Taunting the opposition

Taunting the opposition or opposition taunting the ruling party should be part and parcel of politics. The slight difference here is that it is a one way thing, with the ruling party taunting the opposition and the other side completely quiet. They were challenged to come out with alternative policies, with better candidates, with more voices to speak out for the people etc etc. What did we hear from the opposition camp? Did we hear any replies or rebuttals? Nay. Did the opposition reply and were not reported in TOM? Or did the opposition really gone speechless? What is the use of a speechless opposition? It simply cannot be as the opposition should be seen and heard to represent the people's interest. They must be seen to do it all the time, not seasonal or cyclical. Or is there something more sinister that we don't know? The impression I am getting is that they may be hanged by their balls. And trying to make too much noise will only lead to a tightening of the tension and increasing the pain level. So it is better to keep quiet and all peace on the western front. It is just a perception and I may be totally wrong, and the opposition could be adopting a different kind of strategy which they are keeping to themselves. Whatever strategies, the people are watching and would want the opposition to stand up and be heard. It is unbecoming for a opposition to be on a silent mode.

Homogenous constituencies

Our constituencies are by design, or by a stroke of nature, very consistent in their composition. The racial groups represented are similar, the rich and poor are similar and the number of people voting for the ruling party and opposition parties are also similar. The 66.6% for the ruling party and 33.4% for the opposition parties would be the norm across all constituencies. Now, under this kind of distribution, the ruling party is more or less assured of being elected. But would it throw out a strong opposition party? For 33.4%, never! In a democratice system, one can only be elected by a simple majority. 49% also will not be represented. Maybe we need to tweak the system to allow the 33.4% some representation in Parliament. Otherwise, because of the homogeneity of our constituencies, they will forever be left out.

The Big IF

What if Anwar is a victim of a political conspiracy to keep him out of politics? If this is the case, what can the Malaysians make out of their political leadership and all those in power, including the police and judiciary who are all out to get him? Has Malaysia degenerated to such an unhealthy state of affair when leaders of the country could stoop so low, devoid of all human decencies, ethics and moral conduct, to destroy a fellow man just to keep themselves in power? If this is the case, what kind of country has Malaysia become? And what should the people do when the leadership is totally immoral and has no moral authority to lead? The big IF, is that if what is happening is really so shamelessly ruthless. And the leadership still walks around like upright and honest men and pointing an accusing finger at an innocent man. This is the big IF. Any country that has gone down to this level is no longer a country but a hell hole. What is the truth in Malaysia?

Ingredients of our success

Come National Day Parade, it is natural for every Singaporean to be hit by a sense of awe and pride. We watch as the showcase revealed how far we have come. From the sophisticated weaponry and hardware to the organisation of a precise drill involving thousands of people, and a people in celebration of how well they are living. The message is that we have done well. And we got to thank the political system that we have developed, the dedicated and selfless leaders that are there to constantly improve the lives of the people, and an obedient and willing to be led populace that will listen and move along quietly, guided by a progressive govt. And many people feel that we have arrived. We shall maintain the status quo, not to rock the boat, everything is fine and well managed. We can only do better over the years and march into the future with confidence that things will be better. The life and progress of a nation is like the life of a person. It is a journey, a longer journey and will not end until the nation collapses or being overrun or taken over by someone else. To think that we have arrived and nothing more needs to be done is a sure sign of complacency. We need to keep on going, to improve ourselves, change and adapt to an unknown future, and be wary of death traps. The three ingredients that have brought us so far could also be the three ingredients that will destroy us. A small wrong step or wrong decision and we will face the wall. Our political system is so strongly biased in favour a strong govt that works for the people. It relies heavily on a strong team of men who will want to do good for the people and country. And the system allows such a team of men to do as they liked. In such a system, all it needs is a few scoundrels to take over the govt and run it for their own benefits. And that's it. The system will facilitate such a process, will facilitate the scoundrels to do what they want. The system does not check and restrain them. And the people, trained and moulded to be followers without questioning, unthinking, and a strong believer of the system and the leaders, will be led to jump over the cliff. The people will not know how to resist or check the govt. They will just go along, and go along for as long as they can. They have a very high tolerance to take pain. They have a strong belief that the leaders will always be the honest and selfless leaders that will take care of them. And they will be buried alive with that kind of thoughts and belief. They would not know how to react or sense that things are getting out of hand till it is too late. The three ingredients that brought us so much success will be the same ingredients that will do us in eventually. As we celebrate our National Day, we must constantly remind ourselves how long will it last.

