Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
Comments, opinions and an occasional ramble
Need help? Just ask. But ask who?
Feb 3rd
The title of this entry is a play on the Straits Times article headlined ‘Need help? Just ask.‘, which was published today.
The article was mainly about how help is available for Singaporeans in dire straits, but somehow, the take-up rate of the available assistance schemes are not very high. The Minister of State for Community Development and Sports, Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, attributes it to Singaporeans having an issue with dignity, or in local parlance, ‘loss of face’.
I completely disagree with her attribution. I think the problem is that people don’t know where to get help, especially those who are more elderly or less educated. The Straits Times story profiled someone in a desperate situation who benefited from seeking aid from the government, and that person only got to know about aid being available by chatting with neighbours. It’s not as if this person didn’t want to ask; he didn’t know where to go until someone told him.
My suggestion for MCYS would be to step up efforts in publicity. How many people know of the existence of Comcare Call, a toll-free number (1800 222 0000) by MCYS for anyone who needs help but don’t know where to go to? I didn’t, not until I did some research prior to writing this piece. However, I do know the existence of a hotline to call for gambling addiction. The National Council on Problem Gambling clearly does a much better job at publicising its hotline compared to MCYS.
I think MCYS should consider increasing the gear on publicity of it’s Comcare helpline programmes. Media advertising is not cheap, but I do not think that media companies are unreasonable when it comes to public service announcements. And, the media message must also encourage people to pass on the toll-free number to neighbours or people who might need help. Some of the poorer folks might not even be able to afford a radio and some are illiterate, lowering the effectiveness of the mass media as a tool to reach out to people.
If the MCYS had put in substantial efforts to reach out to people, perhaps Yu-Foo is correct in saying that Singaporeans have an issue with dignity and seeking help. Right now, I don’t think her assessment is correct and she should direct her ministry towards greater publicity efforts.
Why worry about setting a precedent to tap on reserves?
Jan 29th
It seems that there are some people who are quite concerned that the government is setting a precedent (and it seems to be a negative precedent) by signaling its intention of dipping into the reserves during this year’s Budget announcement. I don’t see what is there to worry about. Maybe a little story will illustrate my thoughts better.
Once upon a time, there lived a rich old man. He had a poor and difficult childhood but through a combination of persistence, hard work, shrewd actions and a dose good luck, he managed to build up a business empire and became a billionaire.
Even though he was extremely rich, he kept all his riches in bank vaults. He was so afraid that once he started spending his riches, he will not be able to stop. One day, he had a heart attack and died. As he looked down from the heavens, he realised that he had been a stupid man his entire life. Even though he had accumulated so much money, it is all sitting in the bank vaults and he can’t bring them along with him to heaven.
The moral of the story is that it is seriously stupid to hoard money for the sake of hoarding it. This doesn’t mean one should be a free-wheeling spender, though. Rather, if the situation calls for savings to be spent, then it should be spent. The number of zeroes in the bank account book is meaningless unless the money is actually used to do something.
I think the government is correct to signal that it’s prepared to use the reserves to help Singapore weather the storm if the need arises. This is not an issue of whether it’s a good precedent or bad precedent. It’s an issue of whether the money will be well-spent, and I think it is justifiable to tap on the reserves in a global recession if the need arises.
Not a budget Budget
Jan 23rd
The measures in Budget 2009 that was unveiled yesterday to help Singaporeans weather the global recession were pretty good. I think the government has gotten most things right with this Budget, although it’s a pretty expensive budget.
My top personal concerns in this recession are education and healthcare, and both have been addressed, at least this year. It might be curious to some that jobs didn’t make it to the top of my list of concerns but my perspective is that even in a recession, there are still jobs available and the question is whether people are willing to do these jobs, which are probably going to be contract or short term jobs with a lower salary.
