Confirmed, China had a hard landing. Clap, clap, clap. Finally, after so many years of doomsaying and praying, China had a hard landing. The analysts were right after all. China is going to collapse big time and go begging for help from the Western countries, the World Bank and the IMF. Zoeller would have his last laugh. See, we told you so.
Let’s look at the figures from Market Watch, WSJ, for October 2011. The latest figures could be more frightening but have not seen them yet. The trade surplus for August, September and October grew by US$17b, US$14.5b and US$17.76b respectively. The ‘slump’ in September was due poor demand in Europe. And the numbers really fell below the expectations of Newswires and Reuters, forecasting a growth of US$25.8b and US$24.9b respectively. These are dangerous numbers and signs of weaknesses and can become more widespread.
More dangerous signs, ‘Exports were 15.9% higher than a year earlier, though missing the average 16.5% growth projection from a Reuters survey of economists, and below the 17.1% rise in September.’
And according to ‘Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Chinese exports grew 20.6% on average each month throughout the third quarter, while imports averaged 24.8% growth.’
The growing imports and shrinking exports must be troubling China and its decision makers. I am just wondering, would the US or European countries be happy to achieve these numbers? I bet many of them would love to have such a hard landing and probably asking for more. And I am sure many of the EU countries would love to switch places with China and celebrate every time the growth numbers failed to meet the forecasts of Newswires and Reuters but still registering a 20% average monthly growth. Even an average of 10% monthly growth would be like striking the biggest jackpot win.
I really love all these enlightening and frightening reports about China. And I don’t see why China should be crying with all these conjectured hard landings. Many would be so envious of these hard landings and would still crawl to China to ask for handouts. And they better pray that the hard landings would still allow China to be generous as there is no more Santa Claus out there except China or maybe Singapore.
3/15/2012
Am I amused?
I was reading some of the comments in TRE on Shanmugam’s fame statement of not wanting to burden our young with more taxes. One trend of thought shone through the deluge of angry voices. The PAP has lost touch with the ground, did not know what is happening, did not do its homework. Now, now, now, can’t make such sweeping statements about the crème ala crème of our super talents. They would not be where they are and earning millions, if they did not know what is happening or did not do their homework.
I hate to disappoint the losers. They are in control and know exactly what is happening and what they are doing. Period. Do not under estimate the super talents. They are brighter and smarter than the losers for sure. The main difference is that both are existing on the same piece of rock but living on different planes of existence. One is apple and one is buah long long. One lives a lifestyle whereby $50k a month is too pressurizing. The other must be grateful to be able to buy a 2rm HDB flat with $1000 pm income. You cannot compare the two as both are deserving of what they have. Don’t be unreasonable. The rich poor gap is only natural and would get wider as we progress. The rich must get richer and the poor must get poorer. There is nothing that can be done about it. It is the law of nature. Darwinism!
The losers must accept their fate that they are simply not good enough. Why then must the govt bring in more foreign talents? Isn’t that clear enough that the losers are unable to make the best of their lives in such a conducive money making environment and should only have themselves to blame. Look, look, all the foreign talents are so happy here, making so much money and not complaining. If there is anything wrong, it must be the local losers.
Want another spur on your hike? The whole world is being invited to be here to get rich. How could the locals be complaining that they could not make it? This is the freest economy for the meritocratic, regardless of nationalities. The third most competitive country in the world ot do business. I mean do business, not selling bak chang or nasi lemak. If you are good, you deserve to be rich. If you are no good, don’t kpkb. The govt does not believe in a welfare state, not even with your CPF money for your own charity.
And don’t complain that the govt is not doing anything for the people. $1.1b to subsidise public transport. What more do you want? More parks will be built for the people to enjoy. Fresh air and landscaped environment. No good meh? There will be more upgradings and SERS to give more money to the people. Cannot complain lah. The govt is doing everything it can for the good of the people. And the hundreds of billions in national reserves are for the people. Don’t you feel rich? See, all the western countries are in debt and going bankrupt. We got hundreds of billions to buy up fire sale companies for a song. Soon they will be turned around to double the money invested.
The future of our country is in good hands. They know what they are doing. The losers don’t. The writing is on the wall but the losers failed to see. Every policy is carefully fine tuned, targetted for the desired results, by the best talents money can buy.
I hate to disappoint the losers. They are in control and know exactly what is happening and what they are doing. Period. Do not under estimate the super talents. They are brighter and smarter than the losers for sure. The main difference is that both are existing on the same piece of rock but living on different planes of existence. One is apple and one is buah long long. One lives a lifestyle whereby $50k a month is too pressurizing. The other must be grateful to be able to buy a 2rm HDB flat with $1000 pm income. You cannot compare the two as both are deserving of what they have. Don’t be unreasonable. The rich poor gap is only natural and would get wider as we progress. The rich must get richer and the poor must get poorer. There is nothing that can be done about it. It is the law of nature. Darwinism!
The losers must accept their fate that they are simply not good enough. Why then must the govt bring in more foreign talents? Isn’t that clear enough that the losers are unable to make the best of their lives in such a conducive money making environment and should only have themselves to blame. Look, look, all the foreign talents are so happy here, making so much money and not complaining. If there is anything wrong, it must be the local losers.
Want another spur on your hike? The whole world is being invited to be here to get rich. How could the locals be complaining that they could not make it? This is the freest economy for the meritocratic, regardless of nationalities. The third most competitive country in the world ot do business. I mean do business, not selling bak chang or nasi lemak. If you are good, you deserve to be rich. If you are no good, don’t kpkb. The govt does not believe in a welfare state, not even with your CPF money for your own charity.
And don’t complain that the govt is not doing anything for the people. $1.1b to subsidise public transport. What more do you want? More parks will be built for the people to enjoy. Fresh air and landscaped environment. No good meh? There will be more upgradings and SERS to give more money to the people. Cannot complain lah. The govt is doing everything it can for the good of the people. And the hundreds of billions in national reserves are for the people. Don’t you feel rich? See, all the western countries are in debt and going bankrupt. We got hundreds of billions to buy up fire sale companies for a song. Soon they will be turned around to double the money invested.
The future of our country is in good hands. They know what they are doing. The losers don’t. The writing is on the wall but the losers failed to see. Every policy is carefully fine tuned, targetted for the desired results, by the best talents money can buy.
Uneasy calm over Hougang
The usual jostling for a right to stand in Hougang in the by election has quieten down. A few opposition parties have spoken, officially, that they would not undermine WP’s attempt to regain its lost seat. The few opportunists that were habouring the idea of joining the fray have taken a retreat as well. They have been warned, by the voice of the people, that doing so would make them look very ugly, and with eggs on their faces. The opportunist tag is heavy to wear. The image of unprincipled spoilers would nail them for life as non starters in local politics.
The heat has subsided in the opposition camp. The wild ambitions of gamblers thinking that running for election is like entering a casino, hoping to win without any principles or ethics, have been doused, I think. Just place your bet! As each day slowly passes by, reasons seem to have triumph for the moment. Or has it?
On the PAP camp, it is like a defeated army trying to avoid another big battle and risking a devastating and embarrassing blow that would signal that the end is near. No generals would dare to stand up and blow his trumpet to lead the assault to retake lost ground. No one would say the ground is sweet or the chiku is ripe. The best outcome is not to have a contest and sit it out till the next GE.
How long can they be on the bench? The suit by Mdm Muthu is due for hearing by end of the month. Would there be calls for further adjournment for another 6 mths or a year and probably more time to prepare the case as it will affect the nation’s future and security? This is how important this by election is taken to be. The nation’s interests will be a paramount consideration in deciding whether a by election will be called.
The people have spoken, or at least aired its view, that only WP should stake its claim against the PAP. The people are also waiting for a by election to take place soonest. Would this be heard or be ignored? There are other noises that would tell the contrary. No need for by election. The Hougang residents deserve to be in the shit for voting the wrong candidate and the wrong party. Such noise is likely to get louder to make a case for no by election, no need MP representation for the Hougang residents. They must pay for their folly.
While the WP is anxiously waiting to do battle, the opponent is making a quiet retreat, a surprising move from a party in control. Or it is no longer in control, except the timing to call a by election or not? The game has changed.
The heat has subsided in the opposition camp. The wild ambitions of gamblers thinking that running for election is like entering a casino, hoping to win without any principles or ethics, have been doused, I think. Just place your bet! As each day slowly passes by, reasons seem to have triumph for the moment. Or has it?
On the PAP camp, it is like a defeated army trying to avoid another big battle and risking a devastating and embarrassing blow that would signal that the end is near. No generals would dare to stand up and blow his trumpet to lead the assault to retake lost ground. No one would say the ground is sweet or the chiku is ripe. The best outcome is not to have a contest and sit it out till the next GE.
