The psychopaths in South Korea at it again

South Korea has announced that it will be holding the biggest live firing drill this Thursday 50km from the North Korean border. The scale of the drill is unprecedented. If this is not provocation, what is? The failure to lure the North Koreans to retaliate last Monday seems to have agitated the psychopaths in South Korea to a point of frenzy. They must do more to provoke the North Koreans. These irresponsible and reckless lunatics in Seoul need to be put in an asylum for the good of the Korean people. The UNSC must act to stop all the provocations from the South Koreans. The other two third of the evil Trinity are keeping mum. The western media are keeping mum. They are all waiting for the North Koreans to react. I thought the insanity is over and the Korean race is safe. I am being too presumptious and too optimistic about the psychopaths in charge. When will the South Koreans rise in revolt against them? When will the UN stand up to stop this madness? Don't count on the Americans and the Japs to stop the South Koreans. They are part of the evil scheme. Go on, blame the North Koreans!

No Yellow Ribbon for Jonathan Wong

The British court has found Jonathan Wong, a MOE scholar reading History at York University, guilty as a sex offender. What did he do? He possessed child pornography videos in his computer. I am also sure that many people watch pornography in Youtube. Are they sex offenders too? Or must one be found to have pornography in ones lap top to be considered a sex offender? My simple understanding of a sex offender is one who committed a sexual act that is not permitted, either by force, without permission or against a minor. Did Jonathan Wong commit such an act? Viewing pornography could be for curiosity, a process of growing up, a animal lust. Admittedly viewing child pornography is a step further to the dark side. Did Jonathan do what he did out of curiosity or a process of growing up? Or is it a sickness, a mental condition? If it is a sickness, a disease that results in perversion, should he be treated as a sick man rather than a criminal? If it is just a case of curiosity, a temporary perversion, is the punishment too severe? Murderers or rapists could get away with their crimes on grounds of mental sickness or even an abused childhood. The University also expelled him and prevented him from completing his studies. Now this would do more harm to him as a human bean than in helping him in any way to right his sick behavior. He has a life to live and needs to be equipped with an education to complete his life journey. Is the University being too harsh to Jonathan in this case? Jonathan has not harmed anyone except himself. What he did is not acceptable to what society would consider as decency. But there is no need to destroy his life. He has taken his punishment. What he needs now is help to become a normal person again. Depriving him of an education is akin to hammering the nails into a coffin. At most his act is deplorable. He did not rob, maim, kill, rape or hurt anyone. Where is the appropriateness in the punishment dealt to him? The court is fair in the six month suspended jail sentence. Is the University being fair and enlighten in expelling him? Hard core criminals are also allowed to study in prisons and sit for their examinations. Where is the Yellow Ribbon?

George Yeo pissed off with the Third Party

MSN India, 20 Dec 2010 Kolkata, Dec 20 (PTI) Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo today pitched for strong Sino-Indian ties, saying that "some" of what is being made of the "rivalry" between the two countries was in the interest of "third parties". "Much has been made of the rivalry between China and India in the recent months, some of which no doubt is in the interest of third parties," Yeo said while speaking on ''Tagore''s Dream for Good Relations Between India and China'' at the Netaji Research Bureau here.... After being on the wrong end of the stick when Singapore's leaders were fixed nice and proper by the WikiLeaks, the normally well composed George Yeo is feeling the heat. In the above statement quoted, he lashed out at the Third Parties for causing rift between India and China. The Third Parties have been messing around and fixing all the Asian countries to be at logger heads with each othe for a very long time. India and China were no exceptions as they were courted, conned and misled, and hit by disinformation, to end up in deep mistrust of each other. Who are the Third Parties hiding in the dark corner, causing the rift and getting the ire of George Yeo?

