Some of our Singaporeans are plain bullies who are cowards, who preach to the world and sell their souls to the devil ; wah! so heroic against the helpless and weak but grin and suck up to the powerful, and the brutal.

Thats why sometimes I feel we need the PAP, to tame these type of ‘pariah’ bullies and imbeciles to put them in their coops.

Violence on any excuse is totally unacceptable BUT knowing Singaporeans, I find this ordeal quite incredulous. I’m sure we are all familiar and guilty of false pretense and cowardly tolerance. How many times have we been on MRT rides and in cinemas when we witnessed losers play loud music on their speaker phones boldly or chatting in the middle of a movie defiantly, and yet more often than not, you DO NOT see brave avatars clamoring down on these anti-social insects. Also, I’m sure we have witnessed many a times these so called foreign talent, more like labour, talks LOUDLY in public, cycles on pedestrian walkways/ bus bays recklessly like in Tianamen Square or the Taj Mahal, rushing for their rebirths, barely missing ramming into people and causing serious injuries. Alot of Singaporeans emulate this anti-social behaviour too.

So, to have someone on a bus full of witnesses, rush up to you and bash you up when you have already toned down the volume as claimed, that’s just hot air from the steam from a pot of very hot mala steamboat soup.

I personally know of a few friends and colleagues who had unfair reporting in past with The ST when they refused to give interviews over certain incidents and guess what, a new story emerges. You would think that only the National Enquirer or trashy prints like TNP would stoop so low. Guess again and be shocked. ST does this all the time-vis-a-viz you also cannot believe how low your MIW will go to suck your blood! Every drop counts ! Wake up people-vampires exists ;P

PS: Ever wonder why we NEVER hear anything good about any opposition in mainstream media? If oppositions were so absolutely horrible, why were some invited to be non-constituency MPs?
Adding impurity into a pure substance to make it purer is not logical science. It’s pure nonsense; or you have a damn good spin doctor. LOL.

Thuggish behavior is not to be tolerated, whether here in Singapore or elsewhere.

The assailant should be jailed for his assault.

NOISE, when it’s just too much, drives some people to violence.

TNP Illustration: HUP
Last Wednesday, The New Paper reported that a Chinese national was beaten up by a bus passenger for talking too loudly on his handphone.

Mr Liu Tie, who was on the bus, had been talking to his mother.

The assault left him with a swollen eye and scratches on his neck.

But noise rage is not a uniquely Singaporean phenomenon.

In New York, a loud gym user who likes to grunt during his spin class had his bike – with him still astride – thrown after he refused to pipe down.

According to the New York Times, Mr Stuart Sugarman, a senior partner at an investment firm, was yelling ‘You go, girl!’ and ‘Good burn!’ during his exercise routine at Equinox fitness club in August.

Another gym user, Mr Christopher Carter, couldn’t stand the noise.

He twice asked instructors at the gym to get Mr Sugarman to quiet down, according to trial testimony.

Despite his pleas, Mr Sugarman kept up with his grunts.

Soon, harsh words were exchanged between the two men and it escalated into physical assault.

The New Paper, 28 May 2008
Mr Carter, 45, a stockbroker, stormed over to Mr Sugarman’s bike and lifted it, crashing the back of it into a wall, witnesses said.

Mr Sugarman said the force of the bike dropping to the ground caused a neck injury.

As a result, Mr Carter was hauled to court. But on Monday, a jury acquitted the stockbroker of assault charges for manhandling Mr Sugarman’s stationary bike.

During the trial, Mr Carter’s lawyer acknowledged that his client had grabbed Mr Sugarman’s bike by the handle bars, tilted it back and then released it, with Mr Sugarman astride.

But the jury decided that he was not a criminal for having done so.

After nearly 10 hours of deliberations, the six jurors agreed that they could not say beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr Carter had caused the back and neck trouble that landed Mr Sugarman in hospital for nearly two weeks.

DISRESPECTFUL

‘Probably, most likely, but not definitely,’ said juror Marybeth Roman.

The jurors the New York Times spoke to did not seem to be on

Mr Sugarman’s side.

Mr Sugarman had described his grunts in testimony as ‘expelling air.’

‘I was like ‘Why must he be obnoxious and disrespectful to the others?’ said Ms Roman, a 20-year-old sociology student.

NOT CREDIBLE

Ms Roman said she and the other jurors questioned Mr Sugarman’s credibility.

Mr Carter’s lawyer, Mr Michael C Farkas, had maintained that his client did not cause Mr Sugarman’s injury.

The verdict, Mr Farkas said, proved what he and his client have been saying all along: Mr Sugarman is not believable.

