Britain – a ‘has been’ power trying to cause mischief

Like the few Pinoy boys wanting to set off bombs in Manila in protest against the Filipino govt for being soft towards China, some British parliamentarians led by a Richard Ottaway is conducting a parliamentary inquiry on China’s handling of Hongkong affairs. The British parliamentarians are accusing China of not abiding by the terms of the handover agreement for a one country, two system model.
 
The Chinese govt is furious and accusing the British of interfering in China’s domestic affairs. China is still found sorely wanting to think that the British or the Americans and Europeans would play fair and leave China alone. These ex colonialists would always think that they have the right to mess around with Afro Asian countries, and it is also to their benefits to put pressure on their ex colonies. China was fragmented then and certain parts of the country were colonized and seized by the colonial powers.
 
The hue and cry by China is like a small boy trying to cry out loud to the bully. It reveals the lack of sophistications of the Chinese govt on how to deal with the subversive activities of the recalcitrant ex colonial powers, or ‘has been’ powers like the UK.
 
There are just too many things that China could do to hit back at Britain. The British and the Americans have been committing acts of war and crimes against humanity all over the world, then and now. For a start, China should rally the African and Arab countries to conduct an inquiry on the crimes and genocide against the Iraqi people led by George Bush and Tony Blair. Get all the evidence and send them to a former trial for war crimes against the Arab people.
 
If China is new to this game and did not know how to go about it, China can engage the assistance of Mahathir on this. With China taking the lead, Mahathir and the Arab countries would have a bigger clout to put the criminals to justice. If the European dominated international courts would not handle the case, China can set up an alternative international court in Shanghai or Hongkong to hear the charges. China should set up an agency dedicated to pursue the wrong doings of the ex colonialists on their crimes in the past, particularly in Shanghai and Hongkong. Charge all the corrupt governors and top officials for the crimes they have committed in China against the Chinese people. China must take the initiative instead of always being on the receiving end warding off attacks by the west.
 
On the international scene, it could conduct inquiries on all the crimes committed by the US and UK and the European powers in Africa and the Middle East and also in India, the biggest colony that was fully colonized for several centuries. There were many genocide against the Indians in India that need to be revived to give justice to India and the Indian people. And there were a lot of treasures robbed and looted by the colonial powers then in both India and China and the rest of the world.
 
China’s leadership in this area is a job cut out for them. The rest of the world that have been continuously bullied and harassed by the western powers need an alternative power to give them honour, justice and dignity. The bashing of the rest of the world by the western powers must be stopped and put on trial.
China should not bother with the inquiry by a ‘has been’ power led by a Ottaway. There are many and bigger jobs to be done for the rest of the world, victims of western powers. The world is in need of a new leadership.

Kopi Level - Blue. Thank you.

Daft, daft and daft

Don’t Sinkies get it? Everyone has been calling them daft day in and day out and they are so happy about it, or pretending not to know. At 55 years old, got a life time of education, raised a family, some are Ah Kongs and Ah Mahs, some sitting in board meetings as senior management or as CEOs, and they said you are daft. They said you are irresponsible, would squander away your life time savings, and on mei meis. You spent your whole life being a responsible individual, serve your NS to defend your country, they said you cannot be trusted with your life time savings of a few hundred thousand dollars. It would be different if you are in IMH. But no, you are still healthy and employed in very senior and responsible positions in big corporations and institutions.

And the best part, the daft kept quiet and accepted being labelled as daft and irresponsible, and cannot be trusted with their own money by little boys and girls who thought they are really demigods. And these boys and girls are grinning themselves silly at the daft, and laughing all the way to the banks.

And now there are a few boys and girls standing up at Hong Lim trying to defend the pride, honour, dignity and stupidity of the daft. And what did the daft do? They called these boys and girls daft.

And the fake foreigners are flooding into the countries to take up the top jobs, and some daft still thinking they are taking the cheap jobs. And the foreigners are telling the govt or people in MOM they could not find any Sinkies good enough for employment in well paying jobs. And they have to go overseas, especially to their 3rd World villages to hire their Ah Bengs, Ahmads and Aruns to replace our graduates from world ranked universities. And we stupidly keep going back to them to want to hear their explanations and be willingly conned by them, and without knowing that they were telling themselves that these silly people are so easy to be duped.

And to rub salt to the wounds, they brought in fakes to sit on top of our people and order them around and fucking up their careers and lives, and drawing big salaries just to make the Sinkies look daft and believe they are really daft. How’s that for dessert?

And to top it all, we are going to develop our Singaporean core by giving pink ICs to these foreigners and called them Singaporeans to manage us, manage our companies that we built without them, and probably to run our country too in a matter of time.

