Poor Singaporeans - Another sad tale to cry about

Below are some thoughts of a Singaporean driven to despair by a thoughtless nation that don’t believe in looking after its own citizens. Why would they, would they know the pathetic tales of Singaporeans being ousted by heartless policies, regardless of nationality in employment? Why would they have time for daft Singaporeans when they are all busily counting their millions?  It makes one wonders what the fuck is a country and nation all about when citizens are sacrificed in favour of foreigners.

Those people in MOM must think responsibly, that every employment pass they issued there is one sad Singaporeans begging to be employed. Maybe the MOM is run by foreigners or new citizens who believed that foreigners deserved the jobs as they are better, regardless of nationality? How can a country, a nation, degenerate to such a state when citizens no longer matters and foreigners come first? At least half a million foreigners having better jobs not the they were better but through the stupidity of fools in charge.

And after spending a small fortune to get a university degree, hoping to give the parents a better life as a filial chlld, one ends up earning $9 a day as a temp staff, with a degree to boot.

Ask who you voted for and why you voted for them and what are they doing for you or against you. Read on. This article is in Gilbert’s www.transitioning .org blog.

Thoughts of a fresh graduate who earns $9/hour at a childcare centre

Dear Counselor,

Please pardon me for my incoherent thoughts. I have just recovered from a bout of crying. I have been sleeping late and waking up late the past few weeks. If I remain unemployed… Who knows? I don’t dare to imagine my ending. To cut a long story short, I hate myself for being so STUPID. I have always been the type highly likely to end up unemployable. Now, thanks to my own stupidity, I have made myself unemployable.

I have sent out so many cover letters (customized) plus CV to various companies and job agencies so far. No news!

Thought #1: Why should I work? I want to live a meaningful life by contributing whatever God-given skills/talents/abilities that I possess to society. I want to 孝顺 my parents. I must accumulate  $$$$$ in my CPF account, otherwise I will be penniless when I am old and ill. Even if I get rid of all my expenses, I still have to pay insurance premiums. Now then I realize that earning $9/hr beats earning nothing.

Thought #2:After my A Levels, the only temp job that I managed to secure was fast food crew member. I performed so badly that I received lots of screaming/scolding and not even one single compliment. I quit after three weeks and spent the rest of my post-A Levels break volunteering every Saturday at BLAHBLAHBLAH. I love BLAHBLAHBLAH so much that I told myself that I won’t quit it unless it asks me to leave. (Yup, I’m still volunteering at BLAHBLAHBLAH.) You might be wondering why I haven’t asked any of my fellow volunteers for job opportunities and so on. Reason #1: I doubt that they are able to help. We are acquaintances, not friends. Reason #2: Pride. They are highly likely to view me as stupid and incompetent if I tell them that I’m currently unemployed.

Thought #3: During my 1^st uni break, I secured a temp job through 100% luck, although my preferred explanation is that God had answered my prayers. My dad’s colleague quit her job so my dad brought me into the company as a temp while the company was busy searching for a permanent replacement. However, soon after I left, the boss revised company policy—no more 裙带关系. By the way, this company is now struggling to survive. My dad’s own rice bowl is at risk, therefore I ought to work!

Thought #4: Oh, please don’t ask me which uni I graduated from. I don’t feel like blaming my joblessness on it. Let me give you a clue… In 2011 (the year I entered uni), a girl committed suicide allegedly because she was sad that the only uni acceptance letter that she received was from this particular uni. I feel sad whenever people say that my uni teaches useless stuff. Sometimes my dad discusses work-related stuff with me. He says that my insights are good. I always tell him those good insights aren’t from me, I’m merely parroting what my uni modules have taught me.

Thought #5: During my 2^nd uni break, I secured a temp job through a job agency and yet another temp job through “cold e-mailing”. I can only secure jobs through the abovementioned means because I have NO friends. I’m bullied/hated/ostracized from kindergarten till JC, no wonder I’m friendless. I 独来独往-ed in uni. (To be fair, I do have seniors/peers/juniors who were nice towards me and teachers who doted on me. My JC classmates who hated me throughout JC 1 softened their stance towards me in JC 2 without rhyme or reason and started treating me very nicely. However, I’m so traumatized by my experiences that I deleted all teachers’ and schoolmates’ contact numbers. I almost committed bullycide in primary sch and later in JC.) I have lost count of sources stating that most jobs (at least 80%) are secured through friends. I have no friends, how to secure anything good?!

Thought #6: I slacked throughout uni while slipping in and out of depression. I recovered from depression in my 3^rd year, but I still slacked. Stupid me.

Thought #7: I have lots of horror stories involving counselors. However, several years ago, a call that I made to SAMH hotline restored my faith in counseling. I forgot everything that the SAMH hotline counselor told me, I only remembered that she saved me from losing my sanity completely.

Thought #8: When I was studying in uni, I was very sure that I would pursue WSQ PDECCE (Childcare) upon graduation. Stupid me. I can’t sing or dance or play sports, how to educate children in these aspects? Oh, when I applied through ABC Institute, somehow I managed to receive SMSes about job interviews but not e-mails containing the details. I found out from its staff that my e-mail address always bounces its e-mails back. Hmm, maybe God is stopping me from becoming a childcare teacher. Anyway, I was already working at XXX when this Institute contacted me. When I was temping (illegally) as a childcare assistant at one particular childcare center after “cold e-mailing” various childcare centers in my neighborhood, the most senior teacher there (plus every member of her clique) hated me to the core. The childcare center fired me for losing my temper at some of the children. You see lah, I don’t even have the aptitude to become a childcare teacher lah, so stupid.

Thought #9: I fantasize about working as an Admin Executive But I lack relevant experience, so I ought to secure an Admin Assistant position first before working my way up, right? Why no news? I suspect that one reason is that when employers see my degree, they wonder why this particular person is applying for a position that she is over-qualified for—she must be blindly spamming CVs. (I happily accepted my $9/hr six-months temp job at XXX after uni graduation because I wrongly assumed that I will be converted to perm one day and then I can start working my way up.)

Thought #10: My responsibilities at XXX were so niche that I doubt that my job there involves any transferable skill.

