Dragon boat tragedy

Time to blame someone else. There were many letters and comments all over the msm and cyberspace about what should have been done to prevent the tragedy. Everyone is so much wiser after the event. Won't all these recommendations and suggestions been implemented long ago? Why is it now that all the recommendations seemed to be not in place or out of place? Simple. All we have is trust and shut up. We trust that all the clever people will have all the answers. We believe that we must all shut up and let them do the things they are clever at. So after the event, everyone starts to say we told you so. And the clever people do not have all the answers. This will happen to a people that have blind faith and a stupid mentality of not seeing anything beyond their nose bridge. The tragedy is a tragedy. 5 fine young men at the prime of their lives were gone. Did they know how to swim in the first place? I believe they should all be strong swimmers. Any average swimmer should be able to surface and tread water for a few minutes and keep his head above the water. Strange that 5 gone in such a bizarre accident. Ok, who shall we blame?

Concern about survey to regulate cyberspace

Yawningbread and TheOnlineCitizen are making a call to all bloggers to present a common platform to AIMS, the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society. 'The council was appointed to study the social, ethical, legal and regulatory impact of interactive and digital media.' Alex Au and Choo Zhengxi are worried that the little consultation which AIMS had with a handful of handpicked bloggers may not be representative of the interests of all the bloggers. As AIMS's study and recommendations may form the basis of new legislations that will impact the bloggers, both are calling for a meeting of concerned bloggers to present a command position to AIMS. Making a presentation and sharing our concern as bloggers cannot be a bad thing. What I am concern is that bloggers should not participate in a body to devise ways to tie our hands, legs and neck. The internet is meant to be a free space, a new frontier for freedom of expression. There shall be as minimal an obstruction or legislation to regulate internet other than what are already in existence. There are ample legislation at the moment to take any recalcitrant bloggers to task or face the music. Bloggers should not be a party to introduce more legislations to control what we are doing. Being a participant will mean that we have agreed to abide by what we share in the crafting of new legislation. Let the internet be the free space for all, and all national agencies shall stay clear of this international virtual space. It is no man's land. It cannot be physically defined in any form. It is space like our mind, limitless and free. You can imprison a man, his physical body, but not his mind. Internet and cyberspace are of the same genre of the human mind. Do not put chains around our mind or cyberspace.

Notable quotes - Lee Boon Yang

'the mainstream's (media) future would be assured by its "ability and commitment to provide accurate and credible information with thoughtful analyses and objective commentaries".' Lee Boon Yang Boon Yang also added that msm has 'professionalism and objectivity' in its favour. This is in response to the challenges of internet. How many believe that the msm is professional and objective and how many don't?

Hindraf street protest, a very dangerous move

Though some calm has returned to the streets of KL, the Hindraf street protest is actually a very dangerous thing to do. This ethnic demonstration of force will not be looked at kindly in some quarters. Some may be thinking of staging a counter demonstration to show that they are a bigger force to reckon with. Some may even be thinking of a retaliation. Fortunately the leaders are sane enough not to add fuel to the fire. All it needs is a little spark, like the kissing of the kris, and KL will be flooded by blood. We will have a bigger May 13! It is so close and so dangerous. Cool down guys.

Singapore 9th costliest place in Asia

We are number 9, not number ONE. And that's bad. Some will be unhappy that we are not number ONE, the usual place of glory. Some will say, well, we are not that bad and still have room to grow. Let's try to beat Hongkong first. It is only 4 slot above us. We can start by raising our property prices to compete with Hongkong since ours are still so much cheaper. Then all the others can add up and we will be there. Then we will have another big achievement to crow about.