Invasion of the journalists and reporters

Yes they are coming. The Straits Times is unleashing them into cyberspace to compete for readership. And ST has assured that they will continue to provide the quality of accurate reporting that is its trademark. So we will see more blogs by the professionals and read their views of things, events and issues. I think this is implied, other than just reporting on factual stuff. And would their blogs be censored and edited by the editors first before they can be read? This is getting interesting. Cyberspace will never be the same again.

The unusual burden shouldered by the poor

GST is across the board, no exception and no exemption. Who would this hurt most? Who would have to pay more as a percentage of their income? Under the old tax system, the poor do not have to pay taxes. Now they are shouldering the bulk of the tax in view of the large numbers of them in the population. Then everything goes up. They still have to pay. No escape. And their income has been stagnant for the last 10 years. All the good years they missed on real growth in their income. And now, when the economy is just beginning to show a little weakness, the message is that they should not get pay rises. And if they do, should not be too big to offset inflation. And they are expected to provide the workforce to clean up the rubbish and the lower level of jobs. They are expected to provide the bulk of the NS men to defend the country. And now they are expected to produce the babies to form the pyramid base. Can they afford it? Who cares. All is needed is for them to keep producing. The country needs the numbers.

Help me help you - Vivian said

This is what Vivian said to the residents of Cashew Constituency. He told them, 'What I will tell you is that anybody who needs help will get that help. I need you to help me and the grass roots leaders make sure that there is no hunger in Cashew. My advice to Vivian is to look no further. Ask Lily Neo. She will have a lot of good ideas if he cares to listen.

43 years of Independence!

The word 'independence' is a smear word in the history of colonised people. Independence from who or from what? If the land is yours, if you are the owners of the land, what independence, but independence from the colonial masters who came and took the land from you. You lost ownership of your land and your rights as an independent people. You became a subject of a colonial power. All the properties and land now belonged to the masters. They came and they took, including you. The only people who fought bravely for their land and their rights as a people were the Red Indians. They fought with bows and arrows against rifles and bullets. They were decimated. But they were willing to die for their land and the rights to be what they were. No one was going to take away their land and properties unless over their dead bodies. Millions of dead Red Indian bodies were strewn across the prairies. There are so few left of them today that the World Wild Life Protection Fund should rightly put them on the endangered species to be protected. The Africans were in a poorer state when the colonialists arrived. They did not know much about being a nation or a country. All tribes, and primitive weapons for hunting, worst than the arrows of the Red Indians. And they were easy meat. Hunted down like animals and shipped as beast of burdens. They called them slaves then, to work for a paltry 3 meals and in chains. No rights, no freedom. They don't even own their bodies or their children or spouses. All owned by the colonial masters. The Indians in India were far better developed. They had empires and kingdoms before. But they could not fight the power of new military weapons. Many chose to serve the colonial masters and be part of the empire. The pockets of resistance were too weak and disorganised to mean anything. Came Malaya, in a period of village chiefs. The only fighting weapons were the krises and spears, maybe some blowpipes. But as small groups of fishing villages, they were easily rounded up, a little carrot and stick, and all was peaceful with the colonial masters in full control and owning everything. Singapore was created as a trading post by the colonial masters. It grew and became their administrative headquarters. We became part of the Straits Settlement which included Penang and Malacca. Then came self rule in 1959. David Marshall and Lim Yew Hock were involved in political and administrative fights to win back some rights to govern ourselves. History helped us in our next phase of development when the British Empire was crumbling and they found it necessary to grant independence to their colonies but retaining authority and privileges to trade and administration. We became part of Malaysia in 1963 and then full independence in 1965. Finally, we owned the land we lived in, we became citizens with full rights to properties and liberty. Yes we became independent and owned everything here. There were some legal and political struggles, not the kind like fighting a war of independence when many were killed or ended up as martyrs. We were literally given our independence on a silver plate. Maybe we have got our independence too easily. So it is easier to give it away or share it with the world. Everyone is welcome to be a citizen. And everything can be sold for a price. Just name your price and we can negotiate. Will we sell everything we owned for some fiat currency? Would we sell our rights as a country, our people's rights as citizens for money? Will we eventually lose everything or sold out everything that has a monetary value on it? What is a country or nation when we don't own anything any more? What is a country or nation when no one feels any attachment to anything here? What is, if no one thinks it is worth fighting for, or a better option is an exit to another country, emigration? What is a citizen when anything of value is own by foreigners? And to make matter worst, we either have to pay dearly to enjoy or visit them or be excluded completely, because we are not a member or cannot afford to become a member, in our own country? It is not too far fetch to imagine that Sentosa or Orchard Road will no longer be freely accessible to the citizens unless they can afford a ransom for it. The trend of losing the rights to our land and properties, to the right of sight and smell, and even free air, is growing. If and when everything is sold, what are we as citizens of this land? We are 43 in a week's time. What will things be when we are 53, 63 or 100? Will we be citizens in name only but serving new economic colonial masters that own all our land and things on the land one day? Will the word independence takes on a new meaning some time in the future?

