Eroding Trust in Public Institutions

This is the main topic for discussion in today’s ST with several big names being mentioned. Kishore Mahbubani was quoted to be concerned that ‘online discourse might be eroding trust in public institutions’. There are real and imaginary perceptions of things, of trust or distrust in public institutions. The very fact that this issue of trust is being discussed at that level is a manifestation that trust is eroding and has become a serious issue in governance. It is just like the COE system and HDB policies when there have been repeated outcries that they are inequitable and the system and policies could be made fairer and more equitable short of telling the two institutions off directly that they are not trustworthy.

No institution can lose the trust of the people if they are upright, correct and fair in their dealings with the people and on issues affecting people and policies. A little bit of criticism and cynicism by the social media, no need to worry about the main media, will not harm them or the trust of the people. Only the institution can create distrust by the people by their own policies and wrongdoings.

The situation today is that the people are much better educated, informed and conversant with what they see and hear and are current with the happenings and policies. And the availability of social media on top of the main media, I like this expression, means that the people have a more balanced view of things. Unlike the past when the people are only fed by the official media that was sitting on everyone, feeding them what they wanted the people to see or hear, social media has given awareness a new dimension, and positive in many senses. Can’t imagine how long the people will remain ignorant and blinkered without access to social media. Social media is a tool of enlightenment, and much to the dismay of those who want to control information and the thinking of a people that could be made daft by biased, limited or misinformation.

We used to take pride in our public institutions, and had very little bad things to say about them. There was almost complete trust in them. And rightly so as anyone who crossed the line of legitimacy will be harshly dealt with by the system. Just read this comment by Professor Neo Boon Siong of Nanyang Business School, ‘We are all in a flux, and this gives people the feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty, that this competent Govt we are used to…is not so ready to come up with solutions immediately, or cannot deliver results as fast as we want.’ He was talking about a competent Govt we are used to. Is this a reasonable perception of the Govt today and the past?

There is a major contributor to the distrust in public institutions due to a philosophical change in political thinking and corporate governance. In the past, the govt demanded and coerced public officials to be clean, honest and incorrupt. And many instruments of the system were there to maintain a clean and honest govt. The whole paradigm shifted when the govt came out with the complacent assumption that people are corrupt by nature and to keep them from being corrupt, just pay them well, or 'corrupt' them legitimately and hoping that they will not be 'corrupt' illegitimately. (I want to qualify here that this term 'corrupt legitimately' is just a common expression used figuratively in informal discussion and is not corruption per se). This policy shift says that it is alright to have 'corrupt' people in the system as long as their pockets are well lined with big fat salary and they will behave themselves. Thus, instead of ridding the system of corrupt individuals, it is acceptable to live with the devils as long as they keep their masks on, and try to be clean or looked clean. In a way the system works as there have been no big cases of corruption or very few and in between.

The other big factor that led to the erosion of public institutions is the cavalier attitude that politicising public institutions to serve the interest of political parties is normal, nothing wrong, and legitimate. Institutionalising them is the way to go. When public institutions are politicised, when appointment holders are politicised, appointed for political reasons and to serve political interest, how much trust will be eroded in the process? Take the Town Council, a political creation, would the management of Town Councils handle a party supporter differently from an opposition supporter? And if it does, how is trust going to be affected?

When public institutions are designed with imbedded flawed assumptions and worst, being politicised, the institutions and office holders will no longer function impartially and objectively for the common good, regardless of affiliation. How would this affect trust in the institutions?

The vehemence against Tan Chuan Jin

I was greatly encouraged by Chuan Jin’s talk of taking more measures against companies discriminating Singaporeans in employment. Arrrggghhh, everytime I write these few words, discriminating Singaporeans in Singapore by foreigners or PRs or new citizens, I cannot tahan.  It is so sick, baloney! And when Chuan Jin made his speech on further actions in tackling this uniquely sick Singaporean disease, I thought it is appropriate to say something to encourage him, short of offering him a Nobel Peace Prize first like they did to Obama hoping that he would bring peace instead of indulging the Americans in more wars.

I have no doubt that Chuan Jin is serious about protecting the interest and jobs for Singaporeans. He has just stripped off his uniform and removed a hat from a position that breathes Country, Nation and People. The interest of nation and people must still be vivid in his mind and vocabulary and thinking. He has a huge task ahead of him. I may say the critics are right to say and ask who created this shit and allowed the shit to pile up. And that it is just another wayang to clear the shit and to take credit for it.

I can also understand the anger, the cynicism and the pain of those adversely affected by this discrimination policy that has been allowed to flourish in our midst. Oh sure, it is not a govt sanction policy. It is an unwritten policy, a covert practice, or in some cases, blatant discriminatory practice against Singaporeans in a state like there is no govt. They are spiking the Singaporeans as if they are protected by gods and nothing will happen to them. Maybe the whistle blowers will get the stick instead.

