Dr Chee – Be cool, calm and compose, like a gentleman

As expected the barrage of personal attacks and character assassination on Chee Soon Juan is coming fast and furious. Everything under the belt will be hit. Under such circumstances, it is very difficult for a normal human bean not to react, not to want to react. It is only human that when people are throwing punches at you, one would want to hit back, especially when the tactics are despicable and disgusting.

Last night at the Bukit Gombak Stadium, Paul Tambyah was on fire. I have never heard him speaking so forcefully, speaking with so much conviction and fire in the belly to deflect the personal attacks on Chee. Paul was the perfect and consummate gentleman to all that know him. To arouse his ire, something real bad must have hit him.. He let go everything he had about being insincerity, unfairness,  dishonourable, about sinking into gutter politics and shitty politics and shitty politicians that are unbecoming of first world countries.  Come to think of it, Donald Trump looks like an angel. Paul was fuming at the low blow and low down blow job of the last couple of days,… including attacking the media for playing dirty politics, intentionally misreporting and then pretending to make amends. What he exposed of the on goings were so dirty, like soiled sanitary pads being thrown everywhere by supposedly honourable people.

This is a time that calls for a better man to stand up, not to be among the mud slingers and misbehaving like badly brought up kids. Chee Soon Juan must maintain his coolness and calm composure. Do not behave like the misbehaved, do not engage them, do not be like them. Let the voters of Bukit Batok judge who is the gentleman and who are the scoundrels. He did, but not before saying his piece. He needed to defend himself from the allegations or the allegations would be taken as truth. A man must defend his honour, but Chee did not hit back with more sanitary pads. He just stated his points like an honourable man would.

This is a by election to elect an MP into Parliament, not a longkang fight among the spoilt brats and their expletives. A by election is to elect honourable people to the house of Parliament, and some respect and decorum are expected in the hustlings. Anyone that misbehaves would speak badly of himself and his party. You shall be judged by the people of Bukit Batok and all Singaporeans by what you said and did.

We are First World, not Third World.  Oops, have we gone down there already?

Post by Anon ++ on the dire straits Singapore is in

Many parts of sinkieland's economy are maciam Eastman Kodak and getting "irrelevant" in the international market?

The so called economic restructuring since the early 2000s is nothing but just "short term boosting steroids" that are beginning to show the serious adverse consequences associated with such "quick-fixes and band-aids"?

Gold-fish eyes bespoke Roadmaps for 20 sectors and $4.5 billions ITP spanning many years are just old ( poor quality? ) wine in new "fancy, high sounding" ( terms and ) "sparkling" bottles that cannot compete at the same level with the real good stuff at the international level?

The $500 SkillsFuture scheme costing many billions and wasted opportunities will almost certainly do nothing to upskill, reskill, upgrade sinkies job competencies in any meaningful way in the short run, medium run and long run?

The so called economic "bazookas" to reinvigorate the flagging and fast nosediving sinkieland's economy have so far seen one disappointment after another? 

From now till end 2016 when the Committee for Future Economy is targeted to announce its restructuring plan would be too far off, too little too late to be optimistic about anything that they are seen capable of delivering? ( remember their old wines in new fancy bottles that only deal further blows to sinkieland's economy and further downwards towards economic abyss and armageddon? )

They will often try to change the names, the forms, the packaging but still same old substance, same old one-trick pony? Now is the time to have new "药" and not new "汤" but same old "药"?  Now is the time to have new "wines" and not new "bottles" but same old "wines"?

 

Why the conclusion that Gold-Fish eyes $4.5 billion ITP is unlikely to work?  Look at the scale of the problem?  In 2015 alone, total merchandise trade plunged by $100 billion?  The $4.5 billion sounds "big" but pales in comparison to the plunge of $100 billion in total merchandise trade last year ( 2015 ) alone?  Do sinkies really need to have an economics degree to grasp the magnitude of the "fire"?

To put it in simple terms, there is a raging inferno of a few hundred sq km and the fire dept despatches 45 fire engines but going to be spread out over 5 years .....?  So 45 fire engines over 5 years are down to about 9 in one year? Then the 9 fire engines are spread over different fire spots of the raging inferno of a few hundred sq km? Is there anyone who seriously think the fire at any spot can even be put out, much less the entire raging inferno of a few hundred sq km?

