Blinkymummy

Construction Worker Productivity

2012-01-27T09:04:00.000+08:00

RE: Fewer foreign workers needed if productivity improves: Khaw

This issue about construction workers productivity has been ongoing for years and decades.

Back when I was an undergrad (starting in the mid 90s), we were introduced to the issue of lack of productivity of the construction industry/workers in Singapore. I remember a lecturer commenting that 1 truly skilled construction worker (e.g. Australian, though more expensive per worker) could do the work of more than a few unskilled construction workers one commonly finds in Singapore.

Further back in the 80s, SG was dependent on Thai and Korean construction workers, which resulted in problems such as violent fights. These days, we get our workers from South Asia and China. Apart from keeping them entertained on their off-days, housing the thousands of workers is also a problem.

And it's not just us poor Singaporeans who suffer in the 'import foreign workers' equation. The foreign workers also suffer. Getting cheated by their agents, working overtime without getting compensated adequately, getting injured without adequate medical attention, getting housed under terrible living conditions etc.

Makes one wonder what is the point of giving BCA honchos awards for attempts at creating frilly construction industry awards, when such fundamental problems in the construction industry have not been resolved for decades.

Isn't it hypocritical to claim to have a "green master plan" to champion for green buildings in Singapore, i.e. being conscious about Mother Earth's resources etc, while throwing copious shovels of human labour (because human labour is so damn cheap) at the same construction project?

I hope Minister Khaw will make a real difference to the construction portfolio.

龍年快樂！

2012-01-23T00:00:00.000+08:00

새해 복 많이 받으세요!

Ai Pee Ai Tcee... Ai Dua Lyap N-n-n ...

2012-01-20T10:37:00.000+08:00

I think many people have misunderstood Ag Minister Chan's Chye Tau Kueh analogy.

To me, his point was clearly about price vs quality aka 一分钱，一分货, but many distorted it and instead argued that it was about:

(i) Affordability, i.e. 'we poor people cannot afford $10 Chye Tau Kueh'; or
(ii) 'Cheap and good' Chye Tau Kueh and ministers do exist; or simply
(iii) Kee Chiu Chan is elitist.

Affordable Ministers
Affordability is an invalid argument here, because Singapore, as a country, can definitely afford to pay our ministers multi-million dollar salaries.

(Come on, we freaking built the expensive Gardens by the Bay at S$1.4 BILLION and counting... This figure does not include the cost of the 100ha of reclaimed land it sits on, ok?!)

Many people have mistaken their own tight financial situation for the nation's financial health. As a nation, we definitely can pay our leaders high, or even higher, salaries.

Also, it's not as if Singaporeans will be paying less taxes after the 1/3 ministerial pay cuts. Neither would the pay cuts be redistributed to all Singaporeans. See my point? Nothing to do with whether Singapore can 'afford' to pay high salaries.

'Cheap and Good' Ministers
As for those of us who believe there are enough capable people out there, who will:

(a) wholeheartedly take up a minister's job,

(b) at a starting pay of under S$1mil, and

(c) put up with the crazy scrutiny and criticism from everyone and anyone,

I think such thoughts are a clear sign of delusion.

Just because you can find 1 'Cheap and Good' candidate, doesn't mean you can find enough of them to fill the Cabinet, and for the years to come.

Before you go all ballistic about the spirit of public service and how that means one should not be drawing high salaries, please be reminded that while not getting paid for her relentless and selfless efforts, Mother Teresa didn't have to publicly account for her causes or work. She didn't have to explain why she had chosen to feed/ tend to these mouths and not help them in other ways or at all. Nor did she have to justify her choice of beneficiaries, e.g. which nationalities, race, illness types, etc. She just did the work she thought was necessary, and chose to invest herself in it.

Net Result of Succumbing to Demands for Ministerial Pay Cut
I believe that paying our minister less, while expecting more, is a slippery down slope slide.

The new pay, as it stands now, together with this new wave of extreme criticism and scrutiny by the public, will end up attracting the following:

(1) Not-the-best people from the private sector

Pay is not the best indicator of talent, but let's see who earns more than our ministers anyway.

Hmmm... Let's see... Oh wow... Former CEO MRT, Saw, made more than the revised minsters' pay. She made S$1.4million (before share options). So if she's willing to take a 30% pay cut to serve as a Minister, does it mean Singapore has found itself a great leader with 'sense of duty and self-sacrifice'?

How many great talents from the private sector are willing to forgo their top jobs, where they would probably only need to answer to a 10-member board, and trade that for a job which subjects them (along with their family) to extreme public scrutiny and criticism by 3.x million people? What will happen after they have been voted out of this job? Can they return to their careers in the private sector?

(2) Second-tier top civil servants and uniformed officers (coz their retirement age is earlier than norm)

I'm referring to 'second tier' from the very top, i.e. those who are unlikely to make it to the top civil servant positions such as Permanent Secretary.

Maturing as Thinking Followers
I know this point is merely me being naive, but I'll say it anyway.

Even if we somehow are able to find enough people with fiery passion and right heart to fill the Cabinet, the incessant demands from the public will get louder, and eventually simply distract our leaders from focusing on their core functions (which are not clear to begin with). They will end up having to constantly manage these incessant voices.

This is not to say everyone ought to shut up. But it is also time for us to learn about maturity as followers. We probably need a 'Sane and Thinking Citizens campaign', but not under that name coz people's egos will be wounded.

It's great that more Singaporeans are interested in politics these days, but such interests should not be left unguided, unchecked and unharnessed. It's an entire craft altogether to manage public's opinion and feedback.

If not, we may slide into a situation where it's just bickering and mud-slinging all the time, while little time and effort can be devoted to getting the work done. And eventually, politicians will keep coming and going like a revolving door.

Just take a look at Japan. 7 prime ministers in the last 10 years, with 1 change per year in the last 7 years. Each change of PM bringing along a Cabinet reshuffle. How much time and effort are really spent on getting work done?

Don't say silly things like "Oh... That's just Japan. We will not be like that."

Who's gonna stop something like that from happening?
You, me, or the incessantly noisy public?
It's very easy to be destructive, but it's very difficult to be constructive.

阿公 ain't gonna be around to slap people for misbehaving anymore.
Wanna imagine a situation where we will end up slapping one another as we fancy?

Talk, no matter how pretty the words are, is so cheap.

2012-01-19T11:46:00.000+08:00

Mooiness was in Singapore recently, and came to visit us. This is the 5th time since we first met in the flesh in Dec 2005. =))

During our Bak Kut Teh lunch, he recapped how his dog, Snoop, had attacked the neighbour's dog and could have been taken away.

Mooiness said,"Snoop is great with humans, but he just doesn't like his own kind."

Immediately, I said,"I can totally relate to that! I love cats, but I don't really like humans. LOL!!"

What is 'Professionalisation of Hawker Centres'?

2012-01-17T15:20:00.002+08:00

Been wanting to write about this topic for weeks, but I have been distracted.

I remember reading about Minister Vivian's comments on that hawker centres ought to be professionalised some time ago. But he did not give details on what 'professionalisation' meant. It was kept vague.

To me, 'professionalisation of hawker centres' sounds like getting an operator to take over the hawker centre from NEA. If Minister Vivian had meant 'professionalisation of hawkers', then that would take on an entirely different meaning, but he didn't actually say that.

Currently, there are only 2 main parties in the Hawker Centre equation, i.e. NEA and the Hawkers. (Let's not talk about the cleaning subcontractors.) Under the 'new scheme', one could expect that an Operator will come in-between NEA and the Hawkers, probably via a bidding system, where the highest bidding Operator will win the rights to operate the hawker centre for the next X years. It's a different business model for hawker centres.

I've summarised the key milestones in the life-cycle of a hawker centre below. You can easily compare who's doing what before and after the new scheme.

Stage	Milestones	Under NEA	Under ‘New Scheme’
A	Planning	NEA	NEA
B	Building	NEA	NEA or Operator
C	Leasing stalls	NEA	Operator (Operator may choose to lease stalls to individual hawkers, or employ hawkers.)
D	Cleaning, Maintenance & Upgrading	NEA	Operator

Sounds simple enough. Not too different from a shopping centre operator winning the bid to develop a shopping centre on a parcel of land zoned Commericial for retail purposes, then leasing shop space to individual retailers.

From an efficiency-driven policy perspective, this sounds like the optimal solution to maximise the income revenue per hawker centre, minimise public manpower in terms of hawker centre management etc, while claiming that the 'standards of lowest-rung of foods in Singapore will be improved with institutionalisation (aka professionalisation, modernisation etc)'.

Is that all there is to the picture?

As with all types of policy changes, some parties will lose, and some parties will win. And sometimes, a couple of parties will win BIG, while many others will lose BIG.

See the quick summary of expected pros and cons from the perspectives of the various groups involved in such a change:

	Expected Pros	Expected Cons
For NEA	Devolvement of responsibilities to Operator Focus on planning and regulatory functions only Can claim ‘market forces’ and is likely to extract more revenue from each hawker centre.	Loss of control
For Operator	Solid business opportunities Strengthen brand presence by forming islandwide chain of hawker centres, food courts etc.	-
For Hawker	May be able to operate a stall in cleaner, cooler environment. May be employed by Operator	Faced with increasing rental obligations Loss of impetus to improve/innovate Loss of business ownership Loss of livelihood
For Consumer	Enjoy food in a cleaner, cooler environment	Increase in food prices Decrease in food quality and/or innovation of food
For Others	-	Subcontractors (cleaning, disposable cutlery vendors, food stuff and supplies etc) may be able to cut bigger deals with the Operator, but prices have to be lowered. Hence, smaller suppliers/subcons may go out of business over time. Kopitiam owners/stallholders will be facing direct competition from the new-model hawker centres, forcing them to either upgrade themselves and/or lower their prices. Eventually, the chains may take over to operate at greater 'efficiency'.

3 Inevitable Negative Outcomes:
Loss of Livelihood,
Loss of Food Innovation,
Increase in Food Prices

Akin to the price-hikes of taxis in Singapore, there is little the government can or will do when the operator decides to raise the rents it charges to the tenants (e.g. the hawkers). It is merely a 'private agreement' between 2 parties.

Rental increases will inevitably and eventually be passed onto consumers as increase in food prices. This is the government giving up control over stall rentals and food prices.

More so than ever, I would be concerned with hawkers losing their livelihood as a result of this new scheme.

If you pay just a little attention, every hawker centre has hawkers selling duplicate foods and drinks. E.g. There will be more than 1 drinks stall, more than 1 chicken rice stall, more than 1 Economy Rice stall etc.

This is competition. It helps to keep the prices of each food and drink low, while encouraging each hawker to innovate and/or ensure that his food is the best he can create. This competition is the reason why Singapore can boast of many different dishes of exceptional taste and quality. This spirit of innovation is not something you can remove, then attempt to replicate later.

This unique characteristic of the hawker centres ecosystem today also allows for more people to become hawkers, make a livelihood, and be their own boss. This is beyond a question of economics. This is a pragmatic question of survival, personal pride and freedom. Pragmatic management of emotions.

Does it matter that 3 out of 4 chicken rice stalls per hawker centre will never become Tian Tian Chicken Rice?
No. The point here is to give people a chance to try.

And when 1,000 people are trying to make Hainanese chicken rice, after 20 years, Singapore will eventually boast of a Tian Tian Chicken Rice.

Now, once the Operator starts to rationalise this creative chaos, there will only be 1 drinks stall, 1 chicken rice stall, 1 prata stall, 1 laksa stall, 1 desserts stall etc in every hawker centre.

Overall stall space will be reduced, while seating areas will be expanded. It becomes a food court. And I don't remember finding any great memorable foods in food courts. Food court offerings are usually plain and ubiquitous.

The Operator could either lease each stall to an individual hawker and charge him a rent (and sometimes also take a cut of the hawker's earnings), or employ its own cooks and workers (e.g. former hawkers and/or foreign workers) for each food stall, and centrally produce/manage the food types/quality/production, probably in a food factory in Woodlands.

The coveted 'efficiency' and 'productivity' will go up, but the total number of jobs created per hawker centre will drop drastically. Majority of the displaced hawkers will become unemployed, even after you exclude those who are employed by the Operator or set up stalls in the new model hawker centres. This loss, to me, is unacceptable.

I am not against the idea of new-model hawker centres per se.
However, this must be carried out selectively.
Certainly, not ALL hawkers centres ought to come under the new scheme.

One way to minimise potential downsides is to only apply the new scheme to NEW hawker centres, and not existing hawker centres.

Ultimately, there must always be a mix and distribution of new-model and organic hawker centres in any estate.

CCS: Speaking in English

2012-01-16T10:15:00.001+08:00

RE: Pay not a primary factor for PAP team: Chan Chun Sing

Before flaming him, you must watch the video of Ag Minister Chan Chun Sing addressing questions from residents and students in Jurong.

He makes mostly clear points.
Except I don't think he is in any position to speak for all his comrades in the Government.

Since Day 1, his biggest problem is his tone.
He never fails to sound lao lan when he speaks in English.
Like he still has the HDB boy's chip on the shoulder, when he has outgrown his flat and bettered his humble background decades ago.

I've watched and listened to Minister Chan speak in Mandarin on TV once. He sounded very decent. Almost like a different person. A caring person.

So, I'm guessing that English is a language which he has learnt via formal schooling and uses it in formal situations such as in school, at work, for go-getting etc. Hence, his brain associates speaking in English with the need to project an air of self-confidence. And when he thinks he needs to 'connect' with his audience, he adds a generous dose of Singlish and Singlish accent.

While Mandarin is an everyday language for him, which he has initially learnt informally and uses it in social situations where he is generally more relaxed.

Now as a politician and minister, he needs to be able to speak in English (not Singlish), and in a relaxed manner. It's not an easy switch. This takes practice. Years and years of practice.

Minister Chan needs to fix this Achilles' heel of his quickly. If not, people will be easily swayed by the better looks and softer tones from competition such as Tan Chuan Jin, who, though takes a lot of front-page heartstrings-tugging pictures such as posing with stray animals and tombstones, doesn't necessarily make points which are as clear/good as Chan's.

Form over function.
Regardless, form is important when one is dealing with the masses.
See public reaction to Minister Chan's comments on $10 vs $1.50 Chye Tao Kuey.

If you don't get your form right, anything you say is crap.
But if you pose for a pic with a stray puppy/tombstone, it doesn't matter at all that you are not making any policy changes. They will still adore you.

This is our future leader in training. Watch him develop himself into our future PM... Maybe not the next PM... But one in the future.

I have a dilemma...

2012-01-13T15:14:00.001+08:00

You must help me with this one, ok?

I have a black bedsheet which I have been using for the past 6 years. I like it very much coz it's just plain black and smooth to the touch. I can't seem to be able to find it in the stores anymore.

After earlier this year, I noticed a couple of small 'L'-shaped tears in the bedsheet. About 1cm by 1cm. Nothing too drastic. I stitched them up with black thread and that was it.

Then more of such tears started to appear. And I began to realise that they were at Blinky's preferred corners of the bed. Must be his claws.

After a while, the bedsheet began to look quite stitched up.
Which is kind of cute, but I am totally coloured by my love for the black bedsheet, the cause of the problem (Blinky), and the fact that I cannot find black bedsheets for sale.

My question is: At which point do I decide that 'it's time to let it go'?

Talk Talk Talk

2012-01-11T10:59:00.003+08:00

Introvert: I'd rather have no conversation, than poor conversations.

Extrovert: I'd rather have ANY conversations, than no conversation.

Some people are simply desperate for social interaction. I believe it has to do with the addiction to the 'high' one gets when engaging in social interaction. It can be reduced to mere hormone production.

This desperation, in turn, contributes to the problem of poor quality conversations.

Low Pay = Passion + Heart?

2012-01-05T10:17:00.001+08:00

"Eric Chiang, head of a wholesale business, said:

"People who want to go into the public service, I think apart from the pay, it is the passion and heart for the people. So frankly speaking, even if it's a 38 per cent (cut) for the PM, for those who have the heart, perhaps they will even settle for less.""

Source: Channelnewsasia

"Please do not think, for one moment, that you are entitled to receive a high lump sum of pay just because you are serving for the people of Singapore.

If you were truly so altruistic, you would be accepting a minimal sum of money to just get by."
~ a Singaporean male, who graduated from Imperial College,

commenting on Senior Minister of State Grace Fu's Facebook post.

Source: Grace Fu's Facebook Wall

LOL! These people are hoping for monks to be running their country!

You wanna pretend that by cutting ministers' pay, that 'things will improve'? That the same people and/or future politicians/ministers will have 'passion and heart for the people'?

Just look at the hard truths in the rest of the world. In other countries, politicians are paid far less than ours. Are they any more 'passion and heart for the people'?

This entire unhappiness with and distrust of the ruling party situation has gotten out of hand.
What exactly is the point of electing someone whom you are unhappy with and unable to trust, then punishing him for being 'imperfect' by cutting his pay drastically?
Nah! Take that!! HAHA! 活该!

What kind of sick mentality is that?!
Whatever happened to the sole intention of electing this person in the first place, i.e. to get the job done?

Even the ruling party is reacting to such strong emotions by holding the PAP mega sale at 36+% discount. O_o

I mean, if the same PM and/or minister can continue to give his 110% to his job after a salary cut of 36%, he is sending out a terrible message that he has been over-charging Singapore for the past few years. This is a terrible mistake.

Everyone just needs to calm down, and realise that it is not the minister's salary that is CAUSING Singaporeans' problems. It is the QUALITY & HEART of leaders, who are in fact elected by the people. To know whether a candidate has quality and heart, takes time. A lot of time.

And to get the right leaders into office, the people must first learn and be clear about what kind of Singaporean society they want, then vote for people who will help to fulfill that vision. This means the people have to spend time and energy to keep up with local politics and participate in local discourse. Most importantly, we must get to know the leaders better.

If majority of voters simply refuses to work at this (to find a way to identify what a good leader is), yet wanna complain, and shoot their votes from the hip every 5 years, then we will all have to suffer the ugly side of democracy, which no modern person wishes to talk about, i.e. an unfortunate election result that is created by rash unthinking masses.

The Conversationalist

2012-01-03T17:33:00.000+08:00

"The only basis for a civilised conversation between two people was to treat each other with mutual respect.
It is pointless otherwise."

Guess who said the above?

I have come to realise that there are very few people who are capable of engaging in a civilised conversation. You may not wish to believe so, but it's more likely than not that you are unable to do the above. Simply because lousy and pointless conversations are the norm.

I don't know whether lousy and pointless conversations have always been the norm. And I hate to romanticise about 'better earlier times', when we all existed in 'simpler' lives and were running around hunting small mammals and eating berries off the trees.

What is a lousy and pointless conversation? You may ask.

Many factors degrade the purpose of a conversation.
Mainly, these two factors crack it: Insecurity and Ego.

I absolutely abhor conversations that degenerate into digging and competition. I notice that many, especially females, do this. They just can't stop at 'Oh! Your kid is in Primary School already'. They feel to need to ask which Primary School, then proceed to put down that school with 'I hear what's not-so-great about that school. My kid goes to XYZ school and so doesn't have to put up with that problem.'

And the more conversations you have with the same person, the more pointless and lousier they get.

Some who participate in such conversations love to euphemise their behaviour by terming it as simply 'being concerned' or 'just sharing'. No one will ever admit that the real reason is due to his insecurity and ego. They just feel the uncontrollable need to be superior to you, even if their lame example is saving $5 by buying an iPhone from some obscure shop in Tuas.

One may assume that an 'un-lousy' and 'point-ful' conversation would then be one which is full of intellectual content, jargon and citation of dead famous people's quotes and works, regardless whether the other party understands. But this is in fact simply another manifestation of insecurity and ego. The conversation is still about 'Me Me Me! Shiok Shiok Shiok!', and not about getting to know the other party, or exploring a topic TOGETHER.

And then, you have the conversation where one party only wants to talk about other people/things/monkeys, and refuses to tiptoe anywhere near himself or express his own feelings about anything. I'd be better off talking to Blinky and Tiger. At least, I'd get a genuine and personal response, even if it's a sharp-claw blood-drawing swipe at me.

Lastly, you have the great conversationalist who disbelieves everything you say. "Is it? Are you sure? Cannot be! I don't believe you!" He likes to exclaim. What's the point of having a conversation if you believe that I am a liar?

Hence, it is not an exaggeration to claim that the contemporary conversation is lame and unconstructive.
Don't believe me? Take some time to listen to and observe the next conversation at the pub, in the pantry, during lunch etc, especially those amongst so-called friends.
Avoid making the 'it's like that' conclusion.
Attempt to imagine that conversations could be better.

It takes intelligence to understand and practise mutual respect.
Similarly, it takes intelligence to engage in a civilised conversation.
And I am not talking about IQ. IQ is too common these days. So common that it's crass.

Is the World Ending in 2012?

2011-12-30T10:35:00.001+08:00

I dunno why, but many people are mouthing that the world is gonna end in 2012.

I'm cool with the world ending in 2012 or not, because I am surrounded by beings I love and who love me.

What about you?

Overheard in a women's hospital ward

2011-12-26T15:06:00.000+08:00

Wife was going through labour to expel an unfortunate stillbirth, and had been experiencing extreme pain for more than 2 hours at the break of dawn.

Husband appeared in the ward, with freshly-shampoo-ed hair, in t-shirt, bermudas and slippers. He was shocked to witness the scene, where his sweaty wife, with disheveled hair and legs spread open, was trembling, crying, and sometimes screaming in discomfort.

In his helplessness, he managed to say the following first words,

"Erm... Heh Heh... You look like you are shitting."

Everyone, including the nurses, patients in the next beds, and even the wife, went quiet.
...................................................................

Does one have to wait till a time like this to realise that one has married an idiot?

