A day of mourning

I dunno why. I feel like today is a day for mourning. I feel that something went drastically wrong over the last few days but I just could not put my fingers on it. It is just something out there that is stifling, frightening, shameful and disgusting.

Let me meditate over it. For those who should feel shameful or shameless, please repent.

Those who can feel it may want to wear black to mark this day. The sun is so bright but the feeling is so dark.

M Ravi is so lucky

Lawyer M Ravi must count himself lucky to be in a first world city state that operates under the rule of law. In such an environment he has all the instruments of the state and law to protect him from being put into a mental institution for good and never see daylight again. We have an incorruptible govt that respects the constitution and the law, a highly regarded judiciary with upright judges, a law society made up of professional and learned men and women, and a medical profession that is beyond any ill repute. And we can count on whistle blowers and civic minded individuals that would stand up to tell the truth if anything is wrong.

Put it in another way, if Ravi is living in a communist country, or a dictatorial regime, or in the USA, he must be very wary of his personal well being and freedom. They could easily asked a stooge, like a psychiatrist to diagnose him as mad and get a lawyer to file a charge against him, then the judge will receive a phone call and know exactly what to do. The next thing is that he will be escorted by the secret police in an unmarked car and dumped into a mental institution which is really another kind of prison. Once in there, the doctors will inject into him all kinds of drugs to make him delusionary, videotaped his behavior while in a hallucinated state and publish in the media as proof that he is mad when he is really not. And that will be the last time the citizens hear of him. He will be obliterated from the pages of history.

Back to our civilized first world country, we know that such things would not happen to Ravi. The lawyers and Law Society will be there to assist and protect him in case there are funny charges leveled at him. The Medical Society will have many eminent psychiatrists to challenge any wild diagnosis raised against him. He will have the opportunity to call for a second opinion from a more renowned psychiatrist with better reputation. And he will be given a fair trial in courts when justice will be duly carried out.

Ravi is safe here. Thank God we have such a wonderful rule of law system in place and the citizens can feel so secure, unlike those communist and dictatorial regimes, or even the USA.

Learning investigative journalism from social media reporters

TNP reporter tries to track down NParks brompton bike whistleblower


Hardwarezone Forum, 18 Jul 2012


This is abit irritating. The story is not about me, that why i tell them to focus on the actual story instead. EXTRA CSI Attempt -nParks Brompton procurement process ended up with a dodgy winning bidder? [Extra]


Also, i were got so stupid... give them everything now, then next time how i going to continue do any future undercover CSI works to expose other sagas and keep check on the authorities?


Hi Singaporean1st,


I'm Benson Ang, a reporter from The New Paper. I'm contacting you because of your post about the Brompton bike issue. I must say that you have done a lot of research about the matter, which is quite impressive.


I'm the reporter who wrote the initial article about NParks' purchase, and am writing an follow-up article based on the details shared in your post, alleging there was bias in the purchase.


Some of the questions I would like to ask you are:


1. How long did it take to do research on Mr Bernard Lim, BikeHop and Mr Woon Tianwen?


2. What is your motivation to do such research? What do you hope your research will achieve?


3. Are you friends with any of the parties? Are you involved in the cycling community in Singapore?

The above is part of an article posted in Singapore News Alternative but originated from Hardwarezone. This is another evident that social media reporters are getting more recognition from their main media counterparts in investigative journalism. The ability and skills of the writer is receiving admiration from both social and main media and everyone who wants to learn investigative journalism can take a few notes from him.

Exemplary conduct of civic minded citizens

The ST has a pretty good summary of the events leading to lawyer Wong Siew Hong turning up in court to make a representation to the judges while the courts were in session. For a lawyer representing the Law Society to do such a thing is unprecedented and he must have found the matter of grave importance to do it. This is an act that could get him charged for contempt of court. But he is a very brave man, acting without fear or favour, even at risk of offending the judge in a court session.

What happened was that two public spirited professionals, a consultant psychiatrist and a practicing lawyer representing the Law Society, who found something so serious that they must quickly act on it to prevent whatever they thought would happen that could be very bad. This kind of conviction and dedication to walk that extra mile, doing something beyond the call of duty, is truly commendable and the two deserved to be given a medal for civic consciousness, acting for the good of country and people. They acted on their own accord and professionalism, without consulting anyone as it was a weekend. It was like a tsunami approaching and any delay could be a life threatening situation.

