TR EMERITUS

world-comes-full-circle: July 3, 2014 at 11:41 am  (Quote) Years ago when I was working around Raffles Place, I’d would occasionally come across J.B. Jeyeratnam peddling his books there. As I watched him, I could see many well-dressed Singaporeans walk by JBJ without batting an eyelid. They simply ignored him. Once I saw JBJ walking alone in town, he looked old & worn – all hunched with stooping shoulders from his political battles. I felt sad that no one took him seriously in politics! I also saw Chee Soon Juan at Raffles Place doing the same thing – selling books! Same thing happened, Singaporeans simply walk by without any interest! From my own observation, I knew Singaporeans were apathetic about politics – so long as their rice-bowl is filled & protected – who cares? As the Internet became accessible, websites that was popular then were Singapore Window & Sammyboy forum. Some forummers criticized JBJ & CSJ & denigrated them as if they were so smart – while JBJ & CSJ were fools. Today, the tide has turned! JBJ must be laughing in his shoes! While JBJ was trying to sell books in Raffles Place, Singaporeans have been reduced to selling tissue packs at hawker centres & coffee shops. The once mighty shirt-&-tie brigade at Raffles Place now reduced to driving taxis or guarding condominiums as security guards. That was most humbling! Singaporeans are now paying the price of their political apathy. What if they had then stop & listen to JBJ – the future would have been different. PMEs of those years are now paying the price of ignoring JBJ & CSJ – They thought the good times would last forever but now, PMEs are paying the bills of political apathy with no jobs for them! This govt. doesn’t care! * * * * * * * Change We Must: July 3, 2014 at 12:23 pm  (Quote) I keep quiet and support the Singapore system because I am comfortable and still hold a job. My family live well and happy, hack care about those jobless complaints. I still support the government policies as it is not my business. One day an axe falls on me and I am left jobless because of foreigners taking over my job. I applied for hundred of jobs, no one care to reply and I approached the government for help as I need to feed my family. They are staving now and very unhappy. Nothing heard from the government agencies, what to so, I approach Gilbert for help and publish my predicaments. Dear all employed Singaporeans, do you want to wait till the axe fall on you then you cry mother and cry father. Start helping your fellow Singaporeans and press the government to change policies that are disadvantages to Singaporeans. If they don’t response, show them your vote.They promise to change in the last election and apologize to Singaporeans but did they fulfill their promises? Are we better off or are we worst off today? Not careful they are going to increase the population to 6.9M. * * * * * * * Globetrotter: July 3, 2014 at 1:39 pm  (Quote) You have my sympathy but this is the harsh truth which perhaps us Singaporeans have been sheltered from for far too long. Notice also your first instinct when things go awry – you turn immediately to the govt civil service jobs. It is cruel but the first thing is to wake up from the delusion that the govt is our loving parent – it is not. They are not obliged to ensure you get a job with them. Rather, they see the relationship in far more practical terms. In real life, you are going to encounter people who don’t play by the rules. The job competition will always be stiff. There is no such thing that as a PMET, you will be entitled to an comfy executive position. You will always have to fight tooth, nails and claws to get the position. And there always will be hungry, younger, competitors – both local and foreign – just waiting for the opportunity to take over. The only way to stay relevant is to continue to work hard and show value added-ness. And learn how to protect yourself. Do not expect the govt to be your nanny! Yes, we know one issue is the govt contributed to your screwing by allowing all and sundry to flood Sg and not setting up sufficiently robust policies and labour protection regulations in place. Do not blame the govt – after all, us Singaporeans have been giving them the mandate for the past ~50 years. Of course they will continue with what they are doing cos nobody slap them in the face. Don’t think it is the responsibility of the opposition to be the co-driver to slap the main driver. Only the citizen voter can deliver a real slap to wake them up. So the gist is - it is our personal responsibility to make things happen and stay concerned if we want improvement. Nobody else owes us a living, we got to fight for that. After all, life is not meant to be a box of chocolates. Stop being a Sinkie sheep – must learn to butt heads so the Collies and herders don’t force us where we don’t want it be.   * Comments appeared in: Ominous situation warning from a S’porean PMET    Read More →

