The Scholar System Is Broke

On 24 January 2009 at about 11pm, a scholar gained notoriety by strolling down Lorong Mambong in Holland Village on a crowded Saturday evening with nothing on but her birthday suit.

An alumni of the University of Cambridge at which she studied in 2003, she was sent on an A*STAR National Science Scholarship (NSS) to study infection biology in Sweden's Karolinska Institutet  in 2007. A MENSA member with an IQ of over 148, she was also a champion skater who had represented Singapore at Skate Asia, the largest ice-skating competition outside the US.

Together with Jan Philip, 21, a Swedish student on an exchange programme, the attention getter was charged in court for appearing nude in public. Philip was offered bail of $5,000 and his passport was impounded. But the Singaporean did not have to post bail and her passport was not confiscated. Being a scholar has its privileges.

Despite being fined $2000 for breaking the law, A*Star in its infinite wisdom, chose to give her a warning only, and allowed her to keep the full scholarship. Now in 2014, the streaker makes it plain she is not interested in her bonded employment at all, but is merely marking time to serve out her bond instead of having to face paying, as of 30 September 2014, around $741,657 in order to quit.

Instead of working hard towards a cure for an infectious disease, say Ebola, she decided to go into song and dance and fund art projects "in all genres, including (but) not limited to fine art, visual art, dance, music, circus, theatre, film and literature” with a $1,000 a month grant. Money deducted from a salary that is paid by honest taxpayers, meant to finance a professional obligation she has no intention to fulfil.

The people who vetted and selected her for the umpteen years of expensive overseas education - we assume it must be the Public Service Commission or similar - are caught between a rock and a very hard place. In the private sector, such a maverick will be shown the door in a jiffy - with penalties to match. But to kick her out means admitting they made a bad mistake and committed serious error of judgment. The same judgment with which they have appointed other scholars to high office in various statutory boards and government linked companies, or even into parliament. Come hell or high water, they will never admit the emperor is not wearing any clothes.

The Power Wheel

Last Wednesday Singapore banned US-based “pick-up artist” Julien Blanc from entering the country to conduct seminars. For a guy reputed to be the "rock-star" of the dating game, he's should have been more discreet. What he should have done was to hit on a little old lady quietly as a bogus tour guide, and the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA) would grant him entry permit faster than you can say "Pikachu!" And throw him residential papers for good measure, duly endorsed by a gullible female member of parliament.

There's nothing original about Blanc. The stuff he "teaches" are all old hat, trashy lines from juvenile tabloids. Samples of his "course material":

• How To Pick Up Girls From Open To Close;
• How To Convey The Supercharged Self;
• How To Make Yourself 1000% More Interesting;
• How To Never Get Paralysed & Get Better With Girls Faster, etc 

Even his Power and Control Wheel is a rip off from the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project. This chart shows you the kinds of behavior abusers use to get and keep control over their partners. If you change the last word to "citizens", you can appreciate the allusion is too close for comfort. It is no coincidence that Chan Chun Sing, who is Minister of Social and Family Development, chimed in in defence: "Violence against innocent people is unlawful and totally unacceptable. We cannot allow people to perpetuate such unlawful activities in our country."

How about these types of violence we have grown accustomed to?

• Using Intimidation - letters of demand when Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) are in arrears
• Using Emotional Abuse - remarks like "daft", "ignorant" and "the spurs are not stuck on your hinds"
• Using Isolation - denial of access to lawyer when "helping in police investigations"
• Minimizing, Denying And Blaming - shifting responsibility, as in "not my fishball stick" syndrome
• Using Children - exploiting Special Needs Children as human shields from heckling;
• Using Male Privilege - Singapore not ready for a Indian female prime minister;
• Using Economic Abuse - withholding our CPF to invest in bum deals;
• Using Coercion and Threats - send in the army in event of a "freak" election

Speaking to host Chris Cuomo on CNN about a photo that looks like he is choking a woman, Blanc said it was a "horrible horrible attempt at humour". And that it was taken out of context. The last excuse has been used once too often. And not just by Blanc.

In Good Company

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was honoured at a dinner held by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Tuesday night. Among the 105 attendees present at its Senior Police Officers' Mess, it must be inevitable some of those jostling to have a picture taken with him captured in the frame will have ulterior motives mind. Yang Yin was not the only one who knows how to capitalise on a close photographic association.

