Let me begin my post by ranting a little: I am demoralized by the repeated mistakes that I make during driving that eventually caused me to fail the first attempt of the test. I know it’s my fault but it’s not that I do not want to improve. Sigh. Since this is not the point of this post, let’s end the ranting right here.

This week has been rather interesting with what has been going on in the blogosphere of Singapore. Singapore Daily is an interesting “blog” that aggregates all the various interesting blog posts that has been made by Singaporeans regarding various issues. I’m going to look at some of them and perhaps air some of my own views.

First up, we have another one on the association of the press in Singapore and the government. Many have said that the press in Singapore is hardly one which you would call free. Let’s see what our closest neighbour, Malaysia, thinks about that.

Next up, we have a very well written article about the freedom of Singaporeans. It’s a bit long but nonetheless a good read.

Then what about the disturbing lack of a minimum wage law? True, the minimum wage law distorts the job market, … , then we shouldn’t really have a problem dealing with the effects of a minimum wage law, right?

I have to disagree with the call for the implementation of a minimum wage law. True, an absence of such a law will cause the wages of many to be low but to implement the law will cause some to lose their jobs. I would that it is better off to keep more employed, albeit with meagre wage, than to have some lost their jobs because the employers find it a liability to employ the same number of people while paying more for each.

This issue is a rather touchy one. It is a dilemma for the government because both implementing and not implementing a minimum wage law has their own share of problems. I think that they are doing the right thing by not implementing such a law and providing various subsidies to counter the rising inflation. But I think they are not doing enough on this part and they need to do more. Oh yes, they also need to take a second look at themselves to see if they really need another wage rise.

Other readers then responded to this reader, by claiming that Jehovah’s Witnesses were punished for refusing to abide by the law, not for their religious faith. This is a thin line that has been drawn here. True, they were punished for their violation of the law, and they paid the price by being punished under the Penal Code. However, their violation of the law took place on the grounds of religious obligations, and I don’t suppose it’s our position to debate the validity of the beliefs system of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

While I think that religious freedom is important, the freedom has to be restricted such that it does not violate any law in Singapore. I am sure that many will disagree with the previous sentence but let’s take a look at the specific problem of Jehovah’s Witness: if everyone who claims to be a Jehovah’s Witness can escape National Service, I can vouch that many will gladly become one to escape NS. I look at the people serving NS and I see that many are not exactly glad to be serving their time. I am not here to debate about NS though.

PAP and opposition is another great article in relation to MM Lee’s comments that Singapore will “fall” should the goverment PAP lose to the opposition in five years. And another one. I have always steered clear of this kind of political talk and I shall remain so and read in silence.

Tags: national service, singapore

After the famous Mas Selemat escape and a string of other events, Ministry of Home Affairs has done it again.

What annoyed me was not the fact that it has happened again but what the Minister has to say regarding this event. What it means is perfectly summed up here.

With the pay he is drawing (which many people, like myself, can only dream of getting), I am sure he can do a better job than to blame everyone but himself for this kind of screw ups. In another place, we can be assured that he will have either resigned or been sack. It seems like Ministers don’t have the word “resign” in their dictionaries in Singapore.

The Singapore government is rather screwed up. Suffice to say, it is still doing a relatively good job compared to other countries.

Tags: singapore

The cost of living in Singapore is rather absurd. Say if I want to go to Orchard Road from my house, which is basically a ten minute drive away, I have to pass through TWO ERP Gantries, which is just absurd. Thankfully, it was Sunday and the gantries were not operating.

I was some sort of “model” for my friend today who was buying clothes for a male friend who is approximately the same size as me. It was kind of interesting to see myself in clothes I don’t think I’ll be buying for a while. I think it’s time to ditch the “T-shirt and Jeans” formula for something else and revamp the wardrobe.

My dad has been very paranoid these days, worrying about me when I am in camp. He worries if I can take the training, whether I can cope with the trainings mentally and physically etc. among a list of worries. I was telling him that I am fine and I can take care of myself and he said “I know you can take care of yourself but when you become a father, you will understand why I worry so much.” Food for thought. I wonder if I will be as worried as my father in the future.

Tags: national service, singapore

Inflation projected at 5% for the first half of next year.

I never thought I would see this kind of inflation figure in Singapore.

