Personal encounter in TTSH

I am not surprised with the outbreak of Hepatitis C at SGH. Sometime back I had some sudden lost of hearing problem in my left ear and was referred by Hougang Polyclinic to seek further advice in the ENT Department of Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The ENT doctor in TTSH who attended to me happened to be a foreign talent. After some checking of my ear I was told there was nothing wrong with my ears. So the ENT doctor recommended me for an MRI of the brain to rule out any tumour growth in my brain. I told the ENT doctor in charge of my case that I have a pace maker when he told me about sending me for an MRI. But on the day scheduled when I went for my MRI the radiologist was surprised when I told him that I ave a pace maker, because he could not find any note or statement regarding my pace maker. It is vitally important that a pace maker specialist must be arranged to stand by to monitor my pace maker before my MRI. Clearly the ENT doctor who recommended me for MRI negligently forgot to state in the form to the radiologist that I have a pace maker and therefore the radiologist could not conduct an MRI for me because it wasn't right to do so without the pace maker specialist standing by. I was later referred back to the same ENT doctor who apologised to me but then stated after all he is no longer sending me for MRI because it incurred risk. I thanked him but in my heart I really don't know what hubris he was talking or was he thinking of something else. Well, the ENT was a foreign talent. I nearly die in his hand.

Last month I suffered great giddiness or vertigo and was recommended by my outside GP to TTSH Emergency Admission . Can you imagine I was attended by another doctor of foreign origin . I spent the whole afternoon and night waiting for treatment. By the time I had to collect my medicine it was about 9.00pm. I was charged a total of slightly over hundred dollars. When I told the cashier that I am under the Pioneer Status and would like to pay through my Medisave. I was shocked to hear form her that in the emergency section pioneer status and medisave do not apply and so I had to pay either in cash or via Visa Credit Card. Subsequently I found out from a prominent Pharmacy that the anti-giddiness tablets I was prescribed cost only very much less than
a dollar . I am still in shock.

Suffering in Silence

This is a post from Ely

The return of the Sultans as a force of stability

Two days before the Conference of Rulers, the nine rulers of Malaysia issued a statement calling the govt to quickly conclude the investigations into the 1MDB affair. For almost two decades, the role of the Sultans was in eclipsed, their wings clipped by the notorious Mahathir whose political fortune was on the rise. Mahathir then was the undisputed and most powerful PM Malaysia ever had. He was the one to call the shot and had little respect for the rulers of Malaysia whose track records gave Mahathir a chance to clamp down on their powers.

In those days, Mahathir and UMNO were riding on a wave of Malay supremacy and popularity and stood on high moral grounds relative to the house of the rulers. Mahathir was able to chastise the rulers and in 1993 amended the Constitution to remove the rulers’ legal immunity. Mahathir was then at the peak of his power and no rulers could stand up to him.

Two decades today, the fate of Malay politicians and UMNO have changed with Mahathir out of the PM’s seat. The indiscretion and wayward ways of UMNO and its politicians have weakened their standing among the rakyat and the charges of corruption are so prevalent that the house of the royalties is looking like angels.

The 1MDB affair is looking so ridiculous that no matter what Najib and his peers tried to do, the matter just got worse. There is hardly any chance of Najib getting out of this fracas clean. Mahathir tried his best but not enough as he is no longer at his best. A stalemate kind of situation has been reached whereby Najib would still be the PM and no one could do anything about it.

This scenario is like two wounded lions fighting desperately to stay alive and here comes the hunter waiting for the kill. The royalties have kept themselves pretty clean for the last two decades and confidence in them have grown among the rakyat. And with the politicians falling all over among themselves, everyone as bad as the other, the royalties are now standing on high moral grounds to tell the politicians to shape up or get out.

The statement made by the house of rulers is quite unprecedented and a sign of the growing confidence and power of the royalties. They are back, to regain their rightful place in Malaysia politics. The politicians no longer can stand on solid ground to dispel the royalties for any wrongdoings. They are all up to their necks in deep water and are struggling to stay alive.

It is an opportune moment for the house of rulers to tell him who is boss and should be respected. The Constitution Amendments withdrawing the legal immunity of the rulers still stands. Such immunity shall be applied equally and the politicians shall not enjoy any immunity for any criminal acts. There shall be no legal immunity for the politicians.

The 1MDB must be settled quickly. The Red Shirts are not going to give up until they create a riot to create a diversion from 1MDB. And there is now another excuse to do in Malacca.  Some Malay immigration officers were assaulted by gangsters in downtown Malacca while conducting a raid in the area. Mohd Ali Baharom, a Red Shirt leader, is taking this opportunity to raise fear in downtown Malacca. He warned that 10,000 Red Shirts will descend upon downtown Malacca and it ‘will not be safe’. The police are going to question him. Just hope the police will do the same thing like in KL to prevent another racial riot.

Would the Malay rulers put pressure on the Red Shirts not to politicize the issue and turn the country upside down? The police should round up the gangsters in the assault. It is a police case, not a case for political rioting.

Make this the last haze with more haste

Many years back the Indonesians said they needed a satellite to help them spot the hot spots to fight haze. Of course no one was willing to buy them a satellite even if they could afford it. It was nonsensical. In the last few days the Indonesians have been wavering from wanting our help to send our aircraft to help them fight the haze to not necessary, too little to make a difference.

