Myth 149 - The Incorruptible Asian Minds

Asians are more superior to the Westerners. They are incorruptible to power and wealth. And these are the basis from which all dynasties and Asian empires were based on. So when they came to power, they will concentrate all the powers in their own hands, in the families or among the cronies. Another interpretation of this is that they believe that they have the mandate of heaven and they are given the right to kick the asses of all the lowly masses anyway they want. Compare this to the West, the Western philosophers believe that men are corruptible. The more powerful they become, the more corruptible they will be. And the American founding fathers refused to take any chances on the incorruptibility of man and enshrined into their Constitutions the separation of power. They don't even trust their elected presidents. And rightly so. Anyone who thinks that it is acceptable to place all the powers to an individual or office will be the first to be hanged. And no American will be able to invoke any nonsensical theories to dismiss anyone challenging the concentration of power in any office. And what is happening today in America is the best vindication of the wisdom of their founding fathers. Without the separation of powers, Bush and his gangsters will be killing all the Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East, plunging the world into another world war, and will get away with it, unstoppable.

Malaysia is an Islamic State

It is official and no need to beat around the bush. Najib has said it. Malaysia is an Islamic state and is governed under Islamic Laws and principles, but protects minority rights. He said Malaysia has never been a secular state. Only silly non Muslim Malaysians think that Malaysia was a secular state. Prepare to have their hands chop off when they steal. Prepare to close all the nightspots and entertainments. Lights out at 10pm. If the non Muslims still do not speak out and make a stand, it will be like 1955. The position of Malaysia becoming an Islamic state will become defacto and then dejure. The next demand will be sunat to be clean.

CPF for old age

With the increasing uses of the CPF savings, and with the runaway cost of living, it is necessary to decide what is more important. Is it retirement fund or a flat, or education for children? For many, their CPF savings will never be enough for any one of these big ticket items, and worst if they are going to use it for so many things. Ng Eng Hen is right to say that those who have a lot of CPF savings have no need to use them as they are mostly very rich and have a lot of money for many other things. It is the 'eat not full, hunger cannot die' heartlanders that have to juggle on what to spend and how much to spend. They are the ones that have little in their CPF savings but stupidly insisting on using them for the education of their children. But what choices do they have when they are struggling to make ends meet and education is not cheap? And there are many other bills to pay too. One good solution is to follow the policy of the old NKF. Save for the future and forget about the now. If they cannot manage their day to day living, it is their problem. They will be very thankful if they live old enough and see a big nest egg waiting for them. Their golden years, provided their money is still worth what they are and have some purchasing power left. These poor people are real irritants and irresponsible. Not enough money still want to take out their retirement funds to spend. Why can't they think and behave like the rich, don't touch their CPF savings? It it for their own good.

Priority tertiary education for locals

28,000 locals applied and nearly half were offered places. This means about 14,000 places were offered to locals. This is a big number given the average birth rate of Singaporeans at about 35,000. Hey, that is 40% of each year's cohort. Then why are Singaporeans complaining that they cannot get admission to local universities. And the govt's target is only 25%. The actual intake was 23.5% or 8,225 students out or 35,000. Where is the balance of 14,000, ie about 5,700 comes from? Is the intake 8,225 or 14,000? And how many of these are citizens? Locals are not necessarily citizens. Or can we assume that 8,225 are citizens? If this is so, then the percentage of non citizen locals, ie PRs, is 41%. So for every 5 students admitted, 3 are citizens and 2 are PRs. But the actual intake could only be 8225, as 14,000 places were just offered and not necessarily accepted. The numbers are my guestimates based on the data provided in the paper and may not be accurate. What is the real number? Also, should it be a local-foreign problem or a citizen-non citizen issue?

Princelings and Whistle blowers

Two letters by Chan Hwa Loon and Lin Junjie in the ST discussed about the Hongyi saga. Chan Hwa Loon was more concerned about the possibility of an attempt to cover up a princeling which is a step towards the direction of feudalism. That is very bad for a young and modern country like ours to take. Protection of princelings and covering their misdeeds is worst than nepotism. He expects the SAF to shed light on this issue given the rumours in cyberspace. The consequence is serious if we have such a culture in public services. Lin Junjie was more concerned about how a whistle blower is treated. If Hongyi did what he did out of frustration over an issue of favouritism and condoning a breach of military discipline, then his action should be taken as a positive act and be commended. Why should he be punished instead for raising a serious bloop in the SAF? Who else would dare to stand out and be a whistle blower? There must be an official channel or culture to protect whistle blowers who risk everything to disclose a misconduct or foul play. This saga has opened up a can of worms. Thanks to the brave act of a young man. Now should he be punished or be commended?