GE2015 – A contest for nobilities and aristocrats or for the average Singaporeans

This GE is getting more interesting by the days. There are many ways to stack the cards for the contest. There is the very serious challenge concerning many issues and policies that would divide the people and many would affect them personally, especially their pockets and the future of their children. The contest could also be featured as a contest between the nobilities and aristocrats wanting to rule the country and people and the ordinary people wanting to rule the country themselves.

To the nobles and aristocrats, they have virtually everything material, and the money to live a very good life they are born with. They are natural in living a life of plenty. Why would they want to waste their time meddling with so many complex problems of the people and risk the wrath of the people for doing things wrongly? I think they are doing all these for altruistic reasons, not for money or self interest. You may disagree. It is not easy to find selfless people in this pragmatic society.  Thank God there are so many living among us. They want to work for the people, to serve the people, to make life good for the people. It simply says that these are good people with hearts of gold, or pure hearts. As Chan Chun Sing commented, anyone wanting to stand for election must have pure hearts and the nobles and aristocrats have pure hearts, hearts of gold for sure.

The peasants, the ordinary Singaporeans, by extrapolations, must have questionable hearts, very likely not pure. So before they stand up to want to be elected, they would need to have their hearts examined to confirm their hearts are pure. Pure means pure or whatever that means. One thing is for sure, no bad hearts or dirty hearts. How did the PAP come up with so many natural nobles and aristocrats with pure hearts, or how did they know? I dunno, but they do know. That is why they are telling people not to contest the election if their hearts are not pure. Would this be a prerequisite in the election, candidates must satisfy the election committee that their hearts are pure?

So, would the ordinary people vote for nobles and aristocrats with pure hearts to serve them, or would they vote for ordinary people with ordinary hearts, maybe not so pure, to serve them?  I will definitely vote for anyone if I know that his heart is pure. My problem is that I cannot tell and did not know how to tell if someone’s heart is pure or not.

Can anyone help me on this? Then I can blog about it to tell the ordinary Singaporeans how to determine what is a pure heart and who has a pure heart. Maybe it is a given, nobles and aristocrats have pure hearts to want to serve the people. Never mind that if their lifestyle needs millions to be satisfied. If the hearts are pure, it is worth every cent paid to them. Paying the ordinary Singaporeans could be cheaper as they don’t need to eat XO ‘chai tau kuay’ or fine cuisine. But their hearts not sure pure or not. That is a given.

Natural nobilities and aristocracy have natural pure hearts. They came from Pure Land, resided in churches, temples, monasteries and holy grounds up in the clouds. The average and ordinary Singaporeans are likely to come from the heartlands, a bit smelly to some, and take trains. Not being pure is quite natural. The best they could offer is a good heart with cheaper taste and cheaperer desires.

Professor Paul Tambyah – An endorsement for SDP

SDP has for years been the party associated with Chee Soon Juan, or Chee Soon Juan has always been the face of SDP.  The appearance of Paul Tambyah as another face for the SDP comes at an opportune time. Paul Tambyah is likely to be a key member of SDP leadership and his face is likely to give SDP a refreshing new image.

From the responses and comments in TRE, Paul Tambyah is most welcomed and has brought along with him a lot of goodwill and promises for SDP. Just to be able to attract such a strong candidate to the party speaks a lot about the potential of SDP. For professionals like Paul Tambyah and his likes, they would be big catches even for the PAP and would be touted as ministerial material. For him to pick a controversial party like SDP and Chee Soon Juan as comrades in arms must not be an easy decision and many things must have gone through his mind to make this bold move. Paul Tambyah and other professionals joining the SDP is a sign that SDP is not a whimsical and notorious party but a credible and respectable one. They must have seen goodness in the party to move out of their comfort zone to endorse SDP and Chee Soon Juan. The thinking are thinking and showing the light to the unthinking.

As the GE draws closer, if SDP is able to unveil more professionals and credible candidates, and so would be the expectations for other parties like the WP and SingFirst, the opposition camp will be very much strengthened and be seen as a formidable force to reckon with. If each of these parties could parade a few big guns, you can imagine what a coalition govt would look like and place their faces in the shadow cabinet.

The voters would love more of such surprises from the opposition camp especially SDP and WP and other more substantive parties. The voters would now not only think of Chee Soon Juan as SDP. There is Paul Tambyah, and hopefully a few more in the next few weeks to come.

The good men and women are standing up and coming forward to be counted. It is about time.

MH370 – Is there any mystery?

The bits and pieces of MH370 appearing at the Reunion Island are quite expected if the conspiracy theory holds true. It fits into the theory that everyone had been talking about since its disappearance. Diego Garcia anyone? Where is Diego Garcia and who are there operating this secretive military base?  MH370 was never in the Southern Indian Ocean as the Australians would like everyone to believe and trying to mislead, wasting precious time and effort searching in that area. It was just a diversion to take all the attention away from the real location of the aircraft, Diego Garcia. For the moment the theory is still fiction until there is confirmation one day in the future.

How could an aircraft lost in the South China Sea ended with some parts found in the eastern sea of Africa, in the Indian Ocean? Alright, no one has any proof but many are quite sure that their theory of what happened was exactly what happened. Just like the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, there is a message to say I can do whatever I want to you and you can’t do anything about it.

The circus should end soon. But the non mystery would remain a mystery and waiting to see the light and scores to be settled. What you sowed you shall reap. The Japanese sowed the murder of American seamen in Pearl Harbour and was repaid by two Atomic bombs. The invasion of Asia and South East Asia was paid for by being semi colonised by the Americans and the death of its citizens and soldiers in the last stage of WW2 culminating in an unconditional surrender to the Allies.

