Category: Rants

Current Affairs – TOC Gazetted as Political Association

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On Jan 11, the Prime Ministers Office [PMO] issued a letter informing the ‘blog’ known as ‘The Online Citizen’ [TOC] that “The Prime Minister intends to declare the owners, editorial team, and administrators of The Online Citizen (TOC), by order in the Gazette, to be a political association for the purposes of the Political Donations Act”.

I started reading TOC around late 2008, some time after the financial crisis. I liked the way the TOC provided the poor ‘ah pek ah soh investors’ who have ‘lost their pants’ in Lehman-linked products an avenue to seek redress, even though I do not necessarily have a good opinion of Tan Kin Lian. I felt what was done was meaningful and good, even though I have no self interest in the matter. After all, I had no investment in Lehman-linked products, nor had my parents lost anything in these products.

I then continued to read the TOC on and off – since my friends or acquaintances would post links to TOC articles on Twitter, Plurk or even their own Facebook wall from time to time. From March 2009 onwards all the way until the AWARE EGM in May, I was disillusioned with the seemingly liberal and pro-HBT [Homosexual, Bisexual, Transgendered / Transvestite] agenda. In fact, there was very little difference reading TOC or the Peoples Daily Straits Stooge Times.

It made me question TOC’s agenda. In fact, I removed the link to TOC soon after. When Wayang Party gave itself the new atas name of Terbalik Revue Temasek Review, my experience with TOC put me off the idea of linking it. I had no clue Wayang Party has merely changed its name, and I thought it has simply disappeared. It was fortunately I didn’t, because I would have regretted my decision as I have a very low opinion of the content on Wayang Party all these while.

Even though I have stopped linking TOC, I have not written it off completely. But I am further disillusioned when TOC made a fuss over the death sentence of Yong Vui Kong and championed for the abolition of the death sentence. Every drug trafficker has his own sad story to tell. In fact, some violent criminals maybe a doting father, a loving husband or a filial son. But does that justify the pardoning of their crimes? The entire premise behind the objection to the death sentence seems to be that someone innocent may be sentenced to death, and then it would be too late when proven otherwise. But this implied that our police officers have failed in their due diligence in their investigations. It suggests that our police officers are sloppy in their work. It suggest that our courts simply go through the motion of sentencing people to their deaths and are nothing more than a rubber stamp before people are put to death. (The perhaps sort of explain why Alan Shadrake got into trouble.)

I have since then almost stopped reading TOC. I only read it when I am compelled to by the title of the articles linked. That’s the complete opposite from the Terbalik Revue, which I had ceased reading completely (Their exaggeration of the bad food served during the YOG sealed their fate). Thus, I wasn’t aware TOC held a F2F (Face to Face) where all the local political parties (including the Tali-PAP) was invited until it was too late.

I didn’t really follow the event but it appears that the Tali-PAP declined to attend, and the Workers’ Party was accused by certain quarters for being disrespectful for sending someone else other than their own secretary general or even their chairman. I thought that times have really changed, because I was expecting the government gahmen to find some obscure law to stop the event from happening. I was under the impression something like this would never be allowed to be held in the past, and I was expecting some kind of response from the gahmen, if not the ruling party itself.

So it didn’t really come as a surprise that TOC was subsequently gazetted. A few opposition parties erupted in indignant fury, and the Workers’ Party remained quiet. It wasn’t really unexpected, since I am in the opinion that the Workers’ Party has departed from the way of lofty and meaningless ideology a long time ago. What is the point of endlessly talking about democracy in the first place? It serves no purpose other than to expose some of these opposition parties superficial understanding of democracy being nothing more that ‘participation’ while ignoring the fact that most Singaporeans are generally indifferent, if not uninterested. It never cease to amaze me that some of these political parties attempt to have the electorate align with their agenda, while failing to align themselves to that of the electorate. The bad showing of the Singapore Democratic Party [SDP] in the last few elections is a clear testimony of their lack of understanding of their voters.

