One reason that can make the Jewel a destination

I want to claim copyright to this idea. As many have said, why the hell is there a need for another shopping mall in Changi when you have shopping malls all round the island and in all the terminals and all the airports around the world? Why don’t they think of something more innovative and less run of the mill type of ideas?
 
I think the Jewel can have a great chance of success if it is not just another ordinary shopping mall but a Jewel in the form of a Medical Mall. Sell it as a top notch medical centre with top notch facilities but Asian prices. And with its convenient location at the airport, it will be so convenient for medical tourists to have the best medical services at walking distance from the planes. Some day surgery patients could stop by, do their stuff and off they go in the same waiting plane or the next flight.
 
No need to elaborate too much as the attractiveness of such an idea, an excellent Medical Hub at the airport, is self explanatory.
 
What do you think CAG? No need to copy all the other malls as another shopping centre selling the same stuff. And yes, the Jewel will become a destination for medical tourists.

Why I like the MCE

The MCE is now flowing smoothly, thank you motorists for avoiding this expressway so that I can push my car to the limits without the congestion. It is now like driving in a Formula One circuit with the foot flat on the pedal. Whoosh, great freeway.
 
I also like to drive in a tunnel and enjoy the tunnel vision. In a tunnel, all you care or see is a little light at the end of the tunnel. Now I know what that means. Driving over and across the Benjamin Sheares Bridge may have a lot of beautiful sights to behold, the great scenery, the open space and the fresh air if the window is down, or for those with a soft top. But who cares, I just love the tunnel and the feeling of being in a well. Oops, I mean inside a tunnel. The only misgiving is to miss the sight of that multi billion awful fake garden, or is it a blessing?
 
And why not, now I can tell the world that I have driven on the world’s most expensive express way, the 8th Wonders of the World. The feeling is damn shiok, a wonderful feeling really, honest. For every metre of road travelled is like moving on a pile of money equivalent to $860,000! The sensation is really good, the money under my feet or wheels feeling. And I don’t mind the longer distance with more time to enjoy this great feeling. Lagi shiok. Never mind more tyre wear and burning a bit more gas. It is worth it, every cent of it.
 
Many Sinkies may not be able to afford the world’s most expensive cars. Now they can afford to drive on the world’s most expensive stretch of road. The feeling is just as good.
 
Funny, why do I have this great sinking feeling?

Why a GE in 2014 is highly probable?

No, this time it is not that the ground is sweet. It is very sour. Then why pushing for an early election when there are two more years to sit in comfort and drawing the comforting salaries plus bonuses? Well in two years time the situation would not be sour but fermented. Externally there is a bigger financial crisis waiting to explode leading to the break down of the whole banking and financial system and money would be worthless in a way. This would lead to an economic crisis leading to job losses worldwide and our housing market would simply collapse and people with huge mortgages got no where to run. But this is only a small factor in the consideration as it may or may not happen, or may happen much later.
 
What is more imminent is the threat of a split in PAP. As long as He is around the split would not happen. When He is not around, you can bet your last dollar it will happen. And when it happens, it will be the end of the party. Pardon my pun.
 
It is better to take a small bit, cut some losses and still be in power for another 5 years than to lose everything in two years’ time. This is the only major consideration in the game.
 
In the last GE, both MM and SM stood down and become ordinary MPs. The next GE, if it happens this year, will mean that both will not stand. The alternative, if the GE is held in 2016, there is a likelihood that Chok Tong may want to stand. He is still very young if we take 90 as the reference point. Chok Tong has another good 20 years to go. And if the Party is not going to field him, then a split is imminent given his support base and the number of MPs willing to follow his leadership.
 
Now, that would be a nightmare surely.
 
So, would it be 2014 or 2016?

Do not meddle with our money. You need our consent!

The increasing frequency in the govt meddling with the people’s savings in the CPF is not a joke anymore. It concerns hundreds of thousands of an individual’s life savings that they earned through blood, sweat and tears. No one, not the govt, should think it can take liberty with the people’s life savings under whatever excuses. It is simply not the govt’s money. No one shall be allowed to decide how much of the people’s money to be held back almost indefinitely or how to spend it by compulsory schemes other than the owners of the money. How could anyone think he could do that with other people’s money without the owner’s consent? It is not your grandfather’s money you know?
 
This is not your money. This is the people’s money, individuals out there who earned it. If the money were given to the people by whatever bonuses from govt surpluses, fair enough, the govt can decide how and where it should go to. The people did not elect a govt to mess around with their life savings. This message must be brought to bear on the govt, that they better back off from the people’s savings, and if they insist to ignore this, they should be voted out.
 
Any political party that comes to power must be made to respect the people’s right to their money. This is something that bothers on human rights, the right to one’s safety, liberty and possession. Who is so outrageous to think that the people’s money is for them to do as they wished?
If the present govt is mistaken, that the people indeed elected them to mess around with their money, the people must make this known to the govt that this is not so, must not be so.
 
How on earth could this happen for so long and the amount that are kept away from the people’s reach is getting so huge and so unreasonable? The message to the govt must be loud and clear, return our money as promised. This govt is getting carried away by what it thinks it is within its right to do so just by passing laws in Parliament. Worse, now they don’t even need to discuss in the Parliament or pass any law on what they want to do with the people’s savings. They just change the rules as they deemed fit.
 
Can you beat that? Are you going to accept it meekly? The time has come to say NO to the govt. The people’s money in the CPF is OB to the govt. It is sacrosanct, the sacred right of the owners.

We can cope with 6.9m?

‘Singapore public hospitals are experiencing a severe shortage of beds….Changi General Hospital set up a large air-conditioned tent outside this week for patients to stay in while waiting for beds in the hospital.
 
At Tan Tock Seng Hospital, dozens of beds were set up n corridors to meet demand.
Meanwhile, Khoo Teck Puat hospital has resorted to sending patients on to Alexandra Hospital.’ ST
 
Khoo Teck Puat is a new hospital and there is another one in Jurong East. And the strain on the system is there for everyone to see. Not forgetting that getting an appointment can mean more than a year in waiting.
 
