Handcuffs of youth and children

MPs concerned about use of handcuffs, leg braces as restraints in youth homes

Members of Parliament raised their concerns about the psychological impact of using such measures on teens and questioned whether there will be procedures to prevent the abuse of power.

The above is from the Today paper. I remember writing about this, also included in my book Redbean Soup, of a child below teenage, being handcuffed in a police station and objected to such insensitive and cruel acts against children. Reading the above being raised in Parliament gives me grave concern whether such practice on little children is still in practice and found acceptable.

Youths in homes are often difficult to control and may have committed some offences. The need to put them on cuffs and leg braces may be controversial but at times may be necessary. There must be serious contemplation in making such decisions and not be permitted freely to the point of callousness, careless tidak apa attitude or abuses on the youths and definitely not on pre teens children.

For the MPs to think this is a serious concern that merited to be raised in Parliament is a good start. For this to be an issue is a sign that things are getting out of control. It could be another case of one size fits all as is often applied to rules and regulations without the need to think, for convenience. A case of suka suka just cuffed. At least I think this is something more worthy of Parliament's time than discussing about the use of plastic bags, trying to save a few pieces of plastic to save the environment. Without plastic bags, how are the people going to store their wet waste before throwing them into the rubbish chutes?

Shanmugam’s expertise would again be called upon to write up more laws to provide clarity in the application of such laws, rules etc etc. For a start, all police personnel must be told to be sensitive on little children and must not be allowed to put cuffs on little children. This is a poor reflection of a highly educated population of a first world city when a little human decency and sensitivity towards children are expected to be the norm without having to question or to have rules to implement them.

Are we still a first world city state when we are still fumbling over such basic issues of handling our children and young delinquents, after 44 years of independence? Can you imagine what it looks like for a below 10 year old child to have cuffs on when the cuffs could easily slip off? It happened then, not sure it is still happening.

Silly girly FM

Canada nominated a key economic advisor on Wednesday as its new ambassador to China, hoping to kickstart dialogue and ease a diplomatic standoff with the world’s second largest economy....

Relations nosedived after Canada detained Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou during a stopover in Vancouver last December. The United States wants to put her on trial for allegedly violating Iran sanctions and lying about it to US banks.

Nine days after her arrest, Beijing detained two Canadians — former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor — and accused them of espionage, in a move widely viewed as retaliation....

“An expert in the region, he is exceptionally well-suited to represent Canada and advance Canadian interests at this critical time,” Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement.

At a news conference, she added that Barton would have a direct line to Trudeau’s office, saying he “has that level of trust with the prime minister, and also with me.”

“I think this is also an important message to China of the importance that Canada places, that the prime minister places, on this difficult and critical relationship.”
© Agence France-Presse

This silly girly FM still cannot understand what she did wrong, what the boy PM did wrong and thinks she is sending a message to Beijing that all is well. Countries that have a FM like this does not need any enemy.

She still refuses to see the elephant in the room and thinks without releasing Meng Wanzhou she could get China to sleep with her.

Anyone wants to tell her go fuck spider? Or perhaps may ask her to come to Singapore to get a first hand lesson on how not to mess around with China. Who does she think she is? Because of her stupidity and the stupidity of the boy PM, Canada's economy is tanking and many farmers are suffering, trade with China is suffering, property prices falling, tourists avoiding Canada and hundreds of billions have gone down the drain. But these two studs are grinning everyday as if nothing has happened. For their egos and pride, the welfare of the Canadians can go to hell, never mind as long as the Americans say, good boy, good girl.

What is $238m to educate foreigners?

The amount that our MOE spent on foreign students, as mentioned by OYK in Parliament, was $238 million annually. (or was it $340m or was it $680m, after reduced b 50%?). By any standard, that is alot of money especially when this comes from our precious hard-earned tax dollars and are not from some lottery windfall or inheritance wealth.

We should play our part as a responsible member of the international community by taking in and sponsoring some international students. But this PAP government must forever be mindful that Singaporeans are not suckers and the government is not a Santa Claus.

I suggest that our budget for foreign student’s scholarships and tuition grants be capped at S$100 million annually and adjusted for inflation. The leftover balance can be used comfortably to help our struggling families lighten their financial burdens and give their children a better shot at life, instead of their children starting out in life with educational debts to pay.

My daughter is an undergraduate at NTU, and I know the sad reality in Singapore is that many working class families got themselves into big debts even as OYK so eloquently put it that “all Singaporean students who meet the standards have been admitted” and that “no Singaporean is ever displaced from institute of higher learning because of an international student” etc....

Posted by Simon Lim in TRE 

All I can say is to ape some of the super rich here by uttering, What is $238m? Or shall I say it is peanuts. Remember the $200m overspent on the Youth Olympics and the hundreds of million spent annually on the F1? After all spending OPM does not hurt one's own pocket. Spend lah, what is the problem? 

