Bad News on the Doorstep

Mene mene tekel upharsin

2009-05-22T12:12:00.003+08:00

In a nutshell: The MOE called a press conference yesterday where the minister of education announced that after a careful study into complaints about Aware’s CSE programme, the ministry have found these complaints to be justified and therefore they are stopping the Aware’s programme and they are going to tighten the process to vet and approve external agencies allowed to provide sexuality education in schools. (In other words, to be more vigilant against such sneaky attacks in the future)

To the AWARE:

Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting

About the Aware’s CSE programme, it’s president Dana Lam had said; “We stand by our CSE programme.”

Well; this is in fact minister Ng Eng Hen’s reply: You have been very naughty. You have betrayed our trust. We do not trust you anymore. Go stand in the corner!

To Josie and friends from the Church of Our Saviour

Thanks for bringing this problem to the public’s attention. But you should have done it in a more intelligent (Matthew 10:6) and God-honouring way.

Our Lord says:

“But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” (Matthew 5:37).

Your sneaky methods in taking over Aware – and denying your intentions until you were exposed – were in violation of God’s commandments.

“…. by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme”. (2 Samuel 12:14)

Dumber dumbest

2008-12-03T19:59:00.003+08:00

There has been no shortage of bad news lately. But few can beat the two big items hogging the headlines last week. These were the takeover of the Thailand’s main Suvarnabhumi airport by the PAD (People's Alliance for Democracy) hooligans and the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Have you noticed some common traits, albeit to different degrees, between these two groups of people?

1) Both were so fixated on their own grievances and purported injustices that they did not spare a thought on the pain and suffering they inflicted other innocent parties. In fact they don’t seem to mind the disrepute that their actions brought on their own country, in the case of the Thais, and their own religion in the case of the Mumbai terrorists.

2) “The end justifies the means” seems to be their overriding concern. But alas, if they would only look at the long term implications of their actions, they would see that they only served to thwart whatever long term aim they were harbouring.

3) They were all pawns being manipulated by higher hands; evil forces which have no qualms about sacrificing them.

Like other bloggers, I absolutely condemn the Mumbai terrorists for their cruel disregard for innocent lives. But I also feel pity for them. They thought they were serving God and their sacrifices would win them a place in paradise. But what a big disappointment it is going to be when they awake to find themselves in hell instead. They will have all eternity to regret their actions. Indeed there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Why are they so happy?

2008-11-06T23:23:00.003+08:00

Yesterday was an historic day. Barack Obama became the first African-American to be elected to the White House. The scenes of jubilation reminded me of the time when US troops invaded Iraq and Saddam Hussein’s statue was toppled.

I ask myself. Could some of the happiness of the American people be due not so much to Obama’s having defeated his Republican rival John McCain, but that somehow these people have mistakenly seen this as a toppling of the immensely unpopular George Bush?

Related posts - Wrong move

The Palin Effect

2008-10-31T18:01:00.004+08:00

Lately we have been hearing a lot about the Bradley effect. Supporters of popular US presidential candidate Barrack Obama are worried that in even though all the polls showed Obama to be ahead of his Republican rival John McCain, he may still lose due to the Bradley effect.

I think McCain’s supporters should also worry about what I call the Palin effect. Although many of them fiercely support her, on the actually polling day, it might suddenly dawn on them that there is a very real chance that the 72-year old John McCain may not survive his full term in office if he wins, and then, horror of horrors, Sarah Palin will take over as president of the United States of America.

PM did not address the real issue

2008-10-27T10:12:00.002+08:00

Our prime minister has finally spoken on the issue concerning the Lehman structured products. But sadly, he did not address the real issue. Word for word, this is what PM Lee Hsien Loong said according to this report:

“I think this is a very difficult and not satisfactory way to do things in the long run because:

First of all, the government should not be making decisions for individuals. Individuals should have the right to decide for themselves ……

Secondly, the government is not in a position to guarantee what is safe and what is not safe because there is nothing that is 100% safe.”

(The reporter speaking) “PM Lee said that the government’s role is to ensure that the financial system runs smoothly and fairly; not to guarantee the outcome, but to make sure that its people know what they are doing.”

I completely agree with everything the prime minister has said. But that is not the real issue with the present problem is it? The real questions which Singaporeans (at least this one) are asking is this:

1) Shouldn’t the government be alert to what is going on in the financial world; that large numbers of highly-risky products are being sold aggressively and in a not entirely honest manner to old, uneducated and thus highly vulnerable members of the public?

2) If the government is aware, shouldn’t it have the foresight to anticipate today’s ‘fiasco’? I recall that every time a top leader of this country argues for the high salaries of ministers and civil servants, they quote this ability to foresee trouble and take preventive action as one of the qualities that Singaporeans are getting in the bargain. The alternative is to suffer much costlier consequences, such as seeing the economy falter and our hard-earned savings and assets dwindle overnight; which seems to be exactly what is happening here.

3) When products that are harmful to the public are being sold to thousands of unsuspecting citizens, isn’t it the duty of the government to step in and put a stop, as what the AVA has done in the case of the melamine-tainted milk products from China?

We need a watchdog to watch the watchdogs

2008-10-20T13:53:00.005+08:00

What SM Goh Chok Tong refers to as ‘The Lehman fiasco’ and the Straits Times calls ‘The Lehman Debacle’ has hoarded the newspaper headlines lately. I think a more appropriate label is The Lehman Tragedy. The Great Mas Selamat Escape we can call a ‘fiasco’ (meaning an event that is completely unsuccessful, in a way that is very embarrassing or disappointing) or ‘debacle’ (meaning an event or situation that is a complete failure because plans have failed). But this one is far more serious and far-reaching in its effect on the lives of Singaporeans, nearly ten thousand of them.

This tragedy has highlighted a big problem in our country. The watchdogs in whom we have so much faith have been caught napping time and again. It appears we need another watchdog to watch over our overpaid, over-complacent watchdogs.

Just look at this headline. MAS (The Monetary Authority of Singapore) views mis-selling seriously. If so, why do you wait till now, after much damage has been done before you start to take action? Who needs watchdogs that only start barking when the burglar has long escaped with the loot?

To matters worse, their response to citizens’ cries has also been found wanting. According to a Today article of 18 October, Mr Tan Kin Lian lamented thus;

“Singapore investors had to make complaints with the financial institutions which sold the products to them, which resulted in some of them being challenged or ridiculed in some cases. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority adopted a better approach. They set up a hotline and service centre and employed 100 people to record the complaints and investigate the case where there was evidence of mis-selling.”

How disappointing. All along we thought that in this country we have the best talents that money can buy serving in the government and civil service.

And yet another watchdog has only just woken. Take a look at this other headline, also from the Straits Times:

As usual our MPs only start to raise issues in parliament long after the problem has been widely publicized in the media or the internet. Isn’t this a case of closing the barn door after the horses have bolted?

Here are a few more issues that I am watching to see if our watchdogs are going to take action before disaster strikes again.

Problem no. 1 - The scams by housing and education agents.

These crooks prey on innocent and ignorant foreign workers and students. The foreign workers thought that Singapore was an ‘honest’ country where people are all law-abiding. They hand over their hard-earned savings to unscrupulous agents who promise to find them jobs and lodging. But once they come into this country, they find themselves stranded; without jobs, without a shelter over their heads. And to make matters worse, the authorities show no sympathy to their plight. Some are arrested, imprisoned and caned and then unceremoniously kicked out of our country.

Likewise, many foreign students have been conned into paying their parents’ hard-earned savings to housing agents who make lots of promises and then disappear with their money.

If our government does not do something about these two problems soon, we are going to find ourselves being branded a country of crooks by some international newspapers or rating agencies. At that time, you can be sure that our authorities will start to make a lot of loud protest and write long letters accusing our detractors of biased-reporting or ignorance. Why don’t you act now?

Problem no. 2 - Heavy vehicles that that are driven like Formua 1 cars on our expressways.

So many complaints have been raised by ordinary citizens in the newspapers and blogs about these drivers from hell with their dangerous cargoes. Other than a few standard letters to the press claiming to take ‘a serious view’ of the problem and citing some statistics, nothing much seems to be done. Everyday, our lives and property are still being threatened by these road bullies. I guess we have to resign ourselves to the fact that we need a major accident like this one before the government will act take real action.

Again I ask. What is the use of having watchdogs that do not watch? We have one that is supposed to watch the transport operators. Yet we see these monopolies increasing their fares on a regular basis as if it is a law of nature; and totally oblivious to the cries of the public. And then they have the cheek to report record profits every year, and no doubt reward themselves with fat bonuses.

And then there is the one that is supposed to watch over the Singapore Power, another monopoly. Everyday we read of falling oil and petrol prices and what do they do? They increase electricity prices by a unbelievable 21% this month. Oh you peasants do not understand the intricacies of energy pricing. Yeah sure we don’t; just as those aunties and uncles who lost their life savings do not understand the intricacies of mini-bonds and high notes or what have you. What I do know is that the petrol companies have been reducing their prices repeatedly these past few weeks. When, I would like to know, is the Singapore Power, and the transport companies going to reduce their prices. Can the watchdogs assure us that when the time finally comes to reduce the prices, it will be done in a fair manner?

Why? What is the root cause of this problem? The answer is simple. The people are lazy and gullible. They leave everything to the government, reasoning that since we have the highest paid and most highly rated leaders at the wheel, we can safely leave them alone to do their jobs. Unfortunately, as recent events have shown, these watchdogs have become complacent. They keep praising themselves to justify their high salaries. But nobody seems to notice that many of the highly paid executives from financial institutions, against which our leaders have benchmarked their salaries, are now branded as incompetent and greedy by one and all.

Thus I say we need a watchdog to watch the watchdogs. But who can fulfill this role? We can’t depend of civic-minded individuals like Mr Tan Kin Lian. There are just too few of such heroes around.

How about the opposition parties? I say they are even worse. They are not napping. They are hibernating! But unlike their counterparts in the animal kingdom, these guys do not hibernate for just a season but for 4 years; waking up only when election time comes around.

So we have to rely on ourselves. And the only weapon we have at our disposal is the internet.

I don’t support Singapore's F1 night race

2008-10-08T20:34:00.002+08:00

Recently Singapore hosted the world’s first night Formula One Grand Prix. Many of my friends were so excited about it. I am happy that they had a good time.

The event was hailed as a big success and everybody, including our prime minister was ecstatic that Singapore not only got itself noticed by millions of television viewers worldwide, but had our reputation as a super-efficient city confirmed by many visitors who rightly proclaimed that “only Singapore could have pulled this off.”

Personally, I don’t support the F1 and did not even watch the race on TV. Somehow in this age of universal distress over global warming and dwindling energy resources, I find it difficult to get excited over a bunch of petrol-guzzling machines speeding round and round an arena lit up by artificial lights till “it was like day”, and getting nowhere.

But I did not want to be a spoilsport and thus chose to blog about it after the event is long over.

** CC Photo byFlickr member bernardoh

Of DSLRS, Printers and COEs

2008-09-18T15:31:00.004+08:00

The recent edition of Digital Life carried a series of articles about the rapid fall in prices of digital SLR cameras in recent years. As a result sales have gone up tremendously. Whilst these articles loudly extol the wonders of DSLRs, they left out one important detail. Without lenses, the potential of these gadgets are severely limited. Neither did they mention that prices of lenses remain high, often costing more than the camera body and a basic kit lens. The manufacturers certainly know that with more and more photographers switching to DSLR, it is only a matter of time before sales of lenses will rise correspondingly.

Such sales strategy is also adopted by manufacturers of printers, Better and yet cheaper printers are being introduced regularly. But do you see the price of printer cartridges and toners coming down? The answer again of course is no.

Now what has these got to do with car COEs in Singapore you ask?

Don’t you see the car population increasing rapidly in Singapore in recent years. Our government has been so kind to us motorists who simply love to own cars. Instead of reducing the number of cars on the road, they have been releasing more and more COEs causing the prices to come down and Singaporeans rushing to the car show rooms.

Now with so many cars on the road, and complaints of traffic congestion everywhere, the government is justified to increase the number of ERP gantries. Consequently the ERP system is fast living up to its name of making "Every Road Pay". Certainly after forking out thousands of dollars for your precious car you are not going to leave it in your car park are you? So we simply Pay and Pay. Some pay once a day, some twice a day and some even twice within 5 minutes, as I did the other day when I drove into town via the CTE exiting at Merchant Road and then turning into Hill Street as I have been accustomed to doing.

And with more cars on the road, and ever skyrocketing oil prices, do you see the government reducing the fuel taxes? No way! was the reply when some naive Singaporeans actually made the suggestion.

Yes, the prime minister is right. Our government is not stupid.

Our government is not stupid

2008-08-18T10:29:00.002+08:00

Of course our government is not stupid. In fact they are brilliant – especially when it comes to collecting money from us.

A financial guru once said (I wish I had read this when I was younger) that the best way to earn a high income is to build pipes that bring in money on a continuous basis and not carry them individually by buckets. This is exactly what our government does with unmatched skill. They build lots of small pipes which collect money from us on a daily basis; GST, ERP, COEs, fuel taxes, causeway toll charges etc. etc. etc. Then they put aside some in a bucket and give it back to us once in a while and the figure appears so generous, $3 billion! Contrary to what the prime minister said last night about not publicizing that enough, the ministers and the newspapers never tire of talking about it. What Jack Neo joked about in his movie Money No Enough 2 is common knowledge and all over the internet.

Another feature of our government’s money-collecting technique that is simply brilliant when compared to, say our neighbour up north, is that they collect our money even before we spend it. Let’s take the example of the cash card. All of us have at least two of them. Before you use it, your money has already been collected. If you are so careless as to lose one ..… too bad. If you forget to insert one into your IU when you drive under an ERP gantry ….. again too bad.

Likewise for our car park coupons. Most of us have at least $30 to $50 worth of coupons sitting in our glove compartments. If you are so careless as to accidentally tear off the wrong tab for the year or month ..… too bad. If you underestimate the amount of the time you need to park ….. again too bad. The ever-efficient and friendly parking wardens will come along and issue you a surcharge. If you overestimate the time you need to park your car and tear 1-hour coupon when you need only to spend say, 35 minutes ..… too bad. You cannot even sell the remaining 40 cents to the next driver. In this aspect, I must say that the Malaysian authorities are really dumb compared to ours. In many Malaysian towns, they still use the primitive coin-operated parking meter system. Any unused time can actually be utilized by the next driver.

So the PM as usual is right. The government is not stupid. MP for Hong Kah, Ms Amy Khor puts it best (when commenting on 2007 budget surplus of $6.47 billion):

“It is this far-sightedness and prudence, as well as the many timely and astute policies implemented, that have played a major role in bringing about such a large surplus.”

Our Angsana mentality

2008-08-14T15:33:00.005+08:00

Last Sunday, I stumbled upon a very insightful documentary on Arts Central. Entitled, Singapore Standard Time, it was one of those low profile, low budget, local productions. And typical of the Singaporean, “local ginger not hot” (本地姜不辣) mentality, Media Corp hardly gave it any publicity. In fact, as you can see from the TV programme that appeared in the Sunday Times, this documentary wasn’t even announced to the public. I think they just decided to insert it to fill the empty time slot after the movie, Cages, ended. What a contrast from the huge publicity that Channel News Asia gives to its expensive, imported Documentary of the Week shows like this one and this one.

Produced by Lo Hwei Shan and Directed by Joycelyn Khoo, this documentary takes a good hard look at Singaporeans’ obsession with instant results; or what I would call, The Angsana Mentality. Featuring interviews with a number of Singaporeans including Dr Wee Yeow Chin, a botanist, Dr Woffles Wu, a cosmetic surgeon and Ivan Heng, a famous theatre director and playwright, it “explores the ways speed has taken root in Singaporean culture. Driven by an ethos of efficiency and instant gratification, we have taken speed to unique heights, from setting the world record for the world's fastest SMS text message, to the patented 20-minute facelift.” (quoted from the synopsis at this website)

Dr Wee, the botanist, for example spoke about our Garden City campaign and how we planted lots of trees propagated by stem-cuttings to provide ‘instant trees’ for our roads and parks. Another gentleman, an aquarium owner spoke about the craze for luohan fish at one time, because many superstitious Singaporeans wanted to look for numbers on the fish’s body to ‘buy 4D’ and acquire instant wealth. Yet another interview was with a businessman who had developed an ‘instant’ Hainanese chicken rice package for sale to tourists. The final interview was with Ivan Heng. He lamented the decline of interest among students for literature in our schools; possibly because it was a difficult subject to score an A in; and if I may add, of little value in ‘pragmatic’ Singapore.

I find botanist, Dr Wee’s narration of how we transformed Singapore into a garden city in 40 short years most telling. Initially, we planted a lot of Angsana trees to provide instant shade and greenery to our roads and parks. But it was soon discovered that Angsanas were prone to branch breakage, especially during heavy storms, and infection by a fungal disease known as the "Angsana Wilt", which has killed many of the trees. They were later replaced by sturdier trees like the Raintree. He also explained why trees grown from stem cuttings were not as resilient as those grown from seedlings. A tree planted from seedling develops vertical roots which are anchored deep in the ground. In contrast, a tree grown from stem cutting develops roots that spread out sideways and thus could not provide as strong an anchor. But the latter provides fast results.

Coincidentally, over at Channel 5, they were airing the daily news roundup of the ongoing Beijing Olympic Games. As Singaporeans well know, this year we are keeping our fingers crossed that our athletes will finally bring back a medal. Our hopes rest on a handful of mostly foreign sports talents like Li Jiawei and Tao Li. I cannot resist drawing a comparison between these foreign imports and Dr Wee’s stem-cut trees.

In recent years, our government has been going all out to woo foreign talents to come to our shores. We offer them lots of attractive incentives and hope that at least some of them would settle down and ‘sink their roots’ on Singapore soil. Would they form deep roots like us local ‘sons of the soil’ who are born and bred and served our national service here? I hope so.

I have argued before that our foreign talent policy is in fact quite short-sighted. After watching Singapore Standard Time, I understand that our leaders too are suffering from the Angsana mentality. Such a mentality is best exemplified by former prime minister Goh Chok Tong’s famous 1998 National Day Rally Speech where he openly declared that with the help of foreign talents, Singapore is going to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals. He thought that by waving the mighty Sing Dollar, the likes of Zinedine Zidane would flock to our shores.

I can think of many other examples of such Angsana mentality. One of them is our abortion law. In 1970, we decided to legalise abortion because we were afraid that Singapore would have a population explosion. Now we are contemplating ‘unlegalising’ abortion because we facing a ‘shortfall’ of babies. It is really laughable if it weren’t so tragic. While other societies agonise over the moral dilemma of taking innocent lives, here in ‘pragmatic’ Singapore, we debate about baby shortfalls and low yields of our women’s wombs.

Another example is our language policy. At one time, we were worried that Singaporean’s standard of Mandarin was too low. Dialects was singled out as the chief culprit. Overnight they banned Cantonese tv programmes and movies. Overnight, they changed the names of our towns into hideous hanyu pinyin names like Hougang, Yishun, Bishan and Zhujiao. Suddenly, all our deep-rooted heritage like Chua Chu Kang, Pek San Teng, Nee Soon and Tekka were excavated and incinerated.

Anyway, the documentary ended on a slightly optimistic note with both Dr Wee and Ivan Heng acknowledging that our Angsana-land is a miracle of sorts. "Which country in the world can go from third world to first world in 40 years?" asked Ivan Heng. "And which country can turn a third world slum into a beautiful garden city simply because one man willed it?" asked Dr Wee?

Still I hope we never have a Katrina or a Nargis to test those roots.

Aren’t I clever?

2008-08-11T09:39:00.004+08:00

A rich man bought a house with a large beautiful garden. Against the advice of his friends and neighbours, he decided to chop down all the fruit trees and shrubs and get rid of the pots of flowers which the previous owner had painstakingly planted over the years. What practical value have trees and flowers? What this house needs is a car park for my many cars as well as those of my visitors.

But it is such a waste, argued his neighbours; all the beautiful flowers gone just like that. The birds and insects will not visit your home anymore. Still the rich man went ahead with his plan and replaced the garden with what he thought was a beautiful tiled car park. Aren’t I clever, thought the man as he surveyed his spanking new car park.

Five years went by and suddenly the man realized that his house was rather bare; and hot, and uncomfortable. And many visitors had stopped coming. And so he hired an expensive landscaping consultant to advise him on how to improve his home. What your home needs is a big garden with lots of fruit trees and flowers to provide shade and attract insects and birds to you house.

Thus the man decided to build a big garden to beautify his house. And as he looked at the beautiful plans drawn up by his expensive consultant, he thought to himself; "Aren't I clever to come up with this brilliant idea?"

