french PM on key visit to Africa

read this headline in le monde by agence france presse.

myth 22

'Soldiers die in battlefield' This is a truism until it becomes a myth. Today's soldiers don't die in battlefield as war is not a common occurrence in peaceloving nations. Soldiers die in battlefield only because their country wages war for whatever reasons. Today, soldiers die without going to war. They die in swimming pools, bathtubs or inside their dormitories, reading books. At the rate it is going, we are going to see more soldiers dying without fighting the enemies but killed by friendly forces or own troops. Maybe the military organisations should consecrate a new medal for soldiers who die without going to war but in the service of the nation. Soldiers or young men who need not die if they do not have to don on uniforms for the country.

myth 21

'Singapore is not a homogeneous society' I always say this. We are pluralistics, multi racial, multi cultural and multi religious. But this is now a myth. Hsien Loong said we are a homogeneous society, a society that has been mixed and integrated into one. 'In Singapore, we have 84 constituencies, but basically they are all more or less the same. you don't have a rural area, a city area. You don't have a very working class area versus a very upmarket area. We have made sure you don't have a Malay area or Indian constituency or Chinese constituency.' Hsien Loong said.

myth 20

Ok let's call this Myth 20. 'The govt is listening.' Actually the govt is listening. But the govt also has a mind of it's own and thinks that it knows better. So it is listening but not necessary for the govt to agree with what it hears.

good news, cpf refund!

Good news for 950,000 HPS members who are paying to protect their HDB flats. The CPF Board will return $480 million of surplus to them and the premiums will be reduced by 10 to 35%. I am wondering how long it takes to accumulate such a huge surplus. And I am also wondering when they found out that the premium is excessive high. And I am wondering whether all the provisions in minimum sum and Medisave are excessively high as well. Maybe 30 years down the road they will have several billions of surpluses to return to the aged CPF members. Unfortunately they might not be around to hear the good news.