the mighty shoe

Your shoe is prohibited... really?

do we have to go barefooted for high security talks and presentations soon?

we have seen a reporter throwing his shoe at former US President George Bush, few days ago a similar incident happened to Chinese PM Wen in Britain. Mind you, it was at University of Cambridge. Why can't (even) educated people fight it out, you may ask. However, the shoe thrower should have carefully considered the repercussions of his action, before deciding to do so. I don't think he has done that. Personally, i admire PM Wen for his work and don't think he deserved to be treated this way.

does the Minister know his portfolio?

several online blogs such as The Online Citizen, and forum posters have attacked our Transport Minister Mr Raymond Lim, after his comments recently:

Mr Lim tempered hopes that current falling oil prices will translate into a similar drop in fares, saying that there is no direct correlation between the two.

my take is - maybe he is saying there is still a link, which was the basis for some fare hikes in the past. Noticed he has used the words 'direct correlation'. Maybe there's really no link... but this meant our transport companies have been lying to PTC (and the people taking public transport) for years?

i'm quite confused what he meant. Maybe it's too scholarly for me.

our wish is that our politicians need to be better in touch with the ground - so i would hope he has already sensed the confusion going on, and clarify his comments through his press secretary or some other communication means. If he failed to address this wave of comments, it is yet another failure by the government to listen to its people.

another take from me is to split the Transport Ministry into 2; hive off land transportation from the current ministry to be managed alone. Air and sea transportation, traditionally viewed as important assets to Singapore, have a even better focus if separated. Let another capable Minister champion for local issues instead.

ps: he made a promise to increase GST to 8.5% in return for free public transportation. Maybe it was a threat? Careless remark? A very careless politician making gaffes in the making!

exam period starts

1 paper down. This is the module that causes me much distress over my graduation.

If you studied statistics, the above sign shouldn't be foreign to you

no one can understand this genuine problem unless he/she been through the same situation. It's roughly the same problem in tertiary education - fail something and repeat it. What's the pain? The pain is the agonizing fear of repeating (and staying back at an age of 1st quartile of n=100) and therefore not being able to graduate.

i think what wx said is true. If you cannot get in, you can try other courses or schools. Even if you can get in, don't assume you can get out safely. Some folks can get in, but quit after a while. Sometimes its not that they don't treasure their places, but there are many environmental difficulties - age catching up; not as agile or daring to try anymore, the pressing need to solve family difficulties first, other personal wants-and-needs, personal problems, etc.

that being said, i'd still encourage my poly readers to continue to upgrade themselves. We all see the difference when times are good or bad - when times are good, money comes and goes easily, not many cares a hoot for education because of a dangerous assumption of a strong employment climate. Now when times are bad, people want to earn more, but are restrained because there is an invisible ceiling. Of course, work harder to earn more, but humans have only 24 hours a day. How hard can you work yourself? What will be the expense(s) of this terribly hard work day in and out?

the smarter way is still, arm yourself with qualifications quickly, whether grades suck or not. Or at least, don't procrastinate by comparing costs of studying or not studying. This cost comparison itself does not hold water, i feel. For full timers, concurrently work on personal grooming and development. University undergrads are no longer the stereotyped classic bookworms, and the tide is indeed changing. Form up or drop out... *grin*

what a wall of text.. i'm going back to my notes.

what a tainted letter

CONDOLENCE LETTER FROM PRIME MINISTER LEE HSIEN LOONG ON DEMISE OF JB JEYARETNAM

30 September 2008

Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam
Mr Philip Jeyaretnam

Dear Kenneth and Philip Jeyaretnam

I was sad to learn that your father, Mr Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, has passed away.
Mr JB Jeyaretnam was a Member of Parliament for Anson constituency from 1981 till 1986, and a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament from 1997 till 2001. He used to engage in heated debates in the House. Perhaps it was because he and the PAP never saw eye to eye on any major political issue and he sought by all means to demolish the PAP and our system of government. Unfortunately, this helped neither to build up a constructive opposition nor our Parliamentary tradition. Nevertheless, one had to respect Mr JB Jeyaretnam’s dogged tenacity to be active in politics at his age.

However, our differences were not personal. In 1993, one of you (Kenneth) wrote to Mr Goh Chok Tong, who was then Prime Minister, to say that you found employers in Singapore reluctant to offer you a job, and your only explanation was that the employers felt the authorities would not welcome your employment because of your name. Mr Goh replied with a letter which could be shown to prospective employers, to say that the government did not hold anything against you, and that employers should evaluate you fairly on your own merits, like any other candidate, because Singapore needed every talented person that it could find. Mr Goh had previously made the same point to your brother Philip, whom he had invited to lunch. I am therefore happy that both of you have established yourselves in Singapore.

Please accept my deepest condolences.