Above which, these political parties failed to talk more about the other pillars of democracy. I am not talking about the tripartite institutions of democracy such as the executive, the judiciary and the legislative, but the rule of law, the middle class and nation building. Few could argue there is no rule of law in Singapore, as even a mini$ter had been hauled up by the Corruption Practices Investigation Board [CPIB] and he killed himself while in custody. Opposition members like Chiam See Tong has sued the ruling party and won his case. If I am not wrong, there was even a case in which a Tali-PAP MP who was investigated for breach of trust was asked to resign. Very few Singaporeans would argue our courts were ‘opened by the Tali-PAP’ (法院是行動黨開的) like the Taiwanese used to say about their courts being ‘opened by the Kuomingtang [KMT]’ (法院是國民黨開的).

The middle class is Singapore is more concerned with job security and law and order. Cases of a resurgent triad or secret society, or the fear of losing their jobs and slowly slipping into struggling to make ends meet is of greater concern to them. The dissolution of the true-blue Singaporean middle class, replaced with one that is filled with foreign migrants with different aspirations and indifferent to our values and traditions while true-blue Singaporeans are left with the scraps would be something that would be of greater concern than anything else. As far as I am concerned, the usual few opposition parties who makes the most noise about democracy have been utterly lacking in addressing this. Do I really care about ‘participation’ when I am staring at my bowl of rice that is rapidly getting smaller, and even worrying that it would disappear? I am really more concerned with the cost of living and job security. Only after I can feed myself and feel secure can I start looking at the other levels on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, yes?

As to nation building, no one can say that the Tali-PAP has no policies for nation building. Municipal wise, one can look at the plans in place for improving our transport system, plans to rejuvenate certain city centers or to move parts of gahmen departments and services out of the CBD. The two Integrated Resorts [IRs], the industries in Tuas or the many industrial parks stand as a testimony to the plans for nation building. Our only complaints about this may simply be that the Tali-PAP gahmen is more interested in building the hardware or the economics more than the software – the people. If there’s anything lacking it would be fostering a sense of belonging to our nation, or to encourage the people to participate and take ownership of the decision and policy making process. This is where TOC could have served as a platform.

It is interesting that in TOC’s response to the Prime Minister’s Office [PMO] and Media Development Authority [MDA] on the PM’s decision to gazette the TOC, it mentioned that ‘our nation-building efforts will be set back by years’. Yet it is short on details on why and how. I dare to hazard a guess that in the end the TOC will have no choice but to register itself as a political association, since few would have cared to take a harder look into the potential of TOC other than a whiners’ platform – even though they could have been ‘whiners’ that make good points at times.

Fortunately, while I am a even worse whiner at times, I have a low readership and too insignificant to gazette… 😛

Random Discourse – Politicians and UFOs

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I find this hilarious article while flipping through my dad’s Shin Min a few days ago. I quote:

” 本報上月底曾報道，美國權威組織驚爆，3艘載有外星生物的巨型太空船，正從冥王星行駛軌道外向地球駛來，預計明年12月抵達地球。

國民團結黨秘書長吳明盛看了這則報道後，在網絡發表文章，稱自己曾見過像是飛碟的不明飛行物體 (UFO)。”

(Translation summary – Goh Meng Seng, secretary general of the NSP published an article on the web claiming he has also seen a saucer like UFO after it was reported on the Shin Min Daily that SETI reported 3 UFOs near the orbit of Pluto and is heading towards Earth. They are estimated to arrive in Dec 2012.)

I sincerely hope Shin Min Daily News [新明日報] was just blowing its own trumpet when it claims that Goh Meng Seng has made his UFO claim after seeing that article. The fact is, the article in question was not found in any other major newspapers in Singapore, other than making a brief appearance on the online version of the Straits Times. As far as I know, it was not reported on TV either. In other words, the article is false. It is about as true as the news of Facebook closing down in March 15 (or April 1st). Just how people can get suckered by that after Goldman Sachs Sux invest US$500 Million into it and valued it at US$50 Billion is beyond me.

The first point I want to make is this, whenever I come across such outrageous or shocking news, the very first thing I will do is to simply ‘google’ for it. Had the news been real, it would be all over CNN, MSNBC, BBC and the likes. Yet, I turned up completely nothing on the main stream media. The second thing to do is look it up at snopes.com. While snopes.com may not be the final authority in the topic, at least it would digest the article and explain what is true and what is not.

