QZ8501 – Still many unanswered questions

While everyone is saddened by the crash of QZ8501 and griefing with the families, there are still many questions left unanswered. Today’s commercial aircraft are built not to drop down from the sky. Today’s pilots are trained and very experienced before they are allowed to captain an aircraft and would be able to pull out of a spin or a stalled aircraft or guide the aircraft down in case of engine failure.
 
There are very few situations that a pilot or his co pilot would not be able to make an emergency call or squawks when an aircraft is in trouble. Why was there no emergency call?
 
There are a few possibilities why an emergency call cannot be made. One, a disastrous thunderbolt that disabled the aircraft immediately, or at least destroyed its communication system. Two, a mid air explosion. Three, very unlikely, no one was in the cockpit when an emergency developed and no one was in a position to make a call out. Four, a mad and suicidal pilot and co pilot like was quoted in the MH370 case that intentionally desisted from making an emergency call out. There could be a few more other possibilities other than these obvious ones.
 
Now the story waiting to be told lies in the black boxes. How did it happen in a routine commercial flight with a fairly new aircraft? Even if the aircraft developed engine trouble, there will be an emergency call. The pilot would still be able to bring the aircraft to a force landing. Falling out of the sky just like QZ8501 is not normal.
 
The mystery starts now.

Kopi Level - Green

23 Jokes of 2014

Below is a list of events/sayings, not in any order of merit that made it to my list of Jokes of 2014. The list is not exhaustive but I am exhausted listing trying to remember the long list of queer things that happened in the year.
 
1. Prime Modi is the Asian of the Year awarded by the Straits Times. The citation of his great achievements, ‘he met many head of states’.
2. Singapore will be in deep trouble when PAP is voted out in the next GE.
3. Philippines are buying 3 patrol boats to counter the PRC Navy in the South China Sea. And Vietnam also bought 3 submarines to do the same against China’s submarine fleet of 65.
4. The Malays are the new beggars in Malaysia by Mahathir.
5. Australian PM Abbott knows the location of the missing MH370 aircraft.
6. The New York policemen are fearing for their lives and are afraid to answer calls for help by the public. They rather remain in the safety of the police station.
7. Singapore is building smart cities in India. Modi is more realistic and only aspires to build more toilets.
8. Holding a protest rally in Hong Lim Park can be sued for public nuisance.
9. Elected Members of Parliament wanting to hold a community event need to get approval from grassroot leaders that are non elected volunteer community leaders.
10. Over charging a client by millions of dollars is not overcharging but over billing, therefore not an offence.
11. A young foreigner, stranger with no relationship, could obtain a Lasting Power of Attorney to manage the assets of a very rich widow.
12. Millionaires and billionaires begging the govt for help.
13. The world’s most highly paid leaders need to travel overseas to learn from leaders around the world earning a fraction of their income on how to take care of the aged.
14. HDB lost $2b building public housing.
15. Oil prices fell by 40% and public transport companies are asking for fare hikes.
16. Communist China is the world’s biggest economy, over taking the USA and Japan, two top capitalist countries.
17. Singapore’s financial centre cannot find Singaporeans with the required skill sets for banking and finance but can find them in the 3rd world villages.
18. Singapore, the top financial centre in Southeast Asia, is starting to plan for Sinkies for top management positions in the banking and finance industry starting in 2014.
19. Sinkies would allow anyone in the world to replace them in jobs in Singapore and believing these people are more talented than them, daft Sinkies.
20. There is no law against rogue traders cheating on tourists. Oops, they are not cheating, just clever and operating within the laws.
21. CPF is our money, or is it?.
22. God created the world and made Adam and Eve. Everything else is Made in China. (This is quoted from a blogger called Flabbergasted posting in TRE)
23. It cost $120k to get rid of 230 rats or more than 500 Singapore dollars per rat. This is more than what a person on social assistance scheme would receive in a month.

Kopi Level - Green

PAP has done exceptionally well in molding the thinkings of the daft

There is a believer who openly confessed that he did not mind being a dog to a good owner. Is this being humble, self deprecating, deference or what? Why would anyone wish to be a dog and be so proud of it? This is just a small example of how successful PAP is in winning the hearts and minds of the people. Today it is indispensable as the political party to rule this country. No one else is able to do so. This message has taken root in the brains of the daft as an unquestionable truth. No other political party has the talents to run this country, only PAP can. And Hsien Loong summed it up by saying that Singapore would be in deep trouble if PAP lost the next GE. Many are so domesticated that in the absence of the owners they would be lost. They are unable to live on their own, find their own way in life. They are badly dependent on the good owner, the PAP.
 
Take a look at another view. All the political talents are with the PAP. All the other parties have no talent. Where do these talents come from? Are they not the Ah Kows and Ah Huats, the Ahmads and Subramaniams who lived next door to you? How did they become super talents and talented born politicians to rule this country overnight?
 
The answer is very simple. All the PAP needs to do is to hang a PAP badge on their chests and make them wear white. Abracadabra, there you are, one talented politician coming out from the hat. You want more, abracadabra, another one from the hat. Those pulled out from the opposition parties’ hats are duds, must be duds, and would not know how to run a country. They would not have the talents like the likes of the Desmonds and the Victors to serve you.
 
The expectation and confidence in PAP candidates are legendary, mythical. The PAP can even pull out rats from the hats and people will call them political talents, the political leaders that will know how to rule the people well. They could also pull out foreigners (given pink ICs) that were here for a few years to offer to the people as political leaders, and the people will believe and accept them as the best people to rule them. Maybe being migrant stocks, Sinkies love to be ruled by foreigners who are new citizens.
 
