Elite girl! LOL

Wah! Insanepoly has an elite girl t-shirt!!


nice leh... steady lah!
But the "un" caring part like cannot see properly...

MOM spins broken record

I pay attention to letters and replies from the gahment. Becos the way they write is how they spin and bluff people. Take this example a reply from MOM to SGian's unhappiness over infusion foreign workers (notice the word 'talent' is seldom used ever since the PM's national day rally speech)...

Dec 25, 2007
Flexible labour policy has helped S'poreans

I REFER to the letters about foreign workers in Singapore and the competition they could pose to older local workers for jobs.

As Singapore has limited manpower, foreign workers supplement our workforce when there is a shortage in numbers or skills. Businesses cannot expand and will even move elsewhere if they cannot get the workers they need here. Singaporeans in these companies would lose their jobs. Rather than taking jobs away from locals, our flexible labour policy has instead helped our economy grow and benefited Singaporeans directly.

More Singaporeans, including older workers and women, are employed than ever before. The employment rate for those aged 25 to 64 is at a record 76.5 per cent as of June. As a result, wages have gone up. Singaporeans have also been taking up better jobs - nine out of 10 jobs gained by residents from 1997 to 2007 were those of Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs). The overall unemployment rate of 1.7 per cent in September is the lowest in almost a decade. We are effectively at full employment.

Despite abundant job opportunities, Singaporeans should still enhance their employability through upgrading their skills and productivity. We would like the letter writers who have difficulty finding employment to contact the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) at 6883-5885, so that we can assist them in training and job placement.

Jean Tan (Ms)
Director, Corporate Communications
for Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Manpower

In a single line the MOM person misled readers over how many jobs really go to SGians. Residents include SGians and non-Sgians leh, want to bluff who? And they created this wtf category PMET where technicians are lumped together with professionals and mangers?! WTF! Like that win liao lo!

MOM is spinning the same old broken record. And from the writing, i don't think the writer is half convinced of the what-the-fuck she wrote.

And oh today is X'mas and i believe in Santa Claus.. ♫

Reservist dulan with SAF

The injustice and institutionalised disadvantage marches on...

Nov 12, 2007
Why so long to decide on ICT deferment, SAF?

I AM a national serviceman with HQ 26 Singapore Infantry Brigade and I had applied for deferment from my in-camp training (ICT) scheduled from today to Nov23.

My application was submitted on Oct 2 and I should have received a reply within 14 working days.

However, on Oct 22, I received an e-mail to tell me my application was still being processed. After that, I received two calls from the National Servicemen Services Centre (NSSC) to tell me my deferment was still being processed.

I was not the only one. None of the other deferment applications in my unit had received a response.

Last Friday, I called the NSSC and learnt that my application had been rejected and my status updated that very day - more than a month after I had applied and only one working day before the start of my ICT.

According to the NSSC, the approving authority for deferment had transferred from the unit operations officer to the commanding officer and that could have caused the delay.

To me, it is disingenuous to use transfer of authority as an excuse to sit on applications until the last minute. Applications submitted in a timely manner should be given a timely response.

For the record, my deferment application was for overseas work reasons and a timely response was needed to make contingency plans. I hope the Singapore Armed Forces understands that in the Singapore economy of today, many companies and jobs are regional in nature and require travel at short notice.

Steven Chan Kee-Lin

Too bad Mr Chan. You have to do your part because the govt loves foreigners more than S'poreans.

NS for you, jobs for foreigners!

This Professor has cow logic

KNN police no need to be accountable for their actions one wor ...

Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Prof Ho explains T-shirt incidents

THE police may have over-reacted in their bid to keep law and order here when Singaporeans and Myanmar expatriates tried to show support for the beleaguered people of Myanmar, acknowledged Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and Law Ho Peng Kee.

Two recent incidents — where police told people to take off T-shirts bearing messages such as "Stop the bloodshed in Myanmar" — occurred at a time when "emotions were running high" among the Myanmar community here.

"I agree that the police were perhaps being overly-cautious, but let me give the assurance that its officers did not intend to embarrass or offend the persons wearing the T-shirts," Associate Professor Ho said in reply to MPs' questions.

He added that the dynamics of group behaviour are "often not entirely rational and can be stirred by emotive slogans and exploited by others for their own cause".

Nominated MP Eunice Olsen asked if student activities to highlight the situation in Myanmar constituted a security threat. The three local universities had teamed up to hold a series of activities early this month, including a vigil at the Singapore Management University that was videotaped by security officers.

To her concern that such surveillance would dampen Singaporean youth's keenness to spontaneously express their views on global affairs, Assoc Prof Ho said the intent was "not to intimidate the students".

Police forces all over the world, including London, conduct similar videotaping activities to aid investigations, in the event that wrongdoing arises.

"It's not something extraordinary. No ill intentions are meant … and the basic message is that if you're innocent and you're not out to break the law, there should be no fear," he said. — jasmine yin

So in the mean time the police can intrude, shove a camera in your face, harass, tail you, and continue to offend you! And if you are fearful it must mean your intentions are ill, you are not innocent, and you are out to break the law! You must not question the police's intent, you must question your own!

Repeal section 377A

http://www.repeal377a.com/



And I quote from yawningbread...

"...the biggest joke of all is when I hear some of us cry out for the government to let up, loosen up.... give us a sign that the coast is clear, and that we can speak up. In other words, to wait for the government to give us the 'OK'. It won't happen. This government is not going to let go of its worst instincts. They would rather drag Singapore down than trim their own span of control -- in that way, they are no different from the junta in Burma, just slicker economic managers. The only people who can save Singapore are Singaporeans themselves. We begin by seizing back our right to ask tough questions and speak our minds. Overcoming our own fears. Standing up for what we believe in."

http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2007/yax-794.htm

Free Burma - support!

http://www2.free-burma.org/index.php





knn sad and angry man!! chao cheebye these fuck up generals hope they motherfucking faster die and families die in air crash!! knnbccb 王八蛋 cheebye 杂种 kia all hang kar chan!!! then those fucking useless poodles harassing ppl outside myanmar embassy all are cheebye kias and running dogs!!! hope u all let dog fuck knn 不得好死!!!

Why Apple is tops

Link

To all iPhone customers:

I have received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale. After reading every one of these emails, I have some observations and conclusions.

First, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it. iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to 'go for it' this holiday season. iPhone is so far ahead of the competition, and now it will be affordable by even more customers. It benefits both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone 'tent'. We strongly believe the $399 price will help us do just that this holiday season.

Second, being in technology for 30+ years I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always change and improvement, and there is always someone who bought a product before a particular cut off date and misses the new price or the new operating system or the new whatever. This is life in the technology lane. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you'll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon. The good news is that if you buy products from companies that support them well, like Apple tries to do, you will receive years of useful and satisfying service from them even as newer models are introduced.

Third, even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of iPhone, and even though the technology road is bumpy, we need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price. Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these.

Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple's website next week. Stay tuned.

We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple.

Steve Jobs
Apple CEO

Simply great PR. Not only does Steve Jobs listen to his customers, he apologises (when there is no need to) and backs it up with solid action. Compared to a certain anime distribution company that only knows how to threaten and sue their potential customers, Apple shows why they will continue to gain new fans and keep their customers even though their products are pricey! A company who listens to its customers is worth supporting, now I am tempted to try them hehe..

CPF annuity proposal a ploy

Media release: CPF annuity proposal a ploy, not solution
24 Aug 07

The latest move by the PAP Government to force Singaporeans to buy annuities is yet another despicable attempt to withhold the people’s hard-earned CPF savings.

Already the Minimum Sum Scheme allows the Government to retain the citizens' retirement funds. Now the PAP wants to compel Singaporeans to buy annuity, making it even harder for them to survive their retirement years.