How long can they be on the bench? The suit by Mdm Muthu is due for hearing by end of the month. Would there be calls for further adjournment for another 6 mths or a year and probably more time to prepare the case as it will affect the nation’s future and security? This is how important this by election is taken to be. The nation’s interests will be a paramount consideration in deciding whether a by election will be called.
The people have spoken, or at least aired its view, that only WP should stake its claim against the PAP. The people are also waiting for a by election to take place soonest. Would this be heard or be ignored? There are other noises that would tell the contrary. No need for by election. The Hougang residents deserve to be in the shit for voting the wrong candidate and the wrong party. Such noise is likely to get louder to make a case for no by election, no need MP representation for the Hougang residents. They must pay for their folly.
While the WP is anxiously waiting to do battle, the opponent is making a quiet retreat, a surprising move from a party in control. Or it is no longer in control, except the timing to call a by election or not? The game has changed.
3/14/2012
Everything is for sale – Uniquely Singapore
Put it in another way, everything can be bought in paradise. We can buy honesty, buy loyalty, buy talents, and of course everything else in Orchard Road. That reminds me of all the great properties there. All one needs is money, and you can have your pick.
The latest thing to buy is good character. Pay the bugger for showing good character. In no time Singaporeans will all have good character. Not sure about foreigners. Some have shown that good character cannot be bought even if we pay for their education, food and lodging and a good job waiting for them, even giving them citizenship.
Can everything be bought with money? Good character can? The goodness will go away once the money is not there. Loyalty and pride of being a people, citizens of a country, cannot be bought by money easily. Just issuing a pink IC does not guarantee that the person will want to be one of us. Many are just in transit, transient citizens. The most glaring evident is their children or they themselves refusing to do the little sacrifice that every male Singapore citizen does, National Service.
Please stop throwing tax payers money to the ingrates who are just passing through or waiting for better opportunities elsewhere. And don’t think people can turn good because of monetary rewards. The goodness of a person must come from within that person.
Incidentally we can't even buy a decent football team to compete against Malaysian state teams.
The latest thing to buy is good character. Pay the bugger for showing good character. In no time Singaporeans will all have good character. Not sure about foreigners. Some have shown that good character cannot be bought even if we pay for their education, food and lodging and a good job waiting for them, even giving them citizenship.
Can everything be bought with money? Good character can? The goodness will go away once the money is not there. Loyalty and pride of being a people, citizens of a country, cannot be bought by money easily. Just issuing a pink IC does not guarantee that the person will want to be one of us. Many are just in transit, transient citizens. The most glaring evident is their children or they themselves refusing to do the little sacrifice that every male Singapore citizen does, National Service.
Please stop throwing tax payers money to the ingrates who are just passing through or waiting for better opportunities elsewhere. And don’t think people can turn good because of monetary rewards. The goodness of a person must come from within that person.
Incidentally we can't even buy a decent football team to compete against Malaysian state teams.
A critical time in our history
1963 we were part of Malaysia. Before we became independent in 1965, we were in an undeclared war with Indonesia that opposed the formation of Malaysia. Our two Singapore Infantry Regiments were sent to East Malaysia and Johore to defend Malaysia, and their barracks were occupied by new troops from Malaysia. Great musical chair strategy.
I could not remember the exact dates and details, but when the two SIRs returned, one or both could not move into their barracks and had to camp in the field in Farrer Park. The old soldiers could fill in the gaps on this part of our history. It was a precarious time when foreign troops were in our soil in a way, yes we a state of Malaysia then. We were once colonized by the British, then conquered by the Japanese and then became part of Malaysia. It was sheer good fortune that we were given independence without bloodshed. It was dicey that our troops could return to their barracks. It was like your flats being occupied by your FT tenants and you had to squat in the field.
The lack of a credible military force to defend our country was something that most scared the light out of our pioneering leaders. We then had the colonial masters around whose main interest was to keep us independent and friendly to their interests in the Far East. As long as they were around, we were safe within their protective umbrella, and as a semi colony. The stark reality of being walked over by a foreign power led to a hurried effort to build up an army of our own.
1967 saw the first batch of our local boys being trained in SAFTI by the Israeli advisors. The following years saw the dispatched of more young men to the UK for training for our future Navy and Air Force. And we thought time was on our side, to gradually build up our defence capabilities only to be hit with a double whammy. The British decided to pull out from their bases here in early 1970s. This was a big hit to our trading economy. And our national defence was still in infancy. We had just introduced National Service a couple of years back and everyone in uniform was still technically a trainee. Everything had to be short circuited to gain time. It was all a mad rush to put an army together out of nothing.
We were in a vacuum of sort as far as soldiers were concerned. Without the people willingly coming forward despite that it was called National Service, we would have a hard time building up an army. The people responded to the call of the nation and everyone played his part in a big jigsaw puzzle with blank pieces. And every piece had to fit or knock in to fit at the quickest time possible. It was that easy if we don’t think about it. It was DIY quick fix and hoped for the best.
Though we were fortunate not to have been in a war during our formative years, it was a critical time, and a treacherous time. The British were there holding the umbrella. But they could fold it up if the people and govt did not have the resolve to pull it through. If the govt was weak and could not rally the people to build a nation for themselves, we would have been doomed, economically and politically as a country. The British could give up and give the island to anyone able to hold it together. They could have abandoned us if we did not treasure the moment and the opportunity.
The early batches of NS men were there to fill up the void, to hold the fort for the time being while the bigger picture was being put into place. Their sheer presence was what was needed in those precarious moments of truth, to exist or to fade away, or be taken over. Our future would have been different if the people did not gel together to answer the call of a young nation in the making.
Those were the times when nothing was a luxury. Everyone was a piece of the big jigsaw puzzle in formation, the NS men, the workers, the entrepreneurs and the civil service and the govt. They were living for a strange new mission, to build a country, a nation. It was not starting a SME. And many things they were doing were completely alien to them. They were all learning on the job, doing things for the first time. Yep, like the blind leading the blind. It was only forty odd years ago. Many have walked in those days and have vivid memories of their experience.
We have forgotten. We have forgotten the difficult times, the times when personal sacrifices were part and parcel of nation building. Many civil servants and military officers were just told to get the job done with no issues of sacrifices. We forgot that at one time we were struggling to turn this island into a country. We forgot the price our parents paid for what it is today. $90 NS allowance and rubbery meat that bounced off the floor. The bread and kaya for breakfast were not much different from what prisoners got then. Today, we talk about sacrifices like having diarrheoa. Every little drop of shit is damn big sacrifice. If the NS men of then did not turn up at CMPB in Kallang, or if there were violent protest to NS, how would we have turned out today, an independent state or part of someone else’s state?
We have forgotten that together we have built a country, a nation. And still some would rubbish it as a state in the making. So we can give it away, invite everyone here and issue citizenship certificates like toilet papers. Come, take, it is no man’s land. We are migrants or descendants of migrants. You migrant, good, same same. Come share my home. Feed yourself and take all you want. There is no ownership to this land. No one feels that it belongs to the pioneering migrants who crafted it out as a country and wanted to make this home for their descendants.
And the daft descendants are calling themselves migrants and not owners of a country their forefathers have fought, worked and died for. They are willing to share with anyone, give to anyone. How generous!
How stupid can they be? No, they don’t think so. They don’t know that this is home, their country. When there is no ownership, you can expect what it will become next. Think public toilets. The daft Sinkies don’t deserve this country. And the new arrivals will tell them to go if they are not happy here.
When you lose your inheritance…or sell your inheritance away….
I could not remember the exact dates and details, but when the two SIRs returned, one or both could not move into their barracks and had to camp in the field in Farrer Park. The old soldiers could fill in the gaps on this part of our history. It was a precarious time when foreign troops were in our soil in a way, yes we a state of Malaysia then. We were once colonized by the British, then conquered by the Japanese and then became part of Malaysia. It was sheer good fortune that we were given independence without bloodshed. It was dicey that our troops could return to their barracks. It was like your flats being occupied by your FT tenants and you had to squat in the field.
The lack of a credible military force to defend our country was something that most scared the light out of our pioneering leaders. We then had the colonial masters around whose main interest was to keep us independent and friendly to their interests in the Far East. As long as they were around, we were safe within their protective umbrella, and as a semi colony. The stark reality of being walked over by a foreign power led to a hurried effort to build up an army of our own.
1967 saw the first batch of our local boys being trained in SAFTI by the Israeli advisors. The following years saw the dispatched of more young men to the UK for training for our future Navy and Air Force. And we thought time was on our side, to gradually build up our defence capabilities only to be hit with a double whammy. The British decided to pull out from their bases here in early 1970s. This was a big hit to our trading economy. And our national defence was still in infancy. We had just introduced National Service a couple of years back and everyone in uniform was still technically a trainee. Everything had to be short circuited to gain time. It was all a mad rush to put an army together out of nothing.
