the health net that was not there when needed

quoting from a report by lee uwen in the today paper, the health feedback group assured sick singaporeans that the ability to pay their medical bills should be the least of their worries. from the procedural aspects, the system will first ensure that no one can be admitted without proof of ability to pay. this will actually take care of those who cannot afford to pay from being admitted. the screening process prior to admission is meticulous and unyielding. no money no admission. but according to a dr lee kheng hock, the govt's 3m scheme comprising the medisave, medifund and medishield actually was found wanting in many cases when the patients needed the assistance. each case is unique. but because of the stringent criteria, many cases were turned away. is that not funny? a safety net that was there but not there. actually it is not funny at all. so now the feedback 'group is now pushing for an integrated national healthcare charity fund to be established to act as a "safety net" for them and others in the same boat.' ie those that needed the net that would not work. 'it could be managed by community leaders who will focus solely on raising money. when the pot runs dry, the people will see the need to top it up. it will be like a community based "medifund" that acts as an additional layer of help,' said dr lee. cannot believe in system perfect singapore that a safety net needs another safety net as it is found to be faulty. how about a third net in case the second safety net fails again? what this portends to is that all the assurance about not to worry is not that comforting after all. it is like creating all the problems, ie raising all the fees, then create a series of solutions and found the solutions not working. so create more solutions again to patch all the leaking holes. why not go back to the basics and address the problems of high fees. bring down the fees and save all the effort to create all the safety nets with funds that cannot be dispensed out. does one feel encouraged?

islam to rule the world

Islam must prepare to rule the world, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a crowd of theological students in Iran's holy city of Qom, according to a report. "We must believe in the fact that Islam is not confined to geographical borders, ethnic groups and nations. It's a universal ideology that leads the world to justice," Ahmadinejad said. i quoted the above from littlespeck.com. and i must say after reading it i have started to look more favourably towards people like bush and blair. at least i share more common things with them about life and material well being. i won't want religious police to knock at my door, home or hotel, to see who i am with. i won't want to be sunat. i won' t want the state to snatch away my worthless dead body from my family. i want to watch my movies and have my wine. i am secular. i don't mind other people being religious. but i would not allow people to force me to be religious and to follow religious laws.

make legal recourse available or more affordable

i was impressed by the son of jb jeyaratnam when he spoke as president of the law society. his main gist was to make legal recourse more affordable or cheaper to those who cannot afford it. did he overhear the things that we discussed here? i helped a friend to get a legal firm to represent him for a royalty case. and the firm was highly recommended to me by another friend. the case was settled after one hearing. my client was happy that he won and was awarded about $120k. it was quite straight forward. he paid his legal fee which came to about $110k. actually my one year as a law student had given me enough knowledge to know that the facts were in my friend's favour. what a great victory and great legal firm. my friend is still celebrating it today and everyday, with four letter words.

bird flu: god is kind

the bird flu is spreading all over the world. the casualties are not that high and it provides a lot of time for the human race to react to it, and tackle it before it becomes a pandemic and wipe out half of the earth. but looking at it from god's point of view, it is a warning against those countries that think it is ok to use chemical or biological warfare against another country, espionage or covert actions to damage a country's economy. god said simply, 'don't try, it will come back to you in more ways and faster ways than you can imagine.' chemicals and bacteria or viruses in the air will be airborned or be carried by birds, produce or simply humans, to all corners of the globe. no country can think of being immuned from it once it is let out. let us pray that no idiotic leaders will embark on such a warfare.

budget terminal, nice name

the budget terminal fits very nicely to the new budget terminal. no frills, just simply budget. and we got to thank them for not engaging a pr consultant and spend another $300k trying to find a more suitable name. and a forumer's reaction in the new paper, one steve ngo, was hilarity. i too feel the same way. it would be more fun to call it heartland terminal. then we can bring it closer to the heartlanders since they will probably be the people who cannot afford to travel in class and use the classy terminals at changi. and heartlanders can also feel proud to have a terminal name after them. and later they can change the name of changi to something more classy and fit the image of the sophisticated travellers. let me see, high class terminal? for high class people? or maybe spend another half a million for a pr consultancy to find a more suitable name. heartlanders' idea of a high class name may not be appropriate.