Cooking a Prime Minister

Taking on what Balji had said about the recruitment process of Singapore's future Prime Minister and his view that the current process may not be able to find one that meets our future needs, he presumed that there are other better methods for this. Now, what's wrong with the current process? It is a meticulous and systematic process, done in a methodical manner. It is just like a recipe. You decide on what you want to cook, find the material, go through the whole cooking process and pop, the perfect roast lamb or suckling pig is ready to be served. The academics would have a lot to pick from such a system. The choice of the final product, whether it is best to have a roast lamb or curry chicken or sucking pig, is very subjective. Then the quality of the ingredients will also be questioned. Can we pick or cook a national leader the way we cook a general or top civil servant? Historically a national leader, an exceptional leader, was thrown up by events and circumstances. They used to say that history makes a leader, or is it a leader makes history? Compare our system to the Western model and the Chinese model I think ours is closer to the latter. The American model chooses leaders based more on public appeal, a good looker, a smooth talker, and a lot of marketing and packaging. Not much intelligence needed. The Chinese model churns out a national leader through the many levels of screening and sieving. And the leader must prove himself all the way up. He needs to fight all the way, and that needs quite a bit of intelligence, real leadership and perseverence. Ours is a handpick system that looks at the quality of the candidate based on a known recipe. The leaders of today or yesterday will describe what they think the future leader should be like, and they go around looking for one that fits the mould. It is a cook leader. Is there a better system, or which is the best? Very subjective indeed.

Myth 138

Properties the best long term bet Many Singaporeans are laughing all the way to the banks with en bloc sales. And property investment is the big game in town. We are selling Sentosa Cove and other coastal developments at a high premium to the world's rich and famous. In the same breath we are preparing for global warming. And the forecast is that water level may rise by 4 metres or more. And we are going to built dykes around the island. Would Sentosa Cove still be there in 30 years when the water level rises? Would Sentosa Resort and our Marina Resort still be there and not be under water? Shouldn't these coastal developments be marketed for a 30 year lease?

Planning for retirement

Over the last few weeks we have heard warning voices of how Singaporeans are going to cope in their old age. There were concerns that Singaporeans are not planning for their retirement. It is all a big irony, an unbelievable irony! Singaporeans not planning for their retirement? Or do they need to? When we are talking about planning for retirement, what we are saying is saving that pot of gold so that we can live gracefully without becoming a burden to anyone. And the insurance agents will throw all the policies to you and say these are what you need. The painful thing is that after 20 or 30 years down the line they will tell you that you are not adequately covered. Not enough, after paying all the premiums! What about CPF? Singaporeans have the highest saving rate in Asia other than Japan. Probably the second highest in the world. We are saving at least 30% of our income. And again not enough. How I wish I have a million dollar income. Then I will also complain not enough. How many Singaporeans can afford to save some more when they are already saving more than 30% of their monthly income and struggling to make ends meet? How many have the luxury of earning a million a year and still complain not enough? The majority of Singaporeans will never save enough for their retirement if the cost of living is to run up continuously, and at an alarming rate. The only way out is to work till they die. And is there a need for Singaporeans to plan for their retirement when the govt is planning for them by withholding their life long savings in the CPF to be released in drips at their old age? There is no need for the lower income Singaporeans to plan for their retirement. They cannot afford to. They just need to work and work and work. The state has assumed the role of planning for the Singaporeans' retirement. How can anyone expect the Singaporeans to plan and save when they are already squeezed to save in the CPF and have nothing left to save? Do we really expect ordinary hand to mouth Singaporeans to save in the CPF, buy insurance policies and save some more in their personal savings accounts? Only million dollar Singaporeans can do that.

what's the dif?

Gordon Brown is taking over the Premiership of UK from Blair. And his top agenda is to transfer power from 10 Downing Street to Parliament in the matter of making war. Parliament will now have the power instead of the Prime Minister to wage war, a move to prevent another PM making a unilateral decision on war. This decision will make a tremendous change to the power of the British Premiership. The Parliamentarians will have a good debate and make the decision. Transfer this to our Parliament, everyone hearing this will give a big yawn. What's the dif? Parliament to decide or PM to decide, is there a difference here? The answer is obvious if we look at the debate in Parliament and how decisions were made. Were decisions made in Parliament or made even before a debate in Parliament? Where do we go into the future? Balji this morning explore the great challenge of a new PM for Singapore. The underlying assumption is that decisions, or the future of Singapore shall be decided by one man, the PM, and not Parliament. I would like to take this further to explore the viability of Singapore in the future. I see dark clouds if we are foolish enough to ignore the dangers we are treading. I see a new diaspora of Singaporeans being displaced in their homeland. And unlike the Chinese or Indian diaspora, the Singaporean diaspora will not last one generation. Too little to mean anything, just like the dying baba culture. I will deal with this more specifically come Sunday morning.

Headhunters are busy

Yes, headhunters in Singapore are really busy. They have been swamped and overwhelmed by the number of hopeful candidates who wanted to make Singapore their home, so that they could have a go at the general election. Many are attracted by the carrots we are hanging for the better talents that we want. We are raising the bar several notches higher and going to a level of talents we have not seen before. We used to go for the $1m talents. Now we are going for the $3 mil or maybe more millions talents the world can offer. And they are all coming to Singapore, the land of opportunities. Headhunters are also recruiting the other way. There are great demands for our talents too. Warren Buffett is looking for someone to replace him to manage his investment company. And he is looking at the right place. And George Bush is vacating his office soon. So is Chen Shui Bian. But these countries must be able to afford our supertalents. They don't come cheap. Who knows, a Singaporean may be headhunted to run for the President of the USA or Taiwan. The ASEAN countries would love to have one of our supertalents. For many years they have privately expressed that they would love to have LKY as their PM. But this is unlikely. They cannot afford the price tag.

