Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Culling of Pigeons by Poison

Due to urbanization, animals suffer as a consequence of intolerance.  There are animal welfare groups looking out for dogs and cats, but none for pigeons. So these poor birds are made out to be dangerous disease spreading monsters and they are poisoned regularly. 

There have never been any statistic on pigeon transmitting diseases to human locally as far as I know. All animals, human included can spread certain diseases. Pigeons are singled out to spread fear so that it is easier to justify killing them.  Likely our medical profession are more 'dangerous' than pigeons since we have hepatitis link death and possible respiratory transmission just recently in 2 of our established hospitals.

We understand the need to control the pigeon population in housing estate, but more humane method should be used, instead of poisoning.

It is extremely disturbing even for adults to see poisoned pigeons falling off ledges. Children are visibly upset when witnessing such incident. Most of birds though unable to fly are still alive when they are thrown into bags.  

It is very cruel to have them suffered so much pain first by poisoning then suffocation while being culled.

Those pigeons that did not ingest sufficient poison food, flew off and we often see dead birds the next two days at various blocks. If the cleaners do not spot them, the carcass will pose a hygiene problem.

AVA is testing out contraceptive method to reduce pigeon population at a mosque. AVA should expedite on this contraceptive project. Since it has been found to be effective in other countries, they should work with Town Councils to implement it across S'pore.

Sterilization of stray cats has been very effective, thus contraceptive method on pigeons would likely see fruitful results, which years of ruthless poisoning has not.

We are a developed nation, we should stop such cruel culling.  Besides the current method contradicts the spirit of the law of cruelty against animals. It also goes against our national kindness movement and compassion teaching of religions.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

PM Lee addressed as Brother ?

On Mon night, the news on TV covered PM Lee's speech at NTUC National Delegates Conference. I was confused to see the large welcome banner behind him addressing him as 'Brother Lee Hsien Loong'.  Why the religious sounding address ?  The common practice is to address him as PM.

I think whoever is in-charge should be mindful to separate their religious belief from public sphere. As it is, we know being human it is hard to do so.  But public servants, politicians, MPs, Ministers....who have influence over our social policies should be cautious and consciously do so.

It is very uncomfortable to have such strong openly religious link address in public forum directed at PM.  PM should lead by example and stop such nonsense.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Haze reading on 19 Oct 15 night shows NEA reporting needs to improve

I happened to check the NEA haze reporting site on 19 Oct 15, Mon at 10pm.  I was shocked to note that the 1 hr average PM2.5 reading was 442 microgram per cubic meter for West Spore, which was worst hit by haze that night. (it hit 471 at 11 pm).

I noted down the various reporting on NEA as there is a wide variation in the data range.  These readings are all from NEA site as at 10pm on 19/10/15 :-

* 24 hrs average PM2.5 = 89 microgram per cubic meter, which translated to 138 PSI
* 3 hrs average = 152 PSI
* 1 hr average PM2.5 = 442 microgram per cubic meter.
NEA does not translate 1hr PM2.5 into PSI

I looked at the real time reporting on Aqicn website and it was 214 PSI.

We can see that the NEA averaged 24 hrs and 3 hrs data do not  reflect that the current situation and there is a wide margin between them and Aqicn real time reading.

Officially, based on NEA averaged 24 hrs data - it was in the unhealthy range only.

However, Aqicn real time reflected that it was at very unhealthy range.

As for NEA data given in microgram per cubic meter, most folks are not familiar with the unit of measurement and its associate level of health advisory is also not widely known to public.

Officially, our health advisory is only link to 24 hrs average PSI.
Just like 3hrs PSI reading, NEA 1 hr PM2.5 is not link to health advisory.


NEA/MOH Reference

Index Category           PSI            24hrPM2.5 in microgram per cubic meter
Good                           0-50          0-12
Moderate                   51-100      13-55
Unhealthy                101-200    56-150
Very Unhealthy        201-300     151-250
Hazardous             above 301     above 251

Knowing that the real time data will be higher than the NEA 1hr average which at 442-471 is pretty alarming given that the unhealthy range is 56 microgram per cubic meter. Since there is no health advisory for 1 hrs, the sensible safety approach is to adopt the 24 hrs health advisory. 

US EPA adopts 35 microgram per cubic meter for 24 hrs PM2.5 which is a more stringent standard than S'pore.

In conclusion, it is obvious that NEA needs to improve their method of reporting which is currently confusing and yet does not reflect the current situation. NEA 24 hrs PSI healthy advisory only tells us if we have been exposed, what has been our exposure level. BUT it does not tell us what will be our real time exposure for us to be proactive in taking safety precautions.

What is the point of giving 3 hrs average when it neither reflect current situation nor is it link to health advisory? 1 hr average PM2.5 better reflects the current situation but it is also not link to health advisory. Besides, public are not familiar with its unit of measurement.

