Daily Discourse – War on Terror

One of the greatest idiocy of the 21st Century must be the War on Terror.

Why do I say so? The reason being that it is a war that can never be won. After all, terrorism is but a tactic used by its perpetrators. Just how does one declare war on a tactic and expect to win? That is a question you must ask the dumbest U.S. President ever – George W. Bush – and his fumb duck administration regime.

This isn’t the same as declaring war on an political ideology – for e.g. communism – where you can exploit the flaws of of the system that is based on it. To declare war on terrorism is about the same as declaring war on Sun Tzu’s Art of War or von Clausewitz’s On War. Generally speaking, both of these works explore how to effectively conduct a war or fight battles and to win them. In other words, when you beat someone who used a tactic he learnt from Sun Tzu’s Art of War, does it mean you have defeated the book and the tactic itself? Will it stop that tactic from being used again?

It could simply mean that that tactic was badly applied or inappropriate for that situation. Above which, bringing the might of conventional forces upon the terrorists is simply forcing the terrorist to fight on your terms which thus allow you to beat / kill them. Does that really constitute a victory against the tactic called ‘terrorism’? Will killing the likes of Osama bin Laden, or his successors, bring an end to terrorism?

A M1 Tank ‘winning’ the ‘War on Terror’Priceless!

Simply put, to declare war on terrorism is nothing more than an ill conceived notion that it will come to an end once you killed enough of those who fight on the side of those who apply the tactic. That is terrorism in itself, and it says a lot about the idiots – including that of our government gahmen – which support this hare-brained war.

Even if terrorism had been a political system / ideology like Communism, was it defeated on the fields of battle? Look at North Korea and Vietnam – all of these engagements didn’t end in an American victory. But today everyone can see communism as a dead end in these countries and other than North Korea, just who practices Communism anymore?

So this is how Communism was really defeated in the end! It was only defeated when the people who once supported and lived under it no longer believed that it worked for them and make the necessary changes. Indeed, when we look at the ‘War on Terror’, it simply affirms the fact that when we looked at our history, we discovered that we never learn from it at all.

Frankly, the so-called ‘War on Terror’ has not made the world more stable or secure. In fact, it did the contrary. While enhanced security measures now makes it more difficult for acts of terror to be perpetrated, look at the disruption it has brought to our lives when we take flights, use our public transports and even something as simple as finding a rubbish bin to throw away a useless receipt.

However, we must thank the ‘War on Terror’. It is one of the many things that managed to terminate Nixon’s ‘Southern Strategy’, an election strategy which brought an end to one generation of Democrat political dominance since Franklin Roosevelt. It is also an election strategy which for the past 36 years, put 4 Republican Presidents (Nixon, Reagan, Bush Senior and Junior) into the White house while the Democrats only managed to put in two (Carter and Clinton).

George W. Bush, has not only proven that he is the dumbest President in American history so far, he has also brought to an end a generation of Republican dominance in American politics. Once the Republican’s conservative stand has represented stability and security, George W. Bush and the current Republican party took matters too far and brought it to an end.

The idiotic ‘War on Terror’, among with the current economic crisis, are just one of the many things that brought many Americans to that realization. And if Obama manage to pull the American economy through this crisis, it will probably usher in a generation of political dominance by the Democrats. The Republicans will continue to be sidelined until some genius comes along and save that party.

Would a similar change come to Singapore? Perhaps, but it will not be the promise of change. It will only come when the people realised that the parties or candidates they traditionally support and voted for, can no longer provide the security and stability they have always represented.

In short, all that from Baby Lee about change coming to this country will not come from a two-party system but from renewal within the Tali-PAP… is nothing more but a load of horse dump.


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Uniquely Singapore #3 – Traffic Accidents

Singaporean drivers, for some odd reasons, like to slow down whenever there are some vehicles stopped on the road. The vehicle could simply be stalled, having a punctured tyre or involved in a traffic accident.

So, there was a 2-vehicle accident between a van and a small lorry this morning. It caused a jam on both directions of the roads Jalan Boon Lay and Boon Lay way as early as 7:15am, and for a moment I thought the economic crisis is already hitting so hard that more people are moving off earlier in the morning to avoid the ERP charges. Then there was a slow down along the AYE all the way to Clementi Ave 2, because a trailer has broken down on the shoulder.