A Team operating at less than full strength

When Hsien Loong took over the rein of the govt he inherited an A Team in his cabinet. Over the last few years it is obvious that the A Team is underforming. There is no doubt that he has the best of the super talents in his team. Everyone is a super talent, great leadership qualities and great abilities to run the country. In reality, many of them are not working at optimum capacity for one reason or another. LKY is working extremely hard and is everywhere. But as the saying goes, the heart is willing but the body is not. His ram chips, hard disk and motherboard all needs to be replaced. Otherwise he will be operating on an outdated and ageing system. The speed is definitely much slower than desired. Chok Tong, Jayakumar and Boon Heng were giants in their old days. They could do very much more. Boon Heng’s main portfolio, without a ministry, is to look after the oldies. Not sure what is Chok Tong’s main duty. Both could do very much more given their talent, youth and energy. Hsien Loong is another case of system go but a bug is there waiting to strike. Running at full speed may risk a system crash. It’s a pity that he could not go charging down the highway in maximum power. Things would have been very different. Kan Seng has had a very important portfolio in Home Affairs. His credibility took a disastrous hit by the Mas Selamat saga and it would take a long long time to rebuild his credential. Whatever he is doing now will always be viewed with a tinted lens. This could have affected his confidence and performance. Boon Wan found out that he had a bad heart. The surgeons opened it up and confirmed that the heart was bad. Though he had done a major overhaul, it is not easy to turn a bad heart into a good one. He may be excused if he wants to retire and spend value time in things that are more dear to him and his family. He has done his fair share of public service and no one will blame him should he retires. Mah Bow Tan is or was the most profitable minister and has done an excellent job in building the HDB’s coffers. And the people got to thank him for helping to raise their asset values for retirement. All they need is to downgrade or sell their properties to live out their golden years. The only little flaw is that the people’s CPF savings were depleted in exchange for the high value HDB flats. As for the young people he is working extra hard to help them buy their first property with great success. Though he has redeemed himself, he still has a lot of explanation to do and he is doing it extra time in his column on public housing in the main paper. That takes times away from his main job. The more people misunderstood him, the more time he has to spend to try to explain his good intention and the virtues of his schemes and policies. George Yeo the sage was doing an excellent job in Foreign Affairs until the affairs of the MFA were leaked. Now he would have to waste a lot of time in damage control. His effectiveness will depend heavily on his counterparts in the other countries. Though he is optimistic, I doubt things will be as easy as before. The third party is laughing at the dire straits he is in. Vivian is another great surgeon, and orator. Unfortunately he made a few slips in his comments, which were not too correct politically. His image has taken a hit since then. The YOG also did not give him the lift that he needed. All those people who fouled out in the process should be kicked in their asses. Otherwise Vivian should have been very well received given his charm and articulating skills. He must be feeling pressurized. The good thing is that his hair is still not turning white or thining like the other wise men. The rest of the A Teams are doing OK I think. Chee Hean and Tharman were the least tarnished of the Team. Oh, I almost forgot about Swee Say. He has done an excellent job in NTUC. He even leveled down to speak in worker’s lingo. He is getting betterer by the days. And the workers like him and his wise cracks. Think he is even much betterer than his predecessors. There you are, an A Team that could have done even better if all engines are finely tuned and firing. For those that I have not mentioned, let’s take it that they are performing as expected of an A Team member. Would the next A Team be the same or betterer?

