‘According to former PM Lee Kuan Yew – and quite a few employers – it
was good to have brought in foreign workers to offset the decline.
“Over time, Singaporeans had become less hard-driving and hard-striving,” Lee said in a 2011 interview.
The hard-talking Lee then upset many people when he said that if
Singaporeans were falling behind because “the spurs are not stuck into
the hide”, that was their problem.
He described the new immigrants from China and the region as “hungry” – helped by parents who “pushed the children very hard”.
(Actually, Singaporean parents are often accused of putting too much pressure on their kids.)
Lee had often made known his preference for the entrepreneurial spirit of the Hong Kong people.
Predictably, some Singaporeans were angry about the remarks that implied
they were becoming lazy and ought to be spurred like slow horses.
One retiree said Lee was partly right: “Many middle class Singaporeans
are becoming spoiled and complacent compared with (their counterparts
in) some emerging nations.”’
The above paragraphs were from Seah Chiang Nee’s article on the decline
of top talents among the Sinkie breed. The article was addressing the
issue of falling talents in Singapore but the facts are contradictory,
and so were the comments. The superficial comments that Sinkies are
losing their drive to be world beaters did not make sense when the
parents are pushing their children to the limits, hot housing them to be
not only tops in academics by enrolling them in the best nurseries and
kindergartens, but also in many artistic programmes to make them all
rounders, the best of the best in everything. And their academic results
have proven that this is the case.
During my time, or during yesteryears, in every cohort of O level or A
level students, to find one with straight As is so difficult. Today, in
the many top schools, throw a stone and you will hit a dozen with
straight As. How can this be the case if the Sinkies are slacking, lazy
and losing the drive to be better? And the latest PISA test proved that
our 15 year olds are also world beaters.
Is someone talking cock or has his mind out of sync? But if you were to
listen to the 3rd World recruiting agencies, given a licence to recruit
foreigners for jobs here, they will tell you that indeed Sinkies are all
useless, no talent, no skills, no creativity and poor workers.
Unfortunately many of our foolish leaders and employers believe the
foreign recruiting agents and went along to replace the ‘daft’ Sinkies
with ‘talented and skilled’ employees from 3rd World cities and
villages.
There is a silver lining though. Though the title of Seah Chiang Nee’s
article is about the decline of top performers, this is only in general.
Specifically Singapore is very lucky that the top talents in govt are
not declining and in fact are living proof of supermen and superwomen.
Just take a look at the portfolios they are involved in, many have 20 or
30 hats to wear as advisers and helming many organizations, ministries
etc etc. They are the natural know alls, born to know everything, like
immortals. I think without this group of super super top performers,
Singapore would have gone back to the 3rd World long ago. These are the
few top performers that are pulling the country out from the rut, with
the help of 3rd World talents.
I am sure when Seah Chiang Nee said that top performers are on the decline, he was not referring to our top performers in govt.
Now what am I rumbling about and sounding so incoherent? My thoughts are
all in a mess, and I am all confused with what I said too. What is the
truth? Am I confusing everyone or is everyone confusing everyone? But
one thing is true, we have the most talented and well trained and well
qualified and ‘with a spur stuck on their hide’ taxi drivers in the
world, fetching maids and construction workers all over the islands to
amuse themselves and to have a good time.
Kopi level - Yellow
4/16/2014
It is time China learns and behaves like the USA
China is no longer a second rate superpower aspiring to be a superpower.
It is a superpower like it or not. The only problem is that China still
does not learn to behave as superpower unlike Putin and Russia. When
one is a superpower, it is all about behaving as one. Failure to do so
will be seen as a sign of weakness and will invite unending troubles
from little pesky countries.
If China is to put a stop to all its territorial problems with its neighbours, it must act like Putin and send a signal to the pests that it means business and don’t fuck around with China. But it would be better to settle this problem the American way.
How did the Americans get rid of the native problems once and for all to claim the North American continent as theirs? The solution was simple, wipe out the natives decisively so that there was not an ounce of doubt that they were in charge. The native Americans were finished, no longer a threat, no longer a pest.
