Making sense of statistics

Today paper reported that the 60% sandwiched class had a reprieve for price increases in the first 6 months of the year. The increase in CPI for this group of people is 0.7%. The ST highlighted that the poorest or lowest 20% was the worst hit as the CPI rose 1.6% for this group. Both used the same set of statistics from the Dept of Statistics to report a different thing. So one group should be celebrating and another group, the poorest, should be crying. But these are just statistics. Look at the shopping centres, foodcourts, the property launches, and the mercedes benzes in 2 or 3 rm flat car parks, then you may wonder whether the people are really suffering. You don't see the overt and abject poverty around the public housing estates. Yes there were the occasional soft drink can collectors and a few lonely souls browsing the rubbish bins instead of the internet. They are the exceptions. Prosperity is in the air. I just recall the happy faces at the NDP and the hundreds of thousands of merrymakers out for a good time at the Esplanade, the Marina Bay and the Padang area. So where are the poor or the poorest? If our poor and poorest are still able to have a good time in the worst economic crisis we are faceing, and with the CPI running away, than things cannot be so bad. Time for celebration again. For the top 20% they can open that $500 or $5000 bottle of champagne, the middle 60% can open the cheap red from ShengSiong or FairPrice. And the lowest 20% can either go for some cheap beer or toddy. Celebrate within your own means. This is paradise, the modern day Eden. (Jaunty going to scold me now.)

Loan shark country II

Just when you think it is over, just when the men in blue declared war and successes in napping a few runners, they struck again. Saw the news last night that residents in some part of the country have to put a layer of plastics over their doors, windows and walls to avoid the paints that will come in the dark of the night. The loan sharks are quite fearless. Or are they sending out a message, that this is their country and they are the law or above the law, or the law is nothing to them? Yes they can defy the law, and what can the law do to them? The thing is that our reputation as loan shark country is growing and spreading, and loan sharks with deep pockets are sending their funds here from neighbouring countries. Soon we will earn the badge of being the number one loan shark country in the world. Another feather on our cap.

A new lifestyle

Singaporeans have many choices of lifestyle they wish to live by, at a cost. Take visiting families and friends for instance. A family of two adults and two children making social calls is not a cheap thing. The fortunate will drive to their destination and the immediate cost is the petrol. The road tax and car already paid for. Just the recurring cost, $10 for petrol and $5 for parking. And if they choose to park illegally, maybe another $30 to $80 if kenna caught by our superbly efficient parking attendants. The alternative is public transport, either by cab or train/bus. A two way cab fair is going to be at least $20 or more, depending on the distance. Even by mass transport, $8 may be the cheapest. Hey, leading a socially active life is not cheap and not free anymore. What can happen down the road is perhaps virtual visiting. Everyone hook on a webcam and sit in front of a PC or laptop to chat away, by the fingers of course. In visual contact but nothing physical. Now that is futuristic. For those with mother in law phobia it is the best thing to happen. Now I am wondering why is social life or family visit a thing of the past.

Political dissidents turned heroes

The South Koreans said farewell to one of their most loved leader, Kim Dae Jung, or Mr Sunshine. Kim Dae Jung is also hailed as the Nelson Mandela of Asia. He was demonised, turned into a villain and imprisoned by the political masters of his time. He spent many years behind bars, endured torture and death threats, but survived to be elected as South Korea's President in 1998. And history was rewritten. Kim Dae Jung was not the only one that went from dissident to national hero. Xanana Gusmao of East Timor is another example of the kind of treachery and political corruption in Asian countries even today. The abuses of political power to destroy political opponents is nothing new and hardly any Asian country can stand up to tell the world that they are free from such persecutions and bullyings of the losing party. The latest victims are Thaksin and Aung San Ssu Kyi of Thailand and Myanmar. Very likely they will have their stories rewritten someday. Malaysia is seeing Anwar Ibrahim making his come back and could be the next Nelson Mandela from Asia. The stories of Kim Dae Jung, Gusmao, Mandela and many more to come, are testimonies of the stinking political games that are being played by politicians, when innocent political contenders were painted blacker than black. We are so lucky to witness how these dirty political games are played for all to see. But would the masses be able to see the real from the unreal, the truth from the untruth? Or joining the winning side and enjoying the buffet is what counts and the 'villians' shall be villains for the day, until history favours them and turn them into another Mandela?

What we told the children

We teach and tell the children many things and many good values, don't cheat, be honest, be kind, be helpful, be caring to others, etc etc. These are values that the children take seriously and many would live by them as they turn into adults. As they grow older, we teach them more, serve the people and country, be prepared to fight and die for your country, honour, integrity and loyalty. But do we believe that they will live by them as adults? Or these are just values that are good to have, good to believe or aspire to, and that's about as far as we believe in them? In the world of the adults, the good values may be the same. But they are moderated by pragmatism. Be real. The adult world is not a world of make beliefs. It is a world where idealism is only idealism. It is all about what is in it for me. If there is nothing for me, forget it. Just enjoy the goodness of the meaning. It is better to be practical, pragmatic and live with a new set of values that will enhance one's self worth, material wellbeing and all the other trappings of being successful. Let the children and losers believe in all the goodness of things like honesty, loyalty, honour, integrity, fairness etc etc. Now I can understand why some people feel so disappointed about the national pledge. The more they believe in it, the greater is their disappointment, and the greater they feel like being a sucker. It is just another good to have, good to believe value. Not to be true, not to be real, not achieveable. Just an aspiration.