YSunday, March 4, 2007

$$$

I was originally going to write a descriptive essay, until I read, in my favorite paper, a wonderful piece of news, that I absolutely must comment on.

However, let me first reiterate the basic points of the article.

"Ministerial, civil service salaries expected to go up"

According to Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean, increase will depend on how far civil servants' pay has lagged behind the private sector, and that salaries will be linked more closely to performance.

There are certain things about this information, and the article itself, that annoy me. Greatly.

First of all, let me say that there definitely people who deserve the pay rise. The first people who come to mind are teachers. (Yes, I'm serious. I'm not sucking up. I highly doubt that any teachers will stumble onto my blog anyway.) Why do I say this? Because teachers have to deal with kids, and sad to say, many kids are pricks. I should know. The students can be very, very, mean. Back in SJI, many of our teachers had been dubbed with nicknames. Unfortunately, the nicknames were more slanted towards being insults and put-downs. I was not mean enough to come up with the names, but I was mean enough to laugh along. Right now, in ACJC, few of our teachers have been christened with new names yet, but I'm sure their time will come. In SJI, we also exploited every single physical and emotional trait of our teachers, and an endless flow of jokes came forth.

So, give them the money. They deserve it. It may offer them solace from the knowledge of their pitiful excuse of an existence.

However, there are civil servants who, I feel, don't really deserve the raise. Those would be ministers and other high-ranking officials. According to the article, services lagging behind the public sector would get a greater pay rise, and one of the services that will get a big raise is the Administrative Service. And it goes without saying, ministries are part of the Administration Service.

Singaporean ministers are one of the highest paid in the world. Really. For example, George Bush gets paid about $400,000 USD per year. While a Singaporean minister is about $800,000 USD per year. That figure, is of course, for lower ranked ministers, one would expect the prime minister to be paid more. What this tells me, is that Singaporeans think that our ministers have a job that's at least twice as important as that of George Bush. Hmm.

One reason for this, given to us unworthy peasants, is that the civil service must be competitive, so as to attract those who are "talented" and "elite" to come work for them. Nonsense. A civil servant should have the passion to work for the people, and for the good of his country. He shouldn't be focused on how he himself will benefit from his line of work. There are people, whom are able to work for charities, doing noble work for free, and not consider their compensation. That's what our minister's should be like. Willing and able to work. There aren't many people out there like that, but hey, there aren't that many openings for ministers as well. I'm not saying the ministers should work for free, just for an amount suitable for the importance and skill required for the job.

Another reason given is that they need to be given a high pay to prevent corruption. It removes the temptation of stealing people's money and doing other bad bad things. You can see how well that works, with TT Durai and the rest of the NKF crew. That I understand completely, but do they really need to be paid such disproportionate amount? SGD$1,200,000 is a lot of money. That's about $100,000 a month. That's about $3,000 a day. I don't even know how one can spend that much money. I honestly don't. It must be nice having to think of creative ways to spend your own money.

"Oh dear! I've got a spare grand lying around. Anyone up to buying bottles of wine and throwing them in the ocean?"

If I was at their age, and earned one-fifth of their salary, I wouldn't be very disappointed.

Yet, our ministers see it fit to raise their salary further.

That's not the only problem I have. The way information is conveyed to the general public infuriates me. The government has done it numerous times. They release information in stages, depending on the situation and timing. For example, they told us about the progress package, which was, to be fair, giving our own money back to us, just a few days before Election Day 2006. Nothing unscrupulous or conscienceless, of course. They did it again, when they told us about the GST Hike only after the elections, and claimed that they only thought about it from the day after elections, and they had absolutely no intention of doing it beforehand. The most recent time they did it was regarding this issue, when they told us that civil servants would get a pay rise, only after the big hoo-hah over the GST issue had died down.

But fortunately, there are people like me, the purveyors of truth, seekers of justice, and champions of all that is sweet and juicy, who like to criticize others. Tremble in the shadow of my self-righteousness! Gaze with awe upon my cape of ego! Worship the soles of my sandals of tranquility!

So anyway, GST is collected from the people right? And the money goes to the government right? And civil servants work for the government right? And civil servants are getting a pay raise right? And ministers are civil servants right?