So what is the point I want to make here? The point I want to make is that Goh Meng Seng is not some nobody Ah Beng but the secretary-general of the National Solidarity Party [NSP]. He claimed that he does not really know whether the news about the three gigantic spaceship is real or not, but as I have mentioned earlier the news is easily verifiable. If he had indeed made this claim after reading just the Shin Min article without having even check how true this article is, I would consider him a fool. I would count myself fortunate that he had made it clear he would be contesting only in Tampines GRC, and not anywhere else. Had he made it known he’ll be contesting in my constituency, I would be forced to do something that is against my principles – i.e. to cast a bad ballot in the coming elections.

Frankly, just how can I trust someone who never verify the facts before making a statement? While it maybe statistically true that out of the billions of stars in the universe, there could be other life bearing planets and thus space-faring alien races, I am not particularly enthusiastic about meeting any of them. In fact, I would consider fleeing to Tora Bora to live in a cave just like a Osama Osalah Bin Laden if an alien arrival is imminent. The aliens can hunt me down and kill me like a rat in the caves, but I will not be slaughtered like cattle while gathering around with everyone else to welcome the ‘visitors’.

It makes me wonder what was Goh Meng Seng’s objective in making his UFO claims? Was he trying to reach a “certain segment of the electorate” using these outrageous claims? According to the Shin Min Daily’s article, Goh Meng Seng allegedly claims he is not worried to be considered a loony for making his ‘UFO sighting’ public. In spite of that, this reinforced my personal opinion that some of our local opposition politicians have some kind of mental (if not moral) problems. It reminds me of Dr Chee Soon Juan barking screaming madly at Goh Chok Tong and Steve Stiff Chia taking photo of his maid.

Perhaps, the rabid opposition supporters would dismiss this as yet another attempt by the local main stream media to discredit the opposition. After all, the local main stream media has always been considered a lapdog and propaganda machine of the Tali-PAP government gahmen. Fortunately for them, they can all flock to the biased sites like Temasek Review Terbalik Revue and The Online Citizen.

The SPH’s yang to the TOC / TR’s yin. Both sides have to exist to maintain the balance.

Random Discourse – Why some of us don’t feel belonged?

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“This is your country. What do you want me to do to make you feel you belong? If the majority feel they don’t belong here, then we have a fundamental problem. Then I would ask myself: What am I doing here? Why should I be working for people who don’t feel they belong over here?” – SM Goh

This is SM Goh’s comments to student Lim Zi Rui at the Ministerial Forum organised by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Students’ Union.

Out of reflex, my answer to the above comments were – ‘Stop making us feel like we are serfs working for an aristocracy.’ A friend humorously said, ‘Just pay me peanuts (of the Durai kind).’.

I had to re-read Goh’s comments because I thought it was misquoted. After all, I would expect such callous remarks from the younger mini$ter$, who certainly didn’t have the acumen of the older generation in spite of all that… mentoring. (The dedication of the younger mini$ter$ have always been questionable because it is my considered opinion that these self proclaimed ‘elites’ only ‘served’ the nation with great reluctance after offered an exorbitant pay. That’s not mentioning their remarks is a testimony that they are not even fit to be a Member of Parliament, much less a leader of this country.)

Goh’s response is so very typical of the Tali-PAP – a party that always insist it is right back no matter what. Clearly our mini$ter$ do not really know how to handle unexpected situation and comments, in spite of their self professed elitism. I hope Goh (and his fellow mini$ter$) would reflect after the forum why the government’s gahmen’s ‘foreign talents’ policy had alienated some Singaporeans. Granted that the gahmen had the economic statistics to justify their policies, they must realise that statistics hardly matter to those who live in a reality different from what the statistics portray, or to those who perceived their situation differently.

Goh’s response also made me wonder whether that was really him since it clearly showed a failure to separate cheap foreign labour from the so-called ‘foreign talents’. This is obvious when Goh has asked Lim Zi Rui – who’s going to build your HDB flat? – to defend the gahmen’s policy of welcoming foreigners. Goh might as well have asked who’s going to be the prostitutes? It was the wrong question, if not the worst, to ask in defense of a policy that has gone awry.