Yours sincerely

Lee Hsien Loong


i won't highlight the sentences that were inappropriate to the recipients.

i'm not the recipient, but the letter carried underlying messages i can read out from. Not a single sentence, but one after another.

look - people expected negative responses to a condolence letter from anyone in a rival party. But at the least, be sensitive. If there are bad things to talk about, don't mention it in the letter. Furthermore, the letterhead stated the sender in big lettering. Now, the pie of people who confirmed the ruling party is ignorant and arrogant has just gotten bigger.

this is an insult to the dead, an insult to the political system of Singapore, an insult to the people of Singapore.

Japan - the country with the highest public debt in the world

the public debt is a whopping 195% of GDP. I don't consider Zimbabwe to be the actual top in the list, because the country is in such dire straits due to the rogue leadership under Mugabe. Japan on the other hand, has changed leadership several times, but the debt has never went down.

Surprisingly, Singapore is in the top 10, at 101%. I'm not a trained economist, so no comments on the possible implications of such high public debt for both Japan and Singapore.

this is an article reproduced from Yomiuri Shimbun - Fixing state's finances new govt's main task.

Japanese politicians being self-concerned and corrupted as they are, they have always postponed major reforms and left to their successors the task of looking at a way to limit expenses and pay back the already gigantic government's debt.

I doubt that much will be done to tackle this very serious issue, as nothing has been done for decades and Japanese politicians aren't known for their initiative in solving problems. Historically, all the major political changes that happened in Japan were caused by foreign pressure and civil wars. The last one was the US occupation of Japan after WWII. Nowdays there is nothing to push Japan to change, so it won't.

What worries me is that the Japanese State is already near bankruptcy, and if the Japan Post is privatised as the PM wishes, it will only worsen the government's solvability. It is years that observators wonder if the Japanese State will really go bankrupt. Every year, more debts accumulate, and more creditors are left with less hope of ever getting paid.

There are talks of raising consumption taxes, but that won't suffice to balance the budget. In fact, the debt is so bad that raising all taxes by 10% and cutting the government's budget to avoid any further debts, would take almost 20 years to pay back the current debt, while putting enormous strain on the economy and individual wealth.

In other words, Japan has created money artificially during the past few decades, and this money has accumulated in the form of debts, both public and corporate. If Japanese banks had to conform to the same rules of accounting as in Western countries, most of them (and all the big ones) would be bankrupt. The same is true of the Japanese government. So, the money deposited by individuals in Japanese banks (including the Japan Post Bank), is virtual money that only exist because those banks are not allowed to go bust, but in fact are completely insolvable. That means that Japanese people do not possess a fraction of the financial assets they have on paper.

The Japanese GDP per capita has been decreasing a lot since the bubble burst in 1990. Japan that once had one of the highest GDP/capita now ranks 17th in the world. If we consider the public debt and insolvanility of the banks, the real GDP per capita should be much lower than what it is already estimated now.

There was no economic miracle. The Japanese economy rose quickly because the country was in ruins in 1945, and hard work to rebuild it could only mean economic growth. After that, so much money was created artificially through real estate and financial speculation and the rise of the yen, that Japan became rich... on paper. The fact is that most people still lived in ugly, non-insulated cardboard or wooden houses (some with or corrugated iron walls or roofs) that would be called hovels in Western countries. On top of that, Japanese houses are much smaller, and salaries per hour are also considerably lower due to the very long overtime hours required by most big Japanese companies. The GDP per capita of all other prefectures than Tokyo is 1/3 to 1/2 of Tokyo's. This creates an illusion of wealth for visitors coming to Tokyo, while in fact, Japan itself is far from being a rich country, even just on paper.

This rant is not to disparage Japan itself, but the people who caused the country to put itself in this abominable situation, i.e. the Japanese government. This is probably what happens when a country want quick economic growth but tries to hamper democracy (see this thread, especially the summary in post #4).

Vain politicians tried to manipulate the international image of Japan by trying to boost the GDP by overspending and generating a collosal public debt. Then, the same government failed to properly manage urban planning in the following ways :

1) by allowing electric lines to spoil the scenery and cause serious hazard in case of earthquake.

2) by giving permits to poorly constructed building that fall apart in typhoons and eartquakes, causing many deaths to this day.

3) by allowing asbestos to be used in housing and train stations until 2005 (see thread Asbestos used in at least 20% of Japanese homes, causing lung cancers for thousands of people, and probably millions more to come.

4) by allowing industries to dispose of toxic wastes in rivers and next to rice paddies, causing numerous fatal diseases.

5) being to lenient of medical malpractices, encouraging the isolation of lepers or people with mental disorders, etc.