It is much easier to start a revolution than to finish it.

2011-12-19T10:27:00.000+08:00

I was watching Eric Schmidt deliver a keynote speech at the LeWeb conference in Paris, when he warned that in the digital age, it is “much easier to start a revolution than to finish it”.

It is a worrying thought.

It is always easier to be destructive, than to be constructive.
From big world phenomena such as war, pollution etc, to every day behaviour such as passing caustic remarks to your loved ones, friends and colleagues.

With incessant complaints about the ruling party in Singapore, and some people displaying 'anything/one but the ruling party' behaviour, I wonder if we, as the Singaporean collective, are starting something we do not know how to end well.

This is not to say 'let's not do anything' then.
But I worry about how 'doing something in a highly emotional manner' can go very wrong.

We need a leadership which can unite Singapore once again.
Unfortunately, I don't believe that money can buy us such a leadership.

Singlehood is Your Own Doing

2011-12-13T09:40:00.000+08:00

I posted this on my Facebook accounts, and the discussion was intense.

"There are more than 7 billion people in the world.
It's impossible not to find a soulmate and more.
If you claim you cannot, it's all because of you."

What struck me most was that while some singles supported the statement, all of those who vehemently had rebutted it, all are singles.

Their arguments range as follows:

This statement is condescending - Sounds like the elites telling the poor that it's all their fault for not working hard enough.
There is a supply and demand imbalance.
It's not that people do not try, but there are impediments such as geography, language, internet access, immigration policies, gender imbalance, family obligations etc.
People have too high expectations of their future partners.
Some people just need help - Hence, the existence of marriage agencies, snake heads and human smugglers etc.

I am liking this discussion.
Not for the personal attacks, but because this is definitely a sensitive topic. And precisely because it is sensitive, many avoid talking/debating about in-depth, limiting the understanding of the problem.

I must say through this discussion, I have gained much insight of these singles' psyche.

The starting point is whether any (single) person wants to seek a partner to begin with. We must agree that there are people who are perfectly happy being single. There are also people who don't mind finding a partner, but in view of the trouble one has to go through to find a partner, rationally decide against it anyway. I do not refer to these 2 groups of singles in my statement.

The premise of my statement is limited those who WANT to find a partner, but yet like to blame every one/thing else for their inability to do so. As such, the problem really lies with themselves.

These people like to claim that their failure to find a soulmate, in this world of unprecedented 7 billion population, is a result of every one/thing else's fault.

There is No Supply-side Problem
What supply and demand imbalance?
There are 7 billion human beings in this world, even if gender distribution is not perfectly 50-50, show me a society where all of the available 'minority' gender is entirely exhausted, to prove the point of supply-side problem.

Laziness & Cowardice
Many people like to give excuses for refusing to learn how to get to know others, choose a partner who is suitable for themselves (and not fit some perverted self-image or fantasy), and sustain + manage a relationship.

If one needs help for the 1st step, i.e. even to find a partner, then what happens later? Does he need help to sustain + manage the relationship?

You can only get teachers and tutors to equip you with the skills/knowledge for the big test, but you have to take the test on your own. Only then, will you truly own the results.
If you cheat and/or avoid the learning process, you will forever be ignorant.

Or in other words, since you are too lazy and/or cowardly to open your mouth, why don't you get others to eat your lunch for you too?

Yes, My Statement is Condescending
But it is only condescending to people who refuse to admit that this is indeed their own doing.

One rebutted that my statement "is 'elitist' in a kind of way, almost in the same spirit of saying, there are millions of ways to 'make it' in this world, if you can't, it's because of you"

I think there is a huge difference between 'making it' versus 'finding a soulmate'. It's much easier to find a soulmate.

Simply because the definition of 'making it' is always only pegged to rarity, e.g. top 1% of any community, population, field etc.

Meanwhile the definition of 'soulmate' is entirely up to how crazily difficult you make it out to be for yourself.

Love is neither Rare, nor a Pre-Requisite
One claimed that through the history of time, there are so many examples of people who have failed to find love, especially presented by famous philosophers and poets. I guess she is alluding that, as such, 'love' must be something difficult to find.

While it's an unpleasant fact to deal with, however, the fact remains that 也有很多条件"差"的人，找得到伴侣。也可以幸福。

'爱' is not really an essential ingredient to start a partnership. That misguided understanding is one of the many impediments which the single individual has created for himself. We have been sold too much bullshite and misconceptions about '爱'. So much that we have become addicted to the romantic 'feel good' misconception, refusing to let it go even though it's detrimental to our lives.

'爱' is really an outcome of the partnership, not a pre-requisite.
You will only really find love if you try to go through the process.

殷离练千蛛万毒手

2011-12-09T11:53:00.001+08:00

殷离 Yin Li is a character created by 金庸 Jin Yong in 倚天屠龙记 The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.

The story goes that Yin Li's mother regretted not having learnt the deadly skill named 千蛛万毒手 "Thousand Spiders Venom Hand" thoroughly, because it involved ingesting poison from spiders which would lead to horrible disfigurement. Yin Li's mother believed that if she had practised the deadly skill well, she would have been able to 'protect herself', mainly from the threat of her husband's second wife. Her husband took a concubine, who bore him 2 sons, because she had been somewhat disfigured by the Thousand Spiders Venom Hand and had later become infertile.

Eventually, the second wife bullied Yin Li's mother and was stabbed to death by the tiny Yin Li. To protect her child, Yin Li's mother entrusted Yin Li to a random old lady, and committed suicide. Yeah... That's sort of how it went.

Of course, her traumatic childhood gave rise to a rather insecure and emotionally-unstable Yin Li who started to practise the Thousand Spiders Venom Hand, as advised by her dead mother. All that effort, to 'protect herself'.

Why do I bother with this somewhat plain character in the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber?

Because I see Yin Li and her practice of the Thousand Spiders Venom Hand as a metaphor.

It's akin to how many females think they must have 'career' to protect themselves, make themselves independent etc because men cannot be trusted, other women are competition etc.

In the process, they make themselves 'ugly' and suspicious of others (men and women alike).

I'm not saying being able to carve out a career for oneself is not a good thing. Just like learning a wugong is not a bad thing. However, one has to sort out the intention for doing so.

What's worse was that Yin Li, given her limited 悟性 'potential', could not master her chosen Thousand Spiders Venom Hand well, while it turned her into an ugly girl anyway. She became even more insecure. She was a sweet and pretty girl to begin with.
何必呢？What for?

殷离懵练千蛛万毒手, 毁了自己.

Gabriel is a formulated Genius

2011-12-05T16:24:00.001+08:00

Overheard:

"Gabriel's parents have sent him to ABC classes, bought him the DEF children's book series and the GHI IQ toys series, fed him with JKL supplements, gotten him in MNO primary school, and make him sleep on PQR special mattress and oxygenated air at night.

This is why he has done so well, i.e. gotten into GEP and aced his PSLE.

I am gonna do just all of the above for my kid(s)."

Seriously, the reason why Gabriel has done so well is because of Gabriel's parents.
Because of their genes, their upbringing, their values, their priorities in life, their personalities, their commitment to and influence on Gabriel etc.

You can't replicate that, even if you had all the money in the world.

Not especially when you believe you can outsource parenting and educating of your kid(s) to school teachers and enrichment course providers.

Time to Review COE Categories & Priorities

2011-12-04T08:52:00.001+08:00

RE: Singapore to become a premium car market?

"High-end names such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are expected to make up for more than half of new cars sales next year, according to a Straits Times report today.

This is due to the lower number of certificates of entitlement available next year, which predetermines the number of cars sold."

There is a limited number of COEs sold each year. There are currently 2 main categories of COEs for private cars, i.e.

Cat A = 1600cc and below
Cat B = Above 1600cc

There are 2 glaring problems with the current categories.

(1) Cat A includes Taxis, which are basically commercial vehicles.

(2) Cat B is for a family sedan to a ultra noisy and powerful sports/luxury car.

If you are a potential owner of your only family car, you are up against 2 formidable competitors in both categories, i.e. the taxi-owner and the luxury car owner.

Both can outbid you easily coz the former uses the taxi for business, while the latter has a lot money than you'd ever imagine. Some (foreigners) buying their cars in this category are sponsored by their companies.

Questions to ask are:

How many families (households) are there in Singapore?
Break down according to Singaporean, PR and others (e.g foreigners), then again by Household Income.

How many Singaporean families own at least 1 car? At which Household Income level?
Create a distribution map using the family categories above.

Shouldn't the Government's objective to work towards say at least say 60% of all Singaporean families own at least 1 car? And help to spread this across household income levels?

The Singaporean family, headed by a hot-blooded Singaporean who has served National Service, ought to be the Government's first priority, isn't it?

Or does the Government NOT operate based on such criteria at all?

The more rare a commodity is, the more it ought to be shared amongst Singaporeans First. That is the point of a nation, isn't it?
..................................................................

PROPOSED: The Singaporean Family Master Plan

MCYS, or whichever ministry/portfolio that has enough clout, ought to study the Singaporean family/household holistically, in terms of its needs and aspirations.

If the family unit is the basic building block of the Singaporean society, then there must be a Singaporean Family Master Plan that charts out the quality of life this family unit is projected to enjoy in the years and decades to come, in addition to simply collecting 'hard data' such marriage/divorce rates, total fertility rate, household income etc.

And the gap between the level at which the Singaporean Family can perform in terms of economic contribution, social contribution, civic contribution, and even... political contribution, versus what the Government expects of the Singaporean Family to keep up with other priorities such as economic growth. Today, the Singaporean Family is just silently expected to keep up with the Government's plans in other areas.

Once the Government and the Singaporean Family starts to explore the Singaporean Family from this perspective, it will then be able to highlight the contradictions with other master plans that the Government draw up. Only then will meaningful discussions and debate take place to prioritise the different objectives and iteratively make amendments to all policies and plans, and to manage expectations for all.

(Acting) Minister Chan Chun Sing ought to take this opportunity to make a difference to his portfolio and his political appeal. Maybe I should write to him.

We're playing a game at home today

2011-11-30T14:51:00.001+08:00

I read this off a St Nicks' senior's Facebook status:

"We're playing a game at home today.

It's called Every Thing Has Its Place So Let's Freakin' Put Them Back Where They Belong."

Following that was an entire string of 'likes' and comments from what looked like other mums with similar experiences. I was hugely amused.

Two things popped out.
Firstly, it's the school holidays, i.e. kids are at home more than usual.
Secondly, you mean parents have to 'play a game' or 'remind' to get their kids to keep their stuff?

Back in my days, my brother and I would be so dead if we didn't put our stuff back to where they belong. Even if it was just 1 tiny storybook or cup or sock or pencil. And we did not hang around to wait for reminders and/or to test the boundaries.

My folks would not reprimand the maid (we always had a maid), and such transgressions would clearly and solely be our problem... with extreme consequences. *gulp*

In fact, I was so well-trained that I would spend a couple of holiday afternoons rearranging my book shelves. Sometimes, arranging the books according to languages, or the alphabet, or book height, or categories. Other times, I would be clearing out the old stuff. I don't think my mother ever specifically told me to do this. I just wanted to do it. Perhaps, it's because my folks do it from time to time too. Monkey-see monkey-do.

After a while, I began to spend the afternoons rearranging the furniture in my room. I also painted my room (and the rest of the apartment plus some furniture) with my father. Later, during my uni days, I would paint my dorm room and furniture, re-line the flooring etc, before every new school year.

I think nagging at the kids, e.g. to put back the stuff to where they belong, doesn't work.

Everyone ought to learn the concept of being '自动'.
What's '自动' in English? Is there a good translation for this? As such, if you were 'English-educated', how do you learn the concept of '自动'?

Making sure that the kids know (i) how to do so, and (ii) the extreme consequences of not doing so, is much more effective.

人，是贱的。 =))

6-days of Paid Eldercare Leave = Sucking Up

2011-11-27T09:12:00.000+08:00

RE: Public sector takes lead in granting elder care leave

I think it is ridiculous to suggest to mandate 6-days of paid eldercare leave, on top of the existing 6-days of paid childcare leave for children under age of 7.

It SOUNDS great though, right?
More paid leave! Who doesn't want that?
Best is to get paid, but no need to go to office at all.

Don't forget. This Eldercare Leave suggestion was made by a certain very very unpopular and 'uncredible' MP. She happens to be the only child of 2 retired elderly parents. Not that she needs to take leave to attend her parents la.

If this wonderful suggestion somehow gets adopted at the national level, this means a worker in the sandwich generation can take up to 6 (childcare) + 6 (eldercare) = 12 days of additional paid leave per year, in addition to her annual leave.

Say her annual vacation leave is 18 days.
In total, this person can take up to 18 + 12 = 30 days of paid leave per year for her own enjoyment and family matters. By including public hols, she'd be enjoying long weekends for most weeks in the year.

Throw in other typical forms of paid leave such as sick leave, maternity leave etc, and you won't be seeing your employee or colleague very much. Guess who's gonna be doing the work? Eventually, if you'd realise that if you can't beat them, join them.

Only people who are not clear about paid work objectives, and/or are desperate for (electorate) affirmation, would suggest (and approve) something like that.
.........................................................

Before you start to slam Blinkymummy for not being sympathetic towards people with elderly folks, read on...

A more intelligent way to structure such a suggestion is as 'Pro-Family Leave'.
This means you are entitled to take leave to take care of family matters, including taking care of a disabled sibling, troubled child, chronically ill parent, injured spouse etc.

Controls could include:

A maximum cap on days of fully-paid 'Pro-Family Leave', say 9 days or 50% of annual leave, whichever is lower.
A maximum cap on days of unpaid or partially-paid 'Pro-Family Leave', say 9 days or 50% of annual leave, whichever is lower.
'Pro-Family Leave' can only be applied to situations involving immediate family members, including grandparents and grandchildren. Adopted and step family members are also included.
All benefiting family members must be Singaporean Citizens.
Single parents are eligible for 'Pro-Family Leave'. [Please! They need this leave more than typical married parents.]
Employee has worked for at least 3 months.
First 6 days of paid/ partially-paid leave to be paid for by Singov.

The point is to be crystal clear about the objectives of mandating such paid leave, and for policy makers not to be trigger-happy so as to be popular with the electorate.

The Problem with Urban Redevelopment & Consultation

2011-11-23T09:42:00.001+08:00

RE: Rochor residents unhappy at lack of dialogue over move
RE: Were local groups even consulted about Bukit Brown plan?
RE: 市区重建局放宽管制准则
RE: Conservation guideline upsets shophouse owners
RE: Fate of 4 conserved Tanjong Katong blocks in limbo
RE: Not possible to conserve every former school in S'pore: URA
RE: BlogTV.SG: Historic Sites or Plain Old History?

There has been a recent spike in unhappiness due to announcements of urban redevelopment plans by the Government. Bukit Brown, Rochor Centre, Tanjong Katong, Buona Vista Swimming Complex, Old School etc.

As a former public urban planner and a 35 year old member of public, I see the over-arching problem as such:

Points of Contention	From Member of Public's point of view	From SINGOV's point of view	The Complex Reality
‘Changes’	What are you doing to my land/ property/ neighbourhood? Why now?	According to the relevant acts, Singov can, AT ANY TIME, make the following changes to any land/property in Singapore: Zoning - What your property can be used for Gross plot ratio – How much floor space you can build on your property Development controls – How tall, how wide, how many floors etc your property can be. Other controls – E.g. the look of your property (e.g. type of windows, colour of roof tiles, retaining plaster mouldings etc) << the legal term is ‘Conservation’. Ownership – State can acquire your property on a compulsory basis and compensate you. Your property then becomes State property, and the State can do what it deems fit with the property.
Public Consultation	Why wasn’t I consulted before Singov finalised and announced the plans?	You HAVE been consulted. The planning intention for your land parcel/ property/ neighbourhood have been reflected in the Concept Plan and Master Plan all this while… since 1998 etc. At every Concept Plan and Master Plan review, we exhibit them for you to give your feedback. You didn’t say anything back then. If the changes were made as an adhoc process, we followed the requirements of the Planning Act, e.g. exhibited the proposed changes in the notice board at the ground floor of URA Centre for x weeks before the changes were finalised. You didn’t say anything back then.	(1) Few members of public realise the difference between a PR exhibition by a typical stat board vs a Master Plan exhibition by the URA. The Master Plan exhibitions are not merely a PR effort, but are part of a statutory process to seek comments on the draft plan before it becomes a legal document. (2) There have been occasions where the Master Plan exhibitions were held only at the lobby of URA Centre, i.e. highly reducing the possibility of members of public chancing upon the exhibitions, and giving their feedback if any. (3) The changes to the Master Plan are: (i) Not specifically brought to the foreground in the exhibition and are instead presented as part of the new plan; and (ii) The individual owners of affected land parcels/ properties are not informed specifically at this stage. They are only informed at execution stage, i.e. after the plans have been approved and when the land is being acquired or enforcement action is taken.
Appeal	Who can I appeal to?	Back when you were publicly consulted, you could have raised objections to the Minister of National Development. Now, you can always write an appeal to Minister of National Development.	Minister of National Development APPROVED the changes to begin with. Why would he overturn his decision now? That would make his entire decision-making process look silly. But NOW may be an opportune time to appeal, because there has been a recent change of leadership in Ministry of National Development.
Further Appeal	If the Minister of National Development turns down my appeal, who else can I appeal to?	You can take this matter to court.	From what I know, few people have gone to court for such matters. Those few who have, have lost their appeals. From my limited knowledge of the law and how the courts work, as long as the authorities have closely followed what's required by the law when making changes to your property/ land/ neighbour, the courts cannot rule otherwise. In other words, if you wanna change the situation, you need to change the rules (law).

Being High-Handed
Some see the current approach as 'being high-handed'.

But do not be mistaken. 'Being high-handed' is merely an approach, a tool. Like all tools, it can wielded to do good and damage. It depends on the wielder's intelligence and execution.

I am all for 'being high-handed', but such an approach should only be adopted to benefit a significant portion of the Singaporean population in real terms.
E.g. If the government needs to clear 50 families from a site to develop a high-rise public housing estate for 1,000 families, I say go ahead and be 'high-handed'.

(Having said that, it is not right to clear the 50 families now, then leave the site vacant for 10 years and more before redevelopment. Or acquire a building for conservation and redevelopment purposes, then not doing anything different from the previous owner for the next 2 decades, before the building site is put up for redevelopment. That's just being unreasonable and kiasu.)

However, in other cases, there is no good reason to be high-handed.
Take the Tanjong Katong case. This is a situation where the authorities wanting the blocks to LOOK a certain way. There will be no quantitative change to total number of people's consumption of the area. Benefits of any qualitative change are subjective and debatable.

Most importantly, the owners were not consulted BEFORE the policy was approved.
In other words, the authorities are shoving this 'beautification' policy down the throats of the owners and expecting the owners to comply and pay for the look which the authorities want, while suggesting that a huge fine and/or jail term awaits those who do not comply. Anything that's just about 'looks' is highly subjective, and as such, should not be approached in a high-handed manner.

Being Euphemistic about being 'Open'
Owners are supposed to be taking care of anything related to their private properties. It's your responsibility to be aware of what's going on. It's your responsibility to comb the papers and URA notice boards regularly. And of course, all documents and notices are in only in English.

But if the authorities want to claim that they are in open discussions with members of public and owners, I would expect a updated level of care and due diligence in its execution.

Some owners can't even understand the English notices. Not to mention that owners are not informed of proposed changes at the draft stage, but only after the approval and at the execution stage, i.e. land acquisition, enforcement etc.

And, just because owners fight to protect their private properties and way of life does not suggest that members of public believe that 'the government owes them a living'. Perhaps the officers in charge are just not used to dealing with conflict and/or not having things their way. An attitudinal change amongst public officers, especially those in management, is necessary, so as to cater changing public expectations.

'Consultation' does not mean 'Agreement'
I observe that some members of public tie 'consultation' together with 'agreement'.
In simpler terms, even if the government 'consults' you for its plans, it does not mean it will accommodate all or even any of your feedback and suggestions in the final plans.

Also, from the authorities' perspective, any public consultation will lead to speculation of property prices, difficulties in managing public expectations, flood of 'unreasonable requests/ suggestions' as not all members of public are adequately knowledgeable in the fields of urban planning, infrastructure engineering etc.

Hence, from a cynical point of view, it is possible for a 'consultation process' to end up being merely perfunctorily, e.g. the information provided by the authorities for public consultation is highly limited and as such inevitably leads to a couple of conclusions which the authorities seek.

A New 'Decision-Achieving' Framework
The member of public should not be fixated on asking for 'public consultation', but instead ought to be fighting for is a new 'decision-achieving' process and framework to be woven into the legislation.

In other words, working with the public and/or the public's representative(s) for future redevelopment plans, is no longer a 'good to have', but a requirement by law.

The public and the political leaders have to first come to an agreement on:

WHAT types of urban redevelopment ought to fall under this 'decision-achieving' category.
Then move onto WHO ought to be consulted
HOW and WHEN the decision-achieving process will take place.

It's certainly not straightforward to outline the above-mentioned. But not doing it is a sure sign of avoidance.

E.g. It's very clear to me that, if the authorities wish for 4 blocks of private apartments to LOOK a certain way as prescribed by the authorities, and that the owners have to pay for this look, the authorities have to (i) formally engage ALL owners, (ii) before the plans are approved, (iii) achieve a majority vote for this proposal, (iv) set a date for completion of the proposal.

However, it becomes rather dicey when it comes to compulsory land acquisition of homes/ work places for construction of public infrastructure, because it does not make sense to cancel public infrastructure plans for the benefit of minority owners. In such cases, perhaps the 'decision-achieving' process does not focus on the possibility of rejecting the redevelopment proposal, but tweaking details of proposal to ensure a smoother transition for affected individuals.

