Got this on an email... not sure how true they are.
----
Do inform your female frenz..... new modus operandi... RAPED & ROBBED
> No matter the taxi driver is chinese, malay or indian, PLEASE BE AWARE!
>
> If you notice that there is a sound of spray of perfume or air purifier
> inside the taxi, PLEASE GET DOWN from the TAXI IMMEDIATELY!!
>
> It just happened to me just now. It was about 12.45am. I got into a taxi
> driven by a malay man. I was in the taxi for a few minutes, I suddenly
> heard
> of a sound of spray and there was a smell like air purifier. I felt wierd
> as
> to why the driver put two types of air purifiers in his taxi. The smell
> immediately reminded me about this forwarded email that I read.
>
> I started to be aware of my surroundings. But the puff of the purifier
> kept
> appears every few minutes. I was very worried and scared. Gradually, I
> sensed that my body started to feel weaker and weaker. The purifier kept
> puffing from the back seat, just right behind me. As I really felt my
> whole
> body is weaken, I asked the driver to let me get down at the side road.
>
> But he kept trying to talk to me and ask me why not dropping me off at my
> destination. I think he was trying to drag the time. To my horror, I felt
> both of my hands and legs got numbed and no energy, almost could not move.
>
> When I talked to the driver, I could not even speak properly, not to say
> to
> shout for help, 'cos I was really too weak. Immediately, I opened the door
> and ran to passer-by for help.
>
> I really thank God for saving me. If not, I really can't imagine what
> would
> have happened to me. I am traumised by this incident.
>
> This is TRUE case. Please do keep in mind! IT IS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN
> SORRY!
>
> I feel the need to share with you guys, no matter you are men or women
> 'cos
> it is NOT a LIE , not a made-up story. It really happened.
>
> Do let your friends, family members and relatives know about this case. I
> believe you are just like me, don't wish anybody to be the victim of this
> case. "Pls be aware when aboard to a taxi, especially the ladies."
>
> I received a email some months ago about a lady getting into a cab and
> felt
> uneasy and become faint when she smelt something like incense being burnt
> .
>
> She was smart enough to order the taxi to stop immediately and after
> throwing some money at the taxi man quickly get out of the taxi.
>
> She later got to know that if she had not stopped the taxi and gotten out,
> she would have ?fainted ?and raped by the taxi man (or a gang of rapists)!
>
> After reading this, I thought maybe this was one of those emails that you
> would read and just forget about it, but I was wrong!
>
> Few weeks ago, a visitor to our Chinese church who stayed in Puchong got
> into a taxi driven by an Indian man. When she sat into the taxi, there was
> a
> little burner and she could smell incense burning in the taxi.
>
> After awhile, she felt weak and unable to speak or shout. The Indian taxi
> man drove to a lonely road where there was hardly anyone and raped her.
>
> Before she was completely knocked out, she was told by the taxi guy that
> she
> was his number six victim. She was not only raped but also robbed!
>
> When she was conscious again, she quickly went to see! a doctor. The sad
> thing is, the doctor knew she was raped but did not advise her what to do.
>
> The doctor just let her make the decision to make or not to make a police
> report. Since she does not know the rapist name and also the taxi number
> and
> ?in great fear after this trauma, she told the doctor that she would not
> dare to report to the polis.
>
> The doctor said since she dare not make the report, he would just have to
> destroy the medical report!
>
> Because the rapist took her whole bag with her IC in it, he got her
> address
> and even has the guts to come straight to her house and try to be funny
> with
> her.
>
> Please remember not to get in! to a taxi that smells funny and if possible
> don't get into a taxi alone, and if you have to do so, give a call or sms
> back to your friends or relatives and let them know the taxi registration
> number and if possible, the name of the taxi man.
>
> AND OPEN THE WINDOW!
>
> Gals... Please take note and Guys... Please forward to your female frens..
Current Affairs
Moderator:Morten
Chinese protests all over Europe. Time for backslash... Think Chinese good to bully ahh?
http://news.163.com/08/0416/08/49KTMRM60001124J.html
http://news.163.com/08/0416/08/49KTMRM60001124J.html
Chinese organizing protests in Europe on Saturday
By Lydia Chen 2008-4-16
TENS of thousands of Chinese in London, Paris and Berlin will hold rallies on Saturday to protest the violent acts of Tibetan separatists, the biased coverage in some Western media reports against China and voice their support for the Beijing Olympics.
Meanwhile, the Chinese community in New York also said they are now planning a peaceful rally on May 4 to support the August Games.
The Paris rally, the biggest among its Chinese community in nearly two decades, will see about 10,000 overseas Chinese coming out to support their motherland amid anti-Chinese reports in French media, Global Times reported today.
The rally, which will start around noon on Saturday, was previously planned to be a parade from Place de la République to Place de la Bastille.
However, it later was changed to a rally over security concerns after Paris police suggested shortening the route, the report said.
Some Chinese in the French capital have received threatening letters, saying that shooting accidents may occur during the Saturday rally, the report said.
The Chinese community has already set up several emergency teams, including medical and explosion prevention teams in case of sabotage by Tibetan separatists, Wang Jianchu, who is going to the rally, told the newspaper.
La Libération, one of the biggest daily newspapers in France, ran a story titled "The Flame: A slap of Paris" on April 8, describing the "fiasco" with some people taking pleasure from the suffering of others.
The story said the Paris leg of the torch relay turned into a fiasco for the organizers, a farce for the police, and a slap to the Chinese government. It also described it as a victory for those who oppose China.
The story also ignored thousands of Chinese students who came out to support the Beijing Olympics during the Paris relay and focused its attention on Tibetan separatists.
Full story here: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article ... 356102.htm
April 15, 2008
China demands CNN apology for 'goons' comment
BEIJING - CHINA on Tuesday demanded that US television news channel CNN apologise after one of its commentators said the Chinese were 'goons' and that their products were 'junk'.
Jack Cafferty made the comments earlier this month on CNN's political programme, The Situation Room.
'We are shocked at and strongly condemn the evil attack by the CNN anchor on the Chinese people,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference.
'Cafferty used the microphone in his hand to slander China and the Chinese people, and seriously violated reporting ethics.'
Mr Cafferty said the United States imported Chinese-made 'junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food', adding:
'They're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years,' according to a copy of his comments carried on YouTube.
China came under international scrutiny following a series of food and product health scares last year.
It says the vast majority of its products are safe and has accused Western media of over-hyping the problem.
'We solemnly demand that CNN and Cafferty retract their evil words and apologise to the whole Chinese people,' Mr Jiang added.
CNN's Hong Kong bureau, one of its main reporting bases in Asia, said it had no immediate comment.
China has lashed out at Western media organisations, including CNN in recent weeks following unrest in Tibet, accusing them of running distorted reports, siding with pro-Tibet independence groups and of demonising China. -- REUTERS
China demands CNN apology for 'goons' comment
BEIJING - CHINA on Tuesday demanded that US television news channel CNN apologise after one of its commentators said the Chinese were 'goons' and that their products were 'junk'.
Jack Cafferty made the comments earlier this month on CNN's political programme, The Situation Room.
'We are shocked at and strongly condemn the evil attack by the CNN anchor on the Chinese people,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference.
'Cafferty used the microphone in his hand to slander China and the Chinese people, and seriously violated reporting ethics.'
Mr Cafferty said the United States imported Chinese-made 'junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food', adding:
'They're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years,' according to a copy of his comments carried on YouTube.
China came under international scrutiny following a series of food and product health scares last year.
It says the vast majority of its products are safe and has accused Western media of over-hyping the problem.
'We solemnly demand that CNN and Cafferty retract their evil words and apologise to the whole Chinese people,' Mr Jiang added.
CNN's Hong Kong bureau, one of its main reporting bases in Asia, said it had no immediate comment.
China has lashed out at Western media organisations, including CNN in recent weeks following unrest in Tibet, accusing them of running distorted reports, siding with pro-Tibet independence groups and of demonising China. -- REUTERS
Free Tibet, wait, where is Tibet?
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=twHzXN3kNTs
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=twHzXN3kNTs
Ha.. joke mam.
BT Published April 30, 2008
'Free Tibet' flags, aimed at Beijing, made in China
Police raid Guangdong factory producing thousands of flags
(HONG KONG) When campaigners lobbying for Tibetan independence wanted flags to showcase their movement against Beijing, guess where they turned to? The world's biggest production hub - China, of course.
Days before the Olympic torch is due in China for the final leg of its controversial world tour, police there have raided a factory producing Tibetan independence flags, a report said.
Police in the southern province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong and is China's manufacturing hub, said the factory had been making the distinctive flags to fulfil an overseas order, Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper said.
BT Published April 30, 2008
'Free Tibet' flags, aimed at Beijing, made in China
Police raid Guangdong factory producing thousands of flags
(HONG KONG) When campaigners lobbying for Tibetan independence wanted flags to showcase their movement against Beijing, guess where they turned to? The world's biggest production hub - China, of course.
Days before the Olympic torch is due in China for the final leg of its controversial world tour, police there have raided a factory producing Tibetan independence flags, a report said.
Police in the southern province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong and is China's manufacturing hub, said the factory had been making the distinctive flags to fulfil an overseas order, Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper said.
Adds a new dimension to to this issue. Very old report but very relevant.
=======
Tuesday, 21 August, 2001, 12:15 GMT 13:15 UK
China finds oil in Tibet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1502117.stm
Development plans for Tibet include the world's highest railway
Chinese geologists are reported to have discovered a vast oil deposit in a remote part of northern Tibet.
The oil deposit in the Qiangtan Basin extends over 100 kilometres (60 miles) and may hold as much as 100 million tonnes of oil, according the official Xinhua news agency.
The Chinese government has ambitious plans for Tibet, which include developing five airports and building a railway linking the mountainous region to the outside world.
Earlier this year, the Chinese government pledged to spend $3.8bn (£2.6bn, 4.1bn euros) to complete more than 100 construction projects in Tibet.
Oil extraction in Tibet's mountains is likely to attract criticism from environmentalists and human rights activists.
Protests
Both BP and Royal Dutch Shell took stakes in China's national oil giants when PetroChina and Sinopec floated on the international stock markets in 2000.
BP faced calls to disinvest its 2.2% stake in PetroChina at its April shareholders' meeting because of human rights concerns about a pipeline in Tibet.
Big development projects already underway in Tibet include the 1,000km (600miles) railway line from the city of Golmud, in China's Qinghai province, to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which could cost at least $3bn to build.
For much of its length, the line will run 4,000m above sea-level, posing formidable engineering problems from permafrost and the mountainous route.
=======
Tuesday, 21 August, 2001, 12:15 GMT 13:15 UK
China finds oil in Tibet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1502117.stm
Development plans for Tibet include the world's highest railway
Chinese geologists are reported to have discovered a vast oil deposit in a remote part of northern Tibet.
The oil deposit in the Qiangtan Basin extends over 100 kilometres (60 miles) and may hold as much as 100 million tonnes of oil, according the official Xinhua news agency.
The Chinese government has ambitious plans for Tibet, which include developing five airports and building a railway linking the mountainous region to the outside world.
Earlier this year, the Chinese government pledged to spend $3.8bn (£2.6bn, 4.1bn euros) to complete more than 100 construction projects in Tibet.
Oil extraction in Tibet's mountains is likely to attract criticism from environmentalists and human rights activists.
Protests
Both BP and Royal Dutch Shell took stakes in China's national oil giants when PetroChina and Sinopec floated on the international stock markets in 2000.
BP faced calls to disinvest its 2.2% stake in PetroChina at its April shareholders' meeting because of human rights concerns about a pipeline in Tibet.
Big development projects already underway in Tibet include the 1,000km (600miles) railway line from the city of Golmud, in China's Qinghai province, to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which could cost at least $3bn to build.
For much of its length, the line will run 4,000m above sea-level, posing formidable engineering problems from permafrost and the mountainous route.
Potentially Massive Oil and Gas Find in Tibet
Stratfor
September 5, 2001
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/na ... 05disc.htm
Chinese researchers have discovered massive new gas and oil deposits totaling an estimated 4 billion to 5.4 billion tons in Tibet in southwestern China, the newspaper China Daily reported. The estimates, though tentative, will likely aid China's attempts to increase foreign interest and investment in its western regions, which in turn will strengthen Beijing's control across the country.
The estimate of the deposits' size is highly speculative, however, and more exploration will be necessary to determine the true volume. Beijing likely exaggerated the total in an effort to encourage foreign companies to invest in oil exploration and infrastructure in western China, as this would aid its controversial "Go West" development program. By attracting more foreign money for the program, Beijing could silence angry voices in eastern China as well as tighten its grip on the western regions.The Qiantang deposits, if estimates are accurate, represent a mother lode of oil and gas. They potentially would attract greater investment from firms such as British Petroleum, ENI/Agip of Italy, ExxonMobil, Gazprom and Stroitransgaz of Russia, and Royal Dutch/Shell. Those companies already are considering participating in a pipeline project extending from the northwestern province of Xinjiang to Shanghai.
The estimated size of the Qiantang deposits stems from geologic age. A field research team from Chengdu University of Science and Technology collected oil shale samples from Qiantang in July 2000, according to the China Daily. Lab research dated the geologic age of the shale at 180 million years, indicating the likelihood of oil in the basin.
Should further exploration prove the government's estimates correct, the Qiantang field would be one of the world's largest petroleum reserves. Four billion to 5.4 billion tons of oil translates to 28 billion to 37.8 billion barrels. By comparison, the world's largest oil field, Saudi Arabia's Ghawar reserve, produces 70 billion to 85 billion barrels. Kazakhstan's Kashagan oil field, another mega-deposit, contains an estimated 10 billion to 30 billion recoverable barrels.
Proving or disproving the government's estimates will take time. But Beijing has several political reasons to announce the possibility of such large oil and gas deposits now.
The Qiantang discovery has the potential to bring in more funding for Beijing's "Go West" scheme. Western China, including disputed Tibet, is a vast, sparsely populated region that has been increasingly left behind by economic success in eastern China. The development project would extend vital infrastructure to Tibet and Xinjiang, where separatist sentiments have erupted.
The program calls for constructing 31,988 miles of new roads, including a 790-mile expressway from Sichuan to Guangxi, and 2,469 miles of new railroad. One of the railroads will run 600 miles from Golmud, in Qinghai province, to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and could cost $3 billion. These projects will coincide with the building of new factories, dams, mining facilities and oil and gas pipelines.
The western development effort has run up against international opposition, however, particularly from pro-Tibetan independence groups. For example, non-governmental organizations and government officials dissuaded the World Bank from granting China a $40 million loan. The loan would have helped to relocate 58,000 Chinese farmers to Tibet's Tsaidam basin.
If Beijing opts to fund the plan domestically, much of the money would have to come from the east because Tibet and its neighboring provinces generate the lowest gross domestic product per capita in China. But sources, including those at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, confirm that local and regional governments of coastal provinces are increasingly disenchanted with the central government redirecting their tax payments.
The Qiantang discovery conceivably could resolve that problem and others for Beijing. For example, should foreign oil and gas companies choose to exploit the reserve, greater investments -- in roads, technology, grocery stores, schools and hospitals -- would likely follow. That money would relieve the funding burden borne by eastern China and eventually help erase the wealth gap in the west, likely quelling separatist sentiments as well.
Meanwhile, China's lucrative natural resources in the west are gaining international investment and political support, regardless of the accuracy of its oil and gas reserve estimates in the Qiantang basin. Already, BP has invested $578 million in Chinese oil company PetroChina, and along with ENI/Agip, is aiding its drilling on the Tibetan plateau.
One of the newer planned projects involving foreign companies is a 2,593-mile gas pipeline that will run from Xinjiang, in northwestern China, to Shanghai. The pipeline will cost around $14 billion. Companies that might participate include BP, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch/Shell, Gazprom and Stroitransgaz.
Stratfor
September 5, 2001
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/na ... 05disc.htm
Chinese researchers have discovered massive new gas and oil deposits totaling an estimated 4 billion to 5.4 billion tons in Tibet in southwestern China, the newspaper China Daily reported. The estimates, though tentative, will likely aid China's attempts to increase foreign interest and investment in its western regions, which in turn will strengthen Beijing's control across the country.
The estimate of the deposits' size is highly speculative, however, and more exploration will be necessary to determine the true volume. Beijing likely exaggerated the total in an effort to encourage foreign companies to invest in oil exploration and infrastructure in western China, as this would aid its controversial "Go West" development program. By attracting more foreign money for the program, Beijing could silence angry voices in eastern China as well as tighten its grip on the western regions.The Qiantang deposits, if estimates are accurate, represent a mother lode of oil and gas. They potentially would attract greater investment from firms such as British Petroleum, ENI/Agip of Italy, ExxonMobil, Gazprom and Stroitransgaz of Russia, and Royal Dutch/Shell. Those companies already are considering participating in a pipeline project extending from the northwestern province of Xinjiang to Shanghai.
The estimated size of the Qiantang deposits stems from geologic age. A field research team from Chengdu University of Science and Technology collected oil shale samples from Qiantang in July 2000, according to the China Daily. Lab research dated the geologic age of the shale at 180 million years, indicating the likelihood of oil in the basin.
Should further exploration prove the government's estimates correct, the Qiantang field would be one of the world's largest petroleum reserves. Four billion to 5.4 billion tons of oil translates to 28 billion to 37.8 billion barrels. By comparison, the world's largest oil field, Saudi Arabia's Ghawar reserve, produces 70 billion to 85 billion barrels. Kazakhstan's Kashagan oil field, another mega-deposit, contains an estimated 10 billion to 30 billion recoverable barrels.
Proving or disproving the government's estimates will take time. But Beijing has several political reasons to announce the possibility of such large oil and gas deposits now.
The Qiantang discovery has the potential to bring in more funding for Beijing's "Go West" scheme. Western China, including disputed Tibet, is a vast, sparsely populated region that has been increasingly left behind by economic success in eastern China. The development project would extend vital infrastructure to Tibet and Xinjiang, where separatist sentiments have erupted.
The program calls for constructing 31,988 miles of new roads, including a 790-mile expressway from Sichuan to Guangxi, and 2,469 miles of new railroad. One of the railroads will run 600 miles from Golmud, in Qinghai province, to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and could cost $3 billion. These projects will coincide with the building of new factories, dams, mining facilities and oil and gas pipelines.
The western development effort has run up against international opposition, however, particularly from pro-Tibetan independence groups. For example, non-governmental organizations and government officials dissuaded the World Bank from granting China a $40 million loan. The loan would have helped to relocate 58,000 Chinese farmers to Tibet's Tsaidam basin.
If Beijing opts to fund the plan domestically, much of the money would have to come from the east because Tibet and its neighboring provinces generate the lowest gross domestic product per capita in China. But sources, including those at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, confirm that local and regional governments of coastal provinces are increasingly disenchanted with the central government redirecting their tax payments.
The Qiantang discovery conceivably could resolve that problem and others for Beijing. For example, should foreign oil and gas companies choose to exploit the reserve, greater investments -- in roads, technology, grocery stores, schools and hospitals -- would likely follow. That money would relieve the funding burden borne by eastern China and eventually help erase the wealth gap in the west, likely quelling separatist sentiments as well.
Meanwhile, China's lucrative natural resources in the west are gaining international investment and political support, regardless of the accuracy of its oil and gas reserve estimates in the Qiantang basin. Already, BP has invested $578 million in Chinese oil company PetroChina, and along with ENI/Agip, is aiding its drilling on the Tibetan plateau.
One of the newer planned projects involving foreign companies is a 2,593-mile gas pipeline that will run from Xinjiang, in northwestern China, to Shanghai. The pipeline will cost around $14 billion. Companies that might participate include BP, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch/Shell, Gazprom and Stroitransgaz.
I don't even dare to repost the article here. Unlikely to be very accurate so there is a hint of slander in there.
Interesting read nevertheless.
http://www.malaysiantalk.com/sarawaktal ... 31619.html
Interesting read nevertheless.
http://www.malaysiantalk.com/sarawaktal ... 31619.html
Re: Current Affairs
You've got to blame it something ya?
==============
Olympic mascots to blame for disasters?
HONG KONG — Superstitious bloggers have linked China's earthquake disaster and other recent misfortunes to the Beijing Olympics' five mascots, a Hong Kong newspaper reported on Friday.
.
Gossip sites are full of speculation that four of the five mascots have fulfilled prophesies of doom with one more, connected to the mighty Yangtze River, ominously still to come, the South China Morning Post said.
.
The five Olympic mascots are Huanhuan, Yingying, Nini, Beibei and Jingjing — a panda, the animal most closely associated with Sichuan province where the earthquake struck.
.
Huanhuan, a character with flame hair, is being linked to the Olympic torch which has been dogged by fierce anti-China protests on its round-the-world tour. Yingying, an antelope, is an animal confined to the borders of Tibet which has been the scene of riots and the cause of international protests against China. Nini, represented by a kite, is being viewed as a reference to the "kite city" of Weifang in Shandong province where China saw a deadly train crash last month.
.
That leaves only Beibei, represented by a sturgeon fish, which online doomsayers suggest could indicate a looming disaster in the Yangtze River, the only place where Chinese sturgeon are found. — dpa
================
==============
Olympic mascots to blame for disasters?
HONG KONG — Superstitious bloggers have linked China's earthquake disaster and other recent misfortunes to the Beijing Olympics' five mascots, a Hong Kong newspaper reported on Friday.
.
Gossip sites are full of speculation that four of the five mascots have fulfilled prophesies of doom with one more, connected to the mighty Yangtze River, ominously still to come, the South China Morning Post said.
.
The five Olympic mascots are Huanhuan, Yingying, Nini, Beibei and Jingjing — a panda, the animal most closely associated with Sichuan province where the earthquake struck.
.
Huanhuan, a character with flame hair, is being linked to the Olympic torch which has been dogged by fierce anti-China protests on its round-the-world tour. Yingying, an antelope, is an animal confined to the borders of Tibet which has been the scene of riots and the cause of international protests against China. Nini, represented by a kite, is being viewed as a reference to the "kite city" of Weifang in Shandong province where China saw a deadly train crash last month.
.
That leaves only Beibei, represented by a sturgeon fish, which online doomsayers suggest could indicate a looming disaster in the Yangtze River, the only place where Chinese sturgeon are found. — dpa
================
Re: Current Affairs
Huge deterrent to speeding!
- Attachments
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Re: Current Affairs
Just booked my virgin Singapore Flyer trip.
Chose 22 August 2008 at 830pm as it coincides with the fireworks festival which is held this year on the 22-23rd August. Which means if I am lucky enuf, I will get to watch the fireworks close up in the flyer.
Chose 22 August 2008 at 830pm as it coincides with the fireworks festival which is held this year on the 22-23rd August. Which means if I am lucky enuf, I will get to watch the fireworks close up in the flyer.
Re: Current Affairs
Samba boys are in town. So who is involved in bringing them here?
Quote: It will cost promoters Match World, Total Sport & Entertainment and Kawan Creative International $2.5 million to bring the stars in. http://newpaper.asiaone.com.sg/sports/s ... 39,00.html
Read today/s ST .. page S22 in the sports page. Check out the logos at the bottom...
Presented by ____________
Familar name? Heehee...
Quote: It will cost promoters Match World, Total Sport & Entertainment and Kawan Creative International $2.5 million to bring the stars in. http://newpaper.asiaone.com.sg/sports/s ... 39,00.html
Read today/s ST .. page S22 in the sports page. Check out the logos at the bottom...
Presented by ____________
Familar name? Heehee...
Re: Current Affairs
Very good link on Beijing 2008 Preparations - Three Weeks to Go
http://www.boston.com:80/bigpicture/200 ... _thre.html
http://www.boston.com:80/bigpicture/200 ... _thre.html
Re: Current Affairs
Took my family to our first Singapore Flyer trip today afternoon. Was quite a breathtaking view from up there, highly recommended. Visitors there were light with a number of capsules going around empty while I was there, think they should offer some discount as many people have suggested...hee, especially with the stock market like this... 
Annboy wrote:Just booked my virgin Singapore Flyer trip.
Chose 22 August 2008 at 830pm as it coincides with the fireworks festival which is held this year on the 22-23rd August. Which means if I am lucky enuf, I will get to watch the fireworks close up in the flyer.
Re: Current Affairs
Hsien Loong will be so proud of these.
http://www.boston.com:80/bigpicture/200 ... _prix.html
Wonderful pics... 1st time u ever see F1 cars under such lightings...
http://www.boston.com:80/bigpicture/200 ... _prix.html
Wonderful pics... 1st time u ever see F1 cars under such lightings...
Re: Current Affairs
Now, this is scary... Nestle oso kenna.
Hope SGP is ok.
http://www.centredaily.com/news/world/story/878166.html
==================
SGP assured ok...
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 04/1/.html
Hope SGP is ok.
http://www.centredaily.com/news/world/story/878166.html
==================
SGP assured ok...
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 04/1/.html
Re: Current Affairs
Spent the last couple of hours on the internet understanding water... those for consumption.
Found 2 interesting links.
1. Detailed write up on bottled water.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... gewanted=5
2. Diamond Energy Water filter system
I have installed 1 at home ... fixed last month. Read so much good things about it... but why didnt I encounter this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZFInTHh ... re=related before I bought. I am stopping my 2 yr old boy from drinking this Diamond Water.
Found 2 interesting links.
1. Detailed write up on bottled water.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... gewanted=5
2. Diamond Energy Water filter system
I have installed 1 at home ... fixed last month. Read so much good things about it... but why didnt I encounter this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZFInTHh ... re=related before I bought. I am stopping my 2 yr old boy from drinking this Diamond Water.
Re: Current Affairs
Documentary abt M'sian politics... by Australian Broadcasting Corp. They even got Najib the Deputy PM to the interview over the Mongolian lady's murder.
Broadcast: 04/11/2008
Reporter: Helen Vatsikopoulos
Video link found in: http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2008/s2405410.htm
Broadcast: 04/11/2008
Reporter: Helen Vatsikopoulos
Video link found in: http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2008/s2405410.htm
Re: Current Affairs
If you look at the advertisements on the papers, you have a feeling that the Great Singapore Sale is already on. Almost every where is on SALE !
Jialat.
Tough time to be a retailer it seems.
Jialat.
Tough time to be a retailer it seems.
Re: Current Affairs
Classic quotes from our govt.
" For a person who runs a million-dollar charitable organisation,
$600,000 is peanuts as it has a few hundred millions in reserves."
Mrs Goh Chok Tong
"If you don't include your women graduates in your breeding pool
And leave them on the shelf, you would end up a more stupid society...
So what happens?
There will be less bright people to support dumb people in the next generation. That's a problem."
MM Lee Kuan Yew in 1983
"Save on one hairdo and use the money for breast screening."
Minister Lim Hng Kiang
"Only 5% are unemployed.
We still have 95% who are employed."
Minister Yeo Cheow Tong
"Retrenchment is good for Singapore.
If there is no retrenchments, then I worry."
SM Goh Chok Tong
"We must encourage those who earn less than $200 per month
and cannot afford to nurture and educate many children
never to have more than two...
We will regret the time lost
if we do not now take the first tentative steps
towards correcting a trend which can leave our society
with a large number of the physically, intellecually and culturally anaemic."
MM Lee Kuan Yew in 1967
"Contrary to public perception,
the White Horse classification is not to ensure
that sons of influential men gets preferential treatment.
Instead it is to ensure that they do not get preferential treatment."
Mr. Cedric Foo
"I give you an example:
you put out a fun podcast, you talk about 'bak chor mee';
I will say "mee siam mai hum", then we compete."
PM Lee Hsien Loong
"I don't think that there should be a cap
on the number of directorship that a person can hold."
PAP MP John Chen
who holds 8 directorships
"It's not for the money
because some of the companies pay me as little as $10,000 a year."
PAP MP Wang Kai Yuen
who holds 11 directorships.
"We started off with (the name) and after looking at everything,
the name that really tugged at the heartstrings was in front of us.
The name itself is not new,
but what has been used informally so far has endeared itself to all parties."
Minister Mah Bow Tan
on the $400,000 exercise to rename Marina Bay as Marina Bay.
"Having enjoyed football as a national sport for decades,
we in Singapore have set ourselves the target
of reaching the final rounds of the World Cup in 2010."
MP Ho Peng Kee
"I would want to form an alternative policies group in Parliament,
comprising 20 PAP MPs.
These 20 PAP MPs will be free to vote in accordance
with what they think of a particular policy.
In other words, the whip for them will be lifted.
This is not playing politics,
this is something which I think is worthwhile doing."
SM Goh Chok Tong
"If you want to dance on a bar top, some of us will fall off the bar top.
Some people will die as a result of liberalising bar top dancing;
a young girl with a short skirt dancing on it
may attract some insults from some other men,
the boyfriend will start fighting and some people will die."
Dr.Vivian Balakrishnan,
Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports
"People support CPF cuts because there are no protest outside parliament."
PM Lee Hsien Loong
"Singaporean workers have become more expensive
than those in the USA and Australia."
Minister Tony Tan Keng Yam
"No, it was not a U-turn, and neither was it a reversal of government policy.
But you can call it a rethink."
Minister Yeo Cheow Tong
"I regret making the decision because,
in the end, the baby continued to be in intensive care,
and KKH now runs up a total bill of more than $300,000"
Minister Lim Hng Kiang,
regretting the decision to save a baby's life because KKH ran up a $300,000 bill
"Without the elected president and if there is a freak result,
Within two or three years, the army would have to come in and stop it."
MM Lee Kuan Yew
"Please do not assume that you can change governments.
Young people don't understand this"
MM Lee Kuan Yew, post-2006 General Elections
"How much do you want?
Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?"
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan
"People could buy frozen food instead of more expensive fresh food"
"They could opt for house brand goods, which cost less than others. "
- PM Lee Hsien Loong
"Based on figures provided by ComfortDelGro, Singapore's biggest taxi operator,
cabbies are pocketing about $11 more a day, earning about $318."
Mr. Raymond Lim
"GST hike is to help the poor."
PM Lee Hsien Loong
'You know, the cure for all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government.
You get that alternative and you'll never put Singapore together again:
Humpty Dumpty cannot be put together again...
and your asset values will be in peril, your security will be at risk
and our women will become maids in other people's countries, foreign workers.'
MM Lee Kuan Yew
Justifying pay hikes for Singapore ministers, The Straits Times, 5 April 2007
'This should never have happened. I am sorry that it has.'
(The escape of Mas Selamat)
Minister Wong Kan Seng
"'I mean, we are different.
This was a lapse, what to do, it's happened."
PM Lee Hsien Loong
Minister Lim Swee Say:
Every month, when I receive my CPF statement,
I feel so rich and the best part is,
I know the CPF money won't run away.
CPF will still be around for a long, long time to come.
Not only is it earning good interest, my capital is protected.
Leaving the best for last...
"Right now we have Low Thia Khiang, Chiam See Tong, Steve Chia.
We can deal with them.
Suppose you had 10, 15, 20 opposition members in Parliament.
Instead of spending my time thinking what is the right policy for Singapore,
I'm going to spend all my time
thinking what's the right way to fix them, to buy my supporters votes,
how can I solve this week's problem
and forget about next year's challenges?"
PM Lee Hsien Loong, 3 May 2006.
AND
last but not least,
here's what MM Lee Kuan Yew said in April 2007:-
.....you have to pay the market rate or the man will up stakes
and join Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers or Goldman Sachs
and you would have an incompetent man
and you would lose money by the
BILLIONS.....!!!!!!
" For a person who runs a million-dollar charitable organisation,
$600,000 is peanuts as it has a few hundred millions in reserves."
Mrs Goh Chok Tong
"If you don't include your women graduates in your breeding pool
And leave them on the shelf, you would end up a more stupid society...
So what happens?
There will be less bright people to support dumb people in the next generation. That's a problem."
MM Lee Kuan Yew in 1983
"Save on one hairdo and use the money for breast screening."
Minister Lim Hng Kiang
"Only 5% are unemployed.
We still have 95% who are employed."
Minister Yeo Cheow Tong
"Retrenchment is good for Singapore.
If there is no retrenchments, then I worry."
SM Goh Chok Tong
"We must encourage those who earn less than $200 per month
and cannot afford to nurture and educate many children
never to have more than two...
We will regret the time lost
if we do not now take the first tentative steps
towards correcting a trend which can leave our society
with a large number of the physically, intellecually and culturally anaemic."
MM Lee Kuan Yew in 1967
"Contrary to public perception,
the White Horse classification is not to ensure
that sons of influential men gets preferential treatment.
Instead it is to ensure that they do not get preferential treatment."
Mr. Cedric Foo
"I give you an example:
you put out a fun podcast, you talk about 'bak chor mee';
I will say "mee siam mai hum", then we compete."
PM Lee Hsien Loong
"I don't think that there should be a cap
on the number of directorship that a person can hold."
PAP MP John Chen
who holds 8 directorships
"It's not for the money
because some of the companies pay me as little as $10,000 a year."
PAP MP Wang Kai Yuen
who holds 11 directorships.
"We started off with (the name) and after looking at everything,
the name that really tugged at the heartstrings was in front of us.
The name itself is not new,
but what has been used informally so far has endeared itself to all parties."
Minister Mah Bow Tan
on the $400,000 exercise to rename Marina Bay as Marina Bay.
"Having enjoyed football as a national sport for decades,
we in Singapore have set ourselves the target
of reaching the final rounds of the World Cup in 2010."
MP Ho Peng Kee
"I would want to form an alternative policies group in Parliament,
comprising 20 PAP MPs.
These 20 PAP MPs will be free to vote in accordance
with what they think of a particular policy.
In other words, the whip for them will be lifted.
This is not playing politics,
this is something which I think is worthwhile doing."
SM Goh Chok Tong
"If you want to dance on a bar top, some of us will fall off the bar top.
Some people will die as a result of liberalising bar top dancing;
a young girl with a short skirt dancing on it
may attract some insults from some other men,
the boyfriend will start fighting and some people will die."
Dr.Vivian Balakrishnan,
Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports
"People support CPF cuts because there are no protest outside parliament."
PM Lee Hsien Loong
"Singaporean workers have become more expensive
than those in the USA and Australia."
Minister Tony Tan Keng Yam
"No, it was not a U-turn, and neither was it a reversal of government policy.
But you can call it a rethink."
Minister Yeo Cheow Tong
"I regret making the decision because,
in the end, the baby continued to be in intensive care,
and KKH now runs up a total bill of more than $300,000"
Minister Lim Hng Kiang,
regretting the decision to save a baby's life because KKH ran up a $300,000 bill
"Without the elected president and if there is a freak result,
Within two or three years, the army would have to come in and stop it."
MM Lee Kuan Yew
"Please do not assume that you can change governments.
Young people don't understand this"
MM Lee Kuan Yew, post-2006 General Elections
"How much do you want?
Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?"
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan
"People could buy frozen food instead of more expensive fresh food"
"They could opt for house brand goods, which cost less than others. "
- PM Lee Hsien Loong
"Based on figures provided by ComfortDelGro, Singapore's biggest taxi operator,
cabbies are pocketing about $11 more a day, earning about $318."
