Sorry for MIA these few days as I do not have ready access to internet and only log in whenever possible.

I was also distracted by my bro in law wedding over the weekend.

The gift give away was a good start for many who were new to this initiative. It was my thirdt attempt at giving gifts to the poor and out during Christmas eve. Frankly not many people are warm to such an idea sadly.

I hope that the CNY 2009 gift away will be a special one for many in TOC. I hope also that someone will take the lead here to do something for the poor and underpriviledged.

I did it once with my family and another time alone – all during Christmas eve few years back. I subscribed to the ideal that Christmas should involve giving unconditionally. In Singapore whereby everything comes at a cost, when one received a gift FOC their faces sparkle and this is enough to make my day.

However, it was tough getting people involved especially when many are out on holiday or shopping for gifts. Nevertheless, some chipped in money instead.

When I opened up to TOC I was surprised that so many are kind enough to help out as I may be the only one or two persons that could make it on that day. Thanks TOC! I believe that besides talking openly about politics, we should sometiems walk the talk ourselves.

Nothing beat the experience of seeing happy faces on that day when they received nicely wrapped presents by the team members It was certainly a day that is worth all the efforts made.

to be biggest group out(old folks and older people) there, these people belong to the PAP’s power base, and they don’t even know about TOC. Even if they know, its really hard to change their opinions about PAP.

the target audience of TOC must be on the youths and TOC must work harder in these. many people still don’t know and they don’t care. sadly.

I think TOC becoming a challenge to the msm is a over-statement. Honestly, I do not see this happening. It requires much more resources and time and effort and funding for TOC to be anywhere near a news outlet.

At the end of the day, we’re just a bunch of bloggers. I know some people disagrees with me but that’s the truth. We are just bloggers speakig up on things we care about.

For us – or anyone – to pose a challenge to the MSM (which, by the way, is not our intention) – will take much more.

But having said that, I am happy to see that TOC means something to our readers. This will keep us going for a little while longer.. :)

Andrew Loh

Thank you. The credit goes to everyone who support us and the TOC team. We hope more people will speak out in 2009 and help shed the shackles of fear which have plagued Singapore society for the longest time.

To me, this is the saddest thing about our nation. But I am glad to see so many speaking up and being involved in 2008.

Lets do more in 2009 – within the law, of course!

Andrew Loh

I take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year ahead.
Together we make Singapore a good one.Cheers.

Why?

who is asking me the Why? u no no meh?

kampung news network knn!

i heard of it online
but i never bothered nor support
till 1 day mr brown d man directed me here
i am an ardent supporter of mr brown
why?
just because he eat pork liver?
noped he a family man
a working man
and a truthful singaporean
just liked the 66% of us
he have scarified his career
just to input what is right
what is wrong
TOC have also been doing it
with a bigger supporters readerships
than mr brown
now the youngpap/young ntuc forum is liked a dead town…
sgforum?
eversinced they banned me just because
i don’t comply
(mind you 1 night alone i hit more than a 1000 insults verbal firefights)
yet they banned me
simply because
i
outwitted/outsmart/outflanked
including the moderators
who only wants obedients dogs under HER wings
and as i told young ntuc before
bannin me is as easy as abc
but to get me to contribute ley….
not so easy
even if you enticed me with cebu topless dancin chiobus
(in which it do exist..trust me on that i been postin my experience/pictures with them)…

this is despite the numerous opportunities it has appeared on TV programs, international and local, on newspapers and on radios and of course the internet and hong lim park.

i say so based on personal experience. I interacted with some friends and many are not aware of TOC. not sure if they bluffing.

i guess people are really working-sleeping-working-sleeping without time for any other things like discuss about the news, go online and read blogs and post in forums.

there is still a long way to go.

You have a lot of confidence in us. Haha… for TOC to be come a brand name for every Singaporean, it’ll have to be the work of everyone who visits us – they can help spread the word… :)

Regards,
Andrew Loh

Keep the great stories coming next year! And make TOC a brand name for every Singaporean!

