Friday, February 27, 2009

Fancy T-shirts bring jail time.


I'd like to thank secretpoliticalblog for featuring this picture that I have been searching for. Having read their article with the relevant links,
I'm pleased to note that bloggers are still blogging even after we have been threatened so by a Mintster,

"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.

This "Dearest Minister Mentor God Lee Kuan Yew" blog by singaporecitizen (read here) adds to the reason why we are progressing as a nation "to build a democratic society based on justice and equality so as to achieve happiness and progress for our nation".

Much as we have been warned by the "kiasu", "kiasi" and the balls carrying "kia chenghu" that alternative views lead you to prison and/or bankruptcy and we'd better let sleeping dogs lie, I believe that:
  • Mr JB Jeyaratnam is honoured and well respected by many Singaporeans for his contribution towards democracy and nation building.
  • Mr Chee Soon Juan and his sister Sok Chin though bankrupted still do much to show Singapore and the whole world that there is more to bully and intimidation to extinguish the fire for human rights and democracy.
  • Mr Martyn See (read here and video here) with his courage and persistence has shown us truth (some wish that's best buried than to belittle the rich and powerful) is instrumental in making history speaks for all. The vanquished may have more credible story than the victor.
  • The light will shine and truth will be told for Mr Chia Thye Poh, Mr Said Zahari, Mr Tan Wah Peow, Mr Francis Seow, Mr Tang Liang Hong, Ms Teo Soh Lung & Mr Vincent Cheng & Co (of the Marxist Conspiracy) when more are willing to share the truth without fear or favour.
  • Singapore will evolve. The power that is can no longer remain complacent and treat Singaporeans as frogs-in-the-well. With cyberspace, alternative views are available and msm no longer hold the trump card of being the only source of news and propaganda.
Having read secretpoliticalblog, the only comment I wish to add is unless we witness or hear the proceedings of the court presided by Belinda Ang, we will never know if it's kangaroo or donkey or what have you. To judge for yourself, please visit here and other transcripts available in cyberspace.

Kangaroo in a court or judge in a zoo? It's your call.

feedmetothefish

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Happy Anniversary!

Mas Selamat Kasturi missing from Whitley Detention Camp since 27 February 2008.

Is he Dead or Alive?


Straits Times reported on Feb 6, 2009 here that "JI still a threat: DPM"

'We have no credible information on Mas Selamat's whereabouts to share at this point in time,' said Mr Wong.

'But let me assure Dr Teo that we have not slackened in our search.

'Whether Mas Selamat is in Singapore or he has fled our country, we will hunt him down as we did before.'

Read here and here.

Straits Times 25 Feb 2009 reported "Rehabilitation works - Singapore's track record compares well against that of other countries. About one in 10 of those released from the United States' detention facility in Guantanamo Bay is either known or suspected to have returned to terrorist activity." Read here. Here goes silly again - Hello, you do not need to extinguish another's candle to make your burn brighter!

Yes, we are so much better than Guantanamo Bay that we allow Mas Selamat Kasturi to selamat jalan (bon voyage) . "About the only one who escaped from the Singapore's detention facility in Whitley Road Detention Camp is either known or suspected to be in Singapore or has fled the country." Where else can he be? The promised land? Any credible information that he's still alive?

Heck, compared to the American's Guantanamo Bay, we are so bloody good that Mas is celebrating his freedom (dead or alive) for one year now! Happy Anniversary!

I'm revisiting Mas to remind everyone that there's no such thing as a free lunch. If we are paid to do a job. We must do the job well. If we are paid millions, we cannot afford million-dollar mistakes that may cause the loss of innocent lives.

Great leaders know their mistakes, admit to their mistakes, sincerely apologise saying, "I screwed up", learn from it and progress.

Cunning leaders know their mistakes, have no regrets for what they did and wisely jump ship.

Hopeless leaders know their mistakes, push the buck and sack their subordinates, have their big big boss say, "It's an honest mistake. Let's move on". Yes, they survive another day, continue to receive their million-dollar-salary and spew forth more garbage in their spins! 'Whether Mas Selamat is in Singapore or he has fled our country, we will hunt him down as we did before.'

I'm lost.

feedmetothefish

Monday, February 23, 2009

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)


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.'


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.'

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Videos of the Year 2009!

