You litter I litter Everybody Litter

The current debate here is of course the littering problem. Some people are asking why after many years of successfully keeping Singapore clean, it has gotten so bad. Actually, in my opinion, the littering problem has always been there. It just got swept away (pun intended) by a task force of cleaners.

When the PM first talked about the littering problem at the recent Laneway concert at the Garden by the Bay, a lot of fingers were pointed at foreigners. But really, is it really the foreigners that are contributing to all the litters here. I sorry and sad to admit that it is likely not so. The way I see it, most of the litters here except for certain specific areas where foreigners of similar nationality hang out, most of the litters are generated by us local.

I talked about the smoking and littering problem outside my office previously. The people who hangs around there and smoke are from the 2 office buildings next to it. Some of them are my colleagues as well. And 99% of them are locals. In fact, I once saw the security guard at my building dump his breakfast bag there! Beats me why he couldn't throw it into the bins in the building?

On my runs during the weekend, I often see litters left behind by people who had appeared to stay overnight at the park. One time there was a whole lot of Macdonalds wrappers and cups at the Punggol Waterway. Then there is the perpetual lot of rubbish at Alexandra Arch. Beside it being featured prominently in the papers, on the 2 occasions that I was there over the last 2 weekends, the litters were at the same place. Obviously somebody must have decided to have a overnight picnic there. Foreigners? I don't think so. The domestic maids will have to go back to their owners' place. The construction workers all have curfew and definitely have no money to drink so much. And even if they do, they are at Little India, Beach Rd, Tanjong Katong but not the neighbour parks. Rich expatriates? I don't see people like them hanging out on a overhead bridge in the middle of the night. A good example is the void deck of HDB flats. Who hangs out there overnight talking and drinking until the wee hours? And leave everything on the table for someone to clean up thereafter? Foreigners? I think most Singaporean know the answer to that.

And it is the same scene everywhere. At the beaches, at the bus stops, in the cinemas, in the parks and even in the trails. I think the big problem we people here have is not, contrary to what the press is saying, that we have this thinking that somebody will clean up after us, but is that we are by and large selfish and inconsiderate and ill bred. The littering problem persists because us Singaporean do not care. Simply bochap about the environment. Just wait at the bus stop and observe. See the student drinking? Watch when the bus comes along, just leave it on the bench and board the bus. Same with the uncle fisherman at the beach. Catch the fish and leave the small fish, newspaper, drink bottles behind. Same with the kids who drinks at Clark Quay and Alexandra Arch. And after every movie, look at the amount of trash left on the seat and floor. At my place here, there is a resident who will leave his/her trash in the corridor! And the central rubbish bin is like another 10 steps away! Fact is we have a first class economy but a third class mindset.

To lick the littering problem, another round of campaign is not going to work. People are too well educated nowadays for this type of goosebumps inducing campaign. What we need is more enforcement, heavier fines and more prominent Corrective Work Order. The only way to nit the problem. Fine them and shame them. Sad but the only way to go.  

There something called "Choice"

Our little red dot is making it to the international media circuit again. Probably apart from Brazil, we are getting the most laugh internationally for all the things that are coming out from our shore. And I am not talking about the STPB made in Philippines' video or the National Council on Problem Gambling.anti gambling during World Cup 2014 advertisement.

The National Library's decision to withdraw 3 children books in response to public feedback that they are not "pro-family" is getting a lot of flaks from angry citizen and a lot of ridicule from the rest of the world. And in what must be a first for the government and the NLB, some writers are withdrawing their support and co-operation with the NLB in protest against the actions by the NLB.

Of course as in everything, there are 2 camps for this saga. One side is the so called "pro-family" camp who I suspect are actually not so much pro family but anti LGBT. The other  camp surprisingly is not the LGBT camp but the anti censorship camp. There have been arguments thrown back and fro - in the main steam media, social media and debate in companies and coffee shop. The gahmen has weighed in that the NLB was only responding to "community noms" whatever that mean.

Personally, I haven't read the 3 books and probably never will. But I am pissed that the NLB is allowing a few individuals to dictate what the rest of society can read. To me its not about the content of the books. It not about the LGBT movement. In fact I am very much anti-gay because I think the gay community is predatory and engage in sexual grooming of the young kids. But I don't care which hole they want to poke and what they want to suck. Its their lives after all.

But when some individuals hiding under the disguise of  "pro family" try to dictate what the larger community can read or watch, then it is not right. Just what exactly is pro family anyway? Isn't a single mum with 2 kids, 2 parents living together a family? How about 2 orphaned brothers staying together? They not family? So I find this demand by these people very silly and disgusting.

There will be always something that we don't agree with. Some of them are pure illegal - like porno, drugs and bomb making - these are things that should be banned for the greater good of the society. But where do you draw the line when it comes to other things that are not so clear cut? This is where there is something called "Choice". Yes even in dictatorial Singapore where the gahmen dictates most of what we can or cannot do, we still can make a lot of choice.

So we can choose to read a book or choose not to read it if we don't like its contents. We can choose not to watch a movie if we don't like the subject, the actors or the plot. We can choose what radio program to listen to and so on. Singapore is already stifling enough. We don't need any moral policeman running around telling us what we can or cannot read. If this continue, we end up like some Middle Eastern countries where there are characters going around telling women what they can or cannot wear.

So to those morons who keep writing to this agency or that to complain, you have a choice. If you don't like the naughty deejays on the radio channels, there are at last count at least 6 other radio channels to switch over to. Don't write in to complain every time you hear one of them made a dirty joke. If you don't like a particular movies because there are scenes of people doing things that you do not like to do to your partners, don't ask for it to be banned. Just don't go and watch it. And if there are any books with contents that offends you or may "corrupt" your children, pick another book. The NLB has millions of  books. 

And talking about corrupting the children, some of these people have argued that their children may pick up the books themselves, read it and get the wrong idea. Therefore they must be protected. Get real people. Children especially those who goes to the Children section are too innocent to understand the contents fully. Using the Tango book as a example, the children will be thinking what wonderful penguins the 2 male penguins are to take in an orphan. I am very certain that they are not going to wonder whether they will become gay just by reading the book. 

But the other thing is, as parents, it is our responsibility to teach our children the right values. We cannot protect them from all the evils in the world. Our job is to teach them how to discern what is right and wrong. And if they innocently stumble on something that is undesirable, rather than try to brush, use the opportunity to discuss the situation with the child. Don't try to will it away because it will never work.