A time to rethink citizenship

As a sign of respect to those parents devastated by the air crash in Taiwan and losing their precious sons, I kept quiet for the whole morning after posting 'The Ultimate Sacrifice.' More than 18 years of caring for a son, all of a sudden he was gone. And the parents accepted what happene, and only hanged on to grief their losses. It was duty and honour for the nation. How can the state repay this gratitude and pain of the parents and those who missed them? We have came this far as a nation. We must not erode what we have achieved this far and mess it up with the foreign talent thing. The people, the citizens, is all the nation got in time of need. Not superficial talents that would scoot at the slightest unease. They, the foreign talents, have nothing to hold them here. They are here only for the good time.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Quietly and unceremoniously they packed up and left for a journey to adulthood. More importantly it was a call of duty to serve the country. Young men, bright eyed 18 year olds, were enlisted to be trained as soldiers and other uniformed services the day they finished their secondary schools. For the next two to two an a half years, they belong to the state. The parents reluctantly, hesitantly, and tentatively let them go. But deep inside them they harbour an unspoken fear. Many return to rejoin their families after their National Service Training. Some don't. We have just witnessed another undescribed grief of parents whose precious sons failed to return home, alive. The tragedy of losing someone so precious, someone about to embark on a journey of life as an adult, getting a job, courting a girlfriend, getting married, becoming a father in his own right, all vanished, while answering the call of duty. The pain was suffered in silence. The parents accepted that as any citizens would do so. It is the price of citizenship. The ultimate sacrifice the citizens made for the country. We are the citizens of this island. Are we appreciated or are we just some digits that can be replaced by foreigners with no qualms and conscience? All parents share the grief of these unfortunate parents quietly, in their hearts. The sacrifice to the nation is not only the NS men, but the parents, the siblings and all who knew the fallen men.

building more bridges

Bridge obsession One thing I can say about Malaysian leaders, they are obsessed with building bridges. Penang island has two bridges now. Probably a third is in the pipeline. Singapore has two bridges, and more are expected. Abdullah has said that Malaysia and Singapore should be joined by many bridges. We have, many people to people and business bridges. One other thing that I find it strange is the need to burn or cut bridges to build new ones. The causeway is the most efficient of all the bridges that are built to link two places. Why the need to cut it? If the Malaysians are really interested in improving land transport then a simpler way is to expand the causeway to a 10 or 20 lane land bridge. And if they still want to build more bridges, I know that collecting toll is a very easy and sure profit business, they may want to think of links to the eastern coast of Malaysia and Singapore. A link to Desaru will be more meaningful while the present causeway be enlarged to cater for more users when the IDR takes off. Travellers to the east coast can have a short cut to their destinations, saving travel time and distance. The days of thinking crookedly to built crooked bridges should be thrown away to the dawn of history and a rationally conceived bridge should be built to benefit both sides, cheap and efficient. And not expensive and good to collect higher toll fees.

of law and lawlessness

The two granite executives arrested in Karimum have been let out of their windowless cell where 4 prisoners were cramped in and with one toilet hole to share. But they cannot leave the island, reportedly Batam. Or is it Karimun or Sumatra? The little cell that they were imprisoned may be adequate to the villagers, but to Singaporeans who are used to modern sanitation comfort and cleanliness, this is equivalent to mental bashing. And what had these two executives done? They were mere employees of a company engaging in lawful activities in an Indonesian island. And they were arrested when they voluntarily went there to assist in an investigation on a sabotage and bombing of their company's facilities. And they were kept incommunicado from the world for several weeks, without visitors. The world must take note of such tribal acts and be wary when sending their executives to such a country. The foundation of law in that country is built on lawlessness by the law enforcer. The arrest of the two executives is clearly politically motivated. There is no reason or justification to treat 'assumed' commercial crime violators in that manner. They are innocent until proven guilty. But in this case, they were more than guilty for things they are presumed to have done which everyone knew that they did not do. Compare to how China handled the case of Ching Cheong, the Straits Times journalists, when they had been monitoring him for years and have all the evidence to arrest him. He is being treated more humanely than our executives. And his charge is treason, espionage. He could be jailed for life. When is Indonesian gonna join the civilisation of a new and modern world?

Aspiration of the Young

I want to be a doctor. I want to be a pilot. I want to be a teacher. These were the aspirations of a time not too long ago. The aspirations of the new generation is to become a millionaire or multi millionaire. And children in schools are writing about becoming ministers. To them this is the surest road to becoming instant multi millionaires. I want to be a minister is the new aspirations of the Singapore Young.

Are extraordinary, or are we first world?

We have been looking at economic numbers to support our claim that we have arrived at the corridor of first world nations. If the qualifications are limited to just money, we are quite comfortably in the safe zone of being first world. No one can deny that what we have, and what the people have, generally, is money and material wealth. We are rich, real or on paper, but we are rich. We can afford many creature comfort and have taken them as basic needs, for granted. Let's look at another aspect of whether we are there. One area to look at is the viability and acceptance of the political system and the fate of the political leaders when they step down from office. Would the new govt and leaders continue with the system that they have inherited or would they do a house cleaning and throw out the old and in with the new? And would the political leaders exit the political arena without any hiccups, not charge in courts and thrown into jail or have to escape from paradise? We have seen many countries where there were regime change and new systems were brought in to replace the old system. And political leaders have been thrown into jails or threatened with all kinds of charges, corruption, nepotism, abuse of power etc. All these had happened within the ASEAN countries, in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam etc. The three relatively more settled countries in terms of political system and the fate of their political leaders are Brunei, Malaysia and ourselves. Brunei's ruling royalties are very well regarded and they treat their people very well. That system looks like going to be there forever. Malaysia has proven to be quite stable until Anwar was thrown into jail. But he has been rehabilitated. A small blemish. And Mahathir is still around, happily shooting at anyone at his convenience. In the case of Singapore, we have not have a regime change as yet and things look quite good. The way it goes, our top political leaders would be able to enjoy their retirement from politics gracefully and enjoy their fruits of labour. And the political system will endure and continue in perpetuity. In this sense, we are extraordinary and deserve the first world label. I cannot forsee a new govt coming into power and tear away at all the systems that have been entrenched and legally protected by the Constitution. And neither would our leaders have to flee once they step down from power, like Marcos. And this is first world standard that we can expect.

