Tommy Koh, diplomatically speaking

It is always very pleasant talking or listening to a diplomat if he is worth his salt as a diplomat. A diplomat is one that is trained to say all the nice things and all the right things to make his listeners happy and go away nodding their heads in agreement, at least when it is public speaking. Of course they have plenty to say jokingly and diplomatically as well in private. Since they cannot make anyone angry with their flaws, they make jokes of their flaws to laugh together without anyone knowing that it was a criticism.

Tommy Koh wrote a diplomatic piece on Sat 3 Jan in the ST about his 3 wishes for the New Year. First, ‘to enjoy peace and stability, prosperity, with equity, unity with tolerance, safety with vibrancy and freedom with responsibility…to believe in and practise our core values of hard work, integrity, meritocracy, compassion, racial and religious harmony, gender equality, freedom from corruption and open economy and open minds.’ His second wish is for Asean to continue to be successful and his third wish is for peace in Asia and the Asia Pacific. I would not touch on these two.

No one can disagree with Tommy on all these motherhood statements as they all sounded right and correct and pleasant to the ears. The question, what was Tommy Koh trying to say? I hazard to make a guess of what he really wanted to say or was saying but not saying, or saying indirectly. If he would to say this frankly and directly, would he be saying, don’t take peace, stability and prosperity for granted. There is no equity, no unity, no tolerance and more is needed. And there is a question of safety with vibrancy and an issue of freedom with responsibility. He followed by saying we are not practising our core values of hard work, integrity, meritocracy, compassion, racial and religious harmony, gender equality or at least we need to work very hard to make sure these are not eroded in the future. And also to ensure that we are free from corruption, continue to be an open economy and have an open mind.

Tommy also reminded everyone that we did not start from a poor fishing village or have nothing, no assets, no talents to begin with. He said, ‘we do have three assets: a strategic location, a natural harbour and an intelligent and hard working people.’ Now is he saying that we should not be telling the world that our people are daft and lazy? Our success is a like a miracle and only can come about not with lazy and daft citizens. Then where have the hard working and intelligent Singaporeans gone? Why are we praising and welcoming jokers who cannot make their countries like ours and praising them sky high as super talents to help us to be better? Won’t these jokers be bringing us to the levels of their home countries?

Tommy then turned to say the not so nice thing that is very uncharacteristic of a diplomat. How can he be quoted to be saying, ‘Singapore is, however, not perfect. There are areas in which we can and should do better. (Anyone listening?) I am disturbed by the inequality in Singapore. We have one of the highest Gini coefficients in the world. I am unhappy that many of our children are growing up in poverty. About a third of our students go to school with no pocket money to buy lunch.’ What a revelation!

While he was speaking frankly, he added, ‘I am worried about the growing number of the elderly poor. Many of them are in poor health and have inadequate savings,… living in loneliness,… or abandoned by family and relatives.’ And his other hopes, ‘A politically mature society…which the vanquished are gracious in their defeat and the victors are magnanimous in their victory.’ How more frank can one ask from a diplomat? And he also hoped that Singaporeans would not be too money minded and materialistic. He warned that Singapore ‘is in grave danger of becoming a market society.’

Tommy would not have said these if he is not worried about the trends of development today. Things can be real bad if these concerns are not addressed. But who would listen to the messenger of bad news, even if he is a polite diplomat that no longer could ‘tahan’ being reticent and had to let it off his chest? The only misgiving is that the believers would not see anything wrong in their beliefs and the shepherd would be plodding along happily leading them on the ‘right’ path to paradise, diplomatically speaking.

A few wise men are speaking up. Would they be whipped for being incorrect or undiplomatic?

Kopi Level - Yellow

Distressed PMEs - Return my dignity!

Many PMEs have been sacked, told they were no longer useful and no organizations would want to hire them again. They are left to their own device. Many just resigned to their fate and retired into oblivion. Some swallowed their pride and dignity and took on whatever manual jobs or low level jobs that they could find. Some became taxi drivers and security guards. And these were men that were professionals, managers and executives that run big corporations and MNCs.  These were our local talents that Tommy Koh mentioned in his article today in the ST, the men and women that built modern Singapore. They have been reduced to become unemployable. They have been reduced to has beens. Once we have many local talents, intelligent and hardworking people according to Tommy. Today we have turned into a non country with no talents, no intelligent people and need half bake foreigners pretending to be talents to shit on us. Is that what Tommy was saying?

