Paying for top grade rice

There was this restaurant that used to buy low grade rice. Over the years, as its business improved, it increased its budget for rice. Gradually it moved from low grade to medium grade, to top grade and to the best grade money could buy. It's budget for rice increased from $200 monthly to $2000. All was well and they kept telling their guests that the restaurant served the best grade rice in town. The bosses were happy, the customers were also happy. The most happy person was the master chef. He did all the purchasing. What the bosses and the customers did not know was that they were paying top dollars for the same low grade rice all the years. No one was wiser except the master chef.

No PM potential!

Hsien Loong must be having a hard time looking for a successor for the PM position. Even among the present batch of ministers, no one is likely to fit into that position. I think I know the answer to this problem. Hsien Loong must have discussed the topic with his colleagues. And very likely they all told him that they were not good enough or have no ambition to be the next PM. The problem thus lies in not having anyone with the ambition or aspiration to want to be the PM. This is the same problem as no one in his right mind wanting to stand for the Elected President. When no one want the job or think that they are good enough for the job, maybe with the exception of a few loonies in the opposition, we really have a replacement problem. How could Hsien Loong fire up the people, including his ministers, to be audacious enough to say they want to be the next PM?

Openness, dignity and integrity

'You cannot be a political party and be strong in a democracy when there is a strong disconnection between your message and what the populace is now about. And the populace is now about openness, dignity and integrity.' Dr Ooi Kee Beng, a fellow at the Institute of SE Asian Studies. Ooi was referring to UMNO and commented that the days of Barisan National is over.

$1 million solution to rising food prices

This has been touted as a nation wide scheme and the best stop gap measure to the food crisis. 'Community leaders say it is likely to be the best measure, although certain troubling questions will have to be addressed.' Lin YanQin reported. This is front page news, top news in the Today paper. Amy Khor feared that such a great scheme would breed the dependency mentality, a sense of entitlement. But Zaqy Mohamad and Fatimah Lateef were concerned that it might be too little and not enough. For $1 million and it is already a nation wide solution, imagine how much can the ministers can do with their $3 million pay cheques? If ten ministers were to offer $1 million each, we could avoid ten of such crisis nation wide.

Unprecedented public dressing down by LKY

After so much noise about the complacency slight, allow me to look at the issue from another perspective. This is probably the first time that the security agency has received a public dressing down by LKY. He made it very clear that it was their fault, their complacency. Unprecedented man. The second point he made was that the govt cannot take care of everything. There were areas that the govt may overlook, oversight or did not do well. Another unprecedented statement. And the third unprecedence, the govt is fallible. Oops. Now this is a very serious statement and admission from LKY, that the govt is not infallible. It was a time for humility and not to take things for granted. Now, did you people get the picture on complacency? A public dressing down, and an acknowledgement that things can go wrong and a govt that cannot be depended on completely. So the people must not be complacent and be vigilant, and must think and make wise choices. It must be looked at from this context. That is perhaps the furthest LKY could say, stopping short of saying that an alternative govt should be in waiting, just in case. When the govt is fallible, the people cannot afford to be complacent. Is that the correct message that I am getting? People must listen carefully when a wise man speaks.

An issue of complacency

The current issue of complacency is truly the fault of the people. And we shouldn't complain or blame the govt at all. We are so lucky to have such a good govt that we have taken everything for granted. If only that the govt is not as good and as efficient. Matilah, in mysingaporenews blog compared Singapore with Zimbabwe. Now that is unfair. You cannot compare paradise with hell. It is insulting to put us side by side with Zimbabwe and say we are good. We need to compare apple with apple. I would suggest that the govt sacrifice a GRC to the opposition and let them mess it up. Then the people will understand what it is like to be in a place that is badly governed. Using an opposition GRC is the best way to get a good and reasonable comparison. And no one can be complacent enough to say otherwise or use a bad example to compare with. This is the fault of being too good for too long that the people begin to take the goodness and efficiency for granted. Complacency is an understatement.

