Makes You See Red

According to Hong Kong feng shui master Alion Yeo, the Year of the Horse starting today is going to be the kind of horse that you shouldn't stand behind - because it incorporates the volatile element of fire: "With this being the Year of the Wood Horse, and with wood being very combustible, there will be a lot of scandals, conflicts, explosions and arguments."

But conflicts, disasters, record high temperatures, an economic chill in Asia and more trouble for celebrity bad boy Justin Biebe pale in comparison when gutter politician Vivian Balakrishnan unleashed his NEA dogs to spoil the festive air on Chinese New Year eve.

The goon squad from the National Environment Agency (NEA) raided a floral fair at the Hougang Central Hub where last minute shoppers were hunting down flowers like the pussy willow to decorate their homes for an auspicious start of the Lunar New Year. Their quarrel was obviously with the opposition party organising the event, but ordinary residents were not spared the collateral damage. Together with the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC), stall holders were also summoned to appear in court on Feb 18, for manning stalls from Jan 9 to 30, without a licence.

It matters not if the AHPETC had formally initiated communications with NEA over its intention to run the event since Dec 20 last year, "with the nature of the community fair and the benefit to residents clearly stated". Apparently NEA does not engage in civil discourse, they simply resort to the courts to do the dirty work.

Senior Minister Of State For Law Indranee Rajah recently moved a Bill in Parliament to rename the "Subordinate Courts" as "State Courts". While at it, office of the "Chief District Judge" also became the office of the "Presiding Judge of the State Courts". Why not go the whole hog, and call the National Environment Agency the State Environment Agency? Already the Singapore Police Force is carrying on like a State Police Force. It's not just the grass roots organisations that have been politicised as state apparatus, the evil tentacles of the political animals are far reaching and ever more invasive. Baey Yam Keng let the cat out of the bag at the National University of Singapore Students’ Political Association (NUSPA) forum when he confirmed as much, “That is the system here.”

The "Deport Justin Bieber and revoke his green card" petition on the White House's petition website has currently exceeded 100,000 signatures, the number that triggers US Government protocol for White House staff to review it. We should have a similar mechanism to revoke citizenship and deport all  gutter elements in our country.

Just Horsing Around

"PM promises pioneer generation a hongbao", screamed the headlines. What is not stated is who actually pockets the cash.

A neighbour's daughter wrote back from Amsterdam where she is on an exchange program to report that the student's bus pass for a year's free travel over there costs only 20 euros. Compare that to the monthly $27.50 here, or $25 for a ride in the sweat induced stinky trains. As a senior citizen with no source of income, even he has to pay $60 for a monthly "concession" pass.

The Year of the Horse has come upon us, but the horsing around just have to stop.

It's no coincidence the papers are hyping up the decline in profits for SMRT Corporation Ltd (SMRT)'s 3QFY14 PATMI. Before you start commiserating in the name of the William Wan's Singapore Kindness Movement, note they still have $14.2 million net profit for the quarter, down from $25.5 million netted a year ago, to distribute as ang pows to their shareholders and management committees. Embarrassed by the spate of breakdowns, slip-ups and general snafus, SMRT is desperate to justify the  $53.5 million about to be creamed off from the fare hike in April.

SMRT's spin doctors say that train disruptions were due to human error and equipment failure. What kind of humans allow a cable to be contacting an installation bracket and be chaffed to smithereens? Sounds more like an overdose of mismanagement and general incompetence. With the kind of salaries they are shelling out, there must be lots of experienced foreign talents to be recruited from the likes of Hongkong's MTR, London's Tube or Japan's Metro. Real professionals with domain knowledge, not flunkies on tap.

The young people at a recent dialogue with Lee Hsien Loong expressed anxiety about achieving a First World standard of living amid rising costs and more intense competition from foreign trash (FT) for jobs and at work. Their worries stem from regrets in being born too late to enjoy the leap in standards of living their parents experienced during the golden years. Their parents who could afford a car two years after graduation, and pay off the mortgage within 10 years. They should worry. With the forthcoming compulsory Medishield Life horrors, the hefty premiums imposed on the pioneer generation will surely add to the albatrosses around their necks.

Lee's response to the young worry warts was that "I wish I were born 50 years later!" So do we, so do all us, who had to put up with the last 10 crappy years. That way we can truly celebrate Chinese New Year with relief.

Triple Packages

Yale Law professor Amy Chua, aka “Tiger Mom,” and her husband, fellow Yale professor Jed Rubenfeld, have come up with “The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America” to postulate that certain groups are destined for success in the United States as measured by income, occupational status and test scores. Empathy does not count.

The Triple Package comprises:
superiority complex - self regard of their culture as exceptional;
insecurity - about being able to live up to group expectations;
impulse control - ability to resist the temptation to take one’s eye off the prize.

