My pick for the top 10 news for the year 2010 (not in order of importance or significance)m and my opinion…

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1. Mas Selamat ‘returns’ to Singapore
Malaysia finally ‘returned’ Mas Selamat on September 24 this year. I wondered whether they only did so after they had ‘phiak-phiak-ed him raw and shoot inside’ a few times.

Mas Selamat probably revealed very little useful intelligence to both Singapore and Malaysia, but what really amazed (and even amused) us about his ‘return’ is the revelation that his brother and niece harbored him and somewhat assisted in his escape to Malaysia. It is most shocking that the ISD didn’t keep tab on his family members and if I am not wrong, they even talked about the difficulty to keep tab on them. Meanwhile, they have the manpower to mount a manhunt in the jungle that lasted several days.

The incompetence and failure of Wong Kan Seng Kenna Sai is so glaring and instead of committing hara-kiri at the Padang resigning from his post to atone for his failures, he is made co-ordinating minister for National Security.

Is it a wonder why I (and even my old mother) don’t feel safe anymore?

2. Ming Yi’s Jail Term and Release
It is mind-bogging why his jail term was cut from 10 months to 6, considering the fact that his actions (along with those of TT Durai) has caused a drop in confidence in charity organisations among the general public. That means it will be harder for charities to raise fund and indirectly that means it will be harder to help those in need.

It is my considered opinion that laws and punishment for such ‘white collar crimes’ to be reviewed as there is an obvious disparity in punishment compared to some other crimes. I recalled there was once I was at the subordinate courts to ensure a friend don’t jump bail, and one of the person charged for stealing 6 packs of rice and was sentence to several years in jail. That’s not mentioning that a maid who had sex with an under-aged boy was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Frankly, whatever lingering sympathy I had for Ming Yi is gone after reading about an allegedly extravagant ceremony held in honor of his restoration as abbot. Though the temple has come clean on the amount spent, the question on whether it was necessary lingers.

This has no doubt further outraged many people who already felt that the sentence was too light and it reinforced my impression that Ming Yi is not repentant. In fact, one outraged individual commented that he will be ‘sending a pink G-string’ before the year is out, probably with regard to Ming Yi’s questionable relationship with accomplice Raymond Yeung.

Unfortunately, I no longer remember where I read that so I can’t share this hilarious comment with everyone.

3. City Harvest Probe
The investigations initiated by the Commissioner of Charities (COC) are apparently still ongoing, since there has been no further news on this matter since May. I wouldn’t comment much more on the matter itself directly until the investigations are over. In fact, even if some people are charged when the investigations are over, there’s not really much to talk about until a court of law has passed judgement.

While there is nothing much revealed by the authorities, what is interesting are some of the facts uncovered by the main stream media – such as the extravagant lifestyle that ex-pastor Ho Yeow Sun enjoyed in Los Angeles, the businesses run by ex-pastor (now businessman) Kong Hee, and the apartment(s?) the couple owned in District 6. It almost appeared that pastoring a church is in itself a ‘good business venture’, though I would be happy to see ex-pastors Kong and Ho ‘give until they hurt’.

What is even more interesting, however, is the reaction from what some considered its strongest ‘rival’ – New Creation Church – which immediately initiated internal audits of its own and released reports in an all too apparent attempt to stave off attention and criticism to itself.

Whatever the outcome of the investigations are, a ‘religious corporation’ is the worst of organised religion and the next worse thing to religious politics.

4. Pastor Rony Tan called up by ISD
The pastor of Light House Evangelism was called up by the ISD after he made some rude comments about Taoists and Buddhists.

First of all, it is common knowledge that Christian teachings held all other religions to be false. Most religions are exclusive. Even though different religious might agree that there are similarities in what their deity or founder teaches, few religions (if not none of them) would say: “If you do not believe in what I teach, check the opinion of *this other deity*”

I would have objected if someone deliberately go into a church and make a fuss about what is being preached in there. But posting the video online on a public site like Youtube is unacceptable. In fact, even when it is said within the congregation, there is no certainty that all attendees are Christians and that certain non-believers wouldn’t be offended. It does the Christian Gospel no good to preach a message that in any way denigrate the beliefs of another person.

My personal opinion is that while we as Christians may rejoice the turning of one man to God, we should not condemn those who has not. Often it is the actions and words of Christians that drives another person away from the Grace of God.

The messenger is the message. Let us be the salt and light as Jesus has commanded.

(There was a follow up attempt during the Chinese New Year period on the pastor’s alleged ‘homophobic’ remarks. I am tired of the activism of certain individuals pertaining to the matter of homosexuality. It annoys me that they had apparently spent their Chinese New Year holidays – a Chinese holiday dedicated to the reunion of the family and family celebration – to purposely look for videos of the pastor’s sermons to make a fuss. There is a difference between finding a remark offensive in a video and deliberately looking for videos containing offensive remarks.)

5. Orchard Road ‘Flood’
Before June 16th and July 17th this year, Orchard Road has not been flooded since 1984. If I recalled correctly, an article published in 1990 on one of the local papers even boasts that Orchard Road will never flood again.

What was really infuriating and disappointing wasn’t the fact that one of our major tourist attraction was flooded, but the fact that there was little accountability from those in charge. An excuse for the flood was found for the first incident in June 16th, but that was soon proven wrong when Orchard Road again flooded on July 17th. As if to rub salt on an open wound, SIngaporeans are told that ‘no engineering will solve the issue’.

Yep. No words of comfort for the poor shop owners who suffered loss in terms of material and business, and not even an attempt to pacify us with the usual ‘give the government gahmen time to evaluate the situation and to come up with a solution’ excuse. We are simply told nothing can be done about it. Are we expected to just shut the fxxk up after that?