Is this good planning? Really, we can cope with 6.9m and we are planning ahead for it. Can we just plan for now, the present? We are being screwed by the problems today, not in the future. Take care of the present first, the problems under your nose.
 
It is lucky that there are free space to build tents in Changi. At the rate they are building to bring in more people, next time you can’t even find a place to pitch a tent for two. But nevermind, everything is about long term. Plan for the long term, invest for the long term. Current failures or losses will all be taken care of in the long term.
 
Actually, according to MP Chia Shi Lu, “the crunch might be due to the holiday season rather than a spike in illnesses.” I think is closest to the truth. Our hospitals are now as comfortable as a 5 star hotel and many people took the opportunity to stay in hospitals for R&R.

The opposition guessing game

The mystery of a ‘non’ existing opposition party in the govt can be annoying to those who wanted the opposition to be more vocal and aggressive in speaking out on national issues. Some are very disturbed by the WP’s deliberate silence and inaction. It must be a conscious strategy to focus on local municipal issues, look after their wards well as nothing they say or do would affect national policies but more often than not be met with a tirade of robust and sometimes intimidating response. Thus, an avoidance strategy of keeping the nose clean and fight only during an election could be a well crafted and conscious position to take.
 
The PAP must be quite happy with the stand of the WP, lesser attack and lesser embarrassment. No need to constantly try to fix them. It is a kind of uncomfortable truce, I don’t rub you the wrong way, you don’t rub me the wrong way either. At the same time it may disappoint the supporters who expect more from the opposition party leading to a loss of confidence and desertion. The WP would definitely lose some points and some supporters from its inaction.
 
The inaction or non communication of the WP with the other opposition parties is causing much discomfort and apprehension and annoyance. Some are looking at this as aloofness, arrogance and incooperative and would make forming of an alliance against the PAP that much more difficult. The perception is like the rest of the opposition parties are inconsequential and does not matter and WP could go alone in its fight with the PAP.
 
Maybe the opposition parties should cool down and concentrate on what they want to do and how they would want to contest the next GE. It is unlikely that the WP could offer more than 30 good candidates at one go. Even if they could field 40, it would still leave more than 50 % of the seats available to the opposition parties. Actually other than the WP, there are only two or max three opposition parties that are worthy of contention and may win some seats, ie SDP, NSP and perhaps SPP. The rest can do whatever they want, make whatever noise they want, even contest in a 3 corner fight, they would not make a dent to these bigger parties.
 
Once the WP has made its claim on the SMCs and GRCs, the SDP and NSP could divide the leftover seats among themselves. There are enough seats for the rest to contest without fighting with the WP. There is no need to sweat the small stuff, to be angry because the WP did not want to talk to them or negotiate. Each party should simply put all its resources on the GRCs and SMCs they have chosen to contest and fight directly with the PAP without having to worry about the WP or vice versa.
 
The cake is big enough for all to share. There may be a few obvious weak GRCs, but really other than a handful, the rest of the GRCs are there for the taking. Many are borderline cases and for the opposition to take them is fair game. The invincibility is gone. The weight of a minister is now a liability.

A big F for succession planning

It would appear that succession planning in corporations is something of a myth, a critical operation need but given only lip service. DBS is an outstanding example that it ended with a succession of three foreigners in the CEO seat, the current on being a citizen only after given the post. What happened to succession planning that no Sinkies were line up, trained to assume such a vital appointment or seriously, none was found to be good enough? After the current CEO, would it be another foreigner to take over? Very likely if the track record is anything to go by.
 
After Hsieh Fu Hua at the SGX, the same story repeated itself that a foreigner is needed. Would it be another foreigner after the current one has departed? Why not, when the locals are not good enough, or succession planning is not something that they are interested. We have seen the drama of getting someone to succeed Ho Ching in GIC when they had to go overseas to seek foreign talents again for more good years. They thought they found a Goodyear only to find something missing and then no more Goodyear and Ho Ching had to be reinstated. Is the situation now better with a local being groomed in case Ho Ching wants to step down again? Or would there be another round the world trip to find the One for this job when locals are found wanting again? Would they do a DBS, give the job to another foreigner and hand him a pink IC to tell the daft Sinkies that another Sinkie is in place for the high paying job?
 
Succession planning is not always a lost cause in all the big corporations. SIA for one could groom and find locals to continue the stewardship of the airline. And I think UOB too would be in the good hands of another local if not forced to buy another foreigner to take over what Wee Cho Yaw has built in a life time. Has UOB done more badly compares to the other two big local banks that are run by foreigners? UOB is a good case to dispel the foreign talent myth. Otherwise the silly fools would tell Hongkong, China, South Korea and Japan to hire angmohs to run their banks. And if the angmohs are too expensive, find one from the 3rd World as long as he is a foreigner.
 
The best succession planning is perhaps in politics. And the best person that executed such a plan was none other than Chok Tong himself. The moment he took over the premiership he already had a successor in mind, recruited him and groomed him for all 12 years of apprenticeship before finally handing over the baton to him while Chok Tong still had many good years to serve. This is a classic succession planning that GIC and DBS or SGX can learn from. An incumbent CEO generously recruited and trained a local successor to replace him. And the successor was so appreciative to reward his mentor with an Emeritus Minister title for his effort.
 
Now, would we see a local take over GIC, DBS or SGX when the time comes? Do they have a succession plan in place? To be real, why would a CEO want to plan and train someone to takeover from him? It is simply stupid to do so right? Anyway, Chok Tong is still around and his talent in this area can still be tapped before it is too late. You need a great man or a dull one to do succession planning, or planning for one’s own exit or demise. Very likely the person in the hot seat wold make sure that no one is fit to take over from him, or even groom a dud to be discarded as not good enough. Across the causeway Mahathir did exactly that.

Welcome to the new normal

‘Within the span of 10 minutes, construction worker Ramachandran Balamurugan had molested the four women by stroking their buttocks, thighs and private parts.
According to court documents, he molested the women, aged between 22 to 51, between 10.30am and 10.40am on Nov 17.’ The New Paper
 
This guy was sentenced to 7 months jail. It is a good thing that with more than a million foreign workers here, we only heard of one isolated incident like this. Sinkies can feel really safe. Statistically 1 over a million is 0.00001% which is remotely small.
 