‘If you’re going to act in a manner that’s going to be completely inconsiderate of others, then great things aren’t going to happen for you,’ Mr Farkas said outside court.

Mr Carter was relieved to leave court a free man.

‘I had some long nights over the last nine and a half months,’ he said.

But the ordeal is hardly over.

Mr Samuel L Davis, Mr Sugarman’s lawyer, said his client planned to file a lawsuit against Mr Carter and Equinox.

He said he hoped that New Yorkers would not view the verdict as a call to arms of sorts.

But Ms Brigid Harrington, the assistant district attorney for the case, painted a less-than-sympathetic portrait of Mr Sugarman.

In her closing arguments last Friday, she said Mr Sugarman was probably not someone ‘you would want to hang out with regularly’.

But that should not matter, she said.

‘I don’t want you to think that Stuart Sugarman had it coming,’ she said.

So far, if any or all of the implemented policies had yielded more good than negative side-effects, I believe fewer people will fault the government. However, a close look at our SIngaporeans, also proved that they can’t be left on their own without RESTRICTIONS and or RULES governing what they can and cannot do. Their nature to Take Advantage and Abuse, is too evident. I cite today’s news article about a couple who physically assaulted their Indoensian Maid; man being an SIA aircraf technician, and wife an ex Stewardess. How do we view such unsavioury developments? Can we safely claim we have come a long way? I seriously doubt so, and we are in danger of degressing instead of progressing by the government’s popular label of ‘World Class’ and ’1st World’ nation.

Change will indeed come, but hipefully, not too late. Because we’ve lost so much local local blood, by which time, we may have to start all over again.

many others and me certainly share your takes on the unfortunate social and political developments in our country. As You can see, our leaders have been squabbling with their citizens since the day they took power and used(use) it as they fancy. Indeed, it has reached a boiling point and we see leaders facing citizens in court now.

True also that tolerance has diminished to a dangerous level but it is bad that the people, mostly leaders, do not hold themselves responsible for causing the state of affairs now. Worse, the citizenry has diverted their angers onto others other the leaders, this is extremely unhealthy.

Personally, I think change is coming, though I do not know if it is a change for the good or for the worse, however it is coming for sure. There are political dissidents everywhere converging to make changes happen.

patriot.

I too, DO NOT condone violent acts & rash behaviours. However, this incident (and all other unreported ones) are indicators that the threshold of Tolerance is fast reaching. Not only in this area, but also on the roads amongst motorists who are locals; I cite increased Road Rage, Bus Drivers being assaulted, intolerance between neighbours in HDB & Landed Properties, Higher Expectations of Public Services resulting in more complaints, poorer customer service due to foreign front service employees who can’t speak English and local employees who feel under paid, schools that are filled with more foreign kids, etc etc.

Sure, I agree that Foreign Workers should not be blamed, but when the powers that be refuses to listen and take heart, what avenues are there left for people at ground zero?

All the above, ADDS UP.
Think of a Water Heater with no Bleeder Valve, the temperature builds unabated, pressure mounts. Something, somewhere along the way, HAS TO GIVE.

We’re talking about Humans. Even machineries has its set tolerances in engineering terms. Beyond this set tolerance, it gives.

On the whole, all this will definitely come into play in the next coming GE, if the government continues with their “we know what’s best attitude” of governance.

I say that from here on, things can and will get uglier over the next decade.

thanks for the interactions, much appreciated.

Like You, I have been very impressed, negatively by our leaders for many years. Since the 1970s, I have actively engaged myself to the political affairs of our country by writing to forums, participations in call-in broadcast and and telecast programmes.

The comments I have posted here were dued to the observation that there were unduly harsh comments made on foreigners working here. We too, may have worked abroad, our siblings, children and friends may also be on oversea assignments from time to time. As much as we may liked to be Romans when in Rome, we may not be able to fully assimilate local cultures everywhere.

It is not comforting and easy to leave ones’ family behind to toil menially for just a slightly better income in foreign lands to provide folks back home better. Imagine for a moment, a foreign worker talking to his old parents on the phone in a noisy environment and the old folks at the other end hard of hearing. Is it that irritating to deserve a bash up? Are we to respond violently to every slightest irritation/irritant? I would think not.

I fully agree with You that our leaders have neglected our wellbeings but the foreign workers have got nothing to do with the ways our own leaders treat their citizenry. I will even concur with You that our leaders are very selfish, knowing only to enrich themselves with plenty of SIN Dollars, again the foreign workers have got no part in this. So, once again, I implore fellow Singaporeans to apportion blames proportionally.

