Also the constitution should be amended to ensure that the otters have the right to unpolluted waterways and free fish.
I tot the above when I read this
Include gender equality in Singapore’s National Pledge and Constitution, says Aware executive director at IPS lecture
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/include-gender-equality-singapores-national-pledge-and-constitution-says-aware-executive-director-ips-lecture
India’s recent catastrophic Covid-19 surge, from about 10,000 new cases a day in February to more than 300,000 a day over the past week, is a historical record in the making. Modi and the BJP must be proud that India is setting a record.
The Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and traditional New Year celebrations in China were much reduced in size. But Modi allowed millions to attend the Kumbh Mela. Hence the surge.
He tot Ram would protect India? After all Modi last year opened the shrine at Ram’s birth place.
Just look at this table and if u follow footie as as casually as I do, u’ll get the point. Players’ wages doesn’t correlate with trophies.
And in S’pore there’s Kee Chiu.
I couldn’t help but smile (Or was it a smirk?) and think of the leaders, the PAP 4G team are offering us as PM when I saw this on FB.
Who is the Visionary, Innovator or Influencer among Chan Chun Sing, Lawrence Wong, Ong Ye Kung and Desmond Lee?
My view is that none of them fit into any of the three categories.
But neither did our PM or Goh Chok Tong. They were both Dominators of a sort. Of a sort because LKY could dominate them.
Any of the 4G contenders to be PM is a Dominator? Kee Chiu clowns too much to be a Dominator? Ong Ye Kung could be the one: Ong Ye Kung: “Is he the 4G leader with the killer instinct?”
Heng’s a Hesitator. And Queen Jos is a Denier.
Which personality types are Lawrence and Desmond?
Johor’s chief minister said on Tuesday (Apr 20) his state government will propose measures that will limit the movement of workers who cross the border from Johor to Singapore.
Hasni Mohammad said the reopening of the border was an “ongoing agenda” of his state government and that it would would ensure that those involved in crossing the border from Johor, like workers, received the COVID-19 vaccine.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/johor-malaysia-singapore-meeting-covid-19-border-14657708
Malaysia is looking at the potential of a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections. Daily cases picking up to above 2000 for the fourth day running as at Monday. Fatalities have gone up in recent days. There are concerns that Ramadan will add to the tallies in the coming weeks.
In Where be unicorns? Not India or Western Europe, I showed a table showing that there are unicorns in Indonesia. There have been five companies that have achieved unicorn startup status (worth than US$1bn) in Indonesia: Gojek, Tokopedia, Bukalapak, Traveloka and OVO.
Why?
Well it’s a big place
And look at the number of people in Java and Sumatra
TOC and other anti-PAP alt media say we are not doing our part to combat climate change. They as usual, lie.
We, other East Asians and many Europeans (think Italians) are saving the planet by having less babies.
Don’t believe me?
Someone, please tell the Americans, Indians and Africans to lower their birth rates.
All hail the 9th Immortal.
In A ‘crisis of leadership’ in Singapore, Andrew Loh (one of TOC’s co founders and ex-editors) said that in 2006
The PAP had introduced what it called its “P65″ candidates – those born after 1965.
He then went on to report as follows
Lee Kuan Yew, during a break at a hawker centre/coffeeshop where he held an impromptu media door-stop, responding to a reporter’s question about the quality of the PAP candidates that year.
LKY remarked that well, they were not “first tier”, because the “first tier” people approached by the PAP had declined to join, giving reasons of wanting to spend time with family and to focus on their careers.
Andrew Loh then did a very interesting analysis. He wrote
The “P65″ candidates that year included Josephine Teo, Baey Yam Keng, Michael Palmer, Jessica Tan, Teo Ser Luck, Zaqy Mohamad.
Among them, only Josephine Teo has since risen to a full minister. One was made Speaker but resigned after a scandal. Another has since stepped down from politics altogether.
Anyway, point is: the PAP’s inability to attract top tier talents started that year.