a new direction needed

The Extradition Treaty and Defence Cooperation Agreement have been signed. The sand ban is still there. Our men are still in their cell, not charged in court and not allowed visitors. A few of the barges have been released but many still detained at the Indonesian's pleasure. Nothing is going to change when the legal systems or the way laws are administered are so different. The signing of the two agreements should be the beginning of disengagement. Singapore shall seriously work out ways to develop other relations and cooperations with other countries that have similar legal systems and mindsets as us. When law is equivalent to lawlessness, we are asking to be slapped in our face every now and then if we continue foolishly to flirt with people of a different dimension. Compare to the Malaysians, with Mahathir out of the way, and if he is not replaced by another psychopath, there are many reasonable men over there. And our history, political and legal systems are very similar. We can expect to be treated more fairly and be able to talk sense when parochial politics is out of the way. Let this be a lesson for Singapore to reassess the situation and strike out on a new direction. We cannot be self sufficient in many things. But we cannot be dependent on unreliable partners.

WYSWYG

SINGAPORE: Police are investigating a theft in Pasir Ris that took place in broad daylight - vandals have taken, of all things, metal railings. Support rails on an access path, specially built for the elderly and disabled, no longer exist at Pasir Ris Drive 6. It is the same at Drive 1 also. Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council says it would take at least three weeks to replace the railings, at a cost of S$20,000. Some residents said they actually saw the suspected vandals at work, but did not realise they were witnessing a crime. "I saw them sawing the railings around 3pm the day before. But I thought they were contractors. There were three workers, and another two men who looked like they were supervisors," says Pasir Ris resident Eliza Khong. - CNA/yy This is what will happen when a country is no longer a country. The citizens no longer think, and do not think anything belongs to them. We are all just passerbys. Citizens or visitors, no difference. No ownership, no responsibility, no care. And the people who cut away the railings know this. It is free for all, take what you like. It is really WYSWYG.

Mums calling the shot

Not enough babies? What is your problem? Forget about all the goodies or flexi hours, incentives etc. Just be real. Just pay us mums $100k each for 5 years for each child we produce. And we assure you that every cent you spent is worth it. The children are the future of this country. Without children means no NS men, no one to look after the country and no one to look after the aged. And also no one to join the work force. See or not? If the baby bust continues, Singapore will be no more. Now that is serious isn't it? And $500k for 5 years or $100k a year, that is cheap. All the mums are waiting.

Problems or Opportunities?

In many forums and blogs, the congestion and ERP rates are a perennial complain by everyone. There is a thread on how raising ERP rates at the CTE is not going to solve anything. Everyone is looking at the congestion as a problem. And it is true, a problem only to the motorists. As a businessman, where making profit is the ultimate goal, the congestion in the CTE is a golden opportunity to make more money. If the govt is going to sell the CTE to a private operator, yes privatise it, I will be the first to bid for it. Then I will sit back and be a genuine toll collector. Where is the problem? It is all opportunities to become rich if you can see it from a different angle.

COE is up again

Looks like everything is up and nothing going down. ERP, GST, property prices, etc. The good thing is that employment is also up and salaries are going shooting to the sky with some probably getting double what they were earnings. For those whose salary increases are more than to offset all the increases, it is a good thing. For those who are getting $50 increases or $100 or $200 increases, would it be a good thing? Would they be celebrating and jumping around like happy monkeys? All these increases seem to be seasonal, we will have our Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter in a 4 year cycle. Spring is the time of promises and looking a head to a glorious future, then Summer and Autumn when the food are harvested. And Winter is a time to feed on the years harvest when it is plenty, or to tighten belt when the harvest is bad. I skip Summer as the seasons of Summer and Autumn, in fact Spring as well, are very shortlived. Of the four years, probably Winter will stretch for 2 to 3 years. The farmers are having their feasts. Not sure about the cows, the horses, the sheeps, the pigs and the rest of the fowls. Or we have gone past this stage and the farmers were gone?

The en bloc battle ensues

Neptune Court residents are also locked at battle over the sale of their estate. And the issue is, yes, the tyranny of the majority versus the tyranny of the minority. The second issue is about the ugly Singaporeans who think that with a little knowledge, a little money, they can go around demanding apologies or threatening to sue one another. The legal provisions for the en bloc sales has stood up as a sore thumb. Its provisions are clear, legalistic but simplistic. It actually provides for the majority to do what they like. And though there were some considerations for the minority, these provisions can only hold under very exceptional conditions. If the majority can command their required 80-90%, technicality the sale will go through. Unless the minority have the resources to fight a long legal battle in court. The other aspect of demanding apologies and threatening legal actions are a reflection of the kind of Singaporeans living among us, their pettiness and shallowness, simplethons in their heads, but think that they can go around threatening and suing everyone. They did not know that to do such silly things they need to have a lot of money to spare. The lawyers would love to have more of them as their clients.

