the right of reply

singapore only ask for the right of reply. that is what hsien loong told the foreign press. it is a simple and legitimate request. why is it so difficult for the foreign press to comply? are the foreign press thinking that they can say anything they want without the aggrieved party telling his side of the story? is this the western standard of press freedom? even i think that this is absolutely unfair. you just can't tell your side of the story, especially when it is distorted and with your own agenda and refused people the right of reply. what then is the motive of western press? isn't providing objective, analytical reports and the truth important? with both parties explaining their views, isn't that fair? and further, if the press is concerned with revenue, i bet, a highly charged press engaging in a discourse with the authority will be in hot demand and readership will definitely soar. isn't that good? but in reality the western press has been monopolising the media to shape the minds of the world, telling the world their distorted views and getting away with it. we may admire press freedom in the west. but make very sure that it is press freedom and not something else. make sure that it is press freedom for the truth and not concocted truth.

singapore on watch list of reporters sans frontieres

15 countries were declared as enemies of internet freedom of expression by the reporters sans frontieres (rsf,reporters without borders). these are countries who are deemed to have cracked down hardest on internet freedom, censoring, monitoring, harassing, intimidating and even imprisoning internet users and bloggers. the countries are belarus, myanmar, china cuba, iran libya, nepal, north korea, saudi arabia, syria, tunisia, turkmenistan, uzbekistan and vietnam. gosh, aren't we lucky not to be included despite our low ranking in press freedom. but we are not totally out of danger so to speak. we are in their watchlist. the watchlist are for countries deemed to be bothering freedom of expression on the internet. but we are in good companies. hey, the usa, the european union, malaysia and thailand are also in the same category as us. not bad huh? this group being watched includes bahrain, egypt, kazakhstan, south korea and zimbabwe, plus those mentioned above. to be in the company of such great luminaries for press freedom like the usa and the european union means that we are doing ok. we are within the acceptable norms of civilised western societies. george bush and tony blair will speak for us as their equals. it is indeed a nice feeling.

sex is in the air

we failed so miserably in this vital area. our manhood is at stake. we really need help. the media has been advocating more sex. slogans like 'its time to flirt' are everywhere. and the govt is also helping out, but for different reasons. the govt is only interested in what comes after consumation. they need more head counts. but the message is filtering down. we have our great sexpo in our sterile and no erection city. is there a walkover whenever a singaporean is called for an erection? does erecting annabel to the status of a national hero work? maybe singaporeans have found something greater than sex. for the computer buffs, they think of nothing when they are banging away on the screen. no sex please. no time for that. it is serious business in computer games. it lasts longer, hours even without sleep. better than marathon mahjong. who needs a few minutes of erection? with such dedication in their hot pursuits, who got time for sex? but sex is just a personal preference. some, despite whatever incentives or no incentives, sex is all they live for. some will only have sex if it is worth their while. they need to calculate what it costs in the long term. it is a matter of money, to want to have a go at sex. are there any sex symbols around to excite people to live sex? watching the local tv is for people who need to be bored to sleep. a substitute for counting sheep. sex is in the air everywhere except the box. the people passing shows for screening needs to be......sexed up a little if we really want to have sex in the air. even ypap forum is taking the cue. it might be discussed in parliament soon..... sex in parliament.

1965-2005 - the pace of change

egg 10c-15c 1.5x bus fare 10c-60c 6x newspaper 20c-80c 4x bowl of mee 30c-$3 10x kopi o 10c-70c 7x barber 50c-$8 15x taxi 40c-$2 5x luckystrike 90c-$10 11x small car $6,000-$60,000 10x mercedes200 $12,000-$170,000 14x 3 rm flat $7,500-$100,000 13x 4 rm flat $12,500-$200,000 15x semi d $20,000-$1.4mil 70x big sweep $400,000-$2 mil 5x worker salary $100-$600 6x starting salary grad salary $800-$1,500 2x starting salary minister salary $5,000-$80,000 16x number of babies 6-2 -3x the above are just very rough guesstimates. it was a time when earning a 4 figure salary, ie $1,000 was a big deal. today the expectation of a big deal is a 5 figure salary.

right today wrong tomorrow

can anything be so right today and so wrong tomorrow? before the nkf fiasco, it was a shining example of what a well managed charitable organisation should be. it was the paragon of all virtues. every charitable organisations, national leaders and private citizens only have good things to say about it. efficient and professional management led by an extremely hardworking and committed ceo who even slept in the office. a team of emminent and well regarded board of directors that no one can fault. devoted and caring staff that were rewarded handsomely for their services to the people. and above all, a well oiled machinery that could raise fund for its needs and for the needs of other organisations. if things did not happened the way it was, today nkf could be the national institution that singapore may be marketing to the whole world. the pride of our nation. nkf show was the show where everyone feels so good to be a part of it. you could see it in the faces of mediacorp artistes and the faces of audience spuriously banging away at their handphones. but today, even the new auditors could dig out, not a can of worms, but a whole organisation full of worms. funny that no one knew or could see anything wrong before. and the previous auditors were doing such a fine job. and the new management could only shake their heads at every turn of a page or a corner. they could not believe what they are seeing. and every organisations that were once connected with nkf, ...singtel, mediacorp, the artistes, the fund raisers, etc etc, are now under public scrutiny for everything they did, things that were so right and now so wrong. how could such a perception of right and correctness be perpetuated for so long and believed for so long without anyone, inside nkf and outside nkf, knowing that it was all false, and that the problem is so pervasive and glaring? and people were sued and paid heavily for making remarks about wrongs in the nkf. and suing people seemed like a past time, a sure win case. are singaporeans so dull, so innocent, so naive, so deprived of information, so unable to think, that they could live with a myth? what are the contributing factors that could lead to such an unfortunate situation, when no one really know that things have gone so wrong and seen to be so right by everyone? yes by everyone...until a contractor was pricked by his conscience to spill the beans, and a young girl who bravely stood up to bring it down. or is it that we have become a blinkered society?