Jack Neo: Govt says – ‘Cheng hu kong’

In an article translated and posted in TRE titled ‘A PRC writes: Singaporeans are really stupid!’ described exactly how stupid Sinkies are, and this is not due to defective genes but conditioning. I quote, ‘My buddy from the travel agency told me, among tour groups from around the world, those from Singapore are the easiest to guide. It is so easy that any new guide can handle them without any problem. Why? Because Singaporeans are exceptionally stupid, you can say whatever you want, just fabricate any reasons, they will be convinced without difficulty.’
 
The article went on to explain how easy the Sinkie tourists were duped and fleeced by their tour guides to buy cheap medicinal herbs and souvenirs at highly inflated prices without protesting, and how they were conned by free foot reflexology massage only to be told they were all sick from head to toe and ended up parting with thousands of dollars to buy worthless herbs that cost a fraction of their actual price. I have heard of a testimony of an acquaintance, a retired professional, coughing out $6,000 after a few minutes of foot reflexology in Hainan Island.
 
I think it is unfair to blame the daft Sinkies as they were brought up to be stupidly honest, a national asset, to trust the govt or ‘cheng hu’, another national asset, to take everything at face value especially when the word ‘cheng hu’ is mentioned. Whatever ‘cheng hu’ said is right and must be accepted as good. The PRC tour guides knew of these Sinkie traits and exploited them to the fullest, everytime saying the shops and herbal stalls, etc were set up by the Chinese govt. So very dependable, would not cheat them. No need to ask question or cannot ask question.
 
All the reasons and excuses given by the ‘cheng hu’ must be the whole truth, like the stories in the movie ‘To Singapore with love’ not very true because ‘cheng hu’ said so. The true versions are available everywhere in hard copies, and will soon be turned into a movie.
 
And if the daft Sinkies want to protest or demonstrate, they must also wait for the ‘cheng hu’ to say it is ok to protest and demonstrate. This obedient trait is also another of our national asset. That is why the PMEs simply resigned to their fate when told they were not good enough and kena sacked from jobs that they were doing for 20 or 30 years. The new hires from 3rd world villages were found to be more talented and have the skill sets that they did not have. They would not question why they were not good enough and why the new hires from God knows where, probably fakes, were better than them. Did the ‘cheng hu’ said so?
Sinkies were told that they are in demands overseas where employers are looking for exactly the excellent Sinkie type, work very hard, very honest and very compliant, and very easy to manage. The Sinkies would make model workers in production lines, when thinking is not necessary, when asking question is frowned upon.
 
See how readily they accept that the ‘cheng hu’ can decide what it can do with their CPF savings and the only thing they dared to ask, oops, not ask but to plead is for the ‘cheng hu’ to be kinder and return a little bit more to them when they retire. If the ‘cheng hu’ says no, they may kpkb a bit, but will still accept what the ‘cheng hu’ said and move on. They know the chenghu will not cheat them and is acting for their own good.
 
It is unfair for the PRC to comment that Sinkies are stupid. They are extremely stupid. But it is nicer to say that Sinkies are honest, obedient and simple. For those who are intent to cheat on the Sinkies, please do so but don’t have to insult them further by calling them stupid to hurt their pride. Stupid people also got pride you know.
 
Please read the article in TRE and face the hard truth of what others think of the daft Sinkies. Not I say one. Don’t be angry with me hor.

Kopi Level - Green

CPF – Shadow chasing

More intelligent people are coming out to comment on the CPF hot potato. Unfortunately many still cannot remove the blinkers placed over them and still talking like the blind men describing the elephant. After decades of conditioning, the mind will stay clear of the invisible OB markers and did not even know they are there. Some one sent me a story of a cage of monkeys that would beat up any monkey trying to climb to the top to take the hanging bananas but did not know why. Even the monkeys themselves did not know why and instinctively did what they were conditioned to do, beat up any monkey attempting to climb up for the bunch of bananas. And all the new monkeys put into the cage would soon learn to behave that way and think that way.

