The bull of retraining PMETs

The pathetic plight of the PMETs did not happen overnight and is affecting a large pool of our PMETs. Many of them are highly qualified and experienced in their areas of expertise. Now we can hear daily diatribes and garbages about how these PMETs are not fit or did not have the skill sets to be reemployed in their fields of expertise and their jobs have to be taken over by foreigners. So the only remedy is to retrain them. I will touch on these two fallacies here, the lack of skill sets of PMETs and the retraining.
 
There is this myth that the foreigners brought in to replace our experience PMETs have the experienced and skill sets to do the job that the PMETs have been doing as the incumbent. As the incumbent he is suddenly not fit for the job? How come? And the successor, where is this turkey from and what skill sets and experience that he possesses to be able to do the job that the incumbent no longer is able to do? Think? Even if the successor comes with a string of PhDs, it does not mean he is more able to do the job when the extra qualifications and experience are irrelevant and redundant. There is no need to hire a nuclear scientist to be a technician.
 
Why are the PMETs being replaced by foreigners to easily and cannot find another similar jobs in the industry when there are hundreds of thousands of jobs being taken over by foreigners? Think. What the fuck is happening?
 
Now the retraining part. A highly experienced professional needs more training to be employable? What the fuck is that? What kind of training can one provide to a highly experienced and technically qualified professional at the peak of his career unless you are talking about a career change?
 
What career change, upgrading, promotion to a more senior level? Or training a professional to downgrade, to become a salesman, a technician in a completely new field, like a nurse or a counter sales staff or a cleaner? Why are we wasting the training and experience of these highly qualified professionals when we can offer hundreds of thousands of jobs to funny foreign talents with funny qualifications, background and experience? Are we thinking? Do we know the problem? Are we creating new problems, wasting our talent and resources to under employ our talents?
 
It is utterly foolish and idiotic that our local talents who are educated in the best educational system, universities, acquired a lot of experienced as senior managers are found no longer fit to do jobs at the same level and funny foreigners are deemed to be better. And we consigned our precious human talents, after heavy investments, to the rubbish dump at the prime of their lives, to retrain them to do non executive or low level jobs when there are so many good jobs given to foreigners.
 
The answer is to ensure that our local talents are gainfully and appropriate employed according to their expertise and experience. The foreigners should not be here to displace them. They are here to complement our shortage in skilled labour. Isn’t that the objective? Until all our PMETs are fully employed, MOM should not grant any more EPs to foreigners at the expense of our PMETs.
 
Are we crazy to retrain our PMETs to lower jobs? It is not a matter of pride but misallocation of resources. Do they believe that human resource is our most precious asset? Why are we wasting this precious resource and keep replacing them with funny foreign talents? This is like a nation of people self administering poison to kill themselves. It is economic suicide of a population of professional and talented people. 

It is euthanasia of the PMETs.

Kopi Level - RED!!!!

Write Thank You letters to the FWs

 Some of the commentators in the Talking Point discussion on integrating FWs felt they had done a good job in showing their appreciation to the FWs for building our homes and infrastructure. They wrote ‘love letters’ to thank them for helping to build Sin City into a better place for us.
 
I have served my NS and am still waiting for a ‘love letter’ from grateful Sinkies to thank me for my sacrifice to the nation, to risk breaking arms and legs, and life to defend country and the Sinkies. Is my contribution to the nation lesser than the FWs? Is the contribution of NSmen less meaningful than the FWs that no one deems fit to write them a ‘love letter’ to show how grateful they are to the NSmen?
 
Mind you, the NSmen’s sacrifice is done with peanuts, paid peanuts, even less than the FWs. And their sacrifices are almost a life time. Would any do gooders, sensitive and grateful Sinkie like to suggest to other appreciative Sinkies to write a ‘love letter’ to the NSmen to say thank you?
 
I don’t even remember Mindef saying thank you to me when ROD. Maybe the Kindness Movement can try doing this, write a ‘love letter’ to all NSmen. But I must say this will be nothing as it will be just printing and mass mailing them to everyone. Quite meaningless really when there is something lacking in these letters, the lack of a heart. It will be so different from the ‘love letters’ by concerned and caring Sinkies to the FWs to show their heartfelt thanks.
 
Tiok boh? How about making this a topic in Talking Point huh, Steve Chia?

Kopi Level - Red. Ouch!

Sinkies are a joke

Let me explain, let me explain. I know you are unhappy when I say that. Calling you Sinkies is already bad enough. Now calling you a joke, sure tak boleh tahan. But come on, the facts speak for itself. You can only be a Sinkie to be a joke. Or you can be a Sinkie and you can be a joke at the same time. Ok, Ok, hear me ok?
 
You protest and protest against the 6.9m PWP. So what? Your elected govt and elected representative say anything? Did they even bother to say, yes I hear you, but, but, but? No, they simply ignore you and go ahead with the 6.9m. What can you do?
I know what you can do. Come the next GE, vote them to be your representatives in Parliament, vote them to be your govt again. This one I am very sure about it. Joke or no joke?
 
