Best quote ever.

Talk about NS if you have not gone through NS is like man describing labor pains...

 "Gang rape, after all, is democracy in action."

 -- Zainudin Nordin

Airport Screenings.

If Singapore had airport x-ray screenings, wonder what they will see in all the ministers who supported (or dare not go against) the 6.9 million white paper.

-- Iron Bowl

NS Appreciation not valid if wet.

Just a warning for you guys who have served NS and received your NS45 vouchers but have not used them yet.

If you go out in the rain, and your vouchers get wet, they can't be used anymore because it is up to the merchant to accept the vouchers, and none will accept the voucher if it is wet or slightly damaged.

You also need to bring your IC to use these vouchers, and when the vouchers are damaged, lost or otherwise expired, they will not be replaced.

I guess this is how Singapore appreciates our service as NS men. This is also why they give these non-rain proof vouchers after you serve NS. Otherwise, do these vouchers set the example that NS men will not function in the rain as well?

-- Iron Bowl

Exploit the poor and disadvantaged.

The government's statement civil advocacy groups are exploiting the case "for their own political purposes" in the "guise of protecting vulnerable foreign workers".

If advocacy groups are exploiting the bus drivers, by getting their voices heard, then shame on them!

To be fair, grassroots should not be helping the needy as well. The poor are made to attend events,  lineup to go on stage to collect one bag of food worth less than $20 and made to shake hands with a Minister. They must also participate in photos and give interviews to tell reporters about their poverty and how grateful they are to the grassroots and CDCs.

How is this not exploiting them for publicity?

-- Iron Bowl

Some of them want to use you, some of them want to be used by you.

Some of them want to abuse you, some of them want to be abused.

Pasir Ris Beach -- sad and dirty

Pasir Ris Beach, like many other Singapore locations, seemed to be degrading. I've been to the Marina Barrage last week, a lot of displays are not working. At Liang Court, there are stairwells that lead to dead end and they have no light at all. There are a lot of new buildings and attractions in Singapore, but the old ones do not seemed to be maintained.

Pasir Ris Beach is in disarray. Rows of coconuts are growing into trees, trash and rubbish everywhere, the smell of sewage and decomposition (no bodies found). It is not a pleasant beach to be at.

From far, things may look fine, but when you walk near the sand, a man informed me not to even wash my feet in the sea water.

I've seen several dead fishes, plastic bottles and a lot of sea weed, however, there was a man with a fishing rod as well. I've been to only one beach this year in Singapore and was shocked at the state of things here.

Why are they constantly renovating or building new things if they have no intention to maintain them?

-- Iron Bowl

River Safari vs Marine Life Park #Singapore

 

When Marine Life Park bought bottlenose dolphins, the Save the World's Saddest Dolphins was created. and many nature lovers cries to set the dolphins free.

By the way, these bottlenose dolphins are not endangered.

When River Safari bring in the endangered Manatees, there was silence from Singaporeans and ACRES.

Do bottlenose dolphins need lots of space while Manatees thrive in Captivity?

Or are dolphins cute and manatees just damn ugly?

Why are there double standards?

-- Ironbowl

$0.10 Meat Balls - 250k sold

It does not matter if it is a scandal, food poisoning, horse meat or what have you.

When it is a very good discount, Singaporeans from all over the island will go, and will queue for hours for that $0.10 meat balls which may be due for expiry due to the quarantine. (and not selling for long time)

When it is a deal or sale, you can count on Singaporeans to be there.

-- Iron Bowl

Sin City 69

Sin City with 6.9 Million Population

In an alternate universe, where mysteries are solved. One can speculate the benefits of a lot of foreign workers and building casinos in Sin City.


1) Foreign Workers from China.

With a profit from every employee that will work in Sin City, say, RMB$10,000, and with 0.3 million worker coming in every year, (assuming that some return) the unlicensed loans, HR fees is a very profitable industry.

The organized crime syndicates are all very happy to give "micro loans" to support these villagers to work as "low skilled" labor in the Sin City.

2) Lax Banks and Investment Laws

As long as money is here, money is good. Sin City never asks the source of funds. It is common for PRC nationals to buy a house which cost more than a few million dollars with cash, or a $300,000 car with cash. Yes, cash.

No questions asked. In fact, it is welcomed.

3) Casinos for "Big Rollers"

Casino Chips of LARGE denominations which are pretty small to carry, to be used as good as cash? Yup.. definitely a great way to "pay" someone with much of a trail isn't it?

If you need to bring more than USD$30,000 to Singapore? No problem, if you have the right contacts, you can buy actual legit casino chips which can easily pass through customs, easily.

Otherwise, pass your RMB to your contact which will get you another person in Sin City to pass you some casino chips to cash out. And yes, they don't ask where your money comes from.

4) Many many PRC workers in the country.

What do migrant workers do? They work. and get paid. Then what do they do with the money? Remit...

Yes. Remittance. So why is remittance bad?

Well, you see, organized crime has a way of paying in China (RMB$$) and getting S$ dollars in Singapore. The $$$ from these workers (and students) are pretty clean and with their massive numbers, you can easily get S$20 million a month transacted?

(200,000 workers remitting S$100)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


This is a money laundering paradise, Sin City 69.

-- Iron Bowl

Facebook does not recognize S R Nathan's face

 

 

I respect this guy for what he has done and not so for what he has not done. He says his most difficult moment in his 12 years of presidency is approving death penalty, but he "does not have the power as the president of Singapore to oppose it. It is a very complex procedure and his duty is to ensure the investigation is done properly"

???

