It's sad isn't it when the very people you put your trust in betrays that trust?
How else would you term the Myanmar government saying that the people could eat frogs and fish to survive? It's really strange coming from the rulers who have lived the high life while the people they are supposed to be ruling are suffering. Haven't you heard? Myanmar has a new capital, Naypidaw, in place of Yangon. If not for the typhoon, and Ban Ki Mun's visit to Myanmar, one would have thought that the Generals themselves lived in wooden huts. But no! They are staying at grand palaces freshly minted while millions of people are starving. Try putting yourselves in your people's shoes Than Shwe!!!
OK enough politics.
Are you kidding....I ain't done yet!
The recent banning of petrol sales to foreign vehicles are bound to hit our neighbours up north. No matter how much they deny, they can never run away that they depend a lot on us Singaporeans for their livelihood. Banning the sale of petrol is akin to biting the hand that feeds you. Granted that the Malaysian Federal budget is far more than what we Singaporeans spend, you can't help but sympathise with the seafood restaurants and the many food stalls that make up the landscape whose businesses who are sure to suffer.
Think about it. If Singaporeans are unable to fill up petrol while they shop and dine, then what's the point of going there in the first place? Part of the attraction of going to JB is not just the cheaper goods, it's also the cheap petrol. Taking away one will definitely make it less appealing for us to go there. Add in the appaling crime rates, a definite turn off is obvious. I don't see the need to go to JB for seafood an having to go through that terrible jam at the checkpoint but not able to top up my petrol.
I'm not surprised that there is an uproar within their ranks, concerned at the impact it might have, both economically and socially. Knowing the Malaysians, this ruling may not even be implemented in the long run especially with the implication it might have for the "little people". Thinking about it, the ban does not apply to motorcycles as they "spared a thought for the little people". I just wonder how the guys with bikes more powerful than many cars we have on our roads could qualify as little people when their bikes cost more than the homes of many Malaysians. Makes sense?
Well, much of what the Malaysians do doesn't make sense to me anyway. Personally, if they don't want us to benefit from their subsidies, so be it. The way I see it, if we Singaporeans have to resort to subsidised Malaysian petrol, we might as well don't have a car in the first place.
Ok I'm done mouthing off.....thanks for reading....heheheh
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Is there a solution??
Was reading the papers just now. Something just tickled me. DPM Wong Kan Seng highlighted in Parliament the various disciplinary measures taken against those whose lapses enabled Mas Selamat to escape and wreaked untold discomfort to many of us Singaporeans.
The superintendent got sacked and his deputy was given the permanent order to hentak kaki and got demoted at the same time. Unfortunate for these 2 fellows, but someone's gotta pay. It's all good that something is done to prevent such escapes, but one has to ask, was the sacking of the superintendent enough? What I'm really asking is why, despite the calls from some quarters for more accountability, is Wong Kan Seng not the head to roll? The answer put forward was removing Wong Kan Seng would not have solved any problems. Really?
I doubt that Sir Alex Ferguson would still be manager of Manchester United if they were relegated to the Championship. Put it this way, while I'm not one who'd go out to lead a call for Wong Kan Seng to be removed, or any minister for that matter, I'd have thought that someone in the Cabinet be held responsible or even offered to resign over this whole fiasco. Not only has the populace been affected, the country's squeaky clean image has been tarnished.
I guess someone in the Cabinet would have been sacked had Mas Selamat sent a postcard from some remote location like Ungkaya Pukan in the Southern Philippines or Sawahlunto in Sumatra to the PM, Sm or MM saying, "Wish you were here!!!"
Something else in the papers recently also had me thinking - MM Lee, in response to calls from some people to provide subsidies, said that Singaporeans would always be asking for more even when a lot has been done by the Government to reduce the impact of rising costs. I have to agree that a lot has been done, but is it enough? The price of petrol has been jumping so much that it makes the ERS a distant memory. The price of rice has steadily climbed that the GST rebates seem like a pittance. The utilities bill tariffs has gone up but the growth bonus doesn't seem like it's as much as the Government makes it out to be.
In fact, MM Lee said providing subsidies is not the solution to the problem of rising costs. We, Singaporeans, need to work harder ad smarter to make Singapore a more dynamic place so that Singapore is always at the forefront. Hmmmmm....I've seen to have read that somewhere before. Oh, sacking Wong Kan Seng isn't the answer to the problem. I feel that in order to Singapore to remain competitive globally, Singapore needs to be investing a lot in the one resource we have - Singaporeans.
