Monday, July 31, 2006

Fly to Thailand with just S$2

It might be cheaper to fly to Thailand (all destinations), than the public transport from your home to Changi Airport. I am not talking about the taxis. If you live in the north or west, the MRT plus the bus fare to MRT station could be over S$2.

Maybe we can have TigerAirways to set up a Changi-Paya Lebar-Kallang route. ;-)

Go! Tiger! Go!
TigerAirways

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posted by wert | Monday, July 31, 2006 | 0 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


Saturday, July 29, 2006

Singapore Loves You...not

Ask not if your country loves you, or ask not if you love your country?
Which should come first?

As National Day approaches, I want to write about our love for Singapore or the lack of it and vice versa. Here is the question...in your heart do you truthfully love the nation? Sadly for me, no. Honestly and seriously NO. Is that ungrateful or worse disloyal? Let me explain further.

Singapore does provide the facilities that is impossible or difficult elsewhere. We have alot of material achievements and belongings. We do have far above average living standards. We feel safe and very secure. But does that make us a nation? Do we have any national identity?

Nation identity? Isn't that the bak chor mee or the roti prati? No, it's not all that. A nation identity is something that bonds a group of people together, something that transform a piece of empty land into a collective nation. It's the "glue" held the people together to form this notion called "nation". What consisted of this glue? Here are some of the most common ingredients.
  1. Race
  2. Language
  3. Culture
  4. Religion or Ideology
  5. History and Geography
In Singapore case, a, b, c, d and e are all out. Our forefathers came from all over Asia, with not a single common thread among us. Singapore is born without much of a choice and by accident. After being unceremoniously booted out the Malaysia, we were cast adrifted with no identity of our own. After over 40 years of intenstive "nation buliding", unfortunately but unsurprising we are still without any identity of our own. As such, how can I or anyone love a nation that does exist only on words and paper but not in the heart and soul of the people. In Singapore, the state is always before the individual. Individuals work for the good of the state but never because of the love of the state. It's the same way that ants work for the good of nest but never for the love of the nest. It's only with an identity, that people can truthfully love their nation.

So what are we doing wrong?
Well, nothing.
Yes, we are done nothing wrong.
Buliding a nation identity takes a more than a lifetime. Look at China, India, UK, all of them have long histories and tough struggles; wars, kings and tyrants before forming their own nation identity. Singapore would be no exception to the rule. Singapore is still young as nation goes, not even half a century old and without any natural ingredients of nationhood mentioned earlier. (a ~ e)

But we have done nothing much right either
In the 40 last years, Singapore had been actively educating its citzens on how rich we are, how clever we are and how many bulidings we have bulit. All of these are legitimate tools of nation buliding, making us feel better about ourselves and developing a sense of pride. However, times have moved on, but the methods have not.

From the recent news on Racial Harmory Day, we are still harping on along the same lines all these years. "You are a Malay, I am a Chinese. You respect me, I respect you." We have been told that Singapore multi-racial society needs very careful handing and thus deserves special attention. However, Singapore multiracial society isn't really unique at all. Due to the effects of globalization, there are hardly any countries in the world with racially homogeneous population.

Instead of bluring the racial lines, we emphasize it. Instead of all being Singaporeans, you are a Malay and I am a Chinese. I don't think the current campaign is heading in the right direction to bulid multiracialism as a pillar of our identity.

Young Singaporeans (as in post-65), have "national education" consistently drummed into us, from primary school right up to tertiary level. The syllabus under national education consists of nothing but "teaching" us to love our nation. Perhaps a small amount of such "education" is neccessary as well as healthy every National Day. Having it as a complusory school curriculum for 10 straight years is certainly a fatal overdose.

I am not sure what the older generation thought of such 'education". From their view, maybe it's still relevant because of their firsthand experiences during the early 50s. But for the young and connected, it is rather disconnecting from reality. Singaporeans have become very educated in the last 40 years and are very capable of searching their own answers. The kind of government hard sell is no longer viable to young Singaporeans of today.

Coming to National Day. I doubt many Singaporeans do truthfully appreciate the significance of National Day, for most it's just a welcome break from school or work. For others, the National Day is a great excuse and the perfect opportunity for get togethers and family gatherings. Celebrating the nation birthday is often, no more than an afterthought.

Not sure how many Singaporeans agree with me, but I find NDP to be extremely repetitive and predictable. Let me do a fictional imagaination: our ever reliable MediaCorp did a blooper and shown the 2005 NDP instead, are you confident enough to spot the differences?NDP2006 wouldn't differ too much from the above "formula". However, many Singaporeans don't mind much as there is always a spectacular fireworks display as the finale.