As long as the Japanese people will not understand the importance of politics in their daily lives, they will continue to elect people who care so little about them that they allow these dangerous things to happen. Japan may be a safe country regarding crime, but it certainly isn't regarding the general environment, be it natural disasters or human-induced disasters.


often, people like you and me will dream to go any part of Japan for a long holiday. High flyers will want to go there to work or even migrate there.

i guess we have to look harder before making any long term moves.

extremely busy

i'm doing last minute preparation for final theory test next week. Come this friday, is my first practical lesson.

that's on top of my coursework which i'm playing a catch up game now.

have i mentioned about job hunting and the graduation trip, plus plus plus .....?


we all know about the financial thunderstorm that is happening (if you're not aware, paint yourself green and be the frog in the well, especially for any business/banking student. Yeah, quit your course as well.), and how the potential collapse of a huge financial institution such as AIG can affect our daily ricebowl.

there are surely layoffs - which company cares about human or talent resource management when dollars and cents are more critical? But will these companies continue to employ? My guess for the ones in deep trouble - yes. For those in not-so-deep trouble, no. Which means the entire job market will still shrink no matter what. Maybe it's time to think whether we are indeed aiming too high at the sky, and pick only prestigious companies to develop a career with.

update: the US Government has bailed out AIG by pumping in USD85b. They know an AIG collapse will dwarf any other recent institutions' failure, because the global economy will go down with it. But i don't think they can be Santa Claus and offer to save every other similar company that threatens to sink in the ocean.

i'm not comfortable with bailouts too, because i believe in this problem - 换汤不换药 changing the soup not the medicine. What the government has done for AIG doesn't mean it will successfully weather the storm, it is just prolonging the storm.

SingTel acquires SCS

- source: New NCS-SCS 'a force' in Singapore

we see another local acquisition, which i can safely say left hand buying right hand.

Computer Systems Holdings, a subsidiary of NCS, which in turn is owned by SingTel, has acquired 60% of SCS from Green Dot Capital (another local firm). SCS is expected to be fully taken over and delisted subsequently. The benefits to the telecom giant has been highlighted in the news article, so i shall not list them.

what does this mean for the current employees and potential job seekers of both companies? There might be job duplication, so what happens next will be a good guess. A deeper guess - while SCS is taken over by NCS, it doesn't mean job restructuring goes in a single direction, as you read. There are implications for the IT services market, which we can only tell when the takeover is completed.

busy week

as foreseen, this PC Show is the busiest period for me. So many people around me buying stuff. Gy just got his beloved Sony Vaio after a long wait. Too bad he missed the 3 year warranty, but got reasonable amount of freebies, lah. Got it surprisingly, at Funan's juzz1. After some discussion, Edmund (salesperson) managed to match PC Show's offer, even giving a Microsoft Wireless Laser 6000 mouse together with the 4GB thumb.

as for me, i was evaluating 3 cameras (arranged in terms of highest price):

Chic looking T300


8 months old IXUS 860 IS (Image Stabilizer)

Fujifilm F100fd, 12mp @ unbeatable price

i liked the T300 due to the slim look, but in the end the features of F100fd got me. The night shots are (should) also better according to reviews. Went to MS Color @ AMK for the purchase.

commentary on servicemen deaths
while being so busy, there were news that 2 SAF servicemen passed away due to a possible cardiac arrest and heat exhaustion. I don't think i should spell out more details on the servicemen, since everything is available at Mindef's web portal.

while some people decry Mindef's training guidelines, we should take a look at the lifestyles of our young people these days. Many of us, especially after late 1980s, seldom exercise. Those who exercise take it too seriously, which I wouldn't advocate. Those who don't exercise really do not, and i'm a perfect example when i was in poly. There are many others i see currently, spending their spare time playing PSPs and what not. Such lifestyles aren't healthy at all. It's no wonder any training programmes can be fatal on a person who had not exercised much before enlistment, especially if the person insists on not sounding off.

we cannot be blaming Mindef all the time. My body belongs to myself, not property of the government or Mindef. Young men should take responsibility in improving their physical stamina, unless there are some inherent medical conditions. I hope NYP can implement a compulsory fitness programme into all curriculum to emphasize the need for fitness and study balance. The fitness programme should constitute a 2 module credit grade in the diploma, if we need to go to the extreme.

while in the army, some servicemen are willing to be physically fit despite having restrictions on how much they can do. It's admirable to see such fine examples, although more people try to end up in administrative positions using their medical condition(s) as an excuse. Then after NS, they attempt to catch up on fitness (read: put it bluntly, erase their administrative past) by taking up various sports. I would say, they missed out the most important lessons and camaraderie in their lives - a fruitful national service stint.

my words to those enlisting still stay - go in, work hard, play hard, know as much as friends as possible, enjoy your times together. Refine the art of socialising before you get out. Thinking of how to escape all the time will make 2 years very painful and turn yourself into a loser in all areas.

why xdd and xmm must do these kinda thing?

