In memory of Dominique Sarron Lee and Benjamin Lim 13 Mar 16 (Sunday 6 pm) Hong Lim Park

Parents with children are encouraged to show up this Sunday at Hong Lim Park to support the parents of Dominique Sarron Lee and Benjamin Lim. Gilbert Goh has finally got a last minute permit for this event to speak about the ordeals and the pains the parents of these two boys are going through and would have to live with them for the rest of their living daylight.

The event is primarily to voice the concerns of Singaporeans and parents for the safety of young children and NS men, to create awareness and to tell the govt that more must be done, urgently for the sake of our children and to protect their lives while in NS or in police custody and investigation.

The event, In memory of Dominique Lee and Benjamin Lim

Sunday 13 Mar 16

Hong Lim Park

6 pm

More Questions on LTA’s Wrongful Tesla Decision

Mystery Deepens in Singapore’s War on the Tesla All-Electric Vehicle

By Michael Heng@MIKOspace

More questions emerged even as the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) attempted to explain further its decision to impose a S$15,000 carbon tax surcharge on a Tesla pure electric vehicle (EV) which emits no CO2 from its non-existent exhaust. 

The LTA claimed to have relied on the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) R101 standards. UNECE told a Singapore news agency that Singapore is not one of the contracting parties to the 1958 Agreement which ratifies the harmonisation of vehicle regulations.  In any case, the UNECE R101 standards do not have any provisions to measure non-existent carbon emission of all-electric vehicle like the Tesla Model S.   

The news agency quoted Mr Jean Rodriguez the UNECE Information Chief that the “LTA appears to have applied UNECE R101 correctly when assessing the carbon emission of a used Tesla Model S recently”.  Yet, the only R101 protocol pertaining to pure electric vehicles only specifies the way to measure the energy consumption of the vehicle or “tank-to-wheel”.  The alleged statement by Chief Rodrigeuz would thus “appear” disingenuous since it is inconsistent with the capability of his R101 Standards.

At best, the LTA could only apply R101 Annex No: 7 which describes the “Method of measuring the electric energy consumption of (pure battery-operated electric) vehicles”. 

It is however unknown whether VICOM, the Singapore vehicle inspection company, has been assessed to have the necessary equipment and has actually been certified by UNECE to conduct the R101 tests so as to make the relevant valid computations.

Chief Rodrigeuz also further pointed out that Singapore LTA appears to be the only national regulator to have included power grid emission into the evaluation of electric vehicles’ (EVs) carbon footprint.  What this means is that the LTA had acted arbitrarily when factoring in the power grid emission without scientific support from any international authoritative test or quality standards.

From the determination of electric energy consumption to the attribution of carbon emissions by the Tesla EV would require the LTA to adopt a series of assumptions not hitherto supported by any international protocol or quality standards. The results are understandably dubious and questionable.  For example, the LTA claimed to have calculated that the electric energy consumption of the imported used Tesla car to be 444Wh/km, and translated that to the equivalent of 222g/km of CO2 after factoring a grid emission factor of 0.5 CO2/Wh.

Actually, the official Singapore’s Grid Emission Factor is about 0.43g CO2/Wh not 0.5 g.  And the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had recommended electric energy consumption of almost half of 444Wh/km for city driving.

Now we know a little more how LTA determined and subjected the Tesla EV to the resultant C3 S$15,000 carbon tax surcharge band under its Singapore's Carbon Emission-based Vehicle (CEV) Scheme, thus placing the Tesla all-Electric Vehicle with non-EV car models like the Mazda 8, Land Rover Freelander, Lexus RX270 and Maserati Ghibli. 

In other words, the LTA has deemed the Tesla Model S pure electric vehicle to be as polluting as the other fossil-fuel vehicle addicts.

Seriously, LTA? This would of course make Singapore a laughing stock in the world of sustainable energy and sustainable electric mobility. 

This incident with the Tesla EV severely tested the capability of our fossil-fuel based authorities and the limits of fossil-fuel vehicle regulations.  We are found seriously wanting and in need of fundamental change in our mindsets, policies and practices.

In the final analysis, the LTA has actually made a decision error in the Tesla EV case.  It failed to apply and follow its own definition and policy.  The LTA has already defined carbon emissions explicitly in its CEV Scheme as “the release of carbon dioxide from the use of a vehicle” and it “measures … the weight of carbon dioxide (CO2) released for every kilometre that the vehicle is driven”.   

It is thus disingenuous to compound its error by confusing sustainability-minded motorists with references to irrelevant and non-universal variables and factors.   Singapore’s reputation as a leader and active warrior against climate change by making fossil fuel history has been damaged by this incident.  Let’s restore our reputation for political leadership and hard-headed decision-making.

