Another step forward

Cyberspace is gaining ground in Malaysia. The Malaysian Govt has accepted that online journalists are also journalists and have started to issue press passes for them to cover official events. Now there is no need to be paid as a journalists to be recognised as a journalist. The paid journalists can no longer thump down at the online news providers. And Singapore has taken a ginger step forward to dip its toe into cyberspace. Ministers are signing up in Facebook to test water. Workers Party also has its own Facebook. The breakwater has been broken. The flood water is going to fill the land.

Oil price down by US$5!

Oil price took a knock and ended at US$136, a $5 fall. We must demand that petrol prices be cut immediately by at least 10c a litre. The petrol companies have been very prompt in raising their pump prices. It is time that they be equally prompt to cut their prices. If not, CASE better step in immediately, not to ask questions, but to insist on an immediate cut. With Iran willing to talk on its nuclear programme, the pressure for oil price to go up is lesser as the mad men in White House have lesser reasons to attack Iran. And speculators are going to run for cover.

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.