Singapore National Education Part 95
Weeks of 3 Feb 2004 to 11 Feb 2004
I have also learned lately:
1. That you could not see a winning ad from MoveOn.org at the Superbowl detailing problems with the Bush administration, but you could see Janet Jackson's breast. I guess her breast was more interesting than open political discourse.
2. That some professors like to live on the edge, man, asking the old man to retire. Never die before, is it?
"Prof Chua Beng Huat added: 'We keep talking about the presence of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and it seems like we are behaving like filial children and don't really dare to say the thing that needs to be said. That it is time he retires.' "– ST Jan 14 2004
3. That a teacher was found guilty of having sex 18 times with his 14-year-old student who he courted with flowers and gifts.
And they install child-safe web filters in the MOE to protect kids in schools from my rantings. How do you install child-safe web filters to protect our kids from predators like this in schools?
"Teach what you love" indeed.
4. That Nanyang Poly has also banned my site. Though their Access Denied page is little less stylo than the MOE's. At least put some effort into it if you want to ban someone, add a logo or something. It is only poilte.
5. That no, that was not Michael flashing his breast on TV, son. That was his sister, Janet. Really.
6. That after the prize-winning numbers for the $10 million TOTO were announced on the 5th of February 6.30pm, Singaporeans returned to their office on the morning of the 6th to put that resignation letter back into the drawer.
7. That my wages are too rigid and have to become more flexible by December 2004.
But my cost of living remains happily fixed.
8. That crime in Singapore is up 5% this year, and this is the second year running crime is up.
Does that mean the Ministry of Home Affairs will not be getting the variable part of their salaries this year?
Rising crime is of course, our entire fault, because we are resistant to making our wages less rigid. If our wages were more flexible, companies will be less likely to retrench, and less people will be unemployed, and less likely to turn to crime. So you see, it is our entire fault that crime is up.
9. That neo-Nazi racists in Perth need to get their religions and races correct before they torch the next place. They recently threw a pig's head at an Indian temple. Maybe the arsonists need to go on some Racial and Religion Recognition course.
"Now fellow neo-Nazis, this here photo is that of an Indian man. See that on his head? That's a turban, mates, that's how you tell he's not one of them Muslim Malays. These guys eat pork, so don't go throwin' a pig's head at their temple, ok? Throw a cow! Yes, if you have to use the one you shag, use her!"
10. That PAP MPs will be selecting the next PM in a transparent process for the first time in Singapore's history. In the past, the PM was chose by an inner circle of Cabinet ministers made the selection. To dispel talk that DPM Lee receives special treatment, he will be selected by his colleagues, his fellow MPs.
The fine candidates for the next PM are:
1. DPM Lee
2. BG Lee Hsien Loong
3. Mr Lee H. L.
I am sure our MPs will be facing a very tough choice.
"MPs to get say in succession
Party elections for next PM, though no surprises expected
Teo Hwee Nak
THE final say on who Singapore's next Prime Minister will be is in the hands of People's Action Party MPs.
.
Even though Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong has already indicated Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as the successor of his choice, the ruling PAP MPs will get to "elect" the next Prime Minister – for the first time in Singapore's history." -TODAY
11. That once in a while, you stumble into a forum discussion that is both funny and educational at the same time. Someone asked for the Government to print money and give it out to jobless people to tide them over while they look for jobs, pandemonium ensued. It may have been a troll and flame bait (this IS the Internet after all) but even if it was, it was still an enjoyable and educational read.
Here are some excerpts. For brevity, not all the posts have been reproduced.
Rocky1976
I am currently unemployed for quite a while. So the government should print more money to give us unemployed people welfare. It costs so little to print money and yet it helps the unemployed. A small sum of 3000 a month to each unemployed citizen will do wonders to all the unemployed singaporeans out there like me.
FlameoftheWest
no wonder you are unemployed
Rocky1976
I lost my job just becos i took a few half days off to queue Toto and to check soccer odds and my boss found out. He was so petty over such a matter to fire me just becos i took a few half days off without telling him. He is a unsympathetic f**ker.
JamesSong8egg
basic economics principle state that if a govt prints more money, general prices of goods and services will increase. ie inflation. it is tantamount to cheating savers as it devalues the value of their savings. countries like Brazil and Indonesia has been doing that for decades. end result is rich citizens will park their money abroad, while foreign investors will stay away. do u want singapore to end up like them? as if it is not bad enough
Rocky1976
Singapore is already at the bottom. Nothing worse will happen. I am just asking for extra 3000 for the unemployed and you sprout all those stupid economic theories. Theory means nothing to the hungry. You can sit in your big economist chair and talk cock all you want while the unemployed go hungry. You have no sympathy.
