TR EMERITUS

When Ho Ching commented that “we are not there yet, and unlinked cases are still relevant for the purpose of getting a sense whether we are having a runaway gallop or a steady trot”, I am surprised that some Singaporeans feel that she should not have commented just for being the wife of PM Lee. Her comment was in response to the statement by the Health Minister, Ong Ye Kung, who think that as Singapore has entered a different stage of the battle, and given the high vaccination rate of over 80%, he feels that “unlinked numbers may not be relevant” anymore. To put things into perspective, it is worthwhile to note that while she may be the wife of our prime minister, she is not the regular “Tai Tai” of someone who is rich and powerful but a woman in her own right, with her own competency and capability, having been the CEO of Temasek. She has every right to state her opinion on issues when she feels it is important to comment, just like any other Singaporean. Controversies Over Omitting Unlinked Cases: The Multi-Ministry Taskforce “MTF” has entangled themselves into controversies repeatedly in the past and the rebuttals from concerned Singaporeans are getting stronger and louder. For trying to omit the unlinked cases from their daily reporting, some Singaporeans feel that they are trying to conceal the fact that the pandemic is getting out of control. If anyone is to be blamed, it has to be the MTF themselves for failing to substantiate their decision in the first place and failing to assure Singaporeans sufficiently about it. If other Singaporeans are allowed to comment, why can’t she? Mediocrity Vs. Meritocracy: While it may be true that the performance of those leading the MTF, or the lack of it, may cost them the chance to be our next prime minister, surely no one is going to defend them for being mediocre and go against the fundamentals of meritocracy, which is already a big issue with the present 4G PAP politicians. What if her statement is her personal response to helping Singapore to right a wrong? Is she not entitled to speak as a fellow concerned Singaporean even if it risks offending powerful political friends of her husband? For those who claim that she is doing this to help Chan Chun Sing in becoming the next prime minister, I don’t think she is that stupid or naïve to be doing so as Chan has foolishly and repeatedly antagonized fellow Singaporeans and no amount of Public Relations can ever repair the damages caused. The only way for Chan to become the next prime minister is for him to be in a position of tremendous power where he could control the parliamentarians within the PAP and force that decision upon Singaporeans, and provided that Singaporeans keep voting for the PAP to stay in power at the next election. Anyone still think she is naïve or stupid to be trying to save Chan when he is already a lost cause? Importance In Speaking Up: An important lesson to be learnt here is that we must have the courage to speak up, and not be intimidated by how uncomfortable that decision may cause us or be limited by who we are. Rich or poor, power or powerless, man or woman, we all have a role to play in making Singapore a better place for ourselves and future generations. We are already living in 2021 and it is high time we discard any bias against women for otherwise even the late Princess Diana would not survive a day in being a Singaporean. Unless Singaporeans can be comfortable in agreeing to disagree, stay constructive in our arguments, then what hope is there for Singapore as a democratic nation going forward? To return to course as a successful nation, we need to be comfortable admitting where we have gone wrong when it matters, but more importantly, what we can do to right the wrongs and help fellow Singaporeans forward. In fact, we have to applause Ho Ching for her courage and should start questioning our parliamentarians and civil servants, present and past, about why they are so reluctant in speaking up for the good of our country. Are we all not Singaporeans and don’t we want what is good for Singapore? I think it is time for those who are hiding behind the pretext that they are being constrained by their political party or are unable to speak just because they are in the civil service to ask themselves are they not Singaporeans and why can’t they opined on issues that they feel strongly about? Having an opinion is not about going overboard or making willful allegation but merely stating your honest opinion, factually and honestly, and within logic and reasons. Speaking up for the truth is also good for your soul. So let us give Ho Ching a chance and encourage her to speak up more as she too is a fellow Singaporean and being married to the prime minister is not a crime and neither is being rich and powerful a crime, no? To save a soul or a country, being late is still better than never. As such, it is always good to encourage one another forward to be more patriotic if we still believe that Singapore deserves better…   Joseph Nathan      Read More →

Orto at Yishun Just because it involves the people, does not mean it is to save them. It is to save big business. When Covid struck, businesses were horrified. They would not survive if people were in perpetual lockdown. SIA, SATs, Changi Airport Group, hotels, cruise ships, exhibition and convention centres, casinos, cinemas, recreational centres, malls, just to name a few. The silver bullet was vaccine - inoculate the population, and if it works, herd immunity would be reached, and the people can resume their functions as workers on the one hand, and consumers on the other, and business can breathe again. So, in warped speed, Pfizer, and then Moderna, sensing a big killing, announced that their vaccines would soon be ready. Since it was the silver bullet, governments fell over one another, to pre-book even before approval, and never mind if the contracts were onerous. When it arrived, the people were strongly encouraged to take the jab, not only for their own health, but for their loved ones, especially the aged. Not only that, it’s a social responsibility and possibly national service because the chain is only as strong as the weakest link, or so the narrative went. Make no mistake, vaccination is voluntary - you just ignore your family and friends if they pester you, put up with the disapproval, forget about restaurants, eat at coffee shops and hawker centres, don’t think about traveling, pay for your own rapid test if you have to go to work. So, after a Circuit Breaker and Heightened Alert, costing taxpayers close to 100B, with a big portion transferred to big business, we achieved more than 80% vaccination rate. But, hold your horses, herd immunity is no where in sight but instead community and unlinked cases are shooting through the roof, so much so that the number of cases that triggered the CB, was a walk in the park. No, we cannot chase after every case, we have to learn to live with Covid. That the cases are shooting up are expected because we are opening up, to revert back to life, locking up the people has never been a long term solution, we need to allow people to socialize and travel again. At the beginning, we needed to shock the people, so it was useful to publicize every case, especially if they weren’t vaccinated, just so to get people to vaccinate. Now, with an 81% vaccination rate, and herd immunity an impossibility, big business getting impatient, and we seem to have painted ourselves into a corner, we will not report the number of unlinked cases. My brother just came home and he said he saw a lot of crazy people crowding the mall and Orto, which is a recreational complex with prawning & fishing ponds, plus a trampoline park and a go-karting track at Khatib. With unlinked cases at an all time high, although we do not know exactly how many since the MTF will not announce as they are “no longer relevant”, these people are putting themselves and their loved ones at risk. But hey, it’s ok, what matters all the while is business anyway. Oh, the hypocrisy of it all!   Foong Swee Fong      Read More →

