I like Yaacob Ibrahim

Long long time ago, there was a city in SE Asia brimming with banks and financing institutions. Local brand names like Chung Khiaw Bank, Tat Lee Bank, Keppel Bank, OUB, Far Eastern Bank, Malayan Banking, Industrial and Commercial Banks, International Bank of Singapore, POSB, OCBC, UOB and DBS were common features of the banking landscape. Now only UOB, OCBC and DBS are left standing. The rest of the smaller banks were merged or absorbed by the three big banks.  Many foreign banks also started business here in a crowded financial industry.

In the past there were many big local names, heading the local banks, Ng Kee Choe, Elizabeth Sam, Theresa Foo, Wee Cho Yaw, the late Lien Ying Chow, late Lee Seng Wee,  Lee Hee Seng, Peter Seah, etc etc.  Today there is only one Singaporean left helming a local bank, and he is lucky that he is not replaced by foreigners. What happened to all our banking talents? No more, cannot find, all got no skill sets?

Who is responsible for this mess? This thing did not happen overnight. Someone is sleeping or deliberately let it happened. This is not only a national shame, it is undermining our talent pool in banking and finance. No one responsible for it? Cannot name anyone or else no one would want the multi million dollar job?

Now you know why I said I like Yaacob? He is rolling out a programme to train 1,200 IT professionals from 160 that they are producing. (Correct me if I get the numbers wrong). Yaacob wants to build a Singaporean core in IT. Never mind, don’t ask him why we were not training IT professionals and why he is cramping this training programme.  It is not his fault. No one knows whose fault, cannot mention one.

Good job Yaacob. Please train more Singaporeans quickly before the whole industry landed in foreigners’ hand and all our infocomm security put at risk, in the hands of foreigners. Quick, quick, not much time left. And no need to go to Parliament to kpkb why got no IT talents in Singapore, no banking and finance talents, not enough doctors, no Singaporean talents to be politicians, and not enough of local academics.

Just do it. Get the butts off the chair and start working.

White men speak with fork tongue in a straight face

John Kerry visited Hiroshima to place a wreath at the commemorative site where the atomic bomb landed 65 years ago. The two atomic bombs brought an end to the savages’ imperialistic dream of conquering the world and colonizing Asia. The Americans and the victims of Japanese invasion and savagery were and are still thinking that the bombing was justified. It is not easy to let an army of savages running wild, bombing, killing, looting, raping murdering the peoples of Asia. The Japanese deserved every bit of the two atomic bombs and the 200,000 death which was a small fraction of the millions they slaughtered during their invasion of Asia.

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a just dessert for the Japanese for their cruelty and barbarity to their victims and brought an end to it abruptly for the good of Asia. What was mischievous about this Kerry visit to Hiroshima was the things that he uttered with a straight face. In an Agencies article in the Today paper on 12 Apr, it has this headline, ‘Kerry reaffirms US anti nuclear stance during Hiroshima visit’. And the article quoted him saying, the nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ‘was a reminder of the need to pursue a world free of nuclear weapons’. 

To the innocence, such a statement appears so noble. But when one knows that the Americans possessed the most nuclear warheads among all nations, more than 7000 of them, more ten times the nuclear warheads possessed by all the nuclear countries, what John Kerry said was either crap, white lie or pure stupidity. The USA was the first country that used a nuclear bomb on another country.  The USA was the only country that had on several occasions toying with the idea of nuking other countries. And the USA is the country that possessed enough nuclear weapons to wipe the human civilization off the face of the earth. And it is saying that it is anti nuclear weapons! But not to worry, many silly Asian countries will believe the Americans really meant what they said.

And the Americans are pushing very hard against Asian countries possessing nuclear weapons but not their allies and not themselves possessing more than 7000 warheads.  The American anti nuclear policy means that all countries that the Americans considered as their enemies cannot possess nuclear weapons. Only America and its allies can have nuclear weapons. Period.

White men speak with fork tongue? No? Why must the Americans built so many nuclear warheads and carry them around the world in bombers and nuclear submarines and in bases across the whole world if they are anti nuclear weapons?  Which country possessed the first nuclear weapon and refused to commit a no first use of nuclear weapon policy?

