Views With The Hassle.

Just returned from a conducted 8-day tour of Phoenix City/Zhanjiajie in China.  Above are some of the photos I have taken.  If queueing and waiting for more than three to four hours just to get into the so-called world heritage sites is not your cup of tea, just forget about making a trip there.  There are other negatives:-

1) Smog - Changsha city - a gateway to the sites - is covered in smog.  You can hardly see the blue sky. The industrial pollution and the cigarettes smoking among the Chinese people make the situation worse. You can feel the hoarseness in your throat after a while.

2) Language - If you do not speak and cannot read Chinese, you will be in a disadvantage position.  You may not be able to communicate and get the information you need.  Note that the guide speaks only the bare minimum of English Language.

3)Massive crowds -  China is a massive country.  Many of their own local tourists from other parts of the country also come to visit  many of their own tourists' destinations.  I spoke to people who came from as far as Mongolia and Xinjiang. It is worth noting that the Chinese are notorious for queue-jumping and pushing. At times there are awkward scenes of shouting and altercation.

4) Tour Guide - Our tour guide is a sweet-talking lady.  In one afternoon we visited a tea joint, a medical shop, a jewellery emporium, a silk store and a miscellaneous goods shop.

I was just ruminating whether travelling can be different - where there is time to admire the sights, breathe in the fresh air, smell the place, imbibe the uniqueness of the locality, etc..............................................Sigh!

A Tribute To A Great Leader.

A man called Lee Kuan Yew

A legend in every one's mind

There is none like him.

A great Leader

For a Singapore Nation

A giant himself.

A man of his time

Appropriately born here

To guard and to guide.

A visionary

A strategist extra-ordinary

A helicopter view.

Love for his country

Love for its citizens' wellbeing

Death will not deter him.

Wishing One And All A Blessed And A Prosperous Chinese New Year of the Goat!

Wishing one and all a Blessed and a Prosperous Chinese New Year of the Goat!  Gong-Xi 

Gong-Xi, Nian Nian Jin Bu!

PROSPEROUS MOMENTS

Chinatown Light-Up 

Trooping goat lanterns forming

Coin-shaped lanterns dangling.

Street-lined stalls selling

Chinese goodies sweets

Red buntings fluttering.

Re-union dinners

Customary gatherings 

Families in bliss.

Loh Hei, Loh Hei Huat

Yusheng Tossing around table

For Good Luck God's  blessings.

Tranquility rest

Whatever out there appearing

Stillness within me.

Lion City roars

Fifty years many more

Long live my country!

Post 2011 And The Coming 2015/2016 General Elections.

The Propaganda machine has started cranking .  The ruling party's chief has marshalled the mainstream media - the newspapers, television, radio, etc. - to put out what I term "a hidden manifesto" for the coming election.  Ever wonder why the ruling party's members need not go out to sell the party's newsletter.  Well, you have guessed it right - the dirty job is all done by the mainstream media.

I watched the US president, Mr Obama's State of the Union Address on TV on 21 Jan 2015  Two phrases in his speech strike me as useful and relevant to our beloved country: "Better Politics" and "Middle-class Economics".

Better Politics -1) Singapore polity has dramatically changed post 2011.  Voters have indicated preference for more fairness and transparency in political processes.  Indiscriminate re-drawing of electoral boundaries and creating of GRCs should not prevail.  Many have called for the setting up of an independent  Electoral Commission.
2) High Ministerial salaries has been a hot topic.  Bench-marking the salaries to the top ten professions in the private sector is flawed.  Demands in the private sector differ from performance in governing a country.  A CEO can be fired or bankrupted if his company performs badly or his company goes bust.  In the Cabinet there is collective responsibility.  High Ministerial salaries conjure all sort of unintended consequences: self-interest; jealousies and envies of people lower in the organisation. I was flabbergasted when I read in the news that China's President Xi Jinping's basic monthly salary was recently revised to only $2440 pm.

Middle-class Economics - I will re-frame it as "Low and Middle-class Economics" in Singapore's case.  More can be done for such families in areas of child-care, health-care, housing and retirement.  Families are struggling with increasing high costs of living.  Citizens' well-being is of paramount importance and deserves Government's continuing concern.

The ruling party must allow itself an ideological transformation so that the country can embark into the next stage of development.The new narrative should be what is good  for the country no more dogmatic elite-style governance refusing to give way to democratic contest and political competition.  Our politics must be less polarizing, less divisive and less paralyzing.

Voters ultimately have the last word.  Will your voice ring loudly in the coming 2015/2016 General Election.  

A Merry Christmas and A Blessed New Year!

Wishing one and all a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!  May the God of power and wisdom be your Refuge and Guide at all times!!!

The Year of Jubilee.

