How could empires or dynasties fall?

In every rein of an empire or dynasty, the kings or political leaders would, theoretically, surround himself with the brightest men and women. Exceptions would be the foolish king. But he should be forgiven for his foolishness as he would be incapable of seeing the difference between good men and bad men, good policies and bad policies. In many instances, the kings or leaders are not that daft unless like China when the throne was passed down from father to son, they would have a little smartness to know good and bad. Therefore, the kings and his wise men and women would be doing everything possible to perpetuate their rule and to protect their interests. To them, these are the good things to do and would be good for their rules and their interests. They would not have them if what they were doing were bad and would end their rules.

 

Given such a scenario, all kings and their empires would last forever. It must be. But history has proven all over and over again and again, that empires must fall through their foolish policies and stupid kings and stupid wise men and women. Now this must be a very difficult explanation to do.

 

Just look at the Americans and all the big and small countries, would they be doing things to destroy their countries and their rules? All of them must be putting up their best men and women and coming up with their best plans and policies to be better and better and not to run down their countries. They must sincerely believe that they are doing their best and they are the wisest. A few decades forward, some of these countries would have fallen into disaster. But how could that be when they thought they were doing everything right? They would even tell their people they were the smartest and their policies were the best for the people. They would not say anything that their policies, being the best, were for themselves and self preservation.

 

Would Singapore be an exception? We also have a govt that claims to be the best and with the best men and women running the country. You don’t have to agree to that claim. And the best men and women are telling the people they are the best and their policies are the best. By right, with the best men and women in charge, with the best policies, just listen to them telling the voters in Bukit Batok how good they are, how talented they are, I got goose pimples, Singapore will grow and prosper forever. SG100 will be better and is a matter of reaching there.

 

The verdict will be written by the historians in the future on why so many things they said were so obvious, stupidity of the highest degree, but the leaders and people of the day could not see them and keep praising them and self congratulating themselves. What are the historians saying about the Roman Empire, Chinese Empire, Japanese Empire, the European Empires and how they fell into oblivion? It must be a series of disastrous policies that were supposed to be good policies of clever men and women.

 

There is no exception in history, in the fall of empires. The so called clever men and women of the day would be written in history books as the same people that destroyed the empires with their stupid ways and failed policies. Funny isn’t it?

 

I keep knocking at my head, this cannot be. This cannot happen to Singapore. We have the best of the best men and women in charge and look at all their clever and brilliant policies. How can Singapore fell from grace in the charge of so many super talented men and women? I think there may be an answer, external factors.  Definitely the historians would not be putting the blame on stupid men and women and stupid policies of the day.  Nothing can go wrong with clever men and women and clever policies. It must be, or else it is so illogical.

 

What do you think?

Condemned by the Pharisees and the elites

Born of humble beginings, lived among the ordinary people, he had a vision, to show the way to the people, to a better life. He spoke to crowds in the hills, people came to listen to him. This annoyed the Pharisees and the elites. They condemned him and wanted to fix him. They bought Judas to betray him. They could not find any crimes committed by him, but they crucified him. The people taunted him, the soldiers sneered at him, making insulting remarks to mock him. He went through hell, lived in the wilderness only to rise and to lead people from all over the world, promising them that there is a better future and a better life. The Pharisees and the elites lived, died and forgotten. He lives on in the life of the people that believed in him.

The moral of the story, do not simply condemned a man just because you could not understand him or could not see his points of view. Do not condemn a man just because the Pharisees and the elites condemned him and want you to condemn him as well. Do not ignore a man just because a few people closed to him betrayed him and turned against him. Righteousness of the heart cannot be condemned.

Chee Soon Juan lives like any ordinary average Singaporean in a 3 room HDB flat. He could afford to live better if he had chosen to leave his country and work overseas. He chose to stay on with his fellow citizens, he returned to lead them, to show them there is a better way for the future. His living with the people, among the people, could be his destiny, to know what life is like as an average citizen. It is his calling. He could everything behind, his little 3 room flat and go somewhere to live better. Both he and his wife are Ph D holders and would have no problem finding better employment. But lesser people with lesser qualifications are sneering at him, unable to see that he is a better man and could get a better job and a better life if he wanted to..

He came home, spoke to the people, and they came to listen to him. The Pharisees and the elites condemned him, so are many of the ignorant masses that are living well. But he did not give up. He continues to speak to the people and more and more are now listening to him. The Pharisees and the elites can continue to lie about him. They may want to crucify him to, given the opportunity.

Is he the One destined to lead the people to a better life? There are similarities, an intelligent man so wronged by the Pharisees and the elites. He may be the one that will lead the people to their freedom, to a better life. He came to dwell among the poor, to speak to them and to lead them, to free them from oppression and to enlightenment and a better quality of life.

PS. A 5 min clip on Chee by an author in Chinese but with English subtitles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW5YrcSO-Ms&sns=em#t=293.527

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?