Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

It looks like the MDA is not going to intervene in football pay TV issue, claiming that free market is the way to go.

Well, I’m not sure what is MDA’s idea of a free market. As it stands now, whoever gets the exclusive rights to show matches from a particular football league basically becomes a monopoly until the rights expire. I’m no economist but my understand of a free market is that buyers are not coerced in any manner by sellers and what is happening now doesn’t seem like a free market to me but well, I could be wrong.

Well, if you don’t want to pay the high prices, TVU is a possible alternative.

It seems like Singaporeans might be allowed to hold outdoor protests and demonstrations at the Speaker’s Corner (see this article).

Of course, this being Singapore, the fine print has to be read. Buried down the article, it is said that there is a “need to maintain certain fundamentals even as society opens up more”, and I would like to highlight the third “fundamental” which reads:

“Third: There should be no foreign interference in domestic politics. “

So, what constitutes foreign interference? A bunch of singers apparently constitute foreign interference. An academic speaking about gay legislation is also foreign interference. But, our Minister Mentor is famous for commenting on other countries. For example, a couple of years back, he infuriated our northern neighbours with comments about their ethnic minorities.

Can we practise what we preach, please?

I was rather amused reading this Straits Times article, “Love me, spoil me“, because there seems to be rather negative opinions about the Singaporean women expecting chivalry from the Singaporean male, and the negative opinions are coming from both genders.

Who says that ‘independent’ women don’t need or deserve some male chivalry? If being treated in a chivalrous fashion makes the woman feels happy, what is the problem? And guys, what is wrong with expecting some male chivalry? I’m sure all of us have certain expectations of women as well, with the top of the list being sex, no? If we feel that being expected to carry out acts of chivalry is a chore, then we should expect women to feel that it’s a chore to have sex with us.

The crux of the problem is probably pride on the part of both genders. Women (to be more accurate, the career women and ‘independent’ type) demonise other women who ’succumb’ to chivalry because they feel that they’ve been oppressed by men from time immemorial and to indicate their newfound ‘independence’, they reject everything of the past, including acts of chivalry from men. To accept acts of chivalry would be tantamount to allowing themselves to be oppressed once again. Honestly, if you ask me, it is only because these women want to think they are being ‘oppressed’ and that they are losing their ‘independence’ by accepting acts of chivalry from men.

As for my fellow Singaporean men, I would say that I don’t think women are applying double standards. In fact, I think many Singaporean men are conflating the two issues of female equality and chivalry, which is why they are complaining about double standards. When talking about female equality, it’s more about equal access to opportunities in life, which has nothing to do with chivalry. It doesn’t mean that more of the former has to result in less of the latter.

Ultimately, it is up to the individual how much chivalry to accept and how much to give. You draw your own guidelines and comfort zones. I don’t think it makes me any less of a man to carry my wife’s bag and I don’t think it makes my wife any less of a woman to accept me pulling chairs or opening doors for her. It’s all about your own perception. If you want to perceive something in a certain way and believe that perception to be true, then it’s true.

It should be obvious by now that I am a proponent of chivalry. I believe that men should always pay for dates. I believe that men should help pull the chairs and open the doors for their dates. I believe that men should offer to send women home after a date. Even if it is not to the doorstep, at least to the block or the nearest street. In case you are wondering, I do all things I’ve mentioned as far as possible. The only times I don’t do them is when I suffer from the occasional male blockhead syndrome (but I have never forgotten about paying for dinners, even after marriage).

I believe that my wife isn’t a weak person because I do all these for her. I know that she’s more than capable of fending for herself. It’s just that I want to treat her like a princess because I believe the woman I love should be, as far as possible, treated in the best way that I can offer. And, her small acts of gratitude (a hug, a peck or a word of thanks) make it all worthwhile.

I’ve moved into my own place a month and a half back and when people learn about it, without fail, they ask about how my meals are settled now that I’ve moved out.

Well, it depends. If either my wife or I end our day late (say past 7.30pm), we’ll usually eat out. If not, I’ll cook. And when people hear the words “I’ll cook”, they give a very surprised expression, and they will usually follow up with asking, “You can cook?”

Is it anything strange that guys can cook? I think anyone can cook if they want to. Of course, you can’t expect me to whip up restaurant standards but I can do decent home-cooked meals. A couple of dishes and a soup really isn’t rocket science, just that it does take some time to prepare, cook and clear the dishes.