To everything there is a season

2008-07-14T17:36:00.006+08:00

Wise king Solomon was absolutely right. "To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

And just before sentencing a 20-year old boy, who doesn't even qualify to vote or watch RA movies in Singapore, to 9 years in jail and 18 strokes of the cane is not the time to be quoting Ecclesiastes. In fact, I think it is downright cruel. I hardly think that he will be thinking that our God is love when the cane lands on his bare flesh.

If your heart really goes out to the boy, for the the injustices and disadvantages that he has suffered in his life, you should have tempered judgment with compassion and mercy.

There's a time for quoting scriptures, but just before dropping a bombshell like this is not one of them.

Please do not mock the God you profess to worship

2008-05-01T15:26:00.002+08:00

Did you see this article in today’s Straits Times? It’s an abridged version of the full report in the Los Angeles Times.

“A cathedral is an odd place for a coming-out party”, began the article. “But not, as it turns out, if you are a former prime minister of Britain and you are preparing to tell the world that God was one of your senior advisors during your 10 years in power.”

I say the house of God is indeed a strange place to mock the God you profess to worship. Just look at this line from the ST report:

“Mr Blair’s aides have long said that his policies on intervention in Iraq, Kosovo and Sierra Leone were motivated not by practicalities or, even in the case of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, fear of weapons of mass destruction so much as a profound sense that they were the “right” things to do.”

This gives the impression that Tony Blair had some kind of divine mandate to invade Iraq. Did your ‘advisor’ tell you to go along with that ‘worse than fierce tiger’ war monger, to invade Iraq under the pretext of getting rid of weapons of mass destruction; knowing full well that Saddam Hussein did not have such weapons?

Did your advisor tell you to ‘sex up’ a dossier on Iraq's weapons capability in order to justify this war which led to death and misery for thousands; when UN inspectors have declared repeatedly that they found no evidence that Iraq had any such weapons?

Did He tell you to switch from a war to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction to a ‘war on terror’ after you could not find any ‘smoking gun’; again despite having no evidence whatsoever that Saddam Hussein supported terrorists?

The report also said;

“In secular Europe, where religiosity tends to be viewed with suspicion, Mr Blair said he kept his belief long under wraps for fear of being dismissed as a “nutter”.

“In our culture, to admit to having faith leads to a whole series of suppositions, none of which are very helpful to the practicing politician.”

Didn’t your advisor tell you about this stern warning which Jesus Christ issued in Gospel of Matthew, (chapter 10: 32, 33)

“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”

The minister should resign

2008-04-26T10:42:00.003+08:00

In his speech to parliament last Monday concerning the escape of suspected JI terrorist Mas Selamat, DPM Wong Kan Seng said;

“A window that should have been grilled but was not; guards who should have maintained line of sight of the detainee …….. – these all point to a slackening in internal vigilance and supervision. Complacency for whatever reason, be it fatigue given the protracted security operations by ISD since 2001 or routinisation over time, had crept in the operating culture at WRDC.”

Personally, I am rather disappointed that the Committee of Inquiry into the Mas Selamat escape only looked at the simple matters like the physical lapses (the famous ungrilled window, the low fences etc), the human lapses (the guards’ negligence etc) and did not probe deeper into the “whatever reason(s)” mentioned by the minister.

DPM Wong says that complacency crept into the operating culture of the WRDC? I don’t think organizations per se can become complacent. It is the people running these organizations that become complacent and I would like to offer some reasons for how this could have happened.

1) Young men with brilliant academic qualifications but little front line experience are put in charge of huge complex organizations. Such leaders are good in strategic planning but tend to underestimate the importance of operational details. They are easily lulled into thinking that everything is fine in the front lines.

2) Leaders have been over-praised by other leaders who over-praise themselves. Even when things go wrong, they continue to pat themselves on the back. They should learn to be humble.

3) Leaders accept accolades for achievements but refuse to take the blame when things go wrong. Only frontline managers are disciplined for disasters in the organisation. This results in low morale of the staff in the lower rungs of the organisation.

4) They earn astronomical salaries and still tell themselves they could be earning even more if they were working in the private sector.

I did a search on Googe on the topic Organisational Culture and Leadership and found that most management gurus assign a strong link between the two. As such I think the leaders, starting with the DPM Wong Kan Seng should accept the responsibility for the complacency that had ‘crept into the culture’ as he put it, and resign.

I am reminded of the movie Titanic. The main reason for the disaster was the complacency of the captain and his crew. As such when the ship sank, he refused to be rescued and chose to go down with it. Likewise, DPM Wong should resign to accept responsibility for the failure of his ministry.

And if all the above is not sufficient reason for the minister to resign, another one just surfaced on today’s front page of the Straits Times. An accident involving a school mini-bus resulted in one kid being killed and another seriously injured. How often have you seen these mini-buses and vans, carrying young children without seat belts speeding recklessly through our housing estates and wondered to yourself, “Where are our traffic police when we need them?” Likewise, how often have you seen lorries overtaking buses overtaking other lorries on our busy expressways and asked yourself the same question. At such times, I ask myself; "Aren't our leaders drivers too?" (to borrow a line from a petrol advertisement).

Public responsibility

2008-04-19T11:28:00.002+08:00

When Parliament seats on Monday, Singaporeans will get answers to many of the questions about the Mas Selamat escape; so says a report in Today.

Members of parliament have filed several questions. But looking at the questions, we can clearly see that the opposition MPs are only interested in pointing fingers and apportioning blame. Mr Chiam See Tong (Potong Pasir) for example, wants to know how the escape occurred. Low Thia Kiang (Hougang) asks for an update on the manhunt, the estimated expenditure on it and whether investor confidence and Singapore’s reputation have been affected. And non-constituency MP, Sylvia Lim’s question is downright mischievous. She wants the PM to explain the Government’s approach to taking responsibility for such major lapses.

The PAP MP, Mr Teo Ho Pin (Bukit Panjang), chair of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Law, on the other hand is much more responsible. He is not interested in pointing fingers. He is more concerned with bigger issues like how to ease traffic congestion at the land checkpoints. Above all, he wants the PM to address the vital issue of public responsibility. Dr Teo said: “Hopefully he will touch on the idea that public responsibility is important. The Government could not be responsibility for everything.”

How magnanimous. How noble. I am almost moved to tears.

The answer to Ms Lim’s irresponsible question is obvious isn’t it? In fact, simply looking at the noble PAP MP’s questions will give you the answer.

First of all, let me tell you who is NOT responsible. The government is not responsible; at least not the ministers and top civil servants. Just look at all the past disasters that happened in Singapore. Was the minister or the perm sec of the National Development ministry responsible for the Nicoll Highway collapse of April 2004? Was the minister for defence or the army chief responsible for the ‘accidental drowning’ of 2SG Hu Enhuai 2003?

Who then is responsible? Answer: the Singaporean public. Their bo-chap attitude of leaving everything to the government is responsible not only for the escape of Mas Selamat, but also for his ability to evade capture for two whole months. How is it possible for one man to escape the huge dragnet put up by our army and police on such a tiny island? Obviously he must have help from many friends. If the public had been more vigilant, these friends would have been identified and apprehended long ago.

My answer to Singaporeans is this. Ask not what your government can do for you; but ask what have you been doing for the government.

Related post.

Badawi is only 20% to blame

2008-03-10T16:23:00.003+08:00

One of the happiest persons in Malaysia today must be Mahathir Mohammed. He could not wait to call a press conference to condemn his successor Abdullah Badawi for the dismal performance of the Barisan Nasional at last Saturday’s general elections. Looking like a delighted kid who has just received his favourite toy, he gleefully pointed out that since Badawi had been given 100% credit for BN’s outstanding performance at the last election in 2004, he should now shoulder 100% of the blame.

I would disagree with that assessment. I think Badawi should only receive 20% of the credit in 2004 and 20% of the blame this time. In both occasions, 80% of the creditor/blame goes to Mahathir. Why do I say that?

Ask yourself. What is the main cause of BN’s poor performance? The newspapers have gone into great detail on that. In a nutshell, the people are fed up with the BN’s mismanagement and wanted change. And this desire for change was already very strong in 2004. Hence they were hopeful that Badawi, being quite different in character and temperament from Dr M would bring about that change. Unfortunately they were disappointed. And so now, they are willing to give the opposition a try.

Let’s take a closer look at just a couple of these causes of discontent among Malaysians.

1) Corruption, nepotism and money politics. Did these come about only during the past four years under Badawi’s leadership? Obviously not. They flourished during the Mahathir era. Remember that famous Lingam video? Who was PM at that time? Badawi’s failure was only his inability to deliver on his promises to solve these deep-rooted problems. So I ask you - can Badawi take 100% of the ‘credit’?

2) Marginalization of the Chinese and Indians arising from the NEP (New Economic Policies) which led to exodus of large numbers of talented Chinese and Indians. Again did this arise during Badawi’s term?

3) Crime and social problems. Remember the time when Lee Kuan Yew caused an uproar in the Malaysian papers when he commented that Johor Bahru was crime-infested? Was that during Badawi’s or Mahathir’s rule?

4) Finally, there is the so-called Anwar factor. This one is fact is 100% caused by Mahathir’s petty feud with his apparent successor. Badawi was simply the innocent bystander. His only fault is that he was not as ruthless as his predecessor in finishing off Anwar by dishonest means.

The above are just a few of the many problems that caused the ‘defeat’ of BN. All these problems were deeply entrenched when Badawi took over the reigns from Mahathir. As I said before, here:

冰冻三尺非一日之寒; or A three –feet layer of ice did not result from a single day of chill.

Conclusion: Mahathir should not be so quick to point fingers at his successor. You know what they say about pointing fingers. One finger is pointed at Badawi, 4 are pointed at himself. That’s why I say Badawi is only 20% to blame.

As an aside, I think the opposition should thank Mahathir for their victories. Just imagine. If Dr M hadn’t so ruthlessly dealt with his previous deputy, would today’s results be possible. If Anwar had succeeded Dr M, he certainly would have continued the BN’s policies; only he wouldn’t be as easy to handle as Badawi. As it turns out, Anwar is now forced to work with the opposition parties and court the Chinese and Indian voters, and win over some disgruntled Malays.

A final word caution to my Chinese and Indian friends – watch Anwar carefully. There is a Cantonese saying; kor kew chou pan. After crossing the bridge, remove the plank.

My Top 5 Gahmen Boo Boos

2008-02-28T22:19:00.002+08:00

I have always had strong faith in the effectiveness of our government. I have always felt proud when I hear foreigners sing praises of how well Singapore is governed (Example here). I even support, in principle at least, the high salaries of our top civil servants and ministers.

But lately, that faith has been shaken by some events which I never expect to happen in a small and first-world country like ours.

1) The drowning of 2SG Hu Enhuai during so-called Combat Survival Training in August, 2003. (Tortured to death would be a more accurate description)

2) The Nicoll Highway Collapse of April 2004.

3) The NKF (National Kidney Foundation) fiasco of 2005.

4) The great Budget Surplus of 2007. After forecasting a deficit $0.7 billion and increasing the GST by 2% points, they tell us we actually had a surplus of $6.47 billion.

5) ‘The Great Escape’ of the suspected Jemaah Islamiah terrorist, Mas Selamat Kastari from police custody yesterday.

Which would you vote as the biggest blunder of all?

I would vote No. 2 because human lives were lost and destroyed; and ample signs of the impending disaster were ignored by those in charge.

But No.1 is the one that makes me most angry because of the sheer negligence and arrogance of the leaders involved.

Thus I am deeply disappointed to read remarks like these being made in parliament a couple of days ago.

“It is this far-sightedness and prudence, as well as the many timely and astute policies implemented, that have played a major role in bringing about such a large surplus.” Hong Kah MP Amy Khor

Wrong move

2008-02-19T22:51:00.004+08:00

It was reported yesterday that former US President Bush has endorsed John McCain as the Republican Party's nominee for the next US president. McCain was apparently quite happy.

After Bush spoke, McCain said that his endorsement would "help me enormously in the process of uniting our party and moving forward." (CNN)

I wouldn’t be so happy if I were McCain. Right now Americans are sick to the core with the mess created by Bush Junior during his 7 years in office. They are desperately looking for change. Thus anyone who wants to be the next president should be fleeing in the opposite direction from anything to do with the ‘worse than fierce tiger.

In Singapore we had a similar situation in the last election. The PAP was desperate to win over Potong Pasir from Chiam See Tong. And so they brought in the big gun – or so they thought, in the person of former prime minister Goh Chok Tong to endorse their candidate, whose name I cannot even recall. Goh Chok Tong even threw in lots of goodies in the form of lift upgrading and that sort of stuff to entice Potong Pasir voters, assuming that Singaporean are kiasu and cannot resist goodies.

PAP as we know, lost, and I doubt Potong Pasir residents ever saw Goh Chok Tong again.

Oops we did it again!

2008-01-21T10:15:00.000+08:00

The last time they arrested a Christian couple from America for ‘close proximity’.

This time they want to keep the body of a Chinese who had already converted to Christianity. Apparently she had consulted a Malay Muslim faith healer who tried to convert her to Islam.

I wonder if they are big fans of Britney Spears.

UMNO Leaders not sensitive

2008-01-05T11:29:00.000+08:00

Many UMNO leaders were fond of accusing people of other races and religions of being ‘insensitive’. This was especially so during the Mahathir era when Singapore leaders and newspapers were frequently taken to task for the supposedly 'insensitive' comments they made or printed.

But judging from some of the news coming from up north, I would say that the UMNO leaders themselves are guilty of being insensitive. Let’s take the latest controversy on the use of the word ‘Allah’ for God in the Malay Bible. (By the way, I wonder if Malaysian Muslims know that the Bible has been around for a much longer time than the Quran)

Mr Abdullah Zin, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s department, and de facto minister for Islamic affairs, told reporters on Thursday that the Cabinet is of the view that "Allah" refers to the Muslim God and can only be used by Muslims, who comprise about 60 percent of Malaysia's population. He said:

"The use of the word 'Allah' by non-Muslims may arouse sensitivity and create confusion among Muslims in the country,"

I think the minister could have been more sensitive and said this instead:

"Non-Muslims should not use the word 'Allah' because it may create confusion among non-Malays everywhere."

Most non-Malays like me tend to associate the word Allah with Islam.

Law breakers abound in the Fine City

2007-12-29T14:09:00.000+08:00

Creative Commons image from synnwang.
Creative Commons image from magnusvk

The world generally thinks all Singaporeans are law-abiding people who would not even cross a deserted road junction before the ‘green man’ appears. But we Singaporeans know better don’t we? From littering to speeding, from illegal parking to soliciting, from buying illegal 4D to feeding monkeys, we live by the army motto; You can do anything; just don’t get caught. This would explain our sudden change of behaviour whenever we cross the causeway into Malaysia (aka Bolehland), where shall we say, the authorities are more tolerant of litter bugs and speedsters.

But back to the tiny red dot. Caught, we seldom are. Everyday you find people writing to the forum pages of our local newspapers lamenting the widespread flouting of our laws. And each time the relevant authority will come back with the standard reply. Oh we take a serious stand against this problem. Last year our enforcement officers issued summons to X thousand offenders. We seek the public’s cooperation to stem out this problem. If you see anyone committing this offence, please call this number.

And the problem persists.

The only time you see some real action from the authorities is when one of the following three things happen.

1) A tragedy occurs and lots of unpleasant publicity is generated.

2) The newspaper reporters take pity on us and decide to do a huge coverage of the problem. The recent reporting about touting by taxi-drivers is a good example.

3) Some big-shot minister complains. Remember how they decided to ban chewing gum because S. Dhanabalan remarked that people who chewed gum looked like cows. (OK lah, I exaggerate a little, but you know what I mean right?)

Let’s take the latest farce for example. Today’s Straits Times carried a big report of a pregnant lady whose plastic bag got snatched by some monkeys at the MacRitchie Reservoir. Much of the blame goes to those baboons who cannot resist feeding their cousins. We see them every time at the reservoir parks. I went to Upper Pierce Reservoir on Christmas day and saw several cars stopped by the roadside and the occupants happily feeding monkeys despite the huge signs threatening a fine of $250 dollars. From the look of it, I think some of those folks went to the park for the specific purpose of feeding the monkeys. And it was a family affair too.

As expected, in the Straits Times report, the Nparks (National Parks Board) appealed to the public to report such offenders if they came across them – as if it was such a rare occurrence. Exactly the same thing happened some months ago with the problem of drivers who left their engines running in the car parks. It appears the traffic police (or should that be the NEA?) did not know that any day of the week, if you go to a multi-storey car park in the HDB heartlands during mid-day, you are sure to see taxi-drivers and truck drivers snoozing away with their car engines and air-cons running.

Anyway, now that the issue has been blown up by the press, the authorities will spring into action over the next few weeks and then guess what will happen? Everything will just go back to the ‘normal’.

I think there are three possible explanations for this strange phenomenon in our country. It could mean that our population is growing too fast and the authorities simply do not have the manpower to cope. Or the ever ‘ting hua’ ( 听话or obedient) Singaporeans are heeding our dear leaders’ exhortation to be more ready to take risks. But I think it’s probably because Singaporeans are getting too rich, and a few hundred dollars is ‘peanuts’ to them - and some have so much peanuts that they simply have to share it with their cousins.

Our Indian friends up north should read this

2007-12-01T11:27:00.000+08:00

The street protests by Indians in Malaysia have been very much in the news lately. A rally organized by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) recently, attracted thousands of Indians to the streets of Kuala Lumpur. They wanted to submit a petition with 100,000 signatures to Queen Elizabeth II to appoint a Queen’s Counsel to represent the Indian community in a class action suit against the British government for bringing Indians as labourers to the then Malaya and thereafter exploiting them.

If I were speaking on behalf of the British, I would ask the protesters to take a look at the front page of the 30 November 2007 edition of Singapore’s TODAY newspaper.

In it, you will see the faces of two prominent Indian Singaporeans. Tharman Shanmugaratnam is the present Minister for Education. He will be given another important portfolio today, that of the Finance ministry. The other picture is that of Vivian Balakrishnan, another high-flying Indian who at the age of 44 became Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports as well as Second Minister for Trade and Industry in 2005. In fact, we have another Indian holding an even higher position. He is deputy prime minister Assoc. Prof. Jayakumar.

The question that I will ask our Malaysian friends is this: Weren’t the forefathers of Mr Tharman and Dr Vivian and thousands of Singaporean Indians similarly brought in to the then Malaya as labourers by the British? How come no Singaporean Indian is sueing the British government?

The answer is obvious isn’t it? If you really want to sue someone, you should sue your own politicians; especially the half-Indian who ruled Malaysia for 22 years.

Our Bumiputra friends up north should read this

2007-11-26T14:36:00.000+08:00

Our Bumiputra friends in Malaysia - including that pseudo-Bumiputra who wrote The Malay Dilemma - should read this front page article which appeared in Singapore’s Straits Times last Friday (23 November 2007).

She scored a staggering 294 points in her PSLE.

She broke the record for the highest score ever in Singapore.

The closest rival was a good 6 points behind her.

She came from a humble background; her mother was a housewife, and father, an aircraft technician.

She never had a day of tuition in her life.

Her name is Natasha Nabila Muhamad Nasir.

She’s Malay.

Please stop insulting your own race and scrap the New Economic Policy. And for goodness sake, stop that kris-waving wayang.

Our foreign talent policy is short-sighted

2007-11-17T13:40:00.000+08:00

The front page of Weekend Today (17 November 2007) carried two headlines.

1) “Cracks in society are showing” – SM Goh raises concern as foreign talent stats hit new high.

2) “If only they were given the time”

Interestingly, I find that the second headline provides the answer to the issue raised in headline number 1.

In the first article, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong basically points out the problem that with the rapid influx of foreigners into Singapore, many of them are finding it hard to assimilate into Singapore society. I was not surprised. Are you?

It is common sense really. How can you expect people to adapt so quickly to a new society. The mainland Chinese may look like Singapore Chinese (and likewise the Indians) but he is more different from us that a local Indian or Malay culturally. I think you need years to achieve this kind of adaptation. Let me give you two personal examples.

Recently I received a marketing call from a lady who was obviously a mainland Chinese. She was trying to sell some services related to property. She asked if I could understand Chinese; and I answered yes. Then she launched into her sales pitch. But she was speaking so quickly and coupled with her mainland Chinese accent, I had difficulty following her. I asked her to slow down and she did … for a while; and then she reverted to her incomprehensible rapid-fire Chinese. In the end, I simply gave up.

On the other hand, I had an opportunity to meet a classmate of my son, an 18-year old China scholar who had been studying in Singapore for about four years. I had little difficulty communicating with him. His English, though a little different from ours, was perfectly comprehensible.