Just hope that this is real and not a new normal. Or maybe Sinkies need to readjust their comfort and safety level to prepare themselves for such thing to happen more frequently. I swear that a 0.00001% is a miracle even in the best and safest developed country.

Another achievement or empty glory?

‘Singapore tops IB exam in region for fourth year’, screams a headline in the Today paper and maybe other papers as well. The first para, ‘For the fourth consecutive year, Singapore has topped the Asia Pacific region in the International Baccalaureate(IB) diploma examination. Of the 1,747 students here who took the IB diploma exam last year, there were 43 who scored a perfect 45 points – two more compared to a year ago.’ The report went on to show how well the rest of the students have done with an average of 36.53%, higher than the global average of 29.95%.
 
With such an achievement, not only in IB but in O level, A level as well, Singapore must be teeming with very clever and talented people. The achievements of the young citizens must translate to a pool of very intelligent adults and talented workforce.
 
Unfortunately the truth is far from it. Singapore has been proven to be lack of local talents and had to import feverishly from the regional countries for talents to help the dull and untalented locals. And many of these students who have perfect scores in IB, O and A level, will eventually work under the supervision of talents from 3rd World countries with average academic scores or even fake certificates.
 
What went wrong with the education system and the scintillating academic achievements? Don’t ask me. All I can see is crap. Either the exam results are craps or the students are craps or the employment scene is crap. Something must be crazily wrong.
 
I would want to believe that the students genuinely did very well academically and it is the silly system that allowed foreign craps to rule over local talents that is at fault. And you have silly people creating such a system to disadvantage the local talents and driving many to joblessness, unemployment or to depression.
 
What to do?

How a lie can become a truth

Andrew Loh wrote: ‘Barely a month after its mistake in reporting that a Bangladeshi had been killed in the Little India riot on 8 December 2013, the Straits Times seems to have once again got its facts wrong, or helped propagate a false story.
 
On 24 December, the Straits Times reported the publication of a report in Hong Kong about the execution of the uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The Straits Times report, by its senior writer Ching Cheong, was titled, “Jang’s execution bodes ill for China”.
 
It described how Jang was executed – by being “eaten up” by “120 hounds” which had been “starved for three days”.’….
 
A piece of news published by the official national newspaper, The Straits Times, obviously carried a lot of weight and many readers can be forgiven for believing that this is a true story, verified, checked and double confirmed by professional newspaper men before putting it on print. And for those who would love such stories about Dear Leader and their programmed hatred for anything North Korean, they would simply gulp it down happily with a big jug of beer.
 
Why not when this news was happily picked up, quoted and reprinted by many of the supposedly reputable western media with an agenda to run down North Korea. In Andrew’s post the media mentioned to have quoted ST for this piece of juicy and serious news are: The Independent, The Daily Mail, USA Today, New York Daily News, The Nation, Fox News, The Telegraph and the Washington Post. A few of these are real biggies and what they posted would be taken as gospel truth. And I am damn sure these papers love such news, the more gore the better, to confirm their fabrication of what North Korea is all about.
 
According to Andrew this ‘eaten up by 120 hungry dogs’ is a piece of shit or lie that is not truth. I am not sure if Ching Cheong, the author and China expert, and the ST, have come up to dispute or confirm the authenticity and reliability of the report. As far as Andrew is concerned, this is an outright lie. But this may not be so. I have no means to check its authenticity, but the ST has. Even if the journalist was fed shit and believed in the shit, he still had to cross the barrier of the editor and chief editor who were obviously highly trained and experienced newsmen. They would not have passed this piece of news if they didn’t believe it was true and had not checked it themselves. If the news was false, a lie, it could now be turned into a truth when readers read it in The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, The Telegraph or one of the supposedly reputable and reliable media. People would then quote these big boys to claim that it must be the truth.
 
My suspicion is that this is another piece of crap originated from the West with their vicious agenda to paint North Korea as an uncivilized country with an equally evil dictator in Kim Jung Un. And in many places, or if Andrew did not raise this fact, many would simply read it, store it in their memory and after sometimes, becomes another convenient truth manufactured by the West and planted in their subconscious by the great media as The Truth.
 
Ok, I am not saying that the news was a piece of lie. Let’s hope a reputable paper like the ST would come out and rebut what Andrew had said or make a correction. Asking for an apology would be too much. And they could come out and confirm it was the truth and demand an apology from Andrew too.
 
What is the truth?

The careless intent behind a consumption society

The economists will tell you that consumption is good. Spend and churn the economy, grow the economy by conspicuous spending. Borrow and spend, spend and spend, it is good for the GDP. Savings is bad. Do not save, everyone must spend every cent they earn. Prudence in money is not encouraged. So everyone spends, like the Americans, whole country in debt but economy booming, and life is good. The Americans could do that and for now they can still do that by just printing more money. They have extended their good fortune and making the rest of the world working for them, to feed them and let them enjoy a life of plenty and luxury without having to work like other people.

We are also encouraging our people to spend and spend. The talk of being prudent is only lip service. The people who talked about prudence know that prudence, spend within your means, is real and very important to one’s financial well being. Then look at the policies. They are all designed for the people to spend all their money, if not, spend all the money on behalf of the people, to stimulate a vibrant consumption economy. Other than the top 10 or 20 percent income population, the rest of the citizens would be spending every cent they earned and with many money not enough and in debt. Housing, transportation, medical, practically everything has been carefully calibrated to make the people spend everything. Even their life time savings for retirement are already spent or with new schemes to spend them.

As for the top income earners, they have no care about what is happening, about high cost of everything, high inflation. All they need to bother about is to ensure that their income is growing at a rate many times ahead of inflation and rising cost of living. They will also spend. But they only spend perhaps 10 or 20 percent of their income, some even lesser. The rest is saved. They are prudent with their money. They do not spend every cent of their money. They know that is bad. But what is bad for the ordinary people is good for the economy.

