Young killers

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6647837/Teenager-Lisa-Borch-murdered-her-mother-after-becoming-obsessed-with-IS-videos.html

I'm not sure why Society has problems with capital punishment. We routinely slaughter millions of babies a year in abortions.

One star One sky

I watched this amazing video of Orcas attacking a herring fish school. I found it so beautiful that I'm moved each time I watch it.

 Its matched with an equally exhilerating song by the band Alice and the Glass Lake. Here's that video and the lyrics.


 
Norway Orcas and Humpback WhaleHD from Cristina Mittermeier on Vimeo.

In the corners of every room
Through the floors
Comes the light from an open sill
Little windows
Paint the sheets of a silver moon
Make ‘em glow
This is the this is the light I've known
So long
I see it running through you
Through you
Oh, Love

Runs through you

One star One sky
Fill up my old heart
With new light
I'll take all I can
Loving in the moment
Is something luminous

Shimmer down from my fingertips
Subtle warmth
To the brim with brilliance
Reborn
 Feel the power in every limb I'm not alone
This is the this is the light I've known
Would come along-long-long

One star One sky
Fill up my old heart
With new light
I'll take all I can
Loving in the moment
Is something luminous
 And I thought I was done
 Thought I, th-thought I I thought I was done
I thought I was done
Thought I was done
But I see it running through you
Through you, oh love
See it running through you
Through you, oh love
Feel it running through you
Through you, oh

 One star One sky
 Fill up my old heart
With new light
I'll take all I can
Loving in the moment
Is something luminous

Christmas, Jesus, the Virgin Birth

Today is Christmas, the time of year in the calendar where we mark the birth of Jesus Christ - a Jew born out of wedlock to a Jewish peasant woman who the Church claimed to be a virgin. He founded a Pacifist religion whose adherents have been regularly trying to massacre the Jews for the last 2,000 years - who says God doesn't have a sense of humour or irony?

Think about it.

Merry Christmas.

In the moment of clarity where is God?

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2011/02/salinger-201102

I like to read.

Here's a good article about the famous author JD Salinger and his experience with war.

"The most powerful portion of “The Magic Foxhole” is the opening scene, which describes the landings at Normandy. Among the dead bodies on the beach is a solitary living figure—a chaplain crawling around in the sand, frantically searching for his glasses. The narrator, as his transport nears the beach, watches the surreal scene in amazement, until the chaplain, too, is killed. It was no accident that Salinger chose a chaplain to be the only living man among the dead in the heat of war. It was also no accident that the chaplain should be desperate for the clarity his glasses would provide. A man who believed he held the answer to life’s great questions suddenly discovers that he doesn’t—just when he needs an answer most. It is a critical moment in Salinger’s writing. For the first time, he asks the question: Where is God?"

9 year old girl beheaded by the Taliban

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/women-protesters-carried-the-coffin-of-a-9-year-old-girl-beh#.fgA710q0V

The people and the culture that could kidnap a father and a daughter and sliced off their heads in the most cruel manner deserve no mercy.

Look at them. They are dead now. Murdered by the Taliban.

You cannot reason with fanatics who think it is acceptable to monstrously behead a 9 year old girl.

War is terrible. But allowing monsters to rule is worse.

These people - the Hazans - aren't running away like the Syrians. Why?

The City Harvest Church Trial

The courts have found a pastor of a mega church here in Singapore guilty of fraud. Together with a team of accomplices  he used $50 million dollars - $50,000,000.00 - that's roughly about $40million USD to fund the secular music career of his wife in America.

I'm sure that when he started the church - he and his wife were humble people - desiring only to serve God.

Somewhere along the way they got sidetracked. Why?

Its simple really. Power corrupts. Look at the Catholic Church history. Protestants like to smirk at the old institution and laugh at their corruption. But humans are humans. We sin.

There has to be a transparent accountability system to avoid this sort of thing.

But the teachings in the Bible tend to gravitate towards placing too much power into the hands of individuals. Maybe that's the way with most religions.

I've been in some churches where the preachers are treated like demigods. Why?

Nowadays I tend to stay away from churches because my idea of the Bible is not similar. I believe God has given all of us the freedom to live life. He made us the way we are. He has given us a beautiful world to live in. We have to live a life that does not hurt other people in their path to also be happy. Dominating people, acquiring too much wealth at the expense of others, or abusing your position of authority for personal gain is all wrong.

I think the CH Church should dismantle itself - sell all its assets and distribute them to the poor in accordance with Christ teaching. If they can't even do that - they should not bother preaching the gospel to others.

Critical thinking is not fostered in most churches. Instead there is an emphasise on obedience to rigid rules - some of the charismatic churches even discourage thinking - instead they emphasise a life lived in "faith" - instead its one ruled by emotion and your own personal neurosis.

God gave all of us a brain and a heart for a reason. Churches should encourage its members to train that up. Blindly following your leaders and uncritical acceptance of church teachings - even sections of the Bible is foolish. Think about it. Don't let your mind be ruled by what someone else believes.

Singapore justice system is a bit strange

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/briton-jailed-two-months-for-assaulting-cabby-and-ordered-to-pay-compensation

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/student-jailed-six-months-for-taking-drug-while-abroad-and-for-having#xtor=CS1-10

I find this a bit strange - a British national assaults a Singapore taxi driver - beats the shit out of him and thanks to passersby didn't do more damage.  Our courts jail the British guy for 2 months and gets him to pay $1250 to the taxi driver.

Meanwhile our courts are going to jail a young Singaporean man for smoking weed in Amsterdam and for possessing some hash - FOR SIX MONTHS. He was also suffering from depression.

Seriously it doesn't make sense. How can the courts jail a depressed man for 6 months for smoking weed - and give only 2 months to a fucking angmo shithead who nearly beat a poor taxi driver to death?

It'd make more sense if they sent the young man for counselling for his depression. Sending him to jail for 6 months is just going to frack him up more.

But seriously wtf our court system doesn't seem very interested in protecting the lives of our citizens. That poor taxi driver is now suffering from post-traumatic syndrome - didn't the courts take into account that? Getting the angmo to pay $1250 is a joke. How would you feel if someone beat the shit out of you? You think that's a fair amount?

One reason why I don't go to church any more

http://anyhowhantam.blogspot.sg/2015/09/may-lawrence-khong-be-struck-by.html?m=1

I'm sick and tired of Pastors who worship a book and themselves.

When Jesus came down - he was the biggest and harshest critic of the current religious leaders.

I think most Christian leaders are the new Pharisees - so infatuated with dogma and doctrine and religious books that they fail to embrace their own humanity and soul - they will be the first to cast the first stone.

You think its bad ?

https://mediachecker.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/the-armenian-genocide/

You think its bad? Wait til they gain power.

Judging people

Too often people get judged for things which they have no control over.

Where they are born. Their accent. How they look. Who their parents are. Where they come from.