The comment made me feel like an idiot because I (and I believe most Singaporeans) clearly know the difference between cheap foreign labour and those with skills we do not have. Singaporeans definitely understand the need for foreign labour. While we may complain that those at the food courts no longer cook local delicacies to our accustomed taste, about the cultural differences or even the dorms in the vicinity of our estates, we all know these foreigners are taking up jobs that few of us want to do – such as construction workers, cleaners, helpers in food courts, or even call center operators. Most of these transient workers don’t really bother us even though they put a strain on our public transport system. Even so, the problem with our public transport system is actually more of a problem as with the thrice damned profit driven public transport operators and we don’t reject those who come here to built our homes and clean our streets.

There is however a group of foreigners that really pisses us off. Those who compete with us for jobs we are qualified for. They take our jobs away because they are willing to accept a lower pay. The gahmen doesn’t seem to be bothered when we voiced our concerns. Instead, it chastised us for being lazy, complacent and demanding and lecture us on how we should live with the hard reality of globalisation. Yet at the very same time it expects us to work even longer years and accept our ever increasing cost of living. That’s not mentioning an experienced worker in his late 30s increasingly finds it difficult to get employed while inexperienced youngsters (not necessarily Singaporeans) are employed simply because they are paid less. (That’s not forgetting how they screw things up for us by saying how good our public transport is compared to where they come from. They might as well have said it is great we actually have MRT compared to Sudan which doesn’t even have one!)

While it maybe true statistically this country has created more jobs than Singaporeans can fill, what is there to assure us that companies are not abusing this policy to reduce cost and employ staff elsewhere? How many people have changed line (for e.g. driving a cab) or take up jobs that barely make ends meet so they disappear from the unemployment statistics to allow the Tali-PAP gahmen to paint its rosy picture?

The Tali-PAP gahmen can quit making it sound like Singapore can’t do without foreigners because it encourages some foreigners to act like we can’t do without them. In fact, some even dared to ask why they are not accorded the same privileges (if not entitlements) when they have not performed the same duties required of citizens. [1] [2]. While the Tali-PAP gahmen can do whatever it takes to make foreigners feel at home, there is clearly no need to be obsequious. It’s boot-licking attitude serves no other purpose other than embolden them to think we owe them or we can’t do without them.

Beyond that, the gahmen should stop sticking its head in the ground to some of the associated problems that comes with the influx of foreigners – such as housing, and even places in our universities. Regardless of whether these problems are perceived or real, the gahmen has done very little to address it. Take for example the COV (Cash over value) of HDB resale flats. At times, it is hard for people to accept the gahmen’s stand that COV has remained near zero for years statistically when residents regularly receive pamphlets in their letter box with COV offers ranging from $20,000 to even $50,000.

That takes me to the matter of the housing policy, which in my opinion it is nothing but system of modern serfdom or slavery. Certainly the influx of foreigners isn’t the only issue that plagues us. I won’t go into details on the housing policies, because the Reform Party did a better job in analyzing this whole issue about housing. (Really, Mah Bow Tan Mabok Tongue should go to an SMC like Hougang, and show us whether the Hougang’ers buy his bullshit about the housing policy. After all, it was the Mini$ter Mentor Lao Lee who said that if he can’t defend his policies, he should get voted out.)

If Goh really want to know how to make us feel belong, take a hard look at the damage done by the so-called ‘foreign talent’ and housing policies. They have made home feel nothing more than hotel where we need to put up a smiling face to welcome all these guests (foreigners) while we work our asses off. It is made worse by the Tali-PAP’s corporate style of running the nation. Living in Singapore no longer feel like being at home. Indeed, it feels like being at work perpetually! And the worst part of this job is, you can’t find alternate employment, you don’t even get paid and you own the boss rent for the place you stay in. Not to mention you are called upon to be its security forces from age 18 until at least 40, if you are not an officer.

Home? Feel belonged? Ya, right.

Random Discourse – $8 Heart Bypass Surgery

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Hell Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said he paid only $8 for his heart bypass surgery. This is all by his Medishield and a private Shield supplement, while Medisave took care of his co-payment. I know this is old news, and I am only now talking about this because I haven’t really been catching up with the news lately.