So far only one nation has reaped its evil and continued to prosper, from the killings of the native Indians in North America, black slavery, the Korean War, Vietnam War, invasion of several African and Middle Eastern states, murders, assassinations, regime change, Belgrade and this MH370, ...the score sheet is very long and would be settled one day. The debt owed and to be repaid is huge. Unless God is American, white American, the glee and celebration for committing evil must come to an end.

Who did it? Who took away MH370 and all the lives in it?

Hsien Loong and Heng Chee – An uncomfortable conversation

I took time to listen to what I thought would be a conversation that was best forgotten given the fact that Chan Heng Chee has been the establishment’s top diplomat for over 3 decades. I was just curious to see how much Heng Chee has changed in her thinking and would the conversation turn out to be a farce. My conclusion is that it was a conversation best forgotten for several reasons, not that Heng Chee did not try her best. She did ask very uncomfortable questions and Hsien Loong was very uncomfortable with the kind of questions posed.

Heng Chee raised pertinent issues that have contributed to the angst in the internet, issues that Singaporeans are very agitated and emotionally upset about though some in the establishment chose not to know or chose to appear surprise that they existed. And yes, she was most uncomfortable and obviously frustrated at the replies but had to remain polite without lashing out in exasperation. You could see it in her face.

The main concerns were about the future of Singapore, the influx of ‘foreign talents’ and the fate of PMETs. While Heng Chee was probing for answers on the welfare of the PMETs and how the Govt were responding to improve their lot, Hsien Loong as usual was talking about foreign workers. Who cares about foreign workers? That is not the issue, they are acceptable to provide the cheap labour. It is the host of problems faced by the PMETs and the lost of good jobs to ‘foreign talents’ that put these PMETs in a very precarious and financially disadvantaged position that needed to be addressed. You could see the tense expression in Heng Chee’s face when the answers were deflected by talking around foreign workers.

Some general statements were volunteered like the Govt was working very hard, honestly wanting to improve the lot of the displaced PMETs, but how, when they lost their jobs and could not find similar jobs, to accept lower paying jobs in their 40s and 50s? Is that helping them, solving their problems, or let NTUC suggest sending them overseas, to earn even lesser incomes?

Heng Chee reminded Hsien Loong that his concern about the next 50 years is one thing, but was Hsien Loong concern about the present, yes the problems the PMETs are facing today. Some vague answers came forth towards what the govt is doing to alleviate the plight of the PMETs today and his Govt is doing all they could, honestly, to help the PMETs.  Hsien Loong appeared to be very comfortable with the situation at the moment, balanced and about right, everything is fine now. He was only worried about 50 years in the future. He seemed so out of touch from the realities on the ground. And when Heng Chee persisted by talking about now and the next 25 years,, Hsien Loong responded that it was a tough question. 25 years difficult to deal with, what is the point of talking about 50 years? To him, there is no problem today, but in 25 years time, very difficult but not to worry. Let’s worry about whether there is still a Singapore and a Singapore identity in 50 years time.

It was a most awkward conversation and you could see it all over Hsien Loong and Heng Chee’s body language. Thank God she did not come across as someone trying to carry on a conversation for the sake of a conversation. She posed pressing and tough questions that the Govt has no answers. And thank God the agony lasted only 30 minutes for both of them.

Now you understand why the conversation is best forgotten, not for the lack of effort and seriousness on the part of Heng Chee trying to get Hsien Loong to focus on the immediate problems faced by the PMETs and the people and not about some airy fairy futures 50 years from now. I am not disappointed with Heng Chee for her attempt to strike up a serious conversion on the future of Singapore and the pathetic fate of the PMETs. Unfortunately the conversation led to nowhere and both were so relieved when it was over.

Medishield Life – CPF owes you or you owe CPF money?

I quote here a couple of paragraphs from Leslie Chew’s article titled, ‘With friends like these, you don’t need enemies’ posted in TRE. In his concise post he explained why and how our savings in the CPF would turn from a credit to a liability with the introduction of Medishield Life. For now many people with money in the CPF are smiling thinking that the CPF owes them money. Once they retired and started to pay and pay for the Medishild Life till they reach 80, 90 or older, without an income, they will deplete whatever savings left in the CPF, including all the minimum sums, to service this insurance scheme that many don’t need and did not want’

Here’s the quote,

‘And now, he set(s) up a new company and force(s) your whole family to buy his insurance. The premiums will be deducted from the money he owes you. Opting out is not an option, as he will just deduct whether you like it or not. Furthermore, he alone will get to decide on how much the premiums are and you have no say.

Eventually, the premiums are going to wipe out whatever amount he owes you. That is when things get interesting. Now instead of him owing you money, you owe him. And with that, you have to pay him cash for the premiums he demands. If you fail to pay, he will file an injunction to prevent you from leaving the country, even if it is just for a short trip to relax in nearby JB, till you somehow manage to cough up money to pay him. On top of that, he will demand that you pay as high as 17% interests on whatever he says you owe him. If you keep refusing to make payment into his scam, he will have you thrown in jail.’

 

The ingenious Medishield Life Insurance scheme, a compulsory scheme designed and decided unilaterally and arbirarily by the Govt, will change the status of creditors to debtors and vice versa. This is what you paid millions of dollars for, for brilliant people and their brilliant schemes? It is simply too brilliant, or is it that the people are just too daft to say no?