So the policies are designed to make sure the people will spend and spend, without any choice. They cannot stop spending as the prices of goods and services will be push up and up to ensure the policies of a consumption society work. The poor are made to spend by compulsory schemes while the rich quietly save.

At the end of the day the average Sinkies will just depart with nothing left on them, just like how they came. For the not so lucky average Sinkies, they will live a life in debt.

Deport the undesirables as a deterrent

Last week Dudley Au, a senior gentleman, wrote in a forum letter in the Today paper calling for deterrence against crime. He was referring to the rioting in Little India and how important it is to make sure that the perpetrators and potential rioters would think very hard should they want to riot again. Singapore has done well in the past by using deterrence effectively to keep criminals and violators of the law at bay by strong punishment as a statement.
 
Death penalty for kidnapping and for drug smuggling were made very clear that there is no chance for ignorance. At one time long hair was not welcomed to the island and posters were put up at entry points to get the message across.
 
The need for deterrence to stop foreigners from turning this island into a wild wild west or a 3rd World lawless country is becoming more urgent with the high numbers of foreigners here. The Little India riot just broke the camel’s back. The govt has been very tolerant of the mischiefs committed by foreigners to the extent of being too soft to the ire of the citizens. Rude and hooligan behaviours of angmohs and other foreigners thumping down the law abiding citizens were often reported but taken too lightly.
 
It is time to put the message across that foreigners are here as our guests and at our pleasure. Misbehaviour, rude behaviour, criminal activities etc are not acceptable and foreigners exhibiting such unruly and unacceptable behaviour will be ruled as underdesirables and will be deported immediately, without going to the courts of law in light cases, while serious offenders will be charged in court and subsequently deported in serious cases. Cases like foreign cyclists taunting and threatening law abiding Singaporeans are cases that deserved deportation. The govt cannot be seen as a lame duck or tacitly supporting such wild and uncivilised behavior of foreigners against the citizens.
 
Sign boards on the deportation of undesirables shall be prominently displayed at entry points like those long hair posters of the past. Let there be no mistakes that foreigners can shit on the citizens or behave like hooligans and thugs here, and definitely will be dealt with serious in criminal cases. We have millions queueing to come here and throwing out a few pariahs will not affect the attractiveness of this paradise island for making a fortune and a good life.
 
We need this deterrence to ensure law and order and safety of the citizens. We do not want to become another 3rd World with 3ed World normals. 3rd World normals are just not acceptable here.
 
Seriously, will the govt even dare to consider such measures against the angmohs? The days of caning Michael Fay is over. We don’t have anyone strong enough to talk to the angmohs as equals and to treat them as equals and the bad as bad. Our ministers even have to make callings on the foreigners instead of summoning them to wait outside his office.

Characteristics of a 3rd World country

I would not attempt to define what a 3^rd World country is as the definition would be as controversial, subjective and debatable. But I think many would agree that there are some features that are common to 3^rd World countries that we can agree with. Let me throw up some of these features here and see how many of them are already happening in out 1^st World city.

 

1.     Exceptionally wide income gap or high Gini coefficient number.

2.     High inflation and diminishing monetary value.

3.     High numbers of poor and uneducated people in the population(foreigners included).

4.     Fancy for forms or vanity projects.

5.     Fancy for mega projects that cost billions of dollars.

6.     High crime rate with murders and death happening almost daily.

7.     Cheatings and scams quite prevalent.

8.     Rioting and burning of vehicles in the streets.

9.     Littering.

10.   People eating and drinking on the streets.

11.   Sense of insecurity. This is increasing daily.

12.   Govt leaders only talking cock about grandeurs.

13.   Self serving govt leaders.

14.   Control of the media.

15.   Suppressing dissent.

16.   High corruption, legal or illegal.

17.   Govt squandering public money foolishly on parties after parties.

18.   Top jobs taken over the foreigners.

19.   Govt trusts foreigners more than the locals.

20.   High unemployment or graduates being jobless.

21.   Govt leaders using public money for useless state visits.

22.   Abuse of govt authority and govt offices and officers.

23.   Cronyism and nepotism.

24.   Some kinds of dictatorship or authoritarian state.

25.   Control of media and freedom of expression.

26.   A deep sense of fear of authority.

I think there are many more features but suffice to say that the main features above are adequate to define a 3^rd World country.

Shame on Sinkies

I read three comments in ST Premium or online on the degeneration of the state of affair in the city. A point made by a Pavithran Vidyadharan on our poor social behaviour, and I quote,  ‘Our poor social graces in MRT trains and on the roads may be a result of our material success - we have unwittingly become arrogant and self-centred.’

Though I may take this with a pinch of salt as the majority of commuters are foreigners rather than Sinkies, it still highlighted the fact that social behaviour in trains and roads are much to be desired in this city. In the case of behaviour on the road, we have crazy and rude foreigners thinking that this is their colony and daring Sinkie motorists to run them down with their cars when they rode wildly on the roads. Then we have mad drivers in their Ferraris and Lamborghinis turning the roads into their race tracks.

The second comment was by a Murali Sharma who said, ‘It is appalling
that despite all the rubbish bins around, the tarmac could not be seen for the litter after the New Year countdown party ("After the party ends... there's the rubbish"; Thursday).

Singapore has held cleanliness campaigns for at least 4 decades
and there are anti-littering measures, including fines, in place.

Yet, people still throw vast amounts of rubbish with abandon at mass functions.’

Again I am not sure how many of those littering or throwing killer litters from the flat were Sinkies or foreigners, but it is a strong point that a 1^st World country cannot have people behaving like those in 3^rd World when such things are normal.