Why are we so daft and not knowing it? How long are we going to live with this daft reputation and not going to resist it? Anyone passing 55 and not complaining about his CPF money and the reason for not letting him have his money is a daft.

Kopi Level - Green

Toto top prize now $1.6m

Good news for all Singaporeans. With the high cost of living, high property prices, the govt has taken noticed and is helping again. The top price for Toto is now raised from $500k to $1.6. This is necessary as $500k or $600k could barely be enough to buy a HDB flat. Come to think of it this is really doesn’t make sense when you see people earning more than a million or $5m or $10m in salary annually. And the people have to place bets with a one in 14 million chances just to win $500k. And there are people saying, what is $10m? Would the Toto winner be saying, what is $500K?
 
At least $1.6 million would be sufficient to buy a HDB flat and maybe a nice car to go with it, and with a little spare cash to have a fling. It is a good thought really. Never mind if the cost is a bit more. Let me quote SY Lee and Leong Sze Hian’s introductory paras posted in TRE on the enhancement of the Toto prices.
 
‘We refer to the article “Larger jackpot with more prizes for TOTO from Oct 7” (Channel NewsAsia, Aug 2.
Betting amount increase 100%?
It states that “In changes that will take effect from Oct 7, An ordinary bet of six numbers will now cost S$1 as opposed to 50 cents previously, while System 7 will now cost S$7, as compared to S$3.50 previously….’
 
I must say that the govt is not only forward looking, an ability to see ahead, it is also caring and wanting the people to do well and live well. Now the lucky winners will be happier and able to live better with $1.6m.
 
There is hope.

Kopi Level - Green

Chinese bashing as racists continues

The cold blooded killing of a black teenager in the US by white policemen who pumped in 6 bullets to make it six times confirmed that the boy was dead, became an excuse to accuse the Chinese as racists by as black Asian American named Jamil Anderlini. Oops, I shouldn’t mention his colour as that is racism for a start. In Singapore we often used terms like dark or fair complexion although these would not make any difference to a racist. Anything can be racist to a racist.
 
This Jamil’s article, Understanding China style racism, reported in The Financial Times and reposted in the Today paper makes me wondering what is the agenda of the paper. Is the paper confirming that what Jamil Anderlini’s condemnation of Chinese as racists is true? Or is the paper simply saying that there are people like Jamil Anderlini who is obsessed in his thoughts that the Chinese are racists? Or is the paper saying that this Asian American and The Financial Times was trying to distract the brutal killings of a black teenager by a white mob of policemen in the US by condemning the Chinese to take the attention away?
 
Looking into the content of the article, the only thing the author could say about Chinese racism is name calling or jingoism. And indirectly he is saying that he and his race are free from such name calling and jingoism. What is glaring is that the Chinese style racism of name calling to this Jamil is more serious than the white form of racism when coloured people are murdered in cold blood or attacked physically by the whites. I just hope this Jamil will have a taste of white racism to change his mind. Or maybe he had but chose to live with the bruises and his bruised ego.
 
The big question is, how many coloured people have been subjected to physical violence by the white men in the US, UK, Europe and Australia, and how many non Chinese have been subjected to physical violence by the Chinese in China or in other countries? All I know is that the Chinese have been victims of racism in the US, UK, Europe and Australia and even in Singapore by white men. Not true?
 
I am still puzzled for the reasons to publish this biased report against the Chinese as a people in the Today paper. The Chinese are racists? I say fuck you. Now would that make me a racist?

I  may also want to ask, what is the agenda of this Jamil? Does he has a sinister motive?

Kopi Level - Green

The USA telling the world it needs help

The Americans are telling the world that they need their help to contain the spread of militant Islam. The genie was then in a bottle guarded by its guardians, the Saddams and the Gaddafis of the Arab World. They were able to keep the genie in the bottle with a forceful hand for decades. Under their dictatorships, the genie had no chance to get out of the bottle to create havoc to the Arab World and threatening the Americans and the rest of the world.
 
The Americans chose to do it on their own, ignoring the rest of the world, to kill the guardians of the genie of militant Islam. Now the genie is out of the bottle and the Americans panicked. Help, help, the genie is out of control.
 
Would the rest of the world listen to this notorious international bully who is creating troubles everywhere, in everyone’s backyard and front porch? The Americans have been bullying everyone and dictating to everyone, or to face the consequences of being on the American blacklist and faced all kinds of sanctions and harassments. Now the Americans are calling for their victims to come to the Americans’ aid, to put the genie back into the bottle.
 
