Miracles Do Happen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.