The annuity proposal is not a solution. It is a ploy. A ploy thought up by the PAP Government to strengthen its hold on CPF funds – funds that it then uses for its business ventures which are not transparent or accountable.

Worse, the ministers then use these businesses to tout their commercial prowess and demand that they be paid million-dollar salaries.

Let us be absolutely clear: The fact that Singaporeans do not and will not have enough funds to retire on is not because they are bad managers of their money and therefore need yet more Government intervention and supervision.

The fact that study after study shows Singaporeans having the highest savings rate in the world and yet retire as paupers point to one and only one conclusion: That their plight is a result of willful mismanagement of this Government.

The problem of insufficient retirement funds stems from the glaring fact that HDB flats are vacuuming up CPF savings.

For the overwhelming majority of the people who cannot afford private property, the HDB is the only means of housing. With the prices of the flats at current levels Singaporeans have had no choice but to use their retirement savings to pay for the monthly leases.

Worse, like most other public matters in this country, the cost of building the flats are kept secret. Then when the PAP wants to upgrade the flats and use them as threats during elections, they make the people dip more into their CPF to pay for the refurbishment.

Is it a surprise then that Singaporeans have little to live on when they retire?

This is a recurring nightmare for Singaporeans. The people are forced to bear the brunt of “solutions” to problems created by the PAP Government, problems that are wholly avoidable if not for the greed and short-sightedness of this Government.

The Stop-At-Two policy is another example where for years the Government introduced draconian measures to curtail the reproductive rate of the population only to discover that Singaporeans were not replacing themselves adequately. The “solution”? The Foreign Talent Policy.

The measure has flooded society with foreign workers and forced locals to compete with them for unconscionably low wages.

Such Government-say-people-do-with-no-questions-asked nonsense must stop. And the only way to stop it is for Singaporeans to exercise their freedoms of speech and assembly to send an unmistakable message to the PAP that they refuse to be fleeced and milked any longer.

Singaporeans must remember that democracy makes good economic sense, that is, without our political rights, there can be no economic rights.

Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party

Initial thoughts on Compulsory Annuities

I dun intend to go into details. Instead I just want to look at the larger picture.

1. The details are not well presented. Most layman and man on the street will be overwhelmed by the details, will tend to skip them and not understand the resulting implications.
2. Sellers of annuities and insurance are doing what they do to make money.
   
3. The gahmen is micro managing and tweaking the little things, giving itself more work to do in the process and more pay?.
4. It is still our money being creatively manipulated, shaved off, and packaged and shoved back to us in nice sounding words.
5. The gahmen is not coming out a single cent to help those above age 65 or 85.
6. The gahmen is conducting more social engineering. It is more and more nanny state instead of less. Watever happened to vivian bala-kick-a-nun's "we are a mature society"?
   

Overall nothing has changed, the pie has not grown bigger but instead has diminished. They are making withdrawal of your own CPF money harder.

Going through so much trouble tweaking CPF, 1% more here, another % less there... it will be easier to just implement a pension scheme of $250 per month to take care of all Sgians above age 85, Sgians who have contributed in the nation building process and in their twilight yrs need subsistence or help. But no, to this gahmen giving a single cent from public funds is like shaving a pound of their own flesh! And guess what? While peasants struggle to understand the latest CPF changes, the ministers continue to receive pensions once after the age of 55 until they die!

CPF is no longer your savings. It has become a tool to extend the gahmen's hold on Sgians. National Slavery Service has never ended, it has simply taken another form.

I helped a blind man today

This evening on the bus home I dozed off listening to mp3 player. Then I was awakened by some noise. There was a blind man who was alone. He seemed to be asking for help and just talking out loud. No one answered him. The seat in front of him was an Indian foreign worker, and two Chinese women looking like mother and daughter were in the seat behind. The bus moved on and after awhile the blind man kept quiet.

Two bus stops later the blind man started up again in English. He wanted to know whether the bus has reached his destination. But again no one answered him. Passengers looked at him and kept quiet. They just stared and eye power only.

The bus is about half full. Half of the passengers were foreign Indians because it passed by Little India. Other than the mother and daughter, the rest are a mix of Sgians young and old and some Filipino maids.


* * * * * * *

What is so difficult to answer the blind man? Is it very hard to go find out what the trouble is? Why ignore him? Or worse look out of the window and pretend like cannot hear like that. If some one like me, dozing at the back of the bus with mp3 music blasting in my ears, can be awakened by the blind man, I wonder how the rest cannot hear a thing.

I wonder how long had the blind man been ignored before I went up to help. And how long more he has to go before someone finds out what his distress is.

This is the second time I saw something like this. The first time was a few months ago on another bus I helped a visually impaired person to locate his destination bus stop. That time I happened to be seated behind the person so I helped him out without delay.

I dunno... I just find society getting colder and colder with each passing year. All the heart warming caring tales on the Straits Times is just unreal to me. From what I can see everyone is just looking out for themselves. People rushing here and there. "If you are slow, please faster make way, dun block my 财路!" is the order of the day.

I am not bashing the foreign Indians. Becos on MRTs I have seen them giving up seats to elderly people but not the locals.


* * * * * * *

Anyway I later helped the blind man to alight from the bus stop and cross an overhead bridge. At the other side I helped him up another bus and informed the driver to look out for the blind man so that he will not miss his stop. I feel pretty good about myself actually hehe!

Is this man homophobic?

Justicius Law Corporation
Director NICHOLAS LAZARUS

Main areas of expertise include corporate and tax litigation, domestic and international arbitration, cross-border joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. He has advised Singapore corporations in connection with business ventures in the Philippines. Nicholas read law in the National University of Singapore and is admitted to practice in Singapore. He is also a graduate of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He is an adjunct law lecturer in both Nanyang Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic.

Oh btw he also happens to be a member of the Young PAP, and he has been saying some strange and illogical things on the internet.

Naturally this prompted many responses from bloggers. Here are just some of them...

http://lbandit.lah.cc/2007/08/01/homophobic-young-pap/
http://shianux.jiyuuu.org/2007/07/31/a-disgrace-to-ypap/
http://nedstark.wordpress.com/2007/07/31/of-the-ypap-blog/
http://minorepiphany.blogspot.com/2007/08/young-pap-nicholas-lazarus-rails-on.html
http://blog.simplyjean.com/2007/07/31/nicholas-lazarus-and-his-h-phobic-views/
http://aaron-ng.info/blog/i-love-young-pap-blog.html

From homosexuality to single ward...

July 19, 2007
MP should reflect people's views on homosexuality, not only his own

I WOULD like to comment on the MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, Mr Baey Yam Keng's, stand on homosexuality.

Let me first remind him that as the representative of the people of Tanjong Pagar, although only one part of five, he is supposed to reflect their views in Parliament and not only his personal ones.

When he goes on his walkabouts and when he gathers feedback from his constituents , he should try and find out what they think.

The recent polls by MediaCorp's Research Consultants reveal a very interesting statistic. A total of 62 per cent of the population feel that there is no room for homosexuals in Singapore

Maybe at the next election, Mr Baey should ask for a single constituency ward, make known his stand on homosexuality and his opposition to Section 377A and see how it turns out.

Kenneth Vaithilingam

"No room for homosexuals in Singapore" the writer says, citing a dubious statistic from Mediacorpse. Wahhh, so what does he intend to do with gays? Jail them? Deport them??

The other thing he says is the best. He says Baey the MP doesn't represent Sgians' view wor... hahaha. Just only Baey meh?? Tg Pagar GRC is a walkover constituency. PAP MPs like Baey, Koo Sai Ki Lan and LKY stroll into parliament without a fight. I will really like to see not just Baey, but the Koo Sai Ki Lan and LKY whether all of them have the balls to stand in single constituency wards at the next election.

"I have a bigger worry"

The sizzling property market over the past year is causing concerns in all quarters. But this man says such concerns are unfounded, according to this report.