We were in a vacuum of sort as far as soldiers were concerned. Without the people willingly coming forward despite that it was called National Service, we would have a hard time building up an army. The people responded to the call of the nation and everyone played his part in a big jigsaw puzzle with blank pieces. And every piece had to fit or knock in to fit at the quickest time possible. It was that easy if we don’t think about it. It was DIY quick fix and hoped for the best.
Though we were fortunate not to have been in a war during our formative years, it was a critical time, and a treacherous time. The British were there holding the umbrella. But they could fold it up if the people and govt did not have the resolve to pull it through. If the govt was weak and could not rally the people to build a nation for themselves, we would have been doomed, economically and politically as a country. The British could give up and give the island to anyone able to hold it together. They could have abandoned us if we did not treasure the moment and the opportunity.
The early batches of NS men were there to fill up the void, to hold the fort for the time being while the bigger picture was being put into place. Their sheer presence was what was needed in those precarious moments of truth, to exist or to fade away, or be taken over. Our future would have been different if the people did not gel together to answer the call of a young nation in the making.
Those were the times when nothing was a luxury. Everyone was a piece of the big jigsaw puzzle in formation, the NS men, the workers, the entrepreneurs and the civil service and the govt. They were living for a strange new mission, to build a country, a nation. It was not starting a SME. And many things they were doing were completely alien to them. They were all learning on the job, doing things for the first time. Yep, like the blind leading the blind. It was only forty odd years ago. Many have walked in those days and have vivid memories of their experience.
We have forgotten. We have forgotten the difficult times, the times when personal sacrifices were part and parcel of nation building. Many civil servants and military officers were just told to get the job done with no issues of sacrifices. We forgot that at one time we were struggling to turn this island into a country. We forgot the price our parents paid for what it is today. $90 NS allowance and rubbery meat that bounced off the floor. The bread and kaya for breakfast were not much different from what prisoners got then. Today, we talk about sacrifices like having diarrheoa. Every little drop of shit is damn big sacrifice. If the NS men of then did not turn up at CMPB in Kallang, or if there were violent protest to NS, how would we have turned out today, an independent state or part of someone else’s state?
We have forgotten that together we have built a country, a nation. And still some would rubbish it as a state in the making. So we can give it away, invite everyone here and issue citizenship certificates like toilet papers. Come, take, it is no man’s land. We are migrants or descendants of migrants. You migrant, good, same same. Come share my home. Feed yourself and take all you want. There is no ownership to this land. No one feels that it belongs to the pioneering migrants who crafted it out as a country and wanted to make this home for their descendants.
And the daft descendants are calling themselves migrants and not owners of a country their forefathers have fought, worked and died for. They are willing to share with anyone, give to anyone. How generous!
How stupid can they be? No, they don’t think so. They don’t know that this is home, their country. When there is no ownership, you can expect what it will become next. Think public toilets. The daft Sinkies don’t deserve this country. And the new arrivals will tell them to go if they are not happy here.
When you lose your inheritance…or sell your inheritance away….
3/13/2012
Reverse emigration
This may be a new concept to some but is not new in reality. A good example is the USA and Australia where the migrants became so extensive and a majority over the local population that they became the dominant political force of their country of adoption. It could be easier for it to happen in Australia, and New Zealand for that matter, as the local populations were small. For it to happen in the USA required extraordinary circumstances like mass and uncontrolled new migrants and a reversed process like genocide of the local population.
Reverse emigration is very easily effected in a small island and small population like ours. We could actually be near the tipping point where foreigners are more than the locals. It could already have been if PRs are recognized as foreigners, plus all the temporary stayers.
What would happen are the effects of life on the locals when the locals become a minority in their own country. We are not feeling the pressure yet as the language of English is still widely used officially and informally. When foreign languages become the lingua franca, when signboards are changed, when lifestyle and social habits are changed, when foreigners are imposing their rights over the locals, the impact would be more felt and immediate.
Would there be a day where there are more foreigners in a train or bus than locals? Would there be a day when the HR depts are dominated by foreigners who choose to hire foreigners and discriminate against the locals? Would there be a day when foreigners dominate the civil service and govt and policies are more favourable to foreigners? Would there be a day when foreigners are given free scholarship to study in our universities and locals would have to beg, borrow or steal to do that?
Would there be a day when foreigners would freely cut queues for services in retail outlets or public services because the providers of services were foreigners and not locals? Would there be a day where the landlords are foreigners and the tenants are locals? Would there be a day when signs are put up saying no Singaporeans and dogs are allowed?
Reverse emigration can become an ugly reality if we are not careful. Or are we there already? Without thinking, having more foreigners here seems so fun and so good for the economy. The world seems to be able to live with the reverse emigration in the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Some of the uncaring elite also share the view that it is better as the new migrants are much more talented and have led these countries to greater heights and better quality of life and development. Sounds very familiar to our meritocracy when talents are welcome and non talent locals are encouraged to go to Bintan, Batam and JB.
When would the seriousness of reverse emigration really hit the daft Sinkies for them to feel the pain? Unfortunately the day they felt it, it would be too late. When that day comes, Sinkies will find themselves in another country without physically migrating or moving. The foreigners moved in and became the majority. The complacent Sinkies got emigrated by staying put.
Reverse emigration is very easily effected in a small island and small population like ours. We could actually be near the tipping point where foreigners are more than the locals. It could already have been if PRs are recognized as foreigners, plus all the temporary stayers.
What would happen are the effects of life on the locals when the locals become a minority in their own country. We are not feeling the pressure yet as the language of English is still widely used officially and informally. When foreign languages become the lingua franca, when signboards are changed, when lifestyle and social habits are changed, when foreigners are imposing their rights over the locals, the impact would be more felt and immediate.
Would there be a day where there are more foreigners in a train or bus than locals? Would there be a day when the HR depts are dominated by foreigners who choose to hire foreigners and discriminate against the locals? Would there be a day when foreigners dominate the civil service and govt and policies are more favourable to foreigners? Would there be a day when foreigners are given free scholarship to study in our universities and locals would have to beg, borrow or steal to do that?
Would there be a day when foreigners would freely cut queues for services in retail outlets or public services because the providers of services were foreigners and not locals? Would there be a day where the landlords are foreigners and the tenants are locals? Would there be a day when signs are put up saying no Singaporeans and dogs are allowed?
Reverse emigration can become an ugly reality if we are not careful. Or are we there already? Without thinking, having more foreigners here seems so fun and so good for the economy. The world seems to be able to live with the reverse emigration in the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Some of the uncaring elite also share the view that it is better as the new migrants are much more talented and have led these countries to greater heights and better quality of life and development. Sounds very familiar to our meritocracy when talents are welcome and non talent locals are encouraged to go to Bintan, Batam and JB.
When would the seriousness of reverse emigration really hit the daft Sinkies for them to feel the pain? Unfortunately the day they felt it, it would be too late. When that day comes, Sinkies will find themselves in another country without physically migrating or moving. The foreigners moved in and became the majority. The complacent Sinkies got emigrated by staying put.
The changing fortunes of LKY
1970, I was a young man in the land of our past colonial masters. I was in a pub one evening and the bartender told me that they would all be watching the TV later that night. I was curious. What was so important on the TV and why must he said that to me. I asked. His reply was that our Lee Kuan Yew would be speaking on their TV live that night. And probably the whole of England would be watching and listening to his wise words.
Those were the prime years of LKY. He was highly regarded, highly admired and highly listened to all over the world. He still does. The local citizens too were captivated by his oratory skills for decades too. Over time this following has gradually shifted, from great admiration to cautious and guarded reticence, to private criticism. This morning I read Feedmetothefish. He quoted an article by a Judy Zhou who openly criticized LKY, his policies and the way he demolished his political opponents. And she is not alone.
Criticism of LKY is getting more prevalent and more fortright today. Some could be very nasty. It is something that was unspeakable in his heydays. The foreigners are still holding him in high regards for his achievements and for the shining little jewel called Singapore. They did not have to live with his policies and his knuckle duster. Those who have and those who are living in the little jewel and disagreeing with or hurt by many of his policies are having different thoughts.
The changing perception of LKY is mirrored in the changing perception of his party, his ministers and MPs. From a time of high regards, deference and acceptance, it is now open criticism, questioning and opposition to ideas and policies that are no longer accepted with reluctance. The awe is gone and skepticism has crept in, and unstoppable when nothing seems right and everything seems wrong. It is a strange development, but it is happening. No amount of propaganda can remove the new perception of both LKY and his party and his chosen political leaders.