Thought #11: I’m very stupid. I made many mistakes at every single job that I have ever held. Let us take XXX as an example. On the surface, I exceeded targets for Quality, Productivity and Attendance every month. I was 100% punctual, lol. In reality, I was a slow learner (my OJT spanned three weeks whereas my predecessors’ OJT spanned two weeks at most) and careless. I’m so slow that the only way for me to finish my tasks within SLA (service level agreement) is to stay behind and work for free. My colleagues (especially my IC) urged me to seek clarification whenever possible to avoid more mistakes. I took their advice. My dad told me that my IC was probably secretly annoyed with me because I sought clarification from her so frequently. OMG, I want to be employed, but it seems that I’m doing society a greater favor by remaining unemployed. Why my weaknesses outnumber my strengths? For example, my handwriting sucks. It is babyish when I write slowly and illegible when I speed up.

Thought #12: I started job-hunting after my final uni exams. Two weeks later, I secured my XXX job through a job agency. ABC Institute was dreadfully slow in contacting me (as previously mentioned in Thought #8.) Several days after I accepted XXX’s offer, I declined a $1.6k offer from a 三人 (two men and one woman) company that interviewed me before XXX did. Its location was very far-flung. I was supposed to replace the woman. Once the woman has finished serving her notice period, I will be left alone with the two men. Quite dangerous. (Wow, I digressed.)

Thought #13: Even though I’m UNDER-EMPLOYED, I appreciated everything that XXX offered except the low pay. As far as I know, I think that I managed to get along with everybody in my dept. (What an achievement! I think that I even managed to get along with my fellow trainees who were subsequently deployed to various depts.) My parents urged (and my “shifu” who gave me OJT) hinted that I should job-hunt while serving my six-month contract at XXX, but I ignored them. I wrongly assumed that even if XXX doesn’t want to convert me to perm, at least it will renew my contract as a temp.

Thought #14.1: Due to automation, my dept’s workload was reduced by 66.6%. When my contract expired, I told my boss that I was interested in staying on. According to her, her boss instructed that I will continue working in my dept (and receive my $9/hr pay from the job agency) while waiting for my temp contract to be renewed three weeks from the original contract’s expiry date. I verbally accepted XXX’s decision to transfer me to some other dept (the dept having the highest turnover) once the new contract is signed.

Depressed

Is Brexit really that bad?

Before and after the Brits voted to leave the EU, you only hear one song, Britain leaving the EU is bad, all bad and nothing good. Britain and the Brits are going to suffer, short of telling them that they would repent, it was all fear mongering. Yes, the stock market took a $2 trillion hit after the result but mostly due to uncertainties than anything else.

What is so bad about a Brexit? And if it is so bad, why are the Brits asking for it? Are they nuts?

The answers could be culled from what Tharman said, '"The majority of the educated class voting to stay; the less educated to leave.  Those doing well in their jobs and incomes voting to stay; those who felt they've been losing out voted to leave.  Many more of the young voted to stay; old voting to leave."

And there is also the problem of the "weakening of trust and consensus in society, and of the centre in politics".

Quoting from the same article in Channel News Asia, Mr Tharman said, "the politics of the centre must stay connected to the challenges that ordinary people face - and address their need for jobs and security, and a balance in immigration that preserves a sense of identity.  Tackling this without turning inwards,and weakening jobs and society further, is the central challenge everywhere."

Immigration and jobs are of utmost importance to the Brits voting to get out. Then for those who wanted to remain are those that are benefiting from the status quo.  This is very similar to the situation in Singapore. Those that are benefiting from the PAP rule will not want to rock the boast, but those not having a fair share in the gravy train would want change.  And there is also the issue of the centre not doing enough to tackle the angst of the people over immigration, the weakening jobs and society.

The Brits have chosen uncertainty and change and hoping for the better.  And the portions of people wanting change against those wanting to stay were quite close but enough to tip the balance.  When would Singapore reach this point when those wanting change would tip the balance and go for it, to replace the PAP rule like the Brits did?

The exit from the EU presents a lot of opportunities to the Brits.  They have been world powers and a political maverick that was ahead of its time. The initiative to break away from the American camp to join AIIB was an ace scored by the British that changed the bigger picture of the world's financial structure.  What's next from Britain that would rock the world?

Would Britain join BRICS or form a new alliance with Russia and China where it could benefit more from the new associations than being burden by a basket of burdensome countries and failed economies? Looking from the positive side, there are many positive cards in the new British hands to play.  The EU is not what it was presumed and designed to be.  It is getting dysfunctional and Britain may lead more countries to want to quit the EU.  The subjugation of national interests to other nations' interests that did not really bring benefits to the country would not be acceptable.  Asean is facing the same problems.  What is good for one is not necessary good for the other.

Trust the Brits to take full advantage of their new status and identity to carve a new and better chapter in their story going forward.  There is no fear of change.  When the majority wants it, even a small majority, change will come and the old beneficiaries of the incumbent moribund system must make way.

Do not underestimate the wisdom and ingenuity of the Brits and think they are stupid.  They did not rule the world for nothing, definitely not because they were stupid.  The doomsayers think they are cleverer than the Brits. The Brits would prove to them  who are the real stupid ones in due course.

The most sought after profession in Sin seeing lesser applicants

Other than aspiring to become an instant millionaire minister, the next most highly sought after profession in Singapore must be a taxi driver. Singaporeans, regardless of educational level and work experience all wanted to be a taxi driver. The annual number of applicants is more than 9,000. They all want to be their own bosses and to drive around the most expensive city in the world, in a car that not many could afford anymore.  Driving taxis, other than being their own bosses also gives them the privilege of owning a car, the most highly priced car in the world.

I am wondering if it is good news or bad news to hear that the number of applicants to be taxi drivers have dropped from more than 9,000 annually to less than 8,000, a whooping 12% fall! Is it because they realized that this no other better option profession is not that attractive anymore? Is it that they have found better jobs after all the skills trainings and retraining? Or is it that they have found a job overseas, or that they gave up and retiring completely from the workforce?

What happened to this highly sought after job after the job of a minister? No, they are not giving up on this highly desired profession that all able Singaporeans aspired to be, wanting to be. They have other alternatives to drive cars other than driving a cab with a taxi sign on top of the car. Now they can drive Uber and Grab cars and still be their own bosses and driving around in the most expensive city in the world. Of course some may switch to drive bigger cars, oops, I mean buses operated by Europeans and with lower pay than driving local buses. Lower pay is ok as long as it is European.

