Talking Point – A new comedy TV serial

Was watching the topic on Rogue Shoppers in Sim Lim Square on Talking Point last night and couldn’t help thinking that it was a comedy programme. No fault of Steve Chia. He handled the discussion well and the topic was current and of great interest to the public. For this particular episode I was kind of wanting to laugh but it was so painful to laugh at the jokes and the jokers. This episode is highly recommended. Please watch the replay and get some enlightenment as to why this city state is turning into such a God forsaken place. You will find all the reasons to clear your doubts that things could only get worse and who were contributing to the black comedy. Pay attention to spot the jokers.

Some of the things highlighted would keep your eyes popping out in disbelief. The statistics on the cheatings and scamming of shoppers were hopelessly spastic when the truth is out. It was all under statements, under reporting and unreal. The rogue shop keepers simply changed the name of the shops when they were getting too many complaints to start all over again on a clean slate. Many complaints were simply unreported especially when the cheated customers were tourists.

And the law, you would wonder what law is there to curb such rogue behaviours. And mind you, unethical doesn’t mean it is a crime. All the cheatings are never regarded as crimes. The law only go after the shops and not the workers or salespersons. So the rogues could keep on doing the same scams and immuned from the law. And the rogue shop owners were happily changing the names of the shops every six months. And the regulators were not really concerned. CASE’s main concern was not to deprive the rogue shoppers of their livelihood. This is very important consideration and you would know why after watching the comedy.

And don’t ever believe anyone who is telling you there were only a few cases and the cheatings only happened yesterday, and the Vietnamese case was only one such case and did not justify changing the law for a one case incident.

One thing was clear, the problems need to be addressed and it is so difficult to do so. No one knew how to solve this complicated and sophisticated problem of rogue traders cheating unwary customers. So Gabriel Kang, in all sincerity, perhaps the most rational guy other than the expert speaking from the TV screen, suggested bringing in some bright guys and locked them up in a hack-a-thon to brainstorm for a solution. Another suggested forming a committee or BOI, the most clever problem solving method of the super talents, to try to find an answer. Give them a little more time and they would likely suggest bringing in a foreign talent as the locals were too daft to find an answer.

I said it was a comedy. But I must warn you that it would be so painful to laugh. Luckily no one utter the phrase, ‘the customer is king’. In Sim Lim Square and a few of the notorious shopping centres, the rogue shop keepers are the king. And shoppers must be prepared to go down on their knees to beg for mercy.

After viewing the programme, I bet nothing concrete or useful will come out of it. It was all a bad joke, but highly recommended to watch and get sick in the stomach. Get a sick bag handy just in case.

Kopi Level - Green

A taxi uncle from Curtin University

Below is an extract of an article posted by a taxi uncle in TRE. If daft Sinkies still want to remain daft their fate will be no better than this taxi uncle. Look around the local banks and financial institutions and find out how many ‘chapalan’ university graduates from God knows where are employed, even in top management positions.

The next GE is likely to be the last chance for daft Sinkies to change their fate for the better. If they still blindly cast their votes against their interests, more foreigners, from ‘chapalan’ universities and fakes will come in to take over their jobs. And no, they will not become taxi drivers or security guards. Those are luxurious jobs compare to the alternative. In one or two generations they will end up as dalits. So will their children if they did not stop this foreign madness. The bright Sinkies will end up like daft and got not proper jobs while all the shitty foreigners will be employed in good jobs that rightfully should be going to the citizens.

As an ex HR practitioner, I make it a point to scrutinise the qualifications of the top management staff of GLCs and it is very shocking from what I have seen. Yes many came from ‘chapalan’ universities that are unheard of, would not be recognised by the PSC, and compared to Curtin, my goodness, I cannot believe those people could be better than Curtin graduates. I have known of kids whose academic results were all red but came back with straight As as graduates from ‘chapalan’ universities.

