Singapore delegates visit US to learn about poverty

Singapore delegation visits Marshall to discuss poverty issues Thursday, March 13, 2008 By RACHEL HARPER/Staff writer Nine representatives from Singapore visited Missouri Valley Community Action Agency in Marshall Tuesday, March 11, to learn new and creative ways to address poverty. "We are extremely pleased you decided to come to Missouri, we are still flabbergasted," said Missouri Association for Community Action (MACA) Executive Director Elaine West. "We hope this will be a beneficial experience for you and us." I copy the above from Sammyboy.com. Singapore is really going places. We went to Japan to learn how to look after our aged. Now we are in America to learn how to look after our poor. We will definitely be better off in looking after these two groups of people.

Improving public transport - Taxi bus

The bus and MRT system will now be boosted with a taxi-bus system. Taxis will now operate more like buses and MRT with designated stops to pick up and unload passengers. Maybe the next step is to charge taxi fares according to the number of taxi stops and have regulated taxi routes. I hope the little convenience which used to differentiate taxis from buses and MRT, like bringing passengers to their doorstep, will not be missed. And for the lost of such a convenience, taxi fare can be lowered to meet the new level of service.

Abolish NEP?!

There seems to be a tacit agreement among the opposition parties to abolish the NEP. The new Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim of PKR said he will abolish the NEP. DAP Lim Guan Eng, CM of Penang also said so. Guan Eng was strongly attacked and warned by Abdullah not to stir racial feelings. Khalid was not touched. It is thus a case of who said it and also how it was spoken. I believe the opposition coalition agreed that the NEP breeds corruption, croynism and nepotism and should be replaced by a fairer and more equitable formula. The issue now is how to go about it without affecting the special position of the bumiputras. And this I believe the coalition also shares a common ground. Now they will have to articulate to the people that they will help all the races and still recognise the special position of the bumiputras. This assurance is vital. Wish them well.

Keep people informed with timely information

Li Xueying calls for more timely and correct information to keep the public informed and avoid wild speculations. In her article in the Straits Times she referred to Mas Selamat case as an example. So was the NTU lecturer's article that more jobs were going to foreigners and being attacked for being 'irresponsible an unprofessionable.' And strangely, the recent MOM reports actually vindicated what the NTU lecturer had said. Poor bugger. The public deserves to be informed as they are not illiterates or idiots that can't handle information.

The temporary nature of being

Temasek has sold Tuas Power to China's Huaneng Group. It is a pure business transaction like Temasek buying other foreign commercial institutions. We buy and we sell for profits. We sell our core assets and buy other country's assets. Now, what else are we going to sell? DBS, SIA, Keppel or PSA? I think as long as there is profit and makes commercial sense, we will likely sell them. How about Sentosa? Things are getting very temporal, and decisions are made based on practical and functional considerations. I think we should seriously think of selling citizenship. Our citizenship is highly priced and valued and should not be given away cheaply. All things are temporary and transient. Nothing to cry about if we sell them away. We can buy other things too. Time to think of buying Australia.