normally the elder (my elders) will say, there's nothing better than earning an honest living. Means no gambling, robbery, or piao2.

i'm alright and support the statement. Although some shortcuts are inevitable. But i see young teens trying to earn big bucks in the fastest (normally the wrong-est) ways possible. Is money that important?

yesterday i was taking 161 from HG. Then there was a kid, i think 13 or 14 yo chatting on the phone, trying to psycho his friend to take up some facial course. Course fee? $500. The friend seemed to be reluctant, needed parental consent. But the kid was very insistent and had great selling skills that didn't make him sound like 13 or 14. Among his sentences, 1 shook me:

"you can earn lots of money by doing this, you know?"

he's naive, gullible and i wish he can realise his foolishness soon. If the friend parted with $500, then good luck to that friend too.

then while surfing forums, there were all kinds of related MLM scams recently:

- fake friendship through sms

- paper clips @ mrt, interchanges

i think i got the sms scam few days ago..

kids are doing entrepreneurship the twisted way. Wake up peeps... and damn the idiots who mis-used the kids.

the government ought to look into the main "roots" of the money line and jail the assholes for a good 10-20 years. Why? I think such campaigns can cause problems for the government. Brainwashed kids will think that the government can never take care of their needs when the MLMs fail, and point all the blame on everybody except themselves. Better to nip it in the bud before shit happens...

graduation day

counting the period since i knew some of them, it's 2 years already.

so why am i still there when they have left!?

no worries, i'm leaving soon too - 31 dec 2008 is my contract's expiry date. Either i will renew and take additional time to look for suitable job positions inside/outside. Or don't renew, provided i secure my first job with an ideal employer by year end.

during the ceremony speeches, the speech by CEO of SIM made lots of sense - such as

- career can be IT/non IT. I feel strongly, because it's simply how people see it.

- passion and motivation aren't necessarily measured by monetary amounts

- pursue a career you want, not the money. I'm steering myself towards being a people-oriented worker/manager one day, thus my decision to take on non IT (again, i don't think this matters) jobs. Putting my best hope that this will bear fruit in years to come...

he missed out something - with a positive attitude (read: != ambitious) in living and working, it doesn't matter which path is more attractive - working, studying or army. If someone doesn't take things seriously, bitches almost about everything, think of tasks as a chore, then any path will be less than a great success. If you want a half-pail water result, it's ok. Otherwise, you'll be greatly demoralized.

and talking about taking a few times to get the right career, we have only 10-15 years to do that. The motivation will just sink lower and lower as we grow old, then that's the end. So taking 1 or 2 times to get things right is important.

New UOB debit - ezlink cum ATM card

China's Premier Wen - the people's leader

once again those anti-China/ah-tiong remove your narrow-mindedness for a while, look at this person:





he flew to Sichuan in less than 1.5 hours and went right into the red zone.

Source: Times


Chinese have grown accustomed to seeing television footage of their Premier, Wen Jiabao, at the site of natural disasters. Often described as the human face of the country's huge bureaucracy, Wen is well known for being sympathetic to the plight of ordinary citizens.

But many were still surprised at the speed with which Wen reacted to the news that a huge earthquake had struck the country's southwestern province of Sichuan on May 12. Little more than 90 minutes after the 7.9 magnitude quake struck at 2:30 p.m., Wen was headed for the airport.

By early evening he had arrived in the provincial capital Chengdu, 930 miles (1,500 km) from Beijing. That night, the country's state-owned TV stations repeatedly broadcast scenes of the Premier rallying rescue forces, issuing orders during a rainstorm, poring over maps, even venturing into the ruins to assure victims still trapped in the rubble that they should "Hold on a little longer" as help was on the way.

Particularly unusual in a country where the image of top leaders is carefully maintained were surprisingly candid shots of Wen having to raise his voice to get attention, stumbling and almost losing his hard hat, even being ignored by distraught survivors.

Even journalists were slower.

can our Singapore leaders do this? When we see them, they are always in our squarish/rectangular-ish CRT or LCD television sets. Either well dressed at a rostrum, or equally well dressed at some community event that not many in the younger generation attend. If they aren't well dressed, it's because they are doing some healthy exercises on screen.

if PM Lee cannot do it, it's fine with me. The problem is, no other upcoming leaders seem to have such charisma. Many appear to be feisty during major events such as GE. Otherwise, no news from them. Talking about disconnection, our leaders ought to examine how to be more connected with the younger population. Just like today's parents have to communicate with their children, our government is expected of that too. Explanation such as the importance of working for the sake of national benefit wouldn't cut it as people are knowing the last minute "carrots" of our government - timely give outs of bonuses just before the GE, certain/bubble promises that took longer than 1 GE to fulfill (eg, Woodlands Waterfront, Woodlands Hospital plan is dropped), lift/home upgrading over rival political parties, etc. Young voters aren't falling for these, and are tired of the big brother mentality.