This recession is not the end of the world; it’s an economic cycle. I believe what comes down will eventually go back up. Sure, it’s important to mitigate the pain during a recession but I think what’s more important is to prepare ourselves adequately so that we can ride the upswing quickly when it comes back. If people are losing jobs now, why not put them back in schools and gear them up to take advantage of the opportunities that will surely come by later on?
As for healthcare, I think it’s even more important than basic necessities. Even if you lose your job, you can apply for assistance to take care of food and other basic needs. There are many ways to stretch the dollar to pay for daily necessities. However, there’s no way to stretch the dollar for medical bills. Medical bills can be extremely expensive and people definitely need help during lean times, unless one is hard-hearted enough to let people who cannot afford to pay medical bills die.
And, I’ll have to applaud the Job Credit plan. The U.S. government wants to pay employers to hire workers and this can be easily exploited by firing and re-hiring workers. Paying companies to retain workers is a more sensible idea that’s less susceptible to exploitation. The cap at $2,500 means that those in the PMET category are going to be left out but hey, there’s always the option of going back to school. Of course, this might not be easy for someone with a family to feed and a mortgage to pay off but in lean times, I think all of us don’t have a choice and we have to find our own way to cope.
The defense budget has also increased quite substantially. Well, I’m not going to quibble about that because lean times in a rough neighbourhood isn’t exactly a good thing for us. I just hope the money will be well spent to secure our home.
Ultimately, this so called ‘Resilience Package’ isn’t going to get us out of the hole. What it is doing is to try to ensure that we survive as we wait out the storm. At the same time, we’re building our ships and getting ready to launch once the storm passes. It’s a pretty sensible approach and I hope this approach will continue until the storm is over.
And, I’m grateful the Singapore government isn’t meddling too much in the markets. The Finance Minister has made it clear that the government will only help sound firms ride through the crisis. For a good read on why the government should not meddle too much, the KTM has a great entry on the topic (which I only found out recently).
What does it mean to be a blogger?
Jan 22nd
I’ve been following cyberspace chatter about the newly minted Association of Bloggers Singapore (ABS) with great interest. The poor founding folks appears to be bashed left right up down centre by quite a few local bloggers. I think the negative responses to the organisation is not exactly opposition to the idea of an association but a case of differing assumptions of what it means to be a blogger.
To some people, blogs are like the internet version of a diary. These people view blogs as something personal and private (I think nothing on the internet is private, though) and therefore, there is no necessity for bloggers to get together to form an organization. If one holds such an assumption about blogs, forming a bloggers’ association is probably an idea as absurd as an association for people who pen paper diaries, although I contend that if there are enough people who are interested to do that, why not? As long as enough people want to come together to form an organization around a common interest, they should be allowed to without ridicule, regardless of how _______ (insert a negative adjective) the common interest might appear to others. I believe there is no absolute definition of what constitutes something as being a/an _______ (insert a negative adjective) notion.
For others, blogs are not private diaries but publications meant for public consumption. That being the case, it would make sense for people to want to come together to form an association. I have not had the chance to speak with the founding members of the ABS but from what I’ve read, the motivations for the association include self-regulation and possibly legal representation. Taken from this perspective, a bloggers’ association is not much different from a writers’ association. Self-regulation and legal representation are things that people who blog for public consumption would care about because of professionalism and litigation issues.
At the end of the day, at least for me, all the arguments primarily centre on the identity of a blogger. Is a blogger the online version of a person who writes a personal diary, or is a blogger no different from an author/journalist/columnist/writer who writes for public consumption? Depending on your assumption about what it means to be a blogger, you will either agree with or disagree with the need for having a bloggers’ association.
Personally, I think the association is a great idea per se, but somehow, the association has unfortunately started out on the wrong foot because of, again, assumptions. According to Eastcoastlife’s blog entry,
Singaporean bloggers were like loose sand, they were not united. They were easily manipulated and even banned for standing up against the foreign tyrant from self-proclaimed ‘community meta weblog for Singapore bloggers’. Small bloggers are just too isolated to be able to fight for their rights.
