Raise public transport fare to help commuters

Now this must sound familiar to many of us. When was this magic formula uttered? I am sure with the higher transport fares, the commuters will be happier. At least they know that it was done to help them. Please don't help us, please. Just keep your kindness inside your heart. We know you are all very kind. And god knows too.

No need for world class lawyers

Why are we clamouring for world class lawyers to practise here? Even if they are for commercial and international arbitration, there is really no need for them. We are like starting an arms race here and in the region. Aren't our lawyers the best in the region? All we need is a lawyer that is better than the other lawyer to win a case. Put two Class D lawyers in the court room, one will win. Put two Class A lawyers in a court room, only one will win. The only good thing coming out from having world class lawyers is for the people to pay world class legal fees. Having Class C or D lawyers are not that bad actually. Even if they think they are legal aces, they will still charge local prices. If one party starts to engage world class lawyers, the other party too will do the same. How many of our losers here can afford world class legal fees? This is the same logic as the drive for world class medical facilities, world class public transport etc etc. Our losers will have to pay for them. And all our losers are crying for help for money no enough. There is no need to put piranhas into a small local pool of tilapias. The story will have a sad ending with many more hungry piranhas. This is what is happening to the stockbroking industry. Too many piranhas, and all the longkang fishes have been eaten up. All limping and lambeh lambeh. Take this story as a bad learning experience.

The return of Anwar

He has won back his seat in Permatang Pauh with a bigger margin than Azizah. It only shows that his people are strongly behind him. What is more important is that the sodomy case is dumped by the voters. Not important or seen as a mere political ploy. Anwar is marching back to Parliament with a long list of agenda to reform the country. Would he be given the chance? Would the MPs in BN break ranks and join him? His star is shining and he looks every inch like the next PM. He has suffered so much injustice done to him and tested in the caudron of fire. He could be the real man for a new and revitalised Malaysia. Now the question is whether the govt will get to him first and lock him up before he gets to Parliament. If the former, it is likely for law and order to break down in Malaysia. It is now a dangerous move after Anwar has proven that the ground swell is behind him. What a race and what a result.

Protect lawyers from foreign competition

A bill was passed to allow foreign lawyers to practise in Singapore. This will encourage more competition and raise the standard of local lawyers. But some lawyers and MPs were against this even if foreign lawyers were limited to commercial and international arbitration. Domestic legal matters will still be protected from foreign competitors. My reaction is that why should our legal profession be protected when other professions are not? Liberalisation and allowing better talented foreigners to practise here will be good for everyone. The standard of legal practice and the legal profession will have everything to gain. This is a laudable move. The next phase of our liberalisation should be allowing foreigners to stand for election to Parliament. This must be good for the country and people too as better foreign talents would be able to serve the people better. I fully support such liberalisation. Before we go ahead with all these great liberalisations, I would like to propose selling the whole country to the highest bidder. Then the money be shared equally by all Singapore citizens. Subsequently these ex Singaporeans can choose to stay or leave this island since it is no longer their country. Yes we are moving into a borderless world and country, nation or citizenship has no meaning and no relevance anymore. There is no need to protect the interest of citizens. This is a boring and tedious thing for any govt to do. By selling this island, everyone will have to take care of himself and be self reliance. It is meritocracy at its best. Survival of the fittest. The weak and poor will no longer be a burden to anyone or the govt. Just give them a fair share of the sale and everyone can do anything they want. Would that be nice?

Unbecoming to mean test lawyers

A bill was tabled in Parliament to put lawyers to a medical test to determine their mental soundness. This iss necessary as some may be quite advanced in age or may be having psychiatric problems that may render them unfit to handle legal matters anymore. Ellen Lee spoke against this motion on the ground that it would put undue pressure on these lawyers and also embarrass them. There will also be a stigma against them and very difficult for them to face the world again. I think I can support this as learned lawyers should be treated with due respect and should not be put under the microscope. It is very humiliating. Mean testing the ordinary people should be ok. They have lesser feelings, lesser pride and will not be embarrassed, and neither will they protest. And definitely no social stigma. And they would not have MPs to speak for them in Parliament. It is regrettable that the bill was passed and the dignified lawyers will be subject to such humiliating test. Shanmugam argued that the interest of the clients that must be protected from medically or mentally unsound lawyers. I can also agree with this.