There are several aspects of this Medishield Life that are simply vicious and unjust. Many people are losing their jobs in their 40s and 50s despite the raising of retirement age. How are these people going to service the premiums for the next 30 or 40 years or more? Many retiring in their 60s would also have problems doing so?

And there are Singaporeans overseas paying high taxes and insurance in foreign countries but must contribute to this Medishield Life when they are not using it? How can this be? The govt does not see anything wrong about it. Yes, to them forcing Singaporeans overseas to pay this tax is their right? Yes, it is no longer a CPF savings but a life time tax for all Singaporeans, to be paid from birth to death, regardless of age. The Govt has converted a CPF savings scheme into a life time taxation. The hideous part, other than those living and working abroad are compelled to pay, the babies and the oldies, retirees in their 70s, 80s, 90s, 100 year olds, must pay.

The Govt does not think there is anything wrong with this philosophy and policy. How could they see anything wrong to collect money from the people, from the young and old who have no income, and the Singaporeans working and staying overseas?

Can the people see anything wrong with these? Would they be infuriated to want to do something, to want change?

What do you think? Can you still smile at your CPF statements?

GE2015 – The million dollar question

The high ministerial pay will definitely be a hot issue in the GE. While some may still harbor the thought of higher pay for the ministers, since they have not have any increase for many years and in fact suffered a decrease, while in the corporate world the honchos are getting more millions, how can the situation be acceptable? It would be sad if the ministers resign all at the same time in protest that the lifestyle of their families have been affected by the stagnant millions they are getting. Then Singapore will become a headless chicken, with no able leaders to run the country. It is indeed a frightening thought.

Should the ministers be given a pay rise after the election? Maybe it is too early to ask such a question. Maybe the question should be, have any of the ministers done something to show that they deserve to be paid millions over the last term in office? What have they done, or anyone of them has done to justify being paid millions?

For offices like the PM, Defence and Home Affairs, Finance, these are big jobs and it is very difficult to dispute why they should not be paid in the millions. The counter argument is that Obama has a bigger job than anyone in the whole world.

What about the smaller jobs like Environment, Social and Families, the Trade Union Chief, Manpower or even Education, what have they done to justify the million dollars? I am sorry, I am ignorant and still scratching my head and still asking, what have they done to justify being paid in the millions?

Can anyone fill me in on the remarkable million dollar decisions being made and worthy of the million dollar salary? Sending children for leadership training, creating a Singaporean core, changing insulators in train system to improve public transport, training out of jobs PMEs to work overseas, cleaning roofs of hawker centres, making housing affordable for Singaporeans, bringing down medical cost, having the old folks to do well, helping the Singaporeans to be rich by protecting them from squandering away their CPF savings,….? Oh, helping other countries children to get a university education, providing millions of jobs for foreigners, building more universities for foreigners to get employed?

These must be it, million dollar decisions, to create a Singaporean identity and build a hotel, oops, a nation of 10m people, or was it 6.9m?

Rip Van Winkle awakes

Winkle has just woke up from his long slumber and he told me of his astonishment at the changes he saw in the island. When he took the train he said he was surrounded by foreigners all over. He tried very hard to find a familiar Singaporean face but could hardly see one. He said he felt strange and uncomfortable. Where are the Singaporeans?

He went shopping  and found out that all the sales staff serving him were foreigners. The only consideration was that they were very helpful and friendly. He still asked to be served by a Singaporean by the sales staff could not find one and did not know where have they been to.

He went for his favourite bak kut teh and char kway teow and could not help to notice that the hawkers were all foreigners. Where are the Singaporeans?

Then he went to see his banker to check on his deposits. The bank manager was also a foreigner, the counter staff also foreigners. Where have all the Singaporeans gone? He tried to contact his old kakis but could not find them as well.

After thinking over it for a while then he started to smile. The Singaporeans are so lucky. No need to work, no need to study, all on holiday. And all must be very rich, no need to take public transport. What a great life for Singaporeans. Now the foreigners are here to do all the work, even struggling to get a degree in the university while Singaporeans party and enjoying themselves.

He saw the big advertisement about the big party called SG50.  That must be a party to attend where all the Singaporeans would be there having a ball. Life is so good for the Singaporeans.

GE2015 is a very critical GE for Singaporeans

Singaporeans must take a step back and think very seriously about this GE. It is a life or death situation for Singaporeans. This is the time to determine the future you want for yourself and your children. It is no joking matter and not something that can be left to fate or to fools. If Singaporeans think that we have a good govt in charge and the direction the govt is taking the people forward is the right path, vote for the govt.

If there is doubt, if you are not happy with what you are seeing, not happy with the direction you are moving, it is time to reclaim your country. You cannot afford to wait anymore. Going forward can be the end of the good life for many Singaporeans.

Can we continue to pay the ministers and the elite in the millions? Where do you think the money is coming from? Who can afford to pay hundreds of millions or more to upkeep a bunch of elite with pay that is out of this world and keep mounting up, in numbers and in pay?

Can we afford to keep adding foreigners at such a rate to this little piece of rock? Are you happy with 5.5m, 6.9m or 10m people in this island? What do you want? You must decide, this is your country. This country belongs to every ordinary Singaporean, not to foreigners, not to any one person, not to the nobles and aristocrats. You want this country to be given away without a fight?

Do you want to pay outrageous money for a small little flat for 99 years as your prize possession in life? Do you want to pay half a million or more for something that would revert to zero value?

