New York Central Park is safer

New York Central Park is notorious for mugging and butchery. But that happened only at night and when one was alone, a female in most cases.  Yesterday, after 50 years, we have daylight robbery at Raffles Place in front of a crowd of office workers. And the victim was a well built man, not a physically weaker female. He got a couple of stabs, on his stomach and arm because of his laptop. This was the initial report.

And the good news, the robber was instantly tackled by the public and arrested on the spot with his bloody knife. At least he would not be around to create more mischief unless he is given bail. Can’t imagine if he got away and the whole island going on full alert ala Mas Selamat or the escape tiger in Paris.

Is Raffles Place now more dangerous than Central Park? No lah, Raffles Place is definitely safer even if the dare devil desperate robber did it in broad daylight in front of the lunch crowd. Raffles Place is definitely safe. This thing only happened once in 50 years, this one just in time for the 50 year celebration. You would have to wait for another 50 years for another such incident to happen. That is a long period for Raffles Place to be safe for everyone.

And the robber looked like a foreigner. This foreigner must be mad. The foreigners coming to this paradise island are all very nice people mind you. The only rogues are those angmoh cyclists that threatened motorists or laughing at the poor Sinkies.

Be assured that Raffles Place would not be another Central Park. More security cameras would go up. And there will be more police patrols to assure the crowd that it is very safe, at least for another 50 years.

Now the real story after one day has lapsed. The robber, Arun, is an Indonesian and the victim, Kang Tie Tie, appears to be a money changer or working for a money changer and the laptop that was first reported was actually a money bag with more than half a million in cash and cash cheques.

Does the truth make Raffles Place safer than Central Park?

 Kopi Level - Yellow

Mobile Air no more, Jover Chew no more

In the news this morning, Mobile Air has been sold to a new owner Ricky Lee and Mobile Air will be renamed HJ Mobile. Ricky Lee assured everyone that the new shop has nothing to do with Mobile Air and Jover Chew. He bought over at a good price. So there you are, a new shop and a new owner and business as usual.

According to Seah Seng Choon of CASE, this is what normally happened when the heat is on and the shop changed ownership. And that is the end of the story. The only legal thing for CASE to do is to continue with the injunction against Mobile Air. For what I dunno.  What about Jover Chew? No, there is no law against him, if I remember what came out in the discussion in Talking Point. The law only goes after the company, not the cheats, not the salespersons that committed the offence. Oops, sorry, sorry, no offence committed. Just unethical practice only. Maybe call up the salesperson and give him a warning. Maybe this one also cannot, because no offence what.

And the story goes on and on and everyone is very happy. Can close the case already. This story has been repeated over more than 30 years, over more than just one shop in Sim Lim Square but also in other shopping centres like Chinatown, Funan and Lucky Plaza. On record, this is only one case only what. No need to go hysterical. No need to kpkb. It is normal.  People need to earn a living. The shop keepers and their salespersons are also human beans so their interests must be carefully considered.

So? Life goes on lah. Everyone got things to do and very busy. Let’s move on.

Welcome to Sin City, the shopping paradise of the East. This is a rule of law country and the shop keepers know the law. They are so clever. Or is it? Caveat Emptor. Please come and shop but prepare for the adventure. Wear knee guards in case if you got to kneel down to the shop keepers. The shop keepers are king, not the customers. Got that? And please bring money and more money.

Kopi Level - Green

Roy Ngerng – In the cauldron of fire

It was a bit sad to read Roy’s confession that he was feeling the stress and strains fighting the CPF battle alone and facing charges in court for defamation and a public nuisance. I must say that it is no mean feat for a young man, and Hui Hui included, to face such pressure at such a tender age. It is like the whole world closing up on them, no jobs and no prospect but with an axe over their heads.

There are not many people, young and old, who could take this kind of heat like JBJ and Chee Soon Juan. And no one is resolute and tough enough to give up a good life like Poh Soo Kai and Chia Thye Poh. These people too went into the political cauldron of fire and survived, becoming bigger men but financial paupers.

Roy Ngerng is starting to go through the same regime, to be melted down in the cauldron of fire, to be turned into pig iron or steel. Could he continue to take the heat? Women are described as made of porcelain and would get harder and stronger in extreme heat. Men will melt like iron. But at the end of it, they would still be iron or strong as steel.

Is it worth it to sacrifice once life for a cause, for the good of a nameless mass who may or may not appreciate what Roy and Hui Hui are doing? It is not only a thankless task. Some would even ridicule them for being silly and nothing better to do. This separates the ordinary from the extraordinary, the men from the boys, from people who lived for an idea or cause and people who just live simply and die in a life of non events.

I can’t tell Roy and Hui Hui what they should or should not do. If the heat is unbearable, they might want to call it a day and take a breather. It is all a matter of a calling, to answer to their hearts, to do what their hearts want them to do, not the reasoning of their heads. Rational thinking would say, why waste time on a losing cause and worse, when the people whom they are standing up for just do not care.

It is your call Roy, and Hui Hui. Yes it is a very lonely journey, a battle against a huge machine with many buttons to press to hurt, to persecute and to humiliate. How many of you out there appreciate what these two young persons are doing and are going through? When they need you most, would you be there to stand by their sides?

The only positive thing is that the end is near. Roy and Hui Hui did not come along for no reasons. Together they have scored three goals, the CPF issue that awoken the sleepy masses, raising the consciousness of the people to act in the crowd funding when he was charged for defamation, and making things looked ugly and silly, the biggest goal, when the machinery came down hard on them but with very little to go on. Many ended up with red faces and many would have to face their desserts for what they had done to Roy and Hui Hui.

