1/30/2014

The govt owes Sinkies a level playing field

We have been flooded with 2 million foreigners working here. We know of how these foreigners and foreign companies screwed Sinkies by discriminatory hiring practices, hiring foreigners and their own kinds. Some blatantly refused to hire Sinkies and got away with it.
 

We also know that many of these foreigners came with fake qualifications and CVs. The number in very conservative estimate can be easily 20% and could go to 50% or more.
 

The consequences of the above, many Sinkies lost their jobs and opportunities to higher appointments to these foreigners not because they were not good, but simply cheated or discriminated. The govt owes the Sinkies, jobless, underemployed and those employed a level playing field in employment and advancement opportunities, for the jobless to be employed, for the underemployed to be gainfully employed, for those employed to be appropriately employed according to their worth.
 

The govt also owes all Sinkies to ensure that the professionals in all fields that Sinkies paid for their services are genuinely qualified and not quacks. The consequences of having unqualified or fake professionals in these responsible jobs are not only about jobs but about safety and lives.
 

The off the cuff number is simply too large for comfort. It is not only disgraceful but criminal to let these fraudulent practices to continue unabated with the foreigners laughing at our idiocy, from the top to the bottom.
 

There must be immediate actions taken to rid the country of these pests. The people demand a level playing field and fair opportunities, not a fake one. It is inexcusable even for a single day of delays. It does not take 56 man years to clear up the shit and get rid of the worms and maggots in the system.

Kopi level - Green

1/29/2014

Is May 13 coming to Penang?

The forbidden use of the word Allah in Penang is being challenged by the church. It seems that the church or some churches insist on the right to use this word in the course of its practice and communication with its believers. This is angrily contested by the Muslim community who has claimed its exclusive use only by their community. Both sides are not going to compromise on this issue and now the church is being attacked by firebombs. The offensive banner that led to the bombings read, ‘Allah is great, Jesus is the son of Allah’.
 

Tension is rising very high and the threat of a May 13, which means killing the non Malays, is being used. The non Malays must take note of this and that this matter is really very serious. It is touching very sensitive nerves.
 

Anwar has stepped in to try to defuse the situation by allaying the fears of Muslims that Islam is not being threatened. The Malay Muslims are an absolute majority in Malaysia and are holding political, military and economic power, in fact all power in the state. There is never any risk that Islam will lose its dominant position as both sides of the political equation are led by the Malay Muslim leaders that are staunched followers of Islam.
 

The churches must be very careful not to push this matter too far and know when to pull away from the brink. Many innocent lives can be lost if violence breaks out. Great care must be taken and hope Anwar is able to broker an amicable settlement. The Malay Muslims will not give an inch as far as the use of Allah is concerned. The churches would have to give way unless they can call on a higher authority like the Vatican to intercede on their behalf, or God or Allah Himself.
 

Would Penang burn? Would the keris be drawn and blood flowed?

Govt can communicate better

‘The Govt can do a better job of communicating to Singaporeans the value of staying open as an economy, said Education Minister Heng Swee Kiat…,’ at the Institute of Policy Studies. This came after Hsien Loong spoke to the students at NTU on the challenges into the future.
 

A few points came through in Hsien Loong’s speech and are receiving some harsh criticism for what he said and why he said things particularly on the treatment of foreigners. For a start, the hostile spontaneous outcry against Anton Casey was not a lynch mob. The comparison is too extreme. For those who did not read American history, a lynch mob often consisted of a bunch of white supremacists, many are the average white Americans like the netizens, dragging a nigger, and hung him on a tree with a lasso around his neck. This is called mob lynching. And the crime could be more petty than what Anton did, or very serious, like running away from slavery.
 

Bad communication is not just about using bad examples. What is bad about lecturing to Sinkies on the need to treat foreigners well here is that it was not the fault of Sinkies but Sinkies being lectured like it was their fault. What the anger was about is that the Sinkies are expecting the govt to speak to the foreigners, nicely and politely of course, but in no uncertain terms, that this is our country and they are guests here. Be sensitive to the natives and do not insult the natives while having a good life here. I am not using locals because locals include PRs.
 