Thus, the ( disastrous ) outcome is likely predictable?  Sinkies and sinkieland need new ways to put out the "raging economic fires"?

Eastman Kodak developed the digital camera in 1975, but the management was riding high, seeing it had never existed and did not capitalized on it. It was the Japanese who saw its potential. Today leaders are Canon, Nikon etc and your handphones (who do you think makes the camera's components?) Eastman Kodak file for bankruptcy, that Eastman is "pura" (go away/gone) and Kodak name remain.

Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Manchurians tried to implement some reforms but due to their old ways, nothing good came out of such efforts and the rest is history? 

In 10 to 12 years time ( by 2026 to 2028 ), where would sinkieland be? Marching on the same spot? To have progress in 2026 or 2028, what must be done yesterday?  What must be done last week? What could have been done last year? If the answers to such simple questions are nothing, would sinkies not realise how precarious sinkieland's economy is right now? From 2016 onwards, the ( unsound and ) uncompetitive structure of sinkieland's economy is likely going to drag it downwards ceaselessly?  The drift towards abyss and ignominy could have already begun?

What $1.9 million riddle? The ( real ) elephant in the room is the $100 billion plunge in total merchandise trade in 2015?  Given the economic malaise sinkieland are having, a few critical areas need to be addressed foremost? 

In the short run, fiscal and monetary policies to ensure stability in the macroeconomics front.  In the medium and long run, supply-side policies to correct/ remedy several structural "sickness" in the economy. Labour market reform is one such area. If flooding the employment market with cheap labour can ensure sustainable economic growth and development, then populous but poor countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines with population between 100 to 200 millions should be doing well but they are NOT! In fact, despite such huge population, their GDP is still significantly lower than many countries with a tiny fraction of their population such as Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden etc.

Current policies of opening the foreign labour floodgates are not sustainable given the upper limits and deteriorating quality of life and mental capacities associated with overcrowding .......? The Jiak Liao Bees have created "ONE GIGANTIC PROBLEM" in the property market since 1990 under lao goa's and Marboro Tan's jiak sai stewardship? 

Without tackling the interwoven and intertwined impacts and ramifications of the property market, labour market reforms would be "EMPTY TALKS" and the problems swept under the carpet, head hidden in the sand and politicians KICKING the cans further down the road by meddling with masak masak window dressing wayang such as the state trying to "save" the economy by involving more public servants in the running of the private sector which was the problem in the first place but now TOUTED by gold-fish eyes as the SOLUTION? 

Education is another big sector that needs overhaul and the urgency cannot be overstated? Sadly, the jiak liao bees again are doing windows dressing and at the non-critical, non-material areas ......?  The eco-nomic system of any cuntry is not dissimilar to any eco-system? Just like the food chain in the oceans or the wildlife, tinkering with one sub-system or variety alters the entire eco-process .....?

A sick economy is like a sick patient with health problems in various areas .......? A sick economy will collapse even FASTER when it is "treated" simultaneously in all "sick" areas .......?  Not unlike a sick patient who needs treatments on his various organs such as heart, kidney, liver, digestive system, brain ..... etc? Operating simultaneously on the heart and brain of a critically sick patient surely will send him to see the creator faster?

Thus, the issues that need to be resolved are NOT so simple? It is not just identifying where are the problems, how much and how to solve them? It is when to solve what by how much?

Like a sick patient whose heart needs surgery but will probably die if operated on as his health conditions cannot undergo the strain of an open heart surgery?  Therefore other areas then have to be treated and when the patient's health has recovered sufficiently, then the open heart surgery can proceed?

If is the same for an eco-nomic system? Treating the wrong segment of the economy at the wrong time with the wrong policies is also going to send the "patient into the mortuary" and "make the patient return his IC much earlier"?

Haha....... The Patient needs no more treatment .There is no cure for the Patient
anymore. Do not waste time with much ado about nothing. Let nature takes it's course and let the Patient be history. End of the Story.