Even if Roy and Hui Hui would to call it quits now, these three goals would be the legacy that could be very telling in the next GE. 

Kopi Level - Green

LKY – Two articles drew more than 200 comments in TRE

Two articles, “Disrespectful to say LKY doesn’t deserve to be an MP” and “Ungrateful to criticise LKY” have attracted 131 and 97 comments so far. The gist of the discussion is about the amount of money paid to LKY as an MP. Some were not happy that LKY was only paid $16k as an MP and there were criticisms that he should not even be paid that amount, two different and opposing schools of thoughts.
 
Is respect to a person all about money? And how much should LKY or other ministers be paid to be respectful? It would be nice to look at the full picture instead of just talking about the last drawn basic pay. To really appreciate what is going on, perhaps someone could collate the gross sum of money paid to the top 10 ministers over their full career as politicians and ministers.
 
The final sum should include everything that is legitimate and legally paid to them as politician/ministers, ie basic salary, bonuses, allowances, and other legitimate and official appointments associated with their political office. This would take some time and a lot of effort but definitely would not take 56 man years.
 
Leong Sze Hian and company have a job cut out for them to settle this issue for the people who are showing respect and disrespect to the top ministers. At least the people would know how many millions have been paid to each of them and whether these are respectful relative to their contributions to the country. Blindly screaming paying LKY $16k a month is uttering rubbish and totally out of context. And to make judgments based on this miserable $16k pm as a measure of respect or disrespect is for the simple minded.
 
What do you think?

Kopi Level - Green

The history behind the current state of politics in Hongkong

U.S. funded NGOs
 
Below is part of a write up by Sara Flounders.
The full article on American and foreign meddling in Hongkong is at http://www.4thmedia.org/2014/10/hong-kong-protests-why-imperialists-support-democracy-movement/

Fearful of democratic change coming from the working class as soon as the British signed the agreement in 1984, the ruling class began to violate it, putting in place new political parties and organizations to operate after the return of the territory to China. After 145 years of appointed government, they pompously called for
democratic change.

Three years before the 1997 handover of sovereignty, the British changed the constitution and set up district boards, urban and regional councils, and a legislative council. These top-down reforms were strongly opposed by the Chinese government as a violation of the agreement and a tactic to subvert its political system.

But more insidious than the official changes was the vast expansion of U.S. “soft power” in Hong Kong. Today more than 30,000 NGOs are registered in Hong Kong. They cover every aspect of life. (Social Indicators of Hong Kong)

The U.S. funds NGOs for political subversion through the U.S. State Department’s U.S. Agency for International Development, which makes grants to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), National Democratic Institute (NDI), National Republican Institute, Ford Foundation, Carter Center, Asia Foundation, Freedom House, Soros’s Open Society and Human Rights Watch, among others.

All these groups and many more fund projects that claim to be supporting and promoting human rights, democracy, a free press and electoral reform. This funding of social networks operates for the same purposes in Latin America and the Caribbean, throughout the Middle East and Africa, and in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics.

U.S. imperialism has not established democracy in any of its hundreds of interventions, wars, drone attacks, coups or global surveillance. But “promoting democracy” has become a cover for attacks on the sovereignty of countries all around the world.
Of course, religious groups and other states, especially those in the European Union, also fund political associations and social networks in Hong Kong and everywhere across the globe.

A few of these groups may genuinely operate independently and provide aid to immigrant workers, help low-paid workers organize, or address housing and health needs of the most unrepresented in Hong Kong. But for the most part, the NGOs are a network of “civil society” organizations controlled by and for U.S. corporate power.

A growing number of articles in the Chinese press have connected the dots of the leaders of Occupy Central and the U.S.-funded NGOs. According to China.org.cn, “Each and every ‘Occupy Central’ leader is either directly linked to the U.S. State Department, NED, and NDI, or involved in one of NDI’s many schemes.” (Oct. 6)

Occupy Central’s self-proclaimed leader, Benny Tai, is a law professor who has received NDI and NED grants and was on the board of the NDI-funded Center for Comparative and Public Law. He attended many NDI-funded conferences. This is also true for another prominent Occupy Central figure, Audrey Eu.

Also, according to China.org.cn, “Martin Lee, founding chairman of Hong Kong’s Democrat Party, is another prominent figure who has come out in support of Occupy Central. Just this year, Lee was in Washington meeting directly with Vice President Joseph Biden and Rep.

Nancy Pelosi and even took part in an NED talk hosted specifically for him and his agenda of “democracy” in Hong Kong. Lee even has a NED page dedicated to him after he was awarded NED’s Democracy Award in 1997. With him in Washington was Anson Chan, another prominent figure currently supporting the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong’s streets.”

A number of publications in the West are picking up on these exposés, including Counterpunch in “Hong Kong and the Democracy Question”; Global Research in “U.S. Now Admits It Is Funding Occupy Central in Hong Kong”; and InfoWars.com in “Is the U.S. Secretly Egging on Hong Kong Protesters?”….

U.S. and British imperialism hope to use Hong Kong as they did 150 years ago as a stronghold for pushing deeper politically into China. Today, however, they are not facing a backward feudal dynasty.
As U.S. corporate dominance in production and finance slips, the Asia pivot of the Obama administration means that the U.S. ruling class and its military apparatus has made the decision to become more confrontational toward Russia and China.
Opponents of U.S. wars and organizations defending workers’ interests in the U.S. can play an important role by refusing to align with U.S. schemes aimed at overturning pro-socialist norms inside China and undermining Chinese sovereignty. 




Kopi Level - Green

By Sara Flounders, Workers
http://www.4thmedia.org/2014/10/hong-kong-protests-why-imperialists-support-democracy-movement/