Sanity versus madness

The Korean peninsula crisis has come to an abrupt end. Thanks to sanity and good riddance to madness. Who is the sane party and who is the reckless and irresponsible party is clear for the whole world to see, except those who have eyes but cannot see. The South Koreans risked everything, even a war, to conduct provocative military exercise, firing live artillery shells near to the border with North Korea. In committing such an act of provocation, it even had to order its citizens to hide in the bunkers. Is it really necessary to act so foolishly just to prove their manhood? Is it necessary to conduct such an act in the front yard of a neighbouring country and destabilise peace with its neighbours? Just by not conducting such an irrational act, or do it in some other parts of South Korea away from the border, no one will be challenged and no South Korean citizens will be inconvenience or their lives put to danger. Why must the South Koreans stubbornly persisted to push its neighbour to the brink of war? A war with deadly consequences was avoided all because of a sensible and calm North Korea. They felt that it was not worthy to react to such a naïve provocation. The North Koreans have proven to the world that they are reasonable and mature people and will not fall easily into a trap laid by the evil trinity of South Korea, Japan and the US. They would not provide any excuse for the South Koreans and Americans to strike at them. If the North were as mad as the West have painted them to be… If Kim Jong Il or Kim Jong Un were as irrational as the West claimed them to be… The repeated provocations by the South Koreans would be the best excuse to retaliate, and as the West had accused them, just to prove that they were in charge. No, they have proven the West wrong, that they could not be easily provoked by crazy South Koreans and mad Americans and risk a destructive war. The Koreans on both sides of the border should say thank you to the North for behaving sensibly unlike their provocative and irresponsible South Korean leaders. Thank god that because the North Koreans were able to stay calm and walk away from a game of chicken. To hell with the crazy South Koreans and the mad Americans! The Americans and Japanese must be crying their hearts out that they have no opportunity to start a war in the Korean peninsula. And the Koreans as a human race is saved from extermination.

Extermination of the Korean Race

The South Koreans refuse to call off the live firing drill and will proceed with the firing this morning at 11am Singapore time. The UN Security Council held a meeting last night but did not come out with any decision. Susan Rice said the differences would not be bridged. The intent of the Americans is very clear, war is what they want. They would not rein in the psychopathic South Korean leaders. In fact they are encouraging them to provoke the North Koreans.. Yeonpyeong is an island only a few kilometres from the North Korean mainland and in disputed waters. If the live firing is not provocation what else is? Why is the UN not condemning such provocations, conducting war games and live firing at the border of another country? Why aren’t the western media and pacifists, and journalists, raise this issue in their reports instead of denouncing the North as the provocateur? Why aren’t the Americans and Japanese rein in this mindless animal called South Korea? The North has declared the continued live firing as a provocation and will respond in bigger kind. So, when the North responded after being provoked by the South, the North is the provocateur? This is not a joke! The North is threatening to go nuclear if the South insists on conducting their war games near their disputed border. The stupidity of the South is mind boggling. Pardon my harsh words. A nuclear war in the peninsula will guarantee that no Koreans will be alive in the aftermath. Japan will also be in ruins. There will be no Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka to talk about. Of course the North Koreans will be wiped out as well and any Koreans left in the two sides of the 38th parallel will be half beasts and will no longer be allowed to live as citizens of an independent country. The Americans are waiting anxious to push their nuclear buttons. The Koreans don’t deserve to live after showing their propensity to self destruct. It would be in their best interest to be ruled by the Japanese or the Americans. The South Koreans are playing with death and the annihilation of the Korean Race. Thanks to their strong supporters in the US and Japan egging them on and promising more weapons to help them do the job faster and more effectively. If the Korean War breaks out again, next year will be the anniversary of the demise of a human race, the Koreans. The Americans will erect an obelisk in Pyongyang and one is Seoul to remember the Korean Race for their bravery to exterminate each other. And the world will also mark that day to remind any crazy leaders to engage in another war, the Korean style.

The Madman of the 21st Century

Kim Jong Il? Come on, don’t be stupid! He is just making noises to get himself heard and to protest against all the provocations hurled at him and his country. He may prance around like he meant real business, but no way is he mad. The Madman of the 21st Century is the USA. It is not only starting wars and fighting wars everywhere on self perceived threats of its own security, it is also the personification of a crazy bunch of people living in self deception. It wants to bomb Iran, it wants to nuke North Korea. And the South Koreans are helping this Madman to wipe up their fellow Koreans. In the meantime this Madman is frantically going around the world to sign military alliances to contain China. It is living in constant fear of losing its pole position as the top dog in the world. What other madness will it do? I quote this from Imran Andrew Price’s article, ‘Stop the warmongers’ The US Defense Secretary, Robert Gates has argued that a “successful” attack on Iran’s facilities would delay the Iranians by at most a few years. Oh, the Americans had used the same kind of logic to invade Iraq too. And the same argument is also being reiterated by the joker Michael Mullen in Korea. Unfortunately no one can stop this Madman other than the ordinary American citizens. But this bunch of idiots is easily swayed by the calls for war and victory. They needed the self assurance that they are the number one super power, and war victories will make them feel good. Not until the reality of their own sons and daughters coming home in black plastic bags will then awake from their drunken stupor. The world will continue to be harassed by this Madman till he trips and fall over his own mines that he laid to kill his imagined enemies all over the world.

