Public Assistance Allowance up

The govt has brought forward the increase in PA allowance for the needy instead of taking the one year to study the implications of such an increase. We must thank Vivian for short cutting the process and give the additional $40 to the poor recipients. Don't forget the push by Lily Neo for the amount to be raised. Without her, this may not have happened.

Protesters to the Olympic Flame

Dalai Lama is due back in Washington for his briefing and for more instruction from the American Administration on what further steps to be taken. The mastermind is not making it a secret anymore as to who is the boss in this Tibetan violence. And the naive Dalai Lama is painting himself into the corner as the lapdog of the American Administration. At the same time the riots of protesters are lining up the streets in the big cities, clamouring for some publicity and TV coverage while trying to douse the Olympic Flame. I can appreciate the feelings to the Tibetans as a minority group, as other minority groups in every country. Everyone wanted independence or autonomy. The reality of politics and geopolitics will not allow that to happen. Otherwise we will have the disintegration of the USSR in every country's doorstep. Even the USA will not be safe from such forces of self rules and breaking up. In Asia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines are all threatened by such breakups. If this is the precedence to be set, the world will be in turmoil. Many protestors are protesting out of ignorance. The western media say so, the western human rights group says so, the western govts say so, it is fun to join the protestors without knowing what the shit it was all about. No need for any reason or objective reasons to protest. Many are just silly people joining the protest thinking that it is another party, an interesting movement to be in, to be seen in support of a cause. Otherwise their lives will be meaningless. There are suckers born every second.

Blogging credence

Blogging and cyberspace have taken a big leap forward in Malaysia. The ruling UMNO is taking the challenge of internet right by the horns and running with it. Instead of the typical running down of cyberspace, clamping it down with more rules and regulations and threats of using police power, UMNO has embraced cyberspace as a partner in connecting with the public. The latest development that demands an UMNO youth candidate to have a blog as a prerequisite to stand for election is revolutionary, and progressive. I must admit that I am startled by the move. But I must congratulate UMNO for facing the challenge head on and not behave like some wimps or spoilt brats and resort to the abuse of power to control cyberspace. Some Malaysian top bloggers were invited to share their experience in Singapore. They were defensive and played down on the impact of cyberspace on the Malaysian GE. There were many other factors involved that led to the big swing in votes. Cyberspace was only one of them. The reaction from the Singapore corner is quite expected. Oh, cyberspace is a rubbish dumb of misinformation or inaccurate information. The readers or public must be protected and only the msm could provide factual and accurate information. I wanted to laugh. There are misinformation and rubbish in cyberspace, no doubt about it. But not everything is rubbish. On the contrary, not everything in msm are accurate or factually correct. No misinformation in msm? Come off it. At this point in time, cyberspace is perceived as the enemy or potential enemy, the anti establishment rebels. The only cyberspace/blogs that are credible are those set up by the establishment. Why must a little criticism or disagreement in views be anti establishment? Why should it be when it is openly admitted that the best brains are so so and could make mistakes as well? The recent events and developments and back peddling stand as proof and vindication that opposition to unfavourable or badly thought out policies is a good thing and very necessary. _________________

Where are the political elite?

I grumbled a few times about the silence of our local elite on political and social matters except for the presence of Catherine Lim and Ngiam Tong Dow. Not much or nothing was heard from all those who could lend weight to an issue. Now, after reading what Conrad Raj had written in Today this morning, I found my answer. They are all hiding in local clubs, plotting and politiking against one another. 'They(clubs) also seem to be places where aspiring or frustrated politicians and lawyers try to exhibit their craft, much to the chagrin of other members. Litigation to assert their perceived rights is a common recourse.' Said Conrad Raj. How true. And being pragmatic people, raised in a culture of pragmatism, where else is a better and safer place to show how good they are? The opposition parties should make an attempt to infiltrate into these clubs and do their recruitments there. But then again, knowing the pragmatic mentality, these elite are unlikely to venture into anything riskier than the comfort zones provided by clubs. Nice hiding places.

Looking and planning ahead

Now that most of the major issues have been taken care off, Singaporeans should start looking ahead and plan for the future. And stop being complacent just because the govt has been doing all the thinking and planning. Old age problem has been solved, high medical fees also solved. Now the next one is high education cost. It is estimated, on the low side for the hard landers, that a 4 year university course will set a family back by $150k. This is for a local course. Go overseas is easily double that amount. So how are Singaporeans going to prepare for such a day? Are they doing anything? If they are not, if they are going to be complacent, then the govt will start to do the thinking again. And with so many pro active ministers thinking and caring for the citizens, some are already suggesting that some kind of annuity schemes may be coming out to make sure that the people will have money to provide for their children's education. It is another good thing coming our way. Anyway, whether the Singaporeans are going to think or plan for themselves it is immaterial. Any scheme that the govt conceived of will override whatever plans the Singaporeans have made for themselves. Just look ahead for a better day and more great schemes.

