Myth 176 - Sorry wrong call

We have heard that many top CEOs in the west are being paid in hundreds of millions as wages. And they justified their grand pay schemes by strutting their great talents and ability to make more money for the organisations. At first glance it looks very fair. How to reject someone who makes a billion by not paying a hundred million to him? The argument holds well only when this turkey is making his billions. What happens when he loses in billions? Sack him or give him a pay cut? When the turkey turns donkey and bankrupt the organisation, at best he will say, oops, sorry, wrong call. But when he is making billions he will trumpet as how clever he is. How equitable is such a compensation formula? Many are bought by it, especially the supertalents. For they know that they are the one that cannot lose. They gamble on other people's money and reward themselves handsomely when they made the right decision or guess it right. If they lose or make a huge mistake, they only lose other people's money. And they could get another equally well paying job by selling their experience somewhere else.

Clamping down on aesthetic medicine and practices

The MOH is putting a stop to all the questionable procedures being marketed by medical and non medical professionals to make every living bean who wants to look more beautiful happy. It claims that many of the procedures are not even approved by advanced western countries and some are probably still under clinical tests. I can't blame the medical professionals for switching from saving lives and helping the sick to this more lucrative trade and objective. At the end of it, what is important is money. Greed is good. Greed is our culture. And people are getting realistic and think first of lining their pockets with money than silly idealism about helping the people. Long live greed and money.

Myth 175 - New Welfarism

Chua Mui Hoong wrote an article about a new disease which she called New Welfarism in town. Essentially she is talking about the subsidies and handouts which the govt is giving to the poor and expectations of handouts is now creeping up to the middle class. Singaporeans are taking these handouts as an annual giveaways from the govt. And she said that 'The PAP has been right in fearing a "crutch mentality" among the low income.' So while giving, there is this constant fear and reminder not to turn the country into a welfare state and erode the work ethics of the people. My observation is that she is barking up the wrong tree. Welfarism starts at the highest level where giveaways are disguised as just rewards. In the name of talent and high positions, people are demanding to be paid in gold and getting it. And no one is calling this welfarism but paying for according to market worth. And it is this bunch of leeches that are sneering at the few dollars thrown to the low income earners and claiming that these low down scums of society are developing a crutch mentality. The biggest recipients of the biggest handouts are all laughing to the bank and are blind to the handouts they are getting. They are even blind to the fact that they are victims of the crutch mentality and are demanding for more without knowing it. This is the New Welfarism that people are blind to it. Remove the handouts and you will immediately see the withdrawal symptoms. They may get delirious. And what kind of work ethics are we encouraging when people are being paid exorbitant sums not commensurate with the petty works they are doing?

Learning from India's Civil Service

Singapore wants to learn lessons from India’s ‘growth story’ March 20th, 2008 By Prashant K. Nanda New Delhi, March 20 (IANS) National University of Singapore (NUS) is inviting Indian civil servants to teach the ‘growth story’ to other Asian counterparts and in turn learn the best practices in public administration from global experts, all for free. “Many countries in the world want to know about India’s growth and we wish Indian civil servants to teach the developing countries. We are inviting them to do a course in our institute for free,” said Kenneth Paul Tan, assistant dean of NUS’ Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP). When I read the above I thought it was a joke. No it is serious. And nothing personal against the Indian Civil Service, I thought we should be teaching the world our brand of world class civil service? Without being prejudicial, I still believe we have the best civil service among all the ex British colonies. Some may argue that Hongkong's is the best now, but it is a touch and go and you would need a set of criteria to compare them objectively.

Looking for Mr Happy

This is surely the clearest sign of things are becoming bad. All the while I know that Singaporeans are all very happy. High paying jobs, govt angpows, full employment, world class services, staying in hospital also damn happy and don't want to go home. And the PRs and locals lagi happy. And their happiness are so infectious that all the FTs and foreign workers are also happy. The happiest of course are in the cabinet, I mean kitchen cabinet. They should instead be looking for Mr Unhappy. Now that will be a difficult task normally. Luckily with the recent turn of event you may find someone very unhappy. What I am not sure is how much would be spent on this happy exercise. Who is paying for such a creative idea? We are first world and the citizens are very mature to welcome such a wonderful idea.

Golden Years are here

With the news of price hike hitting the people almost every other day, we will soon be paying everything in gold. Just heard that PUB rate for power will be up next month. When oil is up, practically everything will be up. Power and transportation are all dependent on oil/petrol price. Welcome to the golden years.

Time to say a few good words

For three weeks he stood alone to face the wrath of the people, specifically those in cyberspace. Many have written asking Kan Seng to take responsibility and to resign. While everyone is taking potshots at him, he stood firm. And while being attacked, he still got time to say a few soothing words for the Home Team, to boost up their sagging morale. Indeed Kan Seng is a brave man. He fought like a lone warrior. No one has yet to speak out on his behalf. He must be feeling very lonely at this moment. Let's hope his terrain mapping tool will quickly map out where Mas Selamat is and bring him back to Mount Pleasant. Then we can all sing him praises and said we can all sleep well with him in charge again. It is a tough job and many would have crumbled. It needs a steely man to stand up in a moment like this, and to continue with the search despite all the criticism. Kan Seng is the man.