This reminds me of the poor Taiwanese fishermen that were constantly being harassed, robbed, and killed by the Pinoy coast guards and there was no Taiwanese govt out there to protect them. Today the Taiwanese govt of Ma Ying Jiu is putting on a show but the show of force has quickly died down just as fast as it blew up. Two semi colonies bickering, and the Emperor said, stop it, and they dismissively cool down and walk away.

But no, I believe Chuan Jin is not walking away from this problem. It is too big and too obvious and wayanging or walking away will do him and his party real bad. I am not sure about the Govt, but I think Chuan Jin would want to do something good for the Singaporeans under his watch as Minister in MOM. The vehemence against him in social media may be too hasty, too unyielding and unjustified. The Singaporeans must give Chuan Jin some time. This problem has been created over many years and cannot be resolved over two nights. It is not gangrene of the leg where one could just saw it off. It is like lymphoma of the blood, spreading all over the body.

While the social media and the bloggers can hold down their criticisms and harsh remarks, Chuan Jin could help himself by showing some quick results to soothe the nerves. Do something immediate, take some of the culprits to task and show the people that he is moving in the right direction, and more will follow. Make an example like killing chicken to frighten monkeys and blow it up in the media. The main media will have a lot of opportunities to say something good, and seen to do something good for the people as well. I am sure the reporters, journalists and editors will welcome the green light to write about positive actions by MOM to contain the plague that is spreading across the island.

Criticising and condemning Chuan Jin at this point in time is premature and unfair and may hurt him and discourage him from doing more.

‘Relax, say the night man. You can check out any time you like, but you just cannot leave.’ Courtesy of the Eagles.

C for Corruption, C for Commercial Crime

Corruption is said to have replaced the 5 Cs into one big C. The trial of Kong Hee and his 5 church elders is drawing a lot of attention to this island for corruption. And this is what political commentator Kumaran Pillai had to say. He ‘maintains the trial of the City Harvest leaders does not mean that Singapore's political, religious or economic systems are "inherently corrupt" or that its leaders "have become unethical"’.

I choose to disagree. My view is that our economic system is inherently corrupt. It is based on the fundamental assumption that human beans are corruptible. That is why civil servants and political leaders must be paid humongously high salaries, ‘to prevent them from being corrupt, by paying them so well that the temptation to corrupt is removed’. Now am I right in saying this? Please correct me if this is not true.

The corruption case involving the City Harvest Church is an anomaly. People don’t become corrupt if they are being paid very well. Or they have not been paid very well, so the inherently corrupt economic system vindicates itself.

Another way to look at this case is that there is no corruption at all, as the accused and the believers believe so. In that case, our economic system is not corrupt at all and Kumaran is right.

So, is our economic system inherently corrupt? Many will think so and many will think not. It is one’s personal value, upbringing and principles that will likely bring about one’s conclusion either way. There is no corruption, there is corruption, there is no corruption, there is corruption…. the petals are getting lesser as each one is peeled off.

Isn’t this a futile exercise to argue either way? A comforting word from Dr Wolfgang Sachsenroder, a visiting politics professor at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.  ‘Corruption in Singapore has not yet reached a stage where the public should be alarmed.’

Singaporeans can feel more relax as there are rooms for more corruption before our squeaky clean image is damaged.

M'sia new home minister wants 51.78 percent to migrate

I just received this interesting post from an anonymous netizen and wonder if it is relevant to read it in conjunction  with our same Foreign Talent Policy where locals are edged to migrate and foreigners encouraged to immigrate here in the catastrophic policy of taking in Foreign Talents.

Subject: FW: M'sia new home minister wants 51.78 pct to migrate

Date: May 21, 2013 10:51:19 AM GMT+08:00

Malaysia

M'sia new home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi wants 51.78% of Malaysians voted for Pakatan to leave the country. Umno has always urged the unhappy Chinese and Indians to go back to India and China, but where would the Malays who voted Pakatan go? 

 

This a report from Jakarta Post on March 22, titled when he was ‘Malaysian defence minister visits ‘home'':

"Malaysian Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed his Javanese heritage on Thursday in Yogyakarta during his state visit. He said he had Javanese blood as his paternal grandparents originally came from Kulonprogo in Yogyakarta.

‘I am coming home," Zahid told The Jakarta Post, adding that he would be staying in Yogyakarta for two days with his wife, having attended the Jakarta International Defence Dialogue (JIDD) on Wednesday.

"While in Yogyakarta, Zahid plans to meet relatives including Yogyakarta Mayor Haryadi Suyuti and friends, including the Yogyakarta sultan's brother, GBPH Joyokusumo as well as visiting the royal cemetery in Imogiri, Bantul.

