I found this amusing. From Channel News Asia:

Mr Goh says: “You have a choice - if having opposition is more important, then vote opposition - but if there is a way to get my views put to parliament to somebody, then vote for your interests, vote for upgrading - and your views can be put across in Parliament and if you vote for Eric Low, I can tell PM to let him be the opposition in Parliament.”

(See also “Will sparing the Whip win PAP worry wards?“)

And via a link from a Singabloodypore post, something similar has been suggested before:

When criticised during the recent General Elections [2001] of a lack of checks and balances on the Government, PM Goh Chok Tong had this response - the People’s Action Forum. The group, described by the PM as a Shadow Cabinet, is to ensure more debate in parliament. However, unlike other countries where the Shadow Cabinet is formed by the Opposition, Singapore’s Shadow Cabinet will be drawn from the ruling party, with 20 PAP MPs and Ministers serving a 2-year run. The Party whip will be lifted so they don’t have to toe the party line and can even vote against party decisions.

Two points jar at me from all this:

1. That upgrading these two wards would not be feasible if somehow the opposition holds on to them. But why not? Wouldn’t the opposition fight for what the ppl who voted them in want? Would the Singaporean government actually withold the monies to upgrade these areas because they are represented by the opposition?
2. Understandably the opposition cannot form a shadow cabinet because they just don’t have the numbers in Parliament. So why even bother the pretense of checks and balances? Does the government really expect the ppl to believe that a PAP member would question party policies vigirously, if at all, even if they are “allowed” to?

These two “neglected” wards as described by SM Goh should not be held ransom by politics. Serving the ppl should be the ultimate objective. And in the absense of checks and balances, transparency and accountability are better than a pseudo-opposition. The Singaporean ppl are not idiots and they should be treated accordingly by their government.

Technorati Tags: Singapore, Singaporean, politics

You know sometimes it’s not easy maintaining this facade. This facade of being capable of spitting out words into one or two coherent posts a day. It’s hard work yo! In fact I swear I have written about this before …

There are 3 ways that I typically write my blog posts:

1. There’s a planned event or outing coming up and there would be opportunities for photo-taking.

   In this case, a narrative would have been formed in my head and I can even plan out what kind of pictures that I would be taking. Those are typically my photo blog entries. Since Two Tribes, I haven’t gone to anything major.

2. I read stuff on the net and ideas would form either on the topics or off on a tangent.

   Sometimes it’s a big news day and I get plenty of fodder to feed my thought process but sometimes it’s a case of “same shit, different day”.

3. Things happen in my personal life, usually involving friends and family. And if it’s interesting enough and is generally ok to be broadcasted on the Internet then I’d write about it.

   But like world news, there is also a case of “same shit, different day”. I mean really, I can tell you how I went clubbing and drinking on the weekend again but how is it different to the times that I’ve already blogged about the same activities. If I feel bored writing about it, then you would definitely find it boring to read as well.

You see I actually care about *you* my readers. I am not gonna put up crap to maintain my posting rate. No, I care about quality. Even if it’s a blatant use of the “post pics of hot chicks up” method, I’d actually do research before I would post it. Nor would I cam-whore myself - not that it’d be any good because we all know this avenue is reserved only for hot-chick bloggers.

Of course that doesn’t stop Kenny Sia from doing it all the time. In fact once, he almost scarred me for life - warning: click only if you are ok with looking at a blodgy hairy man-chest with red spots. *shudder*

Where was I? Oh yes I wouldn’t put up a post just because I don’t want to go one day without posting. Nope. I wouldn’t do a blog-filler where I’d write about not having anything to write about (more than once too!) and link back to my old posts in it. Nope I just wouldn’t do it.

Why not? ‘Cos that’s the kind of blogger than I am.

I’ve been in Australia for close to 18 years and I still get asked, “Where are you from?” Asian-Australians are irked by that question, especially those who were born in Australia. To them, the question is almost an insult, to the point where they’d either ignore the question or hautily reply back,

Australia. Where are you from?