Do you want to be a minority in your own country? Do you want to have a say about the future of your country, to shape your country or to allow a few individuals to do as they pleased?

Do you want to save for a life time only for your savings to be locked up or to be forced to pay for insurance that you cannot say no to?

Do you want the country’s reserves or surpluses to make your life better or to make the life better for foreigners?

Singaporeans must stand up and make this election counts. You have no room or time for error. You cannot afford to sleep and think that your future is in good hands. But if you do, God bless.

For those who did not like what they are seeing, it is action time. Do something, talk to everyone of your fears and what should be done for the sake of your future and your children’s future. You cannot afford not to do anything if you want a change for the better, to take charge of your life and your country.

You know best what is good for you. Do not let anyone con you into complacency. It is now or never. Not doing anything is not an option. Make your vote counts.

SMRT disruption – Commuters are so lucky

After the biggest train disruption in the history of SMRT, the original suspicion on the root cause of the problem was an ageing train system. And there were recommendations that it was time to replace the train system with a new system and have a fresh new start. A brand new system would likely to be free from breakdowns for the first 20 years. The present system is starting to breakdown after 30 years.

Thankfully  or not thankfully, the team of experts have found the root cause of the disruption. I quote from Business Times, 

‘LTA, SMRT and five overseas experts carried out comprehensive system-wide checks across more than 200 km of train track and components such as the third rail, power cables and the signalling system to identify the root cause of the disruption. They also checked all 141 trains and analysed train logs from the day of the incident.

Their conclusion: a confluence of factors triggered the incident.

In the tunnel between Tanjong Pagar and Raffles Place, water was found dripping onto the third-rail cover near an insulator. Tests on a sample on the cover and on water collected from the tunnel leak found mineral deposits with a high chloride content. The presence of chloride on the insulator, coupled with a wet environment, would have significantly reduced the effectiveness of the insulator.’

Let me put it simply, rain water dripped on the third rail cover near an insulator, or was it over an insulator, and the water contained high level of chloride that caused a power leakage, reducing the effectiveness of the insulator.  And the solution,

‘To minimise the possibility of a similar recurrence, it has started replacing third-rail insulators, starting with those showing signs of electrical resistance weakness. The remaining insulators will be changed under a planned renewal of the third-rail system, to be completed by the first quarter of 2017.’

I confess that I am not an engineer and find it difficult to rationalise the solution to the cause of the problem. There was water seepage, which means either the cover was not covering properly or there was a hole somewhere for water to seep through. If this was an isolated incident, not all the covers were affected, and there was no other seepage of water elsewhere, would it be sufficient to just replace the cover or ensure that the cover is covering the insulator properly to prevent a seepage, or to make sure rain water did not leak into the insulator. Also, how come rain water contained so much chloride or salt equivalent? Normal, natural?

What I don’t understand is that why were there so much salt in the rain water just after a rain? Could it be someone or animal urinated on it? How many pieces were affected? Why not replace the cover at fault? Why the need to change all the insulators if it was the cover that was giving problem? Wasn’t the root cause due to water that contained too much chloride, and if no chloride, even the water would not affect the insulators? Why was it necessary to change all the insulators if the insulators were functioning well without chloride? I heard some comments about weak resistance of the insulators. Are these insulators meant for heavy duty works? A little water or chloride can cause severe system breakdowns?

What is the problem, cover not covering properly, water or chloride and where did the chloride came from? Or was it the insulator that was giving problem? Would it be effective if the source of water is removed or the source of chloride is removed or prevented from contacting the insulators?

Why the need to change all the insulators? I am just asking layman questions. When a switch in the house does not work, you don’t have to change all the switches. If someone spilled water on the switch, you don’t have to change all the switches. I think like a layman and using a layman’s logic. If I want to use power logic or the logic of having a lot of OPM, I can change all the trains too because of some water found with high content of chloride that seeped through a bad cover.

Singaporean beaten by a foreigner

I copied this picture from TRE. This Singaporean was beaten by a foreigner when the foreigner shafted his car into a parking lot he was waiting for in East Coast Park. The case would be heard in court on 25 Aug.

It is so depressing to see Singaporeans being repeatedly beaten by foreigners in Singapore. Where is the Singaporean identity and where is the pride to be a Singaporean when foreigners coming here to make a living has no qualms and hesitation to beat up a Singaporean?

While we are going to celebrate SG50, think about this face.

It was reported that the attacker, a John Duncan Tasker, a PR, is a grassroot leader, a vice chairman of a Neighbourhood Committee.

Sino Indian relations – Time to wipe off the silly myth of a China threat

Bloomberg has this article ‘India sends China stern message with naval build up’ reprinted in the Today paper on 30 Jul 15.  What stern message? China must be shivering in its pants. Remember 1962? Anyway the message is very clear, India and China are military rivals and India is gaining on China and telling China not to mess around with India. The western media has been playing up the rivalry and hostility between two nations like they are arch enemies, China trying to swallow up India and India in a hurry to fend off an aggressive China? How true is this myth?

The Indian media and the mentality of its leaders did not help either to dispel this myth. They want to believe that China is going to invade and take over India like the Americans telling themselves of Chinese wading ashore along the western American states to take over America. What is the truth? It was America and western countries that invaded China and turned China into a semi colony. And the West has been bullying China and trying to contain China by building military alliances to ring China when not a single Chinese soldier is outside China. Modern China has never invaded any country but being invaded by the colonial powers of Japan and the West. But China is demonized by the West as an ambitious and aggressive power trying to conquer its neighbouring countries when it was the West and Japan that conquered and colonized these countries and China.

