More Cracks In The System

Does it look like this guy is trying to crack you up?

Call it another crack in the system. No, we don't mean the latest crack that caused another delay in the south-bound train service between Yio Chu Kang and Ang Mo Kio. And this crack was not at the welded joints, for which a contractor was prematurely named in a preliminary assessment as the party involved in all cracks that appeared at welded joints.

This time the crackheads wear blue uniforms. Sergeant Muhammad Kaldun Sarif had testified in open court he decided not to dust for finger prints or take DNA swaps at a crime scene because he "made a preliminary assessment" of suicide. It must be the kind of stirring Singapore police initiative that Kishore  Mahbubani lauded as "at least as competent, if not more competent, than the FBI".

Ambassador to the United States Ashok Kumari Mirpuri proved just as competent, buttressing Sgt Khaldun's tenuous presentation by explaining that police protocol were operational guidelines, and were not prescriptive.  In other words, SOPs (standard operating procedure) are for wimps. The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) training officer who used one smoke grenade too many and killed Private Dominique Sarron Lee must have been operating on the same guiding principles. Now you appreciate why Singaporeans are weary of rushing in to help someone lying on the street. A giddy sergeant may "make a preliminary assessment" of assault, and taser you first, ask questions later.

The good ambassador was objecting to the ABC and Fox News coverage of the Shane Todd coroner's inquiry. For reporting on Singapore news, these two could potentially face the wrath of Media Development Authority (MDA), when latter gets their Yaacob Ibrahim inspired licensing act in place. Which means MDA will demand the story to be removed within 24 hours, or forfeit their S$50,000 performance bond. Ambassador Ashok sent his letter to Associated Press, which was copied to Washington Post and CBS, meaning ABC and Fox News are not the only news agencies updated of the cracks in our system. The Americans must be wondering what kind of crack is smoked in our little red dot.

On a tragic note, dengue claimed its first life when a youth was prematurely discharged from Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) inspite of their doctor's assessment that his platelets were still low. The prescription given was to go see a General Practioner to monitor his blood count.

The Evil That Men Do

Look who's leaping from flood waters into hot water. Cornered by the tsunami of backlash against the proposed news website licensing requirements, Yaacob Ibrahim dismissed it in monetary terms as "just a banker's guarantee", arguing that no upfront payment is involved. The examples they cite as sites affected - Media Corp, Singapore Press Holding and Yahooo! News Singapore - all have deep pockets, but anybody with an IQ higher than the water logged minister knows that there are lots more individually operated websites that fall easily under the technical qualification of a "significant reach exceeding 50,000". Opposition MP Lina Chiam spoke for us when she asked the obvious, "How is a news website to be defined?"

This is not the first time they have insulted our intelligence, and will not be the last. There's good reason the White Paper made use of a 6.9 million figure, not 7.0. Robert M. Schindler, a professor of marketing at the Rutgers School of Business, explained that consumers “perceive a 9-ending price as a round-number price with a small amount given back.” Researchers have also found that prices ending in .99 communicate “low price” to consumers. Someone else put it this way: "I still think you need to be a moron with an IQ of 40 to miss the difference between 1.99 and 2.00." And it must be capricious of the anonymous White Paper authors to imagine that a 100,000 souls will be missed.

In another pathetic attempt to justify their incompetence - some will say outright deceit - MDA quoted the example of an article on the "Innocence of Muslim" video which they asked Google to block. Well, last we heard, Google still obliges if they think their content policy is violated. But it is doubtful they will  act on the nebulous grounds that MDA is proposing. While Google may do no evil, the same cannot be said of MDA, or Yaacob Ibrahim. Latter should learn from the sixth point of the 10-point corporate philosophy of Google which says, "You can make money without doing evil."

Even assuming that the policy makers had intended good - that they actually have an honest bone in their body, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian or other - they should be mindful of the potential harm they are inflicting on a future generation. Recall Marcus Antonius's speech to the crowd of Romans after Caesar was murdered ("Julius Caesar", Act 3, Scene 2): "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones."

No News Is Good News

You can tell Yaacob Ibrahim is still sore with the internet. How else would we ever learn that the Minister in charge of Muslim Affairs was once courting a Puerto Rican lass instead of a nice Muslim girl? Julian Assange, look out, a fatwa could be on your way anytime soon!