Why should the rest of the world be responsible to put the genie back? Did the Americans consult the rest of the world when they unilaterally went ahead to release the genie? Now the Americans are frightened. The Americans know that they are the number one target of the genie. They forgot that they are the world’s Number One superpower and can do as they pleased, doing it on their own, with all their mighty firepower to destroy whoever they want to. Do the Americans really need the rest of the world to tackle the genie? They could bring back all their trouble making naval fleets from all corners of the world to deal with the genie instead of creating troubles elsewhere. These resources must be more than enough to deal with the genie.
 
Why should the rest of the world be led by the big bully to clean up the mess it created in defiance of the rest of them? The rest of the world must be grinning and telling themselves that it would be good if the Americans are forced to pull back their trouble making troops from their doorsteps to deal with genie. Why should they want to help the trouble maker to keep their troops in their neighbourhood? They must be quietly saying, ‘It’s your problem, not ours’.

Live by the gun, die by the gun.

Kopi Level - Green

Why Singaporeans must reclaim ownership to this country

Many things are going the way against the wishes of Singaporeans. And Singaporeans are just hapless, unable to do anything about it except to kpkb, not consulted or ignored. Singaporeans must eventually come to a point when they could not bear it any longer. They will have to decide enough is enough and want to recover their rights to decide what they want for their country and what kind of life they want for themselves and their children. And definitely not what a few people think and decide for them and thumping their nose at the Singaporeans.

Singaporeans must decide how many foreigners they want to have in this country.
Singaporeans must decide how many citizenships they want to give away.
Singaporeans must decide how much the govt should be paid, not to be decided by the incumbents.
Singaporeans must decide how big is the govt and how many political appointments can be allowed. It is public money and no one can suka suka create as many appointments as they want and pay as much as they want.
Singaporeans must decide the cost of public services especially housing and medical care and university places for Singaporeans.
Singaporeans must decide how to take care of the senior citizens and what kind of budget to provide for them.
Singaporeans must decide how big should the national reserves be and how the reserves should be used for their benefits.
Singaporeans must know how much is in the national reserves and where are they.
Singaporeans must decide whether they want so many foreigners to be employed in govt services and GLCs and to rule over them.
Singaporeans must decide on a fair and equitable political system.
Singaporeans must decide how and when they should take back their CPF savings.

There are many more things to add to this list that should be decided by Singaporeans and not by a few proxies that took upon themselves to decide everything for Singaporeans as if they own this island and with total disregard to what the Singaporeans want or do not want. Singaporeans must put a stop to the usurpation of their rights by politicians to chart the course of the country and their lives.

The country and all its assets belong to all Singaporeans and no one is allowed to give it away without the consent of the Singaporeans. How the country is to be run, which direction it should be going, must be decided by Singaporeans. No political party or politician should ever think that once in power they can do anything they want as if the Singaporeans are non existent, or their servants or slaves. Singaporeans must be the master of their country and to chart their own destiny. They must not lose these by default or by surrendering it to a few individuals.

Singapore must not become a modern day Troy when the Singaporeans party and celebrate everyday oblivious to the dangers around them. When they sleep the Greeks could be there planning to take over their city. Modern day Troy does not need a Trojan Horse when the Greeks are invited in with open legs. What is the point of a prosperous Singapore when glory, joy and honour go to the Greeks?

Kopi Level - Green

Second Singapore story

The Regimental Sergeant shouted at the soldiers to form up at the parade square to cite the national pledge. He explained to them that they must clench their right fist and put it on the chest where the heart is before making the pledge.

At his command all the soldiers raised their right hand and promptly put their fists over their hearts. Then they shouted in one voice, ‘We the citizens of…..’ only to be interrupted by the RSM’s shout of ‘samulah’. Hope I get this Malay command right.

On hearing the RSM’s command the soldiers freezed and stopped the citing the pledge immediately. The RSM screamed at one of the soldiers. ‘You Sir, why is your hand not over your heart?’

Apparently the soldier had place his fist way below where his heart was.

‘Is that where your heart is?’ The RSM growled.

‘No Sir. That is my liver Sir. I have no heart Sir.’ The soldier replied.

Kopi Level - Yellow

Babes at COMEX 2014 - Suntec City

I was there to pick up a gadget and there was this show with babes parading down the catwalk with their products. Luckily I had a spare camera in my bag and shot a few. Not as good a I would want them without my primary cameras but decent enough. Tonight's is the last night of the show.

A few pleasing pics for Sunday.

Singapore story

This guy went to the casino and lost his pants. He went home and shouted aggressively at his father and mother. You old people are so stupid. You will soon be cheated of all your savings. Hand them to me, go to your bank and withdraw every cent and I will keep them for you. I will give each of you $200 every month until you die. That I will guarantee.
 
