I was born five months before Lee Kuan Yew became the Prime Minister of Singapore. When I was eight, I saw Environment officers raiding the HDB wet market accompanied by axe and changkol wielding thugs, conclusion arrived from the perspective of a child growing up in Circuit Road who had seen bloody gang clashes on a weekly basis.

They came in and without any words of warning proceeded to smash up and destroy the wares of the illegal hawkers at the periphery of the HDB wet market.

I had never forgotten the sight of one of the illegal hawkers, an old man his face covered by a straw hat picking up green chillies and limes from a shallow drain, tears from an unseen face dripping on what was to be sold, as I would get to comprehend as an adult, in order to live.

I had never look at “cheng hu lan” (government officers) the same way since. Nor Lee Kuan Yew and his PAP as I grew into middle age. For all the facade of a successful First World nation, what Singapore governance has always glaringly lack is a heart. A real one.

No way Dr. M is a saint. Both are despots.
Except ours is a lot more cunning, that’s right ! Otherwise how to explain one despot is officially a mentor, the other publicly showing regret and here is why ;

Our despot is very much in control with an obedient son at the helm and 80+ stooges in place, not forgetting he also has the security, law and msm in his pocket. This is the way if Dr. M wants the Malaysian PM to listen and follow.

Our despot is a superior schemer when it comes to elections. Otherwise how to explain having 98% parliamentary seats with just 66% votes, not forgetting many citizens could not vote, due to ingenious tactics creating many walkovers.
This is the surest way for BN to win elections in Malaysia convincingly.

Our despot controls the gold which is very important,
because ” he who has the gold, makes the rules “.
Nothing like having a father and daughter-in-law team taking care of state funds.
This is the way to justify out of this world pay for all Malaysian ministers,
all become instant millionaires.
Don’t take my word for it, just ask Khaw B W and wannabe ministers Lee BW, Irene Ng. LOL

This a useless posting and will only serve to bring down the respect for this blog. If we are to worry about every blog then internet will self destruct.

I only hope Sun Oo Aung do not spit too much in Singapre if he is in Singapore.

Notice LKY is sort of a hero to all my malaysian (chinese) colleagues….

Hi TMT;

That heart in him resides no conscience.

BUT,

he cares,

he is prepared to turn and rise from his grave.

And I assume;

all because of his own doings.

I believe him and admire his foresight.

He will have to rise !

He will !!

patriot

Tunku Abdul Aziz said the same thing too.

aiyoyo

why like that one huh?

rulers should have compassion ma, if not commoners how?

did not know that 60s full of action pack..

nowadays only know of “hello, this, that price is going up.” then 乖乖 pay up lor.

alamak this is the new era?

aiyoyo

Well, one man’s poison is another man’s meat. Dr M a saint – St Nick or St Lucifer? This one is from Malaysiakini:

Singapore much better than other countries
Yih Feng Low
Jun 29, 09
6:37pm

I refer to the letter ‘I curse the day I was born a Singaporean’.

First of all, I would like to remind Brazil that Singapore is indeed a fantastic place to be born. Acco ‘The Economist’ Intelligence Unit’s 2005 Quality of Life survey ranked it the best country to live in Asia. In fact, in global rankings Singapore did better than the US, Japan, France, Britain, Germany and a host of developed, wealthy countries. Singapore is wealthy, peaceful, progressive and spared of natural or manmade disasters.

Malaysia falls behind Singapore in almost any meaningful measure – per capita GDP (nominal or PPP), average wage, quality of life, standard of living, human development, productivity, efficiency, economic freedom, ease of doing business, you name it.

One would imagine that with our national obsession with wealth distribution, Malaysia would do better than the ultra-capitalistic Singapore. In reality, Singapore ranks higher in terms of the Gini coefficient (a measure of income equality) in separate studies by the UN and the CIA.

Can you then blame Malaysians for looking enviously at their next door neighbour? We were equals just a 40 years ago, but look at the differences now!

I am not saying that Singapore is without its problems. Indeed, there is no one perfect country in this world. Every country from the war-torn Muslim countries to the wealthy West, all have their own set of problems to deal with. However, some countries are clearly doing better than others.

Singapore is clearly doing better than Malaysia who is in turn doing better than Indonesia. It is then almost insulting for someone from a rich and advanced nation to gripe about their issues and envy their poorer counterparts.

I don’t think any sane Malaysian would complain about our government to friends from Iran. We shut up and listen to their complaints, for no matter how bad we are, we are clearly better off than them. In the same sense, I don’t think any Singaporean should tell a Malaysian how Singapore isn’t really much better.

Perhaps the most telling evidence of our relative strengths are the immigration patterns. How often do you see Singaporeans permanently migrating to Malaysia (for reasons other than retirement?) Contrast that to the thousands who make Singapore their permanent home yearly.

My second point is on immigration. Unlike most people, I think immigration is fantastic. I like diversity and multi-culturalism. I like people, and I like to know their lifestyles, their cultures and their beliefs. I like that I can enjoy authentic food from all parts of the world without having to leave my neighbourhood.