At least half a million decently paying jobs were given to foreigners, many don’t even have the equivalent qualifications or experience and expertise, many were fakes. And nobody cares. And they insult and bully us daily. The govt is very happy with the situation. We have full employment. The unemployable PMEs are obsolete, it is their fault for not upgrading to new skills like becoming waiters and salespersons.

We need to return some pride and dignity to these PMEs. They have many more good years to go. Many are healthy and mentality sound to continue working in the same jobs or something similar. Why degrade them and push them into the rubbish dumps and replaced them with fakes and half baked foreigners?

The PMEs and many are part of the Silver Brigade needs an existence. They have been defeated by insensitive and callous people and policies. Return them their pride and dignity. Don’t be silly and ungrateful. The govt must form an agency to look at this group of PMEs and put them back into the job market. Many of the good jobs given to foreigners for all the wrong reasons can be given to these PMEs. The govt owes these citizens a responsibility to lead a decent and respectable life. The wayang cannot continue past the next GE. It will be exposed.

Yes, return them their dignity and a place in the main stream of life. The govt owes it to them, not to the foreigners, not to silly foreigners, not to fake foreigners, not to rogue foreigners. Vote them out if they think they don’t have to look after citizens but foreigners. It is so sad that foreigners are walking around like peacocks while citizens are like helpless lost sheep walking around jobless, like zombies. I have never seen so many ex PMEs looking so lost, undignified, dejected, when they have many more good years to live and to support themselves.

Who should be held responsible? Don’t you dare pass the buck to the ex PMEs. These were the staunchest supporters of the PAP in their heydays.

Many PMEs are in the state of ‘keow kar yeo lan par’. You can do that for a few months or a couple of years. When you have to do that for 20 years, it is not funny anymore.

Kopi Level - Green

Sleeping with the Communists

This statement will instantly remind people of the early independence era when the PAP was a party for the western educated elite, the communist sympathisers and the communists. They all slept in the same bed and played together until the open break by the Barisan Socialis and the detention of many political leaders from the Barisan camp in Operations Cold Store in 1963. The notable names like Chia Thye Poh, Poh Soo Kai, Lim Hock Siew, the Puthucherry brothers, Woodhull, Lee Siew Choh, Lim Chin Siong, Fong Swee Suan, Said Zahari still ring a bell in many older Singaporeans. They were the comrades, the friends of the PAP that turned to foes.

In 1987, the announcement of a Marxist Conspiracy and the arrest of a group of young people including some working with the Catholic Church was the lowest point in the deteriorating love affairs of the PAP with the Communist. Tan Wah Peow had fled earlier in 1976 and was identified as the leader of the new Group. Among those arrested were Vincent Cheng, Teo Soh Lung, and Tang Fong Har. Since then, Singaporeans have been living with this Communist spectre till today. Anyone branded as a Communist or sympathiser could face charges and be detained under the ISA. Reading or listening to communist literature was a sure sign of Communist leaning and a sign of trouble. Singaporeans were banned from visiting Communist countries except those above 55 and must apply for approval.

Despite the thawing of relations with Communist countries and the visit of Deng Xiaoping, despite flirting and dining with the Communists in Beijing, and despite paying regular homage and welcoming millions of Communists by our political leaders here for work and for play, something is still missing. Why are our ex Communists and sympathisers, some returned, some never allowed to return, still being held in suspicion, like enemies of the State, like demons and terrorists waiting to turn Singapore into another violent contest for power?

Can they do that, are they in a position to do that, would they do that? Are the Singaporeans still willing to join their quest for a Communist state? Or would the Singaporeans welcome them with open arms, like they welcome the PRC Chinese here and like the western world welcome them with red carpets? When would this stigma or spectre of Communism in our early generations be erased as part and parcel of our growing pains and history? Has anyone noticed that the world has changed and they should wake up and smell the roses? If we can dance and play with the new Communists, can we at least have tea with the ex Communists/sympathisers and treat them as one of our long lost brother or sister, the return of our prodigal sons and daughters? Chin Peng was treated much better by the Malaysians than ours that are still overseas.

