The copywriter obviously went overboard with the last line. There must be many others who regretted moving to, or staying on, this little red dot.
On Sep 11, 95-year-old Mdm Loke (陆带好) ended it all by leaping from her HDB flat in Bukit Merah. Her loving caregiver said she had a fall in July and was hospitalized for three weeks. It is speculated that she decided not to burden her children any further. As a Samsui woman, she had worked from dawn to dusk for 50 cents a day, hauling bricks and construction equipment. Imagine what the "subsidised" hospital bills might look like to her. She had sacrificed her youth for better days, but the migrant from Guandong who came ashore at age 18 only found that "life was harder when I got here."
The Christmas season is a difficult time for those with burdened minds. While those with extra bonuses live it up at fancy joints that charge $10 for chye tow kuay, many are still struggling to cope with the mortgages, utility bills, service & conservancy charges, public transportation fare hikes and countless inventive tariffs. We have a cousin who always makes sure her kids give grandma a good hug each time they meet. They may not be able to communicate verbally because of the loss in use of dialects, but the physical touch is priceless to a senior citizen. Forget the lights at Orchard Road, the sparkle in her eyes is much more to be treasured.
Posts
Each time the Late Mdm Loke is being mentioned, me am reminded of watching mortally wounded lion(ness) and those very old and frail one abandoned by the tribe. Watching that 參不忍睹 unbearable sight in the Animal World sickens sentient beings. Having it happens in Sin aka Lion city, me cant help feeling the Aptness of the Brand Lion City. Maybe we are 禽兽不如 not even comparable to wild animals.
ReplyDeletepatriot
Please dun say "we" hor.
DeleteThe PAP gahmen is not "we" hor.
The PAP gahmen only represent 60% of Singaporeans hor.
Law of the Jungle ? But are we human beings animals ? The ruling party must have decided so . Except that there are some more "human" than we lesser mortals.
ReplyDeleteTo Anon 1038 AM;
ReplyDeleteThousand apologies!
Slipped my mind that there are only 60% Pappies and Pro Pappies.
And that they are hurting the other 40%.
Me just cannot help thinking that the 60% are part(families) of the 40%.
patriot
The American Civil War pitted brother against brother, and in the end, it created a nation.
DeleteDiscover the issues in the unprecedented election of 1860, an election that tore a young nation apart.
http://store.worldstart.com/product/6318
'I certainly have no regrets coming to Singapore"
ReplyDelete- Famous Last Words
Didn't she many children and grandchildren?
ReplyDeleteHOw is it that this generation of pioneers still feel like they are a "burden" to the children when the big family support is there?
What happens if someone had told her that her subsidized hospital bills are free of charge, sponsored by state healthcare?
It think the outcome would have been very different.
That's the state of lion city affairs.
After giving all your sweat, labor and toll for a good prime time of your life, you are still expected to be "on your own" or "burdening your immediate family" until there are no dollars and cents to deduct. What is the point of being a Singaporean while trillions of dollars are sitting in a cushy piggy bank to help the SG Inc roll in more interests and money? And there will be the new digital generation of samsui women/men who will repeat after her foot steps only to find their broken dreams here.
It is the duty of all Singaporeans to subsidize the PAP government with all sorts of "national service".
DeleteBut it is wrong for the PAP government to "subsidize" the Singaporean.
This will encourage a subsidy mentality and is a 'raid on our reserves".
But when Singaporeans do national service;
Are they not subsidizing the PAP government by accepting pay that is way below the market rates?
Is it not a raid on the Singaporean family's income by insisting on national service?
There are subsidies available but to get there one has to comb through pages of documents and subjected to hours of interogation. Proof is needed and before one reach the half way mark, one would likely have given up. Dying in her case may be simpler. Its sad but true. Hope those civil servants who design these obstacles can be more compasiionate and make application for social help easier. For goodness sake!
Deleteministers and senior civil servants speak about "govt subsidies" because they want the people to believe they are our benefactors. The money of course belongs to you and me, if anything its the country's people subsidising it self.
DeleteSecond, just like for HDB house prices, you can only have a "subsidy" if the original cost of a service or product is objectively determined. No accountant in any Big 4 accounting firm I know of has ever been able to tell me how the so called restructured hospitals (as oppose to private ones like Raffles, Mt E etc who publish and have audited annual accounts) arrive at their "costs" and hence how they price the medical bills. Understand that besides wages, a hospital is like all businesses: they have raw material costs (aka the overpriced N95 masks or NHG pharmacies' marked-up pain killers?), they pay the garmen rental (left pocket into right pocket but how much is fair?), depreciation (based on what original fixed asset costs of erecting the hospital buildings and what prices they paid for the equipment?). Even a simple change in depreciation from 20 years to 10 years would change depreciation costs enormously and hence suddenly all restructured hospitals can be turned from hugely profitable to deep losses, hence justifies jacking up the medical bills (magic, like SMRT can also show losses if needed).
