we are doing well. all is well.

hsien loong said we are doing well and can look forward to better things. all the restructuring is a big success. with so many good news, how can we be not doing well? we have a big reserve to cushion us for many years, short of an unimaginable crisis. as a nation we are rich. we have gone pass the days of trying to make ends meet, i mean the nation, not the inidividuals. it is time to relook at our policies and how to make the people live better. we have invested our reserves and should be reaping the rewards of our investment. this is expected. if not then we are failing very badly. and with a constant stream of profits, the govt should think of how to return this profit to the people. before anyone shout that we are squandering our reserves, let me emphasise here that i am talking about distributing profits. how much to distribute can be worked out by the fund managers and the govt. if we do not use the profits from our investment, then there is no point wasting all the effort for bigger returns. and we are not doing justice to the people. the profit is a big plus for the govt to use to make the life of people easier. the days when a pound of flesh must be paid before the govt gives out a dollar should be revised. there is no need to extract back a dollar for every cent being given to the people. i saw this big banner at the wto protest, 'no privatisation of basic services.' i hope our hurried privatisation of public services is not a requirement for our joining the wto. it will be good if we can redo some of these privatisations and revisit the objectives and goals of basic essential services and the goals of the govt towards its people. money can do wonders. lets hope public money, especially profits from our investment, is put to good use to make the people feel that their money is invested for their benefits. but there is one area that is waiting to implode. despite the facade of furious trading activities and a rising stock market index, the stock market can collapse anytime, if it has not collapsed already.

the video victim is a bumi!

actually i would like to take a bet. that the woman in the video is a chinese national. i hope the real victim will appear and put this farce away. it is difficult to think that the bumi police woman would make another bumi to do ear squat. (originally i posted about the victim being pregnant. but she was not pregnant then.) at this point i am still convinced, from the video, that the victim can never be a bumi. i need more clearer pictures to prove otherwise. can only believe with picture of this bumi. from the video, this bumi must have chinese parents.

now australia is burning

uk burnt, europe burnt, now it is australia's turn. what next? i hope my friend matilah is well in perth. many singaporeans who migrated to perth look quite middle eastern. this division is going to tear the world apart. and christmas is just another excuse for more burning.

just an observation

how did the jews assailed themselves to such a position of power vis a vis the arabs? historically, apart from a few lapses in history, the jews were mostly slaves, servants or workers to the arabs. the arabs were the kings, the nobilities, the tradesmen and the intellectuals. they have their empires, their academies of excellence and everything befitting a great civilisation. what happen? 5 millions jews in israel and another 15 millions scattered around the world are causing the few hundred millions of arabs to wet their pants. a mighty civilisation has degenerated into a people that is helpless against a small group of their former slaves. where are all the great arabs of intellects, the great merchants and warriors? today, minus the oil, the arabs will be a beggar people, out of wits and the will to excel and compete with the world. and perceived as an inferior race to their mightly brothers, the jews. very strange in the change of fortune of two people of the ancient middle east civilisations.

which one is me?

it must be the hangover effect of too much ribena that my postings took on a different hue. now which is the real i, the views that i represent? they said that the true person will surface with a little bit of alcohol. so yesterday's view must be my true self. so to get back to my other self i must start to put on a mask again and take on a different personality. true true false false. both are equally true, and both are equally false. doesn't matter, this is just a blog. i will like to get back to the issue of tipping and the cab driver. we have many retired professionals or ex senior executives who chose to drive cabs after they failed to find another decent job. these cab drivers are not your ordinary doormen or bellhops. some are very well qualified and have a much higher station in life. now what has this got to do with tipping? tipping, like i said, is a class thing, a snob thing. it is a decadent and derogatory practice of the royalties and the gentry class. they sneered at the working class but use tippings to differentiate themselves as the haves against the have nots. tipping for good service, tipping also to show who is the boss. nobody tips someone in a higher station in life than themselves. you tip the doormen, the bellhops, the waiters, the barbers, and the cab drivers. you don' tip the doctors, the lawyers, the mps, or someone who is more important than you. but there are exceptions. the kings, the sultans and the sheiks will tip their doctors or whoever. but all are of a lower station than them. now, will our cab driver take tips from our maid population or foreign workers? a maid tipping our cab driver? that will be interesting and also disgusting. i will encourage our cab drivers to stand up and put some pride and respect in themselves. they provide good service as a professional cab driver. they are proud of their professionalism and their occupation. they don't put on a smile or try to do a good job hoping for a tip. this must be the message that we must put across to all our workers. be proud of what you are doing and do it well. do not degrade yourself to live a life depending on tips, depending on people's generosities and people's mood and sympathies.