Justice for the small Sinkies

The cost of going to court is becoming very prohibitive to many ordinary Sinkies. It can be worst than hospitalization especially when there is no equivalent of the Medisave or the 3Ms to lower the cash outlay. There is a piece of good news announced by Wong Meng Meng, Law Society President, that measures have been taken to allow the average Sinkies to have their legal matters settle through Alternative Dispute Resolution methods such as arbitration, mediation and adjudication. Such methods would spare the average Sinkies from expensive legal bills payable to the courts and the learned counsels for their services.

Many minor or frivolous cases have been applied for judicial judgement that were not necessary, and often an abuse of the legal system by parties that have the money to do so and to use the court as their hatchet men. Poor Sinkies who have no money to engage brilliant counsels often have to suffer injustice at the mercy of the rich rogues. And it is this very injustice that the Law Society is trying to prevent, to ensure that all Sinkies could have a fair hearing and justice, and not be deprived of justice because they could not pay for it.

The ADR methods or alternative method to allow petty and frivolous cases to be heard in a manner without prohibitive legal fees is something that is badly needed for the average Sinkies. Maybe appearance in such courts should be made simpler and less costly by not allowing legal counsels to represent their clients. The military has been practicing such a system for ages. The litigants could explain their cases or maybe with the assistant of a court appointed representative if they are unable to do so. Such cases are normally factual in nature and a good judge should be more than adequate to assess the merits of the parties involved.

Such an alternative will free the courts and legal counsels to handle more important legal conflicts and issues. And legal counsels could upgrade themselves to a higher level of litigation instead of petty quarrels between neighbours. It is quite malu for learned counsels to be making their pile from petty quarrels of the small people.

With the opening up of the legal practice and the establishment of an international arbitration centre, legal counsels could have plentiful of meaningful and rewarding cases to handle and need not depend on poor Sinkies to feed their overheads and profits.

There is plenty of money to be made in serious legal disputes. Spare the average Sinkies from hefty legal fees. Spare the courts to deal with legal issues befitting the attention of the judges. Spare the legal counsels to attend to cases that will tax their training in law schools and their understanding of the law, and an improvement in their incomes.

And most important, allow the average Sinkies the right to justice without having to pay an arm or a leg, and preventing the rich rogues to abuse the courts to attack their victims.

Sinkies are getting naughty

Why are there so many skepticism and criticism about the Woffles case? The law is the law. The Law Minister has explained it clearly on the technical aspects of the law and why it was administered that way. The AGC has also done the unusual, to explain the legality and correctness of the law. The Sinkies should be very grateful that the AGC was kind enough to explain the position to show how fair and proper is our legal system. There is absolutely no favouritism or any undoings.

Now, would Sinkies just accept that it is the law, simple and clear, fair and just? How could laypeople question the legality of the law when the two most authoritative person and body in charge with administering justice in the country have already said that it was right and proper? So what if senior counsels also have their doubts?

Sinkies must accept the law of the country. This country is ruled by the rule of law. And when the law says so, it says so. Let’s move on and let the good surgeon go about with his practice to make many more beautiful people happy. And good thing nobody was hurt.

And like all fairy tales, they all lived happily ever after. A happy ending. Won’t that be nice?

Humanitarian and disaster relief centres everywhere

‘Thailand and the United States have agreed to set up a working group to jointly develop a regional humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief training and readiness centre at U-Tapao airport in Rayong.’

The Americans are setting up such centres everywhere in Asia, from Vietnam, Thailand to the Philippines and Singapore, maybe Indonesia and Malaysia next. Such centres are set up wherever American military bases are not present like in South Korea and Japan.

On paper the Americans are spending a lot of money and resources to save the world with such centres. Are these centres really for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief work? Your guess.

The silly rationalisation of Sinkies

At one time they were saying road congestion was good, a sign of progress. Without road congestion, when the roads are wide and empty, it means no progress, not enough cars on the road. So people cannot afford cars. Then the same kind of reasoning was used to show progress in train services. Trains must be crowded, the more crowded the better. Tokyo was then the role model. If trains are not packed enough, something is not right. At least profit is not right. So trains must run packed like sardine. Then we have achieved Tokyo’s train service standard.