And the Minister says “buy cheaper products!”

Tags: singapore

Catherine Lim, a rather famous Singapore author, now has a site with all her writings posted and archived.

A great read for everyone who is concerned about Singapore.

Not your usual bread-and-butter post!

Tags: singapore

The Singapore government likes to do the weirdest of things, like erecting an ERP gantry outside someone’s condominium!

Anyway, I think I made a comment recently that might have hurt someone else’s feelings. It was made out of an attempt to make a joke, but it went awry and it was misinterpreted. I am ashamed of it and I apologise. For those of you who do not know what is going on, don’t bother.

This leads me to my other point: what of those jokes directed at yours truly? It seems like there is a trend for me to be the joking subject of many situations. I just take them on and don’t really bother thinking about them. I used to be very affected and was too sensitive in the past but due to the efforts (I don’t even know if these efforts are for the good or for the bad) of certain individuals, I’ve grown to just shake them off after a laugh. But it is precisely this attitude that the jokes are sometimes overboard and I do get affected by them, just that I do not show them.

I’m not pointing fingers at anyone. I’m just trying to say that please be considerate to me as well when you make some passing remarks. I’m fine with them most of the time but you could say I am somewhat a rather sensitive person. I think that my personality type shows that as well, somewhat.

An ESFJ who has developed in a less than ideal way may be prone to being quite insecure, and focus all of their attention on pleasing others. He or she might also be very controling, or overly sensitive, imagining bad intentions when there weren’t any.

So here ends one of the rare personal posts I’ve made in a while.

Tags: singapore

The Straits Times “Letters to the Editor” template. Use the template below to compose your letter. The publication of your letter is guaranteed! All you need to do is to fill in the blanks. What could be simpler.

—————————-

Dear Editor of the Straits Times,

I fully agree with the govt’s stand on ______________.

The Singapore govt has led Singapore to become one of the most successful nations in the world. This would not have been possible without the leadership provided by the govt since independence.

Mr. __________, in a letter to your forum dated ________, said that we should allow more freedom and more political space in the area of_____________________. He also suggested that__________.

I do not agree with him at all. Singapore’s political situation is unique and to take a more liberal stand regarding____________ would be playing right into the hands of Singapore’s enemies.

We are very fortunate to have the PAP govt to lead the country through_____________. Without the PAP, Singapore would still be a fishing village.

To Quote the Hon BG___________, Minister of ____________, Who stated….”_________________________”. I agree with the Hon BG___________ 100%.

We are lucky that we have people like him who are loyal and committed to Singapore.

Had he decided to go into the private sector, he would be earning a lot more. However, he was willing to make considerable sacrifices in order to be given the opportunity to lead Singapore.

Let us not be mislead by people like __________ who claim that Singaporeans have no political freedom. The fact that free and fair elections are held every few years shows that the country is democratic.

Ideas such as those proposed by ______________ should be nipped at the bud. To allow such ideas to take hold would cause the country to fall apart.

Singapore is my home and I have 100% faith in the govt to lead us through________________.

Let us all rally behind the govt. They have the interests of all Singaporeans at heart.

TAN TU LAN.

- Source: http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=286045
Note: The original source include some… eyesore content. Don’t say you haven’t been warned!

1. The PAP and the people - A Great Affective Divide - Catherine Lim
2. LRWC’s report on Singapore’s judiciary and legal profession
3. Keep377a.com vs Repeal377a.com

I will put off commenting on these stuff for now. Too lazy to type and express myself.

Tags: singapore

Let’s take a trip down memory lane for a start. I remember six years ago, I was stumped by a few Mathematics questions during my PSLE and the then innocent me came home crying over the questions. Fast forward to six years later, the candidates are still facing the same problems as indicated by a letter to the Strait’s Times today from a parent, lamenting about the difficult Mathematics questions and question the necessity of such questions. It’s the time of the year again when parents debate about the PSLE.

I don’t even know where to begin to talk about this. Firstly the parent questions the objectives of such questions. These questions that were “unheard of and never seen before” are meant to test the application of knowledge in “new and novel ways”. I’m pretty sure this objective is included in the syllabus objectives of most of the subjects administered by the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB). Head over to their website and you can see them.

