nkf story - the wayang continues

Is the $20k payment for work done? When David Tan was given the $20k by Durai, he was elated. It was reported that it was a token of appreciation for fundraising. Now it has become payment for consultancy work done over cheap chicken rice. The chicken rice was only the appettiser. The $20k was the main course. But why would David Tan return the money to NKF when he was questioned by the authority? Didn't he has any clue whether the money was payment, token of appreciation, legitimate or illegitimate? What a big puzzle. The recipient of $20k, told to raise an invoice which he did not know for what, returned the money and now admitted that it was payment for consultancy over chicken rice. What kind of wayang is this?

we were clobbered

There was no granite ban The Indonesians are just musing over whether to have a ban on granite. And according to the Trade Minister Mari Pangestu it is unlikely to ban granite sale. Those who are talking about protecting their environment should ban the exporting of oil or oil exploration and go back to use firewoods. Oops, firewoods would also harm the environment and send more haze all over the sky. Now that there is no ban, what happens to all our vessels that were seized? Have they been returned? Were there any compensation for the illegal arrest of legitimate shipping vessels with proper papers? Why is there no protest from Singaporeans when their vessels were seized by illegal and unauthorised means? This is the worst kind of piracy. Singapore as a nation is at the lowest in terms of respect from other countries. Our vessels seized, investments confiscated or slammed with all kinds of charges and probably ended up losing every cent. Our people being beaten up, robbed and killed in foreign land. And we are all living happily as if nothing has happened. We are small and that is our disadvantage. Growing our population to 6.5 million is not going to make even a ripple. What we need, maybe, is to consider becoming the 52nd state of the USA. Then we will no longer be small and we will walk in and take our vessels back. We will also confiscate or put a sanction on the properties of foreign countries that violate the legal process to seize our assets in their countries. We will called up ambassadors to give them a dressing and demand justice when our citizens are being attacked. Now would that be better than a little red dot? Just musing.

money or quality patient care

Reward for patient care or chalking up revenue This is the latest debate involving Wei Ling and Dr Ranjiv Sivanandan. Ranjiv's point is that in restructured hospitals, doctors and departments are rewarded based on the number of private patients treated. This underlines the whole Singapore ethos of existence, from state, organisations and people. Money is the only reason and the only reason that can justify work and achievements. Wei Ling came out strongly against this impression. And she quoted her department , NNI, as a living example of patient care first, quality care comes first. Bringing in money is not a criteria for performance appraisal. She knew what she was saying. That was her department and that was where she called the shot and set the ethos. The sick are very fortunate to have some of these special individuals who are passionate in what they do, without having to bother with how much they earned or how their rice bowl will be affected. Unfortunately, NNI is probably an isolated case. Will there be another hospital heads who will stand up to say they too are doing the same? Probably not, and Ranjiv's case still stands. We need mavericks, people who are high achievers, confident and secure, to stand up to the weight of bureaucracy to do what is right and not what the bureaucracy wants them to do, or they will have to face the stick.

nkf story - the good side of durai

NKF Story - The good side of Durai As in all stories, there are always the good side and the bad side. And humans are no difference. There are the good side and bad side in all of us. David Tan, a close friend of Durai, who was given $20k as a token of appreciation, was all praises for Durai. He had told the court that Durai was an honourable man. And he also quoted anecdotes of Durai telling him 'on two occasions' to tell the truth to the investigators. Durai must be worried for David, for whatever reasons. Durai, as reported in the Today paper, also called David Tan's nephew to remind David to 'tell the truth' in court. And in all the years that David had known Durai, he confirmed that Durai had not asked him to do any dishonourable thing. Here is the good side of Durai on display in court. At least we are now assured of some truth spoken in court.

good to have frills

Good to have if it is free Unless there is a breakdown or system failure, the next MRT train will arrive in 10 or 15 minutes at most. This could also apply to the buses. At worst, the buses will be late by 30 minutes. Anything more than that, the system must be very badly managed. This is the inbuilt advantage of being small. No need to think like big cities and big countries. It is good to have all the screens to tell the time of the next arrival, provided they don't add towards the operating cost and thus to the cost of the fare. Unavoidable if these perks are added. Imagine how many thousands of bus stops with one or more screens showing the arrival of the next bus? What kind of cost on the software and the maintenance to add these frills to the lives of the poor communters who just want the cost to go lower? Then there are the more affluent commuters who lusted for such thrills as they can afford them. It is important to look at the lowest common denominator, LCD, before implementating all these good to have gadgets. Be mindful that there is a large majority who still struggling to save a few cents on their daily trips. Not everyone can afford to throw away $10 or $100 as tips or small change.