Wishing everyone a Happy and Prosperous Lunar New Year

Another year past, another year beginning. Let' hope that this will be a better year for all and all our wishes will come true.

The Year of the Pig marks the end of a 12 animal cycle period and there is hope that the new cycle will be more promising and brighter in the personal life and domestic affairs of Singaporeans.

In the bigger picture, the changing of an era where the East will rise and shine again has been taking place amidst opposition and resistance from the fading hegemon. The new Asian Century brings hope of peace and stability against the last era of incessant wars and conflicts. The change would not come easy and peacefully as the demons would not want to change their ways and their control over the rest of the world.

Happy Lunar New Year to all.

Uncultured arrogant western leaders ridiculed the Chinese Zodiac.

The Chinese Zodiac base on the selected twelve common animals is as old as the Chinese Civilization. The wisdom of the Chinese ancestors in choosing the twelve animals to represent the twelve years cycle of human life is unique only to the Chinese. Each animal is carefully chosen as petain to its characteristic behaviour that may be reflected in human life. And each of the twelve animals is paired with another animal of contradictory behaviour characteristics to give a balance in life. And the whole Chinese Zodiac system is based on the Ying-Yang theory of balancing the positive and the negative forces, the weak and strong force, the female and male force, the good and the bad or evil. If either the Ying or the Yang become too strong it must be balanced or else trouble or disaster may take place. The whole Chinese society on earth is governed by this twelve animal cycle zodiac in all aspects of life from choosing life partners, business, to politics and wars. Over 1.4 billion Chinese on earth believe and subscribe to the Chinese Zodiac yet the uncultured crude arrogant western leaders dare to ridicule and despise this Chinese cultural practice.

It was in the early 1950s during one international meetings of various countries political leaders possibly in Vienna that a western minister during a reception spoke ill and in derision of the Chinese Zodiac ridiculing it in front of a Chinese delegation to make the Chinese delegation look low and humbled. However a prompt reply to their crass behaviour by the respectable Chinese premier Zhou Enlai who deliberated in detail on the meaning and significance of the twelve animal cycle of the Chinese Zodiac soon put them to shame.

Below is the rebuttal and deliberation of the  Chinese Zodiac at the meeting by the then Chinese premier Zhou Enlai as sent to me by a friend through 'WhatsAPP'.

Foreigners - the uncouth caucasians ridicule the Chinese Zodiac.

On one occasion, a group of Chinese representatives participated in the reception of a delegation composed of European aristocrats.

Most of the Europeans had kinship with some royal family , very knowledgeable and cultivated, treat people polite, but hidden behind their pretence of high culture was some inborn arrogance.

On the last day of dinner, these aristocrats drank more and began to speak freely.

During the banquet, a German aristocrat stood up and said:  You Chinese people use the common animals like pig, dog mouse as zodiac signs! Unlike us, we take after the stars like Taurus, Leo,Virgo......I do not know how your ancestors think!"

Everyone among the Europeans had listened and then laughed, but they also toasted each other, as their earlier elegance dissipated.

It stands to reason, when others insulted your ancestors, and even if you cannot refute, at least you should topple the table.

However, all those Chinese guests did not say anything at first, perhaps they were unable to respond.

Then one of the Chinese stood up and said in a peaceful tone, "Yes, the ancestors of the Chinese people are down to earth in choosing common animals, and our 12 zodiac animals are paired in duality,reflecting the six realms of reincarnation, and is a reflection of our ancestors' expectations and demands on us."

At this time the atmosphere slowly settled down, but some of the nobles looked arrogant and indifferent.

The Chinese gentleman then said:

"The first pairing comprises rats and cattle. Mice represent wisdom and hard work. Wisdom and hard work must be coupled together. With wisdom alone, and absence of hard work , it becomes valueless wit, and hard work solely , without the use of the brains , denotes a simpleton. The two strengths must be combined . This is the ancestors' expectations and requirements on the first and the most important group"

The second group is tigers and rabbits. The tiger represents bravery, While the rabbit manifests caution. Courage and prudence must be coupled together to be bold and cautious. Being bold alone without caution, one becomes reckless;without courage one becomes timid. This group is also very important .' ..... so the Chinese guest look at these aristocrats , smiled politely and remarked, "When we Chinese people show restraint, please do not think the Chinese people are not courageous."