Yesterday they said they are willing to accept our offer of help or anyone willing to help. And what they need are bigger planes that can carry more water to douse the fire. Sounds logical, big fire needs big planes and more water.

Have they forgotten what Siti Nurbaya Bakar said, that they should tackle the haze problem from the source and prevention. Prevent the fire from starting and no one needs to go around lugging pots of water to douse the fire. Is this too difficult to understand? Oops, they may request to install CCTVs in every corner of the jungle to track down fire starters. Now how many million CCTVs would be needed on paper?

Can anyone teach them on a more efficient, effective and less costly way to prevent the fire from starting?

The momentum to take actions against fire starters has taken a first baby step. The ban and boycott of products and related products from such companies must remain in place until the next haze season and only be lifted when haze is not reappearing.  Please do not lift it next month when the sky is clear, no haze already, so no more problems. And this campaign must be expanded not only to cover more companies. Taking just APP alone is definitely not enough, it must also extend to other affected countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and perhaps the Philippines. The ban can only be effective if there is a concerted effort to stop this menace and not just talk, talk and talk.

The haze can be stopped if serious enforcement measures are taken to prevent the fire from being lighted or to be killed at the early stages of the fire. After this haze season, all the fires will be out, and no haze, when the wet season arrives. The situation should be kept that way and close monitoring, early warning and detection system must be in place to keep a look out for fire starters in the next season.

The haze can be stopped next year, not another 3 years if there is a political will to stop it. The different countries can assist the Indonesian govt in law enforcement with equipment and financial resources to beef up the forest rangers and law enforcement officers. The satellites are there and it is only a matter of getting a dedicated team or ministry to work on it. It is all about prevention, not fighting fires.

Let there be no outbreak of fire or putting them out at earliest possible. And make the firestarters pay. Keep the ban in place on all the culprits, not just one company, until next year. The haze is not caused by just one company.

The dying of a human specie called Singaporean

The true blue Singaporeans are going to disappear from this island in a matter of time. And no, it is not that they are being ousted out by the foreigners. And it is not because they are not working hard enough, not trying hard enough. They are trying very hard to be the best, investing a lot on the young with the ‘best’ education they could buy. They forgot that education is the training of the mind, to acquire knowledge and how to use the brain to apply the knowledge acquired, or at least to think. They believed that parroting or gaming the system is good education. Get a good score, anyhow, by whatever means, is the goal of education. Mugging, go through all the standard questions, know the exam questions and know the answers, buy the results, get the tuition teachers to provide model answers and viola, straight As!

The gaming to get high rankings for tertiary institutions falls into the same pattern. University education is not the teaching and training of the minds of the undergrads, but about getting high rankings for the universities, bring in all the foreigners if necessary, the lecturers and students can all be foreigners, never mind. The goal is the high rankings.

Now where was I? Oh the extinction of the Singaporean specie, the true blue ones. Today’s first page news in the Newpaper reported how angry parents were when their children could not answer a PSLE question. What is the problem? The maths question too difficult? Not like that. The question is a commonsensical question, but not found in any model answers. The question is not taught in class or by the tuition teachers or the parents themselves. What does it mean? It simply means that the children would not know anything they is not taught. Yes, the chicken comes from the supermarket, got no feathers.

Now what is this outrageous question? Guess the weight of 6 one dollar coins. And this is multiple choice question with 3 answers provided to make a good guess, 60gm, 600gm and 6kg, which is the right answer or nearest to the right answer? The students drew a blank. The parents were furious, went mad and in a way challenged the MOE for setting a question that could not be found in any past exam questions. This question is as good as asking the students the colour of the sun with answers like black, blue and orange as possible answers. And bet you, the children will cry to their mama and papa, never heard of such question, how to answer? They would not try to figure it out. They are not taught to figure things out when in a fix and facing a new situation. Their minds will go swirling and swirling to find an answer stored in the memory. Can’t find it there means no answer, cannot answer, dunno how to answer.

Is this how we train our young, to memorise answers, memorise scripts? Anything not taught they would not know how to react? Life is about the unknowns and the surprises and the many things not in the text books.

At the way our children are taught to ace examinations by gaming, they would soon end up as biological robots, waiting for input in order to produce outputs. No input means no output. How are they going to survive in the real world? Soon they may not know how to eat, what to eat other than the hamburgers bought from MacDonald by papa and mama. Did MOE forget to teach them how to make babies? Maybe that is the reason why fertility rate is so low.

How to compete with the survivors from the rough and tough world that have to learn to live with whatever problems in their way, to overcome them by any means?

What do you think?

PS. The older generations used to bring a dice to the examination hall and if they could not think of an answer, at least they would throw the dice and hoped for lady luck. They would still do something to make the best out of a bad situation. The last thing they would do is go crying to papa and mama. They grew up earlier, learning to survive in the uncertain world.