阿斗总理怎能够和他老豆攀比呢？李光耀铁腕邪风，损在他手里的能人不知凡几。为了维护名誉，也不知打了多少“诽谤”官司。但是， 我相信李光耀本人是知道的，就是他虽然总是“赢”了官司。然而，是不是就“赢”回了名誉，应该是心里有数。不是吗？若不是心里无底，怎么就会“番颠”到凭 空抛出了个“人力车夫高长古”呢？ 李光耀的“名誉”如何？在全都是政联公司背景下的主流报章和网络新媒体之间，构筑了一个最奇特的现象 -- 那就是前者的白天和后者的黑夜。就是嘛，除了新加坡，还想象不出能有一个“怪胎” -- 就是想要在主流媒体上找到一两句李光耀的坏话，真是千难万难。然而，反过来，你想要在没有执政党背景的私人网络读到几句赞赏李光耀的文字，好像也不简单。 李显龙终于也走上了李光耀的老路，不只是FIX反对党，还FIX起人民来了。只是，这控告博客鄞义林“诽谤”的案子，能够挽回李总理的“名誉”损失吗？我真的很怀疑！ 除非鄞义林将所有的被指责“诽谤”的博文重新贴出来，并且收回自己的道歉。不然的话，他甚至可能在法庭发言的机会也没有。因此，没有一个新加坡人会“怀疑” 李总理会打“输”了官司。不仅是新加坡没有这个“前例”，就是鄞义林本人，在网络筹款的目的，也只是为了筹集律师费和可能必须“赔偿”李总理“名誉损失” 的数额 -- 只因为目前官司的纠结，其实只是等待法官的判决，就是李总理“名誉”的金钱价值。 虽然说有本事的人未必就能赚大钱，但是赚大钱的人必然有本事，因此，能力与黄金挂钩，在道理上还输得过去。只是嘛，这名誉以金钱来衡量，却总是有别扭。然而，这才让我想通了。不是有句成语叫“沽名钓誉”吗？ 李总理的“名誉”的价值有待法官“估计”，虽然很引起新加坡人的兴趣。但是，上面种种，其实不是我这篇日志的重点。我想到的，是刘程强当年和早报吴新迪的争执。 “名誉”其实就是“信誉”。今时今日，新加坡主流媒体还有什么“信誉”可持吗，真叫人怀疑。刘程强对媒体不公报道的几句牢骚，就引来了吴新迪《别把主流媒体当箭靶子》的反击。可见这人还照顾着脸皮的。可是，鄞义林的博客文章风波，却告诉我们一个事实 -- 那就是新加坡的主流媒体，还有脸皮吗？ 不是吗？李总理和网民打官司，就同狮子和蚂蚁较力没有区别。这种势力悬殊、情节激烈、戏剧性极强到足以登上报刊封面案件，竟然在主流媒体抵制之下都作了冷处 理。没有人敢问李总理到底是哪方面的“名誉”被影射就罢了。试想，竟然也没有记者访问一下鄞义林为啥跟李总理过不去？为啥对CPF穷根究底？为啥肯作出如 此巨大的牺牲，失业、官司缠身也在所不惜？ 这又让我想到徐顺全！比较起来，鄞义林是幸运得多了，网络让他维护了自己发言的权利，不仅让主流媒体失去了“抹粪、抹黑”的机会，还弄得主流媒体一起齐喑。 哈哈，哈哈，哈哈，在大笑三声之后，我不禁也为徐顺全生不逢辰，当年被主流媒体大力鞭阀，却没有一锥之地借足、无从还击的凄凉境地叹息。 . 黑马非马 http://malaysia-chinese.net/luntan  Read More →

In a joint statement today (4 Jul), IDA and MOM confirmed that 3 of the 1,560 SingPass accounts compromised last month were used to make six fraudulent work pass applications. The statement said that MOM immediately cancelled the work passes upon discovery of the fraudulent applications. It added MOM has put in place "additional measures to strengthen and further safeguard its work pass transactions". "We thank the affected SingPass users for their assistance in helping us confirm that the applications were not made by them. The matter has now been referred to the police," the statement said. The IDA filed a police report on 3 Jun last month alleging that 1,560 SingPass users have had their IDs and passwords accessed without their permission. IDA was notified on 2 Jun by the SingPass operator, CrimsonLogic, that a number of users had received a SingPass password reset notification letter, although they had not requested for a password change. IDA’s own investigations showed that 1,560 users’ IDs and passwords were potentially accessed, of which 419 passwords were reset. Password reset notification letters were then sent to the registered address of SingPass account holders. IDA is currently enhancing the SingPass system, which will be ready by the third quarter of 2015. It will also introduce further measures such as two-factor authentication for e-government transactions, particularly for those involving sensitive data, the statement said today. SingPass operator, CrimsonLogic is majority-owned by IE Singapore. The rest of the shareholders are split among SingTel and public sector agencies like the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. In 2005, CrimsonLogic’s then CEO Velusamy Mathivanan and 3 other senior executives were charged with corruption. Velusamy Mathivanan, along with his vice president of trade and logistics, financial controller and general counsel, were charged in court for offering a bribe of $35,000 to Matthias Tan, IT head of supermarket chain Carrefour. In return, Tan agreed to recommend the IT services provider to his management for an e-supply chain contract worth $400,000. However, they were acquitted in December 2006. The current CEO is Saw Ken Wye who was born in Kuala Lumpur and intends to become a Singaporean soon [Link]. Mr Saw has been working in Singapore since 1983 [Link]. During an interview last year, he said, “We need to grow faster but not at the expense of productivity. We have about 1,000 people now. So each employee is contributing about $100,000, which is not great. We need to raise this a bit more.” He said that he is likely to add 500 staff to the firm’s 1,000-strong headcount.    Read More →