"Prices for the middle-income and for the HDB heartlanders … are still quite affordable for Singaporeans in general," he said, adding that his bigger, long-term worry for the city-state was its talent pool, which is essential to economic growth...

Mr Goh said he has heard multinational companies complain about climbing rentals, but that has not deterred them from opening offices here.

"Costs are always important, but we are not going to allow costs to prevent us from growing. Just move into the right sector," he said, listing higher value-added industries such as biomedical and financial services.

As for concerns about the rising costs of living, he said: "Costs are always a factor, but generally, you do want the standard of living of Singaporeans to go up. And a higher standard of living means more income in real terms ... We do monitor inflation."

I don't quite get the last part. Is he saying rising costs of living equates with a rise in standard of living???? Doesn't make sense to me...

Exams.....

So sian... having exams now.



No time to catch up on current affairs.

Hypocrites of the profession

May 27, 2007
CJ's first 'lecture' to new lawyers: Ethics is what matters most
It's not the amount of money you make, he says, giving each of the 233 new lawyers a book on ethics
By K.C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent

HAVING completed their law degree, some 233 new lawyers were yesterday given one last lecture by the Chief Justice before entering the profession.

He told them of his own travails over 40 years ago when he was in their shoes and even left them each with bed-time reading material - a book on ethics and professional responsibility.

Speaking of his own difficulties in being admitted to the Bar after finishing his pupilage in a law firm in Kuala Lumpur, CJ Chan Sek Keong said the challenges for new lawyers were even bigger.

Despite that, he reminded the new batch that the qualities which make a good lawyer remained the same - commitment to the profession, judiciary and clients.

Legal ethics, said CJ Chan, was still the most important trait.

A lawyer with high moral standards will win the trust of clients, peers and the court, he said.

'True success as a professional is the respect your peers have for you, and not the amount of money that you make from your practice.'


I wonder what kind of respect is Chan talking about? People like him are appointed to his job not by his peers but by the PAP prime minister. Same as his predecessor Yong Pung Sai, who was appointed by LKY to do LKY's bidding. Chan himself is quite infamous. During the 1997 general election PAP non-candidates were loitering inside polling stations. This happened in hotly contested Cheng San GRC. On that day Lee Hsien Loong, Goh Chok Tong and Tony Tan were all inside the polling station "lending support" to their beleaguered colleagues who were running against the Workers Party team led by JBJ. The law states that non-candidates cannot be inside polling stations so as not to influence voters or canvass votes. So the opposition lodged a complaint. The case went to court where Chan famously ruled that the PAP did not break any rules. His reason? "Plainly, a person inside a polling station cannot be said to be within a radius of 200 metres of a polling station"... i.e. you are already inside, so you can't be outside, so case dismissed.

Unbelievable? You better believe it!

With people like Chan and Yong, the law profession is a sick joke in SG. And Chan has the cheek to lecture about ethics! Hah!

PAP minister equates gays to paedophiles and psychopaths!

An SAF paper general turned politician suggested this when asked about decriminalising homosexual acts specifically Section 377A.

This paper general Lui Tuck Yew (below left), if you remember, is one of those new PAP MPs or new blood from last year's GE. He is under Old Lee's Tanjong Pagar GRC and was famously quoted saying he has not watched porn before in his life. Amazing isn't it? What kind of weirdo is he?

'Main society not ready'
Minister says he is 'not ready to move' on homosexuality

Derrick A Paulo
derrick@mediacorp.com.sg

If Minister of State for Education Lui Tuck Yew has his way, there will be no changes to Section 377A of the Penal Code, which makes homosexual acts a crime here. "I'm not ready to move, and I don't think a major section of society is ready to move," he said.

Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui gave his personal views yesterday at a dialogue session for the annual Pre-University Seminar at the Nanyang Technological University. The issue cropped up when a student asked RAdm Lui how the Government will reconcile "ideas and ideologies" that will be increasingly in conflict as Singapore "opens up to the world and becomes more liberal". She was referring to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's comments at a forum last month in which he said the Government is not the moral police on the homosexuality issue.

In response, RAdm Lui said: "Yes, there will be different tension points, maybe what some would characterise conservatives versus liberals. We can't be stiff-necked. We need to be open to ideas but we have to come to our conclusions through the framework in Singapore. That's why it's important to have our own deep convictions and beliefs."

While acknowledging Mr Lee's comments on the possible genetics of homosexuality, RAdm Lui said he does not subscribe to the theory that it is a "medical condition".

"Do you excuse paedophiles or psychopaths because of a medical condition?" he asked.

He is also not swayed by arguments that homosexuality does not affect others in society, that it is just between two people. "There can be lots of relationships, like between a person and an animal, or a person and another person, but which is incestuous. There are norms in society."

The Government will move at the pace at which society "allows us to move", RAdm Lui said.

This kuku minister talks about the need to be open to ideas and having deep convictions and beliefs. But in one fell sweep he who "is not willing to move" has lumped homosexuals together with paedophiles and psychopaths! What an incredible thing to say from a minister? I have never seen anything like it! Truly uniquely PAP and Singapore! Will Lui Fuck You next asks that all homosexuals be put away in concentration camps?

This is what SAF and being in a military organisation can do to you. It fries your brain and logic and turns one into a high IQ idiot and moron like Lui Fuck You.

The old and uneducated in Sg...

So this is PAP's vision of working longer in order to survive in Sg....

http://willythecop.blogspot.com/2007/04/no-annual-leave-and-no-sick-leave-for.html

My mom is working at the Tuas South Incineration Plant as a cleaner under the contract of a private cleaning company. The company pays her S$700 a month for a 5-days work week. The pay is not high, but at least reasonable.

Now, the cleaning contract has ended for this cleaning company and the contract has been given to another new cleaning company. And so my mom's new boss had a meet-the-people session to tell the cleaners his rules:

1. The pay is reduced to S$500
2. Now it has to be a 5.5 days working week
3. There will be a cut in manpower as there should not be more than 3 people working at an area, regardless how large the area space
4. No annual leave and sick leave for the first year

And there was where my mom and all other old uncles and aunties got a shock... NO ANNUAL LEAVE AND SICK LEAVE FOR THE FIRST YEAR?!? Hello? These are not hyperactive teenagers we're talking about! This new boss is expecting all his 50-60 years old cleaners not to fall sick for one year? How realistic is this?!? And so what if they DO fall sick? Pay cut! Not a difficult guess right?

Meanwhile the emperor and his eunuchs continue to dance and make merry...

A worried Singaporean

This SGian call Jonathan Cheng Hern Sinn is worried wor... My comments in blue.


May 1, 2007
ISSUE OF HOMOSEXUALITY
MM's comments have me and family worried

I AM writing about the review of the criminal code. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's recent comments about liberalising laws regarding homosexuality have got my family and me very concerned.

My expatriate friends find Singapore a conducive place in terms of its low crime and cleanliness. More importantly, they comment that it is a wholesome place. One does not find pornography sold openly in a neighbourhood shop. Having lived in the West myself, this down-to-earth wholesomeness is what makes Singapore special.

Like this i'm sure he will find living in North Korea or Afghanistan under the Taliban also very special, HAHAHAHA! KNN wat a fucktard!

Singapore today faces the challenge of a declining birth rate and families are breaking down at the same time. To legalise homosexuality will compound these problems, given that homosexual couples do not reproduce.

This fucker dunno got brain one or not? Declining birth rate of heterosexual couples got anything to do with gays meh?? Why not blame gays for every fuck shit thing also? Wah lan eh... *shake head*

The homosexual lobby in the West is extremely aggressive. It is the same here. Observe how it is now considered intolerant when one criticises them.

Intolerant?? So what does this make Jonathan Cheng, tolerant? Oh no he is just worried... Hahaha!

What would it be like to have a homosexual teach our children that it is normal to be gay? You might scorn the idea but this is what is happening in the West.