From the TV news, we have Singaporeans of all walks of life are "celebrating" National Day. From photographers on the Benjamin Sheares Bridge, couples in hot air ballons, and families in Fullerton One, they are all the most fantanised by the NDP fireworks display. It would not be unfair for a casual observer to have thought that it is Singapore Fireworks Festival.

Take away the goodie bag and the fireworks, I think we would start having trouble filling up all the seats. National Day has thus lost its meaning and failed its purpose in inducing pride among Singaporeans. Personally, I had lost any interest in the NDP after participating firsthand during my NS days but that's another story.

NDP2006NFD
Which day are you really looking forward to?









All is lost?....Not so
If there is any that has gone in the right direction, it is language. 40 years ago, even Chinese of different dialect groups settled their differences with violence partly because they have no idea what each other was talking about. In just 40 years, we have gone of a dozen of different languages and dialects to a single common language, English. I think that is rather admirable achievement indeed.

Language as I mentioned eariler is one of the natural ingredients of nationhood. Language is far and away the most potent ingredient, why? For men to respect and bond with each other, there is no other way but to communicate. If we can communicate in the same language, understanding and respect would come more easily. From understanding and respect, we can search out for common ground and purpose and in so achieving our identity.

The world's only superpower, United States of America is perhaps the best example whereby language forms the basis of nation identity. United States is similar to Singapore in its immigrant society. The United States espouses the world's most ethnically diverse population yet they all share the "American Dream". A land where the most lowly of orgins can make it big. Their people break down into Caucasian (71%), African American (12%), Latino (12%), Asian (4%), Native American (0.9%). Isn't it far more diverse than Singapore? and let's not go into their differences in religions. Thus, United States like Singapore only have one ingredient of nationhood. Therefore, I see no good reason why we cannot succeed as they did and bulid the "Singaporean Dream".

Solutions?...die die must offer some.
Well, there is no simple solution. People bond faster with crisis, such as wars, dictators, natural disasters etc, however we don't really want those stuff, right?

Singapore with all its world class housing, world class transport, etc has the world highest emirgation rate, second only to East Timor. Why is it so? There are probably many reasons. However, the lack of a sense of belonging is certainly one of them.

It's high time that Singapore should take the first step and start giving Singaporean some love first. Not with material wants a la progress package, but with compassion and genuinity. Instead of our typically hard and fast rules, couldn't we relax a little and allow individualism to stand out more. Instead of labelling us as "quiters" or "stayers", shouldn't be more proactive in winning the hearts and minds of our own people? No, I don't mean more balloon clappers and cheerleaders. In fact, we want less of them and more genuine openness and trust in our everyday lives. Singapore can start by treating us as intelligent people; people who can tell the right from the wrong without the State telling us the right and the wrong. Singapore should allows Singaporeans to explore and find their own identity on their own, which would be more impressive and long lasting than a state imposed identity.

Question is: Will Singaporeans return the love of the State? The answer is: You never know if you never try.

edited : Further editing and correction.



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posted by wert | Saturday, July 29, 2006 | 2 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


Friday, July 28, 2006

Trojan disguises itself as Firefox extension

McAfee have warned of a trojan, FormSpy that disguises itself as a Firefox extension.

The trojan pass itself off as a valid open source Mozilla component, "NumberedLinks 0.9". To the victim, he or she would only notice the "NumberedLinks 0.9" extension being installed via the Mozilla graphical user interface. Behind the scences, the trojan begin to sniff for credit cards numbers, passwords, PINs etc from ICQ, FTP, IMAP, POP3 traffic and start sending the information to an external server.

Currently, the trojan is spreading mainly through spam emails with the fake Firefox attachment. Once executed, it downloads the real extension off the net and records itself directly into the Firefox configuration data, avoiding the regular installation process. Thus, the real attachment is installed but so is the trojan.

With the Firefox gathering more and more mainstream popularity, do expect more of the same thing. One golden rule is to be very careful opening attachment. Do not think a word document or a mp3 file is safe as the the file formats are very easily changed.

Source : McAfee Avert Labs


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posted by wert | Friday, July 28, 2006 | 0 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


Thursday, July 27, 2006

Are Our Taxi Drivers Savages?

I am quite sad to read this article on Today. The gist of it is that our taxi drivers are specially "trained" to welcome the IMF and World Bank delegates in September.
Some no-nos: Body odour, too many accessories and fidgeting while driving — according to a 66-page training handbook that was given to cabbies during the four-and-a-half-hour training sessions.
Do our taxi drivers need to be told to bathe before starting work, and how to dress respectfully? Are we still in Stone Age? I hope that our taxi drivers don't have much to "learn" from this kind of training.
What's encouraged: Warm smiles, moderate eye contact, information about Singapore's landmarks and pointers on where to shop and eat.

