TR EMERITUS

Whoever wrote the article for the Temasek Review is not of importance. He could be a mercenary writer or someone who had been deceived into believing that ‘the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’. Before proceeding, I would like to correct the writer’s oversight, “Lee’s ruling PAP has won 10 consecutive elections from 1959 till 2006, a feat not seen or achieved in any other democracies in the world”. Is he implying that Malaysia is not a democratic country or he simply lost his memory? How many elections UMNO and associates have won? For all his diatribes against Dr Mahathir, Badawi and Najib, Lim should consider himself fortunate that he is still able to speak his mind relatively freely in Malaysia. Lee would never tolerate such public show of dissent against him”. Does he not know that Malaysian leaders after Hussein Onn have had so many skeletons to hide? Taking the opposition to court may open up a can full of worms and like it or not, keeping ‘mum’ is the better part of valour. After all, Malaysians are a forgetful lot. Come election time, my poor relative in the village will again vote for the ruling party even though the PPRT home promised by the UMNO politicians during the last election campaign will remain just that.  As an ordinary Malaysian who have no education or background in politics, and who still believe that ‘politics is the root of all evil’, I would like to share my experience of seeing life on both sides of the Causeway. From 1965 until 1978, I was with the Royal Malaysian Navy based in Singapore. Being an impatient young man that I was, I could not avoid committing minor traffic offences. One particular case was overtaking a slow moving tractor on a stretch of double line on the way to Sembawang. In my haste to reach the destination, I did not realize there was a police car waiting in ambush. As I was flagged down a couple of kilometers away, I was ready for the worst. Two policemen, one Malay and the other a Chinese came out of their car ready to issue traffic summons. After listening to my reason, and to my relief, they let me go with an advice “Don’t do it again”.   After I left RMN, and representing my employer during an expo at Changkat Pavilion in August 1978, I went inside to inspect the booth, leaving my car properly parked outside a locked gate. When I returned a few minutes later, a Malay policeman waited beside my car with his book and pen. With the same politeness that I used when I was in Singapore, I showed him my ‘pass’ bearing my name, designation and company hoping that he could understand the reason why I was there.  His reply is all too familiar now “Kalau saya saman, encik boleh kena denda…” Although the incident happened during the holy month of Ramadan, it did not deter the policeman from instantly reducing the cash in my wallet. Many of my Chinese and Indian friends who opted to leave after serving the minimum of thirteen years (they were the neglected lot with brains) preferred to work in Singapore instead of seeking employment in Malaysia. One of them, an Indian, is now a wealthy marine businessman. While in Singapore, I used to visit an Indian family in Jalan Hikayat, Sembawang. He was a state engineer in Negeri Sembilan and a devout Hindu. Realizing that he will have to ‘sacrifice’ his principle to survive in his country of birth, he decided to migrate to Singapore. Soon after, he was parting his knowledge to the youths of his adopted country, lecturing in Singapore Polytechnic. His wife, a Perakian and a Kirby-trained teacher was also parting her knowledge to the children of Singapore. A big loss to Malaysia My Chinese neighbour has been driving taxi in Singapore for the last twenty years. In spite of the island’s strict law enforcement on errant taxi drivers, he is content to ply Singapore roads instead of driving on the streets of Kuala Lumpur where lawlessness is the order of the day. He travels by bus every other week to Singapore and makes enough money to support his family in Malaysia. In retrospect, how many Singaporeans are working in Malaysia or have migrated to this country which, according to the writer is better off than his country of birth? I was in Singapore when it introduced the anti littering campaign in 1968. It was so effective that not even a matchstick can be found in public places. The habit of keeping used matchsticks in its box, cultivated out of sheer no-nonsense enforcement by the authority in Singapore stuck with me for the rest of my smoking life (I have stopped smoking many years ago). When Dr Mahathir lambasted city hall for failure to keep Jalan Bukit Bintang clean during the visit of a state head in the nineties, I could not help but compare the way laws are enforced in both countries. In Singapore, a lone policeman can act on wrong doers because the element of fear simply does not exist. In Malaysia, policemen may face possible reprimand or end up manning remote outposts if they prosecute the ‘wrong group’ of law breakers. There are so many ‘untouchables’ that fair law enforcement is virtually impossible. In Singapore, how long does it take to clear consignments from the airport or the port? Compare the time needed to get things done here, right from the customs to the SIRIM, you will soon realize that proper documentations alone are still insufficient to clear consignments on schedule. More often than not, you have to resort to unethical approach to get things done on time.         Singaporeans slog hard day in and out for their entire lives just to earn enough money to pay for inflated public housing after which they are probably left with little money for their retirement”. Not only Singaporeans, but the underprivileged Malaysians are also slogging for a decent living. My children who have all graduated from the local university are slogging to pay PTPTN loans and the ever increasing prices of daily needs. If I had the right connections, they would have been awarded scholarships on silver platters. So much for being a Bumiputera. The list of improprieties is much longer than the opposite. To the writer of Temasek Review, do not blame your countrymen who are content to be governed by a no nonsense government that believed in clean environment and clean governance. Most Malaysians would not want to try the uncertainties of a new government if the present can give us hope for a better future. As it is, we are groping in a long dark tunnel with no end in sight.    Retired Malaysian FT  Read More →