SGH hit by hepatitis C outbreak – 4 dead

It was quite normal to hear the Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew saying he was upset and disappointed with the breakdown and disruption of train services.  Education Minister Heng Swee Kiat also had to brave himself up to say the same thing after the Kota Kinabalu quake when several students and teachers died. Today, the Health Minister said the same thing in front page news.  According to Mypaper, Gan Kim Yong said, ‘I am gravely concerned and disappointed with the occurrence of the cluster of hepatitis C cases in SGH. My thoughts are with the affected patients and families.’ The CEO of SGH was also quoted to share his concern and apologized to the families and patients affected.

The medical fraternity was shocked. It has never happened before in our world class hospitals staffed by the best medical professionals and with the most modern facilities and equipment. Hepatitis C is rare in Singapore and can only be transmitted by intravenous blood transfusion. It is not easy to get transmitted though the hospital had reported an increase in infection rate from 2 to 4 a year.  In SGH, there were 22 cases within 3 months and leading to 4 deaths.  And with the long incubation period, there could be more walking out there.

This is a very serious outbreak that should not happen in a first world country but it happened. The 3^rd World must be having a good laugh. The hospital is doing a thorough investigation to uncover the lapses if any and is reviewing its procedures all over to make sure that it would not happen again. Let’s hope it would not be like the Transport Minister repeating it over and over again when the trains kept breaking down.  Someone must be turning in his grave for this to happen in a country that is ranked very high in medical standard and services.

Where to go from here? Best facilities, best medical professionals, best equipment, best procedures, where is the weak link? The patients? Cannot be, hepatitis is rare in Singapore.

Education – Govt sending strong signal

Can anyone remember the comment that university education is no good if one cannot get a job, the piece of paper cannot be eaten? Can anyone remember that being crane drivers or hawkers are better than a university graduate with their strings of degrees but jobless? Or going further back, can anyone remember that education is the biggest leveler, to give everyone a chance to succeed in life? Or did anyone advocate that he would encourage the bright young people to take a scholarship from the govt to get a good degree?

We have confusing and perplexing signals about the goodness of education, some say good and important, some say not necessary. Today, according to the two new education ministers, the govt is sending yet another signal, that education is very important, so important that the ministry now needs two ministers and among them one could be a PM of the fourth generation.

Two ministers helming a ministry must be a good sign that the ministry is important, or education is really important after all. Or is there another reason, that the job of an education minister is now so big because our population is now so big with so many universities, that one minister cannot cope?

Whatever, let’s hope the education minister could put it right this time, that the products from our education system is marketable, have the right skill sets to be employable, or at least be better than graduates from village universities in the 3^rd World. Or at the very worst, the paper can be eaten. There is no point in a holistic education to develop the whole individual when he is unemployable right?

Just wondering what was happening in the past that we need two ministers today to want to put things right again. Two ministers is a strong signal definitely. Can we have two NEA ministers too, so that we can put an end to the haze problem, or at least to send a strong signal on our resolve to want to solve the haze hazard?

Is Singapore really interested in solving haze problem?

The govt has taken legal actions against 5 companies suspected of being among the culprits causing this environmental and health hazard. The Singapore Environment Council, SEC, is also calling up local companies to sign an agreement to declare they did not source from possible haze culprits. One suspected company involved in the haze problem has been named as APP. 10 companies have signed but another 7 have yet to sign. What can the govt do if they don’t sign?

One firm that did not sign said they have stopped getting supplies from APP and would clear their APP stocks before signing. Fair enough. What about those that refused to do anything? Seah Kian Peng of NTUC Fairprice said the company is investigating and also yet to sign the declaration. It was reported that that 20% of the company’s paper products came from APP.

‘Case President Lim Biow Chuan urged consumers to stop supporting companies who have not pledged to be socially responsible. “This will send a strong signal to the errant companies that consumers’ goodwill should not be taken for granted,” he said.’

Would he be having a word with his colleague in NTUC Fairprice about this? Can APP and other culprits take NTUC Fairprice for granted? What is the point of asking the consumers to boycott the paper product suppliers when one of the biggest companies continues to buy from APP?  Is the govt serious in tackling haze culprits or just another wayang , one hand say this and the other doing something else? Oh, forgot, no coordinating minister in charge of haze, trade and SMEs.

And there was a comment by Sinkie Ah Q, a Singapore version, who said what is the point, Singapore is a small market, if his company does not buy from APP, APP can sell to the rest of the world. This kind of attitude is quite understandable from daft Sinkies.

By the way, is APP the only company whose products are sold here? What about Indonesian companies whose products are sold here? Or is it a case of it happens, nothing can be done, let’s move on?

PS: Why are we paying these companies to smoke us?

TPP – Cannot tell you!

The Trans Pacific Partnership failed to conclude once again as the members could not agree on two items, dairy products and drugs. The 12 member countries would have to go back to get more inputs to sort out these two areas to come to a compromise. The problem with the drug issue is about the length of protection for exclusive rights to the manufacturers of drugs. The USA wanted 12 years but prepared to compromise at 8. The other countries wanted this to be 5 years. The US wanted to protect the drug makers and keeping the prices of drugs high and thus not available to people from poorer countries. In the case of dairy products, farmers of some countries fear competition affecting their livelihood.

What is important is not about their failure to reach an agreement but the secrecy of the agreements. What is so secret and why so secret they cannot be made known. Anything that cannot tell is dangerous and fearful. They must have things that they did not want the world to know, the people of those countries signing the agreement to know.

