En bloc wealth, real or illusion?

Lucy Huang wrote to the ST complaining that after benefitting from an en bloc sale, she is having trouble finding a replacement unit of equivalent locations as the prices have gone way way up. If she is to benefit from the sale, then she either has to buy an unit at the fringe of the island or downgrade. She is now calling for the govt to intervene to bring down the prices of flats nearer to the city areas. Now, can I say 'Did I tell you?' I think all those who benefitted from en bloc sales should just buy another property, cheaper ones, either smaller or away from the city and enjoy the cash windfall. They can't have the cake and eat it at the same time.

Back where it belongs?

The statue of the construction worker, a foreign talent, is back where it is, taking pride in the company of Stamford Raffles. If these paid workers, who came because we pay them well relative to what they can get at home, and are regarded as doing us a favour, sacrificing for us, then what about our forefathers who worked for less? In those times, their pay and working conditions were even worst than now. Why are we not recognising their contributions but feel so compel to recognise the contribution of these recent foreign talents? Any Singaporeans feel outraged?

Power of the web

Muslim intellectuals easily converted to become radicals and recruited to be terrorists. And the radical muslim groups have been exploiting the web to expound their cause and spread their message of violence. And they are very successful. Now there is nothing more effective than fighting fire with fire. Singapore is going to use the power of the web to fight these deviant websites. We are going to put up slick websites to attract muslim youths to the more positive and correct views of Islam and pull them away from the draw of radical sites. I think they can take the cue from the creative ways of Stomp to attract readership with their young oriented articles and posts and all kinds of attractions. Now we are seeing a new kind of wars being waged in cyberspace, competing for the control of the minds and attention of the youth.

Malaysia is secular - said Karpal Singh

Karpal Singh quoted Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn that Malaysia is a secular state. He also quoted the Supreme Court ruling in Feb 29, 1988, 'We have to set aside our personal feelings because the law in this country is what it is today, a secular law...' Is it that people have short memory? Or perhaps the ruling of the Supreme Court in 1988 was written in English and some cannot read English today? Malaysia is a secular or Islamic state. It cannot be anything in between, a halfbaked state, not knowing what it is. This will be a good opportunity for the Malaysian govt to state it clearly what it is so that all Malaysians do not live in a state of make beliefs, believing what they want to believe but totally different from realities.

Since when has Pakistan become the 52nd state?

George Bush and many US officials categorically said that if need be, the US will send their military into Pakistan to wipe out the Al Qaeda. And they is no need to inform or seek the permission of the Pakistan govt. Hmmm, when has Pakistan become a state of the US and the Americans can do anything they want in that country? Unwittingly, the US is doing a great disservice to their strongest one man ally in Pakistan, Musharraf, by undermining his standing in the eyes of Pakistanis. What kind of leader is Musharraf that the Americans can ignore him completely to operate military forces in Pakistan? Or is the US intentionally doing so to discredit him and has someone more congenial in mind to replace him? Or is Pakistan already in the complete control of the US? One thing for sure, the resistance of the Pakistanis and their anti American feelings will only grow with this kind of American rhetorics. How not to sow anti American sentiments when they do not have the slightest respect for the sovereignty of a nation?