While on this matter, how many womenfolk or young girls would dare to take a ride from strangers when they offer them a lift home? No, cannot take a ride from strangers? Don’t bet on it, with Uber and Grab, our ladies, young girls will simply hop into any car driven by a total stranger and feeling very safe.

This is the mentality of Singaporeans because Singapore is a very safe place and taking a lift from a total stranger is absolutely safe. There is absolutely no risk, just like importing 2m foreigners without any risk. We have Total Defence and SGSecure  and our men in blue to protect them and keep the island safe. Nothing to worry about.

Whither The Gloom and Doom for Post-Brexit UK?

By MIKOspace

Conventional wisdom failed; and the proverbial perfect storm brews in the financial market teacups. The globalscape of economic and trade is beginning to shift, gradually and forever.    

And so the United Kingdom (UK) begins her lone, political and largely psychological, journey out of Europe through a Brexit referendum vote of 52%-48% on Thursday, 23 June 2016, in favour to leave the European Union (EU); which, truth be told, the UK has never been wholly integrated into.  

Gone are the grandiose, delusional and oft-times, nightmarish, dreams of European unity originated in the 15th century and which gathered momentum at the end of the 2nd World War.  In 1972, the UK eventually joined the European Economic Community (EEC) by becoming part of the 1957 Treaty of Rome which established the EEC with the goal of a free trade area with a common tariff.  After a series of related and developmental Treaties, the European Union was formed out of most members of the EEC in 2009. 

The initial gloom and doom predictions for UK in the wake of the Brexit vote are largely misconceived and the doom pundits ignore the fact that the UK has been very much a “reluctant” (EEC and) EU member who was courted with special terms and conditions to become “more European”. 

The UK was allowed to keep her own currency, the British Pound, instead of merging it with the common European currency, the Euro. The British Pound therefore enjoys an independent exchange rate with the EU as well as other trading partners without being unduly impacted by the economic policy vagaries of many EC countries eg. France, Germany, Greece, Italy … etc.  EU currency and financial regulations have no effect on the UK’s own independent policies and measures.  

The ensuing financial markets volatility lacks compelling fundamental causes and makes very little logical sense since the Brexit votes did not change any factors affecting the volumes of trade, which is governed by contracts, and short-term investments, whose prospects and profitability are not suddenly impacted by the votes.  Yet, the British Pound lost 8% against the US Dollar within just 40 hours, as financial players shed sterling pound (why?) for the US greenback (seriously?). 

Never mind the simple economic truths: That 44% of UK exports goes to the EU, and which also accounts for 53% of UK imports. UK exports to the EU sustain about 10% of the UK workforce (about 3 million workers).  In contrast, EU exports to the UK provide more than 8 millions EU jobs.  Economists should also know that these would not change significantly in the coming years to justify the drastic shifts in the currency exchange rates that the market players have incited and instigated.

UK-EU trade is expected to continue and even improve since the UK is a major key export destination of many EU countries. Post-Brexit UK may face some new rules with some EU countries but these are likely to be mitigated by their legacy mutuality of benefits.  

We see once again the stroking of fears by short-term profiteers and speculators.  The explosion of fears and greed for speculative profits exaggerate and inject unfounded and imagined uncertainties to create profiteering opportunities for the smarter market players by fueling short-selling as they await the long-game victories that begin immediate in the next and following weeks.

The administration of UK laws is also not governed by EC legislation, legal systems and jurisdiction.  For example, the European Court of Justice has no power over British Courts of Law. 

The UK enjoys many exemptions from EU rules which must be complied by other EU members.  For example, EU passports have to be produced when entering the UK; unlike the convenience of free travel without need to show EU passports when entering other EU countries.

EU annual membership fee costs the UK 12.9 Billion British Pounds (after the rebates agreed in 1984 from the full UK 17.8 Billion British Pounds).  This includes UK contributions to other EU Institutions.  British farmers, researchers and other beneficiaries received back about UK 6 Billion British Pounds.

What the pundits of Brexit gloom and doom did not want the rest of us to know is that the UK would save at least 350 Million British Pounds per Week in annual membership fee once the UK is out of the EU. 

It is also estimated that compliance with the massive 170,000 pages of the Top 100 EU rules, directives and regulations cost UK businesses an annual 33.3 Billion British Pounds.

The UK is the top recipient of Fixed Direct Investments (FDI) among the EU countries.  In turn, she is also a major FDI contributor to many EU countries. Its proximity to the EU remains a core competitive advantage, which is further enhanced by her relative political and security stability as compared with other EU countries. Most of her other major investment partners are however not from the EU.  

The truth is the EU needs the UK much more in many ways beyond financial contributions. Post-Brexit EU is clearly much poorer financially and materially, as well as much weaker structurally with lesser strategic resources in terms of global leadership influence and prestige.  The EU exit terms for a Post-Brexit UK are therefore expected to be quite favourable for the UK.

There is no rational basis for any gloom and doom predictions for the future of a Post-Brexit UK. Market volatility following the Brexit vote is man-made, and the more powerful men (and women) in the financial markets have a greater hand in provoking and fomenting it.

Post-Brexit UK is finally freed of EU ideological, economic and political shackles to pursue her own destiny and dreams.  It is timely for the UK to reverse its 1968 “East of Suez” decision to retreat from its imperial power bases from the Gulf to the Far East, and replace it with an updated non-imperial engagement plan with equal partners in the British Commonwealth that focus on all the common issues of global concerns.

   

Like a Japanese “ronin” samurai without a “master”-brand to associate and anchor her affiliation, post-Brexit UK as a major political and economic player must now roam the world stage in search of a “uniquely significant and influential” global platform to re-define and re-calibrate her relationships with the global community in all the emergent issues of trade, economics, terrorism, security, immigration, climate change and sustainable development.

The challenges and prospects of a post-Brexit UK will portend well for ASEAN in a new dawn for old relations.  

Related: Post-Brexit UK – Dawn of a New Global Order

BREXIT And EU EXODUS For A Better And More Peaceful World

European countries affiliated to EU better run - run away from EU as quickly as possible. EU is an American racket conceived with evil intent and it is under the complete dictatorial charge of USA 's Neoconservatives and their proxies in EU. Washington's neoconservatives in the Whitehouse, CIA, and Pentagon and the Anglo American Rothschilds, Illuminati, Zionist Axis are the real power behind EU.

