Revisiting some undead issues

Many issues have been deliberately forgotten by the media or people. But they are not dead. They are still very alive and painful to the people affected. Just because they have been swept under the carpet does not mean that the people have accepted them and will move on. It is important that these issues be aired regularly to remind people that the people would still want them to be done right. Otherwise some people will declare, 'See, no one talking about it anymore, no protest, so the people have accepted them.' The most important issues that should be contantly talk about is our money in the CPF. It cannot be left as it is. It is our money and must be returned to us when we are still alive and kicking and needing them. The money to be locked up in CPF Life and those in the Medisave, are our money. We want them back when they are still useful to us. Not when we are dead. Then the whole concept of CPF contributions needs to be reviewed. When people are expected to live and work till they drop dead, why is there a need to keep on pumping money into CPF after 55? Why are self employed people still needed to keep contributing without an age limit to stop? As it is today, we are expected to keep contributing to the CPF as long as we are working, even till 100 years. People are too busy and no time to look at these issues huh? OK, if they have no time to know that these are the people's concern, we should remind them that it is high time they relook at them given the changes in the working environment. Then there is the high cost of living where the prices of things are pegged to our income, our affordability to pay but not the actual value of the goods and services. With such a philosophy, no matter how much you are earning, the pricing will take care of your income so that you will not have much left for your retirement. Many things have changed and many policies need to change. The old ways of thinking and doing things need to change accordingly, to better the life of the people. The money is everything policy is going to do us in if we keep going in the same direction.

Notable quotes by LKY

One freak election will ruin us - LKY I think this is very real. Under a normal electoral system of one man one vote and one MP one constituency, the chances of a freak election is lesser. Today, our election is decided by slightly more than 10 GRCs. And with the way things are happening, all it needs is one MP or minister in a GRC to incur the wrath of the people, and the particular GRC can go kaput. And it is not easy to lose a handful of GRCs at the way things are going. Losing a handful of MPs in a single ward electoral system will not cause any harm. Losing a handful of GRCs can be as good as losing an election. The GRC can cut both ways. It can entrench the position of a ruling party, it can also cause the ruling party to lose everything in a freak election. It can happen. Murphy's Law is very powerful.

Authoritarianism is good

The new mantra that everyone is singing is that authoritarianism is good. At least it is good for Singapore. And China and Russia are coming here to learn our new authoritarianism. I think this could be our national day message. Singaporeans prosper under authoritarian rule and Singaporeans love it. Long live authoritarianism. We are going to teach the world about this new authoritarianism.

Myth 185 - Causes of inflation

As I type this post my fingers are trembling with joy. It is such a profound idea that I have come across since an apple fell on Newton's head. Even in the darkest hour of the night, the thought of it could make me see light everywhere. I could even feel the surge of orgasmic pleasure rising in my veins. We have heard about imported inflation. And this could be managed somewhat by maintaining a strong currency. The raising of fees and prices of goods and services will not cause any inflation. This is true. You just pay more that's all. What then causes inflation? It is the workers' salary. The workers form the bulk of any population. Controlling their spending power is the key to inflation and controlling inflation. And the easiest way is to make sure they don't get any pay rise. Freeze their wages and you will freeze inflation. If the wages of workers is frozen for 10 years, we will have inflation controlled, or no inflation, for 10 years. The simplicity and enormity of this powerful idea is stunning.

Disbelief!!!

Many are shocked and many still in disbelief that Ren Ci's Abbot Shi Ming Yi is being charged for cheating in court. The complacency is quite deep rooted and has been inculcated into the Singaporean mindset over many years. Singaporeans have been taught to accept and believe that everything is in good hands. Do not question. Questioning is creating trouble and will have its due consequences. Better shut up and let the gods do what they think is best. Even in blogs and forums, you can feel the discomfort expressed by the fearful that speaking up is bad. You may even be attacked for speaking the uncomfortable truth. We need more fakes to be exposed to kick Singaporeans out of their long slumbers. And the higher the profile, the better. Let's have a few more big ones. We need the shock treatment to get Singaporeans questioning again and not to accept things as they are told to accept. We need a relearning process which could take another whole generation to rise up to be competent first world citizens. As of today, we are still third world in mindset. We are simply believers in blind faith. Best part is that we are told to be believers. Where got complacency?

Step aside SIA, DBS, Temasek!