Is this new framework gonna slow down the pace of urban redevelopment in Singapore?
Perhaps.
Most urban redevelopment projects take years and even decades from inception to planning to announcement to execution to completion. I'm sure inserting the new framework into the project timeline will increase it by 20% at most.

Is this new framework gonna reduce the amount of unhappiness with urban redevelopment plans in Singapore?
Perhaps.
It depends on the sincerity and competence of the authorities and members of public to participate in this process, the design and the execution of the framework etc.

Whatever form it takes, it sure beats what we are doing about it now. An evasive and defensive approach, causing many to feel left out and unhappy.

Cyber-baiting Your Teacher is WRONG.

2011-11-18T10:07:00.001+08:00

RE: Cyber-baiting happens to 3 in 10 teachers here
RE: 3 in 10 teachers experience 'cyberbaiting'

"Cyber-baiting works like this: A student will irritate his teacher until the latter loses his temper. The student will film the incident on his mobile phone and then upload the video onto the Internet, with the aim of embarrassing the teacher and the school."

Because cyber-baiting is premeditated, it is worse than incidents where foreigners beat up our public transport workers.

What kind of lousy upbringing produces such kids?!! I bet parents of such kids can't see what's wrong to begin with.

It's a jungle of 野孩子 and 野父母 out there!
The teachers are literally working with criminals.

If this is what the kids do to teachers, imagine what they do to one another.

Doesn't MOE have the responsibility to ensure a 'safe work environment' for its teachers?
There must rules, prevention, enforcement, and the big penalty stick.

Probably need to increase the capacity of boys/girls' homes in tandem.

No good reason to shrink new HDB flats?

2011-11-16T12:00:00.000+08:00

Rochor Centre is to be demolished to make way for the North-South Expressway.
Residents are offered new flats in Kallang, ready by 2016.

RE: No good reason to shrink new HDB flats

"Why must the HDB reduce flat sizes when the older, bigger ones of the 1980s offered better quality of life to balance the social, environmental pressures exerted on the shrinking average household?

There are no compelling reasons to shrink the flat size down to 91 sq m and sacrifice quality of life.

HDB should reverse its policy."

What is this guy talking about?!
Instantly, I can think of a couple of GREAT reasons to shrink the HDB flats as much as possible:

(1) Smaller flats = More affordable homes for Singaporeans
Surely you want to be able to afford your own home, right?
We are reducing flat sizes to help you own your dream home.

The money you save from the purchase can go towards renovating your new home. If you know how to, you can make your tiny home cosy and comfy for your family.

(2) It's ALWAYS land scarcity!!
How many times do we have to repeat this?! Land scarcity!!
This is even more sacred than sacred moo moo cows.
Smaller flats take up less land!

Can Arts School Students be Different?

2011-11-14T08:41:00.001+08:00

I walk past School of the Arts quite a bit, and notice that the students emerging from the building are usually in this school T-shirt, even those in their ballet gear.

And I have not seen any SOTA students with coloured hair, obvious tattoos, body piercings etc.

Of course, one can argue that these are merely superficial traits, but their absence got me wondering if conformity was a requirement of this Arts School.

And how that helps to achieve "the vision to identify and groom future generations of artists and creative professionals to be leaders in all fields, in particular, the arts, the School of the Arts will build on Singapore's unique strengths, including its multicultural Asian heritage and openness to local and foreign artistic talent."

I think 'Discipline' and 'Conformity' are very different traits, and should not be confused.

Sewing Pin found in Cathay Cinema Seat

2011-11-09T13:52:00.001+08:00

I went for a movie at the Grand Cathay yesterday afternoon. Halfway through the movie, I found one of these 3cm-long sewing pins sticking out of the seat.

I removed it from the seat, felt around for more, found none other, then decided to finish the movie.

After the movie, I went to the ticketing counter and asked for the manager. A manager with a Filipino accent appeared after a while, flanked by a couple of excited trainees (one of them seemed to be a young Korean girl).

*Manager approaches*

BM: Hi. I've just watched a movie at the Grand Cathay. I was in this seat. *handed her the movie tickets* And I found this pin in the seat. *handed her the pin* I think you should sweep all the seats, just to be safe.

Manager: Oh... *looking at pin*

BM: I think you should sweep all the seats, just to be safe.

Manager: *still looking at pin*... Thank you for your feedback...

I must say I've been watching many movies at the Cathay and this is the first time I've found a pin in the seats. So, it's not like it's a regular occurrence.

However, I am sorely disappointed by the manager's handling of the situation. She didn't ask if I was injured by the pin, she didn't place her customer first. She was simply stunned by the situation.

I just hope she took the incident seriously and swept the rest of the seats for pins as I'd suggested.

Foreigner Workers & the Draw of Casinos

2011-11-08T09:10:00.000+08:00

RE: Foreigners stare and shoot videos of bikini-clad beach-goers on Sentosa

Over the long weekend, we drove on Marina Boulevard, in between the Sail, MBFC etc, and the Promontory site, breeze shelters etc, where we saw many many foreign workers hanging around, waiting for friends, kissing their girlfriends, having a snack etc.

Then a day later, we see the above STOMP post on foreign workers hanging around at the beaches in Sentosa.

To be fair, plenty of local and other foreigner men who hang around the beaches gawk at and take pictures of the bikini-clad ladies too. Can't really argue that just because foreign workers are gawking, that these beach-goers have 'less privacy' coz it's a freaking public place in which they have decided to lie prone in very little clothing.

Regardless, I'm sure the rich and powerful people and entities affected by this phenomenon will find ways to reflect their displeasure to the higher-ups.

The policy makers will then realise that this phenomenon of foreign workers hanging around in the public spaces at Marina Bay and on Sentosa is an unintended consequence of allowing anyone with a foreign passport to enter the 2 casinos at no charge. We've always had foreign workers in Singapore, why didn't they hang around at the beaches in Sentosa earlier?

Because the casinos are the main draw. The hanging around in the adjacent/nearby public spaces and gawking at bikini babes are merely the sideshows. And this will keep happening at every public holiday.

At some point, I believe a decision will be taken to disallow foreigners on work permit to visit the casinos at no charge and/or to visit the casinos at all, citing repeated cases of foreign workers losing all their earnings and being in debt. When in fact, this is a crude way to cut out majority of foreign workers from the Integrated Resorts and their vicinity to preserve their respective 'enjoyment level' for everyone else. Relying on the self-exclusionary orders to achieve this outcome is simply wishful thinking.

I wanna see how the casinos will react to this, coz that will be a reflection of how significantly foreign workers contribute to the casinos' revenue streams.

Real Steel

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000+08:00

I didn't want to watch this coz I dislike wrestling and boxing... The concept of human violence for entertainment is simply perverted.

But Real Steel is not about human violence. It's about robots in the boxing ring, and how the robots are a platform upon which a pair of cheeky long-lost father and son began to build their non-existent relationship.

When Hugh Jackman isn't stuck behind Wolverine's fur and personality, Hugh Jackman can act.

The little Canadian boy, Dakota Goyo, can act... very well. It seems if one is not American, one must be an exceptionally good actor to get into Hollywood. And he is very cute.

And the robots... I was kind of holding onto my seat... in preparation for unnecessary anthropomophication of the robots... You know... The robot has some secret ability to think on its own, has feelings, wanna save his human boyfriend etc. But I was pleasantly surprised. None of that rubbish. Which is refreshing. Dreamworks makes good films.

The Man who didn't find happiness in Bhutan

2011-11-03T11:30:00.000+08:00

I came across a blog entry by a Bhutanese entitled 'To Mr. Khaw Boon Wan, What did you expect?'.

This 28 year old Bhutanese teacher read about Mr Khaw Boon Wan's comment on the famous Bhutanese Gross National Happiness, and made a response on his blog in English.

Some excerpts here:

"Those people you saw in the fields weren't unhappy, if you have gone closer you would have heard them singing and enjoying the social lives, perhaps you won't understand that. If you have spent a little longer time watching them, you would have seen and a woman with basket on her back and holding arms with several children coming with steaming food- we don't have McDonald or KFC. Then everybody will sit down to eat their lunch, laughing and joking, feeding babies, for over an hour- you wouldn't have had so much time to sit and watch I know, times means money in your country."

"If we start mining our mountains and lumbering our forests, we can become Singapore in a year but no matter what you do you can never become Bhutan. It is far too difficult. We shall be the last breath of oxygen on earth."

For those who have been reading my blog for some time, you must have realised that I am not a romantic. I am neither a tree-hugger, nor all warm and mushy about natural stuff, nor a proponent that we ought to revert to our peasant roots.

However, this Bhutanese's entry has brought to the foreground something we may all be blind to.

In his blog entry, he named the pic of Mr Khaw as 'The Man who didn't find happiness in Bhutan'. I thought it was brilliant.

The Bhutanese-Happiness is right there, but you can't find it. WHY?!

How do you explain 'Bhutanese-happiness' to someone who has never allowed himself to experience it, or thinks because he is smarter than everyone else, that such happiness has to be impractical and impossible in the SG context?

Even if happiness is presented right before his eyes, he neither sees it, nor acknowledges it.

That happiness is neither about money, nor singing in the fields.
That happiness is about the rulers and the ruled being on the same page.

That rulers are respectable.
That rulers are respected by the ruled.

You cannot sneak Tin Pei Ling into Parliament, and expect to remain respectable and/or to be respected.
................................................

** As of yesterday, the Bhutanese blog entry caught mainstream media attention and has garnered almost 100 comments from Singaporeans, mostly apologising to the Bhutanese for the comments made by our Cabinet Minister, and lauding the Bhutanese for his views.

The Bhutanese has also responded to Singaporeans in a new blog entry.

Still No Singaporeans First

2011-10-31T16:59:00.002+08:00

RE: New guidelines to ensure Singaporeans remain core of workforce

After all that posturing and gesturing... The government is still not giving us Singaporeans First.

Just a lot of talking to gloss over the problems. For example:

"Employers should make reasonable efforts to attract and consider Singaporeans for job positions on merit, and to train and develop their potential and careers," said Mr Tan (Chuan Jin).

You mean such a statement is gonna help?
Moral suasion is better than law? WOW.

And they are still refusing to budge on the issue of imposing a quota on foreign worker permits and talent passes.

If you are white collar, just be aware that nothing has really changed. The (foreigner) employer can still deny you of the job and/or your promotion by filling positions with his friend(s) from abroad, simply because there's still no Singaporeans First.

And filling those juicy positions will be a breeze, especially when the economies in the rest of the world are still in shitez. Many of your boss' friends are uber willing to come to Singapore, even at a paycut. Sure beats having NO JOB back home.

How are you gonna fight against the tide of the WORLD's talent pool?!

Of course, Singov is saying that if you feel aggrieved, you can go lodge a complaint against your employer. That's the theory.

But in reality, if you were not even selected for interview, how do you lodge a complaint? On what basis? Unless you have friends from inside the company, you wouldn't know why you were not selected, and/or that the eventual person hired for that position was a foreigner or of same nationality as the foreigner hiring manager etc.

Also, if you are already a minority in your department, lodging any complaints against your manager/company = career suicide. It'd be really obvious who had lodged the complaint, wouldn't it?

Such 'open arms' policy is great for Singapore and the rich, but not so great for you, the average Tan Ah Kow.

Telling you to work harder to prove your mettle is simply euphemistic.

Yeah... You wanna play fair too. You wanna play 'meritocracy'.
But is everyone in this employment equation playing fair and meritocratic?

Singov's latest attempt to send signals to employers is merely superficial. Yelping, but no bite.
Maybe this is the first of many more steps to resolve this problem.

In my opinion, if Singov is serious about its latest "Singaporean Core" concept yet wishes to stop short of legislation, it can still go beyond just talking. Minimally, Singov can call up the major employers of each industry to volunteer for a hiring practice audit. Then MOM can report the findings publicly, i.e. which employer refused to participate, which employer passed the audit with flying colours etc. No need for legislation. Just requires some will, guts, and effort on the part of MOM and the rest of Singov.

Or maybe this latest announcement is all there is to Singov's solution. Only time will tell.

But in the meantime, for the past few years and many more to come, how many Singaporeans have been denied of job opportunities?
Instead, they settle for some other lesser jobs. Or some have no jobs.

Still no Singaporeans First.

.................................................................

With that, are you sure you don't wanna fight to secure some advantages for yourself, e.g. by unlocking the value of your national service?

Or do you want the benefits but don't wanna fight for them?

SIGH.

Man Enough to Speak up for Women in Parliament

2011-10-28T14:27:00.000+08:00

RE: Singapore ranked 37th best place to be a woman
RE: Women MPs speak for the men as well, replies Grace Fu

Blah... Blah... Blah...

Let's cut the crap.

Firstly, Grace Fu should stop rolling around in the mud and replying to a sexist's comments in the newspaper forum. Just because you are an MP doesn't mean you have respond to idiots.

Actually, just because you are a female minister, doesn't mean you HAVE to fight for gender equality. That kind of expectation, in itself, is uber sexist.

Secondly, in any situation where there is inequality, incessant public rhetoric pointing out the already obvious inequality ain't gonna change anything. Everyone knows there is gender inequality in Singapore. We are ranked 37th best place on Earth to be female. Great.

It is simply tiresome to hear females fighting for gender equality all the time. It just becomes 'whining' after a while. The plot is lost and nobody is listening anymore.

The only way to achieving any equality is for the more powerful side to agree that equality is important.

It is more powerful for straight people to fight for gay people's rights.
It is more powerful for the dominant group/race to fight for minority rights.
It is more powerful for able-bodied people to fight for handicapped rights.

If the ruling party is serious about gender equality, send a heavyweight MALE minister to talk about gender equality in Parliament.

Not some kuching kurak attention-seeking male MP, but a MALE full Minister with enough clout and seniority in the Cabinet to pursue this agenda and make real progress. Now that will make Singapore history and progress.

The only question is:

Who is Man Enough to Speak Up for Women in Parliament?

Or are they afraid that their sexist male counterparts would ostracise them for doing so?

Or perhaps, male ministers simply do not believe in gender equality.

If so, how on Earth can we reasonably expect 1 x Grace Fu (+ a couple of female MP sidekicks) to fight for gender equality or even champion any female causes with any sliver of success?

Wishful and wasteful thinking.
...............................................................

Strategically, if male MPs could stop for a moment to think about this issue, appearing to champion gender equality would endear yourselves to more than 50% of the voters, across ethnic lines, social class, age etc.

Will this piss off male voters?
That will depend on how skillful you are in pitching the message.

It just takes 1 male politician to do this, and the rest will follow.
Maybe that's why they are all holding their breaths. Nobody wants to be the first 'gu-niang'.
This is a hilarious thought. I cannot stop laughing. LOL!

'No Alcohol Zone' is merely a Palliative Solution.

2011-10-27T09:21:00.003+08:00

RE: MP wants 'no-alcohol zone' around Robertson Quay
RE: PAP MP Indranee wants no alcohol zone near Zouk
RE: 'High' life shattered by drunk party goers

"MS INDRANEE Rajah wants to set up a "no-alcohol zone" around Robertson Quay.

This comes after the MP of Tanjong Pagar received feedback from residents at Rivergate condominium about drunken revelry.

Ms Rajah was planning to visit the area, which is a five-minute walk away from Zouk, early this morning to determine the severity of the issue along with 30 other people."

TNP PICTURE: Jonathan Choo

BACKGROUND CONSIDERATIONS

Before we get started, I wanna highlight a couple of background points:

(1) While I think it's great that MP Indranee speaks up for her constituents who are living in Rivergate, I cannot help but to wonder about:

(i) the number of Singaporeans staying at Rivergate, and
(ii) whether the complainants are Singaporean citizens.

This in turn points us to the nagging issue of whether MPs ought to be responding to complaints/appeals from non-citizens. Because it is the citizens who have voted for the MPs, not PRs, not foreigners.
What is the standing policy within Singov on MPs appealing on behalf of non-citizens?
Is there an MP's code of conduct which governs who they should be speaking up for?

(2) I wonder if MPs ought to view 'peace' and 'being clear of unsightly people/things/activities' within expensive residential neighbourhoods as more essential than the same phenomena within common folks' HDB estates.

Read such sentiments on this very issue via a local discussion forum:

Qn: "my HDB block also have people loiter, drink, smoke, si ginna play football etc. Huai moi MP neh take interest?"

(Translation: There are people who loiter, drink, smoke etc at my HDB flat block, and children playing football too. Why doesn't my MP take interest in these issues?)

Ans: "because you are not rich"
.............................................................................................

THE PROBLEM

Assuming all's fair and right, i.e. the complainants were ALL Singaporean citizens, and MPs respond to all peace-disturbing complaints regardless of how atas the neighbourhoods are, now let's study the problem raised about Zouk.

Simply put, Zouk is very popular and its drunk party-goers are causing dis-amenities to the residents nearby. These party-goers puke and litter on the public pavement/bridge and into the river between Zouk and the nearby high-end residential developments. They hang around late into the night, and some make noise and mischief.

Btw, I love Zouk and have ever been a 'Zoukette', if anyone still uses that term these days, i.e. going to Zouk up to thrice per week over a sustained period (e.g. years).

However, my other experiences as a Real Estate student, window-shopper, and former public servant scream out to me that Zouk indeed poses many dis-amenities to its quiet and tidiness-seeking neighbours, especially the ones occupying recently purchased expensive real estate.

During my undergraduate industrial attachment to one of the condominiums nearby, I was told by the property manager that the heavy bass of Zouk's sound system can be heard, even after Zouk had spent copious amounts of money to insulate its premises. Complaints flooded the management office, and then to the authorities. That was back in 1998, when there were only a couple blocks of residential apartments near Zouk.

10 years later, the authorities have given more approvals for residential units to be developed in the same area. Just by eye-balling the developments, the number of dwelling units in that area must have gone up by 10 times. However, this so-called Zouk problem has not been resolved.

In early 2011, a tenant in Rivergate tells me that her family can hear Zouk from the inside of their apartment on the 20+ floor, even with the windows shut, especially on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

And now, you have this reflection by MP Indranee Rajah.

MP Indranee's solution to this problem?
A 'no alcohol zone' in that area to be policed by the Police.

*Cracks knuckles and neck*

I can totally understand where MP Indranee is coming from.

She can't say aloud to SINGOV, 'Move Zouk away, please!"
That's simply not business-friendly, especially when this is a business set up by a Singaporean-citizen, and that Zouk is an establishment which touches the heart and flames the memories of many many English-educated P65 Singaporeans.

She also doesn't have that much influence to get the stat boards involved to do something about the Zouk situation, when these stat boards created the problem to begin with, and would have already done something about this decades-old problem if they had any will to.

So, her last option is to suggest for the all-encompassing and ever obliging Police to police her little proposal.

Now... Here's what's wrong with this nett outcome:

Firstly, the phenomenon of drunk Zoukettes shouting, littering and peeing along/into the river is neither the main nor only problem which comes with Zouk. Other problems include vibrations from Zouk's sound system, traffic on popular nights etc.

Also, such problematic phenomena is not unique to Zouk, i.e. it happens to any area near highly successful nightspots around the island. If so, why should a 'no alcohol zone' only apply to the atas residential area around Zouk? I want it to be applied to my HDB estate too.

If this policy is expanded islandwide, the nett effect is that one can no longer consume alcohol in public, except in Tuas and Pulau Ubin.

Secondly, Zouk does not own the plot of land it's sitting on. Zouk is on State land via a relatively short-term lease. This means that the government could have removed (and can still remove) Zouk from its present location quite easily, i.e. by doing nothing and letting the lease lapse.

But in the past 10 years, the authorities have actively renewed Zouk's lease, despite receiving the complaints and not tackling them at the roots.

Also, on top of not renewing its lease, the government can always help Zouk move by suggesting a few attractive alternative locations elsewhere. E.g. Zouk could be part of the great Marina Bay, MBS etc.

Thirdly, I'm sure that Zouk, as the most successful and internationally-recognised nightspot in Singapore for the past couple of decades, pulls its own weight with the authorities. And rightly so. It didn't get to where it is today by chance.

Which trouble-avoiding officer wants to end Zouk's land lease? What if Zouk decides to stop its operations? What if Zouk fails after the relocation? Which public agency wants to risk being responsible for the demise of such a great (organically-developed) national entertainment and tourism product? What if there is no river buzz once Zouk moves away from the river! OMG?!! How do we live with that?!

Everyone involved just wants to be nice and cordial, and avoids buying an apartment in that area, while hoping that someone else, e.g. the Police (or the Home Team/ Ministry of Home Affairs), will sort the mess out that Zouk has brought along with its success.

Once again, lemme bring your attention to how some public agencies just want to focus on 'Beautification and Buzz' projects, while neglecting their core duties such as enforcement etc.

And when they are like this, some other more public-spirited public agencies, usually the Home Team, will have to pick up the former's slack.

So, my fellow people, neither Zouk nor the Zoukettes are the problem.
For right or wrong reasons, MP Indranee has brought the problem to the surface, but because her hands are tied, she comes up with a palliative solution (治标不治本), i.e. get the Police to police a 'No Alcohol Zone' around Zouk.

If the new SINGOV is sincere and serious about its promises to the people, stop wasting time on shoving mistakes such as Tin Pei Ling down our throats, but instead spend time and energy on tackling such deep-seated problems at the roots.

A lot of mess has been created during the huge accelerated party in the past decade. It's time for house-keeping. Clear out the crap to make space for the future. A lot can be done in 4.5 years.

the Help

2011-10-26T19:00:00.000+08:00

If you like Desperate Housewives, the Help will rock your weekend at the cinema.

I love the hypocrisy.
The 'toilet initiative' by that white lady, especially the way she pitches as if it's an upgrade for the black helpers. And of course, the benefit night for African children.

