Many little birds said

I have spoken to many little birds or many little birds have said to me, the same trend of thinking, why waste time posting? We have a great system, a new paradise, make the best out of it. Go out and make all the money that you can and enjoy life, more wine, karaoke, golfs, Batam etc. That's life and living for the successful Singaporeans. Let me qualify. Firstly, that I am not wasting time. My postings are done on my spare time which I can find plenty throughout the day. A little thoughts here and there and ideas pop up. And I am still trying to grab some money as best I can to have a little life the Singaporean way, the Singaporean aspiration. Now, how first world is a country that thinks this way? Read the msm or listen to the bird talks, it is all about the great buys and the big profits from the rising property prices, the killings in the stock exchange, the million dollar salaries. There is a lot of buzz of this kind. But where is the buzz that will see a little renaissance in this first world wannabe extraordinary island? If there are any worthy social or political discussions, very likely they are conducted behind closed doors. Snippets did came through in the msm, probably considered not too harmful. And there is also the official line of discussion by those who can set the agenda. I saw this article in the morning paper talking about what it takes to have more Einsteins. Walter Isaacson's theme is best summarised in this phrase, 'The whole theme of the last century, and of Einstein's life, is about people who fled oppression in order to go places to think and express themselves...he believes that the only way to have creativity and imagination is to nurture free thought - rebellious free thought.' How does this compares to what the little birds thought was best for this little island? Make money and live life! Isaacson was talking about producing great talented people with great minds. And one of the prerequisites is to 'nurture rebellious, imaginative free thinkers, rather than try to control expression.' Actually this is probably the most important message the the msm is trying to put across discreetly through this little article. The absence of alternative or rebellious views on social and political issues is stark. And to some, it is good for everyone. There is only one source of political view and one truth and one superior thought, and we are selling this to the world as the model for the future on how to govern a state. That is how extraordinary we are. Time to talk to the birds and be another little bird. Birds of the same feather flock together. Imagination is more important than knowledge - Einstein

I disagree with Don McKinnon 'Singapore's decision to give hefty pay rises to government ministers is a test case on keeping corruption at bay in a region where it is rampant, the Commonwealth's chief said Thursday. Don McKinnon, secretary-general of the group representing Britain and its 52 current and former territories, said it was premature to say if Singapore's new public compensation model could help Asia shake off its corruption problems.' AP If all the Asian political leaders are paid like our ministers, definitely there will be no more corruption in their countries. I will even think that if they are paid half of what we paid to our ministers they will also become corruption free. Don McKinnon said it is premature to make any conclusion. I also say that the conclusion is obvious. We have proven that it can be done.

indeed we are extraordinary

It is an undeniable fact that this little red dot is an extraordinary country. With a population of slightly more than 3 million and as an independent country for less than 50 years, we are teaching the world a lot of things. It will be a matter of time before all the govts around the world will adopt our model to pay their ministers. And we are even teaching and advising China on it economic development strategy. And China is a country with an uninterrupted history of more than 5000 years and a foreign reserves of more than US$1 trillion dollars. And this is real. So who can deny us this honour of being an extraordinary country?

censorship in a first world country

Loh Chee Kong was not very pleased with the censorship of the film, Zahari's 17 Years. He questioned the necessity to continue to ban a film on Zahari when books on him are available in the shops. Could the film be that different in presenting a different truth or truth from another angle? Or the motions, pictures and sound can have a greater impact on the viewers? What the film is about is the political activities of a man of an era and idealism that are history today. Like communism was once a taboo topic, today it is openly discussed as just another ideology that is no longer relevant to the creating of a new world. Would the life of Zahari be that influential and emotional that exposing it to the interested public would lead to unrest in our society? Have our society and people grown over the years, matured and be able to cope with the drama and issues of the past? Or we are still the naive and impressionable little country bumpkins that must be protected from the influence of the media, that we are still deemed to be unfit to see a different truth? We are first world, man!

Right of reply

After Balji shared his disappointment on the two 'could have been great leaders' but failing to nurture successors, the Today paper did the proper thing by allowing replies by Tan Kin Lian and another forumer to address the issue. Both came out with their facts to prove that the two leaders actually have done very well in developing many successors especially in the case of Philip. And the forumer, Rodney Tan Wee Hong, even have all the names to show what Philip had done. Rodney also made the comment that it is easy to criticise but one must support it with facts and not making sweeping and unsubstantiated statements in the main stream media. What has happened is that it proves that the right of reply is very important to balance out a one sided view. It gives a better and clearer truth.