School bus fares won't go up

Thanks to the Competition Commission of Singapore, school bus fares that were supposed to go up by $10 to $15 form Aug 1 will not take effect. The Commission has 'advised them (Singapore School Transport Association) to take remedial action.' The Commission is not against price hike but must be done by individual bus operators independently. That may be the reason why fare hikes for MRT and public buses can continue to go up simply because they act individually. But it would be good if the Commission can also advised them a little after all these companies are making huge profits without competition. And they have just submitted for more hikes for approval by the Public Transport Council. Oh, the petrol companies should also be advised on the way they hike or reduce their prices, all in tandem and in the same amount.

Hither the opposition parties?

A debate is now on as to the tweaking of the political system for a stronger opposition party to partner the ruling PAP in the govt. And how the system will turn out will be at the discretion,magnanimity and mercy of the party in power. They will tweak the system in a way it deems fit for the participation of the opposition parties. Will the opposition parties be consulted or will they have a say in the tweaking? Will the people be consulted as well? Why am I asking such obvious questions? The opposition parties have taken a very low presence lately. Wondering why? Have they lost their scripts or are they having a retreat to re strategise how they should play their roles to win support from the people? Or are there things that we do not know that is happening behind the scene that led to the disquiet? What I thought a good strategy for the opposition parties is to learn from the master. The Malaysians and Indonesians refused to learn from the master and have been left behind, gasping for air and heading no where. The opposition parties need not reinvent the wheel. Just learn from the master from organisation, strategies and tactics, including styles and purposes. Just do a little tweaking on the objectives. Both are working for the people and country. The only difference is the methodology and the priorities. The opposition parties should start with the setting up of a parallel mode of organisation structure, committees, sub committees, grassroot organisations, activities, just remember to exclude things like bicycle rides or joggings in the parks that may cause riotings. And organisations/committees or cells should include the official and unofficial, the known and the unknown, to gather support and information on the ground. But all these requires a lot of resources and manpower and the opposition can only do it in smaller scale or selectively. I think this will be a good start. With an equivalent organisation, no need a shadow cabinet yet, the field will be more level. Both can take on each other on similar terms, strategies and tactics.

Why no need for season tickets?