The people expect the govt to tell the foreigners to behave or else. The least the people expect is to get a lecture from the govt to behave. Now, what is not said but communicated to the foreigners are: Sinkies are at fault, Sinkies are rude to foreigners, over reacting and need to be told to behave. The antics of Anton, well never mind carry on, small matter. Sinkies will get use to it and will live with it after a while. Foreigners should feel good and welcome, like Anton.
 

Do the foreigners need to be told to reflect on their bad manners and attitude? I think this is very bad communication, sending the wrong signal and wrong message. The Sinkies are angry again for getting a scolding when they expect the scolding to be aimed at cocky and rude foreigners.

Kopi level - Yellow

Family institution dysfunctional

Do we still have this institution called family? Many of the oldies do not seem to have such an institution that is supposed to take care of them and their needs at old age. Ok there are exceptions for some oldies with huge extended families. No need to know about the rich as they will take care of themselves very well with or without the family institution. The oldies in charity homes and those living on their own or with friends cannot fall back on the family to support them. Some may be too comfortable financially to prefer to live in the richness of a retirement village minus the family institution.

Many who are seeking financial assistance from the govt have been told to seek support from their kins, their family ties. In reality this is not so simple. Not many families have millions in their savings and could spare a few dimes for their kins in distress. Many families are struggling to make ends meet and have a load of problems of their own.

One thing for sure, the aid givers or dispensers would never be able to understand why the children or siblings are so heartless to leave their kins in need to the state. It is beyond them until the day they fell into the same shoe.

The family institution is there but not there for another reason. And this will get worst with the new generations. What kind of family institution can one be talking about when there is one, or maybe two children in a family? The small nuclear family often fell victims to circumstances through many things that would break up the little family tree, natural casualty and calamity, financial hardship or simply living too far apart or emigration.

Since the days of Stop At Two, the role of family institution had been undermined and clobbered to death. But the old mindset of social workers and even politicians remains unchanged, thinking that there is this great family institution that could provide a big umbrella to protect those who need protection.

The family as an institution is about as good as it is among the Malay families when a household could have four or more children. The tragedies of broken families aside, the Malay families still could fall back on the family institution in better shape than the other communities.

It is time to take stock of the relevance of the family institution as a social support network for the people. It is there but not there. If there, many are too small to make a difference when faced with a very high cost of living. The family institution is as good as defunct, consigned to the museum as a memory of the past.

It is easy to bring up children when the cost of living is low. It is easy to look after parents too, and better still with many siblings. When the cost of living is high, extremely high, when there are no siblings to lend a helping hand, it is tough to look after the seniors. The new sandwiched class is going to face a monumental financial wall to look after their parents and children. Caveat, this does not affect the rich.

In the not too distant future people will be asking, where is the family, where is the family support, or may totally forgotten that there was such an institution.


Kopi level - Yellow

1/28/2014

From peanut to kachang puteh

$600k is only peanut is passé. Rich Sinkies are playing with bigger and bigger numbers. I was in this car park and my friend pointed to me two gleaming Rolls Royce parked side by side. Hardly used. The owner is likely to have a fleet of sports cars to swoosh around town. I know someone who sold his house for more than $20m and the buyer did not even bother to take a look at the property. His agent bought it on his behalf and the only thing that he was interested is the parking space inside the property for more than 15 cars. He needed the space for his toy cars.
 

To these rich people, it is common for them to mutter, ‘What is $10m?’ Money is aplenty in the island. A $600k peanut is really nothing. Today it is about $672m kachang puteh. Yes, kachang puteh is smaller than a peanut. But with so much money in people’s hand, $672m is nothing more than a kachang puteh. That is the amount that we want to give to IMF. No need to think what the amount could do for our citizens. Giving away $50m is just not the right thing to do, too little to befit our dignity. Not sure this is an annual contribution or one time layout. Need to check on this.
 

The value of money is relative. To the thrifty, a papaya is worth something. To the very rich, a few hundred millions are nothing? Better still if it is OPM. Spend until ‘song song’, damn ‘tua kang’.
 

A stretch of road can cost $4.3b, a fake garden another billion or more. Don’t ever complain about a 10c increase in transport fare. No time to bother with such an insignificant amount. It is meaningless, does not worth mentioning. A waste of time! What is 10c? Oops, I mean what is a few hundred million?
 

How much do you want? How much do you want to give away? I want a kachang puteh.