Cyberspace Jiang Hu

Those who are familiar with Chinese martial art literature would understand what Jiang Hu means. Literary it is translated as River and Lake. It is actually a world outside officialdom, staying away from the formal govt structure and with their own set of laws, righteousness, moral codes and rights and wrongs. It is a self contained and self regulated world. The 13 blogger exponents sought to engage the govt on a new set of law and order for cyberspace. The objective is to have lesser govt intervention in the cyberspace Jiang Hu. They presented, unfortunately, a mixed bag of things they want or do not want to see, not really clear in their mission. They want self regulations, freedom of expression, minimal govt presence or better, not at all. In Jiang Hu folklores, they stayed away from officialdom, no relations. It is like water in the well and the river do not mix or interfere with each others activities. Approaching officialdom to lay out the terms of reference and regulations is the first false step. It is like acknowledging that the authority must be there and its blessing is needed. Worst, while telling the authorities to lay off, they are inviting the authorities to be part of the regulator team and even expecting the authorities to set the OB markers. This is taboo in Jiang Hu. The existing laws provide for all the offenses relating to the rights of an individual and law and order. Period. No need further laws except very specific internet technical issues. Jiang Hu should exist on its own terms and develop its own ethics and moral quotes.

Oil tax cut sends wrong signal: Mah

The front page headline honour goes to Mah Bow Tan. And he is speaking the brutal truth and I must agree. He also encouraged the citizens to get use to the high prices, live within your means, don't drive if you cannot afford it, don't use aircon for the same reason, car pooling, turn off the lights, use candles or oil lamps perhaps. What oil lamps with oil prices so high? My advice to Singaporeans, go and earn a million dollars. Then there will be no problem about rising prices. No need to adjust your lifestyle even. And can come here and talk cock. Other than that, be innovative, try kerosene or cooking oil for the car, read under the stars, eat less, walk or bicycle to work. Better, jog to work and exercise at the same time. Teach your own children, no need to pay for tuition fees or do away with piano or ballet classes. These are privileges for the rich. And stop going to theatres or the Esplanade. Go to Botanic Garden and wait for free shows. The right signal is for more pay rises for the ministers. This one sure to come. It has been announced earlier by Chee Hean. We must pay them their rightful wages or else we will lose their valuable services.

Sylvia Lim replies to Eng Hen

Responding to Eng Hen's comment that WP was silence on many issues, Sylvia Lim replied yesterday saying that Low Thia Khiang was overseas and that WP has made its stands on many issues, including ministerial pay. I quote, "On Mr Low's silence in response to PM Lee, she said: 'Benchmarking ministerial pay to corporate pay, but without corresponding corporate consequences, brings to the fore the contentious issue of whether ministers should be paid at top corporate rates. Is the comparison of minister to CEO valid?'" Normally, in the corporate world, high pay is associated with responsibility and accountability. CEOs are paid for the job they are doing and for the responsibility they are shouldering. Both come together as a package. You cannot have a big job scope with no responsibility or accountability. The high pay is exactly for these. But Singapore can benefit from learning from the Americans. The Americans will hand the sacked CEO a huge severance angpow in the tune of tens or hundreds of millions for being sacked, or for taking responsibility for a mistake or failure. The recent one from the subprime fallout was a cool US$68 mil! This will be more palatable and kind, and gracious. We should adopt such a practice so that CEOs will be most happy to take responsibility and the sack, and of course the big angpow.

No need ERPs

Roy Chan said no need for ERPs on Saturday. He relatedin Today his driving experience on Saturday in the Suntec City area and said the road condition was acceptable. The question I would like to ask is this, are the road conditions in the city area at the moment acceptable? According to whose standard is that the condition is now so bad that ERPs must be introduced so quickly? Shall we conduct a survey on motorists and find out how they feel about driving in the city? If all the motorists or the majority of the motorists are comfortable with the speed and cars on the road, then what is the fuss? Or is it that some gods say that the situation is not good to their likings, that their standard of goodness must be the norm for all? Which fanatic or fanatics are now saying that according to him or them, the road conditions are not good enough and ERPs are necessary? Can the people have a say? Anyone want to hear what the people say? Want to listen or not?