And the third writer, a M. Lukshumayeh said that patience and intolerance were lacking in this city and he said, ‘Taking a lift in Singapore really highlights the lack of patience, tolerance and consideration in society.
Many lift users would enter the lift and immediately press the "door close" button.’
I think he has his point. But being new here and coming from somewhere where lifts may not be a common feature, I am presuming, just like him, he needs to understand why people would want to close the lift quickly than to wait for the crowd to squeeze into the lift. There is a safety consideration especially for the women folks who are uncomfortable alone with strangers. There are other factors too that make people want to close the lift quickly. In countries where people are comfortable squeezing with strangers in a crowded lift or train, they may find Sinkie behaviour unfriendly.
What is notable is that the three writers are highly likely to be new here, other than Sharma, and already find such behaviour unacceptable. They must have been living in 1^st World cities and got used to the graceful behaviour of what a 1^st World should be like and take offence at 3^rd World attitude. They may not know that Sin City has returned to the 3^rd World in many aspects as it is not easy to integrate or educate 3^rd World people to behave like 1^st World. And the thing is that Sinkies are integrating and becoming more like the 3^rd World instead of the 3^rd World people coming here and becoming like 1^st World. And in many parts of the island, you won’t even think that you are in Singapore.
I must thank the three writers for their observations and Sinkies must feel ashamed of themselves. And greatly so too when visitors or new residents could find the behaviours offensive and have no place in a 1^st World city. Or shall I say actually the unruly and offensive behaviours are committed by the 3^rd World people here and shitty Sinkies got the blame?

What the future lies for Singapore?

‘Ivan Heng criticised the national broadcaster for a show which he felt was not inclusive of Singaporeans from different races and cultures.

Describing the programme as “cheena”, the Singaporean theatre actor and director also said in the post that he “kept flipping channels to double-check to see if I was watching Channel 8 or CTV (referring to China Central Television)".

He also mentioned that “Malays, Indians, Eurasians, Peranakans and not to mention the dozens of other races and nationalities who today call Singapore their country and home” were left out.’

The above comment by Ivan Heng is a reflection of the type of Sinkies we have here. Some Sinkies have morphed into another breed that is definitely not ‘cheena’ but kind of a half breed, a bit angmoh and a bit dunno what. It is important that Mediacorp understand this development and that not all Chinese Sinkies are Chinese or see themselves as of Chinese origin. In some sense they even feel infuriated to be associated with anything Chinese or cheena. The sensitivities of this breed must be taken into recognition to avoid offending them and their pride as a different breed.

But this is only a small deviation from the norm. What lies in the future is the influx of so many foreigners that would make demands on any national events or TV programming. If we keep on prostituting ourselves and allowed all kinds of foreigners to become citizens, our four official languages or racial groups, now plus a ‘non cheena’ group appearing, would have to be expanded to include PRC or cheena Chinese, Northern Indians and Pinoys and maybe Thais and Myanmar as well. These new citizens would, in a matter of time, demand to be treated equally, and the content of our National Day Celebration or TV programmes or TV Channels must accommodate their existence, and their rights to them.

Is this what we want, more than 4 official languages not enough, more than for major racial groups not enough problems, that we want more and more, especially of the shitty kind? Where are we going as a country, as a nation? Are we being led by the blind or by the daft? Is the silly Pied Piper leading us to the edge of the cliff of no return?

What would PAP be fighting and defending?

The PAP came out of a convention with a new resolution and a new resolve to fight for what they believed in. This was to be the news of the day but eclipsed by the Little India riot.  Everyone’s attention was diverted to the violence on the streets and this great convention just disappeared into thin air without attracting any interest other than Chan Chun Sing wanting to take the war to every corner of the island.  That was the juicy bit that still lingers in the air. The only article on this convention came from Dr Wong Wee Nam but still did not catch too much of an attention when there were so many exciting news event to capture the emotions of the people.

What was the convention all about? Other than the airy ideas of a 6 point resolution which was a brush up of the original resolution, the PAP made a war cry that they would defend what they believe in, their positions and policies. What are these beliefs in concrete terms?

Is the PAP going to defend the high influx of foreigners and the 6.9m population target in 2030?

Is the PAP going to defend the high cost of living, high property prices, high medical fees, high education fees?

Is the PAP going to defend the lost of jobs by local PMEs and being replaced by foreigners?

Is the PAP going to defend the ultra high ministerial pay system that is hanging like a giant millstone on the neck of an albatross?

Is the PAP going to defend the big numbers of scholarships given to foreigners?

Is the PAP going to defend the big numbers of FTs in high places, like CEOs and professorship/lecturers in the academia?

Is the PAP going to defend the diminishing Singaporean core by bringing in more foreigners and issuing them with citizenships?

Is the PAP still going to deprive true blue citizens from buying a HDB flat with all its nonsensical rulings?

How would all the above fit into the 6 point resolution? Or is the 6 point resolution another airy idealistic aspiration to be spoken and forgotten. What is real in the resolution that benefits the true blue Singaporeans? It is very important to use the term true blue as there are many new citizens conveniently given the pink ic to reap the fruits that our parents and forefathers have planted without sweating the small stuff, and got the gall to claim credit for everything here.

Secession in Thailand

This thought must be in the minds of the Thais for a long time but not spoken. Finally it is in their lips and openly spoken as an option to the political crisis. The Yingluck govt may be appearing soft and may be taken for granted by the Democrats and the Bangkok elite. But beneath this apparent weakness and inaction is a very powerful message. It exposes the real thugs and trouble makers and how these people are out to destroy Thailand at all costs. Thailand can be led into turmoil with blood and bodies on the street to achieve their political goals with the support of the minority in Bangkok. The protestors are ignoring all reasons and sensibilities and the welfare of the Thai people. They just want to grab power.

The Yellow shirts are proving themselves to be unreasonable political thugs. The Red Shirts, being the real majority, are now the sensible party, cool, composed, non violent and seeking a govt to be elected constitutionally and democratically by the people. They have been patient and restrained and avoiding a direct and bloody clash with the Yellow Shirts. They are not going to give the army a reason or a chance to stage a coup against a popularly elected govt.

What is the next step or change of event? There could still be a coup or a revolt by the Democrats and the Bangkok elite. What are the options available to the Red Shirts and the majority of the Thais in the rural north? A direct confrontation is possible but this would only lead to more bloodshed and lost of lives and properties. Bangkok and Thailand could be burnt down, shut down. This is an option that the Red Shirts have shown to want to avoid.