Due to the bright idea of some clown of a minister who believes that local banks have to merge and globalized to survive, DBS Bank took over control of POSB Bank in the late 1998. As one opposition leader put it, it was the mother of all bank ‘mergers’. So what was the result of this merger to POSB depositors? To rationalized and prevent duplication of services, one by one POSB Banks branches were closed, so were the ATM outlets; they get fewer and fewer. As there were too many accounts with little or minimal money in it, penalty charges was imposed to ensured minimum sum are available in each account. In the end, what does all that meant to depositors? It was obvious, more time and cost incurred as individuals have to travel further to get to these services. To this date as a depositor of POSB Bank, l had yet to see any benefit to myself from this mother of all ‘mergers’. AS DBS Bank gets bigger with more resource from the merger it starts to venture oversea to ‘survive and compete’ and sadly also to incurred major losses such as their investment in Thailand. Of course, as a big International bank it also need international talents to manage its operations, to bring in fresh new ideas and new products to the market place. Herein lies the big follies of these jokers, they bring in new products from where they come from, products nobody would touch in their home country, but trusting, gullible locals swallow it hook, line and sinkers with their life saving and lost it all. Banks have always being consider as one of the safest place to park one’s money, but since the Lehman Brothers debacle, one can also include them as one of the quickest place to lost one’s hard earned money; faster than gambling in the casino of the IR Resorts. As for DBS Bank, since their High Notes 5 structure product screw up, and with a new CEO full of fresh new ideas of rejuvenating the POSB bank; can we, the locals see more POSB branches and ATM outlets in the heartland and also waiver of the penalty charges on minimum sum in our bank passbook?  Back to square one on our banking reform?   Aik T C  Read More →

OPINION Since a 52 year old relief cabby was charged in court two weeks ago for offending his "higher mortal" holier-than-thou and whiter-than-white PAP MP Lee Yi-Shyan during his Meet-the-People session at Bedok, we have received a deluge of letters from concerned readers expressing their worries and fears that they may end up in the same predicament if they have an unfortunate slip of tongue when meeting their PAP MPs. For the welfare of our readers, we have compiled a simple guide for you to follow if you need to meet your PAP MP at his/her Meet-the-People sessions in the future. 1. Prepare yourself mentally: Have ZERO expectations Before you meet your PAP MP, you should prepare yourself mentally that whatever request you asked for is unlikely to be granted. Contrary to popular belief, your PAP MP is not there to "serve" you at all. He/she is only the "Tua Pek Kong" of your constituency. In other words, he/she is just there for the purpose of formality only and is NOT obliged to help you in anything. Do not expect any help from your PAP MP. You are just there to try your luck, get it? 2. Jot down your requests on a piece of paper Please do not overwhelm your PAP MP with endless questions, complaints and requests for assistance. Jot them down in point form one by one so that you will know exactly what to say when you meet him/her. Please spare some thought for your poor PAP MP who still have to meet countless lesser mortals like you after a long day work. He/she is probably too tired to remember the details of your complaints, so keep whatever you have to say short and sweet. 3. Bring along your NRIC and a book: Registration for most Meet-the-People sessions begin at 7pm. Please remember to bring your NRIC for registration and any other relevant documents. Your PAP MP will usually arrive only one to two hours later and so bring along a book or newspaper to spend the time there when waiting. Patience is not a virtue of many Singaporeans, but please bear in mind that you are there because you are in need of your PAP MP's help and not the other way round. 4. Do not expect to meet your PAP MP Do not be surprised or angry if your PAP MP is not on duty or he/she is unable to make it for the session in the last minute and is replaced by a senior grassroots leader. If you die-die have to meet the MP, then return another day or otherwise you can reflect your concerns to the grassroots leader. After all, the typing of the letters and liaison with other government agencies are usually done by the grassroots leaders. All the PAP MP does it to sign his/her name on the paper. 5. Basic etiquette when you meet the MP Do not kowtow to your ultra-sensitive PAP MP in case he/she thinks you are up to something funny. On entering the room, give a deep bow and greet him/her before taking your seat. Try to avoid eye contact when in front of the MP. Some people have a fierce gaze and the MP may mistake that as a sign of intimidation. Your PAP MP may sound curt, rude or even downright callous in his/her tone. Regardless of what he/she says, you should nod your head in agreement and not respond.  The session will usually end in a few minutes and you should stand up and bow to your MP again before taking your leave. Remember: don't open your mouth unless it is really necessary or your MP may misinterpret your intention and feel threatened. Lastly, please keep in mind (print it out if you have to) the three PAP mantras before you decide to jeopardize your livelihood by meeting your PAP MP: 1. Singaporeans are champion grumblers. 2. You die your business! 3. We are deaf to all criticisms!     Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →