Monday, August 27, 2012

All Sound And Fury, Signifying Nothing

The indelible image from the National Day Rally (NDR)speech was a poor girl squashing herself into her seat by the wall, hoping it will open up and swallow her whole to spare her the embarrassment of her life. The other cringe worthy moment was the yarn about an 87 year old auntie shooting 50 hoops every morning at Teck Ghee. Maybe Lance Armstrong should have adopted her porridge and Horlicks diet instead of performance enhancing potions.

The NDR delivery was supposed to be our equivalent of the American State of the Union address. Once upon a time Lee Kuan Yew used it as a powerful platform to launch his epochal plans for the nation, such as the stop at two(1960s - stop making babies) and graduate mother(1983 - start making babies) policies. Sometimes he would use the occasion to remind Singaporeans who's in charge "‎..and even from my sickbed, even if you are going to lower me to the grave and I feel that something is going wrong, I'll get up!" (NDR 1988).

Whatever you think of the man, you'll have to give him credit for the painstaking effort he puts into his epic presentations, loaded to the gills with supporting statistics and gee whiz graphs. Not flaky stories that strain at credibility. This is one guy who won't ask you the irritating question, "What do you think?" Enthralled, the nation would watch in fascination, as he expounds on the future from his helicopter visionary perspective. That was the glorious past. Sit warmer Goh couldn't deliver a decent speech to save his own life. Now the Son needs additional support to stand before the nation. For the record, remote control aeroplanes and robotic toys are no big deal when Curiosity has landed on Mars by deploying a parachute and firing its thrusters remotely 78,341,212 kilometers from home.

The contributions from the supporting cast Heng, Wong and Halimah Yacob are so forgettable it's difficult to recall anything they said. Except to remind you, especially for the two newbies undergoing on the job training while drawing full pay, that they desperately need our input (the so called National Conversation) to figure out what to do for the next lap. Halimah Yacob missed the opportunity to enlighten the country, doomed to fold up because of the dismal total fertility rate, how she raised five kids, and still managed a successful well compensated career.

How can there be hope, heart and home when when the real issues - foreigner, infrastructure, housing, transport and healthcare - are still outstanding? Home now is for the Vietnamese who took up a place in the university while a Singaporean had to go overseas for her degree, stretching her father's finances while his taxes are used to fund the foreigner's board, lodging plus tuition fees. The heart is surely misplaced when the GST voucher entitlement, intended to offset the regressive GST, is skimped to one per household, while there are no limits to splurging on designer office chairs and folding bicycles. The only hope for us is that the audience, nodding and clapping on cue like a City Harvest Church congregation while their pastor tells them Jesus was rich because the Roman soldiers fought over his undergarment, is not representative of the country's born and bred.

No wonder dad wasn't seated among the chosen faithful in the audience. Now, don't you anonymous bloggers start another rumour about his health. Most likely he was taking a respite from his daily 100 laps in the pool.

40 comments:

  1. Thanks for your humorous sense of humour. Makes my day again :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HUMOUROUS sense of humour? As opposed to another sense of humour???

      Delete
  2. Don't much follow this kind of speeches. But on Monday morning, as I read the papers, one thing stands out. Well, he told us 20 years from now, all of us are expected to pay more taxes because of the government's increase in social spending.

    Well, have to prepare to tighten our belts!

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  3. I was hoping that PM would tackle all hot button issues head-on. Tell us what you are going to do about the growing income inequality, tell us how you are going to rein in the increasing cost of living, tell us how you are going to reverse the eroding sense of national identity. PM just doesn't get it, hard work and increase in productivity are no longer able to improve our standard of living. Profits, as soon as they are made, are creamed off by high rental, property prices and inflation. When honest hard work no longer pays, we can expect more people to turn to corruptions, crimes and immoral transactions to stay afloat. The future of Singapore is more worrying than inspiring if things are continuing on its current trajectory.

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    Replies
    1. yup! these are the real issues , the govt must address head on
      .. as anyone wondered why the inflation is so high
      in doctor's fees and basic medicine

      Delete
    2. Heard it all8/27/2012 12:20 PM

      Hhaha... he and his gang are waiting for us to come up our own solution to the problems his govt created. someone said TCSS then when the dust settled back to square one.Daft sgpearn, 5th n 6th U for?

      Delete
  4. Typical fire fighting management we have observed for years. A lot of lip service and nothing pretty much. Army boys (and those who had served since 1968) would sum it up very well. TCSS.

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  5. Yes! Thanks for a great post.. brought a smile because of your writing, no that silly person's memoirs of the 'old days'.. really pathetic for a 'leader ' that gets paid millions.

    Thanks for the post!

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  6. What a lousy speech by the high and mighty PM, created so many problems for native Singaporean and still no solutions. All in his mind is $$$$... I have no respect for him and his gang.

    Thanks for the good-written article.

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  7. Norway killer Anders Behrin, who killed 77 people in bomb, gun attack, ruled sane, gets prison.

    Speaking last month on the anniversary of the killings, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg urged Norwegians to "honor the dead by celebrating life," and said Breivik had failed in his attempt to change Norway's values.

    http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/world/norway-killer-anders-behrin-who-killed-77-people-in-bomb-gun-attack-ruled-sane-gets-prison

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  8. Well, think there is no need for Lee Kuan Yew to turn in his grave.
    He is badly needed to turn around and look at what is happening around him now, while he is still breathing and lucid.
    Hope he is not reveling himself with the 1968 National Parade Telecasts, recalling and immersing himself in past glory.

    Indeed, he knows that he has to do something after he passed on, must say he is quite a seer. However, it is better that he does it before he turns to dust.

    patriot

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    Replies
    1. He is the problem and will remain so till his last breath.

      Ya, he will turn in his grave but only bcos he knows his weakling son and lee dynasty will come tumbling after he is gone and history rewritten when the real hard truths are revealed. Thats probably why he also said he has trouble sleeping. Mus b mortified of dying too.

      Delete
  9. "hope, heart and home"

    when there is no heart;
    there is no hope and home.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "hopeless, heartless and homeless"

      when you have hopeless leaders with heartless policies, Singapore can never be a home.

      Delete
  10. After having shortchanged Singaporeans for so long,he now says his team is ready to listen ..... as if he is now admitting they didn't really gave a damn to us all these past years.

    Now that the damage has already been done and the consequences maybe felt years later,who is going to pay the price ..... Just like LKY never even say sorry for his failed policies?

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  11. What national conversation is he talking about?

    For the older ones amongst us, we can recall this is the same pattern after every GE when new ministers are appointed : georgie with his next lap, david lim with his motherhood statements, vivian with his dunno wth can't recall what he did, now ah heng with army boy ah chan... and every time this sort of thing happens, we are promised that policies will be reviewed with "no stones will be left unturned" or "nothing is cast in stone".

    Yet look at where we are today?

    I have decided a long time ago that the only message the whities can understand is through my vote.

    National CONversation? Yeah, right, time to CON us again.

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  12. I'm voting Opposition.
    I know they are listening.

    Who cares if PAP is listening or not.
    They are not relevant anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  13. PAP Joke:

    Q: How can you tell when the MIW is listening to you?
    A: The dick head cups his ear by pulling back his foreskin.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I cringed when I heard HSK speak. He is supposed to be PAP top talent entitled to draw close to $2m salary annually but could only deliver a speech like an average school principal.

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  15. Jialt all these jik luao bee mnisters, they even us this opportunity to raise taxes n parents have to tr to fund their own kids for schools ,while garmen uses the parents tax money to fund free education foreigners,wha a joke

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  16. 100 laps yes, but you will agree it was but a small pool even though big goggles made it looked like a dive off chejiu island by one of those rugged ladies going after oysters. A PRC once passed a caustic remark over lunch that Shanghai would be happy to invite yoda for audition when they next needed a mayor. That to me is the whole problem with the civil service and politicians here: they call themselves world class, pay themselves world record salaries, and still manage to cock up every show trying to run a municipality of Delhi or Shanghai.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kidding? You have any idea how big population is Delhi and Shanghai?

      SG is originally 3m inflated to 5m @700sqkm. 8m is target.
      Comparatively, more like we are Hangzhou (3m), yet currently run like Chongqing city (5m) with ambitions to run like Hainan province (8m+)
      You then go google how much landmass they each have and we will need. There are 3 ways to accommodate all these people.

      1) Reclaim 2) War 3) Build underground

      Tell me, why else they keep all those reserves & defense for? You want to stay and expand someone's empire, or live your own purposeful life?

      Delete
    2. reserves? u mean there are any left? they have made it leeserves in all but name, and forget your share of the CPF too. defence? maybe to defend the leeders when chaos takes over, because supporters like you surely won't be sticking around

      Delete
  17. Tatler,
    I wil read your post anythime than listen to the NDR; it is much more refreshing

    ReplyDelete
  18. Brilliant masterpiece! The best I ever read so far. We love you! Thank you for such an insightful article.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Made up my mind not to watch that ND Rally and only chanced upon two part of the PM speech.
    1) about affordable Housing....
    2) about us Singaporeans being not fair when one of us "ill treat" foreigners and not speaking up.

    It is OK to chide us for not being fair, but did he factored in the non performance of NS? To me, the message was still Others before Singaporeans.

    Maybe, my fault was not to watch the whole show.

    Now that the Speeches are almost 24 hrs old, and comments are a-plenty, I can slowing digest the Conversation without getting heated up.

    (Reminds me of the Lost Horizon by Hilton, where the Shangri-la residents were explaining to the air-crashed Europeans the wisdom of reading News that were weeks or months-old)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I read Lost Horizon by James Hilton. Classic. Ppl don't grow old.

      Delete
  20. The only Hope is to vote for a government with Heart who will reclaim back our Home. Enuff said.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Keep voting opposition.
    it's our only hope for the future.

    ReplyDelete
  22. PAP Jokes
    ==========
    "Daddy," a little girl asked her MIW father, "do all fairy tales begin with 'Once upon a time ..'? "

    "No, sweetheart," he answered. "Some begin with 'If you vote for me ....'"

    -------------------

    The foreigners have bought everything in Singapore except the Pro Alien Party.
    The foreigners want quality products.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. More PAP Jokes
      -----------
      Q: How many MIWs does it take to change a light bulb?
      A: It's irrelevant; they still don't know they're in the dark.

      Q: What's the difference between an MIW and a prostitute?
      A: The prostitute gives value for the money she takes.

      Delete
    2. "Q: How many MIWs does it take to change a light bulb?"

      Three viable answers:

      1) It takes a wayang committee to come out a answer with approval from the senile emperor and the useless prince.

      2) This question will be outsourced to Mercer at cost of $1 million to get answer of how many clowns to change a light bulb.

      3) It may take 52 man-years to discover how many clowns to change a simple light bulb.

      Delete
  23. 2-Eye-Dragon8/27/2012 9:55 PM

    After toiling his people and bankrupted the country with massive projects, the delusional Qin Emperor who unified china with cruel legalism also boasted his dynasty will last 10,000 yrs. His son, Qin Er Shi 秦二世 ruined it all within 3 yrs. LKY can get up umpteenth times for all he wants in his afterlife, but the evolution towards a real multi-party democracy will still go ahead, with or without him.

    And as if there is already enough hope for the people, PM Lee said "whoever' runs the government 20yrs from now will "have to" raise tax. It makes you wonder what was the consortium planning to do with the few hundred billions of reserves if/when he is NOT the govt. Is there another island Taiwan like how General Chiang could run and loot away to that we don't yet know? Or is there a 'round-tripping' funds sent elsewhere to support a wife's career like the CHC saga? Meantime, another medisave account for our newborns will truly give 'cradle-to-grave' CPF another whole new meaning. We don't have to slave away at the great wall, or in our case, Jurong underground cavern (at size of 600 olympic size pools) to be slowly buried alive.

