Comments, opinions and an occasional ramble

boyying:

Tsk… I could change it to IrA. By the way, have you filed your taxes yet?

Since you asked,I shall humour you. “IrCTP” stands for “I remember Chia Thye Poh”. Go check wikipedia if you don’t know who Mr. Chia is.

Aaron said:

I’m just asking where do you think a government leader should draw his salary from if not from taxes. I fail to see the connect between that question and “robbing” people. I don’t think you should do a bait and switch in order to attack me personally.

Wah this Aaron really full of himself.

I point out what I THINK is the flaws of his argument that LHL is using tax payers money to be a “good chap”, which, in my opinion, tentamounts to robbing. I then muse that maybe he not been a tax payer, that he possibly may not understand what as a tax payer mayfeel, he takes it as a personal attack.

I mean what makes him such a big-shot that disagreement with his line of his argument is a personal attack.

Interesting….

To Fearfully Opinionated:

Frankly I don’t care if Aaron is a sychophant of the PAP and a rabit ANTI-PAP man. I was merely arguing against his line of argument in a strident fashion.

If he so feels that arguments against his line of argument equates to a personal attack. Than that is his prerogrative.

IrCTP why are you always spoiling for a fight?
Just because you two disagree does not mean others should be dragged in. Aaron has just given a nice invitation to drop by this site in
4.5 years time. Is this enough feedback from the resident blogger? Aaron has said for the nth time that he applauds only the personal gesture of LHL. You just have to accept that sometimes we will agree to disagree. Why go all out to discredit all him and Aaron?

The government can force people to pay tax.

Then against sentiments of the Singaporean people, the government say the want a pay increase, force you to pay-up, and then use increase pay (from tax payers money, which is being objected to), and then make a song-and-dance about “donating” the increases and then present themselves as “Look How Morally upright” I am and you don’t see that as robbery?

And then get the sympathy… Boo Hoo Hoo, see how I am “sacrificing” my $600K. AND YOU STILL DON’T GET IT?

Even CEOs of companies don’t force employees to cough out their monthly pay to pay themselves.

Geeze…..

nancy:

If you consider this a “fight”, then you may have revise your definition of that term a little.

Aaron intends to run for political office “somewhere in the future”. Take into consideration Fearfully Opinionated’s comments about Aaron’s “disenchantment” with a certain party, you will get a fair idea what Aaron will be up against if he does run for office (I reckon that once he steps into the working world, whatever political ambitions he has will whittle away).

By then, unless he has eagled-eyed legal advisers who scan through his rally speech right down to the last letter, his arguments will never hold water against the might of more seasoned political veterans out there. When that happens, “being discredited” will become an gross understatement.

Not sure what kind of stuff he is learning from his academic studies, but with my exchanges with him so far, I would have thought he would be more critical of things he picks up from the media (be it propaganda paper or not).

Back to you, Aaron:

“Instead of being so negative, why can’t we give a little credit and encourage PM Lee to go further?”“Ultimately, what would be most helpful is that poorer people get help,…”

Do you know which charity will benefit? Or did you just take things for granted by reading that little headline?

“I will only be able to perform if I’m given small encouragements (I don’t need ego boosters).”

Are you the PM’s twin or that little worm in his stomach?

“What makes you so sure that I am from the brotherhood and you are not?”

I was with them once, but too much work commitments so I just decided to be one of many of their dedicated readers – that is why I recognize the ways of the shadow warrior. You must be a ronin. Another thing you screw around with all these lessers but you dont dare to go down there to the IS do you?

And we both know why dont we.

Aaron,

To me, on this particular issue, I mean THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE, my feeling is that I don’t see LHL’s move as anything praiseworthly. IN MY OPINION, which you are most entitled to disagree, it is nothing by a political ploy or simply damage control.

As a politician I would not expect LHL not to be political about his motives. That’s what politician have to, and I expect them to do. What I, which you may disagree, do not equate is political gesture as being something to claim the moral high ground. Worst still one that I will not shy from using the word, which you may disagree, robbing us and then making us feel sorry for being rob.

However, as member of a government, who has by our given consent (in Singapore context, I am probably stretching this concept), they can lord over us. So as electorates, we must be on guard never to use their power to entrap us into believing that they we owe them a living.

Oops in the line

Worst still one that I will not shy from using the word, which you may disagree, robbing us and then making us feel sorry for being rob.

It should have said:

Worst still one that I will not shy from using the word, which you may disagree, robbing us and then making us feel GRATEFUL for being rob.