Obama and human rights violations

"ABC News: April 09, 2008 7:02 PM Obama Says Bush Should Boycott Olympics In his strongest language to date about the Olympics, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said that President Bush should boycott the opening ceremonies of if the Chinese do not take steps to stop the genocide in Darfur and respect the human rights of Tibetan people. "As I have communicated in public and to the President, it is past time for China to respect the human rights of the Tibetan people, to allow foreign journalists and diplomats access to the region, and to engage the Dalai Lama in meaningful talks about the future of Tibet," Obama said in a statement." When Obama speaks about human rights violation, the world must stand up to listen. He is a living tragedy of the worst human rights violations in human history. His forebears were hunted and caught, put under chains and sold in America as slaves. He knows what he is saying. It is written all over him.

More competition for Cashcards

It was reported in the ST that EZlink issued 8 mil cards while Nets issued 6 million cards. Both charged $5 per card while EZlink added a $3 deposit. So is EZlink card more expensive than Nets' Cashcard? The credit card issuers are planning to intrude into the cashcard biz. That may give consumers a wider option on whose card to use. Incidentally, credit card companies issued their cards free to their users. If they can do it, why can't the cashcard companies do likewise? Next time buy chicken rice, got to buy own plates and forks and spoons as well. But with 6/8 million cards each at $5 a piece that is $30 mil and $40 mil to each company. Too attractive to resist. Don't forget the $3 deposit or $24 mil collected and can be used for investment or collect more interest.

Greed as the driving force

This is an open secret. We have been moulding greed into a powerful weapon to drive the individuals and the economy. Or to put it in another way, Money as the driving force. This is a very practical and realist approach in getting people to work, to serve their own interest first and serving the general interest of society as an incidental consequence. Bring in the rich and let them make all the money they can. In so doing they also help to create jobs for the people in other services. The LKY School of Public Policies could sell this as a programme, teach the world how to harness the forces of greed and money and burn a glorious path to the first world. This is reality, not nice to have idealism. No beating around the bush. It is the Singapore model that works and works very well. People may counter argue that there are other models for development. But this is our model, Uniquely Singapore, and no other country has a system like ours. No one has anything close to ours. It is the one and only system that has worked and with a good track record to show.

Let's bury the story

The great escape from paradise. It is better to let it go as it is quite pointless talking about something that will eventually be the biggest mystery in paradise. And the tooth will never see the daylight. It would be better to look at the construction of a truly formidable Alcatraz of our own in one of the islands. We need one to make sure that flies can go in but can never fly out. Mount Pleasant is better torn down and forgotten. And in its place some huge private estates can be built for better monetary returns. As for Mas Selamat, if he is not caught within the first 2 hours, the reality is that he is not going to be caught. Save the breathe.

Another ugly case of monopoly

Nets charging $5 not refundable for a new card that has an expiry date. First, why must there be an expiry date if the card is in good condition? Many people bought more than one card, some kept as spares and hardly used. Secondly, is the $5 justified? Why allow only one organisation to monopolise the sale of such a card to the public when usage is almost unavoidable or near compulsory to some? Shouldn't there be some control or regulation over such a monopoly till alternative suppliers are in the market? It is like asking car owners to take MRT when there is only one MRT while better alternatives are not ready or available other than the snail buses.

High noon in Paradise

Below is a post I lifted from TOC. The post was dated April 9, yesterday. This is the 125 comments on this thread posted in TOC. It is more than 40 days after the great escape from paradise and the heat is still on. It is like high noon in paradise. Insulted Says: April 9, 2008 at 1:05 am I do not know about the rest but as a Singaporean I feel insulted. Yet I can do nothing as I have never had the chance to excercise by right to vote (mind you, I am in my mid 40s) because of governments efficiency in re-drawing boundaries and creating bigger GRCs. At the least I definitely do not feel humiliated, the 66.6% should, because they were complacent.

Paying for top grade rice

There was this restaurant that used to buy low grade rice. Over the years, as its business improved, it increased its budget for rice. Gradually it moved from low grade to medium grade, to top grade and to the best grade money could buy. It's budget for rice increased from $200 monthly to $2000. All was well and they kept telling their guests that the restaurant served the best grade rice in town. The bosses were happy, the customers were also happy. The most happy person was the master chef. He did all the purchasing. What the bosses and the customers did not know was that they were paying top dollars for the same low grade rice all the years. No one was wiser except the master chef.

No PM potential!

Hsien Loong must be having a hard time looking for a successor for the PM position. Even among the present batch of ministers, no one is likely to fit into that position. I think I know the answer to this problem. Hsien Loong must have discussed the topic with his colleagues. And very likely they all told him that they were not good enough or have no ambition to be the next PM. The problem thus lies in not having anyone with the ambition or aspiration to want to be the PM. This is the same problem as no one in his right mind wanting to stand for the Elected President. When no one want the job or think that they are good enough for the job, maybe with the exception of a few loonies in the opposition, we really have a replacement problem. How could Hsien Loong fire up the people, including his ministers, to be audacious enough to say they want to be the next PM?