All I can say is good luck when you cast your vote in the next GE. Please read the full article in TRE. You will be like this taxi uncle in a matter of time when you are past 40, if you are young and employed today. The smug IBs are thinking that their fate will be different. Just you wait. The retribution will hit you sooner than you think. If you cannot empathise with the fate of taxi uncle, no one will cry for you when your turn comes. Think for your children and what kind of life they will be leading, what kind of jobs they will be doing.

Below is the letter.

‘When I went abroad to study in 1990. I had to go to the British Council to check whether my university I applied for (Curtin University in Perth) was an accredited one with the Commonwealth Accreditation System.
After graduation, I tried applying for any kind of finance or Banking job but couldn’t even get a single interview. My NS colleague was the HR Mgr in a foreign bank and saw my job application. He privately told me in confidence then in the job interview that my Curtin degree was not that “recognised” and that was why I couldn’t get any banking job whatsoever.
What an irony. Nowadays I think u got any college or diploma qualifications from any rotten universities, whether genuine or dubious or not, from India, Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam or Timbuktu also now suddenly “recognised”.
As long u are foreign, any employer, Bank or MNC will take you and MOM will approve or EP or SP within 3 days. Also, its got nothing to do with age. My pinoy friend with college qualifications as me is also above 50 and had his SP approved within 3 days. He has a desk job paying him well over $3K.
For me, I could even get a look-in applying for 1.5k salary jobs, even as a theme park operator or car park valet with MBS and RWS. In the end, only available jobs for me is to drive taxi or work as security guard.’ By taxi uncle.

Kopi Level - Green

PAP has never been so vulnerable

What is left of the PAP after 50 years in power? Superficially there is still a little fading glory of the past to hang on for a while. There is still some historical evidence to claim it has done good for the people. What else is left of the mighty political machine that could devour any opposition in its path effortlessly at its prime? The confidence, the war cry and the fake jeering of expecting and wanting stronger and more worthy opponents, the walkovers and the lame wishes to win an election the respectable way to enter Parliament were long gone.
 
Today, PAP is going to fight for its survival. Yes it is going to fight for its life or death in the next election not another 10 or 15 years There are so many very serious issues that it could not solve and could not sweep under the carpet. The people are demanding for answers that were not forth coming. The problems will not go away, the people will continue to demand for answers till the very last day of the GE, or else.
 
The team of politicians in PAP’s stable is like a list of has beens or understudies. The olds are too feeble to do anything. The young are too young to make any impact, all lightweights that could be blown away by a gust. The senior ministers that were dependable to carry their own weights have discredited themselves to beyond redemption. Some were just waiting to be shown the exit.
 
Where is the strength of the PAP today? Where or who are the leaders that could call the shot and carry the day? Is there anyone out there of such illuminating stature that could captain the team to victory? As for the run of the mill MPs, what the heck are they doing? Finding little silly faults with the opposition? Is that clever, a wise thing to do when living in a big glass house, wholly transparent and with all the problems waiting to shatter the glass to pieces? The more these MPs try to diminish the opposition for the slightest flaw, the more ridiculous they looked. And the more they remind the people of the hypocrisies, of the big issues not mentioned, the white elephants everywhere.
 
PAP is like a headless mammoth machine going nowhere. Where are the brilliant policies to give hopes to the people of a better future other than more shopping malls, more ‘affordabl’ housings, more food courts and more foreigners to bloat the already over populated city state? What kind of good life is there for the people other than higher and higher cost of living and lower and lower income? What aspirations are they when people are being prodded to ride bicycles, to become taxi drivers and security guards, not to pursue tertiary educations, and being replaced by foreigners from God forsaken places and from universities with names like Apapa and Amama? The better ones would produce certificates from the like Unversities of Calipornia, Harward, Cambrick, and more infamous brands.
 
There is also this dark force in the social media messing around with netizens. Unfortunately the quality of these insurgents and internet brigades (giving a false impression of who they are) are doing a great disservice to whoever is behind them. If they are what they portrayed to be, their hooligan and gangster behaviors and aggressive tactics are doing more harm than good.
 