"Zahid said that his grandparents moved from Kulonprogo to Malaysia in 1932, while his mother's grandfather had come from Ponorogo, East Java, and later married a Malaysian woman."

" So Zahidi is also a 'pendatang' like the rest of us . In fact, there are hundreds of thousands of Chinese and Indians, whose ancestors migrated to Malaysia before 1932. And yet Zahid has the gall, to demand that 51.78 % of the population emigrates. If he had an iota of integrity, he would have resigned from the Cabinet. Many of these UMNOPutras are behaving like Mahathir alias Mamakutty Kerala. Many are descendants of immigrants, but have the cheek to re-categorise themselves as 'Orang Asli Tanah Melayu' and the minorities as 'Pendatang".

The truth is all these so called malay rights champions are newer pendatang than most malaysian, they think they can con us. The biggest dick is mamak kutty. Send these @#!*% back before any others and we will save the country from these scum

The Malays are migrating - from Umno to Pakatan.

How diabolical for a senior minister in PM Najib Razak's cabinet to make such a statement - to encourage Malaysians to emigrate if they are not happy with the May 5 general election results.

New Home Minister Zahid Hamidi is indeed disappointing to have written such a statement, bringing the integrity of Najib's new cabinet into question.

Zahid would do well to read the will of the rakyat as reflected in the election results, for the rakyat have indeed spoken.

For Umno-BN to secure the government with a minority popular vote is in itself a fraud by way of tampering of electoral boundaries through gerrymandering.Rampant legalising illegals and enrolling them as voters is another damning indictment of electoral fraud.

The truth is all these so called malay rights champions are newer pendatang than most malaysian, they think they can con us. The biggest dick is mamak kutty from India. 

'So you think this is your father's country?'

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has described the statement urging those unhappy with the May 5 general election results to leave the country as an insult to Malaysians.

Shane Todd saga continues

There were signs that Todd was going home, resigned from this job and a new job awaiting. He was selling his furniture, another sign that things were quite normal. There were also evidence that he was depressed, seen a shrink, unhappy with his job. His depression was confirmed by his girlfriend.

There were allegations that he was working on something secretive that could compromise US interest. There were official statements that what he was doing was of no high sensitivity or secretive in nature, not something that would have warrant the CIA or other intelligence agencies to raise an eyebrow.

There were allegations that two Chinese companies were involved in what Todd was doing, gallium nitride, and would want him dead? Now what was Todd doing or what he knew that was so sensitive or dangerous to put his life at stake?

The pathologists have examined his dead body and concluded that it was suicide. The counter evidence brought up by the veterinarian alleging murder was found to be normal in a suicide case and he had withdrawn that statement.

The Singapore police and pathologists have made their findings. Are they supposed to go around looking for evidence of suicide? Or would it be better that the world class, best in the world FBI or CIA help out in this case to find some leads to prove that Shane Todd was murdered? Their superior skills and technology and their international coverage would put them in a better position to discover more of what Todd’s parents would want to hear.

I hope the US Govt will chip in, put in some of their experts to help the Todd family to bring a closure to this case. Our police and judiciary system are not dependable and this was what they said, "We no longer have confidence in the transparency and the fairness of the system. It appears to us that the outcome has been pre-determined," the Todds said in the statement read out by their lawyer, Gloria James-Civetta.

Given the lack of trust in the Singapore system, it is best that the Todds rely on their ever trusting, fair and transparent American system to do them justice. Whatever the Singapore side has to say and not what they want to hear will be unfair and unacceptable. Let’s hope the American Govt and system will make the Todds happy with their findings. And let’s hope there will be lesser accusations based on hearsays

Price of HDB flats must return to zero.

There is no reason why a 99 lease flat will not be of zero value. When the lease expires, it must be worthless. Anyone disagree? For those lucky few that were selected under the SERS scheme and given a new flat, the lease is renewed, but will still return to zero if there is no second SERS along the way. For the rest of 99 year lease flat owners, the day must come when their flat is worth nothing.

Can anyone guarantee otherwise, and hope to strike lottery with a SERS offer? Buyers of such flats with a short remaining lease must think very carefully the real remaining value of such flats and how much they are willing to pay for them.

No, it's not racist to stop immigrants

No, it’s not racist to stop illegals conning their way into UK or tell all immigrants that they must speak our language


[Editor's note: The article is written by Baroness Warsi, UK's Senior Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Minister for Faith and Communities at the Department for Communities and Local Government.]

(11 May) – Immigration is one of the biggest political issues of our time – yet for too long we weren’t allowed to discuss it for fear of being labelled racist.

Remember Gillian Duffy? In 2010, when the Rochdale pensioner raised her concerns about the numbers of people coming into Britain, Gordon Brown called her a bigot.

