The Mother of All Sacrifices?

Seriously, I think most MPs and ministers of PAP are making a sacrilege of the word "sacrifice"! The latest came from a Brigadier-General. It's profane! It's sad to see the word "sacrifice" so badly hacked and desecrated.

When Minister of State Tan Chuan-Jin, choking over his words said: "I'm pained by the knowledge that I'll miss the many moments when my children are growing up and time with my family. My parents are not getting any younger. Those moments missed do not return. Ever... In time I will look back and there will be gaps. But that's life. I'm not sure how one considers it a privilege to miss these precious moments. It trivialises all of us who do cherish these." [Link].

So bloody sad! Blind me! For a moment, I thought he was describing the job of the Security Guard who works 12-hour shift followed by another 6 hours washing dirty dishes at the hawker centre just to make ends meet. Or was he talking about the sacrifices made by foreign domestic helpers who come to work in this 'red dot soon to be a black spot'? No, my dear readers. He was lamenting the job he's holding!

To be paid millions and have the privilege to serve and to come up with a rhetoric like, I repeat,

"I'm pained by the knowledge that I'll miss the many moments when my children are growing up and time with my family. My parents are not getting any younger. Those moments missed do not return. Ever... In time I will look back and there will be gaps. But that's life. I'm not sure how one considers it a privilege to miss these precious moments. It trivialises all of us who do cherish these." almost takes my breath away.

Such rhetoric does trivialise real work done by real people. Get real, man! Worse, it denigrates all hardworking men and women who work long hours, missing their children and neglecting their aged parents, just to put food on the table, pay the bills and put their kids in school. Do these poor souls consider it a "sacrifice"? I doubt so. They are merely doing what needs to be done to survive without an inkling of what high-falutin' sacrifice is about!

It is often said that PAP ministers sit in their ivory towers unacquainted with the harsh realities of commoners. It is sad to know that newly minted Minister of State is also ignorant of commoners' daily struggles. Or has this "callous sickness" affected top elites and honchos in the Armed Forces too?

I'm at a loss for words to describe the hubris and audacity of the Brigadier-General. Some English vulgarities come to mind but I shall desist using them. However, a Hokkien "KNNBCCB" and/or a Mandarin "Neow nee ma de chee pee" (I learned from a Nanyang graduate while serving NS in 1969) does help to lift the pain off my chest.

I just don't get it. Why the PAPies keep harping about their sacrifices is really beyond me. They are, even after the salary cut, still the highest paid in the world. Yet, they are still belly-aching that their sacrifices are not recognized. To bitch that he misses his mama, papa, wife and kids while he works to earn his millions is no better than Wee Shu Min, daughter of ex PAP parliament member Wee Siew Kim saying, 'Get off my elitist uncaring face"!

Denise Phua, one of the more decent PAP MPs whom I respect for her guts and candour, did a Drama Mama with a glass half filled with water. She was driving the point on "perception" and I caught her drift. I'm at a loss at just what Brigadier-General Drama was trying to prove with his Thank You Card. That we should appreciate his "SACRIFICE" by sending him more cards? Thanks but no thanks. Self praise leads to much disgrace. No?

Lee Hsien Loong and his team decided in 2007 to pay PAP ministers millions. In so doing, they made a mockery of National Service and Reservists' Training. They killed the sense of service and loyalty to one's country. It left a bitter taste in the mouths of millions of $ingaporeans. In trying to mitigate the "Mother Of All Excesses", he directed Gerard Ee (was it Gerrard's privilege or sacrifice & was he paid?) to do a review.

Wise after te Event:

I, like everyone else, have a 20/20 vision after the event. So does WP when they improved on Gerrard's recommendation. Likewise, PAP's sight was on the target trying its best to humiliate WP for its genius.

My observation:

1. The Review hurts PAP bad. Very bad. Having reduced his and his "kah kia's" salary, Lee Hsien Loong must be very 'hsien'. He should have let the old salary ride and not try to be a "popular" politician. PAP has prided itself in not succumbing to the popularity poll for decades and now PM Lee has gone against the grain. Instead of healing the nation and make people understand (so as to have more dragon babies, pun intended), he has wreaked havoc. Throughout the 3-day debate, after Chen Show Mao's speech, PAP was on the defensive. The silly attacks they made on WP especially on Gerald, Pritam and Jenn Jong shows the bully that PAP is. Instead of scoring brownie points, PAP has scored its own goals.
   