Americans might have the advantage of a western media that looked the other way to the genocide of the Red Indians. Even if they did make a little noise, it would soon go away, be forgotten. The little bad publicity and PR is worth everything to rid the problems of the natives claiming that the continent were theirs in the first place.
China could learn this trick from the Americans and kick some asses. Make sure their claims to the islands in East and South China Sea is uncontestable, beyond any reasonable doubt, by whacking the shit out of the irritating pests once and for all.
Remember how the Americans seized Hawaii from the islanders and the other Pacific Islands? There is no room for being soft and niceties. Let the western media have a field day cursing and swearing as much and as long as they want. But China will have peace and no more nonsense from its neighbours and none will come scratching or wanting to claim any Chinese territories for good. There is no need to be bothered about western media. What ever China do would be wrong and would be bashed and condemned by them. Let’s face it, the western media and western powers would have nothing good to say about China even if China behaves like an angel.
20 or 30 years down the road, or 50 years into the future, there will be no more nonsensical claims from its neighbours, just like there will be no more Red Indians claiming they were the owners of the American continent or the Hawaiians wanting to be independent from the Americans. And to think that Chuck Hagel had the gumption to say this in Japan, ‘You cannot go around and redefine boundaries, violate territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations by force, coercion and intimidation – whether it’s in small islands in the Pacific or large nations in Europe…So I want to talk to our Chinese friends about this.’ This joker must be borne only yesterday and does not know the history of the Americans or how Japan seized Diaoyu Islands from China and how the treacherous Americans handed the islands back to the Japanese when they should return them to China.
China should tell Hagel straight in the face about the real America, the bully of the world. This is the way of a superpower. Would the Americans want to risk a nuclear war with China? The Americans have all their islands in all the oceans. The Americans can have their ADIZs unilaterally declared without consulting anyone. The Americans can have their Monroe Doctrine to claim the western hemisphere of North and South Americas as their sphere of influence and no European, Asian or South American powers is allowed to challenge their supremacy and domination over the western hemisphere.
China just has to do it, and cleans up its act in the East and South China Seas once and for all, if it is to be respected and feared as a superpower. By not doing so, any little pesky country would think it can challenge Chinese supremacy and claim Chinese territories as theirs. China must put a stop to such naïve abrasiveness and, be like the Americans, put an end to the Red Indian civilization, for good.
If China is to put a stop to all its territorial problems with its neighbours, it must act like Putin and send a signal to the pests that it means business and don’t fuck around with China. But it would be better to settle this problem the American way.
How did the Americans get rid of the native problems once and for all to claim the North American continent as theirs? The solution was simple, wipe out the natives decisively so that there was not an ounce of doubt that they were in charge. The native Americans were finished, no longer a threat, no longer a pest.
Americans might have the advantage of a western media that looked the other way to the genocide of the Red Indians. Even if they did make a little noise, it would soon go away, be forgotten. The little bad publicity and PR is worth everything to rid the problems of the natives claiming that the continent were theirs in the first place.
China could learn this trick from the Americans and kick some asses. Make sure their claims to the islands in East and South China Sea is uncontestable, beyond any reasonable doubt, by whacking the shit out of the irritating pests once and for all.
Remember how the Americans seized Hawaii from the islanders and the other Pacific Islands? There is no room for being soft and niceties. Let the western media have a field day cursing and swearing as much and as long as they want. But China will have peace and no more nonsense from its neighbours and none will come scratching or wanting to claim any Chinese territories for good. There is no need to be bothered about western media. What ever China do would be wrong and would be bashed and condemned by them. Let’s face it, the western media and western powers would have nothing good to say about China even if China behaves like an angel.