Mr. Raymond Lim
"GST hike is to help the poor."
PM Lee Hsien Loong
'You know, the cure for all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government.
You get that alternative and you'll never put Singapore together again:
Humpty Dumpty cannot be put together again...
and your asset values will be in peril, your security will be at risk
and our women will become maids in other people's countries, foreign workers.'
MM Lee Kuan Yew
Justifying pay hikes for Singapore ministers, The Straits Times, 5 April 2007
'This should never have happened. I am sorry that it has.'
(The escape of Mas Selamat)
Minister Wong Kan Seng
"'I mean, we are different.
This was a lapse, what to do, it's happened."
PM Lee Hsien Loong
Minister Lim Swee Say:
Every month, when I receive my CPF statement,
I feel so rich and the best part is,
I know the CPF money won't run away.
CPF will still be around for a long, long time to come.
Not only is it earning good interest, my capital is protected.
Leaving the best for last...
"Right now we have Low Thia Khiang, Chiam See Tong, Steve Chia.
We can deal with them.
Suppose you had 10, 15, 20 opposition members in Parliament.
Instead of spending my time thinking what is the right policy for Singapore,
I'm going to spend all my time
thinking what's the right way to fix them, to buy my supporters votes,
how can I solve this week's problem
and forget about next year's challenges?"
PM Lee Hsien Loong, 3 May 2006.
AND
last but not least,
here's what MM Lee Kuan Yew said in April 2007:-
.....you have to pay the market rate or the man will up stakes
and join Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers or Goldman Sachs
and you would have an incompetent man
and you would lose money by the
BILLIONS.....!!!!!!
Re: Current Affairs
Year of Bungling Ministers
The year 2008 should be called the Year of Bungling Ministers. The amount of bungling by our millionaire ministers simply beggars belief. The stupidity of several ministers has been exposed by the senseless and arrogant remarks they have made throughout the year.
So here are my "Remarks Awards" for 2008.
1. Lee Hsien Loong (Award for Showcasing Poor Leadership)
"What to do do? It happened"
After keeping quiet for a whopping 11 days, PM Lee finally opened his mouth in response to the escape of Mas Selamat Kastari. A jaw-dropping response from the nation's leader.
2. Lee Kuan Yew (Award for being Most Delusional)
"There is a conspiracy to do us in. Why?...They see us as a threat."
Perhaps it indicates his growing senility and paranoia. His response to human rights groups' increasing criticism of Singapore's authoritarian government and its appeal to other regimes like Communist China shows that he is in denial.
3. K Shanmugam (Award for Best Expose 1)
"To be able to speak to so many lawyers without you being able to respond. You can see what a few weeks in Government has done to my approach to open debate."
Mr Shanmugam has exposed ministers' thinking about how they interact with people. They must be rolling with glee that they can talk whatever they want to Singaporeans knowing that we cannot respond freely to them.
4. George Yeo (Award for Fake Optimism)
"Whether the human rights body we establish will have teeth, I don't know. But it would certainly have a tongue, and I hope it would have a sharp tongue."
He knows full well that Singapore will work to ensure that a powerless ASEAN human rights commission is set up.
5. Philip Yeo (not a minister, but very senior civil servant)(Award for Best Expose 2)
"Make sure that our young people are hungry. If our young people are not hungry enough, bring in hungrier ones from overseas. Make them feel hungry, increase the hungriness index."
He has exposed the government's attitude that it will simply drown out rebellious Singaporeans with compliant foreigners.
6. Lee Hsien Loong (Award for Making-Singaporeans-think-I've-given-them-more space-when-I'm-really-just-giving-them-back-what-they-are-entitled-to-in-the-first-place)
"We've got to allow political videos but with some safeguards… We have to move away from this total ban and find ways to allow people to let off steam a little bit more, but safely…"
He appears to be a PM concerned about his citizens. But in reality it shows the government's increasing worry about rising discontent. Besides, we have the right to free speech and PM Lee is just throwing a few scraps of it to us.
7. Lee Kuan Yew (Award for thinking-that-Singaporeans-are-fools-to-believe-whatever-I-say)
"We all have to accept some sacrifices and cutbacks. But compared to our counterparts in neighbouring countries, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, our low income earners are much better off."
If he had compared us with "real" first world countries like America and Europe, I think we would have been the worst off. A poor attempt at misleading from an old hand.
8. Lee Kuan Yew (Award for Best Contradiction of Oneself)
In 2007:
"We are into a period of good economic growth and social development. Singapore made 6.6 per cent growth in the last quarter of 2006 and 6.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2007. If there are no wars or oil crises, this golden period can stretch out over many years."
In 2008:
"We cannot restore people (people's living standards) to what they were enjoying before the worldwide crash. But we will make sure nobody falls below the poverty line."
We were never in a truly golden period in the first place. Liars always get exposed in the end.
And the
"Stupidest and Most Arrogant Comment of 2008" goes to Dr Teo Ho Pin.
"They (residents) should thank the Town Council for working hard to come up with a diversified portfolio to generate income so that residents do not have to fork out more money."
The most callous, arrogant, misleading, condescending and ridiculous comment I have ever heard. Enough said.
==================================
Disclaimer: The superlatives are not my own, taken from an email.
The year 2008 should be called the Year of Bungling Ministers. The amount of bungling by our millionaire ministers simply beggars belief. The stupidity of several ministers has been exposed by the senseless and arrogant remarks they have made throughout the year.
So here are my "Remarks Awards" for 2008.
1. Lee Hsien Loong (Award for Showcasing Poor Leadership)
"What to do do? It happened"
After keeping quiet for a whopping 11 days, PM Lee finally opened his mouth in response to the escape of Mas Selamat Kastari. A jaw-dropping response from the nation's leader.
2. Lee Kuan Yew (Award for being Most Delusional)
"There is a conspiracy to do us in. Why?...They see us as a threat."
Perhaps it indicates his growing senility and paranoia. His response to human rights groups' increasing criticism of Singapore's authoritarian government and its appeal to other regimes like Communist China shows that he is in denial.
3. K Shanmugam (Award for Best Expose 1)
"To be able to speak to so many lawyers without you being able to respond. You can see what a few weeks in Government has done to my approach to open debate."
Mr Shanmugam has exposed ministers' thinking about how they interact with people. They must be rolling with glee that they can talk whatever they want to Singaporeans knowing that we cannot respond freely to them.
4. George Yeo (Award for Fake Optimism)
"Whether the human rights body we establish will have teeth, I don't know. But it would certainly have a tongue, and I hope it would have a sharp tongue."
He knows full well that Singapore will work to ensure that a powerless ASEAN human rights commission is set up.
5. Philip Yeo (not a minister, but very senior civil servant)(Award for Best Expose 2)
"Make sure that our young people are hungry. If our young people are not hungry enough, bring in hungrier ones from overseas. Make them feel hungry, increase the hungriness index."
He has exposed the government's attitude that it will simply drown out rebellious Singaporeans with compliant foreigners.
6. Lee Hsien Loong (Award for Making-Singaporeans-think-I've-given-them-more space-when-I'm-really-just-giving-them-back-what-they-are-entitled-to-in-the-first-place)
"We've got to allow political videos but with some safeguards… We have to move away from this total ban and find ways to allow people to let off steam a little bit more, but safely…"
He appears to be a PM concerned about his citizens. But in reality it shows the government's increasing worry about rising discontent. Besides, we have the right to free speech and PM Lee is just throwing a few scraps of it to us.
7. Lee Kuan Yew (Award for thinking-that-Singaporeans-are-fools-to-believe-whatever-I-say)
"We all have to accept some sacrifices and cutbacks. But compared to our counterparts in neighbouring countries, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, our low income earners are much better off."
If he had compared us with "real" first world countries like America and Europe, I think we would have been the worst off. A poor attempt at misleading from an old hand.
8. Lee Kuan Yew (Award for Best Contradiction of Oneself)
In 2007:
"We are into a period of good economic growth and social development. Singapore made 6.6 per cent growth in the last quarter of 2006 and 6.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2007. If there are no wars or oil crises, this golden period can stretch out over many years."
In 2008:
"We cannot restore people (people's living standards) to what they were enjoying before the worldwide crash. But we will make sure nobody falls below the poverty line."
We were never in a truly golden period in the first place. Liars always get exposed in the end.
And the
"Stupidest and Most Arrogant Comment of 2008" goes to Dr Teo Ho Pin.
"They (residents) should thank the Town Council for working hard to come up with a diversified portfolio to generate income so that residents do not have to fork out more money."
The most callous, arrogant, misleading, condescending and ridiculous comment I have ever heard. Enough said.
==================================
Disclaimer: The superlatives are not my own, taken from an email.
Re: Current Affairs
Wow see this Dawn Yang old pictures..... didn't know ugly duckling can become so beautiful?
http://shuangxingfu.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... -babe.html
Plastic power?
http://shuangxingfu.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... -babe.html
Plastic power?
Re: Current Affairs
This is a perfect example of thinking of your feet. The pilot deserves an award for this miracle.
Pictures: http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/US-Airway ... h_newyork2
Pictures: http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/US-Airway ... h_newyork2
Re: Current Affairs
Lee Wei Ling publishes a weekly article in ST... she is down to earth and has a heart and compassion for the masses.
=============================
Lee Wei Ling: My house is shabby, but it is comfortable
Written by Lee Wei Ling, for the Sunday Times, 04 Jan 2009
In 2007, in an end-of-year message to the staff of the National Neuroscience Institute, I wrote: ‘Whilst boom time in the public sector is never as booming as in the private sector, let us not forget that boom time is eventually followed by slump time. Slump time in the public sector is always less painful compared to the private sector.’
Slump time has arrived with a bang.
While I worry about the poorer Singaporeans who will be hit hard, perhaps this recession has come at an opportune time for many of us. It will give us an incentive to reconsider our priorities in life.
Decades of the good life have made us soft. The wealthy especially, but also the middle class in Singapore, have had it so good for so long, what they once considered luxuries, they now think of as necessities.
A mobile phone, for instance, is now a statement about who you are, not just a piece of equipment for communication. Hence many people buy the latest model though their existing mobile phones are still in perfect working order.
A Mercedes-Benz is no longer adequate as a status symbol. For millionaires who wish to show the world they have taste, a Ferrari or a Porsche is deemed more appropriate.
The same attitude influences the choice of attire and accessories. I still find it hard to believe that there are people carrying handbags that cost more than thrice the monthly income of a bus driver, and many more times that of the foreign worker labouring in the hot sun, risking his life to construct luxury condominiums he will never have a chance to live in.
The media encourages and amplifies this ostentatious consumption. Perhaps it is good to encourage people to spend more because this will prevent the recession from getting worse. I am not an economist, but wasn’t that the root cause of the current crisis - Americans spending more than they could afford to?
I am not a particularly spiritual person. I don’t believe in the supernatural and I don’t think I have a soul that will survive my death. But as I view the crass materialism around me, I am reminded of what my mother once told me: ‘Suffering and deprivation is good for the soul.’
My family is not poor, but we have been brought up to be frugal. My parents and I live in the same house that my paternal grandparents and their children moved into after World War II in 1945. It is a big house by today’s standards, but it is simple - in fact, almost to the point of being shabby.
Those who see it for the first time are astonished that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s home is so humble. But it is a comfortable house, a home we have got used to. Though it does look shabby compared to the new mansions on our street, we are not bothered by the comparison.
Most of the world and much of Singapore will lament the economic downturn. We have been told to tighten our belts. There will undoubtedly be suffering, which we must try our best to ameliorate.
But I personally think the hard times will hold a timely lesson for many Singaporeans, especially those born after 1970 who have never lived through difficult times.
No matter how poor you are in Singapore, the authorities and social groups do try to ensure you have shelter and food. Nobody starves in Singapore.
Many of those who are currently living in mansions and enjoying a luxurious lifestyle will probably still be able to do so, even if they might have to downgrade from wines costing $20,000 a bottle to $10,000 a bottle. They would hardly notice the difference.
Being wealthy is not a sin. It cannot be in a capitalist market economy. Enjoying the fruits of one’s own labour is one’s prerogative and I have no right to chastise those who choose to live luxuriously.
But if one is blinded by materialism, there would be no end to wanting and hankering. After the Ferrari, what next? An Aston Martin? After the Hermes Birkin handbag, what can one upgrade to?
Neither an Aston Martin nor an Hermes Birkin can make us truly happy or contented. They are like dust, a fog obscuring the true meaning of life, and can be blown away in the twinkling of an eye.
When the end approaches and we look back on our lives, will we regret the latest mobile phone or luxury car that we did not acquire? Or would we prefer to die at peace with ourselves, knowing that we have lived lives filled with love, friendship and goodwill, that we have helped some of our fellow voyagers along the way and that we have tried our best to leave this world a slightly better place than how we found it?
We know which is the correct choice - and it is within our power to make that choice.
In this new year, burdened as it is with the problems of the year that has just ended, let us again try to choose wisely.
To a considerable degree, our happiness is within our own control, and we should not follow the herd blindly.
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.
=============================
Lee Wei Ling: My house is shabby, but it is comfortable
Written by Lee Wei Ling, for the Sunday Times, 04 Jan 2009
In 2007, in an end-of-year message to the staff of the National Neuroscience Institute, I wrote: ‘Whilst boom time in the public sector is never as booming as in the private sector, let us not forget that boom time is eventually followed by slump time. Slump time in the public sector is always less painful compared to the private sector.’
Slump time has arrived with a bang.
While I worry about the poorer Singaporeans who will be hit hard, perhaps this recession has come at an opportune time for many of us. It will give us an incentive to reconsider our priorities in life.
Decades of the good life have made us soft. The wealthy especially, but also the middle class in Singapore, have had it so good for so long, what they once considered luxuries, they now think of as necessities.
A mobile phone, for instance, is now a statement about who you are, not just a piece of equipment for communication. Hence many people buy the latest model though their existing mobile phones are still in perfect working order.
A Mercedes-Benz is no longer adequate as a status symbol. For millionaires who wish to show the world they have taste, a Ferrari or a Porsche is deemed more appropriate.
The same attitude influences the choice of attire and accessories. I still find it hard to believe that there are people carrying handbags that cost more than thrice the monthly income of a bus driver, and many more times that of the foreign worker labouring in the hot sun, risking his life to construct luxury condominiums he will never have a chance to live in.
The media encourages and amplifies this ostentatious consumption. Perhaps it is good to encourage people to spend more because this will prevent the recession from getting worse. I am not an economist, but wasn’t that the root cause of the current crisis - Americans spending more than they could afford to?
I am not a particularly spiritual person. I don’t believe in the supernatural and I don’t think I have a soul that will survive my death. But as I view the crass materialism around me, I am reminded of what my mother once told me: ‘Suffering and deprivation is good for the soul.’
My family is not poor, but we have been brought up to be frugal. My parents and I live in the same house that my paternal grandparents and their children moved into after World War II in 1945. It is a big house by today’s standards, but it is simple - in fact, almost to the point of being shabby.
Those who see it for the first time are astonished that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s home is so humble. But it is a comfortable house, a home we have got used to. Though it does look shabby compared to the new mansions on our street, we are not bothered by the comparison.
Most of the world and much of Singapore will lament the economic downturn. We have been told to tighten our belts. There will undoubtedly be suffering, which we must try our best to ameliorate.
But I personally think the hard times will hold a timely lesson for many Singaporeans, especially those born after 1970 who have never lived through difficult times.
No matter how poor you are in Singapore, the authorities and social groups do try to ensure you have shelter and food. Nobody starves in Singapore.
Many of those who are currently living in mansions and enjoying a luxurious lifestyle will probably still be able to do so, even if they might have to downgrade from wines costing $20,000 a bottle to $10,000 a bottle. They would hardly notice the difference.
Being wealthy is not a sin. It cannot be in a capitalist market economy. Enjoying the fruits of one’s own labour is one’s prerogative and I have no right to chastise those who choose to live luxuriously.
But if one is blinded by materialism, there would be no end to wanting and hankering. After the Ferrari, what next? An Aston Martin? After the Hermes Birkin handbag, what can one upgrade to?
Neither an Aston Martin nor an Hermes Birkin can make us truly happy or contented. They are like dust, a fog obscuring the true meaning of life, and can be blown away in the twinkling of an eye.
When the end approaches and we look back on our lives, will we regret the latest mobile phone or luxury car that we did not acquire? Or would we prefer to die at peace with ourselves, knowing that we have lived lives filled with love, friendship and goodwill, that we have helped some of our fellow voyagers along the way and that we have tried our best to leave this world a slightly better place than how we found it?
We know which is the correct choice - and it is within our power to make that choice.
In this new year, burdened as it is with the problems of the year that has just ended, let us again try to choose wisely.
To a considerable degree, our happiness is within our own control, and we should not follow the herd blindly.
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.
Re: Current Affairs
Doing what's right without fear or favour
Lee Wei Ling
30 July 2008,Straits Times
----------------------------------------------------------------
I WAS born and bred in Singapore. This is my home, to which I am tied by family and friends. Yet many Singaporeans find me eccentric, though most are too polite to verbalise it. I only realised how eccentric I am when one friend pointed out to me why I could not use my own yardstick to judge others.
I dislike intensely the elitist attitude of some in our upper socio-economic class. I have been accused of reverse snobbery because I tend to avoid the wealthy who flaunt their wealth ostentatiously or do not help the less fortunate members of our society.
I treat all people I meet as equals, be it a truck driver friend or a patient and friend who belongs to the richest family in Singapore.
I appraise people not by their usefulness to me but by their character. I favour those with integrity, compassion and courage. I feel too many among us place inordinate emphasis on academic performance, job status, appearance and presentation.
I am a doctor and director of the smallest public sector hospital in Singapore, the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI). I have 300 staff, of whom 100 are doctors. I emphasise to my doctors that they must do their best for every patient regardless of paying status. I also appraise my doctors on how well they care for our patients, not by how much money they bring in for NNI.
My doctors know I have friends who are likely to come in as subsidised patients. I warn them that if I find them not treating any subsidised patient well, their appraisal - and hence bonus and annual salary increments - would be negatively affected. My doctors know I will do as I say.
I remind them that the purpose of our existence and the measure of our success is how well we care for all our patients - and that this is the morally correct way to behave and should be the reason why we are doctors. In NNI, almost all patients are given the best possible treatment regardless of their paying status.
My preference for egalitarianism extends to how I interact with my staff. I am director because the organisation needs a reporting structure. But my staff are encouraged to speak out when they disagree with me. This tends to be a rarity in several institutions in Singapore. The fear that one's career path may be negatively affected is what prevents many people from speaking out.
This reflects poorly on leadership. In many organisations, superiors do not like to be contradicted by those who work under them. Intellectual arrogance is a deplorable attitude.
'Listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story,' the Desiderata tells us. It is advice we should all heed - especially leaders, especially doctors.
I speak out when I see something wrong that no one appears to be trying to correct. Not infrequently, I try to right the wrong. In doing so, I have stepped on the sensitive toes of quite a few members of the establishment. As a result, I have been labelled 'anti-establishment'. Less kind comments include: 'She dares to do so because she has a godfather'.
I am indifferent to these untrue criticisms; I report to my conscience; and I would not be able to face myself if I knew that there was a wrong that I could have righted but failed to do so.
I have no protective godfather. My father, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, would not interfere with any disciplinary measures that might be meted out to me.
And I am not anti-establishment. I am proud of what Singapore has achieved. But I am not a mouthpiece of the government. I am capable of independent thought and I can view problems or issues from a perspective that others may have overlooked.
A few months ago, I gave a talk on medical ethics to students of our Graduate Medical School. They sent me a thank-you card with a message written by each student. One wrote: 'You are a maverick, yet you are certainly not anti-establishment. You obey the moral law.' Another wrote: 'Thank you for sharing your perspective with us and being the voice that not many dare to take.'
It would be better for Singapore's medical fraternity if the young can feel this way about all of us in positions of authority.
After the Sars epidemic in 2003, the Government began to transform Singapore into a vibrant city with arts and cultural festivals, and soon, integrated resorts and night F1. But can we claim to be a civilised first world country if we do not treat all members of our society with equal care and dignity?
There are other first world countries where the disparity between the different socio- economic classes is much more extreme and social snobbery is even worse than in Singapore. But that is no excuse for Singaporeans not to try harder to treat each other with dignity and care.
After all, both the Bible and Confucius tell us not to treat others in a way that we ourselves would not want to be treated. That is a moral precept that many societies accept in theory, but do not carry out in practice.
I wish Singapore could be an exception in this as it has been in many other areas where we have surprised others with our success.
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute. Think-Tank is a weekly column rotated among eight heads of research and tertiary institutions.
Lee Wei Ling
30 July 2008,Straits Times
----------------------------------------------------------------
I WAS born and bred in Singapore. This is my home, to which I am tied by family and friends. Yet many Singaporeans find me eccentric, though most are too polite to verbalise it. I only realised how eccentric I am when one friend pointed out to me why I could not use my own yardstick to judge others.
I dislike intensely the elitist attitude of some in our upper socio-economic class. I have been accused of reverse snobbery because I tend to avoid the wealthy who flaunt their wealth ostentatiously or do not help the less fortunate members of our society.
I treat all people I meet as equals, be it a truck driver friend or a patient and friend who belongs to the richest family in Singapore.
I appraise people not by their usefulness to me but by their character. I favour those with integrity, compassion and courage. I feel too many among us place inordinate emphasis on academic performance, job status, appearance and presentation.
I am a doctor and director of the smallest public sector hospital in Singapore, the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI). I have 300 staff, of whom 100 are doctors. I emphasise to my doctors that they must do their best for every patient regardless of paying status. I also appraise my doctors on how well they care for our patients, not by how much money they bring in for NNI.
My doctors know I have friends who are likely to come in as subsidised patients. I warn them that if I find them not treating any subsidised patient well, their appraisal - and hence bonus and annual salary increments - would be negatively affected. My doctors know I will do as I say.
I remind them that the purpose of our existence and the measure of our success is how well we care for all our patients - and that this is the morally correct way to behave and should be the reason why we are doctors. In NNI, almost all patients are given the best possible treatment regardless of their paying status.
My preference for egalitarianism extends to how I interact with my staff. I am director because the organisation needs a reporting structure. But my staff are encouraged to speak out when they disagree with me. This tends to be a rarity in several institutions in Singapore. The fear that one's career path may be negatively affected is what prevents many people from speaking out.
This reflects poorly on leadership. In many organisations, superiors do not like to be contradicted by those who work under them. Intellectual arrogance is a deplorable attitude.
'Listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story,' the Desiderata tells us. It is advice we should all heed - especially leaders, especially doctors.
I speak out when I see something wrong that no one appears to be trying to correct. Not infrequently, I try to right the wrong. In doing so, I have stepped on the sensitive toes of quite a few members of the establishment. As a result, I have been labelled 'anti-establishment'. Less kind comments include: 'She dares to do so because she has a godfather'.
I am indifferent to these untrue criticisms; I report to my conscience; and I would not be able to face myself if I knew that there was a wrong that I could have righted but failed to do so.
I have no protective godfather. My father, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, would not interfere with any disciplinary measures that might be meted out to me.
And I am not anti-establishment. I am proud of what Singapore has achieved. But I am not a mouthpiece of the government. I am capable of independent thought and I can view problems or issues from a perspective that others may have overlooked.
A few months ago, I gave a talk on medical ethics to students of our Graduate Medical School. They sent me a thank-you card with a message written by each student. One wrote: 'You are a maverick, yet you are certainly not anti-establishment. You obey the moral law.' Another wrote: 'Thank you for sharing your perspective with us and being the voice that not many dare to take.'
It would be better for Singapore's medical fraternity if the young can feel this way about all of us in positions of authority.
After the Sars epidemic in 2003, the Government began to transform Singapore into a vibrant city with arts and cultural festivals, and soon, integrated resorts and night F1. But can we claim to be a civilised first world country if we do not treat all members of our society with equal care and dignity?
There are other first world countries where the disparity between the different socio- economic classes is much more extreme and social snobbery is even worse than in Singapore. But that is no excuse for Singaporeans not to try harder to treat each other with dignity and care.
After all, both the Bible and Confucius tell us not to treat others in a way that we ourselves would not want to be treated. That is a moral precept that many societies accept in theory, but do not carry out in practice.
I wish Singapore could be an exception in this as it has been in many other areas where we have surprised others with our success.
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute. Think-Tank is a weekly column rotated among eight heads of research and tertiary institutions.
Re: Current Affairs
Medicine is not just a career, but a calling
By Lee Wei Ling
I have always felt keenly the suffering of animals. Since I was a child, I had wanted to be a vet. My parents persuaded me to abandon that idea by using the example of a vet whose university education was funded by the Public Service Commission. When he returned to Singapore, he was posted to serve his bond at the abattoirs. That was enough to persuade me to select my second career choice - a doctor. I have never regretted that decision.
There are still many diseases for which medical science has no cure, and this is especially true of neurological diseases because nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord do not usually regenerate. Hence, a significant percentage of patients seeing neurologists, of which I am one, cannot be cured. But as in all areas of medicine, we still try our best for the patient, 'to cure, sometimes; to relieve, often; to comfort, always'.
An example is a 70-year-old woman who sees me for her epilepsy. Her husband has taken a China mistress whom he has brought back to his marital home. He wants my patient to sell her 50 per cent ownership of their HDB flat and move out. Her children side with the husband because he is the one with the money and assets to will to them.
When this patient comes, I always greet her with a big smile and compliment her on her cheongsam. She will tell me she sewed it herself, and I will praise her for her skill. Then I ask her whether she has had any seizures since the last time she saw me. She sees me at yearly intervals, and usually, she will have had none.
Next, I ask her how she is coping at home. She would say she just ignores her husband and his mistress. I would give her a thumbs-up in reply, then ask her whether she still goes to watch Chinese operas. She would say yes.
By then, I would have prepared her prescription. I hand it to her, pat her on her back and she would walk out with a smile on her face, back straight and a spring in her step.
It takes me only five minutes to do the above. I can control but not cure her epilepsy. But I have cheered her up for the day.
One very special patient, Jac, has idiopathic severe generalised torsion dystonia. By the age of 11, she was as twisted as a pretzel and barely able to speak intelligibly. She did well in the Primary School Leaving Examination, but was a few points short of the score needed for an external student to be accepted by Methodist Girls' School (MGS).
I had done fund-raising for MGS prior to this and knew the principal. I phoned her and explained Jac's disease as well as her determination and diligence.
I told the principal that the nurturing environment of MGS would be good for Jac, and that it would be a good lesson for the other students in MGS to learn to interact with a peer with disability.
At the end of Secondary 2, Jac mailed me a book and a typed letter. The book was a collection of Chinese essays by students in MGS.
There were two essays by Jac. In addition, she had topped the entire Secondary 1 and, subsequently, Secondary 2 in Chinese. She was second in the entire Secondary 2 for Chemistry. She was happy at MGS, and her peers accepted her and helped wheel her around in her wheelchair.
Medication merely gave Jac some degree of pain relief from her dystonia. Being admitted to MGS gave her the opportunity to enjoy school and thrive in it.
I was walking on clouds for the next few hours after I received the book and letter. Jac showed that an indomitable human spirit can triumph over a severe physical disability. As a doctor, I am not just handling a medical problem but the entire patient, including her education and social life.
I have been practising medicine for 30 years now. Over this period, medical science has advanced tremendously, but the values held by the medical community seem to have changed for the worse.
Yearning and working for money is more widely and openly practised; and sometimes this is perceived as acceptable behaviour, though our moral instinct tells us otherwise.
Most normal humans have a moral instinct that can clearly distinguish between right and wrong. But we are more likely to excuse our own wrongdoing if there are others who are doing the same and getting away with it.
These doctors who profit unfairly from their patients know they are doing wrong. But if A, B and C are doing wrong - and X, Y and Z too - then I need not be ashamed of doing the same. Medical students who see this behaviour being tacitly condoned will tend to lower their own moral standards. Instead of putting patients' welfare first, they will enrich themselves first.
The most important trait a doctor needs is empathy. If we can feel our patient's pain and suffering, we would certainly do our best by our patients and their welfare would override everything else.
Medicine is not just a prestigious, profitable career - it is a calling. Being a doctor will guarantee almost anyone a decent standard of living. How much money we need for a decent standard of living varies from individual to individual.
My needs are simple and I live a spartan life. I choose to practise in the public sector because I want to serve all patients without needing to consider whether they can pay my fees.
I try not to judge others who demand an expensive lifestyle and treat patients mainly as a source of income. But when the greed is too overwhelming, I cannot help but point out that such behaviour is unethical.
The biggest challenge facing medicine in Singapore today is the struggle between two incentives that drive doctors in opposite directions: the humanitarian, ethical, compassionate drive to do the best by all patients versus the cold, calculating attitude that seeks to profit from as many patients as possible. Hopefully, the first will triumph.
Doctors do have families to support. Needing and wanting money is not wrong. But doctors must never allow greed to determine their actions.
I think if a fair system of pricing medical fees - such that doctors can earn what they deserve but not profit too much from patients - can be implemented, this problem will be much reduced. The Guideline of Fees, which previously was in effect, was dropped last year. I am trying to revive it as soon as possible.
http://business.asiaone.com/Business/Of ... 06550.html
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.
By Lee Wei Ling
I have always felt keenly the suffering of animals. Since I was a child, I had wanted to be a vet. My parents persuaded me to abandon that idea by using the example of a vet whose university education was funded by the Public Service Commission. When he returned to Singapore, he was posted to serve his bond at the abattoirs. That was enough to persuade me to select my second career choice - a doctor. I have never regretted that decision.
There are still many diseases for which medical science has no cure, and this is especially true of neurological diseases because nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord do not usually regenerate. Hence, a significant percentage of patients seeing neurologists, of which I am one, cannot be cured. But as in all areas of medicine, we still try our best for the patient, 'to cure, sometimes; to relieve, often; to comfort, always'.
An example is a 70-year-old woman who sees me for her epilepsy. Her husband has taken a China mistress whom he has brought back to his marital home. He wants my patient to sell her 50 per cent ownership of their HDB flat and move out. Her children side with the husband because he is the one with the money and assets to will to them.
When this patient comes, I always greet her with a big smile and compliment her on her cheongsam. She will tell me she sewed it herself, and I will praise her for her skill. Then I ask her whether she has had any seizures since the last time she saw me. She sees me at yearly intervals, and usually, she will have had none.
Next, I ask her how she is coping at home. She would say she just ignores her husband and his mistress. I would give her a thumbs-up in reply, then ask her whether she still goes to watch Chinese operas. She would say yes.
By then, I would have prepared her prescription. I hand it to her, pat her on her back and she would walk out with a smile on her face, back straight and a spring in her step.
It takes me only five minutes to do the above. I can control but not cure her epilepsy. But I have cheered her up for the day.
One very special patient, Jac, has idiopathic severe generalised torsion dystonia. By the age of 11, she was as twisted as a pretzel and barely able to speak intelligibly. She did well in the Primary School Leaving Examination, but was a few points short of the score needed for an external student to be accepted by Methodist Girls' School (MGS).
I had done fund-raising for MGS prior to this and knew the principal. I phoned her and explained Jac's disease as well as her determination and diligence.
I told the principal that the nurturing environment of MGS would be good for Jac, and that it would be a good lesson for the other students in MGS to learn to interact with a peer with disability.
At the end of Secondary 2, Jac mailed me a book and a typed letter. The book was a collection of Chinese essays by students in MGS.
There were two essays by Jac. In addition, she had topped the entire Secondary 1 and, subsequently, Secondary 2 in Chinese. She was second in the entire Secondary 2 for Chemistry. She was happy at MGS, and her peers accepted her and helped wheel her around in her wheelchair.
Medication merely gave Jac some degree of pain relief from her dystonia. Being admitted to MGS gave her the opportunity to enjoy school and thrive in it.
I was walking on clouds for the next few hours after I received the book and letter. Jac showed that an indomitable human spirit can triumph over a severe physical disability. As a doctor, I am not just handling a medical problem but the entire patient, including her education and social life.
I have been practising medicine for 30 years now. Over this period, medical science has advanced tremendously, but the values held by the medical community seem to have changed for the worse.
Yearning and working for money is more widely and openly practised; and sometimes this is perceived as acceptable behaviour, though our moral instinct tells us otherwise.
Most normal humans have a moral instinct that can clearly distinguish between right and wrong. But we are more likely to excuse our own wrongdoing if there are others who are doing the same and getting away with it.
These doctors who profit unfairly from their patients know they are doing wrong. But if A, B and C are doing wrong - and X, Y and Z too - then I need not be ashamed of doing the same. Medical students who see this behaviour being tacitly condoned will tend to lower their own moral standards. Instead of putting patients' welfare first, they will enrich themselves first.
The most important trait a doctor needs is empathy. If we can feel our patient's pain and suffering, we would certainly do our best by our patients and their welfare would override everything else.
Medicine is not just a prestigious, profitable career - it is a calling. Being a doctor will guarantee almost anyone a decent standard of living. How much money we need for a decent standard of living varies from individual to individual.
My needs are simple and I live a spartan life. I choose to practise in the public sector because I want to serve all patients without needing to consider whether they can pay my fees.
I try not to judge others who demand an expensive lifestyle and treat patients mainly as a source of income. But when the greed is too overwhelming, I cannot help but point out that such behaviour is unethical.
The biggest challenge facing medicine in Singapore today is the struggle between two incentives that drive doctors in opposite directions: the humanitarian, ethical, compassionate drive to do the best by all patients versus the cold, calculating attitude that seeks to profit from as many patients as possible. Hopefully, the first will triumph.
Doctors do have families to support. Needing and wanting money is not wrong. But doctors must never allow greed to determine their actions.
I think if a fair system of pricing medical fees - such that doctors can earn what they deserve but not profit too much from patients - can be implemented, this problem will be much reduced. The Guideline of Fees, which previously was in effect, was dropped last year. I am trying to revive it as soon as possible.
http://business.asiaone.com/Business/Of ... 06550.html
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.
Re: Current Affairs
Righting a wrong comes from the heart
By Lee Wei Ling
Since young, I have always been upset with myself if I knew something was wrong and I could put it right but didn't.
Hence, I often find myself on 'quests' or 'missions', 'jousting with windmills'. Sometimes, I criticise my friends, saying, perhaps impatiently, 'you have lost the fire in your belly'.
If there is something wrong that we know of, I believe we should try to set it right whether or not it is our business to do so. Not to do so implies we condone the wrong and hence we would be guilty of committing the wrong too.
The concept of 'guilty by omission' is not one that is held commonly here. But it is enshrined in the legal systems of the United States and France.
You can be sued in the US if you do not clear the ice on the sidewalks around your home and as a result, someone slips and fractures a bone. You did not cause the fracture but you would be guilty by virtue of having omitted to clear the ice.
Let me give a concrete example closer to home of the consequences of such omission: A few months ago, a colleague's mother suffered a heart attack and was rushed by ambulance to Tan Tock Seng Hospital at night.
Horror of horrors, there was no cardiologist there. My friend desperately called one of several private cardiologists she knew personally, being a doctor herself. But what could a layman have done in similar circumstances? Nothing.