Let me try another one. You spent a life time saving for your retirement so that you can take things a bit easier, can flirt with whatever that fancied you, a bottle of wine, a few toys, one in each arm, or go on cruises to nowhere. But the rules keep changing until your money like not your money anymore. You want to spend on mei meis or toy boys, they said cannot. Then they said you must keep them in your CPF until you die, or you must spend them on compulsory schemes. But the compulsory schemes are going to cost more than a few mei meis or toy boys, but you gong gong, never say anything, like your money not your money like that. Let people do as they pleased. Joke or no joke.
 
You want me to carry on? Enough to admit that Sinkies are a joke? Ok, one more nail into the Sinkie is a joke coffin. You know that high cost of car ownership is due to high population right? Then why you want to go along to have higher and higher population and pay higher and higher for that car? Then at the end you got to squeeze your own balls, if there is any, to convince yourself that taking public transport is good, ride bicycle is better, walking is the best. Joke or no?
 
Jokers! I could go on and on. And you are sooooo angry when I called you Sinkies and jokers. Not happy right? What are you going to do about it? Going to throw stones at me? That will not change you into something else. You will still be Sinkies and still be jokers because I did not make you a joker. I am only telling you the truth, holding a mirror in your face. You need to do the right thing if you want to be called Singaporeans or anything else other than being Sinkies or jokers. This is my version of sticking a spur into your hide, to not just to feel the pain, but to face up to reality.
 
Still think you are not Sinkie and not a joker? You don’t even see why or how you ended up in this pathetic state.
 
PS. This post is going to ruffle a lot of feathers.

Kopi Level - Green

Would Asean still talk like the asshole of the USA?

The two recent and very provocative acts committed by Vietnam and the Philippines have been greeted with muted silence by the western media and also by Asean. Both did not mention any word of condemnation for such reckless and unprovoked escalation of tension in the region. The Vietnamese sent 35 ships in its attempt to ram the oil rig of China within Chinese territory and at Chinese ships in the area. It followed with killing of Chinese workers in Vietnam and the burning of Chinese factories, including those of HongKong, Taiwan and even Singapore. China is demanding protection and compensation from the Vietnamese Govt for loss of lives, injuries and loss of properties.

The Pinoys ignored China’s protest and proceeded to charge Chinese fishermen they seized in disputed territories in Pinoy court. China is demanding that the charges be dropped and the fishermen be returned safely to China.

The western media are not briefing a word of condemnation on the actions by these two countries. Asean too has been silent as well. But some Asian media think it their responsibility to look at the issues from western perspective, that it was the Chinese that were provocative and Asean must response robustly. The actions of Vietnam and the Philippines were in way, to these bananas, seen as normal and deserving. But such provocations are only to draw reciprocal actions from China. China is not going to sit back and let the two countries do as they please against its people and interest. China is going to hit back. It is expected and has to be. If the attacks were against the USA or India, Vietnam and the Philippines would be licking their wounds now.

And what would the western media say? Obvious, they would cry foul, that China is bullying the two smaller countries and behaving aggressively. The Americans would stand up to warn China against retaliation. The truth is that Vietnam and the Philippines have coordinated their offensive provocations against China. They are the provocateurs, the bullies. Their actions were hostile and verging on an act of war. To the anglophiles, they see them as only responding to the Chinese activities in the region. To these anglophiles, the American pivot into the region to muscle around is a natural right of the Americans, of the West. They would also agree to the Monroe Doctrine that South America and the Caribbeans are the spheres of influence of the USA and no other powers should think of pivoting into the region.

Would Asean utter the same thing as the western media and act like the asshole of the Americans, saying the right thing the Americans wanted to hear? Or would Asean be strong enough to take the stand of a neutral regional organisation and acknowledge that China is the victim of Vietnamese and Pinoy attacks and condemn their actions? After agitating for a peaceful solution to the territorial dispute, would Asean be bound by its own stand against militarising the dispute as have been done by the Vietnamese and the Pinoys? Or would Asean continue to blindly accuse China as the bully, as the provocative one, as the aggressive party, and ignore what Vietnam and the Philippines have done? Some asses are pushing Asean to take a united stand against China.

What is Asean, a neutral group of countries working to better their own common interest or a party meddling in the conflict of big powers and taking sides with no mind of its own? Is Asean the asshole of the American Empire, only farting what the Americans wanting it to do? Is Asean turning into another SEATO?

PS. I may consider writing a piece with a western viewpoint if I am paid handsomely for it. But I would not write such skewed views like I am a westerner and seeing the conflict from the westerner’s point of view for free. Could there be such silly Asians acting like the perfect bananas and thinking like westerners?

Kopi Level - Green

Roy Ngerng being sued by Hsien Loong

Just got an email saying that Roy has received a letter from Davinder Singh of Drew and Napier, acting on behalf of Hsien Loong, suing him for defamation. The offending article is posted at Roy’s blog The Hard Truth and titled ‘Where your CPF money is going: Learning from the City Harvest Trial.’

Bloggers are advised to avoid being too direct in their articles or comments which could be seen as alleging some wrong doings and inviting lawsuits to themselves. Writing comments, being critical or cynical or humorous is one thing, to allege something criminal or illegal or defamatory is not advisable.

Some comments that are very personal and vicious are unnecessary. Let’s keep ourselves within the limits of decency. Well, unless you are banging with Matilah, then it is no holds bar. For other public personalities or private individuals, better not to cross the line.

Cheers.