Singapore Mirror (May) - Take A Look At Ourselves
Many people would be scared if they saw in the mirror, not their faces but their character. Therefore, we will need to see that Man in the mirror - up close and personal for the character. I am talking about you! This is why Singapore and the world needs a mirror not for Narcissus to fall in love with himself but to see our character and reflect on our thoughts.
Singaporeans Fare Poorly In Spoken English?
Is it our education system? Our culture unfortunately has low tolerance for failure and/or rejection. Edison learnt 9,999 ways how not to build a light bulb. If he were Singaporean, we will still be living in the dark. So too, Newton whose life could have been quite different if the apple there became a durian here. We need more visionary leaders and companies built to last. Here is a song for the weekend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Uh2G7WoXsU (Built To Last - Melee)
Do we still have critical life skills, original thoughts, ideas and the ability to communicate effectively? Problem solving is a good skill and you will do well to have this skill set but there are people who can't or refuse to identify/acknowledge a problem. So firstly, you need to know the right problems. Everything points to play where one would be curious, where imagination is stirred and a spirit of discovery imbibed. Let your children and yourself play more often.
Our students ace all the toughest exams but Singaporeans fare poorly in spoken English? Why? Is it because they lack confidence to articulate their views? Singaporeans tend to be quiet at meetings and as a result may appear ignorant. There are people who could put on a show even if they knew little and has little substance, Singaporeans or not.
How can Singaporeans improve their spoken English? You need to develop confidence. How do you develop confidence? You have to engage, articulate, argue, debate, learn how to persuade, how to communicate your ideas and thoughts and think on your feet not just wanting to have it your way or the highway.
The problem has always been that when you were in school, you were taught to keep quiet and not to ask stupid questions. Then at work, when you are outspoken, your boss thinks you are a trouble-maker or trying to challenge him and you hurt his ego.
Excelling in school does not mean you will excel at the work place or in the international market. The world is never a standard place. It is rapidly changing, relentlessly. Evolve or die. Singapore, Hong Kong, S. Korea, Taiwan and China are all successful countries and have students who excel but perhaps our culture creates fixed mindsets of what the government have of the people, what teachers think of students and what management expect from employees. When you learn direct from books, you get standard answers. What are more important are your original thoughts and opinions!
Only curious people ask questions and then they learn. Asking questions are not a challenge to the authority of leaders. Not asking makes one foolish for a lifetime. Are you able to carry an interesting conversation and command the attention of your listeners in the first place?
How often do you have leaders who know everything? Before you could finish your sentence, they cut you off and say: "I know, I know...''. ''Boss, as I was saying...'' Boss: "I know I know" so you kept quiet since he already knew that you wanted to tell him that he has left his fly open. Great countries, organisations and leaders understood that they do not have or owned all the answers. The great ones are great listeners. Those who think they know everything will go down the drain in due time. Listen and listen and you will learn a lot more. That is why God gave you two ears and one mouth.
What about Singaporeans who lived in a Western country for two years and returned to speak in Western slang and accent like they grew up and lived there for forever? What about those who when talking to ang moh have to speak like them? Singaporeans speak in monotone - flat with no highs and no lows so it is difficult for others to understand what we are saying. Anyway, we should speak properly and there is no need to sound like a Westerner when you speak.
What about Singaporeans who lived in a Western country for two years and returned to speak in Western slang and accent like they grew up and lived there for forever? What about those who when talking to ang moh have to speak like them? Singaporeans speak in monotone - flat with no highs and no lows so it is difficult for others to understand what we are saying. Anyway, we should speak properly and there is no need to sound like a Westerner when you speak.
S. Korea Ferry Sinking - Wonder how we humans are often suspicious of others and yet at a drop of a hat, you fly on a plane, get transported by boats and ferry, etc. without knowing more like who is your Captain, what is the quality of the company and the condition of their staff and equipment, etc. Do you just want cheap?
Remember, how a little kindergarten girl at a beach in Phuket saved the lives of many when she remembered being taught that when the ocean recedes, it signals that a tsunami is coming. We have often been taught to be obedient. So if ever you are told to stay in your cabins when a ferry is sinking I think that is when you should be street smart and disobey.
Remember, how a little kindergarten girl at a beach in Phuket saved the lives of many when she remembered being taught that when the ocean recedes, it signals that a tsunami is coming. We have often been taught to be obedient. So if ever you are told to stay in your cabins when a ferry is sinking I think that is when you should be street smart and disobey.