Charity and mercenaries are incompatible

When charitable organisations are growing too big and becoming big businesses themselves, there is a need for more effective corporate governance. And this cost money especially when professionals and professional agencies are needed in the wake of several embarrassing breaches. So everyone is now calling for big money to be paid for professionals to come in and manage big charitable businesses. Is this the right way to do things? Charitable organisations are meant to do charity using public donations. The people who stepped forward to serve charitable organisations mostly came forward to serve out of compassion and kindness. Accepted that wolves and vultures came along in disguise and started to steal donation money from these organisations, these are due to lack of supervision and corporate governance. If the solution is to bring in highly paid employees whose interest is to do a good job and to demand higher and higher pay, then charitable organisations may end up collecting donations only to pay these professional mercenaries. And they will want to be paid market rates, normally a percentage of the organisation's revenue. Is this what it should be? Collecting money from the public to be paid out handsomely to mercenaries? What the govt could do is to do a little public service. Second or attach a few top notched civil servants to be the guardians, the eyes and ears of the organisations. They can recommend regulations, rules and procedures, good corporate practices, and supervise the financial management of charitable organisations to keep things in order. And their salaries be paid by the govt and not from the donations. As a public service, it is not too much to ask for from the govt. Asking charitable organisations to spend a fortune on professional mercenaries is in conflict of what charity is all about, and a conflict of interest between the objectives of the organisations and those of the paid employees. Let the two be kept separate. There is no place for mercenaries in charity. We must not encourage greed in charitable organisations.

Shut up or move out

These have often been repeated in the net and even in the msm. Singaporeans who complained too much are ungrateful and do not know how good life is here, and should shut up or get lost. They are not wanted nor tolerated here. This is quite similar to the conditions in Malaysia and Myanmar. In the former, the minorities were told to shut up or face bloodbath. The other option is to move out. In Myanmar, the people and the monks were told to shut up. Do we want to become like Malaysia and Myanmar? Where did these cocky people got this notion from? Were they thought to tell people to shut up in schools and colleges simply because people don't agree with them? Or do they learn it from their parents or from our leaders? Where did they become so uptight and narrow in their mindsets that they simply would want others to just shut up or move out? Who are their role models? Is this what we called a first world people.

Should have let the British answer for Pedra Branca

As the legal owner of the islands handed down to us by the British Empire, and having governing it for more than a hundred years, it is quite silly actually, to go to court just because someone wanted to make a claim for it. In 1965, all of Singapore, including Pedra Branca, were in Malaysia. And when we separated, if the islands belong to Malaysia, they would have retained it without returning to us lock, stock and barrel. But they returned everything to us. Period. If there is any case, we should let the Malaysians take it up with the British like the Hindu Malaysians, Hindraf, are doing. Then we can just hold a watching brief. We need only fight the case if the British wish to entertain the Malaysian claim and fight an expensive legal battle with them. And if they lost, then we can come it and fight this battle if we so wish. But we should not. It is ours and there is no need to fight in court with anyone. Just put our Navy there and see if anyone dares to take it away from us.

Is the CPI relevant and meaningful?

From all counts, the people affected by the high cost of living will have little faith in a CPI that does not reflect their plight. When prices of all their basic needs are shooting to the sky and the CPI said it was up by 3.6% is really a mockery and very insulting. If the CPI is spouting nonsense, it should be thrown out or replace by a more realistic and relevant ont. Can someone post the true items of the basket of goods that were used to measure the CPI here and let the people know what this CPI is all about? We would want to know the prices they used and the computation and see if this index is for real.

The crumbling facade of integrity and infallibility

After the NKF, when prominent Singaporeans that were even hosted and feasted in all the high places by the Singapore Who's Who fell into ill repute, we thought it was only a bizarre anomaly. People tend to be very forgiving and life goes on. Then another couple of CEOs of charitable organisations fell foul of the law. One, a full time employee even absconded. Still the people believe that everything is alright. A few bad hats should not blacken the whole community of people held in high esteem. And charitable organisations continued with their fund raising as if nothing had happened. The tooth or the truth will prevail and all honest men will rise to the occasion. Is it? Is this the end or the beginning of more embarrassing tales waiting to be exposed?

