The Arabian countries are burning and Arabs are dying everyday, killed by foreign forces and instigated to kill each other by foreign forces. To whose interest or benefit it is to keep the Arabs in a constant state of turmoil an upheaval? And who is inciting the Arabs and fanning the fire of hatred in the Arab land?
Asia and Asians must learn from these pitiful and hopeless people if they want to remain in peace and give their people a better life without being embroiled in senseless warfare and killings. The people, be there Arabs, Africans or Asians, would not want to be dragged into wars that would keep them busy fighting each other, and become dependent on foreign charity and domination.
Many of these countries are led into wars because of a few selfish and idiotic leaders who only think of their own interest and positions. The people who are going to die are the average citizens. The people who are going to benefit from the bloodshed and destruction will be the leaders and their foreign accomplices.
There are a few silly leaders in the Asian continent and the South East Asian island countries. Some of them are very keen to drag their countries into wars thinking that it will be just another game of deceit and accumulation of wealth and power. The Asian people must be guarded against such foolish leaders and keep their countries free from wars and fighting other people’s wars.
The Asians must keep Asia in peace for their own good. The Arabs are in this pathetic state because they were weaked, selfish, divided and fixed up by western powers to kill each other, and the provocateurs profited from their foolishness and the destruction of their countries and people.
Asia must stay in peace. The Latin Americans are doing this very well and is a good lesson to learn from.
2/10/2012
Lui Tuck Yew, SMRT, hold your horses
SMRT announced that it is going to spend another $90m or more on a new signaling system so that trains can arrive 20 sec or 30 sec earlier. Before even questioning whether this is money well spent, let me just recount my experience with the train services these few weeks after the resignation of the CEO.
I used to take the early trains and my timing has not changed. The strange thing that is happening now is that the interval of trains arriving in the early hours on the East West and North South lines has improved. But this is not all. The trains are less crowded than before and there is ample breathing space between the commuters. No longer would the commuters be forced to breath in the BOs and stench of unwashed commuters beside them.
This is a great improvement and no need to waste millions on another signaling system if it can be achieved at all hours. Funny how things could improve so drastically within a few weeks of the CEO’s departure.
The after office hour rush and jam have also improved dramatically. But this stretch is still not tolerable as the trains are still quite packed. A little more tweaking with a couple more trains could do the trick. I think it is all about more thorough management or a different management philosophy from one that is profit priority to one that is commuter centric.
I would suggest the SMRT keeps monitoring and review the train flow and tweak wherever necessary to improve the service and hold back on the huge expenditure that may not be necessary. And that expenditure need not be passed down to the commuters with higher fares again.
I hope SMRT, LTA and Lui Tuck Yew are listening.
I used to take the early trains and my timing has not changed. The strange thing that is happening now is that the interval of trains arriving in the early hours on the East West and North South lines has improved. But this is not all. The trains are less crowded than before and there is ample breathing space between the commuters. No longer would the commuters be forced to breath in the BOs and stench of unwashed commuters beside them.
This is a great improvement and no need to waste millions on another signaling system if it can be achieved at all hours. Funny how things could improve so drastically within a few weeks of the CEO’s departure.
The after office hour rush and jam have also improved dramatically. But this stretch is still not tolerable as the trains are still quite packed. A little more tweaking with a couple more trains could do the trick. I think it is all about more thorough management or a different management philosophy from one that is profit priority to one that is commuter centric.
I would suggest the SMRT keeps monitoring and review the train flow and tweak wherever necessary to improve the service and hold back on the huge expenditure that may not be necessary. And that expenditure need not be passed down to the commuters with higher fares again.
I hope SMRT, LTA and Lui Tuck Yew are listening.
2/09/2012
Increase CPF of oldies
This is another brilliant scheme in the brewing. The struggle to get oldies to work longer continues. Now the struggle to get oldies to be better paid. The cost of hiring oldies is lower because of lower CPF contribution, so can raise their CPF.
