Don’t be ungrateful

There is this line of thought with regards to employing foreign talents here. It goes like this. Our forebears were foreign talents too. We must not forget our beginnings and must appreciate foreigners as they were like our forebears before. We should therefore welcome foreigners and treat them like one of us. Is this the right thinking, the acceptable thinking to determine govt policies on recruiting foreign talents, especially to top positions, instead of true blue Singaporeans. Yes, I must agree that our forefathers were migrants. I must also say that they came to a no man’s land. There was no country but a British colony. The British only cared about the wealth they could bring back to England. What the migrants did, whether they survived, what happened to this colony and its future well being, were not too much of their concern. And in 1969 they decided that it was time to pack up and go home. The migrants were left to fend for themselves, find their own ways, and build this rock into a country. That was the beginning of a generation of migrants sticking together to make this island their home, a home for themselves and their children. They slogged in pretty harsh conditions, and very low pay, without knowing if they could succeed. No proper housing or infrastructure. Not much of a govt until they formed one. And through their hard work and sacrifices, we have this beautiful and wealthy island we called home. We are the descendants of these migrants. They were not welcomed here as foreign talents but labourers, coolies, transient workers. We are the inheritance of the island country that they willed to us. Let not anyone be ungrateful to the children of the poor labourers who laid the foundation of this country, with their blood, sweat and tears. They did not have a good time. They did not complained, for they were striving for a better tomorrow for their children. Today we have a country. We called ourselves citizens. We pledged to defend it by doing 2 to 2 ½ years of National Service. The descendants of these children deserve to inherit this country and all it can provide. We can welcome new migrants to share our wealth. But we must always think of ourselves first. The best must be given to our own children. It is ungrateful to shower Ginny comes lately with all the goodies and tell the descendants of the nation builders to step aside if they are not good enough. Don’t be ungrateful, don’t forget your roots and the works of your forebears. I am very sure they did not slog so that new migrants will come first and their descendants come second. If we proceed along this thinking that new and old citizens, and worst, PRs, deserve equal rights and equal chances, and better chances, soon the new citizens will tell the old citizens to get lost if they can’t make it here. If we forget the distinction between ourselves and others, we will soon lose our place in the sun, in the island our forefathers built for us. And no citizens will take their citizenships and responsibilities seriously anymore. What for?

A better use for Speakers Corner

We have just celebrated racial and religious harmony day after two incidents of religious leaders making insulting remarks at other religions and their practices. They have since repented and apologised for their wrongful acts, and hopefully they are sincere and would not do it again. I would like to suggest that anyone caught making disparaging remarks at other religions should be made to make an appearance at the Speakers Corner to explain his/her position and to make amends. This will inject more life to the sleepy corner of Hong Lim.

Our soldiers in Afghanistan!

We have a medical team in Afghanistan helping to treat the wounded under a Nato led International Security Assistance Force, a peace keeping mission. Wonder when have we become part of Nato? Our soldiers were brave. Risking their lives to save lives when artillery shelves were exploding around them. But the risk is very low, according to one of the brave soldiers. They used to say that brave soldiers are dead soldiers. But ours are alive and smart. The camp is so big, at least 11km wide. So the chances of a bomb hitting on them is very low. Maybe one in a million. I pray that none of them will get an equivalent of a purple heart. Why is this not a UN led mission but a Nato led mission? What's the difference? A UN mission is sanctioned by the UN, though the UN is not that respectable in neutrality, at least it is not part of an empire. Nato is part of an empire. And are we part of the empire? Or maybe this is a UN mission but commanded by Nato.

A once in 50 years scenario

With so many foreign workers here, all hungry and in a hurry to make the extra dollar, it is so easy for someone or some issue to agitate them into a riot. Their numbers can be frightening when organised or behave like a mob. The decent and law abiding locals will be easy meat to be hacked just like the recent case of 7 Sarawakians running amok. I just hope that no one will stand out to say that this is not expected and they were caught off guard.

