The Mahathir Syndrome

When Mahathir was in power, everything he said and or wanted to do would be done. All his cronies who enjoyed all the perks would just joined the bandwagon, got fed and became fatter, without a single word of criticism or guilt. Now that Mahathir is out of favour, he is now free to crusade against all the wrong things done during his time. His former cronies too were doing the same. Suddenly everything seems so wrong. But when they were in positions of power, they cannot see anything wrong. What takes them so long to realise the wrongdoings? Why didn't they say anything or do anything when they were in a position to do so? Is it because they are no longer being fed, so nothing to lose now?

Move on and be forgotten

Imagine if there is no internet and blogs, every embarrassing episode will be forgotten and the people would have moved on. No more reminders of NKF and peanuts, no more high salaries to haunt anyone while the poor were asked to tighten their belts and eat potatoes, who is Mas Selamat or Selamat what? People have short memories and have many things to take care of. The internet will now be the mother of all memories, be there constantly, to remind people of embarrassing things, 24/7, 365 days a year. There will be no such things as move ons. The msm may not want to talk about some issues and events because of space contraints and the need to move on to new news. News have to be news, fresh and of current interests. In cyberspace, what is important is not currency but relevance and continuity. Things that are really important to the citizens, things that the citizens hold dearly and care about. And for some things, they will not move on but cling on.

Horrifying news

I read in the weekend papers of people commenting that they need a $1000 or $1200 pm income in order to get married. What were this people thinking? Still living in the 60s when a 4 figure salary is a big deal? Even if both are earning $1200 pm, it is a big drag. They will barely get by on their own. No more free school fees, free medical, free tuition, etc. Correct me if I am wrong on these. Some may be getting a lot of freebies from Community Welfare Funds, and there are plenty of them if they are qualified. If not they could appear in TV Charity Shows to help to raise fund for themselves. Yesterday I posted about the guy with a $600 pm single income and two kids. He is brave enough to bring two innocent lives into this paradise when nothing is free. I do not know whether it is foolhardy or idiotic, whether he is doing a meritorious act to help in the birth of two human bean, or he is setting up for two tragedies to happen? With the high cost of living, a minimum combined income of $3000 may barely get by with one kid. People need a lot of education on the cost of living here and how much is needed to start a family. Long gone were the days where families lived off the land with 10 or more children, each with one pair of shorts and a singlet to live by. And where food can be found in the forests or hunted. Or where fire is free from fallen tree trunks and water free from the well. This is a big city and all facilities are world class with world class price tags. Want to have more world class facilities? Want to pay more?

The Dictation Culture

Over the years, this Dictation Culture, where people in position of authority will dictate to the people in the name of 'for the good of the people' has been part of the Singaporean psyche. Singaporeans grow up thinking that dictating to the people is an acceptable form of behaviour. And when in position to do so, they too will do it. And those at the receiving end will just accept it. Our CPF money is subjected to this Dictation Culture. We often hear people suggesting that Singaporeans should be subject to compulsory donation of their money to charities or special self help funds as if the money is there for the taking, and the owners have no right to them. Recently, the NTUC Income is in the news for 'arbitrary changing its bonus payout structure' to policy holders. This change was decided and done by NTUC Income and it then informed the customers of the change. Though the customers bought the policies under a set of agreed terms and conditions, this change came as a surprise to many, including former Income Chief, Tan Kin Lian himself. But all the protests will be useless if there is provision for Income to change the terms as it likes. The changing of the CPF withdrawal age and terms over the years, the compulsory Medisave Account, the CPF Life etc were all new terms that were decided and shafted it to the people. No choice. Compulsory and for the good fo the people. And since there were no public protest, it is settled, that the people approved of them.

Planting Trees

There is a Chinese saying that the present generation plant trees and the future generations will reap its benefits. What the govt is doing, in investing for the future is similar to planting trees and is a laudable initiative. A more short sighted govt would have used the money now and make many people happy and win many popular votes as well. The worst govt is to spend the future earnings now, like what the American govt is doing. They are bankrupting themselves into the future. We have seen a lot of our money, billions, being invested for the long term, and recently the buying of big foreign banks. The timing, a golden opportunity, also presents risks. The immediate short term losses have naturally invited a lot of criticisms. With hindsights, some were saying that it would be better if the decisions were delayed a little. And people would expect the professionals to do their sums right. In this case, it is easy to say we were a bit hasty. The loss is no small change. The other angle of unhappiness is that while we have so much money to invest for the future, we are seeing immediate pains and suffering affecting some of our less able citizens. It is a question of how much to invest and how much to share with the people. Admittedly it is very subjective and what one sees as right another will see it as wrong. While planting trees for the future is definitely a prudent move, it should not end up as an obsession as the present needs to be taken care of too. Many of the owners of this national reserves will not be around in the future to reap the fruits of long term investments. And when we have more than enough, a little more generosity for the present is most welcomed.