1st World Singapore like anonymity in cyberspace is an illusion.

As reported in CNA, Dr Balakrishnan said: "Anonymity in cyberspace is an illusion. You will remember in 2007, we prosecuted three persons under the Sedition Act because of the blogs they put up which denigrated the religion of one of our communities in Singapore.

"The reason we did that was to send the message that your words have an impact; if need be, we can identify you, and if we have to, we will be prepared to prosecute you." Read here.

With a threat like that from a Mintster, I get the heat from my loved ones to quit blogging about 'staying together and moving ahead'. I do not know if my words have an impact but I do know that getting the elephant off my chest is very therapeutic for my health and well being. If need be and they have to, then I'll be prosecuted and persecuted. Meanwhile, I blog when I please.

Ultimately, we die.

"I wish to die in my homeland, surrounded by my children. I do not want to be told on my deathbed that my children are rushing to see me but are stuck in a traffic jam at the checkpoint." so wrote Ms Ivy Tan to Straits Times Forum of 23 February 2009.

"I want to die with dignity and respect and feel I have not lived in vain for my country." so wrote Mr Philip Kwek.

Above quotes are some of the responses to Khaw Boon Wan's JB's nursing home for aged sick Singaporeans.

In their chase for money and pragmatism, my simple wish of being fed to the fish may not come true. Having paid through my nose for a HDB pigeon-hole while alive, I've let my children know that I do not wish to lease a place in a columbarium after my last breath. They are to cremate me, collect my ashes, rent a boat, have a party out in the sea and simply scatter my ashes and feedmetothefish

At the rate that Khaw is at it, I fear that he and Mah Bow Tan of National Development may have a "death chute" ready (not unlike the current rubbish chute that we have) in every HDB block before my time is up. It'll be legislated that the economically useless including poor, sick and aged must jump in and self-destruct and disintegrate to nothingness. Gee, I would not even have the chance to be fed to the fish.

Having brought up JB nursing homes, organ trading and euthanasia which may lead to legalisation, construction and legalisation of "death chutes" make pragmatic economic sense. Our "garden city" will be greener and cleaner, devoid of ugly old men and women collecting cartons and aluminium cans for a living. The old and blind tissue paper sellers at hawkers centres and disabled beggars of all ages found so often in overhead bridges, places of worship and underpasses will be a thing of the past! Singapore will be postcard picture perfect!

And 1st world Singapore will be an illusion no more. It'll be as real as the mintsters salary without accountability and retrenchees upgrading to new career as bus drivers! Read here

Last, we were advised to encourage our parents to be chambermaids. Read here

feedmetothefish

Below is the extract from the Straits Times

Why we need nursing homes here, not in JB

I REFER to Saturday's letter from the Ministry of Health, 'Nursing homes - We can't match JB'.

I am disappointed at the stance taken by the ministry. The crux of the issue is not just money. It is about our identity as Singaporeans.

As a true-blue Singaporean, I wish to die in my homeland, surrounded by my children. I do not want to be told on my deathbed that my children are rushing to see me but are stuck in a traffic jam at the checkpoint.

Nothing is too difficult if we set our minds to it. Land in Singapore is tendered out for commercial, industrial and residential use, with some even used for private columbariums. The Singapore Land Authority can tender out land for nursing and retirement homes to keep costs down. Just as we keep manufacturing costs low here by making available land and facilities at a lower price to industries, why can't we do the same for our helpless, elderly Singaporeans?

This is not an issue of market forces alone. It is about caring for our people who have contributed the best years of their lives to Singapore. It is about family bonding where children can visit their parents more often.

On the issue of labour cost, nurses' wages in other countries may be lower, but do they have the same qualifications as our Singapore nurses? Our factories compete worldwide thanks to cheap foreign labour. Can we do the same in our nursing homes?

Can we develop programmes to train nursing aides specialising in geriatric medicine to lower the labour cost? We may not need that many full-fledged nurses in nursing homes, unlike in hospitals.

Comparing the building cost to that of polyclinics is not realistic. Market forces will determine the type and quality of nursing homes to be built. Are the nursing homes in Malaysia of the same quality as hospitals here when we compare costs?

If we pride ourselves on our world- class medical facilities here, how can we leave our old folk to the medical care in another country?

We must be mindful that these are the very people who helped to build our world-class medical facilities.

Ivy Tan (Ms)

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We can do it cheap

'I am confident we can develop nursing homes here without incurring exorbitant costs.'

MR MICHAEL YEO: 'I refer to the Ministry of Health's reply on Saturday, 'Nursing homes - We can't match JB'. With over 25 years' experience in an architectural firm and as a specialist in cost-effective design for private developers here and overseas, I am confident we can develop nursing homes here without incurring exorbitant costs. The construction costs can be brought down by forgoing extravagant designs and materials. For example, we could outsource fabrications to Indonesia and Malaysia, use Malaysian-made sanitary ware and accessories, and opt for dry walls instead of bricks or precast panels.'

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Is this how it should be?

'Are nursing homes the answer to folk in their old age after they have expended all their youthful capital in protecting and building our nation?'

MR PHILIP KWEK: 'I refer to the letter, 'Nursing homes - We can't match JB'. Are nursing homes the answer to folk in their old age after they have expended all their youthful capital in protecting and building our nation? Are we creating a 'disposable syndrome' - discarding the old and replacing with the new? When I am old, I want to have a choice whether to live at home or in an aged home. I want to die with dignity and respect and feel I have not lived in vain for my country.'