the hour, every hour, since 3.00pm on Al-Jazeera International yesterday. I was in the Al-Jazeera studio to give live commentaries during the 3.00pm, 4.00pm and 6.00pm bulletins over Astro Channel 513. There will be a live crossover with Anwar Ibrahim during the 8.00pm prime time news last night. There are visuals that show Al-Jazeera correspondent getting doused in the chemical-laced waterjets the Police shot at the crowd.. One blogger wrote, “Malaysian journalism took a severe blow. People had to rely on foreign tv stations, blogs and wire news to know what happened at the rally. ”There was hardly any report in the government-controlled media.” Another, anil netto, added: “Mainstream media coverage was pathetic. I woke up this morning expecting it to be front-page news. After all, news of the protest gathering had flashed across the globe yesterday. ”But when I saw the front page of The Sunday Star today… zilch, nada, nothing…. Was this for real? It seemed as if I must have been on a different planet. ”It was only reported half-heartedly on page 8. Tens of thousands of people had brought Kuala Lumpur to a virtual standstill the day before and .. Page 8!” Nov 13, 2007

UMNO lacking in confidence

Reading from Malaysian PM’s speech, Sin Chew daily columnist notes ruling party is short of confidence. By Tat Tian Yan Does anyone know the title of the opening speech by part president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to the just ended UMNO General Assembly? Not many people will realise it. Here it is: “Strengthening Confidence – Venturing Into A New Era”. The most important word is “confidence”. “Confidence” is the weakness of UMNO. In fact, UMNO has everything, be it power, resources, party members, the vote and so on. However, they are lacking confidence. Abdullah knows this as a fact. But the majority of the party members, and even the high-level cadres are not aware of it. They feel insecure because they are lacking confidence. Their tough look is very often used to hide their deep unease. Therefore, we can see a lot of “terms” in the UMNO General Assembly. The most common terms are “Do not challenge us”, “Our patience is limited”, “We have already sacrificed too much” and so on. "They feel insecure because they are lacking confidence." These “terms” reflect the collective psyche. The above is an extract from littlespeck.com I rather see this lack of confidence from a different angle. What UMNO needs are able leaders who are development minded, take on projects to develop the country, introduce positive and pro business and development policies to drive the economy. What UMNO now has is a bunch of politicians who spend their time politiking and how to line their pockets. How many of them have come out with ideas, serious development and economic ideas and push them through? Practically zero. And worst, any big idea, other than the stupid crooked bridge, will be torn down to pieces for fear that they make less and the investors make more. With this type of frog in the well mentality, Malaysia cannot progress. And as it starts to regress and go down the hill, the politicians will keep on inciting the people to raise tension. That is what the Malaysian politicians in UMNO are good at and are doing everyday to keep their bank account growing.

$2 billion projects delayed

The delay is to reduce the reliance on more foreign workers. Has the message of the presence of a sea of foreign workers sank in? The daily commentary and expression of views in the msm are signs that the welcome is wearing thin. The agitations and discomfort will grow as time goes by. Now what it needs is for some foreign workers to be recruited into organised crimes and the wrath of the people will just explode. And when hostility blows into the open, it can become ugly. Let's manage this foreign presence and don't think that we are a country like American or Australia. We are too small and we have already too huge a foreign presence to test our tolerance. Up to a certain level, foreigners are welcome. Once the limit is exceeded, some kind of xenophobia will appear. It is only natural.

1/4 tank rule for Singapore cars

Malaysia is toying with the idea of reducing petrol subsidies for its citizens. Closely related to this issue is the hordes of Singaporeans pumping petrol in JB and enjoying the same subsidies. This is most inequitable to the Malaysians as the subsidies were meant to be for Malaysians only. What I think will be a simple rule to prevent Singaporean motorists taking advantage of the subsidies is to introduce a 1/4 tank rule. 1/4 should be enough for Singaporeans to drive back from the causeway after their shopping and feasting.

Computer addiction worries Parliament

Ellen Lee raised in Parliament on the problem of her 12 year old nephew's addiction to computer games. She fears that this could be a general problem and wanted to know what the ministers are going to do about it. I hope someone will raise the problem of gangs running around night spots and slashing people with parangs. Would Singapore turn into another cowboy town or an island of secret societies fighting in the streets? Have they rid the island of loan sharks or are the sharks still swimming freely around?

Another sign of super efficient Singapore

Property prices are up. So property taxes are going up. Another big bonus for the tax dept. So high property prices also is good for the govt, or at least the tax dept. And the standard formula applies. The tax will go up. But there will be rebate for two years. You only pay more later. Get use to the bigger tax figures first so that the numbers will become more familiar.

notable quote by Redbean

'It is fun to ridicule opposition parties as long as one is not ya ya.' Redbean.

Universiti Malaya 246th place!

The Times London Higher Education Survey listed Universiti Malaya at 246th, dropping 54 places. It is out of the top 200 universities in the world. Though I do not place much value in such a survey except as a guide, to be at 246th is a bit far off on any count. Given its western biased and artificiality, the survey is good only as a guide for students to know whether an university is respectable. Being in the top 50 or 100 should be a decent standing.

Not necessary for 6.5m population

Ngiam Tong Dow has reviewed his thoughts and felt that the population target of 6.5m needs to be reviewed. This is an old number done many years back and the changes in technology has made this number not so valid today. I think he is feeling the sense of frustration and despair among the population on this push for 6.5m. He is calling for a rethink. Sad that with so many brilliant brains, it needs an old master to tell them what to do. Don't they think? Are they brave enough to relook at old premises and say, hey, they don't look right?

Different perspective of wrongdoings

Venerable Ming Yi said the amount unaccounted for is only a couple of hundred thousand. No big deal. 'The Sunday Times understands that the amount of money not accounted for adds up to a few million dollars, and not a few hundred thousand as the Venerable Ming Yi has said.' When people are used to big sums of money, their perspectives on the value of money changed. It is less hand half a peanut. Nothing to cry about. When they shit, probably more than a peanut will ooze out. And people were literally hanged for cheating on taxi fares for a few dollars. And public transport commuters can be jailed for cheating on the fares for a few cents. This is the new Theory on the Relativity of Money.

Malaysians marched in protest

It is unusual for such a huge turnout of mass protest against the Malaysian govt and the political system. 50,000 protesters, many dressed in royal yellow as a sign of respect to the royalties, marched to the palace to hand in a protest note to the king for political reform. The official press put the number as 10,000. Never believe in the numbers provided by the official press. What is happening to Malaysia? Has the system got so rotten that the people are rising to call for a change? Apparently, from all the happenings and reports, corruption in the system has reached a point that it is an open secret. The country is disintegrating in the hands of politicians who only know how to politic and line their pockets and nothing else. The Malaysians are so fed up with the politicians that they are siding with the royalties and pleading to the royalties to take a more active role in its politics. This is something unheard off in the past 30 years. The politicians are cornered. Their political gimmicks and games designed for their own aggrandizement have been exposed. The ground has shifted and a dramatic change of events is taking shape for a new Malaysia and a new social contract. If that is the message of this latest protest.