She and thousands like her were deemed narrow-minded for questioning Labour’s mass immigration policy – a policy that saw 2.2 million migrants arrive during Labour’s 13-year rule.

At the time, we were consistently told that this was for economic reasons, that we needed more newcomers to boost productivity.

In fact, it was also a politically motivated ploy to change the make-up of Britain. According to former Labour adviser Andrew Neather, it was designed to ‘rub the Right’s nose in diversity and render their arguments out of date’.

But after a decade of misguided social engineering, today’s politicians have a responsibility to confront this issue; as Conservative politicians, I believe it is our duty….

Cutting the numbers of immigrants has nothing to do with race but to do with the pressure on services such as schools, hospitals and housing.

To use a former Conservative election mantra, it’s not racist to limit immigration and our aim has always been to cut it….

I can’t think of anyone who would argue that British taxpayers should subsidise healthcare or benefits for those who are not entitled to them….

The above are parts of an article posted in TRE that bear a lot of similarities to the situation we are in now. Someone is going to quote that the Brits are also doing it so we cannot be wrong. Or we have been following this model for a long time.

Great Britain is not going to be great anymore, and its immigration policy over the last few decades helped to bring it down faster. Britain will not be the same anymore and it is too late to do anything.

When Enoch Powell was voicing out his strong opposition to the opening up of Britain to Asian immigrants, he was opposed by many and regarded as a racist. He was ahead of his time. He was right but not politically correct. And the state of Britain today and going forward is not going to look pretty.

Singapore is almost in the same mould and the pitfalls will be worst and the effects will be much greater given the smallness in our size. If nothing is done to stop this crazy immigration policy, we will be unrecognizable in one generation, for the worst.

There must be urgency to stop this ruse. Hong Lim Protest is not for fun. It is a very serious matter and the consequences will be very grave, very soon.

Shane Todd and the sinking of Choeonan

Some of you may remember the sinking of the South Korean naval ship Choeonan and killing at least 20 young sailors in it. The South Korean Govt and people were furious. An inquiry with the help of the infamous Americans and some allies were conducted and found the North Koreans guilty of sinking the Choeonan.

This act was serious enough for war, the sinking of a naval ship and killing so many sailors. The North Korean protested that they were innocent and demanded to see the evidence. The South Koreans refused to let them, the reason was obvious. Even their own South Korean investigators found that the North Koreans were innocent. It was a kangaroo court at international level. Flying a false flag! The South Koreans and the Americans fabricated the evidence to find the North Koreans guilty and refused the condemned party from looking at the evidence to prove their innocence.

In the Shane Todd case, the Police is a neutral party. Investigated and found the case to be suicide. Under no circumstances would a govt allow a foreigner to reopen investigation just because they are unhappy with the findings. This is national sovereignty. In the case of the Choeonan, it is different as one country accused another country, extra terresterial.

The act of allowing a foreigner’s request to reopen a suicide case on grounds that the parents believed he was murdered is a very generous act. And I believe the tribunal is to examine all evidence available from both parties to determine if it was suicide or murder. The investigation put the whole police and justice system on trial and if found wanting could be very embarrassing. No govt in a sound mind will do such a thing. The Todd’s family should be very appreciative of this gesture and stop thinking that it was their natural right to have this privilege. It is a gesture that the Govt would regret and would likely not to be repeated again.

The stomping out from the court by the Todd family because of lack of time to examine a new witness is regrettable. It would be good if both parties amiably come to an arrangement to provide more time to examine this witness as the interest of both parties is the truth and not procedural. Let’s hope that the trial will continue and less bad barbs are traded. The trial has gone so far and let the truth speaks instead of accusations and acrimonious remarks being repeated so often from one side. It is looking like the whole govt is under trial, that we are some third world country that cannot conduct a suicide investigation, and that someone could claim murder just by looking at photographs taken without any first hand knowledge and to be presumed to be superior and correct than all the experts that investigated that case.

It is best the Todd family brings out better evidence to prove their suspicion, and this is a golden opportunity offered, not to anyone else. This is exceptionalism to the extreme for the American family. Please appreciate it. If they are so unappreciative and continue to throw tantrums and make unnecessarily negative remarks about the judicial system, hinting that it is a kangaroo court, the Govt might as well withdraw the offer for this investigation. Is the Todd family thinking that our judicial system is so unfair and they will not get the justice or truth they came to seek? If that is the case, why waste the time of everyone?

Please remember Choeonan when one party was found guilty of serious crime but not allow to defend themselves and not allow to examine the evidence of guilt.

For every Singaporean who loses his job, two foreigners got employed

When a Singaporean is being replaced by a foreigner, one job is lost to him while a foreigner got employed. For a foreigner being employed here, he quits or does not apply to get another job in his country. His country gets a spare job and his countryman gets a job.