A possible option is secession and with Thailand breaking up with the North under the Red Shirts and Bangkok and the South under the Yellow Shirts. Such an alternative could or could not see a civil war. The military could be split and how they would make up is still uncertain. If they are willing to part the country to avoid an open conflict, this secession option could be an ideal option to the impasse. They could still opt to start a civil war that would destroy Thailand and the Thai people. The blood letting would be unprecedented. The cost is huge and would cripple Thailand and not desirable to all Thais.

Which course would the Thais choose if force to decide when the Yingluck govt is forcefully dethroned? The Red Shirts would not take it lightly and would be forced to take a stand. And they are in the majority and have the northern Thaliand on their side. They are playing their cards close to their chest and have so far refrained from posing a direct challenge to the Yellow Shirts. Would the Yellow Shirts believe they have the support of all the Thais and push for a climatic change through the use of violence?

Would Thailand turn into a battle ground for the Thais to fight one another, or would the lesser evil of a parting of the two camps in peace? The Yellow Shirts are stubbornly holding on to an unyielding position, either accept their way or fight. The Red Shirts are trying to negotiate for a compromise without resorting to violence. This only emboldens the Yellow Shirts to dig in thinking that they have the upper hand. Either the Red Shirts be forced to fight or to take the break away path to minimize the casualties on both sides.

What is the greatest blooper of 2013?

2013 shall be remembered as a very eventful year till the very last day with the massive jam caused by the most expensive crooked expressway in the world. This is kind of hard to beat really. But through the years there were several other outstanding events that really shook this little island like a little tsunami.
 
Let me recall, the two high level corruption cases involving top civil servants when money was still not enough to stop them from being corrupt. In both cases it wasn’t money that led them astray. This may call for a rethink on what else is needed to keep officers in public service clean short of recruiting monks and priests for the job.
This was followed closely with a long list of luminaries involved in underage sex with a nymph. Quite shocking that this happened in such a scale and involving so many prominent people, including the scions of famous clans.
 
The courts really were doing roaring businesses with God’s money being passed around in circles that were called round trippings. And poor God had to apologise to his dear messenger for the mess and putting him under the authority of human judges.
The headless body and the numerous crimes were pale in comparison to these events and the Little India riot that saw policemen running for their lives and their vehicles overturned and burnt. It turned out that the culprit was alcohol.
 
Would the challenge by a cleaner threatening to take the PM to court over some acts in the Election Law be considered another great blooper? Or would the Presidential Election when the elected President won by the skin of the teeth and with barely 35% of the popular votes be considered a bewilderment? The discovery of election boxes left behind in a school months after the Presidential Election did raise some eye brows and must surely be a worthy blooper of the year. Or would a top notch talent of the ruling party losing to an unknown ordinary female candidate be earth shaking enough to be included as a big blooper?
 
What about the Rolls Royce equivalent folding bicycles for the comfort of rangers to patrol the parks in the garden in a city? And to top the issue of corruption there was a deputy director of the CPIB being charge for corruption.
 
What else is equally worthy? The contents of a minute about cleaning of hawker centre or a $2 company buying a customized software and selling it at a friendship price may also be good choices vying for the blooper of the year award.
 
What other hilarious or nightmarish events that could draw the oohs and aahs from the people with comments like, ‘like this also can’? Would it be the PWP, Natcon, or the frequency of train breakdowns with the new Downtown Line breaking down on its first day of operation?
 
What do you think? Which event is truly deserving of being awarded the Blooper of the Year Award? I almost forgot about the Messiah, or is it the owl, and the sudden downtime of govt websites for maintenance, the Media Acts to control social media. There are just so many interesting and outrageous events that made 2013 a really eventful and memorable year. And the haze, oh it reminds me of you know what. And the list could go on.
 
What would you think deserve the honour of being the Blooper of the Year?

A lesson from the Rakhine state in Myanmar

There is a documentary serial in Channel News Asia hosted by a Dr Farish Noor called Cross Borders. His last episode was on Myanmar and he visited the Rakhine state where the Rohingyas lived. The Rohingyas are muslims and originated from Bangladesh. They are very different from the Buddhist Myanmese in look, culture, religion and way of life.
 
There is an on going war or persecution against the Rohingyas by some sectors of the Myanmese population. The Rohingyas are not welcomed by both states of Bangladesh and Myanmar. Many are running away, risking their lives as boat people rather than remaining in Rakhine. They are not wanted by Bangladesh as well. And they are lucky if they survived their journey by small fishing boats.
 
What makes the Rohingyas intolerable to the Myanmese is their claim for an independent state from Myanmar. No Myanmese govt is going to carve out a piece of their land for them for sure. They are not Myanmese but migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, some kind of equivalent to the untouchables of India.
 
At the end of the documentary, Dr Farish expressed his gratefulness for having a country to go back to. The Rohingyas are people without a country.
 
What is the lesson to be learnt? Sinkies better treasure this little island they have and called home. And they deserved to be boat people if they are careless, complacent and disinterested in protecting their rights as citizens of this island. The silliness of inviting so many foreigners as citizens could one day be the source of their own downfall and be evicted out of this island, their homeland.
 
The lesson of Rakhine is that when a group of people becomes big enough, with a critical mass, they are going to demand for more rights as a group. They would demand for recognition for their way of life, language, culture, a TV channel and religion, and in the case of the Rohingyas, a separate state. If we mindlessly and irresponsibly allow so many foreigners to come into our homeland, one day they are going to make demands on us when they are big enough and to stake a claim to this land.
 
By then all the kpkb would be useless, futile. By then, Sinkies would have to fight for every inch of their land and every privilege as citizens of this island with these foreigners turned citizens.
 
Do not be complacent, do not be stupid and give up your rights to this land so easily. Do not be daft. Do not be conned by the daft against your interests. You will pay a very heavy price for it. Your children will curse you for your stupidity and indifference when you can stop the change, when you can stop losing your country to foreigners.

It is not easy to have a country of our own. Bringing in foreigners is as good as giving a part of our country to them, giving our country away. It is not as innocent as you think. The consequences are far reaching and very serious to our own well being.

PS: And don't forget your kopi. According to google my kopi level is at a critically low level. Just spare me 10 sec will do.