Oh, they are blaming the North Koreans for wanting to go nuclear! It is the fault of the North Koreans that the Americans must have more than 7000 nuclear warheads. It is confirmed, double confirmed. The Americans need 7000 nuclear warheads for peace. The Americans need to sign military alliances everywhere and build military bases all over the world for peace. What more does one need to believe the Americans to be stupid?

Be wary of nincompoops and sycophants

I remember this story of a turkey that was fed with bull shit and flew to the top of the tree. At that height and visibility, it became an easy target for the farmer who promptly shot it down.  The moral of the story is that those that climbed too high by bull shitting would be exposed to danger and would fall as quickly as they got up there.

In corporations or in politics, there will be a lot of nincompoops or sycophants who are very slippery in flattery to fan the ego of their bosses to get themselves into the good books. The intention could be just that, but sometimes the intention could be more serious, drugging the bosses to commit hara kiri without knowing it. Some bosses are just like the turkey and would be happy being fed with shit to be unnecessarily exposed, standing high on the tree top naked.

In a way the same story can be used to understand what Lee Wei Ling was trying to say and do. She is apprehensive that too much publicity given to LKY, already respected by many by the turn out at his funeral, could turn negative and ultimately make a mockery of LKY when sarcasm and doubts started to build up among the skeptics. LKY departed with great honours and the feeling was good in the minds of many. This goodwill should be left to stay in the minds of the people for as long as it could hold. To exaggerate it could end up being overdosed and trigger a bout of rejection.

Hsien Loong must be wary of the nincompoops and sycophants trying to curry favours by feeding him with the wrong message, that the people wanted more celebration of LKY, wanted to build more and bigger monuments, wanted to build temples, to elevate LKY to a deity to be worshipped.  Singapore is a first world country, not like those in the 3^rd world when hero worship and megalomania are acceptable, when political leaders could assume a god like image for the people to bow and pray and worship. Trying such behavioural tactics on a first world educated and sophisticated people would likely lead to unexpected and negative reception. We have gone pass the 3^rd world mentality. Or haven’t we?

Hsien Loong should appreciate the contrarian view of his sister, and kick the butts of the nincompoops and sycophants telling him the wrong things. What was fed to him could be expected, as they were the messengers of good news, telling the master what he wanted to hear.  What was not fed to him could be something exactly opposite. How is Hsien Loong going to hear the bad stuff if he is surrounded by people telling him only the good stuff?

It is good that the big celebration was preempted before it gone too far. In this case, my view is that Wei Ling had a better feel of the ground. The ground swell, the spontaneous  groundup adoration seen during the funeral were not there this time. Hope no one is telling Hsien Loong that people are crying and fainting at the anniversary commemoration.  In the developed world there is such a thing called quiet dignity.

Beware of the hidden agenda of those ‘friends’ that are waiting for the Ides of March. Beware of nincompoops and sycophants.

The appeals of Chee Soon Juan and the SDP

There are still many comments from the unthinking that Chee Soon Juan is a rash and mad politician. This message has been repeated and rammed into the heads of many innocent readers for the last twenty years and many are unable to shake this piece of shit off their minds. This fortunately is only true when the unthinking masses are concerned. It is a different matter to those who think, who question how a man could be so wronged, so badly tarnished for a small and questionable act when many had got away with murders and still walking around like angels.

The introduction of the new SDP town council team designated to run the Bukit Batok Town Council is a good case to watch. The people name are professionals and respected individuals and with lawyer like Peter Low, formerly the Law Society President, in the list, speak very well of the SDP and Chee Soon Juan. The professionals are not easily dragged to believe the taints thrown all over Chee Soon Juan. They are rallying to his side, to join his party and his cause, a statement of trust and faith.

These professionals are not only showing way, they are telling the people that they believe Chee Soon Juan is a good man, a man worthy of their support. They want him to be in Parliament. They are saying, do not believe the craps thrown at Chee Soon Juan. They are telling the people, the masses, to think and to believe in Chee Soon Juan and the SDP.