I have seen such questions not only during PSLE but also during my O Level days and I still see them coming up from time to time in the A Levels papers, especially for our batch which is the guinea pig batch for the new A Levels Syllabus. I’ve seen questions in the specimen papers of several subjects including Mathematics and Physics that were unheard of and still, we need to tackle them and apply what we know to solve them. I, frankly, do not see many O Levels and A Levels parents writing to complain of such questions. Perhaps this is partly due to students learning to deal with it and not “lamenting” to their parents about such questions.

Pure rote learning has no role in the fast moving society. I’m not sure how someone who has an encyclopedia-like knowledge can be of use. Our examinations are recognised by other education institutes, including several USA universities who acknowledge our A Level certificates. To keep up with the times, we have to move away from pure recall questions. Sometimes, I wonder if this is fortunate or unfortunate for students like us. Besides, these kind of questions can help to differentiate stronger students from weaker students though I’m sure there are not as many questions that “kill” as seem to be inferred by the parent’s letter. So, basically, the point of such questions is to keep up with the times!

Secondly, so what if there are difficult questions? If the whole cohort is slaughtered by these questions, then there are no grounds to be worried about. Everyone will have their absolute scores shifted by roughly the same amount and in the end, the relative scores still stay the same. FYI, SEAB does not use absolute scores for grading. They use what is normally termed a “bell curve” or what A Level students probably call “Normal Distribution” to do the assignment of grades. What this means is that students who fall above a certain percentile are awarded grades. Say, if all the students of Singapore scored a zero for that question, their percentiles would certainly not change much! If the parent had understood this and still written in to complain, I can only say I smell the Kiasu spirit at work again.

To end off, let me reiterate: the questions are used to keep up with the times. I don’t see many O Level and A Level parents complaining about these kind of things and it’s the usual Kiasu parents of Primary School children that are so worried that they keep writing in every year to debate about the PSLE so much so that it has almost become an annual event. Take a deep breath and calm down!

Tags: singapore

Bus Fares have risen again and while this does not really concern me, for a few more years at least, I do feel the agony of many. It seems like these hikes have become an annual event. (Speaking of annual events, I’ve not been to Kusu Island for a kind of yearly pilgrimage for good luck. Perhaps I could make a trip there one of these days.)

Then again, today’s article says that rising costs have forced bus operators to raise fares so as to prevent a degradation of services. Some claim that the listed companies are only out for their profits but then again, did they consider if government operated firm is going to be better (Economic students, use your theory here! ) in terms of cost. I am not that worried that the government will provide substandard service though seeing that we are such an efficient country.

Singaporeans just like to complain. Haven’t they realized that we have pretty good transport systems here in Singapore? Sure, though the waiting times for the trains or buses can be long at times and they can be rather filled, the bus rides are still generally comfortable and we get to our destinations in a wheeze. There are so many bus routes that it is virtually possible to get to anywhere from everywhere without the need to walk much. In fact, I think we probably have one of the best and extensive transport system for a country of our size.

Of course, some might argue that this is because owning a car in Singapore is like getting a two-storey bungalow in some parts of Australia. Well, I have nothing to counter this and frankly, I would have to agree that to restrict the number of cars on the road, we need a good transport system.

Some still insist that our transport cost is high. Why not look at Hong Kong? They are in very much the same situation as us yet their transport system is so much more costlier than ours. I could have sworn I topped up my Octopus card about thrice during my stay in Hong Kong and I didn’t really travel that much.

So, after reading through my ramblings, what’s my point? My point is this: stop complaining and just be glad you have what you have. If you miss that bus or train just stay annoyed for a maximum of five minutes before realizing that there isn’t much to be annoyed about.

Tags: singapore

Imagine my surprise and awe when I saw the postman knocking on the door and passing me a thick package of who-knows-what inside wrapped in some huge packaging. I initially thought it was some sort of present from someone or something I’ve ordered online (details shall come when I receive it.) On the back of the packaging was written “From: The Air Force” and I wondered what the Air Force could be giving me.

I open the package and out comes a huge black box:

I open up the box and lo and behold this:

The letter tells me to work hard for the exams and to take some of the power up drinks. They also told me to go for a seminar on a date with no other details.

Now, I don’t know what to say.

Tags: national service, SAF, singapore