It is high time that the Tali-PAP remember that the people are their bosses and they are not our overlords. If there is no humility in this gahmen nor any desire to serve the people, then it is high time (at least to me) that this gahmen be taught a lesson at the ballot box.

Never say no to your bosses!

6. The passing of Dr Goh Keng Swee
One of the founding fathers of our nation passed away after a long battle with his illness. In fact, since Lao Lee said that Goh single-handedly negotiated for the separation from Malaysia in spite of his wishes to remain in the Federation, I would have considered Dr Goh (and not Lao Lee) to be the Father of our young nation!

Much has been revealed about Dr Goh after his death. One of the things that touched me most was his dedication, sincerity and humility. Dr Goh was the son of a rich Malacca family, yet he would climb flights of stairs during the election campaign into slumps to shake the hands of his voters. It was even reported that he went to China as an advisor for absolutely no renumeration, a far cry from the money-faced mini$ter$ we have today.

You will be missed and long remembered, O Father of Singapore.

7. The passing of Mdm Kwa Geok Choo
Her contribution to the survival of our nation by having the Water agreement written into Malaysia’s Constitution will not be forgotten as well. But it is not just for this that I will remember her.

Though I have never met Mdm Kwa, I have read the many accounts of the lady who is the wife of Lao Lee. None of it is negative. These accounts include those of an older man who recall the story of Mdm Kwa joining a queue at a post office, and my friend’s experience as a guard during his NS in the Istana.

All of these accounts present an image of a humble person. Mdm Kwa’s refusal to flaunt her position as the wife of a Prime Minister has earn my respect regardless of my disdain for some of the old man’s recent remarks and comments.

Rest in peace, Mdm Kwa. You are a role model for the consorts of all future Prime Ministers. You have set a standard that remained unsurpassed to this day.

8. Resurgent Secret Societies
While the murder at Downtown East maybe shocking to some, it is not new though it has been a long time since I read about teenage gang fights. The last one I recalled was when I was still a secondary school kid – where someone was stabbed to death in Liang Court. That was a good 2 decades ago, at least.

It is my considered opinion that we should put all of these delinquents to death if possible. The next alternative would be to lock them away for as long as possible and throw away the key. The reason is simply personal, because I get phone calls from my nagging mother these days for just being out late. It has given her the impression that law and order has deteriorated very badly. Frankly, I am almost forty years old and I certainly don’t appreciate a ‘curfew’ and nagged like a young teenager.

So, kill these bastards all and let God sort them out. I wouldn’t even care about the means employed.

9. Wikileaks
I have always considered the invasion of Iraq to be unjust. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found. While the video released by Wikileaks showing the murder of civilians and a reporter demonstrated the callous disregard of lives by certain elements in the American military, it is questionable whether the release of the video was any good at all. I don’t recall any of those personnel were punished, but it definitely outraged the Muslims all around the world and will definitely endanger the lives of US military personnel still engaged in the Afghan conflict.

Beyond that, the diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks is nothing interesting. It would have been more interesting had it been just celebrity gossip or ‘secrets’. While these cables may have caused embarrassment to some countries (even Singapore), it reveals nothing more than what some of us already known. In fact, had the same things been said in the coffee shop, it would be nothing more than gossip. It is my considered opinion that the revelation of this cables has done absolutely nothing to contribute to greater transparency in the operation of gahmens. Above all, it would have worsen relationships between certain countries and might even have stalled and set back certain diplomatic initiatives.

As a result of my negative view of Wikileaks, I mused in a Plurk that China’s Great Firewall (GFW) technology is better employed not to wall around users, but to wall around undesirable content instead. One person vehemently opposes this. His opinion was that no one should decide for anyone what information should reach the general public and it is up to readers to form an opinion. He may have a point since I don’t really care whether some people want to taste poison to decide for themselves whether it would be lethal or not. Then again, I suspect I would be denounced even for just saying this since who am I to even decide it is ‘poison’ in the first place?

Either way, Wikileaks is great for advertising certain products. For e.g.

Wikileaks… Leaks can be terrible and disastrous. Buy only this brand of condom / sanitation pad / diapers! No leaks! No leaks at all!!

10. Property Market Cooling Measures
The gahmen has taken action twice this year to cool the property market so I would not go into the actual details.

However, it has been a long time since Singaporeans feedback complained about the skyrocketing property prices, even if they might not have pin the blame on foreigners back then. The matter of a rising COV (Cash Over Value) is an indicator of this problem and the matter was brought up in a ‘coffee shop talk’ organised by the Young NTUC in September last year. Back then, mini$ter Grace Fu said the COV is not a matter of concern because COV has statistically remained flat at zero for long periods. Certainly, the gahmen is almost like the grizzly bear which has just awaken from hibernation, as only now has it finally heard and reacted to the groans of the people.

Mah Bow Tan Mabok Tongue and the Tali-PAP gahmen can say that rising property prices is a great thing as it increase the value of the asset owned by Singaporeans. But as a person who still have about 12 more years of housing loan to pay off, it really doesn’t matter a lot to me whether property prices are going up or not. After all, where am I going to live if I sell it off to cash in the profits? But I am definitely concerned about housing prices because it will be increasingly difficult for our next generation to own one.

Without a home to call their own, what else is there for our citizen army to defend? Are we to defend a place where foreigners live in luxury in a time of peace but flee when trying time approaches? It is curious that the gahmen has taken measures to address the two main gripes of Singaporeans this year – the broken immigration and the housing policies. In fact, it is even giving money to full time NSmen (NSFs) and Operationally Ready NSMen (aka reservists) as an ‘appreciation of their contribution’ to the country.

Some of them maybe pacified by these measures. But to me, it is too little and too late.

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The above sums up my choice of the top 10 news for the year 2010.