Now, is that comforting or frightening? Or it is a case that it is best for the people of the countries not to know? And the proponents of the TPP did not even bother to make any motherhood statement like the TPP is good for the signing countries and also for the people. Scare or not?

Like all con men, trust me, no need to know, it is good for you. Now who are the countries so happy and willing to sign a secretive agreement without telling their citizens? Would this be another form of CECA? The countries involved in the negotiation are Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Chile, New Zealand, South Korea, Peru, Australia, Canada  and the USA.

Cannot tell must be good.

Race and religion – A rude reminder

Do not take racial and religious harmony for granted. Hsien Loong spoke about it again yesterday. Race and religion will always be divisive and will always be sensitive fault lines in our country. We have walked pass the days of racial riots in the 60s but the troubling consequences of those days would never be forgotten and would never go away. Our superficial racial and religious harmony will crack at the slightest provocation, even if unintentionally misquoting or commenting on an event. These problems will plague us for the next 100 years or forever. No, they will never go away. There are deep emotions and sensitivities involved. Do not believe in the superficiality of cordiality and smiling faces. These are the real hard truths we have to live with in a multi racial and multi religious society where bigots are bound to exist.

The govt knows and understands these problems, or at least the senior members who lived through it. Not sure whether the bright eye little ones can feel the same way. Look at the number of foreigners of all stripes and colours being brought in in great numbers and over a short time told of a different story. For economic numbers, they are willing to play with fire. They are prepared to look elsewhere and thinking or hoping that they have brought in angels to live with us. Or they are simply ignorant, perhaps pure stupidity.

The Syrian and Middle Eastern refugees surging across the borders in Europe are heart wrenching sights. Many Europeans could not bear to see the sufferings and are opening their hearts to them, to invite them into their countries and into their lives. In the name of humankind and human kindness, they are welcoming and embracing the refugees even knowing that they are very different in race and religion and culture. May God bless them for their kindness to the refugees and that the refugees will reciprocate their kindness in the future.

We are also very kind to the foreigners we brought in and are still crazily bringing in knowing the fault lines of race and religion that would never go away. I am not sure our decisions are based on economic reasons or wisdom. There is no point to be emotional and to choke up when reflecting on the painful past. We will have to live with the decisions we made and are making today, to bring in more and more foreigners, of all races and religions. It is a conscious choice, unlike Europe when a bad situation came knocking at their doors. May God also bless us for our kindness and the generosity to the foreigners we invited to live with us. One thing for sure, no one will be kind and forgiving to stupidity when we will have to pay for them one day. We know it is dangerous and difficult, but with eyes wide shut, we went into it like there is no other choice.

We decisively, intentionally and purposefully asked for it.

Haze problem is like a mouth ulcer

I dunno want to laugh or want to cry. This haze thing has been on for decades and would happen with clockwork precision every year. And all the national leaders got no clue how to resolve it and every year this time they will be scurrying to put down the fire and the haze. That is already bad enough, but they would go one step further, to blame one another and everyone becomes angry while the culprits continue to laugh to the banks. At the same time the people in all the affected countries suffered in silence. I think a bunch of monkeys could do much better.The haze attack is like the attack of mouth ulcer or a flu. If one does not treat it early, best at the early stage before the ulcer breaks out, for once the ulcer breaks out, it would run its natural course for two or three weeks before it subsides. Haze is the same. Once the fire is allowed to start burning, it will continue to burn until it runs out of steam. Why allow the fire to start in the first place?

Between Jokowi and Siti Nurbaya Bakar I think they have found the answers to eradicate this haze problem for good. Jokowi recommended digging more canals to keep the peat wet and lower its chances of burning. Siti Nurbaya talked about prevention, do not allow the fire to start, kill it first at the earliest possible stage. Why allow the fire to raze the forest and plantation then pretend to douse it with water, like working damn hard, desperately wanting to stop the fire? Who is kidding who?

The important thing now is the political will to dig the canals and to stop the fire before it started. Would these be implemented or just talk talk and come next year, let the fire starts to burn and rush to put it out in an exercise of futility?

Anyone still fail to get the punch line of this haze joke? They know someone is going to light the fire and they can’t stop them from lighting the fire?

Wait, wait, wait, the haze is at a very unhealthy level! So? Indonesia will be sending us a bill for the free smoke for Christmas. Are the people so helpless knowing that the govts are helpless? Can the people take matters into their own hands? No worry, the govts will be on your side unlike those protests in Hong Lim Park. A boycott of products from these companies is in order. Where are the NGOs and civic organizations? There is a need for leadership to coordinate a boycott against the culprits.

The two govts may even provide support openly or through other means. This boycott is not anti govt but for the good of the people of all the countries involved. The NGOs of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia can work together to make it impactful.

Still want to be lame, lame?

Town councils - Time to do the right thing

President Tony had this advice for the govt at the swearing in of the new cabinet ministers at the Istana yesterday, ‘Singaporeans have chosen to place their trust in you because they believed you were the most worthy of that trust…You must continue to strive to deserve that trust. You must continue to engage Singaporeans honestly and openly.  You must continue to speak frankly with them on the tough issues, and lead with humility.’