What's the use of investing globally when the needs of the average Singaporeans are, while not exactly neglected, not being addressed fully. What's the point of having trillions in our reserves if the people are having to worry constantly if they can remain debt-free, due to all the price hikes? C'mon Lee, show me the money!!
On another note, 2 close friends of mine, Iswandy and Isnani, are about to become a first time parents. Congrats bro and sis, welcome to the club!!
The superintendent got sacked and his deputy was given the permanent order to hentak kaki and got demoted at the same time. Unfortunate for these 2 fellows, but someone's gotta pay. It's all good that something is done to prevent such escapes, but one has to ask, was the sacking of the superintendent enough? What I'm really asking is why, despite the calls from some quarters for more accountability, is Wong Kan Seng not the head to roll? The answer put forward was removing Wong Kan Seng would not have solved any problems. Really?
I doubt that Sir Alex Ferguson would still be manager of Manchester United if they were relegated to the Championship. Put it this way, while I'm not one who'd go out to lead a call for Wong Kan Seng to be removed, or any minister for that matter, I'd have thought that someone in the Cabinet be held responsible or even offered to resign over this whole fiasco. Not only has the populace been affected, the country's squeaky clean image has been tarnished.
I guess someone in the Cabinet would have been sacked had Mas Selamat sent a postcard from some remote location like Ungkaya Pukan in the Southern Philippines or Sawahlunto in Sumatra to the PM, Sm or MM saying, "Wish you were here!!!"
Something else in the papers recently also had me thinking - MM Lee, in response to calls from some people to provide subsidies, said that Singaporeans would always be asking for more even when a lot has been done by the Government to reduce the impact of rising costs. I have to agree that a lot has been done, but is it enough? The price of petrol has been jumping so much that it makes the ERS a distant memory. The price of rice has steadily climbed that the GST rebates seem like a pittance. The utilities bill tariffs has gone up but the growth bonus doesn't seem like it's as much as the Government makes it out to be.
In fact, MM Lee said providing subsidies is not the solution to the problem of rising costs. We, Singaporeans, need to work harder ad smarter to make Singapore a more dynamic place so that Singapore is always at the forefront. Hmmmmm....I've seen to have read that somewhere before. Oh, sacking Wong Kan Seng isn't the answer to the problem. I feel that in order to Singapore to remain competitive globally, Singapore needs to be investing a lot in the one resource we have - Singaporeans.
What's the use of investing globally when the needs of the average Singaporeans are, while not exactly neglected, not being addressed fully. What's the point of having trillions in our reserves if the people are having to worry constantly if they can remain debt-free, due to all the price hikes? C'mon Lee, show me the money!!
On another note, 2 close friends of mine, Iswandy and Isnani, are about to become a first time parents. Congrats bro and sis, welcome to the club!!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Some rocky questions...
It's been a turbulent past couple of weeks hasn't it?? Typhoon Nargis swept through the Irrawady Delta and inundated the whole area wiping villages off the maps, killing whole families and leaving those alive clutching at what little strands of hope they may have. Sichuan was rocked at it's foundations by a big one and the same scenario played itself out in a matter of days. Last count: 55000 dead in Sichuan and God knows how many in Myanmar, considering the efficiency of the military government in accepting aid.
It really peeves me that the government could come up with the dumbest of reasons to not accept aid. Pride?? I say it's sheer stupidity. How could anyone put a price on the lives that are affected? Instead of accepting whatever aid that is made available, they managed to alienate themselves by refusing aid when it's practically at their doorstep. Maybe it's a Myanmar thing, just as it is a Singaporean thing to keep asking for more handouts from our government when we are so privileged. At least the Chinese, while being selective in accepting aid, did not reject aid outright, and in doing so, deserves the sympathy of the world.
The hot topic today is the judgement of the International Court of Justice on the sovereignty of Pedra Branca. As patriotic as I am, I just can't fathom all the hullaballoo with regards to rocky outcrop the size of a football field. My first question is, is it really worth all that trouble to go to the ICJ and argue about that rock? While I agree that if it's part of our island, we should defend and ensure no one encroaches on our territory. But that piece of rock was 40 nautical miles away. All this talk about sovereignty is good, but it's overkill to go to the ICJ for that piece of rock.