A great deal of what makes us who we are - were largely predetermined before we were born.

The one big thing we can change is how we think.

Enlightenment is not just a Buddhist concept. Its that moment when we sit down, and think deeply and analyse who we are, what we are, where we are going and how to get there.

Its not easy. But it starts first by avoiding to judge people and instead empathise with them - or at least understand where they are coming from.

History of Singapore politics

.

Singapore's politics maybe like a lot of politics is not a pleasant affair.

The British double-crossed the people of Singapore by telling them they were safe and they would be protected from the Japanese. Weapons that were meant to go to Singapore were sent instead to Russia - thank you Mr. Churchill.

The PAP's history is also… not very happy happy either. Go read up about it if you care.

The Opposition movement meanwhile scored an own goal when CSJ tried to expel CST from his own party which would have meant Chiam also being forced to vacate his seat in Potong Pasir and allowing the SDP to put its own man there. Not sure why CSJ couldn't go out and form his own party.

The role of the Opposition in Govt

Politics is usually a very polarised affair - I think too many people treat it as a football match. They don't think about their votes in a very rational or coherent way.

There's been a bit of criticism over the Worker's Party management of the Town Council. Finger pointing can back fire too though. I think most Singaporeans are more concerned over why the PAP keeps increasing the CPF withdrawal age limit. Why? Don't they have it?

If that's not bad enough - the govt doesn't seem to be doing much to combat the rise of inflation in Singapore. The price of food and medical expenses have increased exponentially - thanks in large part to the massive property price rises.

Even when the price of oil goes down - the price of public transport fares does not follow suit.

And then when the Malaysian govt introduced a fee for entering their country the PAP followed suit with a fee for Malaysian vehicles entering Singapore …. which I thought would be silly because Singapore imports a lot of food from Malaysia.

How then does the PAP expect old people and retirees to survive? Their CPF money is diminishing due to inflation. And because the govt doesn't allow them to withdraw it - they can't use it to invest in property or help their children buy a home of their own.

Some people say that Singaporeans should keep on voting for the PAP because they can monitor themselves - it is so perfect they can do their own checks and balances. I'm not a scholar so I don't know how a govt  (whose ministers and MPS are allowed to own multiple investment properties and are being paid salaries many many times the rate that most ordinary Singaporeans work for, and who are also holding directorships in multiple private companies) can think the problems through in an impartial, fair and unbiased manner.

When you pay a worker a lot of money - you should expect the worker to devote his full attention to his job and not to have sideline activities that may detract from his main job. Suppose a politician  has 10 - 40  investment properties - do you think he would act swiftly to enact legislation or taxes that will curb property speculation?  The property boom/bubble has been going on in Singapore since 2006… housing numbers have been squeezed, forcing a lot of Singaporean couples to defer marriage or having babies. Why did the govt take so long to put the brakes on?

BTW - I don't have any axe to grind with Mr Yeo - I'm just using this photo as an example.

But when you hear statements like "$600,000 is peanuts", "cardboard aunties are doing it for the exercise", "a natural aristocracy"… you can't help but wonder if the govt leaders have lost touch with the realities facing most Singaporeans.

People are complaining that the Opposition are not credible because they don't plan to form government. I think the critics underestimate the size of the mountain that they are going to climb.

So why would Singaporeans vote for the Opposition? Its because they realise that the PAP have stopped listening to them. People say you vote for Opposition and you don't know what you are going to get.

But a lot of Singaporeans know what they are going to get if they hand the PAP a firm majority.

The writing is on the wall - an increase in the population to 6.9 to 10 million, an overt emphasise on profits over public service even with regards to essential services like public transportation, a liberal approach to foreign worker intake, and further ways to entrench the ruling establishment pecking order.

What will a good Opposition do? It will put forward alternatives and hopefully help the government to formulate better policy.

If there was a strong Opposition in the 1970s - 1980s - the Govt would have been more careful when formulating its "Two is Enough" policy, "Mandarin as a 2nd language" campaign (which LKY even admitted in Parliament caused problems).

...

Chinese workers protest in Singapore - the Failure of A Civil Society

http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2015/08/chinese-workers-protest-what-could-have-happened/

Recently two PRC people - a man and a woman - kneeled on the main road in front of the Ministry of Manpower to protest about their plight.

I do not know the circumstances behind their plight. But it must have been pretty bad for them to drive them to such desperate measures - they are risking their own lives in a horrendous way. Would you risk life and limb to protest? Would you sit in the path of incoming traffic. These two did. Why?

They are here alone - without no one willing to help them and so they take matters into their own hands literally. I thought its a pretty ballsy thing to do to put yourself in harm's way like that. Imagine risking your life every second - getting run over by a truck - its a terrifying thing to do.

Some Singaporeans were disgusted because of their protest. Few were sympathetic - most of the commentators were very negative - slamming them for their lack of respect for Singapore law - and there were not a few vile comments - comparing them to "trash" imported by the govt.

Seriously, fellas? c'mon have some empathy. These people like our ancestors came across the sea landed on our shores to work. They got duped or cheated - like many of Singaporean ancestors - many of them "coolies", indentured workers - in effect, "slaves".

I think at the very least these two deserve some sympathy or at the very least cause you to wonder wtf drove them to such a desperate act. Perhaps MOE could look more carefully at the way employment agents operate and how work visas are being issued?

There is a certain brutish aspect in Singapore culture - a hatred for people who step out of line. I wonder where that came from?

More foreign workers for Singapore...

So the PAP wants to bring in more foreign workers into Singapore…. despite the fact that so many local people are unemployed - then why are the PAP so displeased when Singaporeans want more non-PAP MPs in Parliament? 60/40 ?

Fair fair right?

My Analysis of the National Day Speech

Well what do you expect? Hearing people complain about the speech is like hearing someone complain about getting wet when they swim in the sea or getting sand stuck when sitting on the beach.

Basically more of the same - the PAP is doing a great job, the price of housing will continue to remain very affordable (if you are a PAP Minister I presume).

Does the PM address any of the grievances that Singaporeans are facing in a meaningful way? No, not really. You can expect the govt to increase the population to uncomfortable levels and the govt will bring in more foreigners to do the jobs rather than bother spending money and effort training Singaporeans to do them.

Meanwhile I present to you "Candy".

Dear PAP please watch

2011…. has anything changed? The PAP is now talking about an aristocracy.

MRT - 2012 - 2016 Nothing has changed has it?

http://ifonlysingaporeans.blogspot.sg/2012/05/mrt-breakdown-coi-day-18.html

Nothing has changed has it?

The Establishment keeps putting people with strange credentials in charge - pays them big bucks as if a whooping pay increase can help a saleswoman or a soldier understand something as complex as a train system network.

Maybe next time they might hire a lawyer or doctor to pilot a SIA jet plane. Just pay him a ton load of cash - sure can fly anything afterwards.