Rule of Law

Streetdirectory.com(Virtual Map) sued several users of its map in the past for huge sums of money for using its maps without authorisation. It was a great example of how rule of law are applied effectively in this country. Lately, Streetdirectory.com was sued by SLA for copyright violation, for using SLA maps without consent. It thus did not have the right of the maps which it claimed to have to sue those violators successfully. It has now decided that it would not refund the parties for unauthorised use of its maps. 'If there's anything we can do to lessen the pain of those who hate the company, please inform them to contact us. But we will not refund any money as the monies have gone back into building better products and services and running of the site.' Virtual Map MD Firdhaus Akber This is a strange declaration. Can Virtual Map still keep the money if they were awarded to them wrongfully? It is as good as money wrongly credited into someone's account and the recipient spent it and refused to return. Can those who were victims of Virtual Map claim back their money, legally, under the rule of law?

Bad hustlings in a democracy

Anyone reading what is happening in Malaysia will be full of praise of the democratic process and freedom of expression. Mahathir is openly accusing Abdullah, the PM, of nurturing corruption and cronyism. In return abdullah is saying that Mahathir is a hypocrite, that he was the one who imprisoned critcs without trial and curtailing press freedom during his rule. 'These were all his orders from time to time,' said Abdullah. I wonder what will happen if such statements were made in our rule of law country? Both of them will be suing each other to bankruptcy. This airing of dirty linen in the open is bad, bad for the individuals and bad for the party, and bad for democracy and freedom of expression. We should not have such things in our clean and faultless country. We need to spend our energy in development and making more money instead of squabbling big time. Thank god we are spared from such vibes and we can maintain a certain level of respectability and decorum.

Poor planning led to shortage of lawyers

The decision was made some 20 years ago to cut down on the number of lawyers through smaller student intakes. 'The decision to aribitrarily turn off the tap was grounded in some sound reasons, such as the desire to maintain the quality of the profession.' So said Conrad Raj. Can a decision be arbitrary and at the same time based on sound reasons? Arbitrary means arbitrary, boh lee yew. With sound reasons, must be well thought out. Whatever, the consequence is what we are facing, a shortage of lawyers, and indirectly a high legal fee, as shortage means high demand which means can command more pay. We are also facing a severe shortage of doctors and hospital beds. The latter we have talked about earlier and we know why. Well thought out reasons with intention to maintain a shortage. The lack of doctors could also be an arbitrary decision with sound reasons. It cannot be a case of poor planning. Planning is our forte. We are excellent planners and we are proactive, able to look into the future and anticipate problems. I think we should not be presumptious to deride our super talents for poor planning and lack of foresight. The problems we are facing are likely the result of good decisions that are coming back to haunt us. The decisions were good then, but bad now.

Myth 177

For the next 18 years or so, no one in their 40s and above today is good enough to be the PM of Singapore. Maybe this is not a myth but a newfound tooth. This sad state of affair is best reflected in PN Balji's article when he expressed fear in case of an emergency and no one is good enough to take over from the current PM. The next PM of Singapore will be found among those in the 30s today. So all the above 40s are has beens. Please do not feel slighted. It is the tooth. The other tooth is that Singaporeans may not even be the next PM. The best could be a quitter, a quitter from paradise or from any other country. Now this is more likely the truth. It only confirms our lack of locally born talents.

The ever changing wisdom

Singaporeans are perhaps the most adaptable and flexible people in the world. They are easily taught to change, even their mindset. In the 50s and 60s, they would all be looking forward to retirement at 55, to look after grandchildren or drinking kopi in the kopitiams. Today, this kind of mindset has changed. The new wisdom is to work till you drop dead. This model is built on a new reality, on independence, self worth and pride, and being useful to society. And also not being a burden to family and society. Not that the high cost of living has made life unsustainable if they have not money. The old wisdom was built on family as the building blocks of a country, filial piety, looking after parents and letting him have a rest, after years of toiling to bring up the children. It is time to live on the fruits of labour, to harvest, and enjoy the children and grandchildren. And the children feel proud to be able to provide for their parents aplenty. Dr Anne Chong Su Yan wrote a letter to the Sunday Times and this is the first paragraph. 'Recently, I was at a toilet in a shopping centre when I noticed an elderly woman with a bent and crooked back trying to clean the floor while fashionable young women applied their lipsticks and checked their hairdos in the mirror.' Good for her. She finally found out that in paradise there are such old people working in the toilets. It is better late than never. It would be shocking if one day she realised that there are poor people in paradise. The gist of her letter expressed her shock that old people were working in toilets instead of sleeping under the coconut trees on a beach chair watching the sunset. But have no pity on these old folks. They are living the new wisdom. Pride, independence, and work till they drop dead. Some ass holes may brutally tell the truth, that they deserved to be in that state because they were irresponsible and squandered their youth away. Having old people working in toilets and living an independent lifestyle is a lifestyle of choice. It is the pride of our nation. We have succeeded.

