43 years of Independence!

The word 'independence' is a smear word in the history of colonised people. Independence from who or from what? If the land is yours, if you are the owners of the land, what independence, but independence from the colonial masters who came and took the land from you. You lost ownership of your land and your rights as an independent people. You became a subject of a colonial power. All the properties and land now belonged to the masters. They came and they took, including you. The only people who fought bravely for their land and their rights as a people were the Red Indians. They fought with bows and arrows against rifles and bullets. They were decimated. But they were willing to die for their land and the rights to be what they were. No one was going to take away their land and properties unless over their dead bodies. Millions of dead Red Indian bodies were strewn across the prairies. There are so few left of them today that the World Wild Life Protection Fund should rightly put them on the endangered species to be protected. The Africans were in a poorer state when the colonialists arrived. They did not know much about being a nation or a country. All tribes, and primitive weapons for hunting, worst than the arrows of the Red Indians. And they were easy meat. Hunted down like animals and shipped as beast of burdens. They called them slaves then, to work for a paltry 3 meals and in chains. No rights, no freedom. They don't even own their bodies or their children or spouses. All owned by the colonial masters. The Indians in India were far better developed. They had empires and kingdoms before. But they could not fight the power of new military weapons. Many chose to serve the colonial masters and be part of the empire. The pockets of resistance were too weak and disorganised to mean anything. Came Malaya, in a period of village chiefs. The only fighting weapons were the krises and spears, maybe some blowpipes. But as small groups of fishing villages, they were easily rounded up, a little carrot and stick, and all was peaceful with the colonial masters in full control and owning everything. Singapore was created as a trading post by the colonial masters. It grew and became their administrative headquarters. We became part of the Straits Settlement which included Penang and Malacca. Then came self rule in 1959. David Marshall and Lim Yew Hock were involved in political and administrative fights to win back some rights to govern ourselves. History helped us in our next phase of development when the British Empire was crumbling and they found it necessary to grant independence to their colonies but retaining authority and privileges to trade and administration. We became part of Malaysia in 1963 and then full independence in 1965. Finally, we owned the land we lived in, we became citizens with full rights to properties and liberty. Yes we became independent and owned everything here. There were some legal and political struggles, not the kind like fighting a war of independence when many were killed or ended up as martyrs. We were literally given our independence on a silver plate. Maybe we have got our independence too easily. So it is easier to give it away or share it with the world. Everyone is welcome to be a citizen. And everything can be sold for a price. Just name your price and we can negotiate. Will we sell everything we owned for some fiat currency? Would we sell our rights as a country, our people's rights as citizens for money? Will we eventually lose everything or sold out everything that has a monetary value on it? What is a country or nation when we don't own anything any more? What is a country or nation when no one feels any attachment to anything here? What is, if no one thinks it is worth fighting for, or a better option is an exit to another country, emigration? What is a citizen when anything of value is own by foreigners? And to make matter worst, we either have to pay dearly to enjoy or visit them or be excluded completely, because we are not a member or cannot afford to become a member, in our own country? It is not too far fetch to imagine that Sentosa or Orchard Road will no longer be freely accessible to the citizens unless they can afford a ransom for it. The trend of losing the rights to our land and properties, to the right of sight and smell, and even free air, is growing. If and when everything is sold, what are we as citizens of this land? We are 43 in a week's time. What will things be when we are 53, 63 or 100? Will we be citizens in name only but serving new economic colonial masters that own all our land and things on the land one day? Will the word independence takes on a new meaning some time in the future?

School bus fares won't go up

Thanks to the Competition Commission of Singapore, school bus fares that were supposed to go up by $10 to $15 form Aug 1 will not take effect. The Commission has 'advised them (Singapore School Transport Association) to take remedial action.' The Commission is not against price hike but must be done by individual bus operators independently. That may be the reason why fare hikes for MRT and public buses can continue to go up simply because they act individually. But it would be good if the Commission can also advised them a little after all these companies are making huge profits without competition. And they have just submitted for more hikes for approval by the Public Transport Council. Oh, the petrol companies should also be advised on the way they hike or reduce their prices, all in tandem and in the same amount.

Hither the opposition parties?

A debate is now on as to the tweaking of the political system for a stronger opposition party to partner the ruling PAP in the govt. And how the system will turn out will be at the discretion,magnanimity and mercy of the party in power. They will tweak the system in a way it deems fit for the participation of the opposition parties. Will the opposition parties be consulted or will they have a say in the tweaking? Will the people be consulted as well? Why am I asking such obvious questions? The opposition parties have taken a very low presence lately. Wondering why? Have they lost their scripts or are they having a retreat to re strategise how they should play their roles to win support from the people? Or are there things that we do not know that is happening behind the scene that led to the disquiet? What I thought a good strategy for the opposition parties is to learn from the master. The Malaysians and Indonesians refused to learn from the master and have been left behind, gasping for air and heading no where. The opposition parties need not reinvent the wheel. Just learn from the master from organisation, strategies and tactics, including styles and purposes. Just do a little tweaking on the objectives. Both are working for the people and country. The only difference is the methodology and the priorities. The opposition parties should start with the setting up of a parallel mode of organisation structure, committees, sub committees, grassroot organisations, activities, just remember to exclude things like bicycle rides or joggings in the parks that may cause riotings. And organisations/committees or cells should include the official and unofficial, the known and the unknown, to gather support and information on the ground. But all these requires a lot of resources and manpower and the opposition can only do it in smaller scale or selectively. I think this will be a good start. With an equivalent organisation, no need a shadow cabinet yet, the field will be more level. Both can take on each other on similar terms, strategies and tactics.

Why no need for season tickets?

Season tickets have been in used for public transportation in many countries for years. The main objectives, other than convenience, include discounts for frequent users or for those whose use a lot of public transport. It will eat a little into the profits of the transport companies but it is also a way to reward loyal customers. In countries where there is real competition, season tickets also help to retain customers if the tickets are only for designated transport companies. Why is season tickets such a pain and not being offered to the Singaporean commuters? Why are the transport companies mulling over it for so long and could not see its advantages to the commuters, which, ok, means a little disadvantage to the companies in terms of discount and lesser profit? The last past must be the reason. Why should they give discount to commuters when there is no competition and no need to? The other reason which commuters forgot, is that most of the commuters are already purchasing season tickets by paying in advance in their EZlink cards. So the commuters are already paying season. What for give them discount when they are already doing it? The is the same principle that is applied in many areas. Our hospitalisation bills are being paid in advanced, used or not used, through Medisave accounts. Fat hope that the season tickets will be introduced. Oh I heard it is in the plan.

Unleashing the power of the people

In his Jakarta Presidential Lecture, Kishore Mahbubani talked about the lessons to be learnt from India and China. What make the resurgence of these two ancient civilisations at such a rapid pace? Both countries have enormous human resources and both these resources were trapped by feudal systems that enslaved them for centuries instead of liberating them. What move these two sleeping giants was the unleashing of the power of the people, all more than 1 billion each. Freeing the people's mind, educating them and unleashing them to develop to their fullest potential. The miracles that are happening in these two countries are there to be witnessed. While Singapore embarked on its revival by embracing foreign talents, the biggest pitfall is that it is continuing to entrap the minds and power of its own people. It simply tells its people not to think, not to get involved in the nation's affair. Shut up and move on. Make your money and keep quiet. Be grateful, be happy. Don't think, no need to think. The few super talent elite will do the thinking. Was there a change to these thinkings? Can Singapore really transform itself into a new height given these kinds of feudal mindset where obedient to authority, authoritarianism, is regarded as the epitome of a political system?