We are in North Korea’s nuclear hit list

There was a very well written article in the ST yesterday written by Jeremy Auyong of SPH. It has this title, ‘A most glorious, victorious defeat’ and dressed up with a big statue of Kim Il Sung and a FIFA banner of the South African game. Half a page of the ST Life was devoted to this article. It claimed to be an intercepted report from the North Korean World Cup team to its Dear Leader. Readers are advised not to take this seriously as it was printed under the subgroup called ‘jay talking’. Let me give a little cut and paste brief of the article. It is too long for posting here. ‘All hail the Dear Leader of limitlessly rich and strong Democratic People’s Republic of Korea….On Wed, our noble team of drones stopped only a little short of a complete and total humiliation of Brazil. The final score, according to the counting system of Western liberal apologists, was Brazil cowards, 2; the great team of the People,1. …we outperform our evil scum neighbours to the south. The South Korean scoundrels managed only a miserable 2-0 scoreline against Greece, even though it is clear they were playing against a team of anti socialist conspirators that had been instructed beforehand not to try too hard…. The great victory was attained…We bowed before the life sized full colour framed portrait of Dear Leader that we have taken along at the expense of rations and a backup right back…. The noble team thank you limitlessly for authorising the temporary removal of the heavy tracking beacons that were strapped to their ankles…The players are so full of love for the Dear Leader that they now attempt to defect only once or twice a day…. As a reward for such an uplifting success, may I hereby suggest that daily team floggings be reduced from 15 strokes to 14 strokes. It would also be most magnanimous of Dear Leader if you would authorise the temporary decommissioning of the electroshock machine…. Yours humbly, Kim Jong Hun, coach of the great team of the People.’ I think it is funny and absolutely brilliant as a joke. And the editor must also agree that humour is good for the soul, never mind, the North Koreans are fun loving people and will not take offense at it. On a more serious note, if North Korea finds us singing like westerners and want to point a nuclear warhead at us, and put us in their hate list, I think we can’t blame them. They may think that we are intentionally provoking them. Maybe this is a reason why we need to fear North Korea and speak out against them at every opportune moment. After all they don’t belong to the ‘right’ camp. They are evil actually, one of the three infamous Axis of Evil that we have been told daily, and to believe it is true. We are really a blessed people with a good sense of humour. And we know how to choose the ‘right’ side. I better double check my storeroom cum bomb shelter to make sure it is same in case of a nuclear attack.

Latest technology in oil drilling

Has BP invented a new and cheaper way to drill for oil? The method is simple enough. Just plunge a hole in the sea bed and the oil will flow to the surface. Then apply a ring of vacuum cleaners and scoop up the oil into waiting tankers. Oil drilling has never been made easier.

Ngiam Tong Dow added his weight

Ngiam added his 2 cents worth to the foreign talent debate and shared his views that we need our own people to run our big corporations and country. This is nothing to do with being xenophobic. It is being natural, charity begins at home, and not being stupid. Philanderers can come in different forms. One of which is throwing good money to foreigners and leaving your own kind in the cold. It is also very insulting to say that your own kind is useless and incapable. It is so embarassing and shameful to take the position that all the supertalents that we crowed about daily and could not find one to run our big local banks. Maybe we have heard too much from Mahathir and agreed with him that our children cannot measure up to more superior foreigners. Bloody shit! Our talents graduated from Ivy League universities in the US/UK and many top their class or with first class degrees. What did the foreigners have to show? I remember one attended a Harvard or MIT one month programme, or something like that, and claimed to be from the universities. Wee Cho Yaw must stand firm and prove to the jokers that Singaporeans can do the job equally well. Make UOB the number bank in Singapore, bigger and more successful than DBS and OCBC, with footprints around the world. But make sure not to buy rotten apples and paid for them like real gold. There is an urgency to dismiss the myth that Singapore has no talents of its own and we need to depend on foreign talents to bring us forward. If we don't provide the chances to our own kind, who is going to give them the chances? Look at our artistes at MediaCorp. If MediaCorp did not use them, they would not get any offer from Hongkong, Taiwan or China. As extras for Hollywoods maybe. But with MediaCorp, they are now stars and celebrities in their own rights.