What about the fabricated fears of a hostile China invading India? Historically China had never invaded India nor conduct wars of aggression against India. There was this recognition that land over the other side of the Himalayas was not part of dynastic China. What about the Sino Indian border war in 1962?

The Indians have been harping till today that it was China who invaded India when they knew that it was the opposite. The invasion of China, to seize Chinese territories, was an Indian game plan with the formation of a 4^th Indian Army Corp specifically for this purpose. And to move back a few centuries in Indian history, there was really no India for centuries until the British conquered, colonized and consolidated all the loosely held kingdoms in the subcontinent under British rule. The British Empire went further to carve out Chinese territories as theirs at a time when China was weak and broken up.

A formal Indian state came into existence in 1947 when it was given independence by the British. And India claimed that all the land carved out by the British from China is part of India. The border areas were territory snatched from China. China did not attempt to reclaim the land by force. It was an ambitious and ego inflated India that thought it could seize the land by force when China was a weak new country under communist rule in 1962.  The rest is history.

Till today, the Indians are putting on a false front accusing China of invading India. The fact, China repelled the invading Indian 4^th Army Corp, marched to the outskirt of New Delhi, and then withdrew. Would an invading army do that, would an aggressive China harbouring an intent of conquering India withdrew from a defeated enemy on the run? China treated tens of thousands of Indian POWs like lost boy scouts, treated their injuries, fed and clothed them, clean and polished up all the captured weapons and returned the POWs and the weapons to India.  What did all this said about a hostile China?

India should stop its nonsensical accusation of China and the myth that China is waiting to invade India. In 1962 China could over run New Delhi in pursuit of the defeated Indian Army but did not, voluntarily withdrew without looting and raping or burning India along the way. India got away too lightly for its invasion of China.

In today’s geopolitics, conquest and colonizing another country is no longer acceptable and feasible as an option to global ambition. Only the Americans think so. China has no bad intent or ambition to want to have a war with India, to conquer India. All the Indian talks about building intercontinental missiles, aircraft and aircraft carriers and now submarines to defend an imaginary China running over India is simply hogwash. Too much toddy in the head.

India and China should continue to build economic ties and friendly relations and grow economically and military powerful as big countries. There is nothing wrong for the India to harbour wild ambitions to be the most powerful nation in Asia or in the world. But to build a straw man that China is its arch enemy and India must do everything it could to counter a China military threat is simply silly.

Stop drinking toddy and come to your senses, build your military machine for whatever purposes, but don’t create a myth that China is India’s enemy. There is no reason for China to want to invade India or any neighbouring country. North Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and many central Asian states with common borders with China have not been invaded nor have any border dispute with China. The Indians should negotiate with the Chinese and return the land carved away by the British warlord from China peacefully.

China is not asking for more land, not an inch of an India created by the British Empire. If there is going to be war between India and China, it would be the Indians conniving with the Americans to attack China, not the other way. The hostile and aggressive country is India and its superpower ambition. China is already a super power in its own right by trading and manufacturing and helping countries building infrastructures, without having to go to war, not invading or conquering any country. China is now a superpower without having to grab any country’s land by force. What for?

GE2015 – A hand with no aces

The past PMs used to hold a hand of aces and kings and queens during an election. And they could simply throw in an ace or a king in a weak constituency or when the opposition mounts a serious challenge. There was no problem when every minister was an ace, a king or queen. If one minister is not enough, throw in another one or get a heftier minister and the constituency was won. It was as simple as that. And PAP’ strategy was a strategy based on strength. And they went to battle to rout the opposition. There was no contest when a minister was thrown into a GRC.

Today, when Hsien Loong holds up his cards, he cannot imagine that the cards are so weak. No aces, maybe a few kings and queens, a number of 2s and 3s and the rest of the pack are the 6s and 7s. How to play with such a weak hand? How to go into an election with a hand of cards that spells losers?

I can imagine the strategy for this election would be drastically different from the past. It would be a defensive strategy on how to save and protect the weak ministers? Hsien Loong would have a hard time trying to place them to save them and keep them in his cabinet. The East is a sea of blue. Too dangerous.  The mentioning of Aljunied would send fear to potential PAP candidates. Where are the safe GRCs to hide the weak ministers and to prevent a GRC from being overran?

The end result would be considered good if lesser ministers were lost in battle. Notice the change, from a minister taking the fight to the enemy to a situation where ministers would have to be carefully placed to prevent losing them and losing the GRC?

Are there still gungho ministers daring to go to the East or to a GRC helmed by strong opposition candidates? Anyone up to it to volunteer to fight in Aljunied or in Marine Parade or in East Coast, or even in Tanjong Pagar?

How did the mighty PAP reach this point when every minister is no longer an ace and with so many no better than a 6 or 7, with some obviously 2s or 3s? Has the tea party gone wrong? Why is the tea party not turning up aces or kings and queens? What happens to all the good men and women? Why are they not appearing at the tea parties to be selected and to stand for the PAP? The few potential that have become the ‘knowns’ are a far cry from what the PAP used to have.  Is it that the good men and women are seeing things that they are not comfortable with, that they did not want to be associated with?

What is the real problem with the PAP? Or I am just having wild imagination, that Hsien Loong is holding a hand of aces and kings and queens and the GE would be just another walkover?

The only ace in the PAP game plan, and the only trump card it has and using furiously, is a man of the past.

