The best political cartoon of the year

The best political cartoon of the year Heng of Lianhe Zaobao drew a cartoon with the title 'The Amazing Kim Jong Il' on a billboard display for the coming attraction. In the cartoon, Kim Jong Il was depicted as a magician performing the act of sawing a nuclear bomb into two, with its head and tail appearing at both ends of a box he was sawing into two. And the audience were the Americans, the Japanese and the South Koreans, all clapping and believing that the nuclear weapon will be cut into two. But Kim knew very well that it is just an illusion. Nice one.

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.