It is stark how it has declined after 2001 when the PAP managed to recruit the “Super Seven” candidates – Tharman, Ng Eng Hen, Vivian Balakrishnan, Raymond Lim, Khaw Boon Wan, Cedric Foo, and the late Balaji Sadasivan.
5 later became full ministers (Tharman was also DPM), while the other 2 were Ministers-of-State.
Even if the so-called “4G” leadership manage to select one to lead, it still does not settle the problem of a thin leadership in the PAP, and thus in the government.
LKY was frank in his revelation. 15 years on, we now see the most dramatic outcome of this lack of talent in the PAP – the length of time it has taken the PAP itself to choose a worthy successor to Lee Hsien Loong.
Related posts
Why even with 4G donkeys, PAP will retain power
Why PAP aiming for 65% of the popular vote
Legitimacy problem for the PAP as 9% of voters get smarter
Below is a response to Xia suay! Kee Chiu repeats PM’s assurance that same team still in place despite Heng stepping aside as 4G leader .
It’s written by Ajay. In the noughties someone called AJay was a respected voice in our cyberspace. He then went quiet. Wonder if the same person?
Ajay’s post
Opposition supporters in East Coast GRC caused Heng Swee Keat to lose his chance to be prime minister. In doing so, they have elevated Chan Chun Sing and might be responsible for him becoming PM.
The PAP old guard probably prefers someone in traditional tough guy mold to be the PM. All three Prime Ministers were known for their heavy-handed approach towards opposition politicians and activists. Recall the lawsuits against Roy Ngerng, Leong Sze Hian, JBJ, Chee Soon Juan, etc. Being a bit of an authoritarian is a necessary evil in a country that is small, has no natural resources and requires a mostly united population in order to progress without disruptive events. Excessive liberalization could jeopardize progress if it happens too quickly.
Heng going to East Coast was a test of sorts. Heng was known to be a mild, gentle, quiet, hardworking and humble minister who preferred a rational, consultative approach over a combative one. He had spearheaded Our Singapore Conversation which helped the PAP reconnect with the ground after GE2011. Heng was more open to hearing views from the ground and more likely to engage with opposition supporters and MPs than a more hardline PAP politician. He was unlikely to threaten critics or paint them all as troublemakers. The point of presenting Heng as the presumptive prime ministerial candidate and letting him lead the GE2020 effort was to test his support and the theory that those who disagreed with the PAP would really be willing to set aside their grudges and grievances if presented with a more consultative PAP prime minister.
Yet some hardcore opposition supporters could not believe their luck when Heng announced that he was contesting in East Coast GRC, a swingy battleground in Singapore elections. Some of them were commenting in forums that the tiger had come out of the mountain and this was their big chance to knock out a high profile PAP minister. They mocked his now-famous East Coast plan gaffe and ridiculed him throughout the election period. They forgot about the moderate Heng whom they had praised before the election and treated him as just another PAP yes-man whom they wanted to vote against. The result of their actions: Heng squeaking through in East Coast GRC with just 53.39% of the votes against a relatively weak WP team. Despite his openness to have a conversation on national issues, despite his willingness to engage those with alternative views, almost 47% of East Coast residents wanted to boot him out. This result might have weakened Heng’s already shaky standing in the eyes of the party’s old guard, leading to him having no choice but to step down as the prime minister-in-waiting. Him stepping down because of ‘old age’ makes no sense because he would have known that he would be 60 in 2021 when he accepted to be ‘first among equals’ just 2 years ago.
Opposition supporters inadvertently gave the PAP’s old guard the proof that LHL’s approach is still the best. You can’t get more consultative than that because even if you do, those people are still going to vote against you. All that hype about wanting Tharman, Heng, Lawrence Wong, Ong Ye Kung or any other friendly PAP leaders is meaningless if at the end of the day, these approachable, consultative and non-offensive leaders are not able to prevent loss of seats to opposition parties like the WP. Why should people who did not vote for the PAP get to decide what qualities or approach its PM should have? In a Westminster system, the party wins and then party insiders pick the Prime Minister. Voters endorsed this when the majority of them voted for that party to form the government. Back in September 2020, PM Lee spoke out against ‘free-riders’ who voted for the WP in their areas while depending on voters in other constituencies to vote to keep the PAP as the government. We can extend this logic further – should the PAP pander to ‘free-riders’ with their pick for PM?