Cave In - Says Choo Zhengxi

Choo Zhengxi talked about a cave in in the TOC. Figuratively I think we are seeing signs of an impending cave in due to too much weight and a weakening support. We have a huge govt sitting on top waiting to be fed. And to do so, we need a very strong and big support base to provide the feed. Singaporeans alone not enough to do the job. So need to expand the base of the pyramid by bringing in all the foreigners. The problem is that it is turning into a pyramid game with incessant growth at the top, getting bloated and still knowing no limits to how fat it can get. And the hole below gets bigger and bigger, and needing more and stronger pillars to prop it up. Now with the high cost of living and runaway inflation hitting the bottom, the dissatisfaction and grumblings are softening these pillars and soon things will give way and the top will just cave in. The bigger the hole is being dugged below, and the heavier the top gets, a cave in is natural and impending. Prepare for the big tembusu tree to fall and see how the monkeys scatter.

Singaporeans must demand brutal public caning

We welcome them to our shores. Open our homes to them, open our hearts to them. Give them our jobs so that they can return home and build a new and richer life. We organise picnics for them, treat them very well, feed them...What did we get in return? Our young girls got molested in Orchard Road. And now, a young undergraduate, a possible MP or super talent, got assaulted and raped. This girl would never have been assaulted or raped if we have not opened our door to them. Our kindness is being returned by hurt and pain. We must catch this animal and deal with him brutally, in the padang for all to see. Make him an example for all our foreign guests to know that we welcome them, but breaking our laws and assaulting Singaporeans and raping our women are tabooed. Anyone committing such heinous crimes and hurt against Singaporeans will have hell upon him. Let his cries echo all over the padang. Let the message go down, loud and clear.

After ERPs - The natural things to come

As more and more people feel the pinch of driving to town, two natural possibilities. Some will switch to taxis or occasionally use taxis. More will switch to public transport like mrts and buses. Soon demand for both will go up. The taxis will play hide and seek again. The commuters will complain that there are not enough taxis available. Waiting time takes longer. You want a cab, call and pay for that extra for calling. More fuming by commuters. Then what? Think, think and more thinking for better solutions to increasing demand for taxi problems. Eureka, found the answer. Increase taxi fares to cut demands. In the mrt and bus sector, we are going to see everyone being packed like sardines again. Trains fully packed, buses fully packed. More buses needed, more trains needed to cope with the high demand. Yes, yes, SMRT and Bus companies need to upgrade their services and buy more trains and new buses. Where to get the money? Think, think, think harder. Eureka! Solutions found. Must increase fare. How else to provide more trains and buses. The natural things to come.

We want branded drugs!

Yes, some patients are rejecting generic or less well known brand drugs. To them, they only trust branded stuff. This is quite natural for those who can afford to pay for the branded qualities. Hospital should provide the patients with the choice for branded or non branded drugs. Did I hear someone saying that since patients are demanding branded drugs, then all hospitals should prescribe branded drugs only? I hope this is only a voice in the wilderness. I have to say it out loud now as things reported in TOM always carry a message. It could be testing for reactions or an early announcement that something may happen along the way. Choice is important to the consumers. Let there be choice and no one jumps the gun to make branded drugs compulsory just because there are some who could afford them.

Even Workers Party gone to sleep

Eng Hen has taken to task the silence coming from Workers Party over recent events. Apparently since the parliamentary glare, nothing much was heard from the Worker Party camp. Now, if this is true then it is very unbecoming of a political party trying to represent the interests of the people. They need to be heard, to be seen to be doing something, if not speak louder on issues for the people. Did they? Did they speak in their party news or party website and not reported? Or is it true that they just kept quiet about all the social and political issues that are happening around us? The internet is still very active with a lot of issues being raised, in TOC, in Littlespeck, in Molly Meek, and also in Redbeanforum. I will be very disappointed if Workers Party has actually gone to sleep and not talking about all the issues. Or is it that the TOM are not reporting on their stand? If Eng Hen is right, then it is a sad development for alternative political parties here. They must be active all the time, no need to mount street protest, just speak out to be heard. So far only the SDP has been doing the job. What happens to the rest? Reform Party is still new and needs sometime to get off their feed. Is there a SDA or SDP or something like that? What other political parties we have? I can't even remember their names.