I'm not too enamoured with the whole mega pay structure. Look at the banking system - the worldwide banking system (not just here) - has paying CEO, super traders, bankers mega salaries and bonuses actually helped or did it contribute to the Great Financial Crisis of 2008?

The people who caused that catastrophe got paid handsomely. Why?

Goodbye Lui Tuck Yew

http://www.allsingaporestuff.com/article/lui-tuck-yew-commuters-are-not-willing-pay-more-better-services

Out going Transport Minister - who presided over a MRT system that kept on breaking down but was able to make millions of dollars in profit - apparently said that Singaporeans are in effect cheapskates who don't want to pay for better services.

Wow, if he really said that - that's really really "rich". Something only an "Elite" can say.

Wages in Singapore for many people - esp. the poor class - have been depressed due to the Govt lax worker-migrant laws. And artificial increase in the population has also put on a strain on the transport system. Yet the establishment is keen to maintain a profit on essential public services.

You don't have to be a Scholar to work out what's going to happen next. Things break down badly.

The govt wants to compare our system with others to deflect criticism - like NY, London, etc.. but its inappropriate to compare it with larger population land sizes and bases - its like comparing Apples with Melons. Why not compare it with Hong Kong?

I'm also going to mention another pet annoyance of mine - why isn't the transport guides more obvious in our train systems. There should be several large detailed total maps near the control stations and the train platform areas. But as far as I can see - its pretty scant. And a lot of the space is either filled with advertisements or reserved for advertisements. Its most annoying.

Even the train lines are getting abbreviated with no mention of the secondary stops.

Pity someone who is unfamiliar with a particular line or is a tourist.

The govt is not using the MRT system as a public service any more - its changed it into a source of revenue.

I guess they have to do that to justify the sky high salaries of the top civil servants. Profit over service.

Elitism can be good for society - the Democracy Glass is Half Empty

Elitism can be good for society writes an RI alumni.

Only an elite can have the gall to say such a thing. These sorts of remarks like "Get out of my elitist uncaring face", "$600,000 salary is peanuts", "Cardboard aunties collect cardboard for the exercise", "People have a choice to take or don't take MRT", "Everyone in Singapore owns a car", "Eat cake if you don't have bread :)"  speaks of a larger malaise - a fractured society and a ruling class that does not live in the same world as the citizens its governs.

 The writer also writes "Singapore is a society built on the core tenets of meritocracy, fairness and equity. However, in recent years, we seem to have collectively confused equity with equality." 

"Equity" - $$ as in money?? ….

The writer needs to relearn basic things it seems. Our pledge reads: "We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language, or religion to build a democratic society based on justice and equality so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation." I think the author needs to recite the pledge again - every morning for the next 12 years. I don't know how he forgot that.

The Singapore system was based on Meritocracy. It was based on the idea that if you're clever and hard working you should get ahead in life.

Singapore was also built on good governance. We didn't kowtow to race, religion, money, or race, cronyism… or family. We gave deference to meritocracy. By doing this we succeeded while all our other neighbours (who were at one point in time vastly more richer than us), Malaya, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia - chose different paths and floundered badly.

Equality goes hand in hand with meritocracy. Equality does not equal communism. It means that everyone is equal under the rule of law. If someone assaults someone say a taxi driver - that person whether he's a doctor, soldier, or a European banker should be prosecuted and do the same time in jail.

A commitment to Equality also attempts to help everyone get a fair go at life - to create a level playing field. To that end in Singapore we provide public housing, public education, public hospital care. The Singapore PAP government at the start was actually very Socialistic - forcibly acquiring land from private individuals at below market prices to build public works like HDBs, Changi airport, Army bases, the MRT etc.. It didn't allow the rich and powerful to hog all the top spots in the government, military, and school systems.

There is of course a balance between public vs private to be met somewhere - and that is the government's role to adjust otherwise we'd just end up back to feudalism where the rich and powerful eventually rig the system to benefit themselves only.

Somewhere along the way since 1965 - we seem to have lost our way to such an extent that we hear the Establishment talking about an aristocracy as if the elites had an unalienable right to rule Singapore.

It is worrying.

Hiroshima

War is hell.

The remembering and story of war is also a form of hell - where you have a multitude of voices clamouring for attention.

Since the 1960s most people seem to want to remember and use the nuke bombing of Hiroshima as a poster-child for the evils of war, and as part of the "America is evil" narrative.

I find this very shallow thinking.

No one seems to want to remember that it was the Japanese that started that ghastly war by attacking China, Korea, Philippines, Malaya, Indonesia, Singapore etc..

You know what they did after they captured cities? They rounded up potential troublemakers, or anyone they didn't particularly liked and killed them. That included the cream of that society, the best of the best.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sook_Ching

Why is there less sympathy for the people the Japanese killed during WW2? When the Japanese captured Singapore the British surrendered without much of a fight because the Japanese Army promised to treat the civilian population well - instead they rounded up 50,000 - 100,000 men and women - even children - intellectuals, and killed them and tossed their bodies into the sea.

Most of their names are lost to us. No one gives a damn.

I'm sorry for the people of Hiroshima. But they have to remember that they were the aggressors in that horrible conflict. It was their soldiers that were killing and torturing and raping unarmed civilians, and forcing people to become their slaves. Guess how many asians perished building their railways.

But instead the world chooses to remember Hiroshima. How ironic.

America the Land of the Free

America the land of the free - where the criminals are armed to the teeth and ordinary citizens - even grandmothers - are expected by the NRA to own and be proficient in pistols, assault rifles, submachine guns and stay perpetually vigilant even in a church prayer meeting, taking a toilet break, or while they are sleeping in bed.

I read this sort of news - and it sickens me.

http://www.9news.com.au/world/2015/08/03/06/16/teen-brutalised-by-cat-callers

America has no business telling other nations how to run their own countries when it has problems dealing with its own shit.

White Bigots…

http://www.refinery29.com/2015/06/89515/serial-attacker-asian-women-new-york

Its funny how people assume that bigotry is limited to just one race. You can see mega super stars and politicians rallying against South Africa's apartheid laws.

So White vs Black = bad.

Black vs Black = sad or not really newsworthy.

Black vs White or other races = nah won't acknowledge it….

In the link above a man of african descendent goes around assaulting asian females. Guess we won't see #asianlivesmatter.

Sleep Apnea, Tinnitus, Snoring, TMJ

http://www.skirsch.com/charity/medical/tinnitus.htm

I suffer from sleep apnea/snoring, tinnitus and teeth grinding TMJ. (Sleepers who grind and snore  are totally oblivious to their actual condition

In the past doctors would try and isolate each problem and try and treat each symptom as a separate issue.

But they all seem to be related - linked in some form or another. TMJ - the teeth grinding - disturbs the hearing nerves which are located close to the jaw.