So, basically, we're paying more GST so that our various ministers can buy that 2nd or 3rd chauffeur-driven BMW that they so desperately need.

I'm not done yet. It also really irritates me that we, the people of Singapore, aren't given any say in this issue. None at all. Let's be clear, people who work for the government are civil servants. Since we (okay, my parents) pay taxes, I can come to the conclusion that Lee Hsien Loong works for me. So, in that case, since I'm the employer, I should be in charge right?
However, Singapore's servants aren't really treated like servants, in fact, it's more like the other way around. I mean, honestly, don't the citizens get a say at all? The way things are right now, its like having your maid telling you how much you're gonna pay her.

And what the hell happened to democracy? I don't know, but having someone tell you how things are going to be, and that you WILL accept it and be joyful and frolic in the meadow doesn't sound all that democratic to me. In fact, I would say it sounds, I don't know, more like fascism or a dictatorship.

If tomorrow, you read in the newspaper, that an ACJC student was run over by a brand new BMW, you will know why.

Farewell.

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Blogged @ 4:03 PM

YSunday, February 25, 2007

The Straits Times. Trash or Treasure?

Has anyone taken a look at Sunday's newspaper, The Straits Times?

It seems that SPH finds reporting real news to be beneath them these days, and that their true calling lies in pointless drivel. Indulge me, if you will, and let us take a look at the front page together. Above the title, on the far left corner, is everyone's favorite trio of sluts, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and the porn star hotel heiress. It appears that the article that features those lovely ladies talks about how bad and naughty they are, which the general public should most definitely be aware of. Next on the right, there's a Singaporean fellow (I have absolutely no clue what his name is) who's supposed to be the BEST-PAID (I'm just quoting from the papers) footballer in all of Singapore. Next, on the right again, introduces an article, that apparently shows you that You CAN fool (quoting again)... something. I have no idea what the picture is showing, it's out of focus and over-exposed. On the top right corner, there's a list of awards that The Straits Times has won. One of them is, ironically, for excellence in feature photography.

I did not make that up.

Below the title, "A BLOODY, BAD-TEMPERED NEW YEAR HERE".

I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. Honestly. It's as if they gave a monkey a crayon. I didn't know that a good command of English was no longer mandatory for employees working for an English language newspaper. If you glance back up at the list of awards, you would notice that none of them are for the actual news, articles, or content, of the newspaper.

What is my point? I think that should be quite obvious by now. I feel that the quality of The Straits Times could do with some improving, and in several different areas. Perhaps the standard of this newspaper wasn't always so poor, maybe it fell only recently. I can't say for certain, because I can quite honestly admit, I didn't really start reading the newspaper until I was about 14. I did read the newspapers, but only the Life section, and for only one reason, the comics. Garfield was my idol. He was, that is, until he stopped being funny. The reason I didn't read the papers was, simply because I was still a kid, and a kid was supposed to do kid things. Play, be carefree, laugh, leave the worries and problems to the grown-ups. These days, I'm still a kid, albeit a more cynical and marginally more intelligent one.

It appears that The Straits Times is trying to get everyone to part with 80cents to buy their precious newspapers, meaning, they're attempting to appeal to everyone, meaning, the lowest denominator in society. What other possible explanation can be given, considering the state that it's in? Trivial matters can make headlines. Minor scandals take up an entire page. News is reported with sensationalized headlines, and sometimes, quite frankly, inconsequential content. The Straits Times shouldn't be forced to stoop to this level. There's already another newspaper for those who like to read about these sort of things, and it's called The New Paper. Might I add, it's also published by SPH. Wait, all our newspapers are published by SPH. Except Today, which people only read because it's given out for free.