I am sure the average xenophobe, when he drops his emotional hatred and instead looks at the positives, will learn to appreciate the cultural richness of the world. No one culture in the world is superior and I live in continuous awe of the sheer diversity that is this Earth.

It saddens me that certain people in the world are treated with more respect than others just because of the colour of their skin. It saddens me even more that some people actually think they are superior or that they deserve certain rights just because they were lucky enough to be born into a particular nationality, race, family or gender.

It angers me that Malaysian politics revolves around ethnic rights (Umno, Hindraf etc) when in reality the only right we should have is the right to work smart, work hard and be duly rewarded for it.

Take for example recent threats by Malaysian ministers against foreigners driving taxis in Johor Baru. I am sure all Johorians will agree with me when I say that most taxi drivers in JB are both lazy and greedy. They sit at the coffee-shops all day sipping coffee yet complain that they can’t make a living. They grossly overcharge and are grossly under-worked.

Now if a foreigner is willing to work when the Malaysian is not, is not greedy when the Malaysian is, why deny him a fair go just because of where he was born? Did he choose to be born where he was born? Did the foreigner do something wrong? Does being born in Malaysia automatically give one the right to lead a better life than those born in Indonesia and Bangladesh?

I currently work for a decent wage and I believe I do my job fairly well. However, if someone else came to compete for my job, would I demand to keep it based on my nationality, gender or race? I won’t. I will double my efforts and show my employer why I am better than anyone else.

Failing that, I will happily cede my position to whoever is better than me. There is absolutely no reason why my nationality should even be an issue to consider!

I can understand why some people can feel threatened or displeased with immigration, but I would urge them to resist that xenophobic tendency. I recently read an American professor explain that since the 1600s, each batch of immigrants to America has tried to keep the next batch of immigrants out.

What a condemnation of human nature that we cannot live at peace with people different from us. If we could only look beyond where someone was born and embrace the diversity that has been bestowed upon us.

My hope is that Brazil recognises just how lucky he/she is to be born in Singapore and how priviledged it is to share one’s country with the rest of the world. True, Singapore like any country is not paradise. But it certainly is much better than most parts of the world.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/107464

Sigh! If only I’m privy to the Immigration Authority’s database….the status of a certain Malaysian Chinese seeking PR here ……….. the ingratiating panting of canis lupis familiaris is the same on both sides of the Causeway .

my take is very simple…the malaysian chinese needs a “Moses” to lead them out of “captivity”…and who better fits the bill…other than a nemesis of Mahathir! Not as if they like him…get real!

#5 patriot

“he is prepared to turn and rise from his grave”

I see you’d like to have a zombie as our MM…

Cultural Diversities in a cultural desert ?

To relax and go slow is lazy ?

Not to chase after $$$s equals lazy and stupid ?

Not to modernize equals non-progressive ??

Each to his own ideas of living.

I content that one, never satisfied with money and glory
will die with plenty of greeds unfulfilled.

But regrets aplenty !

patriot

To all Malaysians who love LKY, you have obviously lost your heads.

to me , both are about the same. maybe lky happened to be in the right place right time. time will tell storey of how leadership turned out to be.

so we just wait and see how it ends.

Dr M a saint? Careful now, I wonder if Islam allows for saint worship. Both LKY and Dr M are in the same boat, if you ask me, just that they are sitting back to back from each other and looking at two different sceneries. One prefers to look Northward while the other Southward.

LKY was just luckier that he was able to garner support from the older citizens to help build his dream Singapore.

Malaysia and Malaysians, if they are so fond of LKY could also do the same. Just support someone who can dream, never mind if it is Dr M, or Badawi, Or Najib or Anwar or Mat Salleh. It makes no difference who is up there. It is those at the bottom rungs who are the ones who will make any dream come true.

It therefore sickens me that ever so often we hear praises being heaped upon one man, when it is clear that the Singapore dream was made possible by the blood, sweat, tears and one collective belief of a whole generation of Singaporeans.

To our Malaysian citizens, please do not just love one man, but love ALL Singaporeans, especially the older Singaporeans, who have shown to the world what an illiterate population could do with pure will-power and belief. They are the ones who deserve all the credit, not LKY.

I begged to differ that being born in Sinkapore is lucky. We have no choice or say where we are going to be born. That’s the sad truth. Although I was born in Sinkapore, I had only stayed there for a short period of my life. I completed my NS as required by law and I voted with my feet soon after. My recent visit were related to family funerals if not I would have arrange for my family to join me in England. I went as far as buying a six bed rooms house to accomodate them. But sadly that was not to be. Life move on. However, for those who are still in Sinkapore, don’t forget to use your vote come the genral election. If time permit I may use my one vote to show I am serious about what I said. For those Malaysian Chinese, although the grass may looked greener on the other side of the garden,the reality of life in Sinkapore is not what it seem. Stay where you are.