- NEA should educate the public on it just like they do with PSI health index category.
- Provide the microgram per cubic meter table next to the PSI health index table (we have to dig it up as not easily accessible)
- Provide public with real time 1 hour PM2.5 data (without averaging it down)
- Convert it to PSI reading (to minimise public confusion)
- Remove the 3 hrs averaged PSI data as it is useless



Monday, October 12, 2015

NEA please get your priority right!

No one is disputing that NEA continues to use the 24 hr averaged PSI for their health advisory.  However, in order that the public to make informed decision to minimize exposure (use of N95mask or remain indoor), we need realistic data to do so. We are talking about proactive measure to safe guard our health.  Why do NEA not get it?

We agree that public should not base on visibility nor smell to determine how bad the haze is, as humidity and other factors affect it. But neither can the public base on the past 24 hrs historical averaged data, as it does NOT reflect the current situation! It is precisely for this reason that the public took to guessing by using visual and odor check. Get it NEA?

That is why we are asking for instant cast data. Since NEA has now included the 1 hr PM2.5 data, they should give it to us without averaging it down. Why must NEA insists on averaging all their data, be it 24, 3 or 1 hr reading?

Safety and health data for public consumption should be simple and easy to understand. However, NEA is making it into a web of complication which only confuses the public.

Not only we have reading base on different hours (24, 3 and 1) we have different unit of measurement! So 24 and 3 hrs are base on PSI, while 1 hr PM2.5 uses microgram per cubic meter The public is used to PSI reading, they are unfamiliar with microgram per cubic meter.  They may think the reference point for unhealthy / hazardous level is the same. They are NOT.

* For 24 & 3 hrs PSI reading, the unhealthy range is above 100 PSI.
* For 1hr PM2.5 the unhealthy range is from 56 microgram per cubic meter.

US EPA (environmental protection agency) gives the 24hr reading for PM2.5 to be equal or less than 35 microgram per cubic meter. Their annual limit for PM2.5 is 15 microgram per cubic meter. These limits are based over 3 years period.

Since we have been expose to the haze for decades and NEA has been collecting data, can NEA let us know if our 24 hours and annual exposure has exceeded EPA recommendation?

The very fact that 90% of the public do not use protective mask even during days of terrible haze is a reflection of how low is our public safety awareness of the hazardous nature of PM2.5 which is link to lung cancer risk besides other health problems. NEA and MOH should be concerned that a developed country like S'pore, our public safety and health awareness is same as those of 3rd world nations.

NEA please get your priority right.  Public safety and health is number one. Making the data looks better should never be your focus!

Note : NEA may wish to consider removing their 3hrs averaged PSI reading as it neither reflects the current situation nor can it be used as health advisory. It was introduced in 1997 as 'stop-gap' measure to provide reading closer to current haze situation, since NEA did not wish to provide instant cast data. After 18 yrs, we are still stuck in the same situation!

Sunday, October 4, 2015

NEA Director's reply confusing public and not addressng public concern

NEA Director, Fong P K in his reply to a reader feedback to Voices in Today papers on 3 Oct 15 said that, "The National Environment Agency (NEA) is providing hourly, real-time haze information on our various platforms."

He is confusing the public because even though NEA data tables give the hourly reading, these readings are NOT real time.

On NEA website it is clearly stated be it the 24 and 3 hours PSI or the 1 hourly PM2.5 reading, they are AVERAGE over 24 or 3 hours.  The 1 hourly reading is also average data.  These 2 statements are from NEA website under their FAQs on PSI :


1) For PM2.5, the new 24-hour PSI reflects the PM2.5 concentration levels averaged across 24 hours. The new 3-hour PSI reflects the PM2.5 concentration levels averaged across 3 hours.


2) The 1-hour PM2.5 concentrations reflect the PM2.5 levels averaged over one hour, and can give you an indication of the current air quality.

So why is NEA Director misleading the public to think they are real time reading? Besides, he did not address the reader's concern which is lack of real time data for the public to make informed decision.

The shortcoming of historical average data is the time delay between when we are hit by unhealthy or hazardous level of haze to the time NEA data does reflect it. It defeats the purpose to have people wearing mask or staying indoor after the high PSI level has passed.  Is this not too late where our safety and health is concern?

For safety best practice in taking precaution, it is real time reading that matters. When evaluating the health concern due to exposure, perhaps the 24 hours PSI reading could be useful. 

NEA is already in possession of real time data, why is NEA so reluctant to share with the public? There have been repeated feedback year after year that we need such data to make informed decision regarding our daily activities during the haze period. 

By down playing* the PSI level, NEA is putting public safety and health at risk. We know PM2.5 can be inhaled into our lungs and could be carcinogenic. Could the public take class action against NEA if there is a high incident of lung cancers in the future due to under reporting* of the PSI level, resulting in public complacency in taking proactive measures to protect ourselves?