The learning process isn’t all that hard actually. As a kid, I would watch my mum cook and after a while, you pretty much get the idea behind cooking. All that’s left is some trial and error to put to practice what you’ve observed (which I did when I lived on campus during my undergraduate days) and you are capable of doing decent meals.

Actually, cooking isn’t all that fun to me. I don’t dislike it but I am not particularly fond of it either. But, what I like is the enjoyment of a home-cooked dinner at my dining table with my wife. The enjoyment of eating home-cooked food that I cannot explicate but I like that feeling.

Of course, coming up with ideas on what to cook can be pretty bothersome. You won’t want to repeat what you cooked last week. Now I understand why my mum complains that it’s difficult to plan a meal.

I just heard over radio today that some Singaporeans are grumbling that the government is giving out only $1.8 billion dollars back to Singaporeans, considering that the budget surplus was $6.4 billion last year.

Sometimes, my fellow countrymen just annoy the life out of me. Give them money, they complain it’s too little. However, if they are not given money, they complain that the government is squeezing them dry. *shakes head*

Overall, I don’t think there’s much to complain about the budget in 2008. The Singapore government has shown that good times, the government will share some surplus with Singaporeans. I’m sure the skeptics will have something to say but I think that Singaporeans should be fair to the government and give them credit for this Growth Dividend.

While the distribution of some surplus back to ordinary folks is a good thing in principle, I believe more can be done in reality when times are good. I’m not as greedy as some of my countrymen. All I ask for is that employer CPF rates be further increased. I’m sure that this can be done since the economy is doing well. I can accept that we need to cut employer CPF contribution rates to keep business costs down to save jobs when times are bad. However, this should be matched with a corresponding restoration when times are good.

If we can react quickly to cut CPF contribution rates to save jobs when times are bad, I sure we can react with the same speed when times are good. If the government wants to pursue the principle of sharing growth with Singaporeans, I think there’s more that can be done other than a one-time handout.

This week is Chinese New Year week and the mad rush of spring cleaning (I know, I got a new flat and you must be wondering what is there to spring clean but I assure you, I did ALOT of cleaning) and other preparations for CNY have caused fatigue, both physically and mentally. So, I’m just going to ramble about what I consider a very interesting contradiction in life.

My brain’s anger fuse is weird. It’s unusually long for most people, except when it comes to immediate family. For some strange reason, I’m like a tinderbox with family. I lose my temper much more readily, either at them or in front of them.

My wife and I have talked about this before and we have wondered why we are usually so patient with others but less so with each other (she’ll probably say it’s just me and I shouldn’t extend things to her). My guess is that when you’re emotionally close to someone, you are not so self-conscious and more comfortable with self-expression. We’re probably not afraid of being looked upon negatively by the person who we are emotionally close to and as a result, we express both positive and negative emotions more readily than usual.

Then again, shouldn’t we be treating the ones who mean the world to us much better than people whom we don’t know so well? Isn’t it odd that we are more likely to vent our frustration and anger on people who are closer to us? I mean, why do we want to use hurtful words on or look really upset in front of people we care about so much?

While it might not make much logical sense, I guess that’s the way life is. It’s only when you are close enough to someone that you let down your guard and express all your emotions freely and openly. While I do lose my temper much more readily (but I get over it really fast), I too laugh much more readily, engage in small pranks on my wife very often and do all kinds of funny things to cheer her up that I’ll never do in front of other people. I guess it’s a two way street.

I recall hearing a marital advice that prescribes quarrels from time to time. The logic behind it is that couples should let out some steam from time to time. The worry is that one party might just be letting it all build up inside in a bid to have a more ‘harmonious’ relationship so it’s better to play safe and argue from time to time. Well, I guess I don’t need to deliberately create a quarrel with my wife considering that I’m pretty much a tinderbox when I’m with her.

Of course, one might be tempted to reason that too much of arguing can also cause the relationship to fail. Well, I think that will happen only if the couple does nothing other than quarrel all the time. I fight with my wife, but I take her out for good dinners, mop the floors, clean the toilets, iron the clothes and cook and wash the dishes much more often than I fight with her. In fact, I ban her from doing lots of housework because cleaning agents will cause her hands to dry and no woman would want her hands looking like raisins (nobody really cares about how smooth a guy’s hands are). Besides, science has proven men to be physically stronger so I have no excuse not to do housework.

