Medal for model worker

I read about a post in Sammyboy of a bus driver 'arresting' a youth for cheating 20c. He stopped the bus, called for back up and the boy was taken away by the bus representative. All for 20c. This is the most honest, enthusiastic, dependable and conscientious bus driver that should be made into a model worker. Give him a medal on national day, make a bust of him and display it at Changi International Airport. Then write some stories about him and how he captured a commuter cheat singlehandedly and turn them in a Singapore legend. Cheating is a very serious offence. Bashing someone is not. A crime is a crime even if it is 20c. I think the bus driver is trying to make a statement on honesty and don't cheat the bus company's money

Time to feel generous and splurge

We all have a good year. Everything is looking so well, big pay rises and big bonuses. Time to give ourselves and our loved ones a treat. There is that expensive limited edition watch to pick up. Hmmm, a bit pricey but, what the heck! There is also the chocolate that costs $10 a bite, the abalone that may be even more chewy at $50 a chew. Ahh, the favourite bottle of red, $300, or $30 for a mouth wash. There are just too many good things in life that we should reward ourselves with for working so hard. And don't forget the little men and women sitting on the road sides or pedestrian mall. Spare them a couple of dollars as you pass by. Why am I feeling so guilty for doing that?

I don't feel safe in my neighbourhood anymore

This is what Tan Ting Ting said in her letter to the ST forum. Her neighbour was attacked after a late night party, bashed and robbed. She used to feel so pleased about the quiet and peaceful neighbourhood of Anchorage and Sengkang but these have turned into fear. Another woman was murdered at Holland Road and a Bangladeshi worker is being charged. Like I said, it is only the beginning. But thank god, statistically we are still looking very good. The crime numbers are still negligible. Then if you don't add people being assaulted as crime but personal and private problems between two people, then we can keep the numbers even lower. Fortunately or unfortunately the woman that was bashed was also robbed. Otherwise it would be another private matter for her to pursue with her lawyers. There must be regulations to limit and restrict the rental of HDB flats to foreign workers. Having a flat with 5 or more men, all hungry, burly and lonely is a recipe for trouble. Only the naive Singaporeans who have lived a life of peace and undisturbed existence will think that life will always be that way even with so many foreigners living next door. The day will come when the mothers, the wives and the daughters would not dare to walk alone in HDB void decks or corridors. That is the price to pay for our reckless disregard of social and environmental security. You only need one or two bad hats in a thousand to create pain and fear.

How Singaporeans think

Actually Singaporeans don't think. Only the elite think. The hottest issue now is Minister's pay. Ministers and MPs are not employees but elected people's representatives in parliament. Their tenure of service is subject to the mandate of the people every 4 years. The concern previously is that these people may be tempted to corrupt if they are not paid well. So their salaries, wonder that is the right term, were raised to million dollars level. With that we have solved our problem of corruption at high places. Now the new thinking is that their salaries need to be raised further. For what? Corruption is out. The new reason is to attract more future capable people to join politics. They are paying the current batch to prove to the future leaders that this is what they can get if they go into politics. Before, we use money to buy honesty. Now we use money to buy honesty and talents. Whose thinking? Not the average Singaporeans on the street. It is elite think. They think for the average Singaporeans. And many average Singaporeans also think that this is right thinking. Nobody question what is enough, what is enough to buy honesty and what is enough to buy talents. Is $5m enough? Is $10m enough or $20m?

Can Ah Pek cope with the taxi surcharge system?

There are so many surcharges and additional fares to be added to the fare. Can our Ah Pek taxi drivers cope with such a complicated system? Can the Ah Mahs and elderly aunties and uncles know that they are paying the exact fare and not being fleeced? How to remember all these charges? Maybe we should raise the educational level of taxi drivers to at least a degree in mathematics or computer science. It is no joke trying to remember and calculate all these charges in a hurry. With the high income, taxi driving is now quite attractive. And if they can raise the fare a little bit more, I may consider driving taxi as well. With the new system, all the driver needs is to park his taxi in the car park and wait for calls. No need to drive around wasting expensive fuel. It is like ring a service. I think that should be the way to go for the taxi service.

When I'm 85

What it be like? At 85, probably my best friends will be Dementia and Amnesia. What would I be thinking of, or remember of? Very likely will be the fantasies of Hollywood. Yulp, the great movies of yesteryears like the Three Mouseketeers, all for one and one for all, Robin Hood, the one who rob the poor to help the rich, or Ali Baba and his 40 thieves or the Band of Robbers or Brothers. Can't really remember which is which. Then the great leaders of the past, Marcoos, Sueharto and Mahatail, all honoured in the Hall of Fame. But one good thing, I can live on my savings from the Compulsory Annuity Insurance. No need to work and keep collecting till I conk off, and all $350 a month. Ho, ho, ho, plenty of money to live by if not having to pay for first class hospitalisation bill. Now that would be a good life, in an old folks retirement village. Hope the villages will not be like some concentration camps.

