Speaking words of wisdom...let it be

I still remember these words from the Beatles. The ST gave two full pages to Ngaim Tong Dow today to speak his words of wisdoms from his recollection of the past and using them as lessons for the future. Among the things he lamented was the selling of Natsteel, the company that contributed to the building of HDB flats and many infrastructure of the island in the early days. He saw it as a sale of a host of knowledge. And yet we have sold more things, a host of history when some foreigners are willing to pay for it. Raffles Hotel is one. What's next? Ngiam also talked about civil servants being flexible and understanding the need of the people. Not everything can be priced and price is not everything. The govt is about the people and the people's general good, about empathy and compassion. What he did not say, but could be read, is that money grabbing and money policies are not the way to go. He is speaking words of wisdom, not word of intelligence. You need not be very intelligent to be wise. And one can be very intelligent but very unwise. And many of the things he talked about are the things that cyberspace is talking about but not spoken in msm. Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.

Singapore's Hall of Fame

With so many super talents gathering in this little piece of rock, it is timely that we shall have our own Hall of Fame. To start with we can instal the honour to a few founding members like the Super Gambler, Super Fundraiser, Super Monk, and so on.

The Peanut Monk

From the view of the practitioners, paying a monk peanuts is the most appropriate means of compensation. Peanut is also vegetarian. Having more peanuts is good for a monk. From a professional and business point of view, a monk that can command $600k must be a super talent. To be able to raise that kind of fund to pay himself requires exceptional talent. An entrepreneur comes to my mind. Perhaps they can nominate him for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award. For the prices he charged, or the temple charged to the consumers, it must be quality service and quality stuff. Value for money. The more you pay, the better you get. You want good stuff, you must pay for it. Soon someone will write to the media to extol his greatness and that he is deserving of the pay he is getting. Now what more justifications can I add in to support this kind of philosophy? The Hokien has a phrase for it, something like 'bird talk.'

Mahathir resigned from UMNO

What is he up to? Is he saying that if he is out and down, everyone, including UMNO must also be dragged down? I think it is a very irresponsible act for Mahathir to do. With this move, UMNO if finished. Just 20 or 30 candidates to follow him and Mahathir would have deliver UMNO to Anwar on a silver platter. But that is beside the point. UMNO will henceforth become a small and inconsequential race party, and soon be forgotten to history. It will be a has been, for the oldies to recollect their memorie of its former glorious days. But might as well. He has paved the way for UMNO's destruction for 22 years. Might as well take the honour to hammer the nails into the coffin.

Sichuan Earthquake Donation

The tragedy and death toll of the massive Sichuan earthquake have touched the hearts of many people both in China and elsewhere, including Singaporeans. Many people are donating very generously to help the victims. Hawkers voluntarily put up signs that they will donate their day's earnings to the victims. People queued up at the Chinese Embassy to donate in thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, in cash or by cheques. While many people spontaneously gave to help, there is always the question whether the money will get to the victims. The fund raising is voluntary and haphazard and depends on the goodwill and honesty of the people collecting the fund. Under such circumstances, scams or cheats will appear to take advantage of the people's generosities. The Charities Acts require anyone raising funds to submit an audited account. But in this case, it is not necessary at the request of the Chinese govt. In the case of small individual efforts like the hawkers, it may be cumbersome to manage the fund raising and a bit of give and take may be acceptable. But when the amount is big, proper accounting and auditing must be in place. I find it very unsatisfactory at the way the Chinese Embassy handles the fund collection. The procedure is totally unacceptable. People going there and handing over cash in the thousands and all they received was a piece of photocopy paper with a chop from the Embassy saying they have donated such a sum of money. That is the only piece of paper given to the donor. On the part of the Embassy, they did not keep any copy nor did they record it anywhere that the sum is received. Money were just shafted into a box. Presumably they will count it themselves and aggregate the sum collected. But such a procedure gives rise to uncertainties and possibilities of misconduct. The Embassy must do something quickly to assure the public/donors that the money is properly accounted for with a proper accounting procedure. Even the collection of money in a funeral wake is more credible with the donor signed a book against the amount he contributed. In this case, the Embassy will not know who donated and how much were donated.