Protecting children from fake news - end results

This problem of fake news if not stopped in its path would snowball into crisis proportion given the kiasu, kiasi and kia chenghu mentality of parents. Children are most vulnerable to fake news though our daft sinkie adults are not spare either. The combination of daft sinkie adults as parents and the need to protect their equally daft children would like lead to many measures being taken to keep the children safe and sound.

The best way to insulate the children from fake news trauma is to keep them inside a bubble, carefully guarded by the parents. The how to do this is purely technical. Where can the fake news come from other than by words of mouth? TV, media, internet particularly google, blogs, facebook, emails and of course mobile phones like twitters and sms.

Daft parents are likely to keep their children away from these sources of fake news. The children would likely be carefully guided,guarded, restricted only to programmes that the parents approved, and all the mobile devices and laptops would be confiscated and only permitted to use under the watchful eyes of the adults. Properly implemented, the children would be very safe, reading only school textbooks and approved material by the parents, no TV, no radio, limited access to the internet and mobile devices.

The children will grow up like living in safe heavens, singing hymns and citing poetry, unaware of all the evils of fake news in the world, very safe and very sound. It is like children kept inside a bubble free from bacteria and viruses. No need immunization, very healthy as long as they are inside the bubble.

These children will grow up in their own sanitized world of purity, innocence and honesty, no fake news or unsavoury things to distract them from their way of life. The presence of wildlife will not be their problem. They would believe the wildlife would be just as goody goody as them. Everything they see and touch would be real and the truth, no lying, no cheating, no bluffing, no fakes.

Below is a picture of the 4 monkeys to represent our sanitized children of the future, free from fake news. They would not know there is such thing called fake news. I would not know how they would take it when faced with fake news.

Pic copied from Wikipedia.

Arrogant cowboys still behaving like they owned the world

Saw a streamer on CNA that said, 'American courts ordered Chinese banks to hand over trade documents with North Korea'. So, American courts have authority over Chinese banks and can order Chinese banks to do what they wanted? If these Chinese banks are operating in the USA perhaps they could, but if the banks are operating elsewhere, in China or other countries, what authority do the American courts have on them?

This is similar to the Meng Wanchou incident. The Americans imposed sanctions on Iran and no one can trade with Iran and they would arrest anyone, non Americans, for violating their sanctions inn other parts of the world.

Another dirty trick of the Americans is to legislate laws on relations with other countries like the Taiwan Act which says they would defend Taiwan if attacked. So they are legally bounded by their laws to defend Taiwan if China wants to take back Taiwan and claimed that they respect rule of law, or rule of outlaws!

Other countries, especially China and Russia, should also legislate laws to protect countries against an American attack and make it their legal rights to come to their defence. It then becomes their countries' laws and they are rule of law countries, like the silly Canadians.

A third trick is to go around signing military alliances to allow them to interfere in the relations of other countries as if they are the Empire and the allies are American colonies.The Americans will defend them if attacked, and part of the treaty would be to buy American weapons, and cannot buy other weapons and also to pay protection money. Don't buy American weapons, too expensive, cannot, at least must buy a few pieces but must cost big sums of money to pay the American gangsters for the protection.

When would the world denounce and break away from the stranglehold of the Evil American Empire? China should show the middle finger to the Americans for ordering their banks to obey the American courts. This kind of American hooliganism must be stopped, sooner or later.

At this very moment, this Evil Empire is planning to attack Iran and invade Venezuela and thinks this is normal, their right to start wars with other countries.

On another note, any international students that want a complete education, including experiencing shooting and killing, sign up with an American university. Experiencing the horrors of violence and being killed and running away from gun attacks are part and parcel of American education in a country that thrives on war and violence. It is in their culture, a nation of warmongers.

Any more shit political leaders dare to praise the Americans as a peaceful country, a peace loving people? These shits much have their heads checked.

Man jailed 7 weeks for shoving a boy bully

His 10 year old son was being bullied in school for months by another 10

year old. One day, while fetching his son home he spotted the bully, shoved

him so hard against the wall that the bully’s rib had a small fracture. For

bullying a boy bully he was sentenced to 7 weeks jail.

This is justice in Singapore, don’t try to be smart and take the law into

your own hand to hit back. In this case the punishment for hitting back is

7 weeks jail. Not sure whether the boy bully got any punishment for

bullying the other boy.

What came to my mind is the bullying by foreigners against Singaporeans

especially the taxi drivers and security guards, being beaten by wildlife

twice their size. The last incident when the big wildlife bully knocked

down a security guard, the guard was lucky not to retaliate after suffering

the blow with his spectacles flying. If he were garang enough to hit back,

or his fellow guards would to hit back, I think they would likely be jailed

if they hurt the wildlife bully.

Thank God, they did what meek Singaporeans are supposed to do, report to

the police and hoping the law would bring justice to the wildlife. How many

meek taxi drivers and security guards have been bullied and beaten by

wildlife and with the wildlife walking away free and getting a tap on the

wrist? How many of the punishments against wildlife attacking meek

Singaporeans got more than 7 weeks jail?