   
2. Workers' Party is no longer OMO (one man operation) and PAP knows it is a Party to be reckoned with. WP has shown through Chen Show Mao, Pritam Singh and others that PAP does not have the exclusive hold of political talents and leaders of Singapore. It proves that talents with passion and willingness to serve Singapore need not be bought with million dollars salary. In fact, many more may be willing to serve without being affiliated to or tainted by PAP. The cross may be too hard to carry as shown by George, Hwee Hwa and Zainal Abidin.
   
   
3. 1st World Parliament: The performance of the PAP Ministers and PMs left much to be desired. The jibes and insinuations on the opposition's "insincerity" and making "political mileage" out of the debate shows the quality (or lack of) of PAP members. After decades of watching the bullying tactics against gentlemen like JB Jeyaratnam and Chiam See Tong by PAP, it's neat to note that such tactics do not work anymore. It brings shame and disrespect to PAP. It's tiring to see such stupidity at work and hopefully we'll see less.
   
   
4. Lee Kuan Yew had to write a letter to msm, "Don't underpay our ministers" [Link] to defend the high salary. His son, the Sec-Gen of PAP spoke. DPM Teo Chee Hean spoke. So did other top guns from PAP. So far, not a word from the Sec-Gen Low Thia Kiang and Chairman Sylvia Lim of Workers' Party. It is enlightening to note that the top 2 in WP need not involved themselves in this debate while PAP needed all the support fire, including that of ex-MM Lee, to flog a dead horse. Does it tell you that "A rose by any name smells as good"? OR , a greedy self serving deed, no matter how revised, stinks to high heaven?
   
   
5. My most striking observation is the fact that PAP members do not see (or purposely refuse to see) Chen Show Mao's distinct differences from Gerard Ee's recommendation:
   
   WP recommends a base pay instead of artificially bringing it up and giving a 40% DISCOUNT. Thus not having a charade of putting up ministers on a pedestal and showing their sacrifice and graciousness of accepting a pay cut. Worse than hubristic stupidity, it is a 'mootherfooking disgrace' to upsize the pay, then give a 40% Discount to make the ministers look good!
   
   As much as Loong said that he never mentioned pay when he recruited his "kah kia's", his subordinates may be in pain. If not, words from MsGraceFu and BG Tan Chuan-Jin on (pardon my expression) his childrenless. wifeless and parentless sacrifice would not have seen the light of day.
   
   When a DPM can say something like, "We need transparency but we must respect the privacy of individuals" Singaporeans know we are pwned!
   
   
6. However, let's take the glass from Denise Phua and see it as half-full instead of half-empty. With PAP's continuing "don't get it" or "refuse to get it", we know they will pay dearly for it in the next election. Hopefully, in 2016, we'll have more leaders and less Sacrificers!
   
   
7. Worrisome thought: Now that the deed is done - ministers' pay cut - will my mother, wife, sister, daughter and grand daughter end up working as maids in foreign countries sacrificing like Brigadier General Tan Chuan-Jin does without the million dollars salary? Heaven forbids.

Yeah, I'm sitting here typing away on my keyboard, tickling my brain to come up with something good, neglecting members of my family, writing this blog without a single cent in financial reward . . . So is it my Sacrifice or Privilege? Neither.

Therapeutic, may be.

feedmetothefish

Note:

"KNNBCCB" = Go check with any Hokkien Peng for this vulgarity.

"Neow, Neow, Neow nee ma de chee pee" was the favourite phrase used by my NCO colleague (Nanyang University grad) when we did NS in '69 . He loved to used it on arrogant recruits who talked cock and complained often. The words in Mandarin means something like "disturb/complain/tickle, mother, female genital skin". It sounded classier and more refined than the ubiquitous and harsh "KNNBCCB" .