Thoughts during a sleepless night

"The cure for all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government... your asset values will disappear, your apartments will be worth a fraction of what it is, your jobs will be in peril, your security will be at risk and our women will become maids in other persons' countries - foreign workers."

~~ Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in Sydney 04 Apr 2007 [1], referring to argument about justification for ministerial pay hike.



Recently the name Steve Chia was back in the limelight, being mentioned among netizens' discussion on ministerial pay raise issue. [2]

It seems that he was putting in good effort as a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) during the period 2001 to 2006, raising interesting issues in the House for the people after all.

His brushes in his personal life might have brought him down to earth and cost him some support in the 2006 General Election (GE).

It was ironical that some of us remembered more of the man's bottom than his heart.


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After reading Mr Wang's heartfelt posting [3] , names like James Gomez, TT Durai and Chee Soon Juan somehow flashed across my mind.

Gomez, seemingly prone to error, is back working in Sweden after the GE 2006. I supposed he can be considered as a foreign talent by the Swedes.
Will he come back and face the fire again?

Facing legal prosecution for an offense under the Prevention of Corruption Act certainly did not do any harm to Durai 's ability to provide marketing consultancy services to several firms [3] .

Similarly, Chee with a reputation for political deviance, should have no problem finding a stable job and good living abroad or perhaps locally.
Why put yourself through the trouble and create a scene barking at the Iron Tree?


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I came across an articel [5] by blogger, Pandemonium. It gives an insightful read about minister selection process and a way to regulate popular behavior towards unpopular policy.

Some sacrifices are more equal than others.

"The mystery of where the milk went to was soon cleared up. It was mixed every day into the pigs' mash. The early apples were now ripening, and the grass of the orchard was littered with windfalls. The animals had assumed as a matter of course that these would be shared out equally; one day, however, the order went forth that all the windfalls were to be collected and brought to the harness-room for the use of the pigs. At this some of the other animals murmured, but it was no use. All the pigs were in full agreement on this point.. ..Squealer was sent to make the necessary explanations to the others.

‘Comrades!’ he cried. ‘You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! Surely, comrades,’ cried Squealer almost pleadingly, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, ‘surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?’

~~ Excerpt from Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, a novel by George Orwell, released in 1945.


Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong mentioned one of the reasons for raising the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 5% to 7% (starting from Jul 2007) was to have extra resources to fund social programs like Workfare later on. The aim was to strengthen the safety nets and tilt the balance in favour of the lower-income groups and the elderly, not to increase their burdens.

Are we neglecting the resources required for the ministerial pay hike?


Term I learnt today:

Molon Labe (mo-lone lah-veh)

Greek for "come and take it". It was the response of King Leonidas I of Sparta to Xerxes I of Persia at the onset of the Battle of Thermopylae, asking if they would lay down their arms.