With all due respect to the oldies, I am also one, depending on the job one is doing, many will slow down and some jobs that are physically and mentally more demanding will extract their tolls on the oldies. Other than some exceptions and some specialized professions when age and experience counts more, many oldies would not be able to contribute as much as the young.
Let’s face the fact that nature made us that way, when one is young, one is full of energy and vibrancy. When one is old, hitting the sack is a big draw and taking life at a slower pace is only natural. Our taxi drivers can drive till 73 and may be even extended to 75. I don’t think it is a good thing. The pathetic state of Sinkies to have to work till that kind of age or else, is a reminder of our failure in our retirement scheme and pension fund. Everything is wiped away by high inflation and the high cost of living is making the oldies into the workforce imperative.
Would employer seriously want to pay more to the oldies for lesser work? Or can the oldies contribute the same with other workers for the same wage? If yes, then there is no issue. Can our workforce can be competitive with higher pay for the oldies without the same level of productivity?
What is questionable is who is going to profit from more CPF contributions from the oldies’ income? Why not just pay direct to their salary when other oldies are withdrawing their CPF savings?
With all due respect to the oldies, I am also one, depending on the job one is doing, many will slow down and some jobs that are physically and mentally more demanding will extract their tolls on the oldies. Other than some exceptions and some specialized professions when age and experience counts more, many oldies would not be able to contribute as much as the young.
Let’s face the fact that nature made us that way, when one is young, one is full of energy and vibrancy. When one is old, hitting the sack is a big draw and taking life at a slower pace is only natural. Our taxi drivers can drive till 73 and may be even extended to 75. I don’t think it is a good thing. The pathetic state of Sinkies to have to work till that kind of age or else, is a reminder of our failure in our retirement scheme and pension fund. Everything is wiped away by high inflation and the high cost of living is making the oldies into the workforce imperative.
Would employer seriously want to pay more to the oldies for lesser work? Or can the oldies contribute the same with other workers for the same wage? If yes, then there is no issue. Can our workforce can be competitive with higher pay for the oldies without the same level of productivity?
What is questionable is who is going to profit from more CPF contributions from the oldies’ income? Why not just pay direct to their salary when other oldies are withdrawing their CPF savings?
NUS is going to raise the quality of its degrees
It was only a couple of years back when NUS raised its tuition fees. Today there are calling for another raise. And since the quality of education is closely related to the quality of tuition fees, the percentage of fee hike will see an equivalent improvement in quality. As they said, cheap is never good, and you want quality you will have to pay for it. At the rate NUS is improving its standard, soon it will be among the top 10 universities in world rankings.
The only thing that I am concerned is the daft sinkie students. Would they be able to move up together with the university rankings? If the university goes to the top 10, would the quality of Sinkie graduates also go up to the top 10?
NUS is now ranked among the better half of the top 100 universities in the world. Unfortunately the employers are still looking to hiring better graduates from lower ranked universities elsewhere. Are our students getting a good deal, paying too much for too little?
I still think value for money will be to send our daft Sinkie students to India and Philippines for their university education. Cheap and good and they will all turn out to be top management material. Pay less for more. The Indian and Filipino graduates are in demand and will beat any NUS graduate hands down when employment suitability is concerned.
Sinkie parents must think about the rate of returns before paying their children’s tuition fees.
The only thing that I am concerned is the daft sinkie students. Would they be able to move up together with the university rankings? If the university goes to the top 10, would the quality of Sinkie graduates also go up to the top 10?
NUS is now ranked among the better half of the top 100 universities in the world. Unfortunately the employers are still looking to hiring better graduates from lower ranked universities elsewhere. Are our students getting a good deal, paying too much for too little?
I still think value for money will be to send our daft Sinkie students to India and Philippines for their university education. Cheap and good and they will all turn out to be top management material. Pay less for more. The Indian and Filipino graduates are in demand and will beat any NUS graduate hands down when employment suitability is concerned.
Sinkie parents must think about the rate of returns before paying their children’s tuition fees.