Malaysia can never compete with Singapore's efficiency

Whenever Malaysia thinks of a get rich scheme to collect more money from its people, it must think of spending a few billions outfront on some mega projects. Now they are thinking of another one to by pass JB to the North South Highway from the Causeway. What Singapore did was to erect a few more gantries or to raise the toll charges. Cost is minimum. Why can't Malaysia learn from us? All it needs to do is to cook up some very good reasons for it and the people will pay willingly. As long as the reasons are logical and seen as necessary, that is all that needs to be done. Just have a good reason to do it. But step one is to recruit super talents into the govt services and pay them well. Then the rest will take care of itself.

Vote for Continuity!

I think this will be an excellent slogan for the next General Election. Vote for more prosperity, more continuity, and more of the same, and more of everything that we are having and enjoying today.

Notable quotes: LKY

'A society can only survive if there is a sense of equity and fair play. ' Lee Kuan Yew

Singapore role models Be proud of every cent that you earned. Be proud that every cent you earned is justified by the effort put in. Do not take any cent that you have not work for it. Be ashame, and feel ashame, if one is paid, or over paid, for not doing any work to justify the money being paid. These are the qualities of what role models should have. And the best role models who fulfil such basic decent criteria are the ah peks and aunties cleaning tables and washing plates in the kopitiams. They put in their full effort to earn every cent that they get paid for. They should be proud of what they are getting, never mind it is only a few hundred dollars. It is not how much money they are taking, especially when they don't have to work for it. And Singaporeans should feel proud of these role models. The people who earned their keeps.

The people are getting angry

With the high cost of living, with every dollar being stretched (says who? who's dollar being stretched?) some are crying out against the news of more gantries and higher tolls. A letter written by Karen Tan in Today complained why the timing, why now? A little congestion for a cosmopolitan city is normal. In fact you need traffic jams to show the world that you a busy city. How would the city look like if there were only a few cars? Is the introduction of gantries and toll hikes a strategic move or an insensitive one? Or is it another case of fanatics at work, where they think that they are always right and no need to care about how others are affected by it? Maybe it is done in preparation of the people towards higher costs in driving a car. The people needs to get use to it and soon they will accept it. Then it would not be so painful. Buy SMRT shares quick.

Leaders must inspire!

I was a young officer in the civil service working under the first generation leaders. The standard demanded by them was very high. Any report that I submitted must be 100% free from factual or typo error. Not even a comma or full stop in the wrong place was acceptable. I shivered at the thought of sending out a report with a comma or full stop missing. That was the standard set and demanded from the leaders. And we knew what that standard meant. We were inspired to achieve those standards, tough as they were. And for those who could not inspire, or down the line who were not inspired, there was the element of fear. Other than inspiration, there was also the element of punishment. The fear of making mistake and the fear of facing the music. Some will respond to inspiration, some will only respond to fear and punishment. Fast forward today, the Mas Selamat case was not a problem of a missing comma or fullstop. The mistakes were ugly. Imagine what would have happened in those days if such mistakes were to be made? Everyone would be trembling in their pants, maybe wetting as well. Today it was just Jack Neo shooting his movie. And can we expect people to learn from the mistakes? Yes, people will learn, that it is ok to slack, to be complacent, to make mistakes, and to walk away with a slap on the wrist. The message of complacency being acceptable has gone down the line. And what happened at the Magistrate with prisoners in the lockup walking out so easily spoke for itself. If leaders cannot inspire, they better be feared. If leaders cannot inspire, and still want to be nice, that is a recipe for more complacency.

Singaporeans are truly stupid

Every morning Today paper will be given free in several places. Every morning I pass Raffles Place MRT, quite early. And there will be piles and piles of Today paper to be given away. And sometimes the crowd will build up and jam the MRT station, all waiting for 7.30 am, for that is the time that the paper can be given away. Why 7.30am? Because the latecomers complained that they did not get their copies. So now must wait till 7.30am so that latecomers are happy. What about the early birds? Of course they are unhappy. What the fuck! If they have 1000 copies, 1000 readers will have the chance to get them. Why did they bother to care about early or late birds? And causing so much congestion in the station. And tempers ran high as well with some cursing and swearing at the distributors. But Singaporeans are rule followers and just cannot think. The boss says 7.30am. So do as the boss said. The boss can be stupid, doesn't matter. Follow orders and nothing will harm you. Maybe I should not generalise that all Singaporeans are stupid. Only some. The stupid decision makers.

