We are Singaporeans, not opposition

In an article posted in TRE, a blogger by the name of Albert posted this…
 
‘ Honestly, I see so much hypocrisy in the PAP. While I applaud the courage of Tan Chuan Jin to be willing to stick out his neck to listen and then do something, but I don’t think he alone is able and is enough to save face for the ruling party. I think the damage is done and the trust in the PAP among many professionals in Singapore that I know has long been broken.
 
I am also beginning to think that if the 6.9 million population resulted in Singaporeans becoming the minority, does it really make sense for our children to serve national service in future. Just to clarify, I was a proud national serviceman before who was willing to serve and defend the people of Singapore because I know the leaders like LKY, GKS, and Rajaratnam then truly believed in building a nation for the good of Singaporeans.
 
I really have a lot of doubts today because the policies and practices of the current leaders do not seem to point in this direction, unfortunately!....’
 
This is the kind of sentiment that is gaining momentum in a nation divided, a people feeling unwanted and rejected. Oops, can’t say this about the top 20% that are getting richer every day and joining the list of multi millionaires. But there are 80% of the losers whose views and interests may not mean anything or can be ignored, so some may think so. For a supposedly very rich country, if the majority of the people are feeling this way, it cannot be good and the well being of the country cannot last long.
 
This Albert is saying what the silent majority may not say or could not say, but feeling the same way. The people are disillusioned and are crying in silence, in alternative or social media. And sadly, these cries are seen as ‘OPPOSITION’. But these people are Singaporeans who want a better life for themselves and their children. They are not OPPOSITION, for goodness sake. They are falling victims to a society that is getting richer but running away from them. They are trying to catch up but gasping for air. And to make matter worse, they seen themselves being replaced by foreigners who are here having a good time taking over good paying jobs from the citizens.
 
And more sad, or sadderer, the people who are falling behind see a govt that is not doing anything or not doing enough while their good lives are petering away. Is this a myth or real? If it is real, it is very dangerous as the govt will be bungled out without knowing why unless the govt has a secret formula to keep winning elections. If it is a myth, that the lives of the people are really getting better, it is still bad as the govt will still be bungled out at the next election, cause the people don’t think so. The govt can only hope that the whole thing is not real, and the kpkb is only a minority, from the opposition and trying to stir unhappiness. The noise can be ignored as it is not important.
 
Are these people OPPOSITION or just ordinary citizens that are unhappy with their plight, and unhappy with the govt? The govt can ignore the opposition but it cannot ignore the citizens. Unfortunately the 6.9m population issue and the influx of foreigners to replace Singaporeans in good jobs say that the govt is not interested in what the people are saying.
 
So be it. Never mind if NS men do not feel proud about being NS men and the duty to serve NS.

Only $15 more for the right baby

Now this must be the most comforting news that I have read so far. According to a report in a local Chinese paper yesterday, mothers delivering their babies could be assured that the babies they are carrying home are their very own babies by paying an additional $15. This amount is really nothing knowing that the whole child delivering procedure could cost several thousand dollars. The paper did not mention which hospital is charging this additional fee or whether it a govt private hospital or a private hospital. It is like after paying this fee, there will be additional effort or procedure to monitor the correct baby for the correct mother.
 
It is also good to know that it is better late than never. They could have introduced this long ago and be applicable to all the hospitals, private or govt, if there is a problem.
Is there a problem? Millions of babies have been borne and grown up over the years. Wait a minute, you know what I am thinking of? Anyone who thinks he/she does not resemble his/her parents, uh oh. The DNA department is going to be swarmed with such requests and business is going to be good.
 
How many people will be having sleepless night wondering, just wondering. And a word of caution, do not be paranoid about this, don’t panic. It could just because some mothers are being a bit more kiasu and wanted that little bit more assurance.
 
All is fine, I am sure. This is a very reassuring piece of news, must be. $15 for peace of mind.

PS: KKH has confirmed that it was the hospital mentioned by Lianhe Wanbao and that it does not charge extra for the use of Radio Frequency Identification System. It was incorrectly reported by the media.