This is the generosity of Singapore. For every job we create, two foreigners are employed. Never mind if one Singaporean becomes jobless. That is our contribution to the world, job creation. And if there are 500,000 foreigners working here, we have actually created 1m jobs, regardless of whether a Singaporean is being replaced.

Singapore deserves a Noble Prize for being so magnanimous and noble.

No need for so many universities

Why would employers want to pay a fresh graduate who knows nothing, needs a lot of training and hand holding before they are productive? And if a Singaporean, heh heh, there are a lot more of other commitments and irritations and disruptions. And now father and mother also want paternity and maternity leaves.

Why, when it is so easy to get a trained employee with 20 years of experience from overseas and probably cost the same or marginally more? When this overseas tap is turned on at full, there is no incentive or advantage to hire a fresh local graduate.

It makes a lot of sense for Singaporeans not to get the degree and seek other alternatives to get a job, not even getting a diploma will make much difference. Why spend so much money if one wants to be a hawker or taxi driver? Why when most of the jobs can be filled by better qualified and experience foreigners? This is a seriously good and practical advice.

But for a lot of Singaporeans, this is not necessary the case as they are gainfully employed in good jobs, can afford expensive cars and flats and would not be replaced by foreigners. It shows that many Singaporeans are able to compete with the talents of the world on their world and would never be replaced. Isn’t this good news?

For those who are unable to compete, our universities are redundant. And now we have 4 and many more universities that are not fully govt funded, or private universities. It is good advice for parents not to waste their money and their children’s time going for a degree or diploma. Take the easier route, be a hawker, a sales person, insurance or housing agent, or whatever agent. If can’t get a job here, go overseas where the demand for Singaporeans are better.

The whole employment scene is designed for trained and experienced foreigners. And there is no need even to discriminate openly. The foreigners are just too attractive for employment. Now what is there left for Singaporeans? Join the army or the police. At least they provide decent jobs. But be quick before they start to recruit foreigners or PRs as well.

Still thinking of university education?

Shane M the civic minded model citizen

Shane M is a young man. But he is standing tall, taller than many above his age, taller than many above his position as a student intern. He saw injustice, another intern being bullied and beaten in the office by his supervisor. He stood up against injustice. He video taped the incident, but being young and inexperienced, sought advice from Hardwarezone forum.

He was advised to make a police report. And he did. The Police and MOM have received reports of this case and are investigating. And the poor intern is saved from further physical assault and beating. The psychological wound on this young man can be serious and he would have to bear with it throughout his life.

Thanks to this young man Shane M, he is saved from the clutches of hell. Shane M deserves a commendation from the Police for his act of bravery and chivalry. I salute this young man. Our society needs more such fine young man that would not look the other way when something grossly wrong happened before him.

Tan Chuan Jin acted against discrimination in job opportunities

Tan Chuan Jin at a TAFEP organized conference on fair employment practices spoke out against employers discriminating against Singaporeans in SINGAPORE! Can you believe it? It is unbelieveable but it has happened for many years, and is still happening, with many Singaporean PMETs being forced out of their jobs while employers, ‘such as foreign managers hiring(hired) from their own home country’. How could this happen and go on for so long is really sickening. No? Many daft Sinkies will say it is ok. Let the best man take the job.

It is good that Chuan Jin has taken some actions and promising more actions to come, including legislation, to stop this outrageous practice against Singaporeans. The practice must be put to a stop immediately. It is not about enlightening employers and make them think more progressively, change their mindset. Such acts border on being criminal. It is regressive thinking of third world mentality bullying their adoptive first world citizens.

A few things Chuan Jin can do immediate. Send a directive to all ministries, stats boards and GLCs to stop such practices. Submit monthly reports on their PMET recruitment of foreigners. Make it mandatory that all the HR directors and managers are Singaporeans, and they are to report to MOM should the CEO instruct them to recruit foreigners in preference of Singaporeans. And there should be some quotas on foreigners at PMET levels. Jobs that do not need foreigners should go to Singaporeans first.

And the granting of employment agency licences to foreigners has to be reviewed and be limited. These are job and business opportunities for Singaporeans and do not need foreign expertise. The foreigners can tie up with Singaporean employment agencies and operate and service their clients in their home countries. The pie can thus be shared between Singaporeans and foreigners.

There should be regulations to restrict foreign companies to employ not more than 50 percent of their staff from foreigners, especially at PMET level. Critical GLCs like GIC, Temasek and banks should have succession plans in place to ensure that the reliance on foreigners is not for perpetuity. Singaporeans must be groomed to take over these institutions to look after Singapore’s national assets.