another problem is the usage of quantitative data to inform/persuade the people - due to X%, we have to raise/reduce Y%. Did the govt consider non-qualitative factors such as voices of the people? Malaysia's PM said the country is doing well with 6% growth before GE, but voters rejected his leadership because of massive dissatisfaction on the ground. In our local transportation surveys, 1,000s were interviewed. This 1,000 or so aren't true representatives either. Stop dishing out numbers like some mandate to decision making and think of the consequences at the lower levels of Singaporeans. Give the people better and fresher reasons to continue to vote for PAP...instead of strong-arm tactics.

back to the topic, the closest i can think of, is Khaw Boon Wan. But then... oh well. Cannot say too much here... read the first few lines of wikipedia link and you will know why.

is the world ending soon?

in this part of the world, we have witnessed many natural disasters recently -

- 2004 indian ocean earthquake, 230,000 people died in Indonesia, Thailand and beyond
- 2008 cyclone nargis, Myanmar's Irrawady Delta had countless and unreported deaths
- 2008 Sichuan earthquake, possible >100,000 deaths in China's Sichuan province, particularly in the younger population

and we have bird flu which is a powerful force in the waiting....

plus many unfortunate smaller incidents this year. Food prices are going up.

if war happens, we will be bombed back to stone age. Hurray!!

impact of actions on Chinese by the western countries

in the Olympic torch relay worldwide, we have heard or seen rather violent protests. One key incident was a wheelchair-bound female athelete Jin Jing who had to shield herself from pro-Tibet protesters, during the Paris leg.

the incident was sure to stoke nationalist sentiments in China's common people, and it did. Carrefour stores in China were boycotted, and in a particular store Chinese drivers moved their trucks to block the front entrance. In return, Carrefour's management told the people that their stores carry mostly MIC products, hinting that the Chinese is stepping on their own toes. This simple statement may hurt even more feelings.

i think they felt shamed and bullied. I'm a Singaporean Chinese, but i can roughly empathize their feelings.

my personal take is simple - heads of western countries should have been smarter to anticipate the repercussions of their criticism. It's somewhat similar to the incident when Australia protested to Japan regarding the killing of sharks - but they themselves were killing kangaroos for pleasure. Thus, as a Chinese being interviewed in a particular news channel, "no one is perfect". When France set out to condemn China's handling of Tibet, i don't think France is perfect to start with.

i'm concerned about the Chinese impression towards France. Will this hatred stay? We will know only in the near future...

a young life suddenly left alone

this week ended with news of a serious car accident that deprived a young infant of her slightly elder brother and worse of all, her parents.

most of us were born into life with at least our parents beside us. No matter how times could be so bad to you or me, at least there is our sibling(s) and parent(s). I cannot imagine how the infant girl is going to spend her remaining life wondering why everyone left her this early. The mere thought of it is just so painful, let alone the actual person who bored the losses, yet could not comprehend what happened until years later.

look at the wreckage. A car can actually be a life taker, a life taker that snubs out anybody's lives no matter how colorful, enriching or happy the persons are at the moment in time. Yet there are people who wantonly treat their cars like Daytona racing machines, racing machines that emphasizes their personal ego, fame, and have absolute control over. Or so, they thought.

the utter truth is that these bastards are endangering lives of others. If you want to die, go ahead. But not many road accidents happen without dragging some innocent users in.


as usual, nothing is painful until the pain is felt personally. Human beings are always hypocritical. We pretend to say something to make ourselves feel good, but when shit hits the fan we become extremely incapable to handle the truth. We cry out loud, we perform the blame game, we are filled with utmost regret - it shouldn't have happened initially. It is a vicious cycle.

when operating a killer machine, we wouldn't want to feel the pain to feel our hearts. It's simply too late. For friends who are driving, please don't be complacent on the road. For friends who are not driving and yet are aware of an over-confident driving friend, it's good to provide some advice as a concerned friend. Recent statistics showed 30% of the fatal accidents involved young drivers. Look at yourself - we are in our mid twenties, at our peak in our youthful lives. Some of us are finishing studies, some of us are getting married, some of us are earning big bucks. The years ahead seem bright and unlimited.

it will only take a serious accident to change this landscape into a nightmare that will bring nothing good but regret and financial problems to immediate family members.

This picture said much of the grief.