Value for money education

For those who complained about higher tuition fees in the universities, they were assured that what they were paying for was for quality. Good education does not come cheap unless one is willing to accept lower quality education and paying less. This is the same logic in hospitals. You want world class medical services, be prepared to pay for world class medical fees. Going backwards, the media had an interesting article on the fees parents are willing to pay for their children to attend pre schools. The fees can go up as high as $20k pa in the best pre schools, and this fee is higher than what undergrads are paying. But the parents are not complaining as their children will be getting the best education their money can buy. For those who are paying $6k they can expect that their children will get the value of a $6k pre school education. And for those who are paying a few hundred bucks, don’t they dare to complain that the quality is only as good as the few hundred bucks they are paying. They pay for what they get. What else could they expect? Want quality, pay more lah. By the time the children enter Primary One, the gap between those who attended the top end pre schools and those at the low end pre schools must be pretty obvious. Of course the top end pre school graduates will be smarter and betterer than those from the low end pre schools. Oh, top end pre school children would not know what betterer means. Now many parents will have another thing to stress them up. Finding money to enrol their children in high end pre schools to give their little ones a head start in life. Good luck to them.

Are the South Koreans mad?

I watched the news and the South Koreans are adamant about continuing with the live firing drill in Yeonpyeong. Not only that, they are sending balloons with anti Pyongyang leaflets into North Korea. Why are they so keen to go to war with the North Koreans? Are they insane, or are they being forced to act like mad people, insisting on provoking the North Koreans? Do they know that today’s warfare is not the same as WW2? Warfare today no longer moves soldiers, sending divisions to fight one another. Warfare today is about pushing buttons and sending monstrous bombs that would destroy infrastructure like sand castles and killing people in the hundreds of thousands. Do they think they can survive a war, or do they think they are going to a tea party with no casualties? Fighting North Korea is not like the US fighting Iraq. If war breaks out between the two Koreas, count on it that the Americans and Japanese will come join in. And they better count on it that the Chinese and Russians too will join in. The people of South Korea shall rise up and remove their govt before being led to their death in a war that they don’t need. This is an American and Japanese war against the Korean people. And the soldiers killing each other, and the people killed in this war, will be mainly Koreans. Unbelievable, why are the Koreans so dense? Any Koreans reading this article care to comment.

How to fix up a political opponent?

Very simple, throw all kinds of drum up charges against him. If nothing meaning can be used, sex crime is the best. If sodomy is not common to the target, simply rape will do. The world is now witnessing the best show on earth in the WikiLeaks saga. Julian Assange is the target of American character assassination. The sophistication and sophistry in trying to gun him down are first class, standard operating procedure out of the textbook. Luckily Assange is an Australian, a member of the tribe. So the disparaging attack is not homogenous. Some of the tribe members are revolting. Australia is also attempting a weak defence or it would not go down well with its people and the friends of Assange. The western media are split and not sure which direction to take. This is not common enemey like the case of Liu Xiaobo. In the latter, the wolf pack simply closed ranks to train their cross hair at China. Assange is a bit complicated. Here there is a case of a state abusing its authority, violation of human rights, rights of an individual, freedom of the press, justice and fair play, compromising the judicial system, fabricating evidence, all rolled into one. And there is also the lynching of one’s own kind. A bit messy definitely. The world should sit back and watch this spectacle unfold. (Please be reminded of the silence as a clever little country and its leaders are now in deep shit trying to extricate itself out of the shit hole, all by itself. No one cares or is willing to give this little country a helping hand. Don’t belong to the same tribe, I think.)