They still have 60% of the votes in the last GE and 35% of the vote for their sponsored President. How would these numbers changed come the next GE? A good indicator will be the coming Hougang by election, if there is one. It will be the harbinger of the PAP’s fortune in the next GE.
Those were the prime years of LKY. He was highly regarded, highly admired and highly listened to all over the world. He still does. The local citizens too were captivated by his oratory skills for decades too. Over time this following has gradually shifted, from great admiration to cautious and guarded reticence, to private criticism. This morning I read Feedmetothefish. He quoted an article by a Judy Zhou who openly criticized LKY, his policies and the way he demolished his political opponents. And she is not alone.
Criticism of LKY is getting more prevalent and more fortright today. Some could be very nasty. It is something that was unspeakable in his heydays. The foreigners are still holding him in high regards for his achievements and for the shining little jewel called Singapore. They did not have to live with his policies and his knuckle duster. Those who have and those who are living in the little jewel and disagreeing with or hurt by many of his policies are having different thoughts.
The changing perception of LKY is mirrored in the changing perception of his party, his ministers and MPs. From a time of high regards, deference and acceptance, it is now open criticism, questioning and opposition to ideas and policies that are no longer accepted with reluctance. The awe is gone and skepticism has crept in, and unstoppable when nothing seems right and everything seems wrong. It is a strange development, but it is happening. No amount of propaganda can remove the new perception of both LKY and his party and his chosen political leaders.
They still have 60% of the votes in the last GE and 35% of the vote for their sponsored President. How would these numbers changed come the next GE? A good indicator will be the coming Hougang by election, if there is one. It will be the harbinger of the PAP’s fortune in the next GE.
The untold nation builders of the 1950s
In the 1950s we were still not a country or a nation. We were a colony of the British Empire. After the war, the people were getting more politicised and aware that the British were colonial masters and running this island for their own interests. The interests of the people were secondary. The British only think of the purse of the king or queen in England. A few elites started thinking that they could run this island better, for the people who were making this place their home.
A simple thought of taking control of the country and to decide their own future became the seed of fermentation and the struggle for independence. The people wanted to determine their own future and not be led by the colonialists with their own agenda. They wanted a better distribution of the wealth of the island by seizing political power.
The few good men did what they needed to do. They agitated the people to stand up and fight for their own future. The otherwise stateless and docile people, the workers, were politicised. They could see a better future if they were willing to fight and risk their lives. The people were awakened to the possibilities, to be their own masters and not the servants. Those days they used to end their letters with the phrase, ‘Your obedient servant.’
The servant mentality was removed. They were unshackled. And they fought for what we have today. They continued to slog after independence to build a fairer and more equitable society for themselves and their children.
The course of our history would have been different if they have been cowed, frightened, kiasu and kiasi. The course of history would have been different if they have been apathetic, kia cheng hu, and remained docile and obedient to the power of the day.
They took their future into their own hands, to shape it the way they wanted it to be. The people decided what was best for them. Without their courage to confront the colonial govt, to fight for their own good, we would not be what we are today. We only have to thank them for standing up, to face the selfishness of the colonial govt, to say, ‘give me back my island.’ We would decide what was best for us.
History always have great moments like this, when being compliant, being docile, being obedient, being afraid, were not an option. The generations of the 50s gave us this country. As our inheritance, it is tragic to lose this country by default and sheer negligence on our part. It will be a great tragedy and an unfilial act to our forefathers, our benefactors, who fought for a country for us and our children. They were migrants to a non country. They gave us a country we can call home. We are no longer migrants and stateless.
The descendants and beneficiaries of the sacrifices of our nation builders have a duty and responsibility to protect this little island they inherited. It must not be given away freely to anyone on any flimsy excuses. If we lose this inheritance through inaction, the tragic shame will be on every Singaporean.
A simple thought of taking control of the country and to decide their own future became the seed of fermentation and the struggle for independence. The people wanted to determine their own future and not be led by the colonialists with their own agenda. They wanted a better distribution of the wealth of the island by seizing political power.
The few good men did what they needed to do. They agitated the people to stand up and fight for their own future. The otherwise stateless and docile people, the workers, were politicised. They could see a better future if they were willing to fight and risk their lives. The people were awakened to the possibilities, to be their own masters and not the servants. Those days they used to end their letters with the phrase, ‘Your obedient servant.’
The servant mentality was removed. They were unshackled. And they fought for what we have today. They continued to slog after independence to build a fairer and more equitable society for themselves and their children.
The course of our history would have been different if they have been cowed, frightened, kiasu and kiasi. The course of history would have been different if they have been apathetic, kia cheng hu, and remained docile and obedient to the power of the day.
They took their future into their own hands, to shape it the way they wanted it to be. The people decided what was best for them. Without their courage to confront the colonial govt, to fight for their own good, we would not be what we are today. We only have to thank them for standing up, to face the selfishness of the colonial govt, to say, ‘give me back my island.’ We would decide what was best for us.
History always have great moments like this, when being compliant, being docile, being obedient, being afraid, were not an option. The generations of the 50s gave us this country. As our inheritance, it is tragic to lose this country by default and sheer negligence on our part. It will be a great tragedy and an unfilial act to our forefathers, our benefactors, who fought for a country for us and our children. They were migrants to a non country. They gave us a country we can call home. We are no longer migrants and stateless.
The descendants and beneficiaries of the sacrifices of our nation builders have a duty and responsibility to protect this little island they inherited. It must not be given away freely to anyone on any flimsy excuses. If we lose this inheritance through inaction, the tragic shame will be on every Singaporean.
3/12/2012
A reminder to nuclear infidelity
Yesterday was the anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Channel News Asia devoted nearly the whole day of its programmes to remind everyone of this tragedy and how the Japanese are coping with it. Flirting with danger is a trait of daft human beans. Many have nothing better to do than to jump over high buildings for fun. Some tied a string on their legs and jumped over mountain cliffs or tall bridges. Cool. Anything that is flirtatious is tempting, a temptation that is simply exciting and nothing else.
While CNA was reminding the world of the nuclear disaster in Japan, is it also sending a signal to the flirtatious that flirting with nuclear disaster is a very dangerous thing to do and to be avoided at all costs? Is our flirtation with nuclear energy still on course as we plan ahead for a population of 10m or more? The wild ambition to grow our population to be richer and richer in economic numbers is one of the primary causes of this flirtation. We need not only nuclear energy but may other resources to sustain such a huge population, water, food, infrastructure, in fact everything, to feed the needs of a 10m population.
The good thing is that we will get there. We will build a nuclear power station that would not go wrong. Going wrong is not an option. But should there be a slight mishap like the Fukushima, the damage will be contained. The Jap’s incompetence screwed it up, we won’t. And if there is an explosion, the explosion will be small enough not to risk sinking the island. That we will make sure. What if the explosion is big enough? No worry, the design will make it blow out through the other side of the earth. The island will be made perfectly safe with a perfectly safe nuclear power station underneath. That is how good our nuclear fantasy can be.
The CNA memorial is only good for the converts who are now living in fear and dreaming of a nuclear disaster everyday. They are the fools. For the brilliant and super talented, nothing is beyond them. We will triumph with the best talents money can buy and the best technology that will not fail us. That is how good we are.
While CNA was reminding the world of the nuclear disaster in Japan, is it also sending a signal to the flirtatious that flirting with nuclear disaster is a very dangerous thing to do and to be avoided at all costs? Is our flirtation with nuclear energy still on course as we plan ahead for a population of 10m or more? The wild ambition to grow our population to be richer and richer in economic numbers is one of the primary causes of this flirtation. We need not only nuclear energy but may other resources to sustain such a huge population, water, food, infrastructure, in fact everything, to feed the needs of a 10m population.
The good thing is that we will get there. We will build a nuclear power station that would not go wrong. Going wrong is not an option. But should there be a slight mishap like the Fukushima, the damage will be contained. The Jap’s incompetence screwed it up, we won’t. And if there is an explosion, the explosion will be small enough not to risk sinking the island. That we will make sure. What if the explosion is big enough? No worry, the design will make it blow out through the other side of the earth. The island will be made perfectly safe with a perfectly safe nuclear power station underneath. That is how good our nuclear fantasy can be.
The CNA memorial is only good for the converts who are now living in fear and dreaming of a nuclear disaster everyday. They are the fools. For the brilliant and super talented, nothing is beyond them. We will triumph with the best talents money can buy and the best technology that will not fail us. That is how good we are.
Saying all the right things
Saying all the right things is not the same as doing the right things. Some are good at saying the right things and doing the wrong things. To be credible and believeable, there is a saying, walk the talk.
I like what Shanmugam said and printed on the cover of Today paper this morning. ‘…the govt does not want younger Singaporeans to be saddled with tax burdens, even as it ensures that the elderly are taken care of and no one is left behind.’ He added, ‘We keep our tax rates competitive, 20 per cent at the top….’
