Monster without and monster within

I used to write about the fear of bringing a monster home to tend to the babies and the old folks. It is a genuine fear as the maid that is brought home is mostly an unknown element. You would not know of her past, her medical history or her psyche. And we left our infants and invalids to their care when care was not in their minds. Many tragedies had happened and many regretted their follies to leave their precious loved ones to a complete stranger that turned out to be a monster. That is only one perspective. There are monsters within. The employers are equally possible to unveal their dark sides. Many are cruel, wicked and inhumans. Today ST published about this 'former airforce sergeant Tong Chew Wei' who treated his maid no better than the African slaves in America once. One meal a day and worked till 3am. Then the beating and ill treatment. Yes we have such cruel specimens in paradise. We need to terminate them asap. Or at least present them for public flogging at the padang. We need to put a stop to such evil and wicked treatments of other human beans. It is just unacceptable and intolerable and cannot be condoned, whether they are citizens or our fellow men. No one should think it is ok to ill treat the children of lesser gods. The heavy hand of the law must be used to deal with such vicious creatures. They have not listened, will not listen, and will continue to do what they are doing, thinking that they will be dealt with less harshly. Make a few as an example. Let's do it. There can be no exceptions.

How are we evolving?

This is Sanjay Perera's article on how Singapore is evolving and he believes 'Singapore is becoming a fair and just society.' Any FT or new citizen who first set foot on this paradise will have the same impression. Singapore is indeed a paradise of fairness, justice and equality. At least when compare to where they come from. When your reference point is one of dastardly mismanaged countries, who can deny that Singapore is the paragon of all goodness in public administration. I think if you ask the Singaporeans, not the residents, many will have a different opinion. Many will be very cynical. For they grew up, see and live with the changes which many are not comfortable with. And Sanjay concluded his article by saying, 'We should ask ourselves how we want to define ourselves and what kind of society we want, free from what others think we should be.' It is understandable that as a new citizen, I am presuming that he is one, it is reasonable to have such a view. The locals will be grinning, with a big dose of cynicism. Who is 'We' that Sanjay thinks he is referring to? The 'We' is a select group of elite that decide everything. The people are not the 'We' in this sense. No, who wants to listen to the people? We will decide what is best for the people. We will tell the people what is good for them and make it compulsory for them. We will decide their lives, even their money. At the rate we are evolving, Singapore will become what India was during the times of the Maharajahs. Just give it a little more time.

Are oil companies making hefty profits?

Oil price surges over the last few months. So petrol prices naturally go up. The people accept it. Whenever the price of oil goes up, within days, oil companies will raise their pump prices. The rising cost is passed to the consumers without fail. Have yet to see prices coming down when oil price comes down. T he oil companies is not only protecting their profits. At the same time they are likely to be making more profits along the way. Then there is the currency exchange which will add up to their profits. They buy in US dollars and sell to the motorists in the stronger Sing dollars. As long as the Sing dollar is strenthening against the US$, there is the extraordinary gain. Perhaps all these have been priced in and the petrol prices could be much higher. The petrol companies have passed their extraordinary gains to the consumers. Maybe.

Saiful Burkhari being threatened

Saiful Burkhari has received threats to his life and is now under police protection. Anwar also received threats and I believe Balasubramaniam also received threats to his life. Where is Balasubramaniam? Under whose protection? What happens if the people giving the protection will likely be the people that do the killing? In the case of Saiful, it is so easy to kill him and put the blame on Anwar. Where is safe in Malaysia? In a matter of a few months, the whole climate of politics has changed. Actually not true. This kind of politics started during the time of Mahathir. Many were threatened but kept quiet. Judges and politicians are now starting to talk about it. Who has ruined Malaysia? The exact people who proclaimed that they were the protectors of Malaysia have done it.

Bloggers, please stop blogging

This is the plea of Abdullah Badawai for all bloggers to stop blogging. He is putting it squarely on the shoulders of bloggers and those who SMS for creating a climate of fear in Malaysia. The atmosphere is now full of anxiety, tension and cynicism. Even the credibility of his govt and all the national leaders are now in question. Thanks or no thanks to the bloggers. The TOM is non consequential. When the national media is no longer credible or believeable, it is only natural that the people desert them and seek news from where they think is reliable. The TOM is not only telling and repeating stale and unsatisfactory news, it is no longer worth listening to. That is how bad Malaysian media industry has become. What next? After the plea, if unheeded, there may be sanctions and clamping down. Blogging could be banned in Malaysia and bloggers persecuted, arrested and jailed. Their fingers will be chopped off. A new witchhunt will begin and a new enemy of the state will be declared. Yes, bloggers will be the new enemy. The pen is mightier than the sword. The fingers are mightier than the pen. All the bloggers will run into hiding, into the jungle for fear of persecution and had their fingers chopped. Long live the revolution! Long live the bloggers. These will be the new war cry.