I do not know who googivani is but after seeing googivani's youtube here, I almost had another heart attack! A good one I might add.

I do not understand the German language but the creation and creativity of the subtitles for video featuring Hitler (or is it HitLee) deserve a salute from each and every Singaporean. Heil googivani! Heil googivani! Hail googivani!




Having written "11 days or 56-man hours" in my previous blog based on what I've read in the msm, it shocked me to see the video of President Sellapan Ramanathan doing his utmost to put the lid on. It seems to me this is the most awkward job he's done since his ascension.

While watching the video I felt sad seeing him struggling to remember the meetings he had and keep reading from one paper/prompter to another on the table to get the show going. He seemed very nervous to me. Whenever he had to say "Jobs Credit Scheme" and "Special Risks Sharing Initiative" it was pretty discomforting to see his eyes darting from one note to another. It must be difficult for him too.

Instead of damage control, I think the powerful elites have dug themselves a bigger hole that's almost impossible to cover! As much as the editor of ST and Sister Chua tries to add on the spin on ST today (read here and here), this ludicrous PR stun is a huge negative blow to the image of the government.

The frustration and disappointment of alky made him write "Our president’s attitude reminds me of one of those building security guards who are supposed to keep watch and yet falls asleep while on duty in the middle of the night. Just sitting in the booth there for show only and waiting for his shift to be over in the morning." in TOC. Read here
(comment #8)

For what it's worth, I think having the President doing the press conference was a bad call. It would have been better if he did not. I may be wrong but his nervousness and lack of confidence which showed when reading from the notes gives me the impression that it was rehearsed.

In doing the press conference, he has inadvertently made the candle of President Ong Teng Cheong burns brighter. Much brighter! God bless his soul.

feedmetothefish

Addendum:
Oops, seems the HitLee video by googivani is no longer available in youtube due to a copyright claim by Lighthouse Pictures. However, thanks to reader Anon who commented on February 21, 2009 9:06 pm, I have re-linked the video to LiveLeak here. As videos such as this are so hard to come by, I most grateful to the guy who put it up at LiveLeak.

Interestingly, there's another clip here (same video but with different subtitles that's just as awesome!) by alexleecheeseng. (If you can't see the subtiltes, turn captions on by clicking up arrow at bottom right of youtube screen)

Have a good weekend!

feedmetothefish

11 days or 56-man hours? Let's hear it from our Presidents.

Q: When you made the decision, did you have the information on like how big our reserves, how much of a draw this would be on the reserves...
President Nathan: Of course I have. Of course I have.

I'm simply amazed that it would have taken 56-man years for our late President Ong Teng Cheong to know how big our reserves were but it takes such a short time for our current President
Sellapan Ramanathan to know it all. Amazing! Read here .

In view of the exposure by President Nathan in the Straits Times, I can't help recalling the interview I read years ago that President Ong had with a foreign press. I did a google and found this:

Extracted from AsiaWeek dated 10 March 2000.
Maverick Politician
Ong Teng Cheong is out but not down
By ROGER MITTON Singapore

Public protests are rare in Singapore. Official ones, rarer yet. But 12 years ago, the then deputy prime minister, Ong Teng Cheong, led a noisy demo against American interference in Singapore's affairs. Some local lawyers had been detained without trial and a U.S. diplomat (later expelled) had suggested other Singaporean lawyers should stand as candidates against the ruling People's Action Party in coming elections. While PM Lee Kuan Yew and his designated successor Goh Chok Tong spoke out, it was the deceptively unassuming Ong who marshaled 2,000 trade unionists to stand in approved areas with anti-Uncle Sam banners. "Don't smile," said the DPM. "This is serious business." Unfortunately, a cameraman caught Ong doing just that. Please continue (read here)


MARCH 10, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 9

E X T E N D E D I N T E R V I E W
'I Had a Job to Do'
Whether the government liked it or not, says ex-president Ong


Please read here for the extended interview.

It's good to see how much we have improved since 2000. The current civil servants that we have are so much more efficient than those during our past president's days! With them President Nathan can have information on our reserves, "Of course, I have, Of course, I have." which President Ong had to wait 56-man years.

By trying to come clean and validate their diligence, righteousness, dignity, honesty and whatyoumaycallit (including justifying million dollars salary) to the public, the President and his mintsters may have just shot their own feet and made themselves look cockeyed and preposterous.