He does not want to comment on the population white paper.

He does not want to comment on the death penalty.

He does not want to comment on social media engagement of the government.

He does not want to comment on why he did not follow up on his predecessor question on the sovereign funds.

If the president's position is just a figurehead that draws $4 million a year,  perhaps its time to review the role of the president? Do we even need one?

-- Ironbowl

Similarities of Singapore (2030) and Haiti

Haiti is a beautiful country, and Port-au-Prince is nice, and perhaps in 2030, Singapore will feel very much like Port-au-Prince.

I am not talking about the difference, which there are many, but lets look at the similarities.

Does Singapore want to be like Haiti 2013 during 2030

Haiti (Port-au-Prince)	Singapore (2030)
Many Third World People with no sense of personal space	Many Third World People with no sense of personal space
People working long hours with depressed wages	People working long hours with depressed wages
Foreigners visiting the country as far higher buying power than the general public	Foreigners visiting the country as far higher buying power than the general public
Housing often cost more than 100 months worth of salary	Housing often cost more than 100 months worth of salary
Government not doing enough to support the general population	Government not doing enough to support the general population
Welfare in country is from Charities not government	Welfare in country is from Charities not government
Malaria is a big concern	Malaria is a big concern
Lesley Center is popular (To buy Toto)	Singapore Pools is popular (To Buy Toto)
People are constantly rushing around, and will take anything that is free, whether or not they will use it	People are constantly rushing around, and will take anything that is free, whether or not they will use it
A lot of small private universities setup running degree programs where many employers/government do not recognize qualifications even when certified by government	A lot of small private universities setup running degree programs where many employers/government do not recognize qualifications even when certified by government
Very packed on public transportation on peak hours	Very packed on public transportation on peak hours
People working jobs that add little value to society (Selling things they buy in bulk and breaking bulk on streets as middlemen)	People working jobs that add little value to society (Selling Tissue, little keychains, insurance, and being middlemen for corporations)
Trying to copy Silicon Valley in Entrepreneurship	Trying to copy Silicon Valley in Entrepreneurship

Many Casino Hotels

2 Casino Hotels (or more?)

Protest at Hong Lim Park #Singapore on 16 Feb 2013

It was rather surprising for Singaporeans to protest. Let alone protest on a wet day, however, on Feb 16, 2013. About 5,000 Singaporeans made history by appearing to protest the government's white paper to have 6.9 million population by 2030.

The crowd was an angry crowd, but things were peaceful. There were many speakers sharing their views on the white paper. Some speakers were mediocre, stating the obvious and failed to make much impression on the crowd.

Notably, Tan Kin Lian was speaking about his thoughts which were similar to his blog, just his views and seemed to be rather disconnected to the point of the protest -- against the white paper. In my opinion, he was just there to get attention, and for a rich guy like him to talk about some of the issues he raised, it did not seem or sound sincere when he does not live in a HDB or take the MRT.

Vincent Wijeysingha however was much more interesting and made salient points which stirred the crowd.

Later, there seemed to be the crowd favorite, Tan Jee Say. Jee Say seemed much bolder than the other speakers and even called on the PM and his team of ministers who cannot solve Singapore's problem to step down.

There was nothing xenophobic about the protest. The feel was patriotic as the people who attended sang "Count on me Singapore", cited the pledge and sang the National Anthem. There was also a constant reinforcement to say that the protest is against the government's policy. A few of my friends did not attend as it was organized by Transitioning.org, which made xenophobic remarks last year.

For me, I felt that this may be a turning point. The crowd certainly had not much fear in them, no fear of the weather and no fear of the government. There was a common call -- say no to the white paper, say no to 6.9 million population by 2030. And there was also an unexpected message -- to have minimum wage for the low income workers, focus on reducing income inequality.

With minimum wage, a wage that enables a person with a full time job to support himself and perhaps together with his working spouse, raise a family, more Singaporeans will work in jobs which the government labeled "low skilled"

I agree with some of the points raised, however even after the protest, I felt that none of the speakers shared my concern. My main concern was that the white paper was passed to efficiently and fast without much consideration, and this has been seen before when they approved the Casinos, and my concern was with the passing of the white paper, when the infrastructure is built and Singapore needs more energy to power the homes, another white paper will be submitted and passed in  similar manner for Nuclear energy.

After visiting Japan and what I saw and hear from friends in Fukushima, Singapore cannot afford any failure, especially with a 6.9 million population, as we cannot have a 20km exclusion zone. With the way SMRT is running, I do not have confidence that proper maintenance will be done, and the people in charge, appointed by the people in power, will not be competent enough, and will not have the sense of duty, but rather do it for profits.

-- Iron Bowl.

Chinese New Year 2013 is crappier in Singapore than 2012

CNY last year was pretty ok. The year of the Dragon (2012) sees many nice flower displays outside Mandarin Gallery and in 2013, it seems void of anything nice. The whole of Orchard Road seemed a little dull and lack luster.

The River Ang Bao by Esplanade seemed to recycle many things, and the displays in 2013 are much uglier than last year. And in Chinatown, the Lego snake display is so much worse compared to last year.

Go check it out yourself while you still can. Wonder if they ran out of budget again?

-- Iron Bowl

2012 CNY

2013 CNY