Recognition and verification of foreign talent qualifications

Read recently that some organizations are starting to verify the degrees of foreign talents here. Some have been doing it for quite some times. The problems of forged or fake foreign degrees is not so simply verified by a check with the institutions issuing the degrees. Knowing the ingenuity and laxity of third world countries, many such verifications are just a waste of time. You would need a more robust and reliable verification procedure agreed upon by both countries and the institutions of higher learnings. This has to be seriously done as the damage and stupidity of hiring fakes and idiots to be bosses of our world class university graduates is so ridiculous and it is just a laughing stock.

The other related problem with recognition of foreign degrees is the quality or validity of such degrees. Are the institution issuing the degrees respectable and the teachings of good quality. A good yardstick would be our local universities. Are they equivalent or are they just crabby? Can imagine we put so much emphasis on the quality of our institutions of higher learning and the tedious and strenuous learning processes our students have to go through only to be rubbished by rubbish from rubbish universities.

Did the Govt sign agreements with foreign govts to accept their degrees of all colours and stripes to work here and to kick the butts of our very own students from our best universities? Can this really be the case? Our top grade students ended up working for pariah graduates from pariah institutions, or fakes? Do we have to live with such sick jokes? And this is not a joke when our children are adversely affected.

The other shitty about such agreements is that our graduates would not want to apply for shitty jobs in shitty countries. So it is a non issue. It is shitty countries that want all their shitty graduates to be accepted here and be recognized as the equals if not better than out graduates. How silly?

Jason Chee, nothing will be enough for you

Eng Hen visited Jason Chee in the high dependency ward in Changi General Hospital. Jason, a naval Military Expert, lost both his limbs, a hand and left with a right arm with only two fingers when he was caught in a winch while on duty. He has lost practically everything while serving the Navy.

This is the price our young people paid for serving the nation, losing limbs and lives. Eng Hen has promised that Mindef will provide long term support for Jason. A little consolation knowing how expensive medicare is here. But nothing can be enough for Jason. He is going to struggle through life in all physical aspects and the emotions and depression that are going to accompany him for the rest of his life.

Not only will he bear the pain, his parents and relations will have to bear with him. The price of being a citizen and serving the nation in uniform can be very heavy. There is nothing anyone can do to give Jason back his normal life. Nothing.

Vincent Wijeysingha and Alex Au - Be sued or apologise

Within one day we witnessed two bloggers, one an aspiring politician and another a social activist, being issued with legal letters threatening to sue them if they did not remove what they posted and apologise to the purportly victims of their articles. Both admitted that they have posted things that are defamatory in nature. Both are also tertiary educated and are not the kopitiam gossipers that would shoot first and think later. They might know what they have posted were defamatory, or they did not and only knew about its defamatory nature after being threatened with a law suit.

What is material is that they got what they wanted to say across, in the social media and had their messages read and understood. The points were made, rightly or wrongly, truth or untruth does not matter any more.

On the part of their target victims, the latter had the options not to react, to do nothing or to threaten to sue and demand an apology. Not doing anything would be welcomed by those who believe in ‘freedom of speech’. It would also allow certain statements being made against them and by nothing responding, some may believe they are truths. By reacting, like suing, some may see it as a defense of their dignity and integrity. Some may see it as being overly sensitive and bullying. This could look bad in a way.

For those who wrote defamatory statements, by admitting so, does it mean that the statements are untrue and that they were making false accusations? When people have done wrong and when exposed, the whistle blower is just telling the truth and cannot be threatened or sued for defamation. The customers of the underaged prostitute, or those who admitted to have indiscretions, cannot sue anyone for saying these facts. In this sense, people who withdrew their defamatory statements were saying that what they said were untrue. Tiok boh?

So, for all that Vincent Wijeysingha and Alex Au had written, now that they had withdrawn the articles and apologised, it was all a hoax, no element of truth in them. Like the judge in the courts will now tell the jury to ignore whatever that were spoken as they were not relevant to the case. A better case would be to sue the whistle blower even if it is true as long as the whistle blower did not have the money to fight the lawsuit. That is the best kind of justice that money can buy.

What do you think?

Force to get married for a flat

Disappointed relatives and a mortified Ken demanded to know if there was a “third party”. Yes there was!