There are still many basic and fundamental issues and principles that all the do gooders have forgotten. First and foremost, the CPF is not a govt pension scheme. The govt does not contribute a cent to it. In fact the govt is riding on it and benefiting from it so much that it is looking at the CPF from a very different perspective, as a nation’s reserves, as a cheap source of fund, and forgot that it is the people’s private savings. It is the people’s money and must be returned. Nothing more, nothing less. The people did not give the govt the authority to mess around with their life savings.

Here is the another important principle. No one, not even the govt, is allowed or can be allowed by legislation to touch the people’s savings, be it in the CPF or any organisation, or in any form. This is a very dangerous precedent that must not be violated and taken lightly, and must be opposed vehemently. Unfortunately the daft Sinkies cannot see anything wrong with it.

The other issues are all about what is a savings scheme for old age. I make it clear here, we are not talking about a pension scheme but the people’s own savings scheme using their own money. By right, the first principle is that the govt should get lost, get out of the way unless it is contributing money, real money, into it. Other people’s money cannot be touched under whatever stupid excuses. It is none of the govt’s business except in an advisory capacity, using persuasive arguments to encourage the people to save.

How much is enough to save? Here all the do gooders would like the people to save to live like a king. Even if the people did not have enough to eat and may die tomorrow, the do gooders would want to seize the few cents in their hands to put into a savings scheme. KNN. They kill you and you got to say thank you to them and be eternally grateful.

No savings scheme is enough even for the super rich. But the super rich do not need to save. And for the poor, it is a case of daily struggle for survival. Where got money to save? Did anyone forgotten about the phrase ‘live within your means’? Yes live within your means, save within your means and live with whatever savings you have. Minimum sum to the rich is nothing, sup sup suey. To the poor, it is their blood, forcing them to set aside a minimum sum even of $10k is like squeezing blood from them. $10k is a lot of money for a lot of necessities they could not afford. A hundred thousand or more is luxury to many. Why don’t the do gooders spare a few dollars to them instead if they are that caring?

One of the biggest problems with the CPF is the draining of the members’ savings by you know what. No need to elaborate on this as they are taboo. What, got elephant in the classroom? Where is the guilt for causing the CPF scheme to be in such a deplorable state when many, after saving so much over a life time have to cry money not enough?

Forget about the silly discussions on minimum sums and the silly reasons quoted to justify the minimum sums. Only the daft will waste time discussion daft and farcical issues and reasonings and think they are valid and reasonable.

There will be many people at the bottom end of a society that need help. There will be many more among the very senior citizens that need financial help that no amount of minimum sums or saving schemes can help. This is where the govt must come in. What is the point of having a govt and paying taxes? No, don’t be a fool to think that we are paying very low tax.

The CPF cannot be the only instrument for a retirement plan or scheme. You cannot load everything into the CPF scheme to cover every hole that needs to be covered. In reality, people depend on many alternative means to support their retirement. The CPF can be one of the many retirement plans and schemes. And it should be one that provides a minimum retirement fund, depending on the individual and their ability to save. An airy fairy minimum sum quoted from thin air, oops, my apologies, computed by geniuses and very talented statisticians, is a ‘knows all’ answer to a good retirement plan for the people. Really, got such a perfect formula meh?

The final sum in the individual’s savings has to be the sum that the individual has to live with, within his means. If one is to satisfy this godly minimum sum, many would not have money to eat everyday in their life time. The govt cannot run away or shirk its responsibility from providing a safety net to those who are in need, not because they are stupid, but there are many circumstances that turned their miserable lives upside down. Even those who are blessed to be super talents or who have millionaire ministers as parents, do not be cocksure you would not end up in the shit hole. Life is unpredictable and don’t be smug.

Let me end here by saying it again, the CPF cannot be the only savings scheme for retirement and the amount to be saved by the individuals must vary according to their means. And the govt has a big responsibility, other than paying themselves in the millions, to use their million dollar brains to work out some retirement backup schemes for those that are not well endowed and been dealt with a bad hand in life.

