The growing dependency syndrome

Who needs help? Practically everyone is asking for help these days. From the middle income to those who are desperate. From those in the comfort of homes and Homes to the destitutes in the streets. From the citizens to the new citizens and non citizens. From the mother without child to those with many children or with problem children. And the govt says a welfare state is not the way to go. But disguised in all kinds of terms, help is everywhere, in billions of dollars made available in all kinds of funds. We have grown into a nation that depends on handouts and getting things free by just asking. That may be the reason why so many charity organisations sprouted out. Some are just self help organisations where the promoters were actually helping themselves. What happens to the migrant spirit of helping yourself and make do with whatever there is? The true migrants do not ask for any help from the authorities. They formed their own self help groups if needed. And most of the time they truly helped themselves just to be alive. They lived in broken sheds, in squatters, cubicles and backlanes. Mothers with 10 or more children running around like little piglets, picking up whatever nature could offer as food. Got school or no school, they get their own education and funny,... they survived and some did very well. Some even became prime ministers, ministers and MPs. It is not that those days were the ways life should be or how we should live. It is not that we should encourage our people to live in poverty like their foreparents. But the way help is being asked by every quarter is getting ridiculous. We are getting soft. And we are encouraging people to keep helping or come forward to ask for help. And we are creating situations in which the people have no choice but to ask for help. The latter is quite different from the past when the situation then was dire. Here we have created a social economic system that is quite mean for those who are unable and then tell them to ask for help. Please ask for help and we will help you. Don't be shy about it lah. And many are asking and demanding for help, except those who really need help and still too embarrassed or too shameful to crawl out from hiding.

Notable quote - What a Gem

What a GEM! To hold a by-election would be a waste of public funds and will be an invitation to political mercenaries to appear from the cold. They will promise the naive and the gullible the moon and the stars. Lionel De Souza (ST Forum) This is the most enlighten quote so far. If this has come out of Parliament, I will definitely insert it there. Once in a while wisdom speaks for itself.

Doing what's right, without fear or favour

This is the article by Lee Wei Leng in the ST today. She encourages people to speak up, speak up when it is right to do so. And speaking up is not necessarily being anti establishment. The fact that she has to say this is very telling. It tells on the stupidity or fear in the mind of Singaporeans, that they should not speak up and the fear of being branded as anti establishment for doing so. Redbean must be anti establishment. If Wei Leng were to say what she wrote in cyberspace, without disclosing who she is, some of the bloggers will tell her to leave if she is not happy. Some will brand her as anti establishment. And, would her article be deserving of a place in TOM?

So much fuss about foreigners

Everyday one is likely to face with some articles in TOM urging the people to treat the foreigners better, embrace them as friends, make them feel welcome etc etc etc. What about treating Singaporeans a little better? We don't even treat our Singaporeans well and we worried ourselves crazy that the foreigners be treated well. Just look at how Singaporeans treat each other, the neighbouring quarrels, the snubs in public places, the way they stared or glared at one another? But maybe that is the true character of Singaporeans. They are socially inept, callous, peasants with rude peasant manners. So what can we expect of them when coming into contacts with foreigners? The only people that can teach the Singaporeans how to treat the foreigners well are the SPGs. They are classic in the way they make foreigners welcomed here. Then there is another group, the counter salesgirls. Or even the taxi drivers. We should use them as role models, making some video clips and air them on TV.

Chinglish is the new English: Lian Pek

The author wrote about how crazy the Chinese were in their quest to learn English in an article in Today. And what actually turns out is Chinglish. They got it so confused that they even write their Chinese name sometimes the right way and sometimes the wrong way. Sometimes back first, sometimes front first. Now this author, is her name Lian Pek or Pek Lian? Is she a Miss Pek or a Miss Lian? Chinglish is really confusing. But that is progress in a way.