Openness, dignity and integrity

'You cannot be a political party and be strong in a democracy when there is a strong disconnection between your message and what the populace is now about. And the populace is now about openness, dignity and integrity.' Dr Ooi Kee Beng, a fellow at the Institute of SE Asian Studies. Ooi was referring to UMNO and commented that the days of Barisan National is over.

$1 million solution to rising food prices

This has been touted as a nation wide scheme and the best stop gap measure to the food crisis. 'Community leaders say it is likely to be the best measure, although certain troubling questions will have to be addressed.' Lin YanQin reported. This is front page news, top news in the Today paper. Amy Khor feared that such a great scheme would breed the dependency mentality, a sense of entitlement. But Zaqy Mohamad and Fatimah Lateef were concerned that it might be too little and not enough. For $1 million and it is already a nation wide solution, imagine how much can the ministers can do with their $3 million pay cheques? If ten ministers were to offer $1 million each, we could avoid ten of such crisis nation wide.

Unprecedented public dressing down by LKY

After so much noise about the complacency slight, allow me to look at the issue from another perspective. This is probably the first time that the security agency has received a public dressing down by LKY. He made it very clear that it was their fault, their complacency. Unprecedented man. The second point he made was that the govt cannot take care of everything. There were areas that the govt may overlook, oversight or did not do well. Another unprecedented statement. And the third unprecedence, the govt is fallible. Oops. Now this is a very serious statement and admission from LKY, that the govt is not infallible. It was a time for humility and not to take things for granted. Now, did you people get the picture on complacency? A public dressing down, and an acknowledgement that things can go wrong and a govt that cannot be depended on completely. So the people must not be complacent and be vigilant, and must think and make wise choices. It must be looked at from this context. That is perhaps the furthest LKY could say, stopping short of saying that an alternative govt should be in waiting, just in case. When the govt is fallible, the people cannot afford to be complacent. Is that the correct message that I am getting? People must listen carefully when a wise man speaks.

An issue of complacency

The current issue of complacency is truly the fault of the people. And we shouldn't complain or blame the govt at all. We are so lucky to have such a good govt that we have taken everything for granted. If only that the govt is not as good and as efficient. Matilah, in mysingaporenews blog compared Singapore with Zimbabwe. Now that is unfair. You cannot compare paradise with hell. It is insulting to put us side by side with Zimbabwe and say we are good. We need to compare apple with apple. I would suggest that the govt sacrifice a GRC to the opposition and let them mess it up. Then the people will understand what it is like to be in a place that is badly governed. Using an opposition GRC is the best way to get a good and reasonable comparison. And no one can be complacent enough to say otherwise or use a bad example to compare with. This is the fault of being too good for too long that the people begin to take the goodness and efficiency for granted. Complacency is an understatement.

Rule of Law

Streetdirectory.com(Virtual Map) sued several users of its map in the past for huge sums of money for using its maps without authorisation. It was a great example of how rule of law are applied effectively in this country. Lately, Streetdirectory.com was sued by SLA for copyright violation, for using SLA maps without consent. It thus did not have the right of the maps which it claimed to have to sue those violators successfully. It has now decided that it would not refund the parties for unauthorised use of its maps. 'If there's anything we can do to lessen the pain of those who hate the company, please inform them to contact us. But we will not refund any money as the monies have gone back into building better products and services and running of the site.' Virtual Map MD Firdhaus Akber This is a strange declaration. Can Virtual Map still keep the money if they were awarded to them wrongfully? It is as good as money wrongly credited into someone's account and the recipient spent it and refused to return. Can those who were victims of Virtual Map claim back their money, legally, under the rule of law?

Bad hustlings in a democracy

Anyone reading what is happening in Malaysia will be full of praise of the democratic process and freedom of expression. Mahathir is openly accusing Abdullah, the PM, of nurturing corruption and cronyism. In return abdullah is saying that Mahathir is a hypocrite, that he was the one who imprisoned critcs without trial and curtailing press freedom during his rule. 'These were all his orders from time to time,' said Abdullah. I wonder what will happen if such statements were made in our rule of law country? Both of them will be suing each other to bankruptcy. This airing of dirty linen in the open is bad, bad for the individuals and bad for the party, and bad for democracy and freedom of expression. We should not have such things in our clean and faultless country. We need to spend our energy in development and making more money instead of squabbling big time. Thank god we are spared from such vibes and we can maintain a certain level of respectability and decorum.

Poor planning led to shortage of lawyers

The decision was made some 20 years ago to cut down on the number of lawyers through smaller student intakes. 'The decision to aribitrarily turn off the tap was grounded in some sound reasons, such as the desire to maintain the quality of the profession.' So said Conrad Raj. Can a decision be arbitrary and at the same time based on sound reasons? Arbitrary means arbitrary, boh lee yew. With sound reasons, must be well thought out. Whatever, the consequence is what we are facing, a shortage of lawyers, and indirectly a high legal fee, as shortage means high demand which means can command more pay. We are also facing a severe shortage of doctors and hospital beds. The latter we have talked about earlier and we know why. Well thought out reasons with intention to maintain a shortage. The lack of doctors could also be an arbitrary decision with sound reasons. It cannot be a case of poor planning. Planning is our forte. We are excellent planners and we are proactive, able to look into the future and anticipate problems. I think we should not be presumptious to deride our super talents for poor planning and lack of foresight. The problems we are facing are likely the result of good decisions that are coming back to haunt us. The decisions were good then, but bad now.