*Note : Besides, time delay in critical haze occurrence, the averaging of data by NEA has resulted in much lower level of PSI when compare to real time reading.
For real time data on PSI please refer to : aqicn.org  - which provides real time air pollution information for more than 60 countries in the world

 

Friday, September 25, 2015

NEA psi reading is historical averaged out data

I am not sure if I heard it correctly when our minister said when interviewed by the media broadcast during the news on 24/9/15 night that if we want hourly reading we can refer to NEA website and not use other sources.

As far as I know, NEA only provide us with processed data base on AVERAGE 24 hours and AVERAGE 3 hours reading.  The heading and the data table in the NEA website could be misleading the public to think it is spot hourly reading - it is NOT.  So is our minister also confused by his own agency website ?

The NEA data table heading does not have the word 'average' in it. It only says :

PSI Readings over the last 24 hours and 3-hr PSI Reading. It then go on to list the reading at 1am, 2am, 3am....etc.  Link to -  nea data table

It is in other area on NEA site that we find information on how the their psi reading is derived and the formula use.  Quote from NEA website :

For PM2.5, the new 24-hour PSI reflects the PM2.5 concentration levels averaged across 24 hours. The new 3-hour PSI reflects the PM2.5 concentration levels averaged across 3 hours

So it means if the 24 hrs reading at 1 am states it is 200 psi, it is average reading from 1 am yesterday to 1 am today. If it is 3 hrs average at 6 pm, it means the reading is average from 3 to 6pm.

There have been public feedback for years that NEA should provide us with hourly spot reading. Real time data is more useful and safer than past historical averaged data in making decision.  For example, if the school has a basket ball game that day at 10 am, real time data can help decide if the event can continue without compromising on students health. Besides due to averaging effect, the time NEA reading says we are hit by hazardous range is normally delay by 1 or more hours.

For nation wide decision like school closure, perhaps the more stable 24 hours averaged out historical data can be used.

Besides, historical averaged 24 hrs and 3 hrs readings are always much lower at the start of the haze compare to spot reading. The difference can be as much as 30 or more psi. It is only when the haze continues to worsen for a few days that the NEA historical averaged data move closer to spot reading.

There has been some improvement to the NEA data due to public feedback. It was only in 2012 that PM2.5 particulate was incorporated into NEA 24 hrs psi reporting. For the 3 hrs psi, it was in 2014 that PM2.5 particulate was incorporated.

It has been observed over the years, the PM2.5 reading is normally much higher than PM10. Besides, PM2.5 can be inhaled into the lungs, making it much more hazardous than PM10 which can be filter by our nostril hair.  Thus, it is strange that NEA took so long to make the changes to adopt safety best practices though we have been hit by the haze for decades.

If other countries can provide their citizens with official real time reading, why is our govt so reluctant to do so all these years despite public feedback ?  We need it to make safe informed decision with regards to our daily activities when we are hit by the recurring haze year after year !

If govt wants us to refer to NEA data then provide us what we need - hourly reading. Don't chide the public for turning to other websites if NEA is reluctant to share real time raw information with us. Processed data can be unhealthy for our lungs.


Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Chinese and English broadcast of 'Your Vote Matters'

The first thing that comes to mind is why the unequal time allocation to PAP. They took up half of the time slot, while the 5 alternate parties have to share the other half.  PAP has 2 representatives, while the other parties only 1.

They are all parties contesting the election, why must PAP be given unfair advantage ? Most of the time alternative party representatives were cut off in the middle of their speech as their time is up. While PAP ones can take their own sweet time to talk. Even then, Chan CS over shot the time  allocated, but continue talking anyway as he ignored the moderator. Typical PAP 'big shot' mentality.

The topics for discussion are the same for both broadcast.  They are :  high cost of living, foreign workforce / immigration and future direction of S'pore politics

In the English broadcast, the alternate parties NSP (Lim Tean) , Reform Party(Jeyaretnam), SDP (Chee SJ), SingFirst (Tan JS), WP (Leon Perera) all spoke pretty well. Lim Tean is impressive with his clear and short delivery. His body language is sincere and reaching out to us.

Denise Phua from PAP come across as passionate and sincere. If there are more folks like her, may be PAP will not be rotting.  Lawrence Wong is a smooth talker, he reminds us of those snake oil seller, smiling away trying to get you to buy his product.

In the Chinese broadcast, NSP (Sebastian) and SDP representative presented themselves very well.  The WP guy spoke too fast and tried to bring up too many points.  SingFirst (Ang) is handicapped by his weak mastery of Mandarin. Reform Party representative performance was below par. Sebastian gave the best analysis of the high cost of living being contributed by high business cost whereby the govt has influence over such as worker's levy...etc

PAP (Chan CS) is another snake oil seller.  Saying a lot of motherhood statements without facts to substantiate it - like the minimum wage issue. Keep repeating other countries have failed - hello where are your data to support it ? Which are the countries which have failed and in what way have they failed?  He talks about voting in the people we 'trust'. Isn't this an irony. Did not PAP said they want to gain back out trust? So this means we don't trust them.  If we do not trust them, we should not be voting for them right? So this ex-paper general is reminding us not to vote for his party! Ha...ha.