These two encounters with mainland Chinese clearly shows how difficult it is to make adjustment in just one area – the way we speak; and I am not even talking about learning a new language. This is particularly true for the adults. The bottom line is that they need more time. In the light of this, I wonder, is it wise to bring in foreign talents into our country in such huge numbers?

My own conclusion is that our government’s foreign talent policy is short-sighted. Our economy is growing and our population growth is too slow. Answer? Bring in more foreigners lor.

On paper, it looks impressive. We are forward-looking. We anticipate problems before they arise. We act fast and grab the talents before the other developed countries do so. But I think it is short-sighted because it is basically a quick-fix solution which brings with it many long term consequences; some of which like the one mentioned by SM Goh, are quite predictable. There are probably many others. For example, our recent spats with the China-born athletes have also raised another problem related to their commitment to our country.

I think we should really re-look at our foreign talent policy. For a start, take a look at the problems faced by other societies that have adopted a similar policy; for example the UK and US. Are there lessons for us there?

We should also re-look at our assumptions. Just because they are from China and India, and we have a large Chinese and Indian population does not mean that they are like us. Singaporeans are very ‘westernised’. Our Chinese have been labeled as ‘bananas’ by the Taiwanese and mainland Chinese – yellow on the outside but white on the inside. Looks can be deceiving.

Be discerning when you donate

2007-11-13T18:36:00.000+08:00

In Singapore, we have no shortage of charity organizations. Some are huge and employ aggressive marketing techniques to appeal to your emotions. They hire famous artistes to perform daring stunts on TV and make moving appeals. The Ren Ci Hospital & Medicare Centre even has its CEO - a monk no less doing Fear Factor style dare-devil stunts like standing an 8x8 inch platform on top of a wobbly metal structure erected 5 stories high in Suntec City for 1 hour 45 minutes and 28 seconds.

And kind but gullible Singaporean fall for these stunts hook, line and sinker. They must feel really stupid that hot on the footsteps of the National Kidney Foundation saga, we have another scandal in the making. If you have been donating to Ren Ci, please ponder over this.

- Ren Ci has been making interest-free loans totaling millions of dollars to various companies from as far back as 1996. Apparently, these organizations are linked to the CEO. Is that how you want your hard-earned dollars to be used?

- $200,000 to $300,000 remains to be accounted for at the multimillion-dollar charity. Is that where you want your hard-earned dollars to end up?

I don’t know about you. But I smell another NKF-type stinker brewing?

I think we should all learn a lesson from this latest fiasco, if we have not already done so from the previous one. We just have to be more discerning. Don’t be lazy. Do a bit of homework before you sign that cheque. Even if the amount is not big, it is irresponsible to use you money so foolishly. You are depriving other more deserving charitable oranisations of your precious dollar. They are many small and low profile charitable organisations that do their work quietly and without much fanfare. Find out who they are and consider is it more worthwhile to give to them instead.

The same advice applies to those show biz personnel who work so hard to help raise money for these charities.

Pedra Branca

2007-11-13T17:29:00.000+08:00

I have not been following closely the arguments presented by Singapore at the hearings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh which is also claimed by Malaysia.

I understand that one of the main points put up by Singapore is that “since 1847, Britain and its successor, Singapore, have exercise sovereignty over the island through activities that were an open, continuous and effective display of state control” (Straits Times, 13 November, 2007)

In this regard, I wonder if our team had mentioned the fact that we even have a stamp issued in 1982 featuring the Horsburg Lighthouse on this island.

The Singapore frog is almost cooked already

2007-10-23T15:06:00.000+08:00

Nominated MP, Professor Thio Li-Ann was wrong when she said in parliament yesterday that “repealing Section 377A is the first step of a radical, political agenda which will subvert social morality, the common good and undermine our liberties”.

That first step was taken long ago when:

1) They legalized abortion.

2) We gave in to the loud spoken minority and liberalized our censorship laws. The film rating system in our country is a joke. Pornography is disguised as ‘artistic’ entertainment and shown in our third-rate cinemas. Children in school uniform openly rent NC16 and M18 videos from our shops.

2) We made the decision to build casinos in this country after standing firm for 40 years.

3) Our dear leaders openly promised that 377A will not be enforced. Dr Stuart Koe, the gay activist was right when he said, “To have a law that they articulate they are not going to enforce really brings the law into disrepute.”

Have you heard of the ‘boiled frog syndrome’? It is said that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will never jump out. Such a frog can be boiled alive without knowing it.

In our case, the frog is almost cooked already.

What’s worse than bo-lui and bo-geh?

2007-09-25T10:38:00.000+08:00

Mr Wang says; “Our kind of government is definitely not the kind that's going to give you any free money on a silver platter.”

I prefer to say; “Our government is definitely not the kind that's so kind as to give you any free money on a silver platter.”

…….. in other words ‘bo-cheng’.
…….. in other words, ‘you die, your business’.

Bus Fares to go up .. yet again

2007-09-12T15:08:00.000+08:00

The headline of this front page article in the Straits Times should be:

Bus Fares to go up yet again!

In his movie, Just Follow Law, director Jack Neo expressed the popular belief that Singaporeans have very short memories. Still, very few of us should have difficulty remembering that just one year ago, the fares were raised. And just a couple months ago, the bus companies boasted of their outstanding performance and huge profits.

The TODAY newspaper has an even more disgusting headline. As if to taunt Singaporeans and remind them not to complain, they stressed that the increase was a mere 1 to two cents. And they printed 2 huge one cent coins on their front page. It's as if they are trying to say; "Don't think your 2 cents are bigger than bullock cart wheels."

I think Ms Ong Sor Fern’s commentary on the Michael Moore movie Sicko is appropriate here. Criticizing the US government for privatizing their health care system, she wrote:

“Quite simply, there is no excuse for any government not to take care of its citizens.”

I believe that public transport should be the responsibility of the government. Why should this be left to profit-making commercial organisations like SMRT and SBS. Every year, our government collects millions of dollars from car owners through the COE and ERP systems. Why isn’t this money used to subsidize public transport. Instead, they allow the transport companies to keep increasing fares, resulting in more and more people buying cars. Consequently, the car owners, who pay so much to drive cars have to bear with daily traffic jams.

What alternatives do we Singaporeans have? Drive and you get screwed. Take public transport and you also get screwed.

Only thing we can do is whine and complain; whilst the rest of the world laugh at us.

We couldn’t have done it without you

2007-08-16T13:36:00.001+08:00

A big thank you to Malaysia and Dr (Potong Potong) Mahathir. We couldn’t have done it without you. Oh yeah - thanks also for so generously sending many of your brightest kids to our universities; like this one.

Link

Brilliant Idea

2007-08-15T12:20:00.000+08:00

Did you see this report in Page 4 of the Straits Times Today? Minister Lim Boon Heng has brilliant idea.

Now please turn to the obituaries page. There are 8 gentlemen whose ages were given. They are 53, 82, 83, 51, 77, 78, 64 and 74. The average … three score years plus 10.

If you are one of those Singaporeans who follow the ministers' advice blindly, and find that you do not make it beyond 3 scores plus 10, you know who to look for.

Singapore Boleh

2007-08-10T11:17:00.000+08:00

It’s National Day season and I keep seeing this new phrase in the papers; Singapore – The City of Possibilities.

Haha. So not only Malaysia Boleh, Singapore pun Boleh!

But, if one were to adopt a pessimistic view, there are all kinds of disastrous possibilities; like ...
Singapore: The Vice Capital or The Sardines City etc. etc.

Do what I say but not what I do

2007-08-09T11:46:00.000+08:00

It appears that the only time Dr Mahathir shuts his mouth is when his heart go on strike. Due to health problems, he has been rather quiet for the past few months. But his heart must be in pretty good condition lately, because he has gone back to working his mouth.

The latest barrage from the famed ‘loose cannon’? He wants Malaysia’s minority Chinese and Indians to stop debating whether or not Malaysia is an Islamic state. “Too much talk about such issues could prove harmful for the multiracial country”, he says. And then he goes on to make exactly the kind of statement that ignited the debate in the first place; by declaring, as did Prime Minister Badawi and his deputy, Najib Tun Razak, that Malaysia is an Islamic state, even though it is not clearly stated in the Malaysian Constitution.

This reminds me of something a Malaysian friend once told me. He said that Malaysia is different from Singapore. In Singapore, if you do not see a “U-turn” sign when driving, it means it is unlawful to make a U-turn. In Malaysia, if you do not see a “No U-turn” sign, you can assume that it is lawful to make a U-turn. Since, the Malaysian constitution did not say that Malaysia is not an Islamic state, the UMNO leaders assumed that that they can simply go ahead and declare it one.

But then PM Badawi said something rather confusing last month. He said that Malaysia adopts a democratic system. In that case, shouldn’t it be the people who have the final say and not the political leaders.

Another thing I find rather confusing about these statements by the UMNO politicians. They keep saying that the constitution guarantees freedom of worship for non-Muslims even though it states the Islam is the official religion. It makes one wonder what exactly is meant by ‘freedom of worship’. Does it mean that Muslims have no freedom of worship? I say this because as long as you are born into a Muslim family, and your parents, or even just one of them is quick enough to register you as a Muslim, you are locked in for life and not free to follow any other religion.

Chimps are people too?

2007-07-29T16:53:00.000+08:00

Take a look at this photo of an apple and a pear. Wouldn’t you say that even a 3-year old will be able to tell you that they are different? Do you need learned scientists with big degrees behind their names to conduct all sorts of elaborate tests of their composition, juiciness, mineral content, DNA structures etc. to tell you they are simply not the same?

(Photo by Flickr member Monikahoinkis)

And yet, I saw this highly-touted “documentary of the week” on Channel News Asia recently, where they tried to argue that chimps are actually the same as human beings. The title of the documentary was; Chimps are People Too. It was produced by Horizon and presented by Danny Wallace, a British Comedian and writer. To make sure I really understood where these people are coming from, I recorded the show and watched it a second time.

Danny Wallace travels to many places and interviews a number of experts in areas, and here are some of his conclusions:

1) Dongo National Park, Africa – Wallace spends a full day here observing the behaviour of chimps in the natural environment. He learns that chimps could make a variety of sounds. They can even communicate sentences like “I found really good food.” His conclusion? Chimps have the “beginnings of a language”.

“Look into the eyes of a chimp. You do get this weird sense of recognition. So this make me think, that more and more, really, in my opinion, chimps are people.”

2) Philosopher – Next Wallace speaks to a philosopher, and learns that a full grown adult chimp has a lot of sophisticated awareness of itself and its environment. It is more advanced than a new born child. His conclusion?

“It just might be possible that chimps could be people too.”

3) Sexual attraction – Next Wallace goes to Cambridge University and learns about a ‘ground breaking experiment’ where 3 women are asked to sniff the dirty T-shirts of 3 male subjects – 2 men and a chimp, and choose the one each found the most attractive. All three women found T-shirt B to be not very attractive or unattractive. In other words, they could not tell the difference.

So what? I am completely lost??? Have they tried a similar experiment with a bear or a cat or a donkey?

4) Chimp Trainer in Hollywood. This guy trains chimps to do ‘human things’ like nod head (good), shake head (bad), do hand signals, bare teeth etc. He treats his chimps like 5-year olds and even disciplines them. Wallace’s conclusion?

“What they were doing were people-like. They looked fairly human. I’m not sure if it’s enough.”

4) Geneticist. Chimps and human share 99.4% of DNA and are almost identical genetically. He believes that the difference is due to ‘thousands and thousands of years of culture.’

“Layers and layers of culture which we build up over thousands and thousands of years that make us increasingly more sophisticated. If you take them outside that cultural context, you might find that their behaviour is a little bit more like a chimpanzee.”

5) Primate Center in Atlanta. Here Wallace asks the question, “Do chimps have culture.” Here he observes chimps learning 2 different methods of getting M&M’s from a device which required them to lift or poke something. His conclusion?

“The experiment proves absolutely that chimps have a capacity for culture and pass it on to each other down the generation

6) Bonobos – Wallace’s final visit was to a centre which studied bonobos (pygmy chimpanzee) by treating them like humans. Wallace finds that he could communicate with the Bonobos through some kind of computer software, play with them and even ‘bonds’ with one them. He is completely convinced.

And his parting words.

“Ultimately, I think all this is a question of potential. Give them time. Again …
So should they be treated as if they are people too? Well that’s up to the chimps that got there first: Us.”

And my conclusion: Danny Wallace certainly has a great deal of faith in his ‘religion’ – Evolution. He sets out fully convinced that humans evolved from chimps. He looks for the slightest hint of similarity and declares it as scientific proof. If this is not evidence of faith, I don’t know what is.

Interesting, I also saw an hour-long video webcast of a studio discussion about this same show which involved a panel of experts here. Surprisingly, a straw poll amongst the audience indicated that more people believed that chimps are not people after watching the show than before watching the show.

During the discussion, one of the panelists, Dr. Mark Thomas, a human evolutionary geneticist at University College London said that it was over-simplistic and misleading to attach too much to this 99.4% similarity in DNA of humans and chimp, because bananas have 60% and rats and more than 90% similarity in their DNA with humans.

As for me, I believe that for such a simple question, there is no need for scientific tests. What constitutes human-ness anyway …. looks, behaviour and personality perhaps?

(Photo by Flickr member Gandalf Grey)

- Does this chimp look 99.4% human?

- Does he behave 99.4% like a human? Can he talk, reason, argue, write, read, design equipment 99.4% like a human? (Of course evolutionists say; give the guy a couple of million years, and he will. But then, we won’t be around to verify that would we?)

- Can he devise elaborate systems to capture and enslave other chimpanzees and ship them half way around the world to be sold for profit?

- Can he look up to the night sky and be so captivated by its beauty and order that he is moved to write words like these in praise of his creator?

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth forth His handiwork.” [Psalm 19:1]

So then, why do these brilliant scientists go to such pains to deceive themselves? I think the answer is found in something the apostle Paul wrote nearly two thousand years ago.

“Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.” [Romans 1: 19–22, New International Version]

Politicians Bodoh Too?

2007-07-04T10:29:00.000+08:00

I saw another two interesting articles in yesterday’s edition of TODAY.

Article No. 1

“Two days after Johor officials declared victory in their fight against crime in the state, a gang of robbers attacked a taxi driver and left a note behind the taxi taunting the law enforcers of the state.

The message to Johor police was, “Polis Bodoh” (stupid police).”

Article No. 2

Bad news; but hardly unexpected, I would say. It appears that the haze is returning; in spite of the numerous high profile meetings by the leaders of Asean, and countless reports in the media.

Apparently the forest burners have the same regard for our politicians as the Johor criminals have for the police there.

Incidentally, have you read my earlier series of posts about (mainly Malaysian) politicians under the title, Politicians Say The Darndest Things. Apparently, they have inspired one Malaysian writer to pen a book of exactly the same title. Haven't you heard of Creative Commons, Mr Amir? An acknowledgment would be nice actually. Malaysia Boleh indeed!

Politicians Say The Darndest Things (1)

Politicians Say The Darndest Things (2)

A Tale of Slavery in 2 Cities

2007-06-16T18:21:00.000+08:00

I read not one, but two reports of modern-day slavery in TODAY this morning.

The first was about a slavery ring in China in which more than 1,000 people were forced to work in brutal conditions. More than 450 young men and children had been rescued from a string of brick factories in Henan and Shanxi provinces. Some of the children were as young as eight. Many had injuries sustained at the hands of their cruel bosses. One man in his fifties was even beaten to death with a shovel for ‘not working hard enough’.

Many of the children had been abducted from streets and sold for as little as 500 yuan (S$101) to factories and mines where they were starved and forced to work long hours under appalling conditions, with dogs ensuring they could not escape.

The second report was about slavery right here in Singapore! In a story titled, The Story of Workhorse Albert’s Life or Lack of One, Murali Sharma wrote that “unsatisfactory work conditions are quite widespread”. His good friend Albert is a typical example of a victim of Singaporean-style slavery. He had to slog from 8.00 am to 10.00 pm on most days. His boss is a slave driver who doesn’t trust him and wants him to be contactable even on Sundays, and often berates him for his own mistakes. The poor chap is so miserable and stressed that he cannot even perform what in Singapore is considered a patriotic duty - marrying and procreating.

There is a slight difference in Albert’s case of course. He earns a 5-figure salary; and if he were to try to escape, he is unlikely to beaten or bitten.

Was That Really Necessary?

2007-06-05T09:18:00.000+08:00

By now, if you do not know that Mediacorp artiste, Christopher Lee has been jailed for drink driving, you must be a hermit. And if you previously did not know who he was, you certainly do now. His face has been splashed all over the newspapers. The Straits Times even had one half of the front page of its Sunday Lifestyle Section covered with his photos.

Come on. I know the public has a right to know. And newspapers have a duty to report. But half a page? Now was that really necessary? The man is already paying a heavy price for his mistake. Is it really necessary to shame him further in this way?

People Cannot Join and Leave a Religion as they Wish

2007-05-31T10:52:00.000+08:00

The wisest in the land has ruled. “People cannot join and leave a religion according to their whims and fancies.”

Thus saith the Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim (of Malaysia) in delivering the main judgment of a case involving a Malay woman, Lina Joy, who converted from Islam to Christianity nine years ago and wanted to have “Islam” deleted from her identity card.

This was supposed to be a ‘test case’ because it is binding on all lower civil courts, and will affect a number of apostasy cases pending in civil courts. For example, there is this case involving Mrs R. Subashini, a Hindu woman who is fighting to prevent her estranged husband from converting their one-year-old son to Islam. Her husband, Mr T. Saravan converted from a Hindu to become a Muslim last year. And he has already converted their elder son, three, without her knowledge.

According to the wise chief justice's reasoning, Mr. T Saravan is guilty. He cannot ‘suka suka’ (any how) convert to another religion. And he certainly cannot change his children’s religion according to his ‘whims and fancies’. At the very least, he should consult and get the approval of his wife, don’t you think.

And there's another case involving a former soldier M. Moorthy who also (allegedly) converted to Islam – so said his colleagues, but they have no documents to prove it - without even telling his family. This caused a lot of problems when he died, because both his widow and the Islamic authorities claim his body for burial.

By the way, do you think it is a coincidence that both the judges who ruled against Lina Joy were Muslims, and the third judge who ruled for her was a non-Muslim? Make you wonder if the verdict would have been the same if none of the 3 judges were Muslims doesn't it?.

Must it always be about Money?

2007-05-21T11:56:00.000+08:00

The Singapore daily, TODAY has this tagline: We set you thinking. A couple of things I read this morning set me thinking.

In a report about Michael Moore’s latest movie, Sicko, the director, famous for movies like Fahrenheit 911 and Bowling for Columbine, was quoted as saying that he was trying to ask questions like, “Why do we behave the way we behave? What has become of us? Where is our soul?”

This reminded me about something former Malaysian prime minister, Dr Mahathir said recently about us; “Singapore believes the most important thing is what profits Singapore”.

Offhand, I would like to dismiss this as another of his thoughtless, unsubstantiated accusations. But if you think about it objectively, there may be some truth in what he said. A lot of times, our behaviour gives others the impression that profit is our only criterion for evaluating decisions in practically every aspect of our lives.

Let’s take the example of our sales people and businessmen. You must have encountered such a situation before. You walk into a shop and the salesman is all smiles and enthusiastically answers your questions. But the moment it becomes apparent that you are not going to buy anything, his attitude changes, and he makes no effort to hide his irritation and wish that you would leave and stop wasting his time.

Not long ago, we had a huge debate in this country about the decision to build casinos after decades to saying no. In parliament, speaker after speaker spoke about the ills of having casinos; but in the end they were persuaded because of the prospect of revenues and jobs. We will come up with lots of measures to reduce the social impact of gambling on our society. But what about the harm that it does to foreigners who we will woo to come here to gamble? Not our problem? Then Mahathir is right isn’t he?

For years, the Indonesians have been pressurizing us to sign an extradition treaty so that they can go after corrupt officials who hide their ill-gotten wealth in Singapore. We have always resisted because it will affect our reputation as a financial capital. We will only sign the treaty if there are other conditions attached to it and bring benefits in other areas. But, what about the fact that we have helping dishonest people to get away with their crimes? Again, not our problem?

Last Saturday’s edition of Today carried this headline, What Price the Pink Dollar? It reported on the results of a poll commissioned by Today which showed that a majority of Singaporean heartlanders were against making homosexuality legal in Singapore. The article went on to argue that this was not good for Singapore. A law criminalizing homosexuality will work against our push to lure foreign talent here and grow an ideas-driven, creative economy because homosexuals are supposed to be creative people. We do not want to be seen as a ‘culturally intolerant and sterile’ people. But what about the long term effects of welcoming such ‘alternative lifestyles’ on our society?