These are only for starters. The Govt has to put Singaporeans first in this high cost city when not having a good job and income is impossible to survive. Being underemployed and unemployed as Singaporeans living here is a harsh life sentence of indignity.

Social media is a dangerous place

There was an article in mypaper yesterday by a Joy Fang on the need for caution when treading in the social media. It is so easy to attract unnecessary and hostile reactions from strangers posting under anonymity, and their comments can be harsh and vulgar. Think Matilah Singapura.

Actually it is very true. But not all bloggers are crude, products of bad upbringings, or sick because of Tourette Syndrome or suffering from bi polar disorder or whatever disorder. For everyone such mentally ill blogger, there must be thousands or millions of decent and serious bloggers out there to make social media an important tool in information sharing and news dissemination.

The latest video of a supervisor beating, slapping and abusing his staff has gone viral. The circulation of such offensive acts, with the culprit on video, is a very powerful statement and will bring justice swiftly to the culprit. There is no way to deny the event, and there is no where to hide for the violator. And there is no way for the authority not to do anything about it. Social media facilitates social justice.

Even if everyone chooses to turn a blind eye, the exposure of the act and the culprit are enough as a punishment. The culprit cannot go incognito. He is exposed. He is demasked and everyone who knows him, has seen him, his family members, will know of his disgusting behavior.

This is the power of social media, to expose wrongs, to do rights, to defend the weak and the abused, if done correctly. Crimes or misbehavior or misconduct caught on camera is going to go viral. Of course this new tool can also be abused in the wrong hands. Innocent people can be attacked or wronged for the wrong reason. Some could be malicious, faked and fabricated. Misinformation can also be spread through social media.

Social media is just a tool and its goodness or ugliness, its usefulness, depends on how the users wield it and their agenda of using the social media. And yes, the MOM has acted. Police report has been made against the supervisor in the video. Thanks to the video and the media.

WP’s Art of War

The debate on the AIM saga in Parliament is intriguing. The revelation of the appointment of a husband and wife team to develop the TCMS for Aljunied, their appointment as managing agent (did I get this part right), the no tender award to one bidder, the development of another expensive TCMS, the management agent fee and the appointment and award of contract to party related people, all seems so blatantly in defiance of public scrutiny and exposing the WP to obvious attack by the PAP. The question begs to be answered is why is the WP doing these? They must know that they will become easy target and plenty of uncomfortable questions would be asked.

What is the strategy of the WP to voluntarily expose so many obvious gaps and seemingly not too appropriate things that they have done? Now the PAP side is so happy with this salivating opportunity to blow the WP apart for the very same faults that WP is questioning the PAP. Practically everything the WP pointed out as flaws of the PAP is being repeated, reenacted in the AHTC. Strange, very strange indeed.

And Sylvia is so confident to defy Teo Ho Pin to make a complaint to the CPIB for any wrongdoings on the WP’s part, or else shut up. She must have known something that we don’t. She must have known that any complaint and subsequent investigation are likely to make WP look better and maybe make PAP looks badder. Can this be the case?

The first hint of a successful coup de tat is the surprising revelation of readily available TCMS packages. By not going for it, by sticking to the same process of developing a new package at enormous cost, the WP is also looking a bit silly, when the truth is that a much cheaper generic package is readily available. The question thus is why the WP did not go to the market for a cheap and workable package and chose to follow the same process, to develop another expensive animal? They did not know?

The bigger question, why was this not done in the first place by the PAP when the latter knew that such a package is available? Maybe when the tender was called for the development of the $23.8m package, Boon Wan was not in the MND and could not advise them of this cheap alternative.

Everyone is now watching whether Teo Ho Pin would bring the case to the CPIB. And if he does, what else would be revealed that are applicable or similar to both camps and screwing one side would screw the other side harder? So far, the WP seems to be doing exactly what the PAP has done and religiously following them like saying, what you can do, I can do also. And if it is alright for you, it must be alright for me. Is this the strategy of the WP?

Doesn’t matter if Town Councils are politicised or not politicised

This seems to be the views of Warren Fernandez and Han Fook Kwang in their articles posted in the Sunday Times. Warren Fernandez wrote, ‘Most people, I believe, are not overly bothered whether town councils are political entities or not. Whatever the set up, they just want to be assured that the place will be well run.’ And this was Han Fook Kwang’s contribution, ‘As a Straits Times poll published last Wed reported, most residents said they were not interested in the politics of estate management; they just wanted their neighbourhood cleaned.’

I agree that the findings are normal. It is just like the citizens do not really care who won the GE and form the govt as long as the country is well run and the people’s interests are taken care of. Generally the majority are apolitical, apathetic to politics, disinterested, and want to be left alone to live their lives while the govt or town councils take care of the environment.