Story of an ex CEO in an MNC

The CEO was replaced by a younger man, full of ideas and idealism, full of energy and vibrancy. The new CEO let the ex CEO sit in an equally big office next to his. All his other perks remained the same, including his private car park and driver, and his pay. And so was his private secretary which they both shared. The only exception is that all the duties and responsibilities were taken over by the new man. And for the lack of something to do, the ex CEO was assigned to look after the welfare of the old and loyal employees. And he was given the freedom to design his own job specifications. His request to visit other countries for 6 months on a study tour was quickly approved. The ex CEO was happy, that he was well treated and still walked around like a CEO. He was invited to all the official functions, like a CEO. After a year, he quit. He thought he was having a good time until one day, in his blurry and self deluded state of mind, he realised that he was being overpaid for doing exactly nothing. He quit out of shame and out of guilt. He even returned all the money he received from his company for the year he was there, for doing nothing. At least he valued his decency and for quitting, claimed back a little self respect and honour for himself.

Stop depending on Western Media

This is what George Yeo said. He also said, 'For too long, we have depended too much on the Western media for news about each other's regions.' And for too long we have allowed Western media to form views about us, what is acceptable to them and what is not, who is good and who is bad, according to their interest and agenda. The foolish Asians are starting to wake up and starting to think that they do not need the approval of the West on what they think is acceptable or not. Only now they are calling for a different world view in Asian eyes and in Asian interest. Singapore will host an Asia Middle East Dialogue to work towards the liberation of the Asian mind. Suddenly someone realised that they have a mind that can think, and that we are still colonised in our way of thinking and in the news we read. Only now that we realised that our views and opinions were formulated by the West. Pathetic. In the first place all Asian media should do a soul searching and kick out the asses that allowed misinformation and distortion of information by Western media to appear in their prints and news. This kind of unthinking and shallow behavior cannot be allowed to continue, unless the country is still a colony and the press is controlled by the West.. We demand a high standard of reporting on our own internal affairs by foreigners, or at least insist on a right of reply. We are we printing distorted and mischievious articles about Asian countries freely as a right, as a freedom of expression, press freedom? For so doing, we are equally guilty to the misinformation and mischiefs created and the distorting of the minds of the readers. Lets first start at home and impose a high standard of reporting and not blindly printing misinformation or totally biased views in our media. And if there is a reason to do so, include a qualification or a fair and objective article to prevent the tooth from becoming the truth.

So disgusting

With prices shooting to the sky everywhere, and the profiteers quietly congratulating themselves of their bank accounts that are getting fatter by the day, the message is that nothing can be done. Or some will say it will be worst if we tamper with the market forces. Fuck it. We have been tampering with the market forces all the while to let the market run out of control. I have been screaming my lungs out for so long, that we need to control the wild escalating of prices to all the wise men in vain. I set up this column for exactly the same purpose. I would agree that not all prices can be controlled and brought down to whatever level we want. But many can because we are the main cause of the hike. GST for one, govt own factories, offices and shops and land prices are all within our control. Not controlled by the international market forces as often parrotted. Exorbitant salary hikes to chase after inflation but give the false impression of wellbeing is a deadly potion. You don't need a genius or straight A's student to bring down some costs, selectively. You don't need to study another 5 years to come out with a good justification or plan to bring down prices. The talks and thoughts that prices must be allowed to run, up and up, are rubbish and irresponsible. It is only good for people who can write their own paychecks.