This is the best part, ‘We rather people keep their money and spend it as they like, buy insurance for their health…’ Please tell the CPF that the people want to spend their savings as they like, can? And this is even better, ‘…only about 50 per cent of Singaporeans pay taxes.’ In my earlier posts I mentioned that at 85 years old, a Singaporeans would still be paying taxes through the GST, and so is an unborn baby. Of course he is talking about income tax. GST is not income tax. Don’t confuse the two.
Singaporeans are so lowly taxed that they have hundreds of thousands left in their CPF accounts under two minimum sum schemes which are their savings, and understandably they can keep their money and spend it as they like. And young Singaporeans are not burdened by taxes because of the old and ageing population. And the govt is looking after the oldies. Really? How many oldies are being looked after by the govt and how much does it cost the govt? To my simple mind, the oldies will be looking after themselves through their CPF savings which they cannot spend as they like.
As for the young, do they still have money left to pay taxes given the huge sum of money they have to pay for a roof over their heads and the huge minimum sums that are not taxed but kept in their CPF for them to spend as they liked?
It is always good to listen to the good side of the story. Hear only the good stuff.
I like what Shanmugam said and printed on the cover of Today paper this morning. ‘…the govt does not want younger Singaporeans to be saddled with tax burdens, even as it ensures that the elderly are taken care of and no one is left behind.’ He added, ‘We keep our tax rates competitive, 20 per cent at the top….’
This is the best part, ‘We rather people keep their money and spend it as they like, buy insurance for their health…’ Please tell the CPF that the people want to spend their savings as they like, can? And this is even better, ‘…only about 50 per cent of Singaporeans pay taxes.’ In my earlier posts I mentioned that at 85 years old, a Singaporeans would still be paying taxes through the GST, and so is an unborn baby. Of course he is talking about income tax. GST is not income tax. Don’t confuse the two.
Singaporeans are so lowly taxed that they have hundreds of thousands left in their CPF accounts under two minimum sum schemes which are their savings, and understandably they can keep their money and spend it as they like. And young Singaporeans are not burdened by taxes because of the old and ageing population. And the govt is looking after the oldies. Really? How many oldies are being looked after by the govt and how much does it cost the govt? To my simple mind, the oldies will be looking after themselves through their CPF savings which they cannot spend as they like.
As for the young, do they still have money left to pay taxes given the huge sum of money they have to pay for a roof over their heads and the huge minimum sums that are not taxed but kept in their CPF for them to spend as they liked?
It is always good to listen to the good side of the story. Hear only the good stuff.
Hilarious taxi woes of a third world country
We are first world, run by the best super talents money can buy. Don’t ever associate this top notch country with the third world. With all the restructuring of taxi fares, controls and regulations, and use of GPS and satellites, our taxi woes must be a thing of the past. What I read in the ST on Saturday morning was quite an eye opener.
Here is a short summary of the points raised and the four causes of taxi woes in our first world country. Plenty of taxis but under utilised because some work on one shift with one operator per taxi. Some earn enough would call it a day. Not all 27,000 taxis will be on the road all the time. So, you know the problems right, what are you going to do about it? Why pay millions to people who tell you the problem and that is the end of the story? What we need is solution.
Unfortunately the solution is the problem itself. Pay higher for bookings. This was a brilliant solution. Now all the enterprising taxi drivers would want to wait for call bookings rather than pick up passengers. And plenty of brilliant suggestions to make this solution turned problem a solution again. Increase the charge for call bookings. I have a betterer idea which I will volunteer later.
A narrow window for shift change over because all the drivers want to participate in driving at peak hours. So the peak hour solution also becomes a problem in its own right. Drivers play hide and seek at non peak hours and not picking passengers just before peak hours come into play.
Call bookings got through but no cabs around. This is expected in such a big city like Singapore where one can drive a sports car into the sea within 10 mins of non stop acceleration. With GPS and satellites and modern communication, cannot find a cab near the caller? How far can a cab be from a caller in this 700 sq km piece of rock? Anyway it is a genuine problem and no one has a solution for it. It is just like that lah, what to do?
There is no solution but problems. Everyone can tell you the problems but not the solutions. The best they could do was to throw in solutions to become problems tomorrow. That I also know. I can offer this kind of solutions for free. But solutions there are plenty from the public. Make calls more expensive. Make flag down charge more expensive. Some even suggested that the caller makes a higher offer if he needs a cab urgently and sure, all the cab drivers will be rushing to his doorstep.
Taxis cost much because the passengers are paying for convenience. Now getting a taxi, paying more, is causing more trouble to the passengers. Waiting for 30 minutes is a norm. Now I must praise Lui Tuck Yew for 3 minutes wait for trains even at peak hours. Why so silly, pay $20 to $50 and wait like crazy on the road side for a taxi that takes 30 minutes to arrive? Taking a train one will be at the destination long before that.
Now my unbeatable solution formulated from all the above suggestions. In the first place people don’t mind paying more for convenience. What is the most efficient system then? Outcry, like in the old stock market. Just shout out the fare, $100 to the airport. The passenger just make a call offering how much he wants to pay for his trip and where he is. That is all he needs to do and let the taxi operators broadcast to the drivers. Not only the taxis will rush to him super fast, there will be more than 10 taxis coming to serve him depending on how high is his offer. Now who can beat this superb solution?
Pay for service and the service will go to the highest bidder. Now a warning, the roads will be turned into a F1 racing track and taxis will be zooming all over the island to make their catch. No more long waiting time. : ) As for the losers who cannot afford to raise the bid, continue queuing at the taxi stands and hope a taxi will turn up. You need to pay for good service!
PS. I think the more meritocratic cab users are already putting this into practice by calling the operator and offering to pay another $50 above the meter fare. Sure he will get his cab ahead of everyone else. Could this be another cause to the problem of difficulties in getting a cab even on call bookings?
Here is a short summary of the points raised and the four causes of taxi woes in our first world country. Plenty of taxis but under utilised because some work on one shift with one operator per taxi. Some earn enough would call it a day. Not all 27,000 taxis will be on the road all the time. So, you know the problems right, what are you going to do about it? Why pay millions to people who tell you the problem and that is the end of the story? What we need is solution.
Unfortunately the solution is the problem itself. Pay higher for bookings. This was a brilliant solution. Now all the enterprising taxi drivers would want to wait for call bookings rather than pick up passengers. And plenty of brilliant suggestions to make this solution turned problem a solution again. Increase the charge for call bookings. I have a betterer idea which I will volunteer later.
A narrow window for shift change over because all the drivers want to participate in driving at peak hours. So the peak hour solution also becomes a problem in its own right. Drivers play hide and seek at non peak hours and not picking passengers just before peak hours come into play.
Call bookings got through but no cabs around. This is expected in such a big city like Singapore where one can drive a sports car into the sea within 10 mins of non stop acceleration. With GPS and satellites and modern communication, cannot find a cab near the caller? How far can a cab be from a caller in this 700 sq km piece of rock? Anyway it is a genuine problem and no one has a solution for it. It is just like that lah, what to do?
There is no solution but problems. Everyone can tell you the problems but not the solutions. The best they could do was to throw in solutions to become problems tomorrow. That I also know. I can offer this kind of solutions for free. But solutions there are plenty from the public. Make calls more expensive. Make flag down charge more expensive. Some even suggested that the caller makes a higher offer if he needs a cab urgently and sure, all the cab drivers will be rushing to his doorstep.
Taxis cost much because the passengers are paying for convenience. Now getting a taxi, paying more, is causing more trouble to the passengers. Waiting for 30 minutes is a norm. Now I must praise Lui Tuck Yew for 3 minutes wait for trains even at peak hours. Why so silly, pay $20 to $50 and wait like crazy on the road side for a taxi that takes 30 minutes to arrive? Taking a train one will be at the destination long before that.
Now my unbeatable solution formulated from all the above suggestions. In the first place people don’t mind paying more for convenience. What is the most efficient system then? Outcry, like in the old stock market. Just shout out the fare, $100 to the airport. The passenger just make a call offering how much he wants to pay for his trip and where he is. That is all he needs to do and let the taxi operators broadcast to the drivers. Not only the taxis will rush to him super fast, there will be more than 10 taxis coming to serve him depending on how high is his offer. Now who can beat this superb solution?
Pay for service and the service will go to the highest bidder. Now a warning, the roads will be turned into a F1 racing track and taxis will be zooming all over the island to make their catch. No more long waiting time. : ) As for the losers who cannot afford to raise the bid, continue queuing at the taxi stands and hope a taxi will turn up. You need to pay for good service!