As the cab I am on drove past the 2 ‘troubled spots’, I realised the reasons for most of these jams or slow downs is not because the vehicle-of-attraction has become an obstacle blocking part of the road and thus required some careful driving, but because of a lot of these nosy people are taking a look at what has happened. I seriously couldn’t fathom why in the universe they need to do that. As a result of their curiosity, it can cause slow traffic that could go on for several kilometers, and even those who are not interested ‘paid’ for their curiosity in the form of an unnecessary delay.

The usual explanation for their curiosity is that they wanted to take note of the license plate number so they can punt on 4D. And if that is true then there are several ways to deal with that.

  1. By having the numbers displayed on those huge LTA displays. Instead of displaying information like: Accident vehicle on Lane 1 or Vehicle breakdown on shoulder, it should display, Vehicle(s) xxx xxxx x brokedown on shoulder, or Vehicle(s) xxx xxxx x in accident.

  2. Have a subscription service provided by a GLC or maybe the Telcos. Whoever loves these information can always pay $10 a month (just about 35 cents a day) and numbers of all accident vehicles on the Expressway will be sent via sms to them. They will even get the numbers on roads they are not on!

  3. Have the numbers automatically forwarded to Singapore Pools and the Singapore Turf Club to be marked so no one can place a bet on them. In short, give no reasons for the nosy-parkers to even look the numbers.

  4. Adjust ERP rates on the fly to $5 in the gantry ahead within 10 minutes so everyone gets the ‘incentive’ to move faster instead of looking at the accident / broke down vehicles.

And see? You don’t even pay me 3-million to come up with these lousy ideas.

正义总是迟到,但是早晚会到!

正义总是迟到,但是早晚会到! – 这是电影 《黑金》 里,记者凌飞写在一张字条上的句子。是赠给刑警方国辉,目的是让他不要气馁。

看到陈水扁这贼人上了手铐的照片,真是大快人心,也让我再次记起了这一句话。这是否代表迟到的正义真的到来了,让那些有罪的人得到他们应得的报应?

什么时间也顺道逮捕他那 “A 钱时龙精虎猛,出庭就百病缠身” 的妻子呢?误了台湾两千多万人整整八年,搜刮了那么多的财富,就算是判他全家死刑也是死有余辜。本人认为,只有没收他家族所有的财产,让他们余生在街边讨饭,过一过求助无门的日子,还勉强算得上是罪有应得!

我想也只有如此,才能泄大伙们的心头之愤。


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Daily Discourse – STARiS

TODAY [November 8 2008]
– Leong Wee Keat

Can’t hear the name of the station when arriving at the next stop? Wondering whether thedoors will open on the right or left side? Soon, commuters can use a new onboard rail travel information system to find the answers.

SMRT, which operates the North-South and East-West lines, put the system – which includes a new route map and information system – on trial on one train on Friday.

Unlike the existing static route maps in trains, the new map mounted above all train doors will indicate the direction of travel with a series of lights. A red light will show the current station, while a blinking red light will indicate the next station.

A series of green lights will indicate which line the train is travelling on, and the direction of travel. The route map will also have a “door opening” indicator, to show which side of the train the doors will open. Information about terminal and interchange stations will also be shown.

In addition, a fluorescent unit – similar to those seen in 21 trains here – will be mounted on train ceilings, displaying multi-language text synchronised with in-train audio announcements.

The system, called STARIS, was developed by SMRT over two months. It will be installed on all 106 SMRT trains after the trial ends in January. The entire installation would cost the train operator around $12.72 million, and should be completed by 2010.

SMRT deputy president and chief operating officer Yeo Meng Hin said costs would not be passed on to commuters: “It is a service issue and not a fare issue.”

Commuters on the trial train gave their thumbs up. Frenchman Franklin Huber, 26, said: “It helps to tell where you are going. The trains can be quite noisy so we may not hear the announcements.”