Neither Alexandra Hospital nor Tan Tock Seng outside of office hours has the resources to handle acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) or heart attacks.
Thus, they are not in a position to give patients the best chance of surviving heart attacks. Of those who survive, the chance of impaired function of the heart would be higher than for patients treated in hospitals where cardiologists and facilities were available as in the National Heart Centre (NHC) or National University Hospital (NUH).
These problems are beyond my areas of responsibility. But I am a doctor; I know what is wrong; and I know what needs to be done. I would have been guilty by omission if I had not tried to solve this problem.
So I engaged the ambulances which come under the Singapore Civil Defence Force, NHC, NUH and got them all to agree that when their ambulances pick up patients with AMI, they would bypass Alexandra and Tan Tock Seng and go only to NUH or NHC.
I do not believe homo sapiens are necessarily at the top of the evolutionary pyramid. But it is indisputable that we are different from other species in several ways.
Scientists once assured us that we were the only species that possessed language. Then research with gorillas and chimpanzees showed that they too could master sign language. Another distinguishing trait of humans was thought to be our capacity to use tools. But then we learnt otters could smash molluscs with rocks and apes could strip the leaves from twigs to use them to fish for termites.
The one feature that definitely does separate us from other animals is our highly developed sense of morality. We seem to have a primal understanding of good and evil, right and wrong, of what it means to suffer not only our own pain but also the pain of others.
Morality may be a hard concept to grasp, but we acquire it fast. A preschooler, for instance, may learn that it is not all right to eat in class because a teacher says so. If the rule is lifted, the child will happily eat in class. But if the same teacher says it is okay to push another student off a chair, the child would hesitate. He will think: 'No, the teacher should not say that.'
In both cases, somebody would have taught the child the rules, but the rule against pushing has a stickiness about it. It resists coming unstuck even if someone in authority countenances its breach. That is the difference between a moral imperative and mere social convention. Some psychologists like Michael Schulman believe children can innately intuit the difference.
Of course, the child might on occasion hit some other child and won't feel particularly bad about it - unless, of course, he is caught. The same is true of people who steal or despots who slaughter their people.
Marc Hauser, professor of psychology at Harvard University, has written: 'Moral judgment is pretty consistent from person to person - that is, we all know what is right and what is wrong. Moral behaviour, however, is scattered all over the chart.'
The rules we know, even the ones we intuit, are by no means the rules we follow. There are people who have no moral instinct - psychopaths and anti-social people who commit crimes and seem incapable of being reformed. They stand out precisely because their behaviour is so bizarre.
Of the rules that we do follow, it is easier for most people to follow rules that require passively not doing anything wrong. Actively doing something right, especially if that something does not fall within our area of responsibility, is uncommon.
It is good for any country to have an active citizenry. And that is precisely why the concept of 'guilt by omission' should be a part of our ethos.
As Singapore climbs the economic ladder, its need for people who would feel guilty if they omitted to do something right - not merely passively do no wrong - will increase.
A rich middle-class society encircled by the material pleasures of life, happily oblivious of social inequities and the suffering of the less fortunate among us, will never become a civil or gracious society.
On the other hand, a country with little financial reserves, a middle class that is not wealthy but is socially active, that tries to lift the lowest common denominator in that society, is one that would be heading in the right direction.
Some things cannot be legislated but must come spontaneously from the heart. The desires to right wrongs and help others are examples.
Singapore is a great place for social experiments to improve both the country and the individual.
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.
http://www.asiaone.com/Health/News/Stor ... 17138.html
This story was first published in thesundaytimes on Jan 18. 2009.
By Lee Wei Ling
Since young, I have always been upset with myself if I knew something was wrong and I could put it right but didn't.
Hence, I often find myself on 'quests' or 'missions', 'jousting with windmills'. Sometimes, I criticise my friends, saying, perhaps impatiently, 'you have lost the fire in your belly'.
If there is something wrong that we know of, I believe we should try to set it right whether or not it is our business to do so. Not to do so implies we condone the wrong and hence we would be guilty of committing the wrong too.
The concept of 'guilty by omission' is not one that is held commonly here. But it is enshrined in the legal systems of the United States and France.
You can be sued in the US if you do not clear the ice on the sidewalks around your home and as a result, someone slips and fractures a bone. You did not cause the fracture but you would be guilty by virtue of having omitted to clear the ice.
Let me give a concrete example closer to home of the consequences of such omission: A few months ago, a colleague's mother suffered a heart attack and was rushed by ambulance to Tan Tock Seng Hospital at night.
Horror of horrors, there was no cardiologist there. My friend desperately called one of several private cardiologists she knew personally, being a doctor herself. But what could a layman have done in similar circumstances? Nothing.
Neither Alexandra Hospital nor Tan Tock Seng outside of office hours has the resources to handle acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) or heart attacks.
Thus, they are not in a position to give patients the best chance of surviving heart attacks. Of those who survive, the chance of impaired function of the heart would be higher than for patients treated in hospitals where cardiologists and facilities were available as in the National Heart Centre (NHC) or National University Hospital (NUH).
These problems are beyond my areas of responsibility. But I am a doctor; I know what is wrong; and I know what needs to be done. I would have been guilty by omission if I had not tried to solve this problem.
So I engaged the ambulances which come under the Singapore Civil Defence Force, NHC, NUH and got them all to agree that when their ambulances pick up patients with AMI, they would bypass Alexandra and Tan Tock Seng and go only to NUH or NHC.
I do not believe homo sapiens are necessarily at the top of the evolutionary pyramid. But it is indisputable that we are different from other species in several ways.
Scientists once assured us that we were the only species that possessed language. Then research with gorillas and chimpanzees showed that they too could master sign language. Another distinguishing trait of humans was thought to be our capacity to use tools. But then we learnt otters could smash molluscs with rocks and apes could strip the leaves from twigs to use them to fish for termites.
The one feature that definitely does separate us from other animals is our highly developed sense of morality. We seem to have a primal understanding of good and evil, right and wrong, of what it means to suffer not only our own pain but also the pain of others.
Morality may be a hard concept to grasp, but we acquire it fast. A preschooler, for instance, may learn that it is not all right to eat in class because a teacher says so. If the rule is lifted, the child will happily eat in class. But if the same teacher says it is okay to push another student off a chair, the child would hesitate. He will think: 'No, the teacher should not say that.'
In both cases, somebody would have taught the child the rules, but the rule against pushing has a stickiness about it. It resists coming unstuck even if someone in authority countenances its breach. That is the difference between a moral imperative and mere social convention. Some psychologists like Michael Schulman believe children can innately intuit the difference.
Of course, the child might on occasion hit some other child and won't feel particularly bad about it - unless, of course, he is caught. The same is true of people who steal or despots who slaughter their people.
Marc Hauser, professor of psychology at Harvard University, has written: 'Moral judgment is pretty consistent from person to person - that is, we all know what is right and what is wrong. Moral behaviour, however, is scattered all over the chart.'
The rules we know, even the ones we intuit, are by no means the rules we follow. There are people who have no moral instinct - psychopaths and anti-social people who commit crimes and seem incapable of being reformed. They stand out precisely because their behaviour is so bizarre.
Of the rules that we do follow, it is easier for most people to follow rules that require passively not doing anything wrong. Actively doing something right, especially if that something does not fall within our area of responsibility, is uncommon.
It is good for any country to have an active citizenry. And that is precisely why the concept of 'guilt by omission' should be a part of our ethos.
As Singapore climbs the economic ladder, its need for people who would feel guilty if they omitted to do something right - not merely passively do no wrong - will increase.
A rich middle-class society encircled by the material pleasures of life, happily oblivious of social inequities and the suffering of the less fortunate among us, will never become a civil or gracious society.
On the other hand, a country with little financial reserves, a middle class that is not wealthy but is socially active, that tries to lift the lowest common denominator in that society, is one that would be heading in the right direction.
Some things cannot be legislated but must come spontaneously from the heart. The desires to right wrongs and help others are examples.
Singapore is a great place for social experiments to improve both the country and the individual.
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.
http://www.asiaone.com/Health/News/Stor ... 17138.html
This story was first published in thesundaytimes on Jan 18. 2009.
Re: Current Affairs
Hmm... is Wei Ling in serious health trouble? Cancer?
----------------
Lee Wei Ling: What keeps me rooted to Singapore
By Lee Wei Ling, for the Sunday Times
01 Feb 2009
http://www.straitstimes.com/Think/Story ... 32790.html
This is an era when international mobility is a privilege that many of our bright young men and women enjoy. The world is their oyster.
They were born and raised in Singapore. Some may have completed their tertiary education here, while others did so overseas. But I have cousins whose children have chosen to exchange their pink Singapore identity cards for United States passports.
If ever there is a major crisis in Singapore, those who would be able to emigrate, be accepted by another country and get jobs there would invariably be people who are wealthy and/or professionals with marketable skills.
The Government knows that talent is mobile and that Singapore must compete with other countries to offer an attractive living environment and vibrant culture so as to retain talented Singaporeans and attract foreign talent here.
I am a paediatric neurologist. I can pass any medical examination that Canada, the US, Australia or New Zealand may impose before accepting me as a high-skilled immigrant or ‘exceptional alien’. Would I take such opportunities?
Perhaps in a moment of madness, when my yearning for hiking outweighs all the other factors that keep me in Singapore and make me want to fight for it if the need should arise.
I have been fortunate in having true friends in Singapore. They and my nuclear family are the main reason I will stay if foreign armies invade or bombs are dropped on Singapore.
In 1975, the year South Vietnam fell, I was a medical student training in paediatrics. Paediatricians are especially kind and decent people, for only such people would be drawn to work mainly with children. Still, there was serious talk of emigration among my paediatrician mentors. One did emigrate with his entire family.
My parents called a family meeting in their bedroom soon after Saigon fell. My father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, then Singapore’s Prime Minister, told us: ‘Mama and I will stay here to the bitter end. Hsien Loong is already in the SAF and must do his duty. But the three of you need not feel obliged to stay.’
In the end, the Vietnamese communists did not march down Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore thrived, Hsien Yang followed Hsien Loong in accepting both the SAF and President’s Scholarships, and my brothers both served out their bonds.
I myself had accepted a President’s Scholarship in 1973 to study medicine at the University of Singapore. It was a five-year course for which the Public Service Commission paid me approximately $3,000 to $4,000 annually. Most of it went towards my medical school fees. I was bonded for eight years.
Subsequently, I accepted several more scholarships from the Government and have served a total of 16 years of bond. I stayed on in the public sector after completing my bond and am now in my 31st year in service. I have also had the opportunity to live and study overseas for four years. I enjoyed living in North America.
As a nature lover, I appreciated the magic of the seasons. I enjoyed observing spring trying to announce its arrival with crocuses that may subsequently be buried by a late spring snowfall.
Spring in its full-blown splendour of trees, with budding leaves in the most tender hues of green…The daffodils…The cherry blossoms in full bloom along the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts…Running alone at first dawn or twilight, as petals fluttered down on you, was a magical experience.
Then fall with its burst of colours, turning what was an almost uniformly green landscape into a tapestry of yellow, gold, rust, red and green that met your eyes as you jogged. And then winter announcing the end of the year - time to go cross-country skiing or find an indoor track to run.
The changing seasons enhanced the quality of life in a way that only someone who has lived in New England for three years, as I did, can appreciate. But I always returned home. I never doubted that home was anything other than Singapore.
I suffered a serious surgical complication on Jan 9 and am now recuperating in Singapore General Hospital as I write this.
I was in pain earlier this afternoon and, unable to do much, I dozed off. When I woke, my friend Gino was quietly sitting in the next room.
He had brought along with him brand-new running shorts and socks. I had messaged him at noon to ask him to get them for me but did not expect him to do so immediately. Gino is an excellent physiotherapist who helped me through an extremely difficult rehabilitation in 2002. We have been close friends since.
He had recently resigned from the Singapore Sports Council and we discussed the best location for him to set up shop. He gave me a sports massage and we chatted for some time until I felt up to doing my step aerobics.
This morning, one of my cousins dropped by, followed by my doctor-friends from the National Neuroscience Institute.
I am now staring at the skyline that I had stared at from the same window in 2002 and 2003. Then as now I was hospitalised for prolonged periods because of serious surgical accidents, which I later pulled through against great odds.
There are many more tall buildings now than there were in 2002 and 2003. This is a city-state. I am unlikely ever to go hiking again - in Hawaii or Bhutan, Kerala or New Zealand - my one and only real hobby.
What keeps me rooted here are my nuclear family and my friends. We enjoy good times together and help and support one another during bad times. They - rather than Olympic medals or National Day Parades - are the main reason why I feel this place is home and why it is worth fighting for if the need should arise.
The idea of dying does not scare me. But to be willing to stay on and fight for Singapore - that goes beyond simple logic. It is the result of the emotional bond I have with those who are important in my life as well as with those for whom I feel a sense of responsibility.
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.
----------------
Lee Wei Ling: What keeps me rooted to Singapore
By Lee Wei Ling, for the Sunday Times
01 Feb 2009
http://www.straitstimes.com/Think/Story ... 32790.html
This is an era when international mobility is a privilege that many of our bright young men and women enjoy. The world is their oyster.
They were born and raised in Singapore. Some may have completed their tertiary education here, while others did so overseas. But I have cousins whose children have chosen to exchange their pink Singapore identity cards for United States passports.
If ever there is a major crisis in Singapore, those who would be able to emigrate, be accepted by another country and get jobs there would invariably be people who are wealthy and/or professionals with marketable skills.
The Government knows that talent is mobile and that Singapore must compete with other countries to offer an attractive living environment and vibrant culture so as to retain talented Singaporeans and attract foreign talent here.
I am a paediatric neurologist. I can pass any medical examination that Canada, the US, Australia or New Zealand may impose before accepting me as a high-skilled immigrant or ‘exceptional alien’. Would I take such opportunities?
Perhaps in a moment of madness, when my yearning for hiking outweighs all the other factors that keep me in Singapore and make me want to fight for it if the need should arise.
I have been fortunate in having true friends in Singapore. They and my nuclear family are the main reason I will stay if foreign armies invade or bombs are dropped on Singapore.
In 1975, the year South Vietnam fell, I was a medical student training in paediatrics. Paediatricians are especially kind and decent people, for only such people would be drawn to work mainly with children. Still, there was serious talk of emigration among my paediatrician mentors. One did emigrate with his entire family.
My parents called a family meeting in their bedroom soon after Saigon fell. My father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, then Singapore’s Prime Minister, told us: ‘Mama and I will stay here to the bitter end. Hsien Loong is already in the SAF and must do his duty. But the three of you need not feel obliged to stay.’
In the end, the Vietnamese communists did not march down Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore thrived, Hsien Yang followed Hsien Loong in accepting both the SAF and President’s Scholarships, and my brothers both served out their bonds.
I myself had accepted a President’s Scholarship in 1973 to study medicine at the University of Singapore. It was a five-year course for which the Public Service Commission paid me approximately $3,000 to $4,000 annually. Most of it went towards my medical school fees. I was bonded for eight years.
Subsequently, I accepted several more scholarships from the Government and have served a total of 16 years of bond. I stayed on in the public sector after completing my bond and am now in my 31st year in service. I have also had the opportunity to live and study overseas for four years. I enjoyed living in North America.
As a nature lover, I appreciated the magic of the seasons. I enjoyed observing spring trying to announce its arrival with crocuses that may subsequently be buried by a late spring snowfall.
Spring in its full-blown splendour of trees, with budding leaves in the most tender hues of green…The daffodils…The cherry blossoms in full bloom along the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts…Running alone at first dawn or twilight, as petals fluttered down on you, was a magical experience.
Then fall with its burst of colours, turning what was an almost uniformly green landscape into a tapestry of yellow, gold, rust, red and green that met your eyes as you jogged. And then winter announcing the end of the year - time to go cross-country skiing or find an indoor track to run.
The changing seasons enhanced the quality of life in a way that only someone who has lived in New England for three years, as I did, can appreciate. But I always returned home. I never doubted that home was anything other than Singapore.
I suffered a serious surgical complication on Jan 9 and am now recuperating in Singapore General Hospital as I write this.
I was in pain earlier this afternoon and, unable to do much, I dozed off. When I woke, my friend Gino was quietly sitting in the next room.
He had brought along with him brand-new running shorts and socks. I had messaged him at noon to ask him to get them for me but did not expect him to do so immediately. Gino is an excellent physiotherapist who helped me through an extremely difficult rehabilitation in 2002. We have been close friends since.
He had recently resigned from the Singapore Sports Council and we discussed the best location for him to set up shop. He gave me a sports massage and we chatted for some time until I felt up to doing my step aerobics.
This morning, one of my cousins dropped by, followed by my doctor-friends from the National Neuroscience Institute.
I am now staring at the skyline that I had stared at from the same window in 2002 and 2003. Then as now I was hospitalised for prolonged periods because of serious surgical accidents, which I later pulled through against great odds.
There are many more tall buildings now than there were in 2002 and 2003. This is a city-state. I am unlikely ever to go hiking again - in Hawaii or Bhutan, Kerala or New Zealand - my one and only real hobby.
What keeps me rooted here are my nuclear family and my friends. We enjoy good times together and help and support one another during bad times. They - rather than Olympic medals or National Day Parades - are the main reason why I feel this place is home and why it is worth fighting for if the need should arise.
The idea of dying does not scare me. But to be willing to stay on and fight for Singapore - that goes beyond simple logic. It is the result of the emotional bond I have with those who are important in my life as well as with those for whom I feel a sense of responsibility.
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.
Re: Current Affairs
Annboy wrote: I suffered a serious surgical complication on Jan 9 and am now recuperating in Singapore General Hospital as I write this.
Ok ... so here is some bo liao observation.
- Lee Wei Ling is now warded in SGH.
- Seng Han Thong was also warded in SGH.
- 85 yr old MM Lee visited Seng HT 5 times in SGH. http://208.79.203.2/~wayangpa/?tag=mm-l ... n-hospital
So now we know why MM Lee made so many trips to SGH to see Seng... he was also there to visit his daughter.
Anyway, I wish Wei Ling well and wish her full recovery from whatever health challenges she is facing. Singapore need more compassionate intellectuals like her.
Re: Current Affairs
DJ Singapore Cash-For-Organs Proposal Raises Concerns - Report
24/03/2009 16:10
SINGAPORE (AFP)--Plans by Singapore to allow payments to living organ donors have run into opposition from some lawmakers, who fear the prospect might draw indebted foreign workers, according to news reports Tuesday.
One member of parliament, Halimah Yacob, said some of the many unskilled foreign workers affected by the financial crisis might turn to donating organs to pay off debts they incurred to get jobs in the affluent city-state.
Under existing law it is illegal for a living donor to be given cash, but the Singapore government has proposed legislative amendments that would allow financial compensation to kidney donors.
The issue was debated Monday in parliament, where Halimah, a ruling party lawmaker, said some foreign workers might "become a ready, vulnerable pool of organ donors to be exploited and abused."
"To a desperate foreign worker, even a reimbursement of 10,000 (Singapore) dollars ($6,600) would be attractive compared to going home empty-handed with a huge debt waiting for him," she was quoted as saying by The Straits Times newspaper.
Another parliamentarian, Lam Pin Min, was quoted by the newspaper as saying that foreigners, including some from India and Pakistan, were already making inquiries on how they could sell their kidneys in Singapore.
Lam cautioned that Singapore might become known as a center for "transplant tourism," saying an independent third party should be involved in negotiations on financial compensation for donors.
Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said banning compensation was "outdated and unfair."
"Many countries have already updated their legislation to provide for such reimbursements," Khaw told parliament.
Khaw said 26 people died in Singapore last year while waiting for donor organs.
The Singapore government proposed changing the law after the city-state's first known organ-trading case, in which an ailing Singaporean retail magnate was caught trying to buy a kidney from an Indonesian.
==============
I wonder if Ms Halimah and the other lawmakers who are against this will ever be a recipient of this change in rule? Or maybe their loved ones. The only person that made the most sense of it all is Lee Wei Ling. All these rule makers who oppose has a lack of compassion ... or lack of realism. Either, or.
Re: Current Affairs
Tdy big topic @ lunch break is the salaries that Pastor J. Prince got... ie. > $500k. Took a bit of time to watch his sermons on Youtube. Its very good indeed. Very smooth preacher. Sounds like a talk show.
Well... this bible quote sums it up perhaps?
"And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
Matthew 19:24
Well... this bible quote sums it up perhaps?
"And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
Matthew 19:24
Re: Current Affairs
Straits Times March 28, 2009
Executing the next move By Teo Wan Gek
MINISTER for Law K. Shanmugam has likened the recent Cabinet reshuffle to the moving of
pieces on a chess board.
'It looks almost like chess pieces being moved by a grandmaster in a very deep and thoughtful
way, piece by piece,' he said on Saturday at the sidelines of a prayer ceremony at the Guang De
Shan memorial park.
'Every single move may not be spectacular by itself, but after a period of time, if you look over
the last five years, there's a sea change.'
However, because of the planning and preparation that have gone into it, the changes may not
seem major.
'Each move is anticipated, the pieces are in position; roughly you can tell what's the next move,
when it's done. It doesn't come as a huge surprise, which is a good thing in politics,' he said.
On Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean's appointment as Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Shanmugam
said it was a natural progression.
'People know he's capable, he has been tried out, so it doesn't create ripples or waves. There is
recognition and acceptance. This is a good man for the job, it's about time,' he said.
Mr Teo will take up his new position as DPM from April 1. He will be the Acting Prime Minister
when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is away. Mr Teo will continue as Defence Minister and
Minister in charge of the civil service.
------------------------------------------
Hmm... re-read again.. key words are: "It looks almost like chess pieces being moved by a grandmaster in a very deep and thoughtful way, piece by piece,"
Looks like he just confirmed somethg many of us knew or suspected all along. The Grandmaster at work.
Executing the next move By Teo Wan Gek
MINISTER for Law K. Shanmugam has likened the recent Cabinet reshuffle to the moving of
pieces on a chess board.
'It looks almost like chess pieces being moved by a grandmaster in a very deep and thoughtful
way, piece by piece,' he said on Saturday at the sidelines of a prayer ceremony at the Guang De
Shan memorial park.
'Every single move may not be spectacular by itself, but after a period of time, if you look over
the last five years, there's a sea change.'
However, because of the planning and preparation that have gone into it, the changes may not
seem major.
'Each move is anticipated, the pieces are in position; roughly you can tell what's the next move,
when it's done. It doesn't come as a huge surprise, which is a good thing in politics,' he said.
On Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean's appointment as Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Shanmugam
said it was a natural progression.
'People know he's capable, he has been tried out, so it doesn't create ripples or waves. There is
recognition and acceptance. This is a good man for the job, it's about time,' he said.
Mr Teo will take up his new position as DPM from April 1. He will be the Acting Prime Minister
when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is away. Mr Teo will continue as Defence Minister and
Minister in charge of the civil service.
------------------------------------------
Hmm... re-read again.. key words are: "It looks almost like chess pieces being moved by a grandmaster in a very deep and thoughtful way, piece by piece,"
Looks like he just confirmed somethg many of us knew or suspected all along. The Grandmaster at work.
Re: Current Affairs
Not sure about the authencity. Here is the link anyway: http://ckcounterpunch.wordpress.com:80/ ... rostitute/
Snippets:
But I was offered the opportunity to prostitute myself. One day, some time back, a person by the name of Rusdi Mustaffa who works for Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, called me and said he wanted to meet me. I was then at the Havana Club in the Concord Hotel in Kuala Lumpur enjoying cigars with my friends.
Rusdi arrived way past midnight and we talked. He wanted to know how much I wanted. I did not understand what he meant and told him so. He repeated the question and asked me how much I wanted to stop writing about Najib and Altantuya. Name my price.
The conversation went on for about half an hour, and to cut a long story short, I turned down the offer. The following morning I phoned a certain Chinese Datuk and requested him to make an appointment with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Snippets:
But I was offered the opportunity to prostitute myself. One day, some time back, a person by the name of Rusdi Mustaffa who works for Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, called me and said he wanted to meet me. I was then at the Havana Club in the Concord Hotel in Kuala Lumpur enjoying cigars with my friends.
Rusdi arrived way past midnight and we talked. He wanted to know how much I wanted. I did not understand what he meant and told him so. He repeated the question and asked me how much I wanted to stop writing about Najib and Altantuya. Name my price.
The conversation went on for about half an hour, and to cut a long story short, I turned down the offer. The following morning I phoned a certain Chinese Datuk and requested him to make an appointment with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Re: Current Affairs
This AWARE saga keeps us glued to the papers for updates.
Here is one useful one.
From MOE: http://www.moe.edu.sg/media/forum/2009/ ... -and-c.php
Probably we will see a wave of parents (from COOS) making their complaints to MOE to legitimise their accusations?
---------------------------------
Reply to Recent Comments and Claims About AWARE’s Sexuality Education Programme in Schools
We refer to recent claims and comments about AWARE’s sexuality education programme in schools.
Sexuality education conducted in MOE schools is premised on the importance of the family and respect for the values and beliefs of the different ethnic and religious communities on sexuality issues. The aim is to help students make responsible values-based choices on matters involving sexuality.
Core programmes are delivered by teachers but schools do collaborate with other agencies in delivering additional modules. However, in doing so, schools must ensure that any programmes run by external agencies are secular and sensitive to the multi-religious make-up of our society. Parents can choose to opt their children out of these programmes.
Last year, 11 secondary schools engaged AWARE to run workshops for their students. The number of students involved in each school ranged from about 20 to 100, and each workshop lasted 3 hours. The objectives of these workshops were to provide students with accurate information on Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)/HIV, to help students understand the consequences of premarital sexual activity, and to equip students with skills such as decision-making and resisting negative peer pressure.
AWARE also conducted assembly talks, typically of 45-minute duration, for students in a few secondary schools. Some of the areas covered in the talks included body image, self-esteem, eating disorders, teenage pregnancies, sexual harassment and the role of women in today’s context.
The schools that engaged AWARE found that the content and messages of the sessions conducted were appropriate for their students and adhered to guidelines to respect the values of different religious groups. The schools did not receive any negative feedback from students who attended the workshops and talks or their parents.
In particular, MOE has also not received any complaint from parents or Dr Thio Su Mien, who was reported to have made specific claims about sexuality education in our schools. MOE has contacted Dr Thio Su Mien to seek clarifications and facts to substantiate her claims.
If parents and members of the public know of specific instances where guidelines have not been adhered to, they should report them directly to MOE to investigate. MOE recognises that sexuality education is sensitive. In conducting these programmes, the views of parents will be respected and values taught should not deviate from the social norms accepted by mainstream society in Singapore.
Here is one useful one.
From MOE: http://www.moe.edu.sg/media/forum/2009/ ... -and-c.php
Probably we will see a wave of parents (from COOS) making their complaints to MOE to legitimise their accusations?
---------------------------------
Reply to Recent Comments and Claims About AWARE’s Sexuality Education Programme in Schools
We refer to recent claims and comments about AWARE’s sexuality education programme in schools.
Sexuality education conducted in MOE schools is premised on the importance of the family and respect for the values and beliefs of the different ethnic and religious communities on sexuality issues. The aim is to help students make responsible values-based choices on matters involving sexuality.
Core programmes are delivered by teachers but schools do collaborate with other agencies in delivering additional modules. However, in doing so, schools must ensure that any programmes run by external agencies are secular and sensitive to the multi-religious make-up of our society. Parents can choose to opt their children out of these programmes.
Last year, 11 secondary schools engaged AWARE to run workshops for their students. The number of students involved in each school ranged from about 20 to 100, and each workshop lasted 3 hours. The objectives of these workshops were to provide students with accurate information on Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)/HIV, to help students understand the consequences of premarital sexual activity, and to equip students with skills such as decision-making and resisting negative peer pressure.
AWARE also conducted assembly talks, typically of 45-minute duration, for students in a few secondary schools. Some of the areas covered in the talks included body image, self-esteem, eating disorders, teenage pregnancies, sexual harassment and the role of women in today’s context.
The schools that engaged AWARE found that the content and messages of the sessions conducted were appropriate for their students and adhered to guidelines to respect the values of different religious groups. The schools did not receive any negative feedback from students who attended the workshops and talks or their parents.
In particular, MOE has also not received any complaint from parents or Dr Thio Su Mien, who was reported to have made specific claims about sexuality education in our schools. MOE has contacted Dr Thio Su Mien to seek clarifications and facts to substantiate her claims.
If parents and members of the public know of specific instances where guidelines have not been adhered to, they should report them directly to MOE to investigate. MOE recognises that sexuality education is sensitive. In conducting these programmes, the views of parents will be respected and values taught should not deviate from the social norms accepted by mainstream society in Singapore.
Re: Current Affairs
I thought this is quite well written and argued.
---
An open letter to Ms Josie Lau
April 29, 2009
Written by Ng E-Jay
29 April 2009
Dear Ms Josie Lau,
In your letter to AWARE members dated 28 April 2009, you wrote of your wish to “honour and celebrate the achievements of first generation Singapore women and to emulate their spirit of perseverance and to learn from their experience and vision”. You also put forward your rhetoric that “AWARE belongs to you”.
Yet all your actions thus far have been in contradiction to your supposed ideals. You used stealth and subversion to invade AWARE, you got your supporters to vote your team into office despite not having made any contribution towards women in Singapore, you unceremoniously displaced the Old Guard, and you spread vicious lies about AWARE’s Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) programme. Your contradictions have been exposed one after another, yet you persist on your sordid path, pretending to bury your head in the sand.
You tell readers that you wish to honour those who had served before you. Yet you sacked Braema Mathi in the rudest way possible and removed the subcommittee chairs the moment you took office. You say that AWARE belongs to all, yet on the other hand you attempt to impose your own values and beliefs upon others, and ostracized the Old Guard at your press meetings. If this is your definition of inclusiveness, you are making a mockery of the English language.
You claimed in your letter that you want to make a positive difference and help women in distress. Yet your abrupt and disruptive actions over the past few weeks have caused many genuine seekers of help to be neglected, due to the organization being caught up in the conflict that you have engendered.
You claimed that you are seeking to serve other women in Singapore, but all I can see is that you are serving your own bigoted cause. Your resume posted on AWARE’s website lists an impressive array of corporate credentials, but unfortunately it also reveals that you have never been involved in feminism or helping women. In the absence of any track record of feminist work, we have to judge you based on your words and deeds over the past few weeks. Your behaviour speaks for itself.
It is interesting you spent two full paragraphs of your letter discussing CEDAW, but mentioned nothing about the CSE programme that you and your motley crew have raved and ranted about. Perhaps you finally came to your senses when even the Ministry of Education had to step in to rebut your lies concerning CSE. Or perhaps after having laid your hands on the data and research that AWARE has painstakingly accumulated over the past decade, you are now ready to take over the work which rightfully belongs to others.
You said in your letter that “we should not be passive where we can band together to work for positive change”. On May 2, I am quietly confident that concerned members of AWARE will band together to reclaim the organization and the values that they cherish.
To use your own words, that is something worth protecting and fighting for.
Yours truly,
Ng E-Jay
http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=2820
---
An open letter to Ms Josie Lau
April 29, 2009
Written by Ng E-Jay
29 April 2009
Dear Ms Josie Lau,
In your letter to AWARE members dated 28 April 2009, you wrote of your wish to “honour and celebrate the achievements of first generation Singapore women and to emulate their spirit of perseverance and to learn from their experience and vision”. You also put forward your rhetoric that “AWARE belongs to you”.
Yet all your actions thus far have been in contradiction to your supposed ideals. You used stealth and subversion to invade AWARE, you got your supporters to vote your team into office despite not having made any contribution towards women in Singapore, you unceremoniously displaced the Old Guard, and you spread vicious lies about AWARE’s Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) programme. Your contradictions have been exposed one after another, yet you persist on your sordid path, pretending to bury your head in the sand.
You tell readers that you wish to honour those who had served before you. Yet you sacked Braema Mathi in the rudest way possible and removed the subcommittee chairs the moment you took office. You say that AWARE belongs to all, yet on the other hand you attempt to impose your own values and beliefs upon others, and ostracized the Old Guard at your press meetings. If this is your definition of inclusiveness, you are making a mockery of the English language.
You claimed in your letter that you want to make a positive difference and help women in distress. Yet your abrupt and disruptive actions over the past few weeks have caused many genuine seekers of help to be neglected, due to the organization being caught up in the conflict that you have engendered.
You claimed that you are seeking to serve other women in Singapore, but all I can see is that you are serving your own bigoted cause. Your resume posted on AWARE’s website lists an impressive array of corporate credentials, but unfortunately it also reveals that you have never been involved in feminism or helping women. In the absence of any track record of feminist work, we have to judge you based on your words and deeds over the past few weeks. Your behaviour speaks for itself.
It is interesting you spent two full paragraphs of your letter discussing CEDAW, but mentioned nothing about the CSE programme that you and your motley crew have raved and ranted about. Perhaps you finally came to your senses when even the Ministry of Education had to step in to rebut your lies concerning CSE. Or perhaps after having laid your hands on the data and research that AWARE has painstakingly accumulated over the past decade, you are now ready to take over the work which rightfully belongs to others.
You said in your letter that “we should not be passive where we can band together to work for positive change”. On May 2, I am quietly confident that concerned members of AWARE will band together to reclaim the organization and the values that they cherish.
To use your own words, that is something worth protecting and fighting for.
Yours truly,
Ng E-Jay
http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=2820
-
Confucious
- Novice Investor
- Posts:18
- Joined:Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:24 am
- Mobile:99999999
Re: Current Affairs
Haa.. solid. So who says Singaporeans are "current affairs apathetic".
Now the court has been moved to MOE. MOE now has to revert to us on the accusations made by Josie and team on the "wayward" s e x education.
If its true, then MOE better do something to correct it very quickly. If its not true, then better quickly clarify.
I will be quite surprised if these accusations are true. Surely MOE does not condone any trace of wayward teachings of s e x in our schools... if anything, more likely some fellas in MOE let it slip through the cracks.
SGP is very sensitive to this gay issue. Rightly so. If you follow HK TV dramas, there is a 70+ part blockbuster serial called The Gem of Life: http://tvbreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/g ... sters.html
Quite a good TVB drama I think. My wife watched the whole series. Its not out on StarHub I think because its still quite new. Its only available for rental. To my surprise, this drama has been rated NC-16 by the censorship board. I asked the rental shop owner whats wrong with this drama? He explained that the show has got one gay character. This gay character did not do anything explicit. It just happens that this character is gay. I did a search and yes, there is indeed a gay character. See: http://www.mywomenblog.com/2009/01/03/t ... pisode-52/ and this http://www.chanlilian.net/2009/01/01/th ... alaysians/
Quote from a blogger: Sunny was a gay. He works for this rich man, Calvin. Calvin got a girlfriend. Sunny told the girlfriend (Maggie Siu aka Sylvia) that he is very tortured because of Calvin’s involvement. And I was so dumb to think that Sunny actually armluen the woman and he feels jealous. It turned out that Sunny has the hots for Calvin. DOH, I felt so stupid! Cos I watch the earlier series without the English subtitles so I though the gay Sunny has turned straight. So, I am sure all the gay guys are now pining to see Sunny and Calvin live happily ever after. I bet Saiful love this The Gem of Life.