It is an endorsement of the man and his works. Would the people of Bukit Batok listen to the good voices of these good men, to shrug off the craps that they were made to believe in, that Chee Soon Juan is an unworthy man? How many people out there among the politicians are more worthy than Chee Soon Juan?

The Bukit Batok by election is a test of the maturity of the people of Bukit Batok, to think for themselves on what is good for the constituency and for the country. Do not let other people think for you or make you think what they want you to think or how to think. Think for yourself for goodness’ sake, and decide what is best for yourself and for Bukit Batok and for Singapore.

Violating the sanctity and security of the heartland

The govt encourages the people to sub let their HDB flats to earn extra income. Many have taken advantage of this new avenue to ease their financial burden and obligation, and that is good. One or two rooms can be sublet out and the retirees can live on this new source of income to live through their retirement years.

When one gets into detail, this sub letting policy could become a bane to the average Singaporean families. Our rapid progress and changes in our lifestyle have altered the characteristics of our society. We have new small nuclear families. The three generation or two generation families are no longer the norm. Singaporean families are either very young, the newly wed, or small new nuclear families of one or two kids, and the solitary or two retiree families. The number of people occupying a flat is relatively small, mostly 2 to 4 persons per unit regardless of flat size.

How would the subletting policy affect the life of the average HDB dwellers? Subletting of one or two rooms would normally add a couple of people into an unit of flat, unlikely to be more than 4. A small presence of a few strangers living in a floor of HDB flats would be quite comfortable for everyone. The problem comes when 6 or 8 or more move into a flat. Some owners are subletting their whole flat to foreign tenants, and depending on flat size, it is quite normal now to have more than 6 tenants in a HDB rental flats. Quite often it could be more than 10 as the tenants find it economical to share the cost of rentals. The more the merrier.

The modest HDB flats are homes to the Singaporeans. They returned after a hectic day at work to seek comfort, security and solace within their four walls. The sense of home, security, familiarity, belonging and a safe sanctuary have been taken for granted as part and parcel of HDB dwellers’ life.

How would a floor of 6 or 8 units of flats, occupied by retirees or young families feel when 6 to 10 burly foreign men moved in? How would the parents feel when they are all out at work and leaving only a few retirees and young children at home, with 6 to 8 foreigners living next door when they have no clue of who they are and what are their characters?  And what if the foreigners would make the common corridor as an extension of their flats since there are so many of them, and the young and old, and the women folks would now have to walk pass these foreign men, under the stare of their wandering glare?

There are personal safety concerns for the retirees, the women and the young children. There are also security concerns of their homes when the adults are out at work, often leaving behind empty flats, and the foreigners would know who would be at home and who would not be at home. Very likely 99% of the foreigners are decent and honest people and there is nothing to worry about. The problem comes with the 1%.

Have the HDB and the govt, the police, think through this social, safety and security problems of the Singaporean HDB dwellers when a big number of foreigners moved in to live side by side with them? It is no joke for the feeble retirees, young children and women to be straddling pass big burly foreigners in the sanctuary of their HDB homes daily. It is no joke for the parents with young children alone at homes and knowing the presence of many foreigners next door when the parents are not at home.

This violation of the HDB sanctuary, the homes of the average Singaporeans by the presence of big numbers of foreign men, construction workers or manual workers, is unacceptable and unwelcome for the well being of the HDB dwellers. When they are small in numbers, things are manageable. When the number is big, especially a large number of men in a unit, and with the neighbouring units often empty or left with young children, young daughters and wives and retirees, it is not only undesirable, but poses serious safety and security risks.

The Govt and the HDB must review this policy of having too many foreigners, especially men, in a unit of HDB flats. The sanctuary of the HDB as homes for the average Singaporeans must be protected and not violated by this subletting policy. There must be more control and restrictions on the number of foreigners allowed to live in a flat in the midst of Singaporean families, in the heartland.

Singaporeans must feel safe and at ease with their homes, their dependents at home, when they are out at work, and also to feel safe at home, in peace and without having to worry about so many foreigners next door and what if they have bad intentions.

This is not a terrorist issue but a very basic right of the people, to live and feel free and safe in the heartland.