On Sat, lawyer M Ravi was examined by psychiatrist Calvin Fones. On Sunday, the police received a report around 8am that someone was causing a disturbance at the Sri Mariamman Temple and the person was Ravi. It was also reported that Calvin Fones alerted Wong Siew Hong who was overseas. When and why he alerted Wong was not stated. Was it because of his examination of Ravi on Sat or was it because of the disturbance at the temple that he came to know about was not clear.

On Mon at 9am, Wong was back in Singapore and called Fones to prepare a letter. He also said he had alerted the Law Society Secretariat and was going to the High Court. There he informed State Counsel David Chong and Ravi that ‘he wishes to get the court to stand down and to inform the judge about the letter in chambers.’ Wong got the letter at 10.45am and entered the court room while hearing was in progress. Judge Pillai did not allow him interrupt the proceedings. After the hearing the two were called into the judge’s chamber and Wong presented the letter. He admitted that there was no precedence of such nature and the judge ruled that as long as Ravi still had a practicing certificate he could continue to represent his client.

Later, not sure what time, Wong went to another court to present his letter again. Justice Quentin Loh too ruled that Ravi could continue to represent his clients.

The event showed how persistent and dedicated was Wong in what he was doing which he must have viewed as of utmost urgency and importance to the good practices of law in the country. The Law Society has also made a statement that the ‘Society not involved in any conspiracy.’ The LSS also stated that Wong ‘decided to go to court “on his own volition” …”LSS is satisfied that although Mr Wong had acted very much on his own, he did so with the best of intentions.”

All the events that occurred only proved that there is a very civic minded lawyer acting on his own, thinking on his own with the diagnosis from a psychiatrist that something must be put right, to do something good. And no joke, the lawyer and psychiatrist were working through the weekend, and trying to rush a letter to court on Monday morning to make sure it got there on time. Such public spirited dedication must be appreciated and highly rewarded. National Day is just around the corner and a National Day Award is deserving as it is unusual for daft Sinkies to work so hard for free but for a good and just cause.

Kangaroo on the lose

A kangaroo was seen hopping around in town and barging into many buildings without notice, causing annoyance to its owners. It was driven out by the respective owners but not before leaving a smelly trail of kangaroo stench.

The zoo did not know that the kangaroo had bolted out on its own until it was reported in the evening news. The zoo owners denied any prior knowledge of the mischievous kangaroos and they would not be responsible for all the droppings it left behind. How the kangaroo could go to town is still puzzling to everyone. And how it got so far without anyone knowing, without being stop by the police or knock down by the traffic on the roads must be a miracle.

The strange behavior of the kangaroo, of all places, appearing in town and try barging into buildings is even stranger. Should not kangaroos be running to places that it is familiar with and comfortable, like the kangaroo grass courts or kangaroo playing fields?

Now the zoo is going to conduct an investigation to check the mental health of the kangaroo. There are vets for animals. Are there psychiatric vets for animals to examine if this kangaroo has any disorders that need to keep it in a lock up for its own good?

It is strange that there are kangaroos in a cosmopolitan city and running around excitedly. This story is totally fictional and any resemblance to anything is purely coincidental.

The quality and credibility of social media

The Bromptomgate and the Ravi case have proven beyond any doubt about the quality and credibility of the social media. Some have gone so far, walked that extra mile, to uncover the hidden truths that the public were dying to know. And social media have done that extremely well, to tell the truth, nothing but the truth.

Anyone want to disagree with me that social media is just some voices in the wilderness or some lunatics fringes? The quality and intensity in the investigation to get to the truth without being paid a single cent is simply remarkable. Social responsibility need not be bought by money. Social media is not only the voice of the people, but also the voice of conscience and social justice.

You want the truth, social media can handle it.

So frightening….

A medical report from a psychiatrist, Dr Calvin Fones Soon Leng from the Gleneagles Medical Centre, was submitted to the court by the Law Society to raise doubts about lawyer M Ravi’s ability to practice law. Some of the contents of the reports in the media state that Ravi is ‘currently unfit to practice law and his illness is likely to affect his professional capacity…is having a manic relapse of his bipolar disorder…this is likely to occur over the past two weeks.’