NUS cooking up more First Class Law graduates

The law students must be in déjà vu with the recent announcement by the Dean of NUS Law Faculty that there will be more First Class honours graduates from the faculty.  Now, how can they be so sure that there will be more First Class honours graduates? Are they going to teach them better or are they going to admit more better grade students and coach them better to get the First Class honours? It is quite easy really, no need to work so hard or teach so hard.

You see, statistically, other world class universities are producing many more First Class honours than NUS. Some are producing as many as 30% of a cohort. NUS is producing a miserable 10% or at times 5%. How can be like that? So to get even with the best universities of the world, NUS would be raising the percentage to maybe 20% or 30%. See, it is so simple.

One big question, have we been shortchanging our graduates and depriving them from getting First Class honours for the last few decades? What a crime against our local talents. And is this applicable to other faculties as well? Is this also one of the reasons why ‘foreign talents’ are all flashing First Class honours degrees and deemed better than our graduates caused we were so stingy in giving First Class honours to deserving or undeserving graduates?

Who is doing the right thing and who is doing the wrong thing? How about flashing First Class honours from degree mills or Timbuktu? Who are the fools that have been fooled all these 50 years?

No wonder we have so few talents in all fields while other countries are producing First Class honours in everything, making every fool looking like super talents flashing their First Class honours degree here.

This foreign talent law dean is doing something right for Singapore. We need more clever foreign talents. He deserves every dollar we are paying him. Singaporeans would not be able to think of such an innovative and clever idea to produce more First Class honours graduates. The other faculties must also learn from this.

The Americans are militarising Asia

The daft Asians could not bother to think what the American pivot to Asia is all about. They only listen to the Americans screaming China is militarizing the South China Sea. And when they blow the pipes, the daft Asians all fall in line and follow the pipe piper without knowing where they are being led to.

China is the expansionist power. So it is right for the Americans to sail their warships and fly their war planes to balance this new emerging power when the while the world’s Number One hegemon continues to militarise Asia and threatens everyone with wars. The American pivot to Asia is as good as the Americans saying ‘We are back, to take control of you, yes you, the daft Asians.’ We are the Empire and we will rule you, daft Asians. We will tell you who is good and who is bad and we will make you fight among yourself, Asians against Asians, and we will sell you all the weapons to kill yourself.

While the daft Asians are still smoking the American designed drugs, the Americans are moving in, bases in Singapore, negotiating for bases in the Philippines, in Vietnam and Australia. They are going to station nuclear bombers, the B1s and B52s in Australia with enough reach to the South China Sea and the whole of Asia. These are on top of more than 100 military bases in their semi colonies in South Korea and Japan, the military fortresses in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean that the Indians could do nothing about, and in Guam.

The nuclear bombers are offensive weapons with a global reach. The whole of Asia is now under the American nuclear umbrella. They can do regime change to any Asian country they want and no one can do anything about it. They are here to balance against China? China’s military strength is not even one tenth of the American military power. Who is balancing against who? I am posing this question to the daft Asians.

And what kind of weapons did China placed in the South China Sea? Defensive missiles, to protect the islands, not offensive bombers and aircraft carriers with strike aircraft and bombers.

Daft Asians cannot tell the difference between offensive and defensive weapons. The Chinese are arming themselves with defensive weapons to defend against the American offensive fighters, bombers and aircraft carriers. The American aircraft carriers, bombers, missile destroyers are all attack weapons of war. Understand?

Who is the aggressor? Who is amassing attack weapons in Asia, not just the little pond called South China Sea. Who is in charge, in control, militarily of Asia? Is China putting defensive weapons on the islands a threat or Americans moving in their nuclear weapons and offensive weapons to rule over Asia and the daft Asians a bigger and real threat, clear and present danger?

How daft can Asians be? The Ameicans set up a straw man to distract their real intention and the daft Asians swallowed it without thinking and keep throwing stones at the straw man while the region is taken over by the Empire.

Singapore – The Necessary Costly Privilege of Freedom

 

National Service is Necessary because Freedom is Not Free.

by MIKOspace

 

The death of any soldier on active service in the defense of Singapore is always a sad and sorrowful affair.  The untimely and premature death of the late Private Dominique Sarron Lee during an important training session is regrettable. 

 

Fatal training accidents inject a sobering experience to the call of national service duty, where all physically fit and eligible male Singapore citizens and permanent citizens are privileged to serve for up to 2 years upon reaching 18 years old. 