The people do not care if the town councils or govt are politicised. Should they care? Why do politicians want to politicise town councils? The answer is obvious. The politicisation of town councils or any institutions is to serve the interest of the politicians. Period.

Han Fook Kwang asked a pertinent question. When town councils are politicised, is there a conflict of interest? A non politicised town council or institution will work for a stated mission without the entanglements of politicians and political interest. Politicians exist for their own vested interest and political interest. The non political interest of govt or govt link institutions may be compromised by the very politicisation of the institutions. And when there is a conflict of interest, the political interest often takes precedent. And often, the political interest will cloud the interests of the institution and the people it is duty bound to serve. Tiok boh?

Would it happen, has it happen, that politicisation of town councils or institutions has compromised their reason of existence and the good of the people they are taking care of?

Though the people may not be interested in the politicisation or non politicisation of town councils and institutions, they cannot ignore and be not interested in such a development as their interest is at stake and often compromised. It is thus not a matter of the people not being interested. The people must be educated and be informed that it is in their interest to ensure that town councils and govt institutions are not politicised. Failing to educate the people on this important point and allowing the people to be misled into a state of dullness, thinking that it doesn’t matter is irresponsible.



It is in the people’s interest, like it or not, to prevent town councils and govt institutions from being politicised even if in practice it is easier said than done. It is like the sacrosanct aspirations of freedom of speech, protection of the rights of citizens in the Constitution, they must be in the Constitution to protect the people. They cannot be rewritten out of the Constitution just because the people are not interested, do not mind. It matters!

Intoxication, a piece of RAR art

I have selected 10 of my RAR art paintings for artsyshark.com. Artsy Shark, an American arts promoter, will be promoting my paintings as one of their featured artists.

The logic of faith and the logic of law

Six Church leaders of the City Harvest Church that preached prosperity gospel are in court to defend against charges of misappropriation of the Church’s building fund to the tune of $50.6m.

It was alleged that $24m were funneled to support the singing career of Ho Yeow Sun, wife of the Church’s founding pastor Kong Hee. The money was invested in a sham bond investment fund. Another $26.6m was misused to cover up this sham investment.

This case is not simply a legal matter to be judged in the courts of law. It is apparent that it is an issue of faith versus man made laws. Who would emerge triumphant and cleanse at the end of the trial is quite obvious. To the staunch believers, the church elders could do no wrong in the name of God. They have more or less made up their minds and are fully behind the elders and praying sincerely for their innocence and release.

Should they be found innocent, God is great. Should they be found guilty, in their eyes they are still innocent and God is great. It is very difficult for non believers to understand how the believers view this case and how supportive they are for their elders and how strong they believe that they are innocent and were doing the work of God, as servants of God.

I am watching this case with distinterest interest and am in awe at what is happening. I am not making any comment or taking sides which will be seen as provocative and my blog could likely be overwhelmed either way.

At the end of the trial, there will be a humanly verdict pronounced by the courts. What would be the Godly verdict?

Jeremy Chen – Nation Wide Town Council Management System

Jeremy Chen has proposed a NWTCMS for a cost of $1.2m, (700k for software development and $500k for hardware). Or is it $700k as he claimed? Nevermind, the number is just too good to believe in a way when the latest tender was $16.8m.

I was thinking of walking into Sim Lim or Funan to buy the software off the shelf. I don’t think those places have software that costs more than $20k each. But I am no software specialists and maybe they have things like $100k or $200k. Still quite cheap really. Anyway, disregard this comment as I don’t think it can be done this way.

Jeremy Chen’s proposal is more serious and looks like he did some thinking to come out with the numbers. But I still think it is too cheap. I double or triple his price if he can come up with a workable one as he has proposed. I am sure MND would be most happy to have such a cheap system.

Talking about cheap, when I read $700k, I already give up. How can any system be good that is so cheap? Not likely. The bench mark already set, from $23.8m to $16.8m to be reasonable for such a system, and not for the whole island, just a few TCs or a smaller grouping of one TC plus one two single ward constituencies. Jeremy’s number is just too troubling and too unbelieveable.

Even if it works, Jeremy should not put it up as he is saboing the businesses of other vendors and making the buyers looked silly. CBF has no place in this episode. I wonder if MND would throw out a challenge to Jeremy to produce the proposed system and buy it from him at Jeremy’s price with a special bonus of $2m to top it up for doing the impossible?

I am salivating already. Any thinking businessman wants to approach Jeremy, throw him his asking price, get the system working and sell it to MND for $5m? It is still a steal at $5m when the cheapest is $16.8m. Make it $6.8m, sounds better.