The ferry sank fast because it was reported that it was over weight with carrying too much cargo. Commercialism is fed by greed. Greed kills so be very careful wherever you are because when you are greedy you do not know it. It is often too late. Also, sometimes, the few people who disobey are not necessary trouble-makers and they could have saved lives. Each time something like that happened, it is once too many.
Leadership Lesson From Man Utd.
I have given my two cents worth previously:
http://gforce-guru.blogspot.sg/2014/04/manchester-united-what-went-wrong.html
Sir Alex Ferguson has gone to Harvard for some good reasons due to his success. Even if some folks loathed him, he has his way to success. Few people saw it coming but if you had been following my commentary in this blog in the last couple of seasons I have articulated about it. All political and corporate leaders should learn from it. Some times the mistakes you make in life can make it difficult to recover. Check out some great soccer teams of the past like Derby County and Leeds United for reference.
Some leaders pick their successor for their personal benefit not for their club, organisation or country. There are many qualities that we can aspire to or emulate from Sir Alex but not transition, succession and continuation which he failed. My conclusion is simple: In this world there are many good or even great leaders. They may have courage or conviction, vision or inspiration but few, very few are responsible leaders.
World Cup Soccer On TV - Here we go again. They are giving it free to those who are current subscribers but you have to sign a new two year contract. Isn't that the same as arm-twisting? They understood our weaknesses that we like the EPL and the World Cup. MDA has failed to explain why other countries can get if for free or are only paying a fraction of what we are going to pay.
We are not even asking for free. Other countries are also price-takers from FIFA but the next highest price are like half of what we are going to pay. I was also very surprised that a minister came out to defend the telcos. What we really need is competition. Period. If we eventually completely fail to have to World Cup on TV then so be it.
We are not even asking for free. Other countries are also price-takers from FIFA but the next highest price are like half of what we are going to pay. I was also very surprised that a minister came out to defend the telcos. What we really need is competition. Period. If we eventually completely fail to have to World Cup on TV then so be it.
Service - Many people confused themselves with service and servitude. To serve is an honor and something you should take pride. The other is a form of slavery. In many organisations you will observe poor service attitudes because management just pay lip service by simply proclaiming that we are customer service oriented without even understanding what it means. Meantime, I also observed that many individuals who themselves could not provide good service or are rude and crude yet expect others to serve them well. When serving others they are poor but when they get out of the office and become a customer they are so demanding. Everyone should took a hard look at themselves in the mirror. If you happen to be in the service industry then there is even greater shame.
I learnt from a friend that a lady was complaining about a long queue to get into a popular Japanese restaurant. When she finally got their seats and finished eating there was also a queue to pay. She created a scene by shouting that it is ridiculous and if they had to queue to pay then she is not paying. This type of customers should be thrown out. Never despise anyone who serve. When was the last time you compliment someone who provided good service? Did you bother to tell the manager about the waiter's good service. If he is held up as a good example and if rewarded then his other colleagues would like to do the same. Sometimes, some friends and I would tell waiters where they went wrong and correct them. Singaporean customers are too demanding. They want everything quick. Put a notice at your restaurant: "We provide quick service. No matter how long it takes."
Singapore Has Become Spoiled And Elitist
Law Minister K. Shanmugam cited an excellent example of a school girl and her domestic helper. The domestic helper was carrying her school bag and a big bag of groceries trying to keep up with the girl who was carrying an umbrella but it had stopped raining and the girl passed on the umbrella to the helper too while she walked with her hands free. How come we never teach our children to treat our domestic helpers with respect and compassion?
Where is the empathy? Parents should lead by example or the children will do what you do. Otherwise, Singapore will become a nation where school children could ace all their exam papers but can't even understand kindness and compassion in their hearts. Singaporeans are also lacking in hunger or we are no longer hungry. Perhaps one day I am going to write about the "Hunger Games".
A Better Singapore
We must have less reliance on the government and Singaporeans have to become active citizens, more politically savvy and mature so as to be able to think critically and make better decisions. If only a few people know how to use the fire extinguisher then it would be big trouble if Singapore were to be on fire. It is better to train and equip everyone with that knowledge and be properly equipped.
Singapore must learn to accept diversity of views and disagreements but need not be divisive and know where and when to close ranks. Otherwise do we look to the future with hope or despair? There seems to be a disconnect from my observations and by talking to people. I was a Clarke Quay for a business dinner one night and we were served by foreigners, entertained foreigners and everyone walking around mostly do not resembled Singaporeans. I thought I was in a foreign country. For who did we build Singapore for?
