Upturn the Downturn? How about “I just kneed you in the groin!”

Tiger Uppercut! Tiger Knee!

Reminiscent of the MDA Rap and the P65 hiphoppers, Lim Swee Say and some NTUC jokers (and a few other MPs?) danced and sang their way into labour union workers’ hearts.

Upturn the Downturn? What? Haven’t they got better things to do? And what’s with the HUGE ostentatious stage and lights?

Has the NTUC really “upturned the downturn”? Well this soiree did raise $23mil for the U Care Fund, according to the Youtube info. Wonder where that money goes.

But seriously, could Singaporean public servants please stop singing and dancing?

No embeds, you might go blind.
Upturn the Downturn: The Online Citizen’s take

Goodbye to Goodyear

Shocking news from Temasek Holdings, Chip Goodyear, who was hand-picked as incoming CEO of Temasek Holdings, in a regal and year long selection process, has been booted! Hitherto previous CEO Ho Ching will resume her position as CEO of Temasek Holdings. I guess that puts paid to speculations that she would enter politics beside her husband.

So, literally, WTF happened with Chip and Temasek? According to official statements Chip’s directions didn’t gel with the overall strategic direction of Temasek. Eh? Isn’t the CEO’s role to chart the direction and for the company to follow? I think it’s clear from here that a privately-owned corporation is a totally different creature from a GLC like Temasek, where the true captains of the ship are the political masters, especially if you have SWFs on the table. Instead of being the puppeteer, the CEO ended up being the puppet, and I think that didn’t go down very well with Chip.

This will not bode well for Temasek in any future endeavours in trying to find another successor to helm Temasek, since any idiot will give Chip a call to dig some dirt and there will be dirt. Who in their right mind will want a job working alongside political sycophants, wastrel scholars looking for the high-life and otherwise never-do-wells paying more attention to the OB markers than stock indices?

Speaking of wastrels, what happened to Wee Shu Min?

Don’t taint Games with Politics

A non-sequitor moment, our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong decides to run the Respect Route of the Asian Youth Games torch relay. Together with Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and their tag-alongs, the PAP has decided to grace the AYG with their sporting presence. While this isn’t the first time non-sporting public figures have run the torch relay, it is to my memory the first time a political figure runs a leg in an official sporting torch relay. And the Respect route at that.

While others might correct me on the aspect of political leaders past who have run the Olympic torch relay, I wonder at the point of our PM doing so. The political significance might be small but the Malaysian contingent having pulled out most of its athletes from the Games for “precautionary measures” ranks as a political snub. Sporting events should never be tainted by political agendas (recall 1936, 1972, 1980 et al), with athletes as unwitting pawns and political leaders trussed-up peacocks.

I pray that our government decides to pull its overinflated head out of next year’s Youth Olympic Games and let the deserving ie the athletes grace such momentous events.

Out of Touch

Coming out of the Perm Sec Tan Yong Soon’s trip to Cordon Bleu episode is something burning the news wire right now. Hot on the heels of Tan’s insensitive story comes remarks by MP Charles Chong, MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC. After the Tan Yong Soon storm cleared, he was quoted to have said:

Maybe it made lesser mortals envious and they thought maybe he was a little bit boastful

Lesser mortals? I shit you not. Here’s the TODAY link.

Freudian slip? Perhaps. Completely and utterly insensitive? Yes.

It’s different

The horrible attack on MP Seng Han Thong shocked me when I was told the news just as I touched down on familiar soil. Apparently some mentally unstable chap set the MP on fire during a walk-about. And he’s now down and out for 12 months with 15% burns.

Catching up with the local news unveiled quite abit. Several salient points stood out.

First of all was the clear and blatant bid for sympathy by the mass media for this attack. Granted being burned is no trivial matter, but the mass media painted a picture of horror and suffrage that drama’ed the entire episode. Ok… so he got burned 15%. Ouch. But let us not forget the heroine of SQ006, Ms Farzana, who was burned over 45% of her body while trying to save lives. She endured 11 skin grafts and years of pain, but pulled through with a new life in Malaysia. Or the 2 SAF personnel who survived the Taiwanese jet crash in 2007? IIRC they suffered horrible burns then too, much worse than 15%. What’s the word on them? So yes, the mass media is guilty of over-selling the sob story. That’s pro-PAP print for you. But is it because he’s an MP? Hold on there.