Seeing that everyone was in deep thought , the Chinese continue . "The third group is the dragon and the snake, - the dragon represents ferocity , while the snake represents flexibility. We all know that hard cast iron is not malleable and can be broken easily,however being flexible alone makes one easy to lose one's assertiveness. So the message from the ancients to us, is to balance both of these qualities.

"Next is the horse and sheep. Horses represent the courage to go forward , the sheep depict their natural docile nature of going with the flow. If a person only sets his sights on his own targets without regard for the surrounding environment , without taking the landmarks into consideration , he will inevitably continue to bounce around randomly, and may not be able to achieve the goals eventually. Therefore the mettle of courage to to step forward and lead , which must be coupled with the crowd. Both characteristics must be married tightly together....this is our ancestors expectations on the fourth group."

"Then there are monkeys and roosters. Monkeys represent adaptability , while all roosters crow regularly on time, representing consistancy . Adaptability and consistancy must be binded tightly and strategically together. If you are constantly changing goals and objectives , no matter how good the policy , the benefits cannot be reaped. On the one hand, stability, harmony and order are needed to maintain on course, but on the other hand one needs to change and adapt to circumstances in order to remain relevant and advance further ahead. This is the most fundamental concept of how to thrust forward for the future."

"Finally dogs and pigs. Dogs represent fierce loyalty, pigs represent the easy going nature. If a person is too loyal , and does not know how to be easy- going , the tendency would be to exclude others . In turn , a person who is too easy-going , has no loyalty, and this person will lose his principles and ideals . Whether it is a nation's loyalty or loyalty to their ideals , both ideas must be closely combined ,so it is easy to keep the balance of the heart."

"In the end I would like to know the significance and qualities behind your constellations of Aquarius, Sagitarius, Capricorn and other stars, and how do these reflect the hope and expectations of your ancestors on you," the Chinese diplomat asked.

These European nobles , for a long time did not speak,..... the audience remained silent.

Reading this is the first time that I have understood the meaning of the Chinese Zodiac as well..

The young man who spoke then was Mr. Zhou Enlai, the former Chinese premier,

Southernglory1

Tuesday, 5th February, 2019

NB : To learn more about the Chinese almanac and the horoscope of the twelve animals just search Youtube or Wikipileaks or google for the Chinese Zodiac of the 12 animal cycles.

Hsien Yang - Would he answer the calls of the people?

After Hsien Yang came out openly in support of Cheng Bock and his new party, social media saw an outcry and support for him to stand with Cheng Bock in the next GE. This is a very rare phenomenon in Singapore where an individual is being asked to stand for political office. Ok there were a few others that have also been asked but not in the way it is happening today. Ok social media was a recent development and has taken an important role in public communication and people get to speak out freely in facebook, twitters, blogs etc etc. And this time is also different because the issues facing the people and the calls for a change of govt have taken to a different level. There are many very serious issues that the people are really very unhappy with and looking for a white knight to come to their rescue.

Many people have in the past claimed that they were answering the calls of duty to serve the country and people. In today's context, in politics and the running of a country, the calls take on a different magnitude and importance.

Would Hsien Yang answer the calls of the people? Can he turn down the calls of the people and their expectation of him? For Cheng Bock to fight alone is as good as a non starter or at best becoming a lone voice in Parliament, not much different from the role the WP is playing. It is as good as not having an opposition as nothing good can come out of it. The people's problems would not be solved and things would go on as normal, spiralling into the abyss. What is the point of it all if nothing is changed?

Would Hsien Yang turn down the people's calls and walk away?

Do not forget, Hsien Yang also has another big responsibility, to defend his family, wife and son. As a father he has to stand up and fight. Not doing so did not speak well of him. In a way he is being cornered and fight he must, and the only way to fight meaningfully is to stand for election to change the power of the day and to protect his family.