Sometimes when I read The Straits Times, I can't tell whether I'm reading an article, an advertisement, or an advertisement for another article. One time, I read an informative article, only to discover halfway through that McDonald's Grilled Chicken Foldover was guaranteed to rock my socks off. I can safely say, that a quarter of The Straits Times is made of up advertisements. On Saturdays, I would say a third. Take today's paper, the back pages shows a picture of Singapore's favorite son, Jack Neo, our "One", smiling for Mitsubishi air-conditioners, not because they reduced his electricity bills, but because of the large pile of money he made for putting his pretty face and a thumbs-up on their ad. Every other day Olinda Cho, who is not at all Chio (haha) tells me that I could be well on the way to a slimmer waist, and more shapely legs and thighs. Mary Chia shows me that I could have a larger, firmer bust, which will make my husband love me more. BMW tries to convince me, a 17 year old penniless student, that I can afford their latest 3 series automobile, and that I can get substantials savings if I buy now. Starhub, M1, and Singtel, try in vain to convince me that the LG Chocolate is much cooler than my crappy 3 year old Sony Ericsson T630. (I must show it to you one day) And by the way, it's not. Too many advertisements. Enough, no more, tis not so sweet now, as it was before.

I know that the PAP has done many good things for Singapore in the past, but please, SPH, Straits Times, there's no need to praise them to high heaven or take their side every single time. Just read any article on local politics or the government's decisions. You'll see what I mean. For example, GST hike. 7%. Notice how our papers gave a very one sided view? All I read about was how it was for our good, that it was bitter medicine, how the government would help us get through it, and that we should just shut the hell up and stop being such whiny bitches. Little to none of the articles painted a bad picture of the GST hike. No downsides were given. All we heard was positive, positive, positive. Reporters Without Borders, RSF (No, I'm not a moron. It's RSF because its Reporters sans frontières, which is like French or something) has ranked Singapore 146th out of 166 countries in its annual World Press Freedom Ranking in 2006. We were 147th in 2004, but 140th in 2005, so I guess we improved.

Another thing that annoys me about The Straits Times is how they publish articles without thinking properly. Ever action has a consequence, and with great power comes great responsibility. Once again, in today's papers, on the third page, an article telling people that they can cheat the parking lots (So that was what the lousy picture was showing) helping them save about $20 a month. Now, what did they think the average Singaporean driver would react to this article?

"Hmm, how interesting! Oh, look below, there's an ad for a new condo! I must read that!"

No.

The Singaporean, being the cheap bastard that he is, would immediately go down to his nearest mall, enter the parking lot, and even though he doesn't need to buy anything or get anything done, he will try to cheat his way to the sweet joy known as free parking. Oh dear, Straits Times, what have you done?

The Straits Times is owned by SPH, which is pretty much owned by the government. It should have the official tone of a respectable and well-regarded publication. It should have a certain air and sense of formality. I think that it should be something that is a worthy representative of the Republic Of Singapore.

Majulah Singapura.

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Blogged @ 9:21 PM

YSunday, January 21, 2007

A Time and Place For Apathy.

I know this may seem like an ironic statement, coming from me. [Sidetrack! (wow, getting sidetracked after the first sentence, how sad.) Anyway, did you notice how I used my wit and cleverness to work a pun into my blog title address thingy? I am the Apathetic Avenger, however, you would know, someone who doesn't care about things wouldn't be a very good avenger. Hence, Apathetic Avenger can also be read as A Pathetic Avenger! Woohoo! My intelligence brings so much happiness. Yay for me! Alright, I'm done.] But this is how I really feel. I'm not saying that you should give everything in this world your fullest attention. I'm urging everyone to care about things that are important, not about things like what your friend did on Friday at 11pm while at her hot boyfriend's house. Pay attention things that affect your lives, things that are of actual significance.

It's amazing how seemingly minor events that occur halfway across the planet can have such major effects on us. Don't believe me? Allow me to illustrate. Let's say oil supplies decrease worldwide. Because supply decreases, while demand goes up, prices go up. (Oh yea, I rock at Economics!) Hence, in order for your Dad to continue driving to work so that he can make enough money to provide you with shelter and food, he has to scrimp and save for petrol, and is now unable to buy you that overpriced Crumpler bag (which is basically less than $10 worth of fabric, plastic, and velcro) that you so desperately desire. Now your life is incomplete as the Crumpler bag was your only means of upgrading your social status en route to becoming popular and cool, and you're now forced to hang out with losers and freaks.