I am concerned about our young Singaporeans. They never saw Singapore's transition and their thinking are totally different. Also are they are feeling a sense of despair over their future? They and I are also concerned as a result of our elitist schools and the production of scholars who may be very smart but when parachuted into their ivory towers without going through the ropes will never understand or gain the respect of people they are leading. Do we also not suffer from group think? Often, these group think happens in business organisations too and because the boss likes it, so it shall be.
CPF
We all know the CPF is good for us to buy a house and for retirement. Some will have very critical or absurd views on the issue. Even among some Singaporeans they feel that people who took all their CPF monies would squander all away in no time. I can agree on that but people who squander would have been squandering all their life not just after they collected their retirement funds.
Those who gamble have already been gambling before the casinos here were built. Many people I know including me has yet to step into one. Others would waste it other things like women, mistresses or setting up another family in a nearby country but there are many who have lived responsibly to get to 55. How to get here in one piece and still at least financially viable at this age if they have misbehaved and mismanaged their lives? Also at that age some are already grandfathers and if you still do not know how to live your life, pray tell who can help you?
There are some folks who just wanted to go for a holiday but could not really afford one and looking forward to that retirement joy only to see their dreams fizzled out. Some people might die at 54 crawling to their CPF and never reached it or they may go at 56, 65 or whatever age. Not everyone is going to live to 82. What if a retiree decided to be entrepreneurial and needed some funds from his retirement savings to open a cafe or bakery shop which has been his life long dream? Young people looking at the situation now must be thinking what their minimum sum must look like come their turn or maybe they are supposed to live to 90 or 100? All these are causing anxiety.
Now you work in a company and the boss or the management says that they are afraid you may squander away your resources so they had better keep part of your salary and bonuses, etc. and reimburse to you gradually since you may go womanising and gambling. How would you feel? I spoke to folks who are in their sixties where some of them took their money out for other investments of their own but ended up having less than if they had kept it in the CPF and when they wanted to put the money back into the CPF, they were not allowed to. So if you hear people saying the CPF is a Ponzi scheme with no money it is a lie but if a hundred thousand withdrew $100,000 that is a lot of money at one go.
If you speak to even older people in their 70s, they can tell you that as one gets older, one could get careless perhaps lured by some investment schemes and lost instead or those who are lonely and got swindled by some women. So, keeping the money in the bank with zero interest is still safer or leaving them in the CPF. What about those caught between the devil and the deep blue sea? Whereby even with subsidies and medisave they still do not have enough for health issues and they do not want to be a burden for the family?
I did not read Roy Ngerng, just briefly read some reports and heard discussions on it. He may have a few points but it is never right to suggest misappropriation or to insinuate. Besides, scanning through social media, I read from others chiding him for being mischievous and that he has written some 300-400 articles criticising the government but was never picked on or sued until the latest issue. We should not be such a society. You need to be responsible. You can't say things that are not true. Even as I empathise with his situation I find that I cannot support his way. Perhaps he should get in touch with those skin heads who sprayed graffiti and form a band "Roy and The "Skinheads" and sing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETxmCCsMoD0 (Money, Money, Money - Abba)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXd155v8Z5U (All About The Money - Meja)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFYMPW94KA0 (Hokkien Song)
I thought Mr. Patrick Liew wrote a good article on ST Forum on 2 June 2014. One other thing I want to tell everyone is never allowed yourself to be used by people some of whom may call you friend. For example, if your friends knowing that you are above sixty and they gave you a ladder and some paint and say "hey, why don't you climb up that rooftop and spray some graffiti" - don't. You won't get caned because of your age but you can get jail and a fine.
We have been encouraging people to be more entrepreneurial so we cannot at the same time mollycoddle them right up even to an age where they are walking closer to the Maker. If these people squandered all their savings and got rejected by the Maker and got stuck on planet earth then the fear is that they will become a burden to the family, to society and to the state. I can understand that but meanwhile, all these are just theories. I do not have an answer but definitely we need to find some middle ground and other solutions. What about you? I still want my money, money, money! It's blood, sweat and tears. Otherwise, our hearts are bleeding, sweating by the brow and tearing apart.
Seriously, when talking to many, I found that not every one knew or understood the CPF scheme 100% meaning that just by asking them, you will get different versions of what comprise that $155k. I hope it would be clearly explained again or people should do some careful research, read up carefully before jumping to conclusion but when it comes to money, even best friends become bitter enemies.