Ravi was advised by his kind and concerned friends to take a break from his heavy load in cases like the death sentence of Yong Vui Kong, Kenneth Jeyaretnam’s case on Singapore’s loan to the IMF and the case of cleaner Vellama versus the PM on the PM’s discretion to hold by elections. The report did not state whether his good friends advised him to get a medical MC or to see a psychiatrist. But he went to see Dr Fones leading to this report in court, submitted by the Law Society.

The more significant and frightening part of the report in the media is this. ‘He(Dr Fones) added that the lawyer “lacks any insight into his condition as is often the case for many patients who (suffer a) relapse”. If Mr Ravi remains uncooperative, the doctor said that the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act may need to be invoked. The Act provides for the admission, detention, care and treatment of mentally disordered persons in designated psychiatric institutions.’

Don’t pray pray with the power of the doctors. When they have diagnosed someone as mad or potentially mad, this is what they can do to the person. And it looks like Ravi is diagnosed as mad or going mad in layman terminology.

Would Ravi be seen running wild brandishing a sword that makes him dangerous to society or to the judges in court? Or would Ravi ended up throwing a shoe at some VVIP. I am wondering what had Ravi done to put him in this dangerous person list?

What can happen now would be for Ravi to be struck off the practicing lawyer’s list, or may be put into a mental institution. End of the story.

Inclusive society, no one left behind

With this grand motherhood statement, one can presumed that it is true, a govt position and all policies will follow suit. So anyone left behind?

All those victims of past govt policies, especially those citizens that still have no homes, ostracized, discriminated, banned, punished or for whatever reasons, not allowed to by HDB flats, it is time to show your middle finger, together as a group. Some of these were the singles, some could not find a partners to get married and their incomes exceeded the arbitrary ceilings that should not be there in the first place if the govt’s goal is to build homes for the people, not finding excuses not to build and put the blame on high demands, some waited and see their incomes grew or got promoted and found themselves screwed.

If the govt has been caring and know that it is duty bound to build flats/homes for the citizens, and did not hold back from building, there will be no demand exceeding supply problem. And the idiots could not understand that all young people started work with incomes below the ceilings and should be qualified unless they were children of millionaire ministers who already be given private properties in a silver platter.

The children of the working class, worked their way up, saved and stinged, only to be knocked out of the system because they took a little more time to save, to decide to get hitched, to save a little more, or could not get what they want because of limited supply and the curtailment of building more flats by the ministry. And it is their fault, not the ministry’s fault, for taking too long, waiting too long.

Where is the inclusiveness when citizens are not allowed to buy public housing, when new citizens could easily buy them? All discriminated citizens should send a petition to the govt to acknowledge their failure in providing housing to them as citizens, and the flawed policies of the past, not building enough flats to meet the needs of citizens. Would the govt reply that it is the citizen’s fault for not planning their lives and bad decision not to buy a flat when their incomes were low? Conversely, would the govt acknowledge that this is a problem due to flawed govt policies, not building, slow building, and allowing influx of foreigners and new citizens to join the queue to compete with local citizens?

What inclusiveness is the govt talking about? Inclusive of foreigners, new citizens, integrate them and screw the citizens? How many sinkies are out there, never bought or disqualified from buying public housing?

What is the purpose of calling for a public tender?

There is no need for an expert to explain why a public tender is called. At times tenders may be restricted, pre qualified, or selected for various reasons like secrecy, confidentiality, expediency or some peculiar reasons like corruption or cronyism.

Normally a public tender is called to ensure that the buyer has the best deal in terms of quality, choice and price. This is normally achieved by having a good number and selections from tenderers with a good mix of products and pricing. The buyer would then be able to make a more informed decision on what are available in the market and the cost of the product or services.

A public tender also ensures fair play, no favouritism, under hand tactics, no fixing, no collusion or corruption. It is about being fair and transparent to the buyer and sellers.

Govt agencies, public or private companies do not established procurement procedures and tender processes for fun. No responsible management staff would simply place a public tender and accept anything that comes along, and the last thing is to accept a one bid tender. This can only happen when the value is insignificant and when there is a critical time issue at stake.

The very fact that a purchase must go through the process is already a reminder to the buyer that they cannot suka suka buy anything at any price. It is a reminder that the process is to ensure the organisation is getting a fair deal and also suppliers are given a fair chance to bid for the tender. There will always be cheats who go through the motion to give an image of transparency and fair play. There will be those who will game the system for obvious reasons as had happened, and anyone who knows the system could do it so easily. And when caught, pretend to be naive and ignorant and mouth things like the system can be improved.