Thanks.

Time to be selfish

A new year and a new beginning. How many Sinkies are willing to share their homes with foreigners? How many Sinkies are willing to share their spouses with foreigners? There is a limit to sharing and some things just cannot be shared or be given away at our own expense. How many of you are willing to share the good jobs with foreigners while you end up jobless, underemployed? How many willing to share university places with foreigners so that you can send your children overseas? How many of you willing to share your country with foreigners and risk being kick out by the foreigners one day?
 
Tomorrow is not going to be better if Sinkies continue to be so generous in sharing everything they own or should be theirs with foreigners. Sinkies cannot keep doing charity to foreigners. The foreigners are not going to be charitable to Sinkies in return. Mark my words. We have heard so many horror stories of foreigners exploiting, abusing, discriminating and cheating Sinkies blatantly, right in their faces.
 
Sinkies have to be selfish for their own survival in their home country. Sinkies need to think of self first. When Sinkies are well provided only then can Sinkies afford to be charitable. Let the rich Sinkies and elite be charitable as they have the means and extras to be charitable. The rest of the Sinkies must think selfish if they are going to live better and if their children are going to live better.
 
Selfishness is good. Selfishness is a kind of defensive mechanism. What happens to Kiasuism? Selfishness is kiasuism in another form.

An airport is not a destination

The flood of criticism against the Jewel to be built at Changi Airport as a game change is drawing Changi Airport management out in defence of this financial concept. They are still thickly in support of this concept, that you need more thrills and frills to bring travellers to the airport.

Just a simple question, if 1000 travellers’s destination is Shanghai or New York, or KL or Jakarta, would they change their plans and come to Changi because of the Jewel?

An airport is to serve leisure and business travellers. As far as business travellers are concerned, if their business is in Timbuktu, no jewel there they will still be there. Business travellers have fixed itinenary and will not be distracted by frills and funny gardens and funny jewel or shopping malls. The only people attracted to shopping malls are bored Sinkies that have no where to go and dunno what to do with their time and money. This shopping mall stuff is a Sinkie mentality.

As for leisure or adventure travellers, they would think of Chinatown and Little India. Would they think of the Changi Jewel? International tourists who want top end shopping have Paris, New York, London and Tokyo to flock to. Would a jewel make them change their minds? They want to look at real western models in person rather than posters and billboards. That is something the Jewel would not be able to offer.

But I can guarantee you that the first month on opening the Jewel will be attract a massive crowd, with Sinkies queueing overnight just to get in, just like the JEM in Jurong East and the funny garden at the Bay. After the novelty is over, it would be serious moments to think of how to recover the cost and the operating cost. Who would be dragged in to subsidise the losses if it is not viable? Think the Garden at the Bay.

Personally I think the assumptions that the Jewel can become a destination are conceptually and financially flawed.

All clear on the MCE

From my window the sun was bright and hazy as usual. In the distance, the surface road parallel to the MCE that was clogged up on Monday morning was a totally new sight to behold with traffic flowing smoothly like a miracle. The vehicles were staying about 50m apart. It is quite puzzling how on earth could the 3 hour jam could happen on the first working day of its operation and now everything is so smooth, with so few vehicles on the road.
 
Let me venture a guess. It was typical of Sinkies to head for something new on the first day of the MCE’s operation. Everyone wanted to experience this new wonder. They may want to be the first on the MCE or get their names in the Guinness Book of Record for travelling on the first day in the most expensive expressway, and now with the added 3 hour jam to remember. They must also be encouraged by news on how it would shorten travelling time plus the novelty, let the herd heading the same way. And the choke points on the surface roads only compounded the problem further. Maybe they should not have blow the trumpet so hard. This could be another reason for the big jam.
 
Today is the beginning of a new year and a new excitement. But there is no excitement on the MCE anymore. It is all routine. No need for red faces too.
Let me hazard another guess why this is so. Most of the office workers are likely to be back to work and traffic volume is expected to be high. But looking at the number of vehicles on this road, one wonders why there are so few cars on it. The no jam picture is likely due to the series of remedial actions taken by LTA to reduce the choke points and installing more traffic signs along the way, thus making driving easier. The motorists too will be more familiar with the new roads by now.
 
Some are still cynical and think that it is likely due to the large number of motorists avoiding the MCE altogether. With the greatly reduce traffic, sure the MCE will be like a free way for Formula One racing.
 
Whatever, it is a good start and people will gradually get use to this MCE and things will be better in times to come. Tomorrow will be better. Some people can breathe a sigh of relief that the $4.3b are well spent.

Snippets on the MCE

On Monday morning it was like the sky opened up. No it was not pouring rain. The sun was out there though a bit hazy. And the haze got worse when all the cars, buses, lorries etc caught in one of the most massive traffic jam in our recent history started to pump out more gas into the morning air. Getting stuck in this jam for more than an hour was considered lucky. Some got stuck for 2 to 3 hours, enough time to get to Malacca or KL.

Criticism of the most congested or massive congestion expressway was widespread, spontaneous and furious. $4.3b were spent on this great piece of maze that transformed a straight expressway to a crooked and longer one to help motorists to reach their destinations faster by 2 to 3 hours more. Some were shaking their heads that we need to spend $4.3b to replicate the jams in our neighbouring capital cities. Surely that must not be the intention unless it is done to show the people what bad govt is all about. Just hope it is not the outstanding contribution of our FTs.

Maybe the jam was a fiction of one’s imagination as some eminent motorists were claiming that they reached their destination in much shorter time driving through the MCE. Maybe that was the truth, the MCE was smooth flowing. The jams were on the surface roads after exiting the MCE and got caught by some choke points.

Several recommendations were put up by the netizens. One, since MCE is free and smooth flowing, the LTA should remove the ERP charges. But this suggestion is bad if no alternative sites for ERP are erected to recover the $4.3b construction cost. Actually there is no lack of roads for new ERP gantries. All the exit roads after the MCE are ideal locations for ERPs as these are the places that the jams occurred.