Political smear
The recent exposure of indiscretion by prominent public figures in the news has sent tongues wagging everywhere. Opportunists would have a field day telling their stories and innuendoes of the moral correctness and suitability of such people in places of authority. Character smearing and assassination and taking body shots at people and political parties could be done in all kinds of innocent ways. The media can show more interest and zeal in investigative journalism as part and parcel of their job to cover up their political agenda. What better excuses can one have to put down an enemy of sort?
I am pleasantly surprised that a lot of self restraint and refrain has been exercised on the part of the media to avoid sensationalising such incidents and not to indulge in excessive and repetitive reporting to score political points.
What was left undone was passed to the social media to do the damage needed, to draw blood to the fullest. The internet has seen an unusually insensitive and inquisitive interest in the affairs of these affected men. There were plentiful of calls for more confession, more details to quench their thirst for more lurid news. And of course, it is another case of sorry also must explain. Transparency, they screamed!
The culprits must be hanged or put on the stake to be burnt. Some of the attacks were pretty vicious and hurtful to the parties by obviously upright individuals who are flawless. And thank God there are so many of these morally flawless individuals still living among us. But what could one expect in paradise? Only the best behaved could reside in this heavenly realm.
If only such attacks were to be carried out in the main stream media, one can be sure that the availability of more able people standing out to serve in public offices would immediately dry up. And political parties and the civil service would have to recruit their candidates from the monastry or nunnery. In today’s complex world of permissiveness, even finding a monk or nun not tainted by some indiscretion or personal misconduct could not be an easy task.
The issue is to what moral standard is demanded of people in public offices? Would the people accept others who have crossed the line of social indiscretion to be in public office? If not, if the standard for public service is a pristine life of a puritan, no unsavoury deeds or misconducts, then would there be a need for everyone to make a self declaration of purity and a sinless lifestyle before coming forward to serve? And should a list of unacceptable conduct be assembled and all those appointed to public service be made to swear under oath that they have not breached any of them? Anything short of this is pure hypocrisy.
Could this be one of the reasons why there is a dearth of talents willing to contest for political office and risking the barrage of venoms from the journalists and self proclaimed righteous saints living among us and in the world of cyberspace? How many people are left untainted and above the high standards set by society to be in public service, including those that are pointing the fingers and demanding that everyone should come out clean?
I am pleasantly surprised that a lot of self restraint and refrain has been exercised on the part of the media to avoid sensationalising such incidents and not to indulge in excessive and repetitive reporting to score political points.
What was left undone was passed to the social media to do the damage needed, to draw blood to the fullest. The internet has seen an unusually insensitive and inquisitive interest in the affairs of these affected men. There were plentiful of calls for more confession, more details to quench their thirst for more lurid news. And of course, it is another case of sorry also must explain. Transparency, they screamed!
The culprits must be hanged or put on the stake to be burnt. Some of the attacks were pretty vicious and hurtful to the parties by obviously upright individuals who are flawless. And thank God there are so many of these morally flawless individuals still living among us. But what could one expect in paradise? Only the best behaved could reside in this heavenly realm.
If only such attacks were to be carried out in the main stream media, one can be sure that the availability of more able people standing out to serve in public offices would immediately dry up. And political parties and the civil service would have to recruit their candidates from the monastry or nunnery. In today’s complex world of permissiveness, even finding a monk or nun not tainted by some indiscretion or personal misconduct could not be an easy task.
The issue is to what moral standard is demanded of people in public offices? Would the people accept others who have crossed the line of social indiscretion to be in public office? If not, if the standard for public service is a pristine life of a puritan, no unsavoury deeds or misconducts, then would there be a need for everyone to make a self declaration of purity and a sinless lifestyle before coming forward to serve? And should a list of unacceptable conduct be assembled and all those appointed to public service be made to swear under oath that they have not breached any of them? Anything short of this is pure hypocrisy.
Could this be one of the reasons why there is a dearth of talents willing to contest for political office and risking the barrage of venoms from the journalists and self proclaimed righteous saints living among us and in the world of cyberspace? How many people are left untainted and above the high standards set by society to be in public service, including those that are pointing the fingers and demanding that everyone should come out clean?
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