The Year of Jubilee is an important and meaningful year of consecration, redemption and restoration for the Israelites as commanded by God in Leviticus 25 of the Bible.  It is the year of God's righteousness proclaimed throughout His land - debts are to be forgiven; slaves are to be set free; the return of the exiles; owners and sellers of land are to deal rightly and justly, no one shall take advantage or exploit one another.  In essence God is a God of righteousness and His people in their words and deeds should reflect this Truth.  This is the true significance of the Jubilee celebration.

Singapore will officially celebrate its golden Jubilee next year.  A SG50 Committee has been set up by the Government to spearhead the organizing of the celebratory activities.  A budget of $5 million dollars was allocated.  In fact some of the activities had already kick-started.  The Community Chest had already raised $90 million dollars at at 6 June this year to help the needy and boost the social service sector.  The Government has in addition pledged to match dollar-for-dollar up to $250 million dollars for donations made until the end of the year.

SG50 is a joyous occasion.  May I suggest that a one-time token sum of $50 be given to the 3000 odd of our fellow citizens who are recipients under the Public Assistance Scheme.  The $50 means a lot to this group of people.  The calculated total sum of $150,000 dollars is only 3% of the $5 million dollars budgeted. By extending a helping hand Singapore and Singaporeans reflect what is in God's heart.

                                    HAPPY JUBILEE YEAR, SINGAPORE!!!

BOOK READ NOTE:  The "one" book all Singaporeans need to read to understand politics and public policies in Singapore - "Hard Choices.  Challenging the Singapore Consensus" by Donald Low and Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh with contributions from Linda Lim and Thum Ping Tjin.

Telling Moments.

Greed and Exploitation

Runs in this Nation ours

Where is Salvation!

Laws and Lawyers

Sinful nature overwhelms

Justice cries out loud!

Spin and spin doctors

Hijack the conversation 

Will people wake up!

Lunatic fringe

Endless tirade unending

Falls into the trap!

Prediction is dangerous

The sage says so

Knowledge is quiet!

Volatile markets

Bear tide is coming in

Carefulness required!

Change hardly coming

It's in the family gene

Like father like son!

Different sirens

Manipulative noise

Plug your ears to them!

See No Evil, Hear No Evil And Speak No Evil.

I am interested in determining whether the above stigma (Hokkien parlance - "Bochap" attitude) still prevails in our nation's psyche after half a century of nation building.  Two news items in the media - the CPF Scheme and the escalating health-care costs - direct me to the conclusion that nothing much has really changed.

1) Our CPF Scheme - It takes a blogger's critique of the Scheme to  make it come to "life and light".  The Government has to step into the conversation as the issues are controversial and causing a lot of angst among the people.  It subsequently announced the formation of a Committee to look into the matter.  But, it is common knowledge that 50% of the cohorts retiring cannot fulfill the minimum sum (supposedly allowing retirees to draw a monthly payment of $1200 per month in CPF Life at the draw down age). It is discovered that this 50% of retirees can only manage to enjoy an average payout of about $500 per month only corresponding to their actual savings. 

2) Our escalating health-care costs - It takes a private hospital specialist to highlight this problem before anyone wakes up.  This doctor has the conscience to raise this matter as he witnesses the obscene escalating costs keep going up by leaps and bounds on the basis of who can set the latest bench-mark price to be surpassed.

Of course questions come quick and fast.  Where are the gate-keepers, professional bodies and interested parties in all of these:-

1) Our MPs (Government & Opposition), NCMPs and NMPs in our Parliaments have not taken cudgels in such bread-and-butter issues more often.  It is a reflection of them for the PM to say "they do not themselves know much about the CPF Minimum Sum Scheme".

2) Our professionals like doctors, lawyers, engineers, professional bodies, etc. - Keeping quiet when there is rampant abuse of charges, fees, etc. is a sin.

3) Our academia and think-tanks - Their professional inputs and studies will greatly help to educate and benefit the citizenry.  Addressing complex and controversial issues will manage the citizens' expectations and anxiety better.  It is no use discussing the issues when the horse has broken out of the stable.

4) Our mainstream media - It will be doing a disservice to the nation by "wanting to be politically correct" in its reports.  It will have failed in its duty if it has failed to educate and nurture a more matured citizens for the country.

My prayer and hope is that this stigma will not accompany us as we venture into the next 50 years of our nation building.  This work is cut out for every one of us!

The Singapore Garden Festival 2014

I was at the Garden Festival last week.  Above are the photographs I have taken of some of the exhibits. They are beautiful, aren't they?  Nature is always pure and innocent. Just like the Sun that rises every morning and though the clouds may hide it, its presence to give life to nature is never in doubt.  In our very short life on this earth, let us look for our God Almighty in our daily going-ins and going-outs.  In this way, our lives will be meaningful and blessed. To the proud, the arrogant and the wicked hear what the Lord says in Psalm 75:4-5 "To the arrogant I say, "Boast no more," and to the wicked, "Do not lift up your horns.  Do not lift your horns against heaven; do not speak with outstretched neck."