I found that having botox injections in my jaw - done to help with my teeth grinding TMJ - actually cured my tinnitus for a month or more. Then it came back. A subsequent treatment of botox didn't help.

Sleeping late, drinking too much caffeine,  being overweight are also culprits.

For people suffering from tinnitus - one of the best things is to keep yourself busy and not allow yourself to focus on the problem - it will drive you mad.

Listen to low level music. Have something that will distract you from the problem.

Whatever you do , don't worry about it or focus your attention on the problem - it will just exacerbate things. Go out into a public place - walk around - do something to take your mind off the problem. Staying alone in a quiet room and thinking about tinnitus is one of the worse things you could do.

Not all cultures are the same: rape in Sweden

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5195/sweden-rape

Not all cultures are the same. Pretending otherwise is stupid.

While we may gaze in wonder at videos of lions playing with lambs, cats with mice, like animals there are significant differences in our cultures. Some good, some bad.

Things of course do evolve. But it takes generations. Once the only decent job a woman could have was to stay at home, raise her children. Now you see women working in all spheres of life in the western world. Sometimes it requires a massive social upheaval like a war or revolution to get remove different ways of seeing and behaving - and not all the time good or bad.

I marvel at the West desire to accept more refugees - in the past this was not the case. In America and Australia - the public was stridently against any form of asian immigration. In fact in 1919, Australia made a big effort to prevent Japan's push for a racial equality clause recognising the Japanese as racial equals. In 1923 America specifically banned Japanese immigrants. Until the 1970s Australia had a white only policy.

Now the trend is reversed. But I'm not sure whether the western nations are thinking very carefully over the migrants they are allowing into their country.

Cultures which treat women as chattel, as properties of men, and see a woman walking alone as worse than a prostitute, and have lax views on rape and violence towards women should be treated differently.

In Australia there have been cases of gang rapists - muslim arab migrants attacking white females. The outrage is of course quite tremendous. There was a case of three Australian caucasian men gang raping a young asian girl awhile back but it didn't get as much coverage. But it doesn't help the Australian Muslim community when one of their imans who is also a notorious welfare bludger -preaches that women wearing bikinis are like meat exposed in the open.

In Sweden and northern Scandinavian countries they've chose very admirably not to mention race and religion as if they are swear words. But facts are facts. You can choose to ignore them at your detriment.

Rolls Royce to custom tailor car for Singapore

RR, makers of the famous WW2 Merlin engine, and luxury cars has announced that it will custom make a car for the Singapore market - I guess instead of calling it Silver Ghost - it will be known as Sibei Atas.

Details are sketchy but … as part of the unique Singapore features I guess it will automatically double park in handicap parking spots, auto accelerate when someone attempts to merge into your lane, car doors will likely automatically open when a bicyclist is side by side and another likely unique Singapore feature will be its auto slow speed whenever an ambulance is behind them. I also suspect another unique feature will be its ability to occupy two or perhaps 3 lanes when attempting to drop off passengers on the sidewalk. 

Its price tag will make it affordable to 100% of Singaporeans who are Govt Ministers. 

Walking by faith and not by sight

http://www.livescience.com/44442-noahs-ark-true.html?cmpid=514627_20150628_48226626&adbid=10152839541456761&adbpl=fb&adbpr=30478646760

There is a surprising amount of reliance on intuition in the Christian faith.

We are often taught to rely on faith and not by faith. And doubt is a sin.

After some thought over the years I think a certain amount of skepticism is needed - for the discerning person.

Regarding the Bible - I'm don't think we can place 100% reliance on a group of letters and papers written by men thousands of years ago - collated by a church committee - all of them humans like you and me - 4000 to 2000 years ago and say - golly, that's the undisputable Word of God.

God wrote it.

Some questions - Who told you? Why do you believe it? What do you chose not to believe?

I'm sure those bible writers were biased as much by their own culture and particular circumstances - as much as any biblical scholar or pastor would by his own personal thinking.

I'm not saying the Bible is 100% to be discredited. But c'mon read it and you'll find a lot of bizarre stuff. Di you know that slavery was not condemned and polygamy allowed? Did you know that God of the Old Testament condemns people before they were even born? Read about why he hated Esau and loved Jacob. Marriage by the way - one man one wife was never stated clearly. It was ok for men to have multiple wives. The lineage line of Jesus was descended from the sex act between a father-in-law and his daughter-in-law whom he mistook for a prostitute. As for women who want to lecture me on the bible - I suggest reading about how Paul taught that sin came from Eve - condemning all women to be subservient under men. If a woman didn't scream when she was being raped - she would be stoned to death. Yeah all in the Bible which the Psalmist is suppose to love - "thy word is a lamp unto my feet..."

Anyhow thank goodness we are now in the 21st century. I think we as Christians ought to be more circumspect before we try to subscribe to all the joys of 1st century morality.

The Bible has a lot of teachings - killing false prophets, stoning adulterers/ non-virgin brides to death, laws against  usury/ bank interest, what to plant in your field, what not to eat etc..

Not to long ago - a big issue was the case for divorce. Divorcees were also not allowed to remarry. Its in the New Testament too - Jesus himself supposedly said it.

Or someone wrote that He said it. So it MUST BE TRUE.

And guess what? This teaching caused untold suffering to millions of people. One King - King Henry 8th of England felt compelled to execute one wife and torment one to an early death because he wanted to re-marry a new bride.

You know the adage "Don't believe everything you read".

Then what do we believe?

Try reading the Bible again and thinking it critically and deeply. Who was Jesus? What did He come to do? How was he so radically different from so many others? Why do you choose to follow him?

Most people actually don't think. They just follow what someone says.

The Confederate flag

Symbols carry a lot of weight and meaning.

Take for example the crucifix. Its actually a terrible torture instrument. Millions of people - men, women and children were crucified by being nailed to a wooden structure - the cross. And they died in appalling agonizing pain. Its one of the worse ways to be killed. But now its being used a decoration, jewelry, and even ironically enough a religious symbol of peace. God must be having a good laugh about that.

The Confederate flag is another symbol.

The symbol of the Confederate flag - which is derived from a Battle Flag of a Confederate Army - is based on a desire to pretend that the Confederate soldiers did not fight or die in vain. Unfortunately, they did. They died fighting for the wrong cause - they fought for States Rights yes - but the State's rights to own african slaves. Those Confederate soldiers died just as valiantly as the brave Nazi soldiers died fighting in WW2. Their heroic efforts were just as useless as the Japanese kamikazes and soldiers who died fighting to the last man and bullet for their God Emperor.

Their efforts were in vain. They died for nothing. They started a war that they could not win. The enemy trashed their land. Their economy fell. All for nothing. This awful fact is too terrible for many to contemplate. So they carry the Confederate flag and sing Dixie - basking in nostalgia and false memories - because the truth is too awful to accept.

