Brazen challenge on modesty

Below is a post submitted by a forumer. On Saturday 30 JUN 2007 @ about 1045 am, i met my client a SIN PR @ East Coast hawker centre. My client chose a seat (4person away from a Singaporean man) on same long bench. After buying coffee, i joined my client on the table. That man turned towards my client and said somewhat in this manner " Excuse, my wife is coming back here, can you put your legs down...it is not nice." My client was in his shorts & running shoes and i noted he was cross-legged while seated opposite me. My client was shocked and so was i. My client muttered, "there is nothing indecent here .." I added to the man " there is nothing indecent here.. you are acting out of jurisdiction..." My client insisted i carry on our conversation on the property and not to be distracted. In fact, i wanted to address the man again, but my client said to ignore him, which i did as we had important issues to talk about the property. The man man drove off first while me & my client continued our discussion in the car-park. The crux of issues was,... i do not think my client was acting indecently by crossing his leg which is very common. Besides it was a hawker centre not an air-con restaurant. Besides it is Saturday, it is encouraged that we do sports and take regular exercises. Neither was my client out of syn in his choice of running short. It was a decent running short. Why did the Man acted in this manner shocked me till today.. I personally do not think we had escalated matters here but think there was a serious breach of individual freedom & ways which makes SIN an attractive place to do business and deemed us an international cosmoplitian society. This incidence showed a) imposing one's standard of dressing on another using decency issues to intimidate. Using a "so-called" sikit atas attitute to impose, frustrate and cause maximun anger. b) Using the "wife" as the sufficiency of reason or to act as the actual barometer to issue a compliance to a fellow SIN resident. Is the wife the moderator of LAW & Compliance? Is the wife a walking judge issuing out arbitrary judgement based on his/her feelings of the day? Going around ticking people off for their behaviour based on his/her judgement... c) my client is small built but he was decently dressed except in his running shorts.He is well travelled and had lived in many bigger cities elsewhere. He is a banker not a Ah Beng. d) a form of extremism using method of intimidation through asking for compliance over a matter which possibly could cause conflict and to put challenge to the concept of racial harmony and/or written rule of Laws. . Using a upper crust scholarly attitute imposing one's standard using "decency" as a cover to disrupt harmony, rub society,imposing on one's civil liberty rights; as an excuse for rights of engagement ; this causing fractionalism & subtle anger to built up to disrupt another person's way of life. I hope SIN will not head down this road where individual rule the street using subtle methods of intimidation, imposing on other civil liberty rights and./or imposing on others their arbitary judgement. The above post describes a normal outing that could turn ugly when another person starts to impose his values and conduct or morality on others. What is unacceptable to him may not be acceptable to others. The danger is that it is very provocative and could start an argument or fight that could turn ugly. Every community and religious organisations should take it upon themselves to teach and educate their people to accept that in a multi racial society we must accept that other people are different and have different values and way of life. Modesty, morality, decency should be confined to one's own group and not imposed onto others. Obvious obscenity in the public is of course not acceptable. I would like to goreng that man's pisang. Tolerance man!

Too much caring

Anyone who is working, irrespective of his age or income or wealth, must contribute to Medisave and CPF. This is good for them. For by the time they reach the elusive withdrawal age, not likely to be a fixed number, they can withdraw a few hundred dollars a month from their CPF to pass the day. And very wealthy people like our millionaire bankers, property owners, ministers etc will benefit from this withdrawal, to keep them going on their retirement. How nice. I am sure people like Ong Beng Seng and Wee Cho Yaw or Quek Leng Beng or Ng Teng Fong would be very grateful. Their retirement pocket money is well conceived and protected. They will not run out of money. Straight jacket?

Political Party Manifesto

We are seeing new parties being formed. And every party has its new aspirations and aspirants to serve the people and country in their chosen way. Everyone will swear that whatever they are doing, it is always for the good of the people and country. But often the people do not believe. The people are seeing political parties existing for their own sake, for the politician's self interest. Am I right to make this generalisation? Definitely not all will agree to my observations. Some will die worshipping their chosen party and only see goodness in them. This can be see from their unstinging support for their parties in the msm and in cyberspace. Some even make it their personal quests to defend those positions and parties. What would be the expectations of the people of the politicians and political parties? The party must be for the people first and nation second, party third and politicians last. The nation is there for the people and not people for the nation. And definitely not people for a political party. Politics must be for the good of the people. A nation or country is just a non living entity, a concept that has no life. What is the point of a Singapore that is all dressed up to the finest, but the people struggling to keep up with the high cost of living? The wealth created by the nation, the taxes collected, revenue generated, must go to the people, their stomach, their health and their brainware. No need to build disneylands. Those are fantasies. But good if we can afford it without compromising on the well being of the people. The cumulation of wealth cannot be the end all of the govt. The wealth must be ploughed back to the people, for the people to live a better quality of life at an affordable cost. There must be a compromise between money for beautiful and wonderful infrastructure and money for living. Is the working of people to their death beds a people's choice, the way to live life? Is the savings for retirement just to eat 3 miserable meals and constantly fearing that a major sickness will turn one into poverty as compare to savings to see the world during the sunset years? Retirement has taken on a new meaning. There is so much fear of affordability of healthcare. So is saving that is never going to be enough. Golden years too have taken on a new meaning. More specifically, no more golden years. For all the savings will never be enough except for the few very rich.

When Means Testing is introduced

Looking at the general comments being made, when means testing is introduced officially, many Singaporeans will definitely not qualified. Only one specific group of patients would qualify, the foreign workers. But that should be the case as all Singaporeans are rich enough to pay more for better wards. Leave the Class C wards for the poor foreigners.

Wheelchairs and walking sticks

In the not too distant future these will be the prized items and gifts in the shopping centres. And Singaporeans' life will be organised around these precious items. In shopping complexes, workplace and residential neighbourhoods, instead of bicycle parks, there will be parks for wheelchairs and little slots in the ground for walking sticks. As the generation of the seniors increases in numbers and found everywhere, their needs will have to be catered for. Food courts will come without chairs and the customers will bring their own chairs. Walking sticks will be like tobacco pipes, aesthetically carved and designed, some high tech, to keep the dogs and molestors away. Some will have built in detectors, music, GPS, lost and found message and all the particulars of the owner. And wheelchairs will replace cars up to a point. It will become a mode of transportation for short distances, with remote control from the home. One good thing, no need to worry about speed limits. And a new COE will be issued to those who can afford to live longer than 70. They will be means tested to see if they have sufficient funds to keep themselves alive without public assistance. If they can, they will simply expire.