Well i am not gay but if one day i become a teacher and my students ask me whether being gay is normal or not my answer will be in the form of a question, "Do you think it is normal to have black, yellow, white skin? Is it normal to have green and blue eyes instead of brown or black eyes?"

Homosexuals lead a promiscuous and hedonistic lifestyle. What else can you expect when you do not have children to live for or be in a loving and committed relationship? This increases the risk of STDs, Aids, etc, further increasing the risk to the general population.

WAHAHAHA!!! Jonathan thinks that gays cannot be in loving and committed relationship wor. *shake head* I sense that he is going to kana jialat jialat liao from people writing in to flame him, and he deserves it.

Homosexuality is not going to go away. All I am saying is that we do not make it easier to be a homosexual by legalising their activities. Singapore is our home and I am proud to be Singaporean. Let us keep it a wholesome place.

Jonathan Cheng Hern Sinn


This fucker is don't know crawl out from which hole one? This must be the most ridiculous, stupid, not to mention offensive, letter i have seen in the Straits Times this year. With people like Jonathan Cheng around i guess it is no wonder i don't feel proud to be a Singaporean, unlike him.

A vindictive man and a coward!

Just go to google video, do a search for "Zahari's 17 Years" and you can find this documentary that has just been banned by the PAP gahmen.

I have watched it twice and found it very moving. It is not some dramatic movie. Instead it is just a very simple and crude video of an ordinary interview with an old man, the ex-political detainee Said Zahari who was in prison for 17 years. It is very important to note that Zahari was never charged in a court of law or put on trial.

What makes it riveting viewing for me is Zahari himself. He is very eloquent and speaks very well. Not in the airy fairy cheem cheem england way, but very simple and direct. He can even speak good mandarin (he learned it from his fellow political detainees in prison) the kind very proper and zhun type. Wah respect man! I can see why LKY wants to put people like him away, because LKY will not be able to take him on politically one on one!

Watching it makes me feel sad for S'pore and a lot of things start to make sense. Why LKY behaves the way he does, and why some people of the older generation tells me that LKY has never fought for independence and the PAP cannot be trusted.

What is truth? Truth is when both sides can tell their stories without hindrance. They say history belongs to the victor not the vanquished. That is not true. Sooner or later the vanquished will get their side of story out, it just takes a while longer that's all. And when they do we owe it to ourselves to pay equal if not more attention to their side of history.

LHL self pwns again

No matter how hard the PAP tries to twist and turn their way in selling their koyok and senseless logic behind raising their salaries, the people just don't buy it. Increasingly this is turning into quite an ugly episode. International media has reported on it, and a White Official was said to be stunned by LHL's new salary amount.

Wednesday April 11, 10:38 AM
Singapore PM's salary stuns White House official

A senior White House official on Tuesday admitted he was floored by the news that Singapore's prime minister earned five times more than US President George W. Bush.

"I'm going to emigrate and run for office in Singapore," the official said on condition he be identified only as "a senior administration official who sits in disbelief after reading that story."

On Monday, the Singapore government had announced a fresh 25.5 percent pay hike for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, boosting his salary to 2.05 million dollars per year.

Bush gets paid 400,000 dollars per year for doing his job, according to the White House.

Combined with personal investment income, he and his wife Laura reported 618,694 dollars in taxable income in the 2005 fiscal year. They had to pay 187,768 dollars in federal taxes.

But maybe Bush shouldn't feel so bad. The Singaporean's paycheck is eight times fatter than Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's.

The latest wayang came yesterday from LHL himself who has so far kept very quiet letting his father and other ministers do the mixture of hard sell tinged with heavy dosage of fear tactics. LHL announced that he will "freeze" his own pay and donate the 80% increment he will get to charities. Awwwwwwww... S'poreans will be so touched! Nice mix of hard sell and soft approach from the PAP, well orchestrated and choreographed, hahaha!

From Today:
In a speech that was at times emotional and peppered with anecdotes from his own 23-year career in politics, Mr Lee spoke about his fears of Singapore getting a corrupt premier in the future. "I'm worried about somebody wanting to be Prime Minister, hoping to be paid not a single cent but still collect $400 million — under the table ..."

Apple's Steve Jobs takes a annual token salary of just US$1. Of course Steve Jobs must be collecting US$400 million under the table and Apple the world's foremost computer company must be suffering from a dose of corrupt management according to LHL and PAP's logic.

Not only that I think LHL has just undermined the entire system past leaders including his father have built up. Is he saying under the present system it is possible to collect $400 million under the table? HAHAHAH!! Mo matter how hard they try, it is time they realise the more they argue the more ridiculous they look to the whole world.

Happy until like kena strike Toto!!!

You see them laughing until so happy u would be forgiven for thinking that they tio 10 million toto! This is web banner from asia one website. But guess what the picture above is no longer there, SPH has changed it to something more sombre below...



Wah piang! What a big difference! Hahaha! Suddenly all so sad liao especially the Teo fella kena look like someone died like that. Tio toto still look so unhappy??? Money still not enough ah?! KKNBCCB!

There isn't much for me to say about the ministers pay raise that have not be spoken of in other blogs by bloggers with better articulation.

The Hen says this...
"We know financial rewards cannot and should not be the main motivator of those in the Public Service. However, that does not mean we do not need to pay them market-competitive salaries. We don't want pay to be the reason for people to join us, or to leave after joining us."

What a load of contradictions and BS. End of the day despite all the smoke and posturing the fact is they paid themselves the best and the mostest and have lost all sense of proportion. 60% raise is simply out of this world!

I read even MPs get a raise too, even walkover MPs who don't represent the people, and their performance is tied to GDP. Again this strange obsession with GDP. What about the soft indicators such as income gap, freedom of speech, political openness and so on? Will MPs now push for even more pro-business policies (not that they haven't been) at even greater expense of those who are left behind?

I notice also the PM is strangely quiet. The GST hike and budget speech was handled by Tartman. Now the unpopular issue of minister raise is thrown to the Hen. Even MM has to come out on the son's behalf to ram down the logic, not that MM is anymore convincing. This is not the way for leaders to lead. It reminds me of last yr's GE where LHL as so-called 'commander-in-chief' of PAP's election campaign was largely absent and ineffective, with the whole PAP campaign in disarray with u-turns and hiccups right down to polling day. This is the kind of paper general that is leading Singapore now and it doesn't look good. I suspect the father knows that too, which is why he die die cannot let go.

Where is the sense of proportion??

Can you imagine an 84 year old retiree who pays himself $2.7 million a year? And this amount is before pension! And he has the cheek to tell S'poreans to have a sense of proportion! KNNBCCB!!

Talented M'sian

This rap song damn good leh ~




An earlier video, 麻坡的话语 ~

[Link] Patients now have less protection!

Something we should know...

"Dear Friends,
This is not a sick April Fool’s joke.

I found out about this from an email sent to SMA's members only last night and it is all in the papers today..."

Although I saw the news in the papers, I didn't really give it a read. The doctor here has summarised the gist of the matter here.

China TV programmes

China, an authoritarian state not unlike SG, has a more liberal and progressive media that puts Mediacorpse and the MICA to shame.

Don't believe? Just watch the clips below taken from a talk show call '鲁豫有约' on Phoenix TV or 凤凰卫视. It is a heart warming story of a gay couple in China. Other than the taboo subject itself, the show displays great understanding of the universal human condition of love and yearning which applies to both gays and straight people. I think such shows are wonderful becos it reaches out to people and helps improve understanding of our fellow human being and remove prejudices.

Btw i find the female host 陈鲁豫 is quite cute and pretty leh hehehe...

Part One

Part Two

凤凰卫视 is available on Cable but i dunno whether this episode has ever been shown here. But for sure you will never see such programmes on our local channels. And that says a lot about the close mindedness of those people up there really.