16 town councils will be set up to run the 16 towns that Singapore is divided into. No one is complaining about the need for such town councils. Their functions were once run by the HDB. If there is no town council, similar organizations would still be needed to assume the duties and responsibilities of ensuring that the essential services to the residents are provided, efficiently and effectively.

The problems with the town council concept are basically political. The town councils provide essential services that must be continuous and neutral from politicking by politicians. There is no need to say more on this. Administratively, operationally and financially the politicizing of town councils is flawed and very costly. The flaws are too obvious and unnecessary. The bickering over AHPETC smells badly.

With the big mandate given to the PAP, with the trust the people gave to the PAP, would the PAP do the right thing, return the control and management of the town councils to HDB or a statutory board, and depoliticize the whole scheme?

This is the best time for the PAP to show it has the confidence and sincerity to do the right thing in this town council issue. The people have shown that they trust the PAP, will the PAP reciprocate the trust?

ISIS recognising the military potential of Malaysian fighters

In a report in the Today paper, ‘From Janitors to snipers, M’sians moving up IS ranks’, Malaysian counter terrorism director Ayub Khan has in a way praised the growing importance of Malaysians fighting with the ISIS.  He observed that when Malaysian volunteers like Zid Saharani Mohamed Esa, Muhamed Syazani Mohd Salim and Fadzly Ariff Zainal Ariff first joined the ISIS movement, they were thought to be good enough as the low down janitors, cannot fight, cannot think or simple minded.  But the image of them as good enough to be janitors has changed. Their potential as fighters for the cause of ISIS has been recognized and they are moving up the ranks, promoted from janitors to snipers and suicide bombers.

So far, 14 have died bravely for the cause of ISIS. By the way the above mentioned had also died. Their fighting abilities, maybe bersilat skill, have also been recognized as a fighting skill for ISIS fighters, and their willingness to die for the cause must have won the respect of the ISIS leaders. Going forward, more would probably join ISIS and more will be volunteered as suicide bombers and snipers as well. And more will die bravely for ISIS.

Incidentally there is no need for bersilat skill as snipers or suicide bombers. For snipers, the animal instinct to kill is an asset. For suicide bombers, the willingness to die, to get blown up, must be the most important attribute. No need other skills, no need much thinking.

The Malaysians, maybe soon some Ah Kows and Muthus would also be among the suicide bombers, would soon earn a reputation as fearless fighters in ISIS. This must be a great accolade to be proud of, brave fighters, brave warriors.

GE 2015 – The people’s sentiments

Following Gilbert Goh’s internet petition to the UN I browsed through some of the comments and have made a few observations which I think those in power should seriously look into it. The victory is sealed and nothing can be done to it. But why the petition and the negative sentiments from those who put their signature to the petition? At last count more than 1,200 and growing? It could be an exercise in futility and at best a pyrrhic victory of sort, or just to make a statement, but the sentiments and perceptions are real and cannot be simply ignored. The people who signed the petition must be very disturbed and angry with the election for whatever reasons they perceived to be wrong and unfair.  Let me make a few comments here.  I also copied some of the comments penned in the petition and attached below.

1.     There is a negative perception that the election was rigged, unfair or something was wrong, but no one could prove anything. The gut feel is disturbing enough even if it is untrue or wild imagination. It is how the people are seeing and believing.

2.     There is a high proportion of Malay citizens feeling very sore about the election and govt policies. This would create doubts as to why their votes were not reflected in constituencies that should count? Their unhappiness with the govt was not registered in the votes and the results were contrary to this negativity.

3.     Among the unhappiness raised were influx of foreigners, high populations, loss of jobs to foreigners, being treated as third class citizens, a govt that behaved like a bully, CPF money, university places, govt agencies taking sides, fear, integrity of the govt, cost of living, greed and a growing resentment against foreigners and many related things expressed in the social media.

4.     The people are worried about their future and the future of Singapore despite the assurance by the PAP that it is there to work towards a better future for Singaporeans. Why the mismatched in perception?

The govt needs to look at the comments in the petition and recognise them as the fault lines, problems that the people are really angry about and work on it to rectify them or they would continue to simmer in the minds of the people. The problems are serious and would not go away after the landslide victory.

Here are some of the comments:

jessie goh 

I love my Country..I want to be a First Class Citizen in my Country...

Paul Long

I find the ruling party a big bully towards all opposition parties. The prime minister Lee openly admitted that his job is to fix the opposition parties and make sure they dont survive. It is sad to hear that.

Wan Mustafa 

I want all singaporeans to have a better life in their own country, not becoming a 2nd class citizens in their own country, not having a low pay jobs while foreigners & new citizens has a higher better salaries jobs, say no to 6.9 million population in a tiny country, compete everything with foreigner ect. I want all singaporeans to have a voice in their own country.

 Mohammed Shahid 

I'm not satisfied with PAP governing my Country anymore...

So many Policies that has Angered The Locals here...

Foreigners are given priority compared to the Locals...

Our CPF Retirement Monies is being held by the Government, till we have to work until the day we turn 67...

We may never get to see our Hard Earn money...

Local Children unable to get a place in local University because most of the slots is taken up by Foreign Students on Scholarships...

Even after Graduating from Uni, Local Graduates have to fight for a job with the Foreign Talents who's receiving lower salary than the locals..

