Payment for life

How much does a politician contribute to the country and people in a 2 term office to deserve payment for life? This is something that has not been really discussed in parliament or in the msm except in some naughty blogs and websites. It would be interesting to hear this issue debated in parliament. The old belief of political office as a personal sacrifice sounds quite hollow today when remunerations are pegged to market rate or more. Working for two terms and being paid for life is definitely more than anything the market will pay.

End of NKF saga

Matilda Chua was fined $10k for falsifying accounts unrelated to the NKF saga. And this marks the closing of an ugly and amusing chapter of corporate governance and how public donations to charities were simply money under the bridge. On record, former chairman Richard Yong and ex treasurer Loo Say San were fined $5k each for their parts in the saga. The CEO Durai was jailed for 3 months for deceiving the NKF. He is appealing and has yet to serve his sentence, I think. He is probably employed by a big company working in the Middle East as a CEO or something like that. Justice has been done. What happened to all the missing loot? Were they recovered and how much were recovered? God knows. Waiting for a summation of the case in the msm to mark the official conclusion of the case. And nothing more was heard of the infamous Aboobacker. Lucky fellow. How would the ending and punishment affect future corporate governance? Would people be encouraged to repeat the saga, after all it is only a few thousand dollars to pay and the rewards and perks were more than one can bargain for? All in all, the story has a happy ending.

Tharman the first non Chinese PM?

He has risen and risen, holding the two important portfolios of Education and Finance. And speculation is that he is meant for bigger things... perhaps the next PM. His credential is impeccable except for the little skirmish that was long forgiven. Now it is up to Tharman to win the hearts part is easier. Winning the voters confidence that he is going to be the next PM will be trickier. But all things can happen in the city of possibilities.

It won't happen!

Imagine a couple of happy grandparents proudly walking their first grandchild. The toddler is happily toddling ahead, a step at a time like any child learning to walk does. It is a moment for the photo album. A perfect sight of a happy family. Then out dash 5 rottweilers and they descend on the little toddler. In a flash of second they were tearing away the hands and legs of the toddler apart, right before the eyes of the stunned grandparents. It is so swift and over in a few second. During the aftermath press conference the owner of the rottweiler calmly said it is natural for the big dogs to attack small things. Period. They are prepared to pay the $5000 fine. It cannot be. It cannot happen. Too much dramatisation. Neither can 5 strong young men, strong swimmers, died in an ordinary dragonboat race in a calm river in front of thousands of spectators and helpers. It cannot be. It can't be. But it happened. It is not fiction. It is real. It can be!

It is only natural!

I read some comments in the report on the rottweilers biting the Jack Russel. The silliness of these comments is not surprising. It is someone else that will be hurt. In this case it is a small dog. The dog lover did not want to see the rottweilers put to sleep. The owner of the rottweilers said it is only natural for the big dogs to attack small dogs. It is only animal instinct. So everyone is happy. It is only natural that the dogs will attack small animals, including children. Do we want to see a toddler being torn to pieces before we act? No amount of money and compensation and words of sympathy and empathy can take away the horror and mental anguish of the parents should a child be torn to pieces and ended up as meal for the dog. Please do something before something ugly happens. Animals are animals and they have no intention to kill or maul little children. They did that naturally.