What do you call such behaviour?

Today reports the following. It is the latest chapter in the rise and fall of PY. And I simply has to put the whole article here for my own keepsake hehe.


A loaded farewell
Philip Yeo uses MM Lee's name to assure scientists and put things on the record

Tan Hui Leng
huileng@mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE'S biomedical research champion Philip Yeo bid farewell to his yet-to-be-realised dream, but not without making clear that there is no change in the Government's thrust despite a high-profile debate sparked off by neurologist Lee Wei Ling.

That storm, as Mr Yeo described it, shocked not only local scholars but also the big-name scientists wooed, and sometimes cajoled, by the man himself to do research here.

He also invoked the stature and clout of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew to send this message to the whales (brand-name scientists) and guppies (younger Singapore scientists).

"Let me quote Mr Lee: 'This issue has been deliberated over a period of several months in Cabinet and decided by Mr Goh Chok Tong and his Cabinet. The policy has been continued by Mr Lee Hsien Loong and his Cabinet. We have made significant investments in time and resources. We have to get the most out of what we have put in,'" said Mr Yeo, the outgoing chairman of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) in a thank-you lunch hosted by Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang on Wednesday.
Mr Yeo — who was quoted as saying in December that he would have liked to continue with his A*Star mission for two more years — will step down as chairman at the end of this month to head Spring Singapore

That Mr Yeo chose to invoke the Minister Mentor's name to reassure the biomedical community was not surprising, a source close to A*Star told Today.

After all, when Dr Lee fired the first salvo in the big biomed debate in February, she told Reuters that she had raised her concerns about Singapore's biomedical policy with her father, Mr Lee.

And in a reply to a question on whether the Government was listening to her concerns that Singapore's biomedical sciences might be heading down the wrong road, Dr Lee told the news agency: "All I can say is that maybe they are having a rethink."

A*Star later said in a statement that "there is no rethink or change in the Government's biomedical sciences policy".

Still, the debate continued.

The source said: "The (Yeo-Lee) debate has spooked the top names who gave up their bright careers in their countries to come to Singapore. They were upset and uncertain.

"The use of Mr Lee's quote by Mr Philip Yeo has to be seen in this context. Who else can allay the fears of the 'whales' and bring this debate to a close?"

When asked to comment on Mr Yeo's latest remarks, Dr Lee, who is director of the National Neuroscience Institute, told Today: "I stand by my views ... Sometimes, the observer on the ground has a truer picture than the observer from the helicopter."

Apart from hoping to have the last word on the debate, Mr Yeo's speech was also notable for what he was trying to say in between the lines.

Lest Singaporeans forget, Mr Yeo, 60, reminded his audience that he had played a key role in developing Singapore's "second wing", which saw the development of the Batam Industrial Park and his "favourite", Bintan Beach International Resorts.

In 1998, he also had to put aside a joint industrial project with China in Wuxi to "assist in turning around the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park", which was not progressing as fast as its planners had initially hoped.

The source told Today: "I think Mr Yeo was using the occasion to put on record his achievements and possibly to show that if, for some reason, there is a departure from his thrust, then it was not his decision."

Mr Yeo also gave his audience an insight into just how close he was to the Minister Mentor. More than once, Mr Yeo made a different career choice because of Mr Lee's intervention.

In the mid-1980s, for example, Mr Yeo said he would have joined Singapore Airlines if not for Mr Lee's advice for him to move to the Economic Development Board (EDB). In 2000, when he was mulling over a lucrative career as chairman of a Singapore-based holding company, it was again Mr Lee who asked him to stay on and "carry on with my life-sciences pursuit" at the EDB.

And last year, after Mr Yeo announced that he was leaving A*Star, Mr Lee "asked me to help out with international projects as Special Adviser for Economic Development at the Prime Minister's Office".

As Mr Yeo looked back at his years in the civil service, he seemed to have one regret: Not spending enough time with his family.

He quoted a "rebuke, albeit a respectful one" from his son, Gene, who sent him this message:

Daughter's doing great at Brandeis
Son's slogging at Salk
Both missing dad
Did not spend as much time with family.

"In this Year of the Pig, I intend to reserve some time for my family," Mr Yeo said as he ended his speech on a wistful note — so atypical of the hard-driving, hard-talking untouchable star.

Destination SIA?

At his farewell lunch, Mr Yeo wondered aloud if an offer made over 20 years ago for him to lead SIA was still valid.

In August 1985, Mr Goh Keng Swee, then the chairman of the Monetary Auth-ority of Singapore, had advised Mr Yeo not to join the EDB. But then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew told Mr Yeo that he should join the EDB "as I was needed there".

"Mr Lee also said that I could go to SIA at a later date. I wonder if the offer had an expiry date," Mr Yeo quipped.


As usual PY makes a lot of noise. Except this time it sounds like ITE – It's the End! Hahahaha!

1. The fact that PY is to leave sooner (end of this month) than the two more yrs he hoped for says a lot already. And joining the relatively obscure SPRING Singapore is a big step down and confirms the decline in his fortune.

2. Bringing out LKY’s name and throwing it around is quite shameful. It is not unlike the behaviour of a eunuch in an imperial court. The eunuch has lost power and is now bawling out loud trying to get as much attention as possible for himself from anyone who cares to listen.

3. Today calls it a loaded farewell. Very true! When no one bothers to listen to a eunuch anymore what does the eunuch do? That's right, go public and play to the gallery. Bringing out his son’s email is downright cringing and shameless. Actually it reminds me of TT Durai whose daughter wrote a letter that was read out in parliament. You know one’s time is up when they have nothing else more to say other than start talking about past glory and inconsequential family matters.

4. Today writes, "It is not often that a Singaporean civil servant uses a farewell lunch to talk about his successes. But then again, Mr Yeo is no normal civil servant." Today is being very polite. (Must be polite lah wait PY threaten to sue then how?) Certainly PY is no normal civil servant; he is an abnormally arrogant, ungracious civil servant who should have retired a long time ago.

5. Going on and on endlessly about Mr Lee this Mr Lee that sounds like the tune of a desparate sycophant. To top it off PY brings in the SIA offer (20 yrs ago) that has obviously lapsed a long long time ago. Oh my god this is getting so embarrassing. If I am Mr Lee I will be very put off and embarrassed... one of my eunuchs is begging in public using my name! Quick put it down before it turns rabid!

Preventive Detention

Other than the ISA, looks like there is this other law that allows for detention without trial in SG. A letter from the MHA appeared in the ST forum today which got me to go dig up the original letter to see what it was about. The original letter is below followed by MHA's reply.

In the original letter, Mr Daud asks two important questions which I have bolded out.

March 7, 2007
Ensure due process of law for accused persons

THE pilot project mentioned by Senior Minister of State (Home Affairs and Law) Ho Peng Kee to allow an accused to see his lawyer before investigations are over is a step towards ensuring fair prosecution and due process of law for all Singaporeans.

Due process places requirements and limitations on legal proceedings to ensure fundamental fairness and justice.

It is based on the principle that the Government must respect its citizens' right to life, liberty and property and must make a substantial effort before these rights can be taken away.

Under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, if the Minister for Home Affairs is satisfied that a person has been associated with activities of a criminal nature and it is necessary that the person be detained in the interest of public safety, the minister may detain the person for any period not exceeding 12 months. The accused can also be detained for multiple consecutive periods of 12 months. This power of preventive detention seems to go against ensuring the right of every Singaporean to due process of law.

While Singaporeans trust the Government to prosecute fairly, must it be without checks? Why not ensure a full due process of the law as a check on this trust?

Do we want a system that might fail to prosecute some guilty persons or one that could wrongly prosecute an innocent person?

As the Act has to be renewed by Parliament every five years to remain law, I hope our elected leaders will deliberate if it is in the public interest to renew the Act or have a system to ensure every accused Singaporean his or her right to a fair prosecution.