Not too different from our daily lives, if you pay close attention.

Review: Bilingualism Policy in Singapore

2011-10-25T10:13:00.001+08:00

RE: Low Thia Khiang urges Govt to review bilingualism policy

I agree that it is time to review Singapore's bilingualism policy. In fact, the current policy is more of a Mother Tongue policy, than an authentic bilingual policy.

When it first started, the 'bilingualism' policy was meant to:

(i) Learn English
This is to ensure that all ethnicities in Singapore could communicate using the same and a neutral language, i.e. English.

This was decided against backdrop of racial tensions, post-colonial rule, the need for Singapore to plug itself into a very Western world economy etc.

(ii) Learn Mother Tongue
If you were categorised as Malay, you have to learn Bahasa Melayu, if you were categorised as Chinese, you have to learn Mandarin etc. Along with learning of the Mother Tongue, one was imbibed with the respective ethnic values.

Ascribing 1 mother tongue per ethnic group serves to unite the group, while learning a mother tongue (instead of only English) is meant to help to ameliorate concerns that 'western values' would be adopted along with learning the English values.

At the individual level, the compulsory mastering of 2 languages poses a huge problem for those who are either (i) not predisposed to being bilingual, or (ii) grow up in a family which only speaks English.

The inability to achieve a good command of both languages has real consequences, because children are streamed into different education progress tracks based on this, and/or denied access to certain tertiary programmes. Ultimately, the question we ought to be asking is:

Is one's (in)ability to be bilingual an indication of one's (lack of) intelligence?

A lot has been written on the unintended consequences of the current 'bilingualism' policy. Please read up on it.
................................................................................

Moving forward, let's start over. Let's relook at the issue by re-balancing how influence the individual ought to wield on this issue, while balancing the desired outcomes at the national level.

(A) Learning the Mother Tongue should NOT be compulsory
Personally, I think it is ridiculous to force someone to learn a language as a specified mother tongue based on his ethnic category. In fact, it sounds rather racist, doesn't it?

The earlier argument of 'mother tongue = infusion of values' is no longer valid. These days, an ethnically Chinese person may wish to choose to adopt and practise Christian values, and speak no Mandarin.

If you wish to argue about value-infusion, perhaps it makes more sense for a 'values course', via religious and/or social-philosophy studies classes, to be included.

In any case, it is getting more difficult, to the point of being ludicrous, to determine what one's ethnicity and/or mother tongue ought to be. In the past, inter-ethnicity marriages were less common. But these days, your father may be Dutch, while your mother is an Indian-Singaporean. Your mother may be Vietnamese, while your father is Chinese-Singaporean. Or just to make the equation even more difficult. Your father is Polish-French, while your mother is Japanese-Chinese.

You, the product of multiple ethnicities, may want a choice. You may not want to only learn your father's mother tongue. You may wish to learn your Singaporean parent's mother tongue. Or you may wish to learn both. Or you may wish to learn neither, but something else altogether.

(B) Learning a 2nd Language should be a priority
Is it enough to only learn English?

At this point, I'd like to point out that 老李是对的, at least partially.
Just like it is important to encourage the learning of Mathematics, it is important for citizens from a tiny country such as ours to be minimally bilingual, so as to be able to connect with the rest of the world in more ways than one.

Hence, Singapore should unabashedly announced that the bilingual individual is more valuable than the monolingual individual. (This could also be used a criteria to further differentiate amongst PR/Citizenship applicants.)

However, there must be changes to the approach adopted for the learning of the 2nd language:

(i) The 2nd language should NOT be tagged to one's ethnic category.

(ii) The list of 2nd languages offered should NOT be limited to the traditional few languages offered in the P65 Singapore education system, i..e should be tied to ethnicity or origins only.

(iii) Mastering of a 2nd language should NOT be a compulsory criteria for admission to tertiary education.

(iv) Every student in the public school system is required to read a 2nd language for a minimum of 10 consecutive years, starting from Primary 1.

(v) Students are given a choice of language difficulty, i.e. Basic, Intermediate and Advanced, at the start of Year 1, at the start of Year 4, and at the start of Year 7.

(vii) To encourage the pursuit of a high standard of mastery of the 2nd language, weighting is applied to the 2nd language at the major exams, i.e. PSLE and 'O' levels.
Simply put, achieving an 'A' for 2nd language at Advanced level is worth say 100% more than an 'A' at Basic level, or 50% more than an 'A' at Intermediate level.

(viii) To make possible for an individual to take up a 3rd language from Year 1.

(ix) To encourage study of 2nd language at post-10 year level, i.e. at junior college and tertiary levels.

(C) Which languages to be offered as 2nd Language?
If one takes a utilitarian view on languages, i.e. learning more languages = better plugged into our world, then let's look at which are the top languages used by the largest number of people in the world.

International Platform
Mandarin Chinese: (845 million to 1.12 billion speakers)
English: (328 million to 480 million speakers)
Spanish: (300 million to 329 million speakers)
Arabic: (around 221 million speakers)
Hindi: (182 million to 250 million speakers)
Russian: (144 million to 285 million speakers)
See source

Regional Platform (not in order of no. of speakers)
Mandarin Chinese: (845 million to 1.12 billion speakers)
English: (328 million to 480 million speakers)
Hindi: (182 million to 250 million speakers)
Japanese: (122 million to 133 million speakers)
Bahasa Indonesian
Bahasa Melayu

Of course, we do not simply adopt to the top few. It is important to study whether these populations and their economies have been and would be expanding in the longer run, because this is after all the essence of adopting the utilitarian view.

Also, one can adopt the affectual view that the mother tongues of the various ethnic groups ought to be offered as 2nd language too.

Of course, the list of 2nd languages cannot be go on forever. Neither should this list be static.

A vid of Russians speaking in Bahasa Melayu.

I've always wondered why I cannot speak Bahasa Melayu.

(D) Learning the 2nd Language as a Subject
The teaching of the 2nd Language must be a departure from the current way which Mother Tongue is taught, i.e. moving away from preaching of ethnic values through the teaching of the language, simply because more people would be now learning the language from a utilitarian point of view, and not simply for the sake of preservation of ethnic values.

Instead, introduce general knowledge features such as history of the language, the type of speakers around the world, contrast the language with its dialects, contrast the language with English and/or other languages, cultural immersion programmes etc.

Also, I believe that it is important for the 2nd language to be applied to the rest of the student's school curriculum. E.g. Create opportunities for the students to translate passages from their science, history, geography, literature text books, reading stories/legends from other languages and cultures etc, using the 2nd language. This is to seek a balance between the student's ability to interpret the same content using both languages, and the vocabulary for both languages.

(E) Learning Languages as a Family
Recently, Mr Lee Kuan Yew encouraged Chinese families to speak Mandarin to their kids at home, while the kids pick up English in the public school system via lessons and interaction with teachers and schoolmates. Of course, quite a few less or non-Mandarin speaking Chinese-Singaporeans got defensive upon reading his advice, and wrote to the newspaper forums to air their displeasure.

The fact is 老李是对的. For the kid to master any language(s), he has to be constantly steeped in an environment where he has to use the language(s) consistently. Currently, the kid uses English most of the time, but has significantly reduced opportunities to speak in his mother tongue. Sending a kid for 2 hours worth of mother tongue tuition every week and hoping that it will help is merely wishful thinking on the part of consumerist parents.

Hence, to complement the child's learning journey, Parent-Child learning of the language(s) ought to be encouraged. Schools (or private entities) can provide Parents only and/or Parent-Child enrichment classes in tandem with the child's language syllabus. It's important to realise that if the child sees how seriously the Parent is about language-learning, the child is likely to monkey-see monkey-do. And with such exposure from a young age, perhaps the kid will be able to surpass the language proficiency of his parents'.

The Lan Gaming Problem in Singapore

2011-10-24T11:51:00.000+08:00

RE: Singaporean youths spend more time gaming than American youths: Study

"On average, gamers here spend about 20 hours per week on gaming, as compared to about 13 hours for American youths.

Of this group, about one in 10 were found to display symptoms of obsessive, or pathological, video gaming, which caused significant disruption to their regular lives.

Such pathological gamers also spend twice as much time gaming, averaging more than 37 hours a week. They are more likely to have poorer grades, are less social and more hostile, and have more health problems like wrist pain.

Other countries with high rates of obsessive gamers include China (14 per cent), South Korea (10.2 per cent) and Spain (9.9 per cent), said the study."

More than 37 hours per week?! That's almost a full-time job.

After years of looking the same problem, it's just more stats reporting, and waste of public funds (millions of dollars) on studies and awareness/ wellness programmes.

Since when have such awareness and wellness efforts lead to any real decrease in addiction?
Just ask Health Promotion Board (HPB).
It has been doing such rah-rah programmes for smoking addiction.
Years and millions of dollars later, the statistics for smokers, especially the younger ones, are looking worse than ever.

Wake up! Wake up!
Stop pretending that having rolled out some awareness programme = did a great job.
These gaming addicts are stealing, borrowing from loansharks, and beating up their mothers to feed their addiction.

Time to be realistic about the approach against this War on Gamecraft.

Obviously, a HPB-type approach has proven not to work.
You don't hear of people borrowing from loansharks to buy cigs, but you do hear of kids borrowing from loansharks to lan-game, similar to drug addictions.

Time to think about a more CNB-ish approach, which includes:

(1) Legislation (Laws on how long each lan gaming session can last, Minimum age for lan-gaming, Power for the public agency to take drastic action against lan shops, individuals, Taxing the lan shops (i.e. raising the minimum price of lan-gaming) etc)

(2) Enforcement (Need I say more?)

(3) Awareness (Target parents, teachers, ECA groups etc, not just the kids.)

(4) Mandatory and optional Rehab programmes (E.g. for parents to opt-in on the rehab programme for their kids, for the system to prescribe rehab as an option etc.)

Stop acting blur and looking away, while hoping for a post-out before this issue blows up, just because this does not fall squarely in your (ministry's) portfolio today.

The more troublesome this piece of policy solution is, the more serious the situation has become.

And the more you drag your public servant feet, the more kids (and their families) will suffer.

Her Face as a Reminder in Every Parliament Speech

2011-10-21T10:06:00.002+08:00

RE: Singapore's system depends on 'getting politics right': PM Lee

Regardless of the great stuff they mouth in their speeches, the sight of Tin Pei Ling, in the background of every single shot of anyone speaking in Parliament, starkly reminds me that they are insincere about doing the right thing.

This so-called elected MP quibbled about her mistake for not declaring her friend, Denise He, as 'moderator' for her Facebook account in her election forms. Subsequent to the announcement of Police's investigation which established that Denise He did post that comment on Tin Pei Ling's Facebook account on Cooling-Off Day, Tin Pei Ling stated publicly that, because Denise He was merely in-charge of uploading pictures, and not changing text, Denise He was therefore NOT a moderator. As such, Tin Pei Ling concludes that she did not make false declarations in her forms.

To me, or any typical user of Facebook, blogs and even mainstream media, the content of these platforms is made up of text, pictures, moving images, audio etc. Hence, the definition of a 'moderator' of a website or Facebook account is anyone who makes changes to such content, including pictures.

Being inexperienced, 'young' or even 'not smart enough' isn't that bad a problem, but I absolutely abhor the act of quibbling as demonstrated by Tin Pei Ling. It shows what her values are and where her priorities lie. Clumsy and desperate self-preservation. That's hardly inspiring.

Of course, I am disappointed with the Elections Department (ELD) for not acting on this. As public servants, ELD should have minimally pretended to do something about it. I don't remember hearing about ELD's conclusion on this matter. Did ELD do anything at all?

But most importantly, I am extremely disappointed with the PAP for not taking her to task. You have no moral high ground, if you do not take your own kind to task. As such, you cannot be sincere about doing the right thing.

I really want to take you seriously, and believe in your speeches.
But you have made it very difficult for me.

This is an abomination.

And we are all gonna have to see her annoying face in every single Parliament speech henceforth, for the next 5 years. Reminding us of how she got herself in Parliament, and how she was allowed to do so.

"君子"和而不同

2011-10-19T11:16:00.003+08:00

RE: Chen Show Mao's maiden parliamentary speech

“政者正也，子帅以正，孰敢不正”，“为政以德，譬如北辰，居其所而众星拱之”，“风行草偃”

"其实孔子三千年前就已说过，“君子和而不同”。和谐，可却不尽相同。晏婴说过：乐团只演奏一个音符，谁听得下去？白开水上再加白开水，谁喝得下去？一个和谐的社会，不只有一种声音。而是每个人很和平的在法律的範围内发表他的看法，从事政治活动。我们不必防民如防贼。

CSM's maiden parliamentary speeches in English and Mandarin are a polite yet obvious 下马威.

This man is guai lan.

In his English speech, he quoted former 'esteemed' PAP Minister George Yeo, then delivered a separate speech in cheem Mandarin.

I wonder how many of the Chinese PAP people sitting in that house really understood what CSM had said, especially those who like to pretend that they are 'bi-cultural' amidst their angmohpai "I can't even write 新-加-坡" colleagues.
LOL!!

It's basically a show of middle finger. NAH! I'm better than you! 就是比你强!

Finally, our foreign talent policy pays off... IN PARLIAMENT!!
LOL! Oh...The irony!!

This is entertaining, no doubt about that. But at this point, I have to point out to everyone:

圣人不死，大盗不止

Not I say one leh... 庄子 said so. Hence, it must be wise and important enough for you to pay attention to.

别高兴得太早哦！
This is the start of turbulent times.

Midnight in Paris

2011-10-18T23:00:00.000+08:00

You have to watch Midnight in Paris.

I don't wanna say too much about the film, coz I can't do that without giving the plot away.

The first lady of the French Republic, Carla Bruni, has a role it.

I think, in a way, Woody Allen indulges in the fact that he will be remembered and lauded in the future, just like how we remember the past artists today.

I love this dress. It's feminine, chirpy, yet modest and comfortable.
Real people should wear clothes like that all the time.

So as to achieve... Happiness

2011-10-18T01:12:00.001+08:00

RE: Sylvia Lim’s speech (Debate on President’s Address)

"Back home, our children pledge every day to achieve “happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation”.

Since independence, Singapore has focused on achieving prosperity and progress. Has happiness been forgotten, despite the words in our pledge? Or maybe it has been assumed that once there is prosperity and progress, happiness would automatically follow.

But has it? Does prosperity and progress come sometimes at the expense of happiness? Prosperity and progress are certainly important, but they cannot be ends in themselves. Surely they should be the means to an end – the happiness of Singaporeans as a whole."

GDP Growth ≠ Happiness?

Before we get all riled up because this is a WP speech, we need to clearly realise that GDP Growth (otherwise known as prosperity and progress) is really not a BAD thing for everyone.

There is a distinct group of people (politicians, big business people, highly paid white collars etc) who really truly believe and have experienced first-hand that GDP GROWTH is = HAPPINESS in a very direct and in-their-faces way... for themselves, for their children, and so... for that bit of the nation which they form.

So, one cannot conclude that GDP Growth must come at the expense of happiness. In fact, for that distinct group of people, GDP growth IS very factually happiness.

What's really happening is that the GDP Growth has not brought upon happiness for other groups of people.

And whether the Happy Group can empathise with the Unhappy People is a separate issue, which can compound the unhappiness.

Fundamentally, there is no obligation for the Happy Group to empathise with the Unhappy People. In fact, it can be said that some in the Happy Group strongly believe that the Unhappy People deserve to be unhappy, because they have brought it upon themselves.

Actually, these people hold such thoughts, because they really want to believe that they are in the Happy Group because they well-deserve it too. That their happiness isn't due to a stroke of good luck or privileged background, but based on their intelligence, competence and really hard work.

Less GDP Growth = More Happiness?

Another dangerous belief which has arisen from the current debate is that "Less GDP Growth = More Happiness". Are we sure about this? Or is there something else we are not seeing in this equation?

Think about it.
If the Unhappy People were given the same access to the benefits of GDP Growth, they would find happiness in GDP Growth too.

Just one more iteration.
If everyone had same access to benefits of GDP Growth, and the GDP growth slows down, will that make everyone more or less happy?

So, is Happiness even related to GDP Growth to begin with?

I think there are definitely more than 2 variables and many permutations and combinations, which together form this Happiness story.

Our current situation where there is GDP growth, people get unhappy because there is a perceived 'lack of access to' or 'uneven distribution of' benefits of this GDP Growth.

This perception* has a more significant impact on Happiness, than the actual Growth GDP does.

*Perception doesn't mean 'unreal' or 'not actual'.
Perception is a mishmash and product of personal observations/experiences, personal preferences/bias, social norms/forces/bias etc.

Maria, the Korean Bride

2011-10-15T16:00:00.000+08:00

What started out as a platform to rebel against her parents for nagging at her to get married, Maria Yoon 마리아 윤 (a first-generation Korean-American and also performance artist) set out at the age of 30 to get married in every State in the U.S, i.e. to get married 50 times.

She and her project are now known as Maria, the Korean Bride. It took her 9 years to complete the project.

Through her work, she wants to bring her audience's attention to the question of 'what is marriage', her experience as a Korean-American when trying to get married etc. Her 'husbands' in all 50 states include typical men, women, indigenous people, animals (e.g. a Black Angus cow in Nebraska and an expensive stallion in Kentucky coz she claimed she couldn't find any males to marry. She also said that "He is worth more than $2 million. I recall his sperm sold for $20,000." =)))) and objects (e.g. the Liberty Bell).

This project is simply brilliant.

I love how she poses for the 'wedding pics'.
She's always in the hanbok with her hands politely held before her chest and her head submissively bowed, silently making her point to the world.

She had invited her parents to be present at the final and 50th wedding in Times Square, New York where she married someone whom she had chosen via a raffle, but they did not turn up. Later, it was revealed that because her parents had an argument about Maria's marriages, they did not turn up. Her mother was present at the screening of the documentary though, and explained that Maria's father would prefer if Maria had married a Korean man.

Read about Maria, the Korean Bride.

She said something in her documentary which stuck a chord with me.

"I've been married 50 times, but I still don't know what a marriage is all about."

It's sublime.

You gotta put more thought into your own marriage(s)! =)

Adults & Kids Alike...

2011-10-14T12:00:00.000+08:00

RE: RSAF technician died hours after tunnel crawl into fighter jet

"He was supposed to take part in a tunnel crawl as part of a game at the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).

But three hours after taking part in the activity, Second Warrant Officer (2WO) Poh Eng Ann, 36, died.

The tunnel crawl involves a person crawling through the engine compartment of an F-5 fighter jet.

The entrance to the engine compartment is 48cm by 30 cm. Participants are to crawl on their side, five metres into the intake before crawling backwards in the game gap.

The activity on April 24, 2009, was part of team bonding games during the informal welcome ceremony for new or promoted staff at the Paya Lebar Air Base.

The tunnel crawl is considered a tradition during such ceremonies."

Even adults create and play silly initiation games, not too different from college kids during their orientation week.

When will people grow up?

Don't we all know the story of 'Emperor's New Clothes'??

When will people learn to recognise and have the courage to point out what's ridiculous, not to mention put themselves through it?!!

Just because everyone else, who got into that tiny engine compartment (at 48cm x 30cm or just slightly bigger than an A3-size sheet of paper) before this guy, didn't die, doesn't make this activity any less ridiculous or harmful.

If it's about Nation and Rarity...

2011-10-13T07:16:00.001+08:00

RE: Landed property: Fewer foreigners to get approval

"Mr Shanmugam added: "We have kept foreign ownership of landed property in Singapore to under 5 per cent... It's actually closer to 3.5 per cent."

What's more important, but not made clear, is the following:

140 such approvals given per year (in past 3 years) = How many % of the total number of transactions for landed properties in the past 3 years?

While the foreign ownership approval criteria is tightened, who or what's effectively stopping the non-citizen from buying landed properties in Singapore via locally-registered commercial entities (e.g. an investment firm)?
.................................................................

Apart from landed housing, I've wondered why non-citizens are allowed to own CONSERVED PROPERTIES (e.g. shophouses), coz those are even rarer than landed properties, and are an intrinsic part of Singapore's history.

While non-citizens cannot buy conserved properties zoned Residential, they can buy those zoned otherwise (e.g. mixed uses, commercial etc).

We must remember that there is no match for the infinite supply of non-citizen investment capital out there, and conserved properties are attractive exotic assets.

Better do something about this before these gems of Singapore get eroded even further.

Singaporean Girls

2011-10-13T06:28:00.001+08:00

From Hong Kong:

SG girls are known to be

拜金, 崇洋 and 公主病.

Do you agree?

Or you can't understand this to begin with?

Higher employment rate = Better life for more people?

2011-10-12T09:52:00.001+08:00

RE: Singapore has one of the highest employment rates worldwide

"According to a report released by the Manpower Research and Statistics Department and the Singapore Department of Statistics, nearly eight in ten (77 per cent) Singaporeans aged 25 to 64 were employed in 2010.

The unemployment rate among citizens declined to pre-recessionary levels of 3.1 per cent in June 2011, down from a high of 4.5 per cent in 2009.

This surpasses economies such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom."

What is the intention behind highlighting something like that?

To remind Singaporeans that the Government is doing a good job, and/or that your lives are in fact very good, relative to the rest of the world?

I would love to conclude as such.

But I cannot help but to think that this high employment rate can be read in multiple ways. It does not only or necessarily suggest that the picture is all fine and dandy.

Firstly, it is misleading to compare employment rates of countries with and without welfare systems (namely unemployment benefits).

It can be said that countries with unemployment benefits will generally see a lower rate of employment as people have the confidence to stay or choose to be unemployed over longer periods.

Secondly, while it is tempting to conclude that increasingly higher employment rate = better life for more people, the former may simply suggest that it is impossible for a family to get by decently without dual incomes, i.e. both parents working. Hence, people are unable to choose to be unemployed.