Thanks for all the X’mas wishes and kind words of support. Everyone at TOC appreciates them …

moshedyan , please keep your comments shorter, k? And I do’t think anyone moderated your comments.. [/i]
i have to break up into 6 parts
you think i write short story har?
friends roman and countypeople
when
God talk to me in my dream
do you think
i can tell him?
got fart
hurry fart
if not
get the fart
out of my nose?
like that
how to dream of 4Ds/toto
~chey~

Good start, Apathy Buster. You may think your encounter with your old friends was fruitless but rest assured that the Singapore (Asian) mentality is one that does not follow upstream more than downstream. The important thing is to plant the seeds of discernment among them. Small steps are more effective than to stand on a stage and shout your message into a loudhailer.

I hope you have not decided to give up trying because we all need to do our little part to change apathy, no matter how futile it may seem to us. We must strive on, harder, in fact, to break this hardened shell.

These people will tell you there is nothing wrong for them to feel apathetic;……and it will be followed by a long list of govt reasonings given over the years (which I do no want to repeat so as not to continue the brain-washing) to support their stand.

Even after telling them that we do not have to be ‘like this‘, they would defend their position by giving the ultimate insult by asking, “who else could do a better job than LKY”?

Try explaining to them that there are people out there who can do a good enough job, or, we can have a better system that incorporates the wisdom of the people instead of one elite batch of self-serving individuals; and they will tell you that you are crazy, pointing to CSJ & JBJ as examples. “Why ‘destroy’ your own comfortable life for the benefit of others”, they would challenge you. So you see, it all boils down, generally, to the comfort zone one is in.

In Singapore, one is considered comfortable:
- if he has a job with a steady income, never mind if he has to put in an extra hour here and there, it comes with being comfortably employed.
- if he has a home (HDB flat is good enough) with monthly mortgage repayments taken care of by being gainfully employed.
- if he has a set routine of waking up, breakfast on table, having air-con public transport to get to work, a nice lunch, another air-con ride home, warm water for a nice long bath, home cooked dinner, a loving wife or husband to chit chat with and obedient children that are self-reliant and independent.
- if he can go on a yearly vacation, never mind if it is only Malaysia.

Try penetrating into this comfort zone to tell them that the noise coming from next door, are neighbours who are hungry, jobless and struggling to pay off their debts, and the response you will get is, it’s of their own doing.

Try telling them that foreign workers are being ill-treated and they’ll tell you they deserved it.

Try telling them that the govt have been telling us lies and making empty promises, and they’ll tell you it not their business. It’s for losers to believe the way they do.

Point is, nothing can break their comfort zone, until and unless, it affects them. How many in the 10,000 who lost their investments belonged to this group of comfortable people? How many reacted when their comfort zone is disturbed?

Sad but true, this group of ‘comfort’ people will do Singapore the most harm by continuing to lend their support to a regime that is sure to lead the country to doom if it does not see the need to seriously review itself and take into account the people’s interests more than the national interests of pursuing a foreign agenda that lust over the global goldmine.

Apathy is here to stay, but we can slowly but surely reduce the number that feel this way. The time is right in this moment of global recession, to make enough noise for these ‘comfort’ people to hear and realize the danger of their apathetic disposition.

best wishes for 2009

we had not seen each other for many many years.

all of us have grown older, much older.

while chit chatting, we stumbled on the issues that concern the people.

At the end of the session, I realised they are totally apathetic to national issues.

these are not uneducated people but smart brains working in good companies.

I realised that I was the odd one out. I described my concerns about issues like TC investments and the need for clearer information among other things.
They seem apathetic. So, I asked them why like that when these concerns all of us. His reply was some are more sensitive than others on such issues.
But I believe its not so much about being sensitive or less sensitive. I think its about questions that beg to be asked.

we ended the session after a long chat. Then while walking home, I felt that there really exist a serious problem of apathy. I could only suspect that somehow, maybe due to some vested interest, they will gladly ignore the questions that beg to be asked. I found out some of them work in ‘certain kinds of companies’.

cannot say too much liao……. when talking in kopi shops, watch out for phones placed on tables.