Jekyl and Hyde Transport Policies

Yesterday for the first time in my life staying in Pasir Ris, I ran into DPM Teo. At the Pasir Ris Bus interchange and he was giving out flyers! This not being election year, it comes as a big surprise. More so, considering that I had stayed in Pasir Ris for more than 15 years in total and had never bumped into him and his entourage all these times - not even during election times.

Turned out he was there to promote the launch of a new shuttle bus that will complement the existing shuttle bus being run by SBS. This is part of a new initiatives launched by the government to augment the current services being provided by SMRT and SBS.

And today I managed to get on one of this shiny new buses. 

Actually it is more a luxury coach than the typical bus. See the interior is just like one of those tour buses that we take to Malaysia.

While I am appreciative of the effort to improve the bus situation, I cannot help but wonder whether the government is getting its public transport policy right.

A long long time ago when policeman worn shorts, the bus companies were private companies. Then the government decided to take over the running of the bus transport system and set up Singapore Bus Services to take over all the routes. And rightly so. The private bus companies were only interested in running profitable routes. The buses were rickety affairs and irregular. When SBS took over, there was a big jump in bus standard. Those days, every time SBS introduces something new, it was always with the commuters in mind. From my home in Margaret Drive, I had direct bus to Orchard Rd, Serangoon Road, Chinatown, Jurong and almost every part of Singapore and all within a 5 minutes walk. Such was the convenience. Then the government decided SBS was a monopoly and hived off the Northern part of Singapore to a new company, TIBS. That was the start of the many weird policies that LTA comes up with since then. How does setting up a new company operating mainly in the north creates competition? I think to this day nobody has any idea.

Then the MRT came along. And this time ostensibly to reduce overlapping routes with the MRT, major bus routes were withdrawn. My bus accessibility to almost all part of Singapore dwindle to almost zilch. And to get anywhere further than the immediate neighbourhood, I had to take a 15 minutes walk to the nearest station. Oh well, the comfort and speed of the train was a fair trade off I suppose, though I still think it weird that the government would deem bus routes to be in competition with train routes.

And as the trains begin to get more crowded as more people are forced to take the trains due to the inefficiency of the buses, the grumbles and complaints started to come in louder and louder. The problem was the buses were not making money as rider-ship went down. And because it was not making money, the bus companies were only willing to ply profitable routes leaving many part of Singapore without any public transport. I had a personal experience once when I was going to Senoko. I took the train to Woodlands to transfer to a bus. After checking the bus guide panel at the bus stop, I set down and wait. And wait. And wait. After over 30 minutes of waiting I checked the board again only to realise that the bus to where I was going only ply during the morning peak hours. So how was people going to go to the area during off peak hours? I took a taxi in but that was not the end of the problem. How do I get out of the area after that? I had to walk! No taxi will come into the area and so I had no choice but to start walking and hope to get a cab along the way. Luckily for me, a lorry stopped and the kind driver gave me a lift out to the nearest train station. And I understand that is the situation for people going to Tuas, Sungei Kadut, Neo Tiew and many other far flung areas and even Marina South. The bus operator simply put priority over profits rather than being a responsible corporate citizen. And I don't blame them. After all, they are private companies and their priority is profits for the company to pay directors' fees and shareholder's dividends.

So after the complains become louder and louder, what did the government do? They allowed the bus companies to run "premium" bus services that ran almost parallel to the train. Errr... wasn't that the reverse of the reasons they cited when they withdrawn the bus routes earlier? To make sure no overlapping! Now the premium buses are charging an arm and a leg to get commuters to town and of course probably making big fat margins in the process judging from the number of such services popping out.

And because the 2 main bus operators refuse to operate the non-profitable routes and refuse to increase the number of buses plying a route, to satisfy the commuters, the government now has to step in and allow private operators to run parallel services like the aforesaid new shuttle bus services. So it looks like we have gone one full circle and is now back to the era of policeman worn shorts again!

So I don't understand the government's policy on our public transport. It is pandering to the whims and fancy of the 2 bus operators. If the bus operations are unprofitable, they should jolly well use their profits from the other divisions that is earning megabucks from advertisements, rentals and private hiring to cross subsidies the non-profitable bus operations. After all, that is what most private companies will do. And if the bleeding continues until they cannot tahan, they should get out and let other companies take over. Asking the government to bail them out with a new financing scheme is tantamount to asking the public to bail out the bus companies. While I agree generally with the new scheme that the government is going to put in place, I hope SBS and SMRT will not automatically be allowed to be part of the scheme and will have to bid for the new routes like all the other companies. Than at least we will see some real competition and hopefully then we will get a good enough public transport system that will really make us think twice about owning the most expensive car in the world!

Changing Shift!

I think taxi drivers in Singapore are the most freaking idiotic unreasonable workers in the whole of Singapore. They claimed they are underpaid, has to drive long hours and pay big bucks to the taxi companies and cannot make a living. Yet all of us who have ever taken taxis will know that getting a taxi is like striking 4-D. Where is the taxi when you need one? There are plenty of taxis all right but all of them are forever either on calls or changing shift and 9 times out of 10, they are not going in the direction that you want to go.

Photo from http://fuchsia.com.sg/

Just today I was trying to catch a cab from the taxi stand at Cecil Street. It was 5.20 pm. There were a lot of cabs calling at the taxi stand. In fact I could describe it as continuous. I was like about fifth in the queue. Yet I only managed to get onto a cab after more than 20 minutes of waiting. Why? Because every freaking cab that came had either a changing shift sign displayed with a destination that was not anywhere near where I was going. Those that don't have a changing shift displayed was no better. The driver rolled down the window ask where and pick and choose. It was like a bladdy mad auction with al the passengers at the queue shouting out their destination. And they don't even bother to pick up those going near their way. One cabby had a sign displaying Bugis. Other passengers in the queue wanted to go to Garden by the Bay. A small detour but no he didn't want to ferry them. Another had a sign for Tampines. A passenger wanted to go Bugis. No dealt! I wanted to go Thomson. This guy was going Yishun. Also no!

When I finally managed to get on board, I spoke to the driver. He told me he there are more than 100,000 taxi vocational licence issued and more than 20000 taxis. On that count, there should be more than enough taxis to meet the need of Singapore? Right? Wrong!