Why do we behave this way? I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with the fact that our leaders are all paid ‘market rates’ and constitute some of the best brains that money can buy in this land.

Simplicity

2007-05-10T14:31:00.000+08:00

Did you see this article in Today?

It's about the GMP Group which does not require it's job applicants to fill up a lengthy application form. They believed that a simple cover letter and resume are “more than enough”.

It reminded me of a book by Edward De Bono entitled simply, SIMPLICITY. In it, he lamented that many procedures in this world are far too complicated. He cited the example of those irritating Embarkation Forms that we have to fill up each time we visited a foreign country. By the way, he wrote this book before September 11. He questioned why some countries (I think he quoted France as an example) only required a simple 4 or 5 - question form whilst most others have literally pages of questions to answer.

I am tempted to ask the same question about job application forms here in Singapore. If GMP can do with a simple resume and cover letter, why do most organizations require you to fill up lengthy forms. Out of curiosity, I visited the websites of some large organizations in Singapore. Most of them asked the customary questions like which schools you attended, your children’s date of births etc. Some like the NTUC, a supposed champion of older workers' rights, even asked for your grades in your O level exams. I pity guys like my 56-year old friend, who was retrenched 2 years ago. He will have to submit information about his grades from nearly 4 decades ago. Quite possibly, the primary school he attended may not even exist today.

A screen shot showing just a part of NTUC's online application form.

We should thank TODAY for this article. Let’s hope that more employers, especially our largest employer, the government, will follow GMP’s example and change their procedures rather than waste their energy to try and ‘fix things that ain’t broke”.

I’m No Pessimist

2007-05-05T15:09:00.000+08:00

I am greatly flattered that blogger Victor thinks that I am a ‘thinking blogger’; more so when I didn’t even know that he reads my articles. I feel even more flattered that he actually likens me to the famous blogger Mr Wang. I don’t think there is any other blogger who thinks that it is a worthy comparison. No need to elaborate.

Victor also thinks that I am probably a pessimist. Well he isn’t the first one. Some time ago, one reader expressed the same opinion when he read my article opposing the nomination of Mr S. R. Nathan as the next president of Singapore. I argued that it wasn’t pessimistic to speculate that an 80-over year old man like Mr Nathan may be forced to step down for health reasons mid-way through his term of office. It that happened, more tax payers’ money would be spent to hold another election to find a replacement. Anyway, once it became clear that Mr Nathan would win the election, I took down the article. I felt that it wasn’t helpful to keep that sort of argument on the internet any more. Now that we could all see that Mr Nathan is happily performing that role, I feel relieved and glad to be proven wrong.

And then it occurred to me that that reader, like Victor thought of me as a pessimist because of the title of my blog – Bad News on the Doorstep. I had never taken the trouble to explain why I chose such a ‘pessimistic’ name because there is a religious consideration behind my choice; and because I thought, since so few people read this blog, why bother. But out of respect for Victor, I think I should.

A very long time ago, at the dawn of earth’s history, there lived a man by the name of Lamech. He lived at a time when the society was full of violence and iniquity and moral decay. It so troubled him that when his son was born, he decided to name him ‘Rest’, or ‘Comfort’, saying; “This same shall comfort us.” The Hebrew name for it is Noah.

As I look at the world around me in 21st Century Singapore, and scan the news daily, I am convinced that we are living in times exactly like those of Lamech and Noah. (Just this morning I read the news of a man who raped his own daughter and posted the video on the internet. A couple of weeks ago, a young man, with a bright future ahead of him, took two guns and short dead 32 innocent bystanders before taking his own life). Since it is too late for me to go back and rename my son, I thought I would name my blog to reflect the times. And so I chose a line from the Don McLean classic, American Pie, to be the name of this blog.

Jesus Christ, before he left this earth warned us, through his disciples, to look out for the signs of the second coming. He specifically mentioned that the society at that time would “as in the days of Noah” – something I intend to blog about shortly. As I do not wish to mix religion with social and political commentaries, I have decided to blog about that topic (we call it Eschatology) in the separate blog called Parable of the Fig Tree. All bible-believing Christians look forward to a day when our saviour will return to this crippled earth to establish his millennial kingdom. Far from being pessimistic, we have a glorious hope.

You too can, if you will.

Revising History is No Torture

2007-04-07T12:34:00.000+08:00

It’s that time of the year again when our children have to revise for their mid-year exams. I am not sure about kids these days, but for me revising for the History paper was always sheer torture. I remember mugging into the wee hours of the morning trying to memorize all those dates and events and names.

But apparently, revising history is no sweat for the folks at the Japanese Ministry of Education. Each year, around this time they will revise their history books. In 2005, the focused on the Nanjing Massacre (or Incident as they prefer to call it). In 2006, they turned their attention to the sex slaves (or 'comfort women' as they prefer to call it) issue. This year, they come closer home to the Japanese islands of Okinawa. Japanese textbooks are being revised to modify references to soldiers ordering civilians to kill themselves to avoid capture in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa.

This battle, in which up to one-third of the island’s inhabitants died, has previously been described as a futile sacrifice ordered by Japan’s military leaders to delay a US invasion of the Japanese mainland. The history books have always recorded that fanatical Japanese soldiers ordered thousands of civilians to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Americans.

“We were told that if women were taken prisoner, we would be raped and that we should not allow ourselves to be captured,” recalls one survivor, Ms Sumie Oshiro.

Mr Masahide Ota, a former governor of Okinawa who was one of the local students mobilized to defend the island, says soldiers gave civilians two hand grenades – “one to throw at the enemy and one to use on themselves”.

But now, Japanese rightists have re-asserted that such civilian suicides were voluntary acts of patriotism.

But it is not just the Japanese educators who are adept at revising history. The Japanese prime minister too had demonstrated this ability last month when he declared that Japanese troops did not directly coerce thousands of so-called ‘comfort women’ from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and the Netherlands to serve as sex slaves in Japanese army brothels. But being the magnanimous person that he is, PM Shinzo Abe continued to offer his apologies to these unfortunate women. The BBC article above, quoted Abe-san as saying,

"As I frequently say, I feel sympathy for the people who underwent hardships, and I apologise for the fact that they were placed in this situation at the time," he said.

Since the Japanese prime minister is so fond of making apologies, may I suggest that he also apologise to the hundreds of thousands who suffered from the great 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Although Japan was not responsible for that disaster, other than contributing the name, like the comfort women, these people too “underwent hardships”.

Strange Sort of Integrity

2007-03-29T09:42:00.000+08:00

Actress Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie, who plays the role of Annabel Chong in the play, 251, about the infamous porn star's life was reported in Today (March 29, 2007) to have said:

"I see her as a woman who made a choice and stood by it. And there was integrity in that.... It's not up to me to judge whether it was a good or a bad choice, but she believed in something and stuck by it to the end."

In that case, Ms MacQuarrie probably also sees integrity in the acts of these 2 men, who also made choices and stuck with them to the end.

Everyone’s Hopping Onto the Casino Bandwagon

2007-03-26T22:43:00.000+08:00

Most Singaporeans remember the luo-han fish and bubble tea debacle of a few years ago. Initial success followed by a mushrooming of outlets, led to over-supply and finally disaster.

I fear that it will happen to the casino industry. As you can see from the above news items, everybody is jumping on the casino band wagon.

I really do not know what to hope for.

I would hate to see our two casino projects fail because we are pumping in so much of our scarce resources into them; and Singaporeans will suffer the consequences. But, I suppose those big-time casino operators who are investing millions into these projects have done their homework and know what they are doing. But on the other hand, you never know. Greed often clouds our judgment. And the world economy is volatile and unpredictable.

At the same time, I also do not like to see these projects become a booming success and turn my beloved Singapore into a vice capital.

Anyway, the closing paragraph of the last BBC article is worth noting:

One country that already has a reputation for being a popular destination for Asian gamblers is Australia. However the promised windfall in tax revenues and jobs has not always materialised, according to Jan McMillen (director of the Center for Gambling Research at the Australian National University).

Concerns have also risen over the number of Australian gambling addicts and in recent years casinos have been forced to cut back.

"We're in shutdown mode. It's fascinating to look at the rest of the world and wonder if they've learned from our experience," said Ms McMillen. (BBC; 20 April, 2005)

Nation of Emigrants

2007-02-28T11:51:00.000+08:00

Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said in parliament that we are a nation of immigrants. As such we should welcome more immigrants to our tiny country.

What kind of stupid logic is that?

Dear sir, do you know what was the population density of Singapore, a British colony, before the 2nd World War and what is the population density of Singapore today?

The minister also promised that Singapore had “sufficient land” to cater to current and future needs, provided the space was used “judiciously and wisely”.

Demonstrating typical Singaporean-style creativity and innovation, he elaborated what he meant by ‘judicious and wise use of space’ by saying, “We need to optimise land use … through reclamation, building upwards, or using subterranean space.” Sir, haven’t we been doing that for the past 40 years?

He also said, “We will also need to invest in necessary infrastructure such as roads and rail networks, and power and utilities.” Sir, haven’t we been doing that for the past 40 years?

In that case, I also can be creative and innovative. Let me give our government a suggestion. We need to optimise use of human resources. We should educate and train our people to the fullest so that we can have a highly productive workforce that generate more wealth without having to resort to bringing in so many foreign talents.

Earlier this month he promised that Singapore would not be bursting at the seams. I say we are already bursting at the seams. Now he promises that Singapore had “sufficient land”. I say our ‘little red dot’ already have insufficient land. I challenge anyone prove me wrong.

Our government has always boasted that it is pragmatic and do not make empty promises. I hope I live long enough to see Mr Mah and his colleagues deliver on the above promises.

Personally, I think that at the rate we are going, Singapore is going to become a nation of emigrants. With a “planning figure” (playing with words as usual) of 6.5 million, I see many of our children going where their parents refused to go – leave our beloved country for ‘greener pastures’. With prices of properties sky-rocketing, my children will be sorely tempted to sell the house I bequeath to them, and just leave this place that their parents slogged so hard to build to the immigrants. And what makes the government so sure that today’s immigrants will not become emigrants as well when they see Singapore turning into the very sardine cans that they left behind in the first place?

Does Customer Service Training Work?

2007-02-15T22:01:00.000+08:00

In today’s edition of TODAY (the newspaper), there’s an article on customer service. I believe it is part of a regular column by Liang Dingzi called Serve Us Right.

In today’s story, the writer narrated two cases of poor customer service. The first was from a hotel and the second, from a bank. From the first she concluded with this cardinal rule of customer service; “When in doubt, decide in the customer’s favour“, and from the second; “Never make an issue of doing the customer a favour“.

This article got me pondering. Certainly in the hotel and banking industry, the frontline staff have gone through extensive training in customer service. So whilst the article makes interesting reading for a layman like me, it wouldn’t be teaching those people to whom her story is directed anything they don’t already know.

I am reminded of an interesting post by a blogger called Victor who narrated his somewhat unpleasant encounter with a bank officer at a reputable bank. He then contrasted this with a much happier encounter with a hawker. Comparing these two service providers, the former, the bank officer is probably much better educated and have attended numerous hours of customer service training. Yet, in the words of this blogger, “JY (the bank officer), looks like you could learn something from Helen, the coffee lady. She only sold me a cup of tea that cost a mere 60 cents and yet she took pride in providing good service. On the other hand, you know that my dealings with your bank run into several hundred thousand dollars and are worth several thousand dollars in annual earnings to your bank, part of which pays your salary.”

So what conclusion can we draw from these two articles? My own conclusion is that what we have here is not a problem of knowledge or skill. What we have is what my children like to call, AP, or Attitude Problem.

Can such an attitude problem be addressed by sending the staff for more customer service training? I very much doubt so. Unlike lack of knowledge or skill, poor attitude is much more complex a problem, and its causes don’t always lie with the individual. It is influenced by a variety of factors like work environment and culture, staff relations, staff welfare, work overload and so on, and often points back to the individual’s boss. Hence, the boss who simply sends his staff for training without taking a good hard look at himself, is like the man who lost a coin in a dark alley and searched for it under a lamp post.

And the results are all around for us to see.

Related posts:
1) Interesting Encounters with Rude Cashiers
2) Consciously Rude

6.5 Million?

2007-02-11T22:25:00.000+08:00

It was reported yesterday that our government is aiming to increase the population on our little island to 6.5 million by the year 2020. Making the announcement, minister for National Development, Mah Bow Tan promised that our country will not 'burst at the seams'.

Dear Mr Mah. Where have you been? Don't you travel on our roads and occasionally try out our public transport? Or visit our parks and popular places like Sentosa, not as a VIP, but as a private citizen? Worse still, try to cross over and return from neighbouring Johor Bahru via the causeway during festive season? Haven't you seen the long queues of lorries and goods vehicles waiting at the causeway and emphathized with the drivers? I can continue for another 5 paragraphs but every Singaporean knows what I am talking about.

Sir, we are already bursting at the seams! Isn't life here stressful enough. Please have some pity on poor Singaporeans who have to escape to neighbouring Malaysia and put up with the insults of people like Mahathir.

Please, please I beg you. Don't do this to our children.

Politicians Say the Darndest Things (2)

2007-02-03T11:41:00.000+08:00

We all sympathize with the people of Johor who have suffered terribly from the massive floods that recently affected the southern part of peninsular Malaysia. Even as the government sets up a committee to investigate the causes of the massive flooding, the Mentri Besar of Johor, Datuk Abdul Ghani has gone public and alleged that it was our land reclamation projects at Pulau Tekong that have contributed to these floods.

There is a well-known Chinese proverb that says:

冰冻三尺非一日之寒; or A three –feet layer of ice did not result from one day of chill.

It teaches us that the visible effects of a problem are often the consequence of prolonged period of neglect. In analyzing a problem, we must therefore invest the time to probe deep into the root causes. We must be thorough in uncovering all the factors that may contribute to the problem. Failure to do this may lead us to implement measures that merely remove the symptoms without preventing the recurrence of the problem. Even a production operator or bus driver who has undergone QCC (quality control circle) training would know this. Strange that as learned a man as the menteri besar does not know this simple principle.

I suspect that the datuk must have been inspired by the accusations of the Thai generals that Singapore eavesdrops on their secret telephone conversations. It’s simply another ‘Napoleonic’ tactic to divert the attention of the suffering citizens away from his own ineptness.
Personally, I believe the root cause of the floods is the prolonged period of neglect by the government of that part of Malaysia. In the words of Tortrakul Yomnak, the structural engineer who heads the team investigating problems with Thailand’s new Suvarnabhumi International Airport, it’s “systemic failure”. I estimate it goes back at least 22 years. Maybe the big boss was too preoccupied with ‘mega-projects’ and multi-million dollar ‘scenic bridges’ to bother with something as trivial and unglamorous as drainage and rubbish disposal.

That of course brings me back to my favourite Malaysian politician, Mahathir Mohammad, the man who ruled Malaysia for 22 years. We have not heard from the ‘loose cannon’ for a long time. The poor guy suffered a heart attack last year and consequently the guns had gone silent. But thankfully, he has recovered and thus I can continue to look forward to more additions to my collection of Mahathir gems.

Here is his latest salvo.

Singapore does not really care about the opinion of its neighbours.

Singapore believes the most important thing is what profits Singapore.

You will get nowhere with them either being nice or being tough; they only think of themselves.”

Napoleon Comes to Thailand

2007-01-29T22:16:00.000+08:00

Having gotten rid of the democratically-elected prime minister by unlawful means, the new leaders of Thailand waste no time to adopt the tactics of Napoleon in George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

First, blame all the country's woes on the ousted prime minister; for example:
- The unrest and violence in the south,
- The new year’s eve bombings in Bangkok,
- Even the cracks in the new airport runways.

Next, find a convenient bogeyman who is out to harm and exploit our country. What better choice than the rich and tiny, and much disliked, proud and snotty Singapore? Accuse them publicly of some sinister plots like trying to eavesdrop on our military secrets.

Finally, of course the show is not complete without a bunch of sheep to chant. "Four legs good, two legs bad. Four legs good, two legs bad."

Einstein and Faraday are Scientifically Illiterate

2007-01-14T23:40:00.000+08:00

Gay activist and widely-adored blogger, Alex Au would have you believe that anyone who believes in Creationism is stubborn, stupid and ‘scientifically illiterate’.

In a lengthy article titled, Man at Faregate Refutes Creationism, in his website Yawning Bread, he argues that unlike the Theory of Evolution, the Creation Model simply does not stand up to scientific scrutiny.

But the fact is that there are many scientists (see list here) who believe in Creationism, including Albert Einstein who said:

“The religious feeling of the scientist takes the form of rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law – which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection”.

Many of the great scientists of the past, like Michael Faraday, Isaac Newton, and William Thompson Kelvin were Bible-believing men who saw no conflict between their Christian faith and their scientific careers. It was Newton who spoke of “thinking God’s thoughts after Him”. Believing in an ordered, well-planned Universe, a number God-fearing scientists have made immense contributions to scientific discovery. The belief in design and purpose in the Universe prompted such men and women to understand better the order already placed in the Universe.

Yes, one can argue that many of these scientists lived before Darwin’s time. And, while it is true that many Christians have succumbed to the onslaught of evolutionary thinking and twisted the words of the bible to conform to the populist views, many others have the courage to scrutinize evolution theories and have come to the conclusion that evolution is as religious an assumption as special creation.

The Great Massacre Continues

2007-01-09T23:15:00.000+08:00

Since I last wrote about this great human tragedy in Singapore and India, the killing continues unabated.

In a recent report in the Singapore Straits Times, it was reported that 7,000 girls are aborted EACH DAY in India. While I suspect that this figure may have been exaggerated, because a search on Google has shown varying numbers, one can still safely assume that the true figure is staggering. In comparison, our own figure of only 14,000 a year in Singapore, which covers both sexes, may even appear trivial.

While you are patting yourself on the back, your might as well take some pride that in our highly advanced society, the operations are carried efficiently and safely in clean, modern and comfortable surroundings. No backstreet abortions in our squeaky clean country – you can be sure of that. Just do a search on the internet and take a look for yourself at some of the advertisements for abortion services complete with diagrams and photos and user-friendly explanation. Not only are you assured of GEMS (Going the Extra Mile Service) service, you can even use your Medisave money to offset part of the fee so that you hardly feel the pinch.

So whether you are young or old, no need to wait for the next Romancing Singapore campaign to come around. Just go ahead and do your thing. No need to worry about this irritating thing that may come along. Just pop into one of our many ‘fertility clinics’ and they will help you to get rid of it in a jiffy and nobody need shed a tear.

Here's the Peace of Christmas

2006-12-28T11:17:00.000+08:00

Question 1:

If there is so much violence and terror in the world today, then where is the peace of Christmas you Christians are so fond of talking about, you must be asking?

The answer is found in another oft-quoted verse in the Old Testament written by the prophet Isaiah about 700 years before, prophesying the birth of Christ.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

So the ‘peace of Christmas’ is also the Christ of Christmas.

Question 2:

But with so much violence and bloodshed in the world today, what kind of peace are you talking about?

This is what the Prince of Peace said shortly before he left this earth:

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. …… These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Where is the Peace of Christmas?

2006-12-23T12:23:00.000+08:00

We frequently find these comforting words on Christmas cards:

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Two thousand years after those words were spoken, there’s anything but peace on this earth. In the very place where Jesus was born there is fighting and tension and hatred all around. And it’s not just the Jews fighting the Arabs. Muslims are also fighting with Muslims.

And nearer home, in Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, the government has to deploy more than 18,000 troops to protect churches and other religious institutions in Jakarta alone.

Fox News reports:

Tens of thousands of police officers will guard churches across the world's most populous Muslim country over the Christmas period, amid concerns that Al Qaeda-linked militants could carry out attacks, police said Monday.

The regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for annual strikes in Indonesia since 2000, when a series of coordinated bombings killed 19 people on Christmas Eve. An attack on a Christian market last New Year's Eve killed seven.

The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta warned of a "serious security threat to Americans and other westerners in Indonesia," saying targets could include hotels, malls, businesses, housing compounds, transportation systems, places of worship, schools or public events.

"Terrorists in Indonesia have most often directed attacks at specific buildings or locations. The possibility exists that individual Americans could be targeted for kidnapping or assault," it said in a statement.

More than 18,000 police will be posted at thousands of churches and religious sites in the capital, Jakarta, said police spokesman Col. Ketut Untung Yoga.

Meanwhile, the Australian foreign minister also warned Australians yesterday of possible terrorist attacks being planned around Christmas in Indonesia.

Where’s the Christ in Christmas?

