The msm need to be with the people

PN Balji continued with LKY's discussion, in the Today paper, on the role of the msm and their need to reinvent themselves in the face of the sprouting out of more alternative reportings and commentaries in cyberspace. The advantage of cyberspace, in being free, real and human like, talking and reporting with character and feelings, is hard to beat. And then it is interactive and responsive, it is the people's own news and views. Not something that is being forced onto the people. The people can relate and take ownership of their own news. LKY's comment of not just reporting the whats but the whys is going to put a challenge to msm reporters. For many of the whys cannot be reported succintly. And there goes the credibility of msm. And according to Balji, they need to be creative, sensitive, meaningful and responsible. Quite a herculean task. As a political trophy, hmmm, how to report in a way that is objective and balance is going to be tricky.

Making the annuity bullshit real

There are so many things that the people are gasping in disbelief. The small payout and the payout age at 85. Both seem so unreal and irrelevant. What the govt should do is to address this bullshit seriously and come out with something that is real. The $300 is definitely not going to be enough and either you provide for a reasonable sum, or might as well don't provide at all. With inflation and the depreciation of money, in 30 years time, the minimum for subsistence existence could be $1000 pm. Then at that age, you need life supporting equipment, weekly or monthly medical checkup, annual checkup or overhaul. Other than the subsistence allowance, the medical part could easily be another few hundred thousands. How much then is enough? Half a million or one million? If this problem is real and we need to address it as a real problem, then the bullshiting must be realistic. And the 85 years payout age. This is a joke.

Time to raise taxi fares

There were many calls in the msm to curb the irresponsible ways of cabbies and their exploitation of foreign tourists. Our reputation as a paradise island for tourists is going to be badly affected. We cannot allow this to continue. On the other hand, with cost of operating the taxis going up, with food prices going up, how are the cab drivers going to maintain their lowly lifestyle? They need to earn enough to feed their families. It is time to raise taxi fares. How many years have they been driving their taxis without an increase in fare? If there is no increase, their income will quickly be swallowed by the runaway inflations. Poor chaps. But if the fares are raised, all the commuters who have to take taxis will be hurt again and their salaries must be raised too. That must be the way to go forward. And everyone will be happy and taxi touts will go away.

Not so good news today.

Prices of chicken up by 20% and flour by 30%. So the 2% extra on GST is chicken feed actually. But it sure adds on to the increases in chicken and flour prices. With GST at 7%, the respective increases will be 21.4% and 32.1% respectively. So how much will a plate of chicken rice or a loaf of bread going to cost? No need to worry, another few cents more only. Still affordable. Now with all the prices keep going up, it is time to raise the salary again. Everyone shall get 10% increment from the workers to those at the very top, or their life style will be affected.

DPM's responses to Timothy Cooper

These are some questions posed by Cooper of US based human rights group Worldrights and Jayakumar's reply. I am split between putting it in the Myth column, Signs of Progress, or Decline, Notable Quotes or in the Gems of Parliament column in Redbeanforum. And I will just quote them from what was reported in the ST. I will leave it to readers to form their own opinions/comments which I believe will range wildly from the unbelieveable to the amusing and to the very pragmatic necessary evil and the rule of law. 'Cooper asked how it was that there were no libel cases where people had successfully defended themselves against government officials. He charged that the legal playing field was not level. Jayakumar said the question must be whether libel suits were brought with "arguments and substance". Singapore leaders sued for a reason: to uphold their integrity and character. Cooper asked why permits are routinely denied to political opponents who want to stage gatherings, but are granted to the PAP. Jayakumar said for densely populated Singapore, the govt has kept strict laws for public gatherings and processions. It requires and grants permits on considerations of law and order, with particular care paid to gatherings base on race, language and religion, and public gatherings by political parties and figures. The rules apply to all parties, including the ruling PAP, which has to also apply for permits, he said.'