TR EMERITUS

I am both an Economics as well as Statistics student. Although I am more specialized and focused in Economics, but I have great learning from my Statistics lectures as well. When experts were throwing lots of differing opinions around with regards to this Coronavirus crisis, I will always do a reality check with the numbers and statistics available currently. When some experts started to say that Universal Masking is not effective, less effective or even useless, I will point to the fact that for places which have Universal Masking, whether strictly imposed or people taking their own initiatives to do so, are fairing much better than those cities or countries, especially the Western Countries in terms of infections and death rate. The prominent examples are Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, which are the EARLIEST FIRST Three places which were hit by the spread of this Coronavirus from Wuhan. They have controlled and contained the virus extremely well in spite of the proximity to China, the hotbed of this pandemic. Whoever wants to dispute the effectiveness of Universal Masking, would have to look hard at these figures as a comparison to the Western countries. Hong Kong, in fact, has one of the highest population density and together with a close proximity to China, is the most vulnerable city outside Mainland China. But it has contained the spread of the virus extremely well. It has controlled its borders, implement social distancing and its people have effect Universal Masking on their own initiative. These are hard facts and figures which any serious scientist or experts, can never ignore. The Western Experts believe in "Herd Immunity" but at what cost? This pandemic has given us an interesting REAL WORLD experience and opportunity to study the contrast between the effectiveness of different methodologies and approaches towards managing any similar Coronavirus pandemic in future. We have a diverse approaches and methods used by different countries and we could have a good data set to do meaningful comparison studies. There are countries who believe in Herd Immunity and chose to do very minimum in containing this virus. No Social Distancing, No Physical Distancing, No Universal Masking... and they suffered heavy casualties with huge infection numbers. Sweden suffered the most. England did a U Turn halfway when the casualties are too huge for them to tolerate. These are REAL LIFE case studies, not some arty airy theories. Lives were at stake. I acknowledge that there are trade offs and we could do better in taking calculated risks with more knowledge of this virus. Lock down will mean Economy and livelihoods of people and society will suffer. Social Distancing will result in mental heath issues. I would agree that we should start to shift towards Physical Distancing instead of maintaining Social Distancing for the sake of our mental health. I would even agree that we should open up our Economy BUT this should be done with proper preparations. Prevention and Disinfection methods should be made sustainable, Safe, effective and easily implementable. The problem is, while Taiwan, Hong Kong and even China have made good preparations for getting their Economy to jump start again, Singapore is lagging far behind. This problem lies with PAP's weak and incompetent leadership.   Goh Meng Seng      Read More →

It is not an exaggeration to say that there is growing, palpable discontent and frustration on the ground, about how the COVID-19 crisis is being handled. Much of the anger is directed at the inconsistencies in policies. On one hand, we want to ensure safe distancing, so we cannot meet friends. Yet on the other hand, crowds are allowed on public transport. Pictures of Minister Khaw removing safe distancing stickers from the MRT certainly do not help. The message that is sent out is inconsistent and often confusing. Supermarkets like NTUC are crowded, and yet budget stores where we get our toothpaste and other essentials are not allowed to open. You cannot blame us for wondering how policymakers decide which establishments can open and which cannot. We want to reopen the economy slowly for safety reasons, therefore only some services can resume after the circuit breaker. Restaurants still cannot open to diners; beauty and wellness services remain closed. The reason, we are told, is that beauty services are not essential. Yet, on the other hand, people are allowed to spend three hours in a hair salon getting their hair dyed and permed. Candy stores are allowed to open. 50% discounts are abound in some stores so everyone is rushing to buy chocolates. What is the logic in that? Schools have reopened. School children are now congregating back at schools. Yet we are not even allowed to see our relatives. I dearly miss my niece and nephew, my auntie, my close friends whom I consider my family. I cannot bear a situation where we are penalized and kept apart even longer because clusters start breaking out from schools and on public transport. Meanwhile, orr parents cannot come to our homes, but we can visit them, 2 at a time. What is the logic in that? And what difference does it make whether it is 2 people or 4 people if we all come from the same household? We rejoiced when the fortitude budget announced that charities now enjoy a 1 for 1 match of up to $250,000 in donations from Tote Board. However shortly after that we found out that we do not qualify because we have applied for a previous, similar program. What is the point then of announcing this initiative, if another one was already present? We prided ourselves so much in not having to shut down the economy when COVID-19 first started in January to March 2020. However, we now seem to have swung the other way. We all wish we had more time to spare, but the economy cannot wait. Singapore is bracing for it's worst-ever recession, and many companies are expected to close. My friend who runs a buffet restaurant told me that four years of hard work has gone down the drain in just three months. We know that the situation is evolving rapidly. We understand how difficult the situation is for policymakers to have to make split-second decisions. We understand that it is a difficult line to tow. Whatever policy is made, there will be people on the other side who are unhappy. However, policy makers need to give more thought into making policies which are consistent and fair. All Singaporeans want the same thing. We want Singapore to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis as safely as possible. We stand united, and in solidarity. However bit by bit, our confidence is being eroded. I wish so much, to once again feel the immense pride of being a Singaporean, as I did at the beginning of the year, when Singapore handled the crisis swiftly and decisively.   Siew Tuck Wah * The author is medical doctor who runs the Radium Medical Aesthetics clinic.      Read More →