With only a handful of safe candidates, the rest are touch and go with many more on the side of go. And for bragging about how they would fight for every inch, somehow it is not convincing and more like putting up a bad pretension. The next GE will find every PAP candidate fighting for survival on their own right with little room for comfort. Never has this state of affair happened in the PAP’s dominance record except for the early years when they were fighting the Barisan Socialis for their dear life.
 
History has come full circle. It is back to the days of fighting a life and death battle this time round. Can the PAP win the hearts and minds of the people again?

Kopi level - Green

Tanjong Pagar – The fengshui of PAP

Anyone wonders why PAP has enjoyed so many years of good fortune? Has any one ask the geomancers or the monks in Kong Meng San why? Someone said Tanjong Pagar is the seat of PAP’s power and good fortune. And that is why LKY has been sitting there for the last few decades, guarding the sacred ground for PAP.
 
Tanjong Pagar is so important that even at his advanced age LKY will not let go. Die die must take Tanjong Pagar to ensure PAP’s prosperity and good fortune. Of course Ang Mo Kio is another good fengshui site and naturally Hsien Loong is sitting there.
 
Now Tan Jee Say is mounting a challenge to the most important PAP fengshui site, Tanjong Pagar GRC. You can bet that the PAP will go all out to secure Tanjong Pagar to protect its continued good fortune. But someone said fengshui could change over the years and there are some signs that Tanjong Pagar’s good fengshui may have shifted.
 
This could explain why Chan Chun Sing has to vacate Tanjong Pagar. But this is yet to be confirmed by any fengshui master. Just watch, if another big gun is stationed in Tanjong Pagar in the next GE, it would mean that Tanjong Pagar is still the key to PAP’s longetivity. And it could also mean that PAP is not confident that Chan Chun Sing could hold on to this hot and very important seat. A stronger candidate must take over from LKY to secure Tanjong Pagar. Losing this seat would bring an end to PAP’s rule. The only misgiving is that there are only a couple of strong candidates left. Who is strong enough to hold on to Tanjong Pagar?
 
The Singaporean First’s foray into Tanjong Pagar is strategic. It is an attack on the most important ‘xue mai’ 穴脉 of PAP. Hsien Loong is likely to guard the other important ‘xue mai’ at Ang Mo Kio. It is inconceiveable for the PAP to lose these two vital positions. It will be the end of PAP if it happens. It would be scary if Singaporean First would to launch a simultaneous assault on the two GRCs. Winning both would assure Singaporean First’s political fortune to outshine that of the WP from the fengshui point of view.
It looks like Tan Jee Say has consulted his feng shui master and knows what should be done and where to go after. Secure the most important fengshui point and the rest will follow smoothly.

Kopi Level - Blue. Thank you

Jover Chew – Board of Inquiry

There is this rumour, or gossip, in the kopitiam that Jover Chew’s company is conducting an independent investigation on the recent sales tactics in Sim Lim Square. The Board of Inquiry will comprise independent directors of the company. Experts in the business and witnesses from Sim Lim Square will also be called to make sure the inquiry will be transparent and above board. Justice will not only be done but also seen to be done.
 
Some people are still unhappy with the board of inquiry. Why not follow the Little India Riot precedence and an independent committee be appointed to sit in the Board of Inquiry? Would it be really independent when the Board of Inquiry consists of members of the same company?
 
Is it not a bit funny to have the directors of the same company investigating the company’s wrong doing? Would they want to wash their own dirty linen in public? Or would they find in more important to cover their own ass and turn it into another wayang for public consumption?
 
I am sure if this rumour is true the happiest person would be Jover Chew. If I were to give my 2 cents worth, at least I would want the investigation to be conducted by the management committee, a slightly more neutral part. And if really want to be independent and neutral, it would be good for the Tourist Board to investigate as it is its mission to protect shoppers and the reputation of Singapore as a shoppers’ paradise.
 
Having an internal party to hold an investigation is at best a show. No matter what, the public would not be convinced that the BOI would be forthcoming when evidence did not reflect too well on the organization.
 
What say you?

Kopi Level - Blue. Thank you.