Investigative journalism is the pride of the journalistic world. To be able to fish out information of public interest that are hard to come by must be the aspiration of all great journalists who want to make a name for themselves.
Investigative journalism is taking on a new form, investigating news by the citizens and not by the professional journalists. And their reach is far wider and deeper than the professional journalists. Citizens are up in arms, with the power and tool of the internet, to make their own investigation and contribution to put to print, newsworthy news that are somehow not printable or not available in the main media.
The internet has made possible the availability of news, with no fear or discrimination, to the people. In this area, especially in countries when news are controlled and managed, investigative journalism by the people, a kind of people’s power, is taking shape. The pen is mightier than the sword. Today it is the key pad that is mightier than the pen.
The main media will now have a worthy successor to their once privilege position of telling news the way they want it. The internet will tell the news the way it wants it, in a freedom that has never been experienced before. The internet is going to be the new champion of news and information. The main media will become dinosaurs if they cannot stand up to this challenge, of reporting news that is newsworthy. Both sides can now report selectively, news that each deemed is news. The readers will have a better choice of news to read, of media to look for the news they want to know and to read.
Every citizen can now write their own news, to call his news, 'My News.'
8/01/2011
The Americans should have learnt from us
The US could have avoided the subprime crisis if they were willing to learn from us. In fact they would have become a much richer nation if they were to implement the same immigration policies as ours. They would have their property prices shooting to the sky and benefit all their property owners who would then be able to sell them at enormous profits to the new immigrants. All they need to do is to let in 10 or 20 million new immigrants who would then need to buy up the properties to stay. And if they are more aggressive, they could let in a 100m, and the US will be boom town Charlie. All the original Americans will be laughing to the banks by just selling their properties or looking at their market values.
It is a sure win formula. Dumb Americans. They could have turned a crisis into a great opportunity. And to think that they have been coming here to get good advice or words of wisdom. I think they never bother to listen when they were here, just pretend to listen but not letting anything to get into them.
It is a sure win formula. Dumb Americans. They could have turned a crisis into a great opportunity. And to think that they have been coming here to get good advice or words of wisdom. I think they never bother to listen when they were here, just pretend to listen but not letting anything to get into them.
Medisave double speak
Medisave Minimum Sum
The Medisave Minimum Sum is the amount you need to retain in your Medisave Account whenever you make a withdrawal of CPF savings (e.g. at age 55, 56, etc). The Medisave Minimum Sum will ensure that you set aside enough savings to meet your future healthcare expenses. The Medisave Minimum Sum from 1 July 2011 is $36,000 and is adjusted every July of the year.
Medisave Required Amount
The Medisave Required Amount (MRA) refers to the amount you are required to set aside in your Medisave Account after meeting the CPF Minimum Sum requirement. If you have met the CPF Minimum Sum and have a MRA shortfall at the point of withdrawal, you are required to make a top-up to your Medisave Account with part of the balance from your Ordinary Account and/or Special Account to meet the prevailing MRA.
The MRA is set at $27,500 from 1 January 2011 and will increase by approximately $2,500 (to be adjusted for inflation) each year until it reaches $25,000 (in 2003 dollars) on 1 January 2013.
The above is quoted from the CPF online site. How many of you understand what they mean? One point to note is ‘minimum’ which means that they can make you pay more than this, or take more money from you to be locked up. My Medisave saving is now more than the $36,000 minimum and growing. And this taking money from the people to be locked away, hopefully you have a beneficiary to pick them up when you are deleted, the money will go to the govt’s charity.
Read MRA above carefully. It said it is the amount to be set aside after meeting the Medisave Minimum Sum of $36k at this point in time, and this MRA to be set aside is $27.500. They could technically make a CPF depositor set aside $36k + $27,500 or $63,500, and growing every year.
How much money is kept away from the people by this scheme? At 36k per head, at 2m contributors, that is $72b! This is money that rightfully belongs to the people and must be returned to the people. Under the present scheme, even after 62 or 65, or 70, depending on how far the goal posts are shifted before you can get your monthly pittance from the CPF Dispensary, this money in the Medisave still cannot be touched. This is definitely a violation of human rights, when the people’s money is taken away from them, oh, ‘for the people’s good’, so they said.
