They got The Messiah!

This piece of police work is simply amazing and only deserves to be commended. James Raj was charged in court this morning as The Messiah that hacked into the several high profile sites recently, including those of City Harvest and Sun Ho’s site. Details of the court proceeding are available at the TRE. I just quoted some parts here for your info.
 
‘Mr Raj is accused of committing the offence in Malaysia from the Dorchester Apartments at Jalan Sri Hartamas in Kuala Lumpur on 28 October 2013 at about 1.35pm. He was tracked down with the help of Malaysian police.
 
He is said to have accessed the content management system of AMKTC and modified the contents by adding the image of a Guy Fawkes mask to the website (‘AMK Town Council falls victim to ‘The Messiah’‘)…
 
“I have been to various sites and seen how they take the initiative to secure their systems. You have a brain & you have money. You had a choice. Don’t blame external factors (Anonymous) for this hack. The Messiah ”….
 
Mr Raj is alleged to have also hacked the websites of The Straits Times, PAP Community Foundation and City Harvest Church’s co-founder and singer Sun Ho. 

James may face further charges later after the police have completed their investigations.
Separately, the police have in custody 5 other suspects who are assisting in investigations into the recent hacking of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Istana websites. It is understood that the 3 suspects involved in the hacking of the PMO website are family members, while the other 2 in the Istana case are Facebook friends. The men are aged 17 to 45 years.’
 
It looks like the Police with the cooperation of the Malaysian counterparts have the whole gang in the net. Just wondering if the ST Online that was down for maintenance was hacked this morning. If so, then some must still be out there. If not, then the IT crews on 24 hours duty could take a break and stand down.
 
A flash in the pan?

ST online down on maintenance

The bad news, there is a hacker out there threatening to hack govt websites. The good news, the GDP will be up by a little notch with so many websites now on maintenance after maintenance. The maintenance cost to upgrade, to harden the sites, to buy better software and hardware, to put teams of IT technicians on duty round the clock for at least until the threat is over, will generate a lot of economic activities. And there is also a lot of people running around ghost chasing hoping to catch the ghost with a name, The Messiah, all cost money.
 
Just heard that the ST online is also down on maintenance. There must be at least 50 or more systems down on maintenance or already up running. All these works were generated by a mask appearing on the internet. So far only ST online, the PMO office and the Istana have acknowledged their sites being defaced with intruders planting a smiling image of a mask man while the one at the Istana was that of a naughty old woman.
 
If only some of these sites were hacked you can imagine the amount of work and cost needed to take care of the sites, to get all the data back to normal, to correct all the data corrupted or lost, and to get the system up running. All of a sudden there is this heightened activity and business opportunities for so many people.
 
There is a new kind of buzz in the economy. Hope the buzz will be limited to just maintenance and nothing more. Or would someone be quietly smiling that the bonus will be bigger and hoping that more hacking would take place?

Aung San Suu Kyi calling Myanmese to return home

When this lady was here, she called on her fellow citizens to return home to build their beloved country. She also needs their support to vote her party to power to make the changes that are good for Myanmar.
 
I also have the same idea, calling all overseas Sinkies to return home to rebuild this country. The country needs them. So many have left while those who want change are becoming a minority here and would soon be integrated by the new citizens and become a new creature. How many Sinkies are out there all over the world, left because they did not like what they saw happening here. If only they were back, the numbers wanting change would easily tip the balance. There seems to be a quiet process to induce those not happy here to move out to weaken the resistance.
 
This call for Sinkies to return is a call in vain. How many could afford to return only to downgrade their lifestyles? No more big landed properties with swimming pools and two car porches. No more two big continental cars. Even after they disposed off their landed properties and cars to return, all they can hope for or afford would be a HDB flat and no cars. Worth it, better quality lifestyle?
 
Who would want to return? Who can afford to return? Oh, the govt is also calling for the young scientists and highly qualified young Sinkies to return home. Can they afford it? Or would they want to come home to a life in a HDB flat and without cars even if the govt promises them the best public transport in the whole world?
 
Sinkies out there, is it worth to return home, to this first class and first world city? The country needs you, the daft Sinkies need you. We have lost so many of you to make a difference here.

Freedom of choice versus rights of choice

The hijab issue is still hot and will not rest for a long time to come. Our constitution has guaranteed everyone, including those other than the four recognized racial groups, the freedom to practice their religion and culture and way of life. I can’t call them the four major racial groups anymore as there are new groupings that are much larger than some of the four recognized groups.
 
Everyone is free to choose his way of life. Then why should the hijab becomes an issue and the Malays feel oppressed, that their rights to freedom to wear the hijab violated? The anger is real, justified or unjustified is a very subjective thing depending on the basis of one’s interpretation. No one or organization is allowed to ban the wearing of hijab or any other religious ornaments on religious or racial ground. Is this simple enough to understand?
 
Maybe I will use the example of communal living to explain this situation. In any block of flats or condominium, there are various races living there, including foreigners. Everyone is free to practice his religion and way of life, wear whatever he fancies as long as it is not vulgar and offensive. No problem right? Anyone feeling oppressed that he cannot practice his religion or way of life? Anyone objecting to the wearing of the hijab? The answer is simply a big NO.
 
Problem may arise within the four walls of a family unit. What a family practices and does may not be agreeable or acceptable to other families. Keeping of animals, eating of meat and even dressing can be an issue. But as long as they keep it within their four walls, everything is fine. Everyone has the freedom to choose to enter the home of another family or avoid doing so. There is freedom of choice. If I don’t accept or agree to what another family is doing, I can stay away. I can even avoid communicating or be friendly with the family. It is my freedom of choice as long as I do not provoke and find faults with them or intrude into their lives. You live your life I live mine. At this point, still peace under the sky.
 
No one can impose his lifestyle or religion onto their neighbours. No one can tell the neighbour what not to do or not to eat or how to dress. No one can enter the homes of the neighbours without his permission. If one chooses to enter the neighbour’s home, one has to accept whatever he is or there is. You cannot enter your neighbour’s home and tell him not to do this or that or dress whatever you like. This is basic etiquette and good manners. It is your choice. You are the intruder into his private space.
 
The other way round, if a family wants to invite another family into his homes and knowing the taboos of that family, it is not only proper but also polite and good upbringing to make sure that the invited family is comfortable without having anything offensive to them in their presence. It will be very rude and distasteful to invite someone who does not eat meat into your home and offer him meat and nothing else. The family that invites has a duty and responsibility to make sure his guests are comfortable. If he cannot meet that requirement, he should not invite the guest. Fair enough?
 
Such simple ground rules can make communal living among different races and religions peaceful, not necessary harmonious, but acceptable. The problem comes when an uninvited guest insists to enter another home and insists that the owner provides all the things that the uninvited guest feels comfortable. As an example, the uninvited guest may be a vegan and insists that the host must serve only vegetables. Is this fair? In the first place the vegan is not an invited guest. He has no reason to be there. Even if the vegan finds that home more comfortable and wanted to be there, he is not invited and cannot be there. If the host is willing to welcome him, it must be under the terms of the host.
 
Who is being rude and imposing? Who’s right is being violated? Who should feel oppressed? Who should be complaining?
 
Though the constitution provides everyone the right and freedom to religion and way of life, it does not allow anyone to impose his religion and way of life on others. In the same way, no organization is allowed to set rules and regulations on religious grounds, especially govt institutions, except religious organizations that are strictly for their own followers. As a secular state, all institutions have the right to set their own rules and regulations even on proper dressing and uniforms. Just because the uniform is not agreeable to anyone does not give the person the right to demand a change to accommodate the person on religious and cultural grounds. No racial or religious group has the right to demand that a secular organization must accept their religious norms and practices.
 