Are these commonsensical objectives of a tender so complicated and difficult to understand? A moron can be expected to overlook such processes and the reasons for them because a moron is simply a moron. Can anyone be more moronic than a moron and failed to observe and practise these basic rules of procurement and purchases using public money?

The dying days of a dynasty

History students will be familiar with the events leading to the eclipse of an empire or dynasty. Everything seemed so right but so wrong, badly wrong, starkly wrong. But no one would be there to say things were wrong and to put them right. Many would stand up to speak and defend the wrongs and insisted that wrongs were right, nothing is wrong. Either they could not see or would not see or so used to wrongs as being rights as long as they said so.

In recent years, many flawed policies were thrashed out in the open leading to the PM apologising for them. That was about as far as it could get. The flawed immigrantion policy, congestion, high inflation, high cost of living, high property prices, high medical cost, high salary to pay for corruption, widening income gap, rewarding foreign thrash and demeaning the people that are the owners of this land, policies that favoured foreigners and against Sinkies.  And there are many others that were so obviously wrong but pronounced as so right and so good, or as something unavoidable, nothing can be done to change them.

The echoes of HDB prices are affordable, income gap is ok, high property prices are caused by market forces, nothing can be done, more foreigners are good for growth, immigrants are here to help the daft Sinkies,…..can go on and on, are still ringing in many people’s ears.

The charade of charity shows and big fund raisings were fun and a fad for the organisers until the funds were used by some individuals to have more private funs. The running down of the public transport system was never seen and everyone was happily rewarding themselves with more bonuses until it took a simple accident that ended up life threatening to shake everybody up.

The shameless exploitations for profits in the medical profession that led to many patients ended as victims of big scams and paying dearly to the noble profession of life saving until it exploded into a big ugly incident. No, nothing wrong about how much professionals or hospitals billed their patients. Caveat emptor, willing buyer willing selling. You want quality, you pay for quality. Moneyism has replaced ethics as the new social more. The banking and finance industry has been turned into a den of crooks and no one can see anything wrong with it except pointing fingers at the low down front line snake oil peddlers who failed to explain how poisonous the snake oil is. It is their fault. Snake oils were permitted to be peddled to innocent customers as sophisticated products and advanced computerised games.

What else is new? Money is not an issue when there are plenty to go around. The squandering of millions by people and splashed across the front pages of the media were dismissed as nonsense. Many cannot see anything wrong with them but wrong for accusing the squanderers wrongfully. And the good name of God was paraded to defend the squanderers. Some have ended behind bars but the loyal supporters would not see the human failings. What is a few millions?

Was there anything wrong with the purchase of $2,200 high end branded bicycles for public servants? No, definitely no. Minister had spoken out to defend the decision. Academics too sang in support. Nothing wrong. The whole process was done properly, lowest bid, cheapest available, right procedures. The only hint of some wrongdoings was the admission that it could be done better and the system could be improved. My God, our civil service procedures were found wanting in the 21^st century for such a simple straight forward process. I think tendering is such a new thing in the civil service and they are still testing out the processes. I can only think of Ah Beng and his seventh month bidding which is more effective, efficient as a transparent tender system.

Just ask anyone involved in purchasing, any CEOs or dept heads, or any working adults and they will all shake their heads. Was there an elephant in the room? No, swear, no elephant! When a pile of shit stood right in front of everyone and in broad daylight, and respected people are defending it as no shit, you can expect how decadent things have become.

So far, the only person that is brave enough to stand up and call a spade a spade is Lui Tuck Yew. Not for fun like some pretenders claiming to do the same. And he is probably the only minister that is really working 25 hours to get the MRT running smoothly again. But he fell short of saying that heads must roll. Has anyone seen any heads rolling in the last decade or so? There is a phrase in the US called ‘too big to fail’. We may have our equivalent of ‘too talented to fail’. Anyway, this is only a side issue.

The main issue is that Nothing Is Wrong. No one can see anything wrong. And any wrong must be defended by all till it is accepted as right. Used the media to broadcast that it is right daily, get some known personalities to support the wrong as right. The daft Sinkies will believe it after a while.