Ecuador, a China show piece

The New York Times has an article posted in the Today paper titled ‘China extends global reach with loans and strings attached’ giving a pretty good picture of what China is doing in Ecuador. While the South East Asian countries are still shying away from Chinese infrastructure development, due to centuries of western demonization of China, the picture is very different in Latin America and Africa. The southern American countries have had enough of western colonization, domination and American Imperialism and are striking out on their own to be free. They are embracing China’s offer of trade and development with open arms, better to pay a little more interest than to be robbed by the colonialists and imperialists. Both did not charge higher interest rates, they just came and carted away whatever resources from these countries for free. Which is a better deal?

The Latin Americans are not stupid. They negotiated freely with China for loans and infrastructure development. And they are paying in kind, mainly oil, and other raw material, that the Chinese would have to pump up themselves. In turn, the Chinese have pumped in billions of dollars into Latin American countries. Ecuador alone is receiving tens of billion in dam building that would provide enough electricity to light up one third of the country, according to the NYT article. China is also helping Ecuador to build an oil refinery that would make Ecuador ‘a global player in gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products’. Bad deal, cheated by China?

The Chinese are also building ‘roads, highways, bridges, hospitals, even a network of surveillance cameras stretching to the Galapagos islands’. These infrastructure developments are badly needed by Ecuador to transform itself into a modern industrialized country, something that the west and their formal colonial masters refused to do while extracting all the natural resources for free.

When Ecuador takes off, it would be a show piece to show to the world what Chinese money, technology and engineering could do to rebuild a country. Singapore taught the Chinese how to build an industrial park. China learnt from it and is helping the world to rebuild their countries’ infrastructure and industrial parks. China is helping the developing nations to move up the economic ladder on fair and equitable terms. China is doing everything, providing financing, technology and manpower. The West would not do that. Obama just visited Kenya and talked about helping Africa to develop after the West had colonized and looted African for centuries. And they are the good guys.

The NYT did not miss the opportunity to sabo the Chinese effort in these countries by playing up on higher interest rate, which was anytime better than letting the western powers robbed them for free and meddling with their domestic politics. It also complained about Chinese methodology that would harm the environment and what not. The NYT is assuming that the Latin Americans are daft and could not understand what they are going into and their agreements signed with Chinese companies. If these were bad deals, why would they agree to them when China did not bring their warships and guns like the colonialist and the Americans?

The hard truth, and testimonies to the value Chinese companies are offering to the rest of the world was when they held an economic development conference in Beijing.  Global financial and corporate elite and heads of major banks and pharma, auto and oil companies came to mingle with the Chinese officials. And according to Christine Lagarde, MD of IMF, China’s effort to engage globally through investment and trade and economic reforms, ‘is good for China and good for the world – their fates are intertwined’.

China is all over the world investing in infrastructural developments. Just to quote a para from the NYT article, ‘Chinese companies are at the centre of a worldwide construction boom, mostly financed by Chinese banks.  They are building power plants in Serbia, glass and cement factories in Ethiopia, low income housing in Venezuela, and natural gas pipelines in Uzbekistan.

Not really all over the world as many South East Asian countries are still pondering on what China could offer under the dark cloud of doubts spun by their former colonial masters and the West, that China is bad, China is bad like Red Indians were bad, Red Indians bad. They could not remember that the centuries of colonialism and western domination did not do them much good except being robbed by the very robbers that are telling them China is bad and filled them with imaginary fears and hate against China.  On the other hand, the rest of the world, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America did not have the same fear and apprehension and are welcoming Chinese developments in full force on a complimentary basis. The West are telling the South East Asian countries to demand China to go it for free, and China to pay for it as well.

It would take a long time before the South East Asian countries could break free from their colonial mindset, fixed and implanted by their colonial masters and the West over centuries to look at China objectively. China is not there to colonise them but to trade, to help them rebuild their countries with a proven blue print, successfully implemented in China and now sharing with the rest of the world. What did their colonial masters left them after centuries of colonial rule and looting? What have their colonial masters and the West to offer them today other than military pacts and more weapons of war?

The joke, they trust their ex colonial masters more than a China that has never stepped foot on their shores. They trust their conquerors more than China that never had a soldier in their land nor kill any of their people.

GE 2015/16 issues for the voters to consider – Issue 8 – Voting for more subsidies?

Do you want to vote for more subsidies? Subsidies in HDB flats, subsidies in medical bills, subsidies in paying utilities bills, subsidies in school fees, university fees….

What are these subsidies? Are they real or fiction? Heard of market subsidies? Heard of discounts, annual sales, Great Singapore Sales, Great Singapore Lelong?

Are subsidies and discounts just another sales gimmick, deceptions with inflated prices and then telling the customers of the great subsidies and discounts, that it is a very good deal, a great savings or else they will be paying more?

Do you want to vote for more subsidies when you don’t even know the real cost of things or if the prices have already inflated that after subsidies you are still paying much more than you should be paying? Do you know that the more subsidies you get the more you are paying for the goods or services? Everytime there is a subsidy you end up paying more. Not true?

Be careful with what you are voting for? Stop this subsidy thing. Stop being conned and happily thinking that it is a good deal.

Hsien loong –Spore has only 25 years to get demographic balance right

There is this article in the Today paper on 24 Jul 15 about what Hsien Loong said and his concerns for the well being of Singapore and Singaporeans. Why needs another 25 years to get it right when we got it right 20 years ago? Did not we prosper with the mix of population we had? It was not that we got a blessed combination but the govt then made it right, made them work as a people and a nation. Now we are in shit and need another 25 years to get things right again. Obviously things are going bad. Some one must have add a lot of shit into the pot, stirring it and causing it to smell.