Anyone keeps any records on such matters?

 

Are wildlife treated differently of better when they bullied daft Sinkies?

AI without intelligence

The days of planning ahead of the curve, chasing the next trend and keeping a step ahead of our neighbours were the keys to Singapore's success in the 70s and 80s. From low skill manufacturing, Singapore moved ahead into the service sectors like banking and finance, medical services and of course shopping and retail trade under the name of tourism. Somehow after jumping onto the higher skills industries and services, it seemed that the story stopped right there, or nothing of substance came on to replace the growth sectors of the early decades of rapid economic growth.

For the last couple of decades, Singapore's economy has been in a limbo, ie around 2 to 3 percent growth as against the 5 to 7 percent growth rates of other Asean countries. And this seems to be the big success of Singapore, to claim big credit for such miserly growth rates and echoing the western media to denounce the 6.5 percent growth rate of China as if the Chinese economy is about to crash. Can't imagine what was going on in those silly heads that sneered at a US$13 trillion economy growing at 6.5 percent and praising a US$200b economy struggling at 2 to 3 percent.

And to add insult to injury, the miniscule growth rate was built on immigration, growing the population but not on productivity, and on a fictitious housing bubble with a 99 year lease that is coming to an end sooner than expected when the issue was totally ignored earlier, like the proverbial monkey covering its eyes, not wanting to see or to know.

One big mistake that is showing itself today is the big failure to recognise the importance of computer science, programming, software and artificial intelligence. With a highly educated population that boasted of pursuing a knowledge based economy, about higher education and intelligence, there is no intelligence or no one thought it an intelligent thing to focus our education in computer science and technology. The consequence, we need to import such talents or trained people from third world countries that have the intelligence to educate their people to meet the demands of the 21st Century.

Didn't they know that the computer related industries, the exploitation of information technology and artificial intelligence are very well suited to a highly educated population, an industry that requires little land and space and natural resources to grow as needed in manufacturing? Didn't they know that the 4th Industrial Revolution relies mainly on a pool of well trained manpower, using only the brains to conquer the world?  Are our education system geared and transformed to go in this direction, to build a silicon valley here two decades ago?

The calls to build smart cities sounded so hollow when there are just not enough of such skilled people to take it forward as a national initiative, as the next economic engine of growth. This is an industry that a tiny island like Singapore can compete with big countries without being too badly disadvantage for short of land and natural resources. Software related products do not need large factories and warehouses to store the goods, do not need more natural resources and material to produce more products. The products are all in the air, in the clouds.

We have wasted a whole generation of people educated in the wrong fields and disciplines and are paying the price for it today. Our people are now good only as security guards and taxi drivers and table cleaners, armed with useless degrees and diplomas. The future is about AI but we don't have the intelligence to catch this early enough and are now miles behind even to third world countries. We missed the boats of googles, facebooks, twitters, whatsapp, wechats, alibaba, alipay, blockchains, uber, etc etc, and all the apps that are invading the world like a storm.

Our economy is still largely dependable on shopping malls, housing and rentals, foodcourts, hawker centres to survive. Any new ideas that could match the drive and creativity of the 70s and 80s, when the EDB and associated organisations were chasing new ideas, raring to go with big ideas of growth? Running out of ideas except spending money and resources barking at fake news?

NTUC helping out in lowering the cost of living

At least the Pioneer Generation and Merdeka Generation can look forward to some financial relief in July till June next year. They could get their kopi or teh fixes every Wednesday for 50 cents per cup in NTUC foodcourts and Kopitiams. And for Union Members, this privilege comes earlier, in May. According to the media report, 1.7m people are going to benefit from this. If one person is to pay $1 less, that would be $1.7m less to pay every Wednesday.
 
The NTUC has responded to the fears and concerns of workers’ anxieties about the cost of living. With this discounted kopi and teh, including Kopi O, Kopi C, teh O and teh C, all at 50 cents a cup and one can drink as many cuppas as one like on every Wednesday, the whole day.
 
Think of the savings from drinking kopi or teh for the whole day, it would come to quite a substantial sum. If one just takes a cup of kopi or the each for 3 meals, it would cost only $1.50 a day. And given the price of Kopi/teh at $1.60, that is more than $3 savings a day. OK, for those millionaires and billionaires, please do not take advantage of this privilege just because there is no mean testing, go for your designer drinks at $5 or $20 a cup in the branded coffee joints. This is for workers in the Pioneer and Merdeka Generations. I will still stick to my 3 in 1 at 20 cents a pack. Hopefully they will look into the 3 in 1s and reduce the price to 10 cents per pack. Then it will be some savings for me to count on.
 
Would be nice if every Monday or Friday ‘chap chye png’ would be $1 for two veg and a meat meal. Keeping my fingers crossed that this would be next in the list to lower the cost of living for the oldie workers.
 
Thank you NTUC, you are most kind. Oops, must thank Mary Liew and Ng Chee Meng for this initiative. Every cent counts. It is heartwarming that millionaires could be caring and still think of helping the poor to save a few cents per cuppa.