Ibrahim is targeting not just websites with "significant reach" - defined as having 50,000 unique visitors per month - he is aiming to amend the Broadcasting Act "with the view to ensure that any other sites which are hosted overseas but reporting on Singapore news is also brought in the licensing framework." Which means The Financial Times (FT) which reported on Shane Todd's untimely death will have to apply for a licence from the Media Development Authority (MDA) and put up a performance bond of $50,000. FT, and other overseas sites, may very soon have to comply within 24 hours any MDA directive to remove content found to be "in breach of standards".

The example of prohibited content quoted was the "gory" car crash images of an accident at Tampines Avenue 7. The video of an intern punched viciously by a supervisor with anger management issues apparently passes muster with the minister. Frankly, the real objectionable stuff is telling pork chop soup and free smoke jokes at a formal dinner gathering in Washington.

The MDA assures us that the new regulation will not apply to blogs, though adding: "If they take on the nature of news sites, we will take a closer look and evaluate them accordingly". The following picture is gory, but takes place overseas - a live birth at a hospital parking lot - nothing like the boring stuff going on in Singapore. Florida based Emily Robinson was hired by South Florida Sun Sentinel photojournalist Amy Beth Cavaretta and her husband, photojournalist Joe Cavaretta, to document the delivery of Cavaretta’s second child on last Friday. Baby was in a hurry, hence the outdoor impromptu shots. Thank God for the internet.

Robinson's pictures going viral on the internet

Go On, Make My Day

The former president of the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) was charged with criminal breach of trust for misappropriating association funds in 2005, but declined to take the witness stand to defend himself. One word that comes to mind is chutzpah, derived from the Hebrew word ḥutspâ (חֻצְפָּה), meaning "insolence" or "audacity". Choo Wee Khiang, 58, was a former Member of Parliament for Jalan Besar GRC and may be harbouring the impression that association should still carry quite a bit of weight.

His lawyer is arguing that Choo had "derived absolutely no personal benefit" from the $8,400 that went to an assistant coach who moonlighted at Fuhua Secondary School from 2001 to 2003. Never mind if it was Choo who devised a convoluted way to make the Fuhua principal make payment to the coach. A similar logic was applied in the case when Action Information Management (A.I.M.) finagled the Town Council software deal and the MND Review Team declared that "there was no misuse or loss of public moneys in the transaction." Teo Ho Pin and Chandra Das can sit pretty because there was no money trail leading to their personal accounts, but "personal benefit" can be interpreted in many ways.

In the instance of law professor Tey Tsun Han, personal benefit includes receiving several gifts from his student, which included a limited edition Montblanc pen and tailored shirts. The guy has just been convicted of six counts of corruptly obtaining gratification. And if Tey had so much as obtained extra egg for his order of kway teow, you can bet he will be slammed with one more count of corruption.

Choo would be foolish to assume the court of public opinion would rule in his favour, the position taken by Mr and Mrs Todd after they walked out of the coroner's inquiry on their son's mysterious death. After all, Choo did lose his MP position in 1999 after pleading guilty to a charge of abetting his brother-in-law to cheat a finance company in 1990. And he did make the racist joke in parliament: "One evening, I drove to Little India and it was pitch dark but not because there was no light, but because there were too many Indians around." By today's standards, he should be in court for sedition.

Growing Old In Singapore

Women in Singapore can expect to live to 85 and men to the age of 80, if the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) figures are to be believed. Problem is, WHO assumes we have the same healthcare availability and affordability of the other top 3 countries, namely Japan (female 86, male 82), Switzerland and San Marino. Even if Ah Ma and Ah Kong can scrounge up the money to see a doctor, their sprightly presence is not always welcomed.

Some residents at Toh Yi estate organised an evening meeting in February 2012 to protest the construction of 130 senior citizen studio apartments at the junction of Toh Yi Road and Toh Yi Drive. It mimicked the actions of the Woodlands group who objected to the building of an elder-care centre at the void deck of their HDB blocks. Haunting images of the notorious death houses at Sago Lane were evoked in their passioned protestations, but one suspects their fears relate more to the horror of the market value of their enhanced assets plummeting with the growing sights of so many old people still walking around their estate.

Hence the pretty billboards. Ah Ma and Ah Kong must be in the picture, you just have to look real hard.