myth 116

Myth 116 Discrimination myth about NS Discrimination Against NS-serving Singaporeans New graduate, 26, complains about a pressing problem that government will only ignore at great risk. Hardwarezone forum. Feb 20, 2007 Posted by evo Last Friday I went for an interview at this Fabrication plant U..i at Pasir Ris. The fab claims itself as the 2nd largest in the world. It was a one-to-one interview with a fat Taiwanese manager. The very first thing the manager asked me after my introduction was: "I see you are a Singaporean. Do you need to go back to serve NS every year?" I replied Yes, I do need to go back. Taiwanese Manager: "Oh, so you have been going back even during your university studies?" Me: "Yes, at least once per year. Then came the f-up remarks: "How long do you need to go back every year? You know, I once had this Singaporean subordinate. Every year he needed to go back for like two weeks of in camp training, then still needed to apply leave every now and then for some kind of briefing talks by NS." He added: "Worse, he needs to pass some kind of physical test every year, so when he trains for his test by running in the night, he will have no energy to do work in the morning, affect job performance. Then if he fails, need to attend RT, waste of company time. "If every Singaporean needs to do all this, then I rather don't hire you all then. One year you all will have like a few months no need to work due to NS, and you also are quite old compare to other graduates" Singaporean males are going to suffer from this influx of FTs (foreign talents). We don’t even have a f—king even ground to compete on! I am thinking of (a) sending letter to the company..to bring home the point. The Singaporeans interviewed did not say that the govt also rewarded them every year with tax relief and more NSS or ERS. Even the later handouts from the budgets gives NS men more money. And he forgets that the FTs are here to provide more job opportunities for him. At least he got a chance to be interviewed by a FT and be considered for a job in this case. How fortunate.

one child prodigy

It may be sheer coincidence or sheer numbers, but China's one child policy has been a direct or indirect contributor to the rise of prodigies in all fields, academics, arts and sports. The negative consequences of the one child ruling has often been associated with child emperors, spoilt and pampered child. Now the other positive aspect is appearing. One child, more precious, more resources allocated, more care and attention, less room for mistakes. The Chinese families have devoted everything and placed all hopes on their only child for the future. The child must succeed and all efforts are put in to see to it that the child succeed. The other formula applied by other developing countries, including Singapore, is to try their luck with as many children as possible. Hopefully one will turn out ok. But there are those who are just plain irresponsible, with no thoughts of the welfare and future of the children. They went about just reproducing without a second thought. Calling them stupid is an insult to their intelligence. No one is as stupid as that. The consequences of not being able to care and provide for them does not need any education to understand. It is simply common sense. Singapore should encourage this one child prodigy policy and educate the people to put that into practice, with a lot of state assistance, support and encouragement. No need to worry about a decline in population growth. We will import the next 2.5 million from abroad. And if the birth rate goes down, we can import more. The important issue is to bring them up well and better, to become a prodigy.

internet and virtual constituency

Loh Chee Kong coined the term virtual constituency as the challenge for political contest in the next general election. Covering the physical ground is not enough. The little wave, the casual talks and the good morning and handshakes in the market are superficial marketing moves. There is more to that as the people get to be more sophisticated. The people wanted to hear more and know more of the politicians, their views and values. And that's where the internet comes in. Once posted, it stays there to be read. Not just a piece of information controlled by time. Once missed, it is gone. And the people want their MPs to talk national politics, not about food and cooking or going to pubs and discos to have a good time. There is a time and place for everything. And politicians are expected to be politicians and not gymnasts or stilt walkers. Politics is a serious business of looking after the people and their well being. Politics is not a simple PR exercise to win votes. There are many core issues and matters that affect the people personally. The internet may rise to that occasion to let the politicians get deeply involved with the people, getting personal with the people, in thoughts and issues. Not a passing remark or a wave of the hands.

will the budget achieve what it sets out to do?

This budget can also be known as the GST budget. The 2% increase in GST is the main theme, and how this will benefit the people as it was meant to be will be closely watched. We have heard often that this budget is to help the lower income groups and to narrow the income gap. In addition, Tharman also said that the budget was to grow the economy, improve the education system, renew estates, building a better transport system and better medicare. So the budget and GST are meant for more than just helping the lower income groups and to narrow the income gap. But to many people, their immediate concerns will be these two issues. For the first issue, with all the money and rebates given, no one can deny that the lower income groups will have more money to spend for the next five years after deducting away the amount they have to pay for the additional 2%. The question is how much of the handouts will be left. Will there be some leftovers, how much is the leftover and would this be meaningful in allevating their plight? Will they be better off? Only individual case studies would be able to tell. The next issue is the narrowing of the income gap. Is the income gap narrowed, by how much and for how long? Technically, a dollar difference is also a narrowing of the income gap. Would there be statistics to show how successful this objective is achieved?

thai military's political truth

Views of Gen Saprang Kalayanamitr on Thaksin 'During Thaksin's time, the justice system failed to work fairly, and civil servants served his corrupt schemes. The independent institutions supported Thaksin's business, so if the military had not come in, the country would have been damaged even more.' And according to the general they now have enough evidence against Taksin. The one in power has spoken. When the next batch of coup leaders took power, what would they say of the current coup leaders? Would they also say the same thing, and that they have enough evidence to charge them? The whole political truth about power in politics.