Sim Ann come across as insincere and cold. Pretty typical PAP elite hypocritical type. Compare to Denise Phua, she is a real turn off. Her assignment from her master is to throw stone at WP over the Town Council issue. Next she tried to explain the difference between population and workforce (direct translation from Chinese 'human mouth' and 'human hand').

She was smoking us again by repeating the same old thing, - aging population so not enough hands to support the mouths. They still failed to acknowledged the fact the aging population is aggravated by the liberal FT and immigration policies. These folks bringing along their aging parents and at time even grandparents. It matters not if they are on visitor pass or long term pass, as they still use our overburden infrastructure and facilities (transport, healthcare....). So the ratio could be at least 1 : 1 to 1 : 4 (ie every foreign import brings in one or more senior).  Besides if the FT, PR and new citizens are in their 40's, they are fast becoming the aging population too !

We the citizens want constructive debate on policies. Mud slinging and stone throwing is dirty and immature. We don't like DIRTY POLITICS.  So those who love to wear white please stop playing with mud and stones.  

PAP Election Strategy

After viewing both the Chinese and English broadcast of 'Your Vote Matters', we can double and triple confirm that PAP ungentlemanly politics is one of their election strategies.  We know how after fixing WP since they won over Aljunied in the last election, they have been hitting below the belt non stop on WP lapse which root cause is due to PAP 'legalised' underhand policies to disadvantage alternate parties.

In the Chinese broadcast, Sim Ann took pot shots again at WP Town Council management lapse. In the English broadcast, Lawrence Wong told an old one-sided story to discredit SDP, Mr Chee.  Sim and Lawrence resemble smiling tigers.

Basically this year PAP election strategies can be summarised as follow :

1) evoke past memories of the good old days, as the first decade after our independence where we did remarkably well.  Please lah - we have eyes to see how we have deteriorated over the recent decade!

2) non-stop milking of a dead politician - after been bombarded 24/7 for the whole week with his image/voice after his passing, his image and voice still haunt us over the media every day. Hello - not everyone respect or like him lah.  For those who do, there is no need to over milk, as even live cow will dry up, and this is a dead one!  For those who don't buy into the story of this dead man sold by PAP, it is a real turn off.

3) spreading millions all around in the name of subsidy and SG 50 celebration goodies. This is an old trick, we the citizens are familiar with.  Thus, it effectiveness is in doubt for alternate parties supporters. For PAP supporters, no need to waste so much money as a package of chicken rice will do.

4) the fear factor - so we have the Chan and Lawrence telling us during the broadcast of economy and financial threats, terrorist threat,....... But do they not realise what we fear most is one party dominance which resulted in abuse of power, legalising everything from their own million $ salary, controlling our CPF money, throwing teenage into jail,  ......the list can go on and on.

5) mud slinging -  every PAP politician who goes on air or speak to media will take pot shot at WP.  From the broadcast, looks like they will throw more mud at other alternate parties too.  They have done that in the past pretty successfully. But in this age of internet, it may back fire.  Perhaps they should remember that those who throw muds have dirty hands too.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Medishield Life is still CRAP

When the govt spend so much time, effort and money to brain wash us, you get a sense things are not rosy and we will be paying a heavy price for it. Remember the recent 'fun pack' with all the hype around it? It turned out to be crap, so much so the collection period has been extended (too many left overs) and some grassroot has taken to adding more items to the standard crappy pack to entice folks to collect them.

Medishield is crap and Medishield Life is no different. The many shortcomings of Medishield have not been resolved. The only good thing about Medishield Life is the universal coverage for all citizens regardless age and medical condition. BUT the idea is not from PAP. It originates from SDP.  As usual the govt under PAP has the 'creative' ability to turn every noble scheme into a money making venture at our expense.

Let turn our attention back to the short comings of Medishield Life inherited from Medishield :

1) Heavy out of pocket payment
The sky high deductible. For class C ward (which is the lowest already) it is $1.5K for those below 80 years old and $2K for those above 80. On top of this we still have foot 10% co-payment. As our medical cost has been inflating year after year, this could be a heavy burden for low income and retiree. Some common issues for the elderly are stroke, knee and hip problems. The 90th percentile of hospital bill size for these is around $10k. With the deductible and co-payment, it could be around $3k that the patient has to pay out of his/her own pocket.

2) Many Common Aging Diseases NOT Cover
Take for example cataract which affects many elderly. It is NOT cover under Medishield. Even with the so call 'subsidy' the bill comes up to over $2.2K for both eyes on average. This has not include the pre-op and post-op fee. What is the point of universal insurance when common diseases affecting the population are not cover?