The uniforms of uniformed organizations are designed without any intent to violate any religion or race. They are neutral in that sense. And the uniforms are necessary for a simple reason, uniformity. A uniformed organizations demands uniformity, conformity and discipline. No exceptions unless it violates safety and a threat to life.
 
To demand an organization to change to suit an individual, race or religion is a violation of the freedom and rights of the organization. The organization is also protected under the constitution to have freedom of choice as an individual. The uniformed organization is not violating anyone’s right to his freedom of choice and religion by insisting that its members should wear uniform.
 
Just a distraction, the cross hovering on top of a hospital has a religious origin. Can any religious group feel offended and want it to be removed? Technically everyone in the hospital is working under the cross. Everyone should remember that you are free to exercise your rights to practice your religion and way of life as long as you do not impose on other people’s rights to their way of life and not on a secular organisation’s right and freedom of choice.
 
Who is reasonable and who is being unreasonable? I am very reasonable. I am a vegetarian and anyone inviting me to his party must make sure that no meat is around or is being served. It is offensive to my sight and emotion. I am a non smoker and when I am invited, I do not want anyone around me to smoke, not even in the same room. I am very reasonable. Do you feel oppressed by me?

2 persons connected with the recent hacking arrested

It is reported in TRE that two persons have been arrested in connection with the hacking by The Messiah. A James Raj and a Faizal Mohd are now in police custody and both  are seeking M Ravi, the famous human rights lawyer to represent them.

James Raj was found to have in his possession devices used for hacking and will be charged under the Computer Misuse Act. Faizal Mohd was arrested for spray painting the word Anonymous in a school. The latter is less likely to be linked to the Messiah given the nature of his act. And it is unsure how is James Raj related to The Messiah or connected at all.

If James Raj is The Messiah or part of Collective Anonymous, then it would be a rare achievement for our men in blue. It is record time in tracking down the hackers that the Americans could not even get near to or smell them.

We are likely to read more about James Raj's story after he is charged in court tomorrow.

May 13, Racial Riot in KL was created by ultra extremists in UMNO to get rid of Tungku Abdul Rahman

Subject: May 13 - 69

Gerakan Stalwart (Dr. Goh Cheng Teik) Backs Hadi's May 13 Stand

The truth about May 13 by Dr. Goh Cheng Teik

Now Malaysians know the truth about the May 13th 1969 incident. It was not a race based issue but rather an UMNO internal plot to ouster the Tunku by a group of UMNO leaders led by Dr Mahathir as alleged by Dato' Tamrin Ghaffar at a political ceramah in Johor on 29/4/2013.

This sly and slimy Mahathir together with a few UMNO leaders including Dato' Harun Idris wanted the Tunku to resign and allow Tun Razak to take-over. So they used the poor election performance of the Alliance party in 1969 to start the planned incident. They did not realise that the small incident on 13th May 1969 could blow up into such proportions.These are evil people with evil intentions. Subsequent to this, Tun Razak was installed as the new PM and later Mahathir was appointed as the Minister of Education.

However, to cover up and deflect the whole affair, UMNO blamed the incident on the Chinese and in particular the DAP for initiating the racial riots. This plot was used to unite the Malays under UMNO and was hatched by none other than Dr. Mahathir. Dato' Tamrin Ghaffar was very specific on this.

With the historians like Dr Goh Cheng Teik who was also a former Deputy Minister in BN  now coming out to corroborate what Dato' Tamrin said and the revelation by the Tunku in the Star column " As I see it " clearly points to the fact that the May 13 incident was a plot hatched to remove the Tunku from office.

A Gerakan veteran emerged today to back PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, who accused Umno of masterminding the May 13 racial riots in1969. Hadi told a political rally in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, on Monday that the bloody racial riots 44 years ago were orchestrated by Umno to cling on to power.

"May 13 was not an ethnic phenomenon. It was a political occurrence," former Gerakan leader Goh Cheng Teik told Malaysiakini.  "Only those who were members of Umno or associated with it were involved. PAS members had nothing to do with May 13."Goh, 70, who served as a deputy minister and a Penang executive councillor 25 years, had done extensive research on the riots when he was a lecturer at Universiti Malaya and published a book, ‘The May Thirteenth Incident and Democracy in Malaysia', in 1971.  He joined politics three years later and was appointed parliamentary secretary to then prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein.

According to Goh, the riots in Kuala Lumpur started even before the counter-procession was held by Umno in response to opposition victory marches in the wake of the unprecedented gains by PAS, DAP and Gerakan in the 1969 general election. "Members, supporters and well-wishers of a ruling party that prides itself in upholding the rule of law rioted before the start of a ‘victory' procession in front of the official residence of the Selangor state chief minister," he said. ( NB. The MB of Selangor then was Dato' Harun Idris whose official residence was at
Princess Road )

A day of shame and sorrow

Goh still believes there was no need for the nationwide declaration of the State of Emergency as the violence was localised, much like the recent militant incursion into Lahad Datu in Sabah, and argued that the riots were mostly politically-driven. "That is why the disturbances were not national in character, according to (then prime minister) Tunku Abdul Rahman, but virtually confined to Kuala Lumpur. "No serious breach of the peace or act of violence took place in any
other part of Peninsular Malaysia on or after May 13." The declaration of Emergency paved the way for the suspension of Parliament.

Goh, who holds the distinction of being Malaysia's first Harvard scholar, is currently an adjunct professor with Sunway University. Asked why he was speaking out on the issue now, he said young people today should know the truth behind May 13, an issue repeatedly raised in the ongoing campaign for Sunday's general election. "May 13 was not a day of glory for Malaysians. It was a day of shame and sorrow," lamented Goh.

The myth of contra trading

Contra trading is the field where small retail players play and try to make money in a quickie. The truth is far from it. With a daily trading volume of 2b to 5b shares traded, how many of these could be attributed to small retail traders? Given the absence of phone calls and the pittance that remisiers are getting as commission, (some are earning less than a cleaner), contra trading by small retail traders cannot be more than 5% of the daily volume.
 
This leaves 95% of the trades to be accounted for. House traders and day traders could at most contribute to 10 or 20% of the total trade. I would like to clarify that the numbers are ballpark figures, guesstimates. Only the SGX would know the truth. Who contributed to the 65-70% of daily trades? And are these trades contra or long term? My bet is that they are contra trades by the algo traders trading with their computers. And they are trading in and out daily, yes they are big contra traders.
 
The small retail traders hardly contribute much to the daily trading volumes. Killing contra trading would kill the small retail traders for sure, but most of all will also kill those big contra players trading with their machines. High Frequency trading is also contra trading. Without contra trading and a daily value of around $1b in trades, who would have the money to pick up these trades daily if not contra? Maybe the big players have the cash to do so, buying and paying several hundred millions daily for their trades.
 
The most important point raised by Goh Eng Yeow in his article today in the ST is this. ‘It is time the SGX planned for better system rather than spend money on purchasing faster engines. In the information technology trade, there is a saying: if the system is bad, a faster machine will only accentuate this fault.’ Goh Eng Yeow did not elaborate on what is bad in the system and how the system has to be changed to be better. Does he know something but politely refuse to say it out loud?

A Third World Singapore emerging

A Third World Singapore is emerging after so many years of hard work. We worked so hard, day and night, to achieve this dreadful state of being. From the top to the bottom, we fear foreigners, not only of the colonial master type but also from the Third World. And we are begging for more to come and so afraid that they will leave.