New business - making effigies

With the opening up of HongLim Speakers Corner for demonstration and effigy burning, those people in the trade making paper cars and houses will have a new business niche, making effigies of political figures for burning. They can have a push cart stall at HongLimg peddling effigies for burning. Should be good business. I think this is not prohibited.

Learning from Hongkong?

There are many things we can learn from Hongkong. But there is one thing which I think we have done far better than Hongkong and should be proud of this achievement. Don't look at me like that can? I am talking about public housing. I heard that we are sending a team to study how Hongkong manage their public housing problems. We used to have the best public housing programme. But with all the tweakings, we are sliding down. Maybe a few years more, we can learn from Hongkong as we forget the main objectives of public housing. The other perplexing thing is that with the quality of our supertalents, at least that is what we claimed, couldn't we work out our problems ourselves? Anyway, anything happening here is unique to us, Uniquely Singaporean. What is happening in Hongkong or Japan is peculiar to them. A better alternative is to pay for some international consultants to study our system and tell us our problems. Just hand them our watch and let them read the time for us. That will be simpler. If we do not know our own problems, cannot understand our own problems, something is amiss.

30%, 40% or 50%?

How much do you want to cover, 30%, 40% or 50%? This was the response from Foo Yee Shoon when Lily Neo when the later asked for more assistance for the poor. This reminds me of the same kind of response in the last Parliament sitting. You want to eat in hawker centre, foodcourt or restaurant. And both reponses came from the MCYS. That must be their style of discussions. Lily Neo was right to reply that that was not what she was asking. And I think she deserves a more appropriate reply than a challenge to her request for more help for those who need it. What she did not expect was a retort when all she did was to ask for more help. But some people may disagree with me that the response was a challenge or a retort. Fair enough. It is all a matter of interpretation.

Ah Kong's child

The love child, the accidental child, the no priority child, now we have Ah Kong's child. In the 70s, the third child, sometimes by accident and also known as accidental child, is frown upon. He/she will face life with a lot of handicaps. No priority in many things. Always last in queue even for schooling. Ah Kong has changed his mind. Ah Kong is getting in age and wants more children. Today, 3rd, 4th, 5th or more, will become Ah Kong's child. Ah Kong wants them and will pay for them. The mother is simply a surrogate mother, producing the babies for Ah Kong in return for some cash or compensation. Will these Ah Kong's children be getting any priority in life? Not very likely. Will Ah Kong change his mind one day? Or will Ah Kong suffers from dementia and claimed that he is not responsible for their being born into this world? Will their surrogate mothers bring them here out of love or out of money? And if the later, what happens when money runs out?

Not innocence after acquittal

Our legal system is built on the foundation that a man is innocence until proven guilty. Now we are hearing in Parliament that a person having been acquitted in court can still be presumed to be guilty or not innocence. On this ground, an acquitted person cannot claim compensation from the state. It is too high a burden on the state, but not too high on the acquitted accused. This issue was raised in Parliament to compensate people who were charged by the govt and acquitted in court. Shanmugam, the Law Minister, dismissed this and was reported over the news that Singaporeans would not agree to it. I don't know what Singaporean he was referring to? The Singaporeans he spoke to, the 66.6% or the 33.3%? I for sure will agree that acquitted Singaporeans should be compensated. Today, going to court is no masak masak. The charge must be serious enough and the accused must definitely want to fight for his innocence. And how much will it cost to prove his innocence? Many will be backrupted for life. It is thus important that wrongfully charged and acquitted Singaporeans must be compensated. If not, it will be another case of guilty for not being able to afford legal fees to defend. We all know how expensive fighting a legal battle here. And we have seen how the rich people threatened people in court and the poor buggers, though innocent, ended having to pay to get out of the legal tangle just to save some money. Engaging a legal counsel to fight for the truth would be too costly for many average Singaporeans. I think our system will be more just if people are not handicapped or disadvantaged by the exorbitant legal fees and ended up being wronged for money not enough. The other alternative is for the govt to provide a defence counsel and the fee be waived on acquittal. How else can the poor losers find justice when they got no money? After rejecting the provision of compensation, Shanmugam added that 'if one can prove that prosecution was "malicious or vexatious", there are provisions in our laws for compensation.' That will incur more legal fees to prove maliciousness or vexation. Who got that kind of money to pay for legal fees to get himself acquitted and then pay for more legal fees to prove such things to get compensated? If the charge was an honest mistake, just too bad. Singaporeans will just have to accept this system as it is.

