Old, immobile and lonely

Old, immobile and lonely Have no fear. Often we heard of the old and the handicap complaining about loneliness, nothing to do, nowhere to go and dunno what to do with their lives. Travelling is not only difficult because of their lack of mobility, it is also expensive. Public transport is not cheap nowadays for the retired and unemployed. And who would want to bother chatting up oldies when there are many vibrant and sweet young things everywhere? I thought meditation will be a great exercise for the lonely folks. And meditation is a great time killer for people with a lot of time to kill. But for those who insist on wanting to talk to people, to socialise, to move around but unable to, try the internet. The internet is a great tool for the oldies and the handicap. No need to spend money on transport, no need for a pair of strong legs to support the lifeless body. And no need to look good and sexy. Just sit in front of the screen and all one needs is a brain that is still ticking and good finger muscles...and travel around the world. Go places, visit the museums, countries, any place of interest, go shopping, or chat up anyone you like, even sweet young things. Just tell them that you are only 25. But need to learn a few new lingos to get them to believe. Oldies and people with physical disabilities should be encouraged to serve the net when they will be on level ground with everyone. No need assistance, no need pity, no need to bother anyone, just a few fingers. The internet can be a new world for the oldies. Who says the internet is for the young?

chasing after a red herring

There are so many discussions in the papers recently on how to improve the public transport system. There were advocates of more service providers, while some wanted it to be operated by only one organisation. The quality of public transport system, especially in our context, is not dependent on the number of operators, monopoly or oligopoly, or in whatever combinations. All these are hogwash. Discussions in futility, or discussions for the sake of discussion. What is needed is the political will to set the goals on what we want. If the political objective is to have a reasonably priced world class transport system we will have it. If the objective is to squeeze as much money from the commuters, then it will be that way. The public should not waste too much time talking about what is best. There are many super talents who have already thought of them and knew what can be done and should be done. It is audacious for the layman public to think that they know better. Just let the super talents know what are the real objectives of a world class transport system and they will deliver. Tell them you want to milk as much money from the commuters, they will deliver too. What is so difficult about delivering a world class transport system when we have the money to buy the best in the world? It is all in the mind.

slavery in singapore

Slavery in Singapore Could not believe that it is still there in modern Singapore in a disguised form. When there is liberalisation of trade, free flow of information and people and jobs, when there are laws against unfair practices in businesses, when corporate honchos cried foul in the face of unethical and immoral market practices, employees or workers are held hostage, in a way like chattels by their organisations. Over the last few weeks there were several cases of civil suits taken up by big companies against staff poaching. And it seems that this practice is not acceptable. That it is wrong to offer staff a better compensation package to join another organisation. The ruling is in favour of organisations that wanted to prevent their staff from leaving for greener pastures. Didn't workers and professionals join organisations for the lure of better remunerations and prospects? Aren't these their right to do so? Didn't the govt pay highly competitive salaries to attract super talents to join them or to prevent their staff from leaving? Are these practices against the law? Apparently it must be. Organisations are now not allowed to poach staff from their competitors. Then where is the right of workers and professionals to join another organsation freely and to be decided by them based on the terms and conditions of employment offered? The employees or professionals have their rights to be with whichever organisations they choose to be. To limit or restrict this right is a violation of their freedom of employment. They are not chattels or slaves of any organisations. No organisation has the right to own their employees or professionals in their employed, or to put barriers to prevent them from leaving against their free will. They should instead offer more competitive packages to retain their staff. This is fair competition. Otherwise, we will have slavery in modern Singapore. I have witnessed such malpractices in many places. Ban slavery in Singapore!

myth 96

'A discount is a subsidy' Believe whatever you like and how you like it to be. That is the formula to be happy or to be conned happily. Is subsidy a discount or is discount a subsidy? Very simple, it depends on what you want to believe, or your definitions, or who says it. According to a forummer Cheong Chee Mun in the Straits Times today, his definitions of discount and subsidy go like this: Discount - A discount is the difference between the market price and seller's price. eg. If the market price of a product is $200k and the seller sells it at $150k, he is giving a discount of $50k. Subsidy - A subsidy is the difference between the cost of a product or service and the reduced priced at which the product or service is sold or provided. Now these are not too difficult to understand right? I believe any layperson would be able to understand these two simple definitions easily. But Singaporeans still believe that a discount is a subsidy...I think....

Returning kindness with hatred

I was watching the news clip on the Singaporean manager who was beaten in Medan. Looking at the video on how aggressive and brutal the attacker, an Indonesia policeman, beating up the Singaporeans for a few minutes, made my blood boiled. I felt so angry. The way the Indonesian kept hitting and kicking the Singaporean who was on the ground, afraid to hit back as the attacker had a gun in his hand, was so shameless and pathetic. It reflected the intense hatred in the attacker for the Singaporean. And for what reasons? Because they ate and drank and refused to pay. They could just walk off laughing without paying if that was their intent. But they were there to beat up the Singaporean. It was a great display of how much the Indonesians, as a people, hate Singaporeans. Forget about all the aids and how fast we rushed to assist them during the tsunami. And we even rebuilt schools and villages for them. What the shit. They have no love for us except our money. I hope the next time they asked for help, lets mind our own business. We cannot always be so compliant and trying to be nice and kind knowing very well that our kindness is seen as weakness and to be taken for granted.