More power to the police to stop people anyhow take pictures

A new law is being tabled in Parliament to forbid the public from taking images, video or still, of serious incidents aka like terrorist attacks. Under this new Communication Stop Order law, it says as reported in thenewpaper, ‘the commissioner of police when authorized by the home affairs minister’ can invoke this law.
 
I hope I am reading this correctly, ie, the home affairs minister must authorize first, then the commissioner of police can give the order. If not, any police officer on the spot can suka suka stop anyone from taking video/pictures using their mobile phones or anything in hand. Is this correct? I can still remember a police officer arresting a photographer, I think a reporter, from taking pictures of a flood, or was it something else, ponding?
 
And some MPs were raising the issue of abuse of power in Parliament. I think this would not be the case. Singaporeans are born with a special DNA and abuse of power would never happen to them. You can never find a single case of abuse of power in the history of Singapore. Everything is done legally. How can there be abuse of power when things are done legally, eg ministerial salary, compulsory CPF insurance schemes? Please don’t accuse the govt of abuse of power to do anything. It is just not in their DNA. They are also Singaporeans and have this exceptional DNA in them.
 
The CSO is to prevent ‘irresponsible communication’. Actually if this is the case, taking pictures and videos should be alright as the intent is to prevent people from communicating irresponsibly like fake news. Tiok boh? Let people take lah, just make sure they do not anyhow post it to shame anyone for irresponsible behavior like anyhow park or anyhow shit or shit anywhere should be good enough. Tiok boh?
 
Ok, get the intent and purpose of this CSO right from the start. What is it supposed to prevent? Irresponsible communication? I read this in thenewpaper. ‘Mrs Teo said this is not its intention as it is meant to stop “irresponsible communication” when asked about forbidding people from taking pictures. So if people take pictures and videos but did not communicate or communicate responsibly, like passing them to help the police to work on the case must be ok right? And if passing to the police is ok, then they must be allowed to take right. If cannot take how to pass to police to help the police? You tell me lah.
 
So what is the real intention, to prevent people from taking images or to prevent people from communicating irresponsibly?
 
PS. I was thinking of including incorruptibility as part of Singaporean’s exceptional DNA. But on second thought, this one is conditional, that they be paid out of this world’s salary or else. So this Singaporean exceptionalism no count.

All that glitters is not gold

By now, most Singaporeans would have read how the maverick artist in our midst had been thwarted yet again in her bid at self-expression. I am talking about Miss Priyageetha Dia of the golden staircase fame of course. A year ago, Priya, then a final-year Lasalle fine arts student, covered the staircase on the 20^th floor of her HDB block with gold foil and sparked a debate on whether it was art or vandalism. Whatever it was, she had to remove it after the town council deemed it “unauthorised” and “not permissible”.

Last Sunday, she was back at it again. This time, she hung gold coloured sheets on the outer walls of her block using flag hooks on the corridor ledge --

and met with a similar fate for a similar reason. She had to remove the sheets after the town council said she did not seek their permission prior to hanging them up. To be fair, they were acting on residents’ complaints but one wonders if they would have said yes even if she had asked for permission and there were no complaints.

Obviously not everything she touches turns into gold but you can’t fault the girl for not trying. Asked why she did not first seek permission, Priya said: “I wanted to execute the project without modifying it to the town council’s guidelines. I wanted it to be raw and original.”  Spoken like a true artist. And  for some out-of-the-box thinking that the Government so craves, let’s hear it from her again: “I want to create an intervention with the HDB space.  The hooks along the corridor are only for the national flag, I want to provoke its functionality by hanging another material.”

Compare this with some of the residents’ complaints - “The sheets look like incense paper” & “they are very noisy when blown by the wind” - and you have a fair idea of the ocean of conformity and groupthink that poor Priya is marooned in. The problem is not only confined to the citizenry. It extends to the political leadership as well. At a forum on political succession on Tuesday (20 Mar), ex-NMP Eugene Tan said there are no standout candidates because none has left a deep impression. More ominously, the panel felt that regardless of who the next prime minister is, “it will be more of the same, with the new leader unlikely to veer from the tried and tested ways”. Rubbing salt into wound, another ex-NMP Zulkifli Baharudin opined: “While people want a leader who is daring and transformative, we have inputted our own conservative attitudes in choosing the next generation leader. So we are not going to get it.”