Locals are unhappy with the current government as of late...

We want a change but after the 70% landslide victory by the ruling party just doesn't seem right.

sujuandy suppa'at 

I'm signing because I love my country..

Muthusamy Kulanthaivel 

Let's have a fair ethical GE in Singapore

Walter Quek 

I look forward to a fair clean election system for a better future of Singapore, my beloved country

Azreen Alyssia Sudarto 

Stability and welfare of Singaporeans first before that of the work permit, employment pass holders, prs and so called "FT's".

David Chua 

Peoples Association is meant to be setup for the benefit of the community of Singaporean but alas it seems to be setup for propagating the activities of the ruling PAP constituency but not the oppositions held constituency. This is grossly unfair as funds for PA comes from all tax paying residents of Singapore

Christina Wong 

I want a FAIR election and a balance representation in the parliament. I believe in democracy, NOT ONE PARTY RULE!

Saifuddin Tasnim Mohamad Farid 

I'm signing this because I still believe in Democracy which Singapore's govt claims to have. I believe that there is something going on during the election and prior to the election. So UN I beg you to do a proper inspection on Elections Department.

Aspa Hatta 

I'm signing this because, as a ruling party that has antagonized, instilled fear within its people & clearly embezzling the monies of Singaporeans for their own benefits whilst also, benefitting their close kins - spouses, relatives, siblings, children or even close friends, should truly practice democracy as mentioned repetitively in our Pledge & National Anthem. Why should a government terrorize its people & practice double standards in the laws which they've laid out & they, themselves, broke. Singapore deserves a decent government, not some million-dollar-ministers, whom without fail, would push their burdens or blames onto others without even trying to understand the actual situation. Singapore deserves humbled Ministers not some mafia-wannabes.

The past 50 years, our parents & elderlies have suffered under PAP. We can't lose Singapore to the foreigners flooding our job industries as well as our Home. Singapore has to be actually AFFORDABLE to live in comfortably & more welfare should be focused upon the elderlies, the homeless, the less fortunate before actually showering the foreigners with better paying jobs, salaries & even scholarships.

Singapore should be for Singaporeans, FIRST, something which our greedy million-dollar-PAP-ninisters seem to have neglected ever so often.

Lastly, & most importantly, we have to stop the damned PAP from rigging every elections!

Peace!

#MajulahSingapura

thomas ansari 

I strongly felt something wasnt right in the GE 2015. After l heard of people being paid money to vote. New citizens brought in deliberately to cast votes for the ruling party. This is entirely not acceptable. Unfair election.

Cindy Yeun 

Firstly, Singaporean hard to get a job !! Doesn"t mean we asking for high pay, in fact, foreign worker also ask for high pay. If Government advise Singaporean not to ask for more in such a high living standard country, than WHY their Salary is the WORLD Highest!

Secondly, disagree Govement to increase population in Singapore !! Not only affected our living, if more "foreign citizen" or PRs in Singapore made the local to feel like we are in other country like 3rd class citizen living in Singapore !!

Richard Chan 

The whole election does not tally with the election rally.

Eureka Koh Hui Min 

I want free and fair elections as I don't eant the PAP to make crazy policies and bills like the White Paper which will destroy our Singaporean core and identity and the foreigners will end up lording over us.

Jayden Ng 

We should not be 3rd class citizens in our own country and being treated like rubbish by FTs.!!and they are ruining the harmony we singaporeans once had in singapore.!!

Cheng Poh Tan 

Clearly the results do not reflect the actual sentiments of the born-and-bred-in-singapore people.

It is a real fear that we will become a minority, in our own country, in the next 10 years and this is worrying for my children.

Fee hikes in pre schools and also hikes for non citizens in schools

The cost of pre schools will go up next year in the two top preschools, the NTUC My First Skool and PAP Community Foundation or PCF. The hikes range from $28 in PCF and $34 in My First Skool for childcare and $14 and $48 for infant care respectively.  However, the upper limits of $720 and $1275 for pre school and childcare will still be in force. Industry average fees for the two categories of care are $900 and $1343 per month.

School fees for Singaporeans will remain unchanged but PRs and non citizens would have to pay more as the govt step up effort to differentiate citizens from PRs and foreigners.  Singapore citizens will pay $5 and $6 per month for primary and secondary school fees.

Children of PRs and non citizens will pay $550  per month for primary education and $800 for secondary education on top of a miscellaneous fee at $6.50 for primary, $10.00 for secondary and $13.50 for pre university students.

The school fees for govt schools are still very low compared to private international schools that charged between $25,000 to $40,000 annually.

Rising cost of govt

The cost of govt in this little island is the highest in the word with no competition. The pay of the Prime Minister is ten times what the President of the USA is being paid, on a conservative estimate. Even a lowly parliamentary secretary is getting paid more than Obama. And above this level you have senior parliamentary secretaries, ministers of state, senior ministers of state, ministers, coordinating ministers, deputy prime ministers. And we even have 4 mayors to add to the icing, 4 mayors in a city state with a 5.54m population while London and New York with several times the population and size has a mayor each and getting paid in peanuts.