The two old folks were so terrified by the threatening voice of their son and duly went to the bank, took out their life savings and handed them to their gambler son.
 
What do you think the son will do with the money? If lucky, he would win more money in the casino and pay them back in time. If unlucky, he would lose everything and return to demand the two oldies to sell their assets to patch up the losses. In the meantime he still has to appear to look good and continue to pay the two oldies $200, and go on holidays to give the oldies some confidence that their money is still there.

Kopi Level - Yellow

The wolves and foxes met in secret

Someone told me of a story of a pack of wolves and foxes having a secret meeting to decide how to take care of a chicken coop. Somehow, for whatever reasons, the wolves and foxes were the guardians of the chickens. And they really cared for the welfare of the chickens affectionately.

They were so concern about the chickens that they held a meeting in the middle of the night. Among the agenda were items on how to ensure that the chickens remain lean and fit so that they could continue to lay the golden eggs. One suggestion was that the chicken must not be over fed. Made sure they just have enough or they would become lazy. Another was that the chicken must be kept fit and must receive a lot of exercise. Put them on the threadmill and run them non stop. An exhausted and tired chicken would not have time for anything, definitely no time to think of anything. Another suggested that the chicken must not know how many eggs they had laid to prevent them from becoming complacent or thinking that they had a big nest of eggs. Another suggested to hide the eggs from the chicken and when they were old and could not lay eggs anymore, they could, with all generosity, put an egg in their nest every other day to give the impression that could have an egg, once a while. This would be kind to them and good for their morale when they were retirement. It was like a goodwill gesture for a lifetime of egg layings.

Because the issues were so sensitive and important to the chickens, no chickens were invited to the meeting to know what was going on. Only their representatives were there, the foxes and the wolves, to speak for them and to look after their interests and well being.

I must say that the chickens are in good hands, in the hands of caring wolves and foxes.

Kopi Level - Blue. Thank you.

Is healthcare subsidy part of government grant?

Or just an avenue to to claim something else?

This is the bill of my 15 year old child who had waited for hours to see a
doctor for 5 minutes.

1-The consultation fee “full amount” is stated as “$38.97”.

Consultation fees of private clinics like the Healthway Medical Group range
from $22 to $35. In my child’s case, it would have been about only $22 at a
private clinic.  There are also neighbourhood private clinics charging
below this rate. The consultation fees at public clinics are expected to be
much lower for obvious reasons eg. no rental cost, lower staff salaries,
etc

Why do polyclinics jack up consultation fees to about 100% above average
private consultation fees and then subsequently offer an unbelievable
grant?

2 – The full amount of Paracetamol is stated as “$5.29”. But the retail price of a box of 20 tablets is only $2.50 at Guardian. Why do polyclinics mark up more than 100% from retail price and than offer an unbelievable grant?

A better comparison would of course be online prices. In the UK, a box of
16 tablets costs about S$0.50, which is a fraction of the stated price at
polyclinics.

MOH purchases Paracetamol in bulk which should mean they are even cheaper
than online prices. Which company does the MOH buy at such high prices from?

3 – Government grant – “46.12”. A grant is an expenditure item. Which companies are the recipients of all such government grants?

Attendance at polyclinics was 4,623,600 in 2013. If government grants
averaged $46 per patient last year, more than $212 million would have been
paid out by the government. Who ultimately receives the grants?

Instead of reigning in public healthcare costs, the PAP government uses tax
dollars (grants) to support and increase healthcare costs to unaffordable
levels. How could a visit to a polyclinic for a common ailment such as cough cost
$54 (before grants) when private clinics are charging much less?

This is ridiculous considering polyclinics:

- do not pay rent
- are not profit making
- have overall lower staff costs
- purchase medication in bulk
- provide a lower service than private clinics eg longer waiting time.

Conclusion

It is wrong for the PAP government to privatise public healthcare costs and
subsequently offer a “government grant”’. Hundreds of millions of dollars
have been paid out as “government grant”.

Phillip Ang

I received the above article through the mail. Looking at the numbers raised by Phillip Ang, they raised many questions on the funny formula of subsidies and govt grants. Why is there a necessity to have this complicated formula when a patient needs only to pay the net amount?

This reminds me of the PGP and the discounts that the pioneer generations are supposed to receive. What if like the above article has said, the fees have already been raised and the subsidies or discounts are as good as meaningless? Does anyone has any official figures on the hikes in medical fees and prices of medicine over the last 12 months to prove that there are indeed substantial hikes that will negate all the good discounts and the good feelings of the pioneers that they are really going to get a good deal?

