TR EMERITUS

“I do not have a spare”, remarks PM Lee when asked about his succession plan at the recent Bloomberg News Forum, where he had earlier stated that he has “put two of his potential successors onto the Covid-19 task force to see how they do.” When John Micklethwait, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News likened it to a Squid Game, where contestants compete and eliminate one another to win, Lee was asked if he has any idea how they are performing and if he is thinking of eliminating or continuing with them. I am surprised as to why Lee did not object when our pandemic fight was likened to a Squid Game and seen as part of his succession planning. You see, if his shortlisted successors are actually allowed to fight each other like in the Squid Game while our country is struggling in its war against the pandemic, aren’t their infightings tantamount to treacherous acts of subversion against Singapore? Maybe Lee was just trying to be candid as it is obviously more stressful talking about his failed succession plan or the underperformance of his task force. Where Are All The Contestants? As Lee has previously stated that the pandemic is “a crisis of a generation”, why did he only put two of his “best-of-best” instead of all of his contestants or squids into the task force and challenge them to help Singapore get out of this protracted pandemic as a team? Here lies the problem with Lee’s Squid Game - missing contestants. Backstage Drama & Missing Contestants: Looking back, it looks like ever since DPM Heng Swee Keat decided not to play in Lee’s Squid Game, he has regained his composure and is now back to his normal self, and is no longer burdened with making senseless motherhood statements that makes him look like a clown. Like a growing number of Singaporeans, I am starting to like him as I think he is wise to put his health and the well-being of his family ahead of all the promises of wealth and power. With his departure from the Squid Game, that role is now shared by two contestants, Ong Ye Kung and Lawrence Wong. For Lawrence, he seems to be happy in taking over the portfolio of the Finance Minister from Heng and also his seat in the task force, and is looking contented in playing along with the Squid Game. Ong on the other hand, was cruising along well as the Transport Minister until April 2021 when he was suddenly thrust, not just into the task force but also took over the hot-seat from Gan Kim Yong as the Health Minister a month later, and suddenly, he found himself facing endless barrage of public criticisms. Can he survive this “double-whammy” before he can even get started? Interestingly, where is Chan Chun Sing and Desmond Lee, and why aren’t these contestants or “Squids” put into the ring of fire? Testing Or Eliminating Ong Ye Kung: Think about it - our Health Ministry was already overwhelmed by the pandemic way before Ong was given the hot seat and the task force was already deep into its own narrative and its vaccination strategies were already in motion, and so, do you think for a moment that the government will allow Ong the option to make a full U-turn or change their pandemic strategy? From the perspective of the Squid Game, was Ong put into the hot seat and the task force concurrently as a form of test or was this done to eliminate him from the contest before he can even get started? Coincidence & More Coincidences: When news broke early this month that more healthcare workers in Singapore were quitting amid growing fatigue, Ong was savagely bombarded by some Singaporeans. But if we read the article closely, “close to 500 foreign doctors and nurses have resigned in the first half of this year, compared with around 500 for the whole of 2020, and 600 in 2019” and the reasons cited were that fatigue is setting in “after 20 months of continuous daily battles against the pandemic” and that “a large proportion of them (were) unable to take leave since last year.” So why is this segment of Singaporeans putting the blame on Ong for this high turnover and MOH’s failure to provide adequate care and support for our frontline workers when these took place under the former Health Minister? If the task force is a game, then it may be worthwhile to be asking who is quietly smiling at a distance while watching their competitors get butchered by negative public resentments. Are these Singaporeans even aware that they could well be used deplorably by some "hidden" contestants in Lee’s Squid Game? Think about it - why wasn’t such “bad news” released much earlier, when the former Health Minister was being replaced and was it deliberately embargoed to hurt the new Health Minister? Yes, we have a right to be angry but it should be targeted at the right minister, but in light of the task force being likened to a Squid Game, shouldn’t we be careful so that we do not end up being used as a free agent by some scheming PM-wannabes? Going Forward - Do Right By The People: For a start, Ong should wise up by making more effort in visiting our frontline workers at the various public hospitals and hear their frustrations and feedbacks directly instead of relying on “sugar-coated” feedbacks. Yes, the S$4,000 one-off financial support to our medical workers is a good initiative by Ong but does he realize that auxiliary frontline workers, like our auxiliary nurses, ambulance drivers and nursing aides have been excluded? How can we be fighting a war against the pandemic without these auxiliary frontliners? Go visit other essential frontline workers, like our taxi drivers, PHV-drivers, couriers, hawkers, small business operators etc and understand how some of the decisions by the task force are impacting them and do something about it. Better still, ask all their HR departments and unions to start implementing meaningful action plan for our frontliners and to do it with urgency. Point is, Ong needs to accept the Hard Truth that he is already “as compromised as Heng” and should instead, be standing up for fellow Singaporeans and our frontline workers, and stop playing politics like a game. We already know who the winner of Lee’s Squid Game is so let us stop the play-acting. Why not roll out the red carpet for him and see how well he and his legion of ex-generals can perform in the war against the pandemic. Bloomberg likening of Lee’s succession plan to the Squid Game helps us to see the "game" politics. Can that be good for Singapore and do Singaporeans still believe that they deserve better?   Joseph Nathan      Read More →

Someone said. HSA said it is aware of claims that Lianhua Qingwen products can be used to prevent or treat Covid-19, which have been circulating on social media and in Telegram chat groups. HSA added that some Lianhua Qingwen products are listed as Chinese proprietary medicines in Singapore for the relief of cold and flu symptoms, and their approval was based on the documented uses of the ingredients present in the products. However, they are not approved by HSA to treat or alleviate symptoms of Covid-19. HSA requires any product that claims to treat Covid-19 to have scientific evidence from controlled clinical studies to substantiate that such a product is safe and effective against the ailment. Covid vaccines were not fully tested and are approved on an emergency basis. When the authorities proclaimed that unvaccinated individuals have to pay for their own treatment, doesn't that meant that these individuals should be given the liberty to take what deems suitable. TKL reply. I can understand that HSA will not want to give a statement about its suitability for treating covid, without any evidence to back it up. As the drug is safe, taken in the prescribed dosage, it is better for HSA to take a neutral stand, i.e not supportive nor discouraging, and let the individuals make their own decision on this matter. If there is any negative side effect, the individual will probably stop taking the drug or may seek the advice of the doctor. It may be better to have a trusted platform where patients can share their experience of patients who have taken these alternative medicines. It is better for the experience to be confirmed by a doctor, so that the findings are reliable and the trusted website is not abused for deceptive marketing.   Tan Kin Lian      Read More →

Much to my surprise, only a few Singaporeans are aware of this rather odd ruling - that all who travel overseas regardless of the travel lane they use to enter Singapore, will have to pay for their own medical expenses if they test positive or experience symptoms of covid within 14 days of their arrival in Singapore. I say odd because one may test negative on arrival in Singapore if one travels on a VTL scheme but subsequently displays signs of covid infection on the 13th day, it does seem based on the above ruling by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority ‘s Safe Travel website that the onus is on the poor soul to pay for his or her medical expenses. Can anyone care to explain this since no member of the main stream media has raised any questions on this anomaly?   Gerard Ong      Read More →