Move over Mas Selamat

The most search name in cyberspace is now Wong Kan Seng. The name has knocked Mas Selamat to second place. And printing firms have been receiving orders to print photos of Wong Kan Seng onto T shirts and mugs for sale. We now have another cult personality that is bigger than mediacorp stars.

A little uneasiness

This is what I heard after a tree planting day. A little special tree would be chosen for a minister to hold a spade or a pail of water for photo shooting. After that a little plague would be placed beside the young tree saying, 'This tree was planted by Minister Bu Zhang on 25 April 2008.' Ah Goo actually dug the hole. Ahmad carried the young tree from the nursery and Muthu did all the watering. Now the three were unhappy. They want their names on the plague also. They want the plague to read, 'This tree was planted by Minister Bu Zhang and Ah Goo, Ahmad and Muthu on 25 April 2008.' They all want to share a little credit for doing the actual work. Never mind that their names come after the minister.

The Gurkhas

There is an article in the ST today about the Maoist govt in Nepal and a new policy on not allowing gurkhas to serve in foreign countries as mercenaries. It also told about the fearless, courageous and loyal traits of the gurkhas. One thing it missed is that gurkhas made poor guards. They are good fighting soldiers, but behave like school boys when on guard duties. When something happens, they will run to the teacher and ask what to do. They do not know how to react on the spot. They are unthinking, only good at taking orders. It is proven in the Mas Selamat case. They did not know that the basic rule in guarding dangerous prisoners is not to let them out of sight. Never. But they did. The gurkhas should be deployed only in the battle fields to do combat.

What is $5 mil?

Do we want Selamat back? Yes? Do we want him back badly? Yes...No? For a mere $5 mil, the whole world will be searching for him. Why are we stinging on this little money? Not our policy! We have not done that. It was not our policy to have casinos. It was not our policy to pay ministers in millions. It was not our policy to be a welfare state. What else is not our policy or was not our policy? I Selamat is that dangerous, think of the damages that he can cause. A mere $5 mil is small change and very good value for money. The two months of search for Selamat must have gone past that amount.

The sacrificial lamb

The COI Report is a statement of failure. It is an open admission that the people managing the detention centre are amateurish, idiots, untrained, unthinking and simply did not know what they were doing. And the centre is designed to assist detainees to escape. It is that bad. Why would such a blatant admission of fault be made public? Who is the one who paid the heaviest price as the guilty party? Who is the sacrificial lamb? Some called the report bold, some horrendous. It was a revelation of an unpleasant truth that is waiting to be told, of a system that is failing but still believes that it is the best. Like the NKF, it is a miniature replica of the failure of a larger system. A system built on the belief that everyone is supertalent and need to be paid like superman. Maybe I am wrong. There are many supermen and superwomen, but all flying around in the cloud nine. At ground zero, it is another world. The world of the peasants and workers who are good enough to tighten belt everyday and with a head that is as empty as their stomach.