Sunday, April 30, 2006

is it PAP? Government? PAP Government? PAP/Government? Government/PAP?

Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan reiterated yesterday that all opposition wards would get lift upgrading, just not as soon as People's Action Party (PAP) wards.

Blocks are chosen not just on the level of support for the PAP, but also on factors such as their age and whether the surrounding areas have been upgraded, he told reporters during a walkabout in Tampines St 81 with his team mates.

But he would choose a PAP ward over an opposition one because otherwise, "the PAP voters in that ward, they will look at me and say: 'What are you doing? I supported you... and now you're giving it to the opposition. They never supported it' ".

He was responding to comments by the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) in its Friday rally that the Government had a "one-country, two systems" policy which denied voters in opposition wards the same benefits as those in PAP wards.

(...)

The Sunday Times Apr 30 2006

THIS IS DISGUSTING. IF the PAP(read: the party itself!) were the ones paying or subsidising the upgrading this would be perfectly legitimate...

but the PAP ministers in their capacity in government when they handle the budget and funds of the people of Singapore shouldn't divert or bias the use of these budget allocations according to who supported them politically...

That's like taking everybody's money and redistributing it according to whom YOU fancy (ie those who voted for you)

I can't BELIEVE that they're so open about this and stating it publicly as a matter of fact.

It's a plan to cow people into voting for the incumbents so as not to lose out on such benefits that ought rightfully belong to them anyway.

The lines have been blurred between PAP, government, PAP government, PAP/government and government/PAP... the PAP acts like they own government, and all the resources that come with it... to do as they please...

Hmmmphh

Friday, April 14, 2006

Eeww

I am so worried about my ability to write. It looks like 4 months in a rotten internship company has managed to accomplish what even 2.5 years in the SAF failed to do - turn me into a rotting heap of no-brain.

(Lame voice from the audience - "how do you know you weren't a no-brain back then in the army?")

Shutup.

I had so much problem putting together a coherent article for church youth publication that it dragged and dragged and dragged on and on. Maybe I didn't have the discipline to actually sit down properly to do it? And my first attempt at it was termed "disjointed"... a comment which I admit was rather fair. It seems to happen for anything I write in more than one sitting. Or perhaps it was because I had a lot of problem trying to focus the article clearly as it was a very open ended and broad sweep title - not a title even, but just a very broad idea.

What's the matter? Isn't an open topic much better to write on than a closed one? Shouldn't it be easier? But the problem with Christian writing is that its really easy to lose focus - given the all-encompassing and interlinked nature of Christianity itself. And I wanted to avoid end up repeating about salvation in the article which was, as far as I can gather, not its intended area although somehow I felt a little artificial about it.

Anyway, I've since been able to whip up a rewrite which my editor says is much better (I just plunged in and wrote single-mindedly) although now he's in Taiwan for his SAF sponsored pre-ORD honeymoon.

THERE - some whining done with.

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I've been busy using all my free Caltex points to pay for my petrol since I got news of the impending car forced-sale order, but, strangely enough, it hasn't happened yet. So we're still driving the car for free as far as we're concerned. At this rate we'd probably finish using all the points in the card (that's about over $200 worth of free petrol)

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Recently, M&M visited Saudi Arabia and the reigning monarch was very keen on getting some pointers on how to better run his kingdom ("his" here refering to the Saudi Crown Prince's). M&M tried tossing some rubbish out of his car while driving along a desert road, just to see what punitive action would result. It was a $1 fine (maybe US$1). Later on camera M&M remarked that "you don't keep a clean city by imposing a $1 fine - you do it by - ..."

At that point in time I was so certain he would say "a $500 fine" or "a $500 fine or CWO, or both"... but guess what he said -

"educating the people."

Maybe that's a a nice phrase for CWO. Who knows.

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Look at the time I gotta go! Friday Vesper service and I'm meeting Fabian before that for dinner. Pray for us! Seeya!