Myth 137

Li Ao is Right Yes he is right. Singaporeans are stupid. This is no longer a myth. After assessing all the debates in the media, it is conclusively proven that Singaporeans in general are stupid. And many Singaporeans will quietly concede to this truth. And those who still refuse to acknowledge this truth are the not stupid one. They are even more stupid than the average Singaporeans. For they still did not know that they are stupid. But I am saying that only the Singaporeans in general are stupid. There is of course a very small group of Singaporeans that are smart like hell. And the smarter this group becomes, the stupidier the rest of the Singaporeans will be. Their smartness is directly proportional to the dumbness of the rest of the Singaporeans. Now, anyone going to disagree with my observation?

a monetary perception

The media flashed a picture of Hsien Loong at the Yahoo HQ flanked by Jerry Yang and David Filo. My immediate impression is S$3m flanked by several hundred million US$. Now that is an extraordinary picture. A head of govt being dwarfed by two young men running an information exchange system in terms of income.

Private sector salary benchmark

The professionals are expecting a revision of their salary. The doctors, except for a few exceptionally well paid specialists, are also staring at their low income vis a vis other professions. In terms of training hours put in, the medical profession is the longest, each spending about 10 years of post secondary education to become a specialist while other professions can make do with 4 to 6 years. They are justified to expect salary in the same level as the accountants and lawyers. And in the medical, engineering or technology fields, the advancement in science and medical knowledge comes in leaps and bounds and it is a strenuous process to keep up with the new knowledge. Not that accountants and the legal professionals are stagnated and have little to keep up with. There are changes and new developments. But the volume of changes is very little compare to the medical and other fields. And the doctors are eyeing the ministerial pay as the benchmark for their salary increment. Knowing the brilliant minds of the doctors, they cannot miss a good thing. The formula is crafted by the top talents of the island and is near to flawless. It is as perfect as it can be. And if one is a beneficiary of the formula, it is almost guaranteed to go one way, up, up and away. The probability of it coming down is at most 0.1%. And this can only happen if there is a world wide depression. Will the doctors get their benchmark? Can they use the same logic and reasonings like they will become corrupt if they cannot get their benchmark? Or can they argue that the medical industry will go to the gutters? Or can they say that the nurses will end up as nurses in neighbouring developing countries earning peanuts? I bet the doctors will be smart enough to come up with more logical justifications that are seen as reasonable. And one reason they can give is that if their salary is not raised, the profession will not be able to attract the top talents into their fold. And many will be poached by top medical facilities around the world.

Myth 136

Just feel like telling a successful Singaporean story. This is about a successful Singaporean's rag to riches story. He was a self made man, building a successful business into a little conglomerate. And at every Annual Dinner and Dance for this employees he would make his happy speech of how he arrived. He told his weird philosophies and his employees clapped and cheered. He shared his distorted logics and reasonings, and they nodded their heads in appreciation. He illustrated his speeches with anecdotes and jokes and they loved them and gave him a standing ovation. But as all good things would come to an end, his business failed and his business was taken over. He was still invited to the company's annual dinner as a very important guest. And the employees took turns to speak on stage. They ridiculed him and joked about his silly wisdom and logics in front of everyone, right in his face. He could not believed what he heard. They all sounded so right during his time of glory, and his employees loved them. Why were they telling him a different thing altogether, and actually telling him that all the time he was talking nonsenses and they were only tolerating him because he was the boss. It is a different story when one is no longer the boss man.

The price of instant population

While everyone is falling asleep, or under severe dosage of feeling good pep pills, that everything will be fine, the problems that new immigrants are going to bring along with them here are beginning to simmer. The fault lines are appearing. These new immigrants are very different from the early immigrants of our forefathers who came here desperate, ignorant and illiterate, and will accept anything that the local authorities threw at them, including curtailment of their basic human rights. The modern immigrants are suave, well educated, affluent and demanding. Couple with a swell headed ego that the govt has bestowed upon them as foreign talents to save us from our impending doom, it is not surprising that they are demanding that the island must adapt to their ways of life and their expectations. They will bring along, other than their wealth and talents, their idiosyncracies and peculiar lifestyles, their religions, language and culture, and everything that means something to them but may be odd or make them look like oddballs to what we have built. And they are going to demand, make demands that we give way to them. They will want their own ministers, their mayors or village chiefs, their schools and language, their culture, to be carved into the main stream of our society. We must not kid ourselves that they are going to be very pleasant and compliant. The latter is a virtue of the locals. They are still new and relatively small in numbers today, but all the signs are there of what the locals can expect of them. And given time and numbers, these foreign talents, more articulate, rich, and thinking too highly of themselves, are going to exert a lot of pressure on their poorer, submissive and less talented locals. If we are not careful, we are sowing the seed of future dissents and discords within our society. If we are going to march ahead, filled with delusions that everything will be well managed and controlled, it is prudent that we set out clear guidelines as to how far we are prepared to bend ourselves to meet the demands of new citizens. We must insist now that new immigrants accept the sacred pillars that we used to build our society and nation, the primacy of the English Language and the three other official languages and that no one is allowed to challenge these basic premises. All new citizens must accept what we are and build their lives around them and not to change what we have taken so long to build. These must be the very first conditions explained to them before they take up citizenship. And if they think this is not what they want, they should go somewhere else. We must not reach a stage when new citizens are arrogant enough and have the audacity to tell the local borns to get lost if they are unhappy with their demands. This should be the right of the citizens to demand from potential citizens. If I don't even believe in Him who had sacrificed his son, why should I believe in any ordinary man?

Tyranny of Majority or Minority?