You could put it like this – the third party was HDB. I feel like I was forced to decide to get married early because if I waited until I was, say, 30 and ready to settle down, to wait another three to four years to get a BTO flat would leave me no time to start a family. Everyone told me that Ken and I had to hurry up and apply for a flat together and then quickly get married once the flat application was successful,” said Janice, who just started work as an accountant last year….

Marriage counsellors here say Janice is not alone. All three marriage counsellors Yahoo! Singapore spoke to said that cases of young women and men backing out of marriage at the last minute are on the rise by as much as two times in the past two years – and most cases were because they were not ready but were forced to commit in order to secure a home in advance.
Says Mdm A. De Souza, 42, who, with her husband, has been counselling couples for ten years at a religious organization:…

I would say that I am now seeing at least double the number of such troubled brides. It used to be that most of them split up just before because of third party issues or quarrels over financial matters, but now it’s always “I wasn’t ready” and “I felt forced because of my flat”.
It’s a serious problem – these young people are so worried about practical concerns like getting a home that they neglect the most important question – are they emotionally prepared?

The above is extracted from Runaway brides in Singapore: Janice’s story (part 1).

This is a very serious development that the super talents obviously have missed out. The public flat, or housing, is such a crucial factor in the lives of Sinkies that they are being forced to do things, make very important life decisions, compromise their lives, all because of the housing policies. Housing must not become the sole determinant of the people’s lives and squeezing so much money from the people. It is a very bad policy.

This is the same as the having more baby policy. It discards all the good reasons for having babies but focussed on the babies as another digit to the big economic growth formula. The policy makers just ignore the interests of the parents and the babies, their financial and psychological problems in having babies. Just have babies because the Govt wants more babies for economic growth.

And for housing, which is a major responsibility of the Govt, it arrogantly took the position that it could do whatever it wants, dictate to the people, and make the people go crazy, begging to have the chance to buy a public flat at all cost. Their welfare and well being are not a consideration to the Govt. You want a flat, you play by all the sick rules they made.

How’s that for paying millions for super talents in charge of your lives, to mess up your lives and squeeze as much money as they can from you? Getting married not because the people wanted to or are ready for it, but because of a flat! Making babies not because they want to or have the financial resources and mental state of mind to want to have babies, because the Govt says so!

The people are being reduced to numbers and objects of the economy, not living human beans.

School days over for Morgan.

There was no room for advancement to Pre University level. At 16, he was to enter the world of working adults. He should count himself lucky. Many of his childhood friends had been working in the kopitiams after PSLE. That was quite a normal route of progress at a time when living was casual and natural. There was no grief or pain for becoming a kopi kia and doing odd job as labourers.

Morgan already had his offer, as a bouncer in a bar in some corners of Balestier Road. He was big and strong enough for the job. There was no need for any application to write. He was handpicked or head hunted by one of the triad boss that he met while frequenting the bars.

Though Morgan’s highest standard passed was not even PSLE but completed Secondary 4, he turned down the bouncer’s offer. He was to lead a team of salesmen to distribute Van Houten and Nestle products. The father of his brother in law happened to be one of the Three Oxes of Tanglin. The ward of Tanglin was shared by these three seniors of the area. They were the bosses that operated the underground trades, bars, gambling, prostitution, etc etc. The job offered to Morgan was like godsend. How many who failed the Senior Cambridge Examination could enjoy such good fortunes of landing two jobs on their lap, without lifting a finger to write an application letter?

The supervisor job came with a decent income and a mini van as his personal vehicle. Life was good for a 16 year old. And life began at night, in the bars of Balestier, Jalan Besar and Geylang. Drinking and smoking and merry making with his salesmen and new found friends every night was Morgan’s routine. Daylight was spent in his office in a prewar house in Kuok Road that served also as a warehouse for his sweets, chocolate and confectionary goods.

Kuok Road was a busy street especially during lunch hours. Traffic was heavy as it was a favourite haunt for food in one of the lanes behind the old Orchard Wet Market, the present Robinson Shopping Centre. Morgan’s first encounter with the power of the triad bosses came when one of his salesmen reported his goods being stolen from his van. The vans were normally parked along side the shophouses for loading and unloading. Apparently someone found the unattended vans easy target. It was a short distance from the warehouse. It would take a couple of minutes for moving the goods in and out of the warehouse. This was good enough to walk by to lift a few boxes of free chocolates or merchandise.