In the article Hsien Loong shared his concerns of losing our national identity as Singaporeans, a lack of a Singaporean core and a population growing too big and going beyond this number is going to be undesirable. I quote his words from the paper, ‘With a million foreign workers here, Mr Lee said, this is “not a small number” and he did not think policymakers could “go a lot beyond”.’ Why has it got to this number? Or how did it come about, anyone knows?

For raising these concerns, Hsien Loong is in a way admitting openly that he did not see these coming. Knowing him and his pro active nip in the bud approach for solving problems, these problems would have been nipped in the bud before they reached this proportion. I am sure he did not know who decided to let in so many foreigners into the country. I am sure he did not know that we are losing our Singaporean identity and our Singaporean core.

I too must confess that I did not know how all these things developed to such a state that they are going to break this country apart, and the danger of Singapore losing its Singaporean identity. We are so lucky that Hsien Loong has acknowledged these problems and are standing up to address them. And we are so lucky to know that we have a window period of 25 years to put it right. Tharman needed 30 years to create a Singaporean core in the banking and finance industry. I am not sure how many years would be needed to have a Singaporean core in the IT industry and some other industries that have been taken over by foreigners.

Lee Kuan Yew must be turning in his grave to know that things are happening this way. Let’s hope he will quickly jump up from his grave to get things right again, maybe no need 25 years knowing his style. He wants things done right immediately. No mumbo jumbo, no dilly dally, and allow people to fumble along for another 25 or 30 years and not even sure if things would turn out right.

What would Lee Kuan Yew say or do to get his Singapore right again? Would he be able to put his Singapore together again?

PMEs – Kena kelong then lelong

Whenever I think of this huge group of local talents that have been forced out of their comfort zone and unable to find a job to make a living, I can only think of kelong and lelong.

How could professionals in top management with 20 or 30 years of experience become useless overnight and no longer employable? If their salaries are too high, many would not mind taking a 50% cut to do something they have been doing all their life and very good at, their contacts and connections. How can they be unemployable? What is the real reason that they become unemployable? Kelong?

At 55 or 60, some even in their 40s, cannot find a decent job in the same trade needing their expertise but the companies could find the same expertise from inexperienced 3^rd World ‘cuntries’, no mistake in the spelling. And no one thinks something is wrong? Oh, someone knew but could not do anything about it. The foreigners are in charge and it is their right to hire their own kind and to boot out Singaporeans in Singapore. Can you believe it, is this a country or a ‘cuntry’?

And they have accepted that this is it, nothing can be done to get the PMEs back into their profession.  The best option is to lelong them to the 3^rd World countries or Timbucktoo. Hopefully in such places, our ‘rejects’ could find employment at a fraction of their income. And they should be grateful, got job is better than no job. And the NTUC is spending money and resources, setting up a special institution to train them just to be exported to God knows where. How lucky these PMEs are.  Some countries are famous for exporting maids and construction workers. What would Singapore be famous for, exporting taxi drivers or security guards?

Lelong, lelong, one PMEs for two, or take one and have one free. And we guarantee their certificates and degrees are genuine, from reputable and world class universities like NUS and NTU, some from good universities in USA, UK or Australia. We will certify that they are no fakes. You can double confirm with us. We will provide all the references plus a e2i certificate. We have our own seal of quality and authenticity, the Singapore Brand.

Getting use to a new face as the PM

The GE is coming and as in any general election, a new man or woman could be thrown up as the new Prime Minister. This is normal and common in any democracy except in Singapore. Here the PM is like a life time tenure and would go to the PAP’s candidate. In this GE the PM in the aftermath would be Hsien Loong. There is hardly any doubt about this. Many things would change but the PM of Singapore after the GE would not change.

Let’s put aside this reality and go on a trip to wonderland and let’s say a miracle happens and a new party or coalition is swept to power. And Singaporeans would have to live with a new face as the new Prime Minister. Who would that face be, Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Chee Soon Juan or Tan Jee Say? Try to imagine that one of them would be the new Prime Minister. The feeling is quite strange.

Strange it might be, but would anyone picture Jokowi, a businessman, not an elite or a general, an unassuming man being the President of Indonesia? Jokowi has been the President of Indonesia for more than a year and is looking more and more like a President. And who says you need to have experience in politics and an apprenticeship to become a President or a head of govt?

In a democracy every citizen is good enough to be the President or Prime Minister. Singaporeans must get use to a new face as the Prime Minister sooner or later. Maybe not in this election, but it will come. Look at Low Thia Khiang and get use to his face as the PM. Or look at Jee Say or Chee Soon Juan, get accustom to their faces and get use to it that their faces could be the face of a PM. Imagine them in formal business suits and ties and looking dignified as the Prime Minister. I am not talking about the money type of dignity, but the dignity of the Office of the Prime Minister, the Head of the govt of a country.

It is just a matter of getting use to it. Get the idea? In a democracy you don’t need to be from the nobility or aristocracy to be the Prime Minister. There is no need to look noble and rich, just look like a Prime Minister will do. And the strange thing is that it will grow on the person in the Office.

Muhyiddin – Checkmate!

Channel News Asia reports,

‘Malaysian media reported on Tuesday that Prime Minister Najib Razak has dumped his deputy and four others in a cabinet reshuffle, with the attorney general also replaced amid the fallout from a graft scandal at state investment fund 1MDB.

