singapore the yuppy

singapore is just like a yuppy, young and upward mobile, vibrant, rich, and craving for all the trappings of being affluent. the 5 Cs, theatres, latest mobile phones, palm tops, laptops, holidays, fine cuisines, pubbing, fine wines and women.... singapore have almost attained all the trappings of what a rich country should or must have. country clubs, marinas, durians, theme parks, revolving viewing towers, bungee jumping, ferris wheels, formula one speedboat races, turf clubs, and now crazy horses, and casinoes in the line up. what else that we want but have not attained as trappings of a rich and successful nation? we have climbed mount everest, swam across the english channel, walked the antartic, collected as many golds as we could in sports, in the guinness book of record, have maids in tow....oh, still one more to go, the world cup. sure we will get the world cup. then we can tell the world we are number one. we have arrived.

the unwanted 5 Cs

ask any prs why they did not want to take up citizenship here. you will get a very telling grin on his face. without uttering a word, you will get the message on how stupid your question is. who would want to get a citizenship that comes with so many hindrances, obligations and disadvantages. who would want their sons to be conscripted at the prime of their lives? 2 1/2 years of youth, the most wonderful part of a young man's life, and another 20 years of reservist liabilities. conscription is never a choice thing to do. who would want to be a citizen and got to get their cpf money lockup practically for life? who would want to be a citizen and have their lives and lifestyle practically controlled by the state or system? as a pr, when the time is ripe, they could pack up, collect all their savings, and move back home or some where that is cheap to live their twilight years. why would they want to stay here to feed the high cost of living when there are cheaper alternatives. the prs are very happy as they are, minus the 5 Cs.

the causeway - a forgotten landmark

the whole world is boasting about how beautiful is their bridge, the san francisco bridge, sydney bridge, crooked bridge, and all kinds of bridge. if i am not mistaken, there is one and only one causeway. and this causeway is so unique that it joins the furthest southern tip of the great asian continent to another great piece of land, an island called the red dot. this vital fact that man can walk all over asia and will end up here, after crossing the causeway, could be turned into a great tourist attraction, a unique piece of information that often people take for granted. the causeway is our link to asia. stepping across the causeway into asia.

ministers should play god

yes, minister should play god, be separated from the normal functioning of the organisations they are overseeing. minister of communications should be detached from lta or transport companies, health minister be detached from hospitals, etc so that they need not be identified with these organisations and need not have to protect and defend their positions, and can then be objective and even object or disagree with these organisations. that is why they need to be god, to stay above the fray. what we have now is that ministers become part of the organisations in their portfolios and any unfavourable policies or decisions, the ministers would have to come out and defend them. for any criticisms on these policies and decisions will be regarded as a criticism of the minister. as politicians, they should be politicians and not administrators or ceos. they should balance the interests of the organisations and the people affected by these organisations. let the ceos or heads of ministries, stats boards and organisations do the explanations.

Accounting body wants more transparency

the institute of certified public accountants of singapore, icpas, wanted stricter guidelines for charities. uh, is this the real problem? all sizable organisations, including nkf are audited by internal or external auditors. and quite often it is the auditing that is at fault. then what happens to the auditors? nothing. absolutely nothing. what is really needed is accountability. anyone who is tasked to do a job as a professional must be held responsible if he fails to do a decent job. negligence is no excuse. the directors, the management, the auditors, are all accountable and must be brought to task. there is no point in having stricter rules and more rules if there is no will to enforce it, to execute it and to take wrong doers to task. lets start with the directors, management and of course, the auditors. the auditors are paid to audit and report any shortcomings. if they did not do a good job, they shall not be allowed to walk away quietly.