The matter was raise with his father in law. A stakeout was arranged. The loading and unloading went on as usual. The thief struck but was bundled into a waiting van by a few men in double quick time. He was never seen or heard of again. With such powerful friends in the background, life was easy for Morgan. He spent his free time inside the warehouse practising his nanchaku, made famous by Bruce Lee.

Lunch time was noisy and busy in Kuok Lane. One such routine afternoon was interrupted by the shouting of Ah Siong’s voice. Ah Siong was a childhood friend of Morgan and share the same academic achievements with flying colours. Morgan roped him in as a salesman. Morgan went out to check the commotion. Ah Siong’s van was in the middle of the road and a Datsun was in a parking lot he was attempting to back into. Apparently the Datsun driver drove head on into the slot while Ah Siong was attempting to reverse into it. Ah Siong was there first and he related the incident to Morgan. ‘Get out’, Morgan pointed to the driver. This was ignored and the driver walked off. He was stopped by Morgan who told him in a harsher tone, ‘Get out or else…’

By then the driver too was getting agitated. He waved a card at Morgan and shouted that he was a police officer. Morgan was not to be intimidated and snatched at the card. The plain clothed police officer withdrew his card swiftly. Morgan moved in at great speed, a skill he learnt while being a national fencer. It was followed by a lightning punch that connected the officer’s jaw. He spun around, dropped and hit the road. Before Morgan could make further attacks, he heard the slamming of doors of another car behind him. Out came several police officers in plain clothes.

The officers were there for lunch and were furious that Morgan attacked one of them. One stretched out to grab Morgan, wanting to drag him into their car. This was blocked by Morgan’s oversized arm and the officer gave an ‘ouch’ cry as his arm was thrown off. While the officers kept threatening Morgan to go with them, Morgan coolly swaggered into his office, lighting a cigarette along the way. Then he warned the officers not to step into his office. He told the officers to send a marked police car if they wanted him to go to the station.

A moment of truce and silence took over from the noisy shouting and threatening voices. The crowd gathered to watch the excitement. Ah Siong and the other drivers also retreated into the warehouse. All of them were shivering in their pants and wondering how the matter would turn into. It was a serious matter to strike at a police officer. They were more frightened when the police car came to whisk Morgan away. They could only think of the worst. The police of the time were noted for being tough with the criminals and the triad members. Entering a police station, in the hands of the law, getting manhandled and rough up were the normal courtesy extended to their uninvited visitors. In this instance, Morgan was likely to be given a good bashing for his thoughtless attack on their comrade in arms. Beating a police officer was unheard of in those days, or even today.  Morgan must have gone bonkers. It was senseless and reckless.

Morgan beating up a police officer was hot news. It went ‘viral’ and the whole underworld came to know about it. They laughed at the stupidity of this new kid in the block and expected Morgan to be taught a good lesson for it. At least, Morgan was famous in the wrong way, a notoriety in the underworld of triads and hoodlums.

Morgan sat waiting at a table in the backroom of Tanglin Police Station at the junction of Orchard Road and Scots Road where Ion now stood. Soon a tough and gangster looking officer came and plunged himself on the table in front of Morgan. He stared down at Morgan, slammed his palm onto the table. It was their way of shattering the light out of any wrong doers. Short of lifting Morgan up in the air to shake him out, this was the best he could do. At 18, Morgan was big and not an easy thing to lift even for a well built man.

Morgan was not impressed or startled. It was a test of grit and will. Seeing that his antics had no effect, the officer began unbutton his shirt. The tattoos flashed out from his chest. Morgan also unbuttoned his shirt, and there were tattoos as well. Morgan also had tattoos over his arms and back. His favourite was a man leaning on a lamp post with his head bowed. This was etched on his upper left arm. Four Chinese characters below the tattoo read ‘chiat pah tan si’, or ‘eat full wait die’.

The confrontation between the officer and Morgan were more verbal and posturing, with each trying to size up the other. Morgan was allowed to make a call. (To be continued)