Insurance schemes – When conscience pricks

Han Fook Kwang politely asked a few questions in his column with the title, ‘Insurers should treat customers better’. He just received a notice by his insurer that the premium for his medical insurance would be doubled to keep pace with the changing landscape of medical insurance. The Medishield Life, before even being implemented, is already showing its true colours and claiming its first casualty. Everyone, got money no money, life worth living or unworthy of living, healthy or unhealthy, young and old, there is no where to run. Get your cash ready to pay and pay for your medical insurance.

Han Fook Kwang wants the insurers to explain why should be the premium be raised and doubled. He expects a little civility like informing the payers and talking to the payers. He only asked to be treated better.

Wait a moment, is he compelled to pay for his private medical insurance? In a way, since he has been paying for several years and changing an insurer is not the convenient thing to do so for people with the money to pay. His main worry is the road ahead. How often would this doubling of premiums be done as he ages and when he retires and there is no income? He theoretically has another 30 years to pay and each doubling of premiums can be awesome. And mind you, Han Fook Kwang is no ordinary average Sinkie. If he is concerned, the average Sinkies with no savings, no jobs and no income are going to have an interesting time paying for compulsory Medishield Life. They can avoid the private insurers but not the one that would use the law to force them to buy insurance and to pay for it.

Now the bigger question, can anyone, even the govt, force the people to buy and pay a life time of insurance premiums? Do the people have a choice not to buy medical insurance? There are people who do not wish to live another day longer and a medical condition is welcomed to take them out of the drudgery of a meaningless and moneyless life.

Han Fook Kwang asked the rights of the insurers to suka suka raise premiums. But he has a choice to stop his medical policy if the price is not right. Do the rest of the people have the choice to say no? Why are the people being forced to pay against their will for something they do not want?

Did the people vote for a govt to compel them to buy medical insurance for life, for a life not worth living and when they don’t have any income or savings to pay for?

Does anyone see anything wrong with this concept of forcing people to buy medical insurance? Next time they may even force you to buy your coffin beforehand or pay for your cremation and a place at the columbarium.

This is the only country where an elected govt, not a dictatorship mind you, could suka suka decide how to spend the people’s money, to compel them to buy things that they did not want or wish to. And it thinks it has the right to do so. Anyone understand the meaning of daylight robbery?

I think it is kind of a habit. When the people get used to it, when the govt gets used to it, it becomes a new normal, to make things compulsory for the people to pay. Not paying becomes an offence or a crime. All those who cannot pay will become automatic criminals, violators of the law.

What’s happening Thailand

Thailand is seeing a nation crippled when anti govt forces strutted around like they own the country and given the blessing to protest, to riot and to bring down a popularly elected govt. And the govt just cannot do anything as any attempt to stop the mass protest is likely to lead to violence and gives the military the excuse to declare martial law.

This leaves only the military to bring peace and order to the country. And for whatever reason, the military chooses not to do anything while the police knew they must not do anything as their very action is being watched by the military and waiting to pounce on them. Is the military under some sort of order not to act?

The biggest anti govt protest is now scheduled to bring down the govt on Monday. The Yellow Shirts are all ready on a do or die battle. The rich elite and office workers have no fear of death or injury should violence breaks out. Hope it stays that way. The Red Shirts comprising farmers and the poorer Thais have been staying away and avoiding a clash are now faced with a no option. For them not to do anything will see Bangkok and the govt brought to a standstill, a state of shutdown and finally the removal of Yingluck govt.

They too know that it is time to act if they want the govt to stay in power, if they want democracy to survive. With both sides taking a position that they have to fight against each other, how would Bangkok become, how many lives are waiting to be sacrificed for the cause of who? The masterminds are adamant in wanting to push this through and the innocent and ignorant masses will become the sacrificial lamb.

Thailand is divided. Thailand has never been so divided in this way when there is no other way out. Unless those in power step in to defuse this confrontation, one can safely conclude that there will be a bloody clash next week. The grandpas and grandmas and the children and babies better avoid joining the crowd as it is not going to be a tea party. Suthep has called his movement a revolution. No revolution has succeeded without bloodshed and martyrs.

The blood letting had started in the last couple of days. This is despite the Red Shirts avoiding a direct confrontation with the Yellow Shirts. They have announced that they would protest away from the Yellow Shirts to avoid a clash. It would not work. The people who wanted bloodshed to provoke a military intervention would see to it that people would be shot and die. Who would do such an act of treason against its own people? The Yingluck govt and the Red Shirts know very well to keep peace, to avoid any violence. But violence will be created for sure, and people will be shot, will die.

