Buckingham Palace angry with press freedom

The Buckingham Palace is furious with the news that naked photos of Prince William and Kate will be in the printed media. They are threatening to sue the press publishing them.

Funny, what is so funny about a few naked photographs. They were quite decently taken, not pornography stuff or lewd acts. Why so much anger and protest? Having seen those photographs and the video on the Innocence of Muslims, which is worst?

The Western media are claiming press freedom to make that video and make it available as infortainment. What is so bad about a few naked photographs then?

Double standard, different moral values for different people?

My worst fear in Education becoming a reality

After removing the banding of schools, there are suggestions from the govt elite that PSLE should be scrapped as well. This is front page news in Today’s paper. With the scrapping of O level in the through train scheme, and with this, the only examination left is the A level. And with all the emphasis and pressure left on this last remnants of the old system, it may also be scrapped. We will then have the most stress free education system in the world, replacing the best education system we have at the moment but found too stressful and still not producing good students.

Sinkieland would become another kind of paradise for school children, no examination all the way to universities. It is possible if the parents continue with the pressure and some unthinking govt elite will just bend on their knees and say ok, ok. The past philosophy of making tough decision is discarded and a new culture of pleasing the parents and voters is emerging. The past mindset of the govt knows best is changing to one that the voters know best or make the voters happy. Talk to the voters, ask what they want and give it to them.

Many many years ago when I was a young undergrad, we asked the lecturer how he graded his students. He said it was simple. Though he had hundreds of papers to mark, it only took him a few seconds to do it. He drew two parallel lines on the floor, threw all the papers into the air. Those scrips that fell on the left will get B. Those on the right will get C and those in between the parallel lines will get A. The number of A grades will depend on his mood and how far apart he drew the two lines. This could be re introduced when examinations are scrapped totally and all the happy students took a ride on the through through train to universities.

We are progressing. Many parents and students will be in cloud nine. For those parents who insist on having examinations for their children and stubbornly wanting to put pressure on them, the govt can offer schools that have examinations. Freedom of choice is important. This way, the parents that do not want to have examinations will be happy. Those who want examinations will also be happy.

This is a good start for the National Conversation.

The tide turning against the Americans

Afghanistan is turning out to be a short lived Vietnam for the Americans. They are now on the withdrawal phase, to get out and move their forces back to East Asia to open another theatre of war that could be more profitable. There is oil and the countries like Japan and South Korea would have the money to buy more American weapons.

While the Americans have it all planned, they did not expect that the tide is turning so rapidly against them. More and frequent attacks against them and their allied troops are seeing better results with more death. The latest attack in an air base saw 6 fighter aircraft destroyed and several allied soldiers killed. Fortunately the British heir to the throne did not get hurt.

The most damaging of the attacks is that the soldiers trained and armed by the Americans are turning their guns at their trainers, the Americans. And this is not only happening in Afghanistan, but also in the Middle East and in Libya with the killing of the American Ambassador and embassy staff.

This is something the Americans have not bargained for. The experience of training Obama and arming Saddam Hussein did not teach the Americans everything. They thought they are like the Arabs, pay them enough and they would kill among themselves, for the benefits of their paymaster, the Americans.

The tide is changing and more violence against American troops and civilians could be the new happenings in the war zone and out of the war zone. The Americans have created an enemy they cannot be defeated unless they do another Red Indian act, a concerted genocide of the Arabs and the muslims which is a near impossibility. The war has just begun.

The contradictions and fallacies showing

With each passing day, the cracks get bigger and bigger. It was only hairline cracks and could easily be covered up with another thin layer of paint. Now you could sink a whole hand into it. And you need the experts to certify that there is no danger of a collapse.

Just a few decades back, the song was, ‘We are the best, the crème of talents, the best money can buy. And we can solve all the country’s and the Sinkies’ problem. We are simply the super talents.’ With this kind of branding, everyone went gaga, and it went to the extent that the spin doctors too believed in the spin. And because the daft Sinkies would just put up with all the craps, the super talents convinced themselves that since they were the best, the best in the world, they deserved to be paid the best in the world. The rest is history.

Fast forward today, after some tears and apologies came the admission that mistakes were made. When the cracks were so huge and for all to see, you can’t say there are no cracks. The fouling up of a national home ownership scheme, the high cost of living, unbelieveable influx of foreigners as PRs and citizens, the discrimination against the citizens, a superb national savings scheme that went sour, transportation and high cost of car ownership, and many more, could not go away without an explanation.

And today, the govt is asking what the people want for their children and this country. Isn’t this the job of the govt or what the govt had been doing? What happens to the super talent tag, that the immortals knew it all and no need to listen to the people, deaf frogs are top brains? See the contradictions and fallacies? How could the super talents be seeking views and ideas from the daft and the ideas are free? Anything that does not have a price tag that is out of this world is not worthy. Remember that? You want good stuff, you must pay for it, quality education, quality healthcare, quality govt.

If the quality is a suspect, don’t pay for it. Why pay astronomical prices for things that are not worth its value? The open admission that the govt cannot solve everything, or even creating messes and messing up the people’s life, is a rude awakening. So, what about the out of this world pay when the govt is quite ordinary, really? Remember again, the huge pay for politicians is meant for top and super talents that claimed to know best and would solve all the problems of country and people, pro active, forward looking, nipping all problems in the bud before they become full bloom problems. With that kind of pay, they should be solving the problems of the world, not this tiny little island. The people will be very grateful if they did not create more problems while trying to help the people with their problems.

What an irony if the politicians, the top and super talents, are saying that they are not that good after all? Where are the immortals? Is the National Conversation an admission of a national myth?

The National Conversation so far

It was touted as the conversation for all Singaporeans to have a say in what kind of future they want for Singapore and their children. This is as national as it could get. Somehow the other part of Singapore is not being represented, the political oppositions that don’t agree with the govt’s point of view. The fact that none of them seems to be included or invited to join the conversation is beginning to tell. You cannot have a National Conversation by excluding 40 per cent or more of the population to call it a National Conversation.

And as some bloggers have pointed out, it has drifted towards a conversation of the converts, of the ‘safe’ people who share the same belief and ideology of the govt, of what the govt thinks is good for the whole population.

What makes this task predictable is that the converts would agree with the agenda and would not stray to topics or issues that have been OB marked. Some things are just not meant to be discussed and have already been pronounced as good forever, despite the claims of no stone unturned.

The National Conversation is looking like a divisive conversation dividing the ‘with us and the against us’, but including some the fence sitters. The eventual recommendations will not be too far off from the findings of the Ministerial Salary Review Committee, a recommendation that is expected and put up by like minded people. How different the recommendations would be if the members were neutral and have no political affiliation or interests.

And, how different would the findings of a committee and audience in this National Conversation when the composition of the participants already in a big way predetermined the agenda and the outcome? The future that is desired would be very similar to the future envisaged by the govt, more immigrants, bigger population, more growth, work till one drops dead, higher property prices, higher cost of living, no free lunch with some exceptions, and please, do talk or ask question about the CPF savings and its future.