the scramble for cyberspace

Would there be a mad scramble for Cyberspace? The owner of New York Times wondered aloud whether the paper will still be printing in the years to come. He is staring at the pace in which blogs and internet forums are gaining viewership and encroaching into the once protected territories of the Main Stream Media. And now the migration has started. Readers are getting numbed by the daily servings of tasteless news in the MSM. And for countries where the news is so controlled and managed that they sing the same song according to the conductor or theme of the day that reading one is as good as reading the rest. The Alternative Media will only gain popularity by the days. It is only a matter of time when the Angels or Venture Capitalists or entrepreneurs will find it a good long term bet to acquire some of the blogs and forums and merge them together under a common platform, throw in some advertisements, advertise it aggressively, and lo behold, a credible challenge to MSM will appear, in Cyberspace.

your very own harry potters

Ahhhh, it's the Lunar New Year and 4 days of holidays. It is time to enjoy the precious moments in life. Many have packed up and gone overseas, flying to new destinations to take in the beautiful sights. Many went on adventures and discovering exciting lifes and things that people do. I choose to stay at home. Where else can be more meaningful than having little children running around happily in their little world. The world of lively and unpredictable bright eyed children beats anything this world can give. Especially when they are related to you in one way or another. Better still if they are your children or your children's children. See them grow and change. And the joy to see them at play, being mischievious, having their little fun in exploring every little new things around them, everything is exciting to them, everything is life, is free. The joy of living needs not be expensive. The joy of life is free. For the next few days, forget about all the bills to pay, forget about the GST or expensive medical cost, tuition fee, forget about trying to earn the few dollars to pay for the the ever increasing cost of living. Enjoy the time one has with the family, the real people that have meanings to you. And look at the beautiful future in the children, a future that we will miss, a mysterious future that is going to be more exciting than Harry Potters.

budget - narrowing income gap

"Income gaps are widening," Second Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in his budget speech. A "Progress Package" of government handouts last year was weighted in favour of lower-income groups and helped reduce that disparity. The above is probably the gist of what the 2% increase in GST is all about. And with the lower income group getting the chunk of the $4 billion package, indeed the income gap has been narrowed. The lower income group could get a hefty $1000 annually for 4 years against the richer group that may get $200. So income gap has closed by $800! But this would not last long when the next pay rise is announced when the richer group could see tens of thousands of dollars added to their pay package against the $30 or $150 added to the lower income group. That is the reality in life. How to narrow the income gap? Impossible. Cannot be done.

Hota - clash of beliefs and generosity

And next to the letter of Dr Patrick Kee and Dr Wong was a letter by a Mdm Liew Cheng Huan who generously offered all her organs to be removed from her when she dies. We have many such selfless and honourable people around us. And it is good that there should be more of them. What is worrying is that she was questioning the medical staff for not harvesting the rest of the usable organs like the corneas, the heart, the liver etc. She fully empathised with the family of Sim Tee Hua, but wanted all his organs to be removed. The question is that should a person imposed his belief and wills on other people even if the intent is honourable and even lifegiving? Here, Liew Cheng Huan must have believed very strongly that when dead, all the body parts are of no use and could be put to good use in saving other lives. I fully agree with her and share her belief. I have not opted out but am considering a provision that no organs should be harvested unless death is pronounced in an unambiguous state. But shall I imposed my belief on others who do not share my belief? Should anyone in a position of authority, like in this case, decides for the rest of society with no exception when provisions can be made for exceptions? This issue concerns ownership of private properties, individual rights, beliefs, emotions and feelings and the right of the state. The tricky part is the belief and emotions.

Hota - open letter by two doctors

Dr Patrick Kee Chin Wah and Dr Wong Wee Nam wrote an open letter in the ST Forum page appealing to the law makers to amend the provisions of Hota to take into considerations the strong objections of family members which they have foreseen long before the Sim Tee Hua incident. They had appeared in 1986 before a Select Committee to make provisions in case of strong objections but were rejected. And their worst fear that 'the medical profession seem cold and clinical where compassion was needed' is now in the MSM and in cyberspace. And they are making their appeal public this time for obvious reasons. This 'I have the right to decide what is good for you, including keeping or taking your money, and organs' is deeply carved into our mentality. This is done for the good of society and the individual. So this right becomes sacred and legal. It is acceptable to sacrifice the rights of individuals for the greater good. Are we going to wait for the day when a team of medical technicians will be the first to carry out a sample test of all the organs the moment a patient is admitted to the hospital? Would the harvesting of organs become a first priority in hospitals with no regard to the feelings of the living family members? How long would Singaporeans be willing to live with such a state of affair?