Kopi Level - Green

TODAY is The First Day of the Rest of Your Life.

Do Things Differently in 2015.

By MIKOspace

“Insanity is when you continue to do things the same way and hope for a different set of outcome or results.” - Albert Einstein

The season for new Resolutions has come again.  Never mind that countless earlier ones over the years were not executed or successful.  We just love New Year Resolutions, as if their main object did not lie in fulfilling them but to fail in them.  Like promises, some were kept, while most others must fail or be broken.  Seriously, we want to CHANGE, but HOW?

WHY DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE?

For many reasons, obviously.  Mostly from a deep dissatisfaction of the status quo. You do not like your appearance; your career sucks; your boss is not sensitive or understanding; your lack of progress in relationships; have no close friends; no boyfriends or girlfriends; cannot afford that dream car or dream house or dream gadgets; cannot have what other people have; unhappy most times; unloved rest of the time; no one to love all the time; loneliness; depressed; want more of anything; want less of others; don’t like being sick or weak or medicated; having to depend on the unwilling; trapped in an unhappy marriage; stuck in an unhappy home; abused; beaten; hungry; cold; poverty; wars; diseases …. An endless list.

For most people, the reasons for change are more mundane and personal. You want to look better, more desirable and more beautiful. Modern marketing of personal and life-style products makes you feel too fat, or too thin, or too tall, or too short, or facial features non-symmetrical; eyebrows too natural, eyes not at same level, nose not in the middle of your face, your ears unbalanced, one foot bigger than than the other, one leg longer, another arm too short, one hand bigger, mouth not aligned with face, unshapely body, breasts too high or too big or too small or too ‘different’ or not enticing enough … well, look at Nature where beauty emerged and flourished in diversity, differences and NOT symmetry or same-ness.       

Remember you were born an Original, why strive to live like an Imitation?

Yes, Becoming Yourself is to be Different already.  Self-esteem is the best defense against the encroaching forces to make you an imitation of what other people want you to become. 

Truth is, the dissatisfaction with oneself has little and nothing to do with one’s appearance.  It lies in our desire to be loved and to have a lover.  The journey through life is essentially a journey of love.  It is a journey along visible milestones of errors as one struggle to escape the end of otherwise meaningless existence.  One quickly discovers that paradox, ambiguity, chaos, absence and silence as central to the human condition.  

Many lapse conveniently into the comfortable understanding of the human condition as one where we are all in a perpetually suspended state of incompleteness, in an endless search of that elusive Happiness.   The urge for “more” and “better” becomes quickly the justification for the pursuit of selfishness, thinly disguised as the noble accumulation of material wealth and prosperity, in the hope of locating the happiness which satisfies the ultimate true meaning and purpose of life’s existence.  Sadly, but expectantly, “more” and “better” can never deliver the promised Happiness. The pursuit for life’s purpose hence degenerates into itself as the end.

In 2015, Resolve to Do Things Differently – Unlearn, Relearn and Learn to Discover Love and True Happiness.

This begins with a mental transformation to complete the awesome task of becoming your own realization.  Stop occupying space and wasting oxygen, but be the change you want the world around you to become.  Seek only the approval and encouragement of loved ones.  Other people’s opinions do not matter, seriously.  Open an inner Dialogue with yourself and affirm your individual uniqueness and significance.  You also have to acquire the habits to unlearn, relearn and learn – which are the the skills-set of learning agility.

Yes, flexibility and adaptability are the personal tools to engage the human conditions of paradox, ambiguity, chaos, absence and silence.  Affirming yourself strengthens your self-esteem and facilitates the building of close and intimate relationships with those around you.  Self-esteem empowers you to nurture and develop in others a greater capacity for love and for you to receive their love in turn.  When we are at our best self, we readily share without fear or limit to bring out the best in others as well.  Invariably, we also discover and rediscover Happiness at the end of such sharing of ourselves.

Go forth to Love and Share, to Discover Yourself and the Secret of True Happiness. The Secret of True Happiness lies in the creation of Happiness in the Life of Others.   

