The caretaker generation

We have arrived at the doorstep of the first world. The people who helped us get here were mostly gone. The people who are singing the song of praise and praising themselves for the success think that they are the one who have brought us here. That they are the ones with the magic formula, the architect of paradise, and think that without them we will not be here. They think we owe our success to them. The builders of paradise have all but gone. A handful still around. It is they and their effort that should be appreciated. The rest are just caretakers, inheriting a good fortune and riding on it, making the best out of it, that's about it. Before they get too high on their high horses, they should be reminded that it is not them that brought us here. They themselves were brought in to look after the wealth and not to mess it up. The people of paradise do not owe any debt to the caretakers. The people who will owe a debt to them will be the future generations should paradise continue to exist as a paradise.

Is Reach reaching to the people?

I have no idea how Reach is doing. Never been to that corner of cyberspace, yet. I think there are enough feedback in cyberspace, enough of issues and concerns that can be had for free. No need to keep setting up official sites just to gather feedback and attention at a cost. It will only tap on a very small minority who believe that they have to go through proper channel, to be vetted and to get the green light before the message can go up the next step. Something like writing to the forum pages of TOM. When there is sincerity in wanting to listen to the unhappy, the dissatisfied, the disgruntled, the vocal, for their grouses, just go to where they are. These people could be so pissed off that anything official will be taboo to them. They would not touch the official sites like Reach with a ten foot pole. So what Reach will be getting will be from a select group but at the same time isolating and not getting anything from those who are really pissed. When they say, you want to feedback you come to Reach or go to such and such a place and take a cue, only then we will listen to you and attend to you, what are they really saying?

Chance to 'poke' the Govt

Nice to hear that. The govt is changing and getting more confident and less uptight. It is encouraging people to poke at them. Unbelieveable a few days ago. Yes, Reach, in all seriousness, is taking feedback a step ahead by setting up a Facebook to 'poke, suckerpunch, and send a tulip - or pehaps a Venus Flytrap if you prefer - to the Govt.' No need to send money. They don't need any. Are we seeing more relaxation about cyberspace activities or is it just for Reach supported programmes? Feedback is now taking on a new dimension, not so serious or don't be too serious. Just have fun. 'The Facebook effort is the latest in the arse-nal that Reach is building to engage Singapore-ans as it tries to combat the perception that the Government does not listen enough when it formulates policies.' I am quoting this from the ST with every comma, hyphen and fullstop at the exact spot. Can I just poke a little fun? Would the Govt try to listen to cyberspace in non Govt supported sites or set ups? Must the Govt only listen to their sites and only these sites count as feedback and the rest as gibberish and complaints? Reach is getting more and more hits. It must be doing well.

Need more gantries

A letter by a Liang Teh Hai to the ST forum stated the obvious one more time. There are just those few roads to drive from one point to another. ERP on one will divert traffic to another. It is just like passing the buck. Even laypersons can see this simple logic. But supertalents don't seem to. So more and more ERPs will be erected. This Liang Teh Hai fastforwarded the whole process and suggested we have ERPs at every corner of the island. Then charge on a pay as you drive formula. He forgets to erect ERPs at the entrance of every HDB car park. It is not going to be cheap and cost effective I think. His main concern is people driving the road for fun. So pay as you drive would stop people from driving for fun. But he forgets again that more and more people are just buying car to drive around for fun, on weekends and after work. This is supported by another letter by a Karunakar Krishnan Vasu who is asking for the after 3pm rule on Sat for weekend cars to be relax as this was probably due to the past policies when Sat was a working day. Some still do. But the idea is to let people drive after work for leisure. I think he is not asking too much. But difficult to change the mindsets of fanatics. They already knew what is best for the motorists.

Singapore will be ruined by the Opposition

So much talk about a freak election and an opposition that will dump Singapore. Nay. The current opposition is so inconsequential that they will not be elected. If they do, it will only be a small handful that could do nothing. The Singaporeans are not dumb. Should a opposition be elected in the next election, it will come from a new group of fresh face professionals. Not anyone who wants to be a opposition candidate can be elected. He or she must be credible. And should such a group come into power, it will be a big plus for Singapore. What I am seeing is that there are many potentials who are in positions to do a lot of harm to Singapore should LKY quit the scene. They are everywhere, in and outside the establishment. Some are just waiting patiently, some, the unthinking kind, will just be swept along by the new force of change without knowing whether it is good or bad for them. Singapore does not need an opposition to destroy it. Like I say before, the forces or factors that brought Singapore to its height will be the one that will bring Singapore to its knee.