My analysis of taxi drivers are that they (and here I dare say the majority) drive not for the money but to pass times and do not need the income from the driving. If not, why are they changing shift when it is peak hour. Isn't that the best time to earn more money, what with all the various surcharge. Changing shift will involves topping up the car, washing it, handing it over to the relief driver - easily a duration of at least 1 hour or more. In any other retail line, the staff will get their breaks during the off peak hours and not during the peak because very simply that is the busiest and by implication the most profitable time zone. And just look at how many taxi drivers prefer to queue up at the airport for the hope of a long haul rather than drive to nearby malls to pick up fares. And don't get me going on the disappearing drivers during the bewitching hours of 10 pm to midnight and rainy days! 

If driving a taxi is really that difficult to make money, can some bladdy drivers out there enlighten me why it is so difficult to get one and why are taxi drivers so bladdy picky?

Our "Wonderful" Enforcers of the Law

I think like many people out there, I am appalled at the lackadaisical attitude of our law enforcers in relation to the mentally unstable women who drove into the MFA premises. I don't know how it happened but I think it all boils down to complacency and this smug attitude by our government that once they enact a law, it will be good enough and we obedient citizens will quietly obey it without questions.

This is why we have so many "fine" laws but no enforcement. Seriously, in my over 51 years of existence, I do not know anybody who has been fined for littering, smoking, spitting or jaywalking. In the past when I drove along the expressways, I will see a traffic police in a BMW or on a patrol bike. Nowadays, I hardly see any. And in the past I do see people doing CWO in the parks but I can't remember when was the last time I seen one. 

About the only government agencies that seems to be enforcing its law is HDB and URA. And I guess that is only because they outsource the parking enforcement duties to private organisation!

Nparks, NEA, LTA the 3 main agencies probably has a very small pool of law enforcers. And probably in no big hurry to beef that up. My complain to LTA about motorcyclists riding along pavement was acknowledged with a standard reply but today there are more and more bikes riding along the office outside the stretch of walkway outside my office. Smokers are still smoking everywhere despite the extended no smoking area. And where are the Nparks people to catch poachers? Cyclists in MacRitchie, litterbugs at East Coast Park?

The worst of the lot is our police! If nobody is badly hurt or killed they will not take actions. I think it is ridiculous that every time there is a fight and it does not result in a hospitalisation, the police will tell the victim to file a private summon! What they are doing is pushing the law enforcement to the victims themselves! Same with the stupid no cycling on the pavement law. When a minister can casually diss out impractical advice on recourse, obviously he is setting the direction for his people to not do anything and encouraging people to continue riding on the pavement.

Obviously we have many laws but no enforcement and when there is no enforcement, we might just as well not have all these laws. And if there are laws and we have law enforcers who don't seem to care, then I don't know what going to happen to this country when the population really grow to 6.9m.

Those Hare Brained Schemes

Nee Soon has started a new non-smoking scheme and by all account, it is a total failure. I am not surprised because like all the other well intended scheme or new law that our over paid Ministers and civil servants dream up in their nice cosy office on their Herman Miller chair, all of them are brainless and impractical.

Like the Nee Soon ban on smoking in the whole estate except at a few designated smoking tent. The idea is great but there is a whole year of grace period. Not surprisingly, the smoking tents are still empty and the smokers are still happily smoking everywhere.

Talking about smokers, one of the most hair brained scheme they dreamt up is the smoking zone in the coffee shop. I mean do they really expect the smoke to stay within the yellow box and not drift over to the tables next to the smoking zone? 

And the no picking up/alighting of passengers along the roads in the CBD area except at designated spots and taxi stands? Guess what? the scheme seems to have died a natural death and taxis are now happily stopping everywhere they need.

Other stupid and impractical things that they came up with:

1.Deregulation of taxi fares. That has to be one of the absurd decisions made. I am very sure our taxi fare structure must be the nightmare of not just every Singaporeans but foreigners as well.

2. Removal of Dustbin and Trash Cans. Did anybody noticed that since 911, trash cans have been removed from many of our public places and train stations. The reason given was the fear that terrorists can plant bombs inside the bins. Frankly, if a terrorist really wants to bomb a public place, there are many many opportunities other than the trash bins. The removal of the  trash bins only serves to make the littering problem worse.

3. And does anybody know that there is an obscure law that a person can be charged in court for being naked in his own home! Yes assuming you are walking around your home in the nude and the auntie in the opposite block of flat happened to see you, you can be charged for indecent exposure. Never mind that you are doing something in the privacy of your own home.

But what makes it more stupid is that we have laws and more laws - no spitting, no littering, no speeding, no u-turn, no smoking, no jaywalking but frankly how often do you see anybody being caught and fined for them? Having laws are good but what good are they if there are no enforcement

Smokers are selfish and inconsiderate

Smokers, I swear, are the most inconsiderate people in the world. Not only do they choose to pollute our lungs with their second hand smoke but they also choose to pollute the environment. 

Sometime ago, I talked about the disappearing rubbish bin and my tango with the NEA over smoking along the walkway. Eventually, the NEA figured they couldn't beat the smokers and so the bin came back notwithstanding that the walkway should be considered a shelter walkway and hence covered under the new anti-smoking law. But I had by then gave up the fight with the smokers and the NEA.

Then recently one morning, I was astonished to see that the bin had disappeared. But unfortunately, the smokers didn't disappear along with the bin and the cigarette butts and the rest of their accessories like the box and tissues all ended up on the flower bed and the ground.

Some enterprising guy even came up with this little urn to put the cigarette butts but most of them just ended up on the ground.

And this was what I saw this morning when I went to work.

The bin or half of it has made a reappearance along with a whole chunk of junk. I half hope the whole lot will catch fire. That will at least catch the attention of the big wigs at NEA. But fortunately or unfortunately, the trash was soon clear and we are now just back to good old cigarette butts.

I have nothing against smokers personally. Many of them are nice guys but I dare say, almost all of them will think nothing of just flicking that butt on the ground and just walking away. I seen it often enough, fisherman doing it at the jetty, cyclists dumping it when they ride past and office workers like those above tossing them into the flower bed. Are they selfish and inconsiderate? Definitely and I like to see anybody who can argue against that!

Is NS nowadays really that bad?

