Singapore Mirror - December 2013

It is curtains soon. How quickly the year is coming to an end. What have we achieved? What are the things we wanted to do but never got to doing them. Whatever they are, we always or at least I hope it is always for you that we will all look back fondly. If it is not fond then do not look back. Learn from it but not pretend they did not take place. We must never miss the lessons learnt.

Singapore is a small place opened to the world for business, for gambling at casinos, for shopping with their tourist dollars, for work, for education, for living, for anything and everything.

Crocs - Even crocodiles came over. The recent one at Sungei Buloh. Experts said it is alright and you must have read their piece and it was teachers and some very young children who came across it. I do not doubt the experts but sometimes there are changes or things we do not understand so it is better that we have some experts or rangers monitor the situation and find good ways to increase safety. I mean I saw a snake on the eighth floor of a multi-storey car park recently. Go explain. I now train myself to be prepared at all times even for another snake, croc or riot.

Thai Protest - The Thai protest is a peaceful one you often hear people say. It is true and I love Thailand and her people, the food and the culture. It is an internal problem they are having. Singaporeans by and large also love going to Thailand to eat, shop and be merry. Some folks have already forked out for the trip so they say just go - "mai pen rai", others who were offered refunds later refused to accept and insisted on going. The protest no doubt was set up as a peaceful demonstration but when you talk about 10,000 and 100,000 people, it becomes a mob that can get unruly once something trigger it. 

An over-enthusiastic protester, policeman or soldier and all hell can break loose. Somebody may just create a spark and there will be trouble. If someone shoots from a firearm, the bullets have no eyes. In a rampage, you can't run fast enough. In fact, you do not have to be directly impacted. Just getting stuck at hotels or airports with little resources left or when you have to queue a long time to get water or to pee will change you sense of danger. Singaporeans' seems to have lost some of that because we have not seen any. There were some interviewed who said they wanted to see a protest of such magnitude. Good luck and take care to my friends there. 

Riot - I had originally not wanted to comment but there were various views that were not so right or unfair on all accounts. We never had anything like that and while I have read or heard about it, I have never seen one in my time. A Singapore policeman's job is not easy because we are too safe yet we should attend every case expecting the worst. Those who have been to Serangoon Road will know that there is a huge congregation of foreign workers there and they often spilled onto the roads. It is something waiting to happen.

Human beings need freedom and space so banning alcohol there will keep the place toned down for awhile but they could turn up at Geylang for drinks. Then what? I think that if one day there is a racial riot here it would not involve a single Singaporean because Singaporeans are busy making money and planning holidays if you know what I mean. Most shops found that the most profitable business was to sell alcohol. Why were so many licences issued to sell alcohol in the first place. We have to look into many aspects to find what went wrong so that it will not be repeated. We should not be too quick to blame them using a broad brush. I see them working very hard at construction sites. I see foreign workers clearing rubbish in the rain. I see them climbing high up to cut trees.

Whether you are a policeman/woman, ambulance officer or from the Civil Defence the people in the front line should be thought about. That was my first thought when I saw the video of vehicles being overturned and set on fire. I was asking if there were Singaporean officers inside. It was so serious that I ditched the soccer match I was watching. It was a good real life experience for our Home Team. They report to an Officer-in-charge who reports to the Commissioner who reports to a Minister. I am sure they have been told to show restraint. 

There was one person who wrote that the police should have shot them with their pistol but wouldn't it escalate the trouble? Quite a lot of people who spoke to me said we were too soft. Perhaps we are managing a perception, a PR that we treat our foreign workers well? In my time, the SOC was called the PRU or Police Reserve Unit and later called Task Force. They were simply known as the legendary "ang chia" meaning red car. Those days , these officers were burly fellows who patrolled trouble spots in troops of at least six officers. They often showed and make their presence felt. All gangsters and protesters would run when they see them. 

When there are too many people they become a mob then an unruly mob. They build up courage from one another. If they were drunk, then worse. You see in their own villages, if someone got knocked down, the rich men with their cars always got away. Even in old days Singapore, I often heard that if you knocked down someone at a kampung, you have to run because they will just beat you up first and talk later. So when they started pelting and the police protected the bus driver, they may have thought that he was escaping. In any case, there is no excuse. We can't afford to let this happen again for sure. Let's bring back our "ang chia" patrol. All those who were rioting that night certainly wish to be anonymous. Let's manage the situation well and fairly.

Anonymous - When the threat came, there were actually some people young and old who supported it which surprised me. The only reason they gave were that the government must not try to control the Internet. I do not disagree with this view that the Internet should be kept free. You have to be discerning to figure out what is real and what is not. However, we do not know who are the Anonymous and if they so wanted, they could wreak havoc everywhere - to your bank account or CPF (more added is okay but what if deducted and transferred to their account), cause troubles on the highways, airport, etc. and how do you support people you do not know? You just can't. Anyone can be anonymous. Anyone can get a mask. 



This is why the government need to connect to the people differently. There exists resentment which can be deep rooted if left as it is. The real Anonymous are highly professional and not so easily caught thought they can get caught. Problem is spending too much resources to track them. There are different levels of them so there is a need to beware. What you do not want to become is to be Anonymous like those who got caught and became no longer anonymous. Security job is now in high demand! There are all kinds of affairs everywhere. So what is new?

Ashley Madison - Affairs of the heart and on-line too. So this is the day and age where people can freely have affairs? If you have a happy family why lust after things that are not yours or you do not need? Everything in life comes with "cause and effect". For every action there will be a reaction. The history of  mankind have shown up all of Man's folly. So change their tag line to "Life is short, do not have an affair". Banning them is only symbolic. 

Even without being on line, affairs are everywhere. People can start an affair walking at the super market. You ban one and ten will come up. There was a woman who went for such on line dating and got her date. She ended up meeting her father-in-law. In golf you can play 18 holes and still recover from earlier mistakes. In life, there are no dress rehearsals. It is all about a moment of folly. 

With the Internet, twitter, face book, stomp, etc. do not be surprise that more people are creating videos and pictures and hope to go viral or to put up a facade that is not really who they are. They are just attention seeking. Beware. Do not believe everything you see on face book or anything on the Internet. 

It is the same thing with on line casino. We have to educate and arm people with these warnings. Dangers lurk at every corner of our life. This is why values in life are so important because when you understood all the right values, the whole world could change but your values will not and must not.

DNC - It was long awaited then there was a lifeline thrown to businesses to still send text and fax messages to existing customers. They should just stick to the original decision. Well, I mean if a company sent a thousand messages and got a sale, good luck to them but these messages are just too many throughout the day and is just a plain waste of every body's time and resources. Ditto the phone calls. Think of a better way to attract business please and yes you should not ask the people to opt out. You should consider everyone out and if they so wanted then to opt in.

MCE - I have not used it to comment but reading it and hearing from friends it seems like MCE stood for Most Congested/Confused Expressway. 

I was taking a bird's eye view of the container port when I saw...



Is this part of the MCE before it was opened?



















Happy New Year! - Generally 2013 was not a good year for many but I am sure some others have benefited in other ways. The important thing for us should be to still be thankful and grateful and yes can't wait to kick the year out! Let us hope that the light from 2014 that we can see is not an oncoming train. 

Meanwhile, I borrow a quote I saw from an article to wish you:

"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye."

It takes a minute to find a special person. An hour to appreciate them. A day to love them and an entire life to forget them.

I wish you good health, peace, joy, success and happiness for the New Year! Stop looking and be that special person in 2014. 

Auld Lang Syne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acxnmaVTlZA