20 or 30 years down the road, or 50 years into the future, there will be no more nonsensical claims from its neighbours, just like there will be no more Red Indians claiming they were the owners of the American continent or the Hawaiians wanting to be independent from the Americans. And to think that Chuck Hagel had the gumption to say this in Japan, ‘You cannot go around and redefine boundaries, violate territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations by force, coercion and intimidation – whether it’s in small islands in the Pacific or large nations in Europe…So I want to talk to our Chinese friends about this.’ This joker must be borne only yesterday and does not know the history of the Americans or how Japan seized Diaoyu Islands from China and how the treacherous Americans handed the islands back to the Japanese when they should return them to China.
China should tell Hagel straight in the face about the real America, the bully of the world. This is the way of a superpower. Would the Americans want to risk a nuclear war with China? The Americans have all their islands in all the oceans. The Americans can have their ADIZs unilaterally declared without consulting anyone. The Americans can have their Monroe Doctrine to claim the western hemisphere of North and South Americas as their sphere of influence and no European, Asian or South American powers is allowed to challenge their supremacy and domination over the western hemisphere.
China just has to do it, and cleans up its act in the East and South China Seas once and for all, if it is to be respected and feared as a superpower. By not doing so, any little pesky country would think it can challenge Chinese supremacy and claim Chinese territories as theirs. China must put a stop to such naïve abrasiveness and, be like the Americans, put an end to the Red Indian civilization, for good.
4/15/2014
MH370 – PM Abbott knows
‘“Yes, we have very considerably narrowed down the search area but
trying to locate anything 4.5 kilometres beneath the surface of the
ocean about a thousand kilometres from land is a massive, massive task
and it is likely to continue for a long time to come,” Abbott said.
His comments come a day after he said he was “very confident” that signals detected in the search for Flight MH370 are from the aircraft’s black box, whose batteries are waning fast more than a month after the plane vanished….
“We are confident that we know the position of the black box flight recorder to within some kilometres,” Abbott said Friday on his trip to China,…’ Quoted from The Star online.
Of all the Prime Ministers making comments about the MH370, Abbott is the only one who spoke with an unusual confidence. Every time he said something, he gave the impression that he knew something more than what he said. In the above quote, Abbott is as good as saying that he knew the signals detected by the Australians are definitely from the MH370 blackbox and he knew where that blackbox is. And he also knew that the MH370 will not be found there, ie got black but no aircraft wreckage.
From the very first day he called PM Najib, and he was accused of jumping the gun, it came across that he had full information of what happened to the MH370. And he was so convincing that Najib even committed himself to declare MH370 sank in the Antarctic and the passengers were as good as gone. Maybe Najib is also in the picture.
Did the confidence of Abbott tell anyone something, that he had privy knowledge from some sources on the MH370? He appears to be someone who wanted to tell the whole story but has been restrained from doing so. For anyone who wants to know more about MH370, it is best to talk to Abbott or to listen to what he said or not said and try to read in between the lines.
I think he knows a lot more. Wait for the confirmation that only the black boxes are found but no trace of the aircraft.
His comments come a day after he said he was “very confident” that signals detected in the search for Flight MH370 are from the aircraft’s black box, whose batteries are waning fast more than a month after the plane vanished….
“We are confident that we know the position of the black box flight recorder to within some kilometres,” Abbott said Friday on his trip to China,…’ Quoted from The Star online.
Of all the Prime Ministers making comments about the MH370, Abbott is the only one who spoke with an unusual confidence. Every time he said something, he gave the impression that he knew something more than what he said. In the above quote, Abbott is as good as saying that he knew the signals detected by the Australians are definitely from the MH370 blackbox and he knew where that blackbox is. And he also knew that the MH370 will not be found there, ie got black but no aircraft wreckage.
From the very first day he called PM Najib, and he was accused of jumping the gun, it came across that he had full information of what happened to the MH370. And he was so convincing that Najib even committed himself to declare MH370 sank in the Antarctic and the passengers were as good as gone. Maybe Najib is also in the picture.