Asia geopolitics – who balances who?

The American Empire has been the sole military super power in the world since the end of WW2. It has dominated every corner of the earth just like the British did once. There was no rival after the collapse of the USSR. The Soviet Union came quite close to balance the overpowering presence of the Americans but fizzled out.
 
Today there is still no country in the world that could pose any serious challenge to the American Empire. With its naval fleets and nuclear arsenal it can simply knock off anyone standing in its way. Why is the western media filled with comments like the Americans are moving back to Asia to balance the growing military power of China? China was not a military power, and even today it is just a new power gasping to catch up with the American Empire militarily, but not going to catch up in at least another 100 years.
 
Is the rise of China and its growing military clout a balance to the American Empire or the American Empire and its pivot to Asia a balance to China? Who is balancing who? Whose dominance is now being challenged and being balanced? Asean and Asian countries should be grateful that there is now a strong China to stop the Empire from turning the region into another Middle East. They should be grateful that the Empire could not do regime change in the region as it pleases because there is a China to say no, or at least a China in the equation to put the Empire on check.
 
Without a strong China to balance the Evil Empire, North Korea would have been gone, Iran would have gone too, Pakistan and Myanmar could go as well. And countries like Indonesia and Malaysia would be on the watchlist and could also be on the listed among the Axis of Evil and be under constant threats of regime change.
 
The daft countries could not appreciate the importance in the rise of China to their security, economic and political well being. China needs not do anything, but its presence is enough to keep the Evil Empire sane and to adopt a less ruthless and unyielding policy towards countries in these the region. Just think what it would be like if there is not a strong China in the way of the Evil Empire. Asian and Asean countries should count their blessing that there is a China to balance the Evil American Empire.

Now you know why Obama is paid so little

He could not get his Obamacare past Congress and the US govt has to shut down. What kind of leader is that? He should take his Air Force One and head for Changi and then make a trip to meet the Oracle. And this time the Oracle will send him to meet Hsien Loong for a solution.
 
And the solution is so simple. Just make it compulsory, like our Medishield Life. Problem solved immediately. And if Obama still cannot figure out how to do it, we can loan him Gan Kim Yong and his team, at a fee of course, unless Obama want to make a trip to Japan to learn and work out the formula himself.
 
We don’t pay our ministers the kind of money for nothing. Solving national problem is our minister’s forte. The Americans can adopt our 3M medicare system whole sale. Oops, now it is 4M, with Medishield Life. The Americans have their own 3M but that business would not help except to tape together broken pieces.
 
The American Embassy here is also sleeping. They should send a coded message to Obama immediately, Top Priority, to visit the Oracle before it is too late. But makes sure the message is not intercepted by Wikileak. It can be embarrassing for sure.

Malaysian EPF paying 6% interest

The Malaysian EPF has been consistently paying an interest rate of between 5 to 6% for the last 10 years. How is this compares to our 2.5% and 4% interest rates paid by CPF? Damn shiok right?
 
Now how could the Malaysians do it? They employed fund managers and so did our govt. They are likely to invest in a basket of financial products like us. It would be the greatest joke if their investments are chalking better returns than our world best fund managers. They could not be doing anything too different from us. Cannot be right? How then could they pay that kind of interest rates for so many years?
 
It would be patronizing to assume that their returns are lower than ours and still able to pay higher interest rates. Let’s be fair and presume that both perform just as well in ROIs. So, if the Malaysians are paying higher returns to their EPF owners, then the fund managers must be getting much lesser in salary and bonuses or they are returning everything they earned to their fund holders.
 
I think this is it. They did not engaged world best fund managers at world best pay, so the savings could count a lot and could end up paying better returns to their EPF owners. Explaining it in this way is not too complimentary to our fund managers. Our fund managers must be better and making better returns for the money they are being paid. And the lower pay out could or might be due to other reasons that we are not privy to.
 
Overall, it must be value for money. If we are paying so much we must be getting more in return. Tio Boh? But still doesn’t answer the discrepancy that the EPF can pay so much but with our world best talents our CPF are paying so little.