Bonjovi
Finally heres a reply with informed knowledge of how economics and currency work. Guys, lets give this fella a lil' breathing space as not everyone understands economics. It is the duty of the monetary authority of any country to monitor the value of its dollar. The govt controls the amt in circulation by either printing more currency, destroying old notes or simply retaining some in the vault... (educational read follows)
Pea Brain
hey, that's a good idea! but why settle for $3000? u can also get some bricks in the garden & paint them gold in colour. sell to the goldsmith & u'll be an instant millionaire.
Rocky1976
Because 3000 is a suitable sum for the unemployed to pay for their daily expenses while looking for a job.
Rocky1976
I work so hard and sometimes work OT. So i take a few hours off undeclared to buy Toto and check soccer odds also wrong meh? I am trying to earn enough money so i can migrate and retire in australia. My working attitude is good enough. But i get retrenched when my boss hired a cheaper guy. I take a few half days off in a year without telling him and he tells me to get lost once he hears about this. He is a imbecile,never remeber all those times i did OT for him.
The Latest H
F**k you. Do u think u can earn cheap money while u remain unemployed? Even pple on the dole in USA don't get more than S$500..let alone $3000. If u work, u get paid. if u don't, u don't even get peanuts. Simple rules.
Rocky1976
F**k you back,3000 in Sg a month is not a low. Eating out and transport costs are so high. PUB bill are so high and newspaper costs just went up. You brainless f**ker or what?
LittleRedDot
Did you offer to buy Toto and place soccer bets for your boss?
The Latest H
So use less. Don't waste water, don't use air-con too much as it will chalk up ur electric bills, get a hi-card for ur hp and downgrade ur phone to an ordinary hp, eat more hawker food instead of fast food and use more buses & MRT than using the taxi. Dun bit off more than u can chew. And if I was a taxpayer I will never ever give u a cent as long as you are mentally & physically fit to work. Even sum handicapped pple go to Orchard Rd to sell tissue paper or play indian drums to get along each day. If these pple can do that, why not u? There are no free lunches in this world, not even in the South Pole.
Rocky 1976
I've got a degree and i am not going to sell tissue paper. if i want to sell tissue paper,why i go study for a degree for f**k? singapore is so hot,so air con is a must. My handphone is just a normal song ericson handphone only. I also take taxi ocasionally when i am late for appointments. You keep saying there are no free lunches in this world. Seems like you got brainwashed by the MIW to keep sprouting that line over and over again. How much did they pay you to suck up to them?
12. That Brazil has fined US holidaymaker Douglas Alan Skolnick US$17,200 for making an obscene gesture during fingerprinting procedures.
Brazil has been photographing and fingerprinting US visitors in response to similar US requirements for visitors needing a visa.
Brazil's Globo TV showed Mr Skolnick entering a prison cell and telling Brazilian journalists, "I'm an American citizen. I'm not a monkey."
Yes, because monkeys know how to respect a country's immigration laws and not get their ass hauled to court over something as silly as this.
13. That if you follow Douglas Alan Skolnick's comments, that he is an American citizen and not a monkey, to its logical conclusion, the rest of the non-US world are monkeys.
Because the US does exactly the same thing to the world that Brazil customs did to him. That is, photographing and fingerprinting visitors.
Singaporeans will be glad to be non-US monkeys. Their Government say go be one.
14. That a Secondary 2 student was found in possession of 3 porn VCDs at a local school and detained by police, now out on $2000 bail.
Another 17 kids who passed the VCDs amongst themselves were rounded up and made to sit out in the hot sun from 8am to 4pm, without food and water. One of them had to be hospitalised subsequently because of he suffers from a rare disease in which the walls of his intestines start to fuse together if he goes without food or water.
The principal issued an email reply to the media, and refused to be interviewed on camera.
I admire the way she stood up for her actions away from the public eye. When you are right, you are right, and there is no need to go in front of the public to declare it. I am sure everything else was an honest mistake.
15. That now it is safer to be an NSMan than to be a 14-year-old student caught with porn. Even Army commanders are smart enough to ensure that their men get their food and water because the last thing they want is a BOI (Board of Inquiry) on why the soldiers under their charge collapsed due to heatstroke during training.