3) The Old and Healthy Are Penalised
In private medical insurance scheme, the premium is fix at joining age. We are not penalized to pay heavier premium as we grow older. The horror of Medishield scheme is that the old and healthy are penalized with heavy premium. It matters not that one has been paying all the years without claiming a single cent and your medisave a/c depleted by Medishield payment - your premium is above $1.1K once you hit 80 years old and your deductible also increases by $500 !

4) Uncertainty of future premium and cost
Unlike private insurance where the contract is binding and cost is fix at the point of joining, CPF has the greedy habit of increasing the premium across the board time and again. They will also raise the deductible. The term 'contract' has no meaning for any schemes under CPF, which are getting numerous and more complicate over the years.  This bring us to ....

5) So Complicated
The previous Medishield scheme is already so complicated. This Medishield Life scheme is giving a new life to the word COMPLICATED.

Just to know how much is our premium, we have so many factors to consider : Age (16 bands), Income (4 categories), Annual value of property you are living in and Subsidy for the first 4 years.  This subsidy thingy is so complicated because the premium has been jacked up sky high across the board. They want to pacify us but at the same time cannot forego their glee to collect as much money as early as possible from us.

Subsidy for transitional period - have to consider again age, income, pioneer or non-pioneer and then which year of subsidy :-

2015- 1st yr 90% of net premium increase (note- it is only on the increase premium), 
2016- 2nd yr 70%,
2017- 3rd yr 40%,
2018 - 4th yr 20%.

The question is WHY make it so complicated ??
There are likely 2 reasons why govt loves to complicate things. First - is that if we find it so stressful and time consuming to understand the scheme, they hope we give up and just listen to what they choose to drum into us - Hear Only The Good Things. They can then do what they like to the scheme and our CPF with 'less noise' from us.  Second - it is the way to generate more revenue from the scheme.

We know the notorious 3M (medisave, medishield and medifund) has not prevent many from 'falling' between the cracks. But it has been a good source of $$ for the govt.  The Medishield payout has always been much less than the premium collected (extremely derisory when compare to other countries public healthcare payout). Medifund set aside to help the needy has been under utilized due to govt usual stinginess. 

The coming Medishield Life premium has rocketed and likely to be delightful source of revenue for govt. The premium increase is the most for these 3 age groups :
1-20 yrs old   - 160% increase
21-30 yrs old - 195% increase
31-40 yrs old - 195 % increase

For the rest of the age group- that the increase is less than 100%. The minimum increase is 11% for those age 81 to 85. However, in monetary terms, the increase is from $80 to $355. The group suffering the highest monetary increase is the elderly from age 71 onwards. The irony is just when you are nearing to say bye bye at age 90, they rip you off the last time with a hefty 28.57% increase in your premium ($340).

In summary, it has been the trend that when we are being rip off heavily, we will be given peanuts subsidy to pacify us for the 'transitional' period.  There will be plenty of propaganda communication to paint a heavenly picture of how wonderful the scheme is.  So the rosier it is, the worst off we will be. 

BEWARE of SUBSIDY. They are in fact taking 'gold ingots' from us and giving us' peanuts' in return.

note-  the current batch of pioneer's subsidy may not be extended to seniors 65 and above age group in the future.

Sunday, July 5, 2015

PM Lee is S'pore misfortunate

It is unfortunate for us to have a 2nd Lee as our prime mister. He is not as capable as the first Lee but still a chip of the old block in terms of deviousness, viciousness, pettiness and ungracious arrogant.

S'pore image is ruined by his unforgiving pettiness. Here we have a PM suing a young blogger who raised questions on CPF which are already on most citizens' mind. Instead of clarifying, he wants to sue the blogger's pants off.  The easier way to deal with the problem is to be open and transparent if there is nothing to hide.  Since he took to the difficult road - either he is blinded by his arrogant and self importance or perhaps there is really something that cannot see the light of day.

So looks like he is the one ruining his own reputation by his foolishness. The lawsuit has only drawn more attention to the blogger and CPF issues. It left more doubts in our mind of his fitness to be our PM.

Then more damage is done to S'pore image when our govt under his idiotic leadership sue a teenage who dare to criticise his daddy.  This is just a 16 year old boy who is just a needle amongst the haystacks in the internet world.  Now this boy becomes famous due to the lawsuit.  We have international groups speaking up for him and commenting on the injustice of S'pore system.

We as citizens do not want such unflattering attention to our country due to the poor judgement of our revengeful PM who is just out to draw blood regardless of the consequence.

 

Saturday, March 28, 2015

LKY worship has reached fever pitch

Looks like LKY worship has reached fever pitch both locally and in some of our neighboring countries.

Locally we have forced mourning 24/7 by local media stations boarding casting day and night the same few documentations of dictated version of S'pore history related to LKY.  Then skate parks are cordoned off, concerts and events cancelled  ..... basically life has to stand still as our 'great' leader is gone.

