no better time to rejoice

I was brain dead for the last 3 hours. I know. I know that during those 3 hours, nothing would have raised me from the dead. I came back from the office and dropped dead. How could i survive after an uninhibited round of sake, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, shiraz, chardonnay, and Remy Martin Extra? It was good to let go after an arduous and tough year of surviving the worst of time. The party atmosphere was simply great. I could only remember telling myself that I must get home. I did. Now that I am awake, I am feeling quite uptight. Why should I when everything was going great guns. Nothing seems to be wrong. Everyone is in an agreeable mood. Everyone is happy that everything is going well. Even the opposition parties are lost of words. They could not come out with anything meaningful to say or oppose. They are practically non existent. As good as not being there. The dearth of great men to lead the opposition is frightening. It is either a case of nothing else better to say or knowing nothing else to say. Bankrupt, lack of ideas, lack of leadership, lack of substance. For those in the winning or ruling camp, it is understandable that they have nothing to say, or nothing to disagree with. Whether they believe that everything is going the way it should, in the best way that can be, or just swimming with the tide, why should they be the sore ass to disrupt a beautiful party? When everything is too good to believe, when there is no disagreement, when there is no contest of ideas, when there is no alternative views, this is as good as it can get. Simply too good to be real. The next few days will be great times to celebrate, to eat and drink and rejoice, while we can, and for as long as we can.

singaporeans can lose their heritage

I read with trembling fear a letter posted by a Pavin Limanont in the forum page of the Straits Times. He was lecturing a Mr Quek as being xenophobic for standing the ground that political leaders in Singapore must be Singaporeans. Pavin's position is simple and rather naive, claiming that we should accept talents as they are and he would rather be led by a foreigner who is good than by a Singaporean. Theoretically I can agree with this kind of thinking. But in reality, I will strongly oppose such thought. Not that I am xenophobic. For the world is structured in a way that is less than idealistic. The real world is still a world of tribes, race and religion. Once a people slips and loses political control over their lives, they will become subservient to another group. Singaporeans must not be lulled into living in hollywood, that the whole world is their oyster and the world loves them. One wrong step is all it takes for Singaporeans to become extinct. We should invite talented foreigners here, as citizens as well if they want to. We must not have the idea that we should take in ship loads of rubbish and call them Singaporeans at the expense of Singaporeans. If Singaporeans cannot feel passionately as Singaporeans and claim this piece of real estate as theirs, and fight to keep it as theirs, they deserve to lose their heritage.

Would Singapore become another IBM?

Would Singapore become another IBM? We are number one in many fields. So was IBM before. But IBM is now Lenovo. Would Singapore become something else? The path taken by IBM is quite similar to what we are taking now. From private ownership to international company. Singaporeans become International citizens. IBM started as a privately owned company. But as it grew, it started to give shares to all its employees. Every employee becomes a shareholder. Eventually when ownership was so diluted that no one thinks about the company but about themselves and their pockets. IBM is just a commodity, a product for the highest bidder. Singapore can end up as a product for sale if no one wants to take ownership of the island or thinks passionately that this island belongs to him/her. If everyone just thinks that this is just a corporation, then it is only a matter of price. It can be sold en bloc or in bits and pieces over time. We have sold Raffles Hotel, SIA building, what's next? PSA, Keppel, SIA, PUB, LTA, HDB, Parliament House, the Istana? It can be done. Just think commercial or profits. Another way of selling Singapore away is by giving away citizenship freely. This is more deceptive and less obvious. Imagine with 6 million new citizens and 2 million original stocks, Singapore is as good as being sold. The ownership is passed to new citizens who were actually foreigners but given the pink ICs. And they can do whatever they want with the island if they assumed political control and see this as a piece of real estate without any loyalty or emotional attachment to it. Then people may ask, what's wrong with that? It is the continuity and existence of Singapore as a nation that is more important than its people. The people will come and go, born and die. But Singapore will go on. So if this is the logic to abide by, then Singapore's existence and survival is more important than its people. Forget about the people or citizenship.

budget 2007

After listening to the brief over the news, the 2007 budget came across as a pleasing budget. And all the MSM are painting glowing reports on it. So it will be a waste of time for me to write another glowing report here. I will need to spend a little time to digest what the budget is all about. My immediate disappointment is that I am not getting the 10% of what they gave to the President. But please don't blame me for my little indulgence in fantasy. It is a very good package. But what Zulkifli Baharuddin said needs a little reflection. 'We're are not giving away anything for free.' What is it that we have not seen? What is the catch? So far I have not heard of anything about using the GST increase to set up a research centre to study on how to help the lower income group. Neither did I hear any tie up with Harvard or Cambridge to lend credibility to the increase in GST. And no setting aside of the excesses for the future. The govt is collecting $1.5 billion more a year and spending $4 billion over 5 years. Now how much of a dollar collected is returned to the low income group? Let's enjoy the feel good sensation for a while and look at the details carefully. Nothing is given away for free.

brain dead or not? so scary

Andy Ho wrote a very informative article in the Review page of the Straits Times on brain death. And it is chilling to read the findings. There are many issues that are not conclusive and even after a person is declared brain dead, brain activities still can be detacted in 20% of the cases. And what is still debatable is whether the brain is the sole authority on all bodily functions. Biologically, many body functions are still working even after a person is declared brain dead. So is the person still alive or already dead? Is organ harvesting on a brain dead person actually be the final act that kills a living person, though brain dead?