I was attending this course and somehow the talk turned to NS. One lady started relating her son's story and the lecturer added in with her own son's woes. There were a lot of negativity about it with the main complaint being that their sons were being "victimised" and how bad it was. The lecturer's son even told his mum that NS was National Slavery!

Is NS really that bad? I have been through it more than 30 years ago. My son would have completed his by now had he not signed on. I daresay NS during my time was a zillion time worse than what it is now. After all, I have my son who can keep me in the know about current NS life compared to what we went through 30 years ago.

Those days, we had change parade (now banned). We also had to do star jump (banned), full battle order obstacle (no more), unlimited number of push up (now restricted to 20?) per time. I also understand now the soldiers have to wear arm guard, knee guard when doing field training involving crawling on the ground! My son told me during his BMT, whenever it rain, they have to walk under shelter, and if they are sitting in the field and it gets too hot, the instructors have to move them under shade. And where got such thing as Cat 1 lighting in our days? Recruits no longer have to wash their own plate, do camp area cleaning etc etc and I can go on and on and on.

So what is it that makes it more tough nowadays? If  not the physical part, the mental? Anybody who think the kids have it worse mentally have never met the crazy instructors from the SAF Boys school or the Hokkien spewing instructors where every other word is a reference to some body parts. Try carrying an oil drum (empty no doubt) running to the nearest tree and kissing it! Just like my predecessor before me said NS life during our time was heaven compared to theirs, I think what our kids have now is akin to a holiday camp. Ok maybe boot camp or Outward Bound School.

Nowadays the kids can complain about everything and they got mummy to talk to the PC, OC and even MP whenever they have to do duties, take extra or burn their weekend due to training. My son related to me about one of his BMT mate who cried when he was assigned to do duty on his birthday! My course mate said her son was being victimised and she had to talked to the OC but the bullying got worse after that so she went to see somebody who knew a minister and the bullying ceased after that!

NS has not become tougher. Kids nowadays have become softies. They are so pampered at home and never subject to any punishments or even scolding that they cannot take the rough and tumble life in the military. And with mummy trying to cover their assess whenever something cropped up, I fear for the day when Singapore has to fight a real war. Can we count on these softies or do we have to depend on our pool of Blanga cleaners and Pinoy maids to fight our war?

And oh, please don't tell me NS is a waste of time because Singapore will never have a war. Can anybody dare to say never ever? Try telling that to the Kuwaitis who thought they were good pals with neighbour Iraq until Saddam Hussein decided to steam roll his way into their country!

Short Fuse

By now most of us would have seen the video of the spitting guy, the cyclists, the many buses and mrt spats and many similar "behaviour". Nowadays, it seems like every other day there are some public spats, violent acts and mostly captured in all its undignified glory on You Tube and Stomp. 

I have my own theory especially after being on the receiving end of one of this freak last week.

Last week I was at the East Coast Park taking photographs of an event. Where I was, it was a long stretch of open ground. I was sitting on my little stool on the grass patch next to the bicycle and jogging path and taking photo of the runners running. Next to me was a man playing with his granddaughter. Later, a woman who I believe is the man's daughter came by. She walked in front of me while I was shooting. I think they were having a picnic and she was transferring items from her car. She walked in front of me again on the way back to the car. This time, I let out a small sound of irritation. Then the guy and his granddaughter walked across my path to go to the car. I was getting rather pissed off. The area was so wide open, I am sure he could see I was taking photographs. But anyway, I let it go. Then he came back with his granddaughter and daughter and again they cut right in front of me. This time I looked up at the guy and stared at him. And he was staring at me back and he shot "What?". I told him, "Look, can't you see I am taking photos, must you keep walking in front of me?". His reply shocked me. He said "I know. This is a public park. Why I cannot walk? And I deliberately walked in front of you because you 'tsk' at my daughter". I told him back I knew it was a public park but surely he could see I was doing something and must he and his family need to walk right in front of me. That was when he started throwing all sort of vulgarities and right in front of his granddaughter!. I was stunned. I let go a few choice words of my own before realising that arguing with this type of idiots doesn't work. So I left it at that and continued with my shooting.

Some experts said it is because of our hectic lifestyle and over crowding that causes stress and hence the need to let go steam. But that incident set me thinking. Is it really the over crowding? After all, it was a beautiful morning at East Coast Park, there were very few people. The guy with his family was there obviously for a picnic and a nice time and the stress level at that point should be pretty low. 

I think it has more to do with the new society and "face". In the old days, people were not so rich, live in kampungs and small houses. Not everybody was educated. Generally, the poor and the rich do not mix. Graciousness prevails because everybody was more concerned about eking out a living and has no time for petty quarrels. Also the less educated are not so assertive because they "know their place in society". But now it is different. Everybody is now more affluent and more educated. With that comes a "I am smarter/richer than you attitude and hence the need to assert that position. Like the guy I met. He spoke very good English, obviously a sign of being educated. Drives a car. So he lost it when he felt that he/his family was being insulted when I made the "tsk" sound and he had to defend his family's honour. My actions caused him to lose face so he had to do something. Just like the spitting guy. He lost face when he was told not to jump queue. Same with the cyclist. Here he is an upper class angmoh and probably quite high up in his career and some chinks dared to horn at him and another didn't stop for him? 

So at the end of the day, its all about face. Not so much over crowding. Losing face to some lower life form who dares to stand up to him/her. It will only get worse. Be prepared.....

The Sad Story of Tammy the Puppy

What if Tammy is not a dog but a little child, a toddler? Will we see a statement like that one day?

"Doctors have a responsibility to consider not just the welfare of the patient, but also the concerns and circumstances of the caregivers. Doctors will provide medical advice and administer the necessary treatment to patients, and may at times be called upon to euthanize a patient for various reasons, such as to alleviate their suffering, or if they are aggressive. This is also the practice of the medical profession in the [insert name of countries]

All doctors are trained on the ethics and techniques of euthanasia using the most humane method that is internationally accepted. Before euthanizing a patient, the doctor will conduct the necessary professional assessment and satisfy himself that euthanasia is a reasonable option considering the circumstances. The doctor will ascertain ownership of the patient and discuss with the caregiver the various options available so that the caregiver can make the final informed decision. The decision, however, is ultimately the responsibility and right of caregiver.