And please, do gooders, be real. Not everyone is the same, as good and blessed as you.

Kopi level - Yellow

Shhhh, super talents at work

Singapore is truly a nation of super talents or, ok, ok, let me be more accurate, a nation with a very small pool of super talents. Mind you, there are plenty of great ideas to learn from them, like making every ministry or minister an entrepreneur and thus making every ministry self sustaining. A very good example is the Ministry of National Development

If I want to be an entrepreneur, the most exemplary ministry to learn from is the business model of MND. For a start, get a piece of land as cheap as possible then call for tenders and let the contractors bid at the lowest price to build properties for sale. There is a slight twist in this from the business model of Singapore Land Authority. In the latter they would open tender for contractors to bid for the land at the highest possible price to take the first bite of the cherry. I think HDB also got their land at a good price from SLA.

Now, after the contractor won the contract to build flats, let them outsource whatever jobs they want to the cheapest service provider. Not my problem as a super talent. Actually my job is already done once the tender is given to a contractor. All I need to do is to wait and shake leg and twiddle my thumbs. When the flats are completed, actually no need to wait till the flats are completed, I could immediately authorise the housing agencies to start marketing the flats. All I need to do is to determine how much profits I want to make per flat. And the housing agents would work furiously to sell the flats for me in advance.

By the time the flats are built and sold, I just collect my profit and don’t even have to say thank you. The biggest talent involved is to tell the buyers that the flats sold to them are very affordable. Better still, tell them they are getting it at a big market discount and see how happy the buyers are. Bought at a discount! What choice have the buyers?

But that is not all. The supreme talent is to tell the buyers that I am losing a lot of money building and selling the flats. You know I did not lift a finger on a single piece of brick. Nevermind, as long as they pay me for the flats and believe that I lost money, that is good enough. This losing money part will make them feel so grateful to me, like I am a philanthropist, or like the merciful God that came down from heaven to do charity, to help the people.

How much it cost me to build the flats, no one knows. How much I made from the sale of the flats, no one knows. They only know that I work so hard to build flats for them and lost so much money. Next time if I raised the price of flats, they will be very understanding. They will convince themselves that my prices are really cheap, even selling below cost, so raising the price a bit will only reduce my big losses. They will understand.

See how talented I am? Or is it the other way, the buyers are just too daft to know what is happening? I am a genius.

Kopi Level - Yellow

Rats country

After 3 days and an army of pest control workers, more than 140 rats were caught on the hillside beside Bukit Batok MRT station. And the bad news, the problem is much bigger. Like many problems, only a little surfaced at a time to deceive the unwary that all things are fine. No problem. But the pest control workers are saying that it would take more than a week to clear the rats as they are quite widespread throughout the hill. Hopefully they are right. And hopefully this problem is an isolated problem like the rioting in Little India. Clear the rats in Bukit Batok and there will be no more rats problem.

Some were even suggesting that the rats problem is island wide and in all colours, walking in two legs also got. I have used loanshark country to describe what is happening to this Sin City. And then lawlessness in the shopping centres perpetuated by rogue retailers cheating on tourists and the fly by night private school operators where the quality and reliability were in doubts.

Now looks like we are going to earn another title like rats country. The PAP used to be on top of rats problems in the past. They got rid of the rats then. And the credit must go to their rats catcher, Fong Sip Chee. He is famous for wearing that badge of honour. 

Despite the hundreds of rats running wild in Bukit Batok, and many resurfacing in other parts of the island, there is no self appointed rat catcher around. We only have politicians claiming to be animal lovers and maybe that is the problem. Rats are also animal and cannot be seen as rat catcher to discredit the animal lover image. But all animals are equal except some are more equal than others, and some walked on two legs.

With today’s new consciousness to love animals, there is unlikely to be a rat catcher emerging. Cruelties to animals is not a good badge to wear. And catching rats is not so glamorous anymore.