I don’t think anyone can say with confidence that the blogosphere is a homogenous entity. As an example, I am a very different type of blogger compared to Xiaxue or even Eastcoastlife herself. Bloggers are not homogenous grains of sand. I think bloggers are more like different types of fruits or species of animals. Also, it seems to be that there’s an implied assumption that being ‘not united’ is undesirable and the association is meant to ‘unite’ bloggers. I have to take issue with this implied assumption as well. The parts about being manipulated for standing up against ‘the foreign tyrant’ is frankly too much of a stretch. Finally, who constitutes a ‘small blogger’ and how do we know if these ‘small bloggers’ are ‘too isolated’ to fight for their rights? There is a whole boatload of assumptions about Singaporean bloggers and the blogosphere that are, in all honesty, unsubstantiated.
I think the ABS cannot (and for that matter, will never) be able to speak on behalf of the entire local blogging community. The most the ABS can be is an authority on issues related to blogging in Singapore but it cannot be a representative, unless each and every Singaporean blogger is willing to be a member. Bloggers are not medical doctors or lawyers. You don’t need a license to blog. Therefore, the ABS cannot function like the Singapore Medical Association or the Law Society.
So, what can the ABS do? In my opinion, ABS can perhaps to come up with a code of ethics or conduct to promote responsible blogging. Of course, the idea of what constitutes responsible blogging is a contentious one but I’m not going to go there. I think if the ABS eventually gets enough members, they can take the lead in advancing greater civility (I think the world can always do with more civility) and freedom of expression in the online space. The ABS is in a good position to take the lead in encouraging responsible blogging, starting with its own members.
Also, I do hope for the ABS to consider tiered membership with a tier not requiring membership fees. The reality is that not everyone can pay for membership, and if the ABS wants to be an authoritative voice in the local blogosphere, it needs clout and high membership fees will make the ABS an exclusive club with little teeth. At the very least, the ABS should have at least two types of memberships, namely ordinary and associate. Associate membership can be free of charge but of course, being free means that certain rights will have to be withdrawn, especially the right to vote.
It’s been a long while since I’ve typed such a long entry and I think I’m going to stop here. I think the idea of a bloggers’ association isn’t necessarily a bad one but I think there’s a bitter taste in the mouth now because of the way the association has pitched itself and how different people are having different assumptions about the identity of a blogger and the role of the association. I would give the association some time to develop before I decide whether it’s something that gets my stamp of approval but right now, to those who are quick to criticise the ABS, please hold your horses and don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Singapore, Boston and NYC public trains matchup
Jan 20th
For almost all of my travel in the United States last month, I was mainly using public transport (that’s because I was mainly in cities). I had the opportunity to ride the New York subway, operated by the Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) and the Boston T, operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority (MBTA). So, how does the train system stack up when compared to Singapore’s SMRT and SBS Transit?
For starters, let’s deal with the most sensitive topic of price. Both the MTA and the MBTA operate on a single fare system. It doesn’t matter how many stops you ride; the price is the same. The New York subway’s ride is USD$2 per trip using the Metrocard, while the Boston T ride is USD$1.70 per ride using the Charlie card (it’s 2 bucks if you pay cash). There are pros and cons of a single fare system. I think the biggest advantage is that you always know how much you are going to pay if you choose to take the train. The bad thing is that if you are riding only for a couple of stops, it can feel like a rip-off.
However, the good thing is that both the New York subway and the Boston T offers the unlimited ride option. For a certain price every month, you can take as many rides as you wish on the train. That will take the pain off having to pay a fixed fare for only a few stops for the frequent rider. The MTA charges USD$81 for the monthly pass, while the MBTA charges USD$59. In Singapore, you get only unlimited rides if you are a student or a full time NSman. It would be nice to have an unlimited pass in Singapore but I suspect that will result in adding an extra sardine into a can already full of sardines, especially during peak hours.