She worked for 50 cents a day!
ReplyDeleteNowadays, cleaning workers are still getting only a measly $50 increase for a year after their productivity goes up.
And Banks will not even give you a passbook account if you don't have a minimal $500 to start!
Is ok to draw the prosperity line, but no poverty line.
My ass!
And one thought that the only supreme sacrifice only comes from our self-sacrificing Ministers who didn't enjoy public scrutiny while drawing the highest pay in the world.
ReplyDeletehttp://diane-writes.com/2013/06/06/we-are-not-all-heroes/
Here's one headline Shit Times should be reporting :
ReplyDeleteSamsui woman committed suicide over medical bills believed to be unaffordable.
haha,
DeleteShit Times aka PAP Times due to brainwashing tactic and bootlicking nature, is more likely to put the title as "Samsui woman died with no regret coming to Singapore" ! We know how shitty PAP is, don't we ?
LHWB just took issue with TOC over the HL and subtext that infers it is the 'unaffordable medical bills".
DeleteWhy else would a Samsui woman who has burdened her shoulders with loads of bricks in the past decades choose to unburden her life after a check in/out of hospital? If it were not for the impression and worries about the real cost of hospitalization and medical fees, you think she has a lack of family warmth and visits with that big family of chidden and grandchildren? So are we still non the wiser?
Chan Chun Sing must be proud of his kueh lapis help that is so encompassing and holistic.
Just the kind of empathy story we need in our society on a thanksgiving day.
ReplyDeleteThanks, but no thanks PAP. #BigFail
Mdm Loke may have snuffed her own life but the blame lies with the ruling party who failed to curb the rising medical costs and they should be blamed for causing her death
ReplyDeletePM Lee on NDP 2013 :
ReplyDeleteSo that is outpatient treatment. The other aspect of this inpatient treatment. If we should fall seriously ill, can I afford the hospital bill if I have a very big hospital bill? In reality, there are very few such cases. I wanted to look for a good example for tonight. I scanned all of my MPS cases over the last one year. I had 140 medical cases which in itself is already not a very big number, but none of the 140 medical cases had huge hospital bills. So I asked MOH, please find me a good example. MOH scanned their database. They also found very, very few examples. So in fact, if you are on MediShield, which most people are, you do not need to worry.
----
Despite PM Lee's commendation, and his recommendation of our world class in-expensive healthcare, Mdm Loke has chosen her own path. She knows she has no insurance or medishield, and SG has the highest Out of Pocket medical payment which means adding burden to children (who by the way one is an accountant). And this is a woman who has not a word of complain. You think she will complain about high medical cost believed to be unaffordable?
Why mention Pinky ? Pinky is a comedian and you believe a clown like Pinky that has absolutely no credibility, honesty and integrity ? If you believe Pinky, that make you a comedian too. Get real.
Deletehttp://asingaporeanson.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/die-can-sick-cannot.html
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I agree with the blogger that Mdm Loke died peacefully. I think she died with no peace of mind. She died in an undignified manner. Some argue that it's about time Singapore should have euthanasia, so they can say their proper goodbyes and not leave the family with (unintended) guilt and sadness. While this is very attractive, I fear in a state like SG where there is no safety net for elderlies (and where suicides for this group of sick elderlies) are high, the number of people opting for euthanasia would even be higher, given how the pioneer groups tend to be stoic and proud of their self-sufficiency. My fear is that it would only legitimize their suicide and the society (and state) will even get used or indifferent to the situation over time.
I sincerely hope the government is doing more for people like Mdm Loke who should be enjoying their fruits of labor and retiring gracefully and with dignity, and a peace of mind. That, is the least we could do for them.
And on a lighter note, here are more PAP chicken jokes:
ReplyDeleteWhy did the chicken cross the road ?
1. Teo Chee Hean
What do you think?
2. Tin Pei Ling
I don't know what to say.
3. Lee Hsien Loong
We are on your side. Please don't cross the road ... over to the other side.
4. Lee Kuan Yew
This is an unprovoked act of rebellion and we are quite justified in locking up the chicken for 30 years without trial.
5. Lawyer M. Ravi
We have reasons to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed access to the other side of the road.