Go forth and multiply...be careful...

The message is loud and clear. Produce as many babies as you can. There are so many perks, goodies and money to be had. So why not, it is like striking lottery. Before the ordinary people get carried away and reopen their child bearing factories, a little caution is warranted. Do not create more miseries. Do not bring children into this world if they are to be deprived of the basics. It is not cheap to bring up children. Unfortunately the unthinking and unable to afford parents will be the one going to produce more, and to perpetuate their miseries as the down and out, producing more waiters and waitresses, more office boys, cleaners and sweepers etc etc People must be responsible to themselves and the children they are bringing into this world. Before they jump in happiness, think again about the future of the children. Can they provide them with enough to live life like normal children?

Have medal can kick asses

We have our table tennis medal. Nothing else matters. Let's celebrate. Forget about Gao Ning. Anyway who is Gao Ning? Did he win any medal? This looks like the message we are getting from all corners of Singapore. It is time for big celebration man. Pour the champagne and don't ever bring up the ugly news. We went to Beijing as Team Singapore. We also believe that as a team, no one shall be left behind. Was Gao Ning left behind? At first I heard that his coach was running a high fever. Then it was another player's coach. And his coach went to help the other player. And he was left to play without a coach. Every player had a coach to guide, to comfort, to sooth nerves, to psychic the player, to be a moral boosters, to be part of a team. Gao Ning was not part of a team? He was not Team Singapore? He played his game alone, by himself, in a world stage for all to see. Is that how we treat our player in Team Singapore? The table tennis battle was brought home. Team Manager Antony Lee was sacked. No, his term expires. No he wasn't sacked. Which is more embarrassing? Who should be sacked?

Difficult time, no need for by-election

This is what Nazry Bahrawi said in his article in Today. We are in difficult time, we cannot afford to waste time for a by election. Ooooh, does it mean that come 2011, and if Singapore is hit by a recession, no need to call for General Election? Quite logical really. The Ministers and MPs will be working their guts out trying to bring us out of the recession and cannot spare the time for a General Election. And a General Election is a costly affair too. Save the money for a better day and skip the election. So, now is bad time, the four MPs can help out. Why waste time and resources for a by election? Did we hear that more and more people are seeking help from the MPs in such time? Would the increasing load makes it more urgent for Bukit Batok to have a full time MP to help all those in need of help? Let me think about it again. It is a very difficult question to answer.

Your story, you decide

I have just read a post in YPAP on a video clip in Youtube, specially made on the tussle for the organs of Sim Tee Hua a few years back. You can view it here, HOTA Saga - Sim Tee Hua http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE2u0l083Nc. What is important about this video, which is also about Youtube and cyberspace, is that you, everyone of you, is now master of your own destiny, in a way. You determine and decide what you want to say, when you want to say it, how you want it told, and how often you want it retold. No issue will die and fade away. If no one wants to talk about it, or someone says move on, you can totally ignore that person and continue to do what you deem fit. This changes the whole equation completely. And this HOTA Saga video will be in Youtube forever until it is removed. After viewing the video again, there is one point I want to make here. The medical profession and all its wise men, people that are as wise as god, can have their learned definition of brain dead. To them, once a person is brain dead, he is dead. On the other hand, the peasants, the people like you and me, have our own interpretation of what constitute death and when a person is considered dead. When the heart is still beating, the person is still breathing, the body is warm, or when the hand can still grip, there is still life. The wise men may disagree, but that is the definition of the peasants and that is how they live life. The wise men may disagree and use the authority of their super knowledge and the law to squash any protest from the ordinary beans, they will win and can do what they want, but the victims and their related ones will never agree with them and will never forgive them. We have human bean justice and rights and wrongs here on earth. What if there is another justice and rights and wrongs system in the next realm of existence? Who knows? The thing is that what some wise men think is right may not be right to other people. What if they err? Medical knowledge is progressing everyday and a next truth is found every moment. The truth today is not the ultimate truth and a new truth is waiting to be discovered tomorrow. The other disgusting part about the whole episode is the unthinking enforcement of a medical directive that has become law. It was totally devoid of humanity and compassion. Totally inhuman, insensitive, robotic or machine like in the execution. The bad taste and the pain and suffering of the victims will always be etched deeply in their minds. Did anyone learn something out of that episode and become more human? Has the execution of such an incident been carefully reviewed and modified? Who dares claim that he is absolutely right in such cases, that a brain dead man is dead and not an ounce of a chance that he may live?