I am hoping against hope that he is wrong. Singapore needs nimble, innovative and out-of-the-box people. We need more - not less - people who dare to question conventions. People who dare to ask “why not?” Most of all, we need a PM who dares to take on this eternal conundrum of Singapore society - how to maintain a highly ordered and disciplined society without imposing rigid conformity or frightening every potential Van Gogh, Steve Jobs and Priya back into their mother’s womb. Will we have such a PM?

Indranee - Male police officer to search female suspect terrorists

Again my initial shock to this suggestion was unfounded after careful consideration and thinking about all the positive things that could come out from this change in our law. Many conservative males would be aghast at the thought of men searching women and their hands groping all over the female torso and private parts. But hey, think positively and there are really many good things from this crazy and demeaning idea. Sorry woman, if a woman minister can suggest it, then it must be ok.

First, a terrorist needs no sympathy, not even if it is a female terrorist. A terrorist, male or female, is very dangerous and deadly. So a man would definitely do a better job searching a female suspect. What if the suspicion is unfounded? Just too bad, better to err on the side of safety, so they said. Be safe than be sorry.

And didn't you people know that it is very difficult to recruit female police officers? Maybe this could be a contributing factor for this change. Also the police is finding hard to recruit male officers but with this change I am sure it would be a great incentive for men to want to join the police force, to grope, oops, I mean search female suspects. They would say, with pleasure Sir. You can imagine how motivated the male officers assigned to do this job. M'am, strip please, I am just doing my job. Many would volunteer for the job. One slight drawback is that there will be a big jam at the airport checking counters as the females lined up for checks could be exceptionally long. And pretty and sexy looking women may find themselves picked for body search. There is nothing personal or the male officers picking on the pretty ones. The terrorists would definitely choose the pretty ones for such tasks as they would look pretty and harmless. And the male officers would prefer to use their hands instead of machine, thus a great savings from having to buy expensive high tech machine.

Even if the local men still refuse to join the police force it would not be a problem. The foreigners, especially those from the third world, would line up for the jobs and the queue could run from Kallang Immigration Centre to JB. They would not bargain for more pay when a job comes with pleasure.

The most direct benefit from this new law would be that no female terrorist would want to try their luck in Singapore anymore as they would not want to be searched by men police officers. Ok, there would be exceptions. The thought of it would terrorise any potential female terrorist from coming here. And Singapore would be safe from this angle and the only terrorist that would come would be the male ones. It would make the job of searching focused mainly on the male suspects. Even then, I suspect the male officers would still be diligently searching the women coming through our immigration checkpoints. You would never imagine how motivated these male officers would be, conducting their search duties, with pleasure and with glee.

Now, who is still against such an excellent idea?  I definitely support as it would make Singapore so much safer. When a woman minister said it is ok, it must be ok. And when a PAP minister said it is ok, all the PAP ministers and MP would definitely vote for it.

Shiok.

Criminals can serve jail sentences at home

When I heard that MP Murali asked in Parliament if Kong Hee can serve his jail sentence at home I was really shock. Who in his right mind would ever think of that except for minor crimes. Any crime that deserved a jail sentence cannot be minor.  When I recovered from my shocking spell and recomposed myself, I started to appreciate what this Murali had in mind. He came across as a very caring MP, caring for voters in his ward. Oops, I am not sure if Kong Hee is a PR, a local, or a citizen. Can anyone confirm this? And if indeed Kong Hee is a citizen then his MP should be speaking for him. I also think Murali is not his MP. Where is Kong Hee's MP, sleeping, not caring for the people that voted for him?

I have further thoughts on this matter and the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that Murali has very good intention. Put it this way, cheating a few million dollars without intention to cheat and never benefiting from it except for his wife, should not be dealt with so harshly. And Kong Hee is such a nice guy, saving so many poor souls and helping them to be rich and to go to heaven. These must be good mitigating factors to deserve serving his jail sentence at home.