That is NC-16 for you in Singapore. Looks like StarHub has to snip these scenes off or not show it at all on television.
Now the court has been moved to MOE. MOE now has to revert to us on the accusations made by Josie and team on the "wayward" s e x education.
If its true, then MOE better do something to correct it very quickly. If its not true, then better quickly clarify.
I will be quite surprised if these accusations are true. Surely MOE does not condone any trace of wayward teachings of s e x in our schools... if anything, more likely some fellas in MOE let it slip through the cracks.
SGP is very sensitive to this gay issue. Rightly so. If you follow HK TV dramas, there is a 70+ part blockbuster serial called The Gem of Life: http://tvbreview.blogspot.com/2008/12/g ... sters.html
Quite a good TVB drama I think. My wife watched the whole series. Its not out on StarHub I think because its still quite new. Its only available for rental. To my surprise, this drama has been rated NC-16 by the censorship board. I asked the rental shop owner whats wrong with this drama? He explained that the show has got one gay character. This gay character did not do anything explicit. It just happens that this character is gay. I did a search and yes, there is indeed a gay character. See: http://www.mywomenblog.com/2009/01/03/t ... pisode-52/ and this http://www.chanlilian.net/2009/01/01/th ... alaysians/
Quote from a blogger: Sunny was a gay. He works for this rich man, Calvin. Calvin got a girlfriend. Sunny told the girlfriend (Maggie Siu aka Sylvia) that he is very tortured because of Calvin’s involvement. And I was so dumb to think that Sunny actually armluen the woman and he feels jealous. It turned out that Sunny has the hots for Calvin. DOH, I felt so stupid! Cos I watch the earlier series without the English subtitles so I though the gay Sunny has turned straight. So, I am sure all the gay guys are now pining to see Sunny and Calvin live happily ever after. I bet Saiful love this The Gem of Life.
That is NC-16 for you in Singapore. Looks like StarHub has to snip these scenes off or not show it at all on television.
Re: Current Affairs
I don't dare to comment on this. Very sensitive topic when religion and God is involved.
Last February, a USSPN Washington Regional Coordinator was present during a report given by an international lawyer from Singapore, Thio Su Mien (Su), who is gifted in prophetic intercession and healing. She shared about some of the things going on in the area of Indonesia before the tsunami.
She explained how the SARS virus hit Singapore a year prior to the earthquake/tsunami. The Lord alerted the intercessors and told them that if they did not get on their faces and repent on behalf of their nation's involvement in abortion as the contraceptive of choice, that the land would suffer from His hand of judgment.
Because they saw how devastating the SARS virus had been, the intercessors immediately took action to seek His mercy and forgiveness. Singapore was not touched by the earthquake disaster. The Malaysian intercessors joined them in diligent prayer and also opened healing rooms in Kuala Lampur. The area on the Northern Coast of Malaysia was hit hard. There are amazing stories of God's grace and mercy in saving souls and lives there.
It was the prayers of the intercessors that had saved the disaster from affecting an even larger area. She emphasized that the intercessors crying out with repentance and asking for mercy, along with declarations of the Word of God over the land (both written and rhema), released the curse upon the land and the people were spared. It was a plea for intercessors to step up to the plate and continue to press into God for mercy from judgment coming.
http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word/2997
We may have to thank Thio and her church for saving Singapore from the tsunami.
Last February, a USSPN Washington Regional Coordinator was present during a report given by an international lawyer from Singapore, Thio Su Mien (Su), who is gifted in prophetic intercession and healing. She shared about some of the things going on in the area of Indonesia before the tsunami.
She explained how the SARS virus hit Singapore a year prior to the earthquake/tsunami. The Lord alerted the intercessors and told them that if they did not get on their faces and repent on behalf of their nation's involvement in abortion as the contraceptive of choice, that the land would suffer from His hand of judgment.
Because they saw how devastating the SARS virus had been, the intercessors immediately took action to seek His mercy and forgiveness. Singapore was not touched by the earthquake disaster. The Malaysian intercessors joined them in diligent prayer and also opened healing rooms in Kuala Lampur. The area on the Northern Coast of Malaysia was hit hard. There are amazing stories of God's grace and mercy in saving souls and lives there.
It was the prayers of the intercessors that had saved the disaster from affecting an even larger area. She emphasized that the intercessors crying out with repentance and asking for mercy, along with declarations of the Word of God over the land (both written and rhema), released the curse upon the land and the people were spared. It was a plea for intercessors to step up to the plate and continue to press into God for mercy from judgment coming.
http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word/2997
We may have to thank Thio and her church for saving Singapore from the tsunami.
Re: Current Affairs
I ve been wondering how fellow Buddhists view the ongoing court case involving Ren Ci's Ming Yi. Here is what Ajahn Brahm has to say. Its a general topic he has addressed but it contain as usual liberal amount of wisdom for lay person like me.
-----------------------------
Thank you for your recent email regarding how to deal with inappropriate behaviour by some monastics. It would be wonderful if all Buddhist monks and nuns were fully enlightened but, of course, that is not the case. When a person becomes a monk or nun, they begin a training: They are not all holy from the time that they first have their head shaved.
So what should the ordinary Buddhist do about their problem?
First of all, it would be helpful to learn more about the rules binding on all monks and nuns, from all traditions, that were laid down by the Lord Buddha. When the lay Buddhists know more about these rules, then they will not be so confused. Some of my own short articles on Vinaya, the Buddhist monastic code, can be found on our website www.bswa.org.
Secondly, it is recommended to distinguish between misbehaviour that is a serious problem, and misconduct that the monastics will be able to correct by themselves. Serious misbehaviour includes illegal activity, such as fraud, that tarnishes the reputation of Buddhism. In Thailand, a monk is automatically disrobed before he enters the courtroom for his trial. If found innocent, then he may put on his robe again. Such a law is designed to distinguish Buddhism from the behaviour of the monk.
Other serious misbehaviour is sexual intercourse. The very first rule that is binding on monks and nuns from all Buddhist traditions is that one who commits sexual intercourse (with an exception of being a victim of rape) is by that very act no longer a monk or nun. Lay people should be aware of this.
Then there is the misbehaviour of monks and nuns who receive and keep money, have bank accounts and other non-monastic possessions. The Buddha made it clear that this is unacceptable (Nissaggiya Pacittiya 23). Unfortunately, few Buddhist monks and nuns keep this rule these days but, at the very least, they should have few possessions and little money. The very meaning of the word monk implies one who lives simply. A monk on a big salary, with an expensive apartment and substantial savings does not deserve to be called “monk”.
Once the lay Buddhists know the conduct that is expected of a Buddhist monk or nun, then they should speak out at misconduct. It is because people either did not know what a monk or nun is allowed to do, or because they were too timid, that there are now monks on trial in Singapore! Speaking out earlier could have nipped the problem in the bud.
However, you correctly point out that speaking out could cause disharmony and a crisis of faith if done in the wrong way. So, before criticizing the misbehaviour of a monastic:
1. Make sure that you have got your facts correct.
2. Choose the right time and place. For example, it is not advisable to criticize the monastic publicly. It should be done in private, if possible.
3. Be kind when you criticize. Your intention is to help the monastic to be a better person to support Buddhism, so it should be easy to be kind wish such an intention.
4. Put the criticism in context by using the sandwich method. Comment on all that you admire about the monastic first. Then point out the faults. Lastly, emphasize that you still respect the monastic, which is why you have taken the time to speak with him. This way, you do not come across as someone trying to destroy that monk or nun, but someone sincerely wanting to help.
5. Lastly, always remember to criticize the act, not the person. Never say something like “You are a bad monk for committing fraud”. Instead say “Fraud is a bad thing to do”.
If you follow such advice, then we can all protect the peace, wisdom and compassion of Buddhism and help our monks and nuns be better leaders at the same time.
I hope that this helps,
With Metta
Ajahn Brahm
-----------------------------
Thank you for your recent email regarding how to deal with inappropriate behaviour by some monastics. It would be wonderful if all Buddhist monks and nuns were fully enlightened but, of course, that is not the case. When a person becomes a monk or nun, they begin a training: They are not all holy from the time that they first have their head shaved.
So what should the ordinary Buddhist do about their problem?
First of all, it would be helpful to learn more about the rules binding on all monks and nuns, from all traditions, that were laid down by the Lord Buddha. When the lay Buddhists know more about these rules, then they will not be so confused. Some of my own short articles on Vinaya, the Buddhist monastic code, can be found on our website www.bswa.org.
Secondly, it is recommended to distinguish between misbehaviour that is a serious problem, and misconduct that the monastics will be able to correct by themselves. Serious misbehaviour includes illegal activity, such as fraud, that tarnishes the reputation of Buddhism. In Thailand, a monk is automatically disrobed before he enters the courtroom for his trial. If found innocent, then he may put on his robe again. Such a law is designed to distinguish Buddhism from the behaviour of the monk.
Other serious misbehaviour is sexual intercourse. The very first rule that is binding on monks and nuns from all Buddhist traditions is that one who commits sexual intercourse (with an exception of being a victim of rape) is by that very act no longer a monk or nun. Lay people should be aware of this.
Then there is the misbehaviour of monks and nuns who receive and keep money, have bank accounts and other non-monastic possessions. The Buddha made it clear that this is unacceptable (Nissaggiya Pacittiya 23). Unfortunately, few Buddhist monks and nuns keep this rule these days but, at the very least, they should have few possessions and little money. The very meaning of the word monk implies one who lives simply. A monk on a big salary, with an expensive apartment and substantial savings does not deserve to be called “monk”.
Once the lay Buddhists know the conduct that is expected of a Buddhist monk or nun, then they should speak out at misconduct. It is because people either did not know what a monk or nun is allowed to do, or because they were too timid, that there are now monks on trial in Singapore! Speaking out earlier could have nipped the problem in the bud.
However, you correctly point out that speaking out could cause disharmony and a crisis of faith if done in the wrong way. So, before criticizing the misbehaviour of a monastic:
1. Make sure that you have got your facts correct.
2. Choose the right time and place. For example, it is not advisable to criticize the monastic publicly. It should be done in private, if possible.
3. Be kind when you criticize. Your intention is to help the monastic to be a better person to support Buddhism, so it should be easy to be kind wish such an intention.
4. Put the criticism in context by using the sandwich method. Comment on all that you admire about the monastic first. Then point out the faults. Lastly, emphasize that you still respect the monastic, which is why you have taken the time to speak with him. This way, you do not come across as someone trying to destroy that monk or nun, but someone sincerely wanting to help.
5. Lastly, always remember to criticize the act, not the person. Never say something like “You are a bad monk for committing fraud”. Instead say “Fraud is a bad thing to do”.
If you follow such advice, then we can all protect the peace, wisdom and compassion of Buddhism and help our monks and nuns be better leaders at the same time.
I hope that this helps,
With Metta
Ajahn Brahm
Re: Current Affairs
As received... very funny!
Best avoided by those who are over-religious, or over-serious.
"----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Friday, May 15 2009
Subject: Hilarious but Truthful Take on the AWARE Saga
Subject: Hilarious but Truthful Take on the AWARE Saga
I am told there are many sides to this saga .. the truth could be somewhere in-between.
Whatever it is or was, it seems evident the "new guards" did not do a good job in trying to take over the exco.
Below is a piece of the saga which you may find hilarious. No offence meant to the thin-skinned!
So Josie and her Pussycats have been slapped down. The Christian community is reeling in half shame, half relief. The liberals are having drunken PLS GET OUT OF HERE, the conservatives are crossing themselves, and we’re all happy that Singapore civil society is not always about whether or not it’s ok to eat sharks’ fin soup. Oh the excitement, the thrill, the sight of thousands of women screaming and jostling at a non-SALE event.
The lull after the AWARE EOGM is like the ennui that comes after the end of the EPL season. What do we do now? Who’s going to entertain us? How are we going to fill up the echoing void we call life? Perhaps we can ponder over the invaluable lessons this big catfight has thrown up. After all, retrospection is best done as early as possible, right before hindsight sets in.
Things could have been very different. If the vote went the other way we would be looking at a very conservative AWARE. So where did Josie and her Pussycats go wrong? Five easy lessons on how not to lose an EOGM and win many many friends.
Leave your teddy bear at home
Religious beliefs and private morality are like worn-out urine-stained teddy bears from your childhood. It provides comfort and assurance. It gives you that warm feeling that can only be replicated when a Catholic priest touches your bum. But you don’t go about carrying your old teddy bears to the office or dinner parties. Like teddy bears, religious morality should be kept at home or the church, and not paraded like you’re a 5 year old child all over again. By all means, play with your teddy bear at home. Feed it, talk to it, stroke it, hug it, pray with it, but don’t wave its arm at me and ask me to say ‘hi’ to it.
Be open about your girlfriends
Having six members of your exco coming from the same church is not a tactical takeover. It’s a classical psychoanalytical explanation for lesbianism. Look, you share the same background, come from the same ethnic group, you glance furtively at each other, you all dress alike, you deny you know each other, you protect each other, you yell at others who yell at one of you… let’s face it, Freud will tell you to get off his couch and stop wasting his time. Now, there’s nothing wrong with having girl cliques. The ‘old guard’ is a well known girl clique. But be open about it.
Don’t sell fear
The key galvanizing point in this whole saga was that AWARE was promoting lesbianism and homosexuality in schools. The fear was that there would be “an entire generation of lesbians”. It’s a bit like saying teaching mathematics in school will lead to an entire generation of mathematicians. But that’s the Christian right for you, small on reason, big on fear. Religion is basically the selling of two valuable commodities – fear and guilt. If you can launder these two emotions in tandem, people gladly do anything you ask.
In truth, the PLS GET OUT OF HERE education programme by AWARE was devised with the consultation of teachers and religious leaders. But this fact was an inconvenient truth for the Christian right. Furthermore, the quoted passages about keeping the term ‘homosexuality’, ‘sexy’ and ‘lesbianism’ neutral were not even in the actual syllabus but from the instructor’s guide which students had no access to. Finally, as one PLS GET OUT OF HERE educator observed, teachers spent 30 minutes talking about abstinence and only about 2 minutes on homosexuality, but guess which whips the Christian right into a frenzy?
Your Pastor must not be living in La-la Land
Church of our Saviour Pastor Derek Hong was quoted as saying “It’s not a crusade against the people but there’s a line that God has drawn for us, and we don’t want our nation crossing that line.” Well, Pastor Numbnuts, Christians in Singapore only make up 14.9 per cent of the population, so your God is hardly in the majority. To believe that your Christian God has drawn a line in the sand for Buddhists, Taoists, Muslims and atheists is nothing short of arrogant. Our friend was this close to having the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act shoved up where the sun don’t shine.
Your puppet master must not, preferably, be a psycho
I think God has a Thio Su Mien complex. Is there anyone quite as breathtakingly egoistic and self-centred as the Nutty Professor? I mean calling yourself ‘Feminist Mentor’ should be a crime against imagination. Pretty soon everyone’s going to use the term to denote authority, even ministers! Oh, ok scratch that.
But the lesson here is simple. If you want to orchestrate a takeover, make sure your puppet master is not completely psycho. She believed she could not ‘surface’ in the early stages and she believes this battle is nothing less than a spiritual warfare between Good and Evil, and that the Devil is behind Constance Singham, Braema Mathi, Dana Lam and the rest of the ‘old guard’. But worse of all, she actually believes that her successful career makes her a feminist.
Illusions of grandeur are nothing new. Napoleon, Hitler, Moses, parking wardens, they all suffer from it. It’s a personality defect that’s all too common. But when it’s coupled to another equally common defect – the belief that one is absolutely 100 per cent unrelentingly morally right, it becomes a very dangerous combination. Dr Thio is not uncommon in believing she is great. She is not uncommon in believing she is on the right side of morality; all Christians feel that way. She only became such a public caricature when she exhibited both defects simultaneously.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Josie and her Pussycats lost public sympathy because of two personalities – Derek Hong and Thio Su Mien. The emergence of these two people effectively swung public opinion against the ‘new exco’. Dr John Chew, head of the National Council of Churches, was forced come out and distance the Christian faith from Hong, while thanks to Thio’s “respect your elders” outburst, MOH's silly suggestion to ship our parents to JB actually sounds reasonable.
At the end of the day, when Josie and Kittycats look back, they would do well to realise that they’ve been arrogant, misguided and utterly intolerant. But unfortunately, as with all folks who believe they are doing God’s work on earth, they’ll think that the sinners of Singapore are hardened of heart and just aren’t ready to embrace the word of God. Amen.
Best avoided by those who are over-religious, or over-serious.
"----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Friday, May 15 2009
Subject: Hilarious but Truthful Take on the AWARE Saga
Subject: Hilarious but Truthful Take on the AWARE Saga
I am told there are many sides to this saga .. the truth could be somewhere in-between.
Whatever it is or was, it seems evident the "new guards" did not do a good job in trying to take over the exco.
Below is a piece of the saga which you may find hilarious. No offence meant to the thin-skinned!
So Josie and her Pussycats have been slapped down. The Christian community is reeling in half shame, half relief. The liberals are having drunken PLS GET OUT OF HERE, the conservatives are crossing themselves, and we’re all happy that Singapore civil society is not always about whether or not it’s ok to eat sharks’ fin soup. Oh the excitement, the thrill, the sight of thousands of women screaming and jostling at a non-SALE event.
The lull after the AWARE EOGM is like the ennui that comes after the end of the EPL season. What do we do now? Who’s going to entertain us? How are we going to fill up the echoing void we call life? Perhaps we can ponder over the invaluable lessons this big catfight has thrown up. After all, retrospection is best done as early as possible, right before hindsight sets in.
Things could have been very different. If the vote went the other way we would be looking at a very conservative AWARE. So where did Josie and her Pussycats go wrong? Five easy lessons on how not to lose an EOGM and win many many friends.
Leave your teddy bear at home
Religious beliefs and private morality are like worn-out urine-stained teddy bears from your childhood. It provides comfort and assurance. It gives you that warm feeling that can only be replicated when a Catholic priest touches your bum. But you don’t go about carrying your old teddy bears to the office or dinner parties. Like teddy bears, religious morality should be kept at home or the church, and not paraded like you’re a 5 year old child all over again. By all means, play with your teddy bear at home. Feed it, talk to it, stroke it, hug it, pray with it, but don’t wave its arm at me and ask me to say ‘hi’ to it.
Be open about your girlfriends
Having six members of your exco coming from the same church is not a tactical takeover. It’s a classical psychoanalytical explanation for lesbianism. Look, you share the same background, come from the same ethnic group, you glance furtively at each other, you all dress alike, you deny you know each other, you protect each other, you yell at others who yell at one of you… let’s face it, Freud will tell you to get off his couch and stop wasting his time. Now, there’s nothing wrong with having girl cliques. The ‘old guard’ is a well known girl clique. But be open about it.
Don’t sell fear
The key galvanizing point in this whole saga was that AWARE was promoting lesbianism and homosexuality in schools. The fear was that there would be “an entire generation of lesbians”. It’s a bit like saying teaching mathematics in school will lead to an entire generation of mathematicians. But that’s the Christian right for you, small on reason, big on fear. Religion is basically the selling of two valuable commodities – fear and guilt. If you can launder these two emotions in tandem, people gladly do anything you ask.
In truth, the PLS GET OUT OF HERE education programme by AWARE was devised with the consultation of teachers and religious leaders. But this fact was an inconvenient truth for the Christian right. Furthermore, the quoted passages about keeping the term ‘homosexuality’, ‘sexy’ and ‘lesbianism’ neutral were not even in the actual syllabus but from the instructor’s guide which students had no access to. Finally, as one PLS GET OUT OF HERE educator observed, teachers spent 30 minutes talking about abstinence and only about 2 minutes on homosexuality, but guess which whips the Christian right into a frenzy?
Your Pastor must not be living in La-la Land
Church of our Saviour Pastor Derek Hong was quoted as saying “It’s not a crusade against the people but there’s a line that God has drawn for us, and we don’t want our nation crossing that line.” Well, Pastor Numbnuts, Christians in Singapore only make up 14.9 per cent of the population, so your God is hardly in the majority. To believe that your Christian God has drawn a line in the sand for Buddhists, Taoists, Muslims and atheists is nothing short of arrogant. Our friend was this close to having the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act shoved up where the sun don’t shine.
Your puppet master must not, preferably, be a psycho
I think God has a Thio Su Mien complex. Is there anyone quite as breathtakingly egoistic and self-centred as the Nutty Professor? I mean calling yourself ‘Feminist Mentor’ should be a crime against imagination. Pretty soon everyone’s going to use the term to denote authority, even ministers! Oh, ok scratch that.
But the lesson here is simple. If you want to orchestrate a takeover, make sure your puppet master is not completely psycho. She believed she could not ‘surface’ in the early stages and she believes this battle is nothing less than a spiritual warfare between Good and Evil, and that the Devil is behind Constance Singham, Braema Mathi, Dana Lam and the rest of the ‘old guard’. But worse of all, she actually believes that her successful career makes her a feminist.
Illusions of grandeur are nothing new. Napoleon, Hitler, Moses, parking wardens, they all suffer from it. It’s a personality defect that’s all too common. But when it’s coupled to another equally common defect – the belief that one is absolutely 100 per cent unrelentingly morally right, it becomes a very dangerous combination. Dr Thio is not uncommon in believing she is great. She is not uncommon in believing she is on the right side of morality; all Christians feel that way. She only became such a public caricature when she exhibited both defects simultaneously.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Josie and her Pussycats lost public sympathy because of two personalities – Derek Hong and Thio Su Mien. The emergence of these two people effectively swung public opinion against the ‘new exco’. Dr John Chew, head of the National Council of Churches, was forced come out and distance the Christian faith from Hong, while thanks to Thio’s “respect your elders” outburst, MOH's silly suggestion to ship our parents to JB actually sounds reasonable.
At the end of the day, when Josie and Kittycats look back, they would do well to realise that they’ve been arrogant, misguided and utterly intolerant. But unfortunately, as with all folks who believe they are doing God’s work on earth, they’ll think that the sinners of Singapore are hardened of heart and just aren’t ready to embrace the word of God. Amen.
Re: Current Affairs
Oei Hong Leong loses $1b, takes Citigroup to court
http://business.asiaone.com/Business/Ne ... 42302.html
Fully paid the $1b loss....amazing fire power.
http://business.asiaone.com/Business/Ne ... 42302.html
Fully paid the $1b loss....amazing fire power.
Re: Current Affairs
Oei's wealth is listed by Forbes at 300m Sing. Think we all know how inaccurate Forbes is with their estimation. Anyway, the point is, at S$1bn losses in cash losses paid up, I wonder how much of Oei's wealth has decimated in these 2 years of recession. Safe to assume many tycoons have lost plenty of their wealth this round, much like the 98 crisis.
One of my friend say this is "blamable" on the pte bankers. 1 or 2 years ago, the private bankers were all missing their monthly sales or AUM target. Out of desperation, they went agressive and offered super low financing costs to these HNWs. With this, the PBs peddled all their in house products, ranging from complex structured products to straight forward share financing.With these cheap money., the HNWs took on more investments. Which spell R-I-S-K in capital letters as the crisis wears on with the Lehman collapse and near collapse of many iconic institutions like AIG and Merrill.... and the rest, as they say, is history.
Fast forward to today, PBs are still getting phone calls frequently from angry clients and ex-clients. Some of these client I gathered, were even on negative AUM!
I wish Oei HL well as he has been philanthropic and I am sure some of us has benefited from his benevolence. I hope his good karma will tide him through this downturn well and healthy.
One of my friend say this is "blamable" on the pte bankers. 1 or 2 years ago, the private bankers were all missing their monthly sales or AUM target. Out of desperation, they went agressive and offered super low financing costs to these HNWs. With this, the PBs peddled all their in house products, ranging from complex structured products to straight forward share financing.With these cheap money., the HNWs took on more investments. Which spell R-I-S-K in capital letters as the crisis wears on with the Lehman collapse and near collapse of many iconic institutions like AIG and Merrill.... and the rest, as they say, is history.
Fast forward to today, PBs are still getting phone calls frequently from angry clients and ex-clients. Some of these client I gathered, were even on negative AUM!
I wish Oei HL well as he has been philanthropic and I am sure some of us has benefited from his benevolence. I hope his good karma will tide him through this downturn well and healthy.
Re: Current Affairs
Oldest bible in the world? It is now available online. http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net/en/project/
Which brings us to the next impt question. Where does this Holy Bible come from? Who wrote the stories and chapters within the Bible? Are many church goers aware of who wrote them and how did it come into existence? Many articles in Google to explain this clearly: http://www.google.com.sg/search?sourcei ... +the+bible
I think we shouldnt be discussing (in detail) or be "promoting" any religion in the forum here. There are many other more suitable platforms to do it. So instead of just posting the beliefs Christians had on the Bible, let me put up 2 contrasting views...on the Bible as being divine.
Some good read below.
----------------------------------
Source: http://www.allabouttruth.org/origin-of-the-bible.htm
Origin of the Bible - The Truth About Translations
To many, the origin of the Bible can be summed-up as follows: "A mere translation of a translation of an interpretation of an oral tradition" - and therefore, a book with no credibility or connection to the original texts. Actually, the foregoing statement is a common misunderstanding of both Christians and non-christians alike. Translations such as the King James Version are derived from existing copies of ancient manuscripts such as the Hebrew Masoretic Text (Old Testament) and the Greek Textus Receptus (New Testament), and are not translations of texts translated from other interpretations. The primary differences between today's Bible translations are merely related to how translators interpret a word or sentence from the original language of the text source (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek).
Origin of the Bible - The Reliability of Ancient Manuscripts
Another challenge against the origin of the Bible is the reliability of the manuscripts from which today's Bibles are translated. Remarkably, there is widespread evidence for absolute reliability. There are more than 14,000 existing Old Testament manuscripts and fragments copied throughout the Middle East, Mediterranean and European regions that agree dramatically with each other. In addition, these texts agree with the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, which was translated from Hebrew to Greek some time during the 3rd century BC. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in Israel in the 1940's and 50's, also provide phenomenal evidence for the reliability of the ancient transmission of the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) before the arrival of Jesus Christ. The Hebrew scribes who copied the Jewish Scriptures dedicated their lives to preserving the accuracy of the holy books. These scribes went to phenomenal lengths to insure manuscript reliability. They were highly trained and meticulously observed, counting every letter, word and paragraph against master scrolls. A single error would require the immediate destruction of the entire text.
The manuscript evidence for the New Testament is also dramatic, with over 5,300 known copies and fragments in the original Greek, nearly 800 of which were copied before 1000 AD. Some manuscript texts date to the early second and third centuries, with the time between the original autographs and our earliest existing copies being a remarkably short 60 years. Interestingly, this manuscript evidence far surpasses the manuscript reliability of other ancient writings that we trust as authentic every day. Look at these comparisons: Julius Caesar's "The Gallic Wars" (10 manuscripts remain, with the earliest one dating to 1,000 years after the original autograph); Pliny the Younger's "History" (7 manuscripts; 750 years elapsed); Thucydides' "History" (8 manuscripts; 1,300 years elapsed); Herodotus' "History" (8 manuscripts; 1,300 years elapsed); Sophocles (193 manuscripts; 1,400 years); Euripides (9 manuscripts; 1,500 years); and Aristotle (49 manuscripts; 1,400 years).
Homer's "Iliad", the most renowned book of ancient Greece, has 643 copies of manuscript support. In those copies, there are 764 disputed lines of text, as compared to 40 lines in all the New Testament manuscripts (Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible, Moody, Chicago, Revised and Expanded 1986, p. 367). In fact, many people are unaware that each of William Shakespeare's 37 plays (written in the 1600's) have gaps in the surviving manuscripts, forcing scholars to "fill in the blanks." This pales in textual comparison with the over 5,300 copies and fragments of the New Testament that, together, assure us that nothing's been lost. In fact, all of the New Testament except eleven verses can be reconstructed from the writings of the early church fathers in the second and third centuries. (A General Introduction to the Bible, Ch. 24.)
Origin of the Bible - The Power of Prophecy
The origin of the Bible is God. It is a historical book that is backed by archeology, and a prophetic book that has lived up to all of its claims thus far. The Bible is God's letter to humanity collected into 66 books written by 40 divinely inspired writers over a period of over 1,600 years. The claim of divine inspiration may seem dramatic (or unrealistic to some), but a careful and honest study of the biblical scriptures will show them to be true. Powerfully, the Bible validates its divine authorship through fulfilled prophecies. An astonishing 668 prophecies have been fulfilled and none have ever been proven false (three are unconfirmed). God decided to use prophecy as His primary test of divine authorship, and an honest study of biblical prophecy will compellingly show the supernatural origin of the Bible. Skeptics must ask themselves, "Would the gambling industry even exist if people could really tell the future?" Again, no other holy book comes even close to the Bible in the amount of evidence supporting its credibility, authenticity and divine authorship.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is another detailed study. Not to overshadow the earlier article, I will post just a few paragraphs. If anyone is keen... the full lengthy examination is here: http://freethought.mbdojo.com/canon.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Bible was Put Together by Vote
2001
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There has been one reoccuring claim by Christians regarding the bible; I have heard it from nearly every Christian who corresponds with me. It is the statement that the bible-- being a perfect book, written by forty writers all inspired by God-- has remained unchanged for thousands of years. This claim, when made by by a layman, shows his ignorance of the subject, and when made a religious authority, is dishonest and misleading.
The fact that the books of the bible, both the Old and New Testament, have undergone change throughout the centuries, is undeniable. The Dead Sea Scrolls prove this. The Scrolls, dating to about the first century C.E., demonstrate that there were several versions of scripture in distribution-- some that are claimed by scholars to be even more extensive, and of better quality, than those found in our modern bibles.
But what I shall bring to light is the history of "The Bible", as a finished, completed work. Has the bible always been as it is now?
In the first place, which bible are we talking about? Throughout history, there have been literally thousands of translations. I am in possession of nearly twenty myself.
Most Christians seem to think that the bible (as it is now, with its sixty-six or so books, divided into chapters and verses) has existed for thousands of years. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the bible that most Christians are familiar with is a fairly recent contrivance. The religious term "canon" refers to the divinity of a specific set of writings. Just which books are canonical and which are not has been the subject of debate among Judeo-Christian leaders for the last two thousand years. The Protestant Church did not agree on which books should be contained in the bible until as late as 1647, at the Assembly of Westminster.
New Testament Books which are now accepted by Christians, but which were for a time rejected, are Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation.
Books now excluded from the canon, but which are found in some of the older manuscripts of the New Testament, are Shepherd of Hermas, Epistle of Barnabas, 1 Clement, 2 Clement, Paul’s Epistle to Laodiceans, Apostolic Constitutions.
Books accepted as canonical by some Jews, and for most part by the Greek and Roman Catholic churches, but rejected by the Protestants, are Baruch, Tobit, Judith, Book of Wisdom, Song of the Three Children, History of Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, Prayer of Manasseh, Ecclesiasticus, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, 5 Maccabees.
The only books of the bible which are accepted as divine by all Jews and all varieties of Christians are the first five books of the Old Testament: the Pentateuch.
There are lost books of the bible, which should have been included into the canon. These books are cited by writers of the Bible, and they are: Book of the Wars of the Lord, Book of Jasher, Book of the Covenant, Book of Nathan, Book of Gad, Book of Samuel, Prophecy of Ahijah, Visions of Iddo, Acts of Uzziah, Acts of Solomon, Three Thousand Proverbs of Solomon, A Thousand and Five Songs of Solomon, Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, Book of Jehu, Book of Enoch.
What we know as the "canonized" bible was not assembled in anything like it's present form until the 3rd century by a council of bishops (although it was still debated for centuries after). They chose which books should be included in the bible, which books were inspired by God, by vote, just as we might vote on a law. (Can you imagine that some books missed out on being The Word of God by one vote?) Were they any more qualified to judge which books were divine than anyone living today? Is their judgement and knowledge any better than ours?
What ever happened to the Gospels according to Thomas, Jade, James, Peter, and the Gospel of the Hebrews, of the Egyptians, of Perfection, of Judas, of Thaddeus, of the Infancy, of the Preaching of Peter, of the Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistle of Barnabas, the Pastor of Hermas, the Revelation of Peter, the Revelation of Paul, the Epistle of Clement, the Epistle of Ignatius, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Nicodemus and of Marcion? They were all not considered inspired (or inspired enough). They did not get voted in. There were also the Acts of Pilate, of Andrew, of Mary, of Paul and Thecla, and many others. If the bishops at the Council of Laodicea in 365 had voted differently, millions of Christians would have believed differently. The vote of the one is the belief of all the others.
There is one important question for you to consider: why are we bound by their opinion?
What we have come to know as the bible was not in a solid form until the Gutenberg printing press was invented in the 15th century. Before that, the bible was copied by hand, onto scrolls and parchments, which could be easily altered to fit the needs of those in power. It was malleable, easily altered-- no one could hinder the early Church from adding or subtracting verses at their will. No one will ever know just how much of the biblical text was alterned, deleted, and rewritten while it was in handwritten form.
For your education on this subject I have included Chapter Three of The Bible by John E. Remsburg. (The copyright on this book is expired, and the book in its entirety can be purchased on CD-ROM from http://www.bank-of-wisdom.com).
Which brings us to the next impt question. Where does this Holy Bible come from? Who wrote the stories and chapters within the Bible? Are many church goers aware of who wrote them and how did it come into existence? Many articles in Google to explain this clearly: http://www.google.com.sg/search?sourcei ... +the+bible
I think we shouldnt be discussing (in detail) or be "promoting" any religion in the forum here. There are many other more suitable platforms to do it. So instead of just posting the beliefs Christians had on the Bible, let me put up 2 contrasting views...on the Bible as being divine.
Some good read below.
----------------------------------
Source: http://www.allabouttruth.org/origin-of-the-bible.htm
Origin of the Bible - The Truth About Translations
To many, the origin of the Bible can be summed-up as follows: "A mere translation of a translation of an interpretation of an oral tradition" - and therefore, a book with no credibility or connection to the original texts. Actually, the foregoing statement is a common misunderstanding of both Christians and non-christians alike. Translations such as the King James Version are derived from existing copies of ancient manuscripts such as the Hebrew Masoretic Text (Old Testament) and the Greek Textus Receptus (New Testament), and are not translations of texts translated from other interpretations. The primary differences between today's Bible translations are merely related to how translators interpret a word or sentence from the original language of the text source (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek).
Origin of the Bible - The Reliability of Ancient Manuscripts
Another challenge against the origin of the Bible is the reliability of the manuscripts from which today's Bibles are translated. Remarkably, there is widespread evidence for absolute reliability. There are more than 14,000 existing Old Testament manuscripts and fragments copied throughout the Middle East, Mediterranean and European regions that agree dramatically with each other. In addition, these texts agree with the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, which was translated from Hebrew to Greek some time during the 3rd century BC. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in Israel in the 1940's and 50's, also provide phenomenal evidence for the reliability of the ancient transmission of the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) before the arrival of Jesus Christ. The Hebrew scribes who copied the Jewish Scriptures dedicated their lives to preserving the accuracy of the holy books. These scribes went to phenomenal lengths to insure manuscript reliability. They were highly trained and meticulously observed, counting every letter, word and paragraph against master scrolls. A single error would require the immediate destruction of the entire text.
