A national conversation for our common future

What is the point of having a national conversation for the sake of conversation, to give the impression that the govt is willing to listen, to engage the people, when all the decisions have already been made unilaterally by the govt? It has been like that all the time to the extent that a minister proudly claimed to be deaf and do what is right rather than listening to the lunatics.

If one is to read the Sunday Times today, the same attitude is printed in black and white, the govt has decided which way to go and that’s it. ‘Get married, have babies’ screamed the headline. ‘If we go on like that, this place will fold up because there will be no original citizens left to form the majority….So the choice is simple. Either accept migrants at a rate which we can assimilate them, and make them conform to our values….said LKY. He ended his speech with the following questions. ‘Do we want to replace ourselves? Or do we want to shrink and get older, and be replaced by migrants and work permit holders?’

Can a national conversation lead to a change of this migrant policies or a conversation that leads to nowhere if the people did not want to go along with the migrant policies? Can a national conversation lead to the govt returning the people’s saving in the CPF, or the lowering the public housing prices, or the lowering of the cost of govt?

The sad fact is that the policies in place are already replacing the Sinkies with migrants, and ‘If we go on like that, …there will be no original citizens left to form the majority.’ Isn’t this fear of being replaced by migrants the major concern of Sinkies and the source of their unhappiness?

And making babies is not so simple as the govt wants to put it. How many people can really afford to bring up two babies given the high cost of living, the shrinking of flat size and high cost of flats? Any citizen that goes forth and multiplies more than two is seriously undermining the social fabric of the nation unless they are able to afford them financially. If not, there are going to be many stray children running around, half educated, half fed, and poorly brought up, to roam the streets like unwanted cats and dogs. This would pose a bigger social political problem down the road when irresponsible citizens would reply that they were doing national service as told by the govt.

What do you think?

Quote from Seah Chiang Nee

'As the public opposition grew, the pro-government media argued strongly for the players, and acting Cabinet Minister (for Social and Family Development) Chan Chun Sing congratulated the table tennis team for “uniting the nation”.

Seah Chiang Nee wrote this in his column in The Star paper.

How rich and poor countries reward their Olympians

The Olympic Games is facing a parallel contest in how countries reward their winners in addition to the Olympic medals. Poorer countries were more conservative while the rich countries were more lavish.

Poor countries like Britain and New Zealand were quite stingy on the rewards. The cheap British probably did not have much money to spare and only offered to put the pictures of the winners in their postage stamps. Really cheapskate. It is quite pathetic really for Great Britain to save on the pennies. Some poorer countries did not even offer anything and the support and Olympic medals are considered good enough a recognition. 

New Zealand could not afford instant cash but a $60k grant for a year, maybe to study or whatever for a gold medal. Australia and the USA were not much better, offering A$20k and US$25k respectively.

China was a bit richer and paid their winners a healthier S$99,500. But it was outshone by richer countries like the Philippines, $146k and Russia and the other ‘tan’ countries with payouts of US$135k to US$250k.

The richer countries like Malaysia and Singapore were more generous and their purse strings were looser. Malaysia offered $410k for a gold but is a far distant second to the richest country in the world, Singapore. The latter offered its gold medalist a handsome $1m.

Athletes and sports people would definitely find it more rewarding to represent the richer countries than the poorer Europeans or Americans. Like they say, money talks wonders. How rich a country is cannot lie. Whether they can or cannot pay their winners is a sure sign of the monetary well beings of the countries. Singapore’s open door policy on immigration is going to get a boost. If the 4 Jamaican runners were to make a queue here, Singapore can be assured of a few golds and silvers in the Rio. It is time to send some feelers out.

The mysterious utility bill hike

Many bloggers are complaining about the mysterious hike in their utility bills in the recent months, more accurately after they have a little cheap thrill of receiving $110 U Save out of the blue. The little happiness is quickly turning into a nightmare and demanding a quick explanation.

An example of the complaints is a comment by Poor Singaporean in TRE.

‘My utility bill averages around S$80-90+ a month. So far, our electricity, gas & water consumption have not varied much until July according to SP Powers.

I got a rude shock upon receiving the bill, our electricity consumption had doubled. I don’t understand how is this possible when our lifestyle still remains the same. Our electrical appliances are still new; we have just moved in to our BTO HDB flat a year ago only.

After deducting the U-SAVE Voucher of S$110, my bill amounts to S$95+. Which is around the usual range for our monthly utility bill. No savings in the end, so what’s the point of giving us the voucher?’

If what Poor Singaporean is experiencing is widespread, it must warrant an explanation from the govt and an investigation on this strange phenomenon. It could be an error that affects only a few Sinkies knowing that errors and glitches are now a common occurrence in many areas. Just hope that it is just a glitch and nothing more to it.

Was there a hike in the utilities charges that was not announced? If so, this is unbecoming and unacceptable. If there isn’t, and if the surge in the bills is true, what is happening?

CSI bloggers would be welcome to do a more thorough investigation on this matter as they are much more efficient and zealous in discovering the truth and the concerns of Sinkies. There are the only reliable and dependable investigative reporters available today. And this is a very serious issue that affects all the average Sinkies. Every Sinkie should take a close look at their utility bills to make sure that there is no error in the bills.

National Day Award

No one would want to recognize the contribution of the lunatic fringes to the progress made in nation building. No one would acknowledge their huge contributions to the state of political affairs and awareness by the people, young and old. No one would admit that because of the lunatic fringes, many policies have changed, and many things, including behavior of politicians, have changed. And no one would want to venture into the lunatic fringes to find out the feelings and views of the lunatic fringes or would want to hear them. They were the outcasts, the anti establishment, the dissidents, and worst, to some, could be seen as irresponsible insurgents lurking in the fringes, in anonymity, and needed to be put in their right places.

The contributions and results of the voices of the lunatic fringes cannot be denied. The best illustration is how they criticised that the National Day should not be seen as a PAP day and wearing all white is not inclusive. And this National Day, the PAP cabinet politicians had dropped their white priest robes and turned up in white and red, to be part of the people celebrating the National Day as one people, not one party ruling the people.

And many changes have been made and many on the way without acknowledging the causes of these changes. Without the lunatic fringes, all these changes would not have happened. Things will be as normal as before, the old normal. Everyone will be delirious.

My National Day Award goes to all the lunatics in the fringes who have contributed so much effort and time, for free, without talking about sacrifices, without being acknowledged nor appreciated, but daily hammering away at their keyboards to bring awareness to the people, to the failings in the system, about flawed policies, about the indiscretions that would have normally been swept away under the carpet or not reported. The lunatics deserved to be celebrated for their sacrifices to the Nation, with some risking career and ominous threats, and being seen as enemies, being attacked, to be watched carefully, to be taken to task when the opportunities offered. And they did what they did, for the good of the Nation, without asking for anything in return. They don’t even talk about sacrifices, and unceremoniously accepted the tag of being called lunatics.

The lunatics deserved a National Day Award from mysingaporenews. To all the lunatics, Happy National Day. Your National Day Award is priceless.