The Evil Axis enacts all the EU laws and takes command of all decisions to suit its imperial agenda and the various local governments of the 28 affiliated countries have no say whatsoever. The Axis hijack all the political, economic and military power of the EU countries

USA treats the Russians and the Chinese as its enemies because they are the main obstacles to unchallenged USA global dominance.USA conducts provocative military build up close to the borders of Russia and China. This may lead to inevitable confrontation thus risking a possible nuclear war. For this responsible world leaders in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America must show serious concern not to ally with the Evil Empire's catastrophic imperial agenda. They should reject USA's imperial agenda which is the greatest threat to world peace.

USA thinks now is the time to destroy Russia and China in order to fulfill its ambition of bringing the whole world under its total control - its hegemony

But USA is bankrupt and so it has to create so called allies and partners to share the cost of its reckless wild ventures of wars of aggression.These allies and partners are nothing but subservient lackeys with voidess power and decisions.They are being led by the nose by the Evil Axis and may realise too late that they are being led to the slaughter house in the frontline in confrontation with Russia and China.

The Evil Empire is very cool and calculative and manipulates all hostilities and wars far away from USA's shores.The evil neoconservative warmongers think America is safe and well protected by two big oceans.In fact USA is governed by a few selected rich aristocrats and business tycoons in the Axis who only think in terms of making endless profits by the billions and thrillions of dollars through unconscionable perennial warfare. While they reap endless profits from warfare, their citizens and soldiers have to pay the price of suffering and death.

British people are smart to realise the danger of staying as part of the EU. Their decision to leave the EU sets the pace and example for others to leave the sinister organisation. Other Eu countries must quickly conduct national referendums to leave EU to save themselves from a nuclear Third World War that the Evil Empire may recklessly unleash on this world.

Southernglory1

Monday, 27th June, 2016

 

China would soon have to act against Indonesia

Indonesia is thumping its chest after shooting at Chinese fishing boats and arresting one. So far Indonesia has arrested quite a number of Chinese fishing boats and those of other Asean states and acting very smug. This is the same situation as the 1962 Sino Indian border war when the Indians were thumping their chests after the early initiatives in attacking China’s border guards. The early victories gave the Indian Army a false sense of grandeur and confidence and prepared for a major onslaught with a 4^th Army Corp getting into position for an open war. When China mounted a counter attack, it dealt the Indians a shocking and embarrassing defeat that the Indian soldiers simply dropped their weapons and fled. The PLA just marched into India only to pull back when it had attained its objective of returning to a status quo, driving the Indian Army back to where they belonged.

China has not taken any military action yet since the Indonesian shooting incident. This is like the Ip Man movie when he was challenged to a fight in his house. He kept defending without attacking and the opponent got more aggressive, breaking down many of his furniture. Then he was told by his little son that his wife told him that if he still refused to strike back, more furniture would be broken. Only then that he hit back and threw the opponent out in another embarrassing defeat.

If China does not hit back, not only Indonesia would get more aggressive, the Philippines and the Malaysians would think they could do the same as China is really weak and not able to hit back. I have left out the Vietnamese as the latter had a taste of what it would be like trying to take on the PLAN. This is reported in Yahoo News.

‘

There have been two armed conflicts between China and Vietnam in the sea.

In 1974, a clash erupted between the South Vietnamese navy and Chinese forces that left about 50 Vietnamese troops dead.

The other major conflict occurred when Vietnam and China fought a naval battle on Johnson Reef in the Spratlys in 1988 that killed about 70 Vietnamese military personnel.’

The Vietnamese have learnt their lesson and would not be crazy to challenge the PLAN again. But for Indonesia, the Philippines and the Malaysians, these twits have not learnt any lessons yet and with the Americans behind their backs, they really think that China would not hit back.

Just wait. China is even prepared to take on the USA and taking on these twits is chicken feat. China is just tolerating their silly chest thumpings for the time being. It is only when before China kick asses.

Car Park rates to go up

Front page news that public car park rates will go up soon and a study is in process. You can expect this kind of money grabbing decision to come very soon. No time to waste. One question, govt short of money or what?

What is amusing are the silly reasons that are being quoted to justify a big round of increases. Maybe the cost of living index is too low and the people can afford to pay more. Maybe too long never increase, so it is time to increase. Then of course, the standard high cost of living, inflation and what have you. Actually want to increase just increase lah. Who is there to object or protest or to say that it is unreasonable, unnecessary, it will increase the cost of everything, the cost of living, the cost of visiting your friends or your parents and grandparents?

Ok, listen to this, ‘the review is meant to “right price public car park charges and reduce the gap between the fees charged by private and public car parks.’ What a gem.  The people have a choice not to go to public car parks but no choice parking at HDB car parks. It is home, stupid. Now you people better protest if private car park operators increase their rates or over charged. It would be used as an excuse to raise public car park fees. This is something like HDB prices priced to market private housing prices. It is like that mah!

Next, ‘Separately, the HDB pointed out that its carparks have improved over the years, with amenities such as landscaped decks, electronic parking systems and lifts. Wah, it is like a cup of kopi, now taste better, so good reason to raise price. Or is it that they are now using porcelain cups instead of plastic cups? Who cares about the landscape in a car park? And why pass the cost of electronic parking system that makes collecting fees more efficient to the car owners? Sial lah!

Oh, this one I must agree. HDB is also studying to charge non residents different rates. Got non residents meh? I thought everyone in the island is a resident except permanent or not permanent? Second car charge more. Thought this is already in practice? How about bigger cars charge more? Sorry big car owners.

This one is classic, sooo clever. According to parking policy expert, Dr Paul Barter, ‘Rates could be raised during peak periods and lowered in the off peak period…If it’s too full, it’s too cheap, and if it’s too empty, it’s too expensive.’ This one HDB car owners sure jialat jialat. Evening and night time when all went home after work, it would be peak period for the HDB car parks. So evening and night parking would be more costly according to this logic. Knn, your HDB home car park is subject to demand and supply meh, peak hour and non peak hour?  Got choice meh?

We need foreign experts for such silly brilliant ideas mah! Singapore where got so clever people other than pricing HDB to resale market price? Actually the kopitiam ah peks and ah mahs have better ideas than these if you are willing to ask them.