Singapore wins hands down on the cleanliness and general comfort in the trains. The trains in Singapore are extremely spacious and clean compared to both the New York subway and the Boston T. Even the design of the train station is superior. In New York and Boston, for many stations, you better make sure you know which direction you are heading and enter the fare gantries on the correct side because you cannot get to the other side once you are past the fare gantry (unless you have a death wish and decide to try your luck running across the track).
However, in terms of design, there’s something about the New York subway that stands out, and that is the availability of express trains. These trains run on different tracks and they don’t stop at every stop. This means if you are traveling long distances, you can hop on an express train and get off at the nearest express train stop to your destination to hop onto a regular train. This is a real time saver that I wish the Singapore train system has. I’m sure more people will be keen to take the MRT if there’s an express train service to cut traveling time by up to 50%. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is possible because of the way the train tracks are laid out in Singapore.
Overall, despite its faults, I would rate Singapore’s train system above that of New York and Boston. Although we don’t have the unlimited fare option, I think the general cleanliness and spacious design of our trains more than make up for it. But, don’t take my word for it. If you get the chance, go try out the New York subway and the Boston T.
Singaporeans: A curious breed to many
Jan 13th
I just landed in Singapore less than 6 hours ago, and I might be having jet lag, so this explains why I’m here writing a quick entry.
My month-long stay in America was a pretty great one. I stayed mainly on the East coast, though. I’ll need to make another trip to explore the West coast. I shall not bore anyone with detailed descriptions of what I did day to day, but what I did find interesting is that a number of Americans I spoke to expressed surprise at my level of command of English (I had the same experience a few years back in England). Interestingly, I’ve spoken to some folks from China before, and I remember them remarking that I speak Mandarin pretty well too (I must admit that my command of Mandarin pales greatly compared to English).
Of course, my experiences are anecdotal evidence but it seems to me that Singaporeans seem to be somewhat of a curious breed or even mysterious breed to people who have not had the chance to interact with a Singaporean. To Americans and the British, the assumption is that because I look Chinese, expectations of my English language ability drop a few notches. To Chinese folks from China, because I’m an overseas Chinese, expectations of my Mandarin language ability drop a few notches too.
I don’t know whether this is a good or bad thing, but I always find the phenomenon interesting. And I am quite thankful for being in an education system that encourage bilingualism, although I have to add the caveat that it is not easy to handle two languages. Somehow, one will always seem to be dominant and this creates confusion at times. I have a tendency to think in English most of the time and I sometimes end up speaking Mandarin using English sentence structure. 
And of course, I’ve encountered some people who asked if Singapore is in China. 
New tricks possible from an old dog?
Dec 27th
The global economy is reeling, and Singapore is certainly no exception. The question for most Singaporeans now, I believe, is how the Singapore government plans to respond to the crisis. The question for me, though, goes a tiny step further. I wonder what other creative ways can my government come up with to help Singaporeans weather the storm.
It seems to me that in recent years, whenever something negative regarding our wallets strikes, there’s already a standard operating procedure (SOP) in place to execute (or a generic drug to prescribe, whichever analogy you prefer). The first is to send those deemed to be more lowly skilled to retraining so that they can get better jobs. The second is to dole out several hundred dollars per person to help Singaporeans cope with the problem. Of course, you can always count on multiple reassurances by government leaders that Singapore will weather the storm provided that we continue voting for the correct political party to lead the country.
I recognise I am making sweeping statements that may or may not be 100% factually correct but this is how things seem to be, and I think that more often than not, perceptions matter more than truth. I do think that the general perception of the government’s ability to tackle problems creatively is not exactly positive. I am really interested to see what the government will propose to help Singaporeans weather the current storm.