In advising the caregiver, the doctor, has to also be mindful of the implications of not acceding to a request for an aggressive child to be euthanized, such as the client's potential distress and safety threats to the caregiver, his/her family, another unknowing adopter or the general public.

MOH has looked into the facts of the case in the media reports. The caregiver had considered alternatives such as putting the child up for adoption before deciding to have her euthanized. The clinic, The [insert name of Clinic], had followed protocol before putting down the child, including discussing with the caregiver the alternatives.

The clinic experienced first-hand the aggressiveness of the patient. Prior to the euthanasia of the child on 7 Oct 2013, other doctors in The Clinic, who examined her also found her behaviour to be hostile, and in subsequent visits the degree of her aggressiveness escalated. On her last visit to the clinic on 7 Oct 2013, she could not be pacified by clinic staff and needed sedation for procedures that required more handling.

While the arrangement between the Orphanage and the adopter is a private matter, MOH would like to stress that only children of suitable temperament and health should be re-homed.

MOH urges calm by all parties concerned, and advises the Orphange to recognise the adopter's good intentions when adopting the child in the first instance and to settle the matter amicably."

Where is our soul, our compassion? Must we cull and kill everything that gets in our way? Monkey, wild boars, dogs, cats... the old and frail? the people of no value to our society? God forbids that we will ever see these days when our society become so callous but sadly I think it will happen. Hopefully, I won't live to see or be one of those who had to be euthanized because I had become "too aggressive" in my demented old age!

Religion and Law

October is Pastor Appreciation Week or so I gathered from my friend in US. Unfortunately, here in Singapore, it will appear that October is pastor bashing week. Or rather, one pastor in particular who has single handledly in one move, wipe off whatever remaining goodwill towards Christianity that the non-Christian has left after the sad saga of the CHC and Lighthouse. 

By now everybody will have known of the challenge that is being mounted by Faith Community Baptist Church against the Ministry of Manpower and the Minister's order to the church to compensate a pregnant employee for their termination of her from her job in the church. For those who are still living in dah dah land, here is the short brief of what happened so far.

There was this married man and this lady. Both worked for FCBC. They had an affair and the lady got pregnant. The man quit the church. She did not. She was asked by the church to forget the man and move on. She refused and after some heeing and hawing, she was fired from her job. One reason given was that she did not breached the implied rule of the church. Another reason was that she was working in the marriage department of the church and her state of affairs was a bad example for other married and to-be married couple. At that point in time, she was already 7 months pregnant. The church did not compensate her for the firing. The lady complained to MOM and after some "investigation", the church was ordered to pay her slightly over $7,000.00 as compensation for wrongful dismissal. The church paid up but has now launched a court action to get a review of the decision by the MOM and quote "the Courts can give guidance on where we stand with reference to the constitutional rights of religious bodies in the management of their religious affairs, which we believe include the hiring and dismissal of staff, the moral standards expected of staff at a level that reflects the ethos and values of the organisation"

The sacking of the woman had already given Christianity a bad name. Where is the compassion, the forgiveness that is always being preached? But having said that, to be fair to the church, I think the church has every right to sack her. She has breached the "rule". Sexual indiscretion is a major no no in many companies notwithstanding that it may not be spelled out in the HR manual. They have counselled her, given her a chance and a choice and she did not bite. So they rightfully terminated her.  But where they went wrong was the failure to compensate her for in lieu notice and in following labour law on termination of pregnant employee. The church argued that its rule book do not allow for compensation in the case of termination. That to me, is pure bullshit! The senior pastors or any other bosses in any organisation will surely have the discretion to waive this and pay out of compassion or pity or whatever reasons they can make up but they failed to do so. Where is thy compassion? 

Now having been slapped in the face by the government, the church like an indignant son who felt he has did not wrong is spoiling for a fight. The thrust of its argument is that the church has a constitutional rights to the management of their religious affairs etc. In simple words, it is saying that it has the right to behave as it deem fits within the rules of its own religious code.

And this is where I find the argument absurd. Let suppose that the Court agrees with the church's argument and rules that the church has the power to enforce its own spiritual code of conduct over its members and employees and that its own law override the country's law. So in this case, the employee sinned (committed adultery) and was fired. Case closed. 

I can imagine what's going to happen next. The Jehovah Witness movement will now come forward and restate it case against its members serving NS. SThe Mormons will said it is their religious rights to practice polygamy. The Islamic movement will want to enforce their hudud laws against their members and the list will go on and on. Is this how we want it to pan out?

The FCBC has stirred a hornet nest that was already buzzing from the CHC crude attempt to finance the Crossover Funds. The rest of the Christian community don't really need this type of adverse publicity. The mega church has grown too big for its boots and is becoming a social menace. Maybe the CHC case and this case is good in the long run if eventually the government steps in to see what really going on behind these million dollar enterprise. 

The Great Nature Debate

Some people from the Nature Society of Singapore are crying foul over the upcoming The North Face 100km Challenge. This is Singapore's premier trail race held annually in the Central Catchment Area. There are a few categories one of which is the 100km distance which is the subject of NSS' wrath. Apparently, the people from NSS are of the opinion that the runners running through the trails at night will upset the night life in the forest.

A similar complain was also made when the race first started in 2009 but despite that the race had continued to be held annually and ironically, grew bigger and bigger with more trail runners taking part.

The NSS people seems to suggest that the 100 + or so of runners who will be running through MacRitchie Reservoir and Bukit Timah will scare the hell out of the animals and forced them to run out onto the roads. Frankly I don't know how they came to such a conclusion. I think that will be the last thing trail runners will want to do. Most people who runs in the trails are nature lovers even if they did not start out that way. How to not fall in love with the great nature when in the trails the air is so much fresher, the sound of insects permeates throughout and there are always sighting of beautiful birds, squirrels, snakes and other interesting creatures..

Tn fact, if we want to be picky, the NSS should direct their wrath at the mountain bikers on bicycle or motorcycle and the casual day hiker. I have seen the damages done to the forest by the bikers especially those on the motor bikes at Tampines Mountain Bike trail and Tampines Quarry. They go all over the forest carving out new trails and in the process killing the plants and running over snakes. The casual hikers comes in big group, some blasting their music so loudly that whatever animals will all be driven away. And worse, they will pluck plants and trample all over the place to get a closer look at them. Then there are the nature photographers. Many time during my runs, I have seen them plucking leaves presumably with an insect or caterpillar on it and securing it to a clamp and photographing it away from the element. If that is not displacement, I don't know what is. Another group of people that the NSS should be going after are the bird photographers. I have heard and read on photography forums of how they go so near to nests that the mother bird flew away and abandon the nest or the chicks are removed from the nest so that they the photographers can take a close up pictures. 

