'Non Indians Preferred'

'Non Indians Preferred' IT Manager N Prasannakumar was fuming when he read this in an advertisement by Frontline Technologies on 21 Dec in JobStreet.com. I too will. No Human Resource Personnel, even an assistant, will put up such an advert for jobs in Singapore. It is taboo. It is common knowledge. The Ministry of Manpower, the MSM, within the Human Resource community, in Human Resource Depts, this is a topic that has been hammered over and over again. Even JobStreet.com has no reason to repeat such a mistake. How did it occurred? It was a mistake, said Frontline Tech HR Manager Tong Suit Ping, probably a FT or a new citizen. That may explain why it happened though not necessary the case. Race discrimination is a very sensitive issue to all Singaporeans. No Singaporean will pass such an advert up for print unless it is intentional to create mischief. In this particular case, race discrimination was less likely to be an issue as Tong Suit Ping said the project team has 3 Indians, 3 Chinese and one Filipino. For such a lapse, I am very agreeable with the word fine. Fine must be slammed at any organisation violating this ruling, written or unwritten, legal or not yet legal. And the Media, MSM or dotcom, must be fined even more for allowing it to be in print.

serious people in parliament

48 people interested in becoming NMPs This is an encouraging sign as more people find it important to step out to have a say in the running of the country. And there are many big and recognisable names and professionals in the list. All broods well for a more thinking and serious Parliament. Sitting in Parliament is not a boy boy game. What is important is that children should not be allowed in Parliament. And if they think that they are there to look after the interests of children, please don't. Let the parents do it. And if really necessary to have children, lets have a boys scout version or a school cadet version instead of the real thing. Trial and error, training or gaining experience should be done in training schools or in a training environment. Lets be serious in Parliament.

Why pay when you can have a free ride?

Why pay when you can have a free ride? Sim Kah Choon, a new citizen, and formerly from Sarawak, has had no urgency to take up citizenship here for more than 20 years. There were all the good reasons for not taking up citizenship. And the best reason was given above, 'Why pay when you can have a free ride?' Yes, it took us more than 20 years to realise how good the PRs were until all the kpkb in cyberspace prompted a rethink about giving PRs a free ride. Funny that nobody thought of it except the PRs who knew and quietly enjoyed the good time for as long as they can. We need to do more to make citizenship more valuable, more desirable and more meaningful, and not cheap. No body wants cheap stuff. The Americans sent their new citizens to Iraq and Afganistan and if they survived, they will become Americans. Now that is a heavy price for a citizenship. Or maybe we knew that becoming a citizen isn't a big deal and people may not be interested and will run away when we force them to make a choice.

collecting donation an enterprising biz

Repeated calls were made to the homes of Goh Kian Huat to donate to the NUS Alumni to help needy students. 'For the past three weeks, members of my family have been receiving calls from the Alumni Office asking why I had not responded to their request. It appears that NUS is aggressively trying to raise funds from alumni.' But the methodology is so frighteningly familiar. To be able to make so many calls requires manpower and resources. According to Goh Kian Huat's article, 'The NUS was corporatised in March and is now a limited company...there is more pressure for it to operate like a commercial entity, with making profit as its main objective.' All sounded too familiar. There was once an organisation that made collecting donation a commercial business, employing a huge full time staff just to make calls to donors to make donations. I just hope NUS Alumni is not taking the same road.

daylight robbery?

Daylight Robbery 'On Sat, on my way to Vivi City for the first time, I made a wrong turn - I followed the road sign - into the road leading to Sentosa. I told the girl in the booth about it, but was told I had to pay $2 to make a U turn. This is ridiculous, day light robbery.' By Cheo Liew Kiat No this is no robbery. This is Singapore, the unthinking part, the no thinking part, the rule that justifies the means.