Personally I don’t mind the question unless of course the inquisitor is being derogatory about that. If asked, I just straight out reply,

Malaysia.

And if the conversation continues in a meaningful way, I’d usually add on,

I’ve been here since 1988.

And you’d see their brains ticking over calculating the years. By the nature of my pubbing and clubbing, I get asked that a lot because the places I go to are predominantly white in clientele. To me, them asking the question is a sign that they want to know my ethnicity or race without seeming rude about it. I rather “where are you from?” than say,

What country are you from?

Or

What race are you?

I see myself spreading “knowledge” and the more Anglo Aussies that I enlightened the better. Because that can only be a good thing. They are especially tripped out by the fact that the Chinese race can be found in almost every country in the world.

So you are Malaysian but Chinese? *puzzled*

When I explained to them that just like there are Italians and Greeks born in Australia, there are Chinese who are born in many different places outside of China, they’d go, “Ahhhh.” I could sometimes almost see a light bulb turn on above their head. *bing*

Of course occasionally I’d meet ppl who really know their cultural and geographical stuff. Some would even turn out a phrase of perfectly intoned Mandarin or Malay. And some also know that the Malay peoples in Malaysia and Indonesia are the same albeit differing slightly in culture.

So really, keep on asking me where I’m from because I don’t mind it. But come to me and say,

Are you Japanese?

… and you can expect an evil look.

Technorati Tags: Australia, Malaysian, Chinese, race, multiculturalism

YC made it for me. I like it v. much.

And, if you haven’t seen her new hair yet …

She ROCKS.

Now that Mike is dating a Singaporean, the first phrase that he should get the hang of is “wah lau”. Because the first morning that he wakes up next to Xiaxue and sees her without makeup, he’s gonna yell out a big fat,

WAH LAU!!!

Heh. Ok so maybe I shouldn’t project my own shallowness onto a guy whom I know nothing about. He’s probably a very nice guy and he doesn’t care about physical appearances. Instead he only cares about Wendy Cheng the person. Erm yeah.

Either way he’s screwed.

Technorati Tags: Xiaxue, Wendy Cheng

The story goes like this: a man and a woman shared the use of a computer. Man visits questionable dating sites but was careful to utilise Firefox’s “Clear Private Data” function which clears saved passwords, cookies, browsing history and the cache. BUT it does not erase the list of sites to “Never Save Password” for.

Woman stumbles across this list of sites which included, you guess it, those questionable dating sites. Result? 5-year relationship ended just like that.

A couple of good points come from the links below and I shall sum it thus:

• Never do anything on a PC that is not solely used by yourself, that you are afraid ppl will know about. No matter how careful or techy you think you are, you will slip up. Guilty conscious ppl always do.
• Having said that, is visiting dating sites but not going on any dates enough reason to end the relationship? A similar analogy is: a man may like looking at other women but is ultimately faithful, would you still dump him? Highly debatable.

I don’t know about you but that’s why I do all my porn surfing on one computer only - the one in my room.

‘Firefox flaw wrecked my relationship’ | The Register
When Firefox, privacy and relationships collide… | MetaFilter

Why can’t she just get over it already? It’s been 2 whole months!

I remember some time ago this 30 year old saggy bitch went on about how I was not included in a magazine interview but she was. (oh but all the magazine interviews I have been in will engulf you, you insignificant underinterviewed person! Ha ha ha)

She was laughing and saying how I deserve it etc.

I didn’t even mention anything, but everyone knows she is the one making a fool of herself, because, according to the magazine, the only reason why I was not included is because there wasn’t enough space, and the editors felt that it was right to axe me, to give the less famous girls a chance.

Why is she still harping on and on about it? Why? I’ll tell you why: because she doesn’t have much else to validate herself such that a perceived insult to her popularity would just bring out the harpy in her.

Yeah quote me on that: Xiaxue is a harpy.

And if you are like her and you wanna dig up old skeletons, here’s another expose. When I first saw it, I thought, “Should I or shouldn’t I link it? Aren’t ppl sick of this already?” Then I saw her post. Guess not.