6. Chee Soon Juan
I envisage a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.
7. Yawning Bread - Alex Au
It is in the nature of chickens to cross roads.
8. Loyal PAP Supporter
a. We don't care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either for us or against us. There is no middle ground.
Or
b. I don’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. If PAP tell me that the chicken crossed the road, that is good enough for me.
9. Chan Chun Sing
Those of you who saw the chicken crossed the road please kee chiu
10. Tony Tan
DeleteIt was a "jiak liow bee" chicken looking for more grains on the other side.
11. Hri Kumar
It was a Nigerian scam that made the chicken cross the road
12. Shanmugam
It was to distract my ex wife while I sneak off to meet another chic with nicer pair of legs
13 Singtel n ISD
We don't recall the Malaysians and Indonesians talking about any chicken when we were eavesdropping on all their phone conversations.
14. Singapore Accountant General
DeleteIt will require 56 man-years for us to determine if the chicken really crossed the road.
15. President Tony Tan
I agree with the Accountant General and the PAP government.
16. Yawning Bread - Alex Au
DeleteIt is in the nature of some chickens to cross roads. Some chickens prefer the left side of the road and some chickens will prefer the right side of the road. We should not selectively legalize only one side of the road.
Someone said there are no poor people in Singapore while another said none is really 'dead poor'. He must have forgotten about that poor man left with only a couple of dollars in his pocket when he jumped the tracks off an MRT station.
ReplyDeleteFor someone who demands such an obscene pay & yet has no shame to use the word 'dead' to describe the those desperately poor already shows how insensitive that person can be, what more when he is supposed a leader.
Then someone said there are no beggars in Singapore. But just look at those poor aunties selling packets of tissue paper at our hawker centres and those uncles in wheelchairs singing some Hokkien & Mandarin songs to try to earn some sympathy and hopefully a couple of dolars a day, what difference are they from those beggars ?
And all this is happening in a country whose leaders are spending public money on wasteful proects like nobody's business as if the money belongs to their father !!!!
WTF has happened to PAP? Someone should seriously ask LKY this question.
Ask LKY? The owl has told us that he has already got one foot in the grave.
DeleteWhat about the guy who said there are no dead poor. Can you trust him? Just on one issue. He said sorry, promised that things will change, the influx of foreigners will slow down. While saying these, his team had been working on the Population White Paper all the while, which he snucked on us like a sneak. I would rather trust a snake.
No use asking or begging those people without conscience, all those in the Pack, old and young are the same.
ReplyDeleteThey have only $$$ in their eyes.
patriot
The only way to make the PIGS see the suffering of the Sinkies is to vote Opposition.
DeleteTalk or NatCON no use.
Maybe, it's possible, PAP government only interested in investing in rich people lah ??
ReplyDelete11 Dec 2011
-------------------
Our Tony Tan said GIC has confidence in UBS' wealth management business - which mainly serves global wealthy figures.
http://news.asiaone.com/News/The+Straits+Times/Story/A1Story20071211-40492.html
28 Nov 2013
-------------------
UBS shrinks corporate advisory team for rich in emerging markets
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-ubs-shrinks-corporate-advisory-104944678.html
So let's see if I understand this correctly.
Did PAP government buy UBS shares because of its strong private banking business for the rich?
Is it correct to say that UBS is now downsizing its private banking business?
"UBS’s prestige in the wealth management business should help Singapore entrench its success in becoming a top player in serving the financial needs of the wealthy clients in the region."
http://www.forbes.com/2007/12/10/ubs-gic-singapore-markets-equity-cx_jc_1210markets03.html
有骨气, 不求乞, 不愿意被利用, 不愿彼虚情假意的刻薄施设羞辱.
ReplyDeleteMore PAP Chicken Jokes
ReplyDeleteWhy Did The Chicken Cross The Road?
17. Gilbert Goh - Transitioning.org
"The chicken crossed the road to steal jobs from innocent, hardworking Singaporeans left defenceless by a heartless, wayang government."
18. Goh Chok Tong
'The chicken is a quitter."
19. Former Singaporean citizen:
The chicken crossed the road to get a Swiss standard of living.
20. Lim Swee Say
"The chicken managed to cross the road because he was deaf to all the criticism."
21. ex president Nathan
Delete" Where is the PAP vetted statement that I can read to the public ? " "And where do I sign ? "
off white
ReplyDeleterussell westbrook shoes
nike sb
golden goose outlet
golden goose
golden goose outlet
retro jordans
lebron 17
yeezy boost 350 v2
100% real jordans for cheap