If our leaders do renew the Act in 2009, I hope that they will explain the rationale.

Ahmad Firdaus Daud


The MHA’s reply.

March 14, 2007
Safeguards in criminal law Act prevent abuse

I REFER to the letter by Mr Ahmad Firdaus Daud, 'Ensure due process of law for accused persons' (ST, March 7).

While our law-enforcement agencies always endeavour to prosecute criminals in court, there are situations where this is not possible. This is the case when key witnesses fear to testify in open court for fear of reprisal against them or their loved ones.

The Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act is then used, as a last resort, to place dangerous criminals under preventive detention to safeguard public safety and good order. The Act has enabled us to deal effectively with secret-society members, drug traffickers, and organised-crime and loan-shark syndicates. Other societies without similar powers face great difficulties dealing with such organised crime syndicates.

But this does not mean that there is no due process under the Act. Indeed, the Act sets out many safeguards to ensure that the powers that it provides are not abused. Hence, the Attorney-General's consent, in his capacity as the Public Prosecutor, is required before a case is sent to the Minister for Home Affairs for his decision on whether to issue a detention order.

The detainee is informed of the grounds for his detention and is given the opportunity to make representations. These representations, either made by him or his lawyers, are then put before an Advisory Committee - comprising prominent private citizens such as Justices of the Peace, senior lawyers and community leaders - which will study them as well as all the evidence before making its recommendations on the order to the President, who may confirm or cancel the order.

If detained, his continued detention is subject to the Advisory Committee's review on an annual basis.

The Act remains a temporary provision with a five-year sunset clause. This approach ensures that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in exercising powers under the Act, is mindful that preventive detention is a departure from the normal process of court prosecution and should be used sparingly. In Parliament, when seeking its renewal, MHA has to convince Parliament of the need for its continued use.

MHA will continue to judiciously use the Act to deal with dangerous criminals and to ensure that the crime and drug situation in Singapore remains under control.

Ong-Chew Peck Wan (Mrs)
Director
Corporate Communications Division
for Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Home Affairs

From my lame understanding of law, due process means when a person gets accused of wrong doings the burden rests on the prosecution to prove guilt and conviction in court. Until that happens the accused is only a suspect and not a criminal.

The MHA person says that a due process (in this case a trial in court) is sometimes not possible because "key witnesses fear to testify in open court for fear of reprisal against them or their loved ones". She then goes on to justify the law saying that it is "a last resort, to place dangerous criminals under preventive detention to and good order."

This sounds logical at first, all the talk of safeguard public safety. But notice the use of the word 'criminals'. Now this is a big jump from being just a suspect or an accused. Becos how can an accused become a criminal especially since there is no court trial and conviction? So preventive detention is really on suspects and not on criminals. There is a big big distinction here. Hence Mr Daud’s point of the law infringing on human rights.

The MHA person then goes on to stress that there is indeed due process. A detainee (the accused who has overnight becomes a criminal) "can make representations to an Advisory Committee... which will study them as well as all the evidence before making its recommendations on the order to the President, who may confirm or cancel the order." This again does not sound logical becos all of a sudden now we have 'evidence' - Evidence that earlier is not strong enough to stand in an open court but now strong enough to put a person away for detention! Now this is definitely a much weaker due process than a trial in court, becos I think making representations is a much simplified procedure that is not transparent. It is not the usual rigorous process where prosecution and defendant have the opportunity to openly engage in argument, cross examinations and fighting it out in court. Also the person now playing god is the president, someone who is neither a trained lawyer nor possess legal knowledge, and who furthermore is beholden to the executive and hardly independent.

So it seems the system is stacked heavily in the prosecution’s favour. It is almost like giving the prosecution a second chance. "Oh you know we don’t have enough evidence to go to court and we may lose, but hey we could resort to this to tekan him anyway, muahahaha!" *evil laugh* Why should the prosecution’s job be made easy and the defendants' so much harder? If the prosecution does not have enough evidence, then go out there work some more to get stronger evidence! Earn your bloody paycheck! Otherwise there is no ground for detention. And some more detention for 12 months? That's a long time and as good as destroying a person's life, becos once you are detained they will make sure your crime sticks and even if you are innocent you will still end up "guilty". (Re: Chia Tye Poh) Becos there is no way for them to admit making mistakes as they will lose face and face justice.

Foreigner backstabs SGian!!!

Yes let's increase foreigner population!
Total ownage...


Dispute between 2 staff at restaurant ends in death of 25-year-old
By Julia Ng, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 10 March 2007 2257 hrs

SINGAPORE : A fight between two staff at the Soup Spoon restaurant at Raffles City Shopping Centre resulted in the death of one of them.

Police said they received a call at 7.05pm that a fight had taken place at the restaurant located at the basement of Raffles City.

When they arrived, they found a 25-year-old Singaporean lying face down on the kitchen floor, with a stab wound on his back.

A 43-year-old China national, also a staff of the restaurant, was arrested at the scene.

Police are currently investigating the incident. - CNA /ls

The Lives of Others

I just watched this German film that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. It has an interesting story. Without giving too much away the story is set in East Germany or GDR (German Democratic Republic) in the 1980s before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The totalitarian state routinely spies on its own citizens, encourages confessions for "crimes against the state", and jails people at will. Needless to say it was a dark period in Germany’s history.

An agent, Hauptmann (Left), working for the Stasi or East German secret police has been assigned to wiretap a playwright, Dreyman, to look for incriminating evidence that will put the artist away for the "good of the state". However as Hauptmann's mission progresses and he listens in to every intimate detail in Dreyman's life, he begins to empathise with the unsuspecting Dreyman...

What I liked about the movie is the depiction of hypocrisy of a dictatorship that calls itself a democratic republic. The ideals and values of socialism are perverted and abused by the rulers over the ruled. Suicide statistics are state secrets, and harmless jokes about the party chairman can jeopardize the career of civil servants. There is no freedom and human rights... in other words it is a sad and ridiculous state of affairs. At times I find myself with a knowing smile, I guess dictatorship comes in all forms but its traits are universal.

Early on in the movie there is this dialogue between the Cultural Minister and Dreyman where the Minister tells Dreyman to "write whatever he wants, bcos people's mind won't be changed so easily". He then promptly puts Dreyman under secret surveillance. Dreyman too believes that people won't be changed so easily, but his belief stems purely from having faith in humanity, almost naively if you ask me. The great sadness here is that they are both right. At one end the dictatorial state doesn't trust the people and believes in the worst possible, and they are not wrong – see how swiftly the wall crumbled overnight. At the other end those like Dreyman are too trusting... maybe bcos faith is the only thing they have got. Meanwhile the majority of the people in between just don’t care and this allows the dictatorship to carry on. People like Hauptmann, a kind of anti-hero, does not exist in real life. Most people are seduced too easily by money or material rewards, while people like Dreyman are just too few to make a difference. It is depressing if you think about it.

But it is only a movie, and quite a good one too. I recommend it!

Another MRT "accident"!

This afternoon! Confirmed plus chop! At either Kranji or Woodlands station!

NS discriminates SG Males

A while ago I chanced upon this blog. The blogger is a nominated Member of Parliament. He shared with me his brief and generally sitting-on-the-fence views when I posted a few questions about NS and reservist to him.

A fellow male SGian saw his reply and wrote back to him. You can follow this link but I have pasted the reply here.

I disagree with your [i.e. Siew’s] views about NS call-up. I was with IBM (prettyenlighten MNC) some years ago. As consultant, part of our performance indicator was the "Billable hours" we clocked.

120 hrs lost a year (ICT) shows up clearly on graphs & charts, especially when 60% of the group were non-Singaporean. We were band in the lower percentile and not only loose out in increment, bonuses, but also in promotion opportunities.