Some also suggested having more electronic signboards along the MCE, like those for car parks, to tell motorists which exits are free and which exits are jammed. Motorists would then be well informed on which exit to take to avoid the jams.

Some were wondering why the traffic planners and experts did not conduct computer simulations on the new traffic pattern with such major changes. If they have done so, more pro active measures could be taken to avoid the once in 50 year traffic jam.

One more recommendation, maybe LTA should reconsider the closing of existing stretch of ECP to give motorists more options and expressways to drive through. Driving in a straight expressway must be shorter than driving through a crooked one. This principle must be made know to the road designers so that in future when they design expressways they would not attempt anything crooked.

Those who were stuck in taxis in the jams are asking the LTA for a refund as the $16 fare could go up to $50 or $80. Can refund or not? They must be paying for sitting on the most expensive expressway in the world.

There is no need to worry about complaints that the MCE would become a white elephant if the closed section of the ECP is reopened. The MCE is already built and the money spent, water under the bridge. Just make a few explanations and life will go one. The final result must be lesser congestion when there are now two expressways instead of one.

What do you think?

Singapore becoming a failed state

Don’t get me wrong, this city will still be a glittering jewel in the 3^rd World. It will have the finest buildings, infrastructure and funny gardens and shopping malls where only very rich govts have the money to build. It will have all the trimmings of a world class metropolis. But it will fail the Singaporeans, the citizens of the island. The city state will be owned by foreigners and for the good and interests of the foreigners. The Singaporeans, I like to call them Sinkies, as they are sinking everyday to a lower level without knowing, will become the nuts and bolts of the glittering mess. More Sinkies are encouraged to product more babies for the Singapore Matrix.

Glance at any of the fine living or lifestyle media, at the main media, at the bill boards, you will not believe you are in an Asian city. All the handsome and beautiful people featured are Europeans. Even buying a home, you will see European models as the lifestyle choice. And more and more of the high end homes are now homes of the world’s rich and famous.

In the corporate world, the top jobs often ended with a foreigner sitting on it. The top management are increasingly filled by foreigners, in public offices or in private companies. Our parks and recreation establishments are run by foreigners as if no locals are up to it. Compare to Resort World which is an international organisation with an international market, they are confident that their locals are good enough to helm the company. They have foreigners but as technicians, the technical and professional people, not the top management.

How many of our local MNCs or govt departments really need foreigners to helm the organisations when a local will do? Do the foreigners make that much of a difference especially in an industry when the customers are local? And we have fake locals in the forms of PRs and new citizens to give the impression that they are one of us and deserved to be paid the millions from our money while Sinkies are not. Some citizens are so sore over this that they are calling this game change traitorous, a selling out of Sinkie interests.

And one is not far from the truth to say that more than 50% of the residents in the island are now foreigners. And if one is to include the new citizens, the original Sinkies are an absolute minority and will soon need affirmative actions to protect their right to live in this island.

Singapore is morphing into a failed state to the Sinkies. It is only a matter of time when the island is fully owned and occupied by foreigners and owning all the great and glittering infrastructure and the island. It is a great economic success, a great infrastructure and architecture wonders for the foreigners and a few elite. The rest of the Sinkies, if they are still around, will be turned into serfs of foreigners. They will lose ownership of their home island. This will be the great and sorrowful transformation of modern Singapore, a transfer of ownership to foreigners with the helpless Sinkies not knowing what is happening.

Shall I wish all Sinkies a Happy New Year?

First time Kishore sounded so hollow

Kishore’s article in the media yesterday, ‘How to prevent a war between China and Japan’ gave one a little anticipation that he was offering some enlightening wisdom to a historical Gordian Knot. His recommendation was anything but a sign of lacking in depth in the understanding of China Japan relations and the history of the Diaoyu Island dispute.

The Noda govt before Abe put on a farcical act claiming that it was trying to defuse a nationalistic move to buy the Islands by Shintaro Ishihara, the Tokyo governor. The buying or selling of the Islands by any Japanese is offensive to the Chinese govt and the Chinese people. The excuse by the Noda govt to buy the Islands instead was taking the Chinese people and govt as fools. It was a national insult to think the Chinese did not know what the whole play was about.

This kind of offensive act at the expense of China was prevalent in the 19^th and 20^th century by Imperialist Japan. Such acts were committed over and over again to violate the national sovereignty of China and grabbing chunks of Chinese territories. The humiliating acts were possible at a time when China was the Sick Man of Asia, invaded and semi colonized by the European powers and Japan.

A renewed China that is good enough to keep the Americans from attempting wild designs on Chinese territories would not give an inch to a little Japan intent to keep the Diaoyu Islands it seized from Manchu China. And for Kishore to suggest that China would be pleased if Abe would to sell the Islands to any Japanese non govt entity would appease China must be, not being rude, patronizing and naïve.

The ignorance on China Japan historical disputes is showing. China would never give up taking back the Islands. No country with the military means would allow a weaker nation to occupy its territories. Japan can go on an arms race with
 

China, even with the backing of the Americans, it would still end up suffering a bloody nose this time. And attempt to start a war will see Chinese soldiers in Japan and returning the favour with Nankin vividly in the minds of all Chinese. Japan may want to commit to another suicidal defence of the main Japanese islands like in Okinawa and the Pacific Islands defending against the American forces. China now has absolute numerical superiority in all fields of military hardware and headcounts.

The game has changed. China is now not a helpless underdeveloped and ill equipped or ill prepared poor country. It has the full compliments of all the arms of a full fledged superpower and a massive war industry to go with. Japan can try to go on an arms race with China and see if it has the unlimited resources to do so. Even the Americans are bankrupting itself trying to maintain its huge armed forces and will be broke without having to fight a war.

If Japan is bent on keeping the Islands, it is a matter of when before China take the Islands back by force. There is no other option, no buying and selling of the Islands by the Japanese in anyway that would be acceptable to China. The only way for Japan to avoid a showdown with China is to return the Islands voluntarily and gain more goodwill and clean up its war debt with China.

China or any other country will never compromise on its core national interest. Diaoyu Islands are everything about China, about China as a respectable nation, as a superpower. There can be no compromise on territorial integrity.