Going to school

Papa and mama sending their son off to school. The boy, wearing a baseball head and with head looking down, looks very dejected. And he carries a big school bag on his back. More pics click www.artofrar.blogspot.com on the right.

The real cause of high HDB prices

Lucky Tan in his article in Diary of a Singaporean Mind pointed to the land price as the heart of the housing issue. There are some truths to that. But the real cost of high housing price is simply the cost of 2 plates of char kway teow. Don’t be deceived by the simplicity of the char kway teow argument. In fact, the high cost of living in this island is caused by the 2 additional plates of char kway teow. How many more plates of char kway teow are needed to pay for the President, the ministers and the whole cohort of politicians? They add up my friends. And to justify the grotesques income of the politicians, they have to make it seems palatable and reasonable by inflating the whole civil service salaries. And these are justified by the high salaries of GLCs which are further justified by the top earners in the private sectors. Suddenly the 2 plates of char kway teow are not enough. Down the line many many mouths need more than 2 plates of char kway teow. The bottom line is that many thousands of millions of char kway teow are needed now. And where to find such money to pay for all the char kway teow? Char Kway teow don’t come free too. Who is paying for the char kway teow? And for every 2 plates of char kway teow added to one key appointment holders, millions of additional char kway teow are needed. Please, no more 2 plates of char kway teow only.

Cages for MRT stations

The recent tragic case of a promising Thai student falling into the MRT track and losing both her legs must have made many people thinking. How to prevent such accidents from happening in an area that apparently is having an unusual number of such accidents. They are preventable of course, or could be greatly reduced. The artistically attractive and high tech barriers that have been erected in some stations seem to be the solution to such problems. They are expensive and require high technical and engineering skills to instal them, and the poor commuters will eventually have to pay for them. The costs could come in tens or hundreds of millions if maintenance and service and replacement are included. Funny thing is that many must have seen railways running through the centre of a market, or people living a few feet from operational railway lines and nothing of such happens to the residents. Is it a miracle, that there is an invisible hand preventing accidents from happening in such a dangerous situation? There are many kinds of people who will end up in the tracks, intentionally, by mischief or by accident. There are the suicide squad that comes with one purpose, to jump when the train is approaching. There are the real suicide bombers that will blow themselves up and the trains in the same time. Then the mischievious kids and their pranks, and the normal accidents like the school girl, falling for some unexpected reasons. The high tech barriers cannot do the job properly against people who are bent on jumping on the tracks, even with CCTV cameras. You would need to put all the commuters into a cage if absolute safety is needed. Also, the expensive high tech system is superfluous, overkilled, and a big waste of money. It is like, since the commuters are crying for safety, give it to them at whatever cost, and make them happy, and make them pay. To prevent simple accidents like people falling into the tracks without intending so, a simpler barrier could do the job just as effective as the high tech barrier. A railing like those in high rise flats, maybe double layer of railings could do the job just as fine. Low cost, easy to instal and minimal maintenance. What is it so difficult to put up simple railings, couple with a few measures of a pair of watchful eyes through CCTVs, alert staff and alert drivers?

Orchard Rd Fashion Show Apr 2011-part 2

More pics at https://picasaweb.google.com/redbeansg/OrchardRd2#

Please give her a chance to prove herself

This seems to be the battle cry for a poor little girl trying to learn her ropes in politics. And we have all the adults trying to their best to help her along. Would the electorate give the opposition candidates a chance to prove themselves? After all, the ruling party already has 82 candidates in a Parliament of 84? After all, the ruling party has been ruling the country for more than 40 years? After all, Singaporeans do not have a chance to know what it is like to have a credible opposition in Parliament? No, the electorate is not taking a risk of a new govt, but giving a chance to a few good opposition candidates to test it out in Parliament, as real opposition candidates with real alternative views. Most important of all is for Singaporeans to give themselves a chance to choose the best from all parties to serve them, not to rule them. Would Singaporeans be enterprising enough, be more adventurous, be less kiasu and less kiasi, and give themselves a chance that they did not have for a long time? Squandering this chance is like sending a message to all potential politicians that they do not want to change the system, that they are happy with the system and that they are not going to give the opposition a chance. So beat it, don’t rock the boat.