You are all small boys in the big league. You have tried so hard, think so hard, employed the best money can buy from the world. You have the best super talents to do the sums. How much are you making together? $5b, $10b? Petronas made $24.4b just simply pumping oil from the ground. No need to work so hard, think so much, hair all turning white, and taking great risks. And they are raising petrol pump prices by 41%! They cannot afford to subsidise their people because everyone is not subsidising. Err, not exactly. Everyone is the non oil producing countries or net oil importers. For the oil producers, some are selling oil to their people for less than US 30c per gallon. No wonder the Malaysians are protesting. What a lucky country! Only unfortunate thing is that the leaders are not thinking. People cut subsidies they also must cut subsidies.

Please exploit me, please!

Exploiting the poor if organ trading is allowed is the most popular reason so far to ban such trades. The poor will not know what they are doing and the rich, the middle men, the thugs, all will target them for their organs. They will be hunted down, cheated, kidnapped, murdered etc just for their organs. Here this poor guy is pleading to be exploited. He has two aged parents, an uneducated wife and 4 young children. He does odd jobs and tends to a small patch of land for vegetables, and a small chicken coop for eggs and meat. Their home is a broken wooden shed that barely shields them from the elements. Having 3 meals a day is a problem. And the children are unlikely to go to school. He is willing to exchange his kidney for $30k which he could build a nice decent house for his family. He could put food on the table for the next 20 years. He could clothe them and send his children to school, buy a bigger piece of land to farm. He is pleading for someone who is kind enough to buy his kidney. He is pleading to be exploited to give his family a better life. Please help him. Or don't help him. Tell him selling his kidney is bad for him. Tell him that the govt is protecting him and his family from being exploited. Tell him to keep his organ. It is good for him. He goes down on his knees, crying, 'Please, please exploit me, do a good deed to help my family. My children are hungry. I want to send them to school. I want to buy them new clothes to wear, shoes etc.'

Another fake exposed!

After Joakim Kang and Durai, now Shi Ming Yi. And we have the names of the Catholic Church, the NKF and Ren Ci all dragged into the mud. How many more fakes are there waiting to be exposed? Are we really what we are, pristine, clean and incorruptible? Or are we waiting for time to tell the ugly truth? I hope this will be the last of the fakes. But I know that this will not be the last. What is happening in paradise? Or should we take it as part and parcel of the tooth in paradise and move on?

Workers' right to ask for more pay

Hong Wai Leng wrote to ST forum saying that it is the right of workers to ask for more pay. This is only natural and it is the right of management to decide to give or not depending on the business and their ability to pay. To tell management not to give pay rise to workers because it will lead to inflation is pure nonsense. And she went on further. Why didn't the minister tell the oil companies not to raise petrol prices, the govt not to have more ERPs, govt services not to raise their fees, as all these must lead to inflation? Good questions. Very good questions. The govt is elected by the people for the people. Obviously someone has forgotten this.

After debating, murder also can...

We should encourage more debate on the organ trading issues. And after the debate, whatever the decisions we take, at least we can claim that we have discussed it thoroughly and not based on gut feel. Then we can close the topic, satisfied that we have done what was needed. Is this good enough? If the decision is not to allow organ trading, many kidney failure patients will continue to die, will continue to wait to die. Have we done justice to them? Then the very desperate poor who want to sacrifice to better their families' lives, are we closing the little window that can give them a better life and be happy about it? We have decided, the not involved party, distinterested party, the neutral party with no vested interest in the process, must be the best people to make the decision. Is this so? There is a saying, if you have not lived in the other person's shoe, you do not know what you are talking about.

The need for a balanced and objective media

With the internet opening up and challenging the views in TOM and exposing how one sided TOM can be, how many readers still have faith in TOM being fair, objective and balanced in its reporting of political events and issues? Though this realisation is nothing new and people have resigned to it, things have changed lately when any unfair and biased reporting will come under immediate heavy artillery. This must have greatly affected the credibility of TOM. It is very difficult for TOM to continue with the make belief that they are highly objective and unbiased or neutral. Nothing to cry about actually. Most TOMs take a certain view that are necessary given the specific environment that they operate. And readers would have to come to accept that this is the fact of life and the truth to live with. What therefore would be welcomed is for different political groups to have their own media of expression and report political issues from their own perspectives. This is happening in many mature polities, and Malaysia too is having the same practice. What if we continue to deny the alternative parties to have their own media? The answer is obvious. Cyberspace is already a ready and effective alternative. But what is bad is that many sites will sprout up and take the position of hate press, expousing very negative and extreme views against the party in power. It will become a black and white divide. A pro govt TOM and and anti govt cyberspace. Now this must be bad. What is a better alternative development?