Give the HDB a break or they will lose more billions. This will be a better reason.

No tear for the Red Indians

Every year on June 4, there will be commentaries and sit ins to commemorate the Tiananmen Incident not only in HK and Taiwan but also in the West.  I was reading this article deemed important enough by our main media to be reported in one full page.  Nick Frisch, a Yale Law School doctoral student wrote this in his article ‘Tiananmen at 27: Is it worth looking back? The first para:

‘Each spring, a ripple of recollection passes through Beijing and anyone over the age of 35 remembers how hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens went into the streets to join striking students.

The crowds, demanding reforms, used their bodies as barricades against advancing columns of troops.  No on believed the People’s Army would fire at its namesake.

When the gunfire started, the crowds melted away in shock and disbelief. Most individuals became anonymous to history and one another, and, like other urbanites across China, walled off memories of the massacre and accepted the Communist Party’s gospel of prosperity: Make money, avoid politics, get on with your lives.’

I find the above very well written and I choose not to reinvent the wheel and to use the same text, with a few changes, to describe the fate of the Red Indians in North America a few centuries ago. Now try reading this.

‘Each spring, a ripple of recollection passes through the Plains of the Prairies and how anyone of any age, could not remember how millions of native Americans, called Red Indians, went into the prairies to join other native Indians.

The crowds, demanding for the right to live in their land, used their bodies as barricades against advancing columns of troops and the Calvary.  No on believed the American troops would fire at its namesake, at native Americans.

When the gunfire started, the crowds melted away in shock and disbelief. Most individuals, mothers and children, became anonymous to history and one another, and, like other urbanites across America, walled off memories of the massacre and accepted the Confederates and American Union’s gospel of prosperity: Make money, avoid politics, get on with your lives.’ Unfortunately for the tens of millions of native Americans aka Red Indians, the genocide was so complete that barely a few survived today in the land of the free.

While the bleeding hearts and white man’s conscience want to remember 4^th of June, would the native Indians want to remember 4^th of July as their Independence Day or the Day they were terminated to near extinction? To quote Frisch, ‘It is a question that global media multinational businesses and foreign governments must confront as well.’ Or they have forgotten, afraid to confront to offend the white Americans?

The silence of the Red Indians is remarkable. There is no tear left for the Red Indians.

Frisch emphasized that there is one place, Hong Kong, 1,900km south of Beijing, that allows mass remembrance of Tiananmen. Would there be a place in the North American continent, a city far away from the Plain of the Prairies, to have a remembrance of the genocide of the Red Indian as a human race?

Frisch quoted a Hong Kong journalist Yau Lap-poon saying, ‘Without June 4, would China have travelled its 27 year path of development? ... Perhaps the blood of Tiananmen was a kind of fertilizer, helping China bloom prosperously on the soil of market economics.’

Using the same phrase, ‘Without the massacre of the Red Indians, would the USA have travelled its 240 year path of development? … Perhaps the blood of the Plain of Prairies was a kind of fertilizer, helping the USA bloom prosperously on the soil of market economics.’

Frisch also quoted a poem by Cao Shuying, a Beijing poet, ‘I am from a planet you cannot forget…We survivors look like husks…A burden over years…The laughter of lost days, emptied out.’

Take a ride into the prairies in a cold summer night and listen…You may still here the Red Indian laughter of lost days….many centuries ago. You may still see them chasing their squaws around campfires surrounded by their wigwams. You may still see the trails of smokes floating into the air from the pipes of the big chiefs.

No more tears for the Red Indians.

Govt give people $100 in activesg$

Here is someone sneering at Singaporeans who would be given $100 in activesg.com when they signed up but did not know how to use the money. He said this $100 can be used for the following:

1.     Gain admission to public swimming pools

2.     Work out at the gym for free

3.     Book courts for racquet sports

4.     Book playing grounds for team sports

5.     Get a 30% discount on sports programmes

Wah, so simple, so many uses! I actually signed up for activesg to participate in the National Game this August without knowing that there is this $100 activesg$. Well since they credit this sum into my activesg account, I might as well use it.

So I went ahead to sign up for the National Games happily.  The organizer of the National Games is none other than activesg, if I am not wrong. When it comes to payment I tried and tried and tried to use the $100 activesg to pay for the $15 registration fee. But no matter how hard I tried I just could not use the money credited to me. What the hell, I saw a $100 activesg$ but cannot use it.

Not going to give up and not going to use my credit card, I called activesg to ask how to use the $100 active$ to pay for the registration. Here is the reply, oh, for registration fee for the National Games, cannot use activesg$.

That’s it. They gave you $100 active$ and someone even sneering at people not knowing how to use it when it can be used for so many things, not limited to the 5 things mentioned above, and I only want to use it for one thing coincidentally and it cannot be used.

Brilliant! Looks like I should be happy and smiling at the $100 activesg$ in my account and feeling really rich, cannot touch except for what they said can be used for. Ahem.

PS. The registration fee is $15 and I am willing to let them deduct the $100 activesg$ in exchange as that is the only thing I need. Other than that it is unlikely that I would be using it for any of the above 5 things. So very likely I will keep the activesg$100 very warm till it expires. Thank you very much for being so generous.

American hate rhetoric to con Americans and daft Asians

This is a quote by an American calling himself hedgeless horseman.

‘As a kid, I was taught that the United States of America went to war in Vietnam to stop the proliferation of communism.  The US government's rhetoric, repeated to me by my father, was that if we didn't stop the communists in Vietnam, then they would take over the world.  So, we trained our young men to hate and kill communists.

We lost the Vietnam War. 

But the communists did not take over the world. 

Today, Americans are making assloads of money exporting manufactured goods from Communist Vietnam.

Why did Americans fight and die in Vietnam?

I was told that The United States of America went to war in Afghanistan, now the longest war in American history, because the Afghanis were harboring a Saudi Arabian, Osama Bin Ladin, who was, allegedly, the masterminded behind the 15 other Saudi Arabians, 2 United Arab Emirates citizens, 1 Egyptian, and 1 Lebanese that allegedly perpetrated 9-11.  The US government's rhetoric was that if we didn't hunt down and kill Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, then the Muslims would plan and execute other terrorist attacks on the USA.  So, we trained our young men to hate and kill Muslims….