Former sergeant with the SPF, Ananthan Thillagan, is alleged to have conned another ex-police officer and his wife out of $50,000 via an investment option involving gold mines in Papua New Guinea. Recovery company JMS Rogers said Ananthan had claimed to be a special aide to former President S R Nathan, and a former bodyguard to ex-Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Hey, if the three multi-millionaires trusted him with their lives, surely you can trust him with your life savings. His accuser said when he was swindled in January this year, Ananthan was employed by the Ministry of Home Affairs as the special aide to  S R Nathan. Which raises an interesting question: Why are public funds still expended on the ex-president, and does he require to be propped up too?

"Because he was working for people in power, he often threw names of powerful people to reinforce his influence and connections," read the police report. Ananthan had apparently used his high level connections in the civil service and his wife’s position as an Assistant Director in the Attorney General’s Chambers as part of his confidence-building scheme to win trust. Ananthan also claimed the Minister of Trade and Industry had signed up for the deal. Needless to say, no comment was registered from the referenced Minister.

The SPF said Ananthan resigned from the Police Force in July 2011, and that's that. Implying present company are all spicky clean and above reproach. It's like the tour guide from China being nailed for false invoices - over invoicing is less heinous a crime, if that's the lesson to be learned from the Law Society - while the web of deceit to cheat a little old lady is deemed too much dirty linen to be aired. What clout Intan Azura bte Moktar had in endorsing his residence application may never be revealed.

Paper Qualifications

The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking® is reputed to be the most widely read university comparison of their kind. In addition to exploring the world's top 800 universities overall, you can also compare the ranking of universities in a specific region, by subject area, or based on factors such as reputation or research citations. National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have moved up 2 places in the 2014 World University Rankings – NUS is now ranked 22nd and remains the top Asian university, while NTU is ranked 39th.

NUS came in 39th place in a new ranking by international publishing company Nature Publishing Group this month (Nov 2014), making it the highest-ranked Singapore institution on the index. Highest in that NTU was ranked 42nd, while the Agency for Science, Technology and Research was ranked 133rd. Worldwide, China's Chinese Academy of Sciences was ranked as the top institution. The Nature Index takes into account articles chosen from 68 nature science journals.

Differing from the Nature Index, the Nature Publishing Index (NPI) is calculated from research articles published in 18 journals by Nature Publishing Group. The NPI places NUS at the 46th position among its Global Top 100 list of research institutions, up 28 places from 74th in 2012.

NTU president Bertil Andersson has an explanation for all these placings, "By continuing to attract the best professors and students from Singapore and around the world, I expect NTU will break into Times Higher's top 50 universities in a few year's time." Times Higher Education World University Rankings is yet another index, which places NUS 25th and NTU 61st.

Unfortunately the Singaporean post-graduate scholar who was impregnated by Associate Professor Yu Wanli of the prestigious Peking University is a sad reminder that not all in possession of paper qualifications have their heads screwed on right. Apparently she was fully aware Prof Yu was into bondage, swingers' parties and one-night stands. Our very own sex-for-grades law professor from the NUS pales by comparison. No wonder the ministers have been dissing the importance of chasing a university degree. Especially when university dons - who supposedly have to publish or perish - still have time to chase skirts.

Going To War

When Cassius Clay a.k.a. Muhammad Ali showed up at the induction at the Old Post Office building in Houston, one pace forward would have meant acceptance of the call-up to serve in Vietnam.

"Why should me and other so-called negroes go 10,000 miles, away from home here in America to drop bombs and bullets on other innocent, brown people who's never bothered us?"

Muhammad Ali refused the draft to go into Vietnam in 1967 and it cost him his World Heavyweight Champion  title, 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He said that if the Vietnamese came over and attacked this country, he would be the first one to defend it.

So why is the journalist going on about sending National Servicemen to fight the war in the Middle East ("Get national servicemen to volunteer for overseas missions", TODAY, Tuesday 25 Nov)? Just because Tony Blair was a willing poodle for George Bush Jr, should our young men risk their lives for some politician's ego trip? The irony is that the United States had fought to introduce democracy to countries like Iraq - and some say they have failed miserably - when our own elected officials are adamant that "Western democracy" is not meant for us. Why then go to war?

Sure the generals would like some war stories to tell their grand children, and grassroots leaders - is that why the ex-general is now in Acheh? Patton loved to be called "old blood and guts", but the grunt slogging in the mud was right to point out: "Oh yeah, our blood, his guts". The writer must have missed his medication when he penned that "Singapore can be confident that national servicemen will step forward and volunteer to serve on the SAF's fourth journey to the Middle East."

The real battle worth fighting for is within our homeland. It's not just defending our jobs and livelihood from the foreigners brought onshore by the pro-alien party. It's also about taking back what rightfully belongs to us in the first place, starting with the balance in our Central Provident Fund.