Malays not stupid: Abdullah Badawi

Abdullah has said it loud and clear and is urging the Malays to drop the crutch mentality. No one can dispute what he had said. Many Malays have done well in Malaysia and especially in Singapore. The latter without any crutch. The problems in Malaysia are the affirmative policies, designed to help and give them a head start but ended up as the most damaging tool to hold them back. There is no necessity and motivation to want to push harder. Just ask or demand and it will be given. After more than 30 years of affirmative policies and there is no progress or confidence to go it alone, something is definitely wrong. Malaysia boleh?

Stop that tour

The tour industry is eyeing the silver hair generation for more business. They are seeing this group of Singaporeans as a goldmine. But before the silver hair go and plonk their money into tour packages, they should carefully consider the little money they are left with for their old age and big hospital bills akan datang. Base on all the current computations, many of them would not have enough to live till 80, and they are going to live to 100 years. Better not squander away those precious little savings.

Medisave wiped out in 3 months

17 year old Siti Aishah suffered from ovarian cancer. It took 3 months of treatment to wipe out the $30k which her father, driver Mohammad Abdullah, took to save in 40 years. Her total hospital bill, despite govt subsidies, came to $41k in just one month. And her ordeal is just beginning. She will need medical care, medicine, treatment and hospitalisation probably for her whole life. Another half a million or more! According to KKH's chief medical social worker Sylvia Mun, only 'a 3 day ward stay for something as minor as asthma can be a financial disaster' to low income families. Middle income families are not spared either. Serious or chronic illnesses would wipe them out as well. At the rate we are going, Singaporeans will be in deep financial debt because of hospitalisation. What is a little $30k in the Medisave going to do when one is settled with hefty hospital bills? And with mean testing, only the truly down and out will qualify for govt subsidies while the so called more able, probably anyone earning $2k pm and above will have to pay a big chunk of their hospital bills. There is no escape. As long as hospital and medical cost are running away, the fate of Singaporeans are sealed. The Health Minister has been working and working hard. What is the result? What we really need is a philantrophic organisation and a few selfless people in the medical profession to start an alternative hospital to serve the people at the lowest cost possible. Something like Sheng Siong versus NTUC Fairprice. Prove to the the govt that cost can be brought down and there are people who will not be crazy about making millions and millions at the expense of the people and the sick.

Root of taxi touting problem

We have heard all the anger in display on what to do with taxi touts. Can we ask what is the root to all these problems? Cost of living? High cost of operation? Trying to earn a little more, something similar to corruption? Inefficient taxi operator systems or inequitable pay to the taxi drivers? We have heard and experienced the high cost of living. It is no longer a joke. And the govt is doing everything it could to curb the losing value of the dollar or pay. Huge payrises are the solutions. But not many people are getting the payrise. The self employed will be hardest hit. And taxi drivers are one of them. We may want to use the same rationale and assumptions to solve the touting problem like we solved the corruption problem. Pay them well, so that they will not resort to touting. And there will be better quality of drivers coming into the professions. The graduates too can consider driving taxi as a living. We will have plenty of them when the fourth university is in operation. And everyone stand to benefit, the commuters, especially the tourists, will be awed by the high calibre of our taxi drivers. The latter too will be happy with the high income. Now compare this with the 70 plus trishaw uncle that should be at home enjoying the grandchildren instead of struggling with his trishaw to pull two huge europeans and be humiliated for a few dollars. The trishaw profession, if not restructured, is a shame to this country. Our octogenarians ended up plying the streets soliciting unruly passengers. Not much different from prostitutions.

Old workers now top national priority

This seems like fiction. A few years back, all the old hags were gotten rid off as quickly as you can say redbean. Now the old hags are treasures to be kept. Why the sudden change of mind? Should this be part of a long term plan, properly schemed out? It cannot be one day good one day bad. What happens to being proactive, planning ahead? This seems like fiction. A few years back, all the old hags were gotten rid off as quickly as you can say redbean. Now the old hags are treasures to be kept. Why the sudden change of mind? Should this be part of a long term plan, properly schemed out? It cannot be one day good one day bad. What happens to being proactive, planning ahead?