The manuscript evidence for the New Testament is also dramatic, with over 5,300 known copies and fragments in the original Greek, nearly 800 of which were copied before 1000 AD. Some manuscript texts date to the early second and third centuries, with the time between the original autographs and our earliest existing copies being a remarkably short 60 years. Interestingly, this manuscript evidence far surpasses the manuscript reliability of other ancient writings that we trust as authentic every day. Look at these comparisons: Julius Caesar's "The Gallic Wars" (10 manuscripts remain, with the earliest one dating to 1,000 years after the original autograph); Pliny the Younger's "History" (7 manuscripts; 750 years elapsed); Thucydides' "History" (8 manuscripts; 1,300 years elapsed); Herodotus' "History" (8 manuscripts; 1,300 years elapsed); Sophocles (193 manuscripts; 1,400 years); Euripides (9 manuscripts; 1,500 years); and Aristotle (49 manuscripts; 1,400 years).
Homer's "Iliad", the most renowned book of ancient Greece, has 643 copies of manuscript support. In those copies, there are 764 disputed lines of text, as compared to 40 lines in all the New Testament manuscripts (Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible, Moody, Chicago, Revised and Expanded 1986, p. 367). In fact, many people are unaware that each of William Shakespeare's 37 plays (written in the 1600's) have gaps in the surviving manuscripts, forcing scholars to "fill in the blanks." This pales in textual comparison with the over 5,300 copies and fragments of the New Testament that, together, assure us that nothing's been lost. In fact, all of the New Testament except eleven verses can be reconstructed from the writings of the early church fathers in the second and third centuries. (A General Introduction to the Bible, Ch. 24.)
Origin of the Bible - The Power of Prophecy
The origin of the Bible is God. It is a historical book that is backed by archeology, and a prophetic book that has lived up to all of its claims thus far. The Bible is God's letter to humanity collected into 66 books written by 40 divinely inspired writers over a period of over 1,600 years. The claim of divine inspiration may seem dramatic (or unrealistic to some), but a careful and honest study of the biblical scriptures will show them to be true. Powerfully, the Bible validates its divine authorship through fulfilled prophecies. An astonishing 668 prophecies have been fulfilled and none have ever been proven false (three are unconfirmed). God decided to use prophecy as His primary test of divine authorship, and an honest study of biblical prophecy will compellingly show the supernatural origin of the Bible. Skeptics must ask themselves, "Would the gambling industry even exist if people could really tell the future?" Again, no other holy book comes even close to the Bible in the amount of evidence supporting its credibility, authenticity and divine authorship.
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The following is another detailed study. Not to overshadow the earlier article, I will post just a few paragraphs. If anyone is keen... the full lengthy examination is here: http://freethought.mbdojo.com/canon.html
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The Bible was Put Together by Vote
2001
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There has been one reoccuring claim by Christians regarding the bible; I have heard it from nearly every Christian who corresponds with me. It is the statement that the bible-- being a perfect book, written by forty writers all inspired by God-- has remained unchanged for thousands of years. This claim, when made by by a layman, shows his ignorance of the subject, and when made a religious authority, is dishonest and misleading.
The fact that the books of the bible, both the Old and New Testament, have undergone change throughout the centuries, is undeniable. The Dead Sea Scrolls prove this. The Scrolls, dating to about the first century C.E., demonstrate that there were several versions of scripture in distribution-- some that are claimed by scholars to be even more extensive, and of better quality, than those found in our modern bibles.
But what I shall bring to light is the history of "The Bible", as a finished, completed work. Has the bible always been as it is now?
In the first place, which bible are we talking about? Throughout history, there have been literally thousands of translations. I am in possession of nearly twenty myself.
Most Christians seem to think that the bible (as it is now, with its sixty-six or so books, divided into chapters and verses) has existed for thousands of years. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the bible that most Christians are familiar with is a fairly recent contrivance. The religious term "canon" refers to the divinity of a specific set of writings. Just which books are canonical and which are not has been the subject of debate among Judeo-Christian leaders for the last two thousand years. The Protestant Church did not agree on which books should be contained in the bible until as late as 1647, at the Assembly of Westminster.
New Testament Books which are now accepted by Christians, but which were for a time rejected, are Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation.
Books now excluded from the canon, but which are found in some of the older manuscripts of the New Testament, are Shepherd of Hermas, Epistle of Barnabas, 1 Clement, 2 Clement, Paul’s Epistle to Laodiceans, Apostolic Constitutions.
Books accepted as canonical by some Jews, and for most part by the Greek and Roman Catholic churches, but rejected by the Protestants, are Baruch, Tobit, Judith, Book of Wisdom, Song of the Three Children, History of Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, Prayer of Manasseh, Ecclesiasticus, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, 5 Maccabees.
The only books of the bible which are accepted as divine by all Jews and all varieties of Christians are the first five books of the Old Testament: the Pentateuch.
There are lost books of the bible, which should have been included into the canon. These books are cited by writers of the Bible, and they are: Book of the Wars of the Lord, Book of Jasher, Book of the Covenant, Book of Nathan, Book of Gad, Book of Samuel, Prophecy of Ahijah, Visions of Iddo, Acts of Uzziah, Acts of Solomon, Three Thousand Proverbs of Solomon, A Thousand and Five Songs of Solomon, Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, Book of Jehu, Book of Enoch.
What we know as the "canonized" bible was not assembled in anything like it's present form until the 3rd century by a council of bishops (although it was still debated for centuries after). They chose which books should be included in the bible, which books were inspired by God, by vote, just as we might vote on a law. (Can you imagine that some books missed out on being The Word of God by one vote?) Were they any more qualified to judge which books were divine than anyone living today? Is their judgement and knowledge any better than ours?
What ever happened to the Gospels according to Thomas, Jade, James, Peter, and the Gospel of the Hebrews, of the Egyptians, of Perfection, of Judas, of Thaddeus, of the Infancy, of the Preaching of Peter, of the Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistle of Barnabas, the Pastor of Hermas, the Revelation of Peter, the Revelation of Paul, the Epistle of Clement, the Epistle of Ignatius, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Nicodemus and of Marcion? They were all not considered inspired (or inspired enough). They did not get voted in. There were also the Acts of Pilate, of Andrew, of Mary, of Paul and Thecla, and many others. If the bishops at the Council of Laodicea in 365 had voted differently, millions of Christians would have believed differently. The vote of the one is the belief of all the others.
There is one important question for you to consider: why are we bound by their opinion?
What we have come to know as the bible was not in a solid form until the Gutenberg printing press was invented in the 15th century. Before that, the bible was copied by hand, onto scrolls and parchments, which could be easily altered to fit the needs of those in power. It was malleable, easily altered-- no one could hinder the early Church from adding or subtracting verses at their will. No one will ever know just how much of the biblical text was alterned, deleted, and rewritten while it was in handwritten form.
For your education on this subject I have included Chapter Three of The Bible by John E. Remsburg. (The copyright on this book is expired, and the book in its entirety can be purchased on CD-ROM from http://www.bank-of-wisdom.com).
Re: Current Affairs
Just heard this... Amazing! Wonder what are they thinking?
Msian govt announced it will abandon use of English in teaching maths and science. Will reinstate Malay as teaching medium in 2012.
Msian govt announced it will abandon use of English in teaching maths and science. Will reinstate Malay as teaching medium in 2012.
Re: Current Affairs
Few observations besides what was already published broadly on LHL's speech on Sunday.
1. Race and religion is key message this year. Interestingly more so than the ailing economy which made us lost so much money in Temasek's investments. Besides the couple who were jailed for distributing those offensive tracts and AWARE, I cannot recall any key religious hoo haa in Singapore. Probably the govt is worried about the under-currents of fundamentalism within certain religious groups.
2. Indians seem to get scant mention. LHL keep talking abt Chinese , Malays, Christians etc... dun quite get any quotes on Indians or Hindus.
3. How about atheists or agnostics. I believe the Lee family fall in the category. MM Lee I think is agnostic. Wei Ling is atheist. I think people in this category are often fed up by evangelistic trying to convert the "undecided". What they didnt realise is that these atheists are not undecided. Many have decided to be atheists after examining and asking questions.
Whatever it is... the govt can't go wrong with these warnings and reminders.
1. Race and religion is key message this year. Interestingly more so than the ailing economy which made us lost so much money in Temasek's investments. Besides the couple who were jailed for distributing those offensive tracts and AWARE, I cannot recall any key religious hoo haa in Singapore. Probably the govt is worried about the under-currents of fundamentalism within certain religious groups.
2. Indians seem to get scant mention. LHL keep talking abt Chinese , Malays, Christians etc... dun quite get any quotes on Indians or Hindus.
3. How about atheists or agnostics. I believe the Lee family fall in the category. MM Lee I think is agnostic. Wei Ling is atheist. I think people in this category are often fed up by evangelistic trying to convert the "undecided". What they didnt realise is that these atheists are not undecided. Many have decided to be atheists after examining and asking questions.
Whatever it is... the govt can't go wrong with these warnings and reminders.
Re: Current Affairs
Here is a good piece on a possible reason why Goodyear left.
http://johnharding.com/2009/08/18/charl ... nd-saddam/
http://johnharding.com/2009/08/18/charl ... nd-saddam/
Re: Current Affairs
Quote:
The number of millionaire households worldwide fell from 11 million to about 9 million—a drop of 17.8 percent. The decline was steepest in North America and Europe, at 22 percent in both regions, although the United States continued to have the most millionaire households—nearly 4 million. Singapore had the highest concentration of millionaires, with 8.5 percent of the country’s households owning more than $1 million
http://www.bcg.com/Media/PressReleaseDe ... m:12-28981
Going by this stats... about 1 in 10 of the people you know are at least USD1m worth.
Also maybe this is why condos (even though selling at 1m SGD) are selling like hotcakes.
The number of millionaire households worldwide fell from 11 million to about 9 million—a drop of 17.8 percent. The decline was steepest in North America and Europe, at 22 percent in both regions, although the United States continued to have the most millionaire households—nearly 4 million. Singapore had the highest concentration of millionaires, with 8.5 percent of the country’s households owning more than $1 million
http://www.bcg.com/Media/PressReleaseDe ... m:12-28981
Going by this stats... about 1 in 10 of the people you know are at least USD1m worth.
Also maybe this is why condos (even though selling at 1m SGD) are selling like hotcakes.
Re: Current Affairs
A few years ago, a family of 6 perished in an accident like this in Ontario and at that
time, the floor mat was not properly "anchored" to the floor so when the driver steps
on the brake, the floor mat moves and the foot slips so the brake wasn't depressed
causing the accident.
Please check a number of things with your driver side floor mat.
1. Is it properly anchored? Most has a hole in the mat that "hooks" onto an anchor but
that hole normally tears apart after time and the mat is not anchored/fixed on the
floor. Some has a metal ring on the whole. Others have some kind of reinforced
material ( looks more like plastic or nylon).
2. Do not "top up" the floor mat a few layers . Most of the original floor mats are so
cheap ( thin and light) and will wear out in no time. It is not good idea to
"reinforce" it by adding an extra layer or two by "topping" it up with some other floor
mats. DO NOT DO THAT! The video clearly explains why not.
3. When you buy floor mats, make sure to get the heavy duty (yes, more expensive) ones
that are heavy so it will stick to the floor because of its weight, and make
sure the end towards the brakes and accelerator tugs under the brake pad and
acceleration by at least 3-6 inches so it will not "fold" back and interfere with
either the brake pad or accelerator. Most original floor mats are short at this end and
if you care to
inspect yours, you notice it is very easy to curl/fold back and interfere with the
operations of the brake and/or accelerator.
Please click on website below to view the video.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/ ... l=15609344
time, the floor mat was not properly "anchored" to the floor so when the driver steps
on the brake, the floor mat moves and the foot slips so the brake wasn't depressed
causing the accident.
Please check a number of things with your driver side floor mat.
1. Is it properly anchored? Most has a hole in the mat that "hooks" onto an anchor but
that hole normally tears apart after time and the mat is not anchored/fixed on the
floor. Some has a metal ring on the whole. Others have some kind of reinforced
material ( looks more like plastic or nylon).
2. Do not "top up" the floor mat a few layers . Most of the original floor mats are so
cheap ( thin and light) and will wear out in no time. It is not good idea to
"reinforce" it by adding an extra layer or two by "topping" it up with some other floor
mats. DO NOT DO THAT! The video clearly explains why not.
3. When you buy floor mats, make sure to get the heavy duty (yes, more expensive) ones
that are heavy so it will stick to the floor because of its weight, and make
sure the end towards the brakes and accelerator tugs under the brake pad and
acceleration by at least 3-6 inches so it will not "fold" back and interfere with
either the brake pad or accelerator. Most original floor mats are short at this end and
if you care to
inspect yours, you notice it is very easy to curl/fold back and interfere with the
operations of the brake and/or accelerator.
Please click on website below to view the video.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/ ... l=15609344
Re: Current Affairs
Personally, I can't disagree with the comments.
Over-protected Singaporeans may be poorly equipped to handle a new world of cheats and financial sharks?
By Seah Chiang Nee. Sept 12, 2009
“We sat through a talk yesterday on land investment in Birmingham and was shocked when my friend immediately ploughed in S$25,000 to buy a 1,076 sq ft parcel,” an Internet surfer recently wrote.
“It had no planning permit and might take seven years to get one,” he added. Yet she took the plunge. Why?
“She was enticed by the gifts – a S$600 camera, S$100 in shopping and S$50 in dining vouchers and two bottles of wine,” the writer explained.
He was commenting on the government’s search for people with special qualities for posting in China.
“They’ll be hard to find since 90% of Singaporeans – and 100% of civil servants – don’t have them; they are very naive, easy to be eaten alive unknowingly,” he concluded.
I had long wondered before this case what ingredients were needed to pull off a successful scam.
When I was a news editor in Hong Kong, I put this question to a retired head of a cheating syndicate called Tin Sin Kuk, which had existed among the Chinese for ages.
The ring consisted of five or six men and women, who would select a victim – always a rich person – to take part in “swindling” another person, who was actually a gang member.
Needless to say, the rich person himself was the target.
Sitting in my Causeway Bay flat, the old man said: “For the cheating to succeed, the victim must have greed in his heart, the greater the better,” he said.
“If he’s honest and not greedy, we cannot swindle him.”
A little naivete helps, of course. High education is no safeguard, he added.
Are Singaporeans too simple-minded – or greedy – to be able to survive unscathed in this era of sophisticated scams and financial sharks?
Protected by a system of laws and a stable environment, they become vulnerable when exposed to sophisticated swindlers and Madoff-type con men.
The old magic stone tricks have made way for modern online frauds, credit card cheats and money schemes in which black and white are not always distinguishable.
“The average Singaporean is honest and law-abiding, and tends to think the world spins like that,” said a retired manager.
“If a well-dressed Westerner spins an investment plan, he’ll likely lap it up.”
As children, Singaporeans are over-protected by parents; and as adults, by strict laws.
“I know of 12-year-old students who are not allowed to take a bus by themselves.”
When he was commenting on reports of Singaporean businessmen being cheated in China at the time of its opening up, university researcher Wang Shouqing had said:
“The Singapore Company is good in a very mature environment, but not good in emerging markets.”
His implication was that Singaporeans were too sheltered to be able to deal with the less scrupulous world outside. Many tend to take people’s words too much at face value.
Erik Wang, Singapore’s Consul-General in Shanghai, was quoted as saying that there was a simple lesson for Singaporeans investing in China: “Know how to cheat others more than they cheat you.”
Sharing the sentiments was controversial Taiwanese legislator Li Ao, who commented on TV several years ago that Singaporeans were stupid because they came from “poor genes”.
He ranked them lower in natural intelligence (despite their high education) than the people of Taiwan and Hong Kong.
“Taiwanese are scoundrels, but lovable, Hong Kong people are craftier, (Chinese mainlanders are unfathomable) and Singaporeans are stupider,” he said, adding that it was partially due to genetics.
One Singaporean reacted: “Some Singaporeans can be very simplistic, because we have grown up in an engineered environment.
“The average Singaporean is good at academic studies and works hard, but falls short on individual initiative and street-wise qualities, relying too much on the government for help.”
As affluent Singapore opens its doors wider to foreigners, it will likely attract the wrong type of people to come and work their schemes here.
In recent years, cheating has been on the rise. Many originate from half a world away – through the Internet.
This column has also reported on numerous cases of retirees being cheated of their savings by pretty, sweet-talking Chinese women.
A recent headline said that on average at least one Singaporean falls prey to lottery scam fraudsters every day, and this remains a concern to the police.
Con men sell dreams and fakes ranging from college degrees to job contracts. They organise online “auctions” and make off with people’s money.
The most prevalent are lottery scams, which is a worldwide scourge. In a seven-month period there were 210 Singapore victims, cheated of S$2mil.
The amount is, of course, a far cry from the US$50bil that Bernard Madoff cheated Americans of, including some of the most-savvy investors. Such is the sophistication of this criminal art.
Singapore has its own investment scandal, albeit on a much smaller scale as a whiplash of America’s financial crisis.
An activist for clean governance Tan Kin Lian explained on his blog that it began in 2006 when US investment banks were saddled with mortgages and corporate debts that were turning bad.
“They had to get rid of these assets.”
They looked for countries with weak protection of consumers which were convinced about the merits of using “the light touch” to regulate the financial sector and encourage financial innovation.
“They found Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan,” said Tan.
As a result, some 10,000 Singaporeans, many of them retirees, lost S$500mil of their savings to what they were led to believe was a “safe investment”.
So far, only a fraction of the money has been recovered.
(This article was published in The Star, Malaysia).
Over-protected Singaporeans may be poorly equipped to handle a new world of cheats and financial sharks?
By Seah Chiang Nee. Sept 12, 2009
“We sat through a talk yesterday on land investment in Birmingham and was shocked when my friend immediately ploughed in S$25,000 to buy a 1,076 sq ft parcel,” an Internet surfer recently wrote.
“It had no planning permit and might take seven years to get one,” he added. Yet she took the plunge. Why?
“She was enticed by the gifts – a S$600 camera, S$100 in shopping and S$50 in dining vouchers and two bottles of wine,” the writer explained.
He was commenting on the government’s search for people with special qualities for posting in China.
“They’ll be hard to find since 90% of Singaporeans – and 100% of civil servants – don’t have them; they are very naive, easy to be eaten alive unknowingly,” he concluded.
I had long wondered before this case what ingredients were needed to pull off a successful scam.
When I was a news editor in Hong Kong, I put this question to a retired head of a cheating syndicate called Tin Sin Kuk, which had existed among the Chinese for ages.
The ring consisted of five or six men and women, who would select a victim – always a rich person – to take part in “swindling” another person, who was actually a gang member.
Needless to say, the rich person himself was the target.
Sitting in my Causeway Bay flat, the old man said: “For the cheating to succeed, the victim must have greed in his heart, the greater the better,” he said.
“If he’s honest and not greedy, we cannot swindle him.”
A little naivete helps, of course. High education is no safeguard, he added.
Are Singaporeans too simple-minded – or greedy – to be able to survive unscathed in this era of sophisticated scams and financial sharks?
Protected by a system of laws and a stable environment, they become vulnerable when exposed to sophisticated swindlers and Madoff-type con men.
The old magic stone tricks have made way for modern online frauds, credit card cheats and money schemes in which black and white are not always distinguishable.
“The average Singaporean is honest and law-abiding, and tends to think the world spins like that,” said a retired manager.
“If a well-dressed Westerner spins an investment plan, he’ll likely lap it up.”
As children, Singaporeans are over-protected by parents; and as adults, by strict laws.
“I know of 12-year-old students who are not allowed to take a bus by themselves.”
When he was commenting on reports of Singaporean businessmen being cheated in China at the time of its opening up, university researcher Wang Shouqing had said:
“The Singapore Company is good in a very mature environment, but not good in emerging markets.”
His implication was that Singaporeans were too sheltered to be able to deal with the less scrupulous world outside. Many tend to take people’s words too much at face value.
Erik Wang, Singapore’s Consul-General in Shanghai, was quoted as saying that there was a simple lesson for Singaporeans investing in China: “Know how to cheat others more than they cheat you.”
Sharing the sentiments was controversial Taiwanese legislator Li Ao, who commented on TV several years ago that Singaporeans were stupid because they came from “poor genes”.
He ranked them lower in natural intelligence (despite their high education) than the people of Taiwan and Hong Kong.
“Taiwanese are scoundrels, but lovable, Hong Kong people are craftier, (Chinese mainlanders are unfathomable) and Singaporeans are stupider,” he said, adding that it was partially due to genetics.
One Singaporean reacted: “Some Singaporeans can be very simplistic, because we have grown up in an engineered environment.
“The average Singaporean is good at academic studies and works hard, but falls short on individual initiative and street-wise qualities, relying too much on the government for help.”
As affluent Singapore opens its doors wider to foreigners, it will likely attract the wrong type of people to come and work their schemes here.
In recent years, cheating has been on the rise. Many originate from half a world away – through the Internet.
This column has also reported on numerous cases of retirees being cheated of their savings by pretty, sweet-talking Chinese women.
A recent headline said that on average at least one Singaporean falls prey to lottery scam fraudsters every day, and this remains a concern to the police.
Con men sell dreams and fakes ranging from college degrees to job contracts. They organise online “auctions” and make off with people’s money.
The most prevalent are lottery scams, which is a worldwide scourge. In a seven-month period there were 210 Singapore victims, cheated of S$2mil.
The amount is, of course, a far cry from the US$50bil that Bernard Madoff cheated Americans of, including some of the most-savvy investors. Such is the sophistication of this criminal art.
Singapore has its own investment scandal, albeit on a much smaller scale as a whiplash of America’s financial crisis.
An activist for clean governance Tan Kin Lian explained on his blog that it began in 2006 when US investment banks were saddled with mortgages and corporate debts that were turning bad.
“They had to get rid of these assets.”
They looked for countries with weak protection of consumers which were convinced about the merits of using “the light touch” to regulate the financial sector and encourage financial innovation.
“They found Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan,” said Tan.
As a result, some 10,000 Singaporeans, many of them retirees, lost S$500mil of their savings to what they were led to believe was a “safe investment”.
So far, only a fraction of the money has been recovered.
(This article was published in The Star, Malaysia).
Re: Current Affairs
Deepavali this weekend. Yet seriously, I have no clue what this day is all about, besides knowing its an Hindu big day + a public holiday. Think better read up a bit and not being a mountain tortoise. If you have no idea too... then read on. Lots to learn man. Also, a side note, do you also know what Christmas is all about? I read about this and was pretty surprised with the answer... you shld find out too... especially believers.
==================================================================================
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali
Deepavali (Hindi: दीपावली, दिवाली; Kannada: ದೀಪಾವಳಿ; Urdu: دیوالی; Tamil: தீபாவளி; Telugu: దీపావళి; Marathi and Konkani:दिवाळी) is a significant festival in Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and an official holiday in India.[1]
Adherents of these religions celebrate Deepavali as the Festival of Lights. They light diyas—cotton string wicks inserted in small clay pots filled with oil—to signify victory of good over the evil within an individual.
As per Hindu calendar, the five day festival of Deepavali is centered on the new moon day that ends the month of Ashwin and begins the month of Kartika, beginning on the 13th day of the dark half of Ashwin (Ashwin 28th) and ending on the 2nd day of the bright half of Kartika (Kartika 2nd). The main day of celebration varies regionally.[2][3][4]
Deepavali is a Sanskrit word - Deepa meaning light and Avali, meaning a row. It means a row of lights and indeed illumination forms its main attraction. It symbolises that age-old culture of India which teaches us to vanquish ignorance that subdues humanity and to drive away darkness that engulfs the light of knowledge. Deepavali, the festival of lights even to-day in this modern world, projects the rich and glorious past and teaches us to uphold the true values of life. Reference : [[1]]
In Hinduism, across many parts of India and Nepal, it is the homecoming of Rama after a 14-year exile in the forest and his victory over Ravana.[5] In the legend, the people of Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) welcomed Rama by lighting rows (avali) of lamps (dĭpa), thus its name: dīpāwali. Over time, this word transformed into Deepavali in Hindi and Dipawali in Nepali, but still retained its original form in South and East Indian Languages. In Dravidian languages it is called as Deepavali and the same is used in Malaysia and Singapore. South Indians never say Diwali as it means Firebucket.
In Jainism, Deepavali marks the attainment of nirvana by Mahavira on 15 October, 527 BC.
Deepavali has been significant in Sikhism since the illumination of the town of Amritsar commemorating the return of Guru Har Gobind Ji (1595-1644), the sixth Guru of Sikhism, who was imprisoned along with 52 other Hindu kings at Fort Gwalior by Emperor Jahangir. After freeing the other prisoners, he went to the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) in the holy city of Amritsar, where he was welcomed happily by the people who lit candles and divas to greet the Guru. Because of this, Sikhs often refer to Deepavali also as Bandi Chhorh Divas - "the day of release of detainees."
The festival is also celebrated by Buddhists in Nepal, a majority-Hindu country, particularly the Newar Buddhists.
In India and Nepal, Deepavali is now considered to be a national festival, and the aesthetic aspect of the festival is enjoyed by most Indians and Nepalese regardless of faith.[6] Kerala is the only state in India where Deepavali is not a big celeberation.
Kidha is celebrated for a differing number of days by different communities. Though the core days are common and fall on exactly the same set of days across Nepal and India, they fall in different Gregorian months depending on the version of the Hindu calendar being used in the region. The Amanta ("ending on the new-moon") version of the Hindu Calendar has been adopted as the Indian national calendar. According to this calendar, which is prevalent in southern India and Maharashtra, the 6-day celebration is spread over the last four days of the month of Ashwina and the first two days of the new month of Kartika. According to the Purnimaanta ("ending on the full-moon") version prevalent in northern India, it falls in the middle of the month of Ashwayuja/Ashvin. In the Gregorian calendar, it falls generally in the months of October or November. In Nepal, it is celebrated according to Nepalese calendar. The festival marks the last three days and the first two days of Nepalese era.
On the day of Deepavali / Deepavali, many wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks. Some North Indian business communities start their financial year on Deepavali and new account books are opened on this day.
==================================================================================
History & Origin of Diwali
The history of Diwali is related to the Hindu Purana(s). Hindus believes that whenever the power of evil increases in the world, Vishnu comes down to earth in a different form to defeat evil. These forms are called Avataras. Krishna and Rama are the popular Avataras of Vishnu. Goddesses accompany gods. Diwali celebrations are especially a time for telling stories about Vishnu and his wife Lakshmi, and about Krishna, Rama and his wife Sita.
The Story of Rama and Sita
Lord Rama was the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He was a great warrior King who was exiled by his father Dashratha, the King of Ayodhya, along with his wife Sita. Lord Rama returned to his Kingdom Ayodhya after 14 years of exile, in which he put an end to the demon Ravana. After this victory of Good over Evil, Rama returned to Ayodhya.The people welcomed them by lighting rows of clay lamps. Great celebrations were held and everyone was happy for Rama to be the King of Ayodhya. So, it is an occasion in honour of Rama's victory over Ravana.
Krishna and The Mountain
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna persuaded the people of Gokula to worship the mountain Govardhan instead of God Indra . Indra sought revenge. He sent thunder and torrential rain down on the village. Lord Krishna saved the villagers by lifting the top of the mountain with his finger .The people gathered under it until the storm passed away. The offering of food to God on this day of Diwali is a reminder to Hindus of the importance of food and it is a time for being thankful to God for the bounty of nature.
Lord Krisna and Narakasur
When people got the news of destruction of Narakasur by Lord Krisna on the day before Diwali , they celebrated Diwai .
The Story of King Bali and the Dwarf
The Diwali origin also lies in the story of Lord Vishnu and King Bali. Vishnu came to earth in the form of a dwarf. King Bali was send to the underworld.
Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Diwali history says Swami Dayananda Saraswati, that leonine sanyasin who was one of the first to light the torch of Hindu Renaissance during the last century, passed into Eternity on this day. The lights kindled on this day also mark the attempt of their followers to immortalize his sacred memories. The passage of these great men have indeed brought the national-cum-spiritual tradition of Diwali right up to modern times.
==================================================================================
Diwali History
http://www.diwalimela.com/traditions/di ... story.html
The festival of Diwali has been celebrated for ages and the history of Diwali celebrations is as old as the history of India. Everyone on this festival enjoys the delicious Diwali sweets, the brightly lit Diwali Lamps and Diwali diyas, and the excitement for living that suddenly grips people around this time. But the festival of Diwali symbolizes much more than these things. This real meaning of Diwali can be understood in the history of Diwali, which tells you the story behind the origin and the grand celebrations of Diwali.The history of Diwali, one of the greatest festivals celebrated with much enthusiasm and fervor all over the country is replete with different kinds of legends,
which are moored to the Puranas, the mythological scriptures of Hindus. There have been so many important legends associated with the occasion of Diwali that five days have been accredited for the celebration of Diwali in India with each day holding importance of its own. The following are the five days of Diwali, each having the rituals and myths of its own. · Dhanteras
· Choti Diwali
· Diwali
· Padwa
· Bhaiya-Dooj
Dhanteras
The first day of Diwali is known by the name of Dhanteras or Dhantryaodashi, which falls on the thirteenth day of the month of Ashwin. The word 'Dhan' signifies wealth and hence this day holds utmost importance for the business houses and for the rich people's community. According to a legend associated with this particular day sixteen-year-old son of King Hima according to his horoscope was doomed to die on the fourth day of his marriage by snakebite. Thus on the fourth day of his marriage his much worried young bride lighted innumerable lamps all over the place and laid all kinds of ornaments and lots of gold and silver coins in a big heap at the entrance of her husband's boudoir and went on telling stories and singing songs through the night. When Yam-the god of death arrived there in the guise of a serpent the dazzle of those brilliant lights blinded his eyes and he could not enter the prince's chamber. So he climbed the heap of the ornaments and coins and sat their whole night listening to the melodious songs. In the morning He went away quietly. Thus the wife saved her husband and since then this day of Dhanteras came to be known as the day of "Yamadeepdaan".
Choti Diwali
The second day of celebration of Diwali in India is known by the name of 'Choti Diwali' and is celebrated with the same fervor and enthusiasm as the main day of Diwali. The legend related to this day is about King Bali of the nether world whose mighty power had become a threat to the gods. In order to curb his powers Lord Vishnu in the guise of a small boy visited him and begged him to give him only that much land which he could cover with his three steps. Known for his philanthropy King Bali proudly granted him his wish. So with his first step Lord Vishnu covered the entire heaven and with the second step the earth and asked Bali where to keep his third step. Bali offered his head and putting his foot on his head Vishnu pushed him down to the underworld. Though for his generosity Lord Vishnu allowed him to return to earth once a year to light millions of lamps to dispel the darkness and ignorance and spread the radiance of love and wisdom.
Diwali
The Third day of the festival of Diwali is the most important day of Lakshmi-Puja, which is entirely devoted to the propitiation of Goddess Lakshmi. This day is also known by the name of "Chopada-Puja". The day of Lakshmi-Puja falls on the dark night of Amavasya. It is believed that on this auspicious day Lord Krishna discarded his body. One more interesting story related to this day is of a small boy called Nichiketa who believed that Yam, the god of Death was as black as the dark night of amavasya. But when he met Yam in person, he was puzzled seeing Yam's calm countenance and dignified stature. Yam explained to Nichiketa on this day of amavasya that by only passing through the darkness of death, man sees the light of highest wisdom and then only his soul can escape from the bondage of his mortal frame to mingle with the Supreme Power without whose will nothing moves in the world. It was then that Nichiketa realized the importance of worldly life and significance of death. Nichiketa's all doubts were set at rest and he whole-heartedly participated in Diwali celebrations.
Padwa
The Fourth day is called Padwa or VarshaPratipada that marks the coronation of King Vikramaditya and the starting of the Vikaram-Samvat. Govardhan-Puja is also performed in the North on this day. As per Vishnu-Puran, the people of Gokul used to celebrate a festival in honor of Lord Indra and worshipped him after the end of every monsoon season. Though one particular year the young Krishna stopped them from offering prayers to Lord Indra who in terrific anger sent a deluge to submerge Gokul. Krishna saved his Gokul by lifting up the Govardhan Mountain and holding it over the people as an umbrella. This day is also observed as Annakoot and prayers are offered in the temples.
Bhaiya-Dooj
The Fifth and final day of Diwali Festival is known by the name of "Bhaiya-Dooj" This day is observed as a symbol of love between sisters and brothers. It is believed that on this day Yamraj -the god of death visited his sister Yami and she put the auspicious tilak on his forehead, they ate, talked and enjoyed together and exchanged special gifts as a token of their love for each other and Yamraj announced that anyone who receives tilak from his sister on this day will be blessed. Since then it has became imperative for the brother to go to his sister's house to celebrate Bhaiya Dooj.
==================================================================================
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali
Deepavali (Hindi: दीपावली, दिवाली; Kannada: ದೀಪಾವಳಿ; Urdu: دیوالی; Tamil: தீபாவளி; Telugu: దీపావళి; Marathi and Konkani:दिवाळी) is a significant festival in Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and an official holiday in India.[1]
Adherents of these religions celebrate Deepavali as the Festival of Lights. They light diyas—cotton string wicks inserted in small clay pots filled with oil—to signify victory of good over the evil within an individual.
As per Hindu calendar, the five day festival of Deepavali is centered on the new moon day that ends the month of Ashwin and begins the month of Kartika, beginning on the 13th day of the dark half of Ashwin (Ashwin 28th) and ending on the 2nd day of the bright half of Kartika (Kartika 2nd). The main day of celebration varies regionally.[2][3][4]
Deepavali is a Sanskrit word - Deepa meaning light and Avali, meaning a row. It means a row of lights and indeed illumination forms its main attraction. It symbolises that age-old culture of India which teaches us to vanquish ignorance that subdues humanity and to drive away darkness that engulfs the light of knowledge. Deepavali, the festival of lights even to-day in this modern world, projects the rich and glorious past and teaches us to uphold the true values of life. Reference : [[1]]
In Hinduism, across many parts of India and Nepal, it is the homecoming of Rama after a 14-year exile in the forest and his victory over Ravana.[5] In the legend, the people of Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) welcomed Rama by lighting rows (avali) of lamps (dĭpa), thus its name: dīpāwali. Over time, this word transformed into Deepavali in Hindi and Dipawali in Nepali, but still retained its original form in South and East Indian Languages. In Dravidian languages it is called as Deepavali and the same is used in Malaysia and Singapore. South Indians never say Diwali as it means Firebucket.
In Jainism, Deepavali marks the attainment of nirvana by Mahavira on 15 October, 527 BC.
