A world class city of no talents

More are singing the song of no talents in paradise and the soundness of having only a single political party to rule the country. How could there be no talent in a world class city when hundreds of straight As students were sent overseas to Ivy League universities for at least the last 20 years? At 250 a year, we should be having at least 5000 of the brightest living among us. Or are they fake? Their straight As were fake, their first class honours were fake? We are crying that we can only find 10 or 20 of them to serve in the govt and the rest were not good enough or not willing to serve. This is a myth that the simple minded Singaporeans are fed and expected to believe. For every first class doctor or lawyer or engineer in the govt, there will be at least 10 or 50 of them out there with as good a qualification. How can we dismiss the rest as no talent? Actually we are all talking bull. Political talent is not equated with professional talent in other fields. Just because someone is an excellent doctor or lawyer or engineer, does not make the person a great politician or leader of a country. People are gifted with different talents for different things. It is more likely that when one is gifted in one area, it is unlikely that he is equally gifted in other areas, accepted that this is not always the case. Neither is it the case the other way round. Do not think or believe that an excellent doctor, lawyer or engineer will make an excellent politician. This is a fallacy that must not be sold to the masses. We have actually seen the reverse as a bigger truth. Please stop singing the one party song and think. What we need are leaders and good men with a heart for the common people. No need for first class doctors or lawyers or engineers when the heart is not in the right place.

One day, news will be written this way

Rupert Murdoch has warned against the role journalists and old media have been conducting themselves. Soon they will run out of readership if they think they are still demigods. This is what Murdoch said, "It used to be that a handful of editors could decide what was news--and what was not. They acted as sort of demigods. If they ran a story, it became news. If they ignored an event, it never happened," Murdoch said. "Today, editors are losing this power. The Internet, for example, provides access to thousands of new sources that cover things an editor might ignore. And if you aren't satisfied with that, you can start up your own blog, and cover and comment on the news yourself. Journalists like to think of themselves as watchdogs, but they haven't always responded well when the public calls them to account." We shall write our own news and in the way and style we deem fit. We can shout and scream and kpkb. The old media cannot beat us on these.

Myth 194 - The fallen myths

There are many myths that have fallen flat on the ground. We used to be told that if people invest their money in stocks, in the long run they will be better off. This tooth has been proven beyond any doubt, that this is not the case. Many have lost their CPF savings when they put their money in stocks. So the next truth is to not to put money in stocks but in unit trusts to spread the risk. The result is the same. Kaput. Ok, try another option. Put your money with the experts. Let the fund managers handle your money and invest for you. What a wise recommendation. Another kaput. Trust only the big and proven funds. The bigger the better. We all know where it will all end up. The final option, keep your money in CPF. Very safe. Guaranteed. This one will surely not become a myth.

Downgrade if you cannot afford

This familiar song has been sung with increasing frequency and the singers are getting much more comfortable singing it. It sounded to me as a cocky and arrogant tune. If you cannot afford 4rm, go for 3rm or 2 rm. And if you are so desperate, don't worry, more rental flats will be built just for you losers. What happens to the more good years and Swiss standard of living? Why are we spiralling down instead of being better off? The losers have been 'encouraged' or dismissively told to live within their means. That is their lot, that is their station in life. But should that be the way to go? Can we lower the prices of flats? We have this game of downgrading. On the other hand there is another game of pushing up the prices of properties. Land sale will be withheld if they cannot fetch high prices to protect prices of properties from falling. Very good reason. Property developers, private or public, privatised public developers, will only have one choice, raise property prices as the cost of land can never come down, and so were other costs. It is forgiveable and unstandable for commercial developers to want to max their profits. But in so doing, they only facilitate the privatised public developers to raise their prices. No need to look at cost. Just look at market prices. Market price up, just up the price accordingly. Then tell the losers to downgrade their expectations. When one side is told to downgrade and the other is running away with higher prices, where will this lead to? Will it snap? Can we ask people who are earning millions to downgrade their lifestyle if they cannot keep up with those earning more than them? Or shall we give in to their demands and give them more money to spend? And mind you, giving money to millionaires is no small matter. They will not accept anything less than a peanut.

Let’s have a referendum

We have 45 years of success under the able leadership of the ruling party. I think people will have a hard time trying to disagree with this truth. We are here today because of the unique political system that we have developed and copyrighted. And it is a system that is not easily replicated. It is a system based on able and benevolent leadership, tough paternalistic and incorruptible leaders. What is the referendum all about? We need to give the people a choice to choose a political system they want. We have a tested system that the people have lived in and proud of. It has been proven beyond any doubt, comparing to the countries around the world, that our system delivers. This one party dominance system must be one of the two choices to be offered to the people. The next is a benevolent dictatorship, a slight variance from the current system. The conditions for its success are quite similar from the one party dominance system except that you can do away with elections. Let the benevolent dictatorship rule and make everyone rich and happy. Both may not be near to the ideal western model of democracy, but both work efficiently to provide the people with the best leaders and a high standard of living. There is no need to blindly follow the West to want a western democracy. What the people should decide is what is good for them. Let the people choose in a referendum, for a one party dominance govt or a benevolent dictatorship. The people cannot claim that there is no choice. Just choose one.