Kopi Level - Yellow

Rule of Law or Rule of Thugs

It is not funny that I have to keep reminding the daft Sinkies that we are a democratic country and there is a rule of law to govern the way of life here. What it means is that either the people did not understand what is a democracy, what is meant by rule of law, or the country is not what we think it is. It is not a democracy, it is a rule by thugs. Of course things are not as simple as that. It is not a black and white case but with many shades and variations. Or sometimes it is a democracy or looks like a democracy but sometimes it is not. And sometimes the rule of law is supreme, sometimes it is the rule of thugs. It all depends.

In a simple and straight forward democracy, the people elect the govt once every 4 or 5 years to rule the country. In our case rule is more appropriate than govern though they are interchangeable. And the govt is made up of people from a political party who won a simple majority in a GE. A 51% is good enough to form the govt and dictates what is to be done. The 49% who did not vote for the ruling party would go about their life and take orders from the 51% govt. Some may kpkb a bit, but that is about all. They will accept the new 51% govt or even a 34% President as the legitimately elected govt and president. And life should go on as normal.

Things would get complicated if the loser segment of the voters refused to acknowledge the new govt and a 34% President. It would get ugly if they refused to even accept anything the new govt decides, like paying taxes, paying GST, driving cars but refusing to pay COEs. There will be a break down of law and order. There will be no rule of law but thuggery. Such a state must not be allowed, must not be encouraged, and anyone agitating such a state is guilty of treason, and if found, must be put behind bars.

Such a situation at the national level is not different to municipal matters at constituency level. The recent farce about residents refusing to pay S&CC fees to AHPETC is a case in point. Many thugs openly spoke about not willing to pay on the ground that they did not vote for the WP. And no one is shock or embarrassed to stand up to say anything about it. Are they encouraging it, are they backing this kind of lawless behaviour? Anyone harbouring such thoughts and acts, and anyone not thumping it down is as good as being in favour of the rule of thugs.

In every constituency there will be residents who are in financial trouble and have problems paying their S&CC charges. The average could be in the 5 to 10% bracket. Anything more is abnormal. Anything more than 20% or 30% is highly suspicious and could be the works of thugs.

The AHPETC must be clear and firm in the handling of this problem. The obvious case of people in financial difficulties can be dealt with compassionately and should be helped. The obvious case of defying the rule of law, refusing to acknowledge the principles of democracy and the elected party in the constituency is a challenge to the constitution, to the rule of law and must be put right with the use of the law. The AHPETC must come down hard on such thuggery, civil disobedience, lawlessness if the refusal to pay S&CC charges is anything other than financial difficulties, and worst, politically motivated. No one is above the law.

The AHPETC is well advised to throw the book at the violators of the rule of law. Bring them to court and sue them until their pants dropped, and make them pay for all the legal fees in obvious cases of defiance and challenging the rule of law. The courts would be judging such cases fairly and judiciously. The courts would not be a party or accomplice to the breaking down of rule of law. They are there to uphold justice and the constitution.

It cannot be imagined that breaking the rule of law, and undermining the constitution and democracy would be supported and upheld. This would lead to anarchy as the precedence set will be spread all over the country and anyone who did not vote for the ruling govt can defy all the laws and policies imposed by them, and refuse to pay taxes and S&CC as well.

Vile, did I hear anyone say vile? Unacceptable, unconstitutional and the violators must be brought to courts? All I heard is silence. Is silence meaning consent? Or are the residents who refused to pay just like the rogue retailers in Sim Lim, there is no law against them? They are very clever, they know the law and nothing can be done to them? This kind of thinking is unbelieveable in a 1^st world country. 3^rd world, it happens everyday and the rich and powerful will be behind it as they are the abusers of the rule of law to their advantage.

My apologies to ask so many questions on a Sunday morning. Enjoy your morning kopi.

Kopi Level - Yellow