Street protest in vogue

Monks in protest and road march in Myanmar against high oil prices and a military regime. Malaysians in protest for a clean judiciary and now Hindraf, fighting for compensation against the British for abandoning the indentured labour they brought from India and dumped in Malaysia. We also witnessed 35 protesters in Orchard Road by Myanmese against the military junta in Myanmar. Street protest seems to be quite fun. And Singapore has its unique brand of street protest. So does other countries. In Indonesia, you can have paid to order protesters by the busloads at will, and at a price of course. You can protest for any cause. Simply pay the price and the protesters will come, in the colour of Tshirts you choose and with whatever logos on it, including headband. Headband means extra charge. Now you know why there are so many protesters that come and go. In Singapore our protesters also come in Tshirts. Black has been used and so is red. The classic thing about the protesters is that they will come, carrying the Tshirts inside their bags. When they are in the designated place, they will then slip on the Tshirts for the few minutes of protests. When the police arrives, they will simply take the Tshirt off and everything becomes normal. Another special characteristic of a Singapore protest is that they will come in less than 4 and mingle around with the shopping or office crowd. And it will be a great achievement if they get anything more than 30 protesters. I think the Black September protest was the biggest though the number was unofficial and difficult to substantiate as it was a protest without a leader and without an identity. Singapore needs to be wary of people who carry more than one Tshirt in their bags. But nothing will come out of it as they will simply take them off when challenged.

Passion of being Singaporeans

We have passionate Singaporeans who stay and passionate Singaporeans who left. But they all share one thing in common, they love the country, feel for the country and are emotionally attached to the country. And they talk and share their views of things that are happening to the country. These are characteristics of a people who belong to a country. They are not sleepers, passengers or visitors, or guests. They are owners and they feel that they belonged here. Whether they have left, or still rooted here, they are still interested in things here, the good and the bad. This kind of attachment and involvement do not come about instantly. Many who have left to be citizens of new countries could not feel so much about their new homes and neither do they talk so much about them. It will take a life time or several generations to belong and call a country home. Not just a swearing in ceremony and the collection of a piece of paper to recognise one as a citizen. Often you will hear ex Singaporeans expressing strong views about the home they have left behind many years ago. But they would not have such strong views of their country of adoption. Or maybe their new countries were too big to feel that one is a significant part of that piece of land mass. Here, one is intricately and intimately interwoven into everything around us and the people, from the top to the bottom. We are that close as a people and that close physically to feel one another. A country without a people to talk and feel for it is not a country. Views and dissenting views are two sides of a coin of a people of a country.

Hongkong MTR efficiency and cheap

Liew Kai Khiun praised the efficiency and cheaper fare of the HK MTR compares to our MRT. Its frequency is 1-2 min against our 5-8 min, its clean and working airconditioning and other facilities. And best, when they merged the Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation with the MTR Corporation, they immediately passed the savings to the commuters by shaving off the fare from 5-10 per cent. Reducing of fares is something unbelieveable in this island. It cannot be done and sinful not to continue to reap the windfall from the commuters. And the saying goes. If you want good service, prepare to pay more. And the commuters are paying more every year while the service standard is still at a standstill. Diminishing returns or it has reached a point where nothing can be improved? Or it is just like the congestion in the express ways. Keep paying and paying and the traffic jams will not go away.

Blogs to fill the gap

Marina Mahathir said that as long as there is a gap between what needs to be reported in the msm but not reported, the gap will be filled by blogs or the internet. True, many things have been first reported in the net and then followed up by the msm when it is already out in the open. There is now a credibility gap between the ugly tooth and the truth which needs to be addressed by the msm but conveniently left open. So here comes the net, to fill the gap. This role has been cut out for bloggers and forumers to play. It is a very decisive role to reveal the ugly tooth.

Corporate Governance in Sports

We have dealt with and the msm has reported extensively on the misdeeds arising from lack of corporate governance in the commercial world. And this has been extended to a few prominent and infamous cases in charitable organisations. And the bad thing is that we are only dealing with the tip of an enormous iceberg. Before we forget, there have been many complaints and rumours circulating in the sports fraternity. Biasness, discriminations, cheating, collusion, favouritism, etc etc have been floating in the grapevines. Many of these cases were outright cheating and abuse of power, misplaced trust and misappropriation of public fund to serve personal objectives. Anyone looking into this industry? Sports is all about uprightness, competition, fighting spirit, honour and sacrifice, to achieve glory in the most sportsman like manner. Are our sports organisations living up to these virtues? What kind of corporate governance are there to ensure fair play, recruiting sportsmen and sportswomen to represent the country based simply on merit? There are many who are tempted to become whistle blowers and this could be very embarrassing. Or maybe all our sports organisations are paragons of virtues, clean and untainted, and are models for all to follow. But I have heard and felt the tremors.

