Mean Testing is history? Boh liao!

Can anyone confirm that mean testing for hospital admission has been scrapped? This outrageous policy was so unsound and ethically unacceptable that it was a grievance from the start. It could have continued as a tough policy and nothing can be done about it for as long as someone tried the tough act and refused to budge. Now, has anyone really budged and got it removed? And if so, shouldn’t it be announced so that the people can be at ease during admission and have a freer choice as to how much money they are willing to pay? It is unacceptable that such a high profile policy that was implemented with so much fanfare but evicted without notice. My bet is that it is still in force, at least until an official statement is made on this. The grapevine and gossips that it is no longer in practice are not reliable. And getting this monster out of the way is not enough. With hospital bills that can bankrupt any average Sinkie, more must be done to bring down hospitalization cost, provide more C ward beds, more generic medicine that do not cost a bomb. The rich can continue to opt for their special branded or high end medicine and pay for it. Would someone in the ministry or hospital care to clarify that this mean thing has left us for good?

Wow, my article in TOC

For the first time, my article finally appeared in TOC. I regard this as an honour. Though my articles have been frequently appearing in other sites like TRE and Singapore Daily and some others, never has it appeared in TOC to my recollection. TOC must have a set of very stringent rules for articles to be reposted there next to the main media. I swear none of my articles will find it fit to appear in the main media except for those when I was writing for the New Paper. Instant citizen, instant wealth’ has seen the light in TOC. It must be a damn interesting article, the best of all my articles. One regret, they did not acknowledge me as the author though my name was written clearly below my article reposted in TRE. TOC acknowledged the article was first posted in TRE. (TOC thanks TR Emeritus for allowing to republish the article. It first appeared here.) Anyway, I am high over the moon now that my article finally appeared in TOC. Thank you TOC for the great honour. TOC is welcomed to publish my articles anytime. I am going to frame this article.

My mother very powerful

The ‘My parents very important people’ reminds me of the episode of ‘My mother very powerful’ that happened a few months back. It was a boxing round between the MOE and the mother of the boy whose hair was cut by his teacher. It was actually a petty little disagreement that should be put to an end quickly. The whole episode was like the history of Singapore, that grew from a third world country with absolute power in the authority to affluence and the growth of individual or personal rights that is beginning to see how the masses are unable to cope with the rights handed to them. With rights, a little affluence, a little education, the trend is towards abusing this right and power. The schools and authority have been used to exercising their rights in the education system. The abuses of the past are relatively much lesser today as the teachers themselves too are embracing the new liberty and applying lesser oppressive methods in disciplining school children. There will still be the few nut heads that would abuse their position of authority just like those abusers of maids and workers. People with such mentality should not be in the teaching vocation. On the other extremes, the parents should know that the school and the education system have its own regulations and acceptable norms of behavior. Going to school is an implied acceptance to follow the rules and regulations of the schools unless they are oppressive and unreasonable. The MOE should be very clear on what is allowable and what is not. These should be defined clearly and observed by its staff and convey to the parents. The parents and their children should accept and abide by these rules. If the parents and their children cannot accept the rules, simply just quit the schools. The principles and teachers need not have to resort to violence and manhandling of children, which in most cases are naïve, immature and innocence. Talk to the parents about the problems and let the parents decide if they want the child to remain in the school or to find a more suitable school somewhere else. What is the problem? What is so difficult? Teachers no need to pull their hair or get emotionally upset. No need to abuse their authority as guardians of the school children. Parents need not threaten to sue teachers. And if they do, the MOE should put all their resources behind the teachers should there be such a threat to take them to court. But make sure that no teachers abused their authority or crossed the line. Some will of course, as no one knows how sick a normal looking person is until he exposes him/herself. Teachers, lawyers, doctors, all can be sick but waiting for the right moment to show their true selves. What is troubling are the values the children will be imbued with, thinking that they are somebody and can get away with anything they want, because their parents are important or powerful. They can stomp at anyone like cockroaches.

My parents are very important people

This elitist uncaring face attitude is not going away. After the public lashing and the dressing down in Parliament a few years back, it is resurfacing again. Two teenagers camped in a nursing room at Woodlands Regional Library and refused to allow a young mother to nurse her baby. They even showed her the middle finger and wrapped up the insult with the ‘My parents are very important people’ message. Until today, no one knows who they are. Though their photos were all over the internet, there seems to be a kind of self censorship in place. In the last elitish uncaring face, the elitist child’s face, name and parents were public knowledge. In this case the parents must be really important. Mypaper carried an article of the incident with the two elitist boys’ photo but with their faces pixilated. With a handheld computer game gadget in hand and some drinks on the table, they must be there having a good time for quite a while. And wonder how many nursing mothers were turned away because they thought their parents were important and they could occupy the nursing room as their personal playroom. Would this be the last of such elitist uncaring face incident or this is really the beginning? Interesting to know what the parents must have taught them.

2000 scholarships worth more than $30m

It was reported that the Singapore Govt gave 2000 scholarships worth $34m or $36m to foreigners. I did not get it whether it was for a year or for how many years. Whichever, it is a significant number of scholarships given to foreigners. The point I would want to know is how many scholarships did the Govt give to children of its citizens annually? This kind of comparison is getting increasingly of interest to the citizens when good money was seen to be thrown to the wind or to the undeservings while the parents of Sin children would have to empty their life savings, some selling their precious homes, to finance their children for overseas studies. It doesn't look like a fair or sound deal. A misallocation of national resources, misplaced loyalty of sort.