Another reason not to have babies

A 3 year old toddler had his thigh bone broken by a maid who was hired to take care of him. This piece of news was reported in the media several weeks ago. I feel so sorry for the poor child. There must be many children out there who were in the charge of maids and suffered pain and injuries, victims of maid abuses. And the parents had to be out earning a living to pay for the maid and hoping to bring up the child, to give the child a good home and a good life. It is not just brave but foolish, silly, to trust your children to a stranger, called maid. Do these parents feel any pain leaving their children to strangers while they could be battered or tortured in their absence? I can feel the pain for the poor children. This is another reason why it is difficult for young couples to bear children. It is very expensive. And if they are unable to take care of them full time, or with reliable help, it is torturing for both the parents and the children. A double income family has a huge social price to pay in parenting and bringing up children. When everyone has to earn a living, who is to look after the children, where is the normal family environment? Who says go forth and multiply? So easy meh? Please have a heart for the children and their parents. Not many can afford to bring up children and have peace of mind when the cost of living is so high. Don’t think having children is just for fun, for economic reasons. It is a life!

Shock waves and tsunamis in the next GE

The PAP election machinery is whirring as it should be and everything is running as per normal. Every single step is as planned, like the last election, like the election before the last election. The efficiency is time proven and nothing will go wrong. The electoral electoral boundaries have been redrawn, electoral list finalized, the new MPs are being interviewed, the grassroots all activated and ready to go. Next will be the budget which will send the MPs going oohs and ahhs, the best budget of the century, a people’s budget, everyone should be happy. Where on earth can one find such a good govt? The people can expect something real big this time, big pay rise, bigger bonuses, bigger angpows. Maybe not as big as the $300k I wish for as it is unlikely that the govt will print $600b like the Americans to give away. But it will be damn big. But will there be shock waves and tsunamis? I personally think there will be plenty and many coming from the PAP itself. Let me guess what the shock waves will be. 1. The yodas will be gone. The PAP can’t be talking about a younger set of leaders and advising other countries to have younger leaders while it hangs on to all the yodas with some becoming centurions soon. LKY and Jayakumar will likely be dropped. 2. Shock wave Two could see the dropping of ministers without portfolios. With the huge pay package, it is very difficult to justify to the people why ministers without a ministry to run should still be paid that kind of money. Zorro is the exception as the NTUC is a national institution, as large as any ministry. Chok Tong and Boon Heng’s positions should be hanging on a thread. 3. The third shock wave must be the dropping of ministers that are sure goners. Whether the PAP drops them or they stand for election, they will not be in the next govt. It is thus a tough decision for Hsien Loong, dropping the ministers or losing them together with the GRCs and the team of MPs. 4. The next shock wave will be the dropping of young MPs who are no longer interested in politics or are not perceived to be with the people. Reviewing their attendance in Parliament sittings will give one an idea of who would want to be dropped. From the opposition camp, the shock wave will come when they are able to contest every single ward and every GRC. And the bigger shock is that many professionals and credible and able candidates are coming out to stand. The biggest shock wave will come when the election result is announced. I was gazing very hard at my crystal ball and all I saw was smoke. I could not figure it out. It was so tumultuous and earth shaking that the crystal ball went poop after that. It could not take the shock of what was coming. Looks like a tsunami hitting the political scene.

Tiger Mums

There were several discussions on this phenomenon of so called Tiger mums and their extraordinary babies created under pressure hot house regime. The children turn out to be more than extraordinary. And the Tiger mums undoubtedly must be very proud of their achievements and the methodology applied in the process. I congratulate all the Tiger mums for their blessings for having some fine children. For parents whose children are lesser endowed or poorly endowed, please do not despair that your children would not turn out to be exceptional like the children of Tiger mums. Life is a gift, or a reason for it to be that way. Just live life and don’t feel down because one doesn’t have the blessings of Tiger mums. Every life is there for a reason. Every morning I met this auntie fetching her precious little girl to school. She has to help her as her ability to move is not normal. Nonetheless you can see the great love and devotion of a mother caring for her loving child. This little girl will not excel even under the best Tiger mum. The bus that came to fetch her is from a special school. The special is not meant to be extraordinary, extra brilliant. It means she needs special care. Mothers of special care children deserve more attention and recognition for what mothers do best, simply providing tender loving care for their children, against all odds. Never mind about no straight As. Life is not just about achieving straight As and not all children are gifted for that.

Mickey Mouse flats is a correct policy

It is only right and the way to go forward, to build more small flats instead of bigger flats. Our population of duds is not going to reproduce themselves. So it is useless to waste resources to build bigger flats. What for, when only two persons will live in them, maybe three. Come to think of it the developers are more far sighted than HDB. They already see the trend in the future. People are getting married but not reproducing. Three cheers to the builders and developers of small flats. Despite the kpkb about low fertility rate and wanting people to produce more children, the reality speaks for itself. You can’t believe anyone telling you to produce more children when he builds flats for two. You can’t take him seriously when he says one thing and does the other. On the other hand those people buying Mickey Mouse flats may regret one day when they don’t have extra room to let out for retirement income. They need a room for themselves and one or two extra rooms for renting. This is now the only compelling reason to want to have bigger flats, not for babies and children.

Demolish my house when I am gone

This is the will of LKY. It is spoken in public and everyone now knows what he wants. Being a public figure of such a stature, a kind of celebrity, I think his wish may not be granted. There are those who want to keep it as a national monument to preserve a little bit of history and historical buildings that are still around. There are some who sees the monetary value of that piece of land and its surroundings. How much more money can be made. Yes, making money is all that we can think of. The argument to gazette the place as a historical site may be losing ground when money is at stake. Who cares about our history, or who cares about LKY, some may argue. Money talks, and money talks louder. Let me try to use the money argument that may favour the keeping this house as it is. Fengshui plays a vital part in the life and fate of people and country to the believers. I think the location of this house is in an excellent fengshui location. The site has given birth to two Prime Ministers and three President scholars. How much more auspicious can one get? And with the site being kept as it is, without changing or altering the fengshui, Singapore prospers for the last few decades. So, anyone want to risk changing the fengshui of the area and demolish the house? You may not know what you are demolishing. Singapore could also be demolished in the same effort. Whatever little money made by the developers will go up in smokes. Now, did I frighten the shit out of those who want to make some money from the site and replace it with a 30 storey condo?