Deepavali has been significant in Sikhism since the illumination of the town of Amritsar commemorating the return of Guru Har Gobind Ji (1595-1644), the sixth Guru of Sikhism, who was imprisoned along with 52 other Hindu kings at Fort Gwalior by Emperor Jahangir. After freeing the other prisoners, he went to the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) in the holy city of Amritsar, where he was welcomed happily by the people who lit candles and divas to greet the Guru. Because of this, Sikhs often refer to Deepavali also as Bandi Chhorh Divas - "the day of release of detainees."
The festival is also celebrated by Buddhists in Nepal, a majority-Hindu country, particularly the Newar Buddhists.
In India and Nepal, Deepavali is now considered to be a national festival, and the aesthetic aspect of the festival is enjoyed by most Indians and Nepalese regardless of faith.[6] Kerala is the only state in India where Deepavali is not a big celeberation.
Kidha is celebrated for a differing number of days by different communities. Though the core days are common and fall on exactly the same set of days across Nepal and India, they fall in different Gregorian months depending on the version of the Hindu calendar being used in the region. The Amanta ("ending on the new-moon") version of the Hindu Calendar has been adopted as the Indian national calendar. According to this calendar, which is prevalent in southern India and Maharashtra, the 6-day celebration is spread over the last four days of the month of Ashwina and the first two days of the new month of Kartika. According to the Purnimaanta ("ending on the full-moon") version prevalent in northern India, it falls in the middle of the month of Ashwayuja/Ashvin. In the Gregorian calendar, it falls generally in the months of October or November. In Nepal, it is celebrated according to Nepalese calendar. The festival marks the last three days and the first two days of Nepalese era.
On the day of Deepavali / Deepavali, many wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks. Some North Indian business communities start their financial year on Deepavali and new account books are opened on this day.
==================================================================================
History & Origin of Diwali
The history of Diwali is related to the Hindu Purana(s). Hindus believes that whenever the power of evil increases in the world, Vishnu comes down to earth in a different form to defeat evil. These forms are called Avataras. Krishna and Rama are the popular Avataras of Vishnu. Goddesses accompany gods. Diwali celebrations are especially a time for telling stories about Vishnu and his wife Lakshmi, and about Krishna, Rama and his wife Sita.
The Story of Rama and Sita
Lord Rama was the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He was a great warrior King who was exiled by his father Dashratha, the King of Ayodhya, along with his wife Sita. Lord Rama returned to his Kingdom Ayodhya after 14 years of exile, in which he put an end to the demon Ravana. After this victory of Good over Evil, Rama returned to Ayodhya.The people welcomed them by lighting rows of clay lamps. Great celebrations were held and everyone was happy for Rama to be the King of Ayodhya. So, it is an occasion in honour of Rama's victory over Ravana.
Krishna and The Mountain
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna persuaded the people of Gokula to worship the mountain Govardhan instead of God Indra . Indra sought revenge. He sent thunder and torrential rain down on the village. Lord Krishna saved the villagers by lifting the top of the mountain with his finger .The people gathered under it until the storm passed away. The offering of food to God on this day of Diwali is a reminder to Hindus of the importance of food and it is a time for being thankful to God for the bounty of nature.
Lord Krisna and Narakasur
When people got the news of destruction of Narakasur by Lord Krisna on the day before Diwali , they celebrated Diwai .
The Story of King Bali and the Dwarf
The Diwali origin also lies in the story of Lord Vishnu and King Bali. Vishnu came to earth in the form of a dwarf. King Bali was send to the underworld.
Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Diwali history says Swami Dayananda Saraswati, that leonine sanyasin who was one of the first to light the torch of Hindu Renaissance during the last century, passed into Eternity on this day. The lights kindled on this day also mark the attempt of their followers to immortalize his sacred memories. The passage of these great men have indeed brought the national-cum-spiritual tradition of Diwali right up to modern times.
==================================================================================
Diwali History
http://www.diwalimela.com/traditions/di ... story.html
The festival of Diwali has been celebrated for ages and the history of Diwali celebrations is as old as the history of India. Everyone on this festival enjoys the delicious Diwali sweets, the brightly lit Diwali Lamps and Diwali diyas, and the excitement for living that suddenly grips people around this time. But the festival of Diwali symbolizes much more than these things. This real meaning of Diwali can be understood in the history of Diwali, which tells you the story behind the origin and the grand celebrations of Diwali.The history of Diwali, one of the greatest festivals celebrated with much enthusiasm and fervor all over the country is replete with different kinds of legends,
which are moored to the Puranas, the mythological scriptures of Hindus. There have been so many important legends associated with the occasion of Diwali that five days have been accredited for the celebration of Diwali in India with each day holding importance of its own. The following are the five days of Diwali, each having the rituals and myths of its own. · Dhanteras
· Choti Diwali
· Diwali
· Padwa
· Bhaiya-Dooj
Dhanteras
The first day of Diwali is known by the name of Dhanteras or Dhantryaodashi, which falls on the thirteenth day of the month of Ashwin. The word 'Dhan' signifies wealth and hence this day holds utmost importance for the business houses and for the rich people's community. According to a legend associated with this particular day sixteen-year-old son of King Hima according to his horoscope was doomed to die on the fourth day of his marriage by snakebite. Thus on the fourth day of his marriage his much worried young bride lighted innumerable lamps all over the place and laid all kinds of ornaments and lots of gold and silver coins in a big heap at the entrance of her husband's boudoir and went on telling stories and singing songs through the night. When Yam-the god of death arrived there in the guise of a serpent the dazzle of those brilliant lights blinded his eyes and he could not enter the prince's chamber. So he climbed the heap of the ornaments and coins and sat their whole night listening to the melodious songs. In the morning He went away quietly. Thus the wife saved her husband and since then this day of Dhanteras came to be known as the day of "Yamadeepdaan".
Choti Diwali
The second day of celebration of Diwali in India is known by the name of 'Choti Diwali' and is celebrated with the same fervor and enthusiasm as the main day of Diwali. The legend related to this day is about King Bali of the nether world whose mighty power had become a threat to the gods. In order to curb his powers Lord Vishnu in the guise of a small boy visited him and begged him to give him only that much land which he could cover with his three steps. Known for his philanthropy King Bali proudly granted him his wish. So with his first step Lord Vishnu covered the entire heaven and with the second step the earth and asked Bali where to keep his third step. Bali offered his head and putting his foot on his head Vishnu pushed him down to the underworld. Though for his generosity Lord Vishnu allowed him to return to earth once a year to light millions of lamps to dispel the darkness and ignorance and spread the radiance of love and wisdom.
Diwali
The Third day of the festival of Diwali is the most important day of Lakshmi-Puja, which is entirely devoted to the propitiation of Goddess Lakshmi. This day is also known by the name of "Chopada-Puja". The day of Lakshmi-Puja falls on the dark night of Amavasya. It is believed that on this auspicious day Lord Krishna discarded his body. One more interesting story related to this day is of a small boy called Nichiketa who believed that Yam, the god of Death was as black as the dark night of amavasya. But when he met Yam in person, he was puzzled seeing Yam's calm countenance and dignified stature. Yam explained to Nichiketa on this day of amavasya that by only passing through the darkness of death, man sees the light of highest wisdom and then only his soul can escape from the bondage of his mortal frame to mingle with the Supreme Power without whose will nothing moves in the world. It was then that Nichiketa realized the importance of worldly life and significance of death. Nichiketa's all doubts were set at rest and he whole-heartedly participated in Diwali celebrations.
Padwa
The Fourth day is called Padwa or VarshaPratipada that marks the coronation of King Vikramaditya and the starting of the Vikaram-Samvat. Govardhan-Puja is also performed in the North on this day. As per Vishnu-Puran, the people of Gokul used to celebrate a festival in honor of Lord Indra and worshipped him after the end of every monsoon season. Though one particular year the young Krishna stopped them from offering prayers to Lord Indra who in terrific anger sent a deluge to submerge Gokul. Krishna saved his Gokul by lifting up the Govardhan Mountain and holding it over the people as an umbrella. This day is also observed as Annakoot and prayers are offered in the temples.
Bhaiya-Dooj
The Fifth and final day of Diwali Festival is known by the name of "Bhaiya-Dooj" This day is observed as a symbol of love between sisters and brothers. It is believed that on this day Yamraj -the god of death visited his sister Yami and she put the auspicious tilak on his forehead, they ate, talked and enjoyed together and exchanged special gifts as a token of their love for each other and Yamraj announced that anyone who receives tilak from his sister on this day will be blessed. Since then it has became imperative for the brother to go to his sister's house to celebrate Bhaiya Dooj.
Re: Current Affairs
Good tip.
Subject: 2-way Mirror - How to identify?
I saw this on Dateline a couple of years ago, where couples and woman were being watched
and recorded via two way Mirrors in some Hotels and Motels in the US, then the pictures
of them having PLS GET OUT OF HERE or undressing was posted on PLS GET OUT OF HERE sites.
From the Desk of Rosalie Allemond
Can you tell when you are in a hotel room, restroom, motel etc. with a mirror whether it
is in fact a mirror or 2-way glass?
Here's how: I thought it was quite interesting! And I know in about 30 seconds you're going do what
I did and find the nearest mirror... Do you know how to determine if a mirror is 2-way
or not? This is not to scare you, but to make you aware. A policewoman who travels all
over the U.S. and gives seminars and techniques for businesswomen passed this on. When
we visit toilets, bathrooms, hotel rooms, changing rooms, etc., how many of you know for
sure that the seemingly ordinary mirror hanging on the wall is a real mirror, or
actually a
2-way mirror (i.e., they can see you, but you can't see them)? There have been many
cases of people installing 2-way mirrors in female changing rooms. It is very difficult
to positively identify the surface by just looking at it.
So, how do we determine with any amount of certainty what type of mirror we are looking
at?
Just conduct this simple Test: Place the tip of your fingernail against the reflective surface and if there is a
GAP between your fingernail and the image of the nail, then it is a GENUINE mirror.
However, if your fingernail DIRECTLY TOUCHES the image of your nail, then BEWARE, FOR IT
IS A 2-WAY MIRROR!
"No Space, Leave the Place" So remember, every time you see a Mirror, do the
"fingernail test." It doesn't cost you anything.
Remember: "No Space, Leave the Place"
Ladies:
Share this with your girlfriends, sisters, daughters, etc.
Men: Share this with your wives, daughters, daughters-in-law, mothers, girlfriends and
friends.
Subject: 2-way Mirror - How to identify?
I saw this on Dateline a couple of years ago, where couples and woman were being watched
and recorded via two way Mirrors in some Hotels and Motels in the US, then the pictures
of them having PLS GET OUT OF HERE or undressing was posted on PLS GET OUT OF HERE sites.
From the Desk of Rosalie Allemond
Can you tell when you are in a hotel room, restroom, motel etc. with a mirror whether it
is in fact a mirror or 2-way glass?
Here's how: I thought it was quite interesting! And I know in about 30 seconds you're going do what
I did and find the nearest mirror... Do you know how to determine if a mirror is 2-way
or not? This is not to scare you, but to make you aware. A policewoman who travels all
over the U.S. and gives seminars and techniques for businesswomen passed this on. When
we visit toilets, bathrooms, hotel rooms, changing rooms, etc., how many of you know for
sure that the seemingly ordinary mirror hanging on the wall is a real mirror, or
actually a
2-way mirror (i.e., they can see you, but you can't see them)? There have been many
cases of people installing 2-way mirrors in female changing rooms. It is very difficult
to positively identify the surface by just looking at it.
So, how do we determine with any amount of certainty what type of mirror we are looking
at?
Just conduct this simple Test: Place the tip of your fingernail against the reflective surface and if there is a
GAP between your fingernail and the image of the nail, then it is a GENUINE mirror.
However, if your fingernail DIRECTLY TOUCHES the image of your nail, then BEWARE, FOR IT
IS A 2-WAY MIRROR!
"No Space, Leave the Place" So remember, every time you see a Mirror, do the
"fingernail test." It doesn't cost you anything.
Remember: "No Space, Leave the Place"
Ladies:
Share this with your girlfriends, sisters, daughters, etc.
Men: Share this with your wives, daughters, daughters-in-law, mothers, girlfriends and
friends.
Re: Current Affairs
This is pretty amazing and may find its way into mainstream news soon as its spreading like wildfire on line.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/02/07 ... -buddhism/
All I can say is Joseph's account of his previous religion is clearly false.
===
A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
Albert Einstein
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/02/07 ... -buddhism/
All I can say is Joseph's account of his previous religion is clearly false.
===
A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
Albert Einstein
Re: Current Affairs
Predictably, this has splashed all over the media now and is a ISD issue.
Morten wrote:This is pretty amazing and may find its way into mainstream news soon as its spreading like wildfire on line.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/02/07 ... -buddhism/
All I can say is Joseph's account of his previous religion is clearly false.
===
A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
Albert Einstein
Re: Current Affairs
This fella attained NIRVANA!
=====
Millionaire gives away fortune which made him miserable
Austrian millionaire Karl Rabeder is giving away every penny of his £3 million fortune after realising his riches were making him unhappy.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... rable.html
=====
Millionaire gives away fortune which made him miserable
Austrian millionaire Karl Rabeder is giving away every penny of his £3 million fortune after realising his riches were making him unhappy.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... rable.html
Re: Current Affairs
Everyone should know about Pastor Rony 's mistakes by now. Its still in Youtube. Since his sermon was wrong, NUSBS has posted an article to clarify.
http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=6275
Misconception 1: Pastor Rony commented about Buddhist chanting: “One could chant ee-ee-oo-ah-ah, ting-tang-wala-wala-bing-bang, it doesn’t mean anything.”
Answer: Buddhist chanting is not meaningless babble. In Buddhism, chants have definite meanings, contrary to what Pastor Rony’s interviewee claimed. For instance, the chants may refer to the practitioner’s wish to radiate loving-kindness to other beings. Chanting is also an aid to meditation. By focusing on the act of recitation, chanting helps to stop the mind from wandering and instead cultivate inner happiness.
Misconception 2: Pastor Rony said, “The teaching is this, everybody is potentially a god … and you can be above God and be even more powerful than God.”
Answer: Buddhism does not subscribe to the theistic concept of God that is common to the Abrahamic faiths. We believe that everyone has the potential to develop into a Buddha – a perfected being free from hatred, anger, and ignorance.
Misconception 3: Pastor Rony’s interviewee (a former monk) didn’t know what Nirvana was, and said that his fellow monks didn’t know either, implying that Buddhists don’t know what they’re talking about when they refer to Nirvana.
Answer: Nirvana is not a meaningless entity. In conventional language, the best approximate we can say is this: Nirvana is the freedom from the underlying cause of all suffering – the illusion of being a separate self. The word ‘Nirvana’ literally means ‘blowing out’, like the extinguishing of a flame. It’s the extinguishing of all delusions, leading to extraordinary clarity and peace. It is a state that defies conventional language, and belongs to the realm of spiritual attainment, not logical understanding. So we may know what Nirvana is logically, but not know what it is on the experiential level. It is like knowing the possibility of zero-gravity but without the actual experience of weightlessness in space.
Misconception 4: Pastor Rony said, “If something bad [happens], they say it’s because of your karma … If somebody falls sick, oh it’s because of your karma. It’s so easy to explain… It seems that you cannot do anything about the bad things that are happening.”
Answer: The doctrine of karma does not entail fatalism. The word ‘karma’ literally means ‘action’, and refers to our intentional mental actions. What we are now is determined by our thoughts and actions in the past, and similarly, what we will experience in the future is influenced by our thoughts and actions in the present. Karma doesn’t mean that we’re dealt a fixed destiny that we have to passively accept. Our karma continuously changes depending on how we think and act now. By changing our thoughts and behaviour, we can definitely transform the quality of our lives for the better.
Misconception 5: Pastor Rony claimed that Buddhism had simply ‘repackaged’ the doctrine of reincarnation as ‘rebirth’.
Answer: Reincarnation and rebirth are philosophically distinct concepts. Reincarnation is the belief, common to Hinduism and Jainism, that each individual has a soul, and that this soul will travel to another body after death. Rebirth, however, is the theory that there is no such thing as a soul (because each individual is a flowing, continuous process) and it is the mind which establishes itself as a personality, much like how a flame is passed from one candle to another.
Misconception 6: Pastor Rony said, “How could you ever learn from your past life when you do not know what you were or who you were; whether you were a prince or a cockroach, you also don’t know… Surely there isn’t any past life because when you were born as a baby, you started with a new slate with no recollection whatsoever… There is no such thing as a previous life, or to be reborn into the next life.”
Answer: This understanding of the mind stems from John Locke’s epistemological theory of ‘tabula rasa’, which claims that individuals are born as a blank slate, and all their knowledge comes from experience and perception. This theory is still subject to ongoing philosophical debate. In any case, according to the doctrine of rebirth, our thoughts and actions leave imprints on our consciousness which we may not be fully aware of. These imprints result in consequences which come to fruition when causes and conditions allow them to.
Misconception 7: Pastor Rony said, “Ladies should be very offended [by the doctrine of rebirth]… One of the Buddhist persons who argued with me many years ago, he said, ‘…You are such an unbeliever, he said, next life ah, … you’ll be born as a woman!’ So you ladies, don’t believe in reincarnation.”
Answer: Buddhism does not regard women as inferior to men. In fact, the Buddha himself was explicit about treating men and women equally; he initiated women into the Sangha (the Buddhist monastic order) despite fierce controversy. Any sexist sentiments of individuals derive from the attitudes of their cultures, not from Buddhism.ries of video interviews, NUSBS has identified the following common misconceptions about Buddhism.
http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=6275
Misconception 1: Pastor Rony commented about Buddhist chanting: “One could chant ee-ee-oo-ah-ah, ting-tang-wala-wala-bing-bang, it doesn’t mean anything.”
Answer: Buddhist chanting is not meaningless babble. In Buddhism, chants have definite meanings, contrary to what Pastor Rony’s interviewee claimed. For instance, the chants may refer to the practitioner’s wish to radiate loving-kindness to other beings. Chanting is also an aid to meditation. By focusing on the act of recitation, chanting helps to stop the mind from wandering and instead cultivate inner happiness.
Misconception 2: Pastor Rony said, “The teaching is this, everybody is potentially a god … and you can be above God and be even more powerful than God.”
Answer: Buddhism does not subscribe to the theistic concept of God that is common to the Abrahamic faiths. We believe that everyone has the potential to develop into a Buddha – a perfected being free from hatred, anger, and ignorance.
Misconception 3: Pastor Rony’s interviewee (a former monk) didn’t know what Nirvana was, and said that his fellow monks didn’t know either, implying that Buddhists don’t know what they’re talking about when they refer to Nirvana.
Answer: Nirvana is not a meaningless entity. In conventional language, the best approximate we can say is this: Nirvana is the freedom from the underlying cause of all suffering – the illusion of being a separate self. The word ‘Nirvana’ literally means ‘blowing out’, like the extinguishing of a flame. It’s the extinguishing of all delusions, leading to extraordinary clarity and peace. It is a state that defies conventional language, and belongs to the realm of spiritual attainment, not logical understanding. So we may know what Nirvana is logically, but not know what it is on the experiential level. It is like knowing the possibility of zero-gravity but without the actual experience of weightlessness in space.
Misconception 4: Pastor Rony said, “If something bad [happens], they say it’s because of your karma … If somebody falls sick, oh it’s because of your karma. It’s so easy to explain… It seems that you cannot do anything about the bad things that are happening.”
Answer: The doctrine of karma does not entail fatalism. The word ‘karma’ literally means ‘action’, and refers to our intentional mental actions. What we are now is determined by our thoughts and actions in the past, and similarly, what we will experience in the future is influenced by our thoughts and actions in the present. Karma doesn’t mean that we’re dealt a fixed destiny that we have to passively accept. Our karma continuously changes depending on how we think and act now. By changing our thoughts and behaviour, we can definitely transform the quality of our lives for the better.
Misconception 5: Pastor Rony claimed that Buddhism had simply ‘repackaged’ the doctrine of reincarnation as ‘rebirth’.
Answer: Reincarnation and rebirth are philosophically distinct concepts. Reincarnation is the belief, common to Hinduism and Jainism, that each individual has a soul, and that this soul will travel to another body after death. Rebirth, however, is the theory that there is no such thing as a soul (because each individual is a flowing, continuous process) and it is the mind which establishes itself as a personality, much like how a flame is passed from one candle to another.
Misconception 6: Pastor Rony said, “How could you ever learn from your past life when you do not know what you were or who you were; whether you were a prince or a cockroach, you also don’t know… Surely there isn’t any past life because when you were born as a baby, you started with a new slate with no recollection whatsoever… There is no such thing as a previous life, or to be reborn into the next life.”
Answer: This understanding of the mind stems from John Locke’s epistemological theory of ‘tabula rasa’, which claims that individuals are born as a blank slate, and all their knowledge comes from experience and perception. This theory is still subject to ongoing philosophical debate. In any case, according to the doctrine of rebirth, our thoughts and actions leave imprints on our consciousness which we may not be fully aware of. These imprints result in consequences which come to fruition when causes and conditions allow them to.
Misconception 7: Pastor Rony said, “Ladies should be very offended [by the doctrine of rebirth]… One of the Buddhist persons who argued with me many years ago, he said, ‘…You are such an unbeliever, he said, next life ah, … you’ll be born as a woman!’ So you ladies, don’t believe in reincarnation.”
Answer: Buddhism does not regard women as inferior to men. In fact, the Buddha himself was explicit about treating men and women equally; he initiated women into the Sangha (the Buddhist monastic order) despite fierce controversy. Any sexist sentiments of individuals derive from the attitudes of their cultures, not from Buddhism.ries of video interviews, NUSBS has identified the following common misconceptions about Buddhism.
Morten wrote:This is pretty amazing and may find its way into mainstream news soon as its spreading like wildfire on line.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/02/07 ... -buddhism/
All I can say is Joseph's account of his previous religion is clearly false.
===
A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
Albert Einstein
Re: Current Affairs
This is the Jack Neo + wife interview. VERY CLEAR version. Quite a few netizens felt its pretty fake (esp Jack's part).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwOj65wq ... r_embedded#
Few things.
1. The fact that the wife came out so quickly (just 3rd day of the scandal) to face reporters with hundreds of flashlights and say "I love Jack", means she has probably knew and forgiven him long before this revelation by Wendy Chong. Which leads to the nx qn... why then , did his wife let him continue his frivolous ways if she knew abt it well before hand?
2. Why did Jack and wife ask people to give him a second chance? Alamak, he didnt hurt me or any of us. He hurt his loved ones. So if there is any apology to seek forgiveness, he need to get it from his 4 kids and of course his wife... and NOT the public or the media. He didnt owe us anything...!
3. City Harvest's Pastor was mentioned several times in the rpts as being the first to come to Jack to help out. Whats the use. If the sermons every week @ church didnt help change Jack's heart and... mend his ways, how then can they do anythg now except to use the Bible on his wife and Jack? Clearly Jack is a Christian. He is a Christian ONLY when he goes to church on Sundays. For all you know, he is there every Sabbath to fantasize at the good looking women there. Not sure what the Bible says about such stuffs on men's infidelity... better check with Google search or with any well-learned Christian. A Christian told me somethg which I shall not repeat here. Censored.
Anyhow Jack is a lucky man... do all the wrong things, and can get forgiveness from his wife and God... no wonder he was such a "chee hong". He had a get out of jail free card from wife and God. Mind you, 11 women was reported to have been "solicited" by Jack.... you can assume there are countless more that are probably too ashamed to be associated to be Jack's "target" now. 11 is probably just the tip of the iceburg.
4. The last part on Ah Nan is funny.
5. To me, I felt this press conference has probably worsened the situation giving the media even more materials to GOSSIP about. Jack shld know better that the media feed on such gossips. On hindsight, they could have done w/o this media Conference. Or maybe his wife should have worn a sunglass... with all these flashes at her, can't even open her eyes.
Heck, she shouldnt even attend the briefing with a microphone in her hands. She seems more like a shield for Jack as he probably needed her brittleness to deflect the attention on him. More imptly, he is indirectly saying, "heck, my wife of all people and my God has forgiven me already, so everyone else should do the same .... ie. you all don't be such a busy body la!"
The cruelest lies are often told in silence. -- Robert Louis Stevenson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwOj65wq ... r_embedded#
Few things.
1. The fact that the wife came out so quickly (just 3rd day of the scandal) to face reporters with hundreds of flashlights and say "I love Jack", means she has probably knew and forgiven him long before this revelation by Wendy Chong. Which leads to the nx qn... why then , did his wife let him continue his frivolous ways if she knew abt it well before hand?
2. Why did Jack and wife ask people to give him a second chance? Alamak, he didnt hurt me or any of us. He hurt his loved ones. So if there is any apology to seek forgiveness, he need to get it from his 4 kids and of course his wife... and NOT the public or the media. He didnt owe us anything...!
3. City Harvest's Pastor was mentioned several times in the rpts as being the first to come to Jack to help out. Whats the use. If the sermons every week @ church didnt help change Jack's heart and... mend his ways, how then can they do anythg now except to use the Bible on his wife and Jack? Clearly Jack is a Christian. He is a Christian ONLY when he goes to church on Sundays. For all you know, he is there every Sabbath to fantasize at the good looking women there. Not sure what the Bible says about such stuffs on men's infidelity... better check with Google search or with any well-learned Christian. A Christian told me somethg which I shall not repeat here. Censored.
Anyhow Jack is a lucky man... do all the wrong things, and can get forgiveness from his wife and God... no wonder he was such a "chee hong". He had a get out of jail free card from wife and God. Mind you, 11 women was reported to have been "solicited" by Jack.... you can assume there are countless more that are probably too ashamed to be associated to be Jack's "target" now. 11 is probably just the tip of the iceburg.
4. The last part on Ah Nan is funny.
5. To me, I felt this press conference has probably worsened the situation giving the media even more materials to GOSSIP about. Jack shld know better that the media feed on such gossips. On hindsight, they could have done w/o this media Conference. Or maybe his wife should have worn a sunglass... with all these flashes at her, can't even open her eyes.
Heck, she shouldnt even attend the briefing with a microphone in her hands. She seems more like a shield for Jack as he probably needed her brittleness to deflect the attention on him. More imptly, he is indirectly saying, "heck, my wife of all people and my God has forgiven me already, so everyone else should do the same .... ie. you all don't be such a busy body la!"
The cruelest lies are often told in silence. -- Robert Louis Stevenson
Re: Current Affairs
Interesting how these land banking bizness will pan out. Am personally extremely weary of such "schemes".
Green Belt housing scheme promoted by footballers leaves investors in the red
Investors from the Far East have been left without a penny gain in four years after putting money into a “get rich quick” property scheme promoted by two former England football players.
By David Hencke
Published: 9:00PM GMT 13 Mar 2010
A marketing campaign fronted by Bryan Robson, the former England captain, and Steve McMahon promised a 250 per cent return in three years if a gravel pit near Heathrow airport was developed for housing and leisure.
However, the site is on green belt land where housing development is banned.
While Profitable Group, the Singapore-based property company behind the scheme, has made at least £47 million from the deal, nothing has yet materialised at the site – not even a planning application to build a single house.
The two former footballers, now living in the Far East, used their celebrity status to market the scheme on television across south-east Asia in 2006.
Profitable changed the name of the tract of land from Lower Feltham Lakes to Concorde Village for the purposes of the marketing drive.
But no development can take place unless a planning inspector can be persuaded to overrule the site’s green belt status against the wishes of Hounslow council, the local planning authority, which firmly opposes building there.
A spokesman for the council said: “We would only develop green belt land if there were very special reasons. We see no special reasons for doing so on this site.”
Profitable, of which Mr McMahon is commercial director, has bought four sites in Britain for a few million pounds and divided them into thousands of tiny plots which have been offered to investors, bringing in tens of millions for the company.
The Feltham site was bought from Taylor Woodrow (now Taylor Wimpey) for £3.2 million, then resold in small plots at £8,000 to £13,000 each to overseas investors, a practice known as “landbanking”.
The sales raised something between £50 million and £55 million. Investors will realise the cash when and if the land is redeveloped.
To try to develop the Feltham site, the company has now brought in two British lobbying and consulting firms to market the scheme and draw up plans for the development.
Chelgate, a Westminster lobbying company, has sought to counter the council’s opposition by devising a public consultation procedure, including the staging of an exhibition with five different ideas to develop the site for housing and leisure, to which 5,500 households were invited.
Chelgate’s deputy chairman is Nick Wood-Dow, an adviser to David Cameron and deputy chairman of the Conservative party’s environment council.
The other company working for Profitable is DLP Planning in Sheffield, which is seeking to make changes to a London-wide land-use plan in a move that would increase Hounslow’s housing target, forcing the borough to accept more new homes within its borders. However, the final plan will not be drawn up until 2012.
Mr Robson told The Sunday Telegraph: “I was paid to do a commercial TV advert to be shown on Singapore TV five years ago for Profitable Plots.
"I have not done anything for them since and I was unaware of any controversy over development of the land.”
Profitable declined to take questions and instead asked Chelgate and DLP Planning to reply on its behalf. Chelgate confirmed that a television campaign featuring the footballers had been used to promote the deal. The advertisement is still on Profitable’s website.
A Chelgate spokesman said: “Circulation of a TV advertisement showing land at Feltham… as offering an estimated return of 250 per cent in three years, was aired for a short period in 2006… such advertising has long since been withdrawn. Investments have been sold on a minimum 7 to 10-year horizon.”
Chelgate also said the company would repay anybody who wanted to drop out of the scheme. Its spokesman added: “No investors in the Lower Feltham land have exercised their right to sell.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/pro ... e-red.html
Green Belt housing scheme promoted by footballers leaves investors in the red
Investors from the Far East have been left without a penny gain in four years after putting money into a “get rich quick” property scheme promoted by two former England football players.
By David Hencke
Published: 9:00PM GMT 13 Mar 2010
A marketing campaign fronted by Bryan Robson, the former England captain, and Steve McMahon promised a 250 per cent return in three years if a gravel pit near Heathrow airport was developed for housing and leisure.
However, the site is on green belt land where housing development is banned.
While Profitable Group, the Singapore-based property company behind the scheme, has made at least £47 million from the deal, nothing has yet materialised at the site – not even a planning application to build a single house.
The two former footballers, now living in the Far East, used their celebrity status to market the scheme on television across south-east Asia in 2006.
Profitable changed the name of the tract of land from Lower Feltham Lakes to Concorde Village for the purposes of the marketing drive.
But no development can take place unless a planning inspector can be persuaded to overrule the site’s green belt status against the wishes of Hounslow council, the local planning authority, which firmly opposes building there.
A spokesman for the council said: “We would only develop green belt land if there were very special reasons. We see no special reasons for doing so on this site.”
Profitable, of which Mr McMahon is commercial director, has bought four sites in Britain for a few million pounds and divided them into thousands of tiny plots which have been offered to investors, bringing in tens of millions for the company.
The Feltham site was bought from Taylor Woodrow (now Taylor Wimpey) for £3.2 million, then resold in small plots at £8,000 to £13,000 each to overseas investors, a practice known as “landbanking”.
The sales raised something between £50 million and £55 million. Investors will realise the cash when and if the land is redeveloped.
To try to develop the Feltham site, the company has now brought in two British lobbying and consulting firms to market the scheme and draw up plans for the development.
Chelgate, a Westminster lobbying company, has sought to counter the council’s opposition by devising a public consultation procedure, including the staging of an exhibition with five different ideas to develop the site for housing and leisure, to which 5,500 households were invited.
Chelgate’s deputy chairman is Nick Wood-Dow, an adviser to David Cameron and deputy chairman of the Conservative party’s environment council.
The other company working for Profitable is DLP Planning in Sheffield, which is seeking to make changes to a London-wide land-use plan in a move that would increase Hounslow’s housing target, forcing the borough to accept more new homes within its borders. However, the final plan will not be drawn up until 2012.
Mr Robson told The Sunday Telegraph: “I was paid to do a commercial TV advert to be shown on Singapore TV five years ago for Profitable Plots.
"I have not done anything for them since and I was unaware of any controversy over development of the land.”
Profitable declined to take questions and instead asked Chelgate and DLP Planning to reply on its behalf. Chelgate confirmed that a television campaign featuring the footballers had been used to promote the deal. The advertisement is still on Profitable’s website.
A Chelgate spokesman said: “Circulation of a TV advertisement showing land at Feltham… as offering an estimated return of 250 per cent in three years, was aired for a short period in 2006… such advertising has long since been withdrawn. Investments have been sold on a minimum 7 to 10-year horizon.”
Chelgate also said the company would repay anybody who wanted to drop out of the scheme. Its spokesman added: “No investors in the Lower Feltham land have exercised their right to sell.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/pro ... e-red.html
Is Singapore over-populated with foreigners?
This is interesting... from Tan Kin Lian's blog.
Is Singapore over-populated with foreigners?
http://tankinlian.blogspot.com/2009/05/ ... -with.html
Is Singapore over-populated with foreigners?
http://tankinlian.blogspot.com/2009/05/ ... -with.html
Re: Current Affairs
Hmm... probably Goldie is going to start an equities trading desk here in SGP soon.
==================
Goldman is new SGX trading and clearing member
By ANGELA TAN
Singapore Exchange (SGX) said that Goldman Sachs Futures Pte Ltd (Goldman Sachs) has become a Trading and Clearing Member of the SGX securities market.
Goldman Sachs is currently a Trading and Clearing Member of the SGX derivatives market.
This addition brings the total number of SGX Securities Trading Members to 25 and Securities Clearing Members to 26.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/lat ... 28,00.html?
==================
Goldman is new SGX trading and clearing member
By ANGELA TAN
Singapore Exchange (SGX) said that Goldman Sachs Futures Pte Ltd (Goldman Sachs) has become a Trading and Clearing Member of the SGX securities market.
Goldman Sachs is currently a Trading and Clearing Member of the SGX derivatives market.
This addition brings the total number of SGX Securities Trading Members to 25 and Securities Clearing Members to 26.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/lat ... 28,00.html?
Re: Current Affairs
Ahh, this I like. Religions debated in an intellectual way by supreme intellectuals.
A Christian organisation invited a leading atheist in UK to debate on the topic of "God Delusion".
Havent watched this yet... will do so asap tomorrow. I dunno who will be more convincing... but do listen to this if you have any keen interest on religions.
You have to admired both parties.
1) The church group Fixed Point for inviting the leading atheist to debate in front of a presumably majority Christian crowd. Risky move if you ask me, coz Richard Dawkins can potentially "shake" the faiths of the listeners.
2) Richard Dawkins, for daring to come to a Christian crowd as large as this and spar with an intellectual Christian in the form of another fellow Oxford Professor. As the saying goes, if it can be argued / debated on, its no longer called a "religion".
======================================================
http://www.fixed-point.org/index.php/vi ... nox-debate
On October 3rd of 2007 in Birmingham, Alabama, Professor Richard Dawkins and his Oxford University colleague Professor John Lennox engaged in a lively debate over what is arguably the most critical question of our time: the existence of God. The debate centered on Dawkins' views as expressed in his best-seller, The God Delusion, and their validity over and against the Christian faith. Both presenters agreed to the format and topics of discussion
A Christian organisation invited a leading atheist in UK to debate on the topic of "God Delusion".