Just for this reason alone, it is good enough to vote for another govt to make this withholding of the people’s life savings illegal. At the moment it is legal because the people voted them to Parliament to make this legal. How silly can the people be to vote a govt to take their life savings away from them when they need it?
There are many other things that are legal today that should be made illegal by a govt of the people and for the people. I am waiting and will definitely vote for another govt that will make these illegal and return the money to the people.
Why vote for a President to protect a reserve that we do not know? The people should be voting for a President or govt to protect their life savings in their CPF, to be returned to them when they need it, to be returned to them when they are alive, and not when they are dead.
What is the point of going for a heart by pass at 70 or 80 because one has some money in the Medisave, to be kept alive and penniless in old age? Would it be better to spend the money, enjoy a bit of life, and just let old age and the wear and tear of the body take one’s life away, and live more comfortably, even be an emperor for a few days with one’s own hard earn money?
The Medisave Minimum Sum is the amount you need to retain in your Medisave Account whenever you make a withdrawal of CPF savings (e.g. at age 55, 56, etc). The Medisave Minimum Sum will ensure that you set aside enough savings to meet your future healthcare expenses. The Medisave Minimum Sum from 1 July 2011 is $36,000 and is adjusted every July of the year.
Medisave Required Amount
The Medisave Required Amount (MRA) refers to the amount you are required to set aside in your Medisave Account after meeting the CPF Minimum Sum requirement. If you have met the CPF Minimum Sum and have a MRA shortfall at the point of withdrawal, you are required to make a top-up to your Medisave Account with part of the balance from your Ordinary Account and/or Special Account to meet the prevailing MRA.
The MRA is set at $27,500 from 1 January 2011 and will increase by approximately $2,500 (to be adjusted for inflation) each year until it reaches $25,000 (in 2003 dollars) on 1 January 2013.
The above is quoted from the CPF online site. How many of you understand what they mean? One point to note is ‘minimum’ which means that they can make you pay more than this, or take more money from you to be locked up. My Medisave saving is now more than the $36,000 minimum and growing. And this taking money from the people to be locked away, hopefully you have a beneficiary to pick them up when you are deleted, the money will go to the govt’s charity.
Read MRA above carefully. It said it is the amount to be set aside after meeting the Medisave Minimum Sum of $36k at this point in time, and this MRA to be set aside is $27.500. They could technically make a CPF depositor set aside $36k + $27,500 or $63,500, and growing every year.
How much money is kept away from the people by this scheme? At 36k per head, at 2m contributors, that is $72b! This is money that rightfully belongs to the people and must be returned to the people. Under the present scheme, even after 62 or 65, or 70, depending on how far the goal posts are shifted before you can get your monthly pittance from the CPF Dispensary, this money in the Medisave still cannot be touched. This is definitely a violation of human rights, when the people’s money is taken away from them, oh, ‘for the people’s good’, so they said.
Just for this reason alone, it is good enough to vote for another govt to make this withholding of the people’s life savings illegal. At the moment it is legal because the people voted them to Parliament to make this legal. How silly can the people be to vote a govt to take their life savings away from them when they need it?
There are many other things that are legal today that should be made illegal by a govt of the people and for the people. I am waiting and will definitely vote for another govt that will make these illegal and return the money to the people.
Why vote for a President to protect a reserve that we do not know? The people should be voting for a President or govt to protect their life savings in their CPF, to be returned to them when they need it, to be returned to them when they are alive, and not when they are dead.
What is the point of going for a heart by pass at 70 or 80 because one has some money in the Medisave, to be kept alive and penniless in old age? Would it be better to spend the money, enjoy a bit of life, and just let old age and the wear and tear of the body take one’s life away, and live more comfortably, even be an emperor for a few days with one’s own hard earn money?
7/31/2011
The last talented yodas
The people rejoiced when it was announced that JY Pillay is coming out to save Tiger Airways. Cheers and jubilations everywhere like the appearance of the American Hero, the one wearing the red underwear inside out. On the other hand I feel so sad, so tragic, that Singapore needed another yoda to come out from semi retirement, to save a small little organisation. It is frightening, how many more yodas we have left before we ended up high and dry?