Events in the dying days of a dynasty often manifest themselves in similar light, similar treatment and attention. Anyone dares claim that things are going wrong?

Look at the American Empire. Anyone dares say they are the problem of the world? Anyone dares say they are the one that is causing tension and wars around the world? Anyone dares say America is free from corruption? Everyone says, America is good, freedom, no corruption, America is saving the world, a benevolent and peace loving nation. And the best part, the Americans and their leaders, the scheming, conniving gangsters and murderers, believe it too. They too cannot see anything wrong with themselves and what they are doing. Did they ever admit that they enslaved 20 million Africans for 200 years! And murdered 10 million Red Indians and seized their lands?  Hitler was a novice compared to the Americans.

Oops, I digress.

Revolt of the Sinkie millionaires

Sinkieland can possibly boast of having the highest percentage of millionaires in the world, be it by population or by per sq foot basis. Throw a stone into the crowd in the shopping centres or the two resorts, or in Raffles Place or Shenton Way, one in two is likely to be a millionaire in net worth, counting his HDB flat and savings in CPF. The latter two will make them smile at most and nothing they could do to them as the bulk is untouchable.

There is a distinct difference between the real millionaires and the Sinkie millionaires. The real ones are full of money in their pockets, can afford several houses, cars and mistresses if they wanted. They live a life of leisure, and their wives and mistresses enjoy the lifestyle of tais tais, going for afternoon tea and chat the days away, and travelling in their big limousines.

Many of the Sinkie millionaires could never get near to this kind of lifestyle. Many will be made bankrupt on admission to hospital for a serious op or having to stay for more than 30 days. Many will end up selling their homes at old age to survive as their savings, despite one of the highest in the world, will never be enough to feed inflation. Many of these millionaires will have a hard time paying their mortgages, sending their children to schools or even owning a car. They could not even afford to pay for nursing homes for their parents and have to send them away to JB.

In other countries, a millionaire is normally someone who is pretty well off and very comfortable financially. The Sinkie millionaires are often waiting anxiously for govt handouts and subsidies to save their skins as many would be deep in debt.

The dull and daft Sinkies would still believe that they are millionaires but more and more would soon realise that they are only paper millionaires. An awakening is coming soon when the millionaires realise that they are just like any middle class or lower middle class citizens elsewhere who, very likely live a better, easier and less pressurised lifestyle than them. Many of the maids that they hired, ordered around, bullied or abused are going home to live a richer and more carefree life than them without having any inkling of being a millionaire. Even the foreign workers are going home to live in much bigger houses than the four concrete walls millionaires could afford here.

There will be no uprising of the miserables in Sinkieland. If there is going to be any, it will be a revolution of the Sinkie millionaires, the millionaires who can only feel rich with their CPF statements and imagine that they have all those money in their savings. The reality is that not only they could hardly lay hands on their illusory wealth, by the time they get to touch them, the money would probably be worthless.

They have started to gripe and kpkb about it. This is the beginning of a systemic change, a rude awakening, that a millionaire in Sinkieland is actually another average worker trying to make ends meet and nothing else. They will revolt and vote for an alternative party that can make them really richer and not slaves to an unworthy property and money that they thought were theirs but hardly. The only way to feel richer is to liquidate and leave for a cheaper country. Other than that, the illusory wealth is all tied up in the property and the CPF. A sense of well being of a millionaire but not living like one.

The best combination to exploit Sinkies in Sinkieland

One foreign family I knew;
Husband : citizen
Wife : PR
Son. : PR
Daughter: citizen

Why??? I probably do the same. Everyone will take the best out of every opportunities, and that is exactly the smart people our country wanna attract, isn't it?

This is posted by Ahmadbaba in 3 in 1 kopitiam. And many bloggers who have PR or new citizen friends are saying that this is the normal and ideal combination. Taking the best from Sinkieland and waiting to scoot. And can’t blame them as they are rightly called foreign talents not for nothing. They could easily outwit our dull super talents and their policies. Or maybe not. Our dull super talents knew exactly that this would happen but closed an eye as they deemed the benefits outweighed the loophole. Only average Sinkies will be affected.

Let’s make a plea to these foreign talents, on good faith, that if their children do not intent to serve NS, please, please don’t take up PRs or citizenship. We know that these foreign talents are honest people and will not try to game the system and make our policies look silly and disadvantaged our very own citizens.

