TR EMERITUS

Even though the definition of Stillbirth has changed since 2022 and this makes it somewhat incomparable to previous years of 2021 and 2020 but comparison between 2023 and 2022 will still give us a shocking result. It's a 32% increase year on year! We are already facing a low birth numbers and yet, perinatal mortality and stillbirths are increasing. The advancement of medicine should have reduced such unfortunate premature deaths. This is especially so MOH is so concerned about pregnant women during CV time and strongly encouraged them to take those jabs even during pregnancy! Such great move by MOH should have prevented higher Stillbirths and perinatal mortality! But what happened is the exact opposite? Where are the Experts who were pushing the jabs for pregnant women? Can they please explain? 2020 and 2021 were the period where CV was most deadly with Alpha and Delta variants resulting a lot more deaths and hospitalization. However, perinatal mortality and stillbirths were relatively stable. Although the Jabs were introduced in early 2021, but the aggressive push for the jabs came only in the later part of 2021 where the "experts" used some strange study to justify it's "safe and effective" for pregnancy. Well maybe the only "consolation" we have now is that many other countries are also facing similar situation of higher perinatal mortality and stillbirths along with unusually high Excess Deaths (any variation beyond 5% is statistically considered unusual and significant). It could just be blamed as "World Trend" due to some silly reasons like "climate change". Nevermind if these countries also coincidentally have relatively high jab rates. Well, no Experts will be interested in finding out what happened. The sandpits make better pillow for good sleep.   Goh Meng Seng    Read More →

It’s complicated. But justice took a predictable turn with this marriage. It’s short-lived. They lived together in Singapore for only 12 months, in total. She is 40. He is 58. He is a widower and a Singaporean. She is a Taiwanese. They met thru a dating agency in Taiwan. He earned more than $66k a month and she came here with a degree in costume design. She didn’t work here. They married in Dec 2019. She could not adapt and left 10 months later. It reports that she received about $19,300 and she came back for two months. She then left for good in May 2021. The husband filed the divorce papers last year (2023). It’s predictable because she got what a short marriage deserves: a lump sum maintenance of $5000. And she was also unrepresented. The judge remarked that she made a “feeble attempt” to contest the divorce. I guess the chips fall where your enthusiasm lies. What is also predictable is the allegations on both sides. The husband at 58 “longed for a supportive and peaceful relationship in (his) sunset years after being widowed, and this short-lived marriage has caused (him) much grief.” He also alleged that she admitted that she was bored, and not keen to do housework, captured in a recorded text message. She also made numerous attempts to ask for money. On top of that $19,300 to lure her back, he also gave her $300 to $400 a month in allowance. For a millionaire, with a net worth of more than $6m, who earns $66k monthly, this appears to be pocket change. And I am rather surprised she still have to do housework. Anyway, the wife has her side of the story. Curiously, the husband tendered unsworn statements of her allegations against him that he “treated her like an unpaid maid and sex slave.” She also asserts that “she was bullied by the man and his two adult children.” The judge however preferred the man’s evidence. Lesson? One. We will never know, right? It’s largely a case of “he said, she said”. There may be more to their story that is not fleshed out. Such case makes for juicy water-cooler gossip. I can picture the headline: Rich man looking for love but love was not looking. There is also a rather surprising marriage advice from the judge too. He wrote: “Fifty-eight is hardly sunset; it is more like mid-afternoon, so there should be no rush in looking for wife No. 3.” I guess at 54, I am after lunch, enjoying a siesta. For Anna, at 49, it’s lunchtime. I suppose sunset is a state of mind, not the age. You can be young at heart, at whatever age. Or, you can be young, but burdened by the anxieties of an old soul, looking for a lifelong companion the second or third time round. Not everyone is first-time lucky. Or, it may be that the first-time-lucky ones have to accept fate when their good fortune has run its course. Be that as it may, young or old at heart, we are all looking for love - although some “enlightened” young ones reading this would rather focus on something more controllable. Maybe that search is like taking the driving test. Some of us ace it the first time. They then take a ride of our life, overcoming the long journey together, towards our sunset. Others mount the kerb and its immediate failure. Or, they try the course, holding steadfast to the steering wheel, but the points after tallying just doesn’t add up. They flunked, and need to go for a second test. Others might have to go for their third or fourth. I know of a friend who took the driving test more than 10 times. The last time I heard, she was taking public transport. The biting reality is, some of us may have to take public transport for the rest of their life (pls…it is just a metaphor. I take the train to work). Some first love lasts a lifetime. Some have to wait for the second or third, to last the rest of their life. For the rare ones, love just escapes them, whether it’s first, second or third. I know I am not stating much here. It’s more of a lamentation, than anything that’s value-added. But, I guess my takeaway is in the judge’s words, “58 is more like mid-afternoon, so there should be no rush in looking for wife No. 3.” The personal message for me is, Anna and I are still young. Let’s not take our shared lives and the kids for granted. The only perfect marriage is in the memories we build together to keep us going. It’s the journey we take thru the valleys that makes for a whole picture. So, while the sun is still shining, from the distant horizon, cherish and nourish the bond. It may just be your only enduring fortune in your storied search for a lifelong companion.   Michael Han The author blogs on Facebook.    Read More →

More than a hundred people have reportedly been killed and 700 others injured in Gaza today, after Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinian civilians gathering at an aid distribution point. Hungry civilians swarmed newly arrived aid trucks to get food, when Israeli tanks and drones started shooting at them in western Gaza. The enclave's health ministry said the total death toll in Gaza has surpassed 30,000 since the war began last October.    Read More →