Aaron:

“I’m not responding to your second part. Provocation doesn’t help matters.”

You want to talk about provocation? Then, for your own sake, don’t come up with nonsense like the following:

“I for one would not perform better because someone keeps scolding me for poor performance. I will only be able to perform if I’m given small encouragements (I don’t need ego boosters). All I’m beseeching is that while we take out the stick, we should also give a couple of baby carrots.”

the naked truth:

“And we both know why dont we.”

What’s your supposed reason then? Indulge me.

I think that in Singapore, perhaps the only place that’s safe to speak is in Parliament because that’s about the only sanctury where one can speak without fear of retribution.

That is incorrect.

“In December 1996 Chee and other party members were fined by parliament for perjury, after they were accused of fabricating statistics in a parliamentary committee examining government health care subsidies.”

IrCTP:

You mean to say you dont know!

I disagree that it is a wage freeze because his salary has been increased, regardless of whether he donates or not.

Secondly, a decrease in tax payable is also a gain because one gets to keep the money which would have otherwise been given up as tax.

Thirdly, the reason why I think it is damage control is because the PM could have volunteered to donate the pay increase before the official announcement. That would have given him more credibility.

Lastly, it is good that you try to give a person the benefit of doubt, but I disagree that the PM cannot do anything about it if his cabinet wants a raise even though he doesn’t.

What is a leader for? To lead (and win followers for his convictions) and to make the final decision that he thinks is right, given the feedback. If he believes that the raise is not justified, he should have the moral courage to decide against the raise. The fact that he didn’t throws up some possibilities:

1 He actually thinks the raise is needed. If so, why does he need to donate his share?

2 He is bowing to pressure from his cabinet and afraid he might lose them. If so, is he wise to keep such a cabinet whose loyalty is only to money, not him and his vision?

3 He is not capable of making his own decisions and relies on majority vote and SM as well as MM. If so, does he deserve to be the PM of Singapore with it’s exhorbitant price tag?

For repeating a move that has been done by a previous prime minister, his intentions, however genuine, is already much discounted.

Furthermore, if he is absolutely honest and wants not to be misinterpreted, he should just take a “pay freeze” indefinitely. The fact that his political career is far from over (look at MM) makes it more like a act than ever.

The flak at LHL’s gesture can work both ways. One eg was the Late David Marshall. He was well known for his humanitarian views and the fact that during the course of his life he tried to help many people, sometimes for free, as seen in the Nonis Trial, and sometimes for just 1 dollar.

However what people do not know is that he was also a top earning lawyer; apparently just to see him required 3000 up front, in fact he was from Drew and Napier, one of the 2nd largest law firms in Singapore.

Now does the second part necessary detract from his actions in the first part?
As evinced by the logic put forth, you can also say that David Marshall did all the above for publicity sake.

Correction, to what i said above. Regarding the statement ” what people do not know”, to make it more accurate i should say what people are likely to forget is…”

the naked truth:

I’m not from some sisterhood.

Ned Stark:

“The flak at LHL’s gesture can work both ways.”

It doesn’t. Not when you announce something in Parliament which became highly controversial (even in the international sphere) and then attempt to put the wool over people’s eyes* by announcing a “wage freeze” for the next five years (by then, an announcement can be made about increasing the pay by another 100%).

* Although this publicity worked (*winks at Aaron*) .

Glad to hear that IrCTP you had us all worried for one moment.

Why dont you say something insulting about them to really prove the point that you are not one of them.

You can start slagging off their leader – that should do very nicely

Welcome on board, we shan’t expose your IP,. we only do that to those sub-humans in the brotherhood. They should be exterminated like pest. I agree completely with what Ben and Kitana did.

hahahahaha

(*winks at Aaron*) You know what is happening dont you?

(*winks at IrCTP* you are doing a great job. I just want to tell you that.

Mr Brown:

For someone of your standing, I expected better from you when discerning a “critical” voice from a “dissenting” one. It is sad to see the masses clamouring for the lame podcasts which you have produced. It’s even sadder to see how this “cashcow” of yours is being milked dry, day by day, week by week.

Then again, I am not surprised, given how you once did to others the very things that others did to you when your column was terminated in a local paper (albeit what you did was on a smaller scale). Anyway, I have no desire to engage with the likes of you, especially here on Aaron’s blog.

private troubles taking on the public domain i see.

let’s not be antagonistic here. we tend to allow ourselves to be abrasive, obnoxious and snooty when we converse in text, so let’s be gracious here.

and regarding mr brown’s cashcows, i think siva choy was a pioneer in that with his kopi kat antics.