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Sunday, Dec 11, 2011 - 23:19 SGT
Posted By: Gilbert

Days In Days Out


Friday

Caught the screening of The PhD Movie at LT27 on Friday night (officially attributed to A*STAR and not NUS for some reason). The chips and bottled drinks were a nice touch, and thanks to a speaker malfunction at the beginning, I ended up having the last three rows to myself.

It was altogether an enjoyable diversion, though longtime followers of the comic strip cannot help but recognize most of the gags before they are uttered. Some still managed to crack me up despite the fact, as when getting a Ph.D. was compared to a marriage, and when an old CS prof complained that all he had was one bit to work with when he was a student (among a few other in-jokes).


Applies to me too (Source: phdcomics.com)



Saturday

Had to be on campus for a morning meeting, and then squeezed in a swim before I got asked whether I would be available for a family outing (so no questions about research progress please).

Well, it was off across the border to Malaysia, and every time this happens I cannot help but be struck at all that empty land. First stop was the Johor Premium Outlets, which only confirmed that there exist people everywhere who will pay through the nose for anything. We got chocolates.

Had dinner at Sutera Mall after that, and I took the opportunity to buy my first basketball (okay, technically my dad paid for it. Thanks, dad!); I haven't had one for a long time now, though I still fondly remember the white, red and blue one I slung about back in my primary school days - that one eventually exploded in the storeroom after the uncle at the neighbourhood bicycle shop pumped a tad too much compressed air into it. A shame.

Browsed about at the Popular bookstore there, and the most striking disparity between it and Singaporean outlets that I noticed was the lack of titles by or about our Minister Mentor Emeritus on display. There was however a good-sized selection on Dr. Mahathir, and even copies of Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock, which are banned highly-encouraged *nudge nudge* not to be made available for sale back home (author arrested too, as is customary)

From the SDP's review, the basic thrust of the book is that "the likelihood of offenders being sent to the gallows is dependent on their socio-economic background and, in the case of foreigners, Singapore's economic and political relationship with their government.", with actual case studies cited.

Basically, Shadrake alleges, if you're from a rich Western country and get caught with drugs, the amount of drugs tends to mysteriously diminish upon further testing (well, they do have to use up samples during analysis, no? if not, drawing upon the "a pound of flesh but no jot of blood" legal contortion, I can well imagine how certain parts of plant material may or may not be defined to be a drug) [N.B. which recalls the oft-heard joke about police (elsewhere) and pot]

On the other hand, if the trafficker is poor and/or from a less-significant country, it's the noose for him. I can understand the authorities' indignation here: how dare a no-name journalist suggest that the august Singapore judicial system might be influenced by foreign pressure from the big boys and/or high enough connections? The cheek!

Sadly for the SDP, I still don't see these concerns winning too many votes in the foreseeable future. Which brings me to the notable absence of Hard Truths (referenced before) at the bookstore - it turns out that it may or may not have been banned across the Causeway. Well, this maintains the auld tradition between the two nations of I banning your propaganda, you banning mine, and us coming to an understanding over it.

Which brings me to Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going.


Softly or Hardly?

While waiting for mio TV to load up (as usual), I found this new addition to my cousin's bookshelf, and couldn't help but consume it in its entirety; I hadn't found a counterpoint to Voting In Change, after all, and thought, this should do.

At the end, first and foremost, I have got to acknowledge his candour, moreso as he has always spoken his mind even when he was running for elections (at least after he was established enough). The second thing that struck me was his utter pragmatism - about every decision is rooted in "does it work?", and immediately discarded if it (he thinks it) won't, whatever other merits it has be damned.

As with Voting In Change, I will attempt to summarize as best as I can, and also include direct quotes and personal commentary as and when appropriate. Some good questions/answers appear to be repeated in the book - when this happens, I present them where they fit in the best.


Chapter 1: An 80-Storey Building On Marshy Land
  • Singapore is not a normal country (later: more an accident of history)
  • We do not have neighbours who want us to prosper [N.B. But then again, in the international arena, who truly has?]
  • Singapore can survive for another century easily if it has a strong system - not necessarily the PAP
  • "... no man can judge a person accurately if that person is superior than he is" [N.B. A point made here, which does have dire implications in assembling a team. More Liu Bei-types needed]
  • The problem with the Opposition parties is that they cannot present a credible alternative [N.B. Well, on the occasions that they do get policies right, don't expect any credit to go their way.

    On this, my own conclusion for now is that on the economic front at least, none of the parties have convincingly demonstrated that they have a substantially better fundamental direction, though of course this doesn't mean that the ruling party has all the details right. On the political practices/civil rights front... that's another matter altogether]
  • A strong finance and a strong defence must come together [N.B. Cue the Total Defence philosophy]
  • "We must attract and retain talent" [N.B. Certainly; the main gripe from below is - what constitutes talent?]