The Robbers are coming

The Europeans are getting wiser to the game of the robbers. They are going to stop them from robbing the banks and the people of their hard earned money. Stringent laws are going to be put in place to prevent the robbers from robbing the banks to pay themselves crazy. And only the govt can do it. They are going to curb on the huge bonuses which the robbers have got so used to. No multi million dollar bonuses can ever be enough. And they will scheme and worm their ways to getting more. Only the US is still allowing the robbers to operate quite freely. And they can only do so with their accomplices in the govt. The robbers are threatening to flee to more hospitable and unthinking Asian countries like Singapore and Hong Kong. Singapore is likely to be the first to open its doors widely to welcome them. The stupidity of Singapore is infamous in the financial world in terms of overpaying all kinds of craps and robbers with huge sums of money. Gullible is a disease here. This is accentuated by the mantra that foreign talents are best or betterer, and are worth every cent of their weight in gold. Who knows, the recruiting party could already be in Europe now and talking to the robbers and offering them generous terms, and agreeing to terms dictated by the robbers. What is wrong with that? They are paying good money for good talents. Even if they are robbers, if they know how to rob well, the owners will get a bigger cut of the loot. What if the robbers rob the people or citizens instead? The ignorant masses must not be duped continuously as if paying huge sums of money to robbers is harmless. Eventually everything comes to them. Someone has to pay big for the robbers to receive big. And that someone has no name except that he or she will likely be known as the people or the masses. The prices of everything will go up, the cost of living will go up. Everything is interconnected and forms part of the system which the robbers thrive in. Roll out the red carpet quick, the robbers are coming.

A friend he is not

China called him an old friend, an affectionate term for a good friend one has known for many years. He learnt and spoke Chinese and was every inch a gentleman, from the exterior. To win the trust of the Chinese he even called himself a Chinese name. And he became a Prime Minister. His unfaithfulness or dishonourable conduct was revealed when he spoke to the Americans. Without WikiLeaks, his bad mouthing of his friend will not be known. And his friend will still hold him dearly as a good friend. Now his true self is known and he can’t hide anymore. He had told the Americans to wage war against China if China did not bow to American pressure and did not tow the line. This must be quite shocking to the Chinese. They must have felt betrayed. Would they still regard him as a friend? The initial for his Chinese name is LKW. That’s Kevin Rudd. WilkiLeaks is making many people redfaced. Can Australia be a part of Asia? Who is recommending Australia to be part of Asean?

The Proof that the spammers are more than just spammers

Last few weeks redbeanforum was attacked by a flood of supposedly innocent advertisements for bags, shoes and electronic goods. Each spammer could hit a few hundred posts at one go, on every new threads in the page. A lot of effort to just do that. My response is to barred everyone from posting except the moderators. But I leave a hole for the supposedly keen advertisers to keep on posting in a section specially for them to post their adverstisements. Guess what? They gave up posting. All I had was one miserable advertisement posted there. What happens? Don't they no longer want to post their advertisements? The ill intent of the spammers is loud and clear. They are not just spammers or advertisers. They have a different and sinister motive. The only way, and best way, is simply to lock them out completely. The next thing they can hope to do is to kill my forum completely. Any genuine forumers can private message me to post in redbeanforum. I will allow them access by designating them as moderators for the time being. Oh they are still attacking mysingaporenews with a lot of porn postings. I hope Blogger will do something to their firewalls.