They threatened our govt that they would pull out their businesses to other better places. And you could see their faces turning green and the legs went limp. Please don’t go, we need you to help us, we need your businesses.

And the foreigners knew that the Third World native citizens are good for nothing. So they brought in their talents, fathers, mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers to show the daft citizens how good they are. They brought in their friends, fixed up jobs for their friends, the whole villages, from New York to Manila, to replace the daft here.

And when they are unhappy with the daft citizens, you know what they will do. No prize for guessing. And we are so afraid to punish them, fearing that they will go back home, desert us and leave us in the lurch. We will bend our rules and backs to accommodate them.

And when they discriminate against the daft citizens, everyone turn the other way or the other cheek. Dunno leh, no one told me. Our ministers have to beg them to be nice to the daft citizens. Can you beat that? And what happened? They put up more advertisements to recruit more foreigners. What can you do about it, daftees? You need us, the foreign talents, the best from the whole Third World. You are at the bottom of the Third World league when your graduates are only good to be taxi drivers.

These foreign talents are so good that they could anyhow pick a piece of paper, print their names on it, and that would be good enough to be employed in this neo Third World City of no talents. And no one is good enough here to figure out if the certificates are real or forged.

Did this Third World City boast of world class universities? Yes, the universities are world class by virtue of the presence of world class Foreign Talent lecturers and world class foreign students. The locals are the daft admitted to rub off some goodness from the foreign lecturers and foreign students. The world class universities would soon be staffed by foreign talents as the daft local talents would not be good enough and not enough to fill the places. And who is paying for their exorbitant salaries and perks? The daft of course.

As each day passes, the locals get less confident of themselves, more fearful, dare not talk back or fight back, and resigned to third class status, or waiting to emigrate to be second class citizens elsewhere, which is a big improvement than be third class citizens in a Third World City. The presence of ‘talented’ foreigners may also make the locals feel inept, inadequate and useless, can’t find employment and can only hope to be self employed as taxi drivers and hawkers. These must be their life aspirations, and to buy a 3 or 4 rm BTO flats and feel like a millionaire, and take public transport everywhere.

 

Record questions to be asked in Parliament

117 questions will be asked in Parliament on Monday. 31 of these will be asked by opposition MPs and NCMPs. This is 26% of all questions asked by 10% of the MPs. Look at it from another perspective, 90% of the ruling MPs will ask 74% of the questions. Is this material?

Should the people be saying, wow, so many questions asked in Parliament, the MPs are working very hard and making the ministers to work very hard as well? The same kind of question can be asked, we have so many ministers, second ministers, ministers of states, senior and junior, Parliamentary Secretaries and mayors! Whew, how many mayors did we have? Best govt in numbers. Would it be better to have best govt in quality and fewer in numbers?

In number terms, we must be very well run with so many pairs of hands working and so many talents worth their pay in charge. So why have so many questions asked? Either we have too many things that need questioning because things are not right and proper, or there is a competition and a prize for the most questions asked.

We also have so many foreigners here, so they must be contributing a great deal to the economy, or they are taking a great deal from the economy or causing a lot of problems to the country and people.

Is it a case of the more the merrier, more means good, or there is something called quality. A ton of shit would not worth more than a kg of gold surely. Don’t get me wrong, I did not know what they are asking and whether these are serious or very important questions or issues to be raised. I am just saying that numbers do not necessary mean quality stuff, but can be quality stuff. 10 good quality questions can make a lot of difference. I will make an effort to watch the news and read the papers to note the 117 questions to be asked on Monday. I hope every concerned citizen too will be watching too. We know that there are many big issues and some very serious that are affecting the people. Would these be raised in the 117 questions? It would be a big disappointment if none is raised in the barrage of questions tabled.

In case those questions you think are important are not asked, do not be annoyed. Please remember that what is important to you may not be important to them and vice versa. No need to pull your hair or stomp your feet. This is the reality of politics.

Merkel called Obama

 What could the conversation be like when Merkel was so furious over the tapping of her phone by the Americans?

‘My little nigger darling…(giggle)’

‘I like that. I always have this strange sensation and good feeling when you called me that.’

‘Sure you like that? Or you like me to call you something more passionate?’

‘My darling fraulein, I always enjoy our conversation, just between the two of us. Muaark.’

‘Muaark to you too. Now I am supposed to be angry, to yell at you.’

‘Ya I know that, and I like it.’

‘Ok nigger, is your phone tap as well?’

‘Hahahaha, dare the white boys do something like that to me.’

‘Isn’t it the same… that they are tapping mine, and whatever sweet nothing we said would be heard?’

‘Not to worry dear. They will show it to me later and I will tell them, delete, especially the nigger part. Muaark.’

‘You don’t be too sure. That Snowden boy could have a copy.’

‘That is another thing you need not worry about. He is with us. We are planting him in Russia.’

‘Now that’s very cunning of you. No wonder Oliver Stone called you a snake, a black one, very dangerous too.’

‘Oh oh, someone is listening, not one of our boys.’

‘Then must be pommie boys.’

‘Ok let’s cut it off for now. We will arrange for a rendevous again. Or shall I invite you to my ranch?

‘You decide dear. I am yours. Bye nigger boy. Muaark.’

Singapore should say thank you to The Messiah

Yes, he has threatened the govt. But look at it from another angle, his threat so far was just being naughty. The good thing is that it has exposed the vulnerability of our IT network in the whole island. We are so wired, and so helpless to an attack. The success of The Messiah and his anonymous hackers is proof that we have a lot of holes that need patching. A dangerous hackers out to create mischief and to bring down our system could have done so quite easily. We could have had it.

There is also a big danger of playing with numbers especially those in the CPF and the banks’ accounts. The permutation as to what havoc can be caused by entering a system is unimaginable. Names changed or jumbled up, addresses changed, the time needed to debug and to correct all the errors is horrendous.

The other big hole that is being exposed is the high reliance on foreigners to run a large part of our IT systems, both private and public. This is like hiring mercenaries to be our soldiers to guard our country’s national security. With such a pervasive presence of foreigners in charge, in control of our IT systems, all it needs is a small percentage of the foreign legion IT technicians to say yes to a potential trouble maker, and we had it. Unless we are willing to pay them like our politicians, to keep them from corruption or free from bribery and other temptations.

And money is not the only thing that could bend a small group of people to turn against the companies or organisations or our country. In the uniformed services, the key personnel are all security vetted and cleared. Are these IT technicians likewise vetted and cleared? This is not a new development and the dangers have been there for too long. We are lucky that nothing serious happened, or already happened without our knowledge. How many or our sensitive data have been downloaded and carted away while we were sleeping? Do we still dare to fill our uniformed personnel with foreigners like PRs and new citizens?

The threat posed by The Messiah is a rude awakening. We cannot behave like business as usual and a major shake up and upgrading of the industry, hardware and software, and the armies of foreign technicians need to be reviewed. The Trojan Horse is peanut compared to what we have invited into our country and system.

The Messiah came with a wake up call to test our system and cause some red faces at most. Time to move the butts and wipe that silly smile off the face. It is not a laughing matter. The Messiah has shown how naked we are.

Journalists are very well paid today

I have been writing too much rubbish and well deserving of my 2 cups of kopi kau daily. Maybe I should be writing something more high brow, serious and entertaining, maybe they will pay me $10k or $20k for writing the right stuff.

For a Sunday morning I think I shall start to write about my expensive pedigree miniature dog named Poo. After walking the dog for so many months, I came to notice that the poo comes in many textures, like cream puff, coleslaw at times, or Thai meat floss though not that dry. And if lucky, could be like goreng pisang. Can write one page about it.

