from a kingdom to a republic

Thaksin has been accused of all the sins of his govt. There are good reasons and objections to how he managed his own finances and businesses and how he handled the Muslim insurgency problems in the south. But has Thaksin done any good to the country and the Thai people? During his watch as a PM, he had weathered the financial crisis with scintillating results. Thailand was the earliest to recover from the crisis and the Thai economy has grown from strength to strength. He has given away a lot of money and did many projects to benefit the ordinary Thais, especially the farmers. Now who else has done these to the Thai people and the Thai economy? No one, not even the royal families have done anything that really improve the Thai farmer's lives. And for what were the perceived wrongs of Thaksin, there is no justification to conduct a military coup to remove him. This coup is very exceptional in the way it originated and would have far reaching consequences to Thai politics and may even undermine the sanctity of the palace. Would the revered King become an issue? Would this be a watershed in the history of Thailand? Would this be the spark that would turn a kingdom into a republic?

listening but not hearing

During last night's PM dialogue with the youth the concern of letting in too many foreign talents in the salary bracket of $1,800 and $2,500 were raised. This is the group that will hit very hard on our young graduates and executives. The fear is genuine. Hsien Loong's response was to acknowledge the concern but added, 'I think we should bring in people who can make a contribution and as for our people, you'll compete with them but at the same time because they are here, our economy will grow and there will be more business, more opportunities for us.' Some may think that Singaporeans are incapable of competing with the foreigners. Maybe. And they are genuine and valid reasons why Singaporeans are worried of foreign competition. It is not that they are not competitive or would not work as hard. What they need is to be able to compete fairly, on a level playing field. How could Singaporeans compete with foreigners when the playing field in his own country, homeground, is levelled against him? Is this fair? For those who cannot see the uneven playing field, they should remove their blinkers. And Hsien Loong added, 'If I'm buying an HDB flat, I want to make sure that it's built as best as cheaply, as efficiently, as best as possible. So if they have foreign workers, foreign draughtsman, foreign architects, I would be happy because I think it's good for Singaporeans.' Then what about me, us, Singaporeans? What are we going to do? Be cleaners, or go overseas to third world countries and earn third world salaries? If these Singaporeans cannot find a job here because of foreign talents, how are they going to compete in the international arena? There must be fine tuning on this foreign talent policy. We need to employ our young graduates from the polytechnics and universities. They must be allowed to compete on an equal basis with foreigners, better with an advantage. How can they be disadvantaged in their own home country?

$4.40 daily for public transport!!!

At $98 a season pass, and given an average of 22 working days a month, a commuter can only find the season pass worthwhile if it costs him more than $4.40 a day to take public transport. Isn't it ridiculous for a worker to pay $4.40 daily for public transport when this is an essential service that he cannot do without? Why is it so costly to travel by public transport? How many workers have to pay $4.40 a day to get to work? How many workers will make some savings with a $98 season pass? What should be a reasonable affordable fare for a worker who has to take public transport? Now I am talking about affordability from the worker's point of view. Not from someone whose income is $1 million or $100K. A season pass is to lower the cost of frequent travellers, lowering the cost of living. And no need handouts and asking people to beg for them. And for a season pass to be meaningful, it should work on the basis that a worker should pay only $2 for his transport to work.

when your enemy is not your enemy

IMF lesson - When your enemy is not your enemy The most valuable lesson coming out of the IMF-World Bank Meeting is perhaps a lesson on how to turn your perceived enemies into your friends. Under normal circumstances, anyone who opposes you violently, especially in public demonstration, is your enemy. And conventional wisdom is to gag them and lock them up behind bars. In the IMF-World Bank case, the Civil Society Organisations not only disagree with them but also demonstrated violently, tearing down buildings and hurting people, with possible harm to the delegates. Instead of fighting them the same way or locking them up, they are regarded as worthy friends with good intentions. Their views were taken seriously. And they were given all the opportunities to air their differences. And the CSOs in turn reciprocated in their own ways. It was only a contest of opinions and views. Period. It would be so easy to make all the CSOs their enemies by fighting them, or branding them with all kinds of names. And it would be worst if George Bush's formula of 'if you are not with me you are against me' is adopted. When you make everyone who disagrees with you your enemy, they will be your enemy. The harder you throw a punch at them, the harder they will return. Eventually it will reach a point of no return, you die or I perish.

please don't let my daughter cry!

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'My daughter was crying for the last few nights after she got her 'O' level results. No she did not fail. She scored straight As in 9 subjects. And no she was not crying for joy. The truth was that she could not get into a university while her classmate who was at the bottom of her class and barely passed her 'O' level was given a scholarship to the top university. And she saw her walking proudly to the stage to receive her award from the Govt.' From a father. I would strongly recommend to Najib that he should sue LKY for not telling the truth and fight it out in a law of court. Go to a neutral court like in London. Then the world will have the opportunity to call a liar a liar.