of billionaires and million hairs

It was really impressive to know that there are so many billionaires among us and around the world. These are no ordinary people to be able to acquire so much wealth in their lives. And many are self made. Bill Gates did it in less than 30 years. Warren Buffett did it about twice that time. The Singapore smaller billionaires did it in their life times. Would the lesser beings of Singapore suddenly think that they are less able and less worthy than these great men and women for earning less than them? After all the intelligence and respect in this island are measured according to how clever one makes money or how much is one worth? Would the Forbes Report make people lose their self respect because they were only millionaires in several hundred millions or in tens of millions? Would we see people going around trying to grab more monies to make themselves billionaires?

nkf story - of style and glamour

Move aside Caldecott Hill, you no longer have the honour for having the most well dressed and glamorous personalities in this island. The honour is now given to the old NKF. Other than the handsome and charismatic Durai and the meticulously well dressed Richard Yong, now appearing on stage or at Havelock Road magistrate is the cool and fashionable David Tan. Anyone at 62 will be green with envy to be able to look so good and so flamboyant, and so happy. And they danced away in Durai's office when he clinched a donation of $5 million for the NKF. They were jubilant and exhilarating for landing such a huge sum of money for the charity. And David was not even a member of NKF Board. But his joy for doing such a great deed for the needy NKF patients is something that every caring Singaporeans can share. Not sure if they pop a few bottles of champagne and a party after achieving such a big success, but for sure, David's effort was not forgotten.

Of Parliament and debates

Of Parliament and debates For those who are casually following the happenings in Parliament, it is excusable to think that the opposition in Parliament is the PAP. Where were the Cheam See Tong, the Low Thia Khiang and the Sylvia Lim? Never seen and never heard of in a Parliament that is most of the time 75% empty except for the first few sessions. They must be among the absentees. That is the impression if one watches the TV news coverage. Quite natural when the opposition does not really have a role to play in a Parliament that is overwhelmingly dominated by a ruling party. And quite natural that the debate in Parliament is just debate. Nothing happens after that no matter how much the speaker said. Everyone who bothers to be in Parliament, made their few comments and asked a few questions and things just 'move on.' Their comments and questions were answered, and that's it. Scanning through the main stream media and the TV, which rightly allocated about 10 minutes of their precious time to Highlights in Parliament as they have more important programmes to broadcast, tells how important were the proceedings in the house. And the camera cheekily showed the 3/4 empty Parliament every now and then to tell the audiences how heated and thoroughly engaging the debates must have been. With the impression that the opposition were non existence, at least from the reports available in the MSM as a measure of their contributions, the floor was all for the PAP MPs. And the notables who spoke passionately, and at times aggressively on the issues that they pursued were the likes of Inderjit, Lily Neo, Ong Kian Min and Sin Boon Ann. They were convincing in wanting to put their points across strongly. But despite all that, the greatest victory goes to Lily Neo. In her quest to help the poor and needy living on government handouts, she succeeded in getting another $1 a day for them. That was the greatest achievement that no other MP could ever think of doing. Halimah is the most persistent fighter for the working class on record. She practically spoke on every issue that affected the workers and plea after plea for the government to spare a thought for them and their plight. So far she has not won her $1 worth yet. Maybe she will get her desserts as events unfold in the years to come. But one thing for sure, as against all the cynicism by Seng Han Thong, the ERP is going to be more expensive and hopefully more effective. Definitely not more effective and less expensive.

myth 121

Ang Pow is an acceptable customary practice Giving ang pows (red packets with money inside) is a traditional Chinese practice. During the Chinese New Year, the Chinese parents will give ang pows to their children, unmarried ones, for good luck. And they extend this by giving it to the children of all visitors to their homes or neighbour's children. This practice is further extended to workplace where employees are given ang pows too by their bosses. Nowadays, ang pows are also given to friends in the business circles as a show of appreciation. It used to be $1.10, then $2, $4, $10, and now $20,000! I will be deeply moved if anyone were to give me a $20,000 ang pow. It is just a customary practice.

futuristic singapore

Then we have countdown at traffic light junctions. I supported that. It is not only a convenient and useful information, it is also a safety feature to cut down on unnecessary risk taking and accidents. Then we have road signs telling motorists how low it takes to reach certain roads. Dunno for what? Then we have satellite technology to tell bus commuters when the next bus will arrive at the bus terminals. Great piece of information. Then we have signs telling passengers when will be his turn hop into the next taxi or he can change his mind and join another queue somewhere. Now we are going to have signs at all bus stops, did they say all bus stops?, to tell commuters when the next bus will arrive. Too much money to spend? Like Sam Tan raising the issue of a small length swimming pool in a public hospital for the benefit of patients to admire and relax. Something like the beautiful marine aquariums in NKF for the dialysis patients. No cost is mentioned as they were paid for by donors. So nothing to worry about. As long as someone else is paying for it, it is ok. The bus commuters are likely to have all the signs paid for by somebody else for their convenience. Great idea. At the rate we go, we are going to be an ultra modern, technologically advanced and futuristic island. World class facilities and leading edge technology on the road side. Somebody needs to pay for it, surely.