A medal to boot

I wanted the title to be 'A medal to show', but it seems that 'A medal to boot' is a more appropriate one. So we have our Olympic medal, what's next? Malaysia have sent a man to the moon. Do we also want to send a Singaporean to the moon to cook the biggest plate of fried kway teow? We have sent our teams to climb the Everest, the Artics and Antartics. We have our name splattered all over the Guinness Book of World Records. We have added another one after this Olympic, for offering the biggest bounty for a gold medal. What would all this greatness lead us to? A greater country, a more respectable people, a more cohesive society, more nationalistic, more chest thumping moments? I can appreciate the fun part, and this also goes to the record breaking feats in the Guinness Book, but there is a big difference. The feats for Guinness were done in jest, a social event, and with little cost. An Olympic medal is no child's game. It takes many years to nurture and train an athlete, together with a host of people and training programme, medical, nutrients and other facilities. It is not small money. Now that the medal is in our pocket, and the hilarious excitement has died down, shall we ask the same question again? Is it worth it? Will we be cheering and rooting for Usain Bolt in London in 2012 or some minute Kenyans running the distance events for us? The Chinese have proven that their hothouses could turn little Asians in world champions. What were needed are patience, perseverence, financial resources, pain and sacrifices. The children paid a very heavy price for it. They were weaned away from their parents at 5 or 6 years old, actually taken away from their parents, at a time when parental love and warmth were the things they needed. We could do the same. But the emotional price is too high. We could hardly find any parents here willing to dump their children in hothouses at that tender age. The children may not recognise them in their next visits. And we cry that we cannot produce world class champions. How can, when everyone sees the academic school system as the end all of a good life, no parents dare to let their children fail in our education system. It will be the end of their road to a good life. So we shall continue with instant tree solution. Buy, buy. If we are willing to pay, 10 gold medals will be within our means. So is the road to the next world cup. Its elementary.

Why so much cynicism?

Why so much cynicism? We are going to have more freedom. We are going to have a bigger space to talk about political issues. Aren't these happenings great? It should be for bloggers who have been warned or subtlely told to watch their steps. The insurgent squads are still there lurking in every corners. Now it is officially sanctioned from the highest authority here, that it is ok to kpkb in cyberspace. Would the insurgents go away? Actually many things are still unsettle. The details on how much liberalisation or what liberalisation means are still on the drawing table. Down the line, the power crazy or those used to run roughshod over people, or those who have been enjoying the freedom to talk nonsense with impunity, would still want to hang the noose on the tree branch, just in case it is needed, or as a warning that it can be brought back. The comfort zone of no one talking back is now threatened and the feeling is not very easy. Then for the believers of human rights, individual rights, rights to freedom of expression, these people will be angrier. To them, these are our basic rights. What is there to give back to the people? It is akin to the money collected from GST. It is our money in the first place. What's the big deal giving them back as handouts and we are supposed to be grateful? For the time being, there will be a lot of discussion on definitions, how much to give and what to give or not to give. The opposition corner may want to try organising big walks or mass cycling events to test the water. Would the same reasons be given not to approve such events? Take it positively, it is always good to have something return to you when they have been taken away or not consider yours in the first place. I would like to see some liberalisation in the CPF so that we can take some of our money back, those that are kept to a point that we may not see them until after we die. Even a few dollars will also be good. Better than not having them back at all. And Singaporeans will be eternally grateful. We are very easy to please. Let's enjoy the new freedom as much as we can and stop bickering about it. Time to open that dusty bottle of champagne. Singaporeans are so lucky that they need not have to fight for their rights. We have a listening govt that will give us our rights as we mature as responsible and thinking people.

Temasek's assets were S$185 billion

SINGAPORE, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Singapore sovereign fund Temasek's assets were worth S$185 billion ($131 billion) at the end of March, Temasek's chairman S Dhanabalan said on Thursday, up 13 percent from a year earlier. "Growing with our blue chip companies and our direct investment activities, Temasek now owns a net portfolio of about S$185 billion at market value as at March 31, 2008," he said in a speech. Do you people know how many zeros were there behind the 185? 9 zeros, or S$185,000,000,000. That is quite a big sum of money. How much more were there in GIC? Wonder how much these are worth now? March 31 was four and a half months away. Dow has fallen by more than 1000 pts, STI by 400 pts. UBS, Merrill Lynch, Citibank, Barclay, how much were they worth in March and how much now?