Havent watched this yet... will do so asap tomorrow. I dunno who will be more convincing... but do listen to this if you have any keen interest on religions.
You have to admired both parties.
1) The church group Fixed Point for inviting the leading atheist to debate in front of a presumably majority Christian crowd. Risky move if you ask me, coz Richard Dawkins can potentially "shake" the faiths of the listeners.
2) Richard Dawkins, for daring to come to a Christian crowd as large as this and spar with an intellectual Christian in the form of another fellow Oxford Professor. As the saying goes, if it can be argued / debated on, its no longer called a "religion".
======================================================
http://www.fixed-point.org/index.php/vi ... nox-debate
On October 3rd of 2007 in Birmingham, Alabama, Professor Richard Dawkins and his Oxford University colleague Professor John Lennox engaged in a lively debate over what is arguably the most critical question of our time: the existence of God. The debate centered on Dawkins' views as expressed in his best-seller, The God Delusion, and their validity over and against the Christian faith. Both presenters agreed to the format and topics of discussion
Wow... COE rocketed !
2nd hand car dealers hitting JACKPOT liao !
=================
COE prices soar upwards
Wed, Mar 24, 2010
AsiaOne
CERTIFICATE of entitlement (COE) prices for passenger cars continued their upward climb - and with greater ferocity - at the close of March's second bidding exercise on Wednesday.
Premiums for the open category - usually used for cars - rose a whopping 52.2 per cent to finish at $42,001. This is a marked jump from the month's first bidding exercise which only saw a 13.9 per cent hike.For cars up to 1,600 cc, the COE prices soared by 36.4 per cent to $28,389 - a clear spike from the modest 2.3 per cent rise posted after March's earlier bidding.
In category B - cars above 1,600cc - premiums ended off at $36,089, a 36.7 per cent increase compared to a 10.5 per cent rise earlier.
The commercial vehicle COE prices, category C, showed no signs of letting up either, climbing 21.8 per cent to $32,890.
The sharp climbs in COE prices are seen by many as a reaction to an impending cut in COE quota size next month.
=================
COE prices soar upwards
Wed, Mar 24, 2010
AsiaOne
CERTIFICATE of entitlement (COE) prices for passenger cars continued their upward climb - and with greater ferocity - at the close of March's second bidding exercise on Wednesday.
Premiums for the open category - usually used for cars - rose a whopping 52.2 per cent to finish at $42,001. This is a marked jump from the month's first bidding exercise which only saw a 13.9 per cent hike.For cars up to 1,600 cc, the COE prices soared by 36.4 per cent to $28,389 - a clear spike from the modest 2.3 per cent rise posted after March's earlier bidding.
In category B - cars above 1,600cc - premiums ended off at $36,089, a 36.7 per cent increase compared to a 10.5 per cent rise earlier.
The commercial vehicle COE prices, category C, showed no signs of letting up either, climbing 21.8 per cent to $32,890.
The sharp climbs in COE prices are seen by many as a reaction to an impending cut in COE quota size next month.
Re: Current Affairs
Good insight of CHC and the Pastor's messages to followers.
Arise and Build 2010 Trailer (to buy that minority stake in Suntec for $310mil.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozGSUSz6 ... re=related
This is a testimony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1kdDxf3 ... r_embedded
------------------
Here, the Pastor is refering to the verse in Matthew 13:23
The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efuRZyCl ... re=related
------------------
And some other short snippets of his sermon ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up8xORo2 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KIhpchx ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM-p__5c ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hh5Jh7g ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1kdDxf3 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-0FWp_T ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK3LffoOPF8
-------------------
Interesting to note that many of these videos are quite newly uploaded.
Arise and Build 2010 Trailer (to buy that minority stake in Suntec for $310mil.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozGSUSz6 ... re=related
This is a testimony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1kdDxf3 ... r_embedded
------------------
Here, the Pastor is refering to the verse in Matthew 13:23
The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efuRZyCl ... re=related
------------------
And some other short snippets of his sermon ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up8xORo2 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KIhpchx ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM-p__5c ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hh5Jh7g ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1kdDxf3 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-0FWp_T ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK3LffoOPF8
-------------------
Interesting to note that many of these videos are quite newly uploaded.
Singaporeans ... losing that fire in the belly.
Got this from an email. Good read.
======
Adam Khoo: The expats will rule Singapore
Posted by admin 28 January, 2010
I have a prediction. My prediction is that in a couple of years, the expatriates (from China, India, US etc...) will rule Singapore. They will increasingly take on more leadership roles of CEOs, directors,
heads of organizations, award winners etc... If you observe closely, it is already happening now.
Last year's top PSLE (Primary School Leaving Exam) student is a China National. Most of the deans list students and first class honours students in the local universities are foreigners and more and more CEOs, even that of go vernment link corporations are expats. The top players in our National teams are expats.
As a Singaporean, I am not complaining. I think that in a meritocratic society like Singapore, it is only fair that the very best get rewarded, no matter their race, religion or nationality. Like Lee Kwan Yew said, I rather have these talented and driven people be on our team contributing to our nation than against us from their home country. The question I have been asking is, 'why are the expats beating the crap out of Singaporeans?'
What I noticed is that these expats have a very important quality that many Singaporeans (especially the new Y generation lack). It is a quality that our grandfathers and great-grandfathers (who came from distant lands) had that turned Singapore from a fishing village to the third richest country in the world (according to GDP per capita). Unfortunately, I fear this quality is soon disappearing from the new generation of Singaporeans.
This quality is the HUNGER FOR SUCCESS and the FIGHTING SPIRIT!!!
Expats who come here today have the same tremendous HUNGER for success that our grandfathers had. They are willing to sacrifice, work hard and pay the price to succeed. They also believe that no one owes them a living and they have to work hard for themselves. They also bring with them the humility and willingness to learn.
Take the case of Qui Biqing, the girl from Qifa Primary school who topped the whole of Singapore in last year's PSLE with a score of 290. When she came to Singapore 3 years ago from China, she could hardly speak a word of English and didn't even understand what a thermometer was. Although she was 10 years old, MOE recommended she start at Primary 2 because of her lack of English proficiency. After appealing, she managed to start in Primary 3. While most Singaporeans have a head start of learning English at pre-school at the age of 3-4 years old, she only started at age 10.. Despite this handicapped, she had the drive to read continuously and practice her speaking and writing skills, eventually scoring an A-star in English!
This hunger and drive can also be seen in the workforce. I hate to say this but in a way, I sometimes think expats create more value than locals.
Expats are willing to work long hours, go the extra mile, are fiercely loyal to you and don't complain so much. They also come a lot more qualified and do not ask the moon for the remuneration. Recently, I placed an ad for a marketing executive. Out of 100+ resumes, more than 60% came from expats. While locals fresh grads are asking for $2,500+ per month, I have expats with masters degrees from good universities willing to get less than $2,000! They know that if they can come in and learn and work hard, they will eventually climb up and earn alot more. They are willing to invest in themselves, pay the price for future rewards. Sometimes I wonder how some of the locals are going to compete with this.
Of course, this is just a generalization. There ARE definitely some Singaporeans who create lots of value and show fighting spirit.
Unfortunately, I have found that more and more young Singaporeans lack this hunger for success. Instead, they like to complain, blame circumstances and wait for others to push them. Some hold on to the attitude that the world owes them a living. I shake my head when I see local kids nowadays complain that they don't have the latest handphones, branded clothes and games. While I acknowledge that the kids of today are much smarter and well informed than I was at their age (my 4 year old daughter can use my Macbook computer and my iphone), I find that they lack the resilience and tenacity they need to survive in the new economy. Some kids nowadays tend to give up easily once they find that things get tough and demand instant gratification. When they have to work first to get rewards later, many tend to lack the patience to follow through.
So, how did this happen? Why is our nation of hardworking, hungry fighters slowly becoming a nation of complaining softies? I think the problem is that life in Singapore has been too good and comfortable. Kids today have never seen hunger, poverty, war and disasters. What makes it worse is that parents nowadays give kids everything they want and over protect them from hardship and failure. Parents often ask me why their kids lack the motivation to study and excel. My answer to them is because they already have everything! Giving someone everything they want is the best way to kill their motivation. What reason is there for them to fight to become the best when they are already given the best from their parents without having to earn it?
It reminds me of the cartoon movie MADAGASCAR where Alex the Lion and his animal friends were born and raised in the Central Park Zoo. They were well taken care of and provided with processed food and an artificial jungle. When they escaped to Africa, they found that they could barely survive in the wild with the other animals because they had lots their instincts to fight and hunt for food. They could only dance and sing.
I see the same thing in the hundreds of seminars and training programmes I conduct. I see increasing more and more expats attending my Wealth Academy and Patterns of Excellence programme in Singapore. Not surprisingly, they are always the first to grab the microphone to answer and ask questions.
While many of the locals come in late and sit at the back. The expats (especially those from India and China) always sit at the front, take notes ferociously and stay back way after the programme is over to ask questions. I feel ashamed sometimes when I ask for volunteers to ask questions, and the Singaporeans keep quiet, while the foreigners fight for the opportunity.
For my "I Am Gifted!' programme for students, I have the privilege to travel & conduct it in seven countries (Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia etc...) and see students from all over. Is there a big difference in their attitude and behaviour? You bet!
Again, I feel really sad that in Singapore, most students who come are usually forced by their parents to come and improve themselves, Some parents even bribe them with computer games and new handphones to attend.
During the course, some adopt the 'I know everything' attitude and lack the interest to succeed until I kick their butts. It is so different when I go to Malaysia, Indonesia and once in India. The kids there ask their parents to send them to my programme They clap and cheer enthusiastically when the teachers enter the room and participate so willingly when lessons are on. I still scratch my head and wonder what happened to my fellow Singaporeans to this day.
So mark my words, unless the new generation of Singaporeans wake up and get out of their happy over protected bubble and start fighting for their future, the expats (like our great grandfathers) will soon be the rulers of the country. At the rate at which talented and hungry expats are climbing up, our future prime minister may be an Indian or China PR or may even be an Ang Moh!
======
Adam Khoo: The expats will rule Singapore
Posted by admin 28 January, 2010
I have a prediction. My prediction is that in a couple of years, the expatriates (from China, India, US etc...) will rule Singapore. They will increasingly take on more leadership roles of CEOs, directors,
heads of organizations, award winners etc... If you observe closely, it is already happening now.
Last year's top PSLE (Primary School Leaving Exam) student is a China National. Most of the deans list students and first class honours students in the local universities are foreigners and more and more CEOs, even that of go vernment link corporations are expats. The top players in our National teams are expats.
As a Singaporean, I am not complaining. I think that in a meritocratic society like Singapore, it is only fair that the very best get rewarded, no matter their race, religion or nationality. Like Lee Kwan Yew said, I rather have these talented and driven people be on our team contributing to our nation than against us from their home country. The question I have been asking is, 'why are the expats beating the crap out of Singaporeans?'
What I noticed is that these expats have a very important quality that many Singaporeans (especially the new Y generation lack). It is a quality that our grandfathers and great-grandfathers (who came from distant lands) had that turned Singapore from a fishing village to the third richest country in the world (according to GDP per capita). Unfortunately, I fear this quality is soon disappearing from the new generation of Singaporeans.
This quality is the HUNGER FOR SUCCESS and the FIGHTING SPIRIT!!!
Expats who come here today have the same tremendous HUNGER for success that our grandfathers had. They are willing to sacrifice, work hard and pay the price to succeed. They also believe that no one owes them a living and they have to work hard for themselves. They also bring with them the humility and willingness to learn.
Take the case of Qui Biqing, the girl from Qifa Primary school who topped the whole of Singapore in last year's PSLE with a score of 290. When she came to Singapore 3 years ago from China, she could hardly speak a word of English and didn't even understand what a thermometer was. Although she was 10 years old, MOE recommended she start at Primary 2 because of her lack of English proficiency. After appealing, she managed to start in Primary 3. While most Singaporeans have a head start of learning English at pre-school at the age of 3-4 years old, she only started at age 10.. Despite this handicapped, she had the drive to read continuously and practice her speaking and writing skills, eventually scoring an A-star in English!
This hunger and drive can also be seen in the workforce. I hate to say this but in a way, I sometimes think expats create more value than locals.
Expats are willing to work long hours, go the extra mile, are fiercely loyal to you and don't complain so much. They also come a lot more qualified and do not ask the moon for the remuneration. Recently, I placed an ad for a marketing executive. Out of 100+ resumes, more than 60% came from expats. While locals fresh grads are asking for $2,500+ per month, I have expats with masters degrees from good universities willing to get less than $2,000! They know that if they can come in and learn and work hard, they will eventually climb up and earn alot more. They are willing to invest in themselves, pay the price for future rewards. Sometimes I wonder how some of the locals are going to compete with this.
Of course, this is just a generalization. There ARE definitely some Singaporeans who create lots of value and show fighting spirit.
Unfortunately, I have found that more and more young Singaporeans lack this hunger for success. Instead, they like to complain, blame circumstances and wait for others to push them. Some hold on to the attitude that the world owes them a living. I shake my head when I see local kids nowadays complain that they don't have the latest handphones, branded clothes and games. While I acknowledge that the kids of today are much smarter and well informed than I was at their age (my 4 year old daughter can use my Macbook computer and my iphone), I find that they lack the resilience and tenacity they need to survive in the new economy. Some kids nowadays tend to give up easily once they find that things get tough and demand instant gratification. When they have to work first to get rewards later, many tend to lack the patience to follow through.
So, how did this happen? Why is our nation of hardworking, hungry fighters slowly becoming a nation of complaining softies? I think the problem is that life in Singapore has been too good and comfortable. Kids today have never seen hunger, poverty, war and disasters. What makes it worse is that parents nowadays give kids everything they want and over protect them from hardship and failure. Parents often ask me why their kids lack the motivation to study and excel. My answer to them is because they already have everything! Giving someone everything they want is the best way to kill their motivation. What reason is there for them to fight to become the best when they are already given the best from their parents without having to earn it?
It reminds me of the cartoon movie MADAGASCAR where Alex the Lion and his animal friends were born and raised in the Central Park Zoo. They were well taken care of and provided with processed food and an artificial jungle. When they escaped to Africa, they found that they could barely survive in the wild with the other animals because they had lots their instincts to fight and hunt for food. They could only dance and sing.
I see the same thing in the hundreds of seminars and training programmes I conduct. I see increasing more and more expats attending my Wealth Academy and Patterns of Excellence programme in Singapore. Not surprisingly, they are always the first to grab the microphone to answer and ask questions.
While many of the locals come in late and sit at the back. The expats (especially those from India and China) always sit at the front, take notes ferociously and stay back way after the programme is over to ask questions. I feel ashamed sometimes when I ask for volunteers to ask questions, and the Singaporeans keep quiet, while the foreigners fight for the opportunity.
For my "I Am Gifted!' programme for students, I have the privilege to travel & conduct it in seven countries (Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia etc...) and see students from all over. Is there a big difference in their attitude and behaviour? You bet!
Again, I feel really sad that in Singapore, most students who come are usually forced by their parents to come and improve themselves, Some parents even bribe them with computer games and new handphones to attend.
During the course, some adopt the 'I know everything' attitude and lack the interest to succeed until I kick their butts. It is so different when I go to Malaysia, Indonesia and once in India. The kids there ask their parents to send them to my programme They clap and cheer enthusiastically when the teachers enter the room and participate so willingly when lessons are on. I still scratch my head and wonder what happened to my fellow Singaporeans to this day.
So mark my words, unless the new generation of Singaporeans wake up and get out of their happy over protected bubble and start fighting for their future, the expats (like our great grandfathers) will soon be the rulers of the country. At the rate at which talented and hungry expats are climbing up, our future prime minister may be an Indian or China PR or may even be an Ang Moh!
COE chart
Props prices up... stock mkt up... interest rates down.... leads inevitably to...
COE UP!
Cat A
==================
This for CAT B
COE UP!
Cat A
- sg2010040848148.gif (33.3KiB)Viewed 365673 times
This for CAT B
- sg2010040848212.gif (29.37KiB)Viewed 365612 times
Re: Current Affairs
World's Greatest City: 50 reasons why Singapore is No. 1
http://www.cnngo.com/singapore/none/wor ... o-1-399897
http://www.cnngo.com/singapore/none/wor ... o-1-399897
Re: Current Affairs
WAKA WAKA - This Time for Africa - by Shakira - South Africa 2010 World Cup Official Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ztr96Rb ... r_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ztr96Rb ... r_embedded
Sorry har... what crisis?
Got this on my email... There are many rich Singaporeans... 500 pre booking for a car worth $230k ++++
--------------------
Subject: The New BMW 5 Series launch - 18th May 2010 at *SCAPE FW910
Good afternoon,
Last night, Performance Motors launched the much awaited, long overdue BMW 5 Series.
The crowd that came to see the cars was thick. Underpaid overworked motor journalists jostled with/among the wealthy looking towkays who must be current BMW owners. I suspect some were invited from competing marques. All were invited guests.
Two cars were on display. The BMW 535i and the BMW 523i.
3 variants are available here for the Singapore market.
1) BMW535i: $294,800
2) BMW523i Highline: $229,800
3) BMW523i: $215,800
If money isn't a problem, buy the BMW 535i. I should know. I oogled at it for a long long time. This is the car which has all that you ever wanted in your dream car.
But if reality sinks in, the BMW 523i is not small change either.
But like it or not, there really are some very rich people in Singapore. I learnt that prior to launch, Performance Motors has already collected more than 500 orders. It was officially launched last night. By now, the order books would have added more names.
As history has proven so, high COEs tend to favour the sales of high end premium cars. The BMW 5 Series is one living proof.
If you have the money, go put your money down now. The waiting list looks set to grow...
I know for a fact, that many on this mailing list can afford a BMW. I have met many of you. Let me know if you are going to buy one. I'll strike a good deal for/with you.....
Take a look at the scenario last night at *SCAPE. It was really crowded, so the pictures of the cars aren't exactly perfect.
www.fotki.com/BMW5Series18May2010
Dream on!
But we must remember to wake up and go to work....
Such is the reality of life!!
Keep dreaming!
Dreams do come true.......
--------------------
Subject: The New BMW 5 Series launch - 18th May 2010 at *SCAPE FW910
Good afternoon,
Last night, Performance Motors launched the much awaited, long overdue BMW 5 Series.
The crowd that came to see the cars was thick. Underpaid overworked motor journalists jostled with/among the wealthy looking towkays who must be current BMW owners. I suspect some were invited from competing marques. All were invited guests.
Two cars were on display. The BMW 535i and the BMW 523i.
3 variants are available here for the Singapore market.
1) BMW535i: $294,800
2) BMW523i Highline: $229,800
3) BMW523i: $215,800
If money isn't a problem, buy the BMW 535i. I should know. I oogled at it for a long long time. This is the car which has all that you ever wanted in your dream car.
But if reality sinks in, the BMW 523i is not small change either.
But like it or not, there really are some very rich people in Singapore. I learnt that prior to launch, Performance Motors has already collected more than 500 orders. It was officially launched last night. By now, the order books would have added more names.
As history has proven so, high COEs tend to favour the sales of high end premium cars. The BMW 5 Series is one living proof.
If you have the money, go put your money down now. The waiting list looks set to grow...
I know for a fact, that many on this mailing list can afford a BMW. I have met many of you. Let me know if you are going to buy one. I'll strike a good deal for/with you.....
Take a look at the scenario last night at *SCAPE. It was really crowded, so the pictures of the cars aren't exactly perfect.
www.fotki.com/BMW5Series18May2010
Dream on!
But we must remember to wake up and go to work....
Such is the reality of life!!
Keep dreaming!
Dreams do come true.......
Re: Current Affairs
Noh Alam Shah dunnit again.
He shld be banned for life man! The replay at the end of the video showed quite clearly what he was doing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Cx5bQt ... r_embedded
He shld be banned for life man! The replay at the end of the video showed quite clearly what he was doing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Cx5bQt ... r_embedded
CHC in trouble
Wonder what this will all lead to?
When you have investigations like this... there is a chance they can dig up other things that they didnt expect to find.
Lots of juices in this forum: http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=30149
----------------
31 May 2010
Dear Church Family,
As you may be aware of the statement issued by the Office of the Commissioner of Charities (COC) and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) is looking into some financial transactions involving several individuals and companies related or connected to the church. This was revealed in a joint statement by the COC and the Singapore Police Force.
In the joint statement, the COC and CAD said: 'Notwithstanding the ongoing investigations, normal services and religious activities of City Harvest Church need not be disrupted and can continue for its congregations.'
We are cooperating fully with the investigation of the alleged allegations and pray that you will not be alarmed. CHC services and operations will continue normally. In the meantime, do keep the church in prayer.
Yours faithfully,
Rev. Derek Dunn
Executive Pastor
City Harvest Church
http://www.chc.org.sg/eng/church/church ... ToMems.php
When you have investigations like this... there is a chance they can dig up other things that they didnt expect to find.
Lots of juices in this forum: http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=30149
----------------
31 May 2010
Dear Church Family,
As you may be aware of the statement issued by the Office of the Commissioner of Charities (COC) and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) is looking into some financial transactions involving several individuals and companies related or connected to the church. This was revealed in a joint statement by the COC and the Singapore Police Force.
In the joint statement, the COC and CAD said: 'Notwithstanding the ongoing investigations, normal services and religious activities of City Harvest Church need not be disrupted and can continue for its congregations.'
We are cooperating fully with the investigation of the alleged allegations and pray that you will not be alarmed. CHC services and operations will continue normally. In the meantime, do keep the church in prayer.
Yours faithfully,
Rev. Derek Dunn
Executive Pastor
City Harvest Church
http://www.chc.org.sg/eng/church/church ... ToMems.php
Gandalf Goes to the World Cup
This is quite funny!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B2LPxgg ... r_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B2LPxgg ... r_embedded
Good W C !
Nice WC so far.
Finalists are 2 countries who have played exceptionally well + both have never won it before. Another plus is the unpredictabilities of the entire WC where the 2 previous finalists France & Italy were booted out in the opening stages.
Most memorable to me is the Ghanaian penalty miss at 120th minutes against Uru and the penalty shoot out that followed. Most amazing.
TURN UP THE VOLUME: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRDgVGHB6eM
Finalists are 2 countries who have played exceptionally well + both have never won it before. Another plus is the unpredictabilities of the entire WC where the 2 previous finalists France & Italy were booted out in the opening stages.
Most memorable to me is the Ghanaian penalty miss at 120th minutes against Uru and the penalty shoot out that followed. Most amazing.
TURN UP THE VOLUME: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRDgVGHB6eM
Re: Current Affairs
WC finals tonight.
Here are some key moments to cherish:
1. Ghana goal celebrations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20UXXTSyf38
2. Crying North Korean player @ opening game's national anthem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-sCHznbJ70
3. Emmanuel Eboue taking instructions from North Korean coach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5mj0Hux ... re=related
4. Suarez handballs on the line just before the end of 120 minutes. Gyan missed the penalty that would bring Ghana in the semis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcQkwxEGRYc
Here are some key moments to cherish:
1. Ghana goal celebrations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20UXXTSyf38
2. Crying North Korean player @ opening game's national anthem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-sCHznbJ70
3. Emmanuel Eboue taking instructions from North Korean coach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5mj0Hux ... re=related
4. Suarez handballs on the line just before the end of 120 minutes. Gyan missed the penalty that would bring Ghana in the semis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcQkwxEGRYc
James Phang
20k people invested $180m in his ponzi scheme.
Some glimpse of his "showmanship".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuhYSvHn ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXROzQHc ... r_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJO_M1s ... r_embedded#!
Resemblance to a mega church?
Some glimpse of his "showmanship".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuhYSvHn ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXROzQHc ... r_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJO_M1s ... r_embedded#!
Resemblance to a mega church?
Chinese philanthropist donates it all
Pretty extreme not to leave a single cent to descendents.
Newspaper Report: Billionaire developer in Shenzhen donates all to charity, leaving offspring
nothing
“If my children are competent, they don’t need my money. If they’re not, leaving them a lot of
money is only doing them harm.”
Yu Pengnian, China's biggest philanthropist sits in the restaurant atop the hotel he built, where he lives and eats most of his meals.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/wor ... le1650447/
Newspaper Report: Billionaire developer in Shenzhen donates all to charity, leaving offspring
nothing
“If my children are competent, they don’t need my money. If they’re not, leaving them a lot of
money is only doing them harm.”
Yu Pengnian, China's biggest philanthropist sits in the restaurant atop the hotel he built, where he lives and eats most of his meals.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/wor ... le1650447/
Tragedy in Manila
What kind of hostage rescue is this? 15 tourist hostages, end up 8 dead (I assume were killed during the siege).
See the Phillippines's SWAT team in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRt1aNsN ... re=channel
Wonder how many of the bullets that killed the hostages actually came from the police.
And this... is the earlier footages, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og16qCZJ ... re=related ..... noticed how open he was... and police standing around in vicinity... ! Oh dear... ! Why are the media so quick at the scene to see this, yet the SWAT team or snipers were nowhere near. Theoretically, they could have ended this in the early part with snipers, yes, no?
Saw the media conference chaired by the President... you could even spot a subtle smile on his face in the beginning... what the heck?!?! On the other hand, Donald Tsang was visibly tulan with the whole thing.
See the Phillippines's SWAT team in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRt1aNsN ... re=channel
Wonder how many of the bullets that killed the hostages actually came from the police.
And this... is the earlier footages, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og16qCZJ ... re=related ..... noticed how open he was... and police standing around in vicinity... ! Oh dear... ! Why are the media so quick at the scene to see this, yet the SWAT team or snipers were nowhere near. Theoretically, they could have ended this in the early part with snipers, yes, no?
Saw the media conference chaired by the President... you could even spot a subtle smile on his face in the beginning... what the heck?!?! On the other hand, Donald Tsang was visibly tulan with the whole thing.
Hammer blow on the hostage?!?!
Here is a graphic representation of the hostage situation in the bus.
http://hk.dv.nextmedia.com/template/dv_ ... 873&page=1
http://hk.dv.nextmedia.com/template/dv_ ... 873&page=1
Fine of $250,000 each for Pheim Malaysia and Dr Tan
This has nothing to do with Utd Env. So I guess its not appropriate to leave this in the stock folder.
Anyway, here is the lengthy judgement by the Judge on PHEIM ASSET on their trades on UtdEnv. Check Note 20 and others. The telephone call sequence is disclosed.
http://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/remweb/ ... medium=rss
Anyway, here is the lengthy judgement by the Judge on PHEIM ASSET on their trades on UtdEnv. Check Note 20 and others. The telephone call sequence is disclosed.
http://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/remweb/ ... medium=rss
This could turn out to be a major fiasco?
Guess Pamela Tan & her superios has got quite a bit of problem on her hands with this "leak".
Doubt that is what Mr and Mrs Lee KY wanted.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/10/07 ... o-mrs-lee/
Doubt that is what Mr and Mrs Lee KY wanted.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/10/07 ... o-mrs-lee/
Re: Current Affairs
Singapore Exchange consults public on continuous all-day trading
19 October 2010 – Singapore Exchange (SGX) today said it is consulting the public on a proposal
for all-day continuous trading on its securities market.
As an international financial centre, Singapore is already serving the wider Asian region. As the
Asian Gateway, international issuers contribute more than 40% of SGX’s market capitalisation on
its securities market. SGX is the leading exchange in Asia with widest range of securities,
providing exposure into Asia, Europe and other emerging markets as well as a variety of asset
classes. In developing a more vibrant securities market, SGX will quote and trade American
Depositary Receipts starting this week, on 22 October. The potential introduction of continuous
all-day trading could further entrench Singapore’s capital market as most international exchange
and increase regularity of cross border trading activities.
With the market open continuously from 9.00am to 5.00pm Singapore time, SGX trading hours
will overlap more with other Asian exchanges, notably those in North and South Asia. Investors
will therefore have new opportunities to trade SGX-listed international securities while the
underlying markets are open. In addition, investors will be able to respond timely to news flow on
the stocks and changing market conditions, thereby increasing their ability to hedge and manage
price risk.
Continuous all-day trading is a feature on major markets such as NYSE Euronext, NASDAQ,
London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Börse and the Australian Stock Exchange.
---------------
Personally for me, no problem. What will probably be feasible is maybe for broking houses' CENTRAL DEALERS to back up remisiers during the lunch hours. With comms splitting between the 2. For that to work, trades during lunch hours will be slightly higher to ... for eg. 0.75% instead of 0.5%. Of course, online trades no affected la.
Only issue for remisiers/traders is probably this... even during lunch, we cannot enjoy my Big Mac or chap chye poon in peace... we will keep wondering whether our favourite stocks crashing or chionging. To overcome that, think most brokers / traders will need smartphone or iPAD with streaming prices while having lunch. Side effect of that is... poor digestion.
19 October 2010 – Singapore Exchange (SGX) today said it is consulting the public on a proposal
for all-day continuous trading on its securities market.
As an international financial centre, Singapore is already serving the wider Asian region. As the
Asian Gateway, international issuers contribute more than 40% of SGX’s market capitalisation on
its securities market. SGX is the leading exchange in Asia with widest range of securities,
providing exposure into Asia, Europe and other emerging markets as well as a variety of asset
classes. In developing a more vibrant securities market, SGX will quote and trade American
Depositary Receipts starting this week, on 22 October. The potential introduction of continuous
all-day trading could further entrench Singapore’s capital market as most international exchange
and increase regularity of cross border trading activities.
With the market open continuously from 9.00am to 5.00pm Singapore time, SGX trading hours
will overlap more with other Asian exchanges, notably those in North and South Asia. Investors
will therefore have new opportunities to trade SGX-listed international securities while the
underlying markets are open. In addition, investors will be able to respond timely to news flow on
the stocks and changing market conditions, thereby increasing their ability to hedge and manage
price risk.
Continuous all-day trading is a feature on major markets such as NYSE Euronext, NASDAQ,
London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Börse and the Australian Stock Exchange.
---------------
Personally for me, no problem. What will probably be feasible is maybe for broking houses' CENTRAL DEALERS to back up remisiers during the lunch hours. With comms splitting between the 2. For that to work, trades during lunch hours will be slightly higher to ... for eg. 0.75% instead of 0.5%. Of course, online trades no affected la.
Only issue for remisiers/traders is probably this... even during lunch, we cannot enjoy my Big Mac or chap chye poon in peace... we will keep wondering whether our favourite stocks crashing or chionging. To overcome that, think most brokers / traders will need smartphone or iPAD with streaming prices while having lunch. Side effect of that is... poor digestion.
Re: Current Affairs
All the fog out there... better watch our health. Check this site for updates. http://app2.nea.gov.sg/psi.aspx
Re: Current Affairs
Someone shared the following cases :
(1) Today I passed by a building which has an ATM machine. There was an old man looking at me. Suddenly, he called
me. He said he didn't know how to read, so he gave me his ATM card and asked me to help him withdraw money from the
ATM machine. I answered 'NO!! If you need help, ask the security to help you.' Then he said 'never mind..' and
continued to find other people to help him...
REMEMBER: ATM machines have CCTVs. If you help him he will later claim that you have robbed him or stolen his ATM
card. Besides, his ATM card could be a stolen one. So please be careful of these tactics.
(2) Suddenly your house lights go off. From your window you find that your neighbours still have lights. So you go
out of your house to check the Meter Box. But once you open the door, a knife will be pointing at you and preventing
you from closing it. This is when you will be robbed and injured.
REMEMBER: Even though your electricity suddenly goes off, DO NOT open your door immediately. Look around to see if
there is anything unusual or if there is any noise around.
(3) This is another incident. You may have heard it before, it is about a lady who she saw a kid crying by the
roadside. When she spoke to the kid, the kid told her he was lost and wanted her to take him home. The kid even gave
her a paper with his house address. So she took him home. But when she rang the door bell, she had an electric
shock. Later when she woke up, she was naked in an empty room.
REMEMBER: Being such a compassionate and helpful person might not be a good thing these days. Pass this on and girls,
please be careful..
DON'T BE TOO KIND!!
(4) One day, there was an old lady outside my house holding 2 packets of sweets. At first I thought she was our
neighbour and wanted to give us these packs of sweets as a gift. But then when she spoke, I can realised that she was
foreigner. I could not understand what she was talking about. I guessed she must be asking for money. I sensed
there was something wrong and immediately closed the door and ignored her. Later, I found she and an accomplice
robbed someone else down the road.
(5) I was at the ATM machine to withdraw some money. Behind me, there was an old lady. She asked me whether I was
able to withdraw my money because she said she had problem with her machine. Suddenly a small girl came up beside me.
The small girl was squeezing in front of me. I thought she was just naughty and playful. But then, the small girl
put her hand at the tray of the ATM machine where the money comes out, ready to take away my money. I sensed
something wrong and immediately pushed her away. Later I realised that the small girl and the old lady worked
together. She was trying to steal my money while the old lady was trying to distract my attention by asking me
questions!
REMEMBER: BE VERY CAREFUL when you are at an ATM machine and be alert.
Look out for anyone suspicious around you!
(6) My parents are retired and stay at home most days. One afternoon, a young stranger went to their house and said
his motorcycle had no more petrol and the petrol station was too far for him to push his bike there. So he asked my
parents for an empty coke bottle to buy some petrol. He said he will pay RM2 for the bottle. So my mum took one coke
bottle for him. He really took out the money from his pocket, but it was a RM 100 note. He told my mum he had no
small change and asked my mum to give him the change. Luckily my mum was smart. She just told him to take it for
free.
REMEMBER: obviously that note is fake!! Who would want to pay for RM2 for an empty coke bottle!! It's very OBVIOUS
that that stranger is a trickster.
(7) This happened in Bali. A newly married couple were having their honeymoon at the hotel. When both are in the
changing room, the wife suddenly went missing. The husband was very anxious and went around to find her. He asked
the hotel staff to help him find her. Then he thought his wife was just playing hide and seek. So he went back and
waited for his wife. After a few hours, he decided to call the police. 3 weeks passed and there was still no news
about his missing wife. So he went back and was
very dissapointed and sad. A few years later, he came back to Bali, to watch a 'FREAK SHOW' in an old house. He saw
a dirty and rusty metal cage.
Inside there was a lady without limbs. Her body including the face was full of scars. When he had a closer look at
her face, he was shocked to find that it was her missing wife put there as a means for begging.
(8) This happened in Shanghai. A few years ago, a lady reported to the police that her cousin sister was missing in
the shopping complex. But after 5 years, one of her friends found her cousin sister begging at the road side one of
the streets in Bangkok, Thailand. The worst thing is that her cousin sister has no more limbs and her body was tied
to a lamp post with a shackle (metal chain).
(9) Let's just shorten this story. DO NOT open your house door when you hear the sound of a BABY CRYING!! It might
be a trap! Women in the house must be alert to this trick. The police said it is the work of a robber or murderer
using the recording of a baby crying to attract your attention.
This normally happens at night and when you are alone in the house.