By Anon ++

PAP’s candidates and MPs are of superior talent

The big question being posed and asked by the Singaporeans is the issue of part time MPs versus full time MPs. Regardless of whether they work full or part time, they will still be given the same miserable allowance of $16,000 a month. This amount is really undignified for people who are earning millions and when $600,000 a year income is considered peanuts. To put into perspective, at least 90% of Singaporeans are earning less than this amount as salary and many are earning less than $2,000 a month with the national average at around $3,000.

Let me move on to why the PAP candidates are of superior quality in this case. The opposition candidates are all claiming that they would serve the residents full time, that means working from 8 to 5 and more. The PAP candidates would not have such things. Part time is good enough. Part time means 8 to 5, holding a full time job and spending the evenings and probably weekends to serve the constituencies.  This is like a full time student devoting every hour of his time, in school and tuition classes to try to get his As, and many did not. On the other hand, the superior talents need not attend school, just did part time and still got their As.

This is exactly why I said the PAP candidates are of superior quality and talent than the opposition candidates. Not only that the latter got to work full time and struggling to do a good job, the PAP candidates would definitely do a better job, without sweating, and doing part time only, and with a lot of time to spare for ECAs and maybe practicing to be karaoke singers.

I am not sure how such people acquire such inhuman qualities, to be super humans. Did they attend special training in special academies or did they also gone through the same educational system, drank the same Newater and breathed the same air, with haze when in season, and came out being the best, like running town councils and being MPs and being ministers are second nature to them? The only difference is that they went through a special tea ceremony to gauge their suitability as a politician. Maybe it is the tea they were served. Or is it the badge they are wearing?

Compare to the opposition candidates and MPs, you cannot fault them for their convictions and sincerity, to want to serve the people well and whole heartedly, full time, and still failing. It must be in their genes, lower quality humans, oh yes, I forgot, they are just mortals.

So I shall conclude that everything is possible to the super talented beans. And they only need to put in half or less than half the effort, part time, and will be able to do a better job. I must emphasize here that only the part timers are of such qualities. Those that worked full time are not of the same material. Think of the people working full time in the SMRT will give you a good idea. If the SMRT would to be run by part timers, I think it will run smoothly too. Superbly talented people need only to work part time or devote a fraction of their time to do a good job. It is the quality of the people and the time they spent on the job.

And don’t think they are not committed to serve the people just because they only want to do it part time. Their part time is better than full time. And they really deserve the miserable $16,000 monthly allowance. This sum could be quite insulting to some of them, but they took the insult quietly. They just want to serve, they don’t need the money. Money is something that they have a lot and not short of. That is why it is called an allowance, not a salary or a pay. A salary or pay must be substantial, that would not affect their high quality life style. The MP allowance is sup sup suay. So don’t think you are paying the MPs a lot of money for their time. Remember, a peanut is $600,000. What is $16,000? Only peasants would regard this sum as money.

The people of Bukit Batok must be waiting to be served by an excellent part time super talented MP.  When someone says he has to work full time, he is indirectly admitting that he is of inferior quality. Some of the super talents could be working in more than 10 jobs, some even more, because they are simply so talented. Wearing 60 hats!

I could not imagine how Bukit Batok would look like if the superbly talented MP would work full time. Would it become a paradise?

Trump's first day at the Oval Office.

First briefing by the CIA, FBI and Pentagon

Trump: We must destroy ISIS immediately.

CIA: We cannot do that, sir. We created them along with Turkey, Saudi, Qatar and others.

Trump: The Democrats created them.

CIA: We created ISIS, sir. You need them or else you would lose funding from the natural gas lobby.

Trump: Stop funding Pakistan. Let India deal with them.

CIA: We can't do that. It is Modi in India and not Manmohan.

Trump: So what?

CIA: Modi will cut Balochistan out of Pak.

Trump: I don't care.

CIA: India will have peace in Kashmir. They will stop buying our weapons. They will become a superpower. We have to fund Pakistan to keep India busy in Kashmir.

Trump: But you have to destroy the Taliban.

CIA: Sir, we can't do that. We created the Taliban to keep Russia in check during the 80s. Now they are keeping Pakistan busy and away from their nukes.

Trump: We have to destroy terror sponsoring regimes in the Middle East. Let us start with the Saudis.