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov was a fantastic writer of sci-fi. Absolutely my favorite. His vision of 3 robotic laws will serve us well as AI happens in the decades ahead... and his vision of humans and robots converging in the millennia’s ahead is, I think, a pretty compelling vision for humanity. If you find Asimov’s robot books applicable to today’s Covid world you might also be interested in a character called the Mule in Asimov’s Foundation trilogy who somehow inexplicably takes over the universe. Another of his novel, The End of Eternity, describes a group of self-selected humans, that use analytical tools to master both past and future history. In the process, they extinguished the creative and risk taking traits of humanity. Isaac Asimov’s stories showed that science such as psychohistory (study of history, sociology, and mathematical statistics) is both flawed and a really bad idea. Humanity needs the surprises. From a technological standpoint, we are getting closer to the sci-fi novels of 50 years ago. You may think of this as utopia or dystopia, but we have gotten a glimpse of a Brave New World where human needs are met “virtually” - where entertainment, occupation, socialization, and commerce are all delivered to your home while you are 'in sweats' on an exercycle. No need to interact with “real” people at all. Whether this revolution can be stopped - or shaped - is an open question. Asimov’s novels foretold a world where humans and machines needed to coexist, and set boundaries, but the darker novelists were less sanguine about our prospects. You do not have to be a science fiction writer in order to predict the future, at least in very general terms that can look suspiciously like truisms. What have thousands of years of recorded and unrecorded history taught us? Change is inevitable and is not necessarily coincident with the concept called “progress.” Humans are fallible and therefore any systems and institutions developed by humans are inherently fallible and will ultimately disappear or at least change so radically so as to be unrecognizable to the initial developers. All things being equal, most of the time, people will opt for short-term, opportunistic solutions – economic, social, political, technological – over long term considerations. The larger and more complex a society becomes, the more fragile it is until at some point the potential fragility is greater than its potential resilience, and some event, often unexpected, causes societies to break apart and reform. In other words, nothing lasts forever and this too shall pass – for reasons that are not always immediately obvious. This week's increase in Covid-19 instances across Singapore is another another setback for businesses attempting to get their staff to return to work. While social separation measures may ultimately fade away, concerns about the future of office life will remain. While managers say they want to see their workers face to face again, employees want more freedom in selecting where they work, which is leading to many firms pursuing a middle road known as hybrid work. However, this strategy may be more difficult than bringing individuals back to the office or having them work entirely remotely. People should also keep in mind that change to work culture isn't just a product of the pandemic. Part of the shift taking place has to do with accessibility and power dynamics in the workplace. Being involved in technology made it very clear to me that the ability to work remotely would allow companies to hire anywhere in the world, usually where the work could be done at lower wages and benefits. Today workers are celebrating being tethered by just a cable line to the office, but may feel differently when they realize how easily that line can be cut. Navigating the brave new world of hybrid work in Singapore need to be mindful of potential problems such as the one that tripped up Apple. There's no better place to start with any analysis of autocratic government than Orwell. Reagan said “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Sure, humans are animals. It's obvious: all you have to do is look. To destroy humanity, all you have to do is provoke enough inequality that democracy fails in one of the large, industrialized economies. AI will greatly accelerate that process. Indeed, if you wanted to design a technology to displace white collar jobs, AI is the perfect tool. I could not agree more. "AI should not be weaponized" sounds like famous words and wishful thinking. Besides, it's already fully weaponized for commercial and political purposes, and it seems pretty clear that plenty of work has gone into military applications as well. A little puzzled at the allergic reaction some are having to science fiction. At its best, it is a tool for modeling challenges we may yet face. This is all way too early. We still do not know how or even if the pandemic will end. I remember all those predictions a year ago; most of what was predicted did not come to pass simply because the pandemic did not end in a few months as most assumed. What if the virus never goes below a threshold where people are comfortable to be in crowds without a mask? And/or what if the virus mutates in such a way that the vaccinated are still at substantial risk. In that case you can kiss city life goodbye. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements. Staying home has its pluses, but when working in person, I made some good, longterm friends. There’s never a guarantee about any kind of relationship, but I think that there is more room for bonding when working physically together. Working from home is great when the weather is lousy and transportation isn't easy. But I miss the camaraderie of the office, the company cafeteria (ours offered a breakfast bar as well as bagels and danishes), free coffee in the kitchen and a news stand downstairs, the tech guy who was right down the hall when your computer had a fit. I yearn for the good old days of the cool, clean office, where the perks were taken for granted and a day at home was a time to rest. Ah, life ain't great for all of us -- Covid is still churning, unemployment is still too high -- but it's sure better. I'm feeling it, too. How bout you?   Sjorne Shen      Read More →