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is just too tempting. FTs who bought a HDB flat could simply service the mortgage and wait for the fruit to ripen in 5 years or so, cash out by selling the flat at a big profit to some hardup Sinkies that the govt refused to sell them public flats. Then pack up and go home to be a rich man. For those who are earning a good income it will be double bonus with a good savings and a good profit from the sale of the flat.

And the stupid Sinkies would end up with the expensive resale flat bought from a happy FT turned temporary Sinkie.

Has Asean lost its way?

The Asean Regional Forum in Phnom Penh is getting rowdy with the issue of South China Sea claims as the hot topic. Four Asean states are making counter claims to Chinese islands led by the Philippines and Vietnam and backed by the US. The Philippines are acting like a big power, sitting on the head of the American beast and raring to take on China in a fight that it hallucinating that it can be a winner like Pacquiao.

The bigger picture is that the US is the master of this regional forum, telling and dictating to all the parties how to behave, what they should do and what it would want them to do. Asean is turning out to be a vehicle of the American Empire, existing only in names with the Americans calling the shot and setting the agenda and tone of discussion.

What happens Asean? What has Asean become after being a dominant regional association and international player, calling its own shot? Apparently the association has now been hijacked by the Americans, fronted by its semi colonies, to do its bid as the Empire assumes its role as the master of the region. And the news is always about what Hillary Clinton said and what she wanted.

Ten little boys went out to play and in their innocence, or thinking too highly of themselves, invited the gangsters to join them in their game. Now the gangsters are taking over the game, brought in their knives, wrote the rules and telling the little boys how to play. The little boys can only LL.

Sequel to ‘Do not underestimate the Malaysians’

Temasek ignores downgrades, is very optimistic on India story


Mydigitialfc.com, 5 Jul 2012 by Rajesh Abraham


Temasek, the investment arm of the Singapore government, on Thursday said it was “very optimistic” on India’s long-term potential, dispelling fears expressed by rating agencies which downgraded the country’s outlook recently.


The Singapore sovereign fund, …said it would continue to bet on Indian companies, which are proxies for the country’s economic growth. India accounts for 5 per cent of Temasek’s 42 per cent exposure in Asia.


The sovereign fund has $109 billion worth investments in Asia, making India investments at nearly $6 billion….



This is an extract of an article by Rajesh Abraham reporting from Mumbai. I like his use of the word ‘bet’. It is not investment today is different from the past. All are taking a bet. The only difference today is the betters are betting big time today, not with their own money but with OPM.



And while Temasek has its gun sight lined up at India, Malaysia is lining up to acquire the assets in Singapore. Not a bet deal really, selling Sinkie assets at a high price and buying cheap in India. The return is tremendous, and both ways win, making good profits at home and potentially bigger profits in India. This is putting the win win formula into practice.

Vindication of high pay no corruption

HongKong’s Housing Secretary Mak Chai Kwong has been arrested and under investigation for benefitting from housing policies while in office. He and his colleagues took advantage of loopholes in housing policies to gain financially.

We don’t have such incidents since the govt started to pay to prevent corruption in public service. Imagine how serious it could be given the predominant stake in public housing and how public servants and ministers could take advantage of policies to line their pockets and investments.

Thanks to our high pay policies that such thing did not happen here. It is about time to review whether it is necessary to raise the pay of ministers and public servants given the reappearance of a few high profile corruption cases recently. Better be proactive and nip the problems in the bud. If there is a need to increase the pay, better do so quickly to save the embarrassment like the Hongkong case. Our foresighted govt should act quickly and can be depended on doing this wisely.

Hongkong should send a team of civil servants here to study our high pay no corruption scheme. And since no angmohs are acting as consultants, the fees will be nominal if any.

When justice stood firm

This is an unbelieveable Sinkie story of the year. A cleaner challenging the PM on a point of law. The AG office going all out to get the case dismissed. And a judge that stood firm and wants it to be heard, something that many Sinkies do not believe will happen in their life time.

Justice Philip Pillai has dismissed AG’s second attempt to strike out the Hougang by-election case in High Court. The case is now set for hearing on 16th and 17th of July in open court.

Mdm Vellama, 42, filed her application in High Court in March after the Hougang seat became vacant and after the Prime Minister’s statement that he could decide ‘whether and when’ to call a by election. It thus became a case of how much discretion a PM has with regards to the calling for a by election. Apparently the law is not quite clearly defined and subject to interpretation and the PM’s discretion.

