tension continues to build up in the north

Khairy is reported to take his battle to Penang and using the same agenda, diverting the hate to the Chinese community, pitting the Malays against the Chinese. He is a dangerous animal on the loose. Though Badawi is a moderate and well respected gentleman, during this period he needs all the goodwill from all the communities. The way Khairy is setting the agenda and the terms of engagement, he could destroy himself and take Badawi along with him. And the Malaysian Chinese community better be more circumscribed, take a step back and do not allowed themselves to be cannon fodder again. Things can turn bad over night.

new era in singapore malaysia relationship

Singapore and Malaysia welcome opening up of two-way air routes By Channel NewsAsia's Malaysia Correspondent Melissa Goh Posted: 04 September 2006 1937 hrs Singapore and Malaysia welcome opening up of two-way air routes Malaysia and Singapore have both welcomed the imminent opening up of two-way air routes, seeing mutual benefits in such a development. The warming up of relationship between Singapore and Malaysia, and more economic cooperation and joint business ventures are the signs of change towards a new era of working closer together. And this is only possible when politics is removed from the equation of business and economic cooperation. Under Mahathir, this is not possible. And all his ministers, no matter how rational and pragmatic, would have to behave like chameleon, depending on the mood of Mahathir. Often they appeared clownish and outright stupid, making silly statements or reversing what they had said or agreed earlier. They have lost a lot of credibility as leaders of a nation by behaving or misbehaving in the public and in international arena through their unpredictable and unreasonable behaviour. And no thanks to Mahathir. Today, when logic and pragmatism and economic interests are key to their policies and actions, they have become their true self, behaving and acting as normal, predictable and rational leaders who talked sense. They must all thank their current Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi for allowing them to regain their self respect. Poor Syed Hamid and Rafidah were often made to take U turns and undermined their own credibility as if they did not know what they were doing. Now they appeared very sensible and saying sensible things that ordinary people could understand and not be shocked to their absurbed turnarounds. A good leader will allow his team of ministers to stand out as good leaders themselves.

a legend made

Legends are made of this. Just a little distraction from the routine posting. Tiger Woods made it 5 in a row after winning the Deutsche Bank Championship from Vijay Singh. And he did it after trailing 3 strokes going into the final round behind Vijay who hammered a 61 round course record. To recover 3 strokes against another former world number one is just too much of a fairy tale ending. This man is born to be great and he is unstoppable. He is not only charismatic, he is a role model for many to emulate, clean, honest and down to earth. He is no rogue like some of the other athletes in boxing, football or basketball. And not a naughty McEnroe. And definitely not a prima donna. What a great hero, and a living legend. And he is American, African and Asian.

the 'mao dun' of new citizenship

I still can't get over this 'mao dun,' or the controversy between the best spear against the best shield. We are telling the foreigners that becoming a Singapore citizen is good. On the other hand the citizens are screaming foul for being citizens. The citizens are saying that as a citizen they are getting a raw deal compares to a PR. So when a PR becomes a citizen, he is going to have a raw deal compares to his previous status. So why on earth would a PR want to trade places to become a citizen? Obviously when a PR becomes a citizen, he must be better off. Actually I just saw the light at the end of the tunnel. This welcoming new citizen thing is just a gimmick to frighten Singaporeans to buck up. For the govt know in their hearts that PRs are too smart to trade in their privilege position to become citizens and get a raw deal.

a great president charity show

It was a great show featuring our local talents, or that was the part that I saw. I missed the first half of the show. The poly students were great, and so were the girls from MGS. And so was Stephanie. We have a lot more talents to market if we keep at nurturing them and providing them with more opportunies to excel. No need foreign talents really. As for the charity aspect, the effect of exhaustion was obvious. The callers chalked up a miserable $340,000. The balance that made up the $4 million were from corporate donations. The glamour and novelty of painful faces were not pulling the heartstrings as they used to. Maybe over exposure had toughened the senses of the audience. If that be the case then we are going to see poorer response in future charity shows. Hopefully cynicism will not replace the genuine human warmth when staring at people in grief.

israelis must learn from singapore

According to Clement Mesenas, Editor at large of the Today paper, Israel should learn from Singapore to live in peace with its Arab neighbours. The first thing that Israel should do is to be more Arab, learn to speak Arab and accept the ethos of Arab, to live more like the Middle Eastern people. Israel should not embrace the western way of life. And Singapore was quoted as the shining example to follow, learning and have Malay as our national language. All Israelis must speak Arab as a second language. But he forgot that Singapore is also like Israel, embracing everything that is good from the west and eschews all the lifestyle of the west. And, Singapore is modeling itself after Israel! Horrors!!! I am amazed at the simple solution to the Israeli problem and that the Israeli would not take this road to peace. Stupid Israelis?

the british nightmare

Britain is paying a heavy price for its arrogance, the colonial master that knew it all. And today it is crying. It is living with a nightmare it created for itself. They must have regretted not taking the advice of Enoch Powell. The raids at all the muslim hideouts to flush out terrorists over the last few days are only skimming the surface. The problem has very deep roots and well spread across the British Isles. How could they ever uproot the terrorists living among them and who were locally born, bred and trained? For their generosity or guilt, they embraced all their colonial subjects regardless of race or religion. These same people who came to Britain for a better life are turning against their benefactor. How ironic. Or is it retribution for the excesses of their forefathers who ravaged the colonies and turned free people into British subjects, subjected to British rule? We are also embarking on a major policy change to welcome the world into our little space. Will we live to regret it one day like the British? Bringing a stranger into your home is a big risk. It could turn out to be a devil in disguise.