(10) I read an email that was sent by my friend. Her friend, known as A, went to Luo Hu Commercial City with 2
friends, B and C. Luo Hu Commercial City is the Shenzhen counterfeit goods distribution center. There are many people
there. It's also near to the ShenZhen train station and Hong Kong's Luo Hu Port. C went to the toilet at the
shopping centre while A and B waited outside. After waiting for a long, time they felt uneasy and went into the
toilet to look for her. When they went in, there was nobody inside. Both were scared and they called C's phone.
There was no reply. So they reported to the police.
The police asked them whether they had seen anybody suspicious going into the toilet. Both said there were
none and its impossible to bring a life person out of the toilet without them noticing!. Then A remembered seeing a
cleaner pushing a trolley in, and then coming out. The police told them that was not the 1st time such a thing
happened. The police suspected a gang of criminals who were always attacking women in the toilet of shopping
complexes.
They use cleaners to kidnap people to harvest their organs for sale.
(1) Today I passed by a building which has an ATM machine. There was an old man looking at me. Suddenly, he called
me. He said he didn't know how to read, so he gave me his ATM card and asked me to help him withdraw money from the
ATM machine. I answered 'NO!! If you need help, ask the security to help you.' Then he said 'never mind..' and
continued to find other people to help him...
REMEMBER: ATM machines have CCTVs. If you help him he will later claim that you have robbed him or stolen his ATM
card. Besides, his ATM card could be a stolen one. So please be careful of these tactics.
(2) Suddenly your house lights go off. From your window you find that your neighbours still have lights. So you go
out of your house to check the Meter Box. But once you open the door, a knife will be pointing at you and preventing
you from closing it. This is when you will be robbed and injured.
REMEMBER: Even though your electricity suddenly goes off, DO NOT open your door immediately. Look around to see if
there is anything unusual or if there is any noise around.
(3) This is another incident. You may have heard it before, it is about a lady who she saw a kid crying by the
roadside. When she spoke to the kid, the kid told her he was lost and wanted her to take him home. The kid even gave
her a paper with his house address. So she took him home. But when she rang the door bell, she had an electric
shock. Later when she woke up, she was naked in an empty room.
REMEMBER: Being such a compassionate and helpful person might not be a good thing these days. Pass this on and girls,
please be careful..
DON'T BE TOO KIND!!
(4) One day, there was an old lady outside my house holding 2 packets of sweets. At first I thought she was our
neighbour and wanted to give us these packs of sweets as a gift. But then when she spoke, I can realised that she was
foreigner. I could not understand what she was talking about. I guessed she must be asking for money. I sensed
there was something wrong and immediately closed the door and ignored her. Later, I found she and an accomplice
robbed someone else down the road.
(5) I was at the ATM machine to withdraw some money. Behind me, there was an old lady. She asked me whether I was
able to withdraw my money because she said she had problem with her machine. Suddenly a small girl came up beside me.
The small girl was squeezing in front of me. I thought she was just naughty and playful. But then, the small girl
put her hand at the tray of the ATM machine where the money comes out, ready to take away my money. I sensed
something wrong and immediately pushed her away. Later I realised that the small girl and the old lady worked
together. She was trying to steal my money while the old lady was trying to distract my attention by asking me
questions!
REMEMBER: BE VERY CAREFUL when you are at an ATM machine and be alert.
Look out for anyone suspicious around you!
(6) My parents are retired and stay at home most days. One afternoon, a young stranger went to their house and said
his motorcycle had no more petrol and the petrol station was too far for him to push his bike there. So he asked my
parents for an empty coke bottle to buy some petrol. He said he will pay RM2 for the bottle. So my mum took one coke
bottle for him. He really took out the money from his pocket, but it was a RM 100 note. He told my mum he had no
small change and asked my mum to give him the change. Luckily my mum was smart. She just told him to take it for
free.
REMEMBER: obviously that note is fake!! Who would want to pay for RM2 for an empty coke bottle!! It's very OBVIOUS
that that stranger is a trickster.
(7) This happened in Bali. A newly married couple were having their honeymoon at the hotel. When both are in the
changing room, the wife suddenly went missing. The husband was very anxious and went around to find her. He asked
the hotel staff to help him find her. Then he thought his wife was just playing hide and seek. So he went back and
waited for his wife. After a few hours, he decided to call the police. 3 weeks passed and there was still no news
about his missing wife. So he went back and was
very dissapointed and sad. A few years later, he came back to Bali, to watch a 'FREAK SHOW' in an old house. He saw
a dirty and rusty metal cage.
Inside there was a lady without limbs. Her body including the face was full of scars. When he had a closer look at
her face, he was shocked to find that it was her missing wife put there as a means for begging.
(8) This happened in Shanghai. A few years ago, a lady reported to the police that her cousin sister was missing in
the shopping complex. But after 5 years, one of her friends found her cousin sister begging at the road side one of
the streets in Bangkok, Thailand. The worst thing is that her cousin sister has no more limbs and her body was tied
to a lamp post with a shackle (metal chain).
(9) Let's just shorten this story. DO NOT open your house door when you hear the sound of a BABY CRYING!! It might
be a trap! Women in the house must be alert to this trick. The police said it is the work of a robber or murderer
using the recording of a baby crying to attract your attention.
This normally happens at night and when you are alone in the house.
(10) I read an email that was sent by my friend. Her friend, known as A, went to Luo Hu Commercial City with 2
friends, B and C. Luo Hu Commercial City is the Shenzhen counterfeit goods distribution center. There are many people
there. It's also near to the ShenZhen train station and Hong Kong's Luo Hu Port. C went to the toilet at the
shopping centre while A and B waited outside. After waiting for a long, time they felt uneasy and went into the
toilet to look for her. When they went in, there was nobody inside. Both were scared and they called C's phone.
There was no reply. So they reported to the police.
The police asked them whether they had seen anybody suspicious going into the toilet. Both said there were
none and its impossible to bring a life person out of the toilet without them noticing!. Then A remembered seeing a
cleaner pushing a trolley in, and then coming out. The police told them that was not the 1st time such a thing
happened. The police suspected a gang of criminals who were always attacking women in the toilet of shopping
complexes.
They use cleaners to kidnap people to harvest their organs for sale.
Re: Current Affairs
COE prices dampening measure .... Tick
Housing costs dampening measures .... Tick
Millions thrown at upgrading housing estates .... Tick
Registers of Electors @ http://www.elections.gov.sg/ .... just updated.... Tick
Election in March 2011 school holidays.... can bet on it !
Housing costs dampening measures .... Tick
Millions thrown at upgrading housing estates .... Tick
Registers of Electors @ http://www.elections.gov.sg/ .... just updated.... Tick
Election in March 2011 school holidays.... can bet on it !
Re: Current Affairs
Budget tomorrow... here is a nice story to justify the govt spending great efforts to lure the rich over to SGP as citizens.
How the rich are protecting poor singaporeans...?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
* The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
* The fifth would pay $1.
* The sixth would pay $3.
* The seventh would pay $7.
* The eighth would pay $12.
* The ninth would pay $18.
* The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."
Drinks for the ten now cost just $80
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay! And so...
* The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
* The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
* The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
* The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
* The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
* The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
How the rich are protecting poor singaporeans...?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
* The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
* The fifth would pay $1.
* The sixth would pay $3.
* The seventh would pay $7.
* The eighth would pay $12.
* The ninth would pay $18.
* The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."
Drinks for the ten now cost just $80
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay! And so...
* The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
* The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
* The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
* The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
* The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
* The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
Re: Current Affairs
Quote of the day.
"If the annual salary of the Minister of Information, Communication and Arts is only $500,000, it may pose some problems when he discuss policies with media CEOs who earn millions of dollars because they need not listen to the minister's ideas and proposals, hence a reasonable payout will help to maintain abit of dignity."
- Dr Lim Wee Kiat, PAP MP for Nee Soon GRC, 24 May 2011 (Lianhe Wanbao)
--------------------------------------
No wonder Obama or Wen Jia Bao never dare step into Singapore... they will feel retarded in front of our ministers.
"If the annual salary of the Minister of Information, Communication and Arts is only $500,000, it may pose some problems when he discuss policies with media CEOs who earn millions of dollars because they need not listen to the minister's ideas and proposals, hence a reasonable payout will help to maintain abit of dignity."
- Dr Lim Wee Kiat, PAP MP for Nee Soon GRC, 24 May 2011 (Lianhe Wanbao)
--------------------------------------
No wonder Obama or Wen Jia Bao never dare step into Singapore... they will feel retarded in front of our ministers.
Re: Current Affairs
http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013/11 ... coldstore/
The Online Citizen speaks with Dr. Thum Ping Tjin, a historian on the merger of Singapore and Malaya along with Operation Coldstore which can be said to be a period of white terror of our country. He has researched extensively and have been documenting the unclassified documents that have been recently released by the British Government on the two topics.
Q: What is “Merger”?
A: On 16 September 1963, the Federation of Malaya, and the British colonies of Singapore, North Borneo, and Sarawak merged to form Malaysia.
Q: Why did merger happen?
A: Before 1945, there was only one Malaya, which included twelve states: the four Federated Malay states (Selangor, Perak, Pahang, and Negri Sembilan), the five Unfederated Malay states (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, and Terengganu), and the three Straits Settlements (Penang, Malacca, and Singapore). People moved freely up and down the country from the northern tip of Perlis to the southern tip of Singapore. Singapore to Malaya was like New York to the USA: the commercial, artistic, and cultural capital. From the late 19th to the mid 20th century, people seeking their fortune moved to Singapore.
In 1945, Singapore was divided from the rest of Malaya. People on both sides of the causeway viewed the division of Malaya into two as highly artificial. Families were divided. Malayans on both sides of the new border thus hoped for reunification.
Reflecting this, every political party in post-war Singapore was committed to the eventual reunification of Singapore with the rest of Malaya. In both the 1955 and 1959 general elections, all parties publicly committed themselves to merger. Merger was the genuine democratic wish of the overwhelming majority of Singapore’s people.
The British also deeply desired merger as it would mean that their commercial and strategic interests in Singapore, including the critical naval base, would be placed under the control of a reliably friendly, pro-British UMNO government. A democratic Singapore with a representative government was likely to move away from Britain and pursue a much more independent path.
Q: Why was Singapore separated to begin with?
A: Colonial Politics. Before World War II, Malaya at the time was roughly 43% Malay and 43% Chinese. After the war, the British were resolved to leave their colonies, but they needed to leave friendly governments behind to ensure their strategic and economic interests would be protected. In Malaya, to guarantee the cooperation of the conservative Malay politicians, as well as to protect their military bases in Singapore, the British split off the Chinese-dominated Singapore from the rest of Malaya, while continuing to rule Singapore as a crown colony. This left the rest of Malaya as around 60% Malay, allowing conservative Malay politicians to comfortably dominate the country. In return, they protected and supported British interests in the Federation.
Q: So why would the Federation politicians change their minds and reunify with Singapore in 1963?
A: Again, politics, this time that of the Malay leadership in the Federation. They actually didn’t want to reunify. From independence in 1957, Federation Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman grew less and less enthusiastic about Singapore. Bringing Singapore back in would have jeopardized UMNO’s political dominance. Thus, until 1961, everyone in the Federation and Singapore referred to merger as a vague aspiration that was “five to ten years away”.
Q: What happened in 1961 that made the Tunku change his mind so quickly?
Yet again: politics, this time, in Singapore. Singapore’s PAP won the 1959 elections and formed the government. But the leadership’s inexperience showed, and they made a lot of mistakes in their first year. They moved away from the progressive platform on which they had been elected, failing to fulfil a number of election promises. To compound this, they refused to admit their mistakes, and acted in a very arrogant and smug manner. Thus, the British and the PAP’s backbenchers grew very frustrated with the government, and the popularity of the PAP government declined heavily from 1959-60.
As a result of this, the PAP began to fracture from internal arguments. The PAP leadership sought to remove the highest source of dissent, Minister for National Development Ong Eng Guan, but the dismissal of such a popular politician only added to the PAP’s woes.
Meanwhile, the PAP backbenchers, grassroots, and trade union leaders, who were much more progressive and liberal than the more conservative PAP leadership, were unhappy with the leadership’s mistakes and arrogance. The biggest issue, however, was over the continued detention of political prisoners. The PAP’s progressive left wing kept reminding Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Keng Swee that they had promised to work for the release of the political prisoners who were detained by the Lim Yew Hock government in 1956 and 1957. This promise was a major plank of the PAP election platform, and had also been personally promised by Lee to the trade union leaders in 1959. Naturally, this group – the PAP’s progressive left – grew increasingly upset when Lee refused to commit himself to working for the release of the remaining political prisoners.
Q: Wait a moment. Why was the continued detention of political prisoners such a big issue to the PAP’s progressive wing?
A: The PAP’s progressive left all grew up faced with systematic discrimination, violence, and repression from the state. First the colonial government from the 1930s, then the Japanese occupation from 1942-45, then again the British from 1945 onwards. Singapore in this period was an extremely discriminatory place, and the use of violence and terror against the people of Singapore by the state was routine. If you were not English-educated and wealthy in Singapore, you were a second-class citizen in your own country. The colonial state could come and throw you out of your home and destroy your life at any time, without proof, if they were convinced that you were an enemy of the government.
In 1956, the colonial government easily stopped Singapore’s incipient civil rights movement by simply arresting and detaining all of its leaders without trial. As a result, the progressive left realized that simply winning elections was not enough. In order for Singapore to have self-determination, a democratically elected, fully representative government of Singapore must control the internal security laws. It’s important to note here that they did not call for the abolition of the laws, only that they were controlled by a democratically elected, fully representative government of Singapore.
Q: So you’re saying what happened is that by 1961, Lee and the PAP government were growing more unpopular and were not confident of maintaining their electoral base. How does this relate to merger?
Since his own party’s base was not supporting him, Lee secretly turned to the Malayan Communist Party for support. However, despite their promised support, Lee lost two by-elections in Hong Lim and Anson. Lee realised that the MCP was either unwilling or unable to command popular support. He also turned to the British for support. The British did not want to see a truly progressive left wing party win the next election, but felt that they could not openly intervene in the political process without opening themselves to accusations of attempting to rig the democratic process.
To win the next election, Lee needed an achievement he could campaign on. The only popular desire he could deliver quickly was the achievement of merger. The British already wanted merger, but the Tunku didn’t. Thus, to get the Tunku on board, they told the Tunku that the PAP’s unpopularity was a sign that the island would soon be taken over by communists, and only the Tunku could save the island by taking it over. The British also urged the Tunku to accept merger, and offered the inclusion of North Borneo and Sarawak. This would dilute the influence of Singapore’s Chinese in Federation politics, as well as give the Federation access to Borneo’s vast natural resources. Eventually, after much persuading, pleading, and bargaining, the Tunku agreed to merge.
Q: Finally, we have merger. How did everyone react?
A: They didn’t know. Merger negotiations were originally done in secret. Then, in late June 1961, news leaked that Lee and Goh had been secretly negotiating merger with the Federation and British. Singapore erupted in shock, and PAP’s backbenchers and members demanded to know what was going on. They suspected that Singapore was simply trading one colonial master (the British) for another (the Federation). Rather than answer to his party, Lee chose to purge the PAP of the progressive left. The progressive left went on to form the Barisan Sosialis in August 1961.
Q: Okay. What does this have to do with Operation Coldstore?
A: The Tunku was openly worried about the impact of the Barisan Sosialis in a unified Malaysia. He feared their organisational skills and the inspired, “talismanic” leadership of Lim Chin Siong. He thus demanded that Singapore’s political opposition be arrested as a condition of merger.
The British didn’t want to conduct arrests because they already had a poor reputation around the world for colonial abuses. Reports out of Kenya and Nyasaland (Malawi) in 1959 had embarrassed them. Such acts would also have been very unpopular in the UK, jeopardising the government in the next election.
Lee wanted the arrests to be launched after merger, so that the federal government in Kuala Lumpur would take the responsibility. He feared that arresting such popular politicians would severely damage his popularity in Singapore.
Q: Hold on. Lee did not want to use detentions against the political opposition?
A: To be precise, he did not want to take responsibility for the arrests. By launching them after merger, the federal government would take responsibility. However, the Tunku told him that it was a condition of merger that the arrests take place before merger, so that the Internal Security Council comprising the British, Singapore and Federation governments would share joint responsibility. Lee was thus forced to agree.
Q: But this was August 1961. What happened between then and Operation Coldstore in January 1963?
A: The British did not want the arrests, so they stalled and played for time. They repeatedly pointed out there was no evidence of any violent communist subversion in Singapore. If they arrested people without evidence, their international and domestic reputation would suffer.
Q: So the British were happy to use detention without trial in Singapore in the 1940s and 50s, but the moment it might affect their international reputation and make them lose an election in the UK, they baulked?
A: Yes.
Q: Also, hadn’t the British told the Tunku that Singapore was on the verge of being taken over by communists? So how could they justify not taking action?
A: They were in a tricky situation. They had to insist there were communists in Singapore, while simultaneously saying there was no evidence to arrest them. Also, they pointed out that it was not illegal to be communist in Singapore.
Q: It wasn’t?
A: No. Just as in Britain, in Singapore you couldn’t arrest someone just on the basis of what they believed. You had to show they were breaking the law, for example by planning violence.
In response, the Tunku and Lee worked hard to find some evidence on which the arrests could be conducted. But when this evidence was given to MI5 in April 1962, MI5 rejected it and basically said that it was entirely ‘surmise’ – that is, speculation, not real evidence.
Q: MI5? As in, James Bond?
A: Not quite. Bond is MI6, the foreign arm of Her Majesty’s Secret Service. MI5 is the domestic arm. Remember, Singapore was still part of the British Empire.
Q: Right. So how did Coldstore eventually happen?
A: The Brunei rebellion broke out on 8 December 1962. The Barisan issued a statement the next day declaring ‘a popular uprising against British colonialism and must command the support of all genuine anticolonialists’. The British, Federation, and PAP seized upon this as an excuse to arrest the Barisan leadership. By endorsing the rebellion, the British could plausibly argue that the Barisan were endorsing violent subversion in Singapore, and thus the arrests had to be made for security and safety.
Ironically, the evidence that MI5 had said was speculation in April 1962 was now quickly recycled to use as a legal basis for the arrests.
Q: Why on earth would the Barisan issue this statement?
A: Several reasons. Firstly, they had issued similar statements before – most recently in January 1962 when they had supported the nationalist freedom movement of West Irian. When this was moved in the Legislative Assembly, it was supported unanimously, including by the PAP. Thus, they had consistently supported violent anti-colonial resistance, and did not see this as any different. They had issued statements supporting revolution in Aden, Cyprus, Algeria, and other colonies.
Second, it was a matter of principle. Lim Chin Siong argued that you can’t be anti-colonial, then stop being anti-colonial when it means you’ll get arrested. That just makes you a hypocrite.
Finally, I think the Barisan were simply politically inexperienced and naïve. Remember, their leadership was composed of trade unionists and doctors, unlike the PAP’s leadership, which was full of lawyers and civil servants. The Barisan saw the world much more in terms of right and wrong, rather than in terms of rules and institutions.
Of course, the British, Federation, and PAP leaders had already decided the arrests would happen, so it didn’t really matter what the Barisan chose to do. For example, the Sarawak United People’s Party condemned the rebellion, but the British colonial government still arrested many of them.
Q: So this led to Operation Coldstore?
A: Yes, Operation Coldstore was scheduled for 16 December 1962.
Q: Wait, Operation Coldstore happened on 2 February 1963!
A: The original Operation Coldstore collapsed when, at the last minute, Lee Kuan Yew inserted fifteen extra names of his political opponents into the arrest list. When the Tunku found out, he furiously accused Lee of manipulating the arrests for his own political gain and refused to allow the arrests to go ahead. Neither man would back down, so the arrests collapsed.
Q: Why did Lee do that?
A: Remember, he was worried about the political consequences of the detentions. So he inserted the names to ensure that even if his own popularity collapsed after the arrests, there would be no real alternative to the PAP at the next election.
Q: So how did Operation Coldstore get resurrected?
A: It took two months of shuttle diplomacy by the British. Finally, Lee was given two major concessions. The first is that the post-arrest press release would refer to Malaysia, allowing Lee to argue that merger depended on the arrests, and thus his hands were tied. The second, and much more controversial concession, is that Lee was allowed to insert three names (out of the fifteen) into the arrest list.
Operation Coldstore then went ahead in the early morning of 2 February 1963. The first day, 111 people were arrested; by April, 133 people had been arrested.
Q: Okay. So let me get this straight. The primary purpose of merger was for political gain, not to reunify a divided nation?
A: Lee Kuan Yew’s and the PAP’s unpopularity provided the opportunity and drove the timing of merger. Without it, merger might not have ever happened – it certainly was growing more and more unlikely in the immediate future as the Tunku and other UMNO leaders grew more and more opposed to it. For Lee and the PAP, merger was an issue on which he could campaign and win the 1963 elections, and for the British, merger guaranteed the protection of their commercial and strategic interests, including their naval base. They convinced the Tunku and Federation leaders to agree by giving them the Borneo states and arguing that merger would allow them to reduce political instability that might arise from Singapore electing a progressive left government. But the condition the Federation imposed was the arrest of Singapore’s political opposition. Thus, throughout all this, the calculations were chiefly political.
Q: And I guess this helps explain why Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965?
A: Well, here’s a question for you: if the Federation’s and PAP’s rationale for merger and the creation of Malaysia was to neutralise Singapore’s political opposition, then once the opposition was gone, what was the rationale for both parties to stay together?
Dr. PJ Thum is a Singaporean academic who teaches history at the University of Oxford. A Harvard graduate in East Asian Studies. And for trivia, did you know PJ swam for Singapore at every level including the 1996 Atlanta Olympics? He is also the first Oxford graduate and first Singaporean to swim across the English Channel in August 2005, completing the journey despite inclement weather in 12 hours and 24 minutes.
The Online Citizen speaks with Dr. Thum Ping Tjin, a historian on the merger of Singapore and Malaya along with Operation Coldstore which can be said to be a period of white terror of our country. He has researched extensively and have been documenting the unclassified documents that have been recently released by the British Government on the two topics.
Q: What is “Merger”?
A: On 16 September 1963, the Federation of Malaya, and the British colonies of Singapore, North Borneo, and Sarawak merged to form Malaysia.
Q: Why did merger happen?
A: Before 1945, there was only one Malaya, which included twelve states: the four Federated Malay states (Selangor, Perak, Pahang, and Negri Sembilan), the five Unfederated Malay states (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, and Terengganu), and the three Straits Settlements (Penang, Malacca, and Singapore). People moved freely up and down the country from the northern tip of Perlis to the southern tip of Singapore. Singapore to Malaya was like New York to the USA: the commercial, artistic, and cultural capital. From the late 19th to the mid 20th century, people seeking their fortune moved to Singapore.
In 1945, Singapore was divided from the rest of Malaya. People on both sides of the causeway viewed the division of Malaya into two as highly artificial. Families were divided. Malayans on both sides of the new border thus hoped for reunification.
Reflecting this, every political party in post-war Singapore was committed to the eventual reunification of Singapore with the rest of Malaya. In both the 1955 and 1959 general elections, all parties publicly committed themselves to merger. Merger was the genuine democratic wish of the overwhelming majority of Singapore’s people.
The British also deeply desired merger as it would mean that their commercial and strategic interests in Singapore, including the critical naval base, would be placed under the control of a reliably friendly, pro-British UMNO government. A democratic Singapore with a representative government was likely to move away from Britain and pursue a much more independent path.
Q: Why was Singapore separated to begin with?
A: Colonial Politics. Before World War II, Malaya at the time was roughly 43% Malay and 43% Chinese. After the war, the British were resolved to leave their colonies, but they needed to leave friendly governments behind to ensure their strategic and economic interests would be protected. In Malaya, to guarantee the cooperation of the conservative Malay politicians, as well as to protect their military bases in Singapore, the British split off the Chinese-dominated Singapore from the rest of Malaya, while continuing to rule Singapore as a crown colony. This left the rest of Malaya as around 60% Malay, allowing conservative Malay politicians to comfortably dominate the country. In return, they protected and supported British interests in the Federation.
Q: So why would the Federation politicians change their minds and reunify with Singapore in 1963?
A: Again, politics, this time that of the Malay leadership in the Federation. They actually didn’t want to reunify. From independence in 1957, Federation Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman grew less and less enthusiastic about Singapore. Bringing Singapore back in would have jeopardized UMNO’s political dominance. Thus, until 1961, everyone in the Federation and Singapore referred to merger as a vague aspiration that was “five to ten years away”.
Q: What happened in 1961 that made the Tunku change his mind so quickly?
Yet again: politics, this time, in Singapore. Singapore’s PAP won the 1959 elections and formed the government. But the leadership’s inexperience showed, and they made a lot of mistakes in their first year. They moved away from the progressive platform on which they had been elected, failing to fulfil a number of election promises. To compound this, they refused to admit their mistakes, and acted in a very arrogant and smug manner. Thus, the British and the PAP’s backbenchers grew very frustrated with the government, and the popularity of the PAP government declined heavily from 1959-60.
As a result of this, the PAP began to fracture from internal arguments. The PAP leadership sought to remove the highest source of dissent, Minister for National Development Ong Eng Guan, but the dismissal of such a popular politician only added to the PAP’s woes.
Meanwhile, the PAP backbenchers, grassroots, and trade union leaders, who were much more progressive and liberal than the more conservative PAP leadership, were unhappy with the leadership’s mistakes and arrogance. The biggest issue, however, was over the continued detention of political prisoners. The PAP’s progressive left wing kept reminding Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Keng Swee that they had promised to work for the release of the political prisoners who were detained by the Lim Yew Hock government in 1956 and 1957. This promise was a major plank of the PAP election platform, and had also been personally promised by Lee to the trade union leaders in 1959. Naturally, this group – the PAP’s progressive left – grew increasingly upset when Lee refused to commit himself to working for the release of the remaining political prisoners.
Q: Wait a moment. Why was the continued detention of political prisoners such a big issue to the PAP’s progressive wing?
A: The PAP’s progressive left all grew up faced with systematic discrimination, violence, and repression from the state. First the colonial government from the 1930s, then the Japanese occupation from 1942-45, then again the British from 1945 onwards. Singapore in this period was an extremely discriminatory place, and the use of violence and terror against the people of Singapore by the state was routine. If you were not English-educated and wealthy in Singapore, you were a second-class citizen in your own country. The colonial state could come and throw you out of your home and destroy your life at any time, without proof, if they were convinced that you were an enemy of the government.
In 1956, the colonial government easily stopped Singapore’s incipient civil rights movement by simply arresting and detaining all of its leaders without trial. As a result, the progressive left realized that simply winning elections was not enough. In order for Singapore to have self-determination, a democratically elected, fully representative government of Singapore must control the internal security laws. It’s important to note here that they did not call for the abolition of the laws, only that they were controlled by a democratically elected, fully representative government of Singapore.
Q: So you’re saying what happened is that by 1961, Lee and the PAP government were growing more unpopular and were not confident of maintaining their electoral base. How does this relate to merger?
Since his own party’s base was not supporting him, Lee secretly turned to the Malayan Communist Party for support. However, despite their promised support, Lee lost two by-elections in Hong Lim and Anson. Lee realised that the MCP was either unwilling or unable to command popular support. He also turned to the British for support. The British did not want to see a truly progressive left wing party win the next election, but felt that they could not openly intervene in the political process without opening themselves to accusations of attempting to rig the democratic process.
To win the next election, Lee needed an achievement he could campaign on. The only popular desire he could deliver quickly was the achievement of merger. The British already wanted merger, but the Tunku didn’t. Thus, to get the Tunku on board, they told the Tunku that the PAP’s unpopularity was a sign that the island would soon be taken over by communists, and only the Tunku could save the island by taking it over. The British also urged the Tunku to accept merger, and offered the inclusion of North Borneo and Sarawak. This would dilute the influence of Singapore’s Chinese in Federation politics, as well as give the Federation access to Borneo’s vast natural resources. Eventually, after much persuading, pleading, and bargaining, the Tunku agreed to merge.
Q: Finally, we have merger. How did everyone react?
A: They didn’t know. Merger negotiations were originally done in secret. Then, in late June 1961, news leaked that Lee and Goh had been secretly negotiating merger with the Federation and British. Singapore erupted in shock, and PAP’s backbenchers and members demanded to know what was going on. They suspected that Singapore was simply trading one colonial master (the British) for another (the Federation). Rather than answer to his party, Lee chose to purge the PAP of the progressive left. The progressive left went on to form the Barisan Sosialis in August 1961.
Q: Okay. What does this have to do with Operation Coldstore?
A: The Tunku was openly worried about the impact of the Barisan Sosialis in a unified Malaysia. He feared their organisational skills and the inspired, “talismanic” leadership of Lim Chin Siong. He thus demanded that Singapore’s political opposition be arrested as a condition of merger.
The British didn’t want to conduct arrests because they already had a poor reputation around the world for colonial abuses. Reports out of Kenya and Nyasaland (Malawi) in 1959 had embarrassed them. Such acts would also have been very unpopular in the UK, jeopardising the government in the next election.
Lee wanted the arrests to be launched after merger, so that the federal government in Kuala Lumpur would take the responsibility. He feared that arresting such popular politicians would severely damage his popularity in Singapore.
Q: Hold on. Lee did not want to use detentions against the political opposition?
A: To be precise, he did not want to take responsibility for the arrests. By launching them after merger, the federal government would take responsibility. However, the Tunku told him that it was a condition of merger that the arrests take place before merger, so that the Internal Security Council comprising the British, Singapore and Federation governments would share joint responsibility. Lee was thus forced to agree.
Q: But this was August 1961. What happened between then and Operation Coldstore in January 1963?
A: The British did not want the arrests, so they stalled and played for time. They repeatedly pointed out there was no evidence of any violent communist subversion in Singapore. If they arrested people without evidence, their international and domestic reputation would suffer.
Q: So the British were happy to use detention without trial in Singapore in the 1940s and 50s, but the moment it might affect their international reputation and make them lose an election in the UK, they baulked?
A: Yes.
Q: Also, hadn’t the British told the Tunku that Singapore was on the verge of being taken over by communists? So how could they justify not taking action?
A: They were in a tricky situation. They had to insist there were communists in Singapore, while simultaneously saying there was no evidence to arrest them. Also, they pointed out that it was not illegal to be communist in Singapore.
Q: It wasn’t?
A: No. Just as in Britain, in Singapore you couldn’t arrest someone just on the basis of what they believed. You had to show they were breaking the law, for example by planning violence.
In response, the Tunku and Lee worked hard to find some evidence on which the arrests could be conducted. But when this evidence was given to MI5 in April 1962, MI5 rejected it and basically said that it was entirely ‘surmise’ – that is, speculation, not real evidence.
Q: MI5? As in, James Bond?
A: Not quite. Bond is MI6, the foreign arm of Her Majesty’s Secret Service. MI5 is the domestic arm. Remember, Singapore was still part of the British Empire.
Q: Right. So how did Coldstore eventually happen?
A: The Brunei rebellion broke out on 8 December 1962. The Barisan issued a statement the next day declaring ‘a popular uprising against British colonialism and must command the support of all genuine anticolonialists’. The British, Federation, and PAP seized upon this as an excuse to arrest the Barisan leadership. By endorsing the rebellion, the British could plausibly argue that the Barisan were endorsing violent subversion in Singapore, and thus the arrests had to be made for security and safety.
Ironically, the evidence that MI5 had said was speculation in April 1962 was now quickly recycled to use as a legal basis for the arrests.
Q: Why on earth would the Barisan issue this statement?
A: Several reasons. Firstly, they had issued similar statements before – most recently in January 1962 when they had supported the nationalist freedom movement of West Irian. When this was moved in the Legislative Assembly, it was supported unanimously, including by the PAP. Thus, they had consistently supported violent anti-colonial resistance, and did not see this as any different. They had issued statements supporting revolution in Aden, Cyprus, Algeria, and other colonies.
Second, it was a matter of principle. Lim Chin Siong argued that you can’t be anti-colonial, then stop being anti-colonial when it means you’ll get arrested. That just makes you a hypocrite.
Finally, I think the Barisan were simply politically inexperienced and naïve. Remember, their leadership was composed of trade unionists and doctors, unlike the PAP’s leadership, which was full of lawyers and civil servants. The Barisan saw the world much more in terms of right and wrong, rather than in terms of rules and institutions.
Of course, the British, Federation, and PAP leaders had already decided the arrests would happen, so it didn’t really matter what the Barisan chose to do. For example, the Sarawak United People’s Party condemned the rebellion, but the British colonial government still arrested many of them.
Q: So this led to Operation Coldstore?
A: Yes, Operation Coldstore was scheduled for 16 December 1962.
Q: Wait, Operation Coldstore happened on 2 February 1963!
A: The original Operation Coldstore collapsed when, at the last minute, Lee Kuan Yew inserted fifteen extra names of his political opponents into the arrest list. When the Tunku found out, he furiously accused Lee of manipulating the arrests for his own political gain and refused to allow the arrests to go ahead. Neither man would back down, so the arrests collapsed.
Q: Why did Lee do that?
A: Remember, he was worried about the political consequences of the detentions. So he inserted the names to ensure that even if his own popularity collapsed after the arrests, there would be no real alternative to the PAP at the next election.
Q: So how did Operation Coldstore get resurrected?
A: It took two months of shuttle diplomacy by the British. Finally, Lee was given two major concessions. The first is that the post-arrest press release would refer to Malaysia, allowing Lee to argue that merger depended on the arrests, and thus his hands were tied. The second, and much more controversial concession, is that Lee was allowed to insert three names (out of the fifteen) into the arrest list.
Operation Coldstore then went ahead in the early morning of 2 February 1963. The first day, 111 people were arrested; by April, 133 people had been arrested.
Q: Okay. So let me get this straight. The primary purpose of merger was for political gain, not to reunify a divided nation?
A: Lee Kuan Yew’s and the PAP’s unpopularity provided the opportunity and drove the timing of merger. Without it, merger might not have ever happened – it certainly was growing more and more unlikely in the immediate future as the Tunku and other UMNO leaders grew more and more opposed to it. For Lee and the PAP, merger was an issue on which he could campaign and win the 1963 elections, and for the British, merger guaranteed the protection of their commercial and strategic interests, including their naval base. They convinced the Tunku and Federation leaders to agree by giving them the Borneo states and arguing that merger would allow them to reduce political instability that might arise from Singapore electing a progressive left government. But the condition the Federation imposed was the arrest of Singapore’s political opposition. Thus, throughout all this, the calculations were chiefly political.
Q: And I guess this helps explain why Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965?
A: Well, here’s a question for you: if the Federation’s and PAP’s rationale for merger and the creation of Malaysia was to neutralise Singapore’s political opposition, then once the opposition was gone, what was the rationale for both parties to stay together?
Dr. PJ Thum is a Singaporean academic who teaches history at the University of Oxford. A Harvard graduate in East Asian Studies. And for trivia, did you know PJ swam for Singapore at every level including the 1996 Atlanta Olympics? He is also the first Oxford graduate and first Singaporean to swim across the English Channel in August 2005, completing the journey despite inclement weather in 12 hours and 24 minutes.