Vellama was just asking for an interpretation of the law. I am still puzzle why the AGC is bent on dismissing this case which would mean that no one is wiser about the law.

It is astonishing for the court to stay its position and to grant a hearing to clarify this part of the law. I am sure all citizens would want to know what the law really meant and the limits of the PM’s discretion, and also the need to call a by election when a seat is vacant.

This is the kind of transparency we need and we want in a rule of law country, when the law is clear to everyone. Cheers to the judiciary system. My respect to Judge Philip Pillai. He has won so much admiration for his ruling and a pat on the judiciary system.

Either now or later

China has no choice but to defend its territorial sovereignty, either now or later. The concerted conspiracy to force the issue on China is getting closer to a flash point. The Japanese are making more wild gestures to rip Diaoyutai from China. They even cooked up ridiculous acts like buying the island as if it was Japanese land, ignoring it as a piece of Chinese territory. It is a repeat and revival of the arrogance of the Japanese Imperialism in the 19th Century. The Japanese still think they can bully China and seize or occupy Chinese land at will.

In the Spratleys and Paracels, the Vietnamese and the Philippines are agitating their claims through Asean. The Empire behind the whole conspiracy is quietly planning and moving its military pieces into the region.

China has no choices left. It has to put its foot down and establish its control over its territories. Any hesitation and wavering will be seen as weakness and will encourage more adventurism from the provocateurs. The earlier that China makes a stand by sending its naval craft into the islands the better. It must let the trouble makers and opportunists know that China will fight them off and the provocations should stop there and now. China is no longer the Sick Man of Asia and its land is not for distribution.

The US will be there screaming and shouting foul. That is exactly what the US wanted to do. It is now or later, and better now than to allow the provocateurs to keep inching in nearer for a fight. A bloody nose may be needed if China is to avoid further advances from these countries. This position must be made known, clearly, with no buts, to the Asean leaders in Cambodia. Let no one have wild dreams that they could divide up China’s territories like the West did in the 19th Century. It is also about time to put Japan in its proper place, that all Chinese territories must be returned and compensation for seizing and colonizing Taiwan. The confrontation with Japan and the Americans over Chinese territories will come, only a matter of time and in what form.

Changing faces, changing sides

The 50s and 60s, the post war period, was best exemplified by the rivalry between Communism and Western Imperialism leading to Cold Wars and proxy wars. The bad guys were the Communists led by the Soviet Union and PRC. The good guys were the USA and its European and Asian allies. Soviet Union and PRC were everything bad, from poverty, military aggression, exporting revolution, and supporting insurgencies to regime change and espionage. The good guys, the Americans and allies were protection of free trade and development, economic aids and a better materialistic well being for the people on the side of goodness. The good and bad were very clearly defined, the Communist camp versus the Capitalist camp, the rich versus the poor, the haves versus the have nots, first world, modernization, economic development, versus third world, underdeveloped or developing countries, poverty and backwardness.

How the world have changed today with the two sides switching places. The rich Americans and European countries are stuck in a financial and economic crisis that could turn them into beggars, broken economies, corruption and bankruptcies. On the Communist side it was all development, development, trade and loans to the developing countries. The Russians and Chinese were everywhere signing trade and development agreements. The Americans were everywhere signing defence pacts and military agreements, conducting war games, inciting rivalry, supporting insurgencies, conducting regime change and fighting wars. The Russians and Chinese were all businesses, in business suits, buying and selling raw materials/goods/services all over the world. They carry briefcases with loads of cash to trade. The Americans were everywhere in their infamous pixilated uniforms, in military and naval crafts, with guns in hand, fighting and selling weapons, and killing framed enemies.

The Americans and their western allies are still calling themselves the good guys fighting the bad guys. But the two big bad guys are not fighting and did not carry guns on their foreign diplomatic trips. Wars, military rivalry and weapons are least on their minds. It is trade, buying and selling of commodities, raw materials and finished products that they carry with them. On the other hands, the Americans are selling weapons and weapons and nothing else, and threatening countries with sanctions and regime change.