I have posted several times on the en bloc issue and the tyranny of the majority to force their will on the minority. The law provides for the majority to do what they deem fit in an en bloc sales and this has been taken full advantage of to the detriment of the minority by some unscrupulous majority. The minority are now crying out loud at the abuses of the majority and getting themselves heard in the main stream media. Today there is another letter by a Paul Amstrong in the Today paper trying to get the public and developer to understand the views of the minority. As he explained along the way, I sense that he got himself carried away by making quite ridiculous demands of expecting everything to be what they were before, to the extend of expecting the same view, the same space, design, nooks and corners etc. This is actually what the law makers fear, the tyranny of the minority, the unreasonable minority that will not move for their weird sentimental reasons. The majority may be held captive by the unjustifiable demands of a few crannies and everyone be held at ransom. One must admit that no laws can be crafted to meet all situations. There are limitations and these can only be taken care of by the good sense of reasonableness which is often expressed as the spirit of the law. We do not want people to take advantage of the law to sue someone for a pair of lost pants for US$65 million. When laws are applied strictly to the letters, it makes the people all look so stupid. It reflects on the stupidity of a nation. What is needed in the en bloc dilemma is not more laws but a moderator appointed by the govt to mediate and ensure a reasonable settlement for all parties.

Charity begging on TV

I was watching the Thye Hua Kuan Charity Night on TV last night. It was very successful, bagging another $4 million from the generous and kind hearted people from the public. The public, mostly earning less than $5000 a month, many less than $2000, made almost 500,000 calls during the 3 hour programme and raised about $2.5 million alone. I hope no one is going to laugh and make private jokes about the poor and the paupers trying to skim a few dollars to help their comrades in the shitholes. What is interesting about the programme is the formula being used. The phone calls, foreign and local artistes, the parading of people in trouble, the pathetic pleas etc etc, except that there is no lucky draw. Whoever came out with this idea is simply brilliant. Is it the old NKF, Durai or some programme producer or some PR agency? I am sure they can copyright the programme blueprint and collect royalties from it. This is a formula that can be marketed internationally.

Of race and language

PN Balji raised a very important and sensitive issue of race and language in the Today paper. He forsees the problems of how the Tamil group, being the majority in Singapore, feels threatened by the influx of Northern Indians and the use of Hindi instead of Tamil. And as they feel threatened, there is a discussion going on in cyberspace calling for the greater use of Tamil as well as the appointment of an Indian Affairs Minister. This is a timely call as Singapore starts its massive programme of injecting the population with better foreign talent blood. This infusion of better quality blood would inevitably bring a long some pulls and stresses in our society. The most important of these problems is the diversities of the new talents. And I believe the govt is prepared and have preview to the colourful Singapore that is yet to come and will embrace all kinds and colours in its stride. The call for an Indian Affairs should be taken up seriously. And we need a China Chinese Affairs Minister to go along as the problems of the China Chinese is never the same as indigenious Chinese. Then an Indonesian Affairs Ministers as well. And probably an European Affairs Minister as well. It will perhaps add on another $8 million into the cost of the govt's budget. But it is all worth it to make Singapore more colourful and lively. This should include the use of more languages in Parliament. And all the street signs should have all the languages of as many dialect groups as possible. And we can decorate all the signages beautifully. That will make Singapore not only unique, but very friendly to the world. Oh, I have forgotten about the Japanese, the Vietnamese, the Koreans, Thais, Filipinos, the Myanmars and the Bangladeshis. How about a minister to take care of each of this group? As we bring in more foreign talents, we must be prepared to cater to their demands sensitively. Or else we might one day be like England or France where the immigrants will start to plant bombs everywhere because they were not treated equally or fairly. But being an extraordinary country with extraordinary talents, we shall prevail. Such problems will not affect us. The talks and discussions in the internet are by innocent or naive forumers talking nonsenses and will have no impact to our society.

innovative ways to get donations

Charity organisations are looking for more innovative ways to get donations from the public after the NKF fiasco. Taking the same course of actions like lucky draw prizes, charity shows, soliciting using the pretext of free medical checkups, signing monthly donations etc may draw an unpleasant taste. New and more innovative ways are needed. I can imagine that an opt in/opt out scheme for the money in the Medisave would be an attractive proposition. Just make a ruling that everyone must opt out of the scheme or else the money left after their demise will go to charity. And with so much money left unused, many will likely die without touching their Medisave, this will be a huge source of donation for charity organisations.

of vintage and artifacts

The Sunday Times reported on Lim Swee Say's talk to a group of young and bright eyes unionists. And the reporter, Keith Lin, reported that Swee Say gave them 'an insight in the challenges of governing Singapore.' For his insightful anecdotes, Swee Say was described as 'vintage'. I can imagine all the impressionable young unionists going ga ga with what Swee Say had shared with them. If Swee Say has risen to the level of vintage, and he is only in his early 50s, and bearly 10 years in politics, what would he be appropriately called in another 10 years, artifacts or antiques?

Extraordinary indeed

Hsien Loong was at the White House having a strategic dialogue with George Bush, the President of the world's number one super power. The Prime Minister of an island that has hardly 4 million people and sharing ideas and strategies on world politics with the President of a world empire. And Hsien Loong is giving kind words of encouragement to Bush to stick to his strategies. It must be very comforting for George to have a convert to agree with him openly in a time when all his friends have left him. This is extraordinary. I mean the getting together of these two leaders when size and capabilities, to call them a mismatch, is an understatement. The other thing that is extraordinary is the dominant role played by Pakistanis in the world of terrorism. The latest court case in Britain found that Pakistanis were the main motivators, and Pakistan is the home and factory to world terrorism. Isn't this extraordinary?