Tsk tsk tsk

When I wrote the article 'Do we need change,' I expect people to rebut my points vigorously and point out all the flaws in my arguments. I would like forumers and bloggers to challenge the conventional truth or the accepted truth. And it is very easy to tear away at the positions I took. Our system is far from perfect. It is like a story in Disneyland. It is based on many assumptions that normally do not happen in the real world. And if they do, it is a temporary phenomenon, like a rainbow. It will not last. The first assumption is that we will always be blessed with wise, honourable and selfless men who will be in position of power to keep the lid on. And these wise men will be able to select equally honourable and selfless men to carry on with the job of good governance. Even now we are seeing the cracks and the peelings are coming off. And do we really believe that an elected President can check on a rogue govt? The evidence has proven otherwise. A rogue govt could simply bundle the President out of the Istana. Or they could simply ignore him, don't provide him with the information to work on. Just shut him out. And the President will not be able to protest outside the Parliament without a permit. He will be arrested. Where is the check and balance? Who is to check the guards or guardians? The Mas Selamat case is a good example. Who is to check the wise and honourable men if they turn bad? Our system cannot last after LKY. It needs a very strong man to pull all the strings to get everyone in line. Once this is not present, everything will be scattered all over the place. There is a saying, 'tree falls monkeys scatter.'

Dying is a natural way to say good bye

The Lien Foundation is funding a research on palliative care to adopt a different approach to those who are chronically ill or who are dying and beyond the scope of medical help. It is high time that such an approach be adopted than blindly trying to keep everyone alive and incurring a bomb in medical expenses. A lot of education is needed to educate the ignorant masses that dying is not a bad thing when the time has come. Prolonging life and suffering are. At the same time the education should also go on to tell the people that living to 80 or 90 is not necessary a blessing but could be a punishment, a life sentence in pain and suffering, in lonely, in despair. People should not be envious of those who live too long and clamouring to want to do the same.

A bad PR exercise

The Home Team has received a lot of bashing recently and Kan Seng may think it is time to do some morale boosting to keep their spirit high. There was a long news clip last night on Kan Seng's speech to the Home Team and another front page news in the msm. Many may have mocked the Home Team in cyberspace and it is natural for the Home Team to feel that the comments were unfair and unhelpful. But to think that it is time to air their grouses now may be a bit too premature if only they know what were said and not printed anywhere. The mistake was not only unacceptable, but approaches incredulity. It is hard for the people to accept it as a complacency or a lapse. It is also natural for the people to want to air their disappointment. No doubt some of the ridiculing may have gone overboard, but it is best that the Home Team accept the blame, continue with their good work and move on. The last thing the Home Team should do now is to take on public opinion or even to tell the public how sophisticated they are, how able are they to find a few hundred empty houses etc etc. What for when Mas Selamat is still on the loose? The morale boosting pep talk is best done in house as many officers have sweated and sacrificed their time that they could well spend with their loved ones. I think the majority of the people still have high regards for the Home Team and they should take the criticisms and praises as and when deserved.

Petrol price hike again

Oil price hits US$111. A good and justifiable reason to hike petrol prices. Is it? If I am not mistaken, oil prices are traded using US$. We are paying in S$. S$ is appreciating against US$. The petrol price hike is in S$. Are the price hike justifiable? Is CASE looking into this to make sure consumers are not taken for a ride and petrol companies are not profiteering? Can any thing be done to absorb the price hike? With a higher base price for petrol, revenue from petrol tax and GST will go up proportionally. Can this be adjusted to absorb the hike? Oil price cannot be controlled by us, external factors. But taxes are within our control. Or are we looking forward to another pleasant surprise of budget surpluses next year?

Hospital Resort concept

We are now seeing more people refusing to be discharged from our hospitals. Now why? Are our hospitals so comfortable, like hotels and resorts, that people are having a good time recuperating there than getting themselves discharged? Or is the hospital cost still too low and the patients find them still affordable? I think relatively the hospitals must be giving good value for money vis a vis the hotels. Otherwise these patients would have move out to stay in the hotels instead. Or is it because they have some savings in the Medisave which they might as well spend them or else it would be left untouched? I think Boon Wan must rethink his idea of making hospitals more comfortable and affordable. The latter is a contradiction. Make it cheap they do not want to leave. Die die want to stay in the hospitals. Boon Wan may want to reintroduce the natural selector concept in the hospitals. This may be a way to discharge patients and provide more bed space for those who really need them.