Then again, with our 'golden age' money burning by the billions through GIC and Temasek, what is most laughable is having built up the hih worth of the A-Team mintsters, the performance has shown that they are worth a dime a dozen.

Hello, if you keep saying you are so bloody good, you had better prove your worth! Please do not put the blame on USA nor globalisation nor your dead grandmother for your poor performance. The proof is in the pudding!

We are a having a dose of bad government. Indeed!

feedmetothefish

Thursday, February 12, 2009

We don't need no thought control


Warning: This post contains swear words. If you are offended by obscene words, do not read further.

There's a neat post here by KJ of TOC on Total Defence. "What will you defend"?

I've never thought of it that way but the way KJ describes it, I must agree that it's propaganda at its best. As I have been too poor to attend any school after my Senior Cambridge Cert (O level now) more than 40 years ago I'm shocked to read that brainwashing in schools has been going on the way they do. At my age, it's one helluva WOW to discover that instead of the little Red Book of Mao we have the Little Red Dot of . . . (fill in the blank) to brainwash the young.

So to keep the propaganda going, we are now asked by SPH to get personal "What will you defend?"

I asked a young friend serving full time NS if he'll defend Singapore and he asked, "How much?" I was shocked but amused. I went, "Huh?" He replied in typical NS lingo, "Fuck! If the PM and and his cheebye ministers are paid millions in aircon office to do fuckall, work with cheebye mouths, I defend for fuck?"

Having done my share of fulltime NS in the late 60's, I guess the frustration of guys doing national service remains pretty much the same. Likewise the way we speak when we are in green.

So, let's play the game.

What will I defend?

"I will defend my right NOT to be another brick in the wall."

My dear friends, what will you defend?

Pray tell.

feedmetothefish

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Please Mr Khaw, have a heart.

"So what is the difference in putting them in Johor Bahru?" asked Khaw Boon Wan in ST 10 Feb 2009. Look at "them" lying on the floor in the picture and read here.

"Mr Health Minister Sir, if there is no difference, why don't you ask Mr Lee Hsien Loong to put his mother in a nursing home in JB?" Though it is not nice to use Mrs Lee as an example, it is worse for a minister to offer advice that's offensive to Singaporeans!

I do not know if the Lee family gets preferential treatment at Woodlands Checkpoint but for lesser mortals, Wong Kan Seng's men will be looking for Mas Selamat in every bus, van, car and bicycle everytime we visit sick relatives in JB nursing homes. No sir, in trying to make ends meet, we neither have the luxury of time nor money like you have.

It's so sad that when we grow old and become unproductive and need nursing care, we are nothing but bad news to our caring Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan. We do NS here, work here, slog here, pay our taxes here but we are encourage to go die in Johor Bahru! For being grey, we become part of the "silver tsunami"? To me tsunami means bad waves that kill without mercy, not unlike the fire storms in Australia now. I'm human, I'm sensitive. I'm angered by such derogatory remark made by insensitive and callous minister. It's such a shame that a health minister whose duty is to take care of the welfare and health of its citizens is taking all preventive measures to ensure that his rich government need not cough out a cent when the 'silver tsunami' hits!

"He also disclosed that his ministry is looking at how to help Singaporeans set aside a sum of money for long-term care in their old age. This could take the form of a compulsory medical savings account like Medisave, but called Eldersave." Read here

It is sad. It is so very sad!

CPF was a retirement savings plan when I started work more than 40 years ago. I was promised that my contribution of 25% and my employer's contribution of 25% (yes, total contribution was 50% then) will be returned to me in full with interest when I retire at 55. Along the way the CPF scheme went scheming with Medisave, minimum sum scheme, retirement account, compulsory longevity annuity scheme and now, Eldersave???

For me 55 has come and gone and the promise of me getting my retirement savings (promised made to me 40 years ago) was nothing but a mirage. Yes, they tell me it's still there but I cannot touch it till I'm 62 (minimum sum) which may change to 67 or 85. It's their call. They can change it anytime they please.

Now the cause of my next heart attack. I have my Medisave that I can't use it for my medical care. I need to pay co-payment and deductible before I can use it for my medicines and doctor visits. What hurts most is I have to pay an administrative fee to use my Medisave after paying out of pocket cash for co-payment and deductible. It's my money, been my money but I can't use it even it's specifically meant for my medical care. WTF!