Jesus said the truth will set us free. That is true. But the truth also hurts. It is painful to accept the truth. In some respects it requires a certain moral courage to accept it. Brave soldiers who were prepared to hurl themselves against enemy gunfire and face certain death - often do not have it in them to refuse to obey morality wrong orders.

I used to think of war as a glory - instead the awful truth is that a lot of people will die and suffer for nothing.

I wish I could see more war memorials which state the truth

"A stupid war that should never have happened"

"A war fought because men wanted to debate the finer points of democratic government by slaughtering 750,000 men and destroying the lives of countless families"

"This General was great because he made 100,000 of his countrywomen wives and beggars."

America has very little to celebrate about over its Civil War particularly the South.

The Confederate Flag like the Nazi flag should be seen as utter failures - symbols of human stupidity.

Petfish or Public Transport?

The SMRT (Singapore's train service) has a massive breakdown affecting 200,000 commuters and what does the nation's main newspaper write about?

"Did Otters eat Koi worth $80,000?"

WTF??? 

When the train service breaks down - stranding over 10 - 30% of the working population and causing traffic chaos that affects the entire nation - who cares about the overpriced pets of an extremely rich individual??

How can the editor have condoned such a piece? There are so many things to write about - and they write this - someone's overpriced pet fish????

I think its symptomatic of the elitist mentality of the current regime.  A bit like the la-la attitude of the French govt and Russian govt prior to their revolutions. 

Clearly there is a huge disconnect in the Singapore regime - when the mainstream media are more concerned about the overpriced pets of the rich when there is national chaos.

That's how you can have leaders like Mdm Saw - the former CEO of the train system who can condescendingly remark - "People can board the train – it's whether they choose to"

That's about just as inflammatory as that other infamous (but not true) historical remark ""Qu'ils mangent de la brioche"" ("Let them eat cake").

Public perception is very important in running any country. You of course can overrule it by ruling with an iron fist like Mao, Stalin and Kim Jung 2 of North Korea - who executed people for not mourning sufficiently when his father died. Is that how you want to rule the country - through fear?

The Singapore Govt at the moment is confused - it draws its strength from the past - when the PAP was supreme, always right and when LKY ruled with an iron fist - even jailing dissenters and political opponents without trial for decades. But you can't coast along on past glories. The French tried it in Indochina and Africa after WW2 - the Italians tried reviving the Roman Empire during the 20th century - both failed badly.

Right now the PAP seem caught in its own propaganda - that Singapore's success and future are inextricably entwined.  That's why their minions come up with ridiculous statements like Singapore was a fishing village when the PAP took over.  Or when LKY got upset in the 1980s when 1 or 2 constituencies "defected" to the Opposition. Looking at the rhetoric it looked like it was the end of the world to him.  Whenever anyone wants to wonder where the kia-su culture came from - now you know.

Its breeding this sense of entitlement among the ruling party - that they own Singapore - or Singapore owes them - so you get someone well connected talking about an aristocracy. 

Good grief. Please lah don't say that. Its going to haunt you for a long time to come yet.

What next? Will one of Ministers say that the senior citizens collecting cardboard and selling tissue paper are doing it for fun? 
 

Photo sourced from: credit
thehearttruths.com






Seriously, my advice to the ruling party is this:
1. Improve your grassroots connection.
2. Listen more to the people.
3. Do more to help them.
4. With regard to public service. Put the people first. Profit second; a govt should not exploit its own people. In that regard stop the practice of placing ex-SAF scholars in charge of key govt infrastructures like transport. In this regard it might actually be better to source foreign talent (from Japan or Hong Kong).

5. Please hire a darn good PR team to vet all your remarks and advice you on public relations. If you don't want to do 1 - 4, all the more you should do this.

 

ASX Morning Wood Encore 3 - Third Time!!! Morning morning

Monday morning. First up 8am Short the ASX!!!!! Make 100 points easy.

No real tech analysis here - just a punt on the odds. And the odds were for a big fall in view of the disaster in Greece.

A trader's prayer

Credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly;
who errs,
who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Don't be afraid of failing

http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/06/vera-wang-says-know-when-to-walk-away.html

If you don't fall - sometimes you don't learn.

"Each time was very, very painful, to make a decision to leave. But I didn't feel like I had reached the summit, the absolute top. It wasn't like I was insanely ambitious, but in my own mind, I always fell short. And I think these two events were very influential for my outlook on life now. And what I do now couldn't have happened without the first two. I had to constantly reinvent myself.
It seems to be a similar thread throughout everything, which is that your life isn't always measured by tangible results. What it really is in the end is the process, and what you learn about yourself and about life. That's something I've taken with me. No matter how bad things get, no matter how discouraged I feel, no matter how much of a failure I feel like — and that applies to motherhood, friendship, everything — I try to believe there's a reason, there's a process, and there's a learning experience. Maybe the journey is where I gained wisdom, where I gained confidence, a sense of reality, a sense of creativity. None of this has been easy. There's an old skater's saying: Don't be afraid of falling. It's 90 percent falling — otherwise, you don't master anything. You might hurt your ass. Or break your ankle. Or crack a rib. It's the same thing in life. There are other places to go. Other things to try. So don't be afraid of failing. I think not trying is worse than failing. Have the courage to try. Otherwise, what are we here for?" Vera Wang

ASX200 Morning wood encore June 26th

Seems relatively easy. Just jump in at pre-market and take the ride down to the basement. Not too volatile. Could have captured 50 points here easily.

The American behind Chairman Mao

In WW2 a US soldier was sent to China to liaise with the Chinese communists - after the war he stayed back and helped the communists. This is his story.

http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/12/the-american-who-gave-his-life-to-chairman-mao/282647/

ASX200 June 25th morning wood

The ASX is a peculiar market - sheltered by timezone and can be quite predictable.

Today I took an early morning position - pre-market - at 5678 short.

I was worried it might spike up. So I put a stop at 5684 just to be safe.

The overall general international markets seem more or less negative.

So the odds favor the market going down.

And predictably like a juvenile skateboarder - it did fall over.

I drew a channel based on the previous day move - and got out at 5663. Thankfully - cos it spiked up in the next bar.

I could have reentered at 5675. But I was busy writing my journal. haha. Its still going down. But its time for breakfast now for me. :)

How to be a good trader - some politically incorrect stuff :)

Dax30

The bias for the dax is on the downside. But the chart wants to go up. That's ok. Plan is to wait for it to go up - then sell it down when it inevitably falters at the historical trend line.

Breakout for Dax30

Simple breakout chart for Dax.

If you don't believe in breakouts - at least stay away from placing "sell" positions at that point.

Try and always stack the odds in your favor. If there is doubt don't trade. And never trade on impulse.

Mad Men: The End (Spoilers)

Just watched the end of Mad Men. The ending was ok. Maybe a bit too happy sappy.