If OPEC is not careful, oil prices will crash again. A full global revival in oil consumption won’t come until jet fuel demand also recovers.
Meanwhile, American wildcatters are shouting “Drill baby drill”.
Coming back to aviation oil usage
UOBKH downgrades SIA to ‘sell’ as it is ‘less optimistic’ of a traffic recovery by 3Q21
https://www.theedgesingapore.com/capital/brokers-calls/uobkh-downgrades-sia-sell-it-less-optimistic-traffic-recovery-3q21
Yesterday, I ordered via Lazada a refurbished PC monitor for just under $60. Delivery was to be “Immediate” which I took to be “next day”.
To my pleasant surprise it was delivered at around 4pm.
Fyi, refurbished PC monitors can last a long time. I bot this to replace a still working second hand monitor that I bot more than 5 yrs ago. It’s still working. But I had replace its VAG VGA cable recently when the monitor failed to work.
That reminded me that buying new second hand monitor was prudent. The old one will go into storage for emergency use.
Like all adult S’poreans, my mum and I each got S$100 of the above,
I was planning to let them expire unused because I was told they were complicated to use and required me to spend $: seems to be like co-pay . Recently, I was told that I could donate them to charity and my FB friends gave me the links.
Turns out to be pretty complicated.
Worse my mum needs to have a Singpass to donate (let alone use the vouchers for herself) .
Given her age (97 and counting) it never made sense for her to have a Singpass account.
So I’m forced to let the vouchers expire.
Remember the above when you read that the PAP govt KPKBing that S’poreans not using the vouchers.
Cuba’s last Castro is set to leave the political stage on Friday when Fidel’s 89-year-old brother Raúl is expected to cede power to a younger generation …
FT
Will PM be around for another 21 years?
Seriously, given that Covid-19 will still be around even if everyone in the world gets vaccinated, how will the PAP define the end of the pandemic? Remember last July, LHL announced that he was putting retirement off indefinitely because of the pandemic.
E-mail your tots please.
SAD.
When I wrote Why Heng no longer PM-in waiting, I assumed that the PAP leaders had privately accepted that the $4G team were the problem and there would be a cull: like that of of grassroot leaders in 2012, who told the PAP leaders that all was well before GE2011. Still wondering where the bodies are buried.
A friend (ex WP tua kee, retired honorably) and I regularly talk cock about politics. In 2019, we both tot that the 4G leaders were not up to the mark. After the GE, we agreed that one reason for the PAP “defeat” was that the voters didn’t think much of the 4G leaders. Shortly, after Heng “quit” we agreed that the PAP had listened to the voters even though PM’s said that same team still in place despite Heng stepping aside as 4G leader. I tot this statement was wayang and a cull was coming.
But Kee Chiu’s comments makes me think we were wrong. The PAP has not listened to the voters. They think that 4G’s loss of legitimacy is a PR or marketing problem that can be solved by having a new 4G leader: the rest of the team can remain.
SAD.
Last year after the GE, I wrote Legitimacy problem for the PAP as 9% of voters get smarter which pointed out that the 4G leaders had failed their test.
Heng’s defenestration means that the PAP has publicly accepted the verdict of 9% of the voters.
Here’s what I wrote
The really good news for S’poreans and the really bad news for the PAP is that 4G leaders failed their legitimacy test: Why PAP aiming for 65% of the popular vote. (Btw, written in 2018: Why even with 4G donkeys, PAP will retain power.)
Better still for S’poreans, based on what PM, Lawrence Wong and Shanmugan said the PAP is very aware that their legitimacy is waning.