In short, cabbies must "look good and feel good with positive self talk", according to the handbook.

Taxi drivers Today spoke with understand this to mean that any inclination to rant or complain to the conference delegates and tourists about the Government and politics, or their personal lives, should be restrained.

"We were told to say nice things about Singapore," said Mr Lim Soon Huat, a cab-driver who had attended the workshop.
Taxi drivers need to be taught how to smile nicely and how to say nice things about Singapore. This is getting even more ridiculous. Taxi drivers are frontline of the service industry, and they need to be taught all that just a month before the IMF/WB meeting? What happened to years and years of Courtesy Campaign? Are our taxi drivers all that uncouth? It simply can't be. Our taxi drivers are one of the most highly educated among their counterparts in the world. This kind of training befits kindergarten kids more of our mini-tourism ambassadors.

Let us go on the other track and assume that our taxi drivers are such uncouth savages (sorry! cabbies). Shouldn't we take action sooner? I am sure local Singaporeans would find those behaviour very objectable as well. We should have start educating them eons ago, instead of putting up just a wayang (make believe) show for the benefit of the foreign delegates.

In the service industry, it's not a bunch of fake smiles but sincerity that counts. I think those very important foreign delegates would certainly be able to see through a fake mask and genuine sincerity.

Having said all that. I do have confidence that our taxi drivers would serve the foreign delegates well and good even without such demeaning "training". Afterall, taxi drivers receive thousands of tourists everyday and most of them gave an acceptable level of service.
A list of local tourist attractions, such as the Crazy Horse Paris nightclub, and restaurants along Boat Quay and Clarke Quay are also cited in the booklet. Nightspots are recommended according to various categories such as "city partying", "live entertainment acts" and "girls' night out".
I think that is almost totally unneccessary. It's their livelihood you are talking here. They are the experts in such fields and I don't think they need any "training" in that area. Yes, even if they are savages, they know their stuff.
.
.
.
.
The WDA hopes to train some 10,000 full-time taxi drivers by September. Participants are compensated with $68 to attend the training session instead of plying the street.
Ahh...here is the reason why our taxi drivers are willing to bear with such personal insults. $68 in 4 hours is good money, taking into consideration of the "rising price of diesel". If you don't believe me, ask any taxi driver. $68 profit in 4 hours is very decent, all without toiling the roads.

I guess in these bad times, our taxi drivers have to put their livelihood above dignity.



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posted by wert | Thursday, July 27, 2006 | 4 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Transport Hikes: Where are you, CASE?

July 26, 2006
An Open Letter to Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE)

I am disappointed on that CASE had not made a response to SMRT plan to raise fares across all the public transport systems.

SMRT had cited "large and sustained increase" in the price of diesel over the past two years as the reason and SMRT president and chief executive officer Saw Phaik Hwa said: "There is no reason why we should not apply for a fare adjustment this year."

Just over a year ago in May 2005, Case had made a stand opposing the transport hikes. CASE then argued that the public transport hikes were not justified on the grounds of a record net profit of S$126.6 million by the SMRT in the FY2005.

The circumstances had not changed one year later. SMRT had declared a net profit of S$103.6 million in FY2006 ending on 31 March 2006. This is still a very healthy result, considering SMRT net profits in the FY2003 and FY2004.

FY2003FY2004FY2005FY2006
SMRT Net profit (S$m)72.189.5126.6103.6

In the statement made by President and CEO of SMRT Corporation, Saw Phaik Hwa,
Taking into account the current operating environment, we have performed well and therefore, recommend higher dividends for our shareholders this year. From the growth in retail and advertising, our strategy in the non-fare sectors has certainly paid off. We will continue to intensify our efforts to grow ridership, expand retail space, create more innovative advertising platforms in our public transport system, pursue overseas opportunities to raise the profit contribution from non-fare sectors, and build greater value for our shareholders."
SMRT profit margin has been stable and their outlook optimistic, thus the increase of public transport fares cannot be justified as well. It must be taken into account that SMRT is a public transport company. Commercial profit should not be place way above public interest.

On the other hand, SMRT further announced that single trips fares are unlikely to be adjusted, so as to ensure that Singapore remains "competitive and affordable" to foreign travelers. This is very difficult to comprehend for many Singaporeans. Why are Singaporeans the first to bear the blunt of the increase in price of diesel , instead of foreign travelers?