What do you see, a car or a grave?

irrationality of some poly graduates

i just read a thread in hardwarezone, with 90% of the posters criticising the lack of places for poly grads.

before i attract flame baits, my position is from a ex-poly grad view. Think before any of you flame. I apologize for the strong words that follow.

my analysis is, many of the posters blame on a myriad of factors - foreign talent such as those from China (and narrow mindedly, only China because they really hate Ah Tiongs), 66.6% of the singaporeans who picked PAP as the government.

why not blame yourselves then? I understand the disappointment of those who worked really hard for 3 bloody years and couldn't get in. But if you dared to fool around like a playful shit in the 3 good years and getting by with just copying and little hard work, you've not helped yourself in the first place. If you think you're a natural genius and you can carry on your shrewd skills into university, face the cold hard truth. You have not helped yourself to move to greater heights in society by misusing and losing that chance (and money) of yours.

a number of posters follow the crowd - focus squarely on Chinese nationals, insisting that they have snatched the places from locals. Look - NUS and NTU's world ranking and prestige wouldn't be possible without their hard work. Would you want to study in a Singapore university that promises nothing except places for locals? Research quality will be compromised because of the lack of hardworking researchers. It results in a domino effect. Ranking drops, quality of students drop, the degree certificates are useless like banana notes.

next, another set of posters blame the government. This is unavoidable - the next few years will be a excruciating moment for the influx of poly grads who wish to pursue further studies. Planning is underway for the 4th university in the technological, design and business sectors. But the quota for existing institutions is increasing for the poly intakes. The only problem, how much more can the quota be stretched. Also, there's a 40% subsidy for you, provided you start work and take a part-time course in any of the big 3 and UniSIM. 40% is hell lot.

all in all, each of us have to ask - have we worked hard enough? Don't be a whining baby and expect the carpet to be laid up in front of you. Singapore is not a welfare nation such as those in Europe. Wake up or drop out.

spotlight on malaysia

Malaysia is our closest neighbour - do take some time, "look" and "see" what's happening around us. 8 March 2008 was their election day.

as a Singaporean, what are your feelings towards Malaysia on the whole? What is particularly familiar to us would probably be frequent news reports of Singaporeans getting robbed (or killed) while in Johor or KL.

my parents had Malaysian roots before assuming citizenship of Singapore. So, in my younger years i had the chance to experience life in Malaysia during visits to relatives, etc. I thought, Malaysia before the 2000s was better. Somehow.

i visited Penang in Jan 2007. We should know Intel once based their regional operations there. But it was no more. My impression of Penang at that point in time - it can do better to attract investment and tourism dollars. It seemed sleepy and losing its vitality.

before this GE, there were several eye popping signs of a complacent and ignorant government, which i read from ST:

1. Mahathir's stinging criticism of his successor, Abdullah. I believe there were reasons for the former to do so. As read from Pak Lah's wiki entry, Mahathir accused him of lying. If you visit the entry, you'd see Abdullah sleeping. This is a deliberate move by somebody, because it seemed many people remembered him as a sleeping politician (or PM).

2. brandishing of the keris (traditional Malay dagger) by UMNO Youth leader. There was even a remark - "UMNO is willing to risk lives and bathe in blood to defend the race and religion." Alarm bells rang...

3. slowly increasing restrictions on freedom of speech. The Star was bought over from a tycoon, because it was not really speaking too well of the government.

4. protests by Indians because of under-representation at various levels. The reputation and credibility of MIC, a party that is part of the National Front alliance was badly scalded. As reflected from the latest election result, Samy Vellu, the leader of MIC, lost his seat to opposition. He is almost politically finished.

during the Mahathir administration, i don't really remember protests of such scale. Maybe he was shrewd enough to keep the situation under control.

5. threat by Abdullah to make Chinese vote for BN, otherwise they won't be represented. This broke the camel's back by angering the Indians and the Chinese. So is this PM representing all races of Malaysia, or his own?

this quote reflects the voices of the rakyat (people):

Pak Lah,
If you truly love this country, you ought to know that your government has moved nowhere the last four years. We were full of hope that you will begin to dismantle the baloney built by Mahathir when you first became PM. You have 90% of the seats in Parliament, what else do you need? Yet you squandered the opportunity and continued the business as usual and used the same incompetent and corrupted cabinet ministers. Some said you are being restrained by vested interest groups and UMNO old guards constantly watching over you. But I disagree, you are an old guard, and you represent interest group too.

As the PM, I think you have no idea how frustrated ordinary citizens felt about this country and this government. We have every opportunity to be the first rate nation in the region. Yet you and your government have continued to indulge in good for nothing politics and squandered all the wealth of the nation. Singapore has nothing and today the Island Republic is in the midst of buying stakes in four largest banks in the world - Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, UBS and Lehman Brothers. What have you got show Pak Lah, given the enormous amount of oil and gas revenue. Where do all the monies go?