Consumers getting the short end of the stick

In the past, when car prices were astronomical, COEs shooting to the sky, a car buyer who bought his car on the 30th day of a month, say April, will be considered as buying the car on 1st April and his use of the car will expire on 31 March. He thus lost the use of the car by one month, due to administrative convenience. That means a lot of money. This has been rectified today and the COE will expire on the respective days when the car is registered. Today, a forumer complained in the Straits Times that banks are using 360 days as a year to compute interest rate for credit cards instead of 365 days. The net effect is that consumers will have to pay more. Another former complained that the debiting and crediting of a bank transfer of funds are not done on the same day in some banks which again is to the disadvantage of the consumers. Why are the consumers, mostly the small people, always receiving the short end of the stick? Are these ethical business practices? Big corporations should not squeeze for every little advantage they can get from the small consumers. And in the case of 360 versus 365 days, this is unacceptable as there can be no justifiable reasons for doing this.

Russians paying Indon leaders to grab Indosat

It is reported in the media that a Russian tycoon, Mikhail Fridman of the Alfa Group, is paying Indonesian leaders to wrestle control of Temasek owned Indosat from Singapore. And the methods used by Altimo, the company owned by Fridman, other than bribery, or they called it gifts, include a smear campaign to tarnish the reputation of ST Telemedia. Project Indosat, as the covert operation is called and reported in Indonesian media, is denied by everyone who has been named to be involved. It is a public secret that even the top Indonesian leaders are alleged to have known of its existence. If it can be proven, that taking money, or bribes or call it corruption in this case, would Singapore be able to use the newly inked Extradition Treaty to bring a few of them to our courts for a trial?

The other side of Singaporeans

Aaron Ho Chien Kwok lamented the constant pursuit of material wealth as the new obsession of Singaporeans at the expense of spiritual or social wellbeing. Aaron was not quoting the bible or other spiritual wisdom but the simple and plain goodness of living, that there is more than just accumulation of material wealth. And he is not alone. In his article to the Today paper, he was concerned at how such ideas of me first have been reinforced daily in all media by all well meaning people. The acquisition of wealth is a good thing as it brings about a more comfortable and luxurious lifestyle, and freedom from want. But the social, moral and spiritual self are equally important. There must be a balance as we live out our lives. Aaron quoted the age old wisdom of 'What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul.' This is very similar to the temptation of Jesus Christ by the devil. The devil offered Jesus all the wealth and kingdoms. Come to the dark side. But Jesus plainly rejected them for higher moral and spiritual well beings. I love hedonism. But I am careful not to be carried away.

An unusual talent

Rajendren Rajamani, 24, more or less single handedly set up three charity organisations, ie the Children of Singapore Foundation, Children's Lukaemia Foundation, and Club Sunshine Ltd, which was previously known as Kids-In-Distress Foundation Ltd. He is seen as a young and passionate man with a lot of dreams, as described by one of his admirers. In order for a young man to be able to register three charities and get donations in several hundred thousands, he is indeed a talent in his own right and could be a role model for our young. In celebration of enterprising young talent. Oops.

Who is watching god?

Several issues in the Today paper point out to two serious misgivings that are getting quite prevalent within our society. The first is conflict of interests as was pointed out in the case of the three charities that were struck off by the Commissioner of Charities. The second is the problem of the watchdog sleeping or transgressing. Then we will have the problem of who is watching over the watchdog. For the three dubious charities to be struck off after existing for so long and collecting so much money without raising an eyebrow or a red flag speaks very loudly of how far down our society has gone. This is a case of getting immune of abuses when abuses are everywhere and found not objectionable. In fact, as in the case of NKF, it was a model that was trumpeted and celebrated as the best thing to have had happened for the Charity scene. It becomes a blanket cover for all charities with similar practices and to get by without being questioned. Shall the watchdog be whacked? What happens if watchdogs also transgress the principles of good corporate governance? The checks and balance system and ancient wisdom of proper conduct are not there for show, and any violation should raise a red flag no matter how good is the intention or the reputation of the transgressor. Once such fundamental rules and principles can be shoved aside, more things will get through in a matter of time. Are there signs of decline or transgression that we are overlooking or refuse to acknowledge?

nice quotes

When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Religion. - Robert M. Pirsig I like this one also. Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity.

ERP hikes to solve congestion problem

CTE toll charges up from $4 to $4.50 per pass for cars. This must be a very difficult decision to make and I doubt any ordinary average Joe can think of such a brilliant solution.

Application Form - Forms versus Substance

Halimah Yaacob is trying to fight discrimination in the employment scene by doing away with some data in the Application Form. Things like sex, marital status, age, religion or race may be a thing of the past. And photos may also be excluded. By removing such items, employers will be limited to choose the candidates for interviews based on other available data. Technically discrimination can be stopped, at least up to the interview stage. But would it lead to the employment of a candidate after the shocking presence during the interview when what the employer needs are totally mismatched? The real discrimination, if any, is at the hiring. What happened in this case is that many will be called up for interviews but find it a big waste of time, money and effort when one does not meet the employer's expectation. Example if the employer wants a female age 30 and below, probably slim and cute, but the candidate turning up is an old grandfather that weighs 100kg, and the interview has to go on, not to make it too embarrassing for the applicants. Curbing job discrimination can hardly be overcame by a mere change of applicant's biodata.

