Has PAP lost Tampines?

Did he break? No, he didn't. Yes he did. Watching Mah Bow Tan defending his housing policy in Parliament, this question kept popping up. Under the spotlight, subject to criticisms from many quarters, he stood tall in Parliament, telling the house that his policy is the best, his BTO scheme is the best, his land sale system is the best, and there are enough supply of flats for everyone. He also dismissed all the complaints as myths. It seems that the whole wide world is telling myths and he is telling the truth. He forgot to smile to the camera last night. Public housing has been the strongest pillar of support for the PAP. The people were happily housed in affordable and good quality housing. Why is it that there are so many people crying and complaining about the housing policy today? No, no one is complaining. The complainants are making a mountain out of a mole hill. There are plenty of public housing available. There are also enough supply of private housing, if you have the money. There are two possibilities. The complaints are genuine and the complaints are false. If Mah Bow Tan is right, then the complaints are mere noises and nothing to worry about. If the complaints are genuine, they may have already lost Tampines GRC before the election is called. How could the PAP lead if it refuses to listen? There are public outcries and it is turning on a deaf ear. Can PAP rely on the motto of a deaf frog to lead the people? The deaf frog could reach the top of the mountain, but alone. His team mates could have left him long ago. Or they could be trembling and shivering in their pants or skirts while watching the gungho deaf frog charging fearlessly up the mountain, alone. Maybe this is a new kind of leadership, the leadership of a deaf frog.

A little window dressing not going to work

The few changes in housing policy are not going to make any difference. The target of 30% of the buyers household income is fixed and viewed as affordable and reasonable to take. No need to bother about cost of construction, no need to bother about the risk that the buyers will be exposed to. In such cases, the bigger the income the bigger the stone mill hanging on the neck. And when a crisis comes, the bigger the income/stone mill, the bigger the losses and pain. We have got through that many times. Preventing people from buying what the people think is affordable to them, and dictating what is affordable to the people is another mean policy like the mean testing in hospital admissions. The govt decides on what the people should spend as reasonable and affordable. The people cannot decide what is prudent for themselves. And like the deaf frog, no need to listen, just move on, bring it higher for the good of the people.

Gopalan Nair can be arrested

Gopalan Nair wrote an article yesterday claiming that LKY sufferred a massive heart attack and was warded in SGH. He also posted about demonstrations which gave the impression of civil unrest in the island. He has admitted today that it was a hoax created by him. Gopalan should not play with such rumours as it can get many people killed. Just imagine if his article comes out this morning and the stock market reacted negatively to it with fearful investors unloading and causing many to lose their little fortunes in the market? It is utterly irresponsibile for Gopalan to post such vicious rumours in the net. It only destroy the credibility of himself and other bloggers. I hope no bloggers will think this is funny and exciting and follow what he did. Be responsible and post rationally. Do not stoop to spreading vicious rumours.

Myth 217 - Govt that listens to the people is good

This statement is now a myth. Good govt does not need to listen to the people. This is especially true when the govt is manned by the country's top talents and knows best what is good for the people. The high price housing policy is an excellent example of a govt that does not need to listen to the people. It is very sure that the policy is right and the best. So, despite the people's cry that public housing is unaffordable, the govt just insists that it is affordable, and moves on. In the long run, the people will learn to appreciate this high price public housing policy. And the wisdom of a govt not listening to the untalented people and just do what is right is best encripted in the story of the deaf frog that climbed to the top of the mountain. No one asks why the frog would want to go to the top of the mountain when it is more comfortable in the ponds below the mountain. Deaf frog or undeaf frog, I will vote for a frog or a donkey that listens to the people than a deaf frog that is too smart and not willing to listen to the people. For those who want to vote for deaf frogs, this is democracy and they are free to do so.

Sunday, March 07, 2010 Temasek's recruiting spree at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IMM-C). This article is posted in Singapore News Alternative. And there is another article there by Seah Chiang Nee, More Grads join jobless queue, published in The Star. Putting the two articles side by side, what can one make out of it?