With the General Elections just around the corner, perhaps Khaw intends to showcase just how superbly Medishield (which came into effect in 1990) has done its job. However, when one take a closer look one will realise that Medishield will only look good as long as everyone has the money to pay the premiums for coverage, which in turn will demonstrate its flaws and inadequacy.

Let me explain.

First of all, Khaw is short on details how he managed to attain his ‘healthcare nirvana’. I certainly don’t understand how that worked out to $8. Lee Lilian from the Workers’ Party did a breakdown in her blog post and she couldn’t work out how the $8 is derived. Perhaps Mr Khaw should go into the details of his Shield supplement and enlighten us how he managed to achieve this. Everyone (or perhaps no one) knows the basic Medishield is really inadequate if one has a large bill or require medical attention outside a public hospital. From what I understand (I could be wrong), a basic Medishield plan will only cover up to $3000, and the less fortunate among us will definitely be unable to afford a heart bypass.

While I don’t know how much Khaw paid annually for his medical insurance coverage, I know for a fact we (and we alone) paid for our Medishield, and whatever private Shield supplement we can afford out of our own pockets. That’s right, we pay every single cent out of our own pockets even when that money comes out of Medisave. Comparatively, in Taiwan the employer pays 60% and the government gahmen pays 10%. That works out to about USD30 a person per month per person. An ex-legislator of Taiwan mentioned that under Taiwan’s medical insurance, he only has to pay roughly NT$20,000 (approx. S$1000) in a bypass surgery out of his own pocket while the rest are covered by medical insurance. Based on Lee Lilian’s breakdown, that is still far less than Khaw has to pay out of his Medisave.

Now, I am not bringing up the comparison to say Taiwan has a better system but rather to point out that we bear the burden of our medical insurance all alone. In fact, without a Shield supplement, the basic Medishield coverage will be grossly inadequate and the balance amount will be staggering. A single heart bypass will easily wipe out one’s Medisave, if not a substantial amount of his own personal savings. In other words, it is absolutely certain a Shield supplement is required for everyone. Thus, the affordability of the Shield supplement comes into question as what kind of Shield supplement to get will be dependent on one’s income.

Before I proceed further, let’s reminded there is a S$800 cap on Medisave which can be used to pay for medical insurance. This simply means one needs to start paying more in cash as they aged while their earning power and fitness to work continue to deteriorate. For e.g. my 72-year-old father needs to pay an annual premium of $2000 for his medical insurance, which would include a Shield Supplement which will take care of any medical bills above $3000.

As a result of the $800 cap, I will need to fork out around $1200 in cash annually to keep my dad covered. He was recently hospitalised and the bill came up to around $4000 (including 4 day stay at the NUH, two endoscopy and health supplements. After all the reimbursement from his medical policies, I still had to pay S$1000 out of my Medisave. That’s right, S$1000 which an ex-legislator in Taiwan has to pay for his heart bypass. Perhaps I should say I paid $0 since Medishield + Shield supplement + my Medisave ‘took care of everything’.

In short, Khaw has definitely painted a surreal image of Singapore’s healthcare system, and one that doesn’t reflect the reality of the burdens one must bear to achieve it. We need to set money aside to afford it, and it is just a portion of the numerous burdens we have to bear to ensure we don’t end up as ‘statistical foul ups with no one but themselves to blame’ in the Tali-PAP’s utopia. Some of these burdens just add up and is it a wonder why more of us are simply not getting married, or even when they are married they are not having babies at all?

Now, I am not asking for handouts, because I don’t need the gahmen to raise any taxes to foot the bill. But I would simply ask that I be allowed to use my Medisave to pay for 100% of the cost to for Medishield and its supplement, which in effect transfer some of the load to my employer since my employer contributes 20% of whatever that is put into the CPF. It would also leave us with more cash on hand which we can thus spend and indirectly drive domestic demand – no matter how significant – which will also increase revenue in the form of GST for the gahmen.

At the very minimum, the gahmen should raise the cap on how much of our Medisave (maybe up to 50% of our annual contribution) we can used on our medical insurance. It is after all our money and I am not asking to use it for hedonistic purposes but rather to fulfill my filial duties to my parents.

Commentary – Forest Fires and Smoky Skies

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Rogue State.