Anyway, I digress. What I’m trying to get at is that a relationship fails not because of constant bickering but rather, there’s nothing solid that undergirds the whole relationship. If there’s a strong emotional bond between two people, both of them will come to realise that the expression of ‘negative’ feelings is part and parcel of a strong relationship (of course, this will be appreciated only AFTER cooling down).

Ok, enough ramblings for now. I would like to wish you a very happy Chinese New Year. And, if you want to come visit me in the hopes of getting an angpow, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I’ve yet to do my tea ceremony so I won’t be giving out angpows.

The recent Comprain Complain choir hoo-ha has been the subject of many online discussions. It seems to me that my government appears to have a penchant for using a sledgehammer on a thumbtack. The last time they used a sledgehammer on a thumbtack wasn’t too long ago.

I seriously don’t understand why there’s a need for the police to even look into the issue. The Complain choir is just for entertainment purposes. Does it matter if it’s foreigners or locals singing? Will foreigners singing result in any serious social unrest? I don’t think so. In fact, I think there’s greater unrest and unhappiness over the ban. If there’s one thing that I think seriously annoys me about how my government works, it has to be extreme rigidity in adhering to procedures to the point that the ability to reason completely disappears.

Sometimes, I just wish that my government loosen up a little and stop assuming that Singaporeans are mindless zombies that will absorb anything and everything that other people have to say. Have some faith in our world class education system. Or perhaps the “world class education system” we have been so proudly telling other countries is but a sham?

I just read this article calling for reform to our electoral system. Actually, I think that before we can reform our electoral system, we should really be able to discuss issues and laugh at ourselves. If our government can get so worked up over a small, humourous performance, I have little hope that something as big as a electoral reform along the lines of the American system is actually possible.

I was quite, to put things very mildly, surprised to read the headline of this particular ST story: Govt to take ‘hands off’ approach on state funds: Tharman

Well, if it is a state fund we are talking about and that the government decides to leave their ‘hands off’ the fund, who should be responsible for the fund?

Actually, I suspect that Tharman didn’t actually mean to make this contradiction. If you read further down the story, Tharman was was actually saying that the government does not interfere with investment policies, not that it is washing its hand completely off state funds. The headline gave a totally wrong impression.

It would have been clearer if the headline was “Govt to take ‘hands off’ approach on state funds investments: Tharman”. One missing word can change the meaning of the headline completely.

I wonder if the editors are already red-faced.

Professor Shih Choon Fong will be handing the baton over to Professor Tan Chorh Chuan.

Prof Shih is an engineer by training, while Prof Tan is a physician by training. Prof Shih took over from Prof Lim Pin, who is also a physician by training.

Seems like NUS prefers to have those with a science background to be its leader. I wonder if there will be a day when NUS will be led by either a philosopher or historian.

Here’s wishing everyone a merry Christmas and happy 2008. I’ve not updated my blog for a while because I’ve been out of Singapore for a week, doing some mad shopping in Bangkok.

It was interesting to be in Bangkok during their elections time and my observation is that nobody really seemed to care about the election. I would think that after being ruled by the military for a year, the Thai people should be quite enthusiastic about the return of democracy. However, people seemed more interested in their livelihood than democracy. The campaigning wasn’t much too. I only saw 3 candidates on top of a pickup the day before the election. I never saw the other 20+ candidates at all.

Anyway, I would recommend that if you are going to do bargain shopping in Bangkok, you can just stay in the Pratunam area. I used to frequent Chatuchak weekend market and last trip, I went down to Sampeng market in Chinatown. These two places are open air and you can really die of heatstroke. However, there are several air conditioned malls in the Pratunam area that offer cheap shopping in comfort. Check out Platinum Shopping Centre, Indra Square, Pratunam Centre and City Complex. If you can stand an hour of heat, Pratunam market and the area near the Baiyoke Sky Hotel are worth checking out too. Of course, there’s always the reliable MBK Shopping Centre, as well Siam Square to check out too.

I just read Mr Wang’s post on his blog being classified as national treasure archive. I got the same letter as well. I wonder how many other bloggers received the letter. It would be interesting to hazard a guess on NLB’s selection criteria.