Or maybe I shall write about the latest underwear, the unisex type, both male and female can get into. It requires great designing skills, if you know what I mean. Or maybe I shall write about the new hobbies, collecting toothpicks like they used to collect match boxes from the pubs and coffee houses.

Really, there are many interesting things to write to be paid handsomely. Collecting boyfriends like collecting mobile phones could be a great topic to write about. It used to be collecting angmoh boyfriends to show off to the aunties. If unable to get an angmoh get a local dud to dye his hair blond also can do, from a distance.

I heard the latest is collecting Indian boyfriends. They are in vogue, with so many maharajahs splurging millions for their weddings here. The local chicks may be lucky to land up with one. Now there is no need to go all the way to India with all the risks at stake. In the safety of this clean city, the rich Indians of the highest caste are available right at our doorstep. Just offer yourself, get close to them and you would be noticed. Make your own chances, improve your chances. The smell and colours of India are here.

I just have so many ideas to write about on a Sunday morning. I am waiting to be offered a $10k job to start writing. Maybe if they like it, they may even offer me $20k. Why would I want to be writing rubbish for two cups of kopi, and to beg for it, and OPM some more.

Isn’t it nice to talk rubbish and smell the roses on a weekend? This morning is a bit wet but still refreshing.

The pastime of beating a taxi driver

The national pastime of beating a Sinkie taxi driver was replayed in the court yesterday. Mason Robert Alford was fined $4,000 and ordered to pay $1,000 compensation by the court for assaulting a taxi driver two years ago. This British is a banking director, the regional head of Asia-Pacific for credit analysis. He is obviously a highly rated foreign talent most sought after by this city of no talents, and probably have been greeted by a red carpet welcome and feasted everywhere he goes, and likely to be surrounded by sarong party girls to make him feel like a raja in this former British colony

Mason Robert admitted to punching Tan Chin Huat, 58, in the face under the influence of alcohol while the taxi driver was trying to send him home safely after his night of merry drinking. Robert and his entourage of great foreign talents have nothing to fear in this land once owned by the British lords. They must know that they are still the masters to the natives. So having a pastime like punching taxi drivers among the expats is a great way to end the night. One for the road, so I bashed up that daft native.

Other than pleading drunkenness, he also pleaded mental disorder and with a medical paper to prove and an eminent lawyer to plea for leniency. With such a brilliant career and track record, and a talent that the city would be trembling in fear to lose for mistreating him, he was fined for a miserable 4000 sinkie dollars. He must be laughing himself sick with his friends in another drinking party. This is truly paradise with a bunch of daft natives at their becks and calls, and acting as punching bags when they needed one.

His mental disorder did not seem to affect his talented work as regional head for the Pacific Region, or it has never been discovered until now. Or maybe that is a pre requisite condition to hold such a senior position. And very likely this mental disorder will go away and he will still be employed in his company and will continue to bask under the tropical sun and celebrated as a true foreign talent here.

Native taxi drivers better buy more insurance against being beaten by foreign talents in the course of their work. It is high risk in a way but great fun to the foreign talents. And no need to worry, more foreign talents are on their way here to meet the 2030 6.9m target that is only for planning purposes. And the foreigners will be happily taking taxis, paying their fares and a $4000 bonus if they feel up to it.

Japan cooking the west coast of the USA with radiation

The world is still sleeping while the Obama went to bed with Abe and keeping an eye closed to the epic disaster coming out of Fukushima. 300 tons of radio active waste are flowing into the Pacific Ocean and heading towards the west coast of the USA. An environmental disaster that will cripple the world’s livestock and change the face of the earth is happening right before our eyes.

Michael T. Snyder, a former Washington D.C. attorney who now publishes The Truth and a new thriller entitled “The Beginning Of The End”, wrote an article titled ‘28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Absolutely Fried With Nuclear Radiation From Fukushima’ and this can be viewed at,
 
http://www.globalresearch.ca/28-signs-that-the-west-coast-is-being-absolutely-fried-with-nuclear-radiation-from-fukushima/5355280

The signs are clear and presented a stark reality that is getting worse by the day. In his concluding comments he wrote this, ‘Yale Professor Charles Perrow is warning that if the cleanup of Fukushima is not handled with 100% precision that humanity could be threatened “for thousands of years“…

“Conditions in the unit 4 pool, 100 feet from the ground, are perilous, and if any two of the rods touch it could cause a nuclear reaction that would be uncontrollable. The radiation emitted from all these rods, if they are not continually cool and kept separate, would require the evacuation of surrounding areas including Tokyo.

Because of the radiation at the site the 6,375 rods in the common storage pool could not be continuously cooled; they would fission and all of humanity will be threatened, for thousands of years.”’

The Americans are still trying to tolerate this crime against humanity and mother earth and all the creatures in the oceans and allowing Tokyo to take its time to mess around with a worsening situation. It affects everyone on this planet. We are being poisoned by the radioactive fallouts from Fukushima. The Japanese are still exporting radioactive products from the region and seas as safe for consumption. The only consolation is that the Americans on their west coast will be the first to be cooked and act as a warning to what’s more to come.

PS. This is an interesting video clip of a speech by Hollywood director Oliver Stone at Hiroshima to commemorate the atomic bomb on the city. Oliver was a VIP and invited to make a keynote speech and he did, and the Japanese banned his speech after that. It is only 11.33 mins and a truth about how evil and hypocritical the Japanese were and how the world was misled by their superficial veneer of politeness that hid an ugly and shameless monster. The speech was truly shocking to the Japanese. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a8LJbV48Pc

I am a Square Peg

This comment is posted in the thread ‘Worker’s Party coming into the hijab discussion’ by Anon 9:55am, and I quote:
 
‘I am a square peg. I demand the world to make all holes square to fit me. I am very reasonable. I do not demand that you be square like me.

If I can't get into a round hole, it is your problem. You create the problem for me.

I am not the problem.’
 
Let me elaborate. A small peg was born square and having difficulties fitting into all the round holes and other shape holes except only square holes. The square peg starts to get annoyed. Why are people making life so difficult for me. I can only fit into a few square holes. That is unfair. I want all the holes to be square to fit me.
 
I am the victim. Why is everyone so unfair to me? Why don’t they see that I am born like that, a square peg? I cannot be in other shapes. I can only be a square peg. Don’t blame me.
 
You wait. Don’t make life so difficult for me. You are all so unreasonable.
 
I am suffering. It is all your fault.

Why are the people not with the Govt

The hacking threat by The Messiah is drawing mixed reactions in cyberspace. What is disturbing is that many are cheering The Messiah to follow up with his threat and to challenge the govt. In the past when such a thing happened, everyone would close rank with the govt and identify themselves as us against them. I am sure the supporters of The Messiah knew that it was not the right thing to do but still doing it. The govt may want to reflect on this.
 
This is a development that is not to be taken lightly. When the people are siding with an unknown source of threat, likely to be foreigners and feeling good about it is not good news. Some are calling these supporters of The Messiah traitors to the country. It is a sign that these people are not with the govt, could be against the govt, but not necessarily against the country in this particular case.
 
On the other hand some are accusing the govt for selling out the people and country. This is serious accusation definitely. Words like traitors are now being spoken quite frequently. Some are wearing the patriot badge on their faces.
I could briefly remember Amy Khor being called something like a traitor or betrayer or something like that in Parliament for speaking out against govt policies. Excuse me for not being able to remember exactly what were said. Think I am starting to feel the on set of dementia.
 