16. That Steve Chia got a warning for the folder of porn in his computer and a 14-year-old kid got arrested, detained, and released on $2000 bail for possessing porn VCDs. But I suppose Steve Chia did not share his folder of porn with 17 classmates.
I say the student should have been given 16 months jail and 4 strokes of the cane like Shankar. They let him off too easy, just because he is a kid. Who does he think he is? A Nominated MP?
We must not get soft on porn. Before this incident, no school in Singapore ever had cases of students who brought porn VCDs to school. Ever! Why, when my father went to school, they could not even afford porn VCDs!
17. That students must remember, don't do the crime, if you can't do the time. Porn VCDs get you arrested. FHM and Women's Magazines do not. Don't bring your father mother porn to school, or they will have nothing to watch at home.
This is not like last time, when you only get six strokes to the backside by the discipline master for bringing naughty magazines bought from the nearby mama store, to school. Nowadays you can expect to get 8 hours of no-recess detention, go police station, and be out on $2000 bail. And maybe even go Boy's Home for 3 years.
Worse, you may even get shouted at, your homework torn up, and be called a Crafty Old Rat (but only if you come from an Elite School).
Besides, all this porn is unhealthy for your young minds. Because you may grow up thinking that women like being raped, that big male genitals are normal, and that women's private parts have this mosaic square pattern.
So don't say mrbrown encourage you young buggers that porn and wanking yourself is good, ok? It can get my site banned, you know.
18. That in a surprise development, the best of mrbrown.com awards was won by me for journalistic excellence. This vindicates the 2nd place I got in the Best Asian Blogs awards show. I want to thank the giver of the award, me, for conferring this award to me.
In acknowledgement of my award-winning ways, I will be raising prices on my website by 20%. So readers will now need to pay next to nothing, up from nothing. But with the increased price will come more value (I will use bigger words, for instance).
19. That some people have complained that LRT stations in Sengkang are named badly. Some of the station names are Kangkar, Renjong and Thanggam.
I can see how such heritage names lack the hip and western touch. God forbid we try to retain some history and heritage in our new estates.
We should all try to name our estates with culturally relevant names like Compassvale, Fernvale, Rivervale, Edgevale Plains, Edgefield Plains. It makes our HDB flats sound less like public housing and more like private estates. After all, Singapore has many dales, vales and plains and we used to be a British colony. Heck, even our university is called Kent Ridge.
In fact, who was the genius who came up with Edgefield Plains and Edgedale Plains anyway? I would like to shake his hand. Who cares that people do not remember the middle syllables (they remember the Edge and the Plains, anything else in between is static). The important thing is that the names are western-sounding and hip.
Hey, if more names are needed, maybe we can also try Edgedale Fields and Edgefield Dale.
20. That when drunken Ah Beng customers throw bread at your Ang Moh customers, it is time to call the police. When drunken Ang Moh customers throw bread at your local customers, you ask them to move to another table for their, ahem, safety.
But when drunken Ang Moh customers throw bread at your Ah Beng customers, especially if it is not some fancy restaurant but Newton Hawker Centre, they will kena whacked by the Ah Bengs until die.
Don't pray pray.
21. That many Ah Beng speed kings are looking forward to the next sequel of 2 Fast 2 Furious, 3 Fast 3 Furious. Especially after watching that motorbike racing show, Torkuay.
22. That if students in your school get arrested for porn, it may affect your school ranking. Maybe we can get that Porn VCD school some special Value-Added School award for sex education or something.
23. That you can tell the press not to reveal the name of the school, and you can tell the television and radio stations not to reveal the name of the school. But it is a little hard to tell the Internet to shut the hell up.
Wah lau eh, the principal's name and photo also post up there like some Personals Classifieds ad, let alone the school's name, man. You Internet people no mercy one, man.
24. That it probably would have been better to have given the boys a quiet scolding and warning, a caning or two, and sent them back to class. And it's back to shaping young minds and chasing ranking.
Instead, it became a national incident, a boy got charged (goodbye academic future), another boy got hospitalised, the school got named online, and people are posting the principal's photo on the Net and discussing her disciplinary methods, her looks, the spelling of her name, and whether she was sexually repressed.
25. That those 17 school boys will probably have problems making babies for Singapore twenty years from now.
Copyright 2004 by Lee Kin Mun