Pentagon: Sir, we can't do that. We created those regimes because we wanted their oil. We can't have democracy there, otherwise their people will get that oil - and we cannot let their people own it.

Trump: Then, let us invade Iran.

Pentagon: We cannot do that either, sir.

Trump: Why not?

CIA: We are talking to them, sir.

Trump: What? Why?

CIA: We want our stealth drone back. If we attack them, Russia will obliterate us as they did to our buddy ISIS in Syria. Besides we need Iran to keep Israel in check.

Trump: Then let us invade Iraq again.

CIA: Sir, our friends (ISIS) are already occupying 1/3rd of Iraq.

Trump: Why not the whole of Iraq?

CIA: We need the Shi'ite gov't of Iraq to keep ISIS in check.

Trump: I am banning Muslims from entering US.

FBI: We can't do that.

Trump: Why not?

FBI: Then our own population will become fearless.

Trump: I am deporting all illegal immigrants to south of the border.

Contributed by Virgo in a comment. I upgrade it to a post.

Bukit Batok - The $1.9m riddle, whose money?

What is this $1.9m upgrading package? To me it is a simple number  but why are the politicians fumbling with this number like a hot potato and could not get it right? Hey, I expect politicians to know how to count, to know how to get their numbers correct.  Murali said this $1.9m is part of the $24m package David Ong proposed for the people of Bukit Batok. Then why not say so, why not say it is $24m and not a miserable $1.9m. To those expecting and waiting for the $24m package, this looks like loose change, short changed.

Murali finally qualified to say that the $24m works out to be about $4.5m a year. He further qualified that some projects already completed, some work in progress, so the balance, does it work out to be precisely $1.9m? What is this $1.9m, work not started yet, new projects or projects initiated by David Ong? Or is the $1.9m projects the sole initiative of Murali so he has to say this separately to distinguish himself from David Ong? What is what now?

As a layman, what the Bukit Batok residents may want to know is where is this money coming from? Are they the resident’s money from the Bukit Batok constituency, or general tax payers’ money or are they the PAP’s money? This point is relevant to the question raised by the SDP about pork barrel politics, about vote buying.  The PAP said there is nothing to do with vote buying, so the money is rightly to be the residents’ money and the PAP is just managing the money and using the residents’ money to improve the estate. This sounds right, it is the people’s money and only how to use it in the best way to benefit the people. If it is the PAP’s money then the allegation by the SDP for vote buying may have some basis to work on.

Can I thus conclude that the money belong’s to the residents, is there waiting for the MP/Town  Council to propose how to use it in the best way for the residents? If this is the case, can Chee Soon Juan also promise to use the same money, the residents’ money to upgrade the estate that he thinks best when the residents give him the mandate by electing him as their MP? Can right?

So if Chee Soon Juan would to promise the residents that he would use the same many, the residents’ money to upgrade the estates for the residents’ good, would he be accused of vote buying? No right.

Let me organize the facts to make it clear to the residents of Bukit Batok and Singaporean.  The $24m is the residents’ money and David Ong had proposed how it should be used for the residents when he was the MP. Would this plan be changed because there is a change of MP? It should not right? Or even if it should, the money, the balance that has not been used should still be available to the new MP to use for the benefits of the residents right?  Oh, caveat, in a GE, when there is a change of MP, the money not used must be transferred to a reserves fund, cannot be touched by the new MP from another party even if it is the residents’ money. Don't ask me to explain the logic or stupidity of this provision. I am not a party to it. It looks mischievous. The money is not earned by the MP investing in some clever bonds. The money are contributions, collections from the residents. Why should a new from another party be deprived from using it for the good of the residents?

In the case of a by election, would the same rules applied, ie, the new MP cannot touch it if he is from SDP and not from PAP? I really dunno.  The basic question, whose money is it? The residents’ or the party’s?

There is this money paid by the residents, amounting to $24m, some spent, some on the way, some still available. Can Chee Soon Juan use this money to upgrade the estate and proposed his plans to the residents and not be accused of vote buying?

What is the issue, what is the problem? $1.9m or balance of $24m? If Murali can promise the residents with the residents’ money, why can’t Chee? It is definitely not the PAP’s money right?