Myth 177

For the next 18 years or so, no one in their 40s and above today is good enough to be the PM of Singapore. Maybe this is not a myth but a newfound tooth. This sad state of affair is best reflected in PN Balji's article when he expressed fear in case of an emergency and no one is good enough to take over from the current PM. The next PM of Singapore will be found among those in the 30s today. So all the above 40s are has beens. Please do not feel slighted. It is the tooth. The other tooth is that Singaporeans may not even be the next PM. The best could be a quitter, a quitter from paradise or from any other country. Now this is more likely the truth. It only confirms our lack of locally born talents.

The ever changing wisdom

Singaporeans are perhaps the most adaptable and flexible people in the world. They are easily taught to change, even their mindset. In the 50s and 60s, they would all be looking forward to retirement at 55, to look after grandchildren or drinking kopi in the kopitiams. Today, this kind of mindset has changed. The new wisdom is to work till you drop dead. This model is built on a new reality, on independence, self worth and pride, and being useful to society. And also not being a burden to family and society. Not that the high cost of living has made life unsustainable if they have not money. The old wisdom was built on family as the building blocks of a country, filial piety, looking after parents and letting him have a rest, after years of toiling to bring up the children. It is time to live on the fruits of labour, to harvest, and enjoy the children and grandchildren. And the children feel proud to be able to provide for their parents aplenty. Dr Anne Chong Su Yan wrote a letter to the Sunday Times and this is the first paragraph. 'Recently, I was at a toilet in a shopping centre when I noticed an elderly woman with a bent and crooked back trying to clean the floor while fashionable young women applied their lipsticks and checked their hairdos in the mirror.' Good for her. She finally found out that in paradise there are such old people working in the toilets. It is better late than never. It would be shocking if one day she realised that there are poor people in paradise. The gist of her letter expressed her shock that old people were working in toilets instead of sleeping under the coconut trees on a beach chair watching the sunset. But have no pity on these old folks. They are living the new wisdom. Pride, independence, and work till they drop dead. Some ass holes may brutally tell the truth, that they deserved to be in that state because they were irresponsible and squandered their youth away. Having old people working in toilets and living an independent lifestyle is a lifestyle of choice. It is the pride of our nation. We have succeeded.

Story of an ex CEO in an MNC

The CEO was replaced by a younger man, full of ideas and idealism, full of energy and vibrancy. The new CEO let the ex CEO sit in an equally big office next to his. All his other perks remained the same, including his private car park and driver, and his pay. And so was his private secretary which they both shared. The only exception is that all the duties and responsibilities were taken over by the new man. And for the lack of something to do, the ex CEO was assigned to look after the welfare of the old and loyal employees. And he was given the freedom to design his own job specifications. His request to visit other countries for 6 months on a study tour was quickly approved. The ex CEO was happy, that he was well treated and still walked around like a CEO. He was invited to all the official functions, like a CEO. After a year, he quit. He thought he was having a good time until one day, in his blurry and self deluded state of mind, he realised that he was being overpaid for doing exactly nothing. He quit out of shame and out of guilt. He even returned all the money he received from his company for the year he was there, for doing nothing. At least he valued his decency and for quitting, claimed back a little self respect and honour for himself.

Stop depending on Western Media

This is what George Yeo said. He also said, 'For too long, we have depended too much on the Western media for news about each other's regions.' And for too long we have allowed Western media to form views about us, what is acceptable to them and what is not, who is good and who is bad, according to their interest and agenda. The foolish Asians are starting to wake up and starting to think that they do not need the approval of the West on what they think is acceptable or not. Only now they are calling for a different world view in Asian eyes and in Asian interest. Singapore will host an Asia Middle East Dialogue to work towards the liberation of the Asian mind. Suddenly someone realised that they have a mind that can think, and that we are still colonised in our way of thinking and in the news we read. Only now that we realised that our views and opinions were formulated by the West. Pathetic. In the first place all Asian media should do a soul searching and kick out the asses that allowed misinformation and distortion of information by Western media to appear in their prints and news. This kind of unthinking and shallow behavior cannot be allowed to continue, unless the country is still a colony and the press is controlled by the West.. We demand a high standard of reporting on our own internal affairs by foreigners, or at least insist on a right of reply. We are we printing distorted and mischievious articles about Asian countries freely as a right, as a freedom of expression, press freedom? For so doing, we are equally guilty to the misinformation and mischiefs created and the distorting of the minds of the readers. Lets first start at home and impose a high standard of reporting and not blindly printing misinformation or totally biased views in our media. And if there is a reason to do so, include a qualification or a fair and objective article to prevent the tooth from becoming the truth.