Gantries and more gantries

Motorists will be the happiest people in paradise. Driving around will be a breeze, or at least around town comes 7 Jul. 5 more ERP gantries will go up and 32 more will up their toll fees. Or like they said, 'Have money will travel.' Just pay your way and all the way. It is great to be toll operators. It is only logical that the central business district be restricted to people who have a reason to be there. No more jalan jalan or makan angin in CBD for free. It is another form of Disneyland for the banking and finance people. In fact all other offices that are not related to these industries should not be there. They only add to the congestion and high demand for office space. Yes, have another set of regulations to keep non related industries from locating in the business districts. Set up a list of criteria to fulfil, something like mean testing. If don't qualify, no business to be there, shift out. We need to put people in their proper places.

Malaysia - What petrol subsidy?

Malaysia is a net exporter of oil. It is producing oil and selling oil at a highly inflated price due to speculations by western oil traders. The cost of production of oil is also relatively unchanged. So what subsidy is Malaysia talking about? They should be talking about profits, and huge profits. The only kind of subsidy is market subsidy, a uniquely Singapore experience. Because of the high market price, the Malaysian govt could sell their petrol at a much higher price. So to sell them at a lower price, it is called SUBSIDY! Does the Malaysian Govt understand this term? Singaporeans do and are very cynical about it when it is mentioned. And why cut the 'subsidy' and then decide to give back to the people in kind while at the same time incurring the wrath of the people? There are good things to learn from Singapore. But some things are quite silly and should not be copied without knowing what they meant and how badly they are received by the people. Low petrol prices in Malaysia is not subsidy to the Malaysians. It is lesser profits to Petronas, to the Malaysian Govt.

Fanatics in Paradise

We were talking about fanatics of human rights, pushing their views to everyone as if their views were the only one acceptable. Everyone must accept what these fanatics say or believe in. We have another kind of fanatics in paradise. They believe that Singaporeans will all live past 80 years old. And they did not stop at that. They did not just push their views and quarrel with people to believe in them. They did what was necessary. For they also believe that if one is to live past 80, then one needs more money to live. And they sincerely believe that all these are tooth and it is good for the people to have a lot of money when they are at their dying years. And they have good reasons too. When you are at that age, you need more money, not for holidays, but to pay big hospital bills. These are very logical. So from July 1, 2008, the sum in Medisave will be increased to $34,500. This is untouchable unless the sickness is serious enough or approved for payment from this saving. Never mind if one already have Medishield or private medical insurance. The important thing is to have this sum of money in Medisave. Safely kept there for you. Then also, the Minimum Sum in the CPF will be increased to $106,000. This is to ensure that citizens of paradise will be rich before they die. They can be poor when they are young. But they cannot be poor when they are old. And if this sum is not enough because inflation is going to eat a big chunk from it, you can be sure that it will be increased progressively. Do not be surprised if the Minimum Sum will hit $1 mil one day. And Singaporeans are all very happy and grateful for this savings that they must put aside. There is a Chinese saying, suffer first and enjoy later. Provided if you live that long to see the money.

Myth 183 - I am helping you

The hungry tiger was poised to devour the little goat. The little goat was shivering and unable to move, partly at the sight of a huge and ferocious tiger, partly because it was too weak to run. It had not eaten a full meal for several days. The owner of the little goat was equally worried. He must do something to help the goat. 'Wait, wait!' He shouted at the tiger. 'Please don't eat my little goat.' The tiger roared back. 'I am hungry and need to eat the goat to live.' The owner was very understanding. He knew that tigers would want to eat small animals for his meal. It was a reasonable act. He looked at the little goat and came out with a solution. He told the goat, 'Look, whatever, the tiger is going to eat you. And there is no way to run. The only way to save your life is to offer a leg to the tiger.' The little goat knew that it had no choice. And the owner was trying his best to help. It squeezed its eyes shut, bit its teeth and prepared itself for the tiger to rip off one of its legs. The owner was in a way a savior. The little goat was grateful for the help. A monk came along. 'Amitabha (or O mi to fu).' He said in his peaceful and serene way. 'Let me help.' Then he turned to the tiger, 'Here, have my arm instead.'