2006-12-14T22:34:00.000+08:00

I read something rather sad in yesterday’s Straits Times’ Mind Your Body section. In a short article titled, Finding the Christ in Christmas, Shefali Srinivas wrote:

“As a student in Los Angelis six years ago, I remember seeing a homeless man holding up a large sign near the entrance to a shopping mall. The sign asked a simple question: “Where’s the Christ in Christmas?” I wondered what he was referring to. Was it the Christmas spirit slowly drowning amid the ringing of cash registers? Or was it how Christmas had become less about giving and more about consuming?

She (?) went on to lament the over-commercialisation of Christmas and the “loss of old traditions and familial connections” as well as the prevalence of rude inconsiderate behaviour in our shopping centres. She ended her article by saying she wished someone like her former moral education teacher would give Singaporean adults lessons in grace.

I feel sad because, I could tell that she still had not learnt the answer to the question she encountered 6 years ago, “Where’s the Christ in Christmas?”

Actually, if she really wanted to know the answer, all she had to do was to delve a little deeper into this common verse found in many Christmas cards:

Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

The full description of this incident is recorded in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, verses 8 to 20.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

The answer to the question, “Where’s the Christ in Christmas?” is very simple. He is totally forgotten. Today the world celebrates Christmas with parties, feasting and drinking and shopping and Santa Claus etc. Nobody remembers the Christ in Christmas.

And if you want to put back the Christ in Christmas, you simply have to do what the shepherds did on that first Christmas two thousand years ago. Accept with joy the gift of the person of Jesus Christ (aka Emmanuel, meaning God with us). And of course, don’t forget to express your gratitude to the giver by simply thanking and praising Him.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Now Then Come and Talk Like That

2006-12-05T15:25:00.000+08:00

My fellow Singaporeans will have no difficulty recognizing that the title of this article is written in Singlish, our own peculiar brand of English.

I am referring to the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Anan’s recent remarks about Iraq. As his term of office draws to a close, he seems to have found a certain passion about Iraq. For example, last week, he said the situation in Iraq is “almost civil war”. This week, speaking in an interview with BBC, he said,

“I think, given the level of violence, the level of killing and bitterness and the way that forces are arranged against each other. A few years ago, when we had the strife in Lebanon and other places, we called that a civil war. This is much worse.”

In fact he admitted that the situation in Iraq is worse than it was before the war;

“If I were an average Iraqi obviously I would make the same comparison, that they had a dictator (Sadam Hussein) who was brutal but they had their streets, they could go out, their kids could go to school and come back home without a mother or father worrying, "Am I going to see my child again?" And the Iraqi government has not been able to bring the violence under control.”

BBC: Why didn't you stand up in the UN Security Council and say in 2003: "This war is illegal without a Security Council resolution"?

Kofi Annan: I think, if you go back to the records, you will discover that before the war I said that for the US and its allies to go to war without Security Council approval would not be in conformity with the Charter.

BBC: Which is a very sort of UN bureaucratic thing, rather than saying "it's illegal" which would have much more impact. And your aides say to me: "This was Kofi Annan, the cautious man, not wanting to confront."

Kofi Annan: It's easy to - what do the Americans call it? - "Saturday morning quarter-backing", or "armchair critic". I mean, it was one of those situations where even before a shot had been fired, you had millions in the street and it didn't make a difference.

I find it quite disgraceful that this man, who held one of the most influential positions in the world only found the courage to speak out against what he obviously felt to be wrong towards the end of this tenure; and after thousands of Iraqis and US soldiers have lost their lives.

Why didn’t he speak out strongly against the US invasion of Iraq at the time when it was clear to the whole world that Bush intended to attack Iraq regardless of whether or not she had any weapons of mass destruction? The French and the Germans did. Why didn’t you at least lend your support to their objections instead of cowering in the face of the bullying tactics of George W. Bush? If you felt powerless stop the man, shouldn’t you at least step down in protest.

And if any of you think that the next UN chief will do better, may I suggest that you not raise your hopes too high. In his own words, Mr Ban Ki-moon sees himself as a "harmoniser, balancer, mediator" ….

In other words, another toothless tiger who won’t stand a chance against the man who is worse than a fierce tiger.

So Many Outreached Hands

2006-12-02T11:05:00.000+08:00

In Singapore, practically everyday, everywhere you will encounter an outreached hand asking for your donations. Let’s start with your home. Every week I receive letters from charities like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Christian Outreach To the Handicapped, Association of Mouth And Foot Painting Artists' just to name a few. Some come to your doorstep, and others, right into your living room via the television. And when you step out of the house, they accost you at MRT stations and kopitiams.

After a while, you develop compassion fatigue and you learn to say 'no'; especially when you worry that the organisation you donate to will turn out to be another NKF. Recently, I received a request to donate to the National University of Singapore. Like many other Singaporeans I refused. I don’t know. Looking at all the beautiful stadiums and concert halls they have, I just don’t think they need my dollar more than the many small, lesser known charities.

But there's one particular outreached hand (maybe I should say fist) that you cannot say no to. I am talking about our government of course. Shortly, they intend to increase the GST or Goods and Services Tax by 2% to 7%. Apparently our government needs the money to fund various programmes to help the aged and the needy. But they are so kind. They promise not to increase fees for government services for one year. Does that mean that yearly increases are a norm? Anyway, after the one year they can always make up for it can’t they?
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Sometimes, I wonder. If we are as well off as everybody seems to believe, how come there are so many poor and needy people in this little country?

This Man is Worse Than a Fierce Tiger

2006-11-18T15:12:00.000+08:00

Here's a story I read during Chinese class when I was a kid.

Once when Confucius was passing near the foot of Mount Tai in a chariot, he saw a woman weeping at a grave mound. He sent a disciple to inquire of her, saying; "From the sound of your weeping, it seems that you indeed have many troubles." Then the woman said; "It is true. My father-in-law died in a tiger's jaw; my husband also died there. Now, my son has also died there." Confucius said, "Why do you not leave this place?" The woman said: "Here there is no harsh and oppressive government." Confucius said to his disciples, "Young men, take note of this: a harsh and oppressive government is more ferocious and fearsome than even a tiger.

Well President George W. Bush may not be as fearsome as a tiger, but certainly he is more loathed than the harsh Canadian winter.

In the last presidential election, an American friend of mine told me that if Bush won the election for a second term, he may very well decide to return to Canada where he originally left to escape its harsh winters. Certainly you exaggerate, I said. As it turned out, the day after Bush won the elections, CNN reported that the number of Americans applying to emigrate to Canada rose sharply.

Mid-way through his second term, many Americans must be cursing themselves for putting this war monger in the White House and wishing that they could slay this ‘tiger’, or at least get rid of him Thaksin style. But unfortunately, they could not. And so they did the next best thing - they kicked the Republicans out of congress and booted out his lieutenant, Donald Rumsfeld well.

Just why do Americans dislike this man so much? Well for one thing, he behaves like he has divine powers. Plus he lacks integrity. When all the UN weapons inspectors stated categorically that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, our friend continued to insist on the contrary. Here are some statements he and his lieutenants made.

Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons. (George W. Bush, September 12, 2002)

Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. (George W. Bush, January 28, 2003)

We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, is determined to make more. (Colin Powell, February 5, 2003)

Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. (George W. Bush, March 18, 2003)

Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. (Dick Cheney, August 26, 2002)

He could well be saying to himself, “Let George Bush be true and every man a liar.” Well lies there were aplenty - from the intelligence departments of US and Britain, to justify the invasion of Iraq. Simply stated, there is no doubt that George Bust used WMD as an excuse to attack Iraq.

When the whole world protested against invading Iraq, he ignored them and went ahead saying, “You are either for me or against me” (using God’s words from the bible). In the process, he simply dismissed the opposition of his European allies like France and Germany, and practically, “don’t see the United Nations in the eye”, to borrow a common Chinese expression.

Months after the defeat of the Saddam Hussein’s army, when no “smoking gun” could be found, he changed his tune and said that Saddam supported terror. Suddenly the war to disarm the Iraqis of its weapons of mass destruction metamorphosised into a “war on terror”. Again the experts disagreed. Saddam was no angel. He may be a cruel despot, but he was not behind the terrorists directly. See BBC report: Iraq War Justifications Laid Bare, dated September, 09, 2006. Here’s what the opening lines of the article said:

“The Senate Intelligence Committee has found no evidence of links between the regime of Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.

In a report issued on Friday, it also found that was little or no evidence to support a raft of claims made by the US intelligence community concerning Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

The 400-page report was three years in the making, and is probably the definitive public account of the intelligence used to justify the invasion of Iraq.“

Well, it could be a case of self-fulfilling prophecy because the latest intelligence report from the Pentagon revealed that terrorist activity has indeed escalated ..…. as a result of the invasion of Iraq.

Because of this ‘worse than a fierce tiger’ leader, America finds itself once again in a Vietnam-type quagmire, as what everybody had predicted. To extricate itself, it needs the support of those whom Bush had slapped in the face earlier. No doubt he will resort to his favourite tactic, when all else fails – arm twisting.

And to think that this man is held in such high esteem by our Singapore leaders; and our undiscerning university students cuddle up to take a photo with him.

Apt Analogy

2006-11-09T10:25:00.000+08:00

I just heard the news on radio where a new member of parliament spoke on the foreign talents issue yesterday. Using the analogy of a dragon boat, he said that Singapore was like a dragon boat that needed new, stronger and more skillful rowers to race ahead.

But he must have forgotten that the Singapore boat is a small one. To accommodate more rowers, you just might have to dump some of the old and weak rowers into the sea ..... Unless this gentleman is thinking out of the boat and wants to build a 2-storey dragon boat.

Dumb Dumber Dumbest

2006-11-05T17:42:00.001+08:00

1) Dumb

There’s a programme on AXN that goes by the title, World’s Dumbest Criminals Caught on Video, or something close to that. In the Straits Times, I read recently of a dumb criminal right here in Singapore. Only difference is, our guy was a university undergrad with an IQ of a genius.

“It began with a casual meeting between two army buddies, then mushroomed into a sophisticated credit card fraud syndicate that cheated local banks out of $80,000 in just two months.

The two National University of Singapore undergraduates – both star students and one of them an accomplished young entrepreneur with an IQ of 160 – had chanced upon a website that detailed how credit cards could be cloned using stolen data in order to make profits.

Pooling their money, they went online and bought a card reader, which can scan the encoded information in the black magnetic strip on credit cards ……..…

They recruited another army buddy who used the reader to scan information from cards belonging to customers at the bar where he worked ……..

They were busted when the Commercial Affairs Department noticed that all the cards had been used at the pub where (this guy) worked… and arrested him in an ambush.”

I say this guy is dumb because, you certainly do not need an IQ of 160, or even to be a regular fan of CSI Miami to know that the pub would be the first place that the police would look.

2) Dumber

But it’s not only criminals that are dumb. Even police can be dumb as you can see from this next case; although these were not real police, but so-called “Islamic police”.

Christian pair outraged after night raid by Islamic Police.

“Mr. Randall Barnhart, 62, and his wife Carole, 61, left wintry Alaska four years ago to sail around a much warmer South-east Asia, and were considering idyllic Langkawi as a second home.

That was until two weeks ago when Islamic religious officers stormed their rented condominium after midnight.

The officers, who were not accompanied by police, suspected the Christian couple of being Muslims committing khalwat, which is the crime of close proximity between two people who are not married to each other.”

(From another newspaper report)

“Barnhart complained to police and the US embassy over the raid, which saw the officials yelling and pounding on the couple’s door at two in the morning.

Barnhart, who answered the door, said the officials demanded to see his ‘woman’ and insisted on being shown their marriage license and passports.

He said his wife was terrified by the incident and insisted on going back to the United States.”

3) Dumbest

I am not sure about this next guy’s IQ, but he definitely ranks high up in terms of holiness. Here's a report from TODAY dated, October 27, 2006.

SYDNEY - Australia’s most senior Islamic cleric yesterday sparked uproar in Australia after describing scantily-clad women as “uncovered meat’ inviting sexual attacks.

Sheik Taj Aldin Al Hilali, who made the remarks last month in a Ramadan sermon to 500 worshippers, had criticized women who “sway suggestively”, wear make-up and no hijab, or Islamic headscarf.

“If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it …. whose fault is it: The cats or the uncovered meat?” he said in his sermon.

“The uncovered meat is the problem. If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred.”

Eh ……. unless if she happens to be in Malaysia with her legally married husband, and they did not have their marriage certificate with them.”

How Long Will Spring Last

2006-10-27T18:49:00.000+08:00

I wonder if Spring will last beyond April next year?

I am referring of course not to the spring season here in Singapore, but the name of our statutory board in charge of standards, productivity, innovation and growth. I ask this question because it was reported last week that Mr Philip Yeo, the high-flying superstar chairman of A-Star is going to take over this stat board that was formerly known as NPB or National Productivity Board, and later renamed Productivity and Standards Board or PSB; and later renamed yet again to SPRING Board. You might recall that some MPs even poked fun at the name in parliament saying they thought it was the name of a karaoke lounge.

As it appears that every time a top civil servant or new minister takes up a new appointment, one of the first things he or she does was to change the name of that organization, I anticipate that there might just be going to be another name change at Bukit Merah Central.

I often suspect there is some kind of institute for public administration and government in this country where they teach these top guns how to think out of the box and fix things even if they ain’t broke. In preparing to take over a new ministry or department, the first of the 10 steps is to change the name, preferably to something catchy like Spring or A-star. For example, the chairmanship of the Feedback Unit was recently taken over by Ms Amy Khor, and the first announcement to come about was a name change to REACH.

I admit that I am rather old-fashioned and resistant to change. So I am quite prepared to accept that people younger and more dynamic than me should like to change things for the sake of progress. But don’t you think that we have too many name changes in this country. Haven’t they heard of Shakepeare’s famous line, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”? I am really hard-pressed to think of a stat board or ministry that has not undergone one or more name changes in recent years. Just the other day, I overheard my colleague telling an overseas associate about the ROC (Registry of Companies). I had to tell him that he was at least 2 generations behind time. ROC has been renamed RCB (Registry of Companies and Businesses) and recently to ACRA (please don’t ask me what it stands for; I only know it is some kind of authority).

Personally, I find that most of these name changes are unnecessary and irritating. And they must cost a bundle to implement; quite apart from the additional stress brought on our already highly stressed and over-worked public sector employees. I have met some of them in the course of my work, and they often complain about having to attend so many training programmes on topics like creativity and innovation, GEMS (not jewelry but customer service), Singapore Quality Class, Innovation Class, Quality Control Circles; which by the way has undergone 2 name changes, first to Quality Circles or QC and later Innovation and Quality Circles or IQC and so on. Anything those consultants come up with, our ministries want to implement.

The type of name change I really dislike are those where the original meaning is lost. I give you a couple of examples.

SAFTI originally stood for Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute. Later they wanted to build a new one next door. However, they want to retain the name SAFTI, so what did they do? They called it; Safti Military Institute. So now the acronym SAFTI has lost its meaning because the new institute certainly isn’t called Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute Military Institute in full. So if some foreign military trainee were to be attached to our new Safti and asked the instructor; “Sir, what does Safti mean?” the poor instructor is going to have a tough time explaining.

Second Example: The training and consultancy arm of PSB was privatized when the new name Spring was adopted. The new organization was called PSB Corporation. Likewise it certainly does not stand for Productivity and Standards Board Corporation does it? Recently, it was acquired by a German company and things got even more confusing; it’s now TUV SUD PSB.

Third example: SAFRA. It used to stand for Singapore Armed Forces Reservists Association. But the powers at Mindef did not like the word reservist because it suggests that our civilian soldiers are not operationally ready; so the term Reservists was change to Operationally Ready NSMen. But they want to retain the ‘brand’ SAFRA. So they renamed it Safra NS Association (or something like that) and the word Safra lost its meaning.

I am sure you can think of several more.

But there is one type of name change I dislike even more. You might recall some years ago, the government was trying to promote the use of Mandarin over Chinese dialects. Overnight some over smart-alec civil servant decided to rename places like Nee Soon to Yishun, Ow Kang to Hougang, Tekka to Zhu Jiao etc. But then they probably received feedback that it was a stupid idea (maybe they did not ‘Reach’ far enough for feedback) and so they stopped the job halfway. And today we have a mixture of Hanyu Pinyin and Dialect names like Ang Mo Kio, Choa Chu Kang, Yio Chu Kang.

But anyway, we should be thankful they did not engage some Hollywood-trained consultant to advise us on how to fix our names that ain’t broke. Otherwise, we could very well end up having our Chinese ancestors’ names being reversed, like what they did to the famous film star Zhang Ziyi. Just imagine being admitted to Tock Seng Tan Hospital!

But the name change that takes the cake is the one that went one full circle and cost us the taxpayers a whopping 240 grand. I think you probably know I am referring to the famous Marina Bay branding exercise. They paid that obscene amount to a consultant to come up with a new name. But the poor guy could not come up with a better name and so they retained the old name.

But don’t give up yet, all you name-change fans. Just send in our A-Star, I mean superstar chairman and who knows, he just might be able to pull something out of the box; sorry I mean outside the box.

Going Beyond Words

2006-10-13T10:38:00.000+08:00

Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has a brilliant idea to solve the haze problem. According to a Straits Times report today, he wants South-east Asian countries to set up a fund to help Indonesia curb forest fires blamed for the choking haze in the region. Speaking ahead of a crucial meeting of environment ministers in Pekanbaru today, he said the fund could be used for new equipment and technology.

“We know the source (of the haze) but pointing fingers will not do any good. The important thing is for these countries which are receiving the impact of the haze to agree to collaborate and take positive and effective action to ensure that it does not recur.”

Now I understand what he meant when he said at the 5th Shangri-la Dialogue, in Singapore, on June 4 2006 that "We need to go beyond words."

Doesn’t the minister know that even money donated for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster have not reached them after 2 years. By the time our money reach the right people to purchase the equipment and technology he spoke about, there may not be any more forests left to burn.

I have a better idea. We should collect all the money in cash, and then burn them in front of Indonesia’s Environment Ministry (if they have one) sometime in June next year; just before the annual forest burning ritual begins. Then when they see the smoke of our precious dollars burning, they will be reminded to do something. This is because, “environmental watchers worry that the issue will be forgotten once the latest haze ends, at least until the problem returns with the next dry season.”

Indonesian Chinese Marginalized?

2006-10-04T23:12:00.000+08:00

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s recent remarks about the Chinese being marginalized have expectedly drawn loud protests and expressions of indignation from politicians in Indonesia.

These people really have the cheek. Before they dare to demand an explanation from MM Lee, I would suggest that they first give a proper account of the events of 1998. Lest some of you have forgotten, that was the year when many Chinese were killed and Chinese women systematically raped. Instead of summoning our ambassador, perhaps they should summon the BBC or CNN. Just look at some of these reports:

Orchestrated attacks

In what appeared to be a well organised operation, anti-Chinese sentiment was mobilised - many believed by the army - to create chaos in the city.

Hundreds of people were killed, homes and businesses were burned to the ground, ethnic Chinese women were systematically raped and in some cases stripped in public.

Source: BBC News SPECIAL REPORT: The Chinese dilemma, June 1, 1999

Team finds no proof of mass rapes

Women's groups have said at least 168 Chinese women and girls were raped during the May riots.

But a government fact-finding team said it had not found any proof ethnic Chinese women were raped during previous riots, Antara reported Saturday.

Women's Affairs Minister Tutty Alawiah, one of the leaders of the investigation, echoed military chiefs who said earlier this week that they had failed to find evidence of mass rapes.

"The team has been conducting an investigation for one and a half months now but has found no woman who fell victim to gang rape or who claimed to have been raped during the May riots," Antara quoted Alawiah as saying.

Human rights activists say rape victims may be unwilling to seek help because of the stigma associated with the crime and because they may view police as being corrupt.

Source: CNN - Anti-Chinese riots continue in Indonesia - August 29, 1998

"The murderer intended to send us a message that they could really kill," said Karlina Leksono of the Volunteers for Humanity.

"People will now be afraid to tell anyone what happened during the riots. This is terrorising for Indonesia's ethnic Chinese," said Ester Indahyani Jusuf Lubis, leader of Serambi Nusa Bangsa, a group formed to fight racial discrimination.

During the May riots many businesses and homes of the ethnic Chinese minority were targeted by mobs.

The reports of mass rapes outraged Chinese communities around the world and resulted in calls for tough action by the governments of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

BBC News: Indonesian rape counsellor murdered, October 10, 1998.

Rape or no rape … I think you can decide for yourself.

Maybe MM Lee was wrong after all, to say that Chinese in Indonesians are marginalized. Terrorized or brutalized may be a better word.

For further reading:

1) BBC News SPECIAL REPORT Indonesia '98: A year of living dangerously

2) BBC News ASIA-PACIFIC Analysis: South-East Asia's Chinese

Thanks For Telling Us Something We Don’t Already Know

2006-09-28T22:30:00.000+08:00

Finally 2 pieces of real news in the papers today.