    On locals vs foreigners, we were once again chided for being a one-eye dragon. It reminds me of the chinese idiom zhi lu wei ma 指鹿为马. During
    Qin Er Shi 秦二世 reign, the Military General Zhao Gao said to the puppet heir “Your Highness, even your (one) dragon eyes must sometimes be at fault. Why, this is plainly a horse!” (although in reality, a deer was presented to him). So if PM Lee wishes to think he's getting 2m of additional stallion horses to help him drive his GDP, I say let him go build more stables and feed those deers.

    Finally, in the midst of all the urgent priorities, he was most concerned with losing face 失面子 in front of foreign presses. Except in this case, he can't sue them for libel as they were not made up, but genuine expressions from the citizens from grounds up. This despite the fact that he controls all the MSM, grassroots, unions, endless committees and have unlimited funds for advertorials. Stop using 'harmony' as excuses if the real reasons is because you simply can't stand up to true democracy model, with free press.

    I have no heart to tell him that the people has lost hope to build a home here in Singapore, if he continues to squander his time and opportunity.


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  24. The short answer to the population crisis is that it is LKY's legacy to Singapore. He and his ministers worked very hard to achieve a 50% reduction in birth rate but now NO one in the government has any idea how to reverse the trend. In fact, no one wants to reverse the trend. Look at the lethargy of the ministers in tackling the problem. Compare them with the sense of urgency in the 70's when every ministry came out with plans to carry out LKY's orders. For all the talk and pleadings to have babies, it will not work. LSL knows it. Everybody knows. Singaoreans MUST know it. And find out why the government doesn't want it. It has to do with political survival. The increased births will tip the balance of power, enough to throw out the PAP. LKY knows it. His opposition has always come from the heartlands. And if the heartlands starts producing babies, he has had it. So, don't expect anything great coming out from the government.

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  25. Spoken by a hypocrite. Ah Loong exhorts us to have heart, but what heart has this government got? What heart has it shown to the opposition, to the dissidents, to the poor and disadvantaged? Where is our freedom of expression, of speech and assembly? Out lawed by this government because of it's greed for money and power, and the use of the ISA and defamation suits.

    What happened to our home, our homeland? It is being overwhelmed by foreigners. No sane government in the world would be so willing to open it's legs to 40% of so called foreign talents! The occasional spats shown by the people, without open revolt, must be commendable under such pressure - and you call it xenophobia.

    What happened to our sovereign wealth funds? No transparency and accountability - all controlled by a select few. And the cost of living, inflation, high property prices, cost of healthcare, high COEs, jobs for Singkies, education, CPF, the Gini-coefficient ....? There are too many issues just skirted by Ah Loong with promises ad nauseam.

    I think this national day rally is just a party to rally the PAP supporters. We are a divided country, divided by the PAP policies and priorities towards the elites. The national pledge to build a democratic society is just hollow words, just like the national day rally speech by Ah Loong.

    A house divided against itself cannot stand - Abraham Lincoln

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.
      Abraham Lincoln

      http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/abrahamlin135434.html#AjKhXzCGupWDbFKj.99

      Delete
  26. PAP Joke:

    Curious Person to MIW: Sir why are u earning so much and taking the people's monies?

    MIW: What do you think?

    Desperate Person to MIW: Many of the people and the disadvantaged are suffering due to MIW policies.

    MIW: What do you think?


    Wise Person to MIW: Do you MIW has true wisdom?

    MIW: What do you think?


    So how...what is the rest of us thinking of the MIW now huh...they really don't think except for their self farking selves these MIW.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I hope PM Lee consults you before making his next speech.

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  28. When a ST forum writer who say things like "It appears that there exist some instigators whose sole intention is to agitate the young and discredit a rational immigration policy."..and claim the policy is "rational", you know this guy is unreal.

    If they want to have a national conversation, then be ready to hear things you don't like to hear.

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  29. Some more kanna accuse of being anti foreigner n xenophobic when he n his team cause the problem in the first place.

    ReplyDelete