Maybe the government sent people to Geylang and Chinatown and they saw groups of old men drinking beer and ogling at women. Now that is a cause for concern. That is why I have always advocated that all people must have hobbies and be passionate about them so that you will not end up with nothing to do when you are older or retired. They can be stuffs like gardening, photography, fishing, golf, cycling, etc. How about CPF to pay for golf clubs and green fee? For being a long serving member of the CPF, you are entitled to $1.5k a year for travel, golf or whatever.
Finally, how should we deal with social media? Information, contest of ideas or whatever? The government, ruling party and ministers are not wrong in that you do wrong and I will sue to clear my name. In Roy's case, more people believed he was wrong than right but as the situation evolved, more people begin to empathise with him so the ground shifted to his side. Why? Everybody loves an underdog. Was the situation played into his hands? Big man and top gun lawyer v small fry health care worker. Should we engage younger people in different ways since the world has changed? There are a thousand ways to skin a cat as they say.
Graffiti
Young people must take note that the only place you can spray paint graffiti is in your own house. But then when caught, even your mother and father would spank you. Be careful about linking up with foreign trends of anarchy or whatever. One of the saddest things in life is to be made use of by others. Don't be used. All youth would somehow have a rebellious streak in them. Or should I say idealistic streak. That is normal but it has to be channelled correctly and appropriately. That is the difference. That was why some folks in the past became communists, etc. Just be very careful by using a bit of common sense.
MPs
I like to listen to MPs who when they speak you know they are really connected to the ground and have a reality check. I like to read MPs like Inderjit Singh who is the kind of MP I will always vote for just for speaking up correctly and truthfully. Others are like MP Denise Phua and NMP Eugene Tan. More MPs should be like them instead of scoring brownie points stating the obvious or deriding the opposition. Well, these always happen at the office doesn't it? Trust me, give us real MPs like them and Singaporeans will vote for them. (If you are unable to access directly, just highlight the link below, right click and click go to:)
http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2014/05/policy-makers-living-in-a-different-society-from-average-singaporeans/
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/pap-mp-inderjit-singh-confronts-singapore-s-hard-truths-in-wide-ranging-facebook-post-090404111.html
By and large lots of Singaporeans are feeling like sugar canes. That is the impression I get after talking to them from all walks of life. We feel like sugar cane going through a grinder where juice is being extracted. Imagine going through that grinder head first. Then the man pull you out from the other end and kept repeating several times till you become pulp. So you thought that is the end but the man takes you in that decrepit state and soak you in a bit of your own juice and then grind you a few more times such that you are worst than pulp and you get finally dumped as thrash.
This is like chickens watching their friends spinning in an oven or BBQ machine at a restaurant or supermarket = horror movie.
Thailand/Vietnam Situation
In Vietnam recently, there was an uproar when Chinese working were targeted over territorial dispute. What I saw on social media was more like looting than patriotism. They would not know if you are a Chinese from Singapore or China or elsewhere. I mean they even burn Singapore's flag! Some people said do not worry it is safe. Do not tempt fate because on the streets, you do not know who you may meet and when or what will happen.
Same thing for Bangkok, I saw on social media people chatting that it is still safe to go there as so far it has been peaceful. In skirmishes like that you will never know who will cast the first stone and then suddenly violence will erupt. Is your holiday or work so important that you cannot wait or go to another place? Well, it has started and let me remind you that bullets have no eyes. Take responsibility for your personal safety. Stay safe.
Have a great weekend. We are Singapore, Singaporeans.
I learnt from a friend that a lady was complaining about a long queue to get into a popular Japanese restaurant. When she finally got their seats and finished eating there was also a queue to pay. She created a scene by shouting that it is ridiculous and if they had to queue to pay then she is not paying. This type of customers should be thrown out. Never despise anyone who serve. When was the last time you compliment someone who provided good service? Did you bother to tell the manager about the waiter's good service. If he is held up as a good example and if rewarded then his other colleagues would like to do the same. Sometimes, some friends and I would tell waiters where they went wrong and correct them. Singaporean customers are too demanding. They want everything quick. Put a notice at your restaurant: "We provide quick service. No matter how long it takes."
Singapore Has Become Spoiled And Elitist
Law Minister K. Shanmugam cited an excellent example of a school girl and her domestic helper. The domestic helper was carrying her school bag and a big bag of groceries trying to keep up with the girl who was carrying an umbrella but it had stopped raining and the girl passed on the umbrella to the helper too while she walked with her hands free. How come we never teach our children to treat our domestic helpers with respect and compassion?