Alas, even under such tough time for common folks, the Health Minister is scheming "with no plan to do so" "Eldersave" to squeeze us further.

'This is, of course, not the time to be talking about raising the CPF contribution rate and we have no plans to do so. But when the economy eventually recovers fully, we should revisit this issue of saving for our long-term care.' he said.

Dear Singaporeans, have your lubricant ready and be prepared to be screwed again as "his ministry is looking at how to help Singaporeans set aside a sum of money for long-term care in their old age."

Good Luck!

feedmetothefish

Query of the day:
Our reserves which come from 'heaven knows where' is an interesting topic these days. With the wayang of $4.9 million draw down for JCS, is it real money? Or is it boardgame monopoly money transfered from left pocket to the right? Sounds nice to have govt help create jobs by dipping into reserves but the money still stay in the reserves, doesn't it?

For those who may have missed it, I must thank mrbrown for his "tan kuku" evergreen here.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Is Singapore Cracking Up?

I fear so.

Here's why:

Reason 1:
Economy and money is more important than people.

In "MM Lee explains Singapore's long-term investment horizon" by Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia on February 6 2009, he said,

"So those MPs who say, 'Give S$300 to every citizen and we will boost the retailers', they just do not understand the bigger picture. You give S$300 like that and it is gone in a shot, and all the things that they will buy, three-quarters of it are imported," he said.


As my mother is not a graduate, understanding the bigger picture may be 56 man years away from me.

I may be wrong but I think the MM was referring to MP Denise Phua's 2009 Budget Debate when she said, "provide a grant of up to $300 per month per eligible Singaporean for as long as the Jobs Credit Scheme is running or when a job is found, which ever is earlier" for the needy retrenched.

Being a lesser mortal, I understand Denise's proposal and objective is to help the needy retrenched. Is MM Lee scoffing at the MP's suggestion? Or is he referring to something else? If Economy is more important to him than his fellow Singaporeans, then I'm sad that Lee Kuan Yew is no longer the human leader he used to be. Does he consider the down-and-out Singaporeans and "needy retrenched" worse than lesser mortals? Are they better off dead since they have become unproductive digits in the grand scheme of 1st world Singapore?

Or is MP Denise Phua the target of MM's dismissal because she highlighted Temasek's Singapore Semiconductor's retrenchment and the loss of more than $400 millions in ABC Learning when she expressed that Jobs Credit Scheme may not do the job of saving jobs but help CEOs and Board members get rich?

Now that MM's daughter-in-law Ho Ching is quitting Temasek, has Denise Phua's comment in Parliament added insult to injury?

Reason 2:
Will foreign talent finally take over Singapore?

As much as Tharman is to Lee Hsien Loong and Chip Goodyear is to Ho Ching, (both may be holding the shit end of the stick) I'm sad that Goodyear (not a Singaporean) knows more of the reserves in Temasek (created and own by every Singaporean) than lesser mortals like us! Having trusted Ho Ching who finds a convenient time to jump ship, am I now asked to trust Chip for more good years? Maybe Ho Ching should offer her services to USA as United State's Secretary of Treasury? Quid pro quo? That is if the man who dares to own up to say, "I screwed up" is able to accept and work with a risk-taker with no regrets!


Reason 3:
Checks & Balances = Trust.

On dipping into reserves and why it takes only one week for the President to approve the $4.9 billion, we are told by our Finance Minister, "This is a system that relies on trust in the individuals who are in charge, including those appointed to the CPA and the Elected President. "Do you trust them? Have they made decisions wisely? Has the government been acting responsibly?" Pardon my cynicism but after all the song and dance of the incorruptible checks and balances that our Government crows about ad nauseam, we are now asked by Tharman Shanmuguratnam to merely trust?

It is scary! Due to the fact that our "system relies on trust in the individuals who are in charge" we are now losing millions through Town Councils and billions through Temasek and GIC. Majority of Singaporeans who happen to be lesser mortals are respectful and trustful. Question is: Are those to be trusted worthy of our trust?

One key? Two key?
Puki, it's such a quickie!

What's inconsolable is the fact that President Ong Teng Cheong who was denied a state funeral was told that he had to wait 56 man years to know the value of our reserves. Now it takes only one week for the ex-Japanese translator and his council of presidential advisors to agree in principle the release of the reserves? Fantastic! We have progressed by leaps and bounds!

