I find it very puzzling

The Israelis rained their artillery and bombs into Beirut and all corners of Lebanon. Their tanks rolled in with 30,000 soldiers. And there was no signs of the Lebanese army. Where have all the Lebanese soldiers gone? One possibility is that they knew that they were no match to the Israeli army. Without air cover, they will be sitting ducks to air strikes and could be destroyed in no time. So the army and other armed forces were withdrawn and avoided contact with the Israelis. Some may just joined the Hezbollah in civilians. Does a country need an army that cannot fight when enemy soldiers invaded its territory? Any country that allows this to happen deserves to be invaded. For they have made themselves weak, seductive and inviting. If only that the Lebanese soldiers were strong enough to fight back, the Israelis will not be so eager to march into their land. This is the major weakness of all Arab and surprisingly, Muslim countries. All very weak militarily. They were allowed to develop their armies but a very weak air force. In modern warfare, without air superiority especially in desert land, the army will be as good as crippled soldiers. They just cannot fight. Singapore must always make sure that its armed forces are strong enough to prevent a Lebanon or an Iraq.

arm twisting singaporeans to part with their money

singaporeans are forced and harassed to cough out thousands of dollars to pay for things they did not want. stripped of their clothings, lying naked in a spa, they were made to part with their money to buy holiday plans or health products etc. it is so easy to make singaporeans part with their money. amazing, and above the law. report to the police after signing the documents? fat hope. it is a contractual agreement that is binding in a court of law. at best the victim can take out a civil suit against the offending party. what about signing under duress? then try to proof in court, and spend more money and time to do it. singaporeans are well protected by the rules of law in the country, and the legal system. there is no need to complain. just go through the due process of the law. singaporeans are so bless.

things are too cheap here!

CPF is charging $18 as admin fee to transfer your medisave money to pay for medical expenses! Is this reasonable? It all depends on how much is the cost of labour and other overheads. If rentals and overheads and salaries are high, then in order to operate at a profit, it has to charge accordingingly. Is it an issue of fairness? It again depends on how to compute the cost of admin fee. Nothing is for free. People must accept this mantra. Even keeping money in the bank, if too little, the bank will charge $2 a month to maintain your account. And this is cheap, in fact too cheap, to think of the high cost of operating a bank, expensive rentals, computers and well trained and highly educated staff. Actually the bank should charge something like $30 or $100 as admin fee as their overheads are very high. And out taxi fares are still very cheap compare to other major cities. We should comfortably double or triple the taxi fares to make it more befitting to other first world cities. And there will be more people, including professionals and graduates, rushing to become taxi drivers. Then we need not have to employ foreigners or will there be a shortage of taxi drivers.

how to make a fool of the world?

I just feel that the world is being conned everyday by the crooks in political offices. And with the hyped on terrorism, any office involved could simply jigged a covert terrorist plan or message and circulate it around as the real stuff and it would send everyone scurrying for safety. And what is safe? Look at the items that are being banned from air travel and the explanation given to them. Practically anything in one's possession can be used to smuggle in a part of an explosive device. So what else is new or cannot be a part of such concealed weapons? Today passenger can still board a plane when deprived of any belongings except his passport and a few dollars. Tommorrow, some jokers are going to reveal that explosive devices or mechanism can be hidden in the anus or in the mouth or in some parts of the human body. Then all passengers will have to be subject to some body digging before they are declared safe for travel. The world is getting safer with such checks and preventive measures.

foreigners driving our taxis

Is this a good idea? Singaporeans have this 'everything and everywhere and everyone is safe and friendly' attitude wherever they go. We have taken safety for granted especially in Singapore. I am just wondering whether it is really a good idea to have foreigners driving our taxis. The taxi, in the wrong hands, is like a little prison or contraption. Once inside, the passenger is at the mercy of the driver. I shiver at the thought of our young children and females, males included, hopping into a taxi and thinking that they will be in safe hands, to be driven home. What about being driven into some secluded spots to be robbed or raped?