We were caught off guarded

Caught off guarded, a once in 50 years incident, an honest mistake, we did not see it coming, are these words enough or acceptable? We paid big bucks for super talent performance. We don't pay pennies for third world administrators. How many more caught off guard replies are we going to get before enough is enough? The people demand a higher standard of performance and accountability for the money that is being paid. We do not want to hear anymore off guards. We want to get life going without all the big mishaps falling onto our laps. Can we have an assurance that things will be better and no more once in 50 years flops? Two big floods, SMRT graffiti, football fiasco, trees and killer litters falling on people's heads, and what else?

What did football fans wear?

I was looking at the pictures forwarded to me and these were the things they were wearing. Bold 'Germany' written on their buttocks for Germany. The Italians painted their faces with the flag of Italy. So were the Koreans, with Korean flags on their faces as well. The Danes and Swiss wore the colours and crosses on their Ts. The British wore their Union Jacks. The Brazilians And Argentinians wore their national colours. What did the Singapore football fans wear?

Where are the ministers?

With the GE approaching, somehow they seem to have all disappeared. Where have they gone? Even those involved in all the controversies have not been seen. Let me guess. Preparing for the GE? Working very hard to eliminate the controversies? School holidays?

New brooms needed

The western economies are all in deep shit. Even those that have not announced anything, pretending that all is well, including France, Germany and UK, who knows how big are their national debt. They cannot be too far from what is happening to the other European countries and the US. They employed the same breed of people from the same school of thoughts and practicing the same flawed formula of spending now and pay later. And Japan is no exception. They had done well in the past from simple economies to huge complex economies. And they were applying the same old methodology of growth and management. Of course they thought they were damn brilliant by printing papers and trading papers to churn huge profits in double quick time, on paper, without real production growth. The best analogy will be our local banks. Starting from small little banks and grow to what they are today on hard work and low pay. The harder they work, the longer they work, the lower they pay, the bigger the profit margin. And they are now at a cross road. Old methods and old tricks don’t work anymore. What is the solution? It’s elementary. They need qualitative change, new thinking and new ways of doing things. In short, the old banks, the old economies, all need new talents. They need fresh minds and fresh ideas. These new talents will teach them how to make big profits by working less hard, working shorter hours, working smart and by paying more. Our local banks need to be managed by foreign talents if they want to transform themselves into big global players. The American and European economies need the same foreign talents to give them a new breath of life. The best talents should be those of different molds, from India and China. On the other hand, India and China would need the foreign talents from America and Europe as their economies are still in the adolescent stage. The developed economies and the developing economies should swap their talents and called them foreign talents. Then all will be well. Foreign talents will be the most innovative and successful formula for the future. The new economies are rich and can afford to pay more to their foreign talents. The old economies are poor and bankrupt and cannot pay much but what they pay to foreign talents from the new economies would still be considered a lot. Everyone will be happy with the exchange.

What happens DBS?

Peter Seah is talking about the next CEO of DBS that shall preferably be a Singaporean. For 20 years, DBS had 4 CEOs after Kee Choe, and all were foreigners. Why? DBS could not find a Singaporean to fit the shoe and only foreigners could? Does DBS have a succession plan to groom its local executives to fill the position? Or is it that all the local talents are simply not good enough? Both reasons are difficult to accept. There must be a succession plan. There must be good locals that can fill the CEO position. We will be a laughing stock if after so many years we still fail to find a local that can become the CEO of its biggest govt bank. The alternative to recruiting Singaporeans as DBS CEO is to find a foreigner and then give him a red passport. I think that could do. We could do likewise for our PM post if we can't find a good enough Singaporeans to fill the shoe.

