Stylo mylo Vivian in Parliament

The most impressive part of the 10 minutes broadcast on Parliament after the news last night was all about Vivian. At least that was the only thing I could remember. He was a class of his own. He dressed very well, dressed to kill, looked very good and spoke damn well. Indeed he was a very polished debater. He peppered his lecture in Parliament with well measured tone and body language. This is fine art. Great stuff. I gave him full marks for presentation.
 
When he was speaking the floor listened intently in silence. No one moved. Hsien Loong and all the ministers were there, in deep thoughts, listening or maybe thinking very hard about something else more important, that I am not sure.
 
It would be nice to know what were in their minds. Were they so impressed and overawed by the articulate performance of Vivian, the smooth talking minister? Or were they thinking that he should cut it off as such matters of ‘I said this, he said that, I am more honourable, he is not, he is lying, she is untruthful’, though well executed, should be said somewhere else and not in Parliament?
 
It is really interesting to know what were in the minds of the ministers and MPs then. Unfortunately there will be no answers to this. But overall it was a great performance by Vivian. In oratory skills, none in Parliament could come close to him. His parting shot to Low Thia Khiang was superb one upmanship, a little patronizing, but he got away with it.

Dependency Syndrome in Sin City

Sinkies have often and regularly been bashed for having a Dependency Syndrome, always depending on the Govt to do the right thing or to offer a little charity.
 
This sickness is deep and widespread, from the bottom to the top. The worst affected are those right at the top, thinking and living dependency instead of being self reliant.
No, don’t get me wrong. The people in general are very hardworking and are depending on themselves to make a living or to eke a living. Look at the oldies parading the roads and those in the foodcourts? They know that they have to depend on themselves, not the Govt. Some even got their savings ‘gantong’ or confiscated in the name of ‘for their own good’. So they continue to struggle to live on. Self reliant, though they could live a bit better if their CPF can be released to them and not held at ransom by all the minimum sum schemes just in case they need to use them.
 
Yes, the sickness is affecting the people right at the top. Still don’t get it? They want sports talents, where do you think they are looking? Of course they are looking elsewhere for foreigners to bring us the medals. Is this not dependency on foreigners?
And sports is only a very small part of this Dependency Syndrome. The whole economy is dependent on foreigners. Our population growth is also dependent on foreigners. We cannot reproduce, so bring in the foreigners to make up the numbers. 6.9m to be made up for by bringing in more foreigners.
 
Now we can’t even create jobs for ourselves. We need the foreigners to be here to create jobs for us. We tempt and invite millionaires and billionaires to be here and hopefully they can drop a few morsels from their tables for us. We hope that they can create jobs and opportunities for our people, open doors for us.
 
Is this not Dependency Syndrome then what is? Why are we so dependent on foreigners for everything? Why can’t we be self reliant and do things for ourselves, create jobs for our own people by ourselves?
 
Coveting thy neighbour’s wife and talent and belongings? We do not want to work anymore if we can bring in foreign talents to work for us. The Govt has shifted from having go getters going out there to fight for jobs to one that is praying that foreigners will be here to help us. It openly said so. We need foreigners to create jobs for us.

Crocodile population increasing

There used to be one, and then two crocodiles in Sungei Buloh Wetland. Last Sunday I was there and I counted 6, two adults, two young adults and two baby crocodiles. The river is rich in fish and is a very safe and fertile sanctuary for the crocodiles to breed. At the rate the crocodiles are breeding, soon there will be a football team and then many football teams.
 
At the moment things are pretty quite, a lull before the storm. The crocodiles are free swimmers and could get out of the wetland into the surrounding areas when children and beach goers frequented. The closest is the mouth of the embanked Kranji River where there is a popular beach for picnickers. And if there is some nasty incidents waiting to happen, this must be the first spot to happen.
 
I hope the Parks and Recreation Dept is watching this development and has put in place some monitoring and control measures to check on the crocodiles before they snap their jaws on some children or human beans.
 
This is clear and present danger. Let’s hope a committee is formed now to tackle this potential threat and not after someone lost a leg or his life. Crocodiles are nice to watch from the comfort of elevated bridges or ground. But they can turn very nasty and the damage is beyond just regrettable.
 
Immediate action is needed from the ministry in charge. Maybe no ministry is in charge. Or maybe there are more immediate problems to tackle and this has yet to be a problem. No one got bitten by a crocodile yet. Would those in charge of catching pythons and wild boars be the best to take care of this problem akan datang? Maybe someone can give them a call. Maybe better to wait until the haze and dengue problems are solved before bringing this matter up.

Hawker Centre cleaning – Politics is about scoring political points

It is amazing but not surprising that the cleaning of a hawker centre and who should pay for it could drag on for months and wasting so much of Parliament’s time and the time of Ministers and MPs.
 
Should not this be a simple case of administrative procedures? The cleaning of a hawker centre is not something new and has been going on for years. All the precedents are there as to whether the hawkers should pay or it is part of the cost that the hawkers have been paying monthly.
 
is this dragging on and on, and after yesterday’s Parliament session it does not seem to end and many more months of scratching at each other will go on. Is this an in thing, to bitch over such issues in Parliament when it should have been settled over a few meetings in the Minister’s office or in the Town Council?
 
But of course, this is all about politics, about scoring political points, about integrity, about being honourable, about bitching in Parliament over an administrative and procedural matter, and about everything and about nothing.
 
Should the Speaker of Parliament tell the contending parties to sort it out over a meeting outside Parliament? Or should the issue continue to be aired in Parliament to see who is the more honourable one or who has more integrity over this matter? Or is Parliament a venue to see who is better in debating?

What do you want?

Sinkies are most happy when their property prices keep going up. Sinkies are even happier when they own more and more properties. Sinkies are happiest when they look at their bank accounts and see the number of zeros behind the digits keep growing.
 
Are these what Sinkies are happy about? Would Sinkies be happy to have more babies and children in their homes? The Govt think so but for the wrong reasons. There are different kinds of joy in life. Some want more money and properties, some want more power, some want more children. What do Sinkies want?
 
The way it is going, many will leave this world without having children or maybe one or two. Many may want to have more as having children is another kind of happiness, another kind of wealth that money cannot buy. Many Sinkies spent a lot of money going on holidays, visiting this place and that place, taking photographs of the places they visited. Some choose to stay at home to enjoy their children and grandchildren. Different interest, different joy, different happiness.
The govt also want children but of an unrelated kind. Strangers from all over the world are welcomed just to push up the economy, for economic growth. Is that a really good thing or a foolish thing to do?
 
While the social economic system in the country is designed to make the citizens childless or unbearable to have children, and the Govt could not understand why, and choose to import foreigners for economic growth that brings little or no joy to having your very own children and family, and the joy of seeing them grow.
 
Is there something not right somewhere? What is the purpose of this country if it is not to make the people, the citizens, happy and enjoy a fruitful life of abundance, not only in owning more and more expensive properties, but also having more children and a growing family?
 
Many will end up leaving behind all their material riches, money and properties, with no children to inherit them. When they pass away, it is all over. What is life and what do we live and strive a life time for? Some are contented that they lived well and do not bother after children after they are gone. It is life, our lives, not the lives of foreigners and people that have nothing to do with us. As a country, the Govt should be talking and thinking about how to make lives worth living in this island for its citizens, and having children and happy children must be a major goal in living. What is the point of having so many properties when there is no one going to live in them when the owners die? Oops, we shall invite the foreigners to take over this island and everything there is in it. 

Is that the purpose of it all?
 
I am just rumbling.