There are also obvious tangible and financial benefits and considerations to support Murali's thought. It is very costly to keep a person in prison. The cell and the bed, the medical support and the 'Or tau png' ie black bean rice, also cost money. There will be so much savings if Kong Hee would to serve his sentence at home and pay for his own cell, his own food and medical services.  And the cell and cells for such cases would be needed for those creating fake news or cannot pay their compulsory CPF insurance schemes. The prison must prepare to cater for more intakes with so many new laws coming up.

An added financial incentive would be that prisoners granted jail sentences at home would have to pay $100 a day for this privilege. And there will be no discount for holidays and Sundays. The govt coffers would be much richer if the sentence of 7 years, ie 7x365x$100 is paid. I think this is great idea. And the rich prisoners would be more than willing to serve their jail sentence at home so that the cell space could be allocated to other more needy cases, the hardups that cannot afford to pay.

What do you think, good idea or not? I fully agree with Murali though Shanmugam has rejected it. This is indeed a fine idea from a very clever and caring MP. 'Mo tak teng'. Any idea that makes money for the govt, I like. Then perhaps they would spare the people's savings in the CPF from more compulsory schemes.

Stupidity of Asean leaders is unlimited

The recent Asean Summit Meeting with a little country like Australia, big only in land mass, speaks for itself, that Asean leaders are still wearing blinkers and could not tell the difference between a dwarf and a giant. But this is not the most stupid part of this meeting. In the concluding message, Turnbull had this to say as he assumed the role of big brother of the little coloured people.
 
‘Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the conclusion of an Asean-Australia special summit. Mr Turnbull said Asean and Australia reaffirmed their commitment to respond strongly and resolutely in the face of the reclusive state’s “reckless and illegal nuclear-missile programmes”.’ CNA

What is so reckless about North Korea having nuclear weapons to protect themselves and prevent themselves from the same fate as Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi people when the USA is going to make its nuclear arsenal more deadly? What grave concerns? When have the North Koreans used nuclear weapons on any country? When have the North Koreans threaten to nuke any Asean country or want to conduct a preemptive strike into any of these silly countries? Is there any reason for the North Koreans to want to do so? The grave concern is the USA threatening to conduct a preemptive strike against North Korea. Can the stupid Asean leaders see the difference?

Which evil country has been threatening to nuke other countries by accusing other countries as a threat to them? Which evil country had actually nuked another country? Which evil country has been conducting wars of invasion, regime change everyday for the last seven decades? Which evil country has been stoking war, provoking and instigating for war?

Isn’t such a country more reckless and dangerous instead of North Korea? Asean was formed to foster closer economic ties among its member countries and with other countries. Why is Asean now behaving like an American lackey singing the American lies and demonising countries that the Americans want them to demonise? Why allowed the Americans and Australia to set the agenda?

While North Korea is repeatedly being bashed by silly Asean leaders, the smarter European countries are having their own friendly negotiations with the North Koreans without having any fear of a ‘reckless’ nuclear North Korea. Why are European countries feeling so safe and secure and why are some silly Asean countries feeling so unsafe and unsecure of North Korea? The Swedes and Finns are very comfortable talking to the North Koreans and making friends with the North Koreans. And if I am not mistaken, some Asean countries are also quietly trading with the North Koreans except those semi colonised non independent countries that are controlled by the Americans.
 
What have Asean countries got to fear North Korea about when all its neighbours are not uttering a word except those allied with the evil Empire and wanting to invade that country? Why waste time talking about a non problem just because the Americans and the Australians want to make it a problem?
 
When would Asean leaders grow up and think independently, that North Korea is not the concern of Asean, and to tell the Americans that it would not want to be dragged around by the ears by the Americans?
 
Angmoh tua kee is it?

PS. If the sillies had their ways, in 30 years time Singapore would have a bigger population than Australia. Would Asean then hold a summit as a group with Singapore?