SDP asking the govt to take full responsibility

SDP is asking the govt to take full responsibility for the graffiti breach. I think this is getting a bit too far. Can blame it on god or not? Eh, don't anyhow point finger can? SMRT may have the S before the MRT, but it is a private company run by private individuals. It has nothing to do with the govt. Temasek and GIC are also run by professional managers. Even privatised hospitals are privatised. Cannot anyhow blame the govt lah. And please don't put too much pressure on organisations to beef up security. Some jokers may just up the ante and go for the full works with private armies and a 20ft wall. And the cost will simply be passed off to the consumers and every commuter will be LL. Let's cool down and look at the problem objectively and don't politicise it. It is just a security breach, or just some cheeky artists trying to be funny.

Jong Tae Se moved to tears

He was born and brought up in Japan. He is a North Korean striker at the World Cup representing North Korea. He was in tears when the North Korean National anthem was played. This is the kind of national pride to be a citizen of a country. He needed not return to his 'poverty stricken country according to western reports.' He could stay in Japan and live a good materialistic life. But his heart is in his home country. He ached for not scoring a goal against Brazil. The great fighting spirit of the North Koreans has won the hearts of many around the world. Their Southern brothers are all in admiration of what they have done. They are one people and one nation but divided at the moment. And they never forget that they are one. I hope this World Cup will bring the two divided states and people closer and to reunite eventually. Let not the evil countries try to fix them up and make them go to war to kill each other. The world will be a better place if the two Koreas are reunited as one country. North Koreans and South Koreans should rise to the occasion to show the world that they are one people. They are Koreans, nothing more, nothing less.

Town Council Report was not political!

Low Thia Khiang should not politicise the Town Council Report. It is not political. Period. Let's move on. I make this comment after reading a headling in Today, 'WP's Low pursuing political objectives: Grace Fu.' The Report is an objective an unbiased account of the performance of the Town Councils. Low's position that Town Councils getting more funding is beside the point. More funds or less fund, they should perform equally well. Ok, Ok, you can all disagree with me on this point. I think with the Town Council Report becoming such an objective and impartial tool for measuring performance, we could see more relevant factors being included in the near future. And to be fair to all parties, to avoid being look at sceptically by doubters, to avoid being sneered at, there will be more transparency coming out, I believe. After all transparency is a great virtue that we believe in and is the corner stone of good governance. The govt has been preaching it all the time. Low And Chiam should be patient and wait for Grace Fu to lay out all the regulations and criteria on the fundings and qualifications for upgrading of estates. We shall all look forward to that. Amen.

Mahathir continues to insult Malays

After leading Malaysia down the racist road for more than 20 years, he finally revealed what he really is. Mahathir spoke at a Melayu Bangkit rally in Kuala Trengganu. As reported in Malaysiakini, he warned the Malays that they would suffer the fate of their cousins in Singapore, becoming a minority and unprotected by the Govt. He was partially right but mostly wrong. The minority status of the Singapore Malay came about by chance, or a legacy of the British Empire. The majority Chinese did not consciously planned it that way. Two, the status of the Malays here is like they are being deprived and in a sorry state, according to Mahathir. Is that so? Many of the Malays here are better educated and trained professionally than the elite that he created with half baked degrees and education. He should be envious of the state of professional development of the Malays in Singapore vis a vis those in Malaysia. Three, with all the Malay Rights enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution, with Malays in the majority, with Malays in absolute control of political power, with the non Malays conceding the status of Malay Rights in the Constitution, there is not an ounce of a chance that the Malays will lose their prime status in Malaysia. And there are no colonial masters to put a gun at their foreheads, no colonial District Officers to manage the Sultans. The Malaysian Malays are highly politicized and know their rights and no one can take that away from them. So what is Mahathir fanning? He is still deriding the Malays as an incapable race, a genetically flawed race that cannot compete with other races on merits. Unfortunately many Malays believe in his proclamation, that they are an inferior race. Is that the truth? Does Mahathir think that because he is not a pure Malay he can look down on the Malays? Are the Malays going to continue to accept the insults from Mahathir as the truth? The Malays in Singapore have proven many times that they can do it, compete with everyone on equal terms. Many Malays students are among the top students in schools here. Is that enough proof that given the right environment and motivation, they don’t need the crutch. They are fully able to stand on their two feet. But if they are taught and repeatedly told that they are no good, how are they to gain the confidence to have faith in their own abilities? They have to thank Mahathir for the crutch mentality.