Did the confidence of Abbott tell anyone something, that he had privy knowledge from some sources on the MH370? He appears to be someone who wanted to tell the whole story but has been restrained from doing so. For anyone who wants to know more about MH370, it is best to talk to Abbott or to listen to what he said or not said and try to read in between the lines.
I think he knows a lot more. Wait for the confirmation that only the black boxes are found but no trace of the aircraft.
Any protection for whistleblower
Below is an extract from a posting in TRE attributed to WSJ online. I quote,
‘ (9 Apr) – A top Deutsche Bank AG saleswoman was placed on leave last month after the German bank found what it regarded as inappropriate communication between her and Singapore’s central bank, according to a person familiar with the matter, marking a significant new twist in the yearlong global investigation into the currency market.
Kai Lew, a director of sales at Deutsche Bank in London tasked with handling central-bank clients, was put on leave because the bank — the biggest currency dealer in the world — concluded that she had communicated improperly with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, or MAS, this person said. She is one of roughly 30 employees at nine banks who have been fired or suspended as part of a burgeoning global investigation into possible manipulation of currency markets, and the first in sales rather than trading. At the time her suspension was first reported, March 31, the reasons for the move were unclear….’
What if this employee is blowing the whistle on her bank? What is the difference between her ‘inappropriate communication between her and Singapore’s central bank’ and that of whistleblowing? If she is whistleblowing, should she be protected? Who should be protecting a whistleblower? If whistleblowers are not protected, who would dare to become whistleblower?
‘ (9 Apr) – A top Deutsche Bank AG saleswoman was placed on leave last month after the German bank found what it regarded as inappropriate communication between her and Singapore’s central bank, according to a person familiar with the matter, marking a significant new twist in the yearlong global investigation into the currency market.
Kai Lew, a director of sales at Deutsche Bank in London tasked with handling central-bank clients, was put on leave because the bank — the biggest currency dealer in the world — concluded that she had communicated improperly with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, or MAS, this person said. She is one of roughly 30 employees at nine banks who have been fired or suspended as part of a burgeoning global investigation into possible manipulation of currency markets, and the first in sales rather than trading. At the time her suspension was first reported, March 31, the reasons for the move were unclear….’
What if this employee is blowing the whistle on her bank? What is the difference between her ‘inappropriate communication between her and Singapore’s central bank’ and that of whistleblowing? If she is whistleblowing, should she be protected? Who should be protecting a whistleblower? If whistleblowers are not protected, who would dare to become whistleblower?
Singapore is no longer a Spring chicken
After 45 years of independence, Singapore is not a spring chicken
anymore but more like a ‘lau kway bu’ or middle age mother hen. It is
naïve to think that should there be a change in political leadership the
country would go into a tailspin.
The civil service would be there intact, so would the ministries, the police and the armed forces. The industries would be there grinding and humming as before. There could be a few exceptions that may want to relocate somewhere, we can say good riddance. But in reality you cannot unplug a business, pack it into a container and wave good bye. Anyway a change of govt is not going to shoot everyone on sight.
Our polity has reached a certain level of maturity, or at least the politicians in the opposition parties are also decent and matured professionals. If not then we are not deserving to be called 1st World developed country The politicians are not like corporal Amin or corporal Hitler that would go around shooting at anyone that disagreed when they came to power. There could be some changes in policies, in priorities, in directions, but nothing really drastic would be done to undermine the viability of the country and its economy.
The only thing that may see some major changes would be the excesses that the people are obviously unhappy with eg high ministerial pay, high inflation and cost of living, high prices of housing/cars, high population growth and influx of foreigners, high expenses that should benefit the citizens rather than foreigners, like the funding of foreign scholarships, and things of the same nature.
A new govt is likely to fine tune govt policies, reemphasise on citizen’s interest and showing more care and concern for the good of the citizenry. And whatever changes, they are going to be done or executed with much thoughts and consultations with the civil servants in the respective ministries.
Hey, we are not a 3rd World country with 3rd World mentality and personalities. The new govt, should they be elected, are going to inherit a much more stable system than the old inherited by the PAP govt in 1965. There is no need to reinvent the wheel or to blow up anything. It will be more like massaging and moderating and refining policies to meet the expectations of the people.
