the monkey pool

The Monkey Pool In this little pool of monkies of all odds and sizes, the biggest of the lot is the orang utan. They all play in the same pool and were quite happy for some time. Then god said the water level of the pool shall rise by one cm everyday. This is small enough a change that no one will feel any discomfort. And all the monkies agree and continue to play and be merry. Soon the water is half a metre high and some of the smaller monkies were having water up to their neck and screaming for help. And god is compassionate. He throws in a couple of life buoys and some manage to cling on to them. Those who could not get on eventually were unheard of as the water level went over their heads. And surely and steadily the water level rises a little bit everyday and more of the screaming were silenced, never to be heard again. The orang utans continue to enjoy their feast and make merry. They were at the top of the packing order and have no fear. They were more than a metre tall and many other monkies would have been swallowed by the water first. They never think their turn will come. While the old voices were silenced, a new vibrancy came to the pool as more bigger monkies come visiting. It is a lively place again, a lot of oomphs. But before long, big apes also come into the scene, bigger than the orang utans. Ah Meng is no longer the grand old dame. As time goes by, Ah Meng passes the scene through old age. He did not have the chance to see the pool being taken over by the big apes. No orang utans left. They too were not tall enough. Gobalisation, some shouted. No, it is Godbalisation, some argued. Whatever it is, the monkies are no longer around. What happened to them? God knows. Finally god explained. This is the game of the big apes, designed by the big apes to be in their favour. Little monkies have no place in such games of the big apes. Orang utans too were not big enough.

a message for the clowns

I was reading the comments coming out from the Malaysian Circus on the LKY apology. Many were still talking about LKY's comment that it was uncalled for, insensitive, unacceptable, inciting racial feelings etc. To these circus performers, the unpleasantness of such a remark is so obvious. That no leaders should be making such comments about another country is something so natural and comonsensical. Funny thing is that when Mahathir and Malaysian politicians were hurling such remarks at Singapore, none of them say anything. And many even joined in the chorus. Did they have mirrors in the Cabinet? What LKY has done is to tell the Malaysians plain and simple. Stop making such stupid remarks. His comments and apology are to set an example for them to take note. Such remarks are, like what the clowns suddenly realised, unpleasant, uncalled for, insensitive, provocative etc etc and must not be uttered. And whoever makes such remarks must be kicked in the arse and apologise. Would the clowns be jumping around if another of their dignified member shoot off such remarks again? Or would this be the closing of a chapter of passing silly remarks at each other? Did they get the message?

youth is in

In the past, MPs are chosen from a field of experienced, intelligent and wise men to look after the affairs of the people and country. Incorruptibility, honesty, strength of character, integrity etc were the qualities that were seen as important. Then other qualities were also added, like bi lingualism. Candidates are chosen from those who can speak another tongue other than English to reach out to more people. Later on a humble background is a badge of honour to be flashed around to show that the underdogs can also do well. Today, the most important quality is youth. To be able to connect with the young, to dance, to be hip, and to be cool are important qualities to be an MP. The future is theirs. They are the future guardians or owners of the nation. Starting them young is important. The younger the better. I would strongly suggest to the opposition parties to start looking at the kindergartens and nurseries to recruit their potential candidates. Never mind if they are still sucking their pacifiers. They need to reach out to all the people, to the very young as well. And then they can brag about having the youngest MP in parliament. Maybe getting one from the kindergarten will sure make great news.

myth 70

'The blind cannot see' This is what everyone thinks so, that the blind cannot see. It must be or else we won't call them blind. But if one is to observe the designing of the guides for the blind in MRT stations or in shopping centres, and then try to imagine how the blind go about getting from one place to another, one cannot help but to think that the blind are not so blind. For instance the blind will be able to find their way to the MRT stations without any guides. So they must be able to see in a way. But once they are in the stations, they became blind and needed the guide to help them along, to the ticketing gates, to the lifts and to the trains. Without the guides they definitely cannot find their way around. And when they get to the platforms, they can see again. The whole platform of 50 metres length are lined with guides so that they can walk from one end to another to choose which train cabin to get in. Presumably they can see which one is empty or more comfortable. Or they can walk around enjoying the scenery high above ground level on the platform. Now, would I be made to believe that they are blind and cannot see?

are public transport companies private companies?

Cindy Lim, Press Secretary to the Minister of Transport wrote a letter to the Straits Times forum explaining why a forumer's allegation against the transport companies were wrong. And she went on to justify the come of the transport companies as healthy and not excessive. I am wondering why aren't the transport companies be there explaining for themselves and why the Transport Ministry thinks it is its responsibility to do so. Aren't the transport companies private companies, or are they govt companies?