Today, Americans are making assloads of money exporting opium from Afghanistan and exporting death to the world.

Why are Americans fighting and dying in Afghanistan?’

The Americans are not only happily trading with Vietnam but also Russia and China. And China is lending hundreds of billions of dollars to the Americans to spend on weapons manufacturing and war games targeting at China and Russia and trying to provoke a war with China and Russia.

The Americans are propagating hate against China and Russia and one day the same question would be asked, ‘Why are Americans fighting and dying fighting China and Russia?’ But that is alright as they are Americans and they started the wars for world hegemony. The other big question would be, ‘Why are Asians/Europeans and especially the daft South East Asians fighting and dying, fighting China and Russia?’

This hedgeless horseman added this, ‘If you are a veteran or active duty US military (or daft Asians, this part I added), I invite you to skip to items 15-18 on my Revolutionary Call to Arms.

15.  Research your two senators and one congressman at https://www.opensecrets.org/ Make a list of their 10 biggest donors, and send the list to your "representative" in an email or letter.
16.  Read War is a Racket, by Major General Smedley D. Butler.
17.  Read On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman.
18.  Watch the online video of the TED Talk, A radical experiment in empathy, by Sam Richards.

Does citizenship make any difference?

What is a citizen’s pledge to be loyal to a country, to protect a country when one becomes a citizen of a country? A citizen of a country, by virtue of birth or choice, by immigration, is supposed to be loyal to that country, to defend that country if it goes to war. What are the official definitions to tell you what a citizen should be? Oxford’s definition, a legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either native or naturalized, nothing about defending the country and dying for the country. But would a citizen do that?  Another definition, a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection. This one said owes allegiance to its govt and is entitled to protection, not the other way round.  How about this one, person who is entitled to enjoy all the legal rights and privileges granted by a state to the people comprising its constituency?

In all the above definitions, I am hard put to find one that says a citizen must fight and defend the country, be loyal to a country. But it seems that these are expected, a kind of assumption by the populace. And what it quite clear is that a citizen becomes part of the country he took up citizenship with. He belongs to the country and can claim or should claim that this is my country. Legally this must be the case. Mentally as well. In reality this may not be.

In the case of Omar Mateen, yes he is a US citizen. The USA is supposed to be his country and presumably he must have said his pledge like Singaporeans do, to uphold the country’s constitution or whatever. The funny thing is that Omar Mateen told the 911 officers that his country is Afghanistan. No, he did not say it in that way, that my country is Afghanistan or Afghanistan is my country. Neither did he say the USA is his country although he is a US citizen legally.

He told the 911 officers to tell America not to bomb his country. He is an American citizen but his country…America or Afghanistan? What can we make out of this? A new citizen taking up citizenship and still calling his country of origin his country, not the USA as his country.

What lesson can we learn from this when there is probably a million new citizens taking up Singapore citizenship here, with the new citizens saying our national pledge? Would they call their country of origin their country and not Singapore? Would Singapore be just a convenient place to make a living and all the time their countries would be their countries of origin, like Omar Mateen?

Would a citizenship be just a piece of paper? Would a national pledge be just, yes, an inspiration, nothing to be serious about, meaning nothing. How many of the new citizens here would think in the same way as Omar Mateen?

Would citizenship change anything? Omar Mateen is a US citizen and must behave like an American and must call the USA his country not Afghanistan? If he called Afghanistan his country then it is wrong. Wrong? So what is right, what is real?

Obsolete ASEAN And The Brainless Gaffe By Some Pro American Western Oriented Intellectuals

Obsolete ASEAN And The Brainless Gaffe By Some Western Oriented Bananas

It is time for Asean to close shop and for the pro American stooges to stop their illicit comments .Asean should be disbanded and discarded now as it is a very anachronistic organisation which  no longer serves its noble aim . From day one when Asean was infiltrated by the Evil Empire - USA , it has been losing its credibility and bearing. Asean has been hijacked by USA to serve its agenda of divide and rule and its grand strategy of containing China's peaceful development. The belief that Asean countries are still running the organisation is a self deception and a disillusionment . The unseen hands of the Evil Empire behind the steering wheel is setting the direction and calling the tune. The intrigues of the Evil Empire has already undermined the peace, security and stability in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.The problem is that since many of the Asean leaders have their own selfish national interest to serve they become divisive and and an easy target for USA exploitation for its own agenda. Asean leaders and politicians and intellectuals in Think Tanks and institutions of higher learning are willing to be politically anaesthetised and numbed by USA that they become incapable of independent rightful thinking They become subservient to USA dictates and like plasticine their pigeon brains are now controlled and moulded by the manipulative hands and political chicanery machines of  deviant and devious USA 's massive  insidious propaganda. Asean leaders and politicians choose to ignore the horrible painful history of violent USA wanton aggressions and invasions against other countries. They  ignore the historical truth of the real and rightful owners of the island territories in the South China Sea. For thousands of years since the Han Dynasty of 250 BC China had traversed and reigned these islands which was interrupted only by the arrival of the plundering marauding European buccaneers in the 1800s and later joined in by the savage Japanese  and American imperialists. Even then all the South China Sea islands inclusive of the Paracels, Pratas, Spratleys and others have always been recognised as Chinese territories by both East and West including USA and Japan and even the Viets and Pinoys prior to mid 1970s. It was somewhere around 1975 after China announced the discovery of large deposits of oil and other mineral resources under the seabed that the littoral states like Philippines , Vietnam , Malaysia and Brunei began to lay claim unabashly to many of the islands and of course with the instigation and support of USA. Their illogical claims provide USA with an unwarranted opportunity to create trouble and conflict among the claimants. USA's interference to stir up instability , turmoil and conflict is part of its overall evil scheme  to ultimately assume full hegemonic control of the East China Sea and the South China Sea. This is actually the scenario of USA strategy of pivot to East Asia. Before USA appeared on the scene there was peace and tranquility in East Asia and the South China Sea. For decades USA has left trails of blood and suffering in the Middle East with its plots and plans of endless wars among the divisive  Arabs where their deviant faith of many divisive denominations led to easy exploitation by USA for its own selfish interest of ultimately holding undisputed control and hegemony over the whole Middle East .