Do the right thing when assaulted

Singaporeans must learn from KM Ho, the communications manager, who was attacked by a drunk US sailor while parking his car. When attacked, do not defend yourself by hitting back. Run if you can, but never strike back. For not hitting back, the attacker got no grounds to counter sue you when you initiated legal actions against him. So you are quite assured of getting some compensation. In this case, the captain of the ship also called KM Ho to apologise and he was invited to tour the US naval ship as well as a reward. Not bad at all. And if you have some friends to write to the msm to blow up the case, even in the internet, will all help to keep the offending party on the defensive, especially big organisations.

I nominate Lawrence Lee Liang Wei

I nominate Lawrence Lee to sit in the Board of LTA. He wrote a letter to the ST forum supporting the taxi fares hike, like I do. He also agrees that we should not begrude taxi drivers the right to earn a good living. He quoted his LA trip which cost him US$105 for a 15 min trip and $22 in Hongkong for a 10 min trip. He also said that we should compare with comparable countries and not against third world countries or we will be biased. And looking at the responses in the media, most of the taxi users are not too perturbed by the recent hike. They are only angry because it does not improve the availability of taxis. So my proposal of a $10 flag down fare is still an excellent suggestion. With that they can do away with the call surcharge as this is nonsensical. Taxi drivers save petrol by parking somewhere waiting for calls and then collect extra charges. Just give them the $10 upfront and they will be scrambling for passengers.

Corporate Governance hitting the headline

Today's frontpage article is on Corporate Governance. And I particularly like this quote from Morene Sim, executive director of Student's Care Service. 'We have a long history, so we have had the benefit of time to put in place best practices over all these years. This code just helps to achieve some degree of standardisation.' Yes we have a lot of time. Is this code of practice in the right place at the right time? How many places still sorely need this code of practice? Some may say the answer is quite obvious. There are many places where corporate governance is totally absence or pretend to be there.

Dr Surin calls the people to check their govts

The key issue in Asean in Vision 2020 is 'The disconnect between the state and citizens' according to Nazry Bahrawi. 'Asean must not remain aloof and disconnected from our people - our power base and our source of legitimacy...The people must demand that their governments and govt agencies be accountable for progress - and the lack of it - in their respective countries.' Said Dr Surin Pitsuwan, incoming Sec Gen of Asean. He should add that Asean countries need look no further. Just look at Singapore and use it as the role model of a high connect between the people and govt. Everything runs smoothly in Singapore and the people are fully behind the govt. Asean countries should send more missions and govt officials to study and learn from Singapore.

Man needs God

Any organisation, system or country, there is a need for an independent body to act as checks and balances. Without the existence of such a body, it is foolhardy to expect man to check himself. Leaving man alone to his own device, his ego and arrogance will lead him to his own destruction. Without God, madness will triumph over all man. That is why they said 'the world will go round and round' or history will keep repeating itself.

A simple comparison of salaries

A 50 year old CEO with an annual income of $2m quits his job. His total income will be $2m plus perhaps another $2m for severance pay. $4m! A 50 year old Minister with a similar income quits, assuming he is entitled to a $1m pension and lives till 85, his total income will be $2m plus $1m x 35 years or $37m! And he stands to earn the additional $35m without having to lift a finger for the next 35 years. It could be more if he lives till 100 years, another $15m. I would want to apply to be a minister. I don't mind the cursing and swearing at me everywhere, I don't mind the sick jokes on me, I don't mind at all. It is a little sacrifice. It is ok. And I don't mind the hard work. I can still tell myself that I am working for the good of the people and country. Just pay me the millions. It is worth every cent.

I am still scratching my head

The noises are getting louder. Expected. The people are angry. Sure. Some will threaten to vote for the opposition in the next GE. Expected. The question is why? Why would people, very smart and talented people, with all the money in the world to spend, not likely to finish spending in their whole life, still crave for more money? And as a result we have this strong backlash. And the people must not think that such a reckless decision were made without thinking. Many factors must have been input and seriously considered before a decision like this is made. They must know and think that this is the right and good thing to do. The people must not think that the wisest men of the country will do themselves in for a few dollars that they do not need. The people must not think that the wisest men are craving for money. They have plenty of them. So what will be the good reasons for this decision? I am still scratching my head. Peasants should not think that they can understand what the supertalents are thinking. Just rest assure that it is good for the country.