We have folks fainting due to queuing for 8 hours or more to pay tribute to LKY.  Folks are flocking to all the designated areas to sign the condolence books.  Likely we will beat world record for the most number of people queuing up at the same time at different locations for the longest hours.

Then we have people petitioning to change the name of our airport to LKY's name.  Another petition to build a statue of him. Actually we already have waxed figures of Mr and Mrs Lee.  So not sure what the intention is - to replace Sir Stamford Raffles statue ? Folks are calling LKY founder of S'pore, though our current history has it as Sir Stamford Raffles.  So change history and change statue ?  What else do we need to change before the LKY fever pitch cool down ?

A creative medicorp artist suggested to print $100 notes with LKY's portrait on it. Those ministers, MP, grassroot and anyone who go on air to pay tribute to LKY tried to outdo each other. So we learned that we have to be grateful to LKY for our food, toilet, trees.....basically everything single thing around us has his footprint on it.

If a minister has his way, we will be flying our national flag on his burial day.  Oh - there is also petition for our gambling dens casinos to be closed on 29 Mar. Some dedications back fire - like the LKY exercise routine and LKY bread bun.

In India, a village with folks who never even set foot in S'pore are mourning his death. Village leader appeared on TV crying.  These folks have family members working in S'pore so they are eternally grateful to LKY for letting truck loads of their sons into S'pore to make a living.  India has declared 29 Mar a mourning day.

In China, villagers are flocking to LKY's ancestral home in Guangdong built by his grandpa to pray to his portrait.  They intend to spend $8.8M to turn it into a tourist attraction spot though LKY never lived there at all.

I have my own humble suggestion. Why not name the next new housing estate after LKY?  It will come with LKY Street, Avenue, Lane, Expressway. So many things will be named after him once we have a HDB estate in his name ...LKY Town Council, Committee Center, Malls, Markets, Schools, Parks, ...... His name will be all over - everyone so happy, no need to write petition after petition.

Should not be a problem getting support as the minister in charge of this has been crying at the mentioned of his name.  Certainly he will be all for it. Then each BTO flat can be sold at out of this world price. After all, a flat in a HDB estate name after a our supreme leader and his cabinet of ministers who draw out of this world salary must be sold at such befitting price.

No need to worry about losing election, as this will be GRC ward full of MIW supporters.  If neighboring wards favor opposition, just redraw the boundary before election. It will be like killing 2 birds with one stone - $$ making and vote winning.  LKY HDB Estate can propel the maximum number of MIW candidates into parliament.  The only problem is can they build it up before the next election which is likely round the corner before LKY worship fever pitch dies down.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Who are the LKY's daft S'poreans ?

There are many good and intelligent folks who really admire and respect LKY as their supreme flawless leader.  Pity likely this is also one of the groups LKY had in mind when he called S'poreans daft.

The real problem is these folks are too trusting and read MSM mainly for their news input.  Their haven't got out of the starry eyes stage back in school where we were taught what a 'great and marvelous' LKY was.

Likely there will be another generation of starry eyes LKY worshipers going by the zealous 24-7 propaganda going on around his death.  But all idol worship has to come to an end. History is the best judge of how good a leader LKY was.  Let time decides.

The other group of daft S'pore LKY had in mind are likely honest hardworking folks who would vote for his party no matter how much they disliked him.  It is due fear as they are so brain washed that they truly believe S'pore cannot survive without MIW in power.

I was at CPF board last week.  LKY was still in ICU then.  The 2 elderly men in front were talking about him.  They were saying why all the fuss over him - praying for his recovery, so much news coverage......wasting time.... After all he had been very inactive in politics and 91 yrs in age is considered blessed considering man's average life span is 75.  They were no admirer of LKY, what they discussed I shall not repeat here.

But the irony is they will vote for MIW.  One of them was saying 'cannot vote for opposition lah - they got no money to run the country'.   I can't believe what I am hearing, there are actually elderly folks who believed tax payers' money belongs to MIW !  May be it is due to the recently WP Town Council saga where MIW hold back grant money for the ward.

This is not a good sign.  It is time for change as half a century of one party rule and hero worship of LKY is causing a lot of brain damage.  Idol and hero worship is bad for our intellect. No wonder we lack creativity juicy.  MIW has systematically brain washed S'poreans via school teaching and media propaganda into a nation of LKY worshipers for 50 years !!

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

What was LKY last wish ?

It is said that LKY signed an Advanced Medical Directive that he be allowed to go with minimum suffering by not artificially prolonging his life with life supporting tubes stuck into all his orifices.  Was that his last wish?  If so it is a pity that his family did not respect it.

Or was his last wish was to be milked for all he was worth to advance his son political career?  If so then it was fulfilled to bursting limit.

The current media frenzy to give him maximum air time day and night to promote him as a flawless and perfect leader is out right ridiculous.