I am not sure if the additional appointments like second minister in another ministry will be paid extra for the additional job title. I am not sure if the title of coordinating minister will also be paid extra. I think a deputy prime minister would definitely be paid extra. So, a deputy prime minister with a coordinating minister title attached, overseeing a ministry or two, and also a MP, what is he being paid? Does he get his MP allowance, minister salary, deputy PM salary, coordinating minister salary or he just get the deputy PM salary plus MP allowance of $16,000 pm? And for those above 55 years, would he be getting a pension in addition to his salary or salaries? Does anyone know? Is there an official document on this?

The cost for the above on an individual minister basis is already very high. On a ministry basis, there will be a minister, now on top there is a coordinating minister, second minister, minister of state, parliamentary secretary, Chairman of ministry’s committee, how would these add up?

And the latest, two ministers in one ministry, which also very likely have the same compliment of ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries. Would it mean the cost of a ministry would simply double at the ministerial level? It must be with two ministers.

And every minister, minister of state and parliamentary secretary added means millions as every one of these appointment holders is being paid in the millions, in gross pay, including bonuses etc etc.

If, I cannot confirm on this, additional appointments, titles and additional ministries added to the incumbent’s portfolio means additional pay, there is really no need to adjust ministerial pay further as the pay would have grown with each title and appointment. Can anyone confirm this?

The cost of our govt at the ministerial and political appointment level is extremely high, definitely out of this world. WYSINWYG.

Wither Goes Malaysia

                                                                WITHER     GOES      MALAYSIA

The concept of Malaysia was a British idea to prevent Soekarno from taking over British North Borneo and Sarawak .
The British colonial office had invited the Federal Malay states , Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak to join in a federation
of independent states to form a new entity called Malaysia. However each of the five states had different motive and
objective for joining the federation which would eventually tear at the seams to destroy Malaysia. The ultra and radical
Islamic UMNO  of the Malay Federal States took it as an opportunity to eventually take over the British colonies of 
Sarawak and Sabah. Singapore saw it as an opportunity to extend and widen its influence over new horizons. The
autonomous self-governing states of Sabah and Sarawak volunteer to join the federation on the premise that Singapore
is a member of the federation. The British minister of state for colonial affairs Lord Lansdowne signed the Inter-government
Committee Report in 1963. The report stated that any state that voluntarily entering a federation had an intrinic right to secede
at will. Under the IGC constitutional arrangements were formulated that include  the safeguards for the special interest of
North Borneo and Sarawak to cover such matters like religious freedom,education, representation in the Federal Government,
the position of the indigenous races, control of immigration, citizenship and state constitution. The IGC Report was accepted
and signed on 27th February, 1963 by UK, North Borneo, Sarawak and Federation of Malaya. Under the terms of the
agreement a basic clause stated that basically Sabah and Sarawak are free to to leave the federation at any timeand do
not need the approval of each of the federal states to leave or need the support of the Rulers' Council to leave. All Sabah
and Sarawak need to do is to pass a resolution in their respective parliament or Dewan Undangan Negeri to leave and Sabah
and Sarawak will become an independent sovereign nation.

After the British had left the ultra Islamic UMNO leaders began to plan and scheme the taking over of the local self-governing
autonomous parliaments of Sabah and Sarawak. In Sarawak the first local Chief Minister , Stephen Kalong Ningkan was
ousted by UMNO in 1966 and he was replaced by a muslim Chief Minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud. Before long the autonomy of
Sabah and Sarawak was eroded. Datuk Harris of UMNO treacherously cede the oil rich producing Island of Labuan to the
Federal government as a federal territory. In addition the unequal sharing of exploitation of Sabah's and Sarawak's rich resources
of timber and petroleum caused great anger and dissatisfaction. There were strong calls for secession from the Federation by the
Sabahans and Sarawakians. Then in 1994 there was direct political intervention by the Federal Government of Doctor Mahatir.
It was a political tactic by UMNO led Federal Government to seize control and manage the autonomous power of the Borneo
states of Sabah and Sarawak,

It was agreed in the IGC that Sabah and Sarawak will have no official religion. There will be freedom of religion, respect for
adat or customary law and while state government holds authority over land , the natives will pledge loyalty to Malaysia.
However, all original agreements were soon torn to shreds by ultra radical UMNO leaders. The natives such as the Dusuns,
Kadazans,Muruts, Bajau, Ibans, Melanaus and Bidayuh claim that their life was better before Malaysia. There were no Muslim -
Christian conflict before Malaysia. Recruitment for civil  service and schorlarships was based on merit and not on race or religion.
Then soon after usurping the autonomus power of the local assemblies the UMNO leadership began to take in more than 1.7
million muslims from the Phillipines and Indonesia to overwhelm the the 1.5 million Sabahans, Similarly large numbers of muslims
were taken into Sarawak from Indonesia and Philippines. This is a direct travesty of the IGC signed in 1963 .

Since 1963 all governors of Sabah and Sarawak were muslims while others were effectively denied the posts. When native leaders
demand higher royalty for oil and timber resources rather than the measly 5% they were mysteriously eased out or silenced. The
issue of race and religion predominate in Sabah and Sarawak in line with the " Ketuanan  Melayu  " Malay Supremacy and dictates
of the ultras and religious radicals of the UMNO  Federal Government.

