MH17 – The wisdom of hindsight

Many questions are being asked about why MAS continued to fly the route taken by MH17 when there is a war going on. Until it was shot down, no one was clever enough to ask such questions. And everyone, including ICAO, thought it was safe to fly that route.  Today paper reported, ‘“We’ve flown this route for many years; it’s safe and that’s the reason we are taking this route,” said Mr Liow Tiong Lai at a news conference in which reporters questioned why the airline had chosen to fly over a war zone.’ What else could he say?

Liow Tiong Lai is not going to get away from this explanation. So would the MAS when the mood is to find a scapegoat, when all the clever fingers were pointing at everyone that could possibly take the blame. I would not blame anyone of them.

Everyone was just following the conventional wisdom. If one monkey can do it, so can all the monkeys. No all the monkeys are scattering for safety. This kind of group think can justify murders in broad daylight as well. You often heard of govts justifying their actions because one monkey was found to be eating shit, so they made use of that solitary example to make their people eat shit as well. What’s wrong, so and so had done it. We are not the first one to do it.

It is not often that a maverick would stand out to say something different. When the chief monkey said so, all the monkeys would join in to sing the same song. Look at all the clowns involved in the search for MH370, they still believe that a crazy pilot or an aircraft on autopilot would fly it to the Antarctic. Can you believe it? And the second theory is that it must be done by the mad pilot. Why would he want to fly to that God forsaken place? Oh, to bury the aircraft so that no one could find it? Is that a reasonable explanation? And how could a single pilot managed to control an aircraft full of passengers and crew and even prevented them from making a single call out? Can a single pilot do that?

Anyway, sometimes it is a blessing to have someone who could think differently, who could challenge conventional wisdom, proactive thinking, without being a genius, to avoid a crisis. Often such a person would face a lot of opposition and resistance from the conventional thinkers and may even be seen as a trouble maker with whimsical thoughts that is best to be ignored.

The blame game will go on and on and will be repeated over and over again. No one would want to think tangentially, or to think unconventionally. The MH370 party is the best example. Everyone is still listening to the chief clown. No one is willing to think different and look at alternative and more logical explanations. Yes, they will continue to waste time and precious resources playing in the Antarctic like silly boys in search of a red herring.

Kopi Level - Green

Hsien Loong – Spore to learn from China

China has been learning from Singapore for the last few decades and has surpassed the master to go on to become the world’s second largest economy with modern cities cropping up all over, each one bigger than Singapore. It is time the master learns from the disciple that learnt his lesson well.
 
But there is one thing that China had failed to learn, would not learn and would learn only to its detriment, that is the Instant Tree strategy or Money can buy anything to solve problems. Singapore has excelled in the application of this strategy to solve all its problems. It was even suggested to bring the World Cup home by using money to buy a team of world class footballers. Anything that can be solved by money, can be bought by money, is not a problem.
 
We bought the best talents from all over the world to fill up the vacancies in top jobs that we could not fill. We brought in academics from the best universities in the US to fill up a university and more universities. We fill up all the vacancies with people from across the world. It is like planting trees, instant trees. Any barren stretch of land, parcel of land, can be turned into a garden or tropical jungle within a matter of days by filling up with instant trees of choice. It is a matter of time when we buy a PM from overseas if we can’t find anyone better here.
 
Just cannot imagine China adopting this policy of Instant Trees with money. If China would to do it, China could have bought up all the super talents in the whole world with its war chest. But China would have a problem with its more than 1 billion people and would not be able to turn them into billionaires and top scientists and engineers. Their citizens will have to return to farming, be poor peasants once again,
 
Conversely, can we learn this Instant Tree strategy from China? We may have all the money, but not everything can be bought or should be bought. China knew about this great strategy of ours but refused to adapt it. China could have solved its corruption problem if it applies this theory of money can buy anything, including civil servants and political leaders that would not be corrupt. There will be no corrupt leaders and civil servants in China, as clean as us, corruption free. But China would not be as rich and prosperous as it is today if it simply learns and copies everything we do. It would not have enough money to pay their officials and leaders to be not corrupt. It will be a China with foreigners running all the businesses, as CEOs, and Chinese as workers everywhere.
 
Would Singapore learn from China, to use its indigenous citizens and not be dependent on foreigners? Probably not. There are just no local talents except in politics.