So disgusting

With prices shooting to the sky everywhere, and the profiteers quietly congratulating themselves of their bank accounts that are getting fatter by the day, the message is that nothing can be done. Or some will say it will be worst if we tamper with the market forces. Fuck it. We have been tampering with the market forces all the while to let the market run out of control. I have been screaming my lungs out for so long, that we need to control the wild escalating of prices to all the wise men in vain. I set up this column for exactly the same purpose. I would agree that not all prices can be controlled and brought down to whatever level we want. But many can because we are the main cause of the hike. GST for one, govt own factories, offices and shops and land prices are all within our control. Not controlled by the international market forces as often parrotted. Exorbitant salary hikes to chase after inflation but give the false impression of wellbeing is a deadly potion. You don't need a genius or straight A's student to bring down some costs, selectively. You don't need to study another 5 years to come out with a good justification or plan to bring down prices. The talks and thoughts that prices must be allowed to run, up and up, are rubbish and irresponsible. It is only good for people who can write their own paychecks.

The Business of Dying

The lawyers are in a business to fight for justice and honour. In layman's term it is actually a business of threat. The rich and powerful pay to threaten people. The threatened pay because they were threatened. The undertakers are in the business of filial piety. People pay generously for the last rites, a show of filial piety to their parents and loved ones. What business are the doctors in? They are in a noble business to save lives. Or in layman's interpretation, the fear of death, or business of dying. In this business, there is not only the element of fear, there is also the element of filial piety, and also some elements of threat. What a powerful combination. How on earth would people be willingly pay the hospital bills without question? How on earth would people admit their love ones into hospitals without checking the price first? How on earth could hospitals charge patients $10k/$15k or more a day just to find out what is the cause of the illness and get away with it? And the best part of it is that the patient still dies. I am still very troubled by the $70k hospital bill for 4 days. The family had to pay $70k for the patient to die in a hospital. That is not a cheap way to die. It is not a good way to spend $70k in 4 days. I would very much like to know the breakdown of the bill to see how a hospital justifies this kind of bills. Let me make a guesstimate. A class ward charges at $500 a day. Food at $100 a day. Nurses attendance at $500 a day. Medicine at $500 a day. There must be such medicine available. Specialists attendance at $2000 a day. Too much or reasonable? Use of top of the line equipment at $1000 a day. Now how much will all these adds up to? $4,600. Add 7% GST, round it to $400. This will come to $5k a day. The rest must be miscellaneous I supposed. It is driving me bonkers.

I love my Nescafe

What's wrong with Singaporeans? Why are they falling all over because of a few unreasonable price increases and profiteering? Why would they pay $1.30 for Ah Koon's kopi, or $5 for CoffeeBean or at Starbucks? I am living happily every morning with my Nescape. Shit, the great escape is getting into me and I can't even spell Nescafe without mixing the two in one. At slightly more than 10c a pack, the 3 in 1 Nescafe is good enough for me. And if I am feeling a little generous, I can go to Hong Lim or Amoy Hawker Centre for a cuppa of kopi at 60c. And they really taste better than all the $1.30 kopi or $5 cuppa at the aircon cafes. At 10c a pack, even if the price skyrocketted by 50%, it is only 15c a pack. Very affordable, really. And if this is still too much, go for NTUC housebrand. Or at worst, downgrade to Seng Shiong housebrand if time is that tough. Other than instant mee, 3 in 1 is a great blessing.

WYSIWYG

It's been nearly one and a half month and the search is still on. Mind you, the search is really serious. Armies of soldiers and policemen scouring every little nook and corner for the most wily prisoner on the run. This man is reputed to have an IQ of 200. Beats any scholar that we have. He can outwit every nitwit in paradise. Now he is commanding a respect that no one ever had. Some kind of a genius in the league of Einstein. And every stone will not be left unturned until he is found. Heard that they are planning to dig up the graves to look at the coffins, in case that's where he is hiding. The last time they were checking golf bags and thermos flasks. By now the world must be convinced that this man had escaped our equivalent of Alcatraz. And we are doing everything we could, with the best technology, and every man we got. No effort shall be spared till he is caught and kept safely in Mount Pleasant again. Frankly, I don't believe a bit about the whole story. Just my professional assessment. Escape from Alcatraz is impossible.

Foreign Talent as PM

Are Singaporeans ready to accept our political leaders who are Singaporeans but also hold foreign passports? Are we able to accept our future PM to be a “foreign talent”? Lam Pin Min | I would like to know what is MP Lam Pin Min's view? He posted the questions on the p65 site. The people will be more interested to know where he stands on such an issue and also where the other MPs' stand on this. Would he agree and would the govt agree if the people say it is ok to have a foreign talent as our MP? In fact many voices have expressed why not? Why not pay a cheaper foreign talent to do the job at probably 10% of the pay?