Najib's government announced in a statement that Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail, the man who had led investigations into the 1MDB scandal, had been replaced by Mohamed Apandi Ali. It gave no reason for the change.’

I cannot believe it. I thought Najib was in a fix. This amiable guy has pulled off a near impossible coup while under pressure from the most powerful political forces in Malaysia. I must say I never expect him to get out of this rut unscarred. And now he got one up on his opponents by removing his deputy PM Muhyiddin, the most outspoken UMNO critics on the 1MDB saga. And the attorney general investigating the case is also removed. There was also an edict that no newspaper is to report on the 1MDB case until the investigation is over.

I think even Mahathir could not see this coming. What is happening? What Najib has done is even more ingenious than Mahathir in his heyday. Mahathir was only able to drag a piece of mattress all over the courts. Najib simply disposed off his opponents in a a simple stroke of the pen, no drama, and no time wasting. Respect!

What’s next Najib? Or what’s next Mahathir? The power play has just begun and Najib is on top. And Rosmah has not even appeared or said a word. Can’t imagine what would happen when Rosmah pulls the rug off Mahathir’s feet. Don’t pray pray with a woman’s wrath.

The hunter is now the hunted. How would this game end is still too early to tell but you can bet there will be more surprises from both sides of the camp.

Bang!

GE 2015/16 issues for the voters to consider – Issue 7 – Would you want to be replaced by a foreigner?

The plight of PMEs is real. There is no record of how many have lost their jobs, how many are under employed and how many have opted to retire completely, unable to find employments anymore.

And how many of the good jobs have been taken over by foreigners while Singaporeans were told to go overseas. There is no need for Singaporeans to go overseas to eke a living when there are 2m foreigners here, happily employed and their dependence enjoying the safe and hospital environment we have built.

Do you want to be replaced by foreigners in your own country?

Think very carefully when you vote.

70 years of nice and polite Japanese

Many silly Asians are trumpeting the goodness of the Japanese in the last 70 years of peace and stability in the region. Yes, after their invasion of Asia with the wild ambition of ruling Asia by brute force and cruelties failed and defeated by the Americans, and with the badly hurt Americans out to avenge the sneaky attack on Pearl Harbour, the Japanese war demon was bottled up and kept under lock and key. The Japanese were not given a chance to be their evil self again. The constitution was forcefully changed to a pacifist one, denouncing wars and forbidden to go to war. And to make sure it stayed that way, the Americans sat on Japan like a semi colony. American forces are still in many bases in Japan, outwardly to counter China and North Korea, but at the same time keeping a check on Japanese ambition. Japan would not be allowed to do mischief again without the approval of the Americans.

And the world has peace for 70 years. And Asia and South East Asia have peace as well. Without a sword, the Japanese went around in briefcases and business suits to woo the Asians for trade and commerce. These are the activities they were allowed to engage in. The peaceful Japanese were an enforced animal. They swallowed their pride and arrogance, hid their aggressive and belligerent nature and bowed and bowed all the way. Such nice and polite people cannot be war criminals. Many Asians today could believe that the Japanese were so barbaric and depraved during the war years. What is the true nature of the Japanese if the forceful hands of the Americans were removed? What is a true Japanese?

Historically the Japanese were a martial people, starting with piracies and attacking Koreans and Chinese merchant ships, they went further to conquer and to colonize Korea and semi conquered China. South East Asia was invaded and conquered and colonized in the same brutal way. The Japanese would attack a country when that country was seen as weak. They were so vile and wild as to think of conquering China and Asia. They succeeded and almost ruled China by force as their colony. And when they became the colonial masters, they were cruel and harsh, forget about the Hollywood romanticing of samurai honour. The Koreans lived under the rule of the Japanese for several decades like slaves. China lost millions in the invasion by the Japanese, and so were the South East Asians.

The pre war Japanese believed in power and being the aggressor when they were more powerful than their neighbours. They still believe in the Sun God and their destiny to rule the world. They were very nice, very polite, very peaceful, very gentlemen in the last 70 years not out of free choice, not by nature. Their hands were tied by the Americans.

Today, with the American Empire being challenged by a rising China, the Americans find it expedient to unleash the Japanese butcher to stop the rise of China. The Japanese are allowed to remilitarize with the consent and encouragement of the Americans. The last few years, and recently, the ugly Japanese are revealing themselves again, banging their chest and showing the middle finger to China. They wanted the right to engage and conduct wars. They have torn their pacifist Constitutions to bits. The public protest is only a minority, and done for public relations purposes. The majority of the Japanese wants to return to militarism, imperialism and a powerful Japan that can go to war. The passing of the bill to have the right to go to war is testimony to the real intent and nature of the Japanese, the real Japanese behind the mask of civility.

Without the Americans sitting on them, instead giving them the green light to become a military power, to conduct wars, Japan has come full circle, to be its militant and aggressive self once more. Asia and the world should brace themselves up for an aggressive Japan to create havoc and war. Yes, the rise of an aggressive and belligerent nation to be a global power, in Japan, will not be peaceful. It is building up its war arsenal like it did before the Second World War. The process of Japan’s rearmament and remilitarization is in full steam.

The Americans said yes, the western powers were muted, the silly Asians and South East Asians cannot remember the brute Imperial Japanese Army and the beheading of people and the colonizing of their countries. They only remember a falsified face of Japan in the last 70 years as a defeated invading country. They are going to live with the beast in their homes thinking that it is a nice domesticated pet.

Do they want to know the real Japanese? Do they want to read their histories again to understand what the real Japanese were like if not shackled?