No. 1 News Concerning the National Intelligence Estimate

The National Intelligence Estimate or NIE, is the name of a report produced by a senior group of analysts under the U.S. National Intelligence director John Negroponte. The report, titled Trends In Global Terrorism: Implications For The United States was completed in April, but has been declassified and released this week on President George Bush’s order.

Here are some extracts of the report in the Straits Times:

“The war in Iraq has become a cause celebre for Islamic extremists and is breeding deep resentment of the United States that is likely to get worse before it gets better.

According to the bleak report ….. the threat from Islamic extremists has spread in numbers and in geographic reach, despite serious damage to the leadership of Al-Qaeda.

If this trend continues, threats to US interest at home and abroad will become more diverse, leading to increasing attacks worldwide.”

No. 2 Mona Lisa was a new mother

Canadian scientists used special infrared and three-dimensional technology to peer through hitherto impenetrable paint layers of Leonardo da Vinci’s 16th-century masterpiece.

Curator Bruno Mottin of the French Museums’ Centre for Research and Restoration said that, on very close examination of the paint, it became clear that Mona Lisa’s dress was covered in a thin transparent gauze veil.

“This type of gauze dress was typical if the kind worn in early 16th-century Italy by women who were pregnant or who had just given birth.”

Impressive isn’t it? I am sure kiasu Singapore parents who read this article would want to encourage their kids to excel in science so that someday they too can make such earth-shaking discoveries for the betterment of mankind.

Please Tell Us Something We Don’t Already Know

2006-09-27T23:39:00.000+08:00

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s recent remarks about the Chinese being marginalized in Malaysia have expectedly raised a storm across the causeway. Some journalists actually ponder if what he said was true. My question is, which Singaporean does not know that his Chinese friends in Malaysia are treated like second class citizens in their own country?

We work alongside highly qualified Malaysian Chinese professionals here everyday. Our children study alongside brilliant students who are unable to gain admission into their own universities. We listen to our relatives tell sob stories of how they have to do all the work whilst the Malay counterparts get promoted. We hear them condemn their own Chinese leaders in the MCA as a bunch of self-serving stooges. The list goes on and on.

The real question Singaporeans should be asking is, why did LKY make this type of unhelpful remarks at this time? Just when the anti-Singapore (in the words of veteran Malaysian journalist Seah Chiang Nee) Dr Mahathir has dropped out of the scene and relations with Malaysia are mending nicely under Abdullah Badawi, why did he go and stir up the hornet’s nest? It’s none of our business. Certainly he knows that Asean members have always maintained a policy of non-interference.

Maybe he is worried that the recent squabble between the Mahathir and Badawi is getting out of hand and wanted to help by giving them a convenient distraction … Heck, what am I talking about?

Preparing For The Next World

2006-09-08T21:12:00.000+08:00

I am sorry, but I just cannot resist blogging about my favourite politician. This blog is inspired by a recent article in the Straits Times.

The remarks by the Information Minister, Zainuddin Maidin in this article were of course prompted by Mahathir’s constant meddling in Malayisan politics. Zainuddin must have in mind the Tun’s promise made before his retirement that he would keep out of politics. According to a June 21, 1999 report (Mahathir not seeking senior minister post), Mahathir had said;

''When I retire, I retire. Like a good old man I will spend my time praying because my days are over ..… I have to prepare for the next world.''

In an apparent swipe (so what’s new) at our own (then) Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, he said that he was not interested in assuming the position of senior minister.

In contrast, Mr Lee had made it very clear that he would never completely retire from Singapore’s politics. At the 1988 National Day Rally, when he discussed the leadership transition to Goh Chok Tong in 1990, he said;

“Even from my sick bed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up.”

Thank you dear Mr Lee for your concern for Singapore. But I think it’s better not to wait till then; why not do something now …. about the casinos and the moral decline of our society I mean.

Another World No. 1

2006-09-07T09:53:00.000+08:00

Hurrah! We have achieved yet another World No. 1.

A report in today's Straits Times reads:

“Singapore is the easiest plaice in the world to do business, according to a World Bank study out yesterday.

It found that people setting up businesses here had far fewer hoops to jump through than in other countries.

That allowed Singapore – placed second last year – to knock New Zealand off the top spot.”

Now isn’t that a cause for celebration. But before you bring out the champagne, may I ask you to consider one other piece of news which I heard on Radio 938 Live yesterday evening.

A cleaner, who earns only about $600 or $800 a month, is being sued by Singtel for chalking up thousands of dollar of mobile phone bills (plus legal fees). Apparently, in our country, it’s not only easy to set up a business; it is also a breeze to open a mobile phone account. All you need is a letter of authorization and a photo-copy of your identity card. So the cleaner’s supervisor, claiming to be her son, was able to open several broadband internet and mobile phone accounts with different telcos; and chalked up thousands of dollars of bills. He has since disappeared and the police are unable to trace him.

I estimate that this poor lady, a divorcee with 2 sons, will have to slog to her dying day to settle her bills.

Okay, now you can bring out the champagne.

** By the way, setting up a company is easy here, but wait till you try to close it.

The (Side) Show Must Go On

2006-08-26T23:54:00.000+08:00

I confess I am an ignoramus. I don’t know what the IMF/World Bank meeting is all about. What I do know is that every meeting is accompanied by lots of demonstrations by some very angry and unhappy people and the media people have a field day. You could say that these demonstrations have become a necessary ‘side show’ for the main event. But in recent years, the side show seemed to have overtaken the IMF meeting proper as the main show.

Next month this grand show will be staged in our tiny island for the first time and our government is ecstatic. Just think of it - thousands of visitors, millions of tourism dollars, tons of media coverage. No wonder they are going all out to ensure that our ‘customers’ will receive GEMS (Go The Extra Mile Service). They are even painting the flyovers (Singapore undergoes face-lift ahead of IMF/World Banks meetings) and collecting 4 million smiles.

Now even an ignoramus knows that to provide good customer service, you must obey the basic commandment which is; The Customer is Always Right. In this case, what the customer wants is for the 300 to 400 CSO’s (Civil Society Organisations, not customer service officers) to perform their show, sorry, I mean carry out their demonstrations outdoors. But our Singapore law prohibits all outdoor demonstrations – even silent ones without placards and banners.

So what’s the solution? According to an article headlined “Let them protest .. in the Suntec Lobby” in yesterday’s Today (no typo there);

“The organising committee for the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank meetings believes it has an excellent solution to outdoor demonstrations by setting aside the Suntec lobby for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to air their opinion in full view of the delegates.”

Now, this is what I call exceeding the customer’s expectations. Just imagine, demonstrating in air-con comfort. Which other country can match us? Maybe all future IMF meeting will be held here.

Now these guys can do their thing in air-con comfort

One small problem. What if our irritating opposition parties decide to do likewise in the future? We can’t have that can we?

Another not so small problem. What if the customer is unreasonable and insists on an outdoor performance?

My suggestion – Set aside a section of Marina South which is being earmarked for the Integrated Resort for this side show. We can actually kill two birds with one stone. When the cameras are filming the show, we can put up some banners to tell the whole world that this is the site of the world class casino. (must emphasize casino in case they think it is place for collecting Inland Revenue). When that happens, some of us who are against the IR project can even sneak in and mingle with the crowds with our “Say NO to casino” placards.

No More Self-Indulgent

2006-08-25T17:47:00.000+08:00

Good news. Not all bloggers are self-indulgent after all.

Just 3 short weeks ago, the Straits Times published 2 lengthy articles branding practically all bloggers as self-indulgent, narcissistic, inward-looking, attention seeking, misinformed etc etc. (see my earlier post: The MSM Strikes Back)

But over the past 2 days, they have written glowing reports of the fine work done by so called gahmen bloggers - in informing, educating and serving the public.

My. What a difference 3 weeks make. Or should I say, what a difference a few sentences from the right person make. I am referring of course to the prime minister's national day rally speech last Sunday.

Do Australians Really Oppose The Death Penalty?

2006-08-21T20:46:00.000+08:00

Unlike us barbaric Singaporeans, Australians are opposed to the death penalty. That's why they protested vehemently and even threatened consequences when we executed an Australian drug trafficker last year (My earlier post). That's why they refused to extradite Michael MaCrae to Singapore to stand trial for the murder of two people until our government promised that he will not be hanged even if he was found guilty.

And I began to admire them for their convictions when I saw this August 9th article on ABC Online carrying the headline, Condemnation of Bali bombers' executions urged.

The article began with these words:

"The Federal Government is being urged to speak out against the upcoming executions of three Bali bombers,"

Wow, I told myself; these people are truly principled. They stick to their belief in the wrongness of the death penalty; even to the extent of objecting to the execution of people who murdered their countrymen. But wait till you read the second part of the sentence;

"if it hopes to save the lives of Australians on death row in foreign countries."

Here's the rest of the article.

Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Gufron are to face the death penalty in Indonesia in less than two weeks for their roles in the 2002 terrorist attack in Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Australia's political leaders, including Prime Minister John Howard, are on the record as saying they do not oppose the execution of those behind the Bali bombing.

But a report released by the Lowy Institute today argues that comments supporting capital punishment are damaging Australia's reputation in Asia and its chances of securing leniency for its own citizens.

The author of the report, Michael Fullilove, says there is not a lot of consistency among Australia's political leaders when it comes to the issue of the death penalty.

"We have seen blatant and deliberate departures from Australia's official policy of opposition to capital punishment in all cases," Dr Fullilove said.

"For example, Prime Minister Howard saying that there would be no protest from Australia over the execution of the Bali bombers, former Opposition leader Mark Latham rejoicing in the awarding of a death sentence to the terrorist Amrozi.

"Both Mr Howard and Mr Latham suggesting there would be no complaint about the execution of Saddam Hussein.

"This hurts our interest [and] it makes us look hypocritical when we ask for our own people to be spared."

Consistency call

Tim Lindsay, of the Asian Law Centre at the University of Melbourne, has also urged politicians not to endorse or be enthusiastic at the upcoming executions of the Bali bombers.

"It will be difficult for them to say this but they need to say that Australia opposed the death penalty for any time, for any offence, anywhere," he said.

"That includes the Bali bombers, otherwise we just get into an argument over what is barbaric and what isn't."

He says many Australians would not agree with his suggestion but he says the Government needs to be consistent . "The Government needs to work harder at explaining its policy to Australians rather than pretending it does not exist," he said.

Dr Fullilove says while he does not support megaphone diplomacy, he does think the Australian Government could form a regional coalition with like-minded governments.
"I think the work of a regional coalition should be guided by the principles of effectiveness and prudence," Dr Fullilove said.

"We should look for ways to chip away at capital punishment and rather than pulling out the megaphone and screaming into it. "We need to make common cause with other countries in the region that oppose the death penalty, we need to look for creative approaches to nudge retentionists states toward abolition."

There are presently four Australians facing execution overseas.
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran of the Bali nine were sentenced to death in February.

In Vietnam, Trinh Huu is facing execution for drug trafficking and an unnamed man is facing murder charges in Lebanon

Getting Ready for the Big Event

2006-08-14T23:07:00.000+08:00

Singapore is going all out to ensure that nothing goes wrong for next month’s IMF and World Bank meetings. Taxi drivers are given training and warned not to complain too much. 4 million smiles are been collected to make the visitors feel welcome. The other day, I saw them giving the flyovers a fresh coat of paint.

But as I read the news of the haze from Indonesia affecting our neighbours in Kuala Lumpur, I can’t help but wonder; “Would all our efforts come to naught if the haze situation deteriorates just when the guests arrive?"

Not Good Enough for Singapore

2006-08-09T11:26:00.000+08:00

In 1994, the brains in Mindef decided that the name 'reservist' was not suitable for us because it presented a 'psychological barrier' by suggesting that when a soldier completes his full time national service and goes into 'reserve' he is mentally not ready to be called up for action at short notice. Hence, we adopted the new name called ‘Operationally Ready NSmen'. Quite a mouthful isn't it?

I have always considered that line of reasoning a bit silly. If this logic is correct, then Israel, the country that first helped us to start our armed forces is in big trouble. In the past few weeks, they have been calling up their supposedly operationally-not-so-ready reservists to go into battle against the Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A Straits Times article of 8 August 2006

Anyhow, this is not the purpose of my post. I want to blog about the sad situation that Israel finds herself in today. In Singapore, we fathers tell NS stories to our sons. Over there, they tell real battle stories, and show real battle scars - that is if they make it back alive.

We should thank God that we have a good government here who have learned to live peacefully with our neighbours. What if we had some hot-tempered, fighting-cock type prime minister who responded tit-for-tat to the regular taunts of our closest neighbour's former prime minister who never tires of trying to pick a fight with us. Thankfully that megalomaniac has been replaced a gentleman; and a god-fearing one too.

May we never have to go the way of the Israelis.

A Simple Way to End All The Fighting in the Middle East

2006-08-06T19:26:00.000+08:00

The best way to solve any problem is to get rid of the root of the problem. This past week, 2 wise men came up with the same answer;

First, famous film star and director, Mel Gibson declared that “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.”

Then Iran’s President Ahmadinejad came up with the perfect answer - we should eliminate Israel.

Straits Times, Friday, August 4 2006

Problem is; who is going to hang the bell around the cat’s neck?

Simple, says Iran. Our brave brothers from Hezbollah and Hamas will take the lead. We of course will support them with all the missiles and money that they need. When the time is ripe, we will come in and finish the job.

** By the way, the solution President Ahmadinejad proposed is actually not new. Not so long ago, a man by the name of Adolf Hitler almost succeeded in implementing The Final Solution. But he died a lonely death. And today, his descendents do not even want to retain his name.

** A wise author once wrote: “There’s a reason why drunks in bars always get to talking sooner or later about elemental truths – love, family, death, politics, war and so forth. Alcohol cuts down to size the trivialities that loom so large to the sober mind.” In other words, when a man is drunk, the words he utters come straight from his heart and represents his true feelings and beliefs, which when sober, he is able to hide.

Words of Wisdom from a Chicken Rice Seller

2006-08-05T11:49:00.000+08:00

Joan Teng, who helps out at her brother's chicken rice stall, wrote this letter to the TODAY on 3 Aug 2006.

"This perennial discussion about service is actually not about service; it is truly a reflection of how we Singaporeans treat each other every day."

The MSM Strikes Back

2006-08-04T10:52:00.000+08:00

Last month, my favourite blogger Mr Wang, posted an article saying, The MSM Grows Nervous. Judging by the two lengthy articles that appeared in the Straits Times within a short span of 3 days, it appears that Mr Wang was right on target as usual. I think the MSM is more than nervous. They are probably angered by the many criticisms leveled against them by widely-read bloggers like Mr Wang. Just look at some of the unsavoury comments they used to label bloggers.

Article No. 1 by Sandra Leong, ST Life Section, July 30, 2006

“There are an estimated 50 million blogs out there in cyberspace now, and everyone of these bloggers has this aim: Read me. I want to be famous. The Age of Narcissism is well and truly upon us, but how healthy is it?”

“Welcome to the me-me-me world of blogging, but is it self-expression or self-indulgence?"

"Are bloggers becoming too narcissistic? Will all this self-publicity backfire? Isn't there something unhealthy about how people are so eager to share with the world every wart in their lives?"

"the excessive inward focus and self-indulgence of many bloggers is troubling" - Dr Mark Cenite, assistant professor at Nayang Technological University's school of Communication & Information.

Ironically, in the same report, there is news that the Ministry of Education - in conjunction with Singtel - will be organising an inter-school blogging contest next month. If blogging is such an unhealthy activity, why is the MOE promoting it? I hope our professional journalists will have the courage to write something to protest against this unwise move on the part of our government.

Article No. 2 by Senior Writer Andy Ho, August 2, 2006

"Some ask if bloggers are journalists at all or merely self-indulgent, opinionated folks expressing their views."

"Much of what bloggers offer is either misinformed, self-indulgent opinion or thoughtful but unargued ones."

Mr Andy Ho thinks that journalists do two things; (a) get the news and disseminate it accurately, and (b) analyse issues.

He believes that the professional journalist, “whose first obligation is to be accurate”, can do the former more effectively than the blogger, “whose first obligation is to be interesting”. Most bloggers do not generally report on something new. Typically, they report on what reporters have reported.

I think I can agree to a large extent with this last comment – but not the part about the obligations though.

Regarding the second role of fair comment, he thinks that: "Much of what bloggers offer is either misinformed, self-indulgent opinion or thoughtful but unargued ones." On this point, I disagree. I find that some bloggers like Mr Wang offer much more incisive and intelligent analyses than those of Straits Times journalists. Maybe their hands are tied somewhat for fear of offending the authorities. And, surprisingly, some of the part-time writers at TODAY seemed to write better than those at ST.

As for the lifestyle related articles, I find that many bloggers write more interesting and enjoyable articles than those in the Straits Times which tended to be too long and quite boring at times.

While I feel that it is too sweeping to say that all blogges are "self-indulgent " and “want to be famous”, I wouldn’t go so far as to dismiss the 2 articles as “ Silly Views”. But it really doesn't require the professional analytical skills of a mainstream journalist to see that the Straits Times is out to hang this label on all bloggers: SELF-INDULGENT.

Still, I think this is good time to reexamine my blog and see if its fits this unpleasant label. If it does, then perhaps it is time to call it a day, or at least scale down and concentrate more on my other blog, seeing that the signs of the Lord’s return multiply by the day.

Comic Relief

2006-07-31T23:10:00.000+08:00

Singaporeans in general, and bloggers in particular should thank the ever-popular Mr Brown for his latest post containing a video clip from The Daily Show on the Mideast conflict).

At a time when 'happiness' surveys have repeatedly labelled us as an unhappy country, and young people talk openly about emigrating, (Examples here: My Lonely Stage, A Xeno Boy in Sg: Cost of Leaving in Singapore) Mr Brown's broadcast of the very funny video clip is really timely.

Comments like 'hilarious", "ROFLOL!!!", and "damn freaking funny" can be read in his blog.

But I should remind Singaporeans that we should not forget to thank Israel and the Hisbollah, as well as the Lebonese people without whom this funny show would not have been possible.

Vindicated

2006-07-23T23:03:00.000+08:00

Many of the new PAP MP’s like this one should be happy to read the news reports concerning the passing of PAP stalwart Mr Lim Kim San.

I don’t mean of course that they are happy to read of the death of one of the ‘founding fathers of modern Singapore’; but rather what MM Lee Kuan Yew said concerning how Mr Lim was initially reluctant to enter politics because he was not a good speaker. Like many of these new MP’s, he too had to be persuaded to enter politics.

This is because many of the popular bloggers in Singapore liked to ridicule them by saying that since they had to be persuaded to enter politics, their commitment and sincerity is suspect. They can now point to the many achievements and contributions of this political giant to counter their detractors.

A Fool Never Learns

2006-07-07T13:11:00.000+08:00

Full Article here

He should have listened to my advice and ‘shut up and move on’. Now that he has stirred up a hornet’s nest, and all the dirty linens and skeletons are going to come pouring out the closet, he going be stung for sure.

Even if he has never heard of my blog, certainly he could learn a lesson from this man. He was not content to quietly enjoy his outrageous S$600,000 a year salary and gold-plated taps, plus first class travel. Instead he tried to pick a fight with someone who could hit back, and today, he is ‘pierced with many sorrows’.

And even if he has not heard of the NKF Saga, certain he knows the old English proverb, “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”.

Must We Wait For Another Tragedy?

2006-07-05T21:32:00.000+08:00

When I posted my very first article in this blog, I highlighted the case of a Straits Times reader who wrote to the forum page complaining about numerous karaoke lounges and massage parlours that have opened in his neighbourhood in Joo Chiat. Everybody knows, he said, what really goes on behind the closed doors of these places. There had also been numerous newspaper reports about the problem of Chinese sex workers and Chinese ‘study mamas’. I have also seen 2 TV documentaries highlighting this problem. One was Get Real on Channel News Asia. The other was on Channel U.

Generally, one can conclude that this was a problem all Singaporeans knew about. The newspapers have reported several arrests and checks carried out by the police to tackle this sleaze problem. But by and large, the problem did not go away.

And then we have the sensational case involving the fatal stabbing of a Chinese masseuse in Ang Mo Kio two weeks ago. Again we find newspaper reports like this one - TODAY: Sleaze comes to the heartlands - appearing. This seemed to have worked finally. Overnight, it seems, laws were passed to regulate and control the operation of massage parlours and health centres. Last weekend, the police raided 129 massage parlours island-wide and numerous arrests were made.

Two questions come to mind.

1. Does it appear to you that our authorities like to wait until a high profile tragedy takes place before they will really take serious action to resolve a problem that many people already knew and complained about?