3-4 passengers per sq metre

Is this an acceptable standard in our MRT? No doubt many countries even use a higher figure than us. Just because there are people being sardined, does not mean that it is acceptable. We need to define what is our own acceptable standard. We have been encouraging our people to drink sewer water, or put it bluntly, shit water, urine water. Hmmm, is this really our standard of well being? 3-4 passenger per sq metre, if one is to include space taken by seats, that could reduce the capacity, the density is much higher. Maybe we are ok if we consider the fact that we are smaller and more petite. What is important is to find our own standard of comfort and not blindly quote other people's standard to determine what is good for us.

Do we need change?

Come to think of it, we don't need any change. We have the best political system in the world. We have proven to the world that ours is a system that works. Our people are paid among the highest in the world in every profession. Even our cleaners and sweepers are being paid more than managers and professionals in many countries. This is not simple boasting. It is real. We have defied all the philosophers and even the founding fathers of America. We have a system that is better than democracy or communism. It is our unique brand. We have ensured that only the best and talented and incorruptibles are selected to lead the countries. We don't even need a strong opposition to act as the nations's conscience. We don't need to build an infrastructure of checks and balances. With upright and honest people in charge, nothing can go wrong. And if come to the worst, we have vested powers in a strong elected President to check the abuses of a rogue govt. It is time the world comes to learn from us. This is our greatest contrirbution to mankind. A near perfect system that will check itself from any wrong doings or falling into the hands of a rogue dictator or a bunch of crooks in the future. Who says our system is fallible? If it is, it will have been tweaked long ago. We don't leave such things to chance.

Chee Soon Juan's great injustice

Chee Soon Juan has done a great injustice to all Singaporeans. He has destroyed our image as a happy and peaceful country where people are so contented that there is no protest against the govt. Now this image has been shattered and if we tell people in other countries that we have no people protesting in the street, no one is going to believe us. It will take many years for us to restore this blessed image of a protest free country. The bad boy must be caned in the public square.

The ingenuity of it all

The protest at Parliament House can best be remembered for its ingenuity. The protestors all in red and dragging children along with them must have looked very fierce and violent. But top marks go to the law enforcers. In the face of militant protestors, the face off was with female police officers in civilian clothes and unarmed. It was a gentle feminine touch that should win the hearts of all the media present. They would have no reasons to brutalise the police for using excessive force. For if they did, the reply will be fighting militancy with love. No violent suppression. No bloody nose.

Celebrating Colonial Governors

While we are celebrating the old greats of old Singapore, maybe we should also be celebrating all the great colonial masters that once ruled this little island. I have read a very interesting and detailed write up of Farquhar in TheOnLineCitizen forum. It is a great piece of write up that would put all other write ups of Singaporeans to shame. The contribution by Farquhar and Raffles were truly great. And with the definition of citizen a little changed, with PRs regarded as locals, all the ex governors should easily fit the bill. I can recall names like Shenton Way, Cecil Street, Robinson Road, Nicol Highway, Smith Street, Stanley Road, Cavenagh Bridge, Anderson Bridge, Fullerton Building, Collyer Quay etc etc. I would like to suggest building a series of bronze statues of them to line the new museum in City Hall. That would give a nice touch to our colonial past. Don't agree? OK, OK, never mind. Take it that I have not said anything. Pass.

Grrrrrrl...I bite you!

Police are investigating Chee Siok Chin for attempting to bite police officers when they were arresting her. Whether she did bite or not, she was arrested. We will have to wait for the investigation to know what happened. And the protesters, all 20 of them, locked arms to resist arrest. This is a clear sign of growing militancy. Next time wonder what they will do? Will they start to riot, burn down Parliament house? Anything is possible in the city of possibilities.

Mean Testing - The beginning

Brenda Tan Dun Lin wrote to MyPaper on how mean testing is affecting her. She said she belonged to a category that 'doesn't look that bad' yet the hardest hit. With the high cost of medical treatment, only the very rich will be spared. No amount of mean testing can help the 'doesn't look that bad' group. There must be a serious effort to bring down exorbitant hospital bills in hospitals funded by public money. Can't call them govt or public hospitals anymore as they are privatised, I think. With hospital bills in the thousands of dollars a month, my god, how many got such a fat bank account to pay for them? And mean testing is to make the 'doesn't look that bad' group to pay more. What will be the consequences? Ok good, everyone will have the chance to empty their Medisave account.

Tower of Babel crashing down

God said, 'With one mighty stroke I shall bring you down.' According to the Bible, God detests the arrogance of man. When man started to declare how able he was, God stood up. When man demanded gold from his fellowmen for his talent which was a gift of God, God cringed. The Tower of Babel must come down. Cracks are showing on every wall that it has built. This is God's answer to humble the arrogant man. Will man take note of the wrath of God? No way. Tomorrow, after a night of good sleep, man shall awake and be as arrogant as yesterday. The fall of man will be repeated over and over again.