 

The call for more transparency in letters to the newspapers and in social media in this case of Pte Dominique’s death after the smoke-grenade training is understandable but, in my view, unnecessary and would even pose dangers to our soldiers and the rest of us NSmen.  The last thing we want is to let our prospective enemies know how realistic and comprehensive we have prepared our armed forces to protect Singapore and our way of life.  It should however lead Singaporeans to appreciate even more the ultimate sacrifice (to be) paid by many NSmen to keep our freedom and nation intact, and our loved ones safe. 

 

For NSmen like myself, it is yet another reminder worth repeating of the fragile geopolitical surrounding Singapore for a better understanding of the perils and risks of war that may one day breach our shores and skies, and be grateful that the constant vigilance and readiness of the Singapre Armed Forces (SAF) has kept Singapore free and safe for our growing prosperity over the past 50 years.

 

Today, Pte Dominique’s death forces me to ponder, again, the meaning of sacrifice for my country. As a natural-born Singapore citizen, I have always regarded national service as the singular privilege and honour of citizenship. My son grows up holding his head high and proud as a citizen of a sovereign nation, as he looks ahead expectantly for his turn on Singapore’s watch towers.  He knows and understands, as do most young Singaoreans in his cohort, that “some must fight, so that all can be free!”.   

 

Many young male Singaporeans today see national service as a mere rite of passage.  Some consider it a necessary evil that interrupts their further higher education or joining the marketplace. A few Singapore Permanent Residents prefer to leave the choice of national service to their sons later, forgetting the benefits of safety and security provided by thousands of NSmen enjoyed by their sons during their 18 formative years.    

 

I remember that it was 5 years after completing my national service that the full meaning of sacrifice hit me in a most unmistakably crystal manner.  I travelled to Normandy, France, to gain an appreciation of D-Day in June 1944 when the Allied Forces invaded Europe to begin the end of the 2^nd World War.  When I turned towards the cliffs high above Omaha Beach, I was suddenly confronted by huge sprawling fields of cemeteries strewn with thousands of white crosses for as far as my eyes could see.  They extended for many, many kilometers.

 

The guide book stated that more than 9,000 Americans were buried there, with another 5,000 from Britain together with a few hundred from other Allied countries, Germany and Russia, among them. 

 

For the Americans, they had travelled nearly 6,000km to fight the enemy; and many had perished on the beaches even just as the battles had barely begun. Comparatively, my modest NSmen reservist combat role, at that time, was to defend a stretch of Sembawang beach in North Singapore!  Nonetheless, the goal was equally noble: to defend Singapore’s sovereignty at all cost, including my life.

 

Today, as Singapore joined Pte Dominique’s family in remembering their loss and celebrate his life, we must not diminish his sacrifice as he answered the privileged call to national service.  I have no doubt that Dominique Sarron Lee, my fellow NSman, wanted to protect this country and our way of life so often taken for granted.  He is a hero, our NSman hero.

 

Training accidents are not new.  Realistic training designs are developed to empower the soldiers and save their lives during actual battle conditions.  Accidents do happen in spite of abundant safety regulations and measures. The SAF has so many safety regulations and measures today that range from being hydrated before and during running, warming-up before exercises, adequate sleep, buddy system, competent instructors, proper weapon handling; training exercise operating procedures … etc.

 

I also remember a few tragic fatal incidents: trained instructors died throwing themselves onto live grenades when their recruits froze after throwing them; soldiers died when vehicles they were driving overturned on unfamiliar mountains outside Singapore; a soldier pointed a machine gun at his buddy in jest with safety off and pulled the trigger accidentally; soldiers committing suicides for various reasons; death of a water-boarding trainee … etc.  

 

Where the SAF is concerned, every incident and accident is investigated without fear or favour. NSmen who have ever been involved in such investigations will attest to this.  The main objectives have always been to uncover recklessness and negligence if any, and to assure that the incidents would not repeat.  Hence, SAF training safety and measures are often reviewed and improved upon after every incident whenever necessary.

 

Blaming and demeaning the SAF, calling the SAF insulting names and accusing the SAF of cover-up do not honour the memory of Pte Dominique Sarron Lee.  It also denigrates and disrespects the SAF in preserving and maintaining the security and safety of Singapore. Worse, it also dishonours all of us NSmen who wear the SAF uniform. 

 

Truth is, some of us will die during training accidents and even during peace time as we strive beyond pain and sweats to protect our precious freedom of a sovereign nation, and our way of life as a multi-cultural, multiracial nation regardless of race language and religion.  

 

Let the perils and risks of our treasured freedom unite us as we remember those like Pte Dominique Sarron Lee who perished as they sought to protect it through national service.