Great Britain and London on Fire

The looting and burning in London has England up in flame. Starting at Tottenham, it spread to more than 15 areas in London and now Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol. The causes, some highlighted the big income divide between the haves and the have nots, some seemed to be getting things for free, and the lost of jobs.

This is almost unheard of in the developed world. Riotings, lootings, breakdown of law and order are associated with third world countries. The events in the Middle East are different as they are politically motivated with foreign forces in play. The events in England are mainly social and economic. The inequalities in society will lead to tension and stress. Don’t pooh pooh away big income gaps as part and parcel of rapid economic progress. It only needs a little spark to tear down everything. Economic inequalities cannot be taken for granted as a necessary evil. They must be addressed when times are good.

For those who are enjoying the richness of their good fortune, they are numbed by their wealth and would not care a dime about what happens in the poorer neighbourhood. To them, it is all due to their cleverness and good fortune to be living in luxury. The poor are in a state due to their own laziness and dullness and ought to be blamed. Can’t be helped.

Let’s pray that the lawlessness in UK will not spread like the Arab Spring to other parts of the world.

The greatness of Benjamin Sheares

Who is Benjamin Sheares? In case you are still scratching your head, he was a highly regarded and prominent doctor in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, the doyen of the profession in his time. And he was also the second President of this country. A quiet and dignified man who did his job without blowing his own trumpet, without pretensions.

Today in the ST, a Dr Chew Shing Chai who had worked with President Sheares, shared a little insight of this great man. At that time, before the high salary is good mantra struck this land, his income was a paltry $2000 as a medical doctor, maybe slightly more. When he was appointed as the President, his monthly salary was $17,000, big by the standard of the day. And unknown to the public till now, he donated his entire salary to charity, according to Dr Chew.

What the people don’t know, now they knew. My respect to this great man. I didn’t know either. Thank you Dr Chew, for this enlightenment.
I am sure many ministers and presidents too would have donated a handsome chunk of their salaries to charity without declaring it. Some may, like President Sheares, donate their entire salaries to charity too.

God bless them. Cheers to President Sheares.

National Day regrets

Dow plunged more than 600 pts last night and we were asleep. Can't do anything. If only our stockmarket was open, we would not be caught in a situation like this. We could also sell our stocks down.

This morning Hangseng fell more than 1,400 pts. We are closed for National Day Celebration. We have gone on continuous trading, no lunch break, exactly for this reason, not to be caught while other markets are trading. Now they are all sold down and we aren't open and looking helplessly.

On this National Day, these are my two regrets.

I would like to recommend that our stock market be open, 24/7 all year round. We will only be closed when the rest of the markets are closed. Oops, no need 24/7, 24/5 and minus a few international holidays will do. Going fully operational, we will be able to cover all situations and take advantage of all situations. We can also call our city a city without sleep.

Would that be nice, fully prepared and ready, pro active, a bit kiasu though.

The unusual silence

When Tony first announced his candidacy, there was an immediate barrage of support and endorsements from his PAP colleagues. A few including Chok Tong came out to say Tony is a good man. Some praised him for his dignified look, every inch and corner like a President. The public media did the necessary with coverage on his every move, invitations and speeches.

Over the last few days the surprising development was the attack on Tony’s son, Patrick and his NS deferment. The attack was furious and vicious and quite damaging to Tony’s shining image. Mindef came out with some statements to deflect some of the bad barbs. Otherwise it was left to Tony and son to fend for themselves.

Could someone of higher standing say something or do something to moderate the blows? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe Tony should be able to fight his own battle, being a heavy weight himself. At the moment it is Tony and son versus the anonymous masses in cyberspace. How would this develop or would it have a chance to develop further in the main media?

The stand of the main media at the moment is reticence. When an issue that is so hot is cyberspace is played down in the main media, it starts to prob on people’s mind as to what the hell is happening in our great media and their stable of great reporters and journalists. No one feel the itch or need to want to contribute to the debate with their sophisticated skills and resources? I feel quite sad that great reporters were deprived the avenue to write their show piece and display their brilliance in investigative journalism.

Even if they take a diametrical opposed view from cyberspace, it will be refreshing to see how and what they will put across. Or are they waiting for the debate to blossom when the EP campaign is official? They may not even have the chance if there is no contest. This must be one of the hottest topic waiting to see the light in the main media. The integrity of the hottest presidential hopeful is being questioned and a proper closure is demanded.

Where are all the eminent colleagues of Tony and are they going to stand up to defend him?

Lead by examples

The retired teachers are unhappy. There may be more certainty of their rehiring after 62, but it means a pay cut as well. And they are complaining that this is regressive. They are still doing the same hours of teaching which does not demand heavy duty work that age will slow them down.

The MOE should take a leaf from the govt where politicians are getting the same pay regardless of age. In fact they should adopt the practice of paying the teachers pension and the same pay concurrently, if the teachers are still on pension scheme. The retirement age is a legacy of the colonial past and Parliament has set a good example to delink from this abnormal practice.

Just follow the leaders and they cannot be wrong. Have they forgotten about the wise old saying of leading by examples?