Honestly, the reserves are nothing but a mirage. Except for the leeders, who in Singapore knows what reserves are all about? Transparency is a bloody joke! Far as I know, my CPF contribution (my untouchable Medisave that I cannot use in full for my heart attack), what I paid in taxes and what I paid for my little overpriced (subsidised???) HDB pigeon hole add on to the reserves.

Minsters dear, I do not grudge your obscene pay because you have worked and scheme your way up there. I take offence to the fact that you are not doing what you are paid to do. With all the 'A' Team talents that's been claimed in justifying the obscenity, why are we lesser mortals worse off than before you had your increment by the millions? Fair is fair. If you cannot deliver, do you still deserve so much?

The scary fact is:
Too many in Singapore have trusted too few for too long.

As long as the rulers insist on being opaque and think that common folks do not deserve any better, the skeletons will always be in the cupboard. Then again, life is such that truth shall prevail. We all know the skeletons that's dropped out of the cupboards in Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia.

Time will tell.


feedmetothefish

ps: Please bear with me for being repetitive but I thank Charles Chong for the use of the words, "lesser mortals"

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Why can't we own up to our mistake like him?

See this video and compare the difference.
  • One is the President of the United States of America. The other is the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister of Singapore.
  • One earns USD$400,000. The other is estimated to earn around SD$3,000,000, the "real world salary" as reported here.
  • One is considered as a flash in the pan. The other has helmed the MHA for as Home Affairs Minister for almost 15 years.
  • One has owned up to his "screw up". The other still goes on about his never slacken in the search.
Straits Times reported on Feb 6, 2009 here that "JI still a threat: DPM"

'We have no credible information on Mas Selamat's whereabouts to share at this point in time,' said Mr Wong.

'But let me assure Dr Teo that we have not slackened in our search.

'Whether Mas Selamat is in Singapore or he has fled our country, we will hunt him down as we did before.'

As far I can recall, Mas Selamat was a gift from Indonesia to make Singapore's Home Team look stupid. Correct me if I'm wrong but it was in January 2006, that Mas Selamat was arrested by Indonesian anti-terror squads in Java and deported to Singapore. Our self-praise-big-disgrace security agency under the leadership of Mr Wong Kan Seng let Mas Selamat jalan (walk) while taking a leak in the toilet.

The story of missing window grill, security cameras under repair and toilet rolls used as landing pad for limping Mas was simply amazing! It shows the quality of our security measures in Whitley Detention Centre. It also shows the quality of a limping man who within one year re-skilled and up-skilled himself to be as good as the famous escape artist, Houdini.

"we will hunt him down as we did before"???

Hello, since when did we ever hunt him down? Unless my understanding of English fails me, hunting down means capturing. For almost a year now (27 Feb 2008), we let Mas "selamat jalan" (bon voyage in Malay) and we are still hunting and hunting and hunting. Still wasting people's time and money (especially at Johor causeway) looking for Mr Houdini of Singapore.

When Barack Obama screwed up with his selection of Tom Daschle as the Health Secretary, he admitted his mistake to the whole world in prime time TV saying "I screwed up."

As a lesser mortal, I doubt I can see such responsible "take-it-on-the-chin" confession of screw ups from the PAP demigod ministers in my lifetime. I hope in their time, my grandchildren will have more gracious ministers than the ones we have now.

How on earth can a guy who screwed up so badly still talk with so much hubris and false claim of "we will hunt him down as we did before"?

Mr Deputy Prime Minister sir, since when did you hunt him down?

feedmetothefish

Friday, February 6, 2009

Talk is Cheap & Bully is Mean!

We know some can cycle in group in certain public park while others cannot.

We know some can demonstrate on inflation and cost of living while others cannot.

We also know of some who can be in polling stations while others cannot.

Now we know some who take surveys are made to feel like criminals or trouble makers. See video (Mr Siew appears after the MP with striped blue tie).

From ST:
"The suggestion that police action was politically motivated drew a sharp response from Mr Shanmugam: 'I regret that that suggestion was made. It should never have been made.'

"He added, to laughter: 'Mr Siew would accept that complaints, when made to the police, have to be investigated even if it involves someone as important as Mr Siew.'