So, what is the crap about tumultuous changes and the irrational fear of things going bad instead of getting better? It would be system go, everything as normal with incremental changes for the good of the citizens by another team of qualified and experienced individuals, not firebrands or illiterate workers and labourers or the ah peks and ah sohs in the market.
The whole island is flooded with highly qualified tertiary educated professionals. There is no need to cry wolf as if the only decent and able people are in the ruling party and the rest of the people are sick, retards and duds. This is a lie the people are made to believe in. The ruling party also has a fair share of the same. The opposition politicians may not be immortals, but they are not demons either.
Singaporeans must have confidence in themselves, in fellow citizens to run the country for the good of the citizens and not for the good of foreigners or worse, be run by foreigners.
The Spring chicken is not a Spring chicken anymore. The new govt will be inheriting an ongoing system and infrastructure, an economy and all the ministries and the staff running them, and will continue to run them.
Kopi Level - Green. Thanks.
The civil service would be there intact, so would the ministries, the police and the armed forces. The industries would be there grinding and humming as before. There could be a few exceptions that may want to relocate somewhere, we can say good riddance. But in reality you cannot unplug a business, pack it into a container and wave good bye. Anyway a change of govt is not going to shoot everyone on sight.
Our polity has reached a certain level of maturity, or at least the politicians in the opposition parties are also decent and matured professionals. If not then we are not deserving to be called 1st World developed country The politicians are not like corporal Amin or corporal Hitler that would go around shooting at anyone that disagreed when they came to power. There could be some changes in policies, in priorities, in directions, but nothing really drastic would be done to undermine the viability of the country and its economy.
The only thing that may see some major changes would be the excesses that the people are obviously unhappy with eg high ministerial pay, high inflation and cost of living, high prices of housing/cars, high population growth and influx of foreigners, high expenses that should benefit the citizens rather than foreigners, like the funding of foreign scholarships, and things of the same nature.
A new govt is likely to fine tune govt policies, reemphasise on citizen’s interest and showing more care and concern for the good of the citizenry. And whatever changes, they are going to be done or executed with much thoughts and consultations with the civil servants in the respective ministries.
Hey, we are not a 3rd World country with 3rd World mentality and personalities. The new govt, should they be elected, are going to inherit a much more stable system than the old inherited by the PAP govt in 1965. There is no need to reinvent the wheel or to blow up anything. It will be more like massaging and moderating and refining policies to meet the expectations of the people.
So, what is the crap about tumultuous changes and the irrational fear of things going bad instead of getting better? It would be system go, everything as normal with incremental changes for the good of the citizens by another team of qualified and experienced individuals, not firebrands or illiterate workers and labourers or the ah peks and ah sohs in the market.
The whole island is flooded with highly qualified tertiary educated professionals. There is no need to cry wolf as if the only decent and able people are in the ruling party and the rest of the people are sick, retards and duds. This is a lie the people are made to believe in. The ruling party also has a fair share of the same. The opposition politicians may not be immortals, but they are not demons either.
Singaporeans must have confidence in themselves, in fellow citizens to run the country for the good of the citizens and not for the good of foreigners or worse, be run by foreigners.
The Spring chicken is not a Spring chicken anymore. The new govt will be inheriting an ongoing system and infrastructure, an economy and all the ministries and the staff running them, and will continue to run them.
Kopi Level - Green. Thanks.
4/14/2014
MH370 - The Mangosteen Puzzle
There were 4 tonnes of mangosteens on board the aircraft MH370. This has
raised some controversies and conspiracy theories on the part played by
the mangosteens in the disappearance of the aircraft. The IGP Tan Sri
Khalid Abu Bakar had to come out to kill the rumour surrounding the
mnagosteens.
The IGP clarified that he only said there were 4 tonnes of mangosteens and under more questioning that Johore did not have mangosteen plantations, he denied saying the mangosteens were from Johore but being packed in Muar. This clear a part of the puzzle.