The confessed love between Peggy and her art director was rather vacuous. Wasn't he still married to a nurse? I felt Peggy's end was more or less settled when she swaggered into McCann's office half-drunk and with a cig in her mouth carrying Cooper's pornographic Japanese painting. Trying to conclude her story arc with an office romance was ... pointless, bland, stereotypical bullshit.

Don's meandering as he journeys to California seemed also a bit... convoluted padding. I thought the small town scene opened up a possibility that his former past may be brought up to condemn him. I was waiting for someone in that small veteran party to say - "Don Draper? My former bunk mate in OCS ?" or "I served with you in Korea - who the hell are you???!!" and bust his balls later with the cops when he got accused of stealing the vet funds.

I didn't mind Don's affair with the waitress - another lost and damaged soul worse off than Don. I get that the writers are trying to show him trying to help women in distress - like his own mum - but getting nowhere.

We've come a long way

I was walking in the city and noticed a number of Asian men walking with attractive white women... lucky bastards :)

That wasn't possible 50 - 100 years ago - because of Australia's pro-white policy. In 1918 Australia led the way in vetoing Japan's demand for racial equality clause - this despite Japan being on the side of the allies; Japanese warships had helped to escort Aussie troops to the Western theatre.

So when people talk about the good old days... yeah its bullshit.

Cult of Aphrodite Vintage

"Anna May Wong portrayed by Ruth Harriet Louise."

The Forgotten Story Of Classic Hollywood’s First Asian-American Star

Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong was a trailblazer despite the openly racist industry in which she worked. Remembering her story and contemplating how much things have changed.

By Anne Helen Petersen posted on Oct. 1, 2014, at 2:08 a.m. BuzzFeed News Features Writer.

The following is a bonus chapter from Anne Helen Petersen’s Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema. You can read previous instalments — on everyone from Katharine Hepburn to Marlon Brando.

In a December 1933 issue of New Movie Magazine, society reporter Grace Kingsley described her visit to screenwriter Donald Ogden Stewart’s famed costume party, where the who’s who of Hollywood showed up dressed, as the year’s theme dictated, as other Hollywood stars. The actress Fay Wray described the scene to Kingsley, cooing over each of her friend’s excellent costumes (“There’s Jack Gilbert as Lionel Barrymore in Rasputin!”) but really losing it when she sees “a little Chinese lady dancing about.”

But that lady wasn't Chinese: She was the (white) comedienne Polly Moran. “I'm Anna May Wong!” she said, running over and brandishing her hands. “And my fingernails cost me a dollar and a half!”

As the picture that accompanied the article shows, Moran was decked out in full yellow-face — including make-up to darken her skin, a wig, Chinese-style dress, and approximations of Wong’s signature long, pointed nails. In the picture, she makes a face intended to simulate a “Chinese” expression, and if you look closely, you can see that her eyes are taped up in an exaggeration of the Asian facial structure.
Moran, and whoever dressed her, would be familiar with this make-up technique (often achieved by using fish skin as an adhesive) because so many non-Asian women had been made up to play the role of Asian women. These were leading roles that could've been (but were seldom) given to classic Hollywood’s first and only Chinese-American star.

Anna May Wong, like other Hollywood actors of colour, was not allowed in society, and would not have been invited to Stewart’s party. She couldn't hang out with the very stars who exorcised and imitated her. In classic Hollywood, not only was it OK to act Asian, it was celebrated. And even though Stewart’s soiree was just a party, the behaviours modelled there bespoke the dominant understandings of Hollywood and America at large: White people can play at other races, and other races can play at very little.

Anna May Wong never scandalized Hollywood with her string of fiancés, like Clara Bow, or an outré sex philosophy, like Mae West. Ultimately, the scandal of her career had little to do with her, or her actions — it’s the way that Hollywood, and the audience that powered it, remained so hideously stubborn about the roles a woman like her could play, both on and off the screen. Wong was a silent-film demi-star, a European phenomenon, a cultural ambassador, and a curiosity, the de facto embodiment of China, Asia, and the “Orient” at large for millions. She didn't choose that role, but it became hers, and she laboured, subtly, cleverly, persistently, to challenge what Americans thought an Asian or Asian-American should or could be — a challenge that persists today.

Wong was born in 1905 in Los Angeles, just off Flower Street on the outskirts of Chinatown. Fan-magazine renderings of Wong’s childhood didn't shy from evoking the discrimination she faced, especially in her integrated elementary school. One boy would stick needles into her every day, to which she responded by simply wearing a thicker and thicker coat. A group of boys pulled her long braids, shoving her off the side walk and yelling, “Chink, Chink, Chinamen. Chink, Chink, Chinamen.” Sometimes the profile would admit that such children were of “lesser parents,” but the anecdotes were framed as a simple trial of childhood: no different than a white star getting teased as a child for an embarrassing name or pair of glasses.

Profiles also laboured to reconcile an identity that was at once wholly Chinese yet also American. She worked in a Chinese laundry, but that laundry wasn't in Chinatown. Her parents forced her to go to Chinese school after American school, but she skipped it to go to the movies. She had a Chinese name (Wong Liu Tsong) that meant “Frosted Yellow Willows,” but she opted for the Americanized Anna May Wong. Her parents were sceptical of the moving image — her mother purportedly believed that cameras could steal a bit of the soul — but Wong eschewed Old World superstition. She was, in many ways, a classic child of immigrants, incorporating the behaviours, beliefs, and vernacular of her homeland with the heritage of home.
As Wong grew, she became increasingly fascinated with the Hollywood pictures that would film in Chinatown, which, in the late ‘10s and early ‘20s, studios would regularly use as a visual substitute for China — a conflation that made it even more difficult for Americans to understand that Chinese-Americans were a distinct culture from the Chinese.

To make Chinatown seem like the bustling streets of China, directors needed Chinese faces — which is how Wong first appeared, as an extra in Alla Nazimova’s The Red Lantern at the age of 14. She had asked for her father’s permission, but he was reluctant: As one profile explained, “Of course, many Chinese girls had played extra, but there are many Chinese girls who are not nice.” It was only after her father made sure that other “honourable” Chinese extras, all male, would guard her that he agreed to let her participate.

Over the next two years, Wong appeared in bit parts in various films, still attending school, before quitting in 1921 to focus full-time on her career. She was immediately cast in her first leading role in The Toll of the Sea, a non-operatic take on Madame Butterfly that blew up the screen for two very simple reasons: It had Techni-colour (two-strip, which meant only tones of reds and greens, but no matter, COLOUR, that was sick), and Wong was actually a decent actress.

Wong’s acting was subtle and unmannered; her eyebrow game was on point. She had a piercing stare that made you feel as if she saw the very best and very worst things about you, and her signature blunt-cut bangs made her face seem at once exquisitely, perfectly symmetrical. Given the quilt work of exotic roles she’d played on the silent screen, audiences expected her to speak with a broken, accented, or otherwise un-American English. But her tone was refined, cool, cultured, like a slap in the face to anyone who’d assumed otherwise.