At the same time I can't understand the Malaysians. I mean if you left a flower pot at the void deck for a few years and don't claim it even after someone comes along and plants a chilli plant and tends to it for a few years more, what right have you to that tree or the flower pot for that matter. Does the flower pot mean that much to you in the first place for you to leave it at the void deck for years? I mean, Pedra Branca is in the middle of nowhere and no one in the right mind would even want to live that faraway. If there was gold or better still, oil there, heck, I'd send in the Commandos, if necessary, should the Malaysians even come close. But seriously, I doubt even Mahathir would want to live there.
Oh and talking about oil.......
I am getting worried at the ever climbing, nope, make that soaring price of oil. Last I heard, it's scratching $135 per barrel. Everyone knows that oil is just about the most precious commodity in the world now. For all the talk about green technology, nothing is close to replacing oil as the lifeline of the world. Not just it's economy. The increase in the price of oil results in the increase in everything else - which is what's happening right now. Food prices jumped, utility bills jumped, petrol pump prices jumped - twice in a matter of days.......and so am I.
If this goes on, I might have to learn how to drive like the Flintstones and start eating grass. What I'm saying is many of us have read about the Great Depression of the 1930s but were lucky enough not to have experienced it, if we're not careful, we might just go through something like it.
Oh and by the way, if you were at the moon or just came out from under your shell, Manchester United are the Champions of England and Europe!!!
It really peeves me that the government could come up with the dumbest of reasons to not accept aid. Pride?? I say it's sheer stupidity. How could anyone put a price on the lives that are affected? Instead of accepting whatever aid that is made available, they managed to alienate themselves by refusing aid when it's practically at their doorstep. Maybe it's a Myanmar thing, just as it is a Singaporean thing to keep asking for more handouts from our government when we are so privileged. At least the Chinese, while being selective in accepting aid, did not reject aid outright, and in doing so, deserves the sympathy of the world.
The hot topic today is the judgement of the International Court of Justice on the sovereignty of Pedra Branca. As patriotic as I am, I just can't fathom all the hullaballoo with regards to rocky outcrop the size of a football field. My first question is, is it really worth all that trouble to go to the ICJ and argue about that rock? While I agree that if it's part of our island, we should defend and ensure no one encroaches on our territory. But that piece of rock was 40 nautical miles away. All this talk about sovereignty is good, but it's overkill to go to the ICJ for that piece of rock.
At the same time I can't understand the Malaysians. I mean if you left a flower pot at the void deck for a few years and don't claim it even after someone comes along and plants a chilli plant and tends to it for a few years more, what right have you to that tree or the flower pot for that matter. Does the flower pot mean that much to you in the first place for you to leave it at the void deck for years? I mean, Pedra Branca is in the middle of nowhere and no one in the right mind would even want to live that faraway. If there was gold or better still, oil there, heck, I'd send in the Commandos, if necessary, should the Malaysians even come close. But seriously, I doubt even Mahathir would want to live there.
Oh and talking about oil.......
I am getting worried at the ever climbing, nope, make that soaring price of oil. Last I heard, it's scratching $135 per barrel. Everyone knows that oil is just about the most precious commodity in the world now. For all the talk about green technology, nothing is close to replacing oil as the lifeline of the world. Not just it's economy. The increase in the price of oil results in the increase in everything else - which is what's happening right now. Food prices jumped, utility bills jumped, petrol pump prices jumped - twice in a matter of days.......and so am I.
If this goes on, I might have to learn how to drive like the Flintstones and start eating grass. What I'm saying is many of us have read about the Great Depression of the 1930s but were lucky enough not to have experienced it, if we're not careful, we might just go through something like it.
Oh and by the way, if you were at the moon or just came out from under your shell, Manchester United are the Champions of England and Europe!!!
Monday, May 05, 2008
A Trip to Redang - a year in the making
We finally went to Redang Island - well not exactly, we went to Lang Tengah, which is just beside Redang itself. Had actually planned to go to Laguna Redang but was told it was fully booked. So was Berjaya. In the end, after souring the net we decided on D'Coconut Lagoon Resort on Lang Tengah. It's quite a decent resort as we were to find out later.
I started my leave on Tuesday, April 29th in anticipation of the need to service our car prior to the long drive up north. Izzati was left in the care of my parents whom we were to meet up in KL on 2nd May. We decided against bringing her to Redang as she was still too small and it was the right decision too seeing how we had to board the boats at Merang jetty.