Writing for TIME magazine, Calcutta born American Suketu Mehta called it the new racism. She says the language of racism is no longer about skin color, it's about "cultural traits". She's not proud that Indians, aside from Chinese, are the new racialists' favorite model minority.

If Indians are so great, what explains India? The country, she writes, is a sorry mess, with the largest population of poor, sick and illiterate people in the world, its economy diving, its politics abysmally corrupt. For decades, those who could afford to get out did. If India shared a border with the U.S. and it were possible for its poorest residents to cross over on foot, talk-show hosts would be railing against them just as they do against Mexicans.

It's not conformity that makes for greatness, she pointed out. It's an individual striking out against the expectations of his culture, as exemplified by Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg dropping out of Harvard. That line of argument can be used against group think too. Our curse here is that a select coterie is suppressing other groups with -
The Triple Whammy:
superiority complex - of the get-out-of-my-uncaring-face elitist crowd;
insecurity - clinging to gerrymandering and the GRC for fear of being voted out;
impulse control - tenacity to hang on to million dollar salaries whatever the Gini coefficient may be.

Votes Don't Count

Trust Lim Swee Say to announce that he will be contesting in the East Coast GRC at the next general election, supposedly to implement plans he has for the ageing constituency. Only in Singapore, can an ageing politician simply declare he plans to be minister again, regardless of the wishes of the electorate.

Lim must be addicted to the high he gets each time he looks at his Central Provident Fund (CPF) account balance. "Some more, it's guaranteed," he gleefully told his audience. He may have to step down as union chief when he turns 62 in July 2016 - pursuant to a National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) constitutional change made in 2011 - but he still wants to keep collecting those million dollar cheques. You would expect an outgoing chief to endorse at least one of the 4 successors in waiting, but the selfish sycophant (synonyms: toady, creep, crawler, fawner, flatterer, flunkey, lickspittle, kowtower, obsequious person, minion, hanger-on, leech, puppet) would not volunteer a single word of support for Zainal Sapari (48), Patrick Tay (42), Ang Hin Kee (48) or Yeo Guat Kwang (52).

He did say earlier he would step down once a suitable replacement for his role is found. And what exactly is his role? Minister-without-portfolio implies good for nothing special, and changing the title to Minister in the Prime Minister's Office suggests he's just another useless appendage. As for distinguishing himself as resident jester in the court, the keechiu general has proved himself worthy of wearing that hat one time too many. Doing battle in every street corner, every cyberspace corner, be it in the mass media or social media, except in dicy quarters like Little India or being mired in the Anthony Casey saga.

Lee Hsien Loong shares his disrespect of the people's will, by giving Lim the ringing endorsement, "I haven't agreed to let him go". Someone should have made a police report when Lim pilfered toothpicks from the fancy Din Tai Fung Chinese restaurant - half a box is definitely more than reasonable use quantity. That would have taken the decision out of Lee's hands.

In one of his rare utterances without a grammatical error, Lim said, "In democratic societies, people give us their trust." Then he segued into what has to be a horrific rape of the democratic process, "If we look at votes as our ultimate goal and play politics, then we will fail eventually." That has to be the most sacrilegious assault of the ballot box, ever. Assuming, of course, that there was no hanky panky behind those empty ballot boxes for the  2011 Presidential Election.

The Last Word

"Thank you awesome Scoot community for the overwhelming response. The Amazingly Cheap (AC) Escape to Perth sale sold out in half a day." - Scoot Facebook, 26 Jan 2014

Budget carrier Scoot's "Escape Plan: Fly to Perth Cheap Cheap, Poor or not!" promotional offer was quickly snapped up, faster than bak kwa sales at Chinatown, even though tar and feathers were not permitted as carry-on luggage.

The accompanying copy said it all: ""Hmm... we heard that Perth has become the destination of choice for an escape. So we decided to work overtime to bring you The great A.C Perth Escape Sale! (A.C for Amazingly Cheap of course.)"

200,000 Singaporeans were living overseas in 2012 – an increase of 27% from 2003. Of these 50,000 were staying in Australia. In 2013, one part-time banquet server with a Diploma in Tourism & Hospitality Management made plans to leave Singapore for greener pastures in Australia, and explained why:

"The many years of army reservist training and obligations staring down the barrel and the stiff competition (through the foreign talent programme) from skilled migrants in jobs and other areas, such as housing – are two factors. The fact that foreigners do not have National Service and reservist obligations but I do, makes me feel like a second-class citizen."

The speaker is no disgruntled wuss, he was honoured to be chosen as a torchbearer at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. Push factor was the motivator:

"The Singapore government has already announced their “White Paper” at the beginning of this year. This means that they intend to increase the current population of 5.3 million people to 6.9 million by the year 2030. Singapore is such a very small country and the land is definitely insufficient to accommodate 6.9 million people! When 2030 comes, it will definitely be too crowded living here!"

Hmm... somebody may have the last laugh after all.