The Business of Dying

The lawyers are in a business to fight for justice and honour. In layman's term it is actually a business of threat. The rich and powerful pay to threaten people. The threatened pay because they were threatened. The undertakers are in the business of filial piety. People pay generously for the last rites, a show of filial piety to their parents and loved ones. What business are the doctors in? They are in a noble business to save lives. Or in layman's interpretation, the fear of death, or business of dying. In this business, there is not only the element of fear, there is also the element of filial piety, and also some elements of threat. What a powerful combination. How on earth would people be willingly pay the hospital bills without question? How on earth would people admit their love ones into hospitals without checking the price first? How on earth could hospitals charge patients $10k/$15k or more a day just to find out what is the cause of the illness and get away with it? And the best part of it is that the patient still dies. I am still very troubled by the $70k hospital bill for 4 days. The family had to pay $70k for the patient to die in a hospital. That is not a cheap way to die. It is not a good way to spend $70k in 4 days. I would very much like to know the breakdown of the bill to see how a hospital justifies this kind of bills. Let me make a guesstimate. A class ward charges at $500 a day. Food at $100 a day. Nurses attendance at $500 a day. Medicine at $500 a day. There must be such medicine available. Specialists attendance at $2000 a day. Too much or reasonable? Use of top of the line equipment at $1000 a day. Now how much will all these adds up to? $4,600. Add 7% GST, round it to $400. This will come to $5k a day. The rest must be miscellaneous I supposed. It is driving me bonkers.

I love my Nescafe

What's wrong with Singaporeans? Why are they falling all over because of a few unreasonable price increases and profiteering? Why would they pay $1.30 for Ah Koon's kopi, or $5 for CoffeeBean or at Starbucks? I am living happily every morning with my Nescape. Shit, the great escape is getting into me and I can't even spell Nescafe without mixing the two in one. At slightly more than 10c a pack, the 3 in 1 Nescafe is good enough for me. And if I am feeling a little generous, I can go to Hong Lim or Amoy Hawker Centre for a cuppa of kopi at 60c. And they really taste better than all the $1.30 kopi or $5 cuppa at the aircon cafes. At 10c a pack, even if the price skyrocketted by 50%, it is only 15c a pack. Very affordable, really. And if this is still too much, go for NTUC housebrand. Or at worst, downgrade to Seng Shiong housebrand if time is that tough. Other than instant mee, 3 in 1 is a great blessing.

WYSIWYG

It's been nearly one and a half month and the search is still on. Mind you, the search is really serious. Armies of soldiers and policemen scouring every little nook and corner for the most wily prisoner on the run. This man is reputed to have an IQ of 200. Beats any scholar that we have. He can outwit every nitwit in paradise. Now he is commanding a respect that no one ever had. Some kind of a genius in the league of Einstein. And every stone will not be left unturned until he is found. Heard that they are planning to dig up the graves to look at the coffins, in case that's where he is hiding. The last time they were checking golf bags and thermos flasks. By now the world must be convinced that this man had escaped our equivalent of Alcatraz. And we are doing everything we could, with the best technology, and every man we got. No effort shall be spared till he is caught and kept safely in Mount Pleasant again. Frankly, I don't believe a bit about the whole story. Just my professional assessment. Escape from Alcatraz is impossible.

Foreign Talent as PM

Are Singaporeans ready to accept our political leaders who are Singaporeans but also hold foreign passports? Are we able to accept our future PM to be a “foreign talent”? Lam Pin Min | I would like to know what is MP Lam Pin Min's view? He posted the questions on the p65 site. The people will be more interested to know where he stands on such an issue and also where the other MPs' stand on this. Would he agree and would the govt agree if the people say it is ok to have a foreign talent as our MP? In fact many voices have expressed why not? Why not pay a cheaper foreign talent to do the job at probably 10% of the pay?

SGH got subsidies

I copy this from a post by TracyTan in Sammyboy. Medical costs in govt hospitals are exorbitant. When my friend had to do an X-ray of her spine, she was told by SGH that the cost was $900+. When she did it at a nearby private medical facility, she was only charged $500+. When is SGH charging so much more than a private medical facility? Tracy was complaining about the high cost in govt restructured hospitals and wanted Boon Wan to cut down the cost. Actually from the above comment she could be wrong. She forgot that SGH got subsidies and depending on the type of wards, the final cost could be lower. For those without subsidies, just too bad lah. Singaporeans are so lucky but did not know.

Our rice bowl is safe

Good news, we have sourced far and wide to get the cheapest rice. And our stockpile will ensure that we will have all the rice that we need. No need to panic buy. But make sure your pocket got money. The price hike is inevitable. It is an international phenomenon and beyond our control.