So, we left home at 12 midnite, went for supper at Al-Ameen's at Bt Timah and left Singapore at 1am. The drive up north to KL was uneventful with only an overturned truck to gawk at on the way there. Had short stop at Seremban for a petrol top up as well as to stretch out the legs and we proceeeded on to Sungai Besi and bypasssed KL and went round to Cheras before linking back up to the Karak Highway.
That drive on the Karak Highway and the East Coast Highway is even scarier than the drive up the old Mersing road. Not only was it raining heavily on the road before Genting Highlands, it was foggy all the way after that.We had another half-hour stop at Temerloh for our Subuh Prayers and some much needed coffee. That was 6am. We still had 5 hours and roughly 400km to go before we reached Merang.
We barely made it to Merang 1115 hours and the boat was waiting for us at the jetty, we din have time to walk around and really see what was there. Just sort of jumped into the boat and off we went to the island paradise. Took us 1hr plus to get there and the sights that awaited us was breathtaking. Just look at the photos and you'll know what I mean. We skipped the snorkelling on the 1st day and that was justified cos the snorkeling would have sapped what little energy I'd have left after the long drive.
Quite honestly, the island was as laid back as one would get. There was no TV in the room though you did get Astro on the TV at the lounge area. Internet access was RM15 for 30 min access. A can of Coke set you back by RM5 and my wife had 3 cans. The water in the rooms was not drinkable though there was plenty of potable water available at the lounge.
We only went snorkeling on the second day. Was not as enjoyable as I would have liked as the currents were too strong and I spent more time pushing/pulling my wife back to the boat than I did looking at the marine life. Not that either of us could see much without any contact lenses on. If the views under water were less spectacular, the views on land were super. Been a long while since we felt that find powdery sand between our toes and crystal clear waters to frolic in
We had little complaint for our trip to Redang, though we wished we had more time to snoop around KualaTerengganu for some handicraft to be brought back. What little we did get was bought from the many little stalls that lined Merang jetty.
Check out the photo albums......heheheh
I started my leave on Tuesday, April 29th in anticipation of the need to service our car prior to the long drive up north. Izzati was left in the care of my parents whom we were to meet up in KL on 2nd May. We decided against bringing her to Redang as she was still too small and it was the right decision too seeing how we had to board the boats at Merang jetty.
So, we left home at 12 midnite, went for supper at Al-Ameen's at Bt Timah and left Singapore at 1am. The drive up north to KL was uneventful with only an overturned truck to gawk at on the way there. Had short stop at Seremban for a petrol top up as well as to stretch out the legs and we proceeeded on to Sungai Besi and bypasssed KL and went round to Cheras before linking back up to the Karak Highway.
That drive on the Karak Highway and the East Coast Highway is even scarier than the drive up the old Mersing road. Not only was it raining heavily on the road before Genting Highlands, it was foggy all the way after that.We had another half-hour stop at Temerloh for our Subuh Prayers and some much needed coffee. That was 6am. We still had 5 hours and roughly 400km to go before we reached Merang.
We barely made it to Merang 1115 hours and the boat was waiting for us at the jetty, we din have time to walk around and really see what was there. Just sort of jumped into the boat and off we went to the island paradise. Took us 1hr plus to get there and the sights that awaited us was breathtaking. Just look at the photos and you'll know what I mean. We skipped the snorkelling on the 1st day and that was justified cos the snorkeling would have sapped what little energy I'd have left after the long drive.
Quite honestly, the island was as laid back as one would get. There was no TV in the room though you did get Astro on the TV at the lounge area. Internet access was RM15 for 30 min access. A can of Coke set you back by RM5 and my wife had 3 cans. The water in the rooms was not drinkable though there was plenty of potable water available at the lounge.
We only went snorkeling on the second day. Was not as enjoyable as I would have liked as the currents were too strong and I spent more time pushing/pulling my wife back to the boat than I did looking at the marine life. Not that either of us could see much without any contact lenses on. If the views under water were less spectacular, the views on land were super. Been a long while since we felt that find powdery sand between our toes and crystal clear waters to frolic in
We had little complaint for our trip to Redang, though we wished we had more time to snoop around KualaTerengganu for some handicraft to be brought back. What little we did get was bought from the many little stalls that lined Merang jetty.
Check out the photo albums......heheheh
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