SGH got subsidies

I copy this from a post by TracyTan in Sammyboy. Medical costs in govt hospitals are exorbitant. When my friend had to do an X-ray of her spine, she was told by SGH that the cost was $900+. When she did it at a nearby private medical facility, she was only charged $500+. When is SGH charging so much more than a private medical facility? Tracy was complaining about the high cost in govt restructured hospitals and wanted Boon Wan to cut down the cost. Actually from the above comment she could be wrong. She forgot that SGH got subsidies and depending on the type of wards, the final cost could be lower. For those without subsidies, just too bad lah. Singaporeans are so lucky but did not know.

Our rice bowl is safe

Good news, we have sourced far and wide to get the cheapest rice. And our stockpile will ensure that we will have all the rice that we need. No need to panic buy. But make sure your pocket got money. The price hike is inevitable. It is an international phenomenon and beyond our control.

Medishield will pay out more

Good news, the people will pay less for their hospital bills. Instead of paying 50%, they will now pay 20% of the total bill. Hospital fees are getting more affordable. In a way, medical cost to the people has been lowered. Bad news, your premium will have to go up. Good news again. The amount of increase is very affordable. Between $5 to $40 per month. This is a heaven made solution.

China has wide network of spies to steal secrets, says US

This is the heading of a Washington Post article in a local msm. What this report is saying is that this is news, and bad news, that a country like China is involved in such a big enterprise of spying on other nations. What the msm did not say is that the US, UK and all foreign countries were doing this same dirty work for centuries and more wide spread and comprehensive than the Chinese. Prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the Japanese had established a whole community of spies in Hawaii and America. What is so new about such news? Oh, it is to parrot an American propaganda, that China is a bad boy. The Americans were sooooo innocent. I bet you, the Americans do not engage in espionage. And that is the tooth. That is why I say Asian media is part of the Western conspiracy to run down Asian countries. They happily published whatever the Americans want them to publish. This is the heading of a Washington Post article in a local msm. What this report is saying is that this is news, and bad news, that a country like China is involved in such a big enterprise of spying on other nations. What the msm did not say is that the US, UK and all foreign countries were doing this same dirty work for centuries and more wide spread and comprehensive than the Chinese. Prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the Japanese had established a whole community of spies in Hawaii and America. What is so new about such news? Oh, it is to parrot an American propaganda, that China is a bad boy. The Americans were sooooo innocent. I bet you, the Americans do not engage in espionage. And that is the tooth. That is why I say Asian media is part of the Western conspiracy to run down Asian countries, inadvertently I think. They happily published whatever the Americans want them to publish.

Today's Great Beliefs

There are many great beliefs today that look so good. These include all the highs, high salaries, high rentals, high property prices, high cost of livings, high medical fees, high tuition fees, high population, high foreign influx, high savings, etc etc. No wise man will utter a word of caution against these great beliefs. One day, all these great beliefs will come back and haunt us and even destroy us. And all the chorus singers will sing, 'I told you so.' But for the time being everyone is feeling very high.

This guy damn anti establishment

He posted a comment in Andrew Loh's TOC kpkb at Singapore's best Health Minister, Boon Wan, for the tight availability of hospital beds. Would you guy agree with him? If you do, you are not only anti establishment, but also go against the judgement of Chok Tong. 'Boh tua boh suay.'Here is a paragraph of his post. "There is also the Ultimate Stupidity of LIE KY LHL PAP. KHAW Boon Wan said it himself recently, when he regurgitated LIE KY longtime stricture that ‘hospitals should always UNDER PROVIDE rather than over provide so resources can always be most efficiently used at maximum capacity’. Ha, ha, ha! You can do this to say, hotel rooms, where if there is a shortage, the tourist simply holidays elsewhere or room rates skyrocket to reduce demand. But hospital beds? Ha, ha, ha! Thus, the stupid, unthinking adoption of obvious ‘efficient policies’ to healthcare is actually killing some of our people and creating much more [unnecessary] suffering, my sympathies to Esther and thanks to Andrew LOH for highlighting this problem for us to discuss." - Robert Ho.

Secrets to Singapore's success

2% increase in GST I must revisit this issue as a secret to Singapore's success. The people really believe that the 2% increase in GST, from 5% to 7%, is to help the poor. And I also believe this is true. Never mind the rising cost of everything. Help is on the way.

Be there for the common man.

New Law Society head wants lawyers to help S'poreans know their rights Michael Hwang, the new Law Society Head wants to help Singaporeans to know their rights as a citizen. He said when a civil servant tells a citizen that he has no right to certain things, ask him if he is acting within the law. He also lamented that even lawyers must know what these rights are and not to accept every direction or decision that comes with a govt letter head. This part is a bit strange. If the learned lawyers are not too sure of what are the rights of the citizens, how to expect citizens to know their rights? Would Michael Hwang want to answer whether all the compulsory retention and designations of CPF money towards compulsory insurance schemes violate the rights of a citizen to ownership of his own properties? Be there for the common man.