How about a little something closer to home? Nicoll Highway collapsed in late 2004, due to some happenings that were hidden from public view. It results in the tragic deaths of four people. Those who were responsible for the collapse were given a light slap on the wrist, a small fine. So, because of that, now the completion of the Circle Line Mrt service has been pushed back to 2010. This affects you greatly, since you study at ACJC, and need to go to Ang Mo Kio to take a bus home, you are now forced to travel in one massive circle, instead of having a direct train from Buona Vista to AMK. You take one and a half hours to travel home from school everyday. When you reach home, you're too tired to do any work. You cry yourself to sleep at night, cursing the heavens for you ill-fated existence.

So, I hope that would convince you to take notice about Current Affairs. I guess it's good in a way that JC students are forced to take GP. So it's pretty much, "CARE! Or you fail!". Better to force someone to do something unwillingly than to let the rot their lives away. A most effective way of convincing others, I must say, especially, considering we are in kiasu Singapore, where kids put grades first, and learning the very last. Anyway, I think it's important to read our beloved Straits Times, but it's also important to take everything with a pinch of salt. Read between the lines. (Not literally, I'm not saying stare at the blank white space between the words.) Understand the facts, come up with your own thought process, and make your own inferences. Don't take everything at face value. For example. I will tell you that The Straits Times is a state-controlled newspaper, and that it is the only English language newspaper in Singapore. (I don't consider The New Paper or Today to be newspapers, more like... shit.) What does my statement tell you?

I also think we should embrace other non-traditional forms of media, such as the internet. Forums, personal websites, and even blogs can contain lots of information that is worth reading. However these jewels are hidden amongst vast quantities of absolute rubbish. There is this forum, which I regularly visit. It is concerned mostly with local issues. There are a fair number of clones and trolls and idiots that post there, but a lot of the content is rather deep and quite interesting. I don't post much there, I go there mostly to read, and to get opinions from the other side of Singapore's fence. I would post the link in my blog, except I don't want to be put on the PAP's blacklist at the tender age of 16. Contact me if you want the link. (It's not a pornographic website, mind you. Perverts.) Another website that I do visit is this one. This writer is, I'm sad to admit, much more mature and deep than I am. Fortunately, he's not as funny. His articles are insightful, his arguments clear, his language concise. He is also homosexual, as he stated in his biography. So I do find his articles do offer a fresh point of view, something that I'm not so familiar with. I should also state, that his website contains issues about homosexuality, so if you're closed-minded, keep away.

Remember that first movie in that trilogy with the rotating special effects? Remember what the bald black guy who wore shiny leather clothes said to the hero guy? There is the red pill, and the blue pill. Would you prefer to be blissfully unaware of what goes on behind your back, or would you rather embrace the truth, and get the full picture?

Which would you choose?

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Blogged @ 4:55 PM

YMonday, December 18, 2006

SM Goh : Rename Our Streets.

For those of you who are bored out of your minds, you would have probably read in our local papers about SM Goh Chok Tong suggestion to have several roads named after minor colonial officials changed to honour Singapore's pioneers instead. "Those names really had not much significance for future Singaporeans. For another generation of Singaporeans or two generations from here, I think those names would have very little meaning," said Mr Goh.

Okayyy, but, what makes him think that future generations of Singaporeans will find meaning in Singapore's pioneers? Maybe he's out of touch with the youth of our nation, being like old and all. I guess he doesn't know this, but teenagers, the future of our nation, the ones who will raise Singapore to greater glory, the pride and joy of our hardworking parents, don't really care about anything, other than ourselves. To us, life is just a potpourri of Crumpler bags, movies, overpriced cellphones, bitching about others, and billabong (interesting sidetrack. Billabong actually refers to a part of a river, where it leads to a dead-end channel. It is not some word made up by pot-smoking beer-drinking Aussie surfer dudes after a night of putting shrimp on the barbi, while wrestling crocs and calling each other "mate".) Sad, but very true. How do I know about the degree of our apathy? Just ask your average teenager, "What are your thoughts on Temasek's takeover of ShinCorp?". Be prepared for a stunned look, with perhaps slack jaws or wide eyes for added effect. So, my point is, that teenagers, to put in bluntly (and in our crude language), don't give a shit about our road names.