PS. I think the more meritocratic cab users are already putting this into practice by calling the operator and offering to pay another $50 above the meter fare. Sure he will get his cab ahead of everyone else. Could this be another cause to the problem of difficulties in getting a cab even on call bookings?
3/11/2012
Manifesto for a pro Singapore political party
This manifesto is slightly different from the pro Singaporean one. This one is pro Singapore, as long as Singapore is looking good, Singaporean is not really important, or not all Singaporeans are important. One is for people and one is for the concept of state in theory but for a few individuals in reality.
I have listed a few things that would favour a pro Singapore political party, and the people or citizens exist for the country, not the country for the people.
1. Priority housing for those who can afford to pay for it. From the lowest income to the highest income, housing price will be adjusted accordingly to fit their incomes. The more they earn, the more they pay. The lesser they earn the lesser they pay. Very equitable and very fair. But many will just have enough to pay and nothing left for retirement.
2. Tax payers’ money will be used to benefit anyone regardless of nationality as long as he has merit. It would be better if they are talents, from anywhere also can.
3. Licences for small businesses will be given to whoever is allowed to stay and work here. Priorities given to foreigners as they need to feed themselves and to help the citizens, and to provide jobs for the citizens.
4. Hospitals and medical services must be privatized to be efficient and affordable with the help of insurance schemes by paying forward. As not many people really need to pay, the pooling together of their savings will make it easier for those who need to pay for affordable hospital bills.
5. Land is really scarce and landed properties must be sold off to foreigners to maximize profits and returns. The profits can then be used for overseas investments in our sovereign funds or put into our national reserves. The purpose of sovereign funds and national reserves, no one knows, maybe for that rainy day that is supposed to come one day.
6. Political offices, appointments in govt and stats boards must give priority to able citizens and also able foreigners. Nationality is not important, merit is.
7. Citizenship must be given to those who are hungry and willing to migrate here to raise our GDP numbers. They would also help to create a buzz. Not forgetting that they will improve our gene pool. The new bastard generation will be strong and fitter and maybe more talented also.
8. The population of 5m is too little. We need to grow our population to generate growth in our GDP. There shall be no limits to the size of the population as long as it is good for our GDP. We can build modern towers of Babel that will dwarf the old Babel tower.
9. Pledge to implement policies that favour both citizens and non citizens based on merits. There shall be no discrimination against non citizens or PRs.
10. CPF money must be carefully managed to ensure that all citizens have enough to live forever. The minimum sums must be regularly adjusted to inflation.
The above 10 conditions will ensure that the country Singapore will last forever even if all its citizens become quitters. More and able foreign talents will be eager to come here to replace them.
Majulah Singapura.
I have listed a few things that would favour a pro Singapore political party, and the people or citizens exist for the country, not the country for the people.
1. Priority housing for those who can afford to pay for it. From the lowest income to the highest income, housing price will be adjusted accordingly to fit their incomes. The more they earn, the more they pay. The lesser they earn the lesser they pay. Very equitable and very fair. But many will just have enough to pay and nothing left for retirement.
2. Tax payers’ money will be used to benefit anyone regardless of nationality as long as he has merit. It would be better if they are talents, from anywhere also can.
3. Licences for small businesses will be given to whoever is allowed to stay and work here. Priorities given to foreigners as they need to feed themselves and to help the citizens, and to provide jobs for the citizens.
4. Hospitals and medical services must be privatized to be efficient and affordable with the help of insurance schemes by paying forward. As not many people really need to pay, the pooling together of their savings will make it easier for those who need to pay for affordable hospital bills.
5. Land is really scarce and landed properties must be sold off to foreigners to maximize profits and returns. The profits can then be used for overseas investments in our sovereign funds or put into our national reserves. The purpose of sovereign funds and national reserves, no one knows, maybe for that rainy day that is supposed to come one day.
6. Political offices, appointments in govt and stats boards must give priority to able citizens and also able foreigners. Nationality is not important, merit is.
7. Citizenship must be given to those who are hungry and willing to migrate here to raise our GDP numbers. They would also help to create a buzz. Not forgetting that they will improve our gene pool. The new bastard generation will be strong and fitter and maybe more talented also.
8. The population of 5m is too little. We need to grow our population to generate growth in our GDP. There shall be no limits to the size of the population as long as it is good for our GDP. We can build modern towers of Babel that will dwarf the old Babel tower.
9. Pledge to implement policies that favour both citizens and non citizens based on merits. There shall be no discrimination against non citizens or PRs.
10. CPF money must be carefully managed to ensure that all citizens have enough to live forever. The minimum sums must be regularly adjusted to inflation.
The above 10 conditions will ensure that the country Singapore will last forever even if all its citizens become quitters. More and able foreign talents will be eager to come here to replace them.
Majulah Singapura.
3/10/2012
Hsien Loong will call a by election in Hougang
That was what he said in Parliament when asked by Christopher de Souza. So, there will be a by election but the timing will have to wait as Hsien Loong said, ‘In deciding on the timing, I will take into account all relevant factors, including the well being of Hougang residents, issues on the national agenda, as well as the international backdrop which affects our prosperity and security.’
A by election is not so simple and it is of utmost importance even if the govt has already be elected. Or maybe not to some as the main purpose of an election is to elect a govt and not an MP to serve the local residents. Everyone claimed to know the law and he is right. Got law like that one meh, everyone is right?
Let’s look at some of these relevant factors as pointed out by Hsien Loong. Firstly, the well being of Hougang residents. Assuming that this is equally important as the election of a govt. If not, then once a govt is elected, no MP never mind. Are the residents best served by an MP or by two non MPs of two opposition camps? At the moment, though there is no MP, there is Desmond Choo of PAP and the whole of the WP helping the Hougang residents. I think this is far better than being served by one MP. On this point, got or no by election, not important. It is better not to have a by election with so many eager beaver trying to help. Call it voluntary self help. No representation in parliament not really important. What more if MPs got more important things to do than attending parliament.
The second point is national agenda. Now what is this national agenda? Could it be the economy, security or what? I am clueless, no idea at all, so cannot make any reasonable statement on this. Could it be the population size not settle yet, the unhappiness over foreign talents, unhappiness over scholarship for foreigners, transportation or cost of living or, really no idea.
The third point is the international backdrop that affects our prosperity and security. Wah lan, everything under the sky can come under these two motherhood terms. So, is there anything affecting our prosperity and security at the moment? The Americans are saying the South China Sea area very dangerous and the housewife in Washington is saying that China does not know how to be a super power. In other words the Americans are telling the Chinese to get lost and they are taking over as the most responsible superpower and knows exactly how a super power should behave, ie, create more tension and start more wars.
On this point alone, the region is getting more unstable and our security will definitely be affected. And the Americans are plotting to have a trade war with China which means our prosperity too may be hit. I think better don’t call for a by election just yet and wait until China and the US agree to sleep together and make love.
Of the three relevant factors, two factors say no to holding a by election. The Hougang residents are better served now without an MP. And our prosperity and security are entering a troublesome phase and need special attention. The by election can wait.
As for the other factor of national agenda, I am not sure what it is but since two out of three factors are not in favour of a by election immediately, it is unlikely for a by election to be called soon even if Hsien Loong wants to call one. This is my assessment of the situation.
Another point is that the missing MP problem is created by the WP. So it is the WP problem and the WP must be solely responsible and be blamed for it. If no by election, cannot blame the ruling govt. Stretching this kind of argument a little, what if an MP is struck by lightning while playing golf, touch wood, it becomes an act of God. So can rightly put the blame on God and no need to call by election also? This kind of thinking and argument very difficult to understand in politics. As they say, there is no right and wrong answer.
A by election is not so simple and it is of utmost importance even if the govt has already be elected. Or maybe not to some as the main purpose of an election is to elect a govt and not an MP to serve the local residents. Everyone claimed to know the law and he is right. Got law like that one meh, everyone is right?
Let’s look at some of these relevant factors as pointed out by Hsien Loong. Firstly, the well being of Hougang residents. Assuming that this is equally important as the election of a govt. If not, then once a govt is elected, no MP never mind. Are the residents best served by an MP or by two non MPs of two opposition camps? At the moment, though there is no MP, there is Desmond Choo of PAP and the whole of the WP helping the Hougang residents. I think this is far better than being served by one MP. On this point, got or no by election, not important. It is better not to have a by election with so many eager beaver trying to help. Call it voluntary self help. No representation in parliament not really important. What more if MPs got more important things to do than attending parliament.
The second point is national agenda. Now what is this national agenda? Could it be the economy, security or what? I am clueless, no idea at all, so cannot make any reasonable statement on this. Could it be the population size not settle yet, the unhappiness over foreign talents, unhappiness over scholarship for foreigners, transportation or cost of living or, really no idea.