This good guy image is now only in name. The good guy mask is soon to fall off when the world starts to call a spade a spade. It is such an irony that the two sides, the good guys and the bad guys, have changed sides. The communists are now rich, committed to free trade and engaging in trades and not wars. The bankrupt Americans and the west are raising trade barriers and fighting everywhere. In every international forum, the ‘good guys’ could be seen pounding the table to attack and bully one country or another. The ‘bad guys’ were there to defend the victims and lend them the support. The wolf pack of the ‘good guys’ will be there to tear down countries one at a time, the perfection of centuries of divide and rule to dominate the world. Now the rest of the world have two ‘bad guys’ plus a few newbies in an infant grouping called the BRICS countries to offer a new balance and a new code of ethics in international relations. A new ‘good guy’ pact is being formed to replace the old ‘good guy’ American mafia.

How daft can Sinkies be? V1.1

Their forefathers came to build this little colonial outpost to what it is today only to be told that they lacked talents. Then comes the importing of foreigners who could not help their own countries, runaway from their own countries, to come here to rule the Sinkies.

And with the most advanced and highly rated schools in the world, with the best facilities, the daft Sinkies claimed that they are daft and needed the talents of half broken down schools in third world countries to come here and help them.

And being the most advanced financial centre in the world other than the European cities, we could not produce any talents to run our banks and needed to import foreigners who came here to learn the ropes, to run our banks. To add insult to injuries, the banks that we have today were built by the so called no talent locals. And now, after they have built the banks to such a size some declared locals are not good enough to run them. And foreigners who have not run them, never built a bank, are deemed good enough, better than the locals. They are still wearing their blinkers and not seeing that western bank managing methods and processes are mostly fraudulent, gambling and taking high risks on fictitious products and derivatives that will risk the bank going bust.

And we formulated policies in favour of foreigners and detrimental to the locals without even knowing it until the daft Sinkies could not take it any more and started to vote against the govt.

And whenever there is a problem, money will be thrown around the world looking for foreign talents to come and solve them. Our parks, resorts, golf courses etc can only be managed by foreigners or they will be in ruins. Big corporations too. NOL is selling its flagship HQ because it is running into the red with foreign talents. Who else is making big losses with foreign talents running the ship?

And now all the half baked foreigners are strutting around despising the locals, and the daft locals really believe that they are inferior. Who can blame them when the foreigners have ended up being their bosses and bossing them around?

Socially, the foreigners also feel so free to beat up the locals at their whims and fancies and what did the locals do? Everyone turn the other way, very happy that the person being beaten was someone else. They are safe without knowing they could be next.

And the locals pledged themselves to serve and protect the country and the foreigners and their super expensive properties while they live in small but expensive public flats if they are lucky. If not, they would not even be eligible to buy public flats to live in. And more ridiculous, some locals ended up having to rent a room from the foreigners to stay. Brilliant inclusive policies that are Sinkies first, foreigners last. The daft Sinkies did not mind being discriminated in their own country. Sinkies with no homes because govt policies excluded them while foreigners are happily buying homes to rent out to them. Can you believe it?

Tell me, how daft can the locals be? The daftness is at the top or at the bottom, or at all levels?

Wah Lan, BTO making losses

We used to have one guy shouting till his throat went sore that housing prices were affordable. Of course no sensible person will believe him no matter how long and how loud he shouted. Then Khaw Boon Wan came in to try to hold down the prices and started to build flats for the people in double quick time. It was obvious that Boon Wan does not believe in the other person’s shouting.

Yesterday in Parliament Ellen Lee came out with statistics to proclaim that BTO schemes are making losses to the tune of several tens of millions per project. She quoted the HDB building 1016 units at a cost of $279m while the sales proceed was only $240m because of generous subsidies, thus making a loss of $39m. At the rate this is going I think HDB will go bankrupt soon and would not be able to pay its staff lavish bonuses like before.

The statistics must be real, the truth, no bluff one. Since there is such a good set of statistics being flashed in Parliament, it would be good if the breakdowns could be given to prove that HDB is indeed subsidizing the buyers. If that can be done then there is no need to keep shouting until face red red. And can stand up to scrutiny, no need to turn away when someone ask for transparency.

Parliamentarians should take this opportunity to ask for detail breakdowns of this set of numbers. Not only the opposition candidates. Those from the ruling party who have independent mind or claim to have independent mind and can speak freely will have a real chance to speak up on this issue.

Let’s see how many can be independent minded and will speak out for truth and transparency.