Kopi Level - Green

Political entrepreneurship is supreme entrepreneurship

Many entrepreneurs are struggling in the very competitive world of business to make their marks and their first million. Some made it eventually but many failed and got lost, became unknown. The casualty rate for failed entrepreneurs is very, very high. We only hear the success stories but no one would want to know the failures.
 
Count the odds, and it is very surprising why many are still struggling to compete with, in many instances, against the best in the world. And not only exceptional talents are needed, some require huge financial resources and risking to lose everything.
 
There is an easier path, lesser competition and could make millions and many millions that is available only to Singaporeans, at least for now before the door is thrown open to the whole world. Entrepreneurship in politics is something so close, and relatively easier knowing the competition, that somehow the daft Singaporeans did not think of venturing into. Let me point out the advantages of political entrepreneurship as a career and as a means to getting rich quick, and maybe more Singaporeans would want to consider this as their top career choice.
 
First thing, it is a multi million dollar industry and the pay for the successful is beyond your imagination. Many became multi millionaire after a couple of years in office. Now isn’t that attractive? And to make it even more attractive, for those with exceptional business acument, money is everywhere and it is only limited to their intelligence to scoop as much as they could in a single term in office. Everything, every policy, can be turned into a money making machine. And it is all done within the law, or the law can be changed to one’s advantage. Perfectly legal, and no need to resort to criminal activities, cheating or corruption. How’s that for a start? Of course there is great temptation and danger of going the crooked way.
 
Then look at the competition? There is really no competition if you look at every one of them. Everyone is just like you and me, many like boy scouts and girl guides. And there is no need to fear big titles as Hougang and Punggol East have proven, Ah Lian and Ah Huat could take on anyone with glittering credentials. All it takes is a bit of organization, getting organized.
 
And what is the start up cost? What is the barrier to entry financially? Very little really. A $15k deposit and some money to buy chicken rice for the helpers. This is unlike the American election where hundreds of millions are at stake. The small stakes involved is like buying Toto, spend a few dollars and hoping to strike it rich. And here the pot of gold is huge. Top price of Toto is peanuts. Once in power, striking Toto is like a monthly affair or better with no odds but guaranteed to win. And these are the known knows. The unknowns are something else. There are the incidentals, just happen to come along with the office and be in the right place and right time, knowing the right people or people wanting to know you, and the right connections. Again, everything is legal and above board. Don’t try anything under the table, not worth it. In fact the system is designed to make it unnecessary and for politicians to remain clean. How nice can it be?
 
And the chances of winning come once every 4 or 5 years, and one can repeat and improve on one’s position and strategy to make the chances betterer. This is unlike the general entrepreneurship in the industries when there is no certainty or predictability. Many entrepreneurs could strive for a life time without getting anywhere near. In politics, every four year there will be a chance to bet, to make that winning kill. And the odds can be 50:50 when the contest is one against one. Think of the chances of winning a Toto bet or a Big Sweep? It doesn’t make sense right?
 
Alright, did I paint an attractive enough picture to make more people interested and turn to political entrepreneurship? And you don’t really need to be a genius. No need to be a professor, no need to be a lawyer or a doctor. No need even to be a super talent. The real qualification is a good heart and be acceptable to the voters, to win the hearts of the voters. No need paper qualifications, but a reasonable one will be helpful. No need to invent the wheel or create a new product or a new app or a new computer game. Are these that difficult?
 
How, there are many political parties out there waiting eagerly to receive the good men to come forward. No need to wait for an invitation for tea. Just knock and the door will be open.
 
Political entrepreneurship is a viable career route and the rewards are very handsome. And for those who really care for the people and wanting to help the less able, to do charity, to show your compassion for the people, even to fake it is alright, political entrepreneurship offers everything for the head and the heart and the desire, and the ego for fame and fortune.
 
Go for it. Opportunities are knocking at your door. Why are you waiting? What is stopping you, to do good for country and people, and to improve your bank accounts? It is a very attractive career choice, and comes with a lot of glamour and glory. Everyone wants to take selfies with you, wants to shake your hand, wants to know you, and wants to be seen with you. You became a political celebrity, better than a movie star.
 
What are you waiting for? Don’t you want to be a multi millionaire? Oh, don't answer yes. Just say you are sacrificing to serve the people. It sounds more correct.

Kopi Level - Yellow