So does that mean that we ban everybody from the forest and only the people from the NSS has the rights to go into the forest? If anything, I think the NSS should work hand in hand with all the other interest groups to cultivate respect for nature and share whatever remaining green that we have on this little island. Maybe then, the collective voice will be much louder and strong enough to be heard and influential enough to get a rethink on the proposed MRT line through the Central Catchment area and the development of Bukit Brown. Otherwise if NSS conttinues with it hard nose stand against all other user of the great reserve, the only loser will the nature that they seek so hard to protect.

The Trouble with Ang Mio in Singapore

First let me declare that I am not a racist or one of those anti-foreigners. But something when I encountered some of these ang mio, I really feel like telling them to go fuck off and get the hell back to where they come from!

Like yesterday when I was at the East Coast Park covering the Tri-Factor Tri. On my way home, I was running along the almost deserted cycling path when I heard a ring and a clearly ang mio lady voice asking me to give way. As every one who have been to East Coast Park will know, the cycling path is pretty wide and did I mentioned it was almost deserted since it was the tail end of the race? And I wasn't walking in the centre of the path but slightly to the left. But still I moved slowly to the side. The ang mo lady with 2 kids and a husband in tow rode pass. And the fucking ang mio man remarked loudly, I think, for my benefit and I quote: "That's the trouble with Singaporean. They can hear you but they ignore you". 

That got me boiling mad. Did they expect me to jump out of the way just because they are riding past? Or do they expect me to stop, stand at attention and salute them? The freaking path is so wide they could easily have rode pass me without any issue. And it was not like I was not giving way but do they seriously expect me to jump aside for them?

And that is the trouble with many ang mio in Singapore. They behave like they own the freaking country and somebody has given them this right to lord it over the locals. When I go running at the Peirce area, I can always hear the ang mio cyclists coming up behind me. They will be the one shouting loudly to all other creatures to get out of their way. Come on, we don't have eyes at the back of our heads. Since they are behind us, shouldn't it be them avoiding us rather than the other way round?

And again back at the tri. I noticed that it is always the ang mio who are shouting "keep left" and not the local. Seriously, its not like they are so good that they are faster than we locals. And when they don't get their way, they do this "jeez" sound in exasperation but is it such a big deal!

I think the ang mio here think too highly of themselves. Just because a few idiotic locals fawn over them and think they are Greek Gods, doesn't mean they are. Don't get me wrong. I know a few ang mio who are pretty nice guy and humble but generally those that I do not know, I can only say that they are a shame and a disgrace to the country  they came from.  

In my work, I get phone calls from all sort of people including ang mio. And I can said for sure the ang mio are the most obnoxious. One of the first question they will ask is "Are you the decision maker" and if not, they refuses to speak to you and demand to speak to someone who can. Who the hell do they think they are? If they have to do cold calls, they are no better than all the other telemarketers out there. And the fact is, they are the one doing the selling whilst I am the one holding the trump card which means they are a lower life form than me!

Gone with the Haze

Along with the haze that came and went, the very loud and visible public over the haze came and disappeared just as fast. Just barely 2 weeks ago, it was as if the whole of Singapore had been stricken with the Ebola disease or the Black Death. Anyway, I think the people has gone into panic mode. In fact, one blogger even claimed in her very eloquently written blog that the haze was worse than SARS! And of course all the anger at the haze were directed at, not surprisingly, the whipping boy of Singapore, the PAP government. People were blaming the gahmen for everything and I sure somewhere out there somebody might actually be accusing the gahmen of starting the haze!

To summarize, the poor gahmen was being blamed for

- failure to anticipate the haze

- lack of a emergency response plan

- impotent and useless in dealing with the Indonesian

- refusing to declare a stop work order and last but not least

- shortage of N95 masks

May be yes the gahmen should have anticipated the haze. After all, it is a yearly affair and I think the gahmen like everybody else were caught flat out by the severity of it this year. But so what if the gahmen had anticipated it? What exactly did the people expect the gahmen to do? Maybe the gahmen should have built a dome over the whole island. I think we are small enough to make it technically possible. So when the haze came, just press a button and the dome will close up like the dome over the new National Stadium. But seriously, what can the gahmen do even if it has anticipated the haze?

People started accusing the gahmen of not knowing what to do. No action plan, response was in bit and pieces. Just like the gahmen expect business to have business continuity plans for all sort of scenario, the gahmen should have one for haze. Really? Like maybe haze hit 200 psi, do this, hit 300 psi do that and so on. Maybe the gahmen do have one but for one reason or another, did not activate it. Or maybe they were really caught flat out. But this is the first time Singapore encounter something like this so next time round will be more prepared.

One thing that pissed people off was the seemingly impotency of the gahmen in dealing with the Indonesian. But I really don't know what the people expect the gahmen to do. Just fly our fire fighters to the Riau Island and put out the fires? Or invade the country and force the Indonesian gahmen to do something? These people don't  seem to realise that this is not a typical HDB neighbour to neighbour spat. If the Indonesian gahmen doesn't want to do anything or is too slow to do anything, there is nothing the gahmen can do other than to continue with diplomatic overtures. Or are these people expecting the gahmen to impose trade sanctions, cut diplomatic ties? 

Some people wanted a stop work order to be issued and got pissed when that did not materialise. I don't understand this demand. Stop work order for who? The whole country? Haze or no haze, life has to go on. So if there is a stop work order, who does it apply to? Only those people who works in offices? Surely not, after all the people who breath in the most haze are those who work outdoor like the transport workers, construction works, police etc So if these people all get to stay at home, who is going to make sure the rest of us office workers get to and from home? And another thing I am puzzled about? Exactly at which level of psi do the people want the stop work order to be issued? Above 300? Say the PSI hit 301, rhe gahmen said stop work - all go home. Reached home 1 hour later (assuming the public transport workers ignore the stop work order and sacrifice their health for us), the PSI drops to 250, everybody goes back to  work? Definitely the gahmen cannot use the hourly or 3 hourly PSI reading to issue such an order. There has to be some consistency and certainty and  based on the 24 hours average reading, there was no ground to call for all. Oh wait, some people are accusing them of manipulating the PSI chart. Why will they want to do that in the first place.