UMNO had calculated its strategic move to throw out Singapore from the federation so that ultra UMNO could have its way in
achieving "Ketuanan Melayu" in Sabah and Sarawak. Since Singapore is no more in the Federation the people of Sabah and
Sarawak feel strongly that they too should not be part of the equation and should secede from the federation which is  their
constitutional right. However, because UMNO holds complete political power and dominate the military and police force the
natives are hamstrung and in the meantime unable to secede. The big powers and United Nations must intervene
eventually to help the natives of Sabah and Sarawak to get rid of the yoke of ultra UMNO to achieve their righteous independence
and sovereignty,

Sg
Wednesday,30th September, 2015

The unbelieveable talent of politicians

We have just witnessed the appointment of a new cabinet of ministers, with some ministers taking on new ministries and some new faces being appointed as ministers. Many people have taken for granted that this is a normal thing, just getting people appointed as ministers. There is nothing unusual about it.

From the HR perspective, this is the biggest fallacy that no one ever questioned. Now what am I talking about? These are very important appointments that require exceptional skill sets. They are not the cashier or the counter sales girls. Even these lower skill jobs require some form of training and may be some form of relevant qualifications. Now you are getting it.

In political appointments, there is no skill sets to talk about. There is no profession training needed. You can put Ah Meng as a defence minister or an education minister, as long as he is elected by the people and the party puts him into the job. Now the picture is getting clearer. In the industries, every joker is talking about skill sets and lack of skill sets to hire or not to hire, to go overseas to look for the talent with the required skill sets.

There were hue and cries about our lack of talent in the IT and finance industries. But we never heard of lacking talents in politicians. There was no need for any qualifications or training as politicians. Maybe being a politician is the easiest thing, in born, a natural skill that does not need any training. But when one takes on an appointment like finance, education, defence, law, health, etc etc, is there any specific training or qualifications needed? No, no need, anyone is good enough to be in any ministry. We put a soldier as an Education Minister and he is expected to know what education is all about. We put an eye surgeon to become a Foreign Minister and he will know the job. We put an administrator as the Transport Minister, and instantly he is an expert in solving transport problems.

In conclusion, either the job of a politician even at ministerial level is so easy that no training is needed and any training or experience will do, or a politician is born to be multi talented, born to know everything and be an expert in everything. An MP will automatically become an advisor to clan associations, sports associations, clubs, guilds, industrial associations etc etc. Somehow an MP also becomes a knows all.

It is really good to be a politician, your status, skills and talent immediately changed overnight and one becomes a knows all superman or superwoman without the need for any professional training.

This is the best profession on earth. No need special professional training and good for life.

15 Prime Ministers for Singapore

This is my recommendation. You don’t have to agree but I have good reasons for it. The appointment of two ministers each in MTI and Education is so well received that the reasons for it must be right. Singapore should seriously be thinking of having 15 Prime Ministers to be efficient and productive and to take the country forward

Here are some of the favourable comments in support of having two ministers in the two ministries reported in the ST. No one has a bad word for it. No one can find anything wrong with it. It has no flaws, as good as a concept in perfection. I will put them down in point forms for ease of reading.

1. Challenging period and tepid economy

2. Two ministers mean greater focus on each area, each dedicated to specific areas, aka dedicated ministers, I like the pun

3. Global competition and fast pace technological advancement

4. Greater attention and accountability

5. Business can expect more help, also know the priority of govt

6. Boosting economic growth like a car with two engines or is it two exhausts

7. Ministers would have more time to interact with business leaders

8. And for better coordination it is apt to have a coordinating minister on top of them. If not we may end up like the housing crisis, influx of population but not building flats

9. SME Association Kurt Wee even suggested a third minister dedicated to SMEs. This is good anticipation ability to see the trend for more ministers

The two minister concept is such an ingenious creation that the govt should have thought of it long ago. Never has a govt initiative been so well received. And by the comments from the business leaders, the govt really needs to have more ministers in every ministry. Singapore is growing, the world is growing, jobs are getting so big and so complicated, one minister is just impossible to cope and do a good job.

Actually the move has already been started long ago in the PMO. There are quite a number of ministers in the PMO, suggesting that there is a need for more PMs. So with ministries getting more ministers to help to run, it is unfair to expect the PM to work alone. The current practice of having so many ministers in the PMO should be abolished and replaced by having more PMs with one PM overseeing one ministry. Then to make sure that there is proper coordination and efficiency, there will be a Coordinating PM to gel the PM team together.

Singapore will have the most effective and efficient govt to take it forward in the next 50 years. This is political entrepreneurship, with creative and innovative new ideas in govt.

What about cost? Never mind, if the new structure of having so many ministers is productive, it would pay by itself even if the cost of govt is 10 times more. You must pay for good quality right? It is the result that counts. Did you see why Singaporeans are paying so much for housing and cars and still able to pay? The simple answer is that they can afford it as they are making a lot of money. So there is no need to worry about cost of govt when there are productivity and growth.

We need to seriously study this new approach to govt for more productivity. The old concept of productivity means one minister wears 10 hats and one MP with 50 directorships. The new productivity formula is many ministers in one ministry and many ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries and Chairman of committees to work together to improve productivity.

This is simply ingenious. Harvard is going to take this idea further and develop a course on it for a Ph D in Govt Administration.