A public hospital driven by passion

While we continue with the spin on Greed as the driving force in our economy, maybe we should try to develop a different formula, a return to the past when life was simpler, when the motivation in life includes things like passion, charity, compassion, service, selflessness etc. Though many have already subscribed and become strong believers in the new virtue of Greed, I believe there will still be people, or a few people, who will not be seduced and would still want to do a little goodness just for goodness sake. And they will also be some who have plenty and would want to give a little to charity in time or in money. There are many public hospitals today, run by volunteers and voluntary organisations. Though some have also subscribed to Greed, many still stand tall as what charity is supposed to be. Perhaps we can experiment with a govt initiated public hospital driven by everything else except Greed. We only need to convert one of the leftover HDB block to start with and the doctors and nurses can come from contract professionals where our dollar value has a comparative advantage. And we can have more young doctors posted there to break them in. And these can be supported by the very successful doctors in private practice who can volunteer a few of days a month to the hospital for free. Yes, they are not green monsters that only think of money. Many are great and generous people who would not mind contributing a little to society. Such a hospital may not have the best of everything, but it will help to protect the life savings of the less able. And no need means testing as the socially conscious would find visiting such a public hospital as a stigma. Only those who really need such a service, or refuse to pay for world class services will be found visiting public hospitals. At least the people will be given a choice. Would there be fear that if such a concept prove too successful that govt hospitals will lose their patients and income? There is a market for every segment of people. Hospitals that find making money important will have their own patients. Public hospitals will have their own patients. Can we provide such an option for the people instead of dictating what is good for the people and what price the people must pay?

Hsien Loong's May Day Message

'We will continue to redesign jobs, reskill workers and upgrade productivity, to enhance wages progressively and sustainably...But to achieve such goals, Singapore needs an "outstanding team of leaders who are capable, competent, committed and dedicated to the country. They must have the right values and the passion to serve Singaporeans and improve your lives... The above is only a small bit of Hsien Loong's full message.

May Day Message

The Govt vows to listen more to the public, instead of predicting what is best for them....In the past, we in the govt used to think about what can be done for the people...This line of questioning is actually wrong, even though it sounds grand. We should instead be asking ourselves what we can achieve together with the people. - Donald Tsang. This is a message from a populist governor. Will it work or will the Singapore way work better?

Means Testing and hospital bills

There were two letters pleading for mercy in the wake of Means Testing and the increasing hospital bills. Doris Ng Hui Choo has a daughter that needs to be hospitalised every now and then for a week and her household income is $3,500. She asked whether this HUGE INCOME of $3,500 is adequate to pay for her daughter's medical bills? And Adeline Koh Kwek Poh commented that even the Medisave accounts of a few siblings may not be enough to pay for hospital bills that come in 6 figures. Can such people be mercifully allowed to opt for C or B2 wards? Would our compassionate and very rich people think a little about the plight of the common folks? I have challenged the notion or perception that a $5000 household income is heavenly when it is the combined income of 4 or 5 adults, each earning about $1k. Their personal expenses will eat up every cent, forget about having spare cash. But would people whose income is in the millions appreciate that life is tough for families with $5000 household income?

Patients can withdraw more from Medisave

With effect from 1 May, patients can now withdraw more from their Medisave to pay their medical bills. What it means is that they need not fork out so much cash. Now is this a good news or bad news? My old illiterate and ignorant mother used to say that going to hospital is free, cause can use CPF to pay. How nice. Does this big news really change anything? Is the medical fee and cost going to go down? Hmmmmm.....can we blame people for not having enough savings in their CPF for retirement?

I expect the Press to whistle blow - Vivian

That was what the Press was told by Vivian Balakrishnan. But according to PN Balji, the local media was taken to task by the foreign media for an obvious lapse in their reporting of the SGX affair. It was Dow Jones and The Asian Wall Street Journal that forced the issue and a change of mind at SGX. The episode is best described by Balji as 'A Fortnight that shouldn't be forgotten.' And Balji's article is in the Today paper. So at least the Today paper is feeling the pinch for the local msm for not playing the role of a watchdog. And it needs the foreign media to do the job. What does all these means? When Taksin was in power, everything was alright. So was the time when Suharto was in power. Their local media just played along with the power. But once power changes hand, all the skeletons came out. That is the powerful role of the press when it acts the role that it knows best.

Myth 135

The easiest job to do Many professional jobs require many years to strenous training and discipline to acquire knowledge and skills before one qualifies to practise. The lawyers, the doctors, the engineers, scientists etc. Even a chef will have to take years of training and practice to learn the rope. If we consider the discipline and years of training required as a guide to how difficult a job is, then politician is the easiest of all jobs. One can be a cook, a driver, a lecturer, an engineer, doctor or lawyer, but without any formal training, tomorrow one can become a politician. And the presumed expertise or ability is dependent on how successful one is in the previous profession. The higher one was paid before, the more able one is supposed to be as a politician. Maybe this part is a little tricky as a qualification. The loan shark or mafia boss or drug lord also earns in multiple of millions and should easily qualify as politicians. That is why in countries like Taiwan, Korea and Japan, the mafias are behind the politicians and with some becoming politicians. In brief, the requirement for a good politician is a clean moral record and be successful in any profession. Definitely much easier than any other professions.

More good years

Recent events centred on the issue of succession for Hsien Loong, less than three years after he became prime minister. It was a subject he himself raised. During the debate over pay and good government, the younger Lee surprised Singaporeans by saying that the search for his successor would start now. He would be ready to name him by 2011 and he should be ready to take over by 2016. If this timetable plays out, he would have served 12 years – two years less than his predecessor Goh Chok Tong. This could mean one thing. Lee Kuan Yew will be around to help decide who will succeed his son to become Singapore’s fourth prime minister. (This was first published in The Star on Apr 28, 2007) The above is an extract of an article by Seah Chiang Nee posted in the Star newspaper. I have only copied the last part of the article. The main article dealt with the bigger role player by LKY in domestic politics recently. Chiang Nee ended by saying that LKY will be around to decide who will succeed Hsien Loong as the next Prime Minister. What is pertinent to the above quote is that the ruling govt is sure that nothing will change in this island and in the next few elections PAP will still be the ruling party. This is how predictable Singapore politics or political system is. We already know who will win the next few general elections. Singaporeans can sleep in peace that there will be more good years.