The Wankers campaigned on the premise that the PAP government is more responsive to people’s concerns when it loses elected seats, as they did in 2011, when the PAP suffered its worst election result.
It went on to change immigration policies, a major source of unhappiness for many voters.
It also gave goodies (Remember Ownself fund Ownself: How we fund our SWFs and Property sales also fund our SWFs) to the Pioneer Generation which not only helped them but also those who cared for them:
Real life examples of what Pioneer Benefits mean:
— A mother and her autistic son are Pioneers. The son has been in a nursing home for over ten years, ever since his mother became too frail to look after him. The monthly bill was about S$4,000 a month and was borne by his siblings. Now this bill is “only” a few hundred dollars a month. The mother’s medical bills (she’s in her 90s and suffers from various chronic conditions) are now minuscule.
The extended family is happy.
— Another Pioneer used to pay $30 when she visited a polyclinic every three months for her medicine etc. She now pays $7.
— Another lady lives in a home because of Alzheimers. The cash from the sale of her flat was paying the bills. Now there is no worry of the cash running out before she dies. Her monthly bills have been slashed. Her working daughter (with children and an unemployed PMET husband) is breathing a sigh of relief.
Are you better off now than you were in 2011?
The Wankers strategy hit a sweet spot with about 9% of the voters.
But the Wankers went further. They also talked of not giving the PAP a “blank cheque”.
This too resonated because this 9% of the voters contrasted GE 2011’s aftermath with what happened after GE 2015 when the PAP got 70% of the popular vote, and in the process nearly making 5 Wanker MPs redundant.
Pay And Pay returned with a vengeance.
Remember VivianB had said in parly in 2015 (juz before GE) that there was no need to change the price of water because of PUB’s improvements in membrane tech and productivity and that the water tariff and WCT reflected the scarcity of water, but prices went up after GE 2017.
Why Pay And Pay govt wants elections earlier than later
And
Pay And Pay
Articles and analysis of various “price increase” written by Uncle Leong (Remember him?)
Water – “PUB: $1.1b profits last 7 years – how much last 53 years? (Feb 24, 2017)
Service & Conservancy Charges – “S & CC: A truly caring Govt?” (Feb 17, 2017)
Gas – “City Gas prices to rise by 4.5 per cent from Feb 1” (Jan 31, 2017)
Electricity – “Electricity: One of the highest in the world? (Jan 1, 2017)
Childcare fees – “Fee hikes at 200 childcare centres this year” (Jan 1, 2017)
Parking – “HDB car park rates increase 60%? (Dec 16, 2016)
Rubbish fees – “Rubbish fees up: NEA surplus up 32.9%? (Nov 8, 2016)
University hostel fees – “University hostel fees up 6.8% p.a. despite $1b surplus?” (Jun 28, 2016)
Taxis licensing – “Taxi drivers hit by triple whammy?” (Jun 24, 2016)
Hawkers’ misc fees – “Hawkers’ misc fees increased by ? %? (Jun 22, 2016)
Why Pay And Pay govt wants elections earlier than later
Then there was the controversy about the presidency: #hardlymahpresident and Elected President: Oh, what a tangled web we weave cont’d.
Now 9% of voters are aware that S’poreans get the goodies when the PAP doesn’t get a “clear” mandate. And that when the voters give the PAP a “clear” mandate, S’poreans got shoved in the ass, though let’s face it, a hard core 35% love the sensation, while 25% believe it’s good for them. SAD.
So this coming National Day, let’s salute the 9%.
Hopefully earlier.
Had repeated tripping of circuit breaker last Wednesday. The result was PC had problems. The hols meant that only got PC back yesterday.
If you want home service call Tekkie Help: https://tekkiehelp.com/
Telephone them at 81138682.
They arrive at the agreed time. Unlike the electrician who was always 30-45 minutes late.
Anyway, once I catch up with backlog of stuff that need to be done, will be blogging. There have been several interesting political developments since last Wednesday.
Thoughts of a Cynical Investor 