I think the rakyat have had enough of UMNO led government. Today may be many Malays in the rural areas are still not fully aware of the abuse and mismanagement perpetuated by you and your government. But the time is coming. By next election, the process of transformation that shall begin tomorrow will take its course.


as election results stream in, BN is in danger of losing the 2/3 majority in parliament. Previously, this wasn't a real problem at all. Abdullah and his allies are in serious political danger.

as 'political winds' change, Singapore will be indirectly affected as Malaysia's policies (and sentiments) towards us change. And good luck to all my rich Malaysian Chinese friends and their businesses.

links: Malaysiakini, Lim Kit Siang's blog

interesting thoughts

part I
this morning was an intellectually stimulating talk when i went over my ex-superior's place for a visit.

i heard much of defence policies, to viewpoints of various countries economically and politically. As F joined in, topics such as stocks and bonds came in as well. I'm interested to see what China's $1 trillion foreign investment can do for me.

the most intriguing point was on the lowest class of Singaporeans, or any similar class in any country who experience the widest income gap in times of affluence or difficulty. I personally do not support the use of social welfare systems in Singapore. Our diverse culture will cripple the reserves - imagine locals not working because they think they are the superior locals and deserve free money no matter what. There's no free lunch in this world, unfortunately. Nobody would want to support these freeloaders by paying higher taxes and what not, too.

the next important point is - no matter what, most of the men in the street will not starve. Because of the strategic investment in education. The only worry is whether our fellow young are forward-looking. Will we realise the importance of education? Will we attempt to study hard and as far as possible, then create valuable opportunities for ourselves and loved ones (children, spouse) in future? Not overstating the important of education, however other traits of being a good player in the world's economy? Global view, borderless mindset, just to name a few.

as a young reader these might not matter, right? But as the country evolves into a city more unrecognizable later on, we cannot be sitting in a well and know nothing. Those xdd and xmm who gathers in a pack and roam around shopping centres all day long, playing PSPs and what not should wake up. There's a distinct difference between 'parents supporting you' and 'you living off parents'. Unless you don't mind being part of the vicious cycle.


part II
the university admissions are open for CAT B (poly) applicants. Do spend a few minutes reading more from NUS, NTU and SMU websites.

my personal advice is not to be very selective for the various degree programmes. Just shortlist what your personal interests lie in, but do not forget to include the degree programme that is linked to your diploma. The common fallacy is to drop out the associated course during university admission and apply for something else. The mentality is simple - *i'm sick of xxx, why study xxx again?*

this is the cold hard truth - switching to an unrelated field of study is risky. You have a lower chance of getting it, unless your results are extremely good. The course requirements are not easy, although you might feel it's in your interests. Interests and studies sometimes cannot be mixed because of potential effects of poor results, etc. What's worse, by not including the related course you lose all chances of admission. For example, leaving out Computer Science when your diploma is IT/BIT etc. Think twice, think thrice.

then there's another group of peeps that are afraid of getting the rejection letters, or handling the tough interviews. If you never try, you never know where you stand. Very sad if you give up without giving a fight.

another group prefers to work. But then again, the cold hard truth - very difficult career advancement with only a diploma. If you are a person who thirsts for personal progress, you will never be happy with a diploma. Going full-time immediately is better than having part-time arrangements for studies. Unless you're going into certain industries, such as financial advisers or stock brokers.

heavy snowing in China

some of us might have heard of heavy snows in China at this moment.

the chaotic scenes are extremely unfortunate. It's a combination of under-preparation and high amount of traffic - everybody is heading home for Lunar New Year.

although some of us dislike Chinese nationals due to a variety of reasons, it's good to know what's happening around us. I must say that whether we are Chinese from Singapore or China, it doesn't matter. Put those petty incidents away, and look at their national efforts. Singaporeans are far from being nationalistic. Some even want to run away should disaster strikes. Shame on us.

for those who have not visited China at all, you should, quickly. For one reason, environmental damage. Some sights can never be seen after great amounts of human intervention in nature.

Snow in Shanghai (source: Jianshuo)

Jianshuo's blog the part on why snow caused power failure is pretty surprising. The destructive power of frost.

News from China

recession looming

world stock markets have dived on fears of US recession.

however, Singapore appears to be out of this big bursting bubble (read: appears). Property prices are red hot, consumer prices are almost out of control, yet people still feels worthwhile to spend their excess cash or extend credit terms on big ticket items.

yes, commonwealth funds are buying into faltering US banks such as Merill Lynch and Citigroup. But that doesn't guarantee recession is avoided. The market is volatile and our country's investment entity is playing with a couple of bush fires for a hopeful rebound, and to secure some sort of security in the years ahead. The principle of "buy low" is true, it seems. Nevertheless, i hope it is a long term investment that GIC/Temasek has planned.

if you're a wise individual, you would be saving this moment. When consumer prices get lower, it is then the best time to do any spending. This is my belief from reading past news reports when i was still a kid in 1997. If you've been spending on especially big items (which none of us really do because my readers are not earning enough? =)), the pain will come soon. Either hold it or rid it quickly. Not everyone can hold for years though, because banks will be coming with their demands when jobs are coincidentally lost and such. Good luck to everyone, including myself.