Chapter 2: Will the PAP Last?
  • "By nature I'm not a person who's tied to theories. Theories should evolve from practice..." [N.B. As the preceding question stated, he started out as a socialist and very quickly became a realist and pragmatist. This has often been brought up - e.g. in the 1950s when he was in the Opposition, he said: "But we either believe in democracy or we don't. If we do, then, we must say categorically, without qualification, that no restraint from any democratic processes, other than by the ordinary law of the land, should be allowed..."]
  • "I don't believe that democracy is the best form of government for all countries and will spread throughout the world." [N.B. So it appears that he has now answered the question posed by his younger self - he doesn't believe in (liberal) democracy here]
  • "My fundamental belief is that whatever your background, you should have an equal chance in life, in education, in health, in nutrition" [N.B. I agree]
  • "The unions got to take a vote before they can go on strike and not just a small cabal in the leadership, which was what the communists did regardless of what the members want or didn't want..." [N.B. The effect of unions appears to oscillate through history - from legitimately protecting exploited workers, to becoming top-heavy labour cabals interested in protecting undeserved and unsustainable benefits]
  • "Without the basic stability of everybody having a home and a stake... So we make up to new buyers by giving them a grant... to lower the cost" [N.B. Currently, new (3-room) flats appear to be going for S$200k. Probably reasonable, assuming you can get one]
  • "[Question] When you say there is universal acceptance of market economy but no great rush for democracy..." [N.B. It does seem true that when a poor region has the opportunity to get rich, they won't bother too much about more abstract ideals. When growth stalls or isn't seen to be spread widely enough however... well... heh heh heh]
  • "I don't see China having one man, one vote. Not possible." [N.B. Here, I think he may be surprised in due time. And actually, China technically has one man, one vote, at least at the local level (but then again, even the granddaddy of liberal democracy does this) - it's just that in China, very often only one man can receive any votes at all]
  • "Will we ever have one culture? I don't think so. Will we have one religion? No?... So what will hold us together? I believe the economic necessity of peace and stability and growth." [N.B. The ever-pragmatic PAP mantra - but he who lives by the dollar will die by the dollar]
  • "90 percent of Chinese Singaporeans say they will elect a non-Chinese as PM. Yes, this is the ideal. You believe these polls? Utter rubbish..." [N.B. Again I respectfully beg to differ (I, for one, would). Ok, let us say that some of these 90% are only being politically correct - then what is the true figure? 70%? 60%? If the candidate is good enough, my answer would be: enough percent.]
  • "There was no independent elections boundary commission in Britain. We inherited that. So did Malaysia. We've done one tenth the gerrymandering others have. All we did was to have more group constituency MPs, primarily because we had to get minority representations" [N.B. Not very convincing. Other inherited institutions have been abolished if they did not make sense. However, the current setup is a very useful convenient political convenience, so expect it to continue being glossed over]
  • "That you must have the minorities elected. You can achieve it in two ways: proportional representation, in which case you're encouraging parties playing to Malay sentiments and rights to emerge. That's divisive... It's not the way Malaysia is going because they are allowing illegal immigrants, Muslims, to come in so that the Malays outnumber the Chinese and Indians and then they appeal only to the Malay voters." [N.B. True, but this has also led to grumblings that minority candidates are basically token candidates in teams]
  • "...if the opposition comes in for two, three, four years without collapsing the economy. But it will cause great disquiet in the investment community..." [N.B. This is the essence of the grand bargain between workers and the government - the workers accept a declawed union and work dutifully, and the government presents them with a large share of the resulting pie. This image becomes harder to maintain as the income gap between the lower and upper segment widens, though...]
  • "And there could come a time when the interest of the upper middle class will be divergent, that they don't think they should subsidise the lower classes. They may well support a party which says, 'No, I don't think this taxation is right. Why should I support the people in the two-room and three-room and four room flats?'" [N.B. Hmm, let's see - personal income taxes being slowly cut, broad-based regressive taxes raised, welfare hard to get... doesn't this party already exist?]
  • "You must have convictions. If you don't have convictions, you are going in for personal glory or honour or publicity or popularity, forget it." [N.B. Agree.]
  • "That (Worker's Party) alternative manifesto says unscramble the NTUC, unscramble this, unscramble that... When the election comes, does he (Low Thia Khiang) say those things? No, it doesn't sell. What does he say... The government has money, we have no money. So, you know, he plays on emotions." [N.B. Sadly, it seems true that policy details don't sell. Then again, it's not like National Education etc doesn't try to play on emotions either]
  • "No. I don't think it's necessary to own the press... Even today, Rupert Murdoch, if you take a line which he doesn't agree with, you're fired." [N.B. Sure. Thing is, however, not all newspapers in the US/UK are owned by Murdoch. But yes, special countries need unity]
[To be continued...]


Ham On A Roll

Mr. Ham (725/1300 seeds): Tottenham (-1.5) vs. Stoke City (at 3.20)

FAKEBERT (1514/1300 seeds): Tottenham to beat Stoke City (at 1.90)



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