Traitors and betrayers are very strong terms indeed. Anyone committing such offence is going to be remembered in history books. How valid are these accusations?
During the Japanese invasion of China, many Chinese were accused of being traitors by their own people. But to many of those accused, they did not think so. They were simply businessmen doing business with the Japanese invaders, selling them food, cloth, silk, coal, raw materials and whatever that the Japanese army needed while they were invading China and killing the Chinese. It was business as usual. The more patriotic Chinese would not accept these nonsensical explanations. The food and materials were used by the Japanese army, cloth for uniform, silk for parachutes, etc etc.
 
In a war situation, enemies and friends are clearly defined. But in peace time, trading and doing businesses are the norms. And everyone is friend and good friends in business. In what ways can the govt be accused of being traitors and betraying the people, and be justified? Are these accusations valid or just wild charges without any basis? Bringing in more foreigners, taking away jobs from the people, giving away citizenships freely, are these good enough reasons?
 
These words should not be used freely as they have very serious implications and connotations. Everyone should be more restrained in their choice of words unless the facts and circumstances dictate the need to use such strong terms. Whoever that is being accused of being a traitor or betraying his country must be very frightened by such a label. They are definitely worse than being accused of corruption, incompetence, insincerity, dishonesty, xenophobic, racist, etc etc.
 
Whew!

Challenging the ghost rider

The Messiah is gaining credence with Hsien Loong taking up his challenge, to face threat with threat. Hsien Loong has declared war on The Messiah. We would get you, with no stone unturned, or as good as that. Internal and external resources would be tapped upon to flush out this anonymous hacker. If I did not forget, someone was trying to trace a blogger, was it Screwball or something like that, in Sammyboy but nothing heard after that. Did they get their man or still trying?
 
As it is now, The Messiah is still an unknown element in cyberspace, a virtual figure. Going after him is like ghost chasing. So far The Messiah had only made a vitual threat but has done nothing serious, or had he? Hsien Loong’s comment is as good as throwing the gauntlet into the ring and telling The Messiah, let’s fight. If this Messiah is real, then he is going to react unless he senses that the mighty Singapore govt and its IT warriors would be good enough to nail him down and it is better to take Hsien Loong seriously, stay away from Singapore. No more threats and no more hacking. Going after a hacker can be done quietly with no announcement. An open statement is like a shouting match.
 
On the other hand if he is worth his salt and confident that he could wreck havoc to the Singapore govt, he is now prompted to do something. There is a saying, 多一事不如少一事, would it be better to just keep quiet and see if The Messiah escalates his threat by doing something? Or it would be better to let a second stringer minister to make a less confrontational comment? Is it worth the fight?
 
Anyway, the fight is on I suppose, and when the ante is up more fireworks will follow. Then again, The Messiah may just chicken out and nothing happens, with Hsien Loong calling his bluff. A serious attack on our computer systems, so many out there, can be quite disturbing and troublesome actually. But we have the best IT brigades to deal with the attack, so it is a matter of who is better and who shall triumph and rise as the victor.
So far so good. No more attacks.
 
PS. I wrote this yesterday and looks like it has been overtaken by what happened last night. TRS has reported that the PMO website has been defaced with the mask of The Messiah smiling in it. This episode shows that Yaacob is the cleverest of all the ministers. Anyone who stands up will only draw enemy fire to him. Better to lie low for the time being. Now who is next?

You can’t live there

Below is an extract of Thomas Friedman’s article on the airpocalyspe in Beijing and how bad it has become appearing in the Today paper today.
 
‘….“What if China meets every criteria of economic success except one: You can’t live there.”
 
Indeed, what good is it having all those sparkling new buildings if you are trapped inside them? What good is it if China’s rapid growth has enabled four million people in Beijing to own cars, but the traffic never moves?
 
What good is it if China’s per capita incomes have risen to a level affording tens of millions of once-poor peasants diets rich in milk and meat, ...? What good is all that rising GDP, if there is no clean air to breathe?
 
China has built amazing hardware in 30 years — modern cities, roads, airports, ports and telecoms….’
 
Allow me to substitute the word China with the word Singapore and ask a slightly different question. ‘What good is Singapore with all the economic successes if there is no Singaporean living there?’ When I said Singaporeans you know what I mean.

What is HFT or High Frequency Trading

Business Times journalist Sivanithy wrote an article(yesterday) on SGX’s initiative to consult the public on HFT trading in the SGX. The introduction of the HFT is now a matter of when, so what is this public consultation all about? Should not the SGX try to educate the public on what this HFT is all about, the pros and cons of this newcomer?
 
Sivanithy asked a few very basic and pertinent questions. What is HFT and the need for SGX to educate the public on this new animal that it assumed everyone knows what it is but the truth is that no one knows. It is not as simple as what people think, that HFT is there to provide liquidity in the market to benefit the other traders.
 
Without knowing how this animal works, what kind of advantage it has over the rest of the players, no one knows how dangerous or what harm it can cause to the market. One thing for sure, HFT is not here to do charity. Its mission is simply to take advantage of any arbitrage situation to take profits. Technically, it can only make profits and not losses. So, how is this going to benefit the other players? How can the exchange allow HFT or any other instruments to enter the market with a clear cut advantage, to make profits while other players lose?
 
This applies to Algorithm trading. The Algo players have the advantage of their super computers to compute and take positions to make profits. It is like a sure bet. And who are the losers or the sure losers? The exchange should have enough data by now on who are the big net gainers from the market. Both Algo traders and HFT traders are more or less guaranteed to profit from the system with the aid of high tech equipment. This is a violation of the exchange’s guiding principle and responsibility of providing a level playing view.
 
What is the SGX and MAS’s positions on this? Is it fair to the rest of the traders? Are they breaking their own rules and regulations?
 
There is a need to tell the whole story on the capabilities of the HFT and Algo trading technology? Don’t just tell the people how good they are. The public and the govt need to know how harmful they are. The public were told how good the Lehman Bonds and toxic notes were but nothing about how bad they could turn out. We need to learn from that mistake and handle this new animal with great care.
 
What information is made available to them and not to the other traders and how they can take advantage of the information to make assured profit? If the technology can assure them of profits, how can they be allowed to do so when other traders enter the market with the risk of losing instead of making profits? How can SGX/MAS allow HFT and Algo traders to play in the market when they can only be winners and paying a small clearing fee? Is this the case?
 
The public and other traders have the right to know what they are up against. There is a need for transparency and disclosure on what these two systems can do and are doing. How many Algo computers are already hooked onto the SGX computers and how many HFT computers will be allowed into the system?
 
It is the responsibility of MAS and SGX to provide a level playing field and fair play. Period. The public cannot be let into a market blindfolded without knowing how dangerous these new players are and what they are up against, and with their hands tied.

Worker’s Party coming into the hijab discussion

 WP is calling for a national conversation on the hijab issue after the Malay community met up with Chee Hian and Yaacob. The conclusion on that meeting did not go down too well as nothing changes, not that there must be a change if the situation does not warrant it. While there could be or could not be a national conversation on this issue, or another one sided conversation initiated and led by the WP this round, I would like to draw a few premises that I think could be useful in this free for all talk shop.
 
There are two premises that we must strongly guard, ie our secular national ethos and our cultural heritage. In an attempt to deal with a matter like the hijab that could transcend religion and culture, it can be tricky and even sensitive to some. If we can keep the lines of secularity clearly in the picture, we may have to define how far we can and want to go before hitting the OB markers, things may be more manageable. We do not want to allow every other religion to want to have their religious ways in a secular society and environment. We do not want, as an example, a group that insists on wearing drappy grey and head shaven in the office, male or female. We do not want people who insist that they cannot shave nor cut their hair for both sexes. Let’s keep our society a secular one and let religion be practiced at home or in one’s private space. The common space should be kept secular.
 