Jeremy must be given credit to come out with this outrageous price. You see, everyone is now accustomed or conditioned to think that a TCMS must cost tens of millions. No one would think of anything cheaper. And $16.8m from $23.8m, wow, great savings, good buy. But what is the real cost of such a system, aka, what is the real cost of a HDB flat? Jeremy has said that it could be as low as $1.2m or $700k. This must have woken up many people who have been sleeping or in stupor. Like Boon Wan said, a TCMS is not highly sophisticated software and could be bought over the shelf. The functions are ordinary at best with some addition or customisation to accommodate some local features. What is so complicated about it that it must cost tens of millions?

Many small entrepreneurs or computer science students could develop such a software with no big issue and in double quick time.

Shane Todd case – A test of competence

The Tribunal to reinvestigate the investigation of the Shane Todd death is taking a different dimension. While the objective of all parties concerned is the truth, it has become a test of professionalism of our police force and the justice system. But that is not all. It is also a competition between our very best professionals and their skills in investigating a suicide/murder case against the expertise of the ‘best’ in the US.

Through the process of reviewing what had been done by the police previously, the side representing the complainant has all the information on the table for them to put under the microscope to dissect, and to bring in the very ‘best’ experts they could find that think they have a case to prove and that the earlier findings were wrong or done unprofessionally.

The team that handled the investigation is now the investigated and the defending party, not the merits of the case.  They have to prove their worth, that they are professional and competent, and now, to prove to the ‘best’ from the US that the local team is really professional, competent and pushovers.

The outcome of this case is challenging and a lot is at stake. Can our local talents hold their ground against the ‘best’ foreign talents and indirectly prove the fallacy that foreign talents are better than our local talents? So far our local talents are doing quite well to defend point by point thrown at them, and any inadequacy or inability to fend off the attack will create a big dent in their credibility and professionalism.

Competency is in question and at stake. The credibility of the men in blue is put to a severe test in public. This is like war and they rightly deserve a medal if they could pull through and defend their ground against the attackers. I can only say, do not be cowed by the foreign ‘best’ which look very ordinary so far.

Obsolescence of citizenship

I have written quite a number of articles calling for more jobs and recognition for being Singaporeans and being citizens of this island we called home. This, to me, is a place that our forefathers have turned around, from a British colony and a not so well developed country of the Third World to the Jewel of Southeast Asia. Thought we should be proud of what have been done by our forefathers and should claim credit for it.

Looks like I am just a voice in the wilderness and not many people care two hoots what was done in the past. The honour and the people that needed to be rewarded are the new foreign talents, the foreign workers and nothing to do with Singaporeans, the daft and lazy and untalented and undeserving citizens should just shift out and be replaced.

Many are getting sick of the message that I thought Singaporeans should be thinking and talking about for their own well being and the well being of their future generations. The pathetic turnout at Hong Lim is a point to ponder. And the many annoying views against the protection of Singaporeans and their jobs have appeared more and more frequently in my blog and also elsewhere in the social media and the main media.

Singapore is a place for the talented regardless of nationalities. All the good and top jobs must go to the most talented and deserving. I spent one whole night meditating over this call and have been enlightened by the power of the logic and reasoning. Yes, Singapore and the citizens would be nothing if we are narrow minded, trapped by our little pride and nationalistic fervour, to want to reserve the good and top jobs for not so talented Singaporeans. For the survival of Singapore, we should allow the talents of the world to come in and take over the top jobs in the island to drive the economic growth for the good of the future of the island.

I have finally come around with my rustic, naive and archaic thinking that we should be thinking for the good of Singaporeans. No, that is a bad idea, a regressive idea. The lesser talented and daft have no place for the future, citizens or no citizens. The future is for the best talented.

Singapore is the city of the future for the talents of the world. Imagine the kind of city Singapore will be if all the top talents are here and all the dafts are departed for their own good. It will truly live up to the expectation of what a futuristic and fantasy utopia of the rich and most well endowed human beans the world ever produced.

To move into this direction, let’s do away with citizenship. The new term to replace citizenship can be locals or residents. These are people specially qualified by their talents to live here. The rest will be temporary workers, the no talents. The first exercise will be to select the Singapore citizens and PRs and sort them out, and divide them along this line. The non locals or non residents, ex Singaporeans included, can still be rewarded to become locals or residents, if they can prove themselves over the years, that they are deserving talents.

No job in the country is reserved for citizens, as there will be no such category left. Taxi drivers will also lose their reserve occupation to drive taxis. At the top, all govt posts, including President, PM and Ministers will also be open to all locals and residents. In this way only the very best in the world can take over these positions. No half baked citizens can aspire or conspire to keep these jobs to themselves. And there will be free mobility of talents in and out of the island, based on nothing but their talents or no talents.

Singapore will be the best place to live in, for the best talented. The lesser talented and not so talented, please shift out.

Are you talented enough to be a local or resident? Good luck to you.