2011 election slogan

Get out of my elite uncaring face This should be an interesting general election slogan for 2011. Any takers?

tough ride hard landing

Singapore tough ride and hard landing. Singapore's relation with Thailand, especially the Thai Palace, is in for a tough ride. The Thaksin coup can be directly linked to the Shin Corp acquisition. And Singapore is seen as the cause of his downfall. Even a quick congratulatory message to the coup Prime Minister did not appease the displeasure in Thailand. We were the first to send the message in spite of the fact that we don't approve of military coups. And in his quick tour of Asean countries, Singapore, the largest trading partner, and once seen as the closest ally of Thailand, was bluntly left out. They do not want to talk to us. Then Temasek wanted to appoint a 'private secretary to the crown prince' as a corporate advisor for its Thailand office. This again backfired and the appointment was called off. Then the palace issued a statement calling the would be advisor, Tongnoi, as 'cunning and immoral.' Or is that a message to tell Temasek but taken out as against Tongnoi? A kingdom is a kingdom and thinks and behaves like a kingdom. A king and crown prince think like a king and a crown prince. Modern leadership from a modern state, a republic, will find it difficult to fathom or relate to them. The values and interests are different, I supposed.

dream team for survival

My dream team for survival in Singapore With the strong competition Singaporeans are facing today from foreign talents, it would require very exceptional skills, talents and characters to survive and do well in Singapore. Morality has to give at times. And there is no room for the bleeding hearts and compassion. It is all about survival and being the fittest to get all. If I were to run a corporation, the key marketing man must definitely be Durai. His charisma and ability to raise funds, lots of funds, and to run a tight and professional company are great assets in a competitive dog eats dog environment. Next in line must be Chia Teck Leng. His consumate skills in gambling and fund transfer are legendary. Whatever money raised by Durai can be invested by Chia in the casinos and transfer to anywhere without any traces. Hmmm, tax evasion. And there is another legend, a foreign talent in the name of Nick Leeson. Just place him in another bank that is targetted for takeover and he will deliver the bank with all its cash and assets. It is so easy. We need people who are highly motivated, by greed. Greed is a very strong driving force. The greedier they are the better. And once in the team, they will gel and help each other to do well. They must be smart to know that they are all in the same boat and should not rock the boat. If there is any legal issues to settle, there are many great legal counsels to call on. For a small island we really have many great legal brains to choose from. Davinder, no, I think Francis will be better. More international and senior in the hierarchy. For the next generation, look for some of those heartless young talents from a rich background. The richer the better. Then they can think big and be ruthless as well. You need tough and dedicated people to run the ship. And with so many young monsters to choose from, there is great future for such a corporation.

myth 84

'The Kiasi Singaporeans' The remarkable Singaporean traits of Kiasi and Kiasu are best exemplified in their willingness to obey all the rules and regulations, law abiding and follow whatever campaigns that the govt throws at them. Everything the govt says, goes. And we end up with a world class workforce and a very discipline people. If only the Singaporeans were really that sheepish or obedient, Singapore will be a much better place. And the govt will have lesser headache persuading the people to do all kinds of things. Singaporeans don't really listen to the govt or follow govt policies. If they do, all our problems will be solved. There will be no litters on the road, no smokers, no opposition in parliament, etc The most painful campaign that the govt is pushing and not getting any success is the population growth. If Singaporeans were to listen to the govt, every family would have 4 or 5 children. And given that there is 1 million households, our 6 to 8 million population target will be reached overnight. Imagine what a socially and economically vibrant city state we will be. Hospital beds all taken up to full capacity. Retail business doubles or triples because of the doubling or tripling of the population. All the excess HDB flats will also be taken up and more flats need to be built. And all the property prices will go up too when demand is growing. And no need for foreign talents since we can produce more of our own talents. Ok, maybe this is not true since our local breed may not be good enough and we need fresh genes to add to the ageing pool of old genes. And the Ministry of Defence will be most happy with all the NS men, 100k a year or more. We can have soldiers everywhere. What else, the IRs, the shopping centres, Sentosa, etc will be doing roaring businesses. The trains and buses and taxis will be chalking up threefold profits and fun at full capacity, all packed with commuters. And ERP collection will automatically shoot sky high. All happy problems. And socially the impact will be greater. We will have bubbly and happy little faces running around the estates and playgrounds instead of grumpy slow moving oldies waiting for their days to be over. If only Singaporeans listen to the govt and do as they are told.

Quote of the Century

Quote of the Century "This country doesn't torture, we're not going to torture," George Bush was quoted by the Associated Press news agency during a photo session in Washington DC.