For those who have, more shall be given to them

Christians must be quietly smiling at this quote. This has been spoken by God a few thousand years back and they know. The truth of the statement is there for all to see. The rich shall get richer is the natural law of God. With their wealth, the rich could only multiply them at much faster rate than those who are struggling to earn their money through muscles. How easy it is to buy a property at $1m and loo behold, two years down the road it becomes $1.5m, reaping a profit of $500k. This amount may take a worker a life time to earn but would be spent everyday leaving him with nothing to spare. Many folks are earning tens or hundreds of thousands without have to exercise the muscles of their limbs. See how comfortable they are to write that cheque for the $60k COE or the $500k down payment for the landed property! On the other hand the losers are complaining about kopi going to cost 20c more per cuppa! For those who have, more shall be given goes further than this. Some of those who have tens of millions, hundreds of millions, will still be given millions without having to work, in the form of pensions or gratuities, when they don’t need a single cent more to live in the lap of luxury. There are many such lucky people around whose lives are so blessed. But God is cheeky and cynical too. He also said, ‘The meek shall inherit the earth.’ Of course he is joking. How could that be when those who have shall have more and those who don’t have shall have less? The message to the meek is simply, fat hope. The meek shall always live on hope while they live a wasted life of not enough. That is the painful truth of life. No escape.

Thomas Friedman singing praises for the American Empire

He lamented what a world would be if America could not project power the way it has in an article in the ST today. He said ‘your’ kids won’t grow up in a different America but will grow up in a different world. Die, American kids are going to get walloped if America could not wallop the rest of the world. He is worried that American kids would not be able to push everyone around. He fears a China and the likes of Julian Assange, who could carry as much weight as America. He fears a multi polar world that would not benefit the American kids that much but also the kids of other countries, notably other powers like China, India, Brazil, Russia and the Europeans. And that is simply bad. He was disgusted that China could exercise so much power to keep countries from attending the circus in Norway when Liu Xiaobo was the celebrated clown for the day, and in the company of greater clowns. And China could do it without the use of the aircraft carriers and fighter bombers, but just simple economic power. And he called this an act of perversity, that China is equated as a failed state abusing its new found power, irresponsible is the word. What about America forcing its allies to go to war in Iraq and other theatres of war, in a Coalition of the Unwiling? The American allies have no choice but being muscled in to kill people, invade countries, execute regime change, and be accomplices to the infamous Guantanamo Camp where freedom and human rights were never heard of. And these were the acts of the Evil Empire which he approved of. America is exceedingly responsible as a super power in doing all these things. Make a comparison between China exercising its economic power in not attending a circus and America exercising its military power in commiting acts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Which is more IRRESPONSIBLE, and more oppressive, abominable? How long and how much more must Asians be preached with such sermons from the West, particularly from the Americans, whose only concern is for their own good. What is good to the Americans, and cruel to others, is still good. What is not good to the Americans, no matter how civil, is not good. Should the world continue to live with such condescending American logic?

A return to govt service

The privatisation of hospitals, public transportation and housing is starting to show how serious this mistake is. Essential services cannot be left to the free market to determine how much the consumers should pay. The market forces, if only it is real, is only concerned with profits, and profits and nothing else. The only principle that governs private business is how much the consumer is willing to pay or how much the seller of services and products can squeeze out from the consumers. As long as there are consumers able to pay, it is affordable, at least to those who can afford to pay. A $100k COE is affordable to the one who can afford it. A $1m 3 rm flat is affordable if there are people who are willing to pay for it. Resources, limited resources, are allocated according to what the market dictates, as being the most efficient and effective. Really? However, for sure, resources will not be allocated to those who need it most if they cannot afford to pay. And the haughty and cocky explanation is that one has to pay for it at market determined price.. If one cannot afford it, go for substitutions, downgrade, or tighten the belt. At the bottom of it all, if one cannot afford to pay, one does not deserve anything, even goods at inflated prices.. To overcome such inequalities, to the rich and powerful these are not inequalities, there are govts, not necessarily socialists, who would want to intervene to better allocate the resources to the needy. I would like to make a call for essential services to be returned to the govt, place under the charge of the public sector. My reservation is that govt services are run by incompetents and any services they provide will be inefficient and ineffective. If this assumption that public servants are all incompetents and useless, which was the justification for privatisation, then it is like the frying pan and the deep blue sea. This is a strange phenomenon as our govt services are staffed by the best talents in the island. As economic system approaches the end of the capitalist road, the communists will say, I told you so. The capitalist road will lead to its own destruction and a revolution of the under class is the natural anti thesis.