When Mr Siew protested, the minister said with a smile that it was a light-hearted remark and not meant to suggest he was full of self-importance."

Such pomposity! If only he knows that to every life a little rain must fall (including his), he may not have acted so unkindly.

If such arrogance and insult can be thrown at a respected NMP with a smile, I am sure lesser mortals like us are nothing but cockroaches to be stepped on if we dare suggest anything like Mr Siew Kum Hong did. How dare we complain of shoddy service from the civil servants . . . of Ministers!

We are just to STFU?

The waste of tax payer's money in using hours of policemen's time to "not become a tool for petty politics" is ludicrous indeed!

It is through such pompous, careless and uncivil speeches (speech reported below by ST) that public servants (including police officers) become arrogant, callous and develop a bullying attitude towards poor civilians.

To the greater mortals (according to Charles Chong's standard) who laughed at Mr Siew for his courage to do what self-serving balls-carriers would never do, I'd say that you are no better than the rowdy Taiwanese parliamentarians that your political God so often laugh at and despise. You are worse because you are mean! Shame on you!

The sick joke which nobody laughs at is the audacity of the SECOND Home Affairs Minister to 'surmise' and answer 'without knowing the full details of the event'. This shows how much respect he has for the system and how he has 'debase' the debate in parliament. Worse, in trying to make Mr Siew look small, he has demeaned himself instead.

Report from Straits Times:
Police will not become tool for petty politics, says Shanmugam
By Aaron Low

SECOND Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam yesterday rapped Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong for suggesting the police were being used for political purposes.

He said the high level of trust between the police and the people is an asset that should not be taken lightly.

'My ministry and the police are not intending to let that asset be debased by allowing the police to become a tool for petty politics,' said Mr Shanmugam, who is also Law Minister.

'The integrity and impartiality of the police force should be beyond reproach and that has been and will be our policy.'

He was responding to Mr Siew, who had earlier described his encounter with the police while doing a survey with another person for a political blog.

While polling Jurong residents last October on whether Jurong GRC should have a by-election, Mr Siew noticed two policemen in uniform observing them.

After two hours, they approached Mr Siew's partner, questioned him and took his name down. The officers told Mr Siew they had received a complaint about two persons being a public nuisance. They asked them to stop the survey while they checked with their superiors, he added.

Both complied and after about an hour, the officers told them they could continue. But by then, they were too tired to go on, Mr Siew said, adding:

'It is no joke to have the police come up to you, tell you they have received a complaint that you are breaking the law while declining to disclose details of this complaint, and then keep you waiting for nearly an hour without any update or information on what was going on.'

The experience, said Mr Siew, led him to believe the system lacks transparency and accountability. 'I could not and still cannot shake off the belief that the entire incident was related to the fact that the survey questions could be seen as being politically sensitive,' said Mr Siew.

The suggestion that police action was politically motivated drew a sharp response from Mr Shanmugam: 'I regret that that suggestion was made. It should never have been made.'

The minister said the police had a duty to investigate all complaints, even if they do not merit an investigation.

In fact, the problem is that up to 60 per cent of the calls police receive are nuisance calls. He added, to laughter: 'Mr Siew would accept that complaints, when made to the police, have to be investigated even if it involves someone as important as Mr Siew.'

When Mr Siew protested, the minister said with a smile that it was a light-hearted remark and not meant to suggest he was full of self-importance.

Mr Shanmugam, who said he did not have full details of the event, surmised that the two hours of observation were needed to see if Mr Siew and his companion were indeed a nuisance. 'Having come to the conclusion probably that Mr Siew was not making a nuisance...they probably asked some questions and then checked with their superiors and went off - open, transparent, clear,' he said.

Mr Shanmugam also addressed Mr Siew's concern over the move to give new powers for the police to maintain public order. He said that was part of the evolution of public order laws, which included letting political events take place indoors without a permit, the introduction of Speaker's Corner and allowing public demonstrations to be held there.

'The review of our public order laws is part of this ongoing process to evolve and change in tandem with social change,' said Mr Shanmugam.

Latest:
I'm shocked to hear a fair weather friend has jumped ship during stormy weather. Read here and here.

As I've said often, To every life, a little rain must fall . . . including mine.

feedmetothefish

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Ms Denise Phua, will you shave your head?