Where is the empathy? Parents should lead by example or the children will do what you do. Otherwise, Singapore will become a nation where school children could ace all their exam papers but can't even understand kindness and compassion in their hearts. Singaporeans are also lacking in hunger or we are no longer hungry. Perhaps one day I am going to write about the "Hunger Games".
A Better Singapore
We must have less reliance on the government and Singaporeans have to become active citizens, more politically savvy and mature so as to be able to think critically and make better decisions. If only a few people know how to use the fire extinguisher then it would be big trouble if Singapore were to be on fire. It is better to train and equip everyone with that knowledge and be properly equipped.
Singapore must learn to accept diversity of views and disagreements but need not be divisive and know where and when to close ranks. Otherwise do we look to the future with hope or despair? There seems to be a disconnect from my observations and by talking to people. I was a Clarke Quay for a business dinner one night and we were served by foreigners, entertained foreigners and everyone walking around mostly do not resembled Singaporeans. I thought I was in a foreign country. For who did we build Singapore for?
I am concerned about our young Singaporeans. They never saw Singapore's transition and their thinking are totally different. Also are they are feeling a sense of despair over their future? They and I are also concerned as a result of our elitist schools and the production of scholars who may be very smart but when parachuted into their ivory towers without going through the ropes will never understand or gain the respect of people they are leading. Do we also not suffer from group think? Often, these group think happens in business organisations too and because the boss likes it, so it shall be.
CPF
We all know the CPF is good for us to buy a house and for retirement. Some will have very critical or absurd views on the issue. Even among some Singaporeans they feel that people who took all their CPF monies would squander all away in no time. I can agree on that but people who squander would have been squandering all their life not just after they collected their retirement funds.
Those who gamble have already been gambling before the casinos here were built. Many people I know including me has yet to step into one. Others would waste it other things like women, mistresses or setting up another family in a nearby country but there are many who have lived responsibly to get to 55. How to get here in one piece and still at least financially viable at this age if they have misbehaved and mismanaged their lives? Also at that age some are already grandfathers and if you still do not know how to live your life, pray tell who can help you?
There are some folks who just wanted to go for a holiday but could not really afford one and looking forward to that retirement joy only to see their dreams fizzled out. Some people might die at 54 crawling to their CPF and never reached it or they may go at 56, 65 or whatever age. Not everyone is going to live to 82. What if a retiree decided to be entrepreneurial and needed some funds from his retirement savings to open a cafe or bakery shop which has been his life long dream? Young people looking at the situation now must be thinking what their minimum sum must look like come their turn or maybe they are supposed to live to 90 or 100? All these are causing anxiety.
Now you work in a company and the boss or the management says that they are afraid you may squander away your resources so they had better keep part of your salary and bonuses, etc. and reimburse to you gradually since you may go womanising and gambling. How would you feel? I spoke to folks who are in their sixties where some of them took their money out for other investments of their own but ended up having less than if they had kept it in the CPF and when they wanted to put the money back into the CPF, they were not allowed to. So if you hear people saying the CPF is a Ponzi scheme with no money it is a lie but if a hundred thousand withdrew $100,000 that is a lot of money at one go.
If you speak to even older people in their 70s, they can tell you that as one gets older, one could get careless perhaps lured by some investment schemes and lost instead or those who are lonely and got swindled by some women. So, keeping the money in the bank with zero interest is still safer or leaving them in the CPF. What about those caught between the devil and the deep blue sea? Whereby even with subsidies and medisave they still do not have enough for health issues and they do not want to be a burden for the family?
I did not read Roy Ngerng, just briefly read some reports and heard discussions on it. He may have a few points but it is never right to suggest misappropriation or to insinuate. Besides, scanning through social media, I read from others chiding him for being mischievous and that he has written some 300-400 articles criticising the government but was never picked on or sued until the latest issue. We should not be such a society. You need to be responsible. You can't say things that are not true. Even as I empathise with his situation I find that I cannot support his way. Perhaps he should get in touch with those skin heads who sprayed graffiti and form a band "Roy and The "Skinheads" and sing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETxmCCsMoD0 (Money, Money, Money - Abba)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXd155v8Z5U (All About The Money - Meja)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFYMPW94KA0 (Hokkien Song)
I thought Mr. Patrick Liew wrote a good article on ST Forum on 2 June 2014. One other thing I want to tell everyone is never allowed yourself to be used by people some of whom may call you friend. For example, if your friends knowing that you are above sixty and they gave you a ladder and some paint and say "hey, why don't you climb up that rooftop and spray some graffiti" - don't. You won't get caned because of your age but you can get jail and a fine.