Planning and predictability

These two elements are core to the success of Singapore. Everything is planned, very well planned indeed, and very predictable. And now they are planning and scouting for the next PM-to-be in 18 years time. And the net is cast wide to quitters overseas. The strange thing is that why aren't the opposition parties also plan and scout around for their PM in waiting? Have they already conceded that for the next 18 years the PAP will remain in power and will fill the PM post with its own candidate? Well, I think the PAP is right. And so are the opposition parties. In 18 years time, the PM will still come from the PAP stable.

Man with a Mission

Lee Myung Bak took time off to go directly to a police station to rebuke the policemen all because they reacted too casually to a molest case against a 10 year old girl. Wonder how he could find time for such triviality. What if he were our President and was here a month ago? He would probably flew into a rage. This self made man is a man with a mission. History once in a while will throw up a man like this. I called him a silly man. Matilah called him a selfish man, for throwing away his wealth to the poor. Fortunately or unfortunately we don't have this kind of silly and selfish man in paradise. What we have are intelligent and compassionate men that made a lot of self sacrifices to serve the people and nation.

28 hr wait for hospital bed

TOC Feature: 28-hour wait for a bed at the Singapore General Hospital Posted by theonlinecitizen on April 2, 2008 The above article was posted by Andrew Loh in TOC. It talked about a patient that only got to a bed of her choice after 28 hr wait. It also mentioned that a bed was offer to her in B2 ward earlier instead of B2 Plus ward but she rejected the offer. In my view, the criticism for the long wait was unfair. First she was sick and should grab whatever bed that was offered to her if she needed a bed badly. But she had an affluent sickness of being uncomfortable in a warm room and needed to be in an aircon room. So she rather wait for the comfort of an aircon room and to endure the discomfort of being in the waiting area. A personal choice. The other point raised is the lack of beds. But this is not a real problem. It is a conscious decision to build lesser hospitals (which also means lesser beds) so that the facilities will not be under utilised. It is a judgement call. You can agree or disagree with the judgement or value behind the judgement. The lack of bed need not be a problem. If the thinking is right, or the value is right, lack of bed will not be an issue.

Umno dismantling a farcical regime

UMNO has awaken from its slumber, like Rip Van Winkle. What happens? Everything was fine, so fine. Now everything looks so farcical, so ridiculous. All the values of goodness, right policies, right things to do, to say, are now wrong. Yes, UMNO is going to dismantle everything associated with the Mahathir regime. Even Mahathir agrees. All his choices for PM were wrong. All his good men in UMNO were unfit to be there. Mahathir is calling for UMNO members to speak out, speak out, speak out. When he was in power, it was Daim, Daim, Daim. Did I get my spelling right? Diam, Diam, Diam. Unbelieveable, the people within UMNO who once sang all the songs of praise are now the non believers. Would it be the case in paradise? Would the believeables also turn to become non believers and denounce everything as heresies?

Talk on Generosity in Public Service

Mahbubani should invite Lee Myung Bak to the LKY School of Public Policies to talk on Generosity in Public Service and the Meaning of Public Service. Paradise has long discarded and forgotten that there are some human values that are good through times. Things like generosity, compassion, kindness and helping the poor. These are values to live be and not just to speak for show. And Lee Myung Bak is the man to talk on such basic human goodness. No one can accuse him of hypocrisy, of saying one thing and doing another. Lee Myung Bak will bring enlightenment to Paradise, to those that have been blinded by greed. But he has a tough job convincing those who have crossed over to the dark side that there is still light on the good side. Of course many will sneer at him and call him foolish. But to be pragmatic, he should not push it too far by asking people to follow his example. Just pass the message that greed is good. This will bring cheers from his audience. All he needs to is to conclude by saying, 'Too greedy is bad.'

UBS is looking like a rotten deal

The UBS deal is not looking too healthy at this point in time. Hopefully our investment has provided for the latest can of worms. If we are just extending a loan, collecting dividend and can get our money back if we elect not to convert to shares, then we are ok. What is evident now is that putting money in ailing banks or organisations is not enough. We need to put our people in charge. With the resignation of Marcel Ospel, it would be good if we can put our top talents in to restructure the bank and save it before it goes to the pawnshop.

Mahathir insulting Malays

He said, 'The West will exploit Malays if Anwar become PM.' He still believes that the Malays are incorrigibly dumb and can be easily exploited by the Malays, including Anwar. Only Mahathir can protect the Malays and take on the West. How many of you believe Anwar is dumb and Mahathir is right?

Mr Lee donates his entire salary to underprivilege people

In year 2002 to 2006, Mr Lee donated all his salary to the children of cleaners and firefighters. Now he has promised to donate his entire 5 year salary to the underprivileged people. He also pledged to donate the bulk of his personal wealth to the underprivileged except for a retirement home. The newly elected South Korean President Lee Myung Bak told the reporters on Sunday. This is a tough act to follow. But who would want to follow such an act? No right thinking man would want to do such a foolish thing. I admire this foolish guy greatly. And I believe the South Koreans will have a lot of respect to such a selfless man. PS: Not sure if the South Korean President is entitled to a lifelong pension on retirement.

