bright ideas are needed

I would like to borrow a few phrases from Liang Dingzi from his article 'Changi must learn to excite.' Changi has dropped from poll position to number four. And that is a rude shock to many. What Liang Dingzi thought was the problem is that Changi does not excite anymore. Changi needs to inject more exciting stuff to meet the demands of frequent flyers. I thought the solution would be simple enough. Just move a part of Geyland to Changi and we can be assured that excitement will be all over the faces of travellers. The men will be excited. The boys too. And their wives as well. But where is the real problem? Let me quote Liang, 'When you believe you have the Midas touch, there is a tendency that whatever you do next becomes self serving. You become convinced you know exactly what your customers want. Consequently your product takes on a tired mien.' Is the introduction of arrival time of buses, waiting time for taxis etc falling into such trend? I think not only the transport companies are pushing out 'tired miens', but many organisations are doing the same. Yeah, running out of ideas.

the mysterious truth

Witnesses appearing in court will be told how serious it is to tell the truth. And they will be sworned in by the court to tell the truth, nothing but the truth. Then there are witnesses who have been given friendly advises by their good friends to tell the truth. Some even have emissaries to remind them to tell the truth. Anyone being reminded over and over again can be expected to tell the truth. What happens if the truth is so confusing and contradictory that it gave the impression that the truth teller is coming through as either a knave or a fool? Is simple truth so confusing? Or confusion and contradiction is what truth is all about? Under such circumstances, shall one examine the truthfulness of the truth of the soundness of the witness?

Running out of ideas

Running out of ideas When one runs out of ideas, anything will do as long as it is an idea. Better than doing nothing. And best when the users will have to pay for the brilliant idea. So we have expensive electronic system to tell motorists how long it takes to travel to another point. We have electronic boards to tell commuters how long it will take for them to reach the start of a taxi queue. And now how long it will take for the buses to be late. Next time you will have electronic boards to tell you how long before the ERP will come on go off. And better still, to tell the motorists how much it will cost to go pass the gantry. And motorists who are caught in an expressway jam, there will be electronic signs to tell them how long will they get out of the jam. All these are great leaps forward in the harnessing of technology and science to improve people's life and lifestyle.

good for commuters

Bus arrival time So the bus panels to tell how late a bus will arrive is going to be set up. This is the strength of this island. Once decided to do something, just do it. No one really cares whether the commuters are willing to pay for the cost of the system. Someone has decided that it is good for the commuters, a better quality of life. So get it done, and the commuters will just have to pay for it. Would someone want to improve the efficiency of the system without adding all these cost? Looking at the good side, we will probably acquire another world number one title for introducing such a futuristic system for our commuters. And with so many panels under the blazing sun, perhaps they can consider building bus kiosk, and aircon them for the comfort of the commuters under the hot tropical heat. The panels need some protection from heat and bright sunlight. Killing two birds with one stone.

of compassion and wretched souls

For $4.2 million to be shared among the NKF, KDF and Khoo Foundation, kidney dialysis patients will now be subjected to means testing. These poor buggers will now have to prove how poor they are so that they can get another $100 to relieve them from this deadly curse of being alive. Means testing to catch cheats is not a bad thing. But who would want to cheat when they are in dire straits? We are a very caring and compassionate society, especially in how we exposed the sufferings of the poor and sick, on air as well. The only good thing in my view is to subject all the charities to scrutiny on their accounts and management of public funds. When Penny Lane wrote the lyrics of Amazing Grace and the phrase 'wretched souls', was he referring to himself or the poor slaves that he caught and sold?