Having seen opposition member, Mr Low Thia Kiang being mauled by Mintsters and MPs of PAP after his contribution to the Budget 2009 debate, I was shocked to see the attack dogs go after NMP Mr Siew Kum Hong. See this video and you'd know what I mean.

In the perennial style of the PAP, Heng Chee How asked,"If he believes that the Jobs Credits Scheme is not cost effective, what other ideas would he have to save jobs?". I'm so happy to hear Mr Siew giving an honest answer, "As to whether I have any alternative suggestion to save jobs. I wish I did . . . the reality is I don't. The question is: What do you do to help people whose jobs are lost?"

Mr Siew stated in his blog,"After I completed my speech, four PAP MPs stood up to question me. This is the first time this has ever happened to me, and it was really quite intimidating and unnerving. I really had to think on my feet. I hope I acquitted myself well."

Dear Mr Siew, you've done well in speaking up for the ordinary folks in Singapore and we are proud of you! In appreciation of what you have done , the next time I see you I'll head-kiss you like French international soccer player Laurent Blanc did to Fabien Barthez. Thank you.


As much as I'm not a fan of PAP because of their pompous father-knows-best hubris and treating ordinary folks as lesser mortals, I'm glad to note that Ms Denise Phua is a little different from the pack.

MP Denise Phua went through the baptism of fire when PAP sent her to the wolves in a forum in NUS in May 2006. As member of the audience, my friend and I were shocked when Denise Phua introduced herself by innocently saying "I do not know why they send me here". In the same way that President Barack Obama said, "I screwed up" and Siew Kum Hong said, "I wish I did . . . the reality is I don't", I admire Denise Phua for telling it like it is.

I know that bloggers had a field day then in commenting on her observation that 85% 0f bloggers writes negatively about PAP which she mentioned in that forum. The flames were pretty hot then. Just google "denise phua blogs 85%" and you'd get the all hot stuff!

Surprisingly, Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts, Lui Tuck Yew" is inviting some now. If only Mintster Liu had learned some from MP Denise Phua before he tried to earn his keep in Parliament, the new joke (one of many here) would not have started.

For Ms Denise Phua's contribution to Budget 2009 debate, I must say it takes courage to speak up against the grain and not blindly support what the PAP Immortals decree. "Bonanza Budget - Will Jobs Credit Scheme Save Jobs . . . To reduce the overlaps and inefficiency in the macro amazing maze of CDCs; ethnic based self help groups; grassroots organisations; VWOs; family service centres and charitable bodies . . ." To say that the Jobs Credit Scheme enriches CEO and board members instead of helping employees is telling what comes from the heart and not from the Whip! Yes, she has to support the motion due to the whip but to speak of the dignity of the less fortunate (hearing impaired lesser mortals) who are frustrated with the callousness of the government is something else.

From the video, she is indeed lucky not to have the attack dogs from her own party going after her for clarifications like they did Mr Low Thia Kiang and Siew Kum Hong!

Is she the only one in PAP trying to help Singaporeans "staying together, moving ahead - bersatu padu bersama maju"?

I totally agree with her that "It is easier to critique than to construct" and not to always ask "What's in it for me?"

As a PAP MP, to needle Temasek on ABC Learning in which $400 million went up in smoke is suicidal!

Heck, if she shaves her head bald, I'd give her a head-kiss too!
(For the same reasons I would kiss Mr Siew Kum Hong's botak head).

feedmetothefish

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Why DoThe Crazies Love To Hurt PAP MPs?

I was shocked to read this in CNA. "Rag-and-bone man charged with threatening MP Denise Phua".

After one came with thinner and lighter to torch MP Seng Han Tong on 11 January 2009 forcing Mr Seng to celebrate his Chinese New Year in SGH, we now have another ex-patient of Institute Of Mental Health wanting to hurt another PAP MP.

What has PAP done to ex-patients of IMH that they wish so much to hurt PAP Members of Parliament. What's wrong here? The ex-patients of IMH or the MPs of PAP? Is this another case of missing Ang Pow or are the ex-patients angry over something else?

Has it anything to do with MM Lee's sharing of his doctors's opinion that Chee Soon Juan was a "near psychopath"? Could it be that the two ex-patients were not happy that PAP leader branded them in the same category as Chee Soon Juan!" Could the mentally health challenged feel that way?