I urge CASE to further investigate the proposed fares hikes and make a stand for the general public of Singapore.

wert
wertblog@yahoo.com


I had already sent it to CASE through complaints@case.org.sg .Not too sure if it's the best address to do so.


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posted by wert | Wednesday, July 26, 2006 | 26 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


Tuesday, July 25, 2006

SingTel Starts 80Mbps Fibre Trials

SingTel to Trial Fibre-to-the-Home and Residential Metro Ethernet
By Daniel Lim
Wireless/Networking | Just Announced
Mon 24 Jul 2006

Singapore, 24 July 2006 -- SingTel announced the start of trials for Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) and residential Metro Ethernet (ME) technology in two selected condominiums in Singapore.

The technologies will allow SingTel to offer customers ultra-fast broadband speeds of up to 80 Mbps that will also enable advanced triple play of voice, video and data services. Residents of the 80-unit Leonie Hills Residences started their FTTH trial over the weekend, while residents of the 756-unit The Gardens at Bishan condominium will be able to try ME technology from 10 August 2006.

Alcatel is the provider of the equipment and associated support in the trial. The trials feature free unlimited high-speed Internet access to the residents for six months. FTTH is a technology that brings optical fibre directly into the subscriber's home or office. ME is an Ethernet technology network in a metropolitan area. Mr Hui Weng Cheong, SingTel's Vice President (Consumer Products) and CEO of SingNet, said: "We are pleased to be the first to initiate FTTH and residential ME trials here in Singapore. These trials will be an effective test bed for the delivery of faster and more advanced broadband applications to our customers.

"With speeds of up to 80 Mbps, the trial participants will be able to watch video-on-demand, play games with low latency, download large music and video files more quickly, and make video calls using their computer or laptop. We look forward to receiving their feedback on the user-experience and the services offered over these new technology platforms." Together with the 80 Mbps broadband access package, SingTel has bundled applications and value-added services worth up to $1,600 to residents who sign up for the trial. The complimentary applications include on-demand full-length movies and videos of Real SuperPass (Asia Pacific edition), My Album, online gaming, Video Call on Broadband, as well as high speed 2Mbps hotspot access at Leonie Hill Residences."

Mr Hui said: "We remain committed to meeting our customers' need for speed and being responsive to market interest in emerging high-speed broadband technologies. As such, SingTel has been actively developing technology platforms other than ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) for residential consumers."

"These new technologies will enable us to provide downstream and upstream access speeds from 80 Mbps to 1 Gbps to meet future demand and deliver greater value to our customers."

For more information about the trials, please visit www.singtel.com/80m.
Too bad, the trials are only limited to two selected condominiums. What's more, the local bandwidth is known to be overadvertised and underpowered, so let's wait and see.

Meanwhile, Starhub is set to start its own trial of a 100Mbps service next week. Projected to be available to the general public by the end of the year.

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posted by wert | Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | 0 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


Monday, July 24, 2006

Transport Hikes : SMRT S$103.6M FY2006 Net Profit


SMRT plans fare hikes for its bus, MRT, LRT services
By Noor Mohd Aziz, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 24 July 2006 2010 hrs

SMRT Corporation is planning to raise fares for its bus, MRT and LRT services.

It will apply for a fare adjustment by the August 1 deadline set by the Public Transport Council.

The SMRT Corporation says its total operating costs have ballooned by 20% this year because of the increase in diesel prices.

The fare hike will follow the PTC's formula of a maximum increase of 1.7%, which translates to a rise of one or two cents, if approved.

SMRT President and CEO Saw Phaik Hwa says that its proposed fare hike will not be sufficient to mitigate rising diesel costs.

It however supports the government's call for smaller and regular fare increases. - CNA/ir
Source : Channel NewsAsia


Transport fees are going up across the board as part of the "election promises". Taxi fares had already gone up for a couple of weeks, now it's the other transport companies' turn to have their fingers in the pie. What more, they can't choose a more auspicious day as there is an outrage of the NE line this afternoon.

While claiming that the proposed fare hike will not be sufficient to migrate rising diesel costs, SMRT had not done too shabbily in the profits columns. From their company website: SMRT Achieves S$103.6M in Full Year FY2006 Net Profit (beware pdf file) dated 28 April 2006.

Let me skip through all those figures and go to the statement by the President and CEO of SMRT Corporation, Saw Phaik Hwa.


Saw Phaik Hwa.