The few yodas left are the few native talents we have produced in this little island. After their arrivals, from a stroke of providence, there was a long eclipse, and no more talents were produced here. And that is why we are so dependent on the yodas, some actually walking corpses, and in their place we have to beg foreign talents to save our future generations.
We need not fear of Singapore going into the gutters when we have a strong opposition presence in Parliament, to be called a two party or multi party system. We need not have to wait for that long for it to happen.
Singapore will go down within the next few years as most of the leftover yodas will be gone. Deleted. And without them, you can bet that they will be no one to save Tiger Airways, or SIA, the big banks, the public transport system or any organisation or institutions of any worth.
Unbelieveable but it happened. When there is no native talents available, go knocking at the caves of the yodas. If that fails, open the door for more foreign talents. So pathetic. We are indeed a country dearth of talents. I am still so amazed, very lost, that they could not find anyone to save Tiger Airways except to fall back on a yoda. This is slightly better than finding a departmental store manager to run the MRT.
I just dunno what to say.
The few yodas left are the few native talents we have produced in this little island. After their arrivals, from a stroke of providence, there was a long eclipse, and no more talents were produced here. And that is why we are so dependent on the yodas, some actually walking corpses, and in their place we have to beg foreign talents to save our future generations.
We need not fear of Singapore going into the gutters when we have a strong opposition presence in Parliament, to be called a two party or multi party system. We need not have to wait for that long for it to happen.
Singapore will go down within the next few years as most of the leftover yodas will be gone. Deleted. And without them, you can bet that they will be no one to save Tiger Airways, or SIA, the big banks, the public transport system or any organisation or institutions of any worth.
Unbelieveable but it happened. When there is no native talents available, go knocking at the caves of the yodas. If that fails, open the door for more foreign talents. So pathetic. We are indeed a country dearth of talents. I am still so amazed, very lost, that they could not find anyone to save Tiger Airways except to fall back on a yoda. This is slightly better than finding a departmental store manager to run the MRT.
I just dunno what to say.
The daft Singaporeans putting Tony Tan on trial
It is looking like a public trial of Tony Tan and his son’s NS record. They are questioning why he was allowed to defer his NS liability twice and not assigned to be a Medical Officer during NS after completion of his studies.
Tony Tan has explained. His son Patrick Tan has explained. Mindef also came out with an explanation. Unfortunately the daft Singaporeans could not understand the logic given and is pursuing tenaciously at this issue. Maybe there are simply too daft, or maybe they just refused to accept the explanations, or maybe the explanations are not up to their expectation. And they wanted more explanations like saying sorry is not enough.
When will they end their pursuit of this case and call it off? How many more explanations are required from Tony Tan, the Presidential Hopeful, and Mindef before they are willing to say let’s move on?
This is unprecedented, that a top ex politician, a member of the elite, is subject to so much public scrutiny. I just dunno what to say. What is happening?
Some are calling for a BOI. Would it help? The bigger question is how would this incident affect Tony Tan’s hope to be the Elected President? For the moment he is like a man on public trial, a kind of kangaroo court conducted by the faceless public.
Who will be next in the dock of public conscience and people's court?
Tony Tan has explained. His son Patrick Tan has explained. Mindef also came out with an explanation. Unfortunately the daft Singaporeans could not understand the logic given and is pursuing tenaciously at this issue. Maybe there are simply too daft, or maybe they just refused to accept the explanations, or maybe the explanations are not up to their expectation. And they wanted more explanations like saying sorry is not enough.
When will they end their pursuit of this case and call it off? How many more explanations are required from Tony Tan, the Presidential Hopeful, and Mindef before they are willing to say let’s move on?
This is unprecedented, that a top ex politician, a member of the elite, is subject to so much public scrutiny. I just dunno what to say. What is happening?
Some are calling for a BOI. Would it help? The bigger question is how would this incident affect Tony Tan’s hope to be the Elected President? For the moment he is like a man on public trial, a kind of kangaroo court conducted by the faceless public.
Who will be next in the dock of public conscience and people's court?
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