Inviting and importing new and complex problems

‘The times are changing, the population is changing, the expectations are changing. Singapore’s society is now more diverse and complex now that new citizens from India hail from many regions of the sub-continent,’ Lee Hsien Loong

Hsien Loong spoke to the Indian community on how to integrate the India Indians from northern India into our society. Their presence, and the presence of China Chinese and others, are making our country more diverse and more complex, and definitely with more complex problems. Do we need these problems in the first place? Do we need so many foreigners to raise our economic growth data?

Economic growth, plus inflation, and higher cost of living, congestion and competition for goods and services if not accompanied by real income growth, is making life more difficult and inconvenient, and costly of course, to many Singaporeans. If the income growth does not exceed all the cost of inflation it is as good as downgrading, taking a pay cut.

The housing problem is just a specific issue of what bad policies can lead to. And it is localised, hurting some Sinkies most. The influx of foreigners and high population will impact everyone except for the top end of the population who could pay their way out.

Do we want more congestion, more complex problems, more irritations and tension, higher cost of living, more stress on emotions, on services and infrastructure and systems? Have the people send the message to the govt that they do not want a higher population of foreigners, like the message they sent on high property prices? The full impact of such a policy will not be felt so soon till they multiply and compounded into a problem of multiple proportion. Our roads will not be enough, our housing will not be enough, our supply of energy and water will not be enough, nuclear looks so inviting and necessary, everything will not be enough. We will not only be drinking urine, but shit water as well. That is what a bigger population will bring us, bigger and more complex problems.

The govt is asking the people for the answers. At the bottom, the addiction to population growth for economic growth seems to be the only answer and there is no other solution. Growth by population growth is a self destruct formula whether applied to a single country or to the world as a whole. Rapid growth through population growth is malignant growth, cancerous growth.

Stop the influx of the foreigners and stop the problem from growing. No need to scratch the head to ask for more solutions, how to better integrate them. When they are not here, time and resources can be put to better use, and no unwanted problems. The pace of growth could be slower with comparatively slower inflation. What is needed is real growth through productivity.

The same problem of high growth and quick death is best seen in the banking industry when slower and smaller growth is not enough as every turkey at the top demands to be paid in tens or hundreds of millions. And the only way to feed their insatiable appetite is through gambling and frauds. Sustainable and slower real growth is the only way forward, with lower expectations at the top.

Do not gamble with population growth like the banking industry gambling with derivatives and frauds. As the economy matures, slower and more sustainable growth is only natural and the way to go.

Singapore snippets

Singapore has never been so exciting before until the last couple of months. The media is flooded with all kinds of saucy tabloid quality news that should increase their sales by at least 30%. What you want to read you have it, corruption, sex scandals, priests, the elite, law suits, mental cases, murder, suicides etc etc. The hot issues of population explosion and influx of foreigners and jobless Sinkies who have to keep on down grading through downgrading courses, this is funny really, while foreigners are pouring in with abundance of job offers. The young people are now encouraged to be hawkers instead of lawyers, doctors or ministers.

Ask the taxi drivers, which is the most exciting place in Singapore, MBS or RWS? Wrong, the magistrate courts at Havelock Road.

Which is the most exciting jobs to be in, lawyer or hawker? Wrong, psychiatrist.

Which profession pays the most, lawyer or ministers? Wrong, priesthood.

What is the most sought after mode of transport, MRT or Ferrari? Wrong, Brompton Bike.

Who is suffering from bipolar disorder, a lawyer or psychiatrist? No another lawyer.

Who is more powerful than the court of law, the govt or the law society? No, a psychiatrist. Really? Or is it a lawyer? Is that your final answer?

Who decides whether a person is innocent, the court or the minister? Both wrong, its the believers.

Which is the most exciting and reliable news media, main media or social media? Wrong, Facebook.

Essenze features my paintings

Essenze is a top life style magazine in Malaysia, similar to the Peak magazine here. It has featured my paintings, 8 pieces, in a 3 page spread in its latest issue, Vol 27. This can be viewed electronically at www.chtmarketsource.com/. On its content page, p11 is my photograph. My paintings are in p112, p113 and p114.

My paintings are from the series Abstract Faces and Pixiu or Heavenly Beasts.

White Mice Syndrome getting worst

The tension between the newcomers and foreigners and the locals is causing temperature to rise and tempers to flare. The govt is calling the people to be mindful, to integrate. But what is the govt doing about killing the problem at its source? What happens to being proactive, knowing the problem before it becomes a problem, about thinking ahead and nipping a problem at the bud?

The problem is now raring its ugliness everywhere and people have came to blows fighting for space. Even among the locals, carpark is now a big issue. Carparks in HDB estate in some areas are getting scarce. Car parking in private estates is becoming a contentious issue when finding a place to park a car is a challenge, a great inconvenience. The private property residents are quarrelling and fighting with their neighbours and visitors using their neighbourhood as car parks.

What is the cause of this problem? Space and rapid rise in population in a small piece of rock. And some are so crazy about their fetish cravings for more migrants that they blatantly ignored the problems of having more people being squeezed into a tiny box and telling the people to bear with it while more and more people are relentlessly being stuffed into the box at the same time.

How crazy and irresponsible can this be? It is breaking, people are starting to fight for their little private space everywhere. What is going on? Where got problem?

Social media’s growing clout

Monday was a great day for social media. It was quoted profusely by the main media on all the saucy comments about Ravi’s dance performance in Hong Lim Park. It used to be the other way, when social media quotes main media for news and information.

The growing presence and relevance of social media is again proven by the suspension of an NPark officer and the investigation into the irregularities in purchasing $2,200 folding bikes for its officers. The case was brushed off quickly by officialdom when it first surfaced. It was through the tireless great investigative work of social media that revealed so many discrepancies and doubtful practices that this case can no longer be swept under the carpet. Many netizens are calling for an investigation by CPIB.

The main media was at a lost and one main media journalist was quoted to have sought assistance from a netizen journalist on how to go about conducting investigative journalism. This is about the best recognition social media reporters/journalists could ever hope to get from the professional and well paid and well trained main media journalists.

Social media is going to get more relevant with each passing day. But one must be cautioned about how easily social media can be abused. All it needs to do is to plant a few jokers to make all the comments wanted and these can then be quoted as genuine feedbacks from the bloggers or netizens. In reality, the feedbacks and comments were preconceived and to be used for a planned purpose.

While social media is flourishing in its free and unfettered ways, all must be made aware that many disinformation, can be planted to confuse and abuse the social media.

Social media reporters/journalists/bloggers must continue to strive to provide genuine and factual reports and articles to maintain their integrity and the integrity of social media as an alternative source of news and information.