now you know why there are quitters
This is where most people make a mistake…I have tried to explain that we are different. We are a city. We are not a country.
russian butter and asian values
back in the USSR, Russians know that when reports about the dangers of butter appear in the press, it was a sure sign that people would soon face a butter shortage.
here in Asia, when you read about politicians talking about “Asian values” in the press, it’s a sure sign that people would soon be confused with Confucianism, neutralised with sweet Namastes and sodomised as we Sawatdee-ka and bend.
don’t bend.
Commentary: To The Devotees of Western Democracy and Human Rights
For a very poor Editorial, Ho Cheow Seng’s To The Devotees of Western Democracy and Human Rights has one of the most devastating opening paragraphs I have read in recent times:
lap-dog sheet
william safire once referred to the Straits Times as a “lap-dog sheet”.
as an owner of a cavalier king charles spaniel, i’m certain that the dog in question did not deserve such a lowly comparison.
how old fogies can do NS
the prime minister, a former brigadier-general, is unwilling to be a platoon commander for aliens-turned-residents above 30 years old.
hence, they are unsuitable for national service.
it might have slipped his mind that Singapore has a superb track record of working with people way past their prime.
my humble suggestion is to create the position of mentor platoon commander for them, pay these old fogies (with respect) millions of dollars and let them serve out the rest of their days.
perhaps in war, they can be reading newspapers and doing physiotherapy while simultaneously bringing our enemies back to earth from their highfalutin ideas.
(Hat tip: TOC)
the eye is glass
fear, revulsion and suspense at the national library
Both horror and thriller are genres usually used for Fiction titles. In Horror fiction, the aim is the incite feelings of fear and/or revulsion and there is usually some element of the supernatural. In Thrillers, the aim is to excite the reader with suspense and action (usually dangerous action, eg crime, espionage), usually with a climatic ending.
2 works of fiction are in great demand at the national library: Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol (number 74 in the holds list, 105 copies for reservation) and Men In White (number 130 in the holds list, 124 copies for reservation).
guests of honor
a colleague told me recently that she did not understand my sense of humor.
i must admit – it (my humor not my esteemed colleague) is rather peculiar.
for example, when i attend events, i always laugh when they refer to certain visiting PAP ministers as guests of honor.
a t-shirt designed for the men in white
i thought i dedicate this t-shirt to martin, who depsite all his qualities, makes mistakes like the rest of us.
even the internet does not want you to join the PAP
website also white white.
accessed 17 September 2009, 20:22
charities from the PAP’s playbook
i think charities should take a leaf from the health minister’s playbook and position themselves as economically-viable (prosperous even!) talent management agencies and not as no-hopers non profiteers.
here’s a hastily done spec poster for these visionary charities:
the health minister and dollars and cents
Khaw Boon Wan, the health minister, ends his blog post (via online citizen) on pneumococcal vaccination with:
Every child saved is a valuable addition to our talent pool.
I would have thought – every child saved is EVERY CHILD SAVED.
maybe that isn’t enough for the minister.
the follow up question will of course be: if the child is without talent, is she not worth saving?
Related: charities from the pap’s playbook
how is a mosque obscure?
ST:
THE Wireless@SG network has expanded to even obscure places such as a mosque, the zoo and the nature reserve at Sungei Buloh.
don’t give it up
Business Times:
After he suffered a stroke last year at age 73, Leong Fook Wing, founder of the original Sin Kee chicken rice stall at Margaret Drive, had only one thing on his mind. He summoned his son Benson to his bedside and asked: ‘Do you still remember the recipe? Don’t give it up.’ After being assured that the family recipe was in safe hands, the old man lapsed into a coma and died five days later.
who is they
Han Tan Juan in Invisible City:
How can history be made by only winners and not the losers? The passions and aspirations of the Chinese school students in the ’50s and the ’60s have their purpose. Do not think lightly of it. The historical status of Chinese school students has not been given a proper conclusion. This is regretful. Are they waiting for all the Chinese school students to disappear from the face of the earth before giving us a fair judgment?
suggestions for Lee Kuan Yew prizes/awards
according to this breaking news in the ST, the MM (not mental) has many prizes/awards named after him including the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship to Encourage Upgrading.
after reading his rebuttal of NMP Viswa Sadasivan, i humbly suggest we add the following prize:
the Lee Kuan Yew Award for Bringing the House Back To Earth While Doing Physiotherapy And Reading Newspapers
who watches the taxi operators?
You may wonder: if the demand is not there, why there is still an oversupply? The answer lies in the fact that the taxi operating companies do not care about the demand in ridership. They only care about collecting rentals from the drivers. In the time of economic downturn, many people become jobless and they are the abundant source of supply of potential taxi drivers. The taxi companies recruit these people, train them, give them the license, and get them sign a taxi hiring contract for at least 6 months. In my case, if I quit within 6 months, I have to pay the company $300 for breaching contract. If I quit after 6 months, that is not a problem for the company either, as they constantly run the “training course” to recruit new taxi drivers. The government figures say that fresh taxi drivers’ license is given out at the rate of more than 5000 a year.
Every day, they transfer $77.04 from my bank account, even if I am sick or unable to work for any reason. If my car is in the workshop for repair, the rental will be offset by so-called “down time”. The way they calculate “down time”, the rental divided by all the minutes in 24 hours, is really not fair to people like me who work in one man operation, because it disregards our rest time. But, rest or no rest, sick or well, it is not their concern. The thing they stressed over and over again during the orientation day was that we have to have “sufficient funds” in our bank account by 12 O’clock midnight everyday.
we have sailors, we have airmen but do we have zombie killers
BBC News reporting on what i always knew (a shout-out to Total Defence):
If zombies actually existed, an attack by them would lead to the collapse of civilisation unless dealt with quickly and aggressively…
In their scientific paper, the authors conclude that humanity’s only hope is to “hit them [the undead] hard and hit them often”.
Temasek 1 You and Me 0
When Ho Ching, Temasek’s CEO describes her company’s investments as “the family jewels”, I keep wondering “whose family?”.
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