The thing is, I feel that none of our street names have any meaning or significance at all. To me they are just places, however, it's the memories that took place at the specific locations that conjure up feelings. Like "Oh that's Changi Village, where I had my first, of many, sexual encounters with men. (not true)", or "******* Road, where I go to buy Ecstacy (also not true)". In the past road names had meanings. Orchard Road was called Orchard Road because it was full of orchards. (Surprising, isn't it?) Beach Road was next to the beach, and Dhoby Gaut was where people went to do laundry. What about now? Orchard Road and Dhoby Gaut are big shopping centres, and Beach Road is the centre for buying army crap.

Changing road names is an impractical idea. A few of you will remember when our pragmatic government hired some FT (Foreign Talent) to rename Marina Bay. In the end, at the fair price of $400,000, they renamed Marina Bay... Marina Bay. Now, imagine if they had actually renamed it something else, it would have been SO much more trouble! (Not to mention cost our pragmatic government much more money) Not only that, it would wreak havoc among taxi drivers and travel guides and tour agencies. Imagine the chaos. Taxi drivers driving around in circles, foaming at the mouth, lost in Toa Payoh, which has been renamed LKY Road. Construction workers furiously knocking down those thingies that say Yio Chu Kang Gardens, and putting up Zubir Said Gardens. Tour agencies becoming bankrupt from having to reprint all their brochures. Babies crying, women weeping, men screaming. Oh the humanity!

You know what I think Singapore should do, instead of renaming our streets? Calculate the supposed amount of money needed to rename all our streets, including replacement of signs, payment of workers, and other miscellaneous fees. When they arrive at a lump sum, write a check, and give it to me. That way, at least one person will be happy.

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Blogged @ 10:59 PM

YSunday, December 10, 2006

Asian Games. Go Team Chin... I mean Singapore!!!

I'm certain that everyone in Singapore is aware of the Asian Games at Doha, which is under way right now. I am also certain that some of you are as excited as me, glued to your TV screens every night, wearing your Team Singapore headbands, with your right fist clenched tightly over your chest, proudly waving your Singapore flats in your living rooms, with fertile tears of nationalistic joy rolling down your cheeks.

As a vital and integral member of Team Singapore (4 million strong!) you would undoubtedly know that Singapore is doing pretty well. You would also surely know that one of the greatest achievements of Team Singapore would be winning a gold medal in swimming, something we haven't done in many years. The winner of the 50m butterfly would of course be Tao Li. Take a look at today's newspaper and you would a massive shot of her grinning face, splashed right on the front page. I'm not saying that I don't respect her as an athlete. She can do many things that I cannot do, that I admit. She won, good for her. However, I just don't really think it's that appropriate that our media places such a great emphasis on her victory, and how it has brought pride to our dear nation, simply for the fact that I do not consider her to be a Singaporean.

Perhaps she has already converted to becoming a Singapore citizen, I am not certain of this. But the fact remains that she was born in China. For that reason, and for that reason alone, I do not consider her to be Singaporean. The same goes for all the other athletes that Singapore imports from China, Indonesia, or other nearby countries. Li Jia Wei, Ronald Susilo, or whoever else they may be. Singaporeans are expected to have a sense of loyalty and pride for our country, but how can we do that, if the role models of our nation, the athletes who have achieved glory for Singapore, weren't even loyal to THEIR OWN countries in the first place, and instead decided to represent Team Singapore, no doubt because of certain incentives.

Some people may be thinking that perhaps I am suffering from jealousy, a bad case of sour grapes, due to Tao Li being so popular and famous at the moment, and the sizable amount of money she receives from our government for her victory, but this is not the case. I'm just disappointed that so much is being given to a foreigner. I have nothing but respect for real Singaporean athletes, like those teenage girls, girls of my age, who managed to win a silver in the shooting competition. Unfortunately, I am unable to recall their names at this moment, due to the fact that there wasn't much hype and focus on their medal winning performance. I am also unable to recall the name of the gold medal winning body builder, or the pair of bowlers who also accomplished the same feat.

I honestly would prefer if Singapore did not import any foreign athletes, and not win any medals, than if Singapore brought over hundreds of athletes and won many medals. I mean, seriously, so what if we don't win any medals? It's not as if Singaporean have no other talents. Some people are good at running, some are good at thinking, and some are good at writing nonsensical crap on the internet.

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Blogged @ 10:33 PM