Myth 165 - Inferior genes

Inferior genes There is this myth that is being perpetuated as the tooth in the north and to some extend in this little red dot, that the genes of some racial groups are more inferior to others. So one can blame on their genes and continue to wallow in self pity or just demand to be given handouts and a piece of paper chopped with a degree without working for it. The top PSLE student today is Natash Nabila Muhamad. A 12 year old girl from St Hilda Primary School who scored a record 294 points and 4 A stars. This is the first time this score has been hit. Her mother, Zaharah Othman, is a homemaker and her father, Muhamad, is a technician. Bet you she did not received the best that an average normal Singaporean family received in terms of tuition and all the accessory aids. But she topped her cohort of 49,817, including many foreigners from China and India. If Natasha can do it, so can the rest. Don't blame it on your genes. That is a lousy and stupid excuse. It is hard work and a little intelligence. And for those who still think they are born naturally stupid, they can live on in their own stupid ways.

Run for your life

I was in the train this morning. Then I caugh a whiff of it. It was smelly. Something akin to smelly salted fish. I held on to where I stood. It hit me again. Then one local woman made her move and went to stand 5m away And the train kept moving. The smell kept knocking at me now and then. I looked around. Everyone was so innocent. I knew where it came from. After another two stations, another local woman also made her rude gesture by walking away, another 5m. Singaporeans are being forced to appear rude to foreigners. Foreigners, please pass the word around that Singaporeans do not want to be rude to them. Please tell them to wash and wash and wash till the smell go away. Then we can sit side by side happily.

Myth 164

Singaporeans not ready for Non Chinese PM I read an article by Zuraida Ibrahim over the weekend on the prospect of a non Chinese PM. It was once said that Singaporeans were still not ready to accept a non Chinese as a PM. But according to Zuraida's survey, it seems that the people are not really against such an idea. Then she questioned whether it is because it was a survey and the respondents were just being polite. Look at the appointment or election of the President who is/was not a Chinese. Was there any objection to it? It is obvious that a non Chinese President is never an issue. So should a non Chinese PM be an issue? There are two aspects to it. Until it is proven otherwise, no one really knows whether the general electorate will accept a non Chinese PM. The other point is that if you have a good non Chinese PM candidate who can win over the support of the Chinese majority, why not? From this angle, it could all boil down to the candidate himself. There is no law to forbid a non Chinese to become a PM here. With time, and a suitable candidate appearing, it can happen.

Mr Tan or Mr Kow?

Gloria Arroyo Puts question mark on Charter Unless Suu Kyi is freed, it'd be diffiult to get Philippine Congress ratify it. The Australian. Nov 21, 2007 By Mark Dodd Singapore - PHILIPPINES President Gloria Arroyo has threatened to derail a landmark ASEAN charter promoting human rights and democracy throughout Southeast Asia less than 24 hours after its signing, by demanding Burma releases opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.... " The ASEAN leaders had a full and open discussion on the Myanmar issue at our informal working dinner," said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. " Prime Minister Thein Sein of Myanmar made clear that the situation was a domestic Myanmar affair and that Myanmar is fully capable of handling the situation by itself. " He (Sein) emphasised that Professor Gambari should report only to the UN Security Council and not to ASEAN or the East Asia Summit." Mr Loong said ASEAN leaders agreed to respect the Burmese request but, as ASEAN chair, Singapore would facilitate Mr Gambari's meeting with "interested parties". I copied the above from littlespeck.com. I always feel very disgusted when professional western journalists, and sometimes Singaporean journalists, addressed Chinese Singaporeans the wrong way round. Who is Mr Loong anyway? I expect professional journalists to display some professionalism and respect when quoting the names of political leaders. It is expected of them to be correct in at least the simple courtesy of addressing another person correctly. Or is it another form of cultural superiority or cultural sabotaged? It looks deliberate to me. This journalist cannot be living in the outback and did not hear of a Mr Lee or two Mr Lees in Singapore. He is no crocodile Dundee. He is a journalist.

The biggest street protest in Singapore

Singapore had experienced the biggest street protest for at least a few decades. Orchard Road was a sea of red last night. Protesters, mainly Myanmese, took to the street after UN Special Envoy Gambari's briefing to the East Asia Summit was called off. And all 35 of them flooded Orchard Road. It was a sight to behold. Quite frightening.