If the hikes are more than the discounts or subsidies, then what? If the hikes are equivalent to the discounts or subsidies, it would mean LPPL.

Kopi Level - Blue. Thank you.

CPF savings – Tyranny of the minority

Why are a few million CPF members being held at ransom and at the mercy of a few individuals? Who or how many people are involved in deciding the fate of the money of the millions of CPF members, current and many to come? Why should these few individuals, an absolute minority that is too small to be meaningful, and assuming so much power to micro manage the life savings of the people?
 
After all the kpkb at Hong Lim and the social media, the Govt is taking notice and knows that if nothing is done, something is going to give way. And in the recent NDR, Hsien Loong did made a few changes and concessions, which to many were far from enough or meaningful.
 
In today’s ST, it was reported that the unionists are showing concern that allowing the poor CPF members to take a little more of them money out at 55 or 65 would do harm to their little savings. That if done, the little savings will be even more little for their retirements. I say, thank you very much for your concern and we all know you all have a very good heart.
 
Everyone is talking about those who are living to 90 or 100 and as if CPF is their only means to live their lives. Many have other forms or ways to survive their retirements. But most crucial, many will die without seeing their CPF savings, without having a chance to enjoy a little bit of them. Things are not so simple and straight forward like everyone is irresponsible and will go to Batam.
 
And who gives these bleeding hearts the authority to meddle with the lives and life savings of the people, a few millions of them? Who do they think they are? God? My God, if they are the Gods, the people must kneel down to beg for mercy as their kindness are deadly and could lead to tragedies to many.
 
If they think they are that kind and compassionate and wanting to help, open your pocket and take out your own money to give to those who need. Stop taking the money from those in need and stop telling them you are helping them. You are not helping them. You are meddling with their lives and causing pain and sufferings.
 
Good grief! What about those who die without benefiting from their life savings? What are you going to do about it? What is your solution?

Kopi Level - Blue. Thank you.

All the fuzz and buzz about trains and dog

These few days the buzz is all about trains and dogs. A forumer sent me this to show his unhappiness over the ill treatment of dogs and animals. Human beans are often oblivious to what they do to the animals and what seemed good or right for the beans could be cruelty to the animals. I hope no one would suggest tying a string over the dogs urinal organ if it go peeing everywhere. It is so easy and convenient for the human beans to do it to the animals.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/dog-disturbances-hdb/1333756.html

I refer to the above.
I strongly oppose to both the debarking methods proposed to be used to debark the dog, ie use of debarking collars or through surgery.
I feel the owners should be trained instead. Give the dogs freedom, and not let them be caged or leashed to a corner of the house. Dog barks because they are bored and stressed. Take them out for regular execise, give them more attention. Treat them like family members.

I suggest that HDB, AVA, and SPCA or other relevant authority make visits to homes reported to have dog barking nuisance, and see for themselves how the dogs are being handled. If dogs are being chained or caged, the owners should be warned, and if necessary, repeat offenders be fined or dogs taken away and owners be charged in court for animal abuse. The law should be changed to provide for the welfare of dogs.

Regards

Chong Kok Keong

America’s four corner fight

The Americans have lost control of the battlefields that they have started. They no longer could pick and choose where to start a fire and when to end a war. They are now reacting to the wars they started. The thinking that they could shut it down and move on to another theatre to start a new war is no longer that easy.
 
Today, the genie of war will follow and shadow the Americans wherever they go once it is out of the bottle. The Palestinian Israelis conflict will forever be dogging the Americans and Washington. It is an unending war of attrition. But the bigger quagmire must be Iraq. No, you can’t leave them alone after messing up the country. The Americans are needed to mend the holes it had created. The genie is growing in strength and demands attention. Obama is now in deep shit, to go back in or to wipe his hands? The latter option will see a more dangerous Iraq than under Saddam. The ISIS will be the dominant power in Iraq and the Middle East, and will be a bigger headache for the United States of Israel.
 
Then there is Syria. The ISIS is there too, fighting Assad. The American supported rebels are also fighting Assad. The fall of Assad would mean ISIS fighting the rebels and the Americans. But there is also the Russian factor. Putin would not allow Syria to fall into the hands of the Americans. Once the Americans move in, Ukraine will flare up and fall into Russian hands. The Russians have moved in and will consolidate its control over Ukraine and the former Soviet Union states. Would the Americans dare to venture into Russian territories?
 