Yours truly: patriot.

.

Mr Let Fly says
PHONE RAGE ON MRT, BUSES

Stop yakking so loudly!
Only the fear of retaliation stops this engineer from confronting loud commuters on buses, trains
By Tan May Ping

June 03, 2008

SHUSH, you commuters are talking too loudly on your handphones.

Mr Jimmy Ho demonstrating how people talk loudly on their handphones on buses and MRT trains. TNP Picture: NATASHIA LEE
That is Mr Jimmy Ho’s message to those who talk at the top of their voices on buses and MRT trains.

The 47-year-old technical support engineer in a multinational company said that he often comes across such inconsiderate behaviour when he takes public transport.

‘Too many people use their handphones loudly in public places, paying scant attention to the irritation they cause others,’ he said.

Mr Ho wrote to The New Paper after he read a report last Wednesday about China national Liu Tie being assaulted by a fellow bus passenger for talking too loudly on his handphone.

Mr Liu, 22, who was talking to his mother in China, suffered a swollen eye and scratches on his neck.

Mr Ho said the report struck a chord with him.

He stresses he doesn’t condone violence but understands why the attacker might have felt frustrated.

He thinks it was an ‘incident waiting to happen’.

‘I don’t condone such violent behaviour. But we should question if the victim was partly to blame.’

Mr Ho, who takes public transport to work, isn’t alone.

In our poll of 100 commuters, 87 thought that people talk too loudly on their handphones on buses and trains.

Such behaviour boils down to a lack of social graces, Mr Ho said, much in the same way that commuters seldom give up their seats to pregnant women or the elderly.

Mr Ho said he comes across such ‘socially inept’ people every other day.

He makes an exception for elderly folk as they may be hard of hearing.

But loud handphone conversations are not his only bugbear on buses and trains.

He is also riled by passengers – usually teenagers – who blast music through their handphone speakers instead of using earphones.

‘They think the entire world will appreciate the music they are playing. Many times, I’ve been tempted to (blast) my Cantonese opera music back at them,’ he said.

Mr Ho has thought about confronting these thoughtless people many times, but held back for fear they would retaliate.

So how does he think loud commuters should be silenced?

Take a leaf from the Tokyo subway, where signs on trains tell commuters not to use their handphones as it is seen as rude behaviour, he said.

‘There is no penalty for using phones, but it is socially accepted (that you don’t use them on the trains),’ Mr Ho, who travels often to Japan for work, said.

‘You don’t hear any phones ringing as they are all probably on silent mode.’

On longer-distance trains, Mr Ho said, the Japanese would walk to the areas in between carriages to answer calls.

While Mr Ho thinks banning the use of handphones on buses and trains would be too severe, he feels people should be discreet and considerate in public spaces.

‘There is no need to shout. If the person can’t hear you, tell them you will call them back when you get to a quieter place,’ he said.

‘I don’t understand why some people must have protracted conversations, so that people around them hear about their entire life story.’

He felt a social awareness programme could make people more aware of their actions and stop to think about how they should behave in public.

‘We should aim for a higher level of social graces and understand that our personal behaviour may be frowned upon by others.’

And where does this moral equation leave locals standing? It seems you have somehow left out the plights of locals drowning in this unchecked influx of FTs – particularly from China. No one is objecting to the idea that FTs contributes to economy, but like any form or ‘medication’, an overdose does more damage than good.
The sin is in a govt that cares only about themselves, while people are left to their own device, conveniently citing competitivity.

one win goes to the foreigners who earn more than they do in their own country.

May I add that there is no sin for anyone to send and take monies they worked for, home. Similarly, any businessman in lawful and non vice industries are entitle to their profits as well.

It is sinful monies made through exploitations, underhand manipulations(cheats/cons), vices and excessive profiteerings that are condemnable.

Regards; patriot.

Please be more tolerant with foreigners working in our land, first, they are in fact ‘invited’ to work here, employers here prefer them over us and our government loves the Idea. High productions at very low costs and levies to collect for good revenues; win, win, win all the way for both employers and Government. Not all foreigners are well taken care of; recall blogs that highlighted their(foreigners) plights and Voluntary Welfare Organizations helping them with their problems?

Now, as for speaking loudly, other than the fact that certain China Nationals of specific regions having traditional high volume speak manners, long distance phone conversations may in fact require high volume(of speech), especially if the conversations involve old folks. As such, let us have a sense of understandings; liked what chinagal had observed, even Singaporeans are loutish when abroad. So, it would not be good to say that such Singaporeans do deserve physical abuses. We have to have some sense of proportion.

patriot.