We must be proud of our cultural heritage, the way of life of the 4 major racial groups that founded this island. We do not want to integrate and compromise our way of life with the new migrants. We are not migrants. Our forefathers were and that is their story. We are stayers. Migrants are temporary visitors that are here and may not be here tomorrow. Migrants have no homes or countries of their own or have abandoned them. This is our home. We are the owners and we decide and must dictate what we want our country to be and how we want to live. The visitors or migrants must accept our way of life.
 
We have so many new migrants coming in and with their huge numbers there will be a time when they would want to demand to be recognized, their religions, cultures and ways of life. Singaporeans, the first movers in this country must be the top priority and must call the shot. We decide. Foreigners, new citizens and migrants must accept our terms and not the other way. Don’t like it they can go elsewhere.
 
The hijab is also a cultural thing, part of the Malay custom and baju. Correct me if I am wrong. It should be addressed from this perspective, to protect and promote our cultural heritage. Promoting the use of the hijab on religious grounds will open the Pandora box for all and sundry to make their special and unique demands that would be difficult to accept and may not be tolerable.
 
The Singaporeans must keep our cultural heritage as a part of us. We must promote their use as our way of life. We do not want to be China Chinese, India Indian or Arabs. In the course of time, there could be things from the foreigners that are useful and good and would gradually take form. Let that be. We can be flexible to allow the good stuff to be a part of us without compulsion or legislation. Good stuff will be good stuff and will be welcomed and accepted by the populace. Let our unique identity survive and thrive on its own without being pressurized or being harrassed by foreigners and foreign influences.
 
We are Singaporeans. This is our home. Let’s talk hijab.

Hijab is nice

As a kid I lived next to Kampong Radin Mas. Many of my classmates were Malays from the kampong. We played together with no consciousness of the differences in us. We were one people.
 
Radin Mas was a boy school. The Malay girls or ladies we saw were in the kampong. The ladies were very pretty with their hijabs. I did not know when the of wearing the hijab becomes an issue. From my childhood memory, I have the impression that it was cultural and not so much religious. They were part and parcel of the Malay baju.
 
The hijab is not the burqua used by the Arabs that covered almost totally that no one really knows who is behind the burqua. It would pose many difficulties when identification is needed. Today there is also the security angle to consider.
 
I personally find the hijab very normal and very nice. One consideration is that it may become a hazard in a difficult working environment. In such a situation, wearing of the hijab is best avoided. The other consideration is when it is not part of a uniform like the army where there are proper headgears. In other situations like in nursing, a grey area where the hijab may become obstructive in some situations, allowing hijab or not is a matter of judgement. Wearing of the hijab should not be a problem in most office environment unless they are so huge and drappy. It can be very fashionable and graceful as well.
 
I hope an amicable solution can be reached and everyone is happy. Let the people making all the big money come up with a win win solution. Yes, they are very good at win win kind of things. A rule of thumb judgement is to ask whether the wearing of a scarf by anyone is acceptable in the work place.

MRT fare hikes – the good part

With the impending fare hike for MRT, 1m commuters will benefit. Heheh, just like raising GST and the poor would benefit. But this is true. 1m commuters would probably pay lesser with more subsidies. Now the bad news, some commuters would have to pay more. Heheheh.
 
It is necessary to have more frequent fare hikes to keep the hike small. Be prepared for more hikes every year or faster. Why is it that fares must only go up and cannot stay still or go down? Sure cannot one. Salary goes up, rental goes up, fuel goes up, new buses go up, bonuses go up.
 
Why is a 40 inch TV costing $5000 several years back is selling at $1000? Why is a 36 inch selling at $4000 now selling at $800? Possible, it is happening. How come uh? They also have to pay higher salaries, bigger bonuses, higher fuel and material cost, higher rentals and higher everything.
 
Why must prices defy gravity and cannot be the other way? I am not paid millions so I have no answer to this. Only people that are paid ‘out of this’ world salaries can think of ‘out of this’ world solutions. Tiok Boh? No? Then why pay them millions when they are doing the mundane and the ordinary?
 
Who does not know how to raise fares to keep revenue and profits up?

The Messiah came and gone

What a disappointment, nothing really happened. Though some claimed to have their Facebook pages defaced, websites of govt agencies were unaffected except for self imposed down time for planned maintenance. While many are taking the announcement of maintenance for the 19 sites with a pinch of salt, officially it was announced as that, down for planned maintenance. And during the planned maintenance they discovered more faults that caused the down time to be extended in some cases. Another view is that the down time was to upgrade the protective system in case the Messiah turned up. The govt spokeman did say that they were taking the threat seriously.
 
To those that were expecting fireworks it must end with a big disappointment. But did the Messiah achieve anything? For one, many IT people were scurrying around and burning their weekend and holidays trying to install more protective firewalls to keep the Messiah out of mischief. And many ministry heads were worried that their sites could go down. There was a heighten security alert and many used to be sitting on their bums could not do so for fear of being burnt.
 
A threat like this is enough to cause a paralysis in many systems and websites and forcing many people to have sleepless nights. Resources would have to be diverted to cater to the threat. Nerves were extra sensitive and people become edgy. This is the power of people issuing threats.
 
The whole of the USA could go on a stand still by a simple letter or message of an attack by any terrorist group. A simple message could be so powerful and effective in bringing systems down on their knees. We too would not be spared from such an open threat of a terrorist act. The threat to hack or deface govt sites is already quite a big threat that got thousands of people running around and hoping that nothing goes wrong or someone’s backside will be burnt.
 
So, did the Messiah achieve anything? Indirectly 19 sites went down. But the most direct impact is the fact that a threat was issued and aimed at the govt. This is unreal. It has never happened before. Anyone trying to do so, or even utter the word threat or intent to hurt an MP would be bundled in for questioning and may be put into IMH for observation. This Messiah is still out there, untouched and smiling, knowing that nothing can be done to him. And he can issue even more serious threats to make people more uncomfortable, and even fear him. It is best to keep quiet and not to provoke him further with unnecessary confrontational comments or actions. Let there be peace with no one attempting to threaten anyone as the game can be played by both sides. It is a new ball game.

A few Sinkie snippets

1. The most sought after software in Sim Lim Square, and running out of stock, is Sampan 2.0. It is a software developed by the Prime Minister.
 
2. The lowest paid workers in Singapore are the remisiers, some earning less than the cleaners. And because the profession is in so high demand, they have to sit for examinations and yearly refresher course to keep them highly professional, only to earn $1000 pm or less. The unprofessional cleaners should be very envious of the remisiers. What, what, cleaners earning more than remisiers?
 
And the authority does not know, can you beat that? No, remember, the profession was once suggested as a benchmark to compute the salaries of the ministers.
Would the ministers still want to include the incomes of remisiers in the formula to compute their salary?
 
3. For the oldies that have no money for food, overheard someone saying the first option is to walk into a reservoir. Option 2 is the MRT track. Option 3, another Ah Pek in a kopitiam said, immolation in Orchard Road.
 
I think a better option, less gory, is to walk into any supermarket and just help themselves with the food. Doing so would be rewarded with free lodging and meals in a spacious bungalow, and the best part, free medical. And no need to wait for one year for a medical appointment. The doctors will come to visit you instead, to take very good care of you.
_________________

The mysteries of the Messiah

The Messiah has announced his arrival. He came from no where and is everywhere. Who is the Messiah? Is it the end time? Where are the signs? Are nations rising against nations, are there wars, famine? Are there wickedness? No one knows when will be the end time. But there will be false prophets and messiahs coming to deceive the people. Then again, like the days before the great flood, everyone was marrying and merry making and not knowing that it was the eve of the flood.
 