Singapore in a state of siege or self denial?

Through WikiLeaks we must have offended many countries in Asean and Asia. From India and Myanmar through Thailand and Japan, from China and North Korea in the north and down south to Malaysia and Taiwan in the East, they cannot be too pleased with what we said about them. George Yeo said that these were just cocktail gossips, not worth bothering about, should not be troubled by them. Our relations with the countries affected would not be affected. That is our version of how WikiLeaks affect us and our friends. What are our blastered friends thinking now? Would they regard the WikiLeaks in the way we do and dismiss them as nothing serious, or nothing that they will lose any sleep for? If they do, then it is just like a tropical thunderstorm that would not last more than an hour. The weather will be fine again. What if the affected countries are seething in rage? Would they, could they or should they? Would there be any consequences? So far only Malaysia has openly displayed their displeasure and, thankfully, no stone throwing across from the causeway. Our improving relations have bore fruits. The silence from the other capitals is quite uncharacteristic of what could be expected. Is the reticence real or several protest notes are already on the tables of George Yeo and Hsien Loong? It has been rumoured that LKY is going to make a comment on the WikiLeaks’ exposure on Singapore. Is this an indication that we are already in a state of siege and a response or an apology is in the cards? Singapore has been hit in the most unexpected manner at a most inappropriate time. All systems were go for the coming general election. A slate of wonderful things are lined up with nice happenings that would make the govt look good are waiting to be rolled out. Now out of the blue, the govt is in a damage control mode. The WikiLeaks is more than just an embarrassment and irritation. It has given the election campaign cart a big jolt when things were just getting comfortable. Maybe I am drawing too much inference from nothing. Maybe there is really nothing to it and things are as normal as before. I can be dense at times.

A few pictures of ION in Orchard Rd

It is never too late when JUSTICE begs to be heard!

Europe urged to recognise slavery as crime Tue, May 04, 2010 AFP PARIS - Historians and anti-racism campaigners are to urge the countries that oversaw and profited from the Atlantic slave trade to recognise it as a crime against humanity, opening the way for reparations. Next week, activists are to send a letter to the leaders of Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain asking them to recognise the trade as an historic injustice a century and a half after it ended. They have already convinced France to do so. Click here to find out more!Click here to find out more! The European Memorial Foundation for the Slave Trade will launch the appeal at the French Senate on May 10, backed by the French historian Louis Sala-Molins and John Franklin from the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington. "There are several reasons for this, including its symbolic value, to restore the memory of this crime against humanity," Karfa Diallo, chairman of the foundation, told AFP. "There's also a question, shall we say, of justice," he said....

Good grades equal to nerds

Reading the article by Sandra Davie in the ST today, I can’t help but come to the conclusion that students who did well in tests and examinations, with good grades, are all nerds and lack creativity. Also they often do not do well in life. This is the biggest problem in Singapore’s education system. Though we bragged about how world class it is, how other countries are copying our teaching material, and how our students are able to score straight As everywhere, even winning international competitions, in Science, Maths, General Knowledge and also in Law, don’t expect much from them when they grow up. All these will come to nothing as they enter the adult world. Many are destined to fail or become underachievers in real life. Then where can we find all the creative and innovative people in Singapore? One sure place not to find them is the elite schools. Try the kitchens, the football fields, the night clubs, the world of the celebrities, there must be many creative and successful people in these fields. We need more Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, failure academically but big success in life. Personally I doubt they will not be able to score straight As if they wanted to. This is the secret to creativity and success. We should throw out our top students half way through universities and give them a job in the industries. That is the sure way to trigger their creativity and later be successful innovators and inventors. There is no need for elite schools and top universities as their products will only be so so. Parents of children who did not do well in schools must be relieved that their children will be the ones with more creativity and be more successful in life later. This is about the only piece of good news from the article.