And the elusive N95 mask. I find it funny that people were rushing all over the place to track down the mask. Why do they want it in the first place when they don't even know how or bother wearing it properly. I seen people wearing it with only the top strap, some wear it so loose maybe because it is so uncomfortable that it defeats the whole purpose of wearing it. And the only reason there were not enough mask was because people were hoarding it, buying more than they need and scalpers hoping to make a quick kill. Some people even calculated that the gahmen stockpile of 9 million was insufficient based on their flawed calculation of how long the mask can be worn. Whatever it is, the gahmen do have a stockpile. Just do them expect them to floor the market with it the minute the haze appear. There has to be an orderly distribution of the mask and only after the retail shops have run out which should not be the case if people did not buy more than they need.

Anyway, when the haze returns which it certainly will, hopefully the people will take it in their strides and not blame the gahmen so quickly. After all, they will be just affected as we are.

Go the Extra Mile for Service?

Recently there was this survey on service staff commissioned by the 'Go the Extra Mile for Service (GEMS) Up' project, a joint movement involving SPRING Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency, the Institute of Service Excellence at the Singapore Management University, and the National Trades Union Congress. The result of the survey shows that 56 per cent said workers in places such as restaurants, transport, shops and hotels performed "below expectations" when it came to doing more.

Why am I not surprised? My personal experience bears this out.

Recently, a group of us went for dinner. It was about 8.30 pm and we were at Citylink Mall. We walked into a ¾ empty Japanese spaghetti restaurant. As far as our eyes could see, there were only 3 tables occupied and the staff were cleaning the place. The group of us asked for a table for 7. One of the staff told us to wait. Initially I thought we had to wait while they join the smaller 2 seater tables together but as the wait dragged into the minutes without the staff doing anything, we got impatient and repeated our request. The staff than told us we had to wait for the table in the corner which was occupied by a small group of 6. But the place was practically empty and we failed see why they couldn't accommodate us by joining the other tables together. And then while we were still standing there, another staff told us rather curtly to wait outside. 

Of course, we got pissed off and we went outside - to another outlet! There was no way I was going to spend good money on this type of place with such poor service. 

On another occasion, I was browsing at a camera shop at Funan. I had just finished my run and was in running attire. I saw a bag that I thought I might like and wanted to take a closer look but since I was dripping in sweat and rather smelly after the run, I decided to go and change first and come back to the shop. It was around 8.15pm then. After changing, I came back and walked into the shop but before I could do anything else, the salesman told me curtly that they were “closed”. I was stunned. There was no customer earlier on when I was inside and still no customer now and since I had come back a second time, any good salesman should have smell a sale here but instead of doing that, he chased me out! What the fuck!

Coming back to the survey, my 2 examples show that despite all that retail bosses have said about training and good service, the message obviously have not sink into their staff. What I suspect in both cases was that they were on the verge of closing for the day and did not want to stay back later than necessary, not even for a sale. Got sale or no sale, it is their boss’ problems and they still get paid come what may. So indeed like the findings of the survey, service staff here are not going the extra mile. Like that how can we hope to become the shopping capital of Asia?

Trains, Monkeys and Dogs and Goodnu

Why do people buy houses near MRT for the convenience but after buying that  cry father cry mother about the noise from the train and the station! MRT station announcement too loud, train pulling in too loud, people talking on the train platform too loud! http://sgforums.com/forums/2080/topics/406637

Why do people buy homes near to facilities and then complain about the crowd and the noise? Just like  a neighbour at my old place. He had bought an unit on the ground floor near to the children playground and swimming pool so that his children can be near them.  And guess what, he then started complaining about the noise from the other children playing there! 

Why do people buy houses near nature reserve and then got all flustered about forest creatures invading their homes. http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/ava-moves-control-monkey-problem-bukit-timah-20130429. Now I am very sure that the very thing that prompted them to buy a house there was to be close to nature. And nature will come with,very naturally the snakes, monkeys and insects. So why do these residents now kbkb over the monkeys? 

Ok maybe they bought the house from the showflat and never got to see the surrounding areas.  In that case they must be freaking blind and goondu! 

So what brought on this ranting? There this joker who wrote to the papers to complain about being chased by dogs while he was cycling at Bukit Brown. http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/cyclist-chased-pack-dogs-bukit-brown-20130602 Bukit Brown is not exactly a sanitized park. Hell, it is not even a park. It is just wild overgrown grasses and plants and I am very sure beside the “silent” inhabitants, there are living inhabitants like snakes, wild dogs, maybe even a wild boar or two. So when you go riding in the heart of all these and kena chased by dogs, why blame them? Blame yourself for intruding into their territory.

Next thing we know, somebody going to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve will be complaining about the crocodiles and other wild animals there and demanding that they be put away for the "safety" of the public! http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20130603-427143.html.

The Saga of the Dustbin

There is this dustbin along the pavement just next door to my office building. It is between me and my route to the MRT station.

Everyday hordes of office workers gather around the bin to smoke. Some will lean against the wall of the building and some will stand in the middle of the pavement. Whatever it is, I have to walk through a tunnel of smoke almost daily to get to/from the office. 

A colleague fed up with the situation, repeatedly called the NEA only to be told by them that their enforcement officers found no offence of illegal smoking and could not do anything! So it was a lost cause for us until the new anti-smoking measures kicked in on 15 January this year.

The following day after that, I emailed the NEA to "feedback" about the situation. And I got this reply.

"2 We had conducted checks at both locations but no one was seen smoking within the prohibited smoking area. However during our enforcement checks, smokers at the non-prohibited areas were advised to be considerate and mindful of non-smoking commuters and patrons. We had also requested the stakeholder at 156 Cecil Street to move the bin further away from the building.

4. With the extension of the smoking ban on 15 January 2013, public areas such as covered walkways have been designated as non smoking zone. We are engaging the building management on the smoking ban and we will take the opportunity to remind them to ensure that no one smoke at the prohibited areas of the building. We will also continue to conduct enforcement checks at the site."