2. How long will the solutions mentioned above work before the situation regresses back to that before?

I am reminded of another similar problem – that of reckless driving and speeding by heavy vehicles on our highways.

Do you remember a high profile accident involving the death of the wife of one of our ministers-of-state some years ago? The accident took place near the Tuas checkpoint. Although the lorry driver was acquitted of any wrong doing, this case led to a number of bookings of speeding heavy vehicles. I recall that new regulations were passed requiring heavy vehicles to install speed-limiting devices. Not much have been heard about this issue since. Occasionally you still see someone writing to the press to complain about the problem of reckless driving involving heavy vehicles. It usually receives a standard reply from the traffic police accompanied by the usual statistics about the number of people caught speeding and so on.

I hate to say this. But I believe this is another tragedy that will be repeated before long.

Anyone who travels on our highways will know that the situation has not improved one bit. In fact, it appears to have worsened. Every time, I travel to Jurong Island, I cannot help thinking that one of these days, those speeding trucks with their loads of dangerous chemicals, are going to succeed in doing what our JI and Al Qaeda friends could not; that is to cause a disaster like the one caused by the speeding train in Spain just 2 days ago (ABC News: At Least 41 Killed in Spain Train Accident).

Maybe only then will we see some real action.

One Country Two Systems

2006-06-30T21:09:00.000+08:00

The Michael McCrae case was big news today, appearing on the front page of the Straits Times. However, it was the less prominent page 6 TODAY report that caught my attention; in particular, the headline; Orchard Towers murderer jailed for 24 years. Anyone who is not familiar with the history of this case would find this headline puzzling. Why? Because Singapore is one of those 'backward' countries that still enforces the 'barbaric' death penalty. So if Michael McCrae was guilty of murder, he should have been sentenced to hang. If he received a jail sentence, then it is wrong for TODAY to label him a murderer. In fact McCrae was not even charged with the crime of murder in the first place, so of course it is wrong to call him a murderer.

Actually, I have blogged briefly about this case before. After committing his crime, this guy escaped to Britain and then to Australia where he confessed to the crime. Because the Australians do not believe in the death penalty, they refused to extradite him to Singapore. In the end, we had to give the Australians an assurance that he would not be executed even if he was found guilty, before they would release him to Singapore. As the learned ex-DPP, Mr Wang says; "Duh. Well, of course if the Singapore government had promised not to execute McCrea, then the prosecution would have brought lesser charges. You wouldn't proceed on murder, if you had already told the Australian government that McCrea wouldn't be hanged, right?"

Actually, the headline of the Straits Times article was also quite puzzling. "Briton receives stiff 24 years for killing two." Compared to the death penalty that Nguyen Tuong Van received for trafficking (how many) grams/kilograms of heroin, 24 years for killing two is a bargain. The article went into some detail to describe McCrae's surprise at receiving such a heavy sentence. Frankly, if the same 'murderer' was a Singaporean, I am pretty sure he would have received the death sentence. So McCrae should be happy he only got 24 years. If I were the government, I would try him for murder; and if found guilty, sentence him to hang; and then advice the President to commute it to life sentence, making it clear that this was only to because we want to honour a promise made to the Australians, a promise which shouldn't have been made in the first place.

I also find Mr Wang's conclusion quite puzzling. He says; "Anyway, I think that this was a good result, all things considered. If the Singapore government had not entered into those arrangements with the Australian government, McCrea would never have been brought here and convicted at all."

A young man is executed for trafficking drugs; but this man kills two people and only goes to jail for 24 years is a good result. Our country refusing to give way to the Australians demands not to hang Tuong because 'we are a sovereign country', but compromises in this case is a good result. That future murderers will know how to beat our system is a good result.

I think it is a disgraceful result.

Words of Wisdom from a Rich Man

2006-06-27T09:40:00.000+08:00

"But I would argue that when your kids have all the advantages anyway in terms of how they grow up and the opportunities they have for education ..... I would say its's neither right nor rational to be flooding them with money."

- Warren Buffett, the world's 2nd richest man, who donated US$31 billion of his personal fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Explaining why he had picked his friend, Bill Gates, who is 25 years his junior, as his vehicle for charity, he said:

"What can be more logical, in whatever you want done, than finding someone better equipped than you are, to do it."

Politicians Say the Darndest Things

2006-06-26T22:45:00.000+08:00

I don’t quite agree with blogger Lam Chun See who said that children say the darndest things. I say politicians say the darndest things; especially Malaysian politicians.

Do you remember the famous ‘We will shoot them’ threat uttered by one Malaysian politician (or official) during the time when many Vietnamese boat people tried to land their boats in the east coast of Malaysia. This was in the 70’s. Unfortunately, blogging hadn’t been invented then, and so I did not take note of his exact words. Anyway, the following day, the Malaysian government clarified that what he meant to say was, “We will shoo them away.”

How about the classic “Bangladeshi men are good lovers” remark made by the bubbly trade minister Rafidah in parliament a few years ago? I believe she was trying to figure out why many Malaysian families broke up because local ladies have fallen for Bangladeshi men.

As if not to be outdone, the opposition Islamic party PAS member of parliament said recently, also in parliament, that “single mothers were “gatal” or horny. - Straits Times, 27/04/2006

Finally, of course, there is my favourite Malaysian politician: the anti-Singapore (“There are many ways to skin a cat”), anti-Semitic (“Jews rule the world by proxy”) Dr Mahathir Mohammed. Just when I thought I have run out Mahathir gems to share with you, the feisty ex-prime minister comes to my rescue with a torrent of classics during his latest quarrel with his successor, Abdullah Badawi.

"We made the mistake of giving Singapore to the British. You want to give some more?" – Straits Times, 9/04/2006

“I think this is a half-past-six country with no guts.” – TODAY, 03/05/2006

“Treat your opponents like insects. Knock them down and crush them with your feet.” – Mahathir’s advice to Malaysian Thomas Cup Badminton Team; as quoted by Tawfik bin Tun Dr Ismail on 24/06/2006

“But with Singapore, you cannot smile or negotiate. For 22 years, I have tried, but trying to be friendly with Singapore, it is not possible. They won’t be friendly with us, they think of themselves only. … They are calculative, even one cent they count.” 24 June 2006

But on a more serious note, Singaporeans may just have to agree with the learned doctor’s last observation about our unfriendliness. In the latest survey on courtesy carried out by the Reader's Digest, Singapore was ranked 30 out of 35 cities surveyed. As if not convinced, the Straits Times had to go a do its own survey only to come up with something I have already said long ago; we are a rude people.

If it is any consolation, we are still slightly better than Dr Mahathir’s countrymen in the Malaysian capital, who scored a miserable 33. But if you were to ask him, his likely reply would be; “We are generally courteous; except when it comes to dealing with Singaporeans.”

But not to worry. Our ever-efficient government is going to do something about it. I heard they want to collect 4 million smiles to welcome visitors to Singapore. In fact, last week I was asked to contribute one.

I say we should extend a warm invitation to Dr Mahathir to come and visit us. He said last week that he has not visited Singapore since retiring. Perhaps he is afraid that we will bear a grudge against him for his frequent swipes at us. I think his fears are unnecessary. After all, Singaporeans know that he loves us. We remember, even if he doesn’t, his remarks of a few years ago:

“Come over, we welcome them and love them . …. We love you. On Valentine's Day, we love you. Please come. Please come. I am just jesting. When you meet Singaporeans, tell them: Don't take the Malaysian PM seriously. He likes to talk like that. He doesn't mean it, he has a good heart.”

PS - Thanks to Mr Miyagi for another Mahathir gem here - Mari kita bomb dia!

My Views of the CNA Documentary, War On Science

2006-06-19T12:14:00.000+08:00

INTRODUCTION

The Sunday before last, I saw the documentary, War on Science on Channel News Asia. From what was promised in the many trailers that they showed, I was expecting a balanced presentation of the two opposing theories of origins, Evolution and Intelligent Design, leaving the viewer to make up his own mind. In fact, I thought the title was, War OF Science. How naïve of me. The documentary turned out to be an indictment of the Creationists’ proposal that there is ample scientific evidence to support the view point that life on this planet did not evolve from lifeless chemicals, but was created by a presumably superior being. I think the show should more aptly be titled, Intelligent Design: Religion Masquerading as Science.

IN A NUTSHELL

This is what the show says.

1) In 1859, Charles Darwin published the Theory of evolution to explain the origin of species. All reputable scientists today accept this as a fact of science.

2) The Theory of Evolution contradicts the account of creation as given in the Book of Genesis in the Bible, where God was supposed to have created all life on earth supernaturally in 6 literal days.

3) Fearing an abandonment of the Christian faith, Christian fundamentalists came up with a new theory to explain the origin of life called Intelligent Design. Through not entirely honorable means they tried to compel some schools in the US to teach this new ‘pseudo science’ alongside Evolution.

4) A United States federal court recently ruled that a public school district requirement for science classes to teach that Intelligent Design is an alternative to Evolution was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

5) Even the Catholic church accepted the Theory of Evolution, saying it did not contradict Catholic doctrine. The documentary even hinted that Creationists have manipulated one prominent Catholic bishop to publish an article in a reputable newspaper denouncing the Theory of Evolution.

MY THOUGHTS

1) To their credit, the producers did attempt to give an accurate explanation of Intelligent Design and its 2 supporting concepts Irreducible complexity and Specified complexity through interviews with prominent protagonists. Basically, I think the argument is that life is so complicated that it must be the work of an intelligent designer (aka God) rather than the result of evolution. Statistically, it was impossible for life to evolve.

2) The arguments put forward by one of the expert witnesses (Miller) to refute this was accepted by the court. But frankly, I was unable to follow his explanation. But that is my problem; I concede.

3) To be fair, I personally believe there is some truth in the accusation that Creationists are somewhat biased because they approach the issue with a pre-conceived assumption that “there is a God”. Thus, when they look at the facts, they are looking for evidence to support their assumption. I admit I am like that. I believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God. Whilst it is not a book of science or history, what is recorded cannot be contradicted by science or history. Hence, when I read of scientific explanations which support this view, I feel vindicated.

4) Now I come to what I think is the biggest flaw of this documentary. It refuses to acknowledge that evolutionists are guilty of exactly the same bias. They claim to be non-religious, but yet they begin with the assumption that “There is no God”. David Attenborough said on the programme that Evolution is based on scientific observation and analysis. It can explain the majority of natural processes. Where it can’t, we should admit our ignorance and try to learn the truth, and not conveniently attribute it to an almighty God.

Well, I think the truth is closer to this. Evolution can explain only a small fraction of natural processes. In the majority of cases where it can’t, evolutionists simply bring out their magic wand called ‘millions of years’. Creationists say, "With God, nothing is impossible". Evolutionists say, "With Time, anything is possible".

For example, evolutionists say that man evolved from apes. Has anyone seen it? Can it be replicated? Of course not! Why? Because it takes millions of years. But it has to be, otherwise it would mean that there is a God. Isn’t that what you call ‘faith’?

By the way, where are all the ‘missing links’ between apes and men? Why should links be missing in the first place?

5) One final point. I think that part about the Catholic Church’s (and Pope John Paul in particular) acceptance of Evolution does not belong in a scientific debate of this nature. The Catholic Church’s views of this matter ought to be discussed in a religious/spiritual forum, which I shall do in my other blog.

The Great Da Vinci Code Tragedy.

2006-06-10T14:20:00.000+08:00

Someone called it The Great Da Vinci Code Distraction (Thanks to Noelbynature for the reference). I think it should be called The Great Da Vinci Code Tragedy.

I am referring of course to the countless number of blogs, articles, books and documentaries that have been spawned; some resurrected, by the success of Dan Brown’s book. I heard that there is even a Da Vinci diet – unbelievable!

Take the documentary The Last Supper for instant. I watched it over Channel News Asia last Saturday afternoon. Interestingly, there was a simultaneous telecast of another Da-Vinci-Code-spawned documentary called the Knights of the Templar (or something like that) on the National Geographic channel. These people spend so much time and energy going over every detail of the painting; who was sitting where, the position of his hands, which direction he was facing etc. etc. Why do they waste their time over such worthless trivia, contrived in the mind of a man who lived more that 1,400 years after the event? Why don’t they go and study the biblical account of the event instead and get the real message of the gospel? What a tragedy. It's like hearing the Tsunami warning, and instead to running for safety, they pause and marvel at the technical design of the warning system.

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, ….., neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” – John 3: 19, 20.

Now, lets turn to another example, the Gospel According to Judas, a documentary released recently by National Geographic; to capitalize on the publicity of the Da Vinci Code no doubt. This book was written by a bunch of Gnostics at least 200 to 300 years after Christ, I repeat 200 to 300 years! Do you know how long that is? It’s like asking you to write about events before the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles. Suddenly, so many 21st Century Singaporeans, who lapped up this rubbish, have become knowledgeable about events recorded in this book and yet know nothing about what is written in the true Word of God. Would you be surprised that the Bible actually contains warnings about this sort of writing? Let me cite just few relevant verses.

First, from the epistle of Paul to the Galatians, Chapter 1:

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

Second, from the last book in the Bible. In Chapter 22 of the book of Revelation, God spoke through the Apostle John;

“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Talking about the book of Revelation, we have yet another distraction, the movie Omen, now showing in the cinemas. Anyway, no need to be surprised. These are all signs of the times. Go and read my other blog for details.

And talking about Channel News Asia documentaries, week after week, they have been showing documentaries based on evolutionary and long ages theories. Finally, they are going to show one that at least affords the opposing theory a hearing. I am referring to the War of Science, which will be shown tomorrow evening. I hope they don’t treat the issue the way Hollywood treated the Scopes Trial in the movie, Inherit The Wind (1960). More on that later.

Words of Wisdom From a Former Straight Fs Student

2006-06-09T10:06:00.000+08:00

"There is an intrinsic reward in learning itself, and parents should assist their children in discovering it. One of the ways parents could do this is to not force their children pursue the adults' own aspirations. They should try and detect their children's natural flair or inclinations, and see how they best can support it."

Abdul Shariff Aboo Kassim, writing to TODAY's forum page, Friday, June 9, 2006

Now, for the difficult part - to get the wife to subscribe to this view as well.

Well Spoken

2006-06-05T10:30:00.000+08:00

"We need to go beyond words."

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, speaking at the 5th Shangri-la Dialogue, Singapore, on June 4 2006.

Men Are Not Made For Safe Havens

2006-06-01T21:47:00.000+08:00

” Men Are Not Made For Safe Havens”.

I doubt many of you know who said these words. Perhaps I should give you some hints.

He was a popular US politician who was assassinated in June 1968 when he was only 43 years old. His killer was a Palestinian by the name of Sirhan B. Sirhan. Sirhan confessed to the shooting, claiming he acted against this US senator because of his support for Israel in the June 1967 Six-Day War.

Nearly four decades after his death, the conflict in the Middle East rages on, albeit in different forms; and has in fact spread to other places.

Despite all the scientific and technological advancements, the world has become an even more dangerous place. If you do not believe me, just do a quick scan of the news for the past few days. Here are some of the big news items:

To our South, the death toll from the S. Java earthquake exceeds 5,000 and the rain adds to the misery of the survivors. Meantime, the volcano in Gunung Merapi threatens to erupt anytime. And things do not look too bright on the horizon. On the first day of the week, TODAY greeted us with a headline which said; “Ring of Fear Bubbles – Experts suggest Java quake could be a sign of things to come”. Anybody dare to say for sure we in Singapore will not be next?

To the East, our friends in Timor Leste are fighting each other so soon after gaining their hard-won independence.

To the North, another landslide crushes 43 homes in the Malaysian capital, just a stone’s throw from the scene of the 1993 Highland Towers disaster. People just don’t learn do they?

And further up, in North Thailand, thousands are still coping with the destruction brought on by the recent massive floods. According to TODAY, “Experts blame the unseasonal violent storms on the rising temperatures from global warming. …The climatic extremes are believed to be related to the cyclical La Nina weather phenomenon”. Not sure what they mean, but it sure doesn’t sound promising does it?

Meantime, the Islamic militants of Southern Thailand seemed to be taking a break. Or maybe the killings have become so regular, they don’t warrant big headlines and so I missed it.

Finally, to our West, in places like Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Israel and off course Iraq, there’s no need for me to elaborate. Shootings and bombings have become so commonplace many of us don’t even want to read the details anymore.

Even back home, in one of the safest countries on this planet, there is no escape from the fear of terrorism. “Don’t be complacent. Be psychologically prepared for a successful attack”, our government never tires of warning us. And they are right of course. If our JI friends are determined enough, and if they watch enough Hollywood movies, why not? And so they are installing surveillance camera in our public places, trains and buses. They want private enterprises to beef up their security systems. And occasionally we hold terrorist attack drills.

So Robert Kennedy was right when he said, “Men are not made for safe havens.”

Let me end with a quote by another famous politician of that era. Golda Meir, the former prime minister of Israel once said:

"When they will love their children more than they hate us, then there will be peace"

Of Vice and Men

2006-05-28T17:48:00.000+08:00

The news that Las Vegas Sands has won the bid for Singapore's first integrated resort at Marina Bay was big news in yesterday’s papers.

On page 2 of Today, the article was headlined, Sands: Of Mice and Men. I actually heard this news on Radio 938 Live the day before. For a moment, I thought I heard the newscaster, Michael Martin pronounce that Sands’ proposal will significantly strengthen Singapore’s position as a VICE destination. Of course what he actually said was MICE, or Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions.

In any case, I think the Today article should more appropriately be titled; Of Vice and Men. After all, what was it that prompted our government to embark on this project in the first place. If I am not mistaken, it was because many Singaporeans are going to overseas casinos in places like Batam, Genting Highlands and Macao, as well as Cruise Ships that sailed to ‘nowhere’, to gamble away our hard-earned Singapore wealth. In line with our government’s much-touted philosophy of being pragmatic, they decided that if we cannot stop them, we may as well join them.

Let’s face it. Do you honestly believe that it is Sands’ Mice facilities that will attract the tourist dollars to Singapore? Do you honestly believe that the so-called ‘gaming component’ will only be a small part of the integrated resort? If it was, then why is our government embarking on so many preventive measures to help Singaporeans cope with the problem of gambling addiction.

Incidentally, I think that the term ‘problem gambler’ is an euphemism. The Hokkien term ‘kiao kwee’ or Cantonese term, ‘toe kwai’ (赌鬼 ) or ‘gambling devil’ is much more appropriate. From the many tragic stories that one hears of how gamblers have destroyed their own lives, as well as those of their family members, one can be excused for thinking that the compulsive gambler is indeed demon-possessed.

You know something. I just realized that our government is just as skillful as their Japanese counterpart in the word game. A casino is called an IR - integrated resort, and the letters ‘b’ and ‘l’ have been dropped from the word ‘gambling’. So now we say that we have an integrated resort with a ‘gaming component’.

In all fairness, I must also commend our government for taking a responsible approach to manage these vices. Instead of pretending these vices do not exist, why not try to ‘manage’ it. (I heard that one new MP wants to manage the negative internet – good luck to her). If horny Singapore old men are so tired after their hard day’s work that they must engage the services of skillful young masseuses in Batam, we might as well encourage them to go to Geylang instead where the ‘foreign talents’ are at least properly ‘managed’ and possibly NSRS- certified (National Skill Certification System, in case you don’t know). If Singaporeans are so fond of playing numbers games, then we might as well let them do it in our own front yard, where the ‘problematic’ ones can be monitored and counseled before they go home and throw their children down their HDB flats.

Most of all, I respect PM Lee Hsien Loong’s courage to take full responsibility for this decision and whatever consequences that come with it.

But I cannot help pondering where this slippery road will lead. How about illicit drugs? Or gay marriages? Or paedophilia? Do we want to be pragmatic about those too?

An Act of Faith

2006-05-24T17:59:00.000+08:00

Today I came across, in the Straits Times, one of the stupidest statements I ever read.

Of course it an act of faith. We are talking about a religious book here; not the Handbook of Fluid Mechanics. If you are looking for so-called ‘fairy tales’; the Bible is full of them. You don’t need to go to the New Testament. Right in the very first chapter of the very first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, you can find lots of such unbelievable statements. Here are some examples:

And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. (Genesis 1:3)

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)

And if you go down a few more chapters, you find that Adam and his descendents all lived to several hundred years of age! Incredible!

And then of course there is the story of Noah’s Ark, the target of countless jokes; like this one.

Anyone who believes such crap must be crazy or stupid, or both. Every modern, intelligent, educated person knows that the universe came about from a Big Bang; and that man evolved from apes, which evolved from fish, which evolved from a single cell amoeba.

Now; coming back to this man Jesus. If he cannot even walk on water, how on earth can we expect him to raise us from our graves. Yes; that is what he claimed - that one day, he will return to this earth and resurrect all the dead who have put their trust in him. Well you either believe him by faith; or you can conclude like Mr McKellen, that he was a big con man or even a lunatic.