And, what I don’t want to see is the classic give with the right hand and take back with the left. The signs have already appeared. Finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said a couple of months ago he will look at how to prepare the budget to help Singaporeans (it was in response to the ridiculous electricity tariff hike). Recently, the transport minister Raymond Lim said public transport prices aren’t necessarily down even though oil prices have plunged. Maybe Singaporeans will get a handout, and then they will get a round of public transport increases (and maybe electricity tariff increases, if the folks regulating energy pricing decides not to base electricity pricing on oil prices, just like the folks regulating the transport industry ).
Of course, it is unlikely that any price increase or tax increase will completely wipe out the value handouts. Doing so is just plain stupid. However, what such increases will do is to wipe out the goodwill that was intended to be generated in the first place. If the government really wants to give, give wholeheartedly, not half-heartedly.
First impressions of Boston
Dec 16th
I arrived in the evening a couple of days ago and obviously, the first thing I noticed that it was damn cold! It’s not like I’ve not experienced winter but sub-zero with winds blowing is really, really cold. I’ve brought adequate winter gear so I wasn’t frozen but it’s still very cold.
I went around the Boston over the weekend, mainly using their T, which is the train system. It’s quite a convenient way to get around, but where the T stops are located are not exactly very obvious, especially when it’s underground. The good thing is that fares are not distance based, and you can buy passes for unlimited rides, which makes touring the city rather cost effective.
My first impression of Boston was that it looked strikingly similar to England. Of course, that didn’t come as a complete surprise to me because I knew that Boston is a part of New England where many English settlers came to in the early days of America’s history. Well, I liked my last trip to England and it feels good to see buildings that look similar to those I saw in England.
Boston is pretty international in terms of population. I saw many different nationalities over the weekend. I didn’t feel quite as out of place as I did back when I was in England where I felt I stuck out like a sore thumb among the Caucasians. People here seem generally nice and friendly, and I always like being in a place where language is not an obstacle in communication.
I also made a trip down to Boston’s Chinatown and it seems that most of the Chinese owned shops there are by Cantonese people. Most of the Chinese food sold there are more of Hong Kong styled food. I’ll probably give them a try later, after I come back from my trip to Florida’s Disneyworld.
Away from Singapore
Dec 13th
I’m currently typing this in Detroit airport. I’ll be traveling in USA for a month so I’m not quite sure how updates will be like but I’ll try to update as often as I can.
Honesty is the best policy
Dec 9th
I remember reading PM Lee Hsien Loong saying recently that many people all around the world are clamouring for change (and the biggest example is obviously the election of Barack Obama as the next American president) and that in Singapore, there has to be change too, with the only difference being that the change has to come from within the PAP.
I am not going to quibble about how possible it is to actually change from within because that is flogging a dead horse. I think change from within is a far-fetched idea, if not an outright fantasy, and I don’t think I have to explain why. However, for the sake of discussion, let’s give the PM the benefit of doubt and assume he’s serious about change.
If he’s serious about change, the number one change he should enact is not to go easy on other parties. I do agree completely that it is not the job of the dominant political party to help other political parties win votes. That said, it is also not the job of the dominant political party make the playing less fair for other parties but this is a topic for another day.
The number one change I want is strong public record laws. If public monies are involved in any activity of the government, the law should ensure that the records of these activities are publicly available. If the PAP-led government is indeed upright, non-corrupt and have nothing to hide, I think strong public record laws should be the cornerstone of the PAP’s governance. After all, as the Chinese saying goes, real gold fears no fire. I am not inclined to believe in verbal assurances of an upright government; I want to be able to examine evidence.
Therefore, it disturbs me greatly to read The Online Citizen’s report on how an MP instructed his town council manager not to release more information regarding the town council’s investments. I can accept that investments carry risks and that profit and loss is part and parcel of investing. I’m not bothered by the millions in investment losses. What truly bothers me is the denial of more information regarding the use of public monies by, of all people, a Member of Parliament who’s supposed to represent the interests of his constituents.
I believe that honesty is the best policy and people will forgive honest mistakes. Being less than forthcoming, however, upsets people and will eventually alienate supporters. By then, change will not come from within, like it or not.
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