In order to minimise that, some of us choose to take long overseas projects to stay ahead of competition and avoided ICT (not always successful).

Now that I'm making hiring decision, I realised it's cheaper to hire Indian consultants even when they are asking for the same pay as Singaporeans just because of the employer CPF contribution. I'm referring to pretty entry level job, when a local fresh grad is asking for the same salary as an imported Indians with a 3-4 yrs of experience, a MBA or Master in IT and no ICT liability.

Why should any truly enlighten employer give chance to locals when they can get better employees at the same price? Shouldn't an enlighten individual threat everybody the same and give equal opportunity to the best talents?

Deprived of the experience, the local fresh grads will loose out in the long run (not talking about the top 25% of each class who should not have problem landing on good jobs). When these imported talents decides to return home or find better opportunities in US, the cumulated knowledge goes with them and Singapore loose out. It's a lost-lost to both Singapore companies as well as citizens.

Think about it. Most of our Ministers are too short-term minded. You cannot govern just looking and numbers.

Siew disagrees with the above and responds saying that

"An enlightened employer is one who will recognise that NS is an obligation imposed on all Singaporean males, and that an employer located in Singapore should support that. This is especially so when the decision-maker is Singaporean himself.

It is a short-sighted, dollars-and-cents kind of guy who just looks at numbers, who would give a job to a foreigner simply because he does not have NS liability and is cheaper since employers' CPF contribution is not payable. And what is particularly disappointing is that Kevin, after having been at the receiving end of discrimination due to NS, turns around and discriminates against locals due to CPF."

Actually I dunno what Siew is trying to say. Words like "recognise" and "support NS" are the usual rah rah sounding and politically correct things to say. But they don't address the specifics of the problem at all. Siew says that it is short sighted if an employer just looks at numbers. That may be well and true. But the undeniable fact is that everything being equal, i.e. same asking salary, same qualification, same expertise, a male Sgian having reservist liabilities is straight away crippled compared to a foreigner or PR who does not cause such disruptive problems to his employer. And if it is a foreigner, lagi better bcos for foreigner the employer does not have to contribute to his CPF! Siew says there are other factors to consider. But with due respect to him, there isn't any point going into other blah blah factors when one is already crippled at the start by this basic fundamental disadvantage.

Another blogger Molly Meek wrote a wonderful response to Siew on her blog. Considering Molly is a female and doesn't need to do NS and reservist I would say she sees the whole issue a lot clearer than Siew. 'Institutionalised Disadvantage' is what it is but the gahment in ivory tower just turns a blind eye and does not listen. As much as I love my country, and try very hard to find something likeable about it. I can no longer find any reason to. Is it therefore any wonder that a recent survey finds 37 percent of Singaporean youths say they are not patriotic and more than half want to migrate overseas if given a chance?

Scrap Reservist Training!

Fellow reservist Abdul Salim suggests doing away with NS and implement voluntary reservist instead. And i agree with him 1000%!

His blog is here.

Another post about No Action Talk Only and broken promises...

More opting out

In the news this morning, more people are seeking organ donation opt-out forms since the organ "robbery" incident some weeks back. I myself have sent in my opt-out form a week ago.

Meanwhile a relative of the Sim family involved has provided some information to this blogger on police behaviour during the incident. It doesn't surprise me considering what i saw first hand at Hong Lim Park.

Foreign undergrads' English not up to par

This is rare but a HR manager pointed out the obvious in his letter to the papers.

Feb 21, 2007
Foreign undergrads' English not up to par

AS A human resource practitioner for more than 10 years, I have interviewed a number of foreign undergraduates from our local universities for part-time employment. Their command of our working language, which is English, is not up to my expectations of an undergraduate studying in an institution that teaches in English.

I have also had feedback from Singaporean graduates that they had trouble understanding what their foreign counterparts said during presentations at university.

Why is this so if these foreign students passed their English Language (EL) tests before admission to local universities? Are the minimum EL standards set by our universities too low for admission of international students?

At the National University of Singapore, if a foreign student applies for undergraduate admission, the minimum EL requirement is a C6 in O-level English or an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of six. However, for Singaporean students, a pass in General Paper (GP) at AO level is the minimum requirement.

Why do local students need a pass in GP if an O-level English standard is sufficient for admission to local universities?

Many foreign students are offered permanent residence in Singapore once they secure a permanent job within a certain period after completing their degree. What is worrying is whether they have a competent grasp of English to function professionally in a mostly English-speaking work environment, given the minimum EL standard set for university entry.

Australian universities are thinking of pushing their EL requirement higher. Should our tertiary institutions do the same?

Rick Lim Say Kiong

Where I am studying now, doing a private degree. More than half of my class are foreigners from China, India, Vietnam and so on. And it is true their English simply cannot make it. The Indians fare better but their accent are so thick and I can see even the lecturers have trouble understanding. Class participation becomes a joke.. The SGians naturally are the most vocal ones and contribute to class participation.

It is true the gahment wants to attract foreigners to study here, and are desperate to make money from education. But along the way standards are diluted. The foreigners also do not integrate. Not all are like that of course but majority keep to their own circles. Sometimes when I go for lessons I feel like a foreigner in a foreign country.

Indian FT conman let off!

Why is this man so happy? Because it pays to be a foreigner in Sillypore, that's why! (Even when you fake your credentials)



Feb 17, 2007
MD who lied about degree let off with fine
MBA from India, but he claimed in EP application it was from US varsity
By K.C. Vijayan

COMPANY managing director Mahesh Narayan, who lied several times that he had a degree from a top US university, was originally facing up to five years in jail and a possible $20,000 fine. But he was yesterday let off with a $6,000 penalty after pleading guilty to two of the five charges.

Senior Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam, arguing for Narayan, said he had been hired for his work experience and not his degree, and that where the degree was actually obtained from did not result in any loss to his employers.

The prosecution also did not press for a jail term.

Why not? Double standards??

Contacted by The Straits Times after sentencing yesterday, Narayan said: 'The judicial process has been very fair and I am just relieved it is finally over.'

Narayan, who heads a business management and consultancy firm here, said: 'Our projects are here, and our commitments, both personal and professional, are here, too.'

Is he threatening to take his business somewhere else if he is handed a heavier sentence??

Asked repeatedly why he lied, the Indian national declined to answer.

Why didn't the prosecution follow up?? Note that Narayan was not even remorseful or the slightest sorry for lying.

He was accused of falsely stating, since 2000, in his Employment Pass (EP) applications to the Ministry of Manpower that he had a master's in business administration from Syracuse University.

He does have an MBA - but from Osmania University in southern India.

But this lie would have made no difference to MOM or the firms which hired Narayan, argued Mr Jeyaretnam.

He pointed out that three of his employers had emphasised his 'work experience and exposure' in justifying his employment. In April 2000, MTV Asia - where Narayan worked as a consultant - cited his 'extensive consultancy experience and in-depth knowledge of the television broadcast business in Asia' in its supporting letter.

Moreover, the MOM did not insist on seeing his educational certificates, claimed Mr Jeyaretnam, saying that this shows 'that the particular educational institution from which Mr Narayan obtained his MBA was not decisive or even especially material to MOM'.

District Judge Toh Yung Cheong - noting that there were no forged documents and that the prosecution did not ask for a jail term - imposed a $3,000 fine on each of the two charges Narayan pleaded guilty to.

The other three charges were taken into consideration. Each of the five charges carried a fine of up to $4,000 or a maximum jail term of one year, or both......

Narayan's case is different from others of a similar nature, said Mr Jeyaretnam, because he did not actually submit a forged certificate.

In January 2005, South Korean sales manager Kang Seong Yong, 40, was jailed for two months for lying that he had a university degree, which was key to him getting a job.

A total of 68 people were convicted each year in 2002 and 2003 for falsely declaring their educational qualifications.