Just what makes a person want to hurt another? Is it plain madness as reported in the msm or is it something else?

As the doom and gloom gets worse in 2009, acts like thefts, robberies and worse crimes will be more prevalent. But hurting MPs? Does survival instincts take over rational goodness of being and caring when one is hard done by? Worse still, will more poor and frustrated Singaporeans be high-flyers doing HDB jumps or feeding themselves to moving MRT trains? Does the sense of hopelessness makes a decent person do things that he would not normally do?

As much as I hate to use the "R" word "RESILIENCE" (used ad nauseam since the Budget 2009 Speech), I sincerely hope that Singaporeans especially the poor, the down-and-out, the jobless, the retrenched and those who feel cheated will be "resilient" enough not to "upturn the downturn" and "reskill and upskill" their level of madness and violence to solve a problem, to seek justice.

As much as I think PAP Mintsters and MPs are overpaid for their performance, I'm totally against violence done and threatened upon them. Nobody deserves the pain and suffering that Seng Han Tong went through.

Having said that, I hope that the Mintsters and MPs will do right by being more pro-people and less pro-greed! As rich as they are, they have lost much!

They have lost touch!

feedmetothefish

Monday, February 2, 2009

Job Credit Scheme is a Misnomer!

Oxsome! Yes, that's Mr Low Thia Kiang's contribution to the Budget 2009 debate. Having come out with his reasons for the no brainer Jobs Credit Scheme, he was strong as an ox to withstand the bullies of the ruling party trying to make him look stupid. I'm glad that the speaker of the house had the decorum to make another mintster sound more stupid.

As vindictiveness is the essence of some, I won't be surprised if the whole ruling party re-orgs to come up with a slammer soon to put LTK down!

Where I'm concerned, the Jobs Credit Scheme is nothing more than a 'wag-the-dog' scheme to help companies and put the Government in a good light. It is a good hype to use the word "jobs" to give the impression that it is helping the employees. No matter how wordsmiths and lawyers would like to put LTK down, we cannot hide the fact that "Jobs Credit Scheme" is nothing but an "Employers Credit Scheme"!

The example given by Mr Low of employers saving $7,500 vs $900 must have made many experts in MOF cringe. It was reported in the Straits Times by, of all people, Chua Lee Hoong that even "Mr Ngiam Tong Dow, a retired Ministry of Finance permanent secretary, even argues that the Jobs Credit scheme is a 'strategic mistake . . . What makes the scheme easy to implement is that Singapore has in place the Central Provident Fund. The government grants are paid directly into the CPF accounts of workers.".

The scheming of this scheme is like magic! You'd know that the money from the left hand still goes back to the right hand! Interestingly, it's money from the reserves that goes to CPF that goes back to the reserves!

The greater joke is $4.9 billion dip into the reserves to make things happen.Wow, it sounds so grandiose and noble-like to have one key by government and the other key by Mr President to open the secretive keyhole of the vault to use the $4.9 billion. How much we have inside the vault only God knows! Even our past president Mr Ong Teng Cheong had trouble finding out.

Do the ministerial elites think that:
  • Where our reserves comes from is of no concern to Singaporeans.
  • How much is our reserves is of no concern to Singaporeans.
  • Where our reserves are (apart from being in ShinCorp, ABC Learning, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, UBS, etc. where they are forced to be transparent) is of no concern to Singaporeans.
  • As much as Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong, Lee Hsien Loong, Tony Tan and Tharman Shamugaratnam can quote on the wonderful state of our reserves, who are we to know? If President Ong Teng Cheong had so much trouble seeking the truth, you think truth will be told to us peasants? So when I read "Never Break Piggy Bank" or "GIC generates returns", I'm like, "What Piggy Bank? What returns?"
One key, Two keys or Puki to open the vault of Temasek or GIC, is also of no concern to Singaporeans!

"Jobs Credit Scheme" or "Employers Credit Scheme"?

Meanwhile, 'Singapore will come out of this,' said Mr Tharman. 'We will bounce back the way we've bounced back three times already in 10 years.' - Straits Times

Hey, with the pay you guys are getting, we should not be in this aweful jam in the first place!

If you lead by example, you'd better cut cost (especially mintsters' salary) to save jobs in your ministries too!

Talk is so bloody cheap!

feedmetothefish