Who is this Messiah? So far there is only one claim while Anonymous hackers have appeared in several countries at the same time, in the Philippines and in Australia, and of course all over Singapore. Are they one and with the Messiah or imposters and opportunists or copycats? Anonymous Indonesia attacking Australia is presumed to be from Indonesia. Really? Could false flag be at work again?
 
The greatest mystery of all is the silence from the govt. So far no minister has said a word. Maybe they are waiting for Hsien Loong to say something first. The silence has led to many speculations, some very wild, that it was an internal job, a self inflicted wound to justify more controls and surveillance like George Bush did to the Americans. The perceived threat would be used as justification for more surveillance and controls and more clamping down or intrusion into people’s privacy.
 
This trend of though could be seen in the light touch of the hacking. No real damage really. And no need for any minister to respond, no need to sweat the small stuff. And the 19 govt sites that went down were really scheduled maintenance. And the sites that were hacked, Seletar Airport and Carpe Diem. Why would anyone want to hack a childcare if they were against the govt?
 
Or could it be the start of a bigger international crisis giving the sudden surge in hacking activities in the region and the emergence of a new force, the Anonymous Collective?
Does anyone know who is behind all the hackings? Would it remain a mystery and not to be discovered or be identified? Is the Messiah here? Has the Messiah arrived to deliver the people from their oppressed and meaningless lives as slaves to the economy of growth for the sake of growth with their lives getting worst than before as days pass by? 

Today is 5 Nov and is the day The Messiah has announced as the day of his arrival, or is it the end time, or a new beginning? Would anything big happen today? Would the sky darken, would the moon not give light, would the earth shatter and would there be earthquakes? Where is the sign of Jonah?
 
Where is the Messiah?

Invoking the Third Key

We had good govt in the past. They did so well that they could talk with great conviction and moral authority, and the people believed in them and were with them. To their credit, they built a big national reserve not withstanding that the bulk of the money are the people’s CPF savings. And it was seen as a right thing to do to introduce a Second Key to protect this reserve that is growing bigger and bigger every day. The people believe so too.
 
No future govt should be allowed to spend away this national reserve, and the President shall hold a Second Key to prevent this from being looted by a rogue govt. A rogue govt is something to fear about, our national reserve is at stake.
 
But the national reserve is not the only thing that a rogue govt can get their hands to or to do mischief. There are many big assets of the state that can be sold away by a rogue govt. Top on the list is land. This can be sold in many ways. Remember Christmas Island.
 
What could happen is that a rogue govt could sell off some of our islands and the Second Key may not be able to stop them. He could be too weak, or he could be in collusion with the rogue govt to sell the islands. Building properties exclusively in an island and selling them to foreigners, even with 99 year lease, is as good as selling the island away for 99 years. Cannot imagine if sold as freeholds.
 
What about selling away national assets or strategic assets? Should the Second Key be used to stop such sales in the name of national interest? The President is paid a huge salary and should be tasked to take on bigger roles and responsibilities.
 
What about bringing in big numbers of foreigners as citizens or PRs? Hypothetically, if our citizen population is 3m and 3m foreigners are brought in as new citizens or PRs, it is as good as giving 50% of the assets/country to the new citizens and PRs. They are brought in to share our wealth and our country. Should the Second Key be used to stop such acts?
 
A rogue govt can commit many acts of treasons against the citizens that we could not think of at the moment, and with a President in their pocket. Rogue govt can turn traitors to the citizens. And when they do, and if the Second Key failed to stop them, who else or what else can stop the looting?
 
The citizens of the island need a Third Key to prevent the country from being sold away by a rogue govt in collusion with a willing President as an accomplice. As the system is such, it is the govt of the day that appoints the President, in a way. Oops, the people voted for the Presidency. The probability of a rogue govt working hand in hand with the President is very high. Only a Third Key can stop this.
 
The Third Key is with the people, and the Third Key is the people. The citizens of the state are the Third Key and this key must be used in major issues affecting the state and the interest of the citizens.
 
The citizens of the state must use the Third Key on the issue of 6.9m population and on any matters that involved selling a part of the country away. It is time to invoke the Third Key. The citizens of a country cannot let 78 people decide their fate on a matter of such importance and with grave consequences. The people must know that they hold the Third Key and they are the Third Key.

Where were the securities?

The woman that climbed over the barrier to pluck at the décor for the Kinetic Rain installation at Changi Terminal One was arrested and sent for psychiatric observation. The puzzling and unsettling part of this bizarre episode was that the woman could fall through the netting and kill herself, and that it went on for quite a while. It must have taken a few minutes for her to climb over, gingerly walking to the pick the décor, a bundle of them and one at a time, and gingerly walking back and climbed back to safety.
 
Where were the guards? Where were the securities?
 
I remembered an experience in the underground passage of the train subway in Seoul many years back. As a tourist and full of curiosity, and a camera at my hip, I innocently took it out and shot a couple of pictures. We didn’t have our subway then. Before I could fire a third shot I was surrounded by civilian police and escorted to the side. They appeared so fast that I didn’t notice where they came from. Such efficiency and alertness in security!
 
Fortunately my pink passport won the day. They politely told me no pictures were allowed in the subway. I smiled and apologized. They took the roll of film with them and everything was back to normal. They went their way I went mine.
 
With the constant threat of terrorist attack, it was strange and uncomfortable to know that the woman could do so many things without being stopped from the moment she attempted to climb over the barrier. Were there any security personnel around watching? Not very assuring, not very good to see this kind of things happening.

Yong Tau Hoo stall wants to hire FT

The Yong Tau Hoo stall in Queenstown called up a recruitment agency to help them find a foreign talent. What do you want a foreign talent for? Competition lah, I need to compete against the Yong Tau Hoo stall in East Coast. I need the talent of a foreign talent to give me clever ideas to compete lah. But you can get a Sinkie as your market is local and your customers are locals. No, no, cannot. Sinkie no talent. And they got reservist training, very ‘lay chay’. If I don’t hire foreign talent, he hire foreign talent, then I lose to him. Also if I don’t hire the foreign talent the talent can go to join him. Like that also no good for my business.
 
Who makes you think so stupid, oops, I mean strategic? I read in the newspapers lah. They reported that the talents are all over the world, global talents. If I don’t hire them my competitors in East Coast, Sengkang and Toa Payoh would take them to fight me. OK, don’t talk too much, get me one FT, angmoh the best. If no angmoh, an India Indian also can. I teach them how to make Yong Tau Hoo. Then I can feel good and sleep good, with a FT in my pocket.
 
You know how many global talents are out there? You recruit one there are still a hundred millions floating around you know. No mind lah. I got FT can oredy. Feeling so shiok. When angmoh come eat my Yong Tau Hoo, my angmoh FT can show face, look nice and got world class image. Swee swee.

Would Singapore lose its unique identity?

In an article titled, ‘Get ready for a formidable, rising China’ by Han Fook Kwang, in the Sunday Times, he laid out a possible scenario of what Singapore could become in the wake of a rising China. Han Fook Kwang talked about the three phases of China’s development as an economic and world power. The first phase is about economic expansion through trade and development. Unless Asean and the world could produce goods that are cheaper and value for money than the Chinese, their products will be sought after by everyone wanting value and utility. This will be followed by a second phase of soft power in culture through movies and the arts.

The third phase would be the use of Mandarin for communication. This is seen as a natural development when economic and social interactions with China are so widespread and pervasive that people, including Sinkies, would just use the language as a convenient and necessary tool. Then there will be no need for Speak Mandarin Campaign. Singapore will ‘lose its unique identity and become more like another Chinese city, not much different from the many cities in the mainland.’