Kopi Level - Green

MAS – Another tragedy

Another MAS B777 plane crashed in Ukraine killing all 298 passengers and crew on board. This time there was no mystery. It was likely to be shot down by the forces fighting in the area. This is like lightning striking twice, a series of bad luck hitting MAS.
 
MAS’s image is going to be hit hard this time through no fault of theirs. Maybe they should stop flying across Ukraine, do a diversion from the war zone. Maybe get the bomohs to pray and drive the bad luck away.
 
Another sad story and many people hurt and grieving.

Kopi Level - Green

How to unscrew a bad image?

The PAP’s image has taken a big hit with its handling of the CPF money. Netizens are making all kinds of suspicious and derogatory remarks of the PAP and forming a very negative impression of what it is doing with their money. Yes, it is a perception, but it is a very bad perception that the PAP has to live with. Can it ignore such a perception and think that everything will be fine and the next GE will just be fine without doing anything to clear the damaging image, without correcting the impression?
 
Here is an example posted by a blogger in TRE,
 
• pioneer_generation:
July 11, 2014 at 8:21 am (Quote)
 
The PAP just cannot keep their grubby hands off any money belonging to the citizens. The excess premiums are desperately needed to make up for all their poor investments and losses after being cheated and easily swindled by the banks, crooks and sweet talkers. They are like little spoilt children in a toy store. I want, I want,I want…… without ever to have to pay for it. Now they find the cupboard bare, so they have to retain the citizen’s CPF, rob their medisave funds and sell them grossly inflated HDB flats to make up the shortfalls. We are really in a fix! Fixed by the PAP! We have to unfix ourselves by kicking them out so that later generations can have a fresh start. Never again should we give any political party unlimited and uncontrolled power. After all they are only humans. They cheat, lie, screw around like anybody else.
 
The strong words used and the thinking behind the words speak a lot about what the blogger thinks. And if more and more people are thinking this way, PAP will have a tough time living it up and living up to this image.
 
How would the PAP’s PR team tackle this adverse publicity and a perception that will be costly if not explained away? It would take a very stubborn or confident PAP to think that they can live with it and continue to do as they think right, be like deaf frogs and keep on climbing up the mountain, ignoring all the noises from the lunatic fringe. It will take a very brave man, or a very stupid one, to think all is fine. Just keep delaying the return of the CPF money under all the good and caring excuses. Just keep loading up on the premiums for the Medishield Life for all contingencies and for the rainy days of tomorrow. The people will understand and accept them quietly like in the past and will keep on voting for the party and all its good policies.

Kopi Level - Green

Lawlessness in Singapore

An angry driver cut into the path of a public bus in the middle of the road to block the bus. The driver came out to challenge the bus driver but in vain as the latter remained in the bus. Oops, he was trying to sweet talk the bus driver to come down to have a friendly chat in the middle of the road. He must be influenced by the kindness movement. Failing in his attempt to woo the bus driver, the angry driver then stood there, made a phone call, left the car stranded, and waiting for the sun to set.
 
Later the police came and told both parties ‘not to breach the peace’. It was reported that ‘No further police action was required’. So, what did that mean? The angry driver was told to move off and all back to normal? Our police officers are so civil and polite, another sign that the kindness movement is getting its message to the people, including the police. This is the new way of handling angry people in a first world country when kindness is the order of the day. Be very nice. Little India? Nice rioters? Police cars burnt, kenna bokok bokok nevermind.
 
Can a driver simply park his car in the middle of the road? Can a driver block the path of a public bus at his own fancy? No offence? The police that came did not see anything wrong? They did not bother to inform the traffic police of any offence, or they did? If anyone thinks there is an offence they should take the initiative to report to the traffic police. It is not the duty of the normal police officers to deal with a traffic offence or violation or disrupting traffic, only if threatening peace? I stand corrected as the police officer present could have taken down the particulars of the angry driver and passed it to the traffic police to follow up.
 
Maybe the police is right. There is nothing to it. Just like the angmoh cyclist stopping in the middle of the road to threaten a woman driver. This is the new kindness movement. There are all trying to communicate to one another in a better way. No offence, no one is hurt. No traffic offence also. This is the new normal. Everything is fine. Everything is so nice, everyone is so nice.
 
This is the new paradise. Who is complaining about lawlessness?

Kopi Level - Green