Her early success, like that of Japanese star Sessue Hayakawa, can at least partially be attributed to the global market for silent films. Yet to truly understand Anna May Wong’s unique place in Hollywood — and the particular type of racist role available to her — you have to understand both the rampant fetishsation of the “Orient” by the West and the place of Chinese-Americans in California in the early 20th century.
In very broad terms, “Oriental-ism” refers to the overarching tendency of the “Occident,” or the Western world, to fetishise and exorcise the “Orient” (“The East,” or civilizations and cultures spanning the Asian continent). Scholar Graham Huggan defines exoticism as an experience that “posits the lure of difference while protecting its practitioners from close involvement” — and that’s exactly what Westerners wanted: a taste of “difference,” usually in the form of an evocative song, poem, or painting, without the actual immersive and possibly challenging experience thereof.

Mediated through the lens of Oriental-ism, members of distinct Asian, Middle Eastern, and African cultures are grouped together into one vast sultry and quasi-backward “Orient,” replete with heathens, pungent spices, snake charmers, mysticism, and all sorts of other offensively stereotypical renderings. For the Occident to rectify its position as potent, masculine, and dominant, it had to figure the Orient as diffuse, feminized, and passive. It’s bullshit, but it pervaded everything from political speeches to children’s bedtime stories. Think Madame Butterfly, think the entire oeuvre of Rudyard Kipling, think “Rikki Tikki Tavi,” think Aladdin.

When Anna May Wong rose to stardom in the 1920's, the “great” empires of the West were in decline — but that simply made it all the more important to shore up the ideas and attitudes that were under threat. Which explains why every. single. article. I found about Anna May Wong somehow manages to sexualise and exorcise her while also placing her — her upbringing, her family, her heritage — in diametric opposition to “American” and Western practices.

“Anna May Wong symbolizes the eternal paradox of her ancient race,” wrote one fan magazine. “She reminds us of cruel and intricate intrigues, and, at the same time, of crooned Chinese lullabies. She brings to the screen the rare comprehension and the mysterious colours of her ivory-skinned race.” That sort of rhetoric — directed to an almost entirely white audience — that’s Oriental-ism. That Wong was American, however, complicated the normal Orientalist discourses: She forced magazines to perform a lot of tricky rhetorical manoeuvring where they acknowledged that she was somehow, magically, almost inconceivably, at once American and Chinese.

Wong was also opposite of what many had come to associate with Chinese-Americans, which, at least in the late 19th and early 20th century, comprised a subculture that was conceived of as being segregated, unknowable, and almost entirely male. The reasons for that reputation were complicated: When Chinese laborers first came to America in the mid-19th century, men traveled to make money, while women mostly stayed at home. With the passage of the Page Law in 1875, Chinese women with even a hint of “immoral character or suspect virtue” were banned from entering the United States, which resulted in even more gender imbalance.

Because Chinese lived in these nearly all-male configurations that didn't match with American understandings of what community should look like, it was easy to further stigmatize and exclude them, both socially and legally. See, for example, the 1882 passage of the “Chinese Exclusion Act,” which prevented Chinese from entering the U.S. based on claims that as a people, the Chinese were immoral, unhealthy, and posed distinct threats to the American way of life and labour force (rhetoric that may sound familiar to anyone following contemporary immigration debates).

That was the environment of systemic racism in which Wong was operating in the early ‘20s, when her turn in the Technicolour Turn of the Sea was such a novelty that all of Hollywood saw it — including Douglas Fairbanks, then-ruling King of Hollywood, like Tom Cruise meets Brad Pitt only with a swashbuckling moustache. Fairbanks needed a dastardly “Mongol slave” for his production of The Thief of Baghdad, and immediately wanted Wong for the part.

What do these two roles have in common? In one, Wong plays a Chinese “Lotus Flower” who falls for a white man who loves her but can’t possibly be with her; in the other she plays “the scheming handmaiden” who tries to prevent the love between the handsome, swashbuckling lead and his princess (the daughter of a caliph who is unaccountably white). So: a victim who can’t have love, or evil temptress who prevents a white woman from having love — these are the two roles that Wong would play again and again, with slight variations for ethnic specificity, time period, and plot, over the next two decades. A victim or a villain, with very little, in most cases, in terms of character development, ethnic specificity, or anything else to suggest that the depth, charisma, or worth of white counterparts.

Wong’s roles may have been shit, but the fan magazines loved her, unlike black actors, who were either relegated to even more demeaning bit parts and/or ghettoised in black films shown only in black theatres for black audiences. For various complicated reasons that have a lot to do with American racial history and the way that Oriental-ism actually weirdly celebrates the people and civilizations it fetishises, it was OK for the fan mags to profile her, run pictures of her, and generally acquaint American audiences with her — but not put her on the cover.

To prove that she was Chinese:

From Crown to Sole, Anna May Wong is Chinese. Her black hair is of the texture that adorns the heads of the maidens who live beside the Yang-tse Kiang. Her deep brown eyes, while the slant is not pronounced, are typically Oriental.

But oh, wait, she’s totally American:

Improbable as this sounds, it is absolutely true. Anna May Wong, among Americans, is so thoroughly one of us that her Oriental background drops completely away.

No, seriously, guys, she’s Chinese:

She is as Chinese as kumquats and the lotus. … She is of centuries ago and yet of today. … Animation scarcely ever ruffles the tranquillity of her round face.

NO, SERIOUSLY, SHE’S AMERICAN:

Anna May Wong has never even been to China, and you might just as well know it right now. Moreover, she has seen NY’s Chinatown only from a taxi-cab, and she doesn't wear a mandarin coat … her English is faultless. Her conversation consists of scintillating chatter that any flapper might envy. Her sense of humour is thoroughly American. She didn't eat rice when she and I lunched together, and she distinctly impressed it upon the waiter to bring her coffee, not tea.

NEVER MIND, SHE’S TOTALLY CHINESE:

You can see how Wong would grow weary, both of this treatment in her publicity and the relative dearth of roles, especially complex ones, available to her. She was also understandably pissed that when an Asian role did come along, directors found an actor of basically any other ethnicity — Latino, Eastern European, Irish — to cast as the Asian character.

Read More: http://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/anna-may-wong-your-new-favorite-star#.lkl8myr9Yj

Life lessons by Anthony Bourdain

But I do think the idea that basic cooking skills are a virtue, that the ability to feed yourself and a few others with proficiency should be taught to every young man and woman as a fundamental skill, should become as vital to growing up as learning to wipe one’s own ass, cross the street by oneself, or be trusted with money. Anthony Bourdain

If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go. A.Bourdain

http://airows.com/travel/23-brilliant-life-lessons-from-anthony-bourdain

Unforgettable sex

https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/mens-health/a/8805645/unforgettable-sex/

I'm not sure why there is such a hang up about sex in this modern age.