Strange concept to Singaporeans? Counter-intuitive?
Think about it for a second.

Remember, nothing is absolutely good (or bad). Everything is contextual.

Thirdly, it is absolutely misleading to present the national employment picture by highlighting the employment rate figures only.

There are other indices which paint the 'quality of employment' dimension, e.g. productivity: GDP per hour worked etc. These figures are also, if not more, important.

In fact, I am surprised that this 'quality of employment' dimension has not been included in this press release, because the President's maiden speech just this week emphasizes on 'quality'. I guess the contents of the President's speech will only affect work's directions and outcomes in the coming years, not immediately.

Lastly, perhaps, the Government ought to start developing a set of indices to help Singaporeans understand how the influx of foreigners has added to the economy, coz it's always been kind of unclear.
E.g. every Employment Pass/Work Permit added = S$X to the GDP or X no. of Citizen job (types of job) added to the economy for a period of X months etc.

Doesn't matter that such indices are not common in other countries. Singapore is special.

This will also help to facilitate the dialogue between the people and the government. No point engaging the public but only to talk in vacuum and about theories or emotions. Let's talk with facts and numbers. As many of them as possible.

And don't worry about the public being unable to handle the figures. Can't say that all Singaporeans can handle them, but there are enough who are competent and will do it for the rest.

Random Thought of the Day

2011-10-10T23:22:00.002+08:00

Should he not feel weird when he found out that

he (and his child) looked alot like the wife's ex- boyfriend

(i.e. the one who dumped her a decade ago)?

Golf is Bourgeois

2011-10-10T00:27:00.001+08:00

GF: I have to pick up golf again.

BM: Why?!!

GF: Coz of work.

BM: Waaaaah Raaaaaao Eeeeeeh... Golf is such a bourgeois sport...

Wait a minute... It's not even really a sport... I mean... Just because sports brands make apparels for this activity, doesn't make it a sport. Shooting rubberbands into a hole can also be a sport then.

You hit tiny balls with sticks into holes in the ground... That's how it started, you know? It's wasn't even bourgeois when it started. Shepherds got bored when herding sheep, and started to use their sticks to push small rocks into holes in the ground.

And when modern 'golfers' do that 'legs apart, shuffle into position, and air-swing' thing, especially middle-aged executives in their offices?? * demonstrates the shuffling, butt-wriggling, and air swing with smug face**

It's damn lame. Absolutely poser! WTF is that for?! You don't see Tiger Woods doing that lor... You don't see basketballers pretending to layup and air-shooting a hoop, or swimmers pretending to perfect their strokes by air-swimming in the office lor!

GF: OK. Can you alter the golf trousers for me? They are too long.

BM: Orh... OK. **taking measurements** It's better if you put on your golf shoes... **taking measurements again** Like that can?

GF: Can.

BM: Use this belt... And remember to tuck in the Ah Pek golf shirt like that... **adjusts here and there, then takes a step back to admire**

FWAH! So handsome oredi... **adjusts a little more**

But Papa? It's still bourgeois, Okaaaaaaaay?

GF: OK, Commie.

BM: ROOOOOAAAARRRR!!!

啊咘啾 vs Ah-Voo-Tjoe

2011-10-07T17:18:00.001+08:00

Because of this Michelle Chong movie trailer, I've been reading up on the Taiwanese boy who's gonna appear in her movie. His name is 黃鴻升, or better known as 小鬼. A singer, variety show host, actor etc on the creative shores of Taiwan.

While laughing uncontrollably at vids of him online, something familiar violently resonated with me.

小鬼's co-host kept teasing him about '啊咘啾'... Like for months and perhaps a couple of years.

WTF is 啊咘啾 (A bù jiū)?

小鬼 eventually admitted that 啊咘啾 is a who, not a what.
The answer is in the vid.

If you have been following my blog for years, you would realise that all cats to me are 'Ah-Voo-Tjoe'.

And in the more recent years, I've been using this term on a human being. =))

It's freaky how close both terms, '啊咘啾' and 'Ah-Voo-Tjoe', are.
I have not watched any of these vids/programmes, nor have I been to Taiwan, before this year. And I doubt Rainie Yang and 小鬼 read my English blog entries on Ah-Voo-Tjoe.

So... once again, I am beginning to see why I feel such a persuasive parallel between my Chinese-Singaporean life and the Taiwanese culture.

Perhaps I should have been a Gen Y Taiwanese, but somehow I ended up prematurely as a Gen X Singaporean.

太前卫了，没有人懂啦！

Will you be able to own your family's only car?

2011-10-04T20:15:00.000+08:00

RE: Govt set to curb vehicle population

Read this?

"In his first wide-ranging interview with Singapore media, Mr Lui said: 'For the next three-year phase, it will not stay at 1.5 per cent but it will have to come down.'

The cut is likely to send the prices for certificates of entitlements even higher than current levels and car prices are expected to increase as a result.

The current COE quota with its soaring premiums has inflated car prices. A 1.6-litre Toyota Altis now costs over $100,000 as compared to around $83,000 11 months ago."

In other words, if you make an average income, you are unlikely to be able to afford a car easily. At one's average income, it's impossible to outbid those (locals AND foreigners) from the high income brackets, with company transport sponsorship etc.

When you have a family AND a car, it's certainly much more conducive for family time, e.g. family outings to the Zoo, East Coast Park, tuition etc. This is kind of most people's priority, right?

As such, are you sure you don't wanna fight for unlocking of the value of your National Service?

If you like to romanticise the poor and desolate...

2011-10-03T00:16:00.002+08:00

... go through The Julie Project.

Don't worry.
It's a lot of pictures with very little text, and 18 years of her life will only take you about 10 minutes to consume.

And of course, it's gonna be graphic. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Self-loathing is not helpful hor!

2011-09-30T16:44:00.002+08:00

Apparently, a new series to help Singaporeans integrate with foreigners (and not the other way round) is now showing on Channel 8.

From the Mediacorp production 四个门牌一个梦:

SGrean chicken rice boss: Wah! 你都几岁还去应征啊？
[Wah! You how old oredi? Still go for interview?]

HK migrant: 凭良心说，你现在的体力还能做教练吗？
[Please la! Touch your heart and tell me if you still have the stamina to be a (table tennis) coach?]

Angry SGrean: 讲到体力我更生气，本地有很多外国的教练都已经70多岁了，那又怎么说？
[Eh... Dun talk about stamina. I get even more dulan. Other foreigner coaches are more than 70 years old, can?! Then how??]

HK migrant: 老戴，你一只脚都踏进棺材了，还做什么工作呢？你学学人家，提个鸟笼，养养鸟，过过日子多好。
[Eh Dai! You are damn old already! Don't already work la! Be like everyone else, go buy a bird and birdcage, then enjoy life la!]

SGrean chicken rice boss: 对对对！外地人是不会跟你抢养鸟的。
[Yah Yah Yah!! Foreigners will not compete with you in bird-keeping leh!]

*SGrean chicken rice boss and HK Migrant laugh at Angry SGrean*

HK migrant: (to SGrean chicken rice boss) 还是你有幽默感啊。哈哈哈!
[Eh... Unlike someone else, you got sense of humor! HAHAHA!]

Angry SGrean: 笑吧笑吧，尽管笑吧，将来你们的子子孙孙的工作给外地人抢着去做，看你们还笑不笑得出来？
[Laugh la! Laugh la! Next time your kids and grandchildren have no jobs bcoz foreigners take all the jobs ah! Then see if you can still laugh!]

HK migrant: 你老是口口声声说外地人新加坡人，分得那么清楚干什么？其实我也是从香港移民过来的。20几年了。跟你一样，住的是组屋，吃的是鸡贩，生活习惯都一样。那你说我是外地人还是新加坡人啊？
[You like to differentiate between foreigners and Singaporeans so much. What for? I came here from Hong Kong 20 years ago. I stay in HDB, eat chicken rice, live like Singaporean. So am I foreigner or Singaporean ah?]

SGrean chicken rice boss: 说来说去，怪你自己没有本事，你的工作才会被外地人抢去。
[Please lor! You only have yourself to blame la! You lousy that's why foreigners take your job.]

Angry SGrean: (damn sian face) 你说够了没有啊？你在这边讲话，可以赚钱吗？
[Eh... Enough or not? Talk so much, no need to make money ah? Drop from sky ah?]

SGrean chicken rice boss: 真的可以赚钱leh..你还没给钱leh...
[Really can talk and make money at the same time leh... Pay for your chicken rice leh!]

Angry SGrean: 拿去拿去,走开走开，看到你我就没有胃口了。
[Har Nah! Take la! Take la! Go away la! See you already no appetite.]

SGrean chicken rice boss: 好我走，你慢慢吃，不够再叫hor..."
[Ok lor... You slowly eat... Not enough order some more hor!]

*SGrean chicken rice boss walks off, laughing.
HK migrant also laughing while drinking kopi.
Angry SGrean quietly eats chicken rice*
............................................................................................

Qn: What's infinitely worse than foreigners laughing at Singaporeans?

Ans: The Singaporean who laughs at another Singaporean for not doing well.

And such Singaporeans are not fictional.
There are indeed many Singaporeans who behave this way.

I have a job, so I laugh at you for complaining about foreigners taking away your job.
I have a condo, so I laugh at you for complaining about rising HDB prices.
I have a bungalow, so I laugh at you for complaining about rising condo prices.
I drive a BMW, so I laugh at you for complaining about the MRT trains.
I dine at MBS, so I laugh at you for complaining about rising food prices at hawker centres.

Fundamentally, these people are insecure folks. They need others to be 'less' than themselves so that they can feel good about themselves.

Of course, this is not unique to Singapore, i.e. there are such people in other countries laughing at their own kind too.

But we must learn to recognise that this is not the time to laugh at our own kind. This is the time to stand together as one.

Unfortunately, I am beginning to have to believe that, given the widening income gap, it is difficult to stand together as one. We are not in the freaking 60s anymore.

An ex-boyfriend of mine insisted to me, over an hour-long Facebook debate, that no one has been left behind in Singapore.

He, with blue-collar folks and from neighbourhood school, is a HDB boy made-good, i.e. got himself ivy-leagued, now works in a foreign bank and lives in semi-D with his wife from an upper-middle class background.

He also believes that, because he has 'made it', that those who have not are simply lousy. It's solely their fault for not trying hard enough.

I was dating a boor. KNN.
I hate such realisations. I took too long.

Noooo!! I dun wanna see no Naked Baaaahh-daaaaay!

2011-09-29T18:27:00.002+08:00

What do you think of these models in their tiny bikinis?

Where got tiny, you say? Normal what?!

Exactly.

We've been so used to women being photographed in almost nakedness. These pictures appear everywhere. On TV, in the cinemas, all over the internet, on billboards, in our expectations of ourselves and our girlfriends etc.

So what exactly is the big deal about this ad along Orchard Road?

In terms of the lower body, the Abercrombie & Fitch model has revealed no more/less than what the Victoria's Secret model has in the previous picture.

I get it that some members of public, especially men, will get uncomfy with this pic, and will write to the forum to complain about it. Yeah... Whatever.

But when the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) makes an official statement that "the advertisement featuring a topless man that is plastered on the Orchard shopfront of American fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch breaches the local advertising code of decency", it gets officially hypocritical.

There shouldn't be double-standards for ads when featuring the male and female body. Period.

This hypocrisy gets thicker if you look closely at who makes up the ASAS Council.

ASAS Council
The Council comprises representatives from the following organisations and associations:

Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore
Association of Accredited Advertising Agents, Singapore, The (4As)
Association of Media Owners (Singapore) (AMOS)
Consumers Association of Singapore
Direct Marketing Association of Singapore
Health Sciences Authority
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
Media Development Authority
MediaCorp Pte Ltd
Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore
Singapore Advertisers Association, The (2As)
Singapore Association of Pharmaceutical Industries
Singapore Medical Association
Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Singapore Telecommunications Limited
StarHub Limited

All those rape scenes in Mediacorp productions are acceptable and perpetuated.

Even when you have a bunch of female Mediacorp artistes running down Orchard Road in their bikinis and bouncing body parts as part of a unspoken advertising campaign for that forgettable drama series, it is acceptable.

Don't get me wrong. I love Fiona Xie.
She's one of the few local artistes who is truly sexy on and off-screen.

CHEY!!! Lousy lah!!

先统领邪教, 再称霸武林.

2011-09-27T15:58:00.001+08:00

RE: Tan Jee Say hopes to set up opposition 'coalition' in time for next GE

"People do look upon my support ...
they say I got half a million votes ...

Even the Workers' Party (WP), with a slate of 23 candidates managed to get 280,000 votes (in the GE)
- so it is something that they bear in mind when they talk to me."

~ Tan Jee Say, Sep 2011

WTF is Tan Jee Say talking abt?!!

If Low Thia Kiang had ran for President in the exact same Presidential Election situation, he would get definitely get more votes than Tan Jee Say's 25%.

搞不好，刘先生还有可能当总统，好不好!

陈先生他讲这种话，大家要不要笑?!

Buay paiseh leh!
......................................................

Korean saying of the Day:

꼬리가 길면 잡힌다

"One will get caught if one's tail is too long."

Leaving behind much traces of yourself, or acting widely will make yourself conspicuous and easily apprehended.

They like to Jio Meng Lang

2011-09-25T17:32:00.001+08:00

I had a good laugh when I saw this on the front page of the Sunday Times this morning.

If you do not already know, AWARE has created a sexism award called the Alamak! Award to crown the person/entity with the sexist-est comment made publicly in the year.

For his sexist comment during GE2011, Desmond Choo is currently leading the race with more than 50% of the 600+ votes.

If only he had garnered such a margin for his recent Hougang contest, where he got pwned by WP's Yaw Shin Leong at 65% vs 35%.

While I think the Alamak! Award is cute, I find this particular response by Desmond Choo more intriguing.

See excerpt below:

I don't understand this response of:

(1) You are entitled to your opinion (i.e. of disliking me, my words, my actions etc.), BUT

(2) I'm happy to meet up with you who have misunderstood my words to clear the air.

This 'meet up' line seems to be a 'standard issue' amongst the 'younger' PAP politicians. It's their way of dealing of people who neither agree with, nor support them.
"It's a misunderstanding!" so they claim.

A few weeks ago, a Minister of State emailed me thrice, referred to the fact that I had blogged about him, requested for me not to blog about his emails, and repeatedly invited me to meet up with him for clarifications.

FWAH!!! A Minister of State emailed me siah!
By repeatedly asking me to meet up, was he trying to Jio Meng Lang?

Once again... I dun geddit.
What's the meeting gonna achieve?

If I were an anonymous blogger, then suggesting a meet up with me would make sense, coz he would at least find out who I was in the flesh life.

But I'm not anonymous. And he already knows who I am. We've met in the work context.

When told, none of my friends could believe their ears. One said the politician just wanted to clock his 'public/ new media engagement KPIs'. Some laughed at how he could not tolerate his own unpopularity. A couple of female friends thought it was inappropriate for a (married) male to repeatedly request for me to meet up with him.

Others got rather excited about the meet up proposal. They really want to find out what he is gonna say or do at the meet up. They want to see for themselves what a ridiculous Singaporean leader looks like in action.

On whether to meet up, I quote a popular Korean saying:

똥인지 된장인지 먹어봐야 알아?

Must you taste it to know if it's shit or soy-paste?

알겠어?

Back to this 'meet up' line...

At the rate which their popularity is slipping, they cannot be serious about meeting up with everyone who neither agrees with nor support them, right?
Too many lah!

Instead, such time and effort ought to be channeled to helping Singaporeans/constituents in need and/or their respective portfolios.

Do the right thing and win votes for yourself and your party.
Don't waste time on vote-losing behaviour.

The quality across our leadership is really inconsistent at the moment. It's frustrating to observe, not to mention, to suffer it.

What's in the name of a HDB Flat Estate?

2011-09-23T15:08:00.000+08:00

While I was exclaiming at the simultaneous release of 8,200 HDB flats into the market, and the name of a new studio-flats estate in Jurong West (for elderly folks, I guess) called Golden Peony (How cheena is that? Just like its cousin called Golden Lotus in Toa Payoh.), an eagle-eyed friend highlighted something else much more intriguing.

Also part of the newly-announced 8,200 flats, a brand-new HDB estate in Sengkang is named 'Anchorvale Harvest'.

Below is the screen grab from HDB's website.
(Click on image to enlarge)

The webpage explains why the word 'Harvest' is used in the name of this estate.

"The name Anchorvale Harvest reflects its location in the Anchorvale area and mimics the imagery of a fisherman casting his net into the sea for the harvest. The abundance of a harvest also relates to the meaning of Sengkang which denotes 'prosperous harbour'."

Of course, Sengkang was indeed a fishing port many years ago.

Let's take a closer look at the official logo for Anchorvale Harvest:

Immediately, that fish catches the eye.
A fish without its usual scales and a complete tail looks a lot like the Ichthys, i.e. more commonly known as the Jesus fish.

The Ichthys is also a common sight in Singapore. You may notice some cars in Singapore displaying car decals which look like this:

More interestingly, my friend found these few paragraphs from the book entitled "Beyond description: Singapore space historicity" by Ryan Bishop, John Phillips, and Wei-Wei Yeo, rather plainly stating the Methodist Church's interest and stake in Sengkang.

"...Sengkang is seen as "a great harvest field, waiting for the CAC [the Chinese Annual Congress which governs the Chinese- and dialect-service Methodist churches] to plow, sow and reap souls for Christ" (Lai 2000:1)."

Now... Really... Only the HDB officers, who came up with and approved the name and logo, will know whether the name and logo of this HDB estate in Sengkang just happen to coincide with Christian/Methodist interest or not.

All I know is that I haven't heard of any HDB estates with names which vaguely sound like 'Tua Peh Kong Vista', 'Mercy Vale', 'Om Gardens', 'Compassion Court' etc. O_o

Please Consult Me for Whatever.

2011-09-21T18:06:00.001+08:00

Had dinner with a few friends last night. Amongst many discussion topics, we spent some time on the latest 'fashion' of public consultation.

One said that public consultation, i.e. asking EVERYONE what they thought of specific issues, does not work because people don't know what they want.

Furthermore, some of these issues are complex. It is irrational to believe that anyone and everyone's views on such issues are relevant.

But many people don't want to see how their views on these issues are irrelevant. The fundamental problem is that these people are simply annoyed.

They are so annoyed by bits of their own lives, which in turn are projected onto the 'system', the ruling party etc, that they feel that they must 'do something about it'. And suddenly, democracy is their visa.

"I have the right to air my views about this and that.

Furthermore, I was educated abroad in XYZ universities.

I am smart enough to understand and make conclusions on ANY issues.

If you don't engage me or listen to me, I get (more) angry. "

Check out the emotional line of argument.
It's completed in good English, but it doesn't make any sense.

Even if the government manages to engage everyone for public consultation, more unhappiness is inevitable as the conclusion of the consultation cannot be that everyone is satisfied.

Hence, the act of public consultation without considering such consequences is in fact reckless.

Another at the table brought our attention to the fact that public consultation is not new, i.e. the government has been carrying out public consultation, even before the so-called 'watershed elections'.

In various forms, degrees of outreach scale, budget, tone etc, different parts of the government have conducted public consultation.

Regardless whether it's a public consultation in the flesh life or cyberspace, the key in any human communication is sincerity.

While the lack of sincerity can be embellished with other irrelevant gestures, this is not a sustainable tactic in the long run. The smarter ones would spot the insincerity, raise the alarm bells, and soon the dull ones will 'realise' it too, regardless whether they truly spot the insincerity.

And sincerity is a rare attribute which cannot be acquired overnight. It's much easier to fake it or cover it up with something else.

Of course, being constructive people, the discussion went onto suggest that a real public consultation only takes place where committees of selected individuals are set up. People who have the necessary skills, experience and varied vested interests to explore and debate on specific issues on behalf of people.

Of course, this is not new either. The key is WHO are the people invited to be on these committees. And judging from the profile of these people, one can tell whether the government is sincere about its public consultation attempts.

That is, whether 'public consultations' are 'form' or 'function'.

Active Enforcement vs Lame Enforcement

2011-09-18T16:36:00.000+08:00

RE: Expat schools crack down on drug abuse, may expel users

"The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said its anti-drug education initiatives are targeted not only at local students, but expats as well.
In the past 3 years, 15 international schools have taken part in various programmes, said a CNB spokesman.
The bureau also regularly distributes anti-drug literature to about 25 international schools here."

CNB is POWER.
The message is clear: Don't say we never warn you!

...........................................................................

Regardless, many of us wouldn't bother to read such pieces of news. It's simply not newsworthy.
It's just another government agency doing its thing.

Or is it?

Are all our Govt Agencies are similarly effective?
I think because 'our government' has done such a great job of pulling off enforcement actions and/or has done such a great job of highlighting that it has pulled off many enforcement exercises, that we assume that:

(1) ALL government agencies carry out their enforcement roles professionally

(2) As such, there is no need to watch out for ourselves, as some agency in the government will do so on our behalf.

This is a misconception.

Ok, BM, why are you so lor sor? Going on and on about such a dry topic?

Because if we do not raise awareness now, we risk serious consequences which are difficult to disentangle and resolve in the long run.

(Active vs Lame) Enforcers
I have observed a large gap between how the Active Enforcers and the Lame Enforcers. So big that it is impossible to conclude that "all Singapore government agencies carry out their enforcement roles professionally".

In general, there are 2 relative baskets of government agencies that are meant to take enforcement actions:

(A) The Active Enforcers

The Home Team is made up of 10 public agencies, of which Ministry of Home Affairs is the 'leader'.

