comcare has $500,000,000

the govt has given comcare an initial fund of $500 million. and this will be increased to $1 billion. now this is not a small sum of money to start with. assuming that there are only 500 families in trouble, comcare could give them $1 mil each and make these 500 families instant millionaires and very happy. or if there are 10,000 families in trouble, each family can receive $50,000 and most of their living expense problems will be solved for the next 10 years if they spend $5,000 a year. we are indeed a very rich nation and the money in comcare sure can help many singaporeans who are facing financial difficulties. if comcare simply close their eyes and give out the money at $50,000 a family, there will now be 10,000 very happy and grateful families in singapore. guaranteed support for a good, benevolent and compassionate govt. the fact that with so much money and nothing heard, no statistics to say how many have benefitted from comcare, it appears that not many people are benefitting from the govt's generosity. it will be good and timely for comcare to quickly hand out the money and show some figures on the good they have done for the people in need.

handcuff! an old mindset?

the thought of being handcuffed by the police or by anyone, is chilling. the deprivation of freedom and losing the ability to fend for oneself. a sense of helplessness. this issue has received some publicity recently after someone forgot to top up his petrol tank at the causeway. a criminal offence, yes. but the offence is non violent in nature. it could be an act of forgetfulness, or an attempt to cheat if one can get away with it to save a few dollars. and the culprit would surrender his identity card to be registered and can be expected to report to the police station or be served a summon to appear in court. would that be enough instead of handcuffing the offender and sending him by police car, escorted by policemen all the way to the police station? why is handcuffing an offender so necessary in a minor infringement of the law? can this practice be changed in view of the circumstances and the nature of the offence? i have seen young men, or boys, selling pirated vcds in makeshift stalls. they did not make any attempt to run when the police came. after taking down their particulars, they too were handcuffed. can the law be less harsh on such petty crime offenders who have no need to be violent or to runaway? they knew that they would be required to pay a fine and that's it. or maybe they did not want to pay the fine and be willing to spend a night in the cell. would there be a rethink on this practice of handcuffing minor offence violations? the law does not hang every criminal and neither does the law sentence everyone to imprisonment.

the nccs' proposal

the nccs' proposal to make all singaporeans pay $300 instead of $100 for entering the casino is pure arrogance and selfish interest. if they want to make their believers pay why must they drag in all the non believers and people of other religions into their scheme? for many years, religious groups and other non govt organisations have been imposing their values and beliefs on innocent singaporeans without the public knowing what hits them. they have been articulating, canvassing, pressurising and influencing public policies and decisions and have got away with them at the expense of the ignorant masses. the public must stand up to such arrogance and abuses of privilege positions to affect their lives and to their detriment. they must not allow any interest group, for whatever preconceived values and ideas and beliefs, to dictate policies to affect them without their consent. it is an infringement of the freedom and rights of the individuals and the citizens. the message must be clear. no interest group, no matter what their guises, can be allowed to dictate things that affect people outside the group.

the opposition is coming to town

a big battle will be fought between the opposition and the pap in this coming general election. it can never be a better time for the opposition to make a dent against the pap. a new leader at the helm, a new team, social unhappiness, questionable policies that affect the people badly, will make a difference to the result this time round. the opposition so far can be seen to be able to put up a credible team to contest a grc. whether there are more decent and respectable candidates in their drawers is still unknown. but sylvia lim and a few of the new faces are credible enough to contest and win a grc. provided they do not try to crash against a solid wall. and no stupid cranks. on the side of pap, one can easily count a handful of weak ministers, the fading stars, that will be easier target to strike. not george yeo in aljunid. george is still quite a respectable leader and has many good years to go. the opposition would have to strategise their battle carefully and hit at the weakest grc to gain that sought after comparative advantage. it will be healthier for the politics of the island if a couple of grcs can be won by the opposition.

the govt is listening

there is a thread in the ypap forum asking 'does the govt listen?' i think it is listening. or at least in some places. take for instance the nkf issue. it listens and it acts. though the public may still be angry and accuses the govt of acting too slowly and taking too long to disclose its finding, it listens. then the people's unhappiness with the astronomical cost of car ownership. so the coes and prices of cars are coming down to facilitate ownership, but the people must still pay for usage. then the public cannot complain about high car prices. but still not low enough. those days when a second hand car can be had for $3,000 or a new ford escort for $5,600 when a fresh graduate's salary was $1,300. and the people's complain that the govt is treating the foreigners better than singaporeans. so foreigners now will not be subsidised for medical fee at govt polyclinics. govt hospital subsidies will also be cut. and this will affect prs too. but the cost of singaporeans using medical facilities still remain the same. with the economy not doing so well the govt is setting up comcare and workfare to help the people. on the other hand the govt is doing so well with their investments that it is willing to share the profits with the people. and buangkok station is opening! but this one got nothing to do with the govt listening. it is a business decision. then, does the govt listen? in many areas it still chooses to close its ears, eg cpf, public transport fares, hdb prices, foreign talents....maybe i amend this. it is listening but not responding or not changing its policies or rulings.

mandarin as second language

some chinese singaporeans find this language very difficult to study. and some parents and their children suffered because of this and led to them migrating overseas. there are many reasons why the learning of this language is difficult to some and easy to others. i will just discuss on the economic usefulness of this language. in european countries, the goal is to acquire at least two or three languages for economic reasons. english, french, spanish or even mandarin. they called the language chinese language. for those who have an interest in a language, like a hobby, or for selfish economic interest, the learning of another language becomes that much easier. yes, learning chinese can also be easy for those who want to learn it. there are a few hundred thousand south koreans enrolled full time in chinese schools in china, in primary and secondary schools, just to be proficient in a language which they find it economically useful in the future. learning chinese, a foreign language is definitely not an emotinal choice but a practical one. in singapore, and strangely among some of the chinese, learning mandarin/chinese language, is also an emotional and painful one. the singapore chinese find it so difficult and tortuous, and not useful to learn the chinese language. some are contented and would like to stick to just knowing their dialects, which they deemed as good enough. and mandarin is a foreign language. the other races too did not want to learn chinese, could not see any need for it now or in the future, except for a very small minority. despite the strong encouragement from the govt and many years of govt policy to promote the study of the language, in a way, the study of the language is deemphasised to minimise the trauma of the children and their parents, and at a time when the economic advantage for those who wish to engage in china is getting more real. for the time being, learning mandarin is not attractive to some singapore chinese and to the other races, some for personal and emotional reasons. will there be a revival of interest to learn the language? though some statistics from the ministry of education have shown an increase among the chinese to take higher chinese, there is still no great influx of students for this subject. the reasons for learning a language are many, economic, personal, emotional, ethnic etc. whatever, it is a personal choice and decision to make. some will make a conscious decision based on their own assumptions and the value of the language. some will not think about it and let things happened. some will take a bet, some will hedge, some will just watch and would not play.

press freedom and simpleminded singaporeans

in today's straits time forum there were a few exchanges of letters on the issue of press freedom. one singaporean was so happy with our state of affair and would not mind having no press freedom. he simply accepted choktong's statement that press freedom did not necessarily equate to good government. another forumer rebutted him rightly that a free press does not necessarily lead to bad govt. likewise, a controlled press can be badly abused by a bad govt. the equation is not simply no press freedom equals good govt and press freedom equals bad govt. when there is bad govt and a controlled press, the badness can be very oppressive. the points should be responsible press and responsible govt. don't go for half baked options and be happy with it. some singaporeans are really dull and easily contented.