myth 83

'Govt does not take care of pensioners' In the past many pensioners had complained that their pensions were all eaten up by inflation and the unceasing rise in the cost of living. Within a few years these pensioners will find that they cannot make ends meet with the little pension that they are receiving. Having experience such mistakes in the computation and implementation of the pension schemes, the new pension scheme will make sure that pensioners will be very comfortable for many years of their twilight years, drinking wine on their rocking chairs. Their pension will be enough not to be affected by any inflation and high cost of living. This will be a great incentive and motivation for talented people to serve the govt.

how to work for a fatter paycheque

The Enron Case Rachel Beck's subheading of her article in the Today paper simply said, 'Pushing for a fatter paycheque can be plain wrong.' Is this familiar, or would it be a timely reminder of what can go wrong or already gone wrong? What brought down Enron was greed, the need to maintain an appearance of solid growth, soaring profits and a climbing stock price which will directly be translated to a fatter paycheque for the executives. And looking at the cases that are appearing in our courts, it seems that Enron is a role model for many Singapore companies. Some were unfortunate to be caught. Some were still out there, thanking their lucky stars that they are not discovered. Professor Peter Henning of Wayne State University Law School sum it up by saying 'Most executives don't say, let's go and loot the company today.' It starts by small increments, not very noticeable. Something like affordable increases bit by bit. It is so lucky for Singapore that no corporation went out to recruit such a foreign talent and pay through their noses. Wee Cho Yaw is quite right to retain the money to pay local talents and keep the money circulating in our economy. Otherwise he will end up as another laughing stock.

myth 82

'The uncaring Singaporeans' The latest incident of the MRT jumper shows that Singaporeans are really a caring lot. When the plight of the family was made know, spontaneous donations hit $500k within a few days without anyone asking for help. And more caring Singaporeans stepped forward volunteering to help the family to manage the $500k. Some suggest creating a trust, some to put in FD, some worried that the money will be carelessly spent by the mother. Some wanted some of the donations to be given to others who also need help. Doesn't matter if the money was given by wellwishers and helpful Singaporeans who wanted to do their bit for the poor family, others think they can make the money more useful by spreading around.

myth 81

'MSM will not post unpleasant comments from Cyberspace' This myth has just been debunked by Tor Ching Li's article in Today paper this morning. She quoted how WP supporters were attacked for mudslinging and name calling. She also reported on the complaints to Sylvia Lim and Low Thia Khiang about Goh Meng Seng. 'In general, WP members were accused of being 'argumentative', attempting to 'sow discord' between various party supporters and even of taking the guise of online 'clones' or posting replies under alternative usernames - to 'influence perceptions'. I think she has done the right thing to report such underhand tactics of political party supporters masquerading in Cyberspace. She should make herself a champion and expose all political party supporters who stoop so low to do such acts. It reflects very badly on themselves as a human, losing all respects from any who knows them, as well as the political party, if this is what they are doing or told to do. This kind of tactics or acts is nothing different from third world countries.

Russians and the Chinese threw out Rice

The intention of Rice's recent visit to East Asia is now getting clearer. She was adamant about starting a fire in somebody's backyard and then return to far away US to fan the fire. The Chinese and Russians were initially planning for a genuine discussion and a diplomatic effort to bring North Korea away from its brinkmanship. They laid out their red carpets and put on their best to receive Rice. The Chinese even went further by sending a very senior envoy, Tang Jiaxuan, to North Korea and extracted an apology and an assurance that there will be no more nuclear test. And China also pledged to enforce the UN sanctions fully. These news greeted Rice on her arrival in Beijing. But the Chinese soon found what the evil intent of Rice. And so did the Russians. Rice departed both capitals with no announcements of reaching any agreement or breakthrough on the nuclear crisis. And within days after the Chinese and North Koreans exchanged notes, their positions changed. China now announced that there was no apology from North Korea. And that it will continue to provide massive aid to the North Koreans. The North Koreans also said that though there was no plans for a second test, it would take further actions if the US continues to put undue pressure on her. Apparently the US insisted and wanted all the parties to intercept and board North Korean ships and thus interrupting all its shipping activities and trade. This could easily provoke the North Koreans to retaliate and ignite a conflict in high seas, and could escalate further. All very good to the US and according to their plans to raise tension in East Asia. The Japanese and South Koreans were concerned but have to go along as they were virtually semi colonies of the US. But they extracted from the Americans a pledge to flatten North Korea should they be provoked to attack these two conspirators. The Chinese and the Russians will not fall into this American trap and have a war at their door step. As it is, they are able to keep peace in the region and work with North Korea and keeping it in line. If they go along with the American plan, they will have to pay a heavy price. Now both the Russians and the Chinese have virtually told Rice to get lost and they will set their own agendas and how to handle the North Koreans in their own diplomatic ways.