Having created all the wars and misery in the Middle East USA thinks it can do the same in East and South East Asia. It is now bent on adopting the same wicked strategy of divide and rule in East and South East Asia.  USA is exploiting the greed and illogical claims of territories against China by some silly Asean countries and Japan.

Adding to the reverberations are the silly  comments of many anti China intellectual psycophants who are addicted to the sweet swelling farts and the special flavour of the American shit.Their silly anti China remarks will have its pay back politically and economically  and is of no benefit to their countries. They just regurgitated the wild vicious American propaganda which USA is used to hurl at a peaceful China. These moronic characters do not acknowledge their ancestral roots but choose to believe they are white and identify themselves culturally, mentally and ethnically with savage white people of the West. The white Americans and the Europeans must be laughing themselves silly thinking of these  deranged moronic Asian bananas. It is a disgrace that these pro American bananas are working in higher institutions supported by the government with tax payers' money.Their constant wild anti China utterances expose their utter ignorance of even the most basic history of China and Asia and may be the whole world. They should be removed from the government supported institutions  so as to save tax payers money and at the same time prevent them from bringing harm to the the country from their brainless gaffe. In a recent commentary a shameless nutty intellectual cast uncalled for aspersions on China and disparage China with irrelevant remarks which is anathema to Asean's interest. Remarks like "shoot itself in the foot" and "Trojan Horses" should apply more aptly to the intellectual's country and to Asean for inviting a satanic USA into the grouping and for acting as Trojan Horses on behalf of USA.

I would urge the self esteemed intellectuals to delve more deeply and seriously into history and especially on the history of savage American wars of aggression and conquests before they show their ignorance in their wild utterances.. The utterances that Asean survival as an autonomous body rests on its ability to neutralise external influence in its affairs" is hogwash. How can that be when Asean openly welcomes an outsider, a distant non Asian monster,a warmonger and world trouble maker into the grouping and allows this monster to hijack the agenda and call the dictates. All this while China look askance with disbelief at the folly of Asean. True to expectations USA began to create waves of crisis, instability, hostility and insecurity in the South China Sea region.US has seen fit to to indulge openly in issues between China and some individual Asean countries in a hostile and detrimental manner to China.The issues is between each individual Asean country and China and not between Asean as a group and China. It would appear that USA has succeeded in bribing some non involved Asean countries to use Asean as a block against China. Free passage is not an issue in the South China Sea and has never been an issue  But why is Asean on stasis and so dumb on USA harping on "Freedom Of Passage" knowing that Freedom of Passage is not an issue. Asean does not and should not assume the right to interfere in territorial claimant issues between China and a few of the other individual Asean states. It is a bilateral issue. Asean interference is bad enough and it is worsened by encroaching USA's interference. It clearly shows some Asean countries are conniving with USA to create trouble with the motive of getting some benefits from it.

In conclusion it is strongly advised that ignorant political commentators should keep their mouth shut to save them from contempt and disdain by the general public and to free the public at large from irritation and poisoning.

Southernglory1

Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016

Do not abuse and tarnish the reputation of the Police

The daily reports of violence against citizens and residents have nudged Shanmugam to come out and say that the govt/police will protect the people here, regardless of race, religion or nationality. Everyone should feel safe here and the Police will be there to protect them and their safety. This is something that we can be proud of as a country, when there is law and order and the law/police are there to protect the people. In some totalitarian countries, dictatorships and failed states, the people fear most is the police for harassing and threatening their safety. Many were arrested by the police and disappeared without a trace, some suffered from police brutality.

The reputation of the Police is of great importance to every country. The Police must be held in high regards, in great confidence that they are there to protect the people and the people can go to the Police with confidence that they would be protected by the Police and the Police will upkeep law and order and justice for the people.

Recently there is a new trend for the people to make spurious Police reports to harass other citizens. These people are abusing the Police, making use of the Police like their private gangster force, to threaten and intimidate other citizens. Hopefully there are not many such cases and the Police knew the intent of these scoundrels and would not be made use of by them and made a fool of, and losing their credibility as the guardian of the people. Not only that, any spurious report would mean a lot of manpower and resources and valuable police time wasted to chase after ghosts and imaginary things.

I have been threatened a few times by such scoundrels before, claiming that they would make a police report against me for all kinds of spurious and fictitious reasons. The lastest is by an anonymous blogger calling himself JayF in my blog. He accused me of being racist, xenophobe, traitor, anti Singapore etc etc. I quote,

‘It is not thought crime when you actively spew hatred and xenophobia with dog whistling on a public blog…. Chua had crossed a line when he openly celebrated a mass murderer who was born in the USA, never visited South Asia before and even in his comments justified murdering of civilians because attacking people who can shoot back are too scary…. Chua. Let's make it clear. I am now accusing you of putting the interests of the PRC and cultural chauvinism above the interests of the Republic of Singapore. I am accusing you of being someone who despite being a Singaporean has loyalties to the PRC rather than the Republic of Singapore...’

And now this JayF, an anonymous claimed that he is his bastard son, is using a police report to threaten and intimidate me, suggesting that he had made a police report against me, and the police will come knocking at my door. Here is his post.

‘POLICE REPORT J/20160618/7014
Dear
POLICE REPORT
I refer to your Police report lodged on 18/06/2016.
Your report has been forwarded to the following police unit for follow-up:

Police Unit : Divisional Investigation Branch
Investigation Officer In-charge :
Contact Number :
Email :

An official copy of your report is attached below. Please quote this report no. J/20160618/7014 for future reference. You may wish to print a copy of the report for your retention.

Yours faithfully

Electronic Police Centre
Singapore Police Force
(This is an auto-generated email. Please do not reply to this email.)

June 19, 2016 10:23 am

This is another form of impersonating the Police to harass the people.

This is how scoundrels are abusing the name of the Police to threaten other citizens, tarnishing the reputation of the Police. They are carrying out the Police force as their private army to frighten people, to harass people, in the name of the Police. And the Police would get the blame for it as the feared Police force.

If people keep doing this kind of things, what would happen to the reputation of the Police, would it become a feared and indiscriminating force that would go around chasing citizens, harassing citizens and arresting citizens because an anonymous scoundrel made a report against a citizen?

I hope the Police know what these scoundrels are doing to damage its reputation as the guardian and protector of the people and become the devil to be used against the citizens. The reputation of the Police must not be damaged by such scoundrels.  Once damaged it would be very difficult to repair.