Little birds busy catching worms

When all little birds are busy catching their worms, all things under heaven will be peaceful. Everyone will be happy making their fortune in their own ways. People will simply be turned into economic animals and be contented in what they are doing and all the merry makings. But things will not be simply wished and the problems will go away. The political animals will have a field day engineering the system to their advantage. And Rip Van Winkle will wake up one day not knowing where he is or what has happened. The world around him would have changed without him knowing, without his input and without his interest.

The Indon Alladdin Lamp

Make a wish, rub it hard enough, and genie will appear to make it happen. Apparently the Extradition Treaty is seen in the same light. With the treaty, all the Indonesian problems of corruption will disappear. There will be no more corruption in Indonesia. What a magic formula. This is cheaper and better than Singapore's solution of making everyone a multi millionaire. Should Singapore test whether the treaty work by asking to extradite those who beat up Singaporeans or illegally detaining the Singapore barges? The first case is obvious as the treaty provided for the extradition of people murdering or hurting citizens of either country. The second should be covered under piracy and terrorism. Detaining of barges on legitimate business and plying the sea lanes is definitely piracy. And setting off bombs in the quarry in Karimum is definitely terrorism. Singapore should start the ball rolling.

Extradition Treaty and DCA

They did it! They signed the Extradition Treaty and Defence Cooperation Agreement in godspeed! Unbelieveable. This has taken all critics from both countries by surprise. Yes it happened, it did not get drag on for another few more years. I too am greatly surprised. I never thought that it is possible, or at least under the present conditions when both political and legal systems are as diverse as day versus night. And our bureau chief in Jakarta, Azhar Ghani, wrote about the shockwaves and disbeliefs in Jakarta. All those who were angry with Singapore for dragging its feet, all those who thought that Yudhoyono was a lame President, have the carpet pulled off under their feet. It is a great piece of work for the Indonesian President to get this inked. Now the critiques will take on another form, that they must have inked a rotten deal and that Singapore is going to benefit more than Jakarta. A very familiar tune ala KL. Would the two countries move forward from this agreement and raise the level of cooperation to another level? Or will the next President tear it into pieces and everything return to square one, with more barges arrested and more bombings? But before that, does the agreement need to be ratify by the Indonesian Parliament and be passed? There will be another round of wayang kulit in Jakarta before this treaty be accepted as a statement of better ties between the two countries.

Many little birds said

I have spoken to many little birds or many little birds have said to me, the same trend of thinking, why waste time posting? We have a great system, a new paradise, make the best out of it. Go out and make all the money that you can and enjoy life, more wine, karaoke, golfs, Batam etc. That's life and living for the successful Singaporeans. Let me qualify. Firstly, that I am not wasting time. My postings are done on my spare time which I can find plenty throughout the day. A little thoughts here and there and ideas pop up. And I am still trying to grab some money as best I can to have a little life the Singaporean way, the Singaporean aspiration. Now, how first world is a country that thinks this way? Read the msm or listen to the bird talks, it is all about the great buys and the big profits from the rising property prices, the killings in the stock exchange, the million dollar salaries. There is a lot of buzz of this kind. But where is the buzz that will see a little renaissance in this first world wannabe extraordinary island? If there are any worthy social or political discussions, very likely they are conducted behind closed doors. Snippets did came through in the msm, probably considered not too harmful. And there is also the official line of discussion by those who can set the agenda. I saw this article in the morning paper talking about what it takes to have more Einsteins. Walter Isaacson's theme is best summarised in this phrase, 'The whole theme of the last century, and of Einstein's life, is about people who fled oppression in order to go places to think and express themselves...he believes that the only way to have creativity and imagination is to nurture free thought - rebellious free thought.' How does this compares to what the little birds thought was best for this little island? Make money and live life! Isaacson was talking about producing great talented people with great minds. And one of the prerequisites is to 'nurture rebellious, imaginative free thinkers, rather than try to control expression.' Actually this is probably the most important message the the msm is trying to put across discreetly through this little article. The absence of alternative or rebellious views on social and political issues is stark. And to some, it is good for everyone. There is only one source of political view and one truth and one superior thought, and we are selling this to the world as the model for the future on how to govern a state. That is how extraordinary we are. Time to talk to the birds and be another little bird. Birds of the same feather flock together. Imagination is more important than knowledge - Einstein

I disagree with Don McKinnon 'Singapore's decision to give hefty pay rises to government ministers is a test case on keeping corruption at bay in a region where it is rampant, the Commonwealth's chief said Thursday. Don McKinnon, secretary-general of the group representing Britain and its 52 current and former territories, said it was premature to say if Singapore's new public compensation model could help Asia shake off its corruption problems.' AP If all the Asian political leaders are paid like our ministers, definitely there will be no more corruption in their countries. I will even think that if they are paid half of what we paid to our ministers they will also become corruption free. Don McKinnon said it is premature to make any conclusion. I also say that the conclusion is obvious. We have proven that it can be done.

indeed we are extraordinary

It is an undeniable fact that this little red dot is an extraordinary country. With a population of slightly more than 3 million and as an independent country for less than 50 years, we are teaching the world a lot of things. It will be a matter of time before all the govts around the world will adopt our model to pay their ministers. And we are even teaching and advising China on it economic development strategy. And China is a country with an uninterrupted history of more than 5000 years and a foreign reserves of more than US$1 trillion dollars. And this is real. So who can deny us this honour of being an extraordinary country?