my island in the sun

as a kid, i used to go to blakang mati through jardine steps. hopped onto a ferry for a few cents and the island is mine. i could roam freely there, did whatever i want, spent as long as i want, in my island in the sun. today, my beautiful island in the sun is not mine anymore. i will have to forgo 3 meals just to be allowed to visit the island. all because they erected all the ugly and unsightly things all over the place, changing it into a mess of rubbish concrete. the natural beauty of the laid back island, where the warmth of the sun and the free fresh sea breeze, are now commercialised for gaudy human created things that people thought were what you need. and they demanded that you pay for it. and the same concept is going to take place in east coast parkway. they are going to spend $160 million to add all kinds of artificialities to a coastal park whose main attraction is the sun, sea and the sand. who needs all the creepy things that you can find in orchard road or any amusement parks when parents conned their kids to give themselves a few minutes of freedom? and don't be surprised that walking in the park may no longer be free. they need to recoup the $160 million spent. huh, another causeway bridge in the making, collecting park tolls?

adil hakeem tops psle

adil hakeem is not a flash in a pan. many brilliant malay students have done as well as him in the school examinations. no doctoring of their grades to make them look good. the achievements of these malay students tells simply that they can make it in the toughest environment without a crutch. they have levelled up in the face of competition. maybe mahathir may want to relook at his formula of levelling down, with the assumption that his bumiputras cannot compete and must be helped, even with the doctoring of their exam results and quotas for university places. the new elite of the malay world is mushrooming in the little red dot, fighting for a place in the brave new world like everyone does.

profits from drug trafficking could go to osama

the drug trade is big business. afganistan was and still is a producer of drugs. who knows where the source of the drug found in nguyen tuong van. it could come from afganistan or bought from people working for osama. and the profit from the sale of this drug could end up financing the bali bombings or more bombings of australian parties in indonesia and, god forbids, australia one day. now, would the australians still be so vehement in saving the lives of drug traffickers?

what can singaporeans do best that others can't?

practically in every area, what we can do others can. we had our little advantage as a result history and our location. but the changing of winds is taking the wind out of our sail. our advantage is fast disappearing. there is one area though, that we still seem to excel. we are still admirable by the world in terms of govt. i am not referring to political system. our civil service and statutory boards are perhaps the best in the world, as long as they keep their fingers away from private enterprises. planning, coordination, organising and developing infrastructures and systems of township are our expertise, so far unmatched elsewhere. and of course, our incorruptibility. other than a few stray cases, our govt services are still probably the cleanest in the world. maybe we should think of exporting our expertise in these areas to the world. many countries need great planners to develop their infrastructure and town planning, and in economic development. and we have many experienced and skill people that are highly regarded in these fields. just in the prime minister's office alone we can carve out two teams, one headed by lky and anther by choktong, to be made available to the world. we don't really need a prime minister's office with 3 prime ministers, 2 deputy prime ministers and another 2 or 3 ministers. their skills and experiences can be marketed. they have great value to offer to others who are struggling to get their countries in order. and we need to do it now with lky around. he will be the prize catch for any country who is willing to pay for his service, plus those experienced civil servants. this is a field that we are unparalleled, and we have many able bodies to offer to the world, some retired, some about to retire, some hanging around waiting to do something useful. the singapore government consultancy service!

we shall ride on the chinese indian locomotives

our success formula was to be ahead of our competitors. we did that very well in the last 40s. we were lucky that our competitors were less tenacious as us. it was easy to stay ahead. can we apply the same formula to the compete with the chinese and the indians? two huge economies with equally intelligent and hardworking people? can we stay ahead of them? at the pace that they are catching up, soon we will be left behind. these are hungry people but with a will to succeed. they are as intelligent and hardworking as us, and better. they are prepared to work for less. they can do what we can do, and cheaper and faster. what do we mean by riding on their growths? can we supply them with our labour, supervisors and management? fat hope. labour and skill labour they have plenty. what we could perhaps contribute or add value to what they are doing is capital, which they will welcome at this point in time, and some senior management staff. other than these, they have no use for us. can we afford to raise the cost of our labour? if not, how are we going to improve and raise the quality of living of our people faced with such competition that we have no comparative advantage? the future looks pretty dim and gloomy. will we be returning to where we were? back to the future?