Finally! It would have been well done and a pat on the back but what took you fellows so long? After all, the trains have been running since 1987. Thus, SMRT COO Yeo is right to say that this is a service issue and not a fare issue because this should have been implemented for ages.

But there’s something puzzling here. Why is there the need to develop the system when STARiS looked just exactly like what I saw on the Hong Kong MTR trains when I was there in August? Did Singapore once again reinvent the wheel, just like they did with our EzLinkItchyLink card when Hong Kong already have a similar system in place – the Octupus [八達通]?

Furthermore, will this be shared with Comfort Delgro, which is operating the N-E Line and have them pay for part of the development costs so they don’t have to re-re-invent the wheel again? Just why spend money to reinvent a technology that is already available when you can pay the money to obtain it? It makes one wonder what cost analysis was done on this matter to come to the conclusion that developing it is cheaper than obtaining it from overseas.

Either way, I have not much faith in believe that this cost won’t be passed to commuters. After all, if it’s not energy prices, then the justification would be operating costs – which will cover wages, maintenance of the trains (including STARiS), the tracks and replacement of the trains. Just how SMRT justify that it isn’t passed on to the commuters at all will be hard to verify. Above which, even if this was taken from part of the previous record profits SMRT has made to cover this… it simply means the cost has already been passed to commuters.

Oh well…


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Weekend Discourse – Town Councils and Lamer Brothers

Below is an excerpt from pg. A25 of Mypaper [我報] on Friday, 7th November 2008

I was surprised to read that town councils sank part of their funds into Lehman Brothers-linked minibonds.

Dr Teo Ho Pin, coordinating chairman of the 14 People’s Action Party town councils, has said that the investments make up a small percentage of the town councils’ total funds…. – Gilbert Goh Keow Wah

As my colleague and best friend showed me this article, I was once again incensed and brought back to the day when the town council said operating costs have increased and thus there is a need to raise conservancy charges.

And then I got more incensed when I remembered the day when I discovered that they have actually accumulated millions of dollars in sinking funds. And I have always asked this question, Where did all these extra money come from if the town councils are not already overcharging us?

We cracked some jokes and speculated on how that money came about over lunch, but I am not free to share them as they can be potentially libellious. None of us wants to clean our asses to do time and get free ‘kari rice’ in a Tali-PAP jail.

Anyway, as the news that they have lost money in LehmanLamer Brothers-linked minibonds sink in, more questions begin to form in my head. And the first question I have to ask will be directed at Teo Ho Pin. How much of public money meant for the maintenance of the town is lost? Which town council is hit the worst?

My next question, will be at the two opposition town councils, What about you guys?

My third question, whom one of my other colleague having lunch with me pointed out, is directed at the MAS and the banks. How can anyone now even say that those individual investors who are seasoned or better educated should know the risk and thus they should expect nothing back from their bad investments?

The reason this question must be asked is because when the town councils which would be better advised than any single individual can be on matters of investments have also screw up, how can we expect individual investors who have less resources and are probably even less informed to know the risks?

My fourth question, is at the town council. Who is making these investment decisions? Shouldn’t someone be held responsible for this fiasco now?

Or is it like Wall Street where CEOs takes their nice little bonus and share option packages while things are well, and just throw up their hands, declare bankruptcy and leave the mess for the taxpayers to clean up? Frankly, I must say, from the NKF to our town councils, the continual justifications to maintain a large amount of reserves is becoming annoying. Is it not a time to decide on what that figure should be – revised every few years – and give a proper accounting on them, even when we understand why it is even needed?

And my final question, is also at the town council. With so much freaking sinking funds, and in view of the impending economic downturn, should the town council not now use some of that money to alleviate the burden everyone have to bear, by lowering conservancy charges?

Frankly, just when the hell did you clowns become some kind of bank or profit-orientated organisation? Is your main job to maintain our town and serve us, or just another big ass organization that cares only about your Profit & Loss sheets? Or perhaps town councils are really un-necessary, but just another unemployment sink where jobs are created the unemployment figures don’t look so bad, while at the meantime clean up some figures from the gahmen spendings so it doesn’t have to make provisions for the ministry / department for city maintenance on their annual budget?


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