The Police should be on guard against such scoundrels and take a few to court for damaging its reputation in the eyes of the people. The Police should not be made to dance and jump around because these scoundrels made them to. They should take a few of these scoundrels and make them jump on a hot tin roof instead.

Indonesia the strongest military power in Asia

It was reported that the Indonesian Navy had fired on Chinese fishing boats in the contested sea near the Natuna Islands. They went chasing after Chinese fishing boats, fired at them, hitting a fishing boat and injuring one Chinese fisherman. Chinese coastguards came in and rescued the fisherman and took him to Hainan for treatment.

This show of force only tells how powerful the Indonesian Navy has become and how forceful they are in protecting their territorial waters, even contested, and willing to show who is more powerful. The Chinese never fight back. Maybe they know that they are no match to the powerful Indonesian Navy.

Now that Indonesia has proven that it could fire at Chinese fishing boats, insuring Chinese fisherman and China dared not hit back, it would be a good example for other Asean countries to show China that they too are equally as powerful as Indonesia. Countries like Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia should now be more confident to send in more naval ships to shoot at Chinese fishing boats to show the Chinese they are mighty navies and would not be afraid to fire at Chinese ships.

How come China, the belligerent and aggressive expansionist new power so afraid to fire back? Who is the aggressor? How can an aggressive power be afraid to fire back when attacked? The only reason, the Indonesian Navy is so powerful that the Chinese Navy must be shivering in fear and so dare not fight back.

The success of the Indonesian attack on Chinese fishing boats has boosted the confidence of the Indonesians and they are going to send more military weapons and soldiers to the Natunas.  3 more frigates, a fighter jet, drones and radar and an army battalion and special forces from the Navy and Air Force would be deployed to defend the islands as if the islands are going to be attacked.

Now we can expect to see the Malaysians and Filipino navies chasing and shootng Chinese ships in the South China Sea with Indonesia taking the lead. China is going to be driven out of the South China Sea by the combined navies of Asean and Asean will be claiming all the islands and South China Sea for themselves.  They would erase the nine dash lines drawn by China to claim the South China Sea.

Would these aggressive military actions send the US Navy back to the eastern Pacific Ocean or more American ships will be needed to maintain peace and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea?

The world shall welcome the rise of Asean, in particular the Indonesians as the new military world power followed by the Malaysians and the Filipinos for taking on the Chinese Navy and won.

TB and contagious diseases in the most expensive city in the world

The govt is so generous to offer free TB screening to those living in Ang Mo Kio around the cluster block. With medical cost so high and unaffordable to many average Singaporeans, what if those infected refused to seek treatment as they cannot afford it? And this can apply to other infectious and deadly diseases here. When there is an outbreak, and many people are affected but chose not to go for treatment as they could not afford it, what would the govt do?  Arrest them or give out free medicine?

A sick patient is a sick patient. A sick patient with contagious disease will spread the disease if not treated. What then if the patient could not afford to go for treatment?

The free screening at Ang Mo Kio so far has not turned out any more cases of TB. But 9 cases have been referred for more checks. Hopefully nothing untoward comes out from any one of them. The second part is, what if one or two is found to be TB positive and cannot afford the treatment? Those who can would not mind paying for it. But there will be those who would not, cause they could not afford to? Would they be walking around with the disease and with hospitals, govt, private, private public and public private hospitals saying pay up first, no free treatment?

Would such things happen sometime, someday, somewhere in a corner of the island, with people with contagious and infectious diseases walking around, not wanting to be treated or no hospital wanting to treat them?

This is the price to pay for turning medical services into a commercial enterprise, pay for the service, no money no service.

Straits Times took a shot at social media

Jumping on TRE’s error that the TRE had already apologized, the ST’s editorial on 15 June took a jab at social media in general and TRE in particular for being unreliable. Below is what it said.

‘Reliability is not the mainstay of social media of course, as it is essentially an online variant of coffee shop talk, amplified by the echo chambers of cyberspace. Hearsay, half truths, opinion masquerading as information, and ideological propaganda are feral features of this domain. Yet, if those behind sociopolitical websites made little effort to uphold even basic tenets – for example, opinions are free but facts are sacred – a collective slide to the bottom will be inevitable. Ultimately, it is the reading public that can help determine the directions of social media in Singapore.’

This is the Straits Times talking, the epitome of correctness and accurate reporting of news free from factual errors and propaganda, only the truth and nothing but the truth. This quality of the Straits Times and main media is unchallengeable given the resources and the number of professionals and editors editing and editing their articles before printing.  The puzzling part is that The main media here is ranked something like 154^th in the same category as 3^rd world and dictator regimes and dysfunctional society. Given its sparkling credential for reporting only accurate news free from propaganda, it should rightly deserve a place among the top few most credible main media in the world. Coincidentally Donald Trump has just bumped the Washington Post for being dishonest and put it under his blacklist.  This may be an exception, a leading newspaper being accused of dishonesty. It speaks only of one main media newspaper. The rest of the main media are just honest reporting news agencies. Their credibility is unquestionable. And Washington Post has replied that ‘The Post will continue to cover Donald Trump as it has all along – honourably, honestly, accurately, energetically, and unflinchingly.’ Between the two, one of them one must be lying throught its teeth and dishonest.

Readers who want to get the truth, honest news, no propaganda, must go to the main media. I am puzzled why there are readers who gave up their subscriptions of main media and went to the net and social media claiming that only in the net and social media that the real news and truths can be found, in the midst of half truths and untruths. Readers of social media know that there are many untruths and half truths in the social media and are wary and skeptical and very discerning. They are always on their guards against misleading news and half truths.

Can’t say that of the main media readers. They read the main media expecting to read the truths, not half truths or misleading news and thus would whole heartedly believe what they read, believing them to be the truths. If they are cheated, like reading the Washington Post, they only have themselves to be blamed for not raising their guards against dishonest news and propaganda. They expect the main media to tell the truth and thus are vulnerable should a main media prints dishonest and misleading news, even propaganda.

Would it be necessary to warn readers of main media to be on their guard against half truths, misleading news and propaganda in the main media? One thing for sure, if they are reading the ST, they can be sure of honest and uncoloured reporting, free from propaganda, only the truth and nothing but the truth.

What do you think?