Indonesian Parliament rejects DCA

The refusal by the Indonesian Parliament to ratify the DCA also means that the Extradition Treaty will be thrown out of the window as well. Now, shall we be unhappy or rejoice for this great happening? I think we shall celebrate. If we express any regrets or unhappiness, they will think that they have done the right thing and good for Indonesia. What we should do is to celebrate loudly. That will make them ponder and probably start to worry about what they had done. Let's keep them guessing and questioning their own thinking by throwing a ball.

When altruism is dead

When setting up schools is to make money When setting up hospitals is to make money When standing for election is to make money When public service is to make money When setting up a charity is to make money When recognition of an individual's worthiness is about making money That is, when altruism is dead.

myth 139

The fiction of guilt The Sentosa Resort has been plagued with an assumed guilt that Stanley Ho is linked to the triads and it is not desirable to put his money here. I have earlier commented that many of the casinos in Las Vegas and around the world are also linked in one way or another to the mafias and triads all over the world. So what's the big deal? Now western developed, advanced and high moral countries are accepting that the children of Stanley Ho are innocent and not guilty by relations to Stanley Ho. By the way, who has pronounced that Stanley Ho is guilty? Which God said so? I like what Jesus said. 'Let the one who has not sinned be the first to cast the stone.' Where are all the saints? All in the little red dot I supposed. We shouldn't call ourselves a paradise. That is an insult to our squeaky clean country. We shall call ourselves heaven on earth, Sin free City, the habitat of demigods where no evil man shall be allowed to trample on.

barking up the wrong tree?

By now the whole machinery to achieve a first class transport system and a first class MRT should be in full swing. So far the idea of a first class transport system includes an MRT that is modelled probably after Tokyo. Tokyo seems to be the best model to take us there. I just hope first class does not mean sardine class, where commuters are squeesed, tit to tit, inside a jam pack train. The concept of first class invokes a sense of classiness, comfort, space and a little pampering, something similar to first class air travel or A class hospital wards. If that is the definition of first class, then it makes sense. And don't forget that such first class public transport comes with a first class price tag. Who can afford such services? The top 10% of the population will not be bothered with first class or world class public transport. They have their own classy private transport which they cannot part with. Maybe the next 10 percentile may consider such an option. Or perhaps the lower 5 percentile of the this group. Those who can afford the comfort of private transport will want to keep themselves away from the masses. The 80% of the population are unlikely to take it kindly to a first class price tag. They will love to have the first class service. But many would not be able to afford it or would opt to save the extra dollar for something else. Maybe a business class equivalent rather than a first class MRT to cater for the 20 percentile group at the top. It cannot be for everyone. Half the population will not be able to afford it no matter how affordable it claims to be. Let's hope that the system of first class travel will not be imposed on the population like the hospital ward system where eventually you will get first class and economy class travel. And if not enough takers for first class, means testing will be introduced to ensure that more people pay for first class services that they do not want. It must not be a 'What the provider wants is what the commuters must pay' system.

No need to wait for 6.5 million population

SINGAPORE: The current high occupancy rate at some public hospital is stressing doctors to discharge their patients, admitted Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday. Occupancy has hit highs of more than 90 per cent for some hospitals recently, above Mr Khaw’s ideal of 85 per cent. “When you run at over 90 per cent, it’s very stressful,” said the Health Minister, who was the chief executive of several hospitals from 1985 to 1992. “Stressful in the sense that, every day, our doctors have to go down to beg the patients (to be discharged).” Occupying a hospital bed for acute illness costs the Government an average of $1,000 a day, compared to “a few hundred dollars” for a community hospital bed. This is “the cost to society”, said Mr Khaw at the sidelines of an event yesterday. “If I don’t actively shift patients down, our total cost will just be heavy.” Reported in Today We are now starting to get a little dosage of what life would be like when we double our population. We will simply break at the seams if we continue to push to the limits.