The third point is the international backdrop that affects our prosperity and security. Wah lan, everything under the sky can come under these two motherhood terms. So, is there anything affecting our prosperity and security at the moment? The Americans are saying the South China Sea area very dangerous and the housewife in Washington is saying that China does not know how to be a super power. In other words the Americans are telling the Chinese to get lost and they are taking over as the most responsible superpower and knows exactly how a super power should behave, ie, create more tension and start more wars.
On this point alone, the region is getting more unstable and our security will definitely be affected. And the Americans are plotting to have a trade war with China which means our prosperity too may be hit. I think better don’t call for a by election just yet and wait until China and the US agree to sleep together and make love.
Of the three relevant factors, two factors say no to holding a by election. The Hougang residents are better served now without an MP. And our prosperity and security are entering a troublesome phase and need special attention. The by election can wait.
As for the other factor of national agenda, I am not sure what it is but since two out of three factors are not in favour of a by election immediately, it is unlikely for a by election to be called soon even if Hsien Loong wants to call one. This is my assessment of the situation.
Another point is that the missing MP problem is created by the WP. So it is the WP problem and the WP must be solely responsible and be blamed for it. If no by election, cannot blame the ruling govt. Stretching this kind of argument a little, what if an MP is struck by lightning while playing golf, touch wood, it becomes an act of God. So can rightly put the blame on God and no need to call by election also? This kind of thinking and argument very difficult to understand in politics. As they say, there is no right and wrong answer.
3/09/2012
GST is fair
I am 85, retired, unemployed, why am I paying GST?
I am 70, retired, unemployed, why am I paying GST?
I am 60, lost my job and unemployed. Why am I paying GST?
I am 10, still in school, why am I paying GST?
I am 3, in nursery, why am I paying GST?
I am 3 months old, in my mother’s womb. Why am I paying GST?
I am 70, retired, unemployed, why am I paying GST?
I am 60, lost my job and unemployed. Why am I paying GST?
I am 10, still in school, why am I paying GST?
I am 3, in nursery, why am I paying GST?
I am 3 months old, in my mother’s womb. Why am I paying GST?
Manifesto for a pro Singaporean political party
Every political party claims to be there to serve the people and the people’s interests when voted to power. How many really live to these ideals when the votes were casted? I have listed a few things that I would like a pro Singaporean political party to stand for and live by it and be deserving of the people’s votes.
1. Priority housing for all Singaporeans. No stupid rules to rule out any Singaporean. This is our country and this is our home and the land belongs to the citizens. Citizens must have the first right of refusal to public housing. If there is enough land to build for foreigners, there is no reason why citizens should be deprived of public housing.
2. Tax payers’ money must be mainly used to benefit Singaporeans and their children. Not to benefit foreigners who have no stakes here. A little charity is acceptable but nothing extravagant.
3. Licence for small business must give priorities to Singaporeans. Some small businesses should be for citizens only. Foreigners are here to work for Singaporeans not to compete with citizens in small businesses. Big businesses are a different proposition.
4. Hospitals and medical services must be nationalized to serve the people, not to profit from the people. There is no amount of value that can be pegged to life and physical well being. It must be the responsibility of the state to provide cost effective medical services.
5. Land is really scarce and landed properties must not be sold off to foreigners freely.
6. Political offices, appointments in govt and stats boards must give priority to citizens especially senior positions. Unless there are specialized skills involved that no Singaporean is available, senior appointments must be given to Singaporeans. New citizens must be qualified by a time criteria. New citizens should not be an escape clause to by pass Singaporeans for top jobs. PRs are not citizens.
7. Citizenship must not be given freely like worthless rubbish.
8. The population of 5m is just about right and should not be allowed to grow rampantly to crazy numbers like 6m or more.
9. Pledge to implement policies that favour citizens and not to disadvantage citizens.
10. CPF money must be returned to the citizens at 60. CPF may offer incentives to attract people to leave their money with the board but must be strictly voluntary.
1. Priority housing for all Singaporeans. No stupid rules to rule out any Singaporean. This is our country and this is our home and the land belongs to the citizens. Citizens must have the first right of refusal to public housing. If there is enough land to build for foreigners, there is no reason why citizens should be deprived of public housing.
2. Tax payers’ money must be mainly used to benefit Singaporeans and their children. Not to benefit foreigners who have no stakes here. A little charity is acceptable but nothing extravagant.
3. Licence for small business must give priorities to Singaporeans. Some small businesses should be for citizens only. Foreigners are here to work for Singaporeans not to compete with citizens in small businesses. Big businesses are a different proposition.
4. Hospitals and medical services must be nationalized to serve the people, not to profit from the people. There is no amount of value that can be pegged to life and physical well being. It must be the responsibility of the state to provide cost effective medical services.
5. Land is really scarce and landed properties must not be sold off to foreigners freely.
6. Political offices, appointments in govt and stats boards must give priority to citizens especially senior positions. Unless there are specialized skills involved that no Singaporean is available, senior appointments must be given to Singaporeans. New citizens must be qualified by a time criteria. New citizens should not be an escape clause to by pass Singaporeans for top jobs. PRs are not citizens.
7. Citizenship must not be given freely like worthless rubbish.
8. The population of 5m is just about right and should not be allowed to grow rampantly to crazy numbers like 6m or more.
9. Pledge to implement policies that favour citizens and not to disadvantage citizens.
10. CPF money must be returned to the citizens at 60. CPF may offer incentives to attract people to leave their money with the board but must be strictly voluntary.
3/08/2012
Crazy woman!
Clinton urges China to prove intentions
Posted: 08 March 2012 0951 hrs
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday called on China to show in "concrete ways" that its rise is in the world's interest, saying that Beijing needs to take greater responsibility....
China should just ignore her and all her stupid colleagues. China is not accountable to the USA for her rise as a global power. What can the US do or want to do? Attack China? What a stupid woman.
Posted: 08 March 2012 0951 hrs
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday called on China to show in "concrete ways" that its rise is in the world's interest, saying that Beijing needs to take greater responsibility....
China should just ignore her and all her stupid colleagues. China is not accountable to the USA for her rise as a global power. What can the US do or want to do? Attack China? What a stupid woman.
Does China have a legitimate claim?
This is a very serious article written by an academic, Robert Beckman, Director, Centre for International Law and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, NUS etc…in the ST today. It discusses about China’s claim to the group of islands in the South China Sea that were also claimed by a few of the littoral states. By posing such a question it takes a supposedly neutral stand, to question whether the claim is legitimate or illegitimate. So thought provoking.
Would the professor also discuss about the legitimate claims of Europeans as the owners of the USA, Australia and New Zealand and other colonized islands all over the world, like Guam, Gan, the Falklands? Or were the ownership of these continents and islands is now legitimate and a fait accompli because no one is there to challenge it or to write about it?
The concept of planting a flag in someone else backyard and claiming to have found it for the King or Queen sounds funny today, or not really?
Would the professor also discuss about the legitimate claims of Europeans as the owners of the USA, Australia and New Zealand and other colonized islands all over the world, like Guam, Gan, the Falklands? Or were the ownership of these continents and islands is now legitimate and a fait accompli because no one is there to challenge it or to write about it?
The concept of planting a flag in someone else backyard and claiming to have found it for the King or Queen sounds funny today, or not really?
Gan Kim Yong – Agent 002
In my article on Lui Tuck Yew I mentioned two agents of change. The other is Gan Kim Yong. I have trouble trying to catch up with the initiatives he has started to revamp the healthcare business, or was it public healthcare? I could not imagine that there are still so many things to do to make the system betterer. Didn’t his predecessor did a good job and make life more cosy for him? Unlike Tuck Yew’s inheritance of a pail of transportation shit, healthcare was supposedly well taken care off, with mean testing and bringing cost down? Did cost really come down? Did mean testing really work or creating more unnecessary and stupid work?
It is revealed in the ST that when they calculate a patient’s means to subsidy, they included every children of the patient. If the patient has twenty sons and daughters, married or unmarried, all their incomes will have to be computed. Unbelieveable to even imagine. Ok, Gan Kim Yong has simplified this a little by only taking in the incomes of those staying with the patient. I am not sure how many letters and emails were sent to the US, UK, China, India or Australia to trace down the children of those patients to qualify for subsidies.
Though steps were taken to make mean testing less mean, a better way would be to make it simpler by doing away with this demeaning and invasive act of prying into people’s privacy in the name of fairness and subsidies.
Gan Kim Yong will be launching his affordable Healthcare 2020, to provide good quality and affordable healthcare with some tweaking to the Medisave Insurance scheme, with higher premiums to go along. Let’s hope his version of affordability is the version that the citizens can understand and appreciate and not the public housing kind.