5 out of 10 Home Team agencies carry out enforcement actions. These include the Singapore Police Force (e.g. under the Penal Code), the Immigrations & Checkpoint Authority (e.g. under Immigration Act of Singapore), Casino Regulatory Authority (e.g. under the Casino Control Act) etc.

There are other public agencies that are not under the Home Team, but also take enforcement actions. E.g. Ministry of Manpower acts under the Employment Act to take enforcement actions against say errant employers, or illegal foreign workers. Or CPIB (e.g. under Prevention of Corruption Act) etc.

(B) The Lame Enforcers

Apart from the enforcement agencies as highlighted above, there are other public agencies which are also tasked with enforcement functions. An easy way to identify them is by their names. These public agencies are, in general, statutory boards with 'authority' in their names, i.e. at least 1 Act = 1 enforcement role under their charge.

Though tasked with enforcement roles, some of these agencies do NOT carry out active enforcement actions, and/or are deficient in terms of enforcement capabilities/ competencies (to be explained in later paragraphs).

In fact, because some of them are so silent on their enforcement roles, that you may not even be aware that they are supposed to be taking enforcement actions for this and that transgressions affecting your life.

Of course, 'Active' vs 'Lame' is just a crude classification. There are stat boards which fall in-between.
E.g. In the past couple of years, NEA is seen trying very hard to move from Lame to Active. And I think it is currently somewhere in-between. It is an commendable effort.

What's the big deal with Enforcement?
Taking enforcement actions against someone/ an entity is never a pleasant task. Your 'target audience' ain't gonna be happy, and in this day and age, they will file a complaint/appeal via all possible avenues, such as writing to MPs, Prime Minister, mainstream media, non-mainstream media etc.

By then, not only does the public agency have to deal with the original complaint, it now has to defend itself against the complainant, sometimes very publicly.

Furthermore, taking enforcement is an complex process which may lead to 'serious consequences' for the offender, i.e. to be charged in court and sentenced to jail.

To top it off, assuming the officer knows how to go about this piece of work, such efforts may not even be recognised as good work.

As such, the thought process of the officers-in-charge becomes:

Waaaaahhh! So troublesome! So scary!
(Read in-between lines: I dunno how to handle!)

Let's not do it. Just reject the original complaint.

But, any rational individual will realise that, regardless of how unpleasant or complex the process is, there is a sound reason for the enforcement in the first place. The rules were not made for nothing. These rules are made to ensure that no one causes dis-amenities/harm to another, that no one takes more than he is entitled to etc.

And the public agency set up for the specific purpose is playing the all-important role upholding fairness and equity. It also means that if this public agency doesn't care, the 'victims' have little or no recourse.

Hence, Enforcement is important and serious business. A task which cannot be sidelined.

How difficult is Enforcement?
From my observation, only the Active Enforcers have been fully set up to carry out their enforcement functions. This means they have the complete range* of capabilities/ competencies, broadly as follows:

(a) Intelligence - Gathering of information, analysing trends, spotting areas of concern etc

(b) Operations - This is the most visible part of enforcement. This involves officers physically approaching the targets.

(c) Investigations - Finding of facts/evidence, proving guilt etc.

(d) Target audience liaison/education - The aim of these agencies is also for all to learn about what's acceptable and what's not. This will help to lower overall rate of transgressions.

*Having complete range of capabilities/ competencies does not mean that these agencies can respond to all cases immediately.
Bandwidth is a separate issue.

Using this capabilities/ competencies framework, imagine the amount of work that has gone into that single piece of CNB news featured at the start of this blog entry.

Now contrast that effort with the Lame Enforcers. Some of the Lame Enforcers have only employed a few officers for their enforcement unit.

Even if we disregard the potential volume of enforcement cases, having employed only 2 officers in the enforcement unit is unlikely to be able to cover the entire range of capabilities/ competencies required to carry out enforcement effectively, not to mention be active or enthusiastic about enforcement.

For others, enforcement is merely PART of the officer's portfolio, i.e. the officer is multi-hatting and as such tends to de-prioritise his enforcement cases.

In other words, do the Lame Enforcers take their enforcement roles seriously?

I am afraid not.

Enforcement is Unsexy & Boring
In parallel, I've also noticed that many public agencies have enthusiastically gone on the 'lifestyle' theme with their respective portfolios, devoting a lot of manpower and budget to 'beautification' and/or 'creating buzz'.

Probably because they have seen how heads of other public agencies handsomely rewarded by the system for pulling off 'beautification and buzz projects along with high levels of media coverage, along with at least 1 politician launching the event'.

Effective enforcement, on the other hand, makes boring news and/or no news to everyone, ranging from member of public, politician, public servant, pressroom etc.

I'm not saying that 'beautification 'n' buzz' are unimportant.

However, if a statutory board was set up based on an Act, its first and foremost responsibility is to fulfill its enforcement role. After which the stat board can choose to branch out into other areas.

In simple words and example:

If the Immigration & Checkout Authority decided that it would henceforth re-prioritise its focus:

(i) Zhnging its physical facilities (e.g. to install designer fountains with laser light shows, designer gardens, and massive designer chandeliers in all its checkpoint facilities); and

(ii) Creating buzz (e.g. holding 'world-class' festivals and celebrations at the designer fountains, in the designer gardens, and under the designer chandelier; while

(iii) Reducing manpower devoted to its passenger clearance and enforcement capabilities.

How would that impact your life and mine?

Immediately, you will get many illegal immigrants freely walking into Singapore, guns will be brought onto our land, weird (dead) exotic animal (parts) and a lot of hardcore drugs circulating in our system etc. Lovely.

The top leaders (politicians and civil servants) need to re-visit the fact that, amidst 'exciting and visually-obvious' beautification and buzz' projects, enforcement is an invisible but essential factor of how and why Singapore has become a world-class city today.

FWAH! Wouldn't it be great to build such a huge designer fountain with laser show at the Woodlands Checkpoint?!
People can then watch the mesmerising 10-hour show while waiting for clearance,
so that they will not complain about the new inevitable 10-hour wait.

How to get their Enforcement Act together?
Taking a leaf out of the books of non-Home Team Active Enforcers such as Ministry of Manpower, look for experienced enforcement officers from the Home Team.

I'm not suggesting poaching. That's just unsophisticated, myopic, and simply dull.

Instead, I'm suggesting a public service-wide enforcement capabilities/ competencies development scheme in the following order:

(A) To recognise and prioritise importance of enforcement and enforcement officers in the Public Service.

(B) For senior and junior Home Team officers with such invaluable experience to be recognised, and channeled for extended good use in other parts of the public service.

(C) To set up a public service enforcement knowledge and training platform. (Read in-between the lines if your CEP is high enough.)

(D) To train up public officers without enforcement experience to become enforcement officers.

Is carrying out the above within the capabilities and competencies of PSD and Civil Service College? O_o

Our 'Lunatic Fringe' is not the Problem.

2011-09-15T16:23:00.002+08:00

RE: Most Singaporeans still rely on traditional media
RE: 3 in 10 S'poreans cynical about politicians

IPS did a survey of about 1,100 Singaporeans (21 yrs old and above) in early 2011, and found that:

(A) 12.6% said they go online for their political-news. Less than 1% relied solely on online alternative media for political news

(B) 30% said they do not trust politicans to act in their best interests, and this 'cynicism' is linked to exposure to online media.

The researcher concluded that policy-makers should go on the internet and hold interpersonal discussions to "reach and convert" these cynics.

Let's visualise the findings.

Assuming all 12.6% who go online for political news, also do not trust politicians. You find them clustered together as the blue C1.

(Click on the diagram to expand it.)

I guess C1 is also the same group which Minister Chan Chun Sing called 'the Lunatic Fringe'.
And as highlighted by PM Lee, government agencies are going all out to tackle C1 in cyberspace.

However, I think our politicians have a bigger problem than the so-called lunatic C1.

What's really interesting is the group highlighted in green C2.

In reality, not all who go online for political news will distrust politicians. Hence, if the C1 box shifts left a little, C2 may well make up 20% of Singaporeans above 21, i.e. can be 2 times of lunatic C1.

More significantly, people in C2 are cynical of politicians, but do NOT get their political news from the lunatic cyberspace.

If so, where the fuck are people in C2 getting their cynicism from??
From mainstream media?? OMG?! Is this even humanly possible?
Is it genetic?? Are they delusional?
How to convert them? Can they be 'saved'??
Will they spread their disease around and taint the white masses (who also do not read up on political stuff online)?

Using more developed countries' cynicism levels as benchmarks, it is clear that the Cynics group will only grow in terms of numbers and proportion to the total voters' population.

Then, what's intriguing is the split between C1 and C2.
I bet there are differences between the demographic profiles of C1 and C2.

Coincidentally, the findings of this IPS survey can be crudely mapped with the recent PE2011 voting results.

Tonight's Special: 中秋节

2011-09-12T20:24:00.004+08:00

He came back home for dinner at 7.30pm, then left at 8pm and headed for the office again.

Tonight's special: Ginseng oyster mushroom soup

Hope it works.

Is Population Growth a Ponzi Scheme?

2011-09-11T23:07:00.002+08:00

"The underlying strategy of Ponzi demography is to privatize the profits and socialize the costs incurred from increased population growth...

According to Ponzi demography, population growth — through natural increase and immigration — means more people leading to increased demands for goods and services, more material consumption, more borrowing, more on credit and of course more profits. Everything seems fantastic for a while — but like all Ponzi schemes, Ponzi demography is unsustainable....

Among its primary tactics, Ponzi demography exploits the fear of population decline and aging. Without a young and growing population, we are forewarned of becoming a nation facing financial ruin and a loss of national power...

Among other things, increased immigration, it is declared, is a matter of national security, long-term prosperity and international competitiveness. Without this needed immigration, Ponzi demography warns that the country’s future is at serious risk.

Another basic tactic of Ponzi demography is a pervasive and unrelenting public relations campaign promoting the advantages and necessity of an increasing population for continued economic growth. Every effort is made to equate population growth with economic prosperity and national progress.

"Economic growth requires population growth" is the basic message that Ponzi demography wants the public to swallow. No mention is made of the additional profits they reap and the extra costs the public bears..."

Please take some time to read the entire article by the Globalist here.

Lost in Translation

2011-09-10T16:43:00.000+08:00

Shared by a friend on FB:

"A father & daughter dashed into the train & the girl went

"You are so cool Dad! You ran in like a ninja!""

LOL!!
Imagine the Mandarin version,

"爸！您好酷！跑起来像忍者哦！"

This photo of Iga is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Next Holiday Destination: North Korea

2011-09-10T15:02:00.000+08:00

Baby! Let's go to North Korea for our next holiday!

북한은 우리가 간다!

See Reuters photo report on a vacation in North Korea here.

Funny & Educational

2011-09-09T20:27:00.003+08:00

You see? No need to cross-dress.

This variety show (at least this episode) is funny AND (lightly) educational.

Laughed until I teared... LOL!!!

Since you are here...

2011-09-09T17:32:00.000+08:00

Read this (again):

Unlocking the Value of National Service

All the rhetoric about locals vs foreigners, rising housing prices, transport prices, unhappiness over P1 registration, how locals girls are too uppity to glance at local men, how local men are unattractive, falling marriage rate, falling birthrate, how NS is a waste of time...

Let's solve it once and for all...
And the solution is to unlock the value of National Service (NS).

Perils of being a Female PhD Student

2011-09-08T14:46:00.001+08:00

RE: 'My mind was a total blank'

"Mr Lee paused and looked at Miss Sim.

“How old are you now?” he wanted to know.

“Twenty-seven,” she replied.

The queries came thick and fast: Are you married? (No) When will you finish your PhD? (In two years) So you’ll be 29 then. Do you have a boyfriend? (No)

That was when Mr Lee drew attention to the biological clock and a woman’s child-bearing years.

After 35 (years old), the dangers of having children with Down syndrome rises, he said.

“My advice, please don’t waste time. I hope you get your PhD and your boyfriend,” he added.

The audience laughed loudly. Miss Sim turned red.

She told The New Paper: “It was very, very embarrassing. At that moment, I wanted to hug myself and disappear.""
....................................................

I wonder if Mr LKY would ask a male student about his age, his marital status and tell him to quickly finish his PhD, get a partner, and make babies.

Perhaps Mr LKY wouldn't ask a male student such questions because, ultimately, it is the willingness of the womb of the beholder that matters. Get to the root of the problem.

Notice that Mr LKY did not ask Ms Sim if she had even wanted to be a mother in the first place. He simply assumed that she should.

And after all that jabbing, did Mr LKY answer the question which Ms Sim had stood up to ask?

"Given the big influx of immigrants here in a short time, and a dilution of the national identity, what can we do to create a sense of belonging and foster social cohesiveness, she asked."

Or was she being punished for asking such a question?

Ms Sim should not feel embarrassed at all.
Instead, Mr Lee and all those unthinking people who laughed along in the lecture theatre ought to.

Cross-Dressing & Variety Shows

2011-09-07T14:58:00.004+08:00

I find it mind-numbing that Channel 8 keeps producing cross-dressing personalities.

First, it was Liang PoPo,

then it was the aunite called Liang Simei,

I cannot remember anymore in-between, and now it's Auntie Lucy...

For 20 freaking years, they repeat the same formula.
Unlike Kumar, these cross-dressing comedians are not even funny without their dresses. That's the problem.

It's even more disgusting when you realise that the man behind Liang Popo and Liang Simei, is married with kids, cannot control his dick, and loves to fuck around with young chicks.
How fucked up is this??

I can't help but to ask:

Do we lack (biologically female) comedic talents?

Is this insistence on cross-dressing,

some kind of psychosis,

as demonstrated by 'creative producers in Mediacorp'

and/or

by the audience that enthusiastically lap up such entertainment?

Please remember that just because we grew up watching crap, doesn't mean that our kids have to.

Some people argue that these cross-dressing personalities on TV are not for the educated white collars' consumption, but for the low to middle income Chinese masses.

To that, I stare with my eyes wide open and exclaim,"WTF kind of condescension is that?!!

Just because they make less money and/or are less-educated, they are supposed to be watching brainless cross-dressers on TV?!

If you know better, it is then your responsibility to 'help them progress', not fold your arms and conclude that 'it's like that'.
....................................................................

On a somewhat related note...

When I was a kid, my father disallowed me to watch (i) Channel 5 altogether, and (ii) variety shows on Channel 8.

Disallowing (i) was because he did not want me to become Ang Mo Pai. In his own limited ways, he was fighting an up-slope war. Did he win? I would say, the war is not over till it's over, i.e. till I die. LOL!

Disallowing (ii) was because he thought variety shows were and still are crap.

Effectively, I was only allowed limited time to watch (i) the kid's channel, and (ii) drama and news on Channel 8.

This one-sided consumption of TV led to a couple of incidents (discussed in an earlier entry)...

During an English oral exam in Pri 2, I could not understand what the reading passage was about, because the key word of the passage was 'Causeway'. I later found out from classmates that the passage was about the bridge between Singapore and Malaysia.

If the passage had been in Chinese, I would have been able to understand immediately what 新柔长堤 was and read it aloud, because I had learnt about this while watching Channel 8 news.

Also, in Pri 2, no one in my class, except for me, knew what 'passport' was in Mandarin, i.e. 护照. Another term I'd learnt from watching Chinese news.

Curious moral of the story: Kids ought to mainly watch English AND Chinese news, coz most variety shows ain't gonna teach you shite, especially when you are watching Auntie Lucy stroking her face and showing off her muscular legs.

We need real hardcore talk shows, and not more cross-dressers.

Monkeys, Monkeys, Monkeys!!

2011-09-07T00:04:00.004+08:00

Inspired by Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I slept very late last night coz I was reading my big book on Primates from cover to cover... again...

I wanna go to Jigokudani Monkey Park, Nagano, Japan, to meet these Japanese Macaques.

Look at how relaxed they are... Click on the pic to check out the facial expression of the 3rd monkey from the left with his arms hanging over the rocks.

I like primates. =))

And did you know that it is illegal to keep exotic animals such as reptiles, amphibians and primates as pets in Singapore?

But... what if a (baby) monkey from Bukit Timah Nature Reserve follows me home and doesn't leave?

I don't think Blinky will be too happy.

=))

Singaporean Values Version 4.6

2011-09-05T14:33:00.000+08:00

RE: New citizens should uphold S'porean values, says Dr Yaacob - Channel NewsAsia

"Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Yaacob Ibrahim has urged new citizens to uphold Singaporean values and build a shared future for the country.

He said they should play a part in contributing to the nation through active community involvement, such as volunteering at welfare homes or playing a part in outreach programmes.

He also expressed confidence that the new Singaporeans will embrace these values and help enlarge the common space that help to bind the people."

Really?? Singaporean values = active community involvement? Since when?

Is this in the new syllabus of 好公民?

No one sent me the updated instruction manual.

Regardless, Minister Yaacob's comments have raise a pertinent issue.

What exactly are Singaporean Values?

If Singaporeans do not even know what these values are, how will the new citizens learn about them? Make up their own?

Are we talking about the colours and celestial symbols on the national flag?

Or are we talking about values which guide our daily lives at the individual level, not at the national level...
Example: Are we still talking about the infamous 5Cs?

If you are a straight Singaporean male,
your Singaporean values may include a 6th C, i.e. Chiobu.

The 5Cs are a crude set of material gains indicators that merely shows that one is no longer a struggling peasant/labourer in terms of financial accumulation.

I observe that many people are still using this 1980s/90s set of 5Cs 'values' zealously! LOL!!
Patting themselves on the back enthusiastically when they finally realise their 5Cs dream, or feeling really shitty about themselves (and everyone around them, including this country) when they wake up to the reality that they are unlikely to achieve them in this lifetime.

While it is impossible for all Singaporeans to conclude on the set of values, it is definitely worthwhile for all Singaporeans to think about the values which a Singaporean should hold close to his heart.

Perhaps we need to figure out a set of 'Pre-Developed Country Values' that have gotten us thus far, and another set of 'Post-Developed Country Values' values which will see us through more good years together as one nation.

Instead of quibbling over land parcels within Aljunied GRC, PA, together with the newly-elected President, should be putting their resources and networks to good use, i.e. to explore such issues.

Let the debate begin. With sound planning and orchestration, this will keep the nation occupied till the end of the year, or when the ministers' pay review is announced, whichever is earlier.

What are your Singaporean values?
'Pre-Developed Country Values' & 'Post-Developed Country Values'.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

2011-09-04T19:28:00.000+08:00

If you haven't caught Rise of the Planet of the Apes... Please do so soon. It's much much better than the Planet of the Apes which was screened 10 years ago. In fact, it's a standalone story.

I think, this film is simply,

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

= (监狱风云 + Ape Terrorists ) x Contagion

The Primate Inmates on the loose (from left): Maurice, Caesar, Buck & Rocket

**Spoiler Ahead**

I shan't give you a summary of the storyline, but I want to focus on a specific feature in the story.

As Caesar embarked on his journey to unite and control the primates in the enclosure, he gave the dominant ape, Rocket, some cookies, which Rocket enjoyed very much. Then Caesar allowed Rocket to have the honour of being the 'sole distributor' of cookies to the rest, making everyone very happy and loyal in the process.

One of the more intelligent primates, an orang utan called Maurice, later asked Caesar in sign language:

Why Cookie Rocket?

I think this is the most brilliant touch of this film.
I love how Caesar had made use of Rocket by giving him the cookies and their sole distributorship, especially how the cookies were in fact acquired by outwitting the enemy.
Do you see the familiar parallel?
This Caesar vs Cookie Rocket system?
It's reminiscent of a system that has worked well in SG to command and control.

Caesar believed that the primates must unite, but Maurice thought that the primates couldn't be united because they were fundamentally stupid. After which Caesar decided to make them 'smarter'. I thought that's like introducing systematic public education. Just cannot make them smarter than Caesar. LOL!!

Btw, I am not the only person on earth getting all excited over 'Why Cookie Rocket?'. This is a universally powerful message, and it has taken on a life of its own since the film's opening. You can google it.

Do You Know South Korea?

2011-09-03T14:49:00.003+08:00

Do You Know South Korea? from David Dutton on Vimeo.

Women, Love & Marriage

2011-09-02T16:41:00.000+08:00

I've written much about love relationships in the past. The recent Economist articles (here, and here) on how Asian women, especially in East and South East Asian, are rejecting marriage.

Usually, such articles cite the following:

(A) The usual stats, i.e. increasing average women's age at marriage, unmarried women at 'mature ages', decreasing birth rates etc

(B) The usual reasons why these women are delaying and/or ignoring marriage altogether, i.e. higher education, rising costs of living, desire for 'freedom', desire to marry up etc.

I gonna offer an alternative look at this 'social problem'.
'Rising costs of living' is the lamest explanation of all, coz 'love' is always the answer.
And 'love' is also the problem.

I have Freedom of Choice! Therefore, I am Single
As I trip myself into the mid-30s, my friends from school have arrived too. Some are married with children, some are attached, others are single and have been single for a while.

Beyond females in my age group, I notice that the single most significant reason of why women are not 'attached'/married is because of the perception of 'freedom of choice'.

This liberating idea allows the female to choose.
Multiply that with their newfound confidence by so-called 'excelling in school', she believes she can solve any puzzle that comes her way, and proceeds to make many choices. She believes she knows how to make such decisions.

Career or Partnership?
Marrying up or down?
Older or younger?
Handsome or Intelligent?
Rich or Talent or Hardworking?
Guy A or Guy B or Guy C?
Now or later?

Lack of 10,000 hours of Training

The problem is that this 'freedom of choice' did not come with 10,000 hours of training. This means she's unlikely to be adept at such decision-making when she first starts to date.

If the average girl starts dating at 18 and is relatively intelligent about it, she gets really good at choosing her life partner by the end of the 10,000 hours, which works out roughly to be when she turns 28.