And in the same mouthful some would talk about gracious living by taking trains. KNN, how to be gracious when everyone is squeezing with everyone, and pushing and rushing to find a place to sit? Now that is too much of a luxury. Everyone should get use to pushing and squeezing just to board a train, or would have to take the next or the next train.

Now the famous call, small flats are good. It would not lower the quality of life. But it stops short of saying the smaller a flat the better the quality of life. There is no need to move around. Turn your head and there is the tap. Turn the other side and there is the fridge. Turn another way and there is the TV. Turn around and there is the toilet. So convenient. Don’t have to move. Save on energy to get around.

This stupidity made Liew Mun Leong so angry that he made it known that small flats are inhuman. He could never be so right. Just look at the dog and its kennel. It is a dog’s life. Now how can people disagree with the king of property developer? But not to worry. Some will come out with better argument to say Liew Mun Leong is wrong.

Last time 10 or 20 people lived in a single cubicle not bigger than a HDB room also no problem. Today, putting two people in such a room cannot be a problem right? It is very spacious and comfortable, a luxury.

Some will say, last time people lived next to the pigsty also no problem. Why should people be complaining about nursing homes, hospices or foreign worker’s quarters next door? Last time Eve hung a fig leave as her dress.

Sinkies are damn good at self justification or to make silly things sound good or right just to win an argument. $1000 pm can buy a public flat and came out with a lot of statistics to prove it some more. When are they going to prove that a $1m 3rm flat is cheap and good even when the lease is only 30 years? It is going to be if they are going to make expensive public housing more affordable. First cut the size, then extend the repayment period, and next shorten the lease. They make sense and very logical. The flats will only get more affordable.

If a 3 rm flat with a 99 lease is too expensive, shorten the lease and it will become cheaper. A 3 rm flat of 80 sq m is too expensive, build one that is 50 sq m, it will definitely be cheaper.

What else will they be justifying next? More people in the island are good. One can learn to live with people of different cultures without having to fly to their countries and without even having to leave the flat if they are invited to live in the same flat. The life experience will be so much richer, learn different languages, cultures, cooking, and the idiosyncrasies of foreigners. We will be able to understand the people of the whole world better. For what purposes I don’t know. Maybe to become the Secretary General of the UN. The experience will be an asset when apply for such a job. Or as ambassadors of the UN, if they need such people.

Fish and his fishy justice

Fish wrote in his blog about the flaunting of injustice in broad daylight, in an article ‘Forget justice in Singapore.’ Fish is angry when things get fishy.

I would like to calm the Fish down a bit, take a deep breath of water and try to look at things from a different perspective, then everything will be right, nothing fishy, the fishy smell will be gone. Fish should try looking into the fishbowl instead of out of the fishbowl. Sure different one.

Fish main gripe was about raising GST to help the poor. He sincerely, honestly, did not believe that it was so. Let me explain. The poor are in much much better off position here. Look, they can easily buy a flat with $1000 pm income. And they are the most blessed poor in the world, the envy of the world.

Look at the real poor. The real poor are those that did not have enough to spend. It is not how much you earn, but how much is your expense account. I can empathise with those earning $50k pm and finding life very tough, and their quality of life being affected if they earn a bit less. The GST hike is to help these higher income poor. They have big expense account and need the money to live decently.  For the low income poor, a $50 increase in their income could mean a choice of eating in a hawker centre, foodcourt or even restaurant. Of course it is cheapo restaurant lah. For the high income poor, you can’t help them with $50, not enough even for tips.  They really need help.

As for estate duties, it is to help the poor definitely. In every funeral wake, the normal comment about the chap lying in the coffin is ‘poor bugger’. See, the bugger is poor and any help will do. And abolishing estate duties is definitely to help the poor buggers. When does the rich come in? Where got help the rich buggers?

In the Woffles and Charlie Lim case, or the principle and the odd job labourer case, justice have been done, fair and fair.  Law Minister Shamugam already explained the rationale. It is all about the time spread, like HDB flats have not shrunk in size over the last 15 years. Perfectly accurate statement of facts.

No miscarriage of justice lah. Sorry lah Fish. Can you see my point? What the Fish?