Today Hsien Loong said they are thinking of reducing fees for part time students to reduce education cost for working adults. What mercy! How long have working adults and our students been suffering for paying high fees while foreigners' children were and are still having a whale of a time with our free money to enjoy our world class education without a sweat?

Maybe we need to have GE every year and more such goodies would be made available to benefit out tax paying citizens.

India – the next terrorist country

For the last few decades, the USA has been the number one terrorist country in the world unchallenged. It has been bullying and terrorizing countries all over the world, allies and foes, doing whatever it likes with impunity. It commited murders, assassinations, regime change, sanctions, bankrupting govts by economic sanctions and war crimes by killing the innocents in the tune of millions all over the world. The sickness of all these wanton killings and destructions is that the whole world have to pretend that the Americans are the most peace loving country, the protector of peace and human rights. But all the countries know very well that the Americans are the number one terrorists in the world today. I stand corrected on this as some silly Asian countries really believe the Americans are godsend angels to save and protect the world.
 
Today we are also witnessing the emergence of another terrorist country, the next number one terrorist country in the making and would be the worse the world would see in the future, outdoing everything the Americans have done if left to its own device.
 
India is a struggling third world power with big power ambition, wanting to be the next super power, to take over the reign from the Americans. But this is still a far and distant dream. However, though basically a third world and dysfunctional country, it does not behave as one but a regional hegemon, believing that it can do as it wants like the Americans.
 
Its immediate neighbours have been suffering from the oppression of Indian hegemony. Pakistan has been regularly on the receiving ends of Indian hostility and war. Sri Lanka was not spared either. Even China came under attack by the Indians in the 1962 border war, and recently in the border with Bhutan, when the Indians arrogantly and brashly thought they could seized Chinese territories that were stolen from China by the British. They are claiming everything the British raj handed over to them, lands belonging to China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and its other neighbours.
 
Bhutan, Nepal and Sikkim have become Indian protectorates and controlled by the Indian govt in New Delhi and restrained from becoming independent countries, economies suffocated by India and condemned to underdevelopment, foreign relations controlled and determined by India, their people de facto subjects of the Indian Empire.
 
The ruthlessness of the Indians to use force against its neighbours unilaterally could be seen by the recent attempt to take over disputed Kashmir from Pakistan and China. This was with total disregard to a region that is mainly populated by Muslims. The separation of India and Pakistan was mainly because of this religious divide, the inability to coexist as one people because of different religions. But India does not care and wants to annex Kashmir into a Hindu population that is hostile to Muslims.
 
And on the eastern front in Assam, with the state already under Indian control but with a huge Muslim population, India arbitrary decided to disown the Muslim population, all 2m of them and rendering them stateless. India officially announced that it would not be a recipient country for refugees, and would not want the Muslims in Assam. Where would they end up with is not India’s problem.
 
This uprooting of 2m people who have settled down in Assam, some historically have been there, or moved from India to East Pakistan during the division and declaration of independent India and Pakistan from the British Empire, is a harsh and cruel decision on the fate of the Muslims in Assam. India just wants the land, not the people. The saddest thing is that even Muslim Bangladesh did not want them, like they did not want the Rohingyas.
 
The Muslims in Assam would become stateless, boat people, refugees that would flow over to neighbouring Myanmar and Asean. And these neighbouring countries would end up being hosts and recipients of the refugees, not wanted by India and Bangladesh and would come under attack by the West for not taking them in.
 
Singapore may be the only country that would benefit and welcome them with open arms as increase in population is an easy way to increase economic growth, regardless of the adverse long term implications to its citizens. Just paste a talent tag on their foreheads and Singaporeans would be clueless of what is going on.
The same fate would fall on the Muslim people in Kashmir if India succeeds in annexing it into the Indian Empire. They would likely become stateless like the Muslims in Assam and become the new refugees to flood the neighbouring countries.
 
This is the India of the future. While still basically a third world slum country, it is displaying how ruthless and brutal it can be should it become more powerful militarily to exercise its military might over its weaker neighbours. India is the next terrorist country in the making in the likes of the Americans.

Education for our children

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPKIs0ryYz0

Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally talked about the importance of educating our own children and also about the slew of measures and subsidies to reduce the cost of education for our children. These were well received and were cheered by his audience at the rally. 

On the other hand many who knew how much had been spent on the education of foreign children here would at best said better late than never. The financial burden of providing a good education for our children for the past decades was fully on the shoulders of parents with some pawning or selling their homes or emptying their savings just to do so. And while making these financially very painful decisions, they were seething with anger at the free millions and billions being thrown at children of foreigners that have not contributed a single cent to our economy and country, people that have nothing to do with us.

The parents of children that are in schools and tertiary education could now breath a sigh of relief somewhat at the recent announcements of additional subsidies for our children. No matter what, every dollar saved is a dollar saved and in terms of education fees, this can come to hundreds and thousands of dollars.

I have posted a link above to a video clip of Lim Tean's views on what the new education subsidies are all about and a different take on this issue. It gives a completely new and contrasting perspective of things from another angle.

It is only 10 minutes. Happy viewing.