What do Singaporeans want?

The average Singaporeans are not too demanding, I believe. I will venture a guess on what an average Singaporean would think is a decent and comfortable life. 1. To be able to raise a family of 4, ie two children, put them through schools, polytechnic or university, without begging for assistance. 2. To live in a 4 or 5 rm flat, and being able to afford it. 3. To own a car, and be able to bring the family around for leisure. This may be a bit difficult given our space constraint and further complicated by the thoughtless ambitious dream of a 6.5m population. 4. For those without cars, decent public transportation that does not cause them an arm or a leg. 5. Basic medical healthcare that will not empty one's life savings. 6. Able to retire by 60 or 65 without having to work till death. I don't think the above expectations are unreasonable for a first world country. But it is evident that some of these basic dreams of the average Singaporeans will be unattainable. Bringing up two children is now impossible to a big number of Singaporeans. I was being generous in my earlier post suggesting that a family income of $3k could put a child to university by setting aside about $1k a mth. In reality, many, even with a household income of $4k cannot afford to save $500 pm. $3k is a bit far fetch. Then to retire at 60 or 65 is going to be very difficult. And buying a 4rm or 5 rm flat is gradually moving out of reach of the average Singaporeans. Medicare, if hospitalised, is going to bankrupt many Singaporeans or at least empty their live savings. It is time the govt rethink their policies on what is good for the average Singaporeans to live their lives and at a cost that is manageable. No need to waste so many millions and billions on gardens and world class resort facilities that the average Singaporeans cannot afford to enjoy.

Higher revenue with no effort

This is exactly what is happening with the LTA's drive to get more people to take public transport. The ERPs are hurting the people's pockets and more are switching to MRTs and buses. Both service providers are going to see higher profits through no direct effort of theirs. MRT reported that last month the number of trips taken have increased to 41.27 millions. At an average of $1.20 per trip, that is a cool $50 mil a month of revenue. Profit is going to soar. And they are going to apply for fare hike still. Oops, I have forgotten, the fare hike will benefit the greater majority of the commuters, which means the greater majority will pay less.

Supertalents deserve high pay

The coming transport fare hike is not only affordable, but also manageable. It may be 3% or 1%, regardless of how many millions the transport companies are still making. They needed the fare hike in view of higher oil prices, and of course accounting to the shareholders for a better profit. That is not all. The most brilliant part about the fare hike is that they will ensure the 'greater majority of commuters gain from the adjustment'. This is just as ingenious as the GST increase to help the poor. These supertalents must be nominated for the Nobel Prize for such creative fare hikes and GST hikes. No where in the world can increases in tax and fare hikes ended up benefitting the poor or the majority of commuters. This is uniquely Singapore. The same formula should be applied to other ministries and stats boards. The new ERPs will also help and improve businesses. Can we have more taxes to improve the well being of our population? Singaporeans should appeal for more increases in hospital bills and other bills to better their lots. Uniquely Singapore. That's the way to go. More pay for the ministers to better our lives. Just don't tell us to tighten our belts.

Time for mean testing

Yes, we need to mean test the population to see how many can still bear with the high cost of living. We need to know how much have the value of their money fallen or how much can each dollar buy now. We also need to know how much is need to get by for a family or 3 or 4. Mean testing is needed to see how mean is the runaway inflation caused by the upping of prices, of everything, is affecting the livelihood of the hardlanders.

Stop the influx before it is too late

Another sign of the bursting of the seams. Lack of hostel space is pushing up rentals at HDB flats. Is this a good sign? We are seeing signs everywhere that this little rock is about to burst under the weight of an exploding population. MRT squeeze, more ERPs needed, property prices and rentals skyrocketing, parents fighting for place in schools for kids, students fighting for place in universities, patients fighting for place in hospitals, public places jammed to the brim etc etc. How much more can we take? How much more signals will it need to waken the fanatics to stop the inflow of foreigners into the island? We are doing more harm to the country by feeding the appetite for those who seek economic growth through population explosion at the expense of the general population. What can be done to stop this madness? This is our country and we must not allow mad people to run it to the ground.

Legalising Organ trading - Just do it.