The second part is that this is not mangosteen season. So where did the mangosteens came from? Malaysia or America, or China? According to the IGP, the mangosteens were sent to Muar for packing and then sent to KL to be loaded in MH370. He still did not say where the mangosteens came from. This mystery is still not clarified.
If the mangosteens did not come from anywhere, or if the cargoes were not mangosteens but stated as mangosteens, we could have a bigger puzzle at hand. Remember my earlier post on the mangosteens when I referred to them as a Freudian slip? Could the mangosteens hold a clue to the missing aircraft? Did the IGP know something more about the mangosteens than meets the eyes?
Got mangosteens or no mangosteens?
The IGP clarified that he only said there were 4 tonnes of mangosteens and under more questioning that Johore did not have mangosteen plantations, he denied saying the mangosteens were from Johore but being packed in Muar. This clear a part of the puzzle.
The second part is that this is not mangosteen season. So where did the mangosteens came from? Malaysia or America, or China? According to the IGP, the mangosteens were sent to Muar for packing and then sent to KL to be loaded in MH370. He still did not say where the mangosteens came from. This mystery is still not clarified.
If the mangosteens did not come from anywhere, or if the cargoes were not mangosteens but stated as mangosteens, we could have a bigger puzzle at hand. Remember my earlier post on the mangosteens when I referred to them as a Freudian slip? Could the mangosteens hold a clue to the missing aircraft? Did the IGP know something more about the mangosteens than meets the eyes?
Got mangosteens or no mangosteens?
We have no natural resources but people
We used to tell the world that we may not have the natural resources
like other big countries, but we have a highly trained and skilled
workforce. Our strength is in our quality human resources, highly
disciplined and highly educated.
This kind of statements is turning out to be a joke, obsolete. We have become a nation with no talents. We need foreigners to create jobs for our people. We need foreigners to help our economy to grow. We need foreigners to replace our daft Sinkies. And the 3rd World recruiting agencies said so and no one in the govt would stand up to refute such degrading comments. But it is not only a comment but they are turning it into reality by recruiting more 3rd World questionable talents to replace our real talents, tested and proven.
Tommy Koh commented that we should allow foreigners in to supplement our manpower needs, not to displace our own talents. The proclaimed ‘truth’ is that we no longer have any talents. Our strength, of having a highly trained, skilled and discipline workforce is a thing of the past. Anything got to do with our world class education system for this dire affair?
We are a dying breed. Without the foreigners to help us we are dead meat. We are like the Eygptians that built the great pyramids, the Romans that built an empire, the British that once ruled the world. What happened to the great educational system and top ranking universities here? Are they producing duds? Or are they producing foreign graduates to go back to their countries on graduation? If our talent pool is no longer our strength, who else or what else can we fall back on? On foreign talents, our saviours?
This kind of statements is turning out to be a joke, obsolete. We have become a nation with no talents. We need foreigners to create jobs for our people. We need foreigners to help our economy to grow. We need foreigners to replace our daft Sinkies. And the 3rd World recruiting agencies said so and no one in the govt would stand up to refute such degrading comments. But it is not only a comment but they are turning it into reality by recruiting more 3rd World questionable talents to replace our real talents, tested and proven.
Tommy Koh commented that we should allow foreigners in to supplement our manpower needs, not to displace our own talents. The proclaimed ‘truth’ is that we no longer have any talents. Our strength, of having a highly trained, skilled and discipline workforce is a thing of the past. Anything got to do with our world class education system for this dire affair?
We are a dying breed. Without the foreigners to help us we are dead meat. We are like the Eygptians that built the great pyramids, the Romans that built an empire, the British that once ruled the world. What happened to the great educational system and top ranking universities here? Are they producing duds? Or are they producing foreign graduates to go back to their countries on graduation? If our talent pool is no longer our strength, who else or what else can we fall back on? On foreign talents, our saviours?
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