LKY is indispensable to Singapore

On his second appearance after his recent bereavement for his late wife, LKY is in the thick of action again. This time he is calling for the healthcare industry to innovate to reduce cost and improve the quality of healthcare. We can soon expect more innovations in the healthcare industry and probably lowering of cost, a serious problem that no one can solve. And when it does happen, the people have only LKY to thank for. It will be good if he says something about gangsterism and to stop this plague before it gets worst. And the property owners can relax knowing that their property prices can only go up with him around. I am really worried how Singapore will be without him.

The waning of an evil Empire

Three failures marked the Asian tour of Obama and Hilary. They had some success in India with offers of more biz and an UN Security Council seat dangling at the end of the stick. And India was salivating. The Security Council seat is nothing but a red herring as the US knows that China or Russia will definitely veto it. In Indonesia, it was just testing water as the fear of a muslim state is apparent. Other than promises, nothing tangible came out of it. The Indonesians too are conscious of the US intent and are wary of being dragged into the bigger evil scheme precipitating in conflict and disorder. Asean too gave a slap to Hilary by sanctioning the election in Myanmar. And with China taking the same stand as Asean, it became a left and a right slap. It must be very disappointing after painting Myanmar in thick black to see Asean and China saying otherwise. The third defeat was in the APEC Summit when nothing came out in favour of the Americans. Increase protectionism and the attack on Chinese Yuan no longer receive support from other nations. Both were not seen as worthy causes for support. A strong Chinese Yuan would mean higher cost and higher price for Chinese products which the rest of the world, including American citizens will have to pay. And it will do nothing to help unemployment and trade imbalances. The real problem is cheaper labour cost and infrastructure cost in China. When the Chinese workers are prepared to eat less and live simply, and produce more, no amount of currency manipulation can turn that around to favour the US. The US must reexamine itself and its belligerent policies towards other nations. They cannot impose leadership on the rest of the world when it can’t even solve its own domestic problems. And no country will want to be embroiled in warfare at the beck and call of the evil Empire.

Shorten talk time in Parliament

Some people are unhappy with the proposed shortening of talk time for MPs in Parliament. 30 min is considered too long and the new limit is 20 min. Consider the fact that there are 84 MPs and if each takes up 30 min for each issue, then Parliament can go on and on and MPs and ministers will not have time to do their work. Maybe that is the reason why some MPs find it difficult to attend Parliament. Shortening of talk time is good and we may have full attendance when MPs know that the session will be short and sharp. After all, how much time is needed to ask question and read prepared answers? I think the time can be further shortened as time is precious. The Ministers and MPs have many important works to do and too much talking can be wasteful. Shorter talk time will mean that every parliamentarian will have to be precise in what they say. Productivity and efficiency in parliament will definitely go up in all areas.

Doing away with exam results for school admission

I read an article by Kelvin Teo in NewAsiaRepublic blog calling for the doing away with exam results for school admission. He mentioned many good points about how the over emphasis on exam results may not be producing leaders with a heart or caring for the people. And of course all the fears and pressure of examinations. He also cited the doing away of school ranking as a move in the right direction after parental protest that ranking is bad. In the same vein, grading is equally bad. I must say that it is a revolutionary idea and worth thinking about. Let’s do away with all examinations or have examinations without results. Then we can remove all the ills and apprehension of parents and students. And no one can go around bragging about getting straight As and looking down on those who got straight Cs or worst. The parents and children will be most pleased. And we can advance every student to the university as universities too will have no exam results to base on for student admission. And when there are too many students applying for tertiary education, there are many well tested means to award places. Balloting is a good idea, fairly easy to use. A kind of COE, certificate of education, can be introduced and parents can bid for them for admission to tertiary institutions. Or a quota system, based on whatever criteria of race, language or religion, or parental status can be considered. One thing for sure, foreign universities will be out of the picture as they will likely to continue to look at exam results which our students by then would not have. But never mind. Make sure our tertiary institutions are ranked number 1 to 4 in the world ranking and our students need not bother to go overseas for their education. The more I write, the more brilliant this idea appears to be. I think I am now convinced that we don’t need school examinations at all.

The best thing coming out from the SGX/ASX saga

In Singapore, whatever argument that the govt used must be right. The critics may disagree, but so what? If the govt says that it has nothing to do with Temasek or GIC, that becomes the gospel truth. If the govt says that there is no conflict of interest, there is no conflict of interest. If the govt says Temasek and GIC are independent commercial entities, they must be. Questioning the logic is like questioning the integrity of the govt. When Singapore bought into Thailand’s telecom company, the Thais opposed the deal, citing Singapore’s govt involvement. Of course the Singapore govt’s argument was that it was strictly a business deal and had nothing to do with it. The Thais didn’t buy it. Now come the SGX/ASX deal and the same criticism from the foreigners, and the same defense from the Singapore argument. The foreigners are not going to buy our logic or be easily convinced. They are going to tear everything apart and put them under scrutiny. Arguments that are seemingly sound and right to Singaporeans are not going to be so in the eyes of a different foreign party. How so, aren’t the arguments factual and correct? We may have the MM and PM as Chairman and Deputy Chairman of GIC or other senior govt ministers or officials in Temasek or SGX, but these organisations are run independently of the govt. Can’t the foreigners see this and accept this simple truth? The point is that the foreigners are not going to accept this simple logic just because our govt says so. They are not Singaporeans.