if US economy sneezes, world economy catches a cold. What we have seen is not even sneezing, just probably some irritations. Unless you're from Saudi Arabia, there will be some damage.

the ugly side of SMRT

i have just read the annual report of SMRT Corp.

i shall briefly list the business objectives of the group:

- maximise shareholder value
- provide safe, reliable and friendly travel experience at affordable prices
- leverage core expertise in operations and maintenance for trains and related infra
- maximise non-fare revenue through rental, advertising and engineering businesses
- enhance and sustain high standards in corporate governance

let's shelve this for discussion later. Fast forward to the 'track fault' on Monday morning, where train services were stopped from Pasir Ris to Tanah Merah.

pictures gathered from Hardwarezone (tamago and ev0d3vil)

This was what happened - the railgrinder locomotive hit a trailer of something.

The front section was badly damaged, thus it couldn't be towed back easily
(possible rail damage)


Closeup


Attempt by a normal C751 train to push it towards Tanah Merah Depot failed.
The train had to pull it backwards, towards Tampines and Pasir Ris


And here it was . The train had to accompany the lonely loco as well (see the dead end)

service criticisms
- non-transparency on cause of service disruption. On the screens at the MRT station, i only knew there was a DISRUPTION from PSR to TNM. What's the fault? Why is SMRT always so shy to tell commuters of the actual problem?

- lack of alternative information for commuters in both directions. For the people at the affected stations, there were 70 shuttle buses to link them to Tanah Merah. How about people going to these stations? What were the alternatives? What if my grandmother had to go to PSR, but is in a loss when the screens only displayed DISRUPTION? Posters should be put up at every station, informing what affected commuters can do. For example, take MRT to Bedok, transfer to SBST 17 to PSR, 24 to TNM, 67 to Tampines, etc. Nope, there were plenty of time (7 hours of disruption) but Corp Comms failed to do that.

- an apology did the job. Singaporeans are so forgiving. However to only receive an apology for a 7 hour disruption and the trouble of fare refunds are simply unacceptable.


business objective criticisms
- safe, reliable and friendly. Where is the timeliness? It is a known fact that everyone had a problem of boarding trains during peak hours. Some might even have to wait for 1-2 trains at interchange stations, such as Jurong East on the way to City.

the frequency is an issue, yet officials attempt to cover it up with statistics and figures. However, there is an issue.

from the annual report, passenger trips have increased 11% from 2002 - 389.7m to 434.9m. However, car kilometres operated dropped from 81.4m to 77.1m. SMRTC has been aggressively cutting costs by cramming as much as people into each train and reducing frequencies since 2004, to maximise shareholder value. Thus, what is observed is simply increasing ridership, yet the supply of trains remained the same, and even dropped.

on the buses side, this what SMRT had to say:

service schedules were refined to optimise operating costs. This included school holiday
schedules to match changes in student travel patterns, split-shift duties for services with distinctively high demand during peak hours, and parking of split-shift buses at interchanges to reduce off-service mileage.

this is not innovative. It is only innovative if the group had taken care of the operating fundamentals of the bus subsidiary. In the past 3-4 years, SMRT Buses has only introduced a handful of services for the transport hubs under its charge. In contrast, SBS Transit has overwhelming introduced too many services and initiatives that SMRTB is unable to match. While ridership has increased with additional services and demands on existing routes, SMRTB has not purchased any new buses so far.

the latest service failure showed its vulnerability. SMRTB came up with 40 buses, probably handpicked from a variety of services. It had to call for help from SBST to provide another 30 buses. This is unexpected from a multi-modal operator. It should have additional vehicles to cope with reasonable scaled emergencies. As only 4 stations were affected, this is considered to be reasonable for SMRT to handle by itself.


conclusion
the Land Transport Review has conveniently glossed over certain areas, especially for rail transport. SMRTC is clearly in need of a structural change to handle the country's needs for decades to come. While it is trying to follow footsteps of overseas operators such as MTR Corp (HK), it is inappropriate for the company to introduce initiatives such as growing non-fare revenue through properties or 'innovative' strategies to improve ridership, when the basic responsibility has not been fulfilled.

this is my personal analysis - Given ComfortDelgro's strength in similar areas, except for its inexperience in running rail operations, many young market watchers are betting on CDG to surpass SMRTC in years ahead. The reason is simple - CDG has managed NEL reasonably well (look at the frequency) and has a strong bus subsidiary (SBST). On the other hand, SMRTC has managed to dress up its operating costs by cutting back frequencies of trains and buses. Not to mention the poor state of SMRTB, which is better off as TIBS Buses in 2002.

public transportation has been a bugbear of lower and mid class citizens for a long time. If MOT/LTA does not nip the problem in the bud, this bugbear will very soon balloon into an election issue.