The real thing - Take-now-talk-later

Balji may have been hoping for a change in the mindset with his call for a give-now-talk-later approach. The reality is that we have been practising the take-now-talk-later method for too long and it is becoming a national habit. And I am very sure many of you understand what this take-now-talk-later means through your own personal experiences. We have been victims of this practice for too long and in many ways. While on this, one thing that comes to mind is that you should not put your money into someone else pocket. That is the most dangerous thing to do. No matter what assurance the person tells you, it is safer to put your money in your own pocket. Even if you don't spend it, you can feel it, touch it, and know that you can do whatever you want with it. Once you put it into someone's pocket, you can be very sure that someone will apply the take-now-talk-later principle, and whoosh, your money becomes not your money anymore. And in times like this, even putting in banks is pointless. Banks can run into trouble too. So there is a risk involved. And for the miserable 0.5% interest rate, it is not worth the risk. Keep your money in your own pocket. Beware of this take-now-talk-later mentality.

Paradise here I come

Singapore is indeed a paradise not only to Singaporeans, but to the many PRs and foreign talents working here. They have good jobs, good pay, good environment, and treated very well by Singaporeans. And the govt is still trying to convince the locals to treat the foreigners even better. Where on earth can a foreigner find another country that is so friendly to them? Filipino Mac Gregore Ponce Tan (31, architect), a PR since last year, balloted successfully for his daughter to a school of his choice. And he had this to say, (I quote from Young pay and pay blog), "Although I am a foreigner, I am not discriminated here. I receive the same privilege and rights as Singaporeans. This is very fair. This is a place I like most!" Native Singaporean Foo Wang Heng (My own translation of his Chinese name. 40, stockbroking sector. ) was unsuccessful. He said: "(My daughter,) such a little girl, every day having to spend so much time on transport, it's not a good thing! And as for the school's quality, we have now reach a stage, where we no longer have a choice (because it's now up to MOE to anyhow allocate)" I think any Singaporean who is in Foo Wang Heng's shoe and claimed that he would not feel unhappy about the situation must be lying or an idiot. It is good that we treat our new citizens and PRs well since we welcome them here. We shall provide them with the best environment possible to make their stay comfortable and pleasant. We want them to enjoy our hospitality as a gracious people. I still think we need to do something more for our very own people. We must provide enough classes to accommodate all the children of our citizens and PRs. But putting them together under the same balloting scheme will surely create bitterness among the citizens when they got out balloted by non citizens. It is only a human reaction. It would be better to give priority to Singaporeans by separating PRs and Singaporeans into two balloting schemes. If we can assure the PRs that there will be places for their children in our good schools, I don't think they will be unhappy. I don't think they will demand to be treated as equal as a citizen. Some may have the audacity to demand so. We can tell these talents to go home if they think we are not treating them well. But the process to ensure that children of PRs have a reasonable chance of being enrolled in good schools will be something the talented administrators have to work out without incurring the wrath and unhappiness of the citizens. Perhaps a percentage of PRs to provide a healthy mix be use as the justification for an admission formula. Call it the PR phase or whatever, but let them ballot among themselves. For citizens to be ballotted in the same phase as PRs will definitely incur some displeasure no matter how reasonable or magnanimous the citizens are. Something to think about. I think we are being very insensitive to the feelings of citizens.

Singapore style entrepreneurship

The term 'entrepreneur' connotes a certain kind of adventurism, dynamism, gungho, pathfinders, self reliance, risk taking etc etc. The Singaporean style entrepreneurs are slightly different. It is all about reliance, about relying on the govt. Singaporeans want a gold medal at the Olympics. The govt knows the answer. Singaporeans want to venture overseas, the govt will take the lead. The govt is the pathfinders. They beat the path to China, India, the Middleeast and Russia. And the Singapore Inc follows. Now, Singaporeans who are lonely and not knowing how to go dating, the govt steps in. The govt will teach them how to go dating and find a mate. Actually the one and only entrepreneur in Singapore is the Singapore Govt.