For those who decided to marry really early, i.e. early 20s, some may soon regret their decision because:

(i) They really did make a wrong choice of partner and/or marriage did not live up to their young adult expectations; and/or

(ii) Still in their 20s, they believe they are still attractive, and therefore still have choices.

As such, many such early marriages end up in divorces. They then enter into another marriage in their 30s.

I only want the Perfect Man

Even after 10,000 hours of training, there are women who are still unable to find steady partners. I have a separate explanation for that.

Popular culture is to be blamed, especially romantic stories of cute-sy couples and/or tall, dark, handsome, manly, perfect men.

You may laugh at this... Thinking that this doesn't 'sound' like a solid intelligent explanation.

Did you know that significantly more females (above age of 15) watch TV, especially dramas, than males do?
Being constantly exposed to such unreal romantic themes has to affect one's perceptions. Remember, we learn by and make decisions based on pattern recognition.

I'm sure we've all heard stories of psycho girlfriends who refuse to speak their minds to their boyfriends, yet get very angry when the latter do not behave in the way the former expect.
I call this the 'act-coy girlfriend trap'.

Guys, the point is, you are supposed to know what the fuck she wants without her having to tell you. If you manage to do all that, it shows that you know her very well, and as such, you are 'the one'. A great discovery which she can go tell her friends about. Hence, obviously and most logically, she can't tell you what she wants, coz that would mean she made the first move and conceded 'defeat' to this invisible audience watching your so-called romance unfold. O_o

Also, look at how people, especially women, spend extreme number of hours and amount of money (some even borrow) on their 'dream wedding'. From the gown, to the wedding invites, to the music, to making her girlfriends in the most ridiculous shade of pink to match the flowers.
It is a proxy to demonstrate how 'romanticised' they are about their relationship.

Or how crazily 'ideal men', such as Bae Yong Joon, are idolised by women from their 20s onwards.

Even if no one is likely to admit this, I believe many women do not simply hope that, but instead EXPECT that their courtships, steady relationships, marriage etc are to be like those found in contemporary romantic stories.

Multiply this fantastic expectation with 'Freedom of Choice', and we get women who continuously cannot find a steady partner, because no one is 'good enough' for her.

So what have we learnt here?

That the average unmarried woman wants to get married, or at least find a life partner.

She's impeded by her insistence that she has freedom of choice and that the perfect rom-com man exists. Settling for anything/anyone less is imperfect and must be an unhappy outcome. She's in love with 'love'.

She believes she knows what she's doing.

The above merely looks at the female...
Don't get me started on the male side of this equation of relationships. Of those men who believe girlfriends ought to look like those in men's magazine and good sex mimics porn.

Shiok Sendiri

2011-09-01T18:00:00.000+08:00

RE: Socialites raise $17,000 for breast cancer foundation over tea

Anyone with common sense has got to raise an eyebrow.

Only S$17k raised for at a charity event held at St Regis and attended by 120 'distinguished socialites'?

That's like an average donation of S$141.67 per socialite. O_o

The question is:

How much did the charity tea dance event cost?

And/or the cost of the new dresses/shoes/hairdos, specially procured and donned by the socialites for this event?

If the socialites had scrapped the event altogether, and donated all cost/sponsorship amounts to charity instead, I'm sure the figure would have been more than S$17k.

Or are the rich unwilling to donate if they are not treated to a tea dance?

But even after they had been treated to tea, the donations were... S$17k or S$141.67 per head.

Perhaps this is a sign to commoners that recession is coming!

My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox (Gumiho) 내 여자친구는 구미호 我的女友是九尾狐

2011-09-01T17:37:00.002+08:00

I was made to watch My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox.

I'm not exactly a fan of rom-com TV series, mostly because I do not believe in the popular social construct of romance and so-called L.U.R.V.E.. I'd rather watch family-based Korean dramas, where the mother-in-law is the public enemy No. 1. LOL! =)))

Regardless of my personal preferences, because life is about compromises and living means sucking such compromises up with an enthusiastic smile, I completed the series which featured the singer-actor Lee Seung Gi and model-singer-actress Shin Min Ah.

This series has a great sound track, especially 'Fox Rain'.
In the series, whenever it starts to rain during a sunny day, it means the fox is crying.

Back to the resistance...
The protagonists, despite how cute they were as a couple, had neither mothers nor mothers-in-law. What a disappointment.

Nah... The story line is decent and the actors did a great job. =))
The thing about Korean actors and actresses, they are very determined to be the best that they can... The leads were in their early 20s, but you know they know what they are doing.

OK, the real reason why I was kept glued to this series is the ultra androgynous No Min-woo.

My heart was ripped to pieces when he teared. Beautiful people shouldn't have to feel sad.

All leads in this series performed at least 1 song as captured in the series and the original soundtrack. This is No Min-woo's song in the series. It's called Trap and is usually played whenever he was coming onto or onscreen. =)))

According to a quick and dirty survey amongst my Korean wave classmates, I don't think No Min-woo's ultra famous... YET! =)))

But he will be!
Coz he reminds me of dark (as in personality, not skin colour) mashed up version of Takuya Kimura + Gackt. And... He plays the drums... Former drummer of Korean rock band TRAX. And he idolises Johnny Depp.

I think his popularity is currently unstable because (i) his face changes all the time (probably to due to extensive plastic surgery and radical image makeovers every few months), and (ii) rife rumours that he is so not straight.

Seriously, who cares whether he is plastic and/or gay.
I hope he makes it big... I wanna see more of him.

너무너무너무... 너무너무너무... 너무너무너무... 좋아요!!!

Shining Inheritance 찬란한 유산 灿烂的遗产

2011-09-01T17:37:00.000+08:00

Watching Shining Inheritance/Brilliant Legacy is super frustrating.

**WARNING!! Spoiler ahead**

Don't get me wrong. This is a great series. Han Hyo Joo is so cute and convincing, even when the script drops way off the usual believable scale.

But the problem is that ONCE AGAIN Han Hyo Joo does not get together with my favourite 天寿哥!! Once again, the good guy who did everything right did not get the girl. ROOOAAAARRRR!!! =_=

At first, I was totally against developing any empathy for Lee Seung Gi, ie the guy whom Han Hyo Joo got together with in this series.

Alas, his boyish-monkey charms are undeniable.
(He proves his cute prowess again in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho 내 여자친구는 구미호 我的女友是九尾狐.)

天寿哥 is, after all, an ajeossi 아저씨 oredi.

对不起, 天寿哥!
最 MAN 最帅的，还是你。只不过，李昇基他比较可爱！

Learning Mandarin as a foreign language

2011-08-30T15:01:00.000+08:00

I notice that kids tend to speak Mandarin with an 'ang moh accent'. One of my friends said the 'ang moh accent' had come naturally to her kids.

I think it's probably due (i) having learnt English before and/or more than Mandarin, and (ii) mixing with and learning from schoolmates/friends/family who also speak Mandarin with an 'ang moh accent'.

To these kids, Mandarin is a foreign language.

This phenomenon takes place in the adult world of (foreign) language-learning too. In my Korean class, we sort of figured that, at the end of the day, it's very possible that only people from our class would understand the weird Korean which we speak. Native Korean speakers are unlikely to be able to decipher what we are saying because of our weird accents and customised sentence structures.

Through my Korean class, I've also come to appreciate that language is not something one can rote-learn on his own.

Someone on TV, an child educator, recently commented that it's wishful thinking on the part of parents to send their kids for an hour or two of Mandarin lessons each week, and expect the kids to therefore be able speak and write in Mandarin confidently.

If you ask parents in such shoes, they will claim in defence, guilt, frustration and futility that 2 hours is better than none. Or that since you have no children of your own, you shouldn't be commenting on how they are bringing up theirs.

Emotions aside... Honestly, the solution is in fact very simple. However, because it is very tedious, the solution is unlikely gonna be popular.

Regardless, here's solution anyway, i.e. for the parents to learn Mandarin TOGETHER with the kids.

Why should the kids be going on this tedious learning journey alone, while their parents wait for them in the cafe at the ground floor of the shopping centre?

Learn it together. Use it together.

Create a Mandarin-speaking environment for your kids at home.

I think it'll be fun and will draw the family closer as a unit.

Left, Right, Centre!

2011-08-29T13:59:00.000+08:00

Political ‘right’, ‘centre’, ‘progressive left’, ‘liberal’, 'English-educated liberal', 'Chinese leftists'...

So many factions in Singapore these days...

And so confusing... Which political creature are you? What am I?

I thought PE2011 fractured Singaporeans into:

(1) (Right) - The Elite Adherers
(2) (Centre) - The 'rebellious but not dangerous' Curry-demonstrators
(3) (Left) - The Angry Birds
(4) (Outer Space) - The Ingenuous
(5) (No space) - The Bochup

What are the (age) profiles of people in each group?
If a group has many older folks, chances are that group will shrink in the next 5 years. Need new injections!
From where? Import!!

Presidential Elections 2011: Afterthoughts

2011-08-28T14:47:00.000+08:00

Through PE2011, I have learnt the following:

(A) I suck at predictions.

Apart from getting right (i) the winner and (ii) how he is not gonna get a more than 50% majority vote, I got everything else wrong.

I need to trade in my current crystal ball for a more lucid one...

(B1) Appearing nice is more important than solving significant & fundamental problems.

(B2) Small everyday gestures are superior to complex nation-wide solutions.

Actually, why should I be surprised?
(Voice in my head reminds me: You are just being stubborn again.)

Again and again, I've learnt B1 and B2 about audiences at work, in school, at play etc.

But I refuse to concede, coz that is just tragic.

(C) Giving Singaporeans more choices = A more divided Singapore

The votes-split is testament to this.
Given our tiny size, we have become a fragmented society.
65% of voters did not vote for the guy who's supposed to unite Singaporeans.

We are a fragmented people, with a fragmented next generation leadership. The second part is more worrying than the first.

I still can't understand why 3 RIs boys cannot get their act together to take down 1 SJI boy.

Yes. There are winners in this PE race.
Tony Tan is a big winner.
Tan Jee Say has also won big in his own right, and he can make use of this exposure to further his political ambitions.

But Singapore has lost. Big time. Singapore is the biggest loser in this race.

I don't know why I keep thinking about the story of 'the Last of the Mohicans', especially the skinning. But it's not the right analogy intuitively, coz the Mohicans (whoever was left) were very united when faced with enemies (in the end), and no one is gonna help us in our case.

Hmmm... Maybe that's why.

(D) Despite being fragmented, Singaporeans, as a voting collective, tried very hard not to spoil their votes.

1.76% of spoilt votes is a very good collective attempt.

Most people are trying to make a decision at their individual level.

Next step is to look beyond that and see the big picture before making that decision.

Some would say that we are making progress...
Let's just hope that we will see the big picture... in time.

Like Father, Like Daughter | Kin Lian & Su Ling

2011-08-25T13:29:00.000+08:00

Tan Kin Lian's daughter, Tan Su ling, spoke at her father's rally last night.

Like father, like daughter. Sincere and Passionate.

One cannot help but to emotionally connect with what she is saying. I teared while listening to her.

Here is an excerpt of her speech:

"During the Lehman Brother crisis, he single-handedly stood up to help defend the rights of ordinary citizens who lost their money.

No one stood up to help them.

My father had many friends when he was CEO of NTUC Income. Do you think he had a lot of friends when he stood up for the common people?

NO! He had no friends at that point. He was the lone voice in Hong Lim Park.

He spent several days and nights organising petitions to the relevant authorities, urging them to look into the mis-sellings. In the process, he stepped on many people's toes.

Many of them his own friends, and even relatives.Some even questioned his motives for getting involved, but he refused to bow down to pressure and criticism because he felt that was the right thing to do."

We are not choosing an idol as our President, who is bigger, smoother, cooler, richer, better than us. Please shed that outdated 'fan - idol' mentality when electing leaders.

We are choosing someone who can empathise with us, the ordinary Singaporeans, and would do something about it. The President represents the People.

Tan Kin Lian is the only candidate who has been consistent in slogan and action, i.e. 'Voice of the People', way before he embarked on the Presidential Elections campaign.

Eh... HDB & PA! It's A Freaking Dumb Idea!

2011-08-23T12:04:00.002+08:00

RE: Media Release on Use of Public Sites at Aljunied GRC : The Workers’ Party of Singapore

RE: HDB abusing its power as land owner, says WP

RE: HDB &amp; PA respond to open spaces issue in Aljunied

Who in the Public Service Approved This?
While it is unsurprising that PA is in the picture, plugging failed MPs as GRO advisors and 'community uses approvers', it's simply disappointing that HDB refuses to play referee, and instead chooses to play alongside PA.

If you are familiar with the process, I'm sure more than a few officers in HDB (and even MND) were involved in this.

Did no one at any level raise the point that this approach is simply not right?

Or minimally have the basic decency, as a public service officer serving the people of Singapore, to highlight that this is a politically-sensitive issue, and, as such, that the relevant stakeholders, e.g. MPs of Aljunied GRC, ought to be contacted BEFORE the decision was finalised?

CEO of HDB is an Administrative Service Officer wor!
It's impossible for someone with such high CEP to overlook the sensitivity of this issue.

With glistening wistful eyes, I ask...
What has happened to HDB's mission of 'We promote the building of active and cohesive communities'?
Whatever has happened to the Civil Service's promise of 'Integrity, Service, Excellence'?

Or perhaps all the officers involved had painfully struggled with this difficult problem, but only to be superceded by the new Minister of National Development?

In the end, HDB publicly and clumsily stated this:

"Responding to media queries, the HDB said it adjusts its list of sites managed by a town council from time to time and this is based on legitimate requests from relevant agencies or civic organisations.

HDB said in this case, PA requested tenancy for the sites to organise community activities. The request was approved as PA had been using the sites frequently, added HDB."

What HDB is saying is plainly as follows:

(1) It's not us who decided to change the list of sites under Aljunied Town Council.

(2) It's PA.

(3) But PA has 'legitimate requests', that's why we approved it.

(4) In addition, we have one more justification that we have to let you know. It's also because that PA has been using those sites often, so it's ok for them to take over the sites.

What are 'legitimate requests'? Are requests from the incumbent MPs considered 'legitimate' too?

HDB must know that MPs in the GRC often use sites for residents' activities too. Did HDB ensure that Aljunied Town Council to have at least a few good sites ( in terms of size, location etc)?
In other words, how different are the HDB-approved lists of sites for Aljunied Town Council, before and after GE2011?

Why weren't the key stakeholders of public sites within Aljunied GRC consulted on PA's request? Isn't it obvious that Aljunied Town Council and/or the MPs of Aljunied GRC are key stakeholders?

Come on, either someone made a mistake, or someone looked the other way. Which is it? Who is it?

**Update:

MND and PA released a joint statement on 24 Aug 2011. Same points as the above, but with an added justification, i.e. PA had to ask HDB for sites coz they couldn't get any from Hougang Town Council earlier. They were worried that the same would happen in Aljunied too.

Eh... If this is one of the justifications submitted by PA to HDB in its application for the sites, it sounds like a major justification over say 'PA has been using those sites frequently', why didn't HDB mention it in its statement earlier?
Coz everyone knows it's politically sensitive, so it's 'safer' to avoid talking about it.
Or perhaps one cannot be sure that this accusation of Hougang and/or worry about Aljunied is indeed true.

But nonetheless, just give the approval first, right?

Despite the joint statement, no one has explained why HDB/MND did not consult Aljunied Town Council and the attendant elected MPs BEFORE the approval was finalised and announced.

A Freaking Dumb Idea!

As for the people of local politics, I dunno which smart alec amongst you came up with this idea to hoard the key community sites within Aljunied GRC.

Please be informed that it's just a truly freaking dumb idea. LOL!!

Maybe you really believe that holding events within any GRC really helps your political party to win votes, and as such, as much as possible, you wanna deprive WP of the opportunity of doing so.

Even so, aren't you losing sight of your objective? Shouldn't your first and foremost objective be to increase your own popularity?

Preventing WP from being present or holding events at these sites is neither (1) gonna make WP any less popular with the residents of Aljunied, nor (2) gonna make you any more popular.

In fact, it's gonna make you look exceptionally lousy!
E.g. The above-mentioned media release by WP has been posted and reposted in the local cyberspace by the thousands within a few hours.

Even if you don't believe that this is a really bad idea, what's up with the verbal intimidation of event organisers?!
That's simply... yet another a bad idea.

If these great ideas are from the top, it's so desperate that it's hilarious.

If these great idea are from the zealous middle/bottom, for Singapore's sake, get your zealots back in control!
It's embarrassing!

The Government doesn't owe anyone anything, Yes?

2011-08-22T15:43:00.002+08:00

Public consultation is all the rage these days. It's one of the more real outcomes of GE2011. Suddenly, what 'you' think is in vogue, is 'interesting'.

I am gonna tell you a little story that arose amidst this new vogue.

Someone complained on Facebook about his experience as a stakeholder at a public consultation, conducted by a statutory board. He said the Director from the stat board basically put down suggestions raised during the session, and shoved his stat board's proposals down the throats of the stakeholders (mainly average and individual property owners, and not influential stakeholders such as large MNCs).

About a few weeks later, I hear that the Director reported to his stat board that the residents had acted as if 'the government owed them a living'.

It's an absurd situation where the conversation did take place. And that's all there is to it. The net satisfaction level for all takes a huge dip. I wonder how the report and the eventual press release will be drafted.

Nobody is happy. And lots of energy and emotions are wasted in the process.

Why is this so? Is it really true that the average member of public has excessively high expectations? How so? Who is thinking so?

Eh... Take a step back and think about the situation for a moment.

True public consultation is relatively new.
(Let's not pretend that previous efforts were open and 2-way dialogues).

This means, members of public are not familiar with what to expect, and have their own definitions of its actual/desired objectives, processes, outcomes etc.

What's more significant is that those in senior positions, e.g. directors, are unlikely to have proven that they know how to conduct/manage a true public consultation session.

In fact, these public servants were probably promoted because they have demonstrated what's considered 'good performance in the earlier versions of public consultation'.

However, if they repeat the same formula in today's context, they are not gonna get the job done. Neither are they gonna please anyone, not even their bosses.

In simple terms, their (public consultation) skills, if any, are outdated.
If they do not realise this and continue to apply the same formula to the new problem, then their attitudes and current-estimated-potentials (CEPs) are outdated too.

Remember: The government shouldn't owe you a living either.

.....................................................

Whether it's a public consultation, a social gathering, or a first-time conversation between two strangers, the key for all to walk away with a positive experience is always... sincerity and intelligence.

Can sincerity be learnt overnight?
Can interpersonal intelligence be acquired overnight or at Harvard?

I'll use a term they are familiar with. 'Paradigm shift', ok?

猫，有什么好抱的?!

2011-08-21T12:10:00.001+08:00

离思五首（其四）~ 元稹

2011-08-21T12:04:00.000+08:00

曾经沧海难为水，除却巫山不是云。
取次花丛懒回顾，半缘修道半缘君。

=(((

Go Curry Favour Yourself Lah!

2011-08-19T13:23:00.000+08:00

BM: Eh... The potential attendance for the SG Curry event has now gone past 50,000 leh. That's like 1% of SG population right?

X: Yah... That's like the attendance of an average Opposition rally.

BM: FWAH... So happening hor? It's like "Yeah! I got something to do this Saturday! It's rebellious but not dangerous!" I don't get this 'cook curry = solidarity' zeal. It's lame. Real solidarity is to stand up for fellow Singaporeans in situations such as (1), (2) etc ... I wonder how many will really cook a pot of curry.

X: A lot of them talk only lah!

BM: Guess what are we having for dinner?

X: Hmmm... I dunno. Not curry flavour one lah!

BM: Bak Kut Teh! With a solid brew of Chinese tea of course. Coolie food that nourished the bodies and souls of our hardcore migrant forefathers.

X: Ahhh... 맛있다! I also want Bak Kut Teh! Bak Kut Teh nicer.

BM: *starts singing the 雾锁南洋 theme song* 啊... 啊啊啊...

=_=

2011-08-19T01:25:00.001+08:00

WAH... RAO... EHHHHH?!!
HOW STUPID IS THIS?!!

From the now-infamous Curry event's facebook page:

"Thanks for the invitation,
but my sons are having swimming lesson.

What time will the event be held until?"

How like that?! 还有得救吗?!

Singapore Presidential Elections 2011: An Idiot-Proof Guide

2011-08-17T14:54:00.012+08:00

You may wish to click on the table to enlarge it, then print it for your less-informed family and friends, so that they minimally know who they are voting for on Sat, 27 Aug 2011.

* Popularity Pulse figures do not add up to 100%
as 2% has been set aside for spoilt votes. =)

Qn#1: Huh?! 3 RI boys cannot take down a single SJI boy? What's becoming of Singapore?!!
Ans: That's because the RI boys couldn't get their act together.

Qn#2: Why is this table so skimpy?
Ans: That's because this is the maximum amount of information most people can handle.

Qn#3: Will pictures of the 4 candidates be printed on the polling cards coz it's confusing that all 4 have the same surnames?
Ans: I dunno.
I asked my cleaning lady yesterday if she knew the names of all 4 candidates. She said no. She only knew them roughly as the following:

'那个PAP的, 以前是部长的'
'那个PAP的医生'
'那个NTUC的'
'那个反对党的'

O_o
Which part of those descriptions are gonna be printed on the polling card?

**Update**
With the introduction of the candidate's logo, I will proceed to help my cleaning lady match each logo to her candidate descriptions when she comes by next week.
*****

Qn#4: Can you add 'religion' to the table, please?
Ans: Alright.

See you on Polling Day, Sat, 27 Aug 2011!!

Is 'Moral Collapse' a class-specific disease?

