life is getting tougher at home

forumer jimmy ho kwok hoong wrote a long article in today paper explaining why life is tough from birth to death in this prosperous country when unemployment rate is as low as 2 and a half per cent, and wealth and richness are on display everywhere. how can life be tough? isn't that a misconception or an irony? people are all doing very well, million dollar salaries, landed properties, driving around in mercedes and bmws, car show rooms are packed with happy customers. jimmy then listed out the struggle of a child, their parents to bring them up, and the parents lost of high paying jobs, the short lifespan of working, and the downgrading of lifestyles when one becomes unemployed. foreign worker's policies seemed to be the biggest culprit. this is supported by another forumer nelson quah who wrote that in australia, citizens and prs have priority over foreigners when employment is concerned. hey, this is alien to singaporeans. we have been following the western model of free economy and free everything, even giving our citizens' jobs to foreigners on a free competition basis. how can such things happened in australia? why are countries protecting their citizens for jobs and we think it is alright for our citizens to lose their jobs to non citizens? with the election around the corner, will the govt pay a heavy price for such a policy? or the views of the two forumers were wrong. that people are all very happy and well taken care off by the govt? looking at the confidence and happy faces of the mps and ministers, everything is fine. the people will continue to give a strong vote of confidence for the policies of the govt. now who is right?

general election: more single wards?

given the situation where grcs are no longer a sure win formula with several doubtful ministers able to carry them home, maybe there will be a slight change with more single wards being offered. this will allow more contest and a chance for the voters to exercise their rights of choice. this will be good for every one, the voters, opposition as well as the pap. for once, the seal of invincibility is no longer there. the apparent weaknesses are now exposed through years of scrapping the bottom of the barrel. not many strong leaders were churned up that can command the votes without being questioned. many are good administrators, number crunchers, playing with figures and statistics, but as people motivators, they seem to be wanting. would pap then change strategies and break up a few weaker grcs and hope to lose less instead of the whole grcs? or would pap still perceive that they are invincible in grcs with all the ministers carrying their weight? or will grcs become bigger and lesser ministers need to be called upon to shoulder the heavy responsibilities of a home run. the number of single wards being offered for contest will be the first indicator of what the real perception is.

must RI join the crowd

Letter from Elias Tan posted in Today Online. I refer to Raffles Institution's (RI) letter (Feb 1) in response to Today's article "Are the 'brains' unwilling to face defeat" (Jan 25). .It seems its communications head has, in a roundabout and verbose manner, admitted "yes". Why else would a school as rich in resources as RI say they do not have enough resources to dedicate to competitive soccer when neighbourhood schools can? .Why else would a football field (albeit only one, as RI stresses) be used for everything else under the sun — rugby, track and field, cricket — except football? Perhaps, RI should check its history books for the reason it stopped playing soccer at a competitive level. Was it because they started losing to neighbourhood schools, which was when returns on investments proved no longer viable? .Enough debating — either you play or you'll never win. And the best of luck to RI's boys who enjoy playing ball with the school staff and among themselves. why should ri play football if it chooses not to? if everyone goes to the casinos, does it mean that the rest must also do so or be censured as not team players, not one of them? there is no shame not to play football. do what you are good at and do them best. ri should continue to produce their champions in academics and in the sports that they excelled in. let those who have their brians embedded in their feet to excel and marvel in football or whatever foot related sports. let them be the maradonna or the ronaldhino. why shall the twains meet?

jack neo: i not stupid

to the english educated, jack neo's spoken english is not that refined, halting, singlish, and sometimess not so elegant. to those who do not know that he is chinese educated, jack neo's came out as not so cool, not so clever. maybe N level material. jack neo belongs to those generations of lost talents educated in the chinese medium. because of language, and their inability to be fluent in english, and a chinese certificate that the english educated could not fathom, he will probably ended up selling vcds on the roadside or in pasar malam. but talents will find its own way to surface. he was also fortunate that our media and entertainment industry were flourishing, giving him an avenue to show off his talents. he may not by an lee ang or zhang yimou yet, but he has proven that there is more in him. for those who constantly attacked the chinese helicopter stereo type, it is time to try to talk to them in chinese. it is a different world. they will find difficulty in understanding your accented english as well. would they also think that how come you not in N level stream huh?

the politicisation of islam

i have posted on this topic before. today, its relevance and the danger it poses to world peace is even more stark. the world must thank the americans for lighting the fire for a united islamic movement. not that islam was disunited. it is a very huge potent force that connects all the muslims around the world for good or bad. the muslims too have cherished the day of the revival and glory of islam and the islamic world. the recent events in europe and around the world are seeing the rise of islam as a force that will challenge the western domination of power. the usa sees china as the only power to contest for world supremacy. they forgot that they have unleased the most powerful force yet to be seen. it is not war in the conventional sense. the superpowers will not be dragged into a war of mutual assured destruction(mad). it is the continuous confrontation, skirmishes, terrorism, sabotage, and outright civil violence that will disrupt the cities around the world. the rise of islam, the unifying force of islam, is based on hatred. a hatred sowed by the western world. samuelson's clash of civilisation has begun. the west against the muslim world. now that is not going to go away by buying the arab royalties. the arab royalties will be ploughed down along the way. it is the muslim masses against the western masses that will contest this war.