The other thing that stood out was that there is some talk that the MP deserved it, that all shit politicians should be burned or worse. This is ridiculous. There is a proper way and a I’m-gonna-break-your-balls-if-you-try-it way. The proper is and always is with the ballot box. The IGBYBIYTI way is anything other than voting the chap out, including this horrific attack, or punching the dude for that matter. If you do the IGBYBIYTI way, I for one am fucking glad you got your balls broken.

There’s talk of some encouraging this form of reprisal. What do you think is going to happen if you even suggest his? Well, you might want to accuse the government of neanderthal tactics or abuse of police powers or whatnot, but let’s face the facts, he’s an MP. It’s different. Over the months of the US election campaigns, there were numerous threats of death against President (tomorrow?) Obama’s life. All of them were investigated by the US Secret Service. Recently one was arrested for making the same kind of threats. This is the US of A, not China or North Korea mind you. So even they are wary about attacks or even suggesting attacks against their political leaders. It might not even have to be Obama, but I believe their law enforcement does not take kindly to threats against any of their political leaders be it Governors, Senators or Congressmen.

So if you start spouting nonsense, be prepared to be whacked with a huge hammer on your head. And if you do spout or get whacked, don’t come running to me about abuse of police powers. This is serious business.

And finally the last thing. is all this attention because he’s a PAP MP? Well, see above. It’s different. It’s like this, when thousands die in Sichuan we read the news, pop a few dollars in a box and flip the page. Yet when John Travolta’s son dies, the whole world weeps. It’s all a matter of perspective. You read stories and flip the page. But when it happens close to you, it matters. But from a general perspective an attack on an MP warrants more attention. Just enough of the sob story already.

President Tan Kin Lian

It’s interesting to read ex-NTUC Income CEO Tan Kin Lian’s blog as well as news of his attempt to garner 100,000 petition signatures in a bid to gun for Singapore’s Presidency. Mr Tan came out of the woodwork from seemingly nowhere to front discussions and debates (protests?) on the High Notes and Pinnacle Notes aka Lehman Brothers fiascos at Speaker’s Corner.

It was only through this that certain facts surfaced, including his posting as CEO of NTUC Income for 30 solid years. Almost everyone who’s a NTUC Income policyholder would have actually known of Mr Tan’s existence via a yearly birthday card cum discount coupon booklet “signed” by Mr Tan himself. Of cuz most of us would just toss the thing into the bin, but there you go.

Mr Tan certainly fits the stringent bill for the post of the President of Singapore.

One thing that struck me was the topic of CEO salaries and what the CEO of NTUC Income actually earns. Mr Tan hinted at it but didn’t actually disclose the amount. Whichever the case, it is very likely the salary of the President wouldn’t be far off from what he earned as the CEO of NTUC and all the extra bonuses and consultancy salaries a man of his position and stature would attract.

More interestingly, Mr Tan has positioned himself as a man of the people and has worked pretty hard to spearhead the Lehman Brothers debacle grassroots movement, but I wonder if his attempt at the Presidency is not a subtle hint at PAP co-option. Yes, let me posit first that the Presidency of Singapore is a PAP co-opted post. Has it ever not been so? Therefore would LKY or LHL dare another Ong Teng Chong? Never again. President S R Nathan has epitomised the ideal President, as designed by the PAP. Granted Mr Nathan was by all accounts a stellar civil servant and served especially bravely during the Laju Hijack incident, but history has shown Mr Nathan’s presidency as nothing short of vapid.

What does Mr Tan hope to achieve as the President of Singapore, by any measure of both his and LKY/LHL’s understandings? Change? By not allowing himself to join any political party (especially non-PAP) he does appear to try to stay within the stipulations of the criteria for presidency but it is also possible he is leaning towards co-option. If Mr Tan has political aspirations why not join an actual political party instead of a puppet position like the Presidency?

Perhaps Mr Tan sees himself as between a rock and a hard place. Join PAP and risk censure by the populace (especially the critics); join an opposition party and risk a crackdown by PAP attack dogs. Why not consider forming your own party or standing as an independent and run for an SMC? Your efforts past, present and future have not gone unnoticed and if you can run a billion dollar corporation for 30 strong years, you can certainly run a small SMC. Run a clean race and the people (and your political rivals) will recognise you.

Mr Tan’s views on this would be interesting and welcome.

Early elections?

My 11st November muse was amazingly prescient yet blindsided at the same time. Chua Lee Hoong writes a portent of doom advocating an incumbent government, and the next day the Elections Department is gearing up. The talk of the town now is, will we have an early snap election?