Season tickets have been in used for public transportation in many countries for years. The main objectives, other than convenience, include discounts for frequent users or for those whose use a lot of public transport. It will eat a little into the profits of the transport companies but it is also a way to reward loyal customers. In countries where there is real competition, season tickets also help to retain customers if the tickets are only for designated transport companies. Why is season tickets such a pain and not being offered to the Singaporean commuters? Why are the transport companies mulling over it for so long and could not see its advantages to the commuters, which, ok, means a little disadvantage to the companies in terms of discount and lesser profit? The last past must be the reason. Why should they give discount to commuters when there is no competition and no need to? The other reason which commuters forgot, is that most of the commuters are already purchasing season tickets by paying in advance in their EZlink cards. So the commuters are already paying season. What for give them discount when they are already doing it? The is the same principle that is applied in many areas. Our hospitalisation bills are being paid in advanced, used or not used, through Medisave accounts. Fat hope that the season tickets will be introduced. Oh I heard it is in the plan.

Unleashing the power of the people

In his Jakarta Presidential Lecture, Kishore Mahbubani talked about the lessons to be learnt from India and China. What make the resurgence of these two ancient civilisations at such a rapid pace? Both countries have enormous human resources and both these resources were trapped by feudal systems that enslaved them for centuries instead of liberating them. What move these two sleeping giants was the unleashing of the power of the people, all more than 1 billion each. Freeing the people's mind, educating them and unleashing them to develop to their fullest potential. The miracles that are happening in these two countries are there to be witnessed. While Singapore embarked on its revival by embracing foreign talents, the biggest pitfall is that it is continuing to entrap the minds and power of its own people. It simply tells its people not to think, not to get involved in the nation's affair. Shut up and move on. Make your money and keep quiet. Be grateful, be happy. Don't think, no need to think. The few super talent elite will do the thinking. Was there a change to these thinkings? Can Singapore really transform itself into a new height given these kinds of feudal mindset where obedient to authority, authoritarianism, is regarded as the epitome of a political system?

Change in the offing?

Chua Mui Hoong wrote about the possibility of change as hinted by Chok Tong. In her view there could be changes but under the ruling party's terms. The ruling party shall call the shot, decide who can play and set the rules. Is this not the case all this while? The govt, she said, which is actually the ruling party, shall be the controller, the game master and shall work out a system that is fair to all players. What kind of system, and how fair, would come out of it if the game master is also the key player with vested interest to remain as the main player? Sue Ann Chia also discussed about the hints of coming changes, probably bigger GRCs, bigger deposits, to ensure that the ruling party continues its dominant position but with more participation in the form of nominated MPs. The possibility of ever bigger GRCs, maybe lesser than 5, or maybe 1 or 2 cannot be ruled out. Such a change could totally rule out any opposition participation because of the extremely high cost in deposit money and their inability to gather enough respectable candidates. It will deal a death blow to the opposition and for all. This is similar to what Zhu Ge Liang did when he advised Xiang Yu, I think, to tie all his ships together to form an unsinkable platform. It was a formidable strategy, like All In in a poker game. The rest was history. Correction. Abao has given the correct names of the general and advisor. It was Cao Cao and Pang Tong. The moral of the story was the tying of the ships together and they all got burnt together.

Would Singapore head the Malaysia way?

The political developments in Malaysia is tearing the country apart. Every political leader now appears a suspect, questionable in action and motive, what they said and did are all taken with a big pinch of salt. In short, unreliable, untrustworthy and unbecoming. What is more serious is the persecution of Anwar with malicious charges. After his first episode in jail and being beaten, Anwar is facing similar charges and possibly similar endings. Would Singapore, down the road, see a high profile politician being persecuted and pursued by the 'law' relentless to make sure it stick? Would the fortune of some high profile politicians hang in the balance because of political participation and the need to get rid of them? The danger and possibility of such a scenario cannot be ruled out. A new power or personality appearing in the arena could decide to set his own terms and deal with who ever he wants the way he wants it. And with the changing of political fortunes, things can become very nasty, and may go the Malaysian way. Don't ever say no way. Don't be complacent. Do we have a system of checks and balance to avoid such a downfall?