Singapore cannot stomach US rubbish!

The self proclaimed god of the world published a report putting Singapore on a watchlst for human trafficking. Singapore has hit back claiming the the US should look at itself as human trafficking is a very serious problem there. The joke is that the US ranked itself as the best in the ranking, right at the top. I think there is no need to scream our lungs out. In the first place we should control our media and avoid reporting rubbish and biased articles from the Americans and helping them to push their agenda. Such stupid reports should never be published in our media. We should exercise more discretion to report on worthy stuff. In fact some of our journalists and reporters are also parroting many of the rubbish coming out from the US and the western world. So why blame them if we are so gullible? The second thing we can do is to put up a proposal to the UN to set up a neutral agency to monitor all countries on such issues, including human rights violation in the US. And of course war crimes against humanity that are committed by the Americans all over the world. The UN should take over the role in this kind of reporting, on condition that the analysts are neutrally picked. It would be pointless to have the same clowns and crooks making the reports. Asian media should cease reporting silly and biased articles immediately.

Choenan mystery

Look at the picture carefully. Look at how the steel plates folded, outwards and upwards. It looks like the explosion was from inside or from below. An internal accidental, hitting a mine below? If it was hit by a torpedo, the steel plates would be folding outwards from one side. You make your conclusion.

Another silly article

Repeated Chinese navy helicopter flights close to Japan's Self-Defense Force ships in the East China Sea and the Western Pacific in April were neither professional nor responsible, says the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. Patrick Walsh. Walsh expressed concern about China's increasingly aggressive behavior in the South China Sea. In reaction to China's disturbing behavior in the South China Sea, several littoral states such as Vietnam and Singapore are now purchasing submarines "as a way of protecting sovereign rights," Walsh said.... The above article is by Yoichi Kato from Asahi Shimbun. Is he or the Admiral joking or clowning? Singapore and other littoral states are buying submarines to take on the Chinese? And the Chinese are being irresponsible flying near other ships? What was the American plane that flew over Hainan and brought down by a Chinese fighter doing there? Friendly tourists? What were all U2s doing flying over other nation's territories? What were the American bases doing in South Korea and Japan? And the Japanese PM Hatoyama had to resign because he could not evict the Americans from their territory? How come? Japan an American colony? Why couldn't Hatoyama do it? Was there some unequal treaty that was signed giving away Okinawa to America for 150 years like Hongkong being ceded to Britain during the colonial days?

The Great Town Council Debate

This Great Debate is going to raise temperature a bit higher. The two opposition MPs are understandably unhappy to know that the rankings of their wards are the lowest. But they should not worry too much. Look at the rankings of universities. Some are ranked damn high. But the students and parents just don't believe they are that good and are still sending their children to lower ranked universities. So this kind of ranking is only good to those who want to believe they are good. I believe if Cambridge/Oxford or Harvard are ranked in the hundreds, the students will still flock there because they know what is really good and what is fictitiously good. Now, how shall I add my two cents worth to this Great Debate? Shall I say this one is telling the truth or that one is telling the truth? On the other hand, if I say this one is not telling the truth or that one is not telling the whole truth, then I can be sued for calling this one or that one a liar. I think I better not make my two cents worth in this Debate without any data to back up my arguments. I would like to make a suggestion though. Chiam See Tong and Low Thia Khiang should commission a survey, using volunteers so that they don't waste public money, and use their own set of criterias to meassure what is good and what is bad. They should carefully select criterias that suit their interests or appropriate to their Town Councils. The results can be equally flattering.