2011-08-16T17:21:00.001+08:00

RE: TODAYonline | Hot News | Britain 'must reverse moral collapse'

That's the message that has been spewing out of the upper class in the UK, and even some stupid middle-class Singaporeans who are studying/residing in the UK.

So far, only Cameron is making some sense publicly.

"Moral decline and bad behaviour is not limited to a few of the poorest parts of our society.

In the highest offices, the plushest boardrooms, the most influential jobs, we need to think about the example we are setting," Mr Cameron said.

But it's not gonna make him a popular politician, and he will be gone soon.

Still No Singaporeans FIRST

2011-08-15T13:37:00.002+08:00

RE: Foreign-worker policies to be tightened - Channel NewsAsia

Erm... Just in case you thought PM Lee was announcing something new in his National Day Rally Speech 2011 with regards to foreign-workers polices, do be reminded that the raising of S-pass and Employment Pass (EP) minimum income thresholds was already announced prior to GE2011.

Total number of people in the entire world who can qualify to work in Singapore is many times of Singapore's population. Tweaking the filtering criteria a little is not gonna make much of a difference. It's an ocean bursting at its seams to flood our little ponding spot.

This tweaking will not reduce the number of foreigners working in Singapore significantly. However, the announcement of such tweakings may well pacify a few poorly-informed Singaporeans.

A policy change with real impact is imposing a QUOTA on the different foreigner employment passes and work permits. So far, there has been no suggestions in that direction. I guess there is no real will to reduce foreigner workers/talents significantly.

Only with a real QUOTA (with an attendant COE of sorts to distribute the quota), that firms will think twice before bringing in a foreigner. And in the process, the employer will take a second look at the Singaporean worker/talent.

And what we have been telling the world and our own people is true, why should we worry about not being attractive to the MNC/investors in this world economic climate? This is the best time to impose such restrictions. The world's best will still be headed our way.

Still No Singaporeans FIRST
Most significantly, despite PM Lee's claim that the government has always placed Singaporeans FIRST in their policy-making, the principle of Singaporeans FIRST has not been applied.

What PM Lee was trying allude to is that by making policies which affect Singaporeans, the government is practising 'Singaporeans FIRST'.

Erm... Making policies which affect Singaporeans is but the government's job, Sir.

So what then is this principle of 'Singaporeans FIRST' which has gain much traction with Singaporeans (political parties, netizens, Singaporean on the SBS bus, and even some government-linked entities) recently?

'Singaporeans FIRST' is a proposed employment policy that mandates that for any employment position to be filled, the employer has to fill it with a Singaporean, unless a better-qualified non-Singaporean has applied for it.

Read more about Singaporeans FIRST.

Without Singaporeans FIRST, even if 2,000 more Singaporeans make it to local universities, they will only be disappointed upon graduation.

Do remember that currently, 1/3 of our graduates, who have found jobs, are on contract basis. Meanwhile, fresh graduates foreigners are granted employment passes to compete with local fresh graduates. All things being equal, why shouldn't the Singaporean fresh graduate be given the job over the many many fresh graduate foreigners?

The Imperfect President Scholar(ship)

2011-08-13T12:25:00.001+08:00

RE: No perfect score, but still a President's Scholar

President Scholar holds Imperfect Scores
Someone online is of the view that, by selecting someone with a less than perfect score as a President Scholar, Public Service Commission (PSC) is being unfair to those with perfect scores.

I'm thinking that the official response would be that there is NO QUOTA for the President Scholarship. Hence, if Aaron Koh was not awarded the President Scholarship, no other applicants were deemed good enough for it anyway.

President Scholar holds Imperfect Citizenship Status
Someone also asked why the President Scholarship had been given to the PRC girl, Xiao Yifei, who holds dual citizenship, i.e. PRC and Singapore, and has to decide to give up either by age of 21.

In other words, some may argue that if she were to decide to retain her PRC nationality at age of 21 and that her President Scholarship was revoked, the President Scholarship would have been wasted on her. A pure-bred Singaporean applicant could have benefited as a President Scholar instead.

However, the same official response could be applied to this situation, i.e. there is NO QUOTA for President Scholarship. Hence, if Xiao Yifei was not awarded the President Scholarship, no other applicants in the same batch would have been good enough for it anyway.

(Im)perfect Scores are Good for the President Scholar(ship)
Someone else opined that it's a good thing that PSC was in fact considering applicants with a less than perfect score. That PSC had considered this applicant's other achievements such as captain of high jump club.

My take is that a perfect score is not the best proxy for anything, but only the candidate's ability to get a perfect score in school again and again. At A levels, at SATs, at undergrad, at postgrad etc.

Life and work are, unfortunately, not laid out in an examination format. Too many variables. No right answers. Hence, a perfect score does not ensure that one can perform in life/work. Similarly, an imperfect score does not mean that one can perform in life/work.

With regards to the obsession with ECA/leadership records, what has being the captain of the high jump club got to do with being a President Scholar, i.e. future leader of the Singaporeans? How many people are there in a high jump club for the leader to lead? How complex is it to 'lead' in a high jump club, as opposed to say 'forming your own band/DOTA clan' or 'helping your dad with his stall after school' or 'taking care of your grandmother with Alzheimer's'?

The rationale of the selection criteria is that by consistently achieving perfect scores and ECA records, one demonstrates that he is able to (i) persevere and (ii) deliver when required (e.g. during exams). Sounds convincing eh?

But one could observe the same exact behaviour in say the fried kway teow man, who persevere at his stove for decades and is able to deliver the same preciously delicious plate of fried kway teow every time his customer places an order.

If one were to look closely at the fundamentals of the scholarship selection criteria, e.g. exceptional academic achievements, ECA records, community work records etc, one would realise that these are merely crude but easy proxies for its administrators.

What's more worrying is that such criteria emphasize that one has to be the best consistent worker, not one who can deal with sudden changes or a change in paradigm or be different.

Not saying it's not valuable being a consistent worker. It's highly valuable. But if all our leaders are selected as such, then we are in trouble.

Would Bill Gates have been good enough as President Scholar?
I love the Bill Gates example. He is a man of truly exceptional achievements in our time.

Bill Gates was never a grassroots leader, nor captain of some computing club. He was a nerd who had been obsessed with his passion since he was a kid.

If Bill Gates was Singaporean and had applied for the President Scholarship when he was 18, he would have been rejected based on lack of leadership qualities. Probably encouraged to take up an A*Star, DSTA or Teaching scholarship instead.

But in real life, Bill Gates built (not inherit or take over) an empire based on his passion, and today leads as the world's richest and leader, not in terms of wealth, but in terms of what to do with his wealth so that it will benefit people. And not just Americans, but people of the world.

Bill Gates is a world leader.

What kind of half-a-day scholarship interview session, psychometric test etc can suss out such positive and eventual proclivities?
The process and desired outcomes do not tally.

Isn't it strange that the selection criteria/process remains largely the same after decades? I guess no major change means it has been working well for its designers afterall.

Presidential Elections 2011: More COEs, More Dilution

2011-08-12T11:24:00.007+08:00

RE: Four presidential hopefuls given go-ahead to contest

This is the smartest move.
Granting 4 instead of 3 or 2 COEs.
Hence, diluting the non-TT votes to bits.

In the end, TT will win with a majority vote of 40%, coz the other 3 candidates and their respective voters cannot get their acts together as one big picture.

一盘散沙 vs 一道砖墙

Meaningless.
With such a 40%-win, Singapore is the biggest loser.
.........................................................

Over Facebook, a friend seems to be in hope that 2 of the Uncle Tans will drop out of the race by next Wed, 17 Aug 2011, so that it'll become a 2-way fight between TT and Uncle Tan X.

Erm... I don't have so much faith in mankind. But who knows?
Maybe I'll get a lovely surprise on 17 Aug, i.e. Nomination Day and my birthday?
Maybe Uncle TT will drop out instead?

Since you are here...

2011-08-11T14:19:00.001+08:00

Do read up on: Unlocking the Value of National Service

Confirmed: Tin Pei Ling made False Declaration in her Election Form

2011-08-10T22:58:00.010+08:00

You may have read the news reports on Police's investigation outcome on the comment made by 'Tin Pei Ling' on Tin Pei Ling's Facebook page during the Cooling-Off Day before GE2011.

In essence, Police has investigated and concluded that it was indeed Tin Pei Ling's friend who had accessed Tin Pei Ling's Facebook account and posted that comment. Tin Pei Ling's friend has since been given a warning by Police.

With that, it is now crystal clear that Tin Pei Ling made a FALSE DECLARATION in the Declaration of Election Advertising by Candidate form, where she stated that 'Tin Pei Ling' as the only moderator of her Facebook page. No mention of 'her friend' in the form.

Police has already done its part. It is now up to Elections Department to do its job. A job which Elections Department said it would do only after a police report had been filed.

Elections Department must take action against Tin Pei Ling as all pieces of above-mentioned information are now public knowledge.

Not only did Tin Pei Ling make a false declaration in her election form, she chose to give someone of such pathetic calibre full access to her key campaigning tool during GE2011. Does she take the General Election seriously at all? Or is she daft?

I don't see how anyone, including Elections Department, Prime Minister's Office, and even members of the PAP, can pretend that nothing of the above has happened.

There is a limit to how much apathy and 'acting blur' the public can tolerate with regards to this issue. People are damn JYET about this oredi.

Let's call a (kate) spade a (kate) spade, eh?

Since you are here...
Do read up on: Unlocking the Value of National Service

National Curry Day & Patriotic Thoughts

2011-08-09T12:00:00.004+08:00

After reading this article on how a PRC couple told their Indian Singaporean neighbours not to cook curry in their HDB flat because the former could not stand the smell of curry, someone started a Facebook page titled 'National Curry Day'.

This person wrote in the introduction of National Curry Day:

"This is our home and we shouldn't have to change the way we live for anybody or anything.

[Link to the article above]

Whether you have fish head curry, kari ayam, curry devil, curry katsu, dhal or some generic oily liquid that comes with prata, let's celebrate something that brings us all together."

Read the article and ask.
Why should the mediator get 'the Indian family to agree to cook curry only when the Chinese family was not home'?
Just because there had been a complaint? Coz mediators are amoral?

Can you move to South Korea and ask South Koreans not to make kimchi coz you think fermented cabbage is smelly and disgusting?

Can you move to Taiwan and ask Taiwanese not to make/sell smelly tofu?

Can you move anywhere else in the world and tell the locals to change themselves to suit you?
Only if you are trying to colonise the place, right?

I've asked a similar question earlier:

For every single time our leaders ask and remind us Singaporeans not to be negative towards foreigners and/or to welcome them with open arms,

who's reminding the foreigners of the same?

Remember this 1987 patriotic song called We are Singapore (written by Ang Mohs, no less)?
It's my favourite.

There was a time when people said that Singapore won't make it, but we did
There was a time when troubles seemed too much for us to take, but we did
We built a nation, strong and free, reaching out together
For peace and harmony

This is my country, this is my flag
This is my future, this is my life
This is my family, these are my friends
We are Singapore, Singaporeans

It seems the relationship between our leaders and us is such that 共患难容易，共富贵难, i.e. we could see and support one another through troubled times, but we are unable to share times of wealth and prosperity.

After half a century, we have made it as one of the wealthiest cities in the world. But we don't fly the Singapore flag on National Day as much anymore.

This is not right. Something broke down along the way.

Shin Yeh 欣叶 (Singapore)

2011-08-09T09:56:00.000+08:00

Just to make the comparison, we had lunch at Shin Yeh (Singapore) at Liang Court over the weekend.

This establishment was opened in 2008 by the Tunglok Group. Its clean and bright environment, and central location are ideal for family lunches on a lazy weekend.

We sat by the floor to ceiling glass window with a 2nd-floor view of the Singapore River and Clarke Quay.

Going through the menu, we think it's only somewhat similar to that of Shin Yeh in Sinyi District, Taipei.

We decided to order the fatty pork coz we had it in Taipei.

However, if you remember (or refer to the earlier Taipei blog entry), the Singapore version neither looks nor tastes similar to the Taipei version.

The Taipei version was lighter and more succulent. The soya sauce also tasted different.

The Singaporean version tasted very 'local-hokkien', if you know what I mean. Rather heavy-handed. Much like the typical braised fatty pork one gets from local stalls.

Tried to order the clams with ginger, but they had run out of clams. So we ordered something else from the sea. Steamed fish.

This turned out to be disappointing. The fish was overcooked, and the sauce/mushroom thing on top was unmemorable.

I love this. Mustard 芥菜. Crunchy with a slight bitterness. They obviously gave it a very good scrub before serving.

We also ordered this in Taipei, but it tasted so much better. The Singaporean version looks 'holey' and lacks the chewiness.

The only 'dish' the Singaporean Shin Yeh has managed to reproduce well is this muah chee dusted with peanut powder, which is complimentary and a signature of Shin Yeh.

Don't get us wrong. It's a very decent meal. But it's just not the same as the one we had in Taipei.
我想，只有在台北才可以吃到台北的味道。

Where is Blinky?

2011-08-08T22:07:00.000+08:00

I think he is trying to hide from us... A 90% attempt.

Unlocking the Value of National Service

2011-08-07T21:00:00.012+08:00

All the rhetoric about locals vs foreigners, rising housing prices, transport prices, unhappiness over P1 registration, how locals girls are too uppity to glance at local men, how local men are unattractive, falling marriage rate, falling birthrate, how NS is a waste of time...

Let's solve it once and for all...
And the solution is to unlock the value of National Service (NS).

Huh? WTF is she talking about??? Has she gone more mad than usual?

Come on! 跟我来!
Let's unlock the value of NS in the following 3 key areas:

Housing - As long as 1 owner has served full-term NS, this ORD-ed Singaporean will enjoy a preferential package of property tax, stamp duties, loan quantum, queue priority (public housing) etc, when buying/selling a property for his own use (not as investment). This policy applies for life, i.e. if he sells his home, then buys another for his own use (not for investment), he will enjoy the benefits again.

Transport - The ORD-ed Singaporean to enjoy preferential public transport rates, separate COE bidding quota/subsidy (limited to non-luxury COE category and for 1 vehicle - his own use only) etc.

Education - The ORD-ed Singaporean and his child(ren) to enjoy priority balloting, highest fee subsidy quantum for all levels of education in Singapore etc.

With the above, the value of the Singapore Male, who has ORDed or is gonna ORD, will shoot through the hardened concrete roof in the eyes of any females, especially of the Singaporean Female.

This scheme translates the value of NS into hundreds of thousands of ... and even... millions of dollars.

Quite clearly, Barbarella and her SPG BFFs will, for the first time in their life, realise how sexy the Singaporean Male in (green) uniform really is, coz he can provide.

好 MAN 啊！

For ~~feminist~~ female Singaporeans, they can opt into this scheme to enjoy its benefits by volunteering for NS.

The objective is, once you have invested in this country, we will make sure you will benefit from it and reinvest more in the process of benefiting.
It's a WIN-WIN.

五月天追夢3DNA

2011-08-07T10:26:00.000+08:00

I'm not gonna nurse any hopes about the story line... '3DNA' is way too cheesy...

Regardless, I'm just gonna go watch this in Sep with the expectation of it being a super long Mayday MTV.

I wonder if any of the hokkien songs made it to the big screen... coz the film sounds very PRC.

Regardless, Monkey 还我!!

IPS Forum on The Roles, Responsibilities and Power of the Elected President

2011-08-06T12:40:00.002+08:00

Attended the IPS Forum on The Roles, Responsibilities and Power of the Elected President yesterday. You can read about the forum in today's papers. The coverage is not 100% though.

There were 3 speakers, K Shanmugam (Minister of Law & Foreign Affairs), Tommy Koh (Special Adviser to IPS), and Thio Li-Ann (Faculty of Law, NUS).

It started with presentations by the 3 speakers.

Apart from the content of their presentation, what struck me most were the following:

(A) Average age of the forum attendees was at least 45 years old
Unlike the earlier IPS forum on What Youth Want, this forum was attended by many old(er) people. The average age of the What Youth Want attendees was probably around early 30s.

I'm sure IPS sent out the email invites to a similar bunch of people for both forums.

The profile of the attendees is somewhat representative of the level and type of interest in the topic held by Singaporeans as a a whole.

(B) Lack of understanding of what the Elected President can/cannot do under the Constitution
Compounded by (A), it is safe to extrapolate that if one votes for the President in hope that he will be able to be an opposition voice, one is going to be disappointed.

This disappointment will in turn create and/or add to the rising unhappiness.

This situation is created by 2 parties unable to communicate fully on this issue. Avoiding efforts to communicate, while holding onto desire to feel angry with each other.

(C) In his official capacity, the President is NOT allowed to affect the direction of progress publicly.
What the Presidency is designed to do, is clearly outlined.

E.g. the President can block attempts by the government of the day to draw down past reserves it did not accumulate.
However, this does not mean that the President can voice his opinion on how the reserves are managed.

In other words, there are clear and few 'green-light areas/things' which the President 'can do'. Then there are the 'negative areas' which are not spelled out clearly. These areas range from the grey to the pitch black vortexes.

To me, it is not clear what will happen to a President if he attempts to muck around in the 'negative areas'.

Regardless, what's clear is that if the President feels strongly about an issue with the 'negative areas', he can do so by speaking to the Prime Minister in confidence.

(It seems it is also inappropriate for the President to highlight publicly that he had spoken to the PM about XYZ issue, without revealing the discussion details.)

Alternatively, he can raise issues publicly, but only in his personal capacity, AFTER he steps down from his role as President. E.g. If he has certain 'star power', he can use it to raise public awareness on issues.

Can a former President or Presidential candidate run as a Member of Parliament after his attempt at the Presidency?

The Singapore Flag Flyer

2011-08-04T23:54:00.006+08:00

RE: TODAYonline | Voices | Patriotism: It's more than a flag

We also noticed that very few households are flying the Singapore flag during this period. Blocks with many neatly arranged flags are clearly works of their respective town councils.

I'm not gonna go deep into WHY there are fewer flags. There are too many possible causes. (E.g. Fewer Singaporeans staying in HDB flats coz flats are rented to foreigners, increase in general unhappiness, sale of flags not as actively promoted, flag-flying has become unfashionable etc.)

What I wish to point out is that while one may be unhappy with the government, ruling party, foreigners, screeching stray cats etc, one should still be proud of being a Singaporean. Coz the 'Stand Up for Singapore' Singaporeans are an endangered species which is likely to become extinct in just a few decades.

You can still choose to fly that flag to exhibit your SG pride. Do it. Why not? You still love this country!

Or go buy from the Hong Kong casual wear retailer, Giordano, that "I Y SG" T-shirt and wear it everywhere.

Or you can hang a cyber SG flag on your Facebook profile pic.

Or hang a life-size flag in a MRT train like this guy did.

The Singaporean Salt

2011-08-01T23:46:00.019+08:00

RE: 100% home-grown Singaporean artist, Inch Chua, decides to leave Singapore | The Online Citizen

None of our biggest music stars made it because fellow Singaporeans had supported them in the first place.

Stephanie Sun made it because of the support given to her by the TAIWANESE market. Singaporeans lapped her music up as 'good' afterwards.

Inch Chua reminds me of Tanya Chua. Tanya Chua started out singing in English only within the local scene, but eventually had to change to singing in Mandarin, which shot her to Asian fame.

Critical mass aside, we Singaporeans are too insecure to be able to realise and appreciate what's sublime. Always waiting for other 'more progressive' cultures to point it out to us.

When will we ever grow up? This is absolutely frustrating. It's not like we hadn't been educated. There is a limit which we can blame our 'parents' for 'spoiling' us. 你 "爸爸" 不要你了啦! Why is there such a resistance to see?

Time is running out. Soon, there will not be 'Singaporean' as we know it. I'm not refering to 'Singapore', but 'Singaporean'.

We are like a ponding spot that's not big enough to be a pond.
Not big enough to hold back the world's waters rushing through.

You are certainly not the fishermen who have facilitated the channeling of the world's waters into this ponding spot. The fishermen benefit immensely from this rush. They are resourceful beings with access to fishing 'rights' and the attendant equipment, skimming off whatever they can find in the new waters, then selling them for handsome profits.

You are the organism hanging on the rocks lying at the bottom of this currently turbulent spot. You are the plankton that gets pushed around and/or consumed amidst the rising tide. Confused and in fear.

One day when the world's waters find another route, we will be left high and dry. Nothing but a has-been dent in the world map. The fishermen will leave. And there will not even a Wikipedia entry on what being Singaporean means.

台湾提醒了我...

2011-08-01T11:19:00.003+08:00

铁汉有柔情　
有铁汉　才会有(小)女人

《挪威的森林》～伍佰
讓我將妳心兒摘下　試著將它慢慢溶化
看我在妳心中是否仍完美無瑕
是否依然為我絲絲牽掛　依然愛我無法自拔
心中是否有我未曾到過的地方啊

那裡湖面總是澄清　那裡空氣充滿寧靜
雪白明月照在大地　藏著妳不願提起的回憶（藏著妳最深處的祕密）

妳說真心總是可以從頭　真愛總是可以長久
為何妳的眼神還有孤獨時的落寞
是否我只是妳一種寄託　填滿妳感情的缺口
心中那片森林何時能讓我停留

或許我　不該問　讓妳平靜的心再起漣漪
只是愛妳的心超出了界限　我想擁有妳所有一切

應該是　我不該問　不該讓妳再將往事重提
只是心中枷鎖　該如何才能解脫

《心愛的，再會啦》～伍佰
海上的船螺聲已經響起
對你猶原情綿綿今日要來離開

心愛的不甘看你珠淚滴
在我不在的日子你著保重自己

異鄉啊總有坎坷路要行我袂寂寞有你在我的心肝
男兒啊立志他鄉為生活和妳團圓在我成功的時

最後的船螺聲又再響起
猶原不甘來離開手牽著心愛的再會啦