There are so much similarity between him, Mao of China and Kim of North Korea.  So we have all the hero worship and grieving expressed by their followers. We know for all the waxing of how great Mao and Kim were, historical facts revealed otherwise.

They were great politicians but far from great leaders.  Plenty of common major flaws - self serving and power crazy. They were ruthless and devious.  The means they used to achieve their ends matter not to them.  These men were top of the game in public perception and mind manipulation.  They were hero worship in life and in death by their brain washed followers.

Re-writing history and using mass media to get their message across were their specialty.  One of their dirty tricks was to target young children as they were easy to manipulate and would grow up to be faithful unquestioning worshipers of them.

The only saving grace is LKY is not as terrible as these two men. But he is no where near great leaders like Mahatma Ghandi of India who citizens affectionately addressed as their father, and Sun Yet Sen who is the father of modern China. 

The word 'father' has to come from citizens from the ground and not coined by your own political party and using media propaganda to drum into us !!  LKY is the founding PM of S'pore but he is not our founding 'father'.  His achievement and character do not put him on the league of truly great men like Ghandi and Sun. To call LKY 'father' is to belittle and an insult to these great men.

Suffering from LKY fatigue

When LKY was alive, he controlled the media.  Even in his death, the media is still under his clutches.  Being bombarded day and night by his images on all local channels is nerve wreaking.

The week before his dismissal, we had plenty of air time during the news about him.  So much hero worship speeches by his followers.  Now, day in day out all the local MSM are glorifying him almost to the status of  'God'.

Imagine all the local TV channels keep re-running the same few movies like Batman, Superman, Spiderman... no matter how much we love heroes and how entertaining the movies are, it become really tiresome to watch.

May he rest in peace.  May we have our peace too.  Let our eyes and ears rest from the constant bombardment of him.  

Friday, March 13, 2015

CPF Minimum Sum scraped BUT Maximum Limit RETAINS

Likely we are taken for a ride again.  Before those folks turning 55 rejoice about not needing to top up their CPF Medisave a/c to meet its Minimum Sum in order to withdraw their money - READ the reports carefully.

They only scrapped the Medisave Minimum sum BUT the CPF Medisave Maximum Ceiling is retained (it is renamed BHS -Basic Healthcare Sum) .  Minimum is LESS than maximum so it is another round of confusing the public with all the renaming and changes.

In 2013 the Medisave minimum sum was 40.5K vs 45.5K for the maximum ceiling limit (BHS)
In 2014 the Medisave minimum sum was 43.5K vs 48.5K for the maximum ceiling limit (BHS)

It is obvious that the maximum sum is more than the minimum sum by  5K. Besides, they said no need to top up at 55, but it is unclear what happens when one reach 65, as the BHS still applies for the cohort.  In Jan 2016, the BHS is 49.8K as announced by CPF.

The only real change is that once we hit 65, the BHS will remains at that prevailing limit and not shoot up year after year.  However, before we reach 65, the BHS is still subjected to yearly adjustment !

Most of the changes this year has been cosmetic, just like this Bull sHit Stuff BHS thingy.

Of course they can afford to scrap the minimum sum as they retains the maximum one (BHS). Is this a sick joke or what ?  Besides, when Medishield Life kicks in to replace the current medishield, they are going to legalize accessing our bank a/c to deduct any outstanding premium for those who do not pay up.  There is no need to have minimum amount in medisave for the premium deduction as they can now access our bank a/c to do it forcefully.

Could it mean they will be looking into forcefully accessing our bank a/c to ensure we meet BHS when we turn 65 ?  It matters not to them our daily needs, what is more important is that our money flow into CPF one way or another.

What is even more misleading is the official and MSM reporting. They made it sound as if our medisave a/c is filled with money.  They said "Any amount in excess of this (BHS) will be transfer to Retirement and Special account ..."  Notice they talked about excess but not what happen if there is shortfall. So what happen if there is shortfall ? Only God Govt knows!

CPF is full of CRAP.  It gets more and more complicated each year. Perhaps that is their intention, as it is a web of sticky confusion that is not meant to help us. Majority are trapped when negotiating the maze of terms and unending changes. 


Sunday, February 15, 2015

Public turn-off by PAP antics in Parliament

PAP ministers and MPs should examine themselves in the mirror to get a clear image on how hypocritical and self-righteous they looked when they bombarded WP on their lapses in Town Council management.

They would do well to clean up their own houses and acts before they start accusing the other party of non-transparency, evasive behavior ...etc.  Did not PAP hide behind a thick steel wall which even Superman's x-ray eyes cannot penetrate when it comes questions on the health and status of our national reserve, GIC, Temasek, and CPF ? The list of sensitive and 'OB marker' questions is getting pretty lengthy.

It is one thing to highlight lapses but going into attack mode into WP integrity and even assassinating individual WP's members character to score political points are a real turn-off which the public finds hard to stomach. If such strong negative words are used on any one of these PAP folks who are notorious for their sensitive skin, - they will sue your pants off.  Such uneven balanced of power arouse public indignant and anger at PAP bullying tactics.