With Ukraine secured, the Russians will move in strongly into Syria to confront the Americans. The Middle East, Palestinian/Israelis conflict and Ukraine will form the three corners the Americans have to fight on. And the fourth corner, the Afghanstan and Talebans/Al Qaeda will raise their presence and drag the Americans back into the region.
 
How would these four corner wars affect the American pivot in East Asia? The temperature in the region is heating up with the Americans increasing their provocations against the Chinese. Can the Americans afford another front? Do the Americans have the money to finance a 5 corner warfare? Do the American people still have the stomach to fight losing wars that are so costly and drag the American economy into the doldrum? Once a theatre is open, there is no way of extricating themselves out like in Korea or Vietnam. The wars will continue to drag on and on and drain on the limited resources of the Americans. Washington must know by now that they are not the chess master deciding on how many boards they want to play. Once the game has started, the opponents will insist the Americans play the game to the end. And there will be no easy quick checkmates.
 
The warmongers are stuck in the quicksand of wars they started.Can the Americans afford to do mischiefs in Asia?

Kopi Level -Blue. Thank you.

In praise of the Singapore Govt

Like it or not, love it or hate it, the Singapore Govt is about the most creative and innovative institution in the whole wide world when creation of value is concerned. Just look at the COE, it is really a piece of worthless paper, but the Govt can sell it to the motorists for $70k to $90k, just for the right to buy a car. The actual market value of a car could be less than half of the COE. The value created is unimaginable. Then there is the ERP, or electronic road pricing. The Govt just erected a few pillars, armed them with some electronics and the motorists just pay and pay, each pass costing a $1, $3 or more. With millions of motorists travelling all over the islands, with a multiples of such ERPs all over the island, the govt are printing money faster than the FED in the USA.

Now what else are they creating value out of nothing or creating extraordinary value from ordinary items? Public housing that was once available for the price of a song is now sold in hundreds of thousands and going higher and higher while the lease gets shorter and shorter. For the price of cheaply designed and constructed public flat with a 99 year old lease, they are selling to the people in terms of $200k, $300k, $500k and more. For the same sum of money, one could easily buy an estate 10 times or more with freehold land in many countries. Here it is like buying concrete containers built one on top of the other, and they sold them to the people as quality housing.

And they branded themselves as super talents, employed in public service and political appointments and marketed themselves to the tune of millions of dollars annually, making a mockery of the salary of the President of America. And what are the skills or abilities, responsibilities or achievements of the incumbents to deserve such remunerations? What did they do to be paid in the millions?

Who can create this kind of value out of ordinary people whose best achievements were mainly academic qualifications?

The shop keepers’ rent for a shop space, some as small as 50 sq ft, could be $10k or $20k pm or more. Everything that is of hardly any value, in the hands of these super talents will turn to gold, or at least the value of gold. Our Govt has the Midas touch, in creating value.

And who are paying for these artificially created values? Never mind, the important thing is the talent to create these values that no one else would be willing to pay for but to make Sinkies paying for them happily.

Say what you like, you must take your hat’s off to them. Wonder if they could create the same kind of value in other countries? Obama and all the ex Presidents of the USA have very poor skills in marketing themselves and the values of their jobs. The govts of the world should engage our govt to restructure their remunerations and sell it to their people.

Kopi Level - Green

Developing Singapore into a Smart Nation

There is this article by a Jenson Goh in the Today paper on this topic and titled ‘Developing the “heartware” for a Smart Nation. What does this mean, a nation of smart people or what? According to Yaacob Inbrahim, a Smart Nation starts with the hardware, ie tapping on the potential of infocomm and media. This is definitely not the Smart Nation I was thinking of, a nation of smart people, but more an attempt to tap on the advantages of technology and communication.
 
Yaacob went on to elaborate on the use of big data to understand human behavior and the interconnectivity of all kinds of modern devices to give instant information. While writing this, the thought of traffic lights for human beans in MRT stations came to mind. We need devices like traffic lights to inform the people whether the station is crowded or not and how to make decisions like taking alternative transport if it is crowded. This is what a Smart Nation is supposed to be in its basic form. Never mind if the people may become more stupid and dependent on machines and devices to tell them what to do. Won’t it be nice if the people will react to light signals, green they start walking, red, they stop?
 
Yaacob and his ministry have been thinking, and I think the govt too, and they have come to the conclusion that ‘All problems of a city can be traced to a single factor: Rapid growth, which places massive strain on its support infrastructure. (So) The development of a Smart Nation platform can go a long way in overcoming this challenge.’ Thank God they finally discovered the causes of the problems in this city. And they are going to take actions, to turn this city into a Smart Nation or city, so that all the problems would be solved. I remember the story of putting the cart before the donkey, or was it closing the barn door after the pony has bolted out? Never mind.
 