At the moment the inertial against legalising organ trading is very strong. And the medical profession have their valid reasons for keeping it so. There are different schools of thought and different opinions. And if one chooses to take the traditional view, there are all the reasons and apprehension to say no. On the practical side, there are also all the reasons to say yes. No one will be able to absolutely say that one position is right and the other is wrong. The only thing that is wrong is legal, the law says so, for the time being. Watching Tang Wee Sung walking in and out of the subordinate court is the best reason to say that we should legalise organ transplant. Otherwise we are condemning him to a sure and slow death, and a pathetic existence. On the other hand, the CNA programme on kidney donors in the Phillipines showed that some people are will and can benefit from selling their kidneys and live life normally, and quite happy about it. Of course the critics may shrug this off as superficial. Yes, the poor always have to sacrifice and pay a heavier price to live a little better, even selling their organs. What is the alternative for them to break out from the poverty trap? Or shall the righteous condemn them as well to a life of drudgery? Can we give them a choice?

A few good men and a thinking citizenry

PN Balji wrote an interesting article about a world class nation needing a few good men and a thinking and questioning citizenry. In paradise, such a thought will be simply denounced as bull. We don't need a thinking citizenry. That is about what we have been brought up to believe in. Mind your own business, make your money and live your life quietly. Only a few good men are needed to carry this nation to a higher platform. We used to have a few good men with us for the first 20 years of our history in nation building. Good, decent and selfless men. Today's conventional wisdom is that these are foolish men who sacrificed for the nation at their own personal expense. So today we claim to have a few good men but of a different kind. A few good men that needs to be paid top dollars or else. Would this kind of good men really carry the nation forward? Self before nation or nation before self? The latter is naive idealism. Balji said this nation will be doomed if these few good men suddenly disappeared for there is really a dearth of good men available. This is a false assumption surely. We have many men that have been trained by the best universities. I believe there must be some good men among them, but because of the political system and culture, they rather stand aside. Anyway, if they stand up to say that they will run the country for half the pay they will be immediately denounced as only half as good. For if they could not command the top salary which top brains are associated with then they are no good. I believe some of the good men will know that they are being paid beyond their abilities and contributions. A good man will stand forward and say, look, you are overpaying me. I don't deserve so much. Balji also talked about a thinking and questioning citizenry to fill the second part of his equation of a great nation. We are not a nation but a hotel. Everyone who is able is hoarding as much wealth as he can to prepare to run. Only the less able and losers will stay behind when the dam breaks. In a nutshell, do we have a few good men and a thinking citizenry? Maybe not. But I am contradicting myself as I have said earlier that there must be many good men sitting on the sideline. Maybe we need a revamp of the system and the values for the really good men to come forward. Under the present system and values, it will invite a different kind of good men to rule the country. Is this system sustainable, able to last in this form into the future? I have my doubts. Our system started well. But when its continued existence or perpetuation of its existence is for the wrong reasons, it will end up in the dumps of history.

A new beacon of light

The centre of growth has shifted to the East. The two old giant civilisations have woken up and powering ahead. Then there is the revitalised Russia in the north, and the Koreans slightly to the east. And the old war horse, Japan, and Taiwan, Hongkong etc. Then there is Australia to the south and the world's biggest commodity producers, Indonesia and Malaysia. Singapore is strategically placed in the midst of these spectacular growth and growing economies. And we are gradually becoming the centre for the region. We will be the beacon of growth, playing the role as a capital city for these countries. We will draw their talents, their products and services and their funds here. We will manage and process them with our expertise and first world infrastructures and systems. We will grow with them. We have everything they need, and the ability to balance the delicate sensitivities of these countries by being neutral and acceptable to all of them. We have a bright future as the centre of this growth.

ERP is a big success

The recent addition of more ERPs and higher toll rates is a huge success in terms of effectiveness and acceptance by the motorists. About 70% of motorists and motorcyclists polled would rather pay more for a smoother ride. The poll was conducted by The Sunday Times on a sample size of 200. With such a high rate of acceptance, the LTA should give themselves a pat on the back for being proactive and for being able to read the minds of the people. It is a tough decision that the people know is coming and will accept it as they know it is good for them. There were some grouses of course. A commuter complained that MRTs are too packed. A shop owner complained that business has dropped. A cabbie complained that he would lose out if he pays for the higher tolls but could not pick up fares. But all these are a minority and they will get use to the new changes. And they will soon appreciate the goodness of the ERPs and be thankful for it. Things will die down and be normal again. As for the MRT jams, I think this will be resolved when the circle line comes in in 10 years time. Not to worry. Time will solve all problems.