Very efficient. I thought. Imagine my delight when 2 days later, the dustbin was removed! But the joy was misplaced! The smokers continued to smoke there. No dustbin? No problem. Just drop the cigarette butts on the ground.

This just show how not only are smokers reckless with their own and other health, they are socially irresponsible. But then again I don't blame them. After all, they have to be quite a bit wrong up there to ingest all those nicotine and tar into their body,

Anyway I shot off another email to NEA and they promised to send someone around to book the litterbugs.

"Thank you for the email.

We will deploy our enforcement officers to carry out checks and book anyone found littering the public areas".

But guess what? The freaking dustbin is back! Yes I figured NEA think it is easier to let the smokers puff away then to either enforce the no-smoking rule or nab the litter bugs!

Golf Courses

The URA, JTC, Land Office or whatever authorities claimed that the fish farms in Pasir Ris have to go as the land is required for industrial development. Same with the dragon kiln in Jurong. One URA official was quoted as saying “Not all agriculture activities can be accommodated in the long term. General farming activities such as ornamental fish farming can be catered to in the interim where land is not needed for other critical needs”

In this statement, I can easily replace agriculture activities with ‘nature reserve’; “woodlands”; ‘open areas” and general farming activities……farming” with Bukit Brown, Dragon Kiln and still end up with the same point i.e. non viable or economically beneficial activities will always end up the loser when competing for land in Singapore.

Why do I say so? Are we really so short of land for industrial development that we need to acquire 21ha of fish farm lands or 2 smallish dragon kiln? As I stated in my earlier post, Singapore do not a lot and I really mean a lot ie all 1600 ha of land and that is our golf courses.

Singapore, according to an SSC report, has a total of 12 golf clubs with 22 golf courses and 3 driving ranges.. According to the same SSC report, there are about 55,000 golfers in Singapore of which about 30,000 are members of these clubs. Contrast these with the 25 public pools for about half a million swimmers!

Fish Farms and Golf Courses

I have been visiting the fish farms in Singapore for the longest time ever since I discovered the fish farms at Old Tampines Road.ever. I love going there to look at the fishes especially the koi  It was a sad day when the whole area was acquired for a new expressway. Fortunately, some of the farms eventually moved to Pasir Ris Farmway. Although the area has lost its charm as compared to the country like feel of Old Tampines Road, it was still a place where I spent quite a number of weekends just gazing at the fishes and getting replenishment for the fish tanks at home.

So it came as a shock to read in the papers and found out that the fish farms has got to go again because the area is needed for “industrial” development. The 13 affected fish farms including the popular Mainland Tropical Fish Farm occupy an area of 21.6ha of land. What I don’t understand is why the farms have to go? Does Singapore really need more industrial space? From what I heard and read, everybody is complaining about the expensive land cost here, scarcity of workers and moving out to Johore and China. So where is the demand for the industrial land coming from?

Of HDB flats and Executive Condominium

Prices of property – private or public has continued to increase despite various measures implemented by the government.. The people from Redas have been making a lot of noise about the government’s curb on property. They are warning of dire consequences should the government increases the curbs. What dire consequences? And to whom? Redas warned that quote “decline in property prices might lead to “undesirable consequences” as 90 of Singaporean households are homeowners”. Really? How?

I am a HDB flat owner. As far as I am concerned, it does not matter what my unit will fetch. So what if its goes up to a $1m. Can I cash in on it, sell it and buy a similar size unit for less and keep the profits? Can I go to the bank and take out a loan on the value of the property? The truth is unless I am prepared to downgrade, whatever value my property appreciate to is of no use to me. What if it goes down then? Obviously if I sell it, I may loose some money but if I stay put, does it really matter? Will the banks call upon me to top up the loan? I really doubt so. So I don’t think there are any undesirable consequences of a slight decline in property prices. If anything, the only undesirable consequences will be the bottom line of the developers who have been bidding sky high prices for the land and trying to squeeze blood from the buyers. What with the penthouse and million dollar price tag for an Executive Condominium? 

Me think the government should continue to implement more measures to curb property prices. Maybe first start with the Executive Condominium scheme. Last I checked, EC are for the sandwich class – the people who earns not more than $12,000.00 and cannot afford private property and do not qualify for HDB subsidised housing. But if developers are building million dollar EC and people are snapping them up then maybe these people surely they don’t belong to the sandwich class? I say for a start - scrap the EC scheme. Why should the government allow developers to buy land on the cheap and sell them high? Next remove the subsidy for EC since there appear to be no more price disparity between the EC and the low end condominium. 

And while we are on the subject of measures, I think the government is not doing enough to curb the rising prices. I for one could like to see more restrictions on the rental of HDB market. One of the reasons for the increase in HDB prices is that somehow despite the rules, many HDB owners are renting out their flats and staying in private property. This is something I don’t understand. HDB should not allow HDB flats to be used for passive income. It should be solely for the owner’s own occupation unless there is a really valid reason like overseas posting. If a person can afford both HDB and private property, then the person must stay in the HDB flat and rent out the private property and pay higher rated tax on it. Blocking this avenue of income should hopefully ease the pressure of some HDB units which are perceived to be favoured by cash rich PR for rental income.

Speaking of rental, the IRAS has announced that property tax for HDB flats will increase this year because rental value for them has increased. What! Again I am dumbstruck! According to HDB, in the third quarter of 2012, about 43000 approvals were granted for sub-letting and it is based on these data that the so called market value has been revised. That is like how many % of the total stock of HDB flats? Again according to information, there are currently about 900,000 units of HDB flats not counting those under construction. That makes it errrr 4.7% of flats rented out. Then how can the minority’s actions affects the majority’s pockets? Granted that the government is going to give a subsidy equivalent to the increase in tax to cover the increases. But why go through this charade in the first place? 

And while we are still on the subject of rental, HDB has about 45000 rental flats available for direct rentals to needy and those in transit. This is not enough to meet the demand and there is a 6 months waiting list. So why the hell is HDB renting out its flats to corporation to house their foreign workers? Like the SBS bus drivers. Something is wrong somewhere if the need of our citizens are not given priority over foreign employees of local corporations. Surely these companies can afford to build their own dormitories for these workers instead of competing with our needy for them. I can’t imagine the plight of these families who have to share a small apartment with strangers while foreigners sleep soundly on their own double decker bed!

Minister Khaw – can you do something about these ridiculous affairs?