I fear Anwar

If there is any Malaysian PM that can take Malaysia out of the cesspool into a modern industrialised country, competing in the international market on equal terms, it must be Anwar. He has been baptised in the cauldron of fire, and is now solid steel. He is progressive and the only one at the moment that can unite the Malaysians under a new ethos. The Malaysians are not much different from us. And if they can get their acts together, follow a similar formula as us, pragmatism, new technology, meritocracy, they are going to compete with us in every field. And they have the advantage of cheaper cost, abundant land and resources, they will catch up very fast. We are only one generation ahead in education. This can be short circuited if the political environment is changed and the Malaysians in our midst find it acceptable to return home. Then we will be facing a Malaysia that is more like us. And our dreams of ever increasing salary can go poof poof into smoke.

Then so right, now so wrong

UMNO is starting to tear down the legacies of Mahathir. His rulings on how the number position in UMNO should or should not be contested, and the requirement of 30% division nomination before one can contest are now under attack. Some party stalwarts have openly said they disagreed then but kena bulldozed by Mahathir. They want the party President position to be open for everyone to contest. Got to tow the line, you know. Would such things happen to us? Would some of the policies that are so right today be so wrong tomorrow? The first one that came to my mind is the rulings for an elected President and the stringent conditions needed. The conditions have excluded many people from eligibility and the position is now restricted to a small elite group of people. What happens to equal opportunities and all men are equal in a democracy? Why are some more equal than others? What other policies will also fall in times to come and MPs or Ministers standing up to say 'I also disagree then but got no choice.'

How much will it cost?

An unhappy patient wrote to Today complaining about surcharge on a Good Friday. He had to pay $9 more to a GP. The article also said that some charge as much as $30 during a holiday. It is at the discretion of the clinics. What the letter writer was asking is that shouldn't the patient be told of the charges in advance, a case of transparency. In the $70k case I posted earlier, I am not sure if the patient and his family were given an estimate of how much it will cost prior to admission. I am wondering if they would admit him if the estimate is so high or may even admit him to other hospitals. $70k is no mean sum and not everyone can afford to pay even with whatever shield and insurance. It must be made compulsory for all hospitals to give an estimate of the cost and if more are expected, to let the patient know in advance. It cannot be a case of being admitted and be at the mercy of the hospital to have full discretion to do whatever it wants and charges whatever it likes. The patient has a right to know before hand how it will hurt his pocket and decide to go ahead with it.

Cheaters and infidelity

Thomas Koshy continued the discussion on politicians who cheated. His main argument is that are we asking too much from politicians by expecting them to be pristinely clean and moral. In his article in Today, he believes that politicians are just like everyone else and have some personal flaws. He said, 'And let us not be so naive as to assume that no Singapore politician has engaged in illicit liaisons. Certainly, rumours of illicit liaisons involving politicians are not unheard of. The fact that they have not become tabloid fodder is probably more a reflection of press priorities than anything else.' Koshy went on to ask whether we should allow such indiscretion to go by and not to raise it as a smear against the politician. Now this is a moral and ethical issue and depending on one's own moral compass, many will object to it vehemently. So will the hypocrites. How can politicians be dishonest and indulged in cheating their spouses? There will be no end to it and either we live in our own make belief world that all is goodness or don't even think about it and let live. Perhaps it is better to accept the flaws of man and not to harp or nitpick at one another on every little indiscretion. Go and ransack somebody's cupboard and say, hey, there are so many skeletons and splash them across the media front page. Political assassination used to be a game played by those in power and in control of the msm. Today, the same dirty linens can be hanged and dried in cyberspace. A more even playing field maybe. Will people be more discrete in their indiscretion or in divulging people's well kept secrets?

What if Singapore?

P N Balji threw up two issues for discussion in the Today paper. He touched on the succession of Hsien Loong after he retires. He also lamented, in fact worried, that there will be no substitute PM in case if we need one today. In his first point, he said that Hsien Loong would probably find a replacement in about 18 years. And assuming the next PM should be about 50 years then, he is likely to be someone in the early thirties. Anyone past 40 today will be too old to fill the shoe. Scouring around the MPs today, looks like Teo Ser Luck is the only possible successor. The other few that are eligible will come from the few young ladies. A replacement for Hsien Loong in 18 years time should not be too big a problem given that more youngsters can be recruited in the next GE. What is perplexing and confusing is Balji's fear that in an emergency at any moment there would not be anyone to front the cabinet. Why? Kan Seng is still around. So is Jayakumar. Both are DPM caliber and cannot be written off as unfit to be an emergency PM. Then there is Eng Hen, the one touted as LKY's lookalike. He should be a good substitute to take over. And don't forget, if there is really an emergency now, LKY and Chok Tong are always available either to fill in temporarily or to mentor the new PM. Where is the problem? It is like setting up a red herring when there is no issue at all.