The defence lawyer did a good job and make the offence sounds like a trivial one. The judge obviously agrees and the punishment is a gentle tap on the wrist of the conman. However if everything is as inconsequential as it looks, why even bother to prosecute him in the first place? Why waste everyone's time? Why have a law on such offences in the first place? If "this lie would have made no difference to MOM or the firms which hired Narayan" then why is Narayan being charged in court in the first place? This is a contradiction. And who exposed him? I guess we are not seeing the full picture.

Hahahaha

saw this pic in a forum..
its juvenile but so what? funny can liao hehehe

Organ robbery?

I am generally disappointed with my fellow countrymen. The election last year said it all. Despite the countless "broken promises" and "u-turns", 66.6% remain idiots. And the PAP gahmen just continues to push its luck, 得寸进尺. It is testing our OB markers, see how far Sgians can tahan.

The news story about the "organ robbery" saddens me further. This blogger has the details...

But what can i do to protest against this system? I am not as courageous as Chee Soon Juan and let myself get arrested, fined and jailed. I can't migrate bcos i got no money. And soon they will call me up for reservist. In the short term I am stuck here and there is nothing i can do about it. Most of all I am disappointed with myself.

But i am going to do one thing next week. I am going to opt out. My organs are not going to benefit any 66.6 Sgians, PRs, foreigners or PAP dogs. They say if you opt out, next time if you kena any problem yourself and need organ transplants, you will not be on the waiting list. In other words you are as good as dead if you disagree with the gahmen's opt in policy. This is a threat.

And if there is one thing i can do, that will be refusing to yield to this threat. So i am going to opt out. Who wants to live forever? Not me. When my time is up, just go... like the wacko in Prison Break who just wanted to go to Holland. In the end he jumped. The world is fucked anyway.

Dr Lee Wei Ling vs Philip Yeo

While i may seem harsh on Dr Lee in my previous entry, the truth is i listen to the message and not the messenger. Today Dr Lee gets my support for her stand in her "feud" with Philip Yeo in the current Biomed debate that is getting Yeo all riled up and making all sorts of uncalled for remarks against her which has led to some stinging response from Dr Lee herself. Yeo has the support of an ex-SAF general and heavy weight PAP minister Tony Tan no less. But Dr Lee is a member of the untouchable family, the daughter of LKY.

Under Dr Lee's microscope
Letter from Associate Professor Lee Wei Ling
Director, National Neuroscience Institute

THE official stance by the Government is that there is nothing wrong with its biomedical research strategy. It justifies that it is on the right track by the fact that the biomedical sector now makes up a quarter of Singapore's Gross Domestic Product generated by manufacturing.

Output by Singapore's drug factories jumped by over a third last year, pushing overall biomedical production up by 30.2 per cent. This robust growth puts biomedical output at a record $23 billion, almost four times the production in 2000. More than 90 per cent comes from pharmaceuticals, with the rest from the medical technology sector.

To attribute the investment by biomedical companies in Singapore to our multi-billion dollar research drive is inaccurate. Numerous news agencies and newspapers have reported the reasons why these biomedical companies decided to set up in Singapore. The generous help from the Singapore Government, the strict enforcement of intellectual-property (IP) laws, proximity to new major markets in Asia, Singapore's efficiency, educated workforce and English-speaking environment are the incentives for investing in Singapore.

Singapore's own huge biomedical research initiative is not an important consideration, except in the few cases where the pharmaceutical companies have joint research ventures with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) or the Biopolis. This is not surprising. Research groups doing similar research are all competing with each other to make breakthroughs — only then do they get the IP rights. So, how would having competing groups in Singapore be an incentive for biomedical companies to come and set up shop here?

Mr Philip Yeo described me as "a voice in the wilderness", noting that I have not been in the Biopolis. But I have received more fanmail than I can remember from Singapore doctors and researchers, thanking me for pointing out the obvious mistake in the way the biomedical drive has been carried out.

I would challenge that, having never practised as a doctor, Mr Yeo is strategising about biomedical research directions in an ivory tower. He has been very successful in selling Singapore in the past, but biomedical research is a different ball game. The fact that he dismisses the importance of Hepatitis B and head injury shows how out of touch he is with reality.

Yes, Singapore is immunising its children against Hepatitis B, but immunisation does not help someone who is already a carrier for the Hepatitis B virus. What is more significant is that 5 per cent of all ethnic Chinese are Hepatitis B carriers.

Head injury is the major cause of disability in children and economically-productive adults. The cost to the patients' families and to society equals, if not exceeds, that of cancer. Head injury is not particular to Singapore, but it is an area where not many research centres have chosen to concentrate on. At the National Neuroscience Institute, we have a good research track record and will continue to pursue this area of research.

Lieutenant-General (NS) Lim Chuan Poh said "you have to give it time to show success. Some of these things cannot be done in a matter of three or five years; we are going to stay the course".

If A*Star believes this, why did it sign an agreement with Johns Hopkins that had a five year timeline?

In fact, Professor William Brody from The Johns Hopkins University alluded to this when he was asked about biomedical research in Singapore. Prof Brody also pointed out the fact "that research is not linear, or predictable — it's unpredictable".

Can Singapore afford to continue to pour in huge sums of money for 10 or 20 years in the hope of eventually yielding results, yet knowing that there is no certainty of success?

Lt-Gen Lim goes on to ask: "Why must it be that Singaporeans cannot be world-beaters?" My answer to that is: Singaporeans can be world-beaters — if Singapore has the appropriate research strategy and concentrates effort and resources on the areas where we have a competitive advantage. The Singapore Olympic Council seems to understand this simple concept which escapes the highly intellectual officials determining the direction of Singapore's research strategy.

A*Star dismissed any suggestion that the Government might be rethinking its strategy to develop the biomedical research sector. However, Dr Tony Tan seems more open-minded about this issue. Dr Tan, who is the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council's deputy chairman, said he was sure the biomedical science executive committee will consider all input: "If there is any change in direction or emphasis necessary, I'm confident they will take the appropriate action."

In the same article where he was featured opening the new National University of Singapore Centre for Life Sciences, it was reported that "several cancers, the ones more common in Singapore and the region, will be put under the microscope". This is in line with the concept of niche areas that I have been advocating.


From my feeble knowledge of economics in JC, it seems that Tony Tan's use of GDP to proclaim Biomed a success is misleading. (What's wrong with him anyway? I would think he should do some homework after making that classic remark about Sg workers costs more than American and Australian workers)

The components of GDP, which comprise of investments, private consumption and net exports, does not take into account R&D. The KPI for R&D should be patents and breakthroughs. To date the Biomed has failed in this aspect which was what led to the termination of the tie-up with American John Hopkins after just 5 years. There was a big public relation exercise by Philip Yeo when the tie-up ended some 2 years ago. So for Philip Yeo and gang to now proclaim that "research needs more time" (10 to 15 years) sounds like going against their own justifications in ending the John Hopkins venture. Their position in this saga is riddled with u-turns and flip flops. I wonder if they realise it themselves.

Billions poured into Biomed may not be recoverable. But is it too late or too costly to change track now? Perhaps this is the reason why Yeo and gang is standing their ground. But why then is high-flying Yeo (mostly self-proclaimed) jumping ship to let an unproven and untested SAF general take over? That to me is a clear sign of abandoning ship, a standard SAF procedure to protect their prized officers and scholars.

I think observers may point out that perhaps Dr Lee has a hidden agenda here. Perhaps she is so vocal now becos she hopes that research money go into areas under her purview. Of course this is just speculation. But i won't be surprised this will be what the Yeo camp will suggest in the days to come in their counter-offensive. Yeo has been very defensive and exceedingly arrogant and rude in his remarks so far. When one deals with a monstrosity like the SAF or someone with ego so big that it blocks out the sun and blinds him from reality, for sure they are not going to lie down without a fight even if it means dragging the whole ship down with them.