We have been encouraging people to be more entrepreneurial so we cannot at the same time mollycoddle them right up even to an age where they are walking closer to the Maker. If these people squandered all their savings and got rejected by the Maker and got stuck on planet earth then the fear is that they will become a burden to the family, to society and to the state. I can understand that but meanwhile, all these are just theories. I do not have an answer but definitely we need to find some middle ground and other solutions. What about you? I still want my money, money, money! It's blood, sweat and tears. Otherwise, our hearts are bleeding, sweating by the brow and tearing apart.
Seriously, when talking to many, I found that not every one knew or understood the CPF scheme 100% meaning that just by asking them, you will get different versions of what comprise that $155k. I hope it would be clearly explained again or people should do some careful research, read up carefully before jumping to conclusion but when it comes to money, even best friends become bitter enemies.
Maybe the government sent people to Geylang and Chinatown and they saw groups of old men drinking beer and ogling at women. Now that is a cause for concern. That is why I have always advocated that all people must have hobbies and be passionate about them so that you will not end up with nothing to do when you are older or retired. They can be stuffs like gardening, photography, fishing, golf, cycling, etc. How about CPF to pay for golf clubs and green fee? For being a long serving member of the CPF, you are entitled to $1.5k a year for travel, golf or whatever.
Finally, how should we deal with social media? Information, contest of ideas or whatever? The government, ruling party and ministers are not wrong in that you do wrong and I will sue to clear my name. In Roy's case, more people believed he was wrong than right but as the situation evolved, more people begin to empathise with him so the ground shifted to his side. Why? Everybody loves an underdog. Was the situation played into his hands? Big man and top gun lawyer v small fry health care worker. Should we engage younger people in different ways since the world has changed? There are a thousand ways to skin a cat as they say.
Graffiti
Young people must take note that the only place you can spray paint graffiti is in your own house. But then when caught, even your mother and father would spank you. Be careful about linking up with foreign trends of anarchy or whatever. One of the saddest things in life is to be made use of by others. Don't be used. All youth would somehow have a rebellious streak in them. Or should I say idealistic streak. That is normal but it has to be channelled correctly and appropriately. That is the difference. That was why some folks in the past became communists, etc. Just be very careful by using a bit of common sense.
MPs
I like to listen to MPs who when they speak you know they are really connected to the ground and have a reality check. I like to read MPs like Inderjit Singh who is the kind of MP I will always vote for just for speaking up correctly and truthfully. Others are like MP Denise Phua and NMP Eugene Tan. More MPs should be like them instead of scoring brownie points stating the obvious or deriding the opposition. Well, these always happen at the office doesn't it? Trust me, give us real MPs like them and Singaporeans will vote for them. (If you are unable to access directly, just highlight the link below, right click and click go to:)
http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2014/05/policy-makers-living-in-a-different-society-from-average-singaporeans/
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/pap-mp-inderjit-singh-confronts-singapore-s-hard-truths-in-wide-ranging-facebook-post-090404111.html
By and large lots of Singaporeans are feeling like sugar canes. That is the impression I get after talking to them from all walks of life. We feel like sugar cane going through a grinder where juice is being extracted. Imagine going through that grinder head first. Then the man pull you out from the other end and kept repeating several times till you become pulp. So you thought that is the end but the man takes you in that decrepit state and soak you in a bit of your own juice and then grind you a few more times such that you are worst than pulp and you get finally dumped as thrash.
This is like chickens watching their friends spinning in an oven or BBQ machine at a restaurant or supermarket = horror movie.
Thailand/Vietnam Situation
In Vietnam recently, there was an uproar when Chinese working were targeted over territorial dispute. What I saw on social media was more like looting than patriotism. They would not know if you are a Chinese from Singapore or China or elsewhere. I mean they even burn Singapore's flag! Some people said do not worry it is safe. Do not tempt fate because on the streets, you do not know who you may meet and when or what will happen.
Same thing for Bangkok, I saw on social media people chatting that it is still safe to go there as so far it has been peaceful. In skirmishes like that you will never know who will cast the first stone and then suddenly violence will erupt. Is your holiday or work so important that you cannot wait or go to another place? Well, it has started and let me remind you that bullets have no eyes. Take responsibility for your personal safety. Stay safe.
Have a great weekend. We are Singapore, Singaporeans.
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