There is also the element of the people, the heartware. Now which should come first, smart people first before Smart Nation or Smart Nation then smart people? Let mean put it the other way, smart people make Smart Nation or Smart Nation makes smart people? Or it could be Smart Nation makes robotic people. I think it is easy to have Smart Nation first as the hardware can be bought. Having a nation of smart people is a bit more difficult, and to make matter worse, it is not easy to turn a nation of daft into smart people. It is a daunting task, must be. If it is difficult, then perhaps there is also an easy solution to it. Replace the daft with smart people from the world. We can just bring in the best to replace the daft should be easy. We have started in many areas, sports talents, IT talents, finance talents, academics, medical and legal professions etc etc.
 
I think we can dovetail the pursuit of both Smart Nation and smart people simultaneously, just buy the equipment and bring the smart people in. But why Smart Nation? The big data and connectivity of devices could bring instant feedback. Not sure how much it will cost. I thought a cheaper way to get instant feedback is Reach or maybe TRE. Cheap and good, unless these feedbacks are not from smart people or smart machines and devices, so no pakai.
 
The thought of living in a Smart Nation in the morning is quite comforting, something to look forward to. Those not smart people, I mean those that cannot adapt to new devices and technology, please go for classes to upgrade yourself to be smart beans if you want to live in a Smart Nation. And for a start, please get to understand what the three colours of traffic light in the train station meant and what actions to take when you see them.
 
Have a good day dreaming of a Smart Nation.

PS, has anyone installed a GPS at home so that he would not be lost finding his way to the toilet?

Kopi Level - Green

Would you like to work at 85?

The chances of getting a job at 85 are still there. For those who need the dignity of a job at 85, fear not, there are jobs available, provided you are a non graduate. The working life of Singaporean graduates, unless you belong to the immortal class, is about 45 to 55. After that it is self employed as taxi drivers, or if you are lucky, as security guards. I think the working life span of a security guard is about 70.
 
85 is only for those non grads who are prepared to work as cleaners. Maybe a grad could do as well if he does not mine. A job is a job. And if one has a job, what is there to kpkb about. Be grateful for the privilege.
 
Here is a short extract of a letter to Gilbert of Transitioning.org.
 
‘Dear Gilbert,
 
The cleaning companies of Singapore working at Changi Airport use Singaporean old lady for heavy duty work.
 
She is 85 years old and I really felt sorry for her on my departure at the airport.
I asked her why she is struggling with the heavy thrash in the departure hall and she said this is her part-time work for the airport….’
 
Some may think letting a 85 year old to work as a cleaner is not appropriate, not the right thing to do. Some may say the 85 year old is lucky, as she can live a dignified life, earning her keeps and be independent. Not sure how she thinks? Would she be cursing and swearing that she still has to toil at that age? Or would she really be saying, I am proud to be working and don’t have to depend on others for handouts. Or would she be saying she loves to work?
 
What do you think?

Kopi Level -  Green

The American bully at it again

Since the downing of an American reconnaissance plane in Hainan Island in 2001, things got quiet down for a while. The Americans have always been flying spy missions over China and only stopped after several U2s were shot down in the 1960s. Spying missions were than restricted to the coastal waters and airspace of eastern China and have been going on continuously as if telling and taunting China that it can’t do anything about it. The seas and airspace around China are the playground of the American military aircraft and ships, so said the Empire.
 
All these hostile military missions were hardly reported by the western media, a self censorship not to highlight the provocative acts of the Americans. What would happen if the Russians or Chinese were to fly their spy planes along the western American coasts? China has always been branded as becoming more assertive when it flies its military craft, air and sea, in its territorial waters and airspace. If China would to fly its aircraft along American coast, would the Americans be crying war? Of course they will, and the whole western media will be thumping down China as a hostile nation.
 
What the fuck are the Americans doing, flying spy missions along the Chinese coasts like it is their playground and think it is acceptable? China is now able to take them down and would not allow the Americans to go on spying and teasing them. The bullying of China is coming to an end. The whole world must know that the real bully is the Americans. And the Americans are not doing it only to China but to the rest of the world, spying on them in all ways and thumping their nose at the rest of the world.
 
The recent confrontation in the airspace of Hainan Island is being trumped by the Americans that it was the fault of the Chinese. That the Americans can fly along Chinese territories to spy on China and China must not do anything about it. This kind of unfriendly acts would have to come to an end. The Chinese will increasingly push back the Americans to the Americas. This is Asia and China will guard its airspace and territorial seas like the Americans will guard theirs.
 