Han Fook Kwan hoped that it would not happen but this cannot be ruled out. His theory is based on external forces and the rise of a new economic power that has such an overpowering presence to change the world and the Singapore’s identity. I have another theory based on internal forces that could change Singapore’s identity into another form.

The govt has put in place, top priority policies, to fill the islands with foreigners in the name of lower birth rate, ageing population and economic growth, and in the process, instead of replacement, to increase the population to 6.9m. We are seeing the influx of foreigners in great numbers over the last decade or so and will gain momentum in the coming years.

The foreigners are coming, the westerners, the Chinese, the Indians and those from Asean countries. The westerners are unlikely to make any impact. The three biggest groups are likely to be the Chinese, the Indians and the Pinoys. The Pinoys have grown to several hundred thousands from a handful overnight. But with the tightening of employment passes, their numbers are going to slow down a bit. The large bulk of the Pinoy maids would not turn them into stayers and changing of our demography less of a problem.

As for the Chinese, many would return to China like the Hongkies when their home country is growing in riches and opportunities. Singapore is not really their cup of tea except for a small group that are very wealthy and have reasons to want to stay away from China. The rest will return to China when they find making money there easier than here. China will draw them back.

The next biggest group of migrants is the Indians. They see Singapore as a paradise, a land of opportunities, many times better than India. They are coming here in swarms, especially the rich and the PMETs. They brought their families to stay, buying up properties in large numbers. And there is this Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, CECA, which provides a legal framework for the mass migration of Indians into the island. Their numbers have already outnumbered the local Indians and growing rapidly. The attraction of India for the near future is not looking that much attractive than Singapore for them to return. Singapore is the idea place to live and do business.

With both govts abiding closely to the CECA terms, the influx of Indians will become a dominant factor that will change the social economic fabric and the demography of the island. When the Indians become a majority in the island, Singapore is likely to take on a more Indian outlook and English will remain the dominant language for social and business activities. Mandarin would then become of lesser importance despite the growing presence of China in the international scene.

Would the external forces of a rising China over shadow the influx of Indians into the island provided by CECA, or would the latter be so domineering that it will change the demography of the island and prevent Singapore from becoming just another Chinese city? Anyway, both scenarios would definitely change the unique identity of the island, one becoming more Chinese and the other becoming more Indian. The probability of external factors to alter the identity of a country is less likely to happen than an internal factor that is a govt initiative and supported by two govts with an official agreement to see it through.

A dynamic and vibrant chicken coop

The farmer stared blindly at the expanse of his chicken coop, every chicken was fat and cheery, the male chicken too. Then it struck his mind, why are the chicken not running around and cackling? Something is missing, lazy, lack of motivation, life too good? There is no life, a lack of vibrancy. They all seemed so contented, fat and contented.

After a few sleepless nights he came out with an idea to make his chicken coop more vibrant and his chicken behaving more like chicken. He sent a few orders overseas and a plane load of cocks arrived, red ones, brown ones, yellow ones, white ones and black ones. The farmer was very impressed with the athletic built of his new cocks. Some may be a bit skinny, but with their hungry look he knew they would perform.

He let loose his new foreign cocks among the local chickens. Sure enough the hens went wild like crazy, being chased around by the foreign cocks. And the local cocks were left out completely, unable to compete with the hungrier foreign cocks and their sharper talons. The whole chicken coop was wild with a new found vibrancy, and the cackling went on through the nights.

A few months later the noise in the chicken coop started to lower. The hens did not run around as often and started to put on weight again. The foreign cocks had grown a bit tired after having too much fun and too much of a good life.

He thought of another new idea to increase the productivity of the hens. This time the farmer brought in the big guns. No need too many, just a few foxes to chase the hens and the cocks around. This will make them healthier and increase their libido, and healthier eggs would be produced. The cackling was even louder than before and with intense vibrancy and with more shits all over the place.

After a while the noise went quieter again. The farmer could hear it from his ivory tower at a distance. Without putting his head out of the window, he decided to do something to get the vibrancy back again. The hens need to be productive to lay the golden eggs.

He did not know that the foxes not only screwed the hens and the cocks, they had them for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well. The lack of sound and activities were apparent but ignored, a few laggards managed to survive the ordeal. The farmer thought he still had a whole chicken coop with hens, cocks and the foxes.

He wanted more actions and brought in a few wolves into his chicken coop hoping to improve his chicken egg business. Sure, he heard the noise and the running around of the last few chickens and their cackling that were really dying calls for help. But the farmer was still sleeping, thinking all was well. With the wolves after the chickens, even the foxes would not stand a chance. They had high speed and high frequency appetite and could eat more. The wolves finally act up all the chickens in the chicken coop.

When the farmer woke up and found the chicken coop empty, he asked, ‘What happened?

JP Morgan hiring local talents

‘The US authorities are believed to be scrutinising the hiring practices of banking giant J P Morgan Chase in India, South Korea and Singapore following a probe into its activities in China regarding hiring children of powerful officials to win lucrative business deals.

A report in the New York Time said that the federal investigation into the hiring practices of JPMorgan Chase appears to be expanding beyond China into other Asian markets.

In a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank disclosed that the federal regulator and the Justice Department were now looking into "its business relationships with certain related clients in the Asia Pacific region and its engagement of consultants in the Asia Pacific region."’ Quoted from Business Today dated 2 Nov 13.’

Why would they want to check on their Singapore office? Singapore is one of the most highly regulated cities in the world and such things would not have happened here. We are not only famous for being a city that runs by the rule of law but also on meritocracy. Everyone is appointed to where he is based on merit. Period. This is the unquestionable truth in the city state.

What is interesting in JP Morgan’s hiring practice is to hire local talents in the country of operation. When in India they hired Indians, in China they hired Chinese, in Singapore they hired Singaporeans in top management, not in the backroom or for show. JP Morgan is a big MNC and finds it proper and wise to hire local talents with local knowledge to run their local businesses. This is only practical, logical, pragmatic and showing respect to the countries and people they are doing business with and making money from.

Where on earth can you find crazys hiring foreigners to run their local operations and rejecting their locals for no talents? How in the world could foolish people think that the foreigners are better to run their businesses with local customers and domestic market, culture, taste and all the idiosyncrasies? I found one, a Yong Tau Hoo stall in Queenstown. He wants to hire foreign talents. I will post another article on this.

Happy Deepavali

I was so busy socialising today that I almost forgot to wish our Indians happy Deepavali, or has it been changed to Tiwali. Anyway, I am still more comfortable with Deepavali, having grown up with this term for more than 60 years.

Cheers

The rich knows no bound

Come November 4 ERP gantries will have their fees raised from $5 to $6 a pass. That is two bowls of noodles or two plates of char kway teow. To the rich, it is cheap cheap cheap. To the not so rich, it is arrrgggh. Every pass is so painful.

But this is necessary as these roads are now clogged, like the drains and canals during a flash flood. You want progress, this is what you should expect and be paying. How high will the fees go up when we have 6.9m people here?

Did you ask for it, do you have a choice? No the choice has been made for you. You should be grateful that such tough decisions are made for you. It must have hurt those people deeply for having to make this decision. They must have sleepless nights and nightmares after voting for it in Parliament.

But they will feel good and their conscience is clear. They are doing it for the good of the people, yes, for the good of you and me.

Please say thank you. And thank God that it is not $10 a pass already. This is progress. Only with progress, with a growing GDP can the motorists pay this kind of gantry fees. Count your blessing that we can afford it and the charges are so affordable.