So strange that the Thais are so happy to walk down this road of violence that would never heal after the event. Can anyone predict the death toll and what will come out of this if it becomes a full fledge street battle? Or do they believe that with a few hundred thousand protesters on each side facing each other there will be no violence? Anything can be fabricated by the puppet master. Who is responsible or irresponsible for letting this to happen? And the law enforcers seem so hapless or not their business, and waiting to see how it all goes.

Will Bangkok burn?

A President with little dignity

Like all presidents, he does not have many things to do. He is a part time farmer and lives in a farm with his wife and a dog named Manuel, the only 3 legged thing around him. He attends meetings or meets other presidents and prime ministers in a casual shirt and a pair of sandals. Of course he owns a car, an old Volkswagen beetle that could be probably half his age. His only trapping of power are two security guards outside along the road to his farm house. There was a palace for him but he did not deem fit to occupy such an extravagant place.

And because he practically has not much to do as presidents often do, he is only paid and equivalent of S$12,000 a month. And because he knew that he did not do much he probably feels ashamed to take that money. So he donated 90% of the money to charity. No, he did not attend charity shows to raise fund, to make other people donate money to charity in his name so that he can use his fat salary to buy houses and more houses. When 90% of his $12,000 is donated, there is not much money left for himself and his wife. So they grow flowers to sell in the market to earn some pocket money.

President Jose Mujica of Uruguay is no meek and spineless individual. He was a guerilla fighter, fought for freedom of his people, not against his people. He was imprisoned twice and shot 6 times for trying to escape.

Though he is a hero in Uruguay, he is unlikely to have much dignity in countries when a person’s worth is measured in how much he is taking home, no matter if he is working or not, no matter if he is deserving of the money he takes. This is a simple man with simple dignity and earns an honest day’s work, with his own dignity, and to be honoured by his people as a national hero. You can say that every cents paid to him is worth it.

Singapore worried about Finlayson squirrel

This is a foreign specie squirrel that was imported by pet lovers and could have been let out or escaped into the wild.  Presumably this was an accidental act without knowing the consequences when the squirrels multiply and took over the parks and forests. No one see that far to think that the local squirrels would be in danger in the long run. The Finlaysons are found in Bidadari that is scheduled for redevelopment. The nature enthusiasts are concerned that they would be driven to other parts and threaten the existence of local species of squirrels. What makes the Finlayson squirrel a menace is that these foreigners are more aggressive and could replace the meek local species.

What the nature enthusiasts did not know is that the Finlayson specie has spread to other parks and not only in Bidadari. While everyone thinks they are only found in one area, they are in fact all over the island. And their numbers have grown to a size that any attempt to violate their habitat would turn them violent and they would riot against the locals.

The ignorance that there are not many around to be a threat is unbelieveable. Like the foreigners gathering in other parks of the island, they are everywhere and big in numbers. When they feel threatened, they could turn violent and devour the meek locals. The locals would be easy meat and their meek nature would surely see to their own destruction. The locals no longer know how to fight against the more aggressive and hungrier foreigners.

At least the nature enthusiasts can see the dangers these foreigners posed to the locals. The Finlaysons will keep their peace as long as they free to go on growing and expanding their population undeterred. Now, because of their size and their integration and adaptation to the local environment, they are a serious threat to the locals. They would take over the island in a matter of time and they will claim they are part of the locals.

But the true locals are oblivious to this threat. Only the people looking from the outside, like the nature enthusiasts, could understand and see the danger. It is only a matter of when, the locals will be forced out of their habitats with no resistance. They would probably feel the new specie is more deserving to live here. Ignorance is bliss.

A generation screwed

Over the last few decades, thousands of straight A students went through the mills. At least a thousand of them got straight As annually for their A level exam. How many of them could have been doctors and educated in our local unis? Oh, the capacity was only for a couple of hundreds. That’s it, nothing could be done to change this number. The rest of the straight A students either switch to other courses or, if they have rich parents, can go overseas for their medical degrees.

The situation today, our hospitals are infested with doctors from dunno where. Could these foreign doctors be as good as our straight A students? Or are they just the average, not counting those with fake qualifications? If we have not wasted our straight A students, we would have more of our best in the medical profession and at least reduce the shortfalls and need not take in doctors from God knows where and what.

For those who left on their papa mama scholarships, many would not want to return and would be lost for good. Why should they when on returning they would have to cough out a million or more to buy a decent small little private flat when they could own big landed properties overseas and a better quality of life? Why should they come home?

The number of such talents that have made homes in other countries must be pretty big. And we ended up shortchanged with you know what and from you know where.

A generation of our talented young men and women has been lost through our shortsighted policies on not educating our very best in medicine. To think of being treated by fakes or half past six doctors is really scary.