Political differences surfacing

“In a political system in which exit management is practised with a handshake, a smile and a tacit understanding not to talk publicly about departures, Mr Dhanabalan's candour was unusual. “But don't expect others who have left or were forced to quit to come out of the woodwork. ”The fear of how robustly the other side will tell its story, and the Singapore culture of not going against the establishment will weigh against others going down Mr. Dhanabalan's route. The above was extracted from www.littlespeck.com. I think all the skeletons will be brought out to air one day.

Time to commission a statue

We can add another attraction to the Singapore tourist scene. Let's erect a statue for the Most Well Paid Worker In the World and turn it into a tourist attraction.

40s and 50s still jobless

Gilbert Goh Keow Wah wrote to Today complaining that many of his friends were still jobless and have difficulties getting a job even when they were well qualified and with a breath of experience. How could this be? The msm have been publishing great statistics like hundreds of thousands of jobs were created and unemployment is at a record low that employers have to raise salaries to ridiculous amount to retain employees. I think his letter is just a small anomaly. Not representative of the real situation on the ground. Not real.

Reviewing the transport policies

The Straits Times on Saturday generously gave up 4 pages of its valued space to let people understand how much thoughts and efforts have been put in to address the state of our road transport policies. I think it hopes to tell the people how difficult it was to make all those decisions and why the people must appreciate the policy makers behind it and accept that they have done the best they could under all the existing constraints. And it also said that there is a big review going on to improve on what it is today to make public transportation and car ownership more acceptable and palatable to the people. After reading what were written, I doubt there will be any real improvements that will benefit the people and society except the public purse. There are still many obstacles in the mindset that if they are not removed, there will not be any significant change to speak of. They will be whipping a dead horse the same way they did, and dressing it up as if it is a new and vibrant creature. The same story of ‘if you want something that is world best, you must pay for it’ is the mantra of the present regime. Money is still seen as the answer to all problems, pay or buy your way out. What they should do is to rethink on what transportation means to the people’s life and the economy. The current policies promote economic activities at an ever increasing cost. On the other hand it stifles social activities of the people. Going shopping or moving around for social activities is very expensive. You pay to get there and you pay to remain there. People have avoided visiting friends or relatives due to the prohibitive transport and parking costs. It is time to ask if our transport policies should be money and profit driven. If we can abandon this thought and accept transportation, free and easy, economical and efficient, as a social cost that the country needs to keep the people moving, facilitate economic and social activities, then something really new will happen to enhance the life of the people. Public transport must be for transportation and communication, a public service, and not for profit. The profit is indirect, both tangible and intangible. Is this acceptable? As long as the key motive for public transportation is to make profit, all the policies will be half baked. We need to pay this cost to raise the vibrancy of our people and society. Take away the profit motive, put in younger people to manage public services when they are at an age that a couple of hundred thousand are big money to them. When they grow older and their appetite gets bigger, let them move on to run profit making organisations to fill up their bank accounts. While in these public service organisations, their performance must be measured on how they reduce costs or maintain cost at a reasonable level while continuing to improve efficiency and productivity. These kinds of performance indicators require a different mindset to appreciate. If we continue to measure everyone and organisation by how much profit or money they make, then nothing will change. Everything, every cost will only go up and up without any real improvement in the quality of service. The ERP charges is a good example. The current policies are choking the system, holding the commuters and car owners at ransom by demanding higher payment to get around. And the problems remain. Any improvement is marginable and temporary.

Notable quote - The Emperor of the Dark Side

'Welcome to the Dark Side. Stand side by side with your father. Feel the power...' The Emperor of Star Wars

When you write your own pay cheque?

The transport policies, the COEs, ERPs, bus fares, mrt fares, car ownership, etc etc, together is a very complicated issue. It is not easy for peasants to understand or to grapple with. Even super talents find it tough to handle. So please try to appreciate that they are doing their best.

A Septo Sutedja, had a role play as a Transport Minister and got away feeling better that he now had a better understanding of the complicated issues involved. So, is he now more satisfied with the way things are?

When we pay people top dollars, millions of dollars, to do a job, we expect the job to be done to our satisfaction. Once we start to pay market price, we do not see the job as a sacrifice, a voluntary social work. We have gone past that. We are not in a state to understand and appreciate that the best effort has been put in and that’s it.

We don’t pay a mean salary just to accept whatever that is dished out to us. Only the best is expected, and the people shall decide what is good enough. For it is the people’s money that is going into the pay cheque. You name the price, we pay. No question asks.

Now you deliver.

Joke of the Day

The parents are angry because the school bus fee has been raised by $5 to $10 per month. And the School Transport Association was so apologetic for raising this amount. The only reason I can think of, and feel comforted, is that they were not run by super talents.