One would only need to profile the mouthpiece of the PAP government (ie ST) for a few days to read the barometer of things to come. It is very likely that an early election is coming. When it’ll be is anyone’s guess, but it certainly won’t be 2011, five years from GE2006. The Elections Department usually gears up 6 to 12 months before an actual election. Will we see it in mid to late 2009? Who knows, except of course the PAP leaders. It’s quite possible those 20000 civil servants called up for duty will have notice of the actual periods of duty. One of them has got to be a blogger!

On a side note, I read with amusement an article from Wayang Party about how the PAP has no right to call a snap election. Amusing, but the author fails to realise that a party-majority government equates to party rule. For Barack Obama’s Democratic Party majority government (the Democratic Party holds majority in the lower and upper Houses), while it is a majority, the political maturity of the USA means any Party Whip will not be a clarion call. But after an 8-year stretch of Republican sickness, the Democrats will take opportunity to use House majority to quickly pass reforms. For a party like the PAP, the Party Whip is truly effective and when it cracks, believe it when the grass sways with the resultant wind.

Call it what you will, but is that not a PAP government?

They’ll keep you informed (indeed)

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/268876.asp

The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) has started giving out scholarships for undergraduate studies, starting with 6 young talents this year. Senior Minister of State (Information, Communications and the Arts). These bright young men and women will upon graduation join MICA as information officers who will “manage communication issues” and “reach out to segments of the population who look for alternatives to traditional media for information“.

Most interesting I think, does this segment of the population imply bloggers and most of the young in generation who now rely on social networks and Youtube for their daily dose of info? Is this a thrust in the new direction of engagement, of reaching out to the Youtube generation by recruiting from the same gene pool? Who better to tell you what’s right or wrong, what’s cool and what’s not, than your own peers? Isn’t that the very premise of a social network? Good move I’d say.

Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, who presented the scholarships, said the introduction of the awards “reflects the increasing importance the Government places on information management”. RAdm (NS) Lui said that in times of crisis, information officers function as “the voice of the Government in helping to quell rumours, dispel fears, rally the people and maintain confidence and trust.”

Indeed, one of the 6 bright young chaps also believed that “information needs to be tailored to the medium“. A stellar and bright future indeed. According to TODAY, MICA has 105 information officers. What exactly does this 105-strong team do at MICA, with respect to the above mandates Must be one heck of an awesome job, surfing the net all day, watching for instigators, naysayers and troubadours. Or is that having their daily dose of XiaXue and Dawn Yang and yet have their tea and crumpets to eat as well?

Would these visionary young help change the way MICA and our government views non-MSM sources of info? Hardly I think. More likely, as scholars on service bonds yet lucrative remuneration packages, they’d just toe the line and carry out the instructions of their superiors ie watch and report. Will they be on hand to craft policies to properly benefit the changing social landscape and bring it to the fold? I doubt that. Then why the big deal of an Information Service? Formalise recruitment and budgeting to create a veritable army of eyes and ears to carry out the insidious mandate of MICA for its political masters. Indeed one would need an actual army to properly cover the scope at play here. If you thought YoungPAP was the culmination of treachery that it is now, you haven’t seen anything yet.

Explaining everything away

Our newly minted Law Minister and Second Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam in his maiden parliamentary speech as a Minister told the House and the population in general to take the recent Home Affairs team’s lapses in the correct perspective, that our men and women in blue must not be expected to be ever-vigilant as that would put an undue strain on them. Such strain would result in our brave men and women in blue becoming risk-adverse and wont to make judgments for fear of being wrong.

Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng backed it up by saying that his Ministry must not be expected to keep our island air-tight, that MSK could have easily or easily not escaped our shores into Indonesia. Indeed he cited no existing country that could keep its borders air-tight. 147 million travelers is no small joke.

Health Minister Khaw reminded us not to be closed minded about ideas, no matter how radical or controversial they are. In the case of organ trading, he reminded us that legalised organ trading is not an impossibility, as long as the correct monetary figure can be arrived at. Afterall, Iran has a great organ trading, nay, sharing system in place.

Our politicians decry “unfair” reports citing “lack of understanding of our culture”, yet proudly announce favorable reviews. When the US State Dept cites Singapore as a Tier 2 country for controlling human and sex trafficking, our Dear Leaders decry the lack of “understanding of local conditions”. Similarly our MM’s citation of an IBA report during a feisty court case, yet on the same foot denounce the very same organisation later.

All explained away as “inaccuracies” or “rethinks”.

It has become increasingly clear that our PAP government has been explaining away almost every misstep they’ve taken or are about to take, with an Wikipedia-esque encyclopedia of obscure statistics and anecdotal evidence. Like how Sweden has an unemployment rate of 15%. In actual fact, while the Swedish government has officially announced an unemployment rate of 5%, independent reports have pinned it to 15%, 3 times the official value, in 2006.

