Spoken Straight from the Heart

This article by another blogger (Think For Me, Singapore) spoke my heart out.

I am a Singaporean and will always be proud of my country of birth. But I really dislike how the country is run currently.

The PAP policies, the yes-men, the group-think mentality, the cold-heart attitude, the elitism, the meritocracy, the aristocracy, the controlled media, rising prices, paying their own million-dollar salaries, lack of transparency and accountability, etc. The list goes on. 

I'm not finding fault - we all know there is no perfect government in the world.

New Disease called 'SHEEPLE-CITIS' discovered in Singapore

Confirmed new disease discovered and already rampant in Singapore.

See it happening here (link) during a confrontation in an MRT train.

Disease: SHEEPLE-CITIS

New disease commonly found in Singapore where people turn into sheep and refuse to think for themselves or for good of others unless the government tells them otherwise.

Symptoms:
Keeping mum about an unjust event happening before one's eyes with the sudden urge to whip out one's mobile handphone to film it.

Smearing Campaign?

I am commenting on the article in Channel NewsAsia (link or read below). There are a few gaping loopholes in this article that are so alarming.

Without clarifications, it can skew a reader's understanding of the situation. Goodness can some investigative work be done before publishing?

1. Were there handover issues from DBSS that put AHPETC into a risky situation in the first place?
   - This is akin to TOP date in Singapore where the developer has certain obligations to fulfil.
   "Temporary Occupation Permit(TOP) is a temporary permit to allow owner to occupy the building when the key regulatory requirements are met as it may take some time to obtain the Certificate of Statutory Completion(CSC). However, application may be made directly for a CSC when all the requirements have been complied with."
   - Without fulfilling the agreed handover items, how can any handover-takeover even happen?
   .

Founding Father?

I don't have time to go digging through our National Archives to ascertain what Singapore was like in the 60s.

This pro-LKY supporter had claimed that LKY had turned a backward fishing village into the modern day Singapore as we know of today. He challenged me to prove otherwise and that he had read up extensively and I was well... wrong.

Basically I got lambasted for challenging the notion that LKY was Singapore's 'Founding Father'. I have been repeatedly told that I was disrespectful (and unfilial?).

Critical and critical voices - we need both

We all kinda figured out that the Singapore General Elections (GE) is near when the PAP starts:

• Dishing out goodies and freebies,
• Having widespread newspaper articles crowing about the PAP success stories,
• Threatening us that with a bad dose of government and our mums and sisters will end up as maids,
• Reminding us with knuckledusters and spurs that we will need to repent, etc.

Or come on an offensive approach to clamp down alternative or dissenting voices.

The latest victim of such 'culling' is the suspension the The Real Singapore (TRS) (link at http://therealsingapore.com/).

Update: I can no longer access the site :(

I reiterate - dissenting voices are actually both critical (fault-finding) and critical (essential) feedback to any organisation and country. Without which it will be hard for any  progress or break-away from the norm and think out-of-the-box.

Lesser of two evils

Which is of a lesser evil?

1. Employee faking an academic qualification, or
2. Employing company dissing the fake qualification as not required for hiring entry criteria

Allow me to state this clearly - I am NOT on a witch-hunt with regards to the recent degree mills saga. Neither am I 'bashing' the Foreignt Talent (FT) Immigrant Policy.

Worse of two evils

Short and sharp for today's post -

How come we are 'crucifying' and charging a school-dropout and a rebel teenager who published his 'I hate LKY' video online with no threats of death and with the public braying for his blood (Amos Yee)

vs

Attempting to understand and even showing sympathy to a scholar sponsored by taxpayers to study in Stanford University (mind you, it's Stanford!) with a predestined career to be a future CEO of a government-linked agency (Ouyang Xiangyu) but had tried to poison her schoolmates.

One no matter how many hate videos published can't make the dead come back to life; the other if poisoned successfully will make a live person dead.

One was not condonable, the other forgiveable.

One with pitchfolk mob and shouts of 'crucify him', the other 'let's understand what happened and the situation she was in'.

Hmm... Singapore, have we gone cuckoo?

It's never been about Christianity, it never did

C'mon it's never been about Christianity.

In regards to the infamous Amos Yee's insulting video about LKY and the disparaging remarks on Christianity (link), it never has been.

I am a Christian. It has never bothered me about people's criticism about Jesus or Christians.

My opinion is it is about insulting LKY and these pro-LKY and PAP supporters can't take it sitting down. Who is this young punk who dare insult our Founding Father. But please don't go chasing the rabbit trail and make a piecemeal about insults on Christians and creating religious disharmony. It never has been.

Heart-felt story shared by daughter of political detainee

Heart-felt account of the daughter of a political detainee under ISA. This is an excellent piece of sharing and kudos to her father Ong Bock Chuan for forgiving. There is so much healing in forgiveness.

My words to her:
It's not easy for all of you and I'm glad you spoke up. I have always been intrigued by the aftermath and impact of the immediate families of these 'wrongful' political detainees. There is a 'dark' side of LKY that needs to be shared and looked at objectively.

What's next, Singapore?

I had left my opinions and comments in various reads:

• "What LKY's death tells us about the culture of Singapore" in LIFT blog (link);
• Attested to similar kinship to state-controlled media propaganda (link); and
•  Writings about my stand that we need to attribute LKY's contributions and not some fishing village story (link)

After which I feel I have been on trial - lambasted by 'good-natured' friends, online readers and LKY mourners.

Like it or not, LKY had always been a person whose statements can be conflicting direct and peppered with 'contradictions'.
 

The MAN of the moment

Today all Singaporeans mourned the loss of a great leader, our first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. I too am saddened by his passing.

For all the disagreements I have with LKY's iron-fisted rule and putting down his opposition, he was the MAN of that moment to bring Singapore to where she is today. With his pioneering leaders to the likes of Goh Keng Swee, Devan Nair, Rajaratnam, Toh Chin Chye etc, they have transformed Singapore to the modern, blessed and prosperous island nation we love.

Transport Fares got increase or not? Make up your mind!

Seriously once I start writing it is hard to stop.

Let's  look at the title of the article and the last paragraph of this ridiculous report in Today Online (link) below.

Title -
Public transport fares may drop next year: Lui

Last Paragraph -
"But because the remaining 3.4 per cent was carried over, the fare adjustment quantum in this current exercise will be 2.8 per cent instead, he (Lui) added"

Are you confused? Is there a decrease or there isn't?

Huffington Post Responds to 'Kee Chiu' Minister

What can I say, Minister 'Kee Chiu' Chan Chun Sing?

After your 'failed' attempt to discredit Dr Chee Soon Juan via writing to Huffington Post (link here), you've gotten the whole social media's attention...

... in a very wrong way. You should have let sleeping dogs lie.

Everyone was buzz-ing with your petty thoughts on life's failures and elitism, your underhand mud-slinging through character assassination, and your low-down politicking when you threw your weight signing off as Minister for Social and Family Development in your letter to HuffPost.

Then Dr Chee did a brilliant master stroke of rebuttal (link here and here).