It generally refers to: a state that does not respect other states in its international actions; and a state or nation acting outside of the accepted national or international norms and policies. It is not difficult to perceive Indonesia as such a state. A state that perpetrates a form of ‘eco-terrorism’ for the past 16 years (since 1994 when the region was first engulfed in smoke).

I will not mince words and call it the haze. This is not haze. It is smoke, pure and simple. It is smoke resulting from the deliberately burning of forests. It is smoke that resulted from the deliberate neglect and blatant indifference of the governmenet gahmen in Jakarta. A gahmen that has clearly lost its right to rule its provinces since it has done nothing much for them in return while sucking them dry of resources. For all intentions and purposes, Indonesia is a failed state.


View from my office – 22.10.2010

I do not make these allegations likely. It wasn’t too long ago Aceh was fighting for separation. It would have gone on if not for the tsunami in 2006. The reason is obvious. The Indonesia gahmen has been exploiting Aceh of its resources, while given them very little in return. One can also read about flash floods as a result of deforestation in Irian Jaya (killing at least 150 people), and the mud flow that went on seemingly perpetually in Sidoarjo. It makes one ask – Is the gahmen in Jakarta a gahmen for Indonesia, or just a Javanese gahmen extending its hegemony over the rest of the provinces?

Remember what the region (and in fact the rest of the world) did for them when the tsunami happened? Many of us donated money and the SAF and many charity organisations sent medical personnel. We did whatever we can to help them. Even the United States sent an aircraft carrier to the Indian ocean, staying just outside Indonesian waters (out of respect to the so-called sovereignty of this rogue state) while they airlift aid into Aceh. But what did Indonesia do when we choked in the smoke? Abso-fxxking-lutely N O T H I N G!!!

Except for talking cock (Singlish for saying a load of rubbish). Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has said that fighting the haze could not be done by Indonesia alone and stressed that it was a transnational problem, requiring the cooperation from countries in the region.

Read between the lines and this is nothing but blackmail. This is what it really mean:” I ain’t going to do nuts about it until well, you help us – i.e. give us money. And just what can you do about it while you choke in our smoke anyway? Muahahahah!”

It certainly reminds me of what the DDR (East Germany) did when it was failing. It was selling dissidents or those who were arrested for attempting to flee to the FDR (West Germany) for 50,000 Deutsch Marks each. It is really nothing more but political blackmail.

As if that isn’t enough, it has been said that certain Indonesian officials are actually defiant when confronted. They were said to have remarked that (in my words) – ‘Singapore shown no gratitude for the fresh air from Indonesian forests but complains loudly over just a few smoky days’; ‘Singaporean companies are also responsible for hiring locals to clear forest by burning’; and ‘There is no evidence that the smoke is caused by us. We have not seen any increase in hot spots.’ Unfortunately I have not been able to find the articles containing these statements to identify the specific Indonesian officials who made these comments, though I am sure many has read it on our evening Chinese tabloids, and I recalled references to these remarks by friends on social media platforms like Plurk. I wished someone runover them with ‘Optimus Prime’ when visibility is low and tell them: “There is no evidence I actually run over you”.

Eitherway. I have given up on our gahmen. Our gahmen did nothing but protest, and actually even offer to help. What H E L P?! I am not about to pay from our collective pockets unless the cost is charged to that good-for-nothing gahmen in Jakarta. Indonesia can try and posture and say it has done much to combat the problem, but it has yet to ratify the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution adopted since 2002! Says a lot about the honorless curs in Jakarta, doesn’t it? In fact, the very fact that it hasn’t even ratify this, gives us no basis to even sue them in an International court for damages.

It also points to the fact that ASEAN is nothing more than a talk shop. More talk even than NATO, even though we often equate NATO with No Action Talk Only. ASEAN has even turn into nothing more than a forum for Americans to execute its strategies in containing China in the South China Sea. Frankly, if there are many things that are the internal matters of each individual country and ASEAN shouldn’t interfere – such as what the junta in Myanmar did to its people – then territorial disputes between members of ASEAN with China are their own private matters too. Just why the sh*t is ASEAN dancing to the tune of the Americans and coerce China to terms, when it didn’t even have the moral courage and ability to make member gahmens abide by agreements they made?

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