Ban that song

In the Sunday Times column, 'English as it is broken', it tries to explain the proper usage of person and people as often people are confused when using these two words. A person is a person, singular. People is a collective now. So it is proper to say one person or two persons but not one people or two people. It is incorrect to say there are one or two people in the room. It is correct to say one person or two person in the room. So cannot say one people. This brings me to the famous national song of Singapore, One people, one nation, one Singapore. This must be broken English or Singlish. How can we sing 'one people'? Actually English is a bloody confusing language to use. And my first paragraph has me confused too. I begin with 'people are' and then 'people is'. Now which is right and which is wrong. People is a collective now, and is is used to explain the word. The people are friendly, the noun in action. And who says one cannot write 'is is' in the same sentence? Stupid English or Singlish?

Of politics, race and religion

Several JI operatives were detained by ISD again. And the faces are familiar, Muslim and Malay. But this time round there were no under currents by other groups to point the finger at the Malay community. Perhaps the process of educating the people to look at it as a problem not of a community but a few individuals has been a success. Also, this time the area of focus is the Middle East and Afghanistan, quite far away. The attraction in this case is the surfacing of an elite, a trained lawyer, who is motivated enough to give up his cosy lifestyle of comfort and material well being to risk his life in the rough and tumble of the war torn mountains of Afghanistan. Why is the movement gaining momentum despite the claims of success by the western media? Or is the western media's spin just a spin, and the movement is gaining grounds and growing stronger? For those who are reading the western media, the impression is a simple good guys against the bad guys, modernity against backwardness, secularity against religion, the west against the muslims or arabs. And it is very easy to choose to be on the right side of goodness. Apparently if one is to read the Middle Eastern or Muslim media, the picture is quite different. It is a picture of western oppression and injustice against the arabs and muslims, a war of suppression by the west against Islam, a war for control of Arab oil. So, is this a problem of politics or religion, or of race? It seems that it is a combination of all, and economics as well. Control of the Middle East, control of oil, control of media, control of values and control of a people and their religion. But the western media will say no, it is the uplifting of a backward people, a shining light of progress in democracy, human rights and materialism leading the way. The west and western media see themselves as the liberators of a feudal people locked away in time and stubbornly refusing to live and enjoy the life of modernity and secularism. And these people say, leave us alone to our life. We don't need you to meddle with our life and dictate to us your values. And so the fighting and killing continues.

The Living Legend

He may have come from a little red dot. Some may not have good things to say about him. Some may even hate him. Some may regard him as enemy. But he is a living legend among the world leaders today. No one in the world can command the kind of respect and deference from around the world except him. Not George Bush, Putin, Blair, Mahathir, you can name anyone, none is even close to the presence that he commands. LKY, just saw him in Tatarstan over the news. You can see how respectful and honoured the Russians felt to have him visiting them. And he is Asian, from a little red dot. Not even an Ang Mo. He is at least a head taller than all the Ang Mo leaders today. Whether you like him or dislike him, agree with him or disagree with him, he is in a class of his own. Singapore or the world will take a long long time to produce another man like him.

nkf story - Escape from Paradise - Book 11?

Richard Yong's escape from paradise is not only embarrassing, it complicates things further. He should have taken the Oriental gentleman route and do a hara kiri. Unfortunately he chose to live in ignominy, never to return again. How could that be a problem? What would happen if Durai also thinks of the same plan and got hauled back at the immigration? Tongues will go awagging. How come Yong could escape and Durai could not. Fortunately Durai is unlikely to do that. He is going to take the rap, face the penalty like a man, like a tough CEO that he once was. Again, if he does not appear in the next hearing, would there be a wrath of the people? After all the happenings, people are getting very uneasy about how the events are unfolding. It is giving rumour mongers a lot of ingredients to feed their imaginations.

Singaporean catch phrases

The Singaporean Dictionary of famous phrases, in jest. (To be added on as more gems are discovered) Affordability: It means affordable according to the income of the person saying it. Equality: Some have more rights than others. Or as in Animal Farm. Foreign talents aka Fallen Trash: Not very bright foreigners but can replace Singaporeans on cheaper pay. Foreign workers: To compete with local workers to keep wages low. GST: Tax to benefit the poor and lower income citizens High Pay: Free of corruption Honest Mistake: Free from accountability. A learning process for taking risks. IR: Another term for Casinos Let's move on: Enough. We have decided and no one should say anything more about it. Case closed. Local talents: Only in demand overseas Majority: If 1 million did not vote and 3 voted, 2 is a majority. Means Testing: An opportunity to strip a citizen down to bare all his poverty. Mee Siam Mai Hum: Uniquely Singapore National security: My security, or the security of whoever saying it. Pah Si Buay Chow: Stay on as long as the pay is good. Peanuts: As it is, good for monkeys only. Political talents: The best of all the country's talents. Quitters: Applicable to Singaporeans who can't make it here. Redbeanforum = online rantings in futility? ;P Retirement age: Not applicable in politics Straight As: Above average students. Anything below is average or below average. Straits Times: Tongue in cheek views of professional journalists for nation building. Subsidies: Govt subsidises, the people pay. Super talents: Measures by income Transparent: For me to know, for you to find out. Unemployed - Refers to lazy and choosy individuals. World class. This has many definitions depending on the context. World class govt: Highest paid govt. This is unchallenged. Will appear in Guinness Book of Records soon. World class public transport: Sardine packed public transport. World class universities: Based on the criteria of assessments and number of foreign students and lecturers tweaked to fit to the expected model.