This is how powerful the PAP has become. The believers and converts will simply believe with no question ask. Everyone pulled out from the PAP hat is as good as gold and worth every cent paid to them. Your future depends on them, the instant political leaders from the PAP hat. One day working as a soldier, lawyer, doctor, tomorrow become instant national leaders, born to rule. Reject them at your own peril. You shall repent if you don’t vote for them.
 
Some may think that this is a myth that the PAP has spun. But they are very effective and very real after believing it for so long. It has become second nature. Like the story books of yore, the prince was always charming and the knight in shining armour. Who would dare to imagine that the princes in the fairy tales could be ugly and duds? The charming princes will always ride off with their fair princesses and live happily ever after.
 
When would the daft stop believing in fairy tales?

Kopi Level - Green

High cost of living undermining family formation

Childcare fee is now averaging around $800 and would be $1,000 next year. Some childcare centres are quoting $1,500 per child. This means a two child family with children in childcare centres would need to cough out $3,000 just for the basic childcare fees. How much more would the family need to provide for the living expenses of two children in a household. And how much would the family need for the full household expenses of two working adults, to provide a roof over their heads, not mentioning a family car.
 
An average two child family would still be trying to make ends meet with a $6,000 monthly income. It is time to stop listening to fools who are claiming that $1,000 income can buy a 2 rm HDB flat or enough to live on. Stop spreading lies as the total living cost for a family is much more than $1,000 and this sum is unbearable, below subsistence or poverty level in this most expensive or one of the most expensive city in the world.
High cost of living is not a joking matter. Even an average family with a $6,000 household income would be greatly stressed and in debt if misfortune hits, like a major illness for one member of the family, or if one member loses his/her job to a foreigner.
 
How could an average family afford to live comfortably with anything less than $5,000, without financial worries like a blade hanging over their heads, to even dare to have two children? And all the cocks are yelling at the Singaporeans to have more babies to help the economy, to provide workers for the economy. Is this a reasonable call? Are they going to provide for the living expenses of the children? Just childcare fee is enough to break a family’s small income.
 
How many parents are so irresponsible to think of having more than one baby if they have a household income of less than $6,000? What kind of life would they be living when more than 50% of their hard earned income would go straight to paying childcare and much more to bring up two children? And there are people complaining that $100k a month income is not enough for their family to live well. And can they expect people to live decently with less than $5,000 and to have two children to raise?
 
What is going on? For the super talents with more than $10k or $20k income or more, paying $3,000 monthly for childcare is bearable when there are a lot of spare cash for other things of comfort. For many average Singaporeans, please, they are not daft and they know the sums. Not having baby is the logical and responsible choice when the cost of living is so high.
 
Did I hear the cocks crowing? $1,000 or $2,000 is enough to raise a family and have children to contribute to the economy?

Kopi Level - Green

QZ8501 – Another statistic in air accident?

When news of the missing Air Asia QZ8501 hit the airwaves, it was greeted with sadness that another bad accident happened. It was just that except for the shock and the thoughts of the grief of the affected members related to those on board. Painful yes, and the attention would be at the families and friends and how to help them cope through this period of uncertainties, and a likely tragedy. A couple of hours after the aircraft was declared missing, and missing the ETD at Changi, everyone was preparing for the worst. It looked that way, and any hope was for miracles to happen.

36 hours have passed, the dust settled, and the picture becomes clearer. Bits and pieces of the story came together. The families and friends are not going to have high hopes by now. What appeared to be another air incident is starting to look not so ordinary again. The initial failure of a May Day call could have been due to many reasons, lightning strike or an air explosion that did not give the pilot a chance to make the mandatory call they were trained to do in an emergency.

Scores of ships and aircraft have been searching the area for more than one and a half days and came up with nothing. No debris, no oil slick and most of all, the fail safe beeping from the black boxes were also not detected. This is mysterious. The boxes were programmed to do exactly this, to beep when in the water or there is a crash. This is one of the most vital functions of the black boxes, to lead the way to the crash site, to help and facilitate in locating the aircraft and the boxes. What is happening?

To reconstruct, there are some uncanny similarities to MH370. The aircraft was approaching mid point between Jakarta and Singapore and an air traffic handover was expected soon. It was in the early hours of the morning, in darkness. The aircraft made changes in heading and flight levels though the circumstances in this case were established, due to bad weather. And the aircraft was gone and no longer on radar. There was no May Day call in both incidents. And early searches proved in vain, no wreckage, no debris, no oil slicks. Now to look at the air traffic communication and radar recorders to determine the exact sequence of events and what transpired between pilot and air traffic controller. No terrorist agencies claiming responsibility for a job done.

Some of the dissimilarities, so far nothing confirmed, were that there was no mad or suicidal pilot flying the aircraft. No sensitive equipment on board or confirmed yet. No cargoes of mangosteens mentioned. The passenger manifest was mostly Indonesians, no sensitive PRC Chinese scientists that could link to international espionage and intrigue.

Here are some unusual news bits. An Indonesian who was supposed to be on the flight but cancelled his trip, received a strange farewell message from his friends on board saying ‘Goodbye forever’. Was this meant to be a cheeky message among friends or something else? Another piece of news, a sister of a passenger received a message saying that aircraft had landed in Belitung East and all passengers were safe. This latter message should be easy to confirm and by now when nothing is heard, is likely to be a hoax.

Kopi Level - Red