It makes us puke to see our Ministers and MPs stooping so low and being so dumb to think we will buy into their 'lengthy' speech which sound like a defective broken record. The same accusations are repeated over and over again by different PAP maroons members trying to out do each other with stronger and more insulting choice of words.

One of our elite ministers did not even get his facts correct regarding maintenance charges but still insisted with confident that he is right, though the mistake was pointed out to him.  He did not even have the integrity to own up to the mistake at the next day parliamentary session that he had made a devious 'honest' misled mistake. Perhaps we have always been given wrong data in other parliamentary sessions which went unchallenged as no one noticed it.

Only out of touch block heads do not understand why the public sympathize with WP when PAP took them to task for their lapses.  We do not condone wrong doings, but we also cannot stand when the pot calls the kettle blackPAP should wash, clean and polish their pot till it shines first. After all they claimed to be the 'A' Team and pay themselves handsomely to keep themselves from being corrupt.

So lead by example by being transparent, out front and avoid any conflict of interest :

- Members of parliament should not take on directorship in any private companies.

- PM wife should not even set foot in Temasek.

- PM and his key ministers should not have their thumb prints and footprints all over GIC

- Come clean and answer all public queries on our national reserve, GIC, Temasek, CPF, the base cost of HDB construction.....and the whole lengthy list of 'OB markers' questions we have for years which are never unanswered directly.



Sunday, February 1, 2015

Govt Assumption and Citizens Speculation

Minister Khaw gave some rather strange excuses for the mistake of awarding the tender to a private company to build a temple/columbarium in Sengkang. He said govt staff  assumed the company is a religious organisation and also that govt procedure has not caught up with times.  Then he tried to justify the govt  assumption with a lame reason based on the story of Butterfly Lovers.

The internet is having a field day laughing at his absurdity.  How can our govt award a multi-million tender without doing due diligent? Besides, that company's name ends with a PTE LTD and is a listed company with their company data easily available, as any one can goggle it.  This is very serious as not only we have human error (unforgivable) but also loop holes in the tendering procedure!

We need accountability from Head of Depts / Ministry.  Please do not push the blame again to low ranking staff like in the terrorist, Mas Selamat escape case.

What makes the issue more amusing is that we have MPs and Ministers actively defending the decision before this.  So why the sudden U-turn?

Perhaps they wish to avoid another AIM saga, where Town Council project was awarded to a dubious company with $2 paid up capital with no relevant experience and headed by former PAP men. PM Lee had to form a committee to look into it due to all the dirt being dug up.  Nothing came out of it as everything was found to be in order, though folks on the ground had different opinions.  Besides, the committee was not independent as it was headed by the concerned ministry. That did not go down well with the public.

Citizens are also speculating could the mistaken assumption this time be contributed by former PM Goh's son being on the board of director of the parent company?  He was appointed in 2011  according to internet source (S'pore Notes blog site). Perhaps govt officials thought with such 'powerful' link, everything must be in order.  Maybe the assumption in Singlish is : No need to check lah. Must trust, if not no respect, how can.


Then the timing of Mr Goh sudden spiteful outburst saying S'pore becoming a garbage city without foreign workers, after PM Lee chided S'poreans for not cleaning up after the event at Garden by the Bay which had many foreigners taking part too.  Mr Goh has said a lot of loony things in recent years, but he is not a spiteful person, unlike LKY and son who are known for their spitefulness.

Could this be diverted anger? There could be pend up frustration with citizens making so much 'noise'. 

He went on to say "monkey sees, monkeys do"  - not sure if he is giving the excuse that foreigners do like wise because they see S'poreans doing so.

Actually "monkey sees, monkeys do" would be more appropriate when apply to MPs and Ministers as they come up one after another to defend this tender award.  It is the same when they started bad mouthing blogger Roy during the 'heckling' saga at Hong Lim Park. So looks like MIW are the real monkeys.

In China 'kwan si' is opened secret in business dealing. Here it is more subtle but likely the forces are still at play.  We all know that MPs and Ministers are very popular with private companies and are invited to be on their board of directors, even though there are obvious conflict of interest and many first world countries do not allow such practices.  The reason is as crystal clear.  With the right connection things get moving. Remember how the FT with fake degree who cheated a rich widow through the lusting lasting power of attorney managed obtained his PR because he has the right connection?

It is perfectly the norm in S'pore to have our MPs and Ministers, each taking up numerous directorship in various private companies.  Leading the way is PM  and his key ministers all having involvement in GIC board of directors.  It all started off with LKY himself years ago. As LKY is considered to be the 'supreme' leader, since he can do it, there is no stopping the rest of the gang from taking part in this enriching side line.  PM sees no conflict of interest with his wife heading Temasek, though it is so glaring it is blinding us.