Whatever the Americans are doing to China, China will do the same to the Americans one day. The Chinese and the Americans are meeting to talk about this incident. It is best that the American bully starts to stop such unfriendly acts to another superpower. China must tell the Americans both can play the game. If the Americans persist in such unfriendly acts, China would do the same. Would the Americans be happy if the Chinese would to fly their planes and sail their ships along the American coasts? Yes, the Chinese is catching up with the Americans militarily and would catch up with the Americans in their unfriendly acts as well if the Americans do not stop their nonsense. The days when the Americans can bully the Chinese are over.
 
What occurred a couple of days ago over Hainan will be repeated until the Americans stop their unfriendly acts. The bully must not be allowed to keep on bullying other countries. The bully must be stopped. The bully does not own the world. Pax Americana is coming to an end. America would have to retreat to be the bully of the Americas, and perhaps Europe and Africa. East Asia will not be its playground with impunity for long.

Kopi Level - Green

In praise of non grads – What’s the agenda?

University degrees not necessary have been trumped around for a while with ministers talking about better prospects as hawkers and crane drivers and being more desirable. What’s the point of a degree when you cannot eat it or cannot get a job? After what was spoken at the NDR, the praising for non uni grads, particularly poly grads, took on more steam. It is like everything about university education is wrong and the future is in poly grads and non grads. There is no doubt that poly grads have an important role in the economy and some could do very well. They were the stars during the semi conductor era when Singapore was a manufacturing hub and many rose to become CEOs of multinationals.
 
Things have changed, jobs have changed, the employers have changed, govt policies have changed, and the new animal, foreigners, have dominated the employment scene as employers, recruitment agents and as the preferred sources of talents. We have seen many PMEs being booted out of their jobs in their primes and unable to find another job as the foreigners took over. Our local university grads are found to be either dumb, not smart enough or trained to unemployment or with unsuitable marketable skills.
 
And we have something like 6 universities and more joint universities instead of just the Singapore University and NTU. This could be just one of the reasons, over production of graduates. Like Douglas Chua said in the ST forum, education policy needs a rethink, ‘it has either been overdone, resulting in an oversupply of graduates, or its current benefits are not as relevant to our open, pragmatic economy’. This is a most surprising statement from a forumer.
 
What the hell is going on? The govt does not know what it was doing and messing up education again? On one hand, so many universities were set up and on the other hand saying there is an oversupply and we don’t really need graduates from the universities but poly grads or non grads?
 
I can think of another reason. Since our local graduates are not marketable or employable, and our citizens are good only in technical and lower management jobs, and only foreigners are good and preferred for top jobs, yes, it is only pragmatic to cut down on university education. We don’t need so many local graduates and universities. We only need to import all the talents that we need. I think this is a good policy. We can then either close down a few of the universities and save some money and land. Or perhaps these universities can be turned strictly into commercial enterprises, be self funding and self sustaining, with the highly paid foreign lecturers and professors being paid by the fees from foreign students. The scaling back is good and natural. We would be self sufficient in having local hawkers too, not dependent on PRC hawkers. And we can go back to the days of SU and NTU to provide the few grads we need.
 
Do I make any sense? Are we really going to go the non uni road, to produce more non uni grads and be dependent on foreign uni grads for our top jobs, management jobs?
 
What do you think? What is the new education policy? What are the employment opportunities for our average local talents, the Ah Bengs, Ahmads and Aruns?

Kopi Level - Green

Singaporean First Party - A new party is formed

PRESS RELEASE

Dear fellow Singaporeans, friends and supporters,

I am pleased to announce that SINGAPOREANS FIRST has been successfully registered as a society by the Registry of Societies. Following the registration, we submitted our proposed party symbol for approval. We expect the process to take a few weeks. Until it is approved, we cannot make use of the party logo.

We can now conduct activities of an approved political party. We need members to help us. If you share our beliefs and values (as stated in our Manifesto here), please join us by filling up this SINGAPOREANS FIRST MEMBERSHIP FORM

In the months ahead, we will be planning a series of activities leading up to the next General Election. We welcome ideas from all Singaporeans. You can approach any of the members of the protem committee listed below:

Chairman : Dr Ang Yong Guan,
Vice chairman : Tan Peng Ann,
Secretary-General : Tan Jee Say,
Assistant-Secretary General : Loke Pak Hoe,
Treasurer : Dr David Foo Ming Jin,
Assistant Treasurer : Fatimah Akhtar,
Members : Michael Chia, Fahmi Rais, Winston Lim, David Tan.

We look forward to your support.

Tan Jee Say
Singaporeans First Party

Kopi Level - Green