Thursday, August 1, 2013

Disasters At The Mike

Obama's theme of change was invoked by at least two speakers recently. The first was in a sermon that alluded to an apology from a higher authority:
"My son, Kong, thank you, thank you for going through this. I need you to go through this alone, so that you and CHC can be the man and the ministry I called it to be. I'm so sorry, but you need to go through this by yourself, to bring a change to your generation."

We have a guy who also claimed to be able to rise from the dead ("Even from my sick bed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up." - 1988 National Day rally), but you'll never hear him utter the "s" word. At best, as when he recanted asking a minority group to be "less strict" with their religion, he would concede a "I stand corrected".

The other speaker who mentioned Obama in passing was this year’s valedictorian of Nanyang Technological University's (NTU's) School of Humanities and Social Science who simply could not resist cocking a snook at the linguistic skills of the Chinese nationals at his campus, “This (something about honouring parents, not peers) is especially so  for the Chinese majors who probably have not gotten what I just said in English.” His speech was vetted by NTU, but he could sneak in the insult because, as he put it, "Guess who's at the mike?" A valedictorian is supposed to be the highest ranking among his or her graduating class, not dog pile.

With these two hard acts to follow, prime minister Lee will need to work doubly hard at his National Day Rally (NDR) 2013 speech scheduled for August 18th. At least we should be spared the hissing delivery style of a Lim Swee Say, punctuated by the sound of air escaping from the gaps of teeth pried apart by tooth picks purloined from elitist eating establishments. There's good reason why dental floss and toothbrushes are recommended means of dental hygiene. Don't expect much too much of a change though, trains will continue to break down, dirty money flow in, prices go up, crowding resume at all manner and mode of infrastructure as usual. The one surprise was the detailed disclosure about BTO flats for singles. Previously, "goodies" were announced at the NDR speech, and followed by "my minister will provide the details."

14 comments:

  1. By the way why are Chinese nationals on sponsored scholarship to study.. err.. Chinese?

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    Replies
    1. err... probably same reason why some native English speakers major in English?

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    2. If they are native speakers, why are they given scholarship?

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  2. The valedictorian's remark was directed at the Chinese majors, not at Chinese nationals.

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    Replies
    1. Could be because the Chinese majors are also Chinese nationals. If not, his comment would make no sense.

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    2. Agree. If you're local and bilingual, you should understand his context. But if you're foreign chinese in chinese major, very likely what he's said drew blank. Have seen many NTU/NUS graduated chinese students on "invitation" or "scholarship" of the govt, and their comprehension level is atrocious. Does make you wonder how they graduate in the first place.

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  3. Sorry is not in the vocabulary of that demi-god. Just one episode I recollect will demonstrate this. Some years ago they decided to hold an exhibition of the World Trade Centre to glorify the exploits of our Dear Leader. An SAF gun exploded and one person was killed and others wounded.JBJ asked how much the event cost. $2 million snarled the lion. A of waste of money and a life lost? Not at all, "even if only one person came to the exhition and learnt the history of Singapore it will be worth all that money" the lion retorted. End of debate.

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  4. WouIdn't this world be a better place if both political & reIigious leaders stop manipulating people's minds for their own selfish needs?

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    Replies
    1. no. we'd all be bored. and what would there be to gasp and gripe about?

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  5. So after the heavily goosed 2Q "advanced" GDP, we find that June industrial production has plunged into sharp contraction. But at least no one will get to hear about the revised 2Q GDP until after his speech to allow him to claim another year of his "mandate of heaven". And bank lending is still rising at close to 20% year on year - about $5b a month and something strange - nearly half of that to "mining and agriculture" sector. I wonder why suddenly there are so many miners and farmers needing to borrow, unless of course their cronies now need money to bulldoze their forests instead of burning them? Stay tuned...

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  6. Angry Singaporean8/01/2013 5:32 PM

    I LOVE IT. "At least we should be spared the hissing delivery style of a Lim Swee Say, punctuated by the sound of air escaping from the gaps of teeth pried apart by tooth picks purloined from elitist eating establishments."

    Going to print it out and put on my fridge door. I'll be laughing so hard, I don't need to snack.

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  7. We had his 3 H's last year, the Heart, Hope, Home speech, if anyone still recalls. Anyone surprised if, this year, we will not be spared his Conversation?

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    Replies
    1. With Heartless, Hopeless leadership, you tend to feel Homeless.

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