I’ve often argued that the human race has an incredible talent of finding areas of differences, there is one unfortunate factor that seems to unite the world. That unfortunate factor is the inability to view anyone of a darker skin tone as a normal human being. Racism, particularly in the West, is currently a “Black-versus-White” issue. The murder of George Floyd, an African-American at the hands a “white” police officer on video ignited many years of pent-up anger that the Western world’s “black” population has had from years of laws that were designed to keep them down and when those laws were abolished, the fact that prejudices that lingered were for many parts accepted. Unfortunately, the issue of racism is neither limited to a case of “blacks-versus-whites” nor is it limited to the Western world. In America, there is the undiscussed issue of “Asian-Black” relations. This was first seen in the 1992 LA Riots (caused by the beating of a black man by White Police officers and the subsequent acquittal of the police officers despite the evidence), when the city’s black population tried to loot stores owned by America’s Korean population. In the most recent incident, it was a cop of Asian decent who looked away while his “white” colleague murdered Mr. Floyd. More can be found at: [LINK] Like it or not, Asians who have settled in the Western world have not been helpful to the issues faced by the black communities. The reason for this is simple, the Asian inability to see the suffering of other minorities in the West is the very thing that makes Asians valued immigrants – material success. In America, they’re known as the “model-minority,” or the poor migrants who arrive with nothing and within a generation are part of the educated professional class (so much so that the Old Rogue, used to say “If American universities really admitted by merit, there wouldn’t be a single round eye). In Britain, Asians, particularly the Chinese were well regarded as the group that stuck to its corner, prospered (no state handouts) and avoided contentious politics. My stepfather, who works in a hospital in Germany says that unlike many of the other minorities, the “Yellow People,” never went onto German welfare. This same sentiment was echoed by Finnish friends who stated that Japanese and Vietnamese were welcome because they worked hard and kept to themselves. As an Asian, who grew up in the West, I felt proud that “my people” came to the West with nothing and built something. While this achievement of Asian communities in the west is a good thing, it blinds “us” to the realities to the harsh realities of other communities. When the Black talk about social justice after screwed by the history of slavery, the Asians shrugged with the “so what, we were once poor and made it out – what’s wrong with you,” mentality. Yes, we were fresh off the boat but we didn’t have the conditioning that many American blacks suffered. Contrary to what Ben Carson would argue – slaves were not immigrants. Being a “model minority,” has given the Asian communities a false sense of security in the status quo and many Asians forget that they too once benefited from the struggles of the African American Community as this clip from the comedian Hassan Minhaj explains. The situation that “dark-skinned” people face is not exactly prejudice free in Asia too. One of the biggest examples of how Asian people are proving to b as awful was from an infamous ad from China, which showed a black man approaching a Chinese girl, who then shoves him into a washing machine, where he emerges Chinese and therefore desirable. With attitudes like these, it’s not surprising that the Chinese in Africa are often regarded as arrogant arseholes (sure, unlike the Western Colonial powers before, there’s no lecture on human rights, but the Chinese are far from liberating heroes). Over here in Chinese majority, Singapore, we claim to be “multi-racial.” Unfortunately, beneath the lovely exterior, it is politically acceptable to endorse racism. The official line is that, “Singapore’s majority Chinese population is not yet ready for a non-Chinese Prime Minister,” even if the one politician with global credentials and accepted by all races is a non-Chinese. While it was heartening to see many Singaporeans (including the Chinese ones) open up their hearts and wallets to foreign workers as cases of Covid-19 erupted in the dormitories, an unhealthy number thought nothing of denigrating dark skinned labourers who were doing the work they wouldn’t do. The only salivation for the Chinese race in this respect is that it’s not the only race in Asia with an issue with the dark skinned. The Indians (many of whom are dark skinned, particularly in the South) also have a strange fixation with trying to get fairer. Take a look at this commercial, staring Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan, which while not as obvious as the Chinese detergent ad, isn’t exactly subtle in its messaging: [LINK] The message is clear. Fair equals handsome, hence if you’re a guy who wants to pick up girls, you invest in skin whitener. I think of one of my best friends, who is a good looking Nepali, who takes great pride in the beauty of his kids because ….they’ve got his colour. I’d go as far as to argue that it’s almost worse than in the West. While the Western worlds are erupting into violence on the streets, the problems are clear cut. Blacks are clearly being screwed over by the system, particularly the police force. While America is the focus, I’m old enough to remember when the Algerians rioted in Paris and when the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Found Police forces in the UK to have major issues with race. Sure, current leadership hasn’t helped. However, these are problems that can be solved with the obvious – i.e. legislation, money and so on. In Asia, its almost as if the prejudice against the dark skinned is part of accepted culture. Let’s go back to “fair and handsome.” Think of it, it’s probably not meant to be racist against dark skinned people. It’s just an accepted fact that fair automatically gets equated with handsome. I remember my late grandmother telling me, “These Indian girls are actually pretty – it’s just that they’re dark.” Changing culture will take time. I think the obvious is to encourage mixed race marriages (or as one Jewish guy said “My dick is not racist”). This will be particularly tough, especially when you consider that most Asian marriages are about families as much as the individuals. Yet, as the Western situation has shown, the prejudice against dark skinned people has to be eradicated to a level where dark skinned people don’t feel that it’s the natural order of things for them to be screwed. Both the West and Asia need to re look at the way they treat the dark skinned. It’s not just a black and white issue but a human issue that needs to be addressed. Racism and ancient prejudices don’t have a place in the modern world.   Tang Li *Although I’ve been based mainly in Singapore for nearly two decades, I’ve had the privilege of being able meet people who have crossed borders and cultures. I’ve befriended ministers and ambassadors and worked on projects involving a former head of state. Yet, at the same time, I’ve had the privilege of befriending migrant labourers and former convicts. All of them have a story to tell. All of them add to the fabric of life. I hope to express the stories that inspire us to create life as it should be.      Read More →