Untold secrets of our success

One of the greatest achievements of the ruling govt is to come out with decisions and policies that please the elite, including those from the academia. The latter are the thinkers, the critics and the people who can see the flaws of any bad policy or decision. And they can be expected to speak out on them or write critical analysis in msm or academic journals. The very fact that the elite and scholar thinkers are not saying anything or not saying much proves beyond any doubt that all our policies are very well conceived and implemented. It is a silent consensus that speaks louder that voicing loud approvals.

Electronic parking guides are up

Electronic panels showing the number of parking spaces available in the Marina centre area are up. Nice. Wonder how much they cost and who is paying for it, plus maintenance. They forgot to provide a viewing area on the side of the road for motorist to park and check which car park has available lots. This would be more convenient and avert any slowing down of traffic or accident when drivers have to look at them.

The poor must be rejoicing

Today I am feeling damn good. Inflation is hitting the rich harder by 3.9% while the bottom earners like me is hit only by 2.8%. Time to celebrate the good news. I am still wondering about those whose income is just sufficient for food and transport and how are they hit? 2.8% also? Now one plate of mee is up from $3 to $3.50, how many percent is that? A loaf of bread is up by how much? How much have vegetables gone up? I think for these buggers, the extra that they would have to pay just for food alone will be somewhere in the region of 20%. But officially or statistically they should also feel good. It is only 2.8%.

We are so obnoxious and intolerant

Someone asked me how was Gayle Goh's blog doing. I thought she was doing fine. For those who have forgotten about her, she was the junior college girl who caused a sensation when a civil servant, Bilahari, replied in her blog. So I went back to her blog and was disappointed. She has stopped blogging. In her last few posts she revealed vaguely, that she was kind of being attacked personally by the obnoxious and insensible people of paradise. She felt so hurt that she found it better to stop blogging, or if she were to do it again, she would do it under a pseudonym. Couldn't our society accept the views and existence of a young school girl? Is it fair to attack her and destroy her self confidence and make her feel so disappointed with the adult world? Some have encouraged her to keep on posting. I would too. But given her youth, it is not easy for her to take all the insinuations bravely. She would not be as thick skin as me nor to confront her attackers headon. She does not know how to brandish her knuckle duster to fend for herself. We have just lost the views and contribution of a young and promising blogger.

ERP coming to MRT? Huat ah!

Some times back I wrote a tongue in cheek piece on ERP in MRT. Now looks like this is going to be a possibility. This time it is to stagger people using MRT instead of cars using expressways. As a money making concept, this is simply brilliant. Yes there are many ways to skin a cat. Let me quote a few phrases from the New Paper. 'In Adelaide, too, public transport fares are 25 to 45 per cent cheaper between 9am and 3pm, compared to earlier and later peak periods. Ms Tammy Tan, spokesman for SBS Transit, which operates the North-East line, said a staggered-fare system is possible in Singapore. She declined to elaborate. But SMRT, which operates the North-South Line, said it prefers to cut congestion by increasing the frequency of train runs.' Maybe we are safe with SMRT for the time being. As for the North east line, pray hard.