The growing dependency syndrome

Who needs help? Practically everyone is asking for help these days. From the middle income to those who are desperate. From those in the comfort of homes and Homes to the destitutes in the streets. From the citizens to the new citizens and non citizens. From the mother without child to those with many children or with problem children. And the govt says a welfare state is not the way to go. But disguised in all kinds of terms, help is everywhere, in billions of dollars made available in all kinds of funds. We have grown into a nation that depends on handouts and getting things free by just asking. That may be the reason why so many charity organisations sprouted out. Some are just self help organisations where the promoters were actually helping themselves. What happens to the migrant spirit of helping yourself and make do with whatever there is? The true migrants do not ask for any help from the authorities. They formed their own self help groups if needed. And most of the time they truly helped themselves just to be alive. They lived in broken sheds, in squatters, cubicles and backlanes. Mothers with 10 or more children running around like little piglets, picking up whatever nature could offer as food. Got school or no school, they get their own education and funny,... they survived and some did very well. Some even became prime ministers, ministers and MPs. It is not that those days were the ways life should be or how we should live. It is not that we should encourage our people to live in poverty like their foreparents. But the way help is being asked by every quarter is getting ridiculous. We are getting soft. And we are encouraging people to keep helping or come forward to ask for help. And we are creating situations in which the people have no choice but to ask for help. The latter is quite different from the past when the situation then was dire. Here we have created a social economic system that is quite mean for those who are unable and then tell them to ask for help. Please ask for help and we will help you. Don't be shy about it lah. And many are asking and demanding for help, except those who really need help and still too embarrassed or too shameful to crawl out from hiding.

Notable quote - What a Gem

What a GEM! To hold a by-election would be a waste of public funds and will be an invitation to political mercenaries to appear from the cold. They will promise the naive and the gullible the moon and the stars. Lionel De Souza (ST Forum) This is the most enlighten quote so far. If this has come out of Parliament, I will definitely insert it there. Once in a while wisdom speaks for itself.

Doing what's right, without fear or favour

This is the article by Lee Wei Leng in the ST today. She encourages people to speak up, speak up when it is right to do so. And speaking up is not necessarily being anti establishment. The fact that she has to say this is very telling. It tells on the stupidity or fear in the mind of Singaporeans, that they should not speak up and the fear of being branded as anti establishment for doing so. Redbean must be anti establishment. If Wei Leng were to say what she wrote in cyberspace, without disclosing who she is, some of the bloggers will tell her to leave if she is not happy. Some will brand her as anti establishment. And, would her article be deserving of a place in TOM?

So much fuss about foreigners

Everyday one is likely to face with some articles in TOM urging the people to treat the foreigners better, embrace them as friends, make them feel welcome etc etc etc. What about treating Singaporeans a little better? We don't even treat our Singaporeans well and we worried ourselves crazy that the foreigners be treated well. Just look at how Singaporeans treat each other, the neighbouring quarrels, the snubs in public places, the way they stared or glared at one another? But maybe that is the true character of Singaporeans. They are socially inept, callous, peasants with rude peasant manners. So what can we expect of them when coming into contacts with foreigners? The only people that can teach the Singaporeans how to treat the foreigners well are the SPGs. They are classic in the way they make foreigners welcomed here. Then there is another group, the counter salesgirls. Or even the taxi drivers. We should use them as role models, making some video clips and air them on TV.

Chinglish is the new English: Lian Pek

The author wrote about how crazy the Chinese were in their quest to learn English in an article in Today. And what actually turns out is Chinglish. They got it so confused that they even write their Chinese name sometimes the right way and sometimes the wrong way. Sometimes back first, sometimes front first. Now this author, is her name Lian Pek or Pek Lian? Is she a Miss Pek or a Miss Lian? Chinglish is really confusing. But that is progress in a way.

Merrill Lynch compensates Temasek US$2.5b

While we were all speculating on how much Temasek has lost in its bank forays, it is now reported that Merrill Lynch is compensating Temasek a sum of US$2.5b. This is about the amount Temasek has lost on paper at this point in time. So due diligence and contigency measures were built into the purchase. And if similar terms were included in the other purchases, then things are not that dire. And this must be expected from the professional managers at Temasek.