What You Should Do From Now Until Polling Day.

It is not a secret anymore. The strong speculation in every one's mind is that 12th September 2015 will be Polling Day for GE 2015.  To help you make a better decision of how you should cast your vote on that day, here are my humble few suggestions:- 

1) "Switch off" reading, hearing or watching reports in the mainstream media regarding the coming GE2015.  If you cannot avoid such an avalanche of propaganda, then treat such reports with a cynical and questioning mind.  Do not forget our media has been rated 153rd position for being "a free press". 

2) I find it remarkable that our mainstream media has morphed to become the PR machinery of the ruling Party.  The incumbents' plans, speeches, moves, etc were faithfully and strategically reported, filmed and projected to achieve the maximum impact; such as who and who is standing in which ward, SMC or GRC. Sometimes you wonder whether "campaigning" or "electioneering" has actually started although the Writ for Election has yet to be issued.

3) Mainstream media reports on Opposition Parties at best are minimal and sketchy.  In some instances such reports are packaged in such a way to put them in a bad light.  Being wary of such tactics by the media the Parties think it is best talking to them less. 

4) You on your part can resort to social media to access a more balanced perspective and diversity of views, etc.  You can go direct to Opposition Parties' dedicated websites or social political  websites such as The Online Citizen, The Middle Ground, Mothership.sg, Inconvenient Questions(IQ) and blogs like 2ECONDSIGHT, My Singapore News, Likedatosocanmeh, etc just to name a few.

5) The ruling Party will leverage on the National Day and SG50 Celebrations to extract maximum advantage for their campaign.  Videos capturing our Pioneer Generation of Leaders' speeches, ideologies, etc. will  be re-broadcast, re-telecast and re-cycle to win back peoples' hearts.  One thing they forget to highlight is the many of our ordinary citizens' co-operative sacrifices, hard work, sweat and tears, etc. which have contributed to the successes of the past 50 years of nation building.

Change is the only constant.  I hope in the next 50 years our Singapore politics will evolve to becoming more democratic, more vibrant, less divisive, less polarizing and more inclusive.  The electorate can only bring this about by casting their votes wisely on Polling Day.

Over to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cringing Moments.

SG 50 -

Celebrations Galore

Waste Not, Please!

A Tussle -

Goliath glaring David

Goliath won!

Policy Talks -

Roadshows accompany

Propaganda in short!

Leaders, Leadership -

Words and more words

Action speaks louder!

Honorary memberships -

Backs scratching non-stop

Meaningless hogwash!

Master, servant -

Aristocracy, commoners

Servant is greatest!

Empty Vessel -

Noises, complaints molecules

Jarring to the ears!

A desert stay -

Fear not, oasis is Our Lord

Almighty and Grace!

Final Instalment of Photos on Zhanjiajie's Beauty.

In our travels we look for beauty in the Scenery, Food, Shopping, Culture, Experience, etc.  But there is one intangible quality we need to have in us to really experience this beauty. Ralph W Emerson says it best - "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."  You may be interested to view a video I recorded and uploaded in Google+ entitled "A slow boat ride in a lake in Zhanjiajie, China". 

More Photographs on Zhanjiajie's Scenery.

Let yourself enjoy the views captured in the photographs.  I happen to chance upon a book in the National Library entitled "Remade for Happiness" by Fulton J. Sheen.  Talking of the joys of travelling the writer says "You looked forward to the joys of travel, but when weary feet carried you home, you admitted that the two happiest days were the day you left home and the day you got back."  Read the book to discover many more "gems".

Note: You may also wish to see a video I uploaded in Google+ taking you on a bus ride to be closer to the majestic mountains.

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.