The Great Singapore Massacre

The Great Singapore Sale just started today. But I wonder how many of my fellow Singaporeans are aware that the Great Singapore Massacre has started long ago.

According to the Singapore Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society, 14,000 abortions were carried out last year. President of the society, Dr Lee Keen Whye was reported to be disappointed that the number of tertiary-educated women going for abortions has tripled in the last 16 years. Doctors say it is shocking that abortion rates among tertiary-educated married women in Singapore are still high, since educated women are supposed to comprehend the importance of family planning. They think that more education on family planning methods is required.

I believe that this will not work because the real issue is not about ignorance but about values.

As long as our society, and that includes men and government leaders, do not believe that a fetus is a living human being that can breathe and feel pain, and that abortion is equivalent to killing, things will not improve. As long as we tell ourselves that, since we cannot see the baby inside a woman’s womb, we cannot hear it crying, then it is not alive and can be disposed of as and when we want, then things will not improve.

Yes, education is required; but it should be education on the real facts of life; for both men and women. I urge all readers of this post to go to the following website and find out the facts for yourself: www.justthefacts.org



If you knew the facts, then you will not be like those readers who wrote to the press after last Tuesday’s news article. Instead of grieving for the loss of precious lives, they bemoan the “waste” of babies because our country is facing a population decline.

If more Singaporeans knew the facts, then maybe in addition to the tears that they shed at the passing of our former president and the pope, they will shed a tear or two for those 14,000 unknown, unnamed babies who died last year. Both Dr Wee and Pope John Paul lived to their eighties; but I wonder how many of the 14,000 lived up to 80 days.

If more Singaporeans knew the facts, then maybe we as a society will feel some shame for the fact that our country has one of the most liberal abortion laws in the world.

I know from my visits to many Singaporean blogsites that most young Singaporeans value life and that’s why they oppose the death penalty. I suggest that they divert some of their sympathy for convicted murderers to innocent babies.

As you enjoy the Great Singapore Sale over the next 40 days, please remember that during that 6-week period, another 1,611 babies would have been killed.



I end with these words from Dr Jerome LeJune, genetics professor at University of Descartes in Paris; and discoverer of the Down’s Syndrome chromosome.

“I have learned from my earliest medical education that human life begins at the point of conception. I submit that human life is present throughout this entire sequence from conception to adulthood and any interruption at any point constitutes a termination of human life.”

The Judge is Judged Guilty

Every year, the US State department publishes a report card on the human rights performance of other countries. Many countries, including our beloved Singapore are regularly criticized. Even her prominent citizens like Richard Gere like to pass judgment on the perceived human rights abuses of other countries.

In the case of Saddam Hussein, the judge went beyond criticizing. The proud dictator was apprehended, judged and soundly humbled.

But it appears that the judge has himself been found guilty of the same crime. In a BBC article dated 25 May 2005, titled, Amnesty Accuses US Over Torture, it was reported that; “In a 300-page annual report, the group accused the US government of damaging human rights with its attitude to torture and treatment of detainees”.

One of Saddam’s crimes was his use of chemical weapons against the Kurds in Iraq. But then, the US has also been found guilty of using chemical weapons for mass destruction, albeit of trees and foliage. On 29 April 2005, the BBC in an article entitled, The Legacy of Agent Orange, reported that during the Vietnam war, the US army sprayed 80 million litres of poisonous chemicals in Vietnam and Cambodia. The tragic results are felt even today.

I guess it’s a case of beholding the speck in another’s eye but perceiving not the beam in one’s own eye.

Wasted Anger

Ah; it’s the Vesak Day Holiday, and finally I could settle down in the quiet of my room to enjoy the cd of Simon and Garfunkel’s greatest hits which I bought yesterday. But alas, my enjoyment was marred by the incessant ranting of my neighbour against her maid. As you might expect, it was over some trivial matter about mopping the floor, or something equally serious.

The beautiful music of my favourite duo was cruelly mutilated by repeated accusations of, “you are so selfish”, “you have an attitude problem” blah blah blah ….. And this went on for nearly 10 songs before I decided that I couldn’t take it anymore. No I did not yell to ask her to shut up; although I wish I had the courage to go over to her house and ask her to cool down and invite her to listen to the Sounds of Silence. Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would. Instead I put on my headphones.

And then ironically, song number 9 came on; Seven O’clock News/Silent Night. It was a beautiful rendition of Silent Night with the solemn voice of the news caster in the background reading a chain of bad news culminating in a news item about Vice President Nixon clamouring for more funds for the Vietnam War. Now that’s an appropriate song for today’s America.

If I have a good voice, I will record my version of Silent Night with my neighbour’s ranting in the background. So much pain and injustice and evil in the world today. So much bad news on the doorstep everyday. So many things to get angry about. And she has to get all worked up over something so trivial.

And here’s to you Mrs Tan, heaven holds a place for those who pray, …………..

If We Decide to Go Ahead

Everytime a minister utter those dreaded words, I fear its more bad news on the doorstep.

For the past one year, during the 'Great Casino Debate", every minister who spoke on the subject used these dreaded words, promising to take care of the people who become addicted to gambling etc. etc. And then they went ahead to announce the decision to build 2 casinos.

Today I heard those dreaded words again. The transport minister promised in parliament that if the transport companies are permitted to raise their bus and mrt fares, the government will make sure that the poor will get help etc. etc.

Looks like its another foregone decision. Afterall the transport companies put up a convincing argument. They have not increased fares for ages - the last fare hike was in practically in the last century, in year 2002. Costs of everything has gone up; and one of them only made a profit of $34 million last year.

I wish I could do that in my business; increase prices because costs have gone up.