CPF - A sordid and sorry state of affair

The saddest day on the CPF issue was when a NMP happily declared in Parliament that CPF was not the contributors money. But this is not the sad part. The saddest part was when the majority of MPs and ministers clapped in approval, that this was indeed the sordid state of affair concerning the CPF savings, the people’s life time savings. No one other than the opposition MPs disagreed with this false claim but in fact supported this misleading myth. No one in Parliament has the courtesy or responsibility to tell this NMP that she was wrong, that the money, the people’s life savings in the CPF belonged to the people. How bad can things be, when the people slogged and saved for a whole life time only to wake up, like a bad dream, to be told that their savings were not their money?

And some, including Matilah Singapura in this blog, are gloating, ‘See, I told you, CPF is not your money’. And they quoted many valid examples to prove that CPF is not your money anymore. And they are ‘right’ in their own perceptions and interpretations of the situation today based on reality, on how the CPF money could be taken away from their rightful owners without their consent, to be spent against their will, in compulsory insurance schemes and in many other schemes.

I put the ‘right’ within inverted commas because this interpretation of right is misleading and controversial, unethical and immoral in many ways. What I want to point out is that is this all these people could say, CPF is not your money, and so be it? Are these people contented that their life savings no longer belong to them, willing to accept this fait accompli, and resign to the fate that nothing else can be done to this bad situation?

Put it in another way, many daft Singaporeans are accepting the fact that many foreigners are brought here to steal their lunch, good jobs going to foreigners, and with the foreigners becoming Singaporeans in large numbers that eventually their country would belong to the foreigners. Never mind, meritocracy, globalization, it is good that foreigners come here to create jobs for daft Singaporeans?

What is the meaning of being Singaporeans in this case? Where is ownership of the country and the CPF savings? Meekly give them away? What is the point of serving NS? What is the point of saving for a life time?

Have Singaporeans degenerated to such an extent that they do not know how to fight for their rights, their belongings, their money, their country? Just give up? If this is what Singaporeans are made of, then Singaporeans deserve to lose their life savings and their country. Why so stupid doing NS when nothing is yours?

CPF is not your money. This is not your country. This country is for everyone here. Not happy move out. How sad. Singaporeans are not only daft but hopeless, to be told by new citizens and foreigners to move out of the country they built, and some willingly accepted this sad fate and really moved out.

What do you think?

Securing data important?

Finally there is an article in thenewpaper talking about securing data to preserve trust written by a Dexter Ng, a chief technology officer of AntiHack.me agency based in Singapore. And I think this is a private organization expressing deep concern with the preservation and protection of data and looking from the perspective preserving trust of an organization.

The protection of data is important not just to preserve the trust of an organization in the eyes of its customers. It is far more important and serious than just this. Look at the data of ministries like defence and home affairs, and in the commercial sector the data of corporations and the banks. Can’t imagine what harm the software people could do to a bank if they turn rogues, not only stealing data and misusing the data, what about steal the banks money like the case of the Sri Lanka national bank? Even they start to transfer money out of the bank to their own accounts in some corners of the world? Imagine if the ministries like defence and home affairs were to engage foreigners or new citizens to manage and control their data and operating systems, what kind of risks are being exposed to the foreigners?

A private agency is showing concern about protection of data. Is there or are there govt agencies responsible for this role, regulating and monitoring the risks of exposing our data to foreigners in govt and private enterprises especially GLCs like the banks when a mishap can be disastrous? No, everyone very happy because nothing has happened except a few incidents involving the hacking of MOH? When nothing happens it is fine. And if it happens, then set up a COI to do the investigation and to make recommendations so that it would not happen again?

With the influx of foreigners especially in the IT industry and with foreigners dominating and controlling the IT systems of many big and sensitive organizations and probably even ministries, cannot imagine if the people responsible for the security of the country did not raise a red flag and set up an agency devoted specially to monitor and regulate this industry and the personnel, foreigners being hired in big numbers, overwhelmingly alarming numbers that would present a clear and present danger to organizations and country?

I just hope that I am wrong and they are looking into this seriously. But how are they going to vet foreigners when they have little means to know who they are, not even able to verify their qualifications to the extent that hiring foreigners with fake degrees and qualifications is a norm.

This is another big vulnerable area where Stupidity has no cure is very obvious looking at the tiada apa attitude of hiring so many so called foreign IT experts and professionals in highly sensitive organizations and departments.

Are the security people sleeping? None of their business until something happens or someone woke up and directed them to look into it?