Wayang

"As an East Asian looking at America, I find attractive and unattractive features. I like, for example, the free, easy and open relations between people regardless of social status, ethnicity or religion. And the things that I have always admired about America, as against the communist system, I still do: a certain openness in argument about what is good or bad for society; the accountability of public officials; none of the secrecy and terror that's part and parcel of communist government."

~~ Lee Kuan Yew in an interview with Fareed Zakaria, March/April, 1994.

The haze has cost our country USD50 millions economically, reported by CNA. Hopefully it will soon be cleared by end of this month.

At the mean time, you may check out the PSI reading at NEA website.

While we are being smoked out, Singapore Media Watch highlighted the response from our Environment Minister to a press release from an opposition party leader, urging our government to act on the smokey issue.

A few other blogger sites also posted their takes on this:

• conformityisdead


• Kitana

The full press release and how local press reported it can be found here:-

1. Full press release at WP Website


2. Straits Times


3. TODAY Online

Here are some of my observations:

• You must be constantly providing suggestion/feedback to every policy and every problem there is, or else you will be regarded as trying to score point or opportunistic when you come up with one.


• Being equipped with the solution is the precursor of engaging the government with regards to certain problem.


• If you find the progress of the work on a problem unsatisfactory, please be assured that the goverment has put in their best effort dealing with it and there is no one else better in handling it.

Reference:

i. Fareed Zakaria website

ii. Definition of wayang.

The Andy Xie Incident

"In a different world we need to find a niche for ourselves, little corners where in spite of our small size we can perform a role which will be useful to the world. To do that, you will need people at the top, decision-makers who have got foresight, good minds, who are open to ideas, who can seize opportunities like we did. ... My job really was to find my successors. I found them, they are there; their job is to find their successors. So there must be this continuous renewal of talented, dedicated, honest, able people who will do things not for themselves but for their people and for their country. If they can do that, they will carry on for another one generation and so it goes on. The moment that breaks, it's gone."

~~ Lee Kuan Yew, in an interview with CCTV on June 12 2005, stressed the need to have a continuous renewal of talent in the country's leadership.

Mr Wang gets a step ahead of me in seeing something interesting in the recent news. You can catch a glimpse here.

Back in July 2006, there was an unflattering article on our country's state in becoming a regional/global financial hub. The point is revisited in one of our neighbour's news interactive website this month.

A leaked email message from AsiaPacific economist Andy Xie, critical of our little island economic progress for past decade, might have sparked the community attention on the issue. A few people, including Andy himself, lost their jobs as an aftermath.

We are not so sure if his comments come with a tinge of nationalistic sentiment. However there is no smoke without a fire and this article (take note of the 8th paragraph) in a South Korean internet news could give an idea of how far off is Andy's parting shot.

Term I learnt today:

Money laundering

is the practice of engaging in financial transactions in order to conceal the identity, source and destination of the money in question.

洗钱