So when is it right and when is it wrong? Clearly that’s entirely up to the PAP. It’s nearly farcical that our politicians are time and time again caught out in using findings to their advantage when they see fit. Even the truth behind slowing construction projects can be reworded into “deferments” and “resource re-channeling”. S$5 billion? What’s the truth of this one? A building boom bubble that was about to burst? Are this generation’s leaders running Singapore to the ground? Even one of our mainstays, grand National Day parades, have come under flak, for ripping off a Japanese ad in a recent tv spot. That’s alright, afterall aren’t we all about copying original ideas when it comes to tv programmes? Idol, Dance, Lyrics, Cooking, you name it we’ve copied it. Let’s just hope we didn’t copy National Day parades because North Korea did it. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, no?

Explaining away wrongdoing shows a lack of accountability and responsibility on the part of our Government. The proper thing to do with errors is to step up, admit the error, and accept judgment.

Means Testing

Dr Balaji Sadasivan promises lower healthcare costs if PAP given strong mandate

SINGAPORE : Dr Balaji Sadasivan, who is a member of the People’s Action Party (PAP) team contesting Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency, addressed concerns over healthcare costs at a PAP rally on Saturday.

He said given a strong mandate, the PAP would continue to find ways to make healthcare affordable for older Singaporeans.

Dr Balaji said, “Everyone is concerned about the cost of healthcare. When you go to neighbouring countries, in public hospitals, the care is very cheap. But whenever Singaporeans go there, the first thing they want to do is to transfer to a hospital in Singapore, cause the quality of healthcare is excellent, which is why the life expectancy of Singaporeans is so much longer than those of citizens of neighbouring countries.

“But in the next five years, if you give us a strong mandate, we will find ways to make healthcare affordable and more convenient for more Singaporeans. You have heard Minister Khaw Boon Wan on the new CPF rules that allow you to use CPF or Medisave account for outpatient care. This will help many older Singaporeans. We will also reorganise care for elderly, so that your many illnesses can be looked after by one doctor, bringing down the cost of your healthcare, but (to) do this, we need a strong mandate from you.”

Meanwhile, PAP candidate for Ang Mo Kio GRC, Inderjit Singh, said there is no need for the opposition to be represented in Parliament.

He told the crowd at a PAP rally that the party is able to provide its checks and balances in governance.

“Now you must have seen in Parliament…that there are MPs from the PAP who were…willing to challenge the government to question their policies, and more importantly to provide constructive criticisms in parliament. And unfortunately, those MPs are not the opposition MPs, those are the PAP MPs, like myself.

“In fact, if you listen carefully in Parliament, sometimes the opposition MPs look like they are PAP MPs, and the PAP MPs, like the few that I mentioned, including myself, look like opposition MPs.” – CNA/ms

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/205667/1/.html

How quickly the story changes. Means testing in healthcare is upon us. Now, even if you want to save some money the choice is out of your hands. If you are means-tested to be able to “afford” it, you jolly well better fork it out. In other words, in the perverse PayAndPay mentality, spend spend spend like it’s Christmas every day. You may want to have a nice nestegg for retirement but natch, you better pay. You may not even earn a big income but happen to stay in a big house (which I might add you prolly bought at a really low price 40 years ago), so you better pay. Unless you plan to sell your big house. Which brings up another animal.

The hilarity of it all:
“While prices have gone up, so have earnings, and generally by more than inflation. That is why shopping malls were thronged with Christmas shoppers, and tourist agencies have had a record year arranging overseas holidays for Singaporeans. So although nobody likes to see prices go up, most working Singaporeans should be able to cope, and in reality are better off despite the inflation.”
From our esteemed PM himself.

Insidiously, means testing in healthcare is a double-whammy: it is both a horrible scheme and a Wag The Dog smokebomb, concealing the other big in-place means testing: HDB home-ownership. HDB recently applied a 2nd round of means-testing on people who want to stay in HDB. If you’re deemed to be able to afford non-HDB housing, you can’t rent small HDB flats. They postured this move as a gap they’re plugging but one questions why they’ve not stopped to ask why “rich” folk are renting HDB flats.

Also, everyone knows of the 1st round of means testing ensconced by HDB: if you earn $8k or more you can’t buy new HDB flats. However, with normal HDB flats being priced by themselves at $725k, one wonders how anyone earning less than $8k a month can afford it.

http://www.newsintercom.org/index.php?itemid=569