Usually I find the biggest detractors of sex are also some of the most tense people in the world. Maybe they could do with some.

That's also a nasty habit among some men are trying to shame and ridicule females who enjoy expressing their sexuality. Personally i find the men to be awful, obnoxious and parochial creatures. In this day of age of equality what's wrong with a female enjoying her sexuality? Men do it all the time.

Criticism usually speaks more of the critic.

The wealth of Singapore

You know what the wealth of Singapore is?

Some countries - have natural resources. What will the Middle East be without their oil for example.

What differentiates us from Taiwan, or even Malaysia which has tremendously more land, natural resources than Singapore?

Its a few things - our strategic geographic location, our hybrid culture and also the willingness of our people to work with the system. Our location. Singapore sits in that sweet spot - astride major trading routes which overtime will become sweeter as Asia increases its dominance.

But above all else - its our system. I'm not just talking about our government. I'm talking about our culture. The sort of culture that allows Christians, Muslims, Chinese, Malays and Indians to sit on the same table and eat a meal together. The sort of system that can create an international banking system in a world where corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies is the norm. A world where women and children can walk safely in the streets. A world where rapists, triad, and gangsters live in fear of the law as opposed to having lawyers take advantage of loopholes. A world where Government housing commission is not dirty word but a success.

Our government had a hand in creating this. But so did our people too. Would the PAP have been successful in Malaysia, Burma, China even Australia in the 1960s 70s etc..? There was a lot of give and take. And that's something I hope our government leaders would respect.

Can we out manufacture China?
Do we have the resources of Australia?
Are we as inventive as America?
Can we be as steady as Japan?

Comparisons are problematic. Comparing Singaporeans with mainland Chinese is actually pretty dumb. One is a small young nation of less than 4 million people. The other is an ancient empire that has over 1 billion people.

But Singaporeans - esp. Singaporean Chinese - are fond of comparing - and it starts from primary school if not kindergarten.

No amount of hard work will  enable us to be a China, America, Australia. We have to find our niche. What is it?

Singapore is a unique society, a special culture. As much as I dislike the PAP, like the majority of Singaporeans I cannot deny it did well by the people. I only wish that it would improve and build on the successes and strengths of Singapore for the benefit of the citizens. But I fear that the government is now run by scholars. Nothing bad about scholars - but their experience and very nature built behind a wall of academic success, books, is limited. There is also now a growing disconnect between the ruling class and the people - in much the same way as how the academically bright kids at school huddled in their corner of the library and shunned the rest of their school mates. You cannot govern a country successfully in the long term when the leaders were all assured of their positions by their success in primary and high schools.

There is also a growing insular nature in Singapore society. I'm not just talking about the rise of xenophobia. When the government can castigate Singaporeans who leave the country and work or live overseas as "quiters" you know that something is seriously wrong in the government logic. When government ministers can justify their exorbitant high salaries as necessary to prevent corruption while demanding low income families to sacrifice the lives of their sons for national service for peanut pay you know its seriously haywire. On  the other spectrum we see many Singaporeans retreating into an parochial mindset - despising foreigners and migrants.

Criticism shouldn't be seen as treason. The old school kind of rule - "shut up sit down or get out" has resulted in one of the world's highest migrations. More Peranakans were lost to Singapore - emigrating to other countries - due to the PAP rule than in WW2. And to make matters worse the government system of discriminating Singapore immigrants by slamming the door shut to them in comparison to new immigrants is baffling. Won't the branch of the same tree be more suitable for grafting than the member of some unknown tree?

The Singapore govt seeks to attract foreign talent while forgetting the unique nature of Singapore. All those former Hong Kong residents, and now Chinese and India nationals that the government is seeking to attract - the vast majority of them will only use Singapore as a transit lounge before migrating to greener pastures. Heck one China migrant even vehemently objected to the smell of curry from his neighbor. And what was the solution offered by the government representative? Stop cooking curry... stop cooking our national dish.... Whaaatttt??? might as well tear down our flag and paint it blood red with a yellow scythe and hammer and stars Good grief.

I see the future of Singapore as a cosmopolitan city. A city where its people are well traveled, speak and are fluent in many languages. Where Chinese people speak not just English but Malay, French, German, Japanese. A government which encourages and helps its people to excel - to go overseas, to work, to return - and not to take advantage of. A government which encourages its citizens to be innovative and respects their intellectual property rights ... which at the moment doesn't seem to be happening.

A city whose main export is the system of efficient corruption-free, nepotism-free, religious-free, ethnic-free, meritocracy bureaucracy. :) This is what our region needs.... badly. We should want and we should do all we can to get Malaysia, Indonesia to be heading down that path and not towards religious extremism.

A city where the Ministry of Education and Culture are not run by parochial minded people but people who understand that academic knowledge in math and science and mastery of "the mother tongue" is not the prerequisite to a successful life. But when I heard about my friends being blacklisted because they chose not to accept foreign govt scholarships issued by MOE but bonded to Singapore... I despair.

Ask yourself - why does Hong Kong a similar city to Singapore have such a vastly stronger movie making industry?

Some thoughts while traveling

Stuff my mind churns up when I travel on buses.

On the tearing down of church crosses in China.
Its not the outward manifestation of the church that makes a difference - the buildings, the concrete and iron icons - its what Christians do that matters. One of the letters of the Apostles stated that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." You could build a thousand churches bigger than the tower of Babel and get the same result as the latter. Vatican City and the great cathedrals of Europe are testimony to that - built on the sale of indulgences.

What is the point of being rich if you are a miser. You are only hoarding up wealth for someone else.

Good ideas are not good enough if you do not act upon them.

There are no such thing as the good old days. People who think that the past was great forget the many great evils that have been largely overcome for now - mass famine, total war, Nazism, polio, the Black Death, the utter subjugation of women, Stalin/Mao/Pol Pot era communism, the tyranny of religious governments, racist colonial empires...

Everyone will die. Not everyone lives.

We live in a superficial world. People are judged by what they wear, how they look, how much they earn, what family they came from - no one decides that they want to be born beautiful or rich, or tall or which country or religion they get to be born in. We can only decide how we choose to behave - abominably, maliciously, cruelly, without empathy or sympathy - or with kindness, compassion, consciously, and in due time with wisdom.

some were born to fly, some were born to swim. Somethings we don't get to choose.

No one dies truly. Our consciousness lives on. Who we are, what we are, our essential being is immortal.

Don't look at what you currently are - look at what you may become. Does a caterpillar dream that it will become a butterfly? Does a baby swan dream that it will remain an ugly duckling all its life? The biggest tree was once a humble seed. Grow. Overcome.