What is this thing called ‘faith’ anyway. Well the bible defines it this way in Hebrews 11:1:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

A good example of a man with such ‘blind’ faith was Job who lived in the Old Testament times. This was what he said:

For I know that my redeemer liveth,
And that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
And though after my skin worms destroy this body,
Yet in my flesh shall I see God.
(Job 19: 25, 26)

Of course Mr McKellen is too intelligent to believe such ‘fiction’. He doesn’t believe in faith. He only believes in what is visible and scientifically proven and tested - like this account of how the Grand Canyon was formed.

Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a land far, far away ..... Wait a minute. That’s not correct. Only fairy tales begin that way. Let’s start again.

“Prior to about 35 million years ago the ancestral Colorado River flowed across a vast plain, along a course very similar to that of today.

When the Kaibab Plateau began to uplift approximately 35 million years ago the river was diverted to the southeast because it could not cross newly created barrier. The new course for the river now flowed out to the Gulf of Mexico instead of to the Pacific Ocean. The old course on west side of the Kaibab Plateau, the Hualapai Drainage System, continued to be a major drainage for the plateau itself and the regions west of it.

At some point around 12 million years ago, the river's course to the Gulf of Mexico became blocked and an enormous lake, know referred to as Lake Bidahochi, was formed as a result.

Meanwhile, on the western side of the Kaibab Plateau, a process known as "headwater erosion" began eating its way through the southern portion of the plateau. After millions of years this erosional process allowed the Hualapai system to break through the barrier created by the uplifted plateau and rejoin the ancestral Colorado.

Once the break-through was complete the ancestral Colorado River began to follow the new course becuase of its steeper and more desirable descent. The waters of Lake Bidahochi began to drain through the new course as well and the result is the gorge through which the Little Colorado River now flows. The combined flow of the Colorado River and the Little Colorado River west of their confluence continued to widen and deepen the course and created the Grand Canyon."

Please tell me, it is not an act of faith to believe all that.

Could This Happen To Me?

2006-05-12T12:03:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times prints both a Life and a Home section everyday. But I think the real lessons in life are found in the Home section. It is here that you find many real stories of human folly and tragedy happening right here in our little country. Let’s take a few recent cases as examples.

The first case that comes to my mind is that of the elderly taxi driver who was engaged in a race with a young motor cyclist and deliberately swerved his taxi into the latter’s path, causing his death. The taxi driver paid dearly for his foolishness and rash act. When I read about this case, my first reaction was; “Now that’s a good example of a fool.” But when I thought deeper about it, I find myself asking; “Are you so sure it will not happen to you?” The frightening answer was No.

Then there is the ongoing case of the so-called Kallang Body Parts Murder which involved an illicit affair between a middle age supervisor and his young subordinate. A similar case happened just a few months ago. It involved another middle age man and his young colleague. Their semi-nude bodies were found in a parked car in a multi-storey car park not far from his home. Apparently they died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by leakage in the car’s exhaust system. Both these cases involved happily married middle age men who professed to love their wives and children. I suspect there are many other cases that were not detected or reported. Again I find myself asking, “Why? Can it happen to me?”

I wonder what the man’s wife and children felt when they read this headline.

Why would a man, blessed with a happy marriage and a good job risk everything that matters in his life, and bring pain and misery to those he loved the most to indulge in this type of affair?

Is it for sex? Maybe. Nowadays we are bombarded by images of sex everywhere - from advertisements on our television screens, to readily available pornography on the internet, plus unsolicited emails on Viagra, penis enlargements and pornographic websites and even some popular blogs. Everybody seems to be so pre-occupied with sex these days. Do you remember the recent case of the despicable 64-year old man who went to great lengths to scheme and cheat a marriage agency into ‘releasing’ a young Vietnamese bride so that he can enjoy a few days of ‘free sex’ with a virgin?

Could it be ego? Just when you think you are already over the hill; with your hair getting thinner and waist getting thicker, a young attractive lady comes into your life and finds you attractive and showers you with attention. Gives a great boost to your ego and self-esteem doesn’t it?

Truth is, I don’t know. And what is the answer? How do we guard ourselves against such dangers at this stage of our lives? I am no expert on such matters; but still I would like to offer 2 suggestions?

One. Be vigilant. Learn the lessons from other people’s mistakes. Count your blessings daily. Think of the consequences, not just for yourself but those that you love.

Two. Fear God and keep His commandments (especially if you are a Christian). Remind yourself that God is watching you. There are many commandments in the Bible concerning how we are to lead our lives on this earth. Here are a few.

1) “Thou shalt not commit adultery”. (Exodus 20:14)

2) Take your marriage vows seriously. “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it: for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.” (Ecclesiastes 5:4)

3) “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it”. (Ephesians 5:25)

We live in perilous times. It is unwise to think that we can overcome such evils around us with our own strength alone. We need divine help and protection.

Remember the Lord’s prayer: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

May God bless you, dear Reader.

My Hero

2006-05-06T16:01:00.000+08:00

Well, in a few hours we will know the results. But whether or not this man retains his seat in Potong Pasir, he remains my hero. Whilst he may not have the scholastic achievments of many of the PAP scholars, or the oratorical skills of Lee Kuan Yew, Sir Chiam See Tong has all the qualities of a hero.

Guts - We will always remember how he slew the goliath in Potong Pasir 22 years ago, and the many times he stood up in parliament, 1 against 80, including giants like Lee Kuan Yew, and stood his ground.

Fighting Spirit - We will always remember those times when everyone in parliament laughed at his verbal gaffes but he just plodded on, single-minded, and committed, and came out victorious, so that even his opponents conceded defeat and lauded him.

Endurance - We will always remember those images of him meeting his constituents in the humble environment of the HDB void deck, enduring the discrimination, and moving around in his humble Volkswagen; but as always, he stayed focussed on fulfiling the promises he made to his voters.

We should also remember the brave residents of Potong Pasir who endured 2 decades of neglect and stayed loyal to their elected member of parliament. If they finally succumb to the onslaught of the mighty PAP machinery, the rest of Singapore understands. But if you persevere for one more term, we salute you.

From Malu to Marah (Embarrassment to Anger)

2006-04-24T22:24:00.000+08:00

Dr M is mad. I mean angry-mad, not crazy-mad. His successor, Abdullah Badawi has scrapped yet another of his grandiose, multi-bilion ringgit, mega projects; the Half Bridge, aka Crooked Bridge, aka Scenic Bridge.

In fact, he should be happy. His disciple did him a favour actually. If they had gone ahead to build the ‘Half Bridge’; it would have made Malaysia a laughing stock; and for generations to come, stand as a monument of the foolishness of a man who ‘shit half-way then look for toilet paper’.

Externally, this project has generated a great deal of ill-will with its neighbour Singapore; quite apart from the many hours of negotiations that could have been put to more productive use. So it was wise of Badawi to apply the Gordian Knot solution to this issue and get it out of the way once and for all.

Maybe the real reason for Dr M's anger is found in the Chinese idiom, 老羞成怒, which means; embarrassment turns to anger.

Remember the time when Malaysia ran into financial difficulties during the 1990s currency crisis? He blamed everyone else: Soros, IMF, even his deputy Anwar. He decided to eat the humble pie, coming to Singapore hat in hand. When Singapore said no - embarrassment turned to anger. From then on, he takes every opportunity to ‘tekan’ us. Many Singaporeans can recall the famous 'there are many ways to skin a cat' remark.

He sacks his deputy, and reluctantly picks his second choice to succeed him. Surprise, surprise. His second choice far outperforms him at the polls and even wins back the state he lost to PAS. Further malu to marah.

Now, one by one, his successor dismantles his pet mega projects; the final insult being to ‘surrender’ to his 眼中钉（thorn in the flesh）, Singapore. Lagi malu, lagi marah.

I think the good doctor should heed the advice of the management consultant who came up with this SUMO formula: Shut Up and Move On.

Malaysian Information Miinister Not Very Well-Informed

2006-04-13T18:30:00.000+08:00

The Malaysian Information Minister, Datuk Zainuddin Maidin said recently that Singapore media liked to purposely paint a bad picture of the crime situation in Johor Bahru; in particular, with regard to car thefts (Straits Times 10 April 2006).

Last year, around October, I befriended some Malaysians at a training course. I asked them whether or not it was true that theft of cars was a serious problem in Malaysia as reported by the Singapore newspapers. These newspapers probably over-dramatized the situation, I remarked.

"No, it's true!", one of them said. He went on to narrate a few stories of his own to illustrate how bad the situation was. According to him, the most popular car was the Toyota Unser. But apparently, even the low-end Perodua was not spared.

Miracles Do Happen

2006-04-08T17:55:00.000+08:00

Good news everyone. Miracles do happen.

With one swish (or more) of his magic wand called time, a scientist can turn a fish into a four-legged land mammal. A couple more swishes, the mammal becomes a monkey and then a man.

This is called evolution. Your see it in the news every day. Channel News Asia has many exciting programmes about it. They even teach it in schools.

The following is an article from the Straits Times, dated Friday April 7. 2006.

“SCIENTISTS have discovered fossils of a fish that lived 375 million years ago, a large scaly creature not seen before that they say is a long-sought “missing link” in the evolution of some fishes from living in water to walking on four limbs on land. ………

The team said the fossils are the most compelling examples yet of an animal at the cusp of the fish-tetrapod (four-legged land animals) transition. The fish has been named Tiktaalik roseae, as suggested by elders of Canada’s Nunavut Territory. Tiktaalik means “large shallow-water fish”. "

Such Humanity – I’m Touched

2006-04-05T21:29:00.000+08:00

TODAY (Tuesday, April 4, 2006, Page 1)

A Crutch for the ill and dying

Tan Hui Leng

“IN a humane gesture aimed at making the final days of terminally-ill CPF members easier, they will be allowed to withdraw their savings before the age of 55. Others with serious illnesses …..”

Such humanity, I am touched. Now I have 6 full months to enjoy the fruits of my past 30 years of toil.

Dear Ms Tan,

Did you check your dictionary or not?

Must I remind you that it is MY money you are talking about. The CPF Board is merely a custodian paid with the taxpayer’s money to look after the money for me.

How can you say that they are “showing human kindness, thoughtfulness, and sympathy for the suffering and misfortune of others etc.” (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)?

In my dictionary, it is not ‘humane’ to return money to its rightful owner. Neither is it ‘humane’ to return it earlier than stipulated by the law. In fact, it is an indictment of the inhumanity of the law in the first place.

Same Old Dung Again

2006-04-01T10:50:00.000+08:00

In the army they taught us this song.

Here we go again;
Same old shit again.

Last year, around this time, I was driven to start this blog when I read about the attempts by the Japanese government to whitewash history by glorifying her wartime past and glossing over the atrocities committed by the Japanese military in the last war.

In spite of the uproar it created in neighbouring countries, they continue to do it. Yesterday, I saw this in the Straits Times.

Here are a couple for quotes from the Straits Times article.

“One publisher who said that more than 200,000 Chinese were likely to have been slaughtered was told to add that the figure was only one of several theories.”

“Publishers were also told not to make it sound like it was the Japanese military that forced women to become sex slaves for its front-line troops.”

Potong Potong

2006-03-26T20:40:00.000+08:00

No I am not blogging about my favourite ice cream. I am in fact talking about my favourite politician - the one western leaders labeled, ‘The Loose Cannon’.

Well he is at it again. This time the target of his ire is none other than his favourite punching bag, Singapore. His complaint this time is that it is impossible to be friendly with Singapore. Apparently he tried for 22 years to be friendly with Singapore but was unsuccessful because we were so unreasonable and demanding and so on. He does not believe that his successor will have any success (pun not intended).

Let’s see how easy it is to be friendly with this man.

Remember what he said at the time he went into retirement? "I have already made it very clear that when I leave, I leave completely." In other words, he will leave politics completely. In other words, he will not interfere (unlike his Singaporean counterpart). But has he kept his word? We all know better don’t we. So, one can understand why Singapore leaders has to be wary when dealing with such a person.

Talking about friendliness, do you recall the time when he worked up a crowd in Johor Bahru to chant; “Potong! Potong! Potong!” You guessed correctly. He wasn’t talking about ice cream either. He was talking about cutting off the water supply to Singapore.

Take it easy unker. Cool down. Enjoy your retirement. Let your successor do the skinning (of the Singapore cat that is). And have a potong.

For more Mahathir gems, go to Vintage Mahathir

Two More Number 1’s for Singapore

2006-03-24T23:12:00.000+08:00

Many people liked to poke fun of our fondness to be number one. We boast the world’s best airport, MRT, busiest port etc etc. (pardon me if I got my facts wrong – I just don’t want to waste the time to check). Some say it’s a kind of inferiority complex due our smallness.

Anyway I am all for it. And I would like to suggest 2 areas where we are probably number one as well.

1) We probably have the world’s highest number of advertisements on bust enhancement

2) We probably have the world's highest number of advertisements on hair restoration.

Whenever, I come back from an oversea trip and scan the Straits Times onboard the plane, I am often amazed at the number of advertisements that we have on bust enhancement (most of them with huge photos of scantily clad women) and hair restoration, as compared to the local newspapers. I often wondered what the foreigner sitting next to me and also reading the Straits Times, thought about Singaporeans. He probably thinks we are the vainest people in the world.

Maybe it is not such a bad thing after all. With our men getting hairier, and our women bustier, we are likely to see a decline in the ever ballooning divorce rates. With our people looking better, we are also likely to see some decline in our embarrassingly high suicide rate.

Majority of Singaporeans Support Death Penalty

2006-02-12T22:03:00.000+08:00

After reading my earlier post about the Biblical Stand on Death Penalty, Mr Wang expressed his amazement that the bible actually prescribes the death penalty (for murder). I suspect that he will be even more amazed when he reads today’s Sunday Times which reported that, according to a survey of 425 Singaporeans and permanent residents, 96% actually supported the death penalty.

“Almost everyone here, both young and old and of every race and education level, supports the death penalty for heinous crimes, a survey shows”, read the opening paragraph.

Frankly, I too was surprised. I would have guessed that the figure would not exceed 60 to 70%. Even more shocking was that many of these guys were even more bloodthirsty than me. For example, nearly half (45% and 42% respectively) actually advocated the death penalty for sex with children under the age of 12 and rape. I only support the death penalty for murder and nothing else. In fact I think we are too liberal in the use of the rotan.

One conclusion I can draw from this survey is that the blogosphere is not a good place to gauge public opinion. From most of the blogs I have read regarding this issue, one would have thought that the majority of Singaporeans are opposed to the death penalty.

I guess this is bad news for the opposition parties. They appeared to be quite hopeful that the criticisms of government so widely and vociferously expressed in Singapore blogs were reflective of the general feeling of Singaporeans towards the PAP government. I really think they should not get their hopes too high.

As for me; sigh – it is not going to make any difference. I didn’t get to exercise my vote for the past few elections (lost count already) and I doubt it is going to be different this time.

Hamas’ Shock Victory

2006-01-27T19:49:00.000+08:00

Two things about this news article which appeared on page 4 of the Straits Times today caught my attention.

“The militant Hamas group, which has called for the destruction of Israel, has swept to a shock victory in the Palestinian elections ……..”

Firstly, I wonder if the significance of this event is lost on the editors of the Straits Times, who chose two local news items about jobs for older workers, and PSA’s bid for P&O, for the front page instead. Don’t they realize that this development is going to impact significantly the state of affairs not only in the Middle East, but also the whole world in the years to come. In contrast, both the BBC and CNN featured this news item prominently on television last night.

Secondly, I noticed that the Hamas supporters in the photo were all kids. In Singapore, I doubt any of them are permitted to watch NC16 movies. That such a large section of the next generation of Palestinians support the ‘manifesto’ of the Hamas group is frightening, don’t you think? I think this is what really qualifies to be labelled 'time bomb'.

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about …
And in that day, I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people:”
- Zechariah 12: 2,3.

Biblical Stand on Death Penalty

2006-01-27T17:18:00.000+08:00

I consulted Dr Leong Tien Fock, Research Coordinator with Malaysia Campus Crusade for Christ and this is what he says:

Yes, there is no direct link between Jesus and the question of the death penalty. He did not come to address specific political or legal issues though His life and teaching are relevant to these issues. These issues are already addressed in the Old Testament, which He accepts as authoritative.

Those who oppose the DP claim that Jesus spoke against it in the John 8 incident when He forgave the woman caught in adultery, which was punishable by death under the Mosaic Law. This is probably as close as you can get to linking Jesus with the DP. But there is a world of difference between the DP for MURDER and for any other offences in the OT. DP for murder in the OT (including under the Mosaic Law) was premised on Gen 9:6, which predates the Mosaic Law and was based on an unchanged truth--human beings are made in God's image and are therefore sacred and priceless. DP on other offences (like adultery) stipulated in the Mosaic Law are applications of the 10 commandments that are binding only under the Mosaic Covenant. All we can conclude is that in John 8 Jesus was doing away with the DP on all these other offences. This makes sense as He came to inaugurate the New Covenant to replace the Mosaic Covenant. We cannot use this incident to say Jesus did away with DP for murder because this stipulation predates the Mosaic covenant and was given to Noah and his sons, from whom ALL human beings descended.

Since Jesus accepted the OT as authoritative we can assume that He accepted Gen 9:6 to be authoritative. So we can say Jesus support the DP indirectly by accepting the OT as authoritative and by not repealing it. We can understand why Jesus did not directly address the DP (for murder). It was not an issue in the 1st century! Human conscience (created by God) did not argue against it. People took it for granted and there was no need to talk about it. It is only in the modern world when the theory of evolution began to reshape human conscience that this issue arose. So it has been an issue only very recently (a few hundred years is nothing compared to the entire history of mankind). Even today, most people would support the DP, I think. It is the vocal minority that speak against it.

Let us see how Jesus addressed a legal issue of His day: divorce (Matt 19:3-9). He quotes the book of Genesis (Matt 19:4-6)! So He rests on the authority of Genesis for a legal issue of His day. So if He were to address the DP would He not again quote the relevant passage in Genesis? Note He used Genesis to address the issue of divorce because He was asked to make a stand (Matt 19:3). Nobody asked Him about the DP (on murder)! No one would.

What I have shared here concerns what the Bible teaches on the subject. If people do not accept the Bible as authoritative, the debate will take a very different form. But on a subject like this, unless we assume that God exists and has spoken to us about it, one person's opinion is as good as another's. There is no point debating. If there is no God or He has not revealed moral truths to us, who are we to decide what is right and what is wrong?

The most powerful argument against the death penalty is the existence of wrongful convictions. We must certainly avoid executing the wrong person. But this does not mean the death penalty in itself is wrong. What we need to do is to uphold the death penalty in principle. And have adequately stringent safe-guards to prevent wrongful executions, even if this means some murderers escape the gallows due to the lack of adequately conclusive evidence. At least this will send out the right message that a murderer, if truly convicted, should pay with his own life, upholding the idea that a human life is sacred and priceless. Otherwise people will all the more view a human being as another animal, as taught by the theory of evolution. The consequence of this view is that people are being mistreated.

Why then do many Christians oppose the death penalty for murder? They abhor it. They oppose it based on how they feel towards it, not based on what the Bible says. Some may deny that they oppose it based on feelings. They may claim that it is based on reason, the reason being that a human life is precious, perhaps even going so far to spell out that human beings are made in the image of God. So they are reasoning that the death penalty for murder is wrong because a human life (that of the criminal) is precious. But the Bible is reasoning that the death penalty for murder is right precisely because a human life (that of the victim) is precious, in fact sacred and priceless! A criminal must pay for his crime. What is the just payment for deliberately killing a being made in the image of God? The murderer’s own priceless life.

So unless a Christian claims that his own reasoning is above that of the Word of God or that his own wisdom is higher than that of God, his opposition to the death penalty for murder comes basically from his emotional discomfort towards it. In other words, his God-given conscience conflicts with the God-inspired Scripture. In pre-modern times, the individual as well as the collective conscience of even non-believers agreed with the Bible on the death penalty for murder. If we affirm that the Bible is indeed the standard for our beliefs and behaviour we have to say that the conscience of even Christians have been corrupted.

Paul exhorts Christians to stop being conformed to this world but instead keep on being transformed by the renewing of their mind (Rom 12:2). In the Bible the “mind” is not just the seat of reasoning but also the seat of feeling. Thus to renew our mind is not just about changing what we think about an issue but also how we feel towards it. Whatever the Bible says is wrong, such as greed, but we do not feel it is wrong, our mind needs renewal. Whatever the Bible says is right, such as the death penalty for murder, but we feel it is wrong, our mind needs renewal.