Yes, we have destroyed her

Ris Low has resigned from the Miss Singapore World title. Let's pop the champagne. But wait, let's go one step further and burn her on the stake. This is the power of the pen. Having said that, I think Ris Low deserves to be the Miss Singapore World. Despite the persistent and vicious attack on her character, she took every blow gracefully. She stood tall among all the small people thowing shit at her. She smiled. She did not show any sign of anger, befitting her choice and status as a Miss Singapore World. She did not succumb to the pressure and break down. She resigned gracefully from the title and her parting words, 'This is actually the best for everybody...I just feel that it 'd be better for everyone, including the Singaporeans who are not very supportive of me going to this pageant.' She knew she had done wrong and accepted her fate. How many 19 year olds or even adults have not done wrong, or more horrendous wrong than Ris Low? The campaign against her was cruel. It was airing dirty linen at the lowest level in public. Why couldn't this be sorted out confidentially? Oh, it must be of great public interest. The ERM also handled the case well without adding more fuel to the fire. For the way Ris Low stood up and face the harsh attacks by some of the letter writers, she is every inch deserving to be Miss Singapore World. Many would have crumbled and suffered under such intense pressure. There was no kindness in the attack. She stood tall and took the blows.

Electricity tariffs up 12.7%

This is the amount of increase household has to cope with in their electricity bill from October 09. I have lost track on how much housing prices, both public and private, have gone through the roof. But thank god, the people are saved by the subsidies provided by the govt. So the high property prices are still affordable.

GIC $59b loss

The Wall Street Journal, 28 Sep 2009 SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Government of Singapore Investment Corp. suffered a loss around S$59 billion in the fiscal year ended March, making it one of the worst years for the sovereign wealth fund since it was established in 1981, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday. "The equities investments suffered the most, followed by falls in property valuations. It was one of the worst years ever," the person told Dow Jones Newswires. Does anyone got a feel of what $59b means? If a private condo costs $1m each, $59b can buy 59,000 unit man. My guesstimate is that the sum of money could buy up all the HDB flats in Ang Mo Kio or Toa Payoh. That is what $59b means when translated to purchasing power. But no one is battling an eyelid for the loss of such a hugh sum of money. It is just paper money, some digits churned out by the accountant. On hindsight, GIC should have put in more money in CitiBank. If the investment in CitiBank was 10 times of what CIC put in, it could recoup $46b worth of profit in one go. Wouldn't that be nice? Ok, the initial collapse would mean many sleepless nights and shivering in cold sweat. But it would be worth it.

End of the Dark Ages

With the advent of cyberspace we are seeing the dawn of a new era of freedom in mass communication. The days when the govt controls all the modes of communication are over, or about to be over. Or at least we are now allow to hear alternative views and news. Gone were the days when the masses were fed with fairy tales, legends or stories of comic book superman and superheroes. Today we are seeing and hearing different kinds of heroes. In our local context we are hearing news and views that would not have the chance to see in prints. Now we have Ngaim Tong Dow, Seah Chiang Nee, Lucky Tan, Gilbert Goh, Alfian Saat, Tan Kin Lian, Andrew Loh, Choo Zheng Xi, Leong Sze Hian and many others who are saying things from the way they see it. Without them and all the infamous bloggers in cyberspace, we will still be like little children, reading fairy tales and comic books, and feeling very good. All bloggers should continue to contribute to the diverse views of truths and coloured truths, to challenge the truths in the old media. Only then can the masses break free from the oppression of one sided media transmission.

We are 5 million strong

Thanks to PRs and new immigrants, that's the front page news in 'my paper' today. Our population has hit 5 millions with the help of foreigners. We shall thank the foreigners for helping us to shore up the property prices as well. We shall thank them for providing jobs for our people. We shall thank them for helping to grow our economy, for without them we would be plunged into a recession or collapse. And thank you for helping to fill up the seats in MRTs and buses and the roads, and all the places that need people to patronise them. Without the foreigners we will be a dead city. Thank you, thank you. We are eternally grateful. And please come. We need another 3 million to reach our ideal target of 8 million. After that everything will be fine. We will not need any more foreigners or babies for growth when that magic number is reached. And our economy will continue to grow, and we will live happily forever.