He is also ramping up hospital beds and community healthcare services working with GPs in the neighbourhood. How would these measures affect the people and the high cost of medicare is still waiting to be seen. If they indeed bring benefits to the people, then he could be another big agent of change. Tentatively, everything sounds good on paper but what is real? Shouting affordability does not mean that it is affordable as public housing is a good example. The bottom line is how hard would the pockets of patients be hurt, be emptied? The affordable housing schemes have resulted in many Singaporeans with not enough for retirement, and with big mortgages that need two incomes and 30 years to repay. If this is the same kind of affordable thinking, then it will be another big disappointment.
One positive point about Gan Kim Yong is his demeanour and composure in Parliament. He responded to questions from all parties purposefully without being ruffled or resorting to making snide replies to belittle others. He is a gentleman in many ways and a role model to other politicians on how to behave well in Parliament.
It is revealed in the ST that when they calculate a patient’s means to subsidy, they included every children of the patient. If the patient has twenty sons and daughters, married or unmarried, all their incomes will have to be computed. Unbelieveable to even imagine. Ok, Gan Kim Yong has simplified this a little by only taking in the incomes of those staying with the patient. I am not sure how many letters and emails were sent to the US, UK, China, India or Australia to trace down the children of those patients to qualify for subsidies.
Though steps were taken to make mean testing less mean, a better way would be to make it simpler by doing away with this demeaning and invasive act of prying into people’s privacy in the name of fairness and subsidies.
Gan Kim Yong will be launching his affordable Healthcare 2020, to provide good quality and affordable healthcare with some tweaking to the Medisave Insurance scheme, with higher premiums to go along. Let’s hope his version of affordability is the version that the citizens can understand and appreciate and not the public housing kind.
He is also ramping up hospital beds and community healthcare services working with GPs in the neighbourhood. How would these measures affect the people and the high cost of medicare is still waiting to be seen. If they indeed bring benefits to the people, then he could be another big agent of change. Tentatively, everything sounds good on paper but what is real? Shouting affordability does not mean that it is affordable as public housing is a good example. The bottom line is how hard would the pockets of patients be hurt, be emptied? The affordable housing schemes have resulted in many Singaporeans with not enough for retirement, and with big mortgages that need two incomes and 30 years to repay. If this is the same kind of affordable thinking, then it will be another big disappointment.
One positive point about Gan Kim Yong is his demeanour and composure in Parliament. He responded to questions from all parties purposefully without being ruffled or resorting to making snide replies to belittle others. He is a gentleman in many ways and a role model to other politicians on how to behave well in Parliament.
Lui Tuck Yew – Agent of change
I can’t remember praising any minister in the past, or at least not the new ministers. The pioneers were different as they were the pathfinders, the people who set the stage for the play today, selflessly. It is hard to praise the ministers now as they have held themselves up as supermen and superwomen and thus are expected to do super works. Mediocrity is not acceptable from super beans. And with the super pay they are claiming for themselves, anyone talking about sacrifices need to be stuffed with shit in their mouths.
The expectation is superlative. But when mediocrity is the order of the day, anything better is betterer and deserves some encouragement. I was watching in Parliament last night on telly and two ministers stood out for mentioning. Lui Tuck Yew is one of them. He came across as someone with a mission to do a big repair job. And he is earnest and tuned up for it.
The transportation mess that he inherited would have to be dealt with in a different light. The causes, the past assumptions, must be thrown into the dustbin and a new set of assumptions need to be put right. Wrong assumptions would lead to wrong results though perfectly logically and defendable. When 1 is 3 and 2 is 4, 1 + 2 = 7. Logic. No one can argue against such thinking.
The angst against public transportation was likely to be the result of a different set of perverse assumptions, eg, maximization of profits and with the Tokyo train as the role model to surpass. The comfort and graciousness of the people were not factors for consideration. Maximising profit would mean longer waiting time and jam packed trains to benefit the shareholders and big bonuses for the top management. Scintillating profit numbers are so good to look at. Then there is the added Tokyo standard to surpass. Jam packed train will only be at best as good as Tokyo’s. To surpass that, the trains must be bulging at the sides. Only then can it claim to be better than Tokyo’s.
What Tuck Yew has done is to dismantle such beliefs. Commuter comfort, efficiency and graciousness are equally important, or more important. More trains and buses will be added to reduce waiting time. The desired 95% load will be cut to 85% to provide more comfort and breathing space for the commuters. There will be overall increases in the number of trips run by trains and buses.
The new assumptions and standards would definitely make public transportation much better and tolerable than the standards of the past. There will be big costs involved but temporarily this will be delayed till a later date.
The changes are major especially in the mindset. Maximising profit has taken a rubbing for the moment to give way to commuter’s interests. Just hope the fare hike will not be too prohibitive and the Govt will give a helping hand. Public transportation is not simply a service and to be run primarily for profits alone. Public transportation affects our way of life, the way businesses are done, business costs, people’s costs, social and economic costs. Bringing public transportation cost down will benefit everyone and everything, including business and the govt. It is a big change for the better.
The expectation is superlative. But when mediocrity is the order of the day, anything better is betterer and deserves some encouragement. I was watching in Parliament last night on telly and two ministers stood out for mentioning. Lui Tuck Yew is one of them. He came across as someone with a mission to do a big repair job. And he is earnest and tuned up for it.
The transportation mess that he inherited would have to be dealt with in a different light. The causes, the past assumptions, must be thrown into the dustbin and a new set of assumptions need to be put right. Wrong assumptions would lead to wrong results though perfectly logically and defendable. When 1 is 3 and 2 is 4, 1 + 2 = 7. Logic. No one can argue against such thinking.
The angst against public transportation was likely to be the result of a different set of perverse assumptions, eg, maximization of profits and with the Tokyo train as the role model to surpass. The comfort and graciousness of the people were not factors for consideration. Maximising profit would mean longer waiting time and jam packed trains to benefit the shareholders and big bonuses for the top management. Scintillating profit numbers are so good to look at. Then there is the added Tokyo standard to surpass. Jam packed train will only be at best as good as Tokyo’s. To surpass that, the trains must be bulging at the sides. Only then can it claim to be better than Tokyo’s.
What Tuck Yew has done is to dismantle such beliefs. Commuter comfort, efficiency and graciousness are equally important, or more important. More trains and buses will be added to reduce waiting time. The desired 95% load will be cut to 85% to provide more comfort and breathing space for the commuters. There will be overall increases in the number of trips run by trains and buses.
The new assumptions and standards would definitely make public transportation much better and tolerable than the standards of the past. There will be big costs involved but temporarily this will be delayed till a later date.
The changes are major especially in the mindset. Maximising profit has taken a rubbing for the moment to give way to commuter’s interests. Just hope the fare hike will not be too prohibitive and the Govt will give a helping hand. Public transportation is not simply a service and to be run primarily for profits alone. Public transportation affects our way of life, the way businesses are done, business costs, people’s costs, social and economic costs. Bringing public transportation cost down will benefit everyone and everything, including business and the govt. It is a big change for the better.
3/07/2012
Vivian Balakrishnan replies to Low Thia Khiang
From affordable housing to affordable medicare and affordable water bills. Singaporeans are so lucky. All the ministers are working so hard to make housing, medical and water for bathing affordable. Why are they still complaining? Ingrates or unthinking? Please go down on your knees and show your gratitude.
There was a bundle of data on water fees and water bills shown in Parliament by Vivian in reply to Low Thia Khiang. The total cost ‘to operate Singapore’s water treatment and reclamation plants and sewerage system’ is $1.3b annually. The revenue collected, $674m in water tariffs and $327m in waterborne and sanitary appliances fees. Immediately I notice the huge subsidy that the govt is providing for water usage. If not, then the whole operation is a big loss. Better to privatise it to make it more efficient. I got no details to put under the microscope to read further about how 3c per cubic meter water can cost so much and still operating at such a loss. Someone please correct me if it is no longer 3c. I know this has been going on for donkey years.
Whatever the data say, the most important statement by Vivian is that ‘the Govt will ensure that water remains affordable for everyone.’ This is the most pleasant message, like music to the ears.
There was a bundle of data on water fees and water bills shown in Parliament by Vivian in reply to Low Thia Khiang. The total cost ‘to operate Singapore’s water treatment and reclamation plants and sewerage system’ is $1.3b annually. The revenue collected, $674m in water tariffs and $327m in waterborne and sanitary appliances fees. Immediately I notice the huge subsidy that the govt is providing for water usage. If not, then the whole operation is a big loss. Better to privatise it to make it more efficient. I got no details to put under the microscope to read further about how 3c per cubic meter water can cost so much and still operating at such a loss. Someone please correct me if it is no longer 3c. I know this has been going on for donkey years.
Whatever the data say, the most important statement by Vivian is that ‘the Govt will ensure that water remains affordable for everyone.’ This is the most pleasant message, like music to the ears.
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