"Taking into account the current operating environment, we have performed well and therefore, recommend higher dividends for our shareholders this year. From the growth in retail and advertising, our strategy in the non-fare sectors has certainly paid off. We will continue to intensify our efforts to grow ridership, expand retail space, create more innovative advertising platforms in our public transport system, pursue overseas opportunities to raise the profit contribution from non-fare sectors, and build greater value for our shareholders."





It seems that SMRT is very healthy and doing very well, therefore I don't see the justification of the hikes due to oil prices. The only reason is that they want to bulid greater "shareholder value" as they are now a "private company".

Thank you PAP for keeping your GE promises! I know you always deliver!


Updated: I can't resist uploading the photo. Credits: HWZ forums.


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posted by wert | Monday, July 24, 2006 | 1 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


State of the Media

Mr Wang Bakes Good Karma: The MSM Grows Nervous
Yawning Bread: When the puppet speaks to the master

I have much to say about the state of media in Singapore that it makes sense to do so at my blog.

Did the blogosphere affect the mainstream media?
Short answer: NO.
Long answer: Many will say that is it is grossly unfairly to say that the blogging did not affect the mainstream media given their newfound interest on blogs such as this and this. The readership of the mainstream media would not drastically change overnight. Yes, many Singaporeans are cynical of the local media, but it is nothing new in it. As long as they hold the absolute monopoly they will have the readership and plenty of it. Even the most hardcore, anti-PAP diehards buy ST for the classifieds. Thus, I don't think the MSM would feel the readership crunch much, if at all.

For every non believer, there are still many who swallow their gospel as the whole truth. They have mass reach into our society, the newspapers together with the TV and radio even the most "switch-off" can't help but to get their message. In fact, the blogosphere almost cannot function without the mainstream media. If you look at it, almost all topics of discussions originated from a MSM source. If the MSM didn't first start on a certain issue, we will have nothing much to talk about. In fact, these online "competitors" themselves are the most ardent readers of the MSM.

"A lie told often enough becomes the truth".
The majority of Singaporeans tends to stay clear of anything political. They are of the stance: "leaving politics to politicians". Singaporeans in general are not stupid, they don't really believe everything that the mass media reports. However, when you are bombarded with the same line over and over again over all the media sources (it's an established tactic), you can help to subconsciously think : "Maybe there is some truth in it"

Are there journalistic standards in Singapore?
Short answer : NO.
Long answer : No, but maybe.....I can't get this ridiculous notion out of my head since the GE2006.

***Conspiracy theory***
Maybe some of the journalists are trying to save their souls while still putting food on the table by writing articles so slanted that it will create more non believers. I know it sounds really off, but the truth is that many Singaporeans are disillusioned by the MSM after the GE and seek out alternative sources on their own initiative.

You know how hard it is get initiative out of a Singaporean.


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posted by wert | Monday, July 24, 2006 | 0 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


Sunday, July 23, 2006

iPod Killer : Zune


photo is plucked form engaget.


Mircosoft has confirmed that it is developing the much rumored "iPod killer" under a new branding Zune which will be stated to lauch later this year. What's interesting about Zune is that it will not be a mere portable music player but "a family of hardware and software products" targeting various digital entertainment services.
The first implementation of this will be the portable music player and digital music service. Additional Zune-branded devices will follow, including a portable video player and, potentially, a portable game device.
If so, it will not complete just against iPod in the mp3 market but also against integrated devices such as the Sony PSP and the Creative Zen Vision. Poor Creative, they are going to be hammered by yet another giant. Maybe, they should focus more on their own product lines than suing competitors.

Another critical feature for me will be wireless conectivity. This will offer almost endless possiblities. MP3 can be easily swapped among strangers within a wireless network in McDonalds! Before you get carried away with glee on the joys of P2P sharing, it's highly likely to be "controlled sharing". 10 people in a hotspot means you are almost restricted to a intranet environment. I suppose given time, modders will find a way to override this switch.
Zune users will be able to view each other's playlists, recommend music and sample tracks in what Stephenson describes as a multifaceted music discovery experience. This capability will extend to the Xbox 360 game console, PCs running Windows Media Center and mobile phones using the Windows Mobile operating system.

But unlike the early P2P space, this sharing will have limitations. Early speculation is that this community-sharing feature would be limited to 10 users in the same hot spot at a time. Virgin Records executive VP Jeff Kempler, while not confirming any specific details of the pending service, says a degree of "controlled sharing" is necessary, as is a willingness to experiment with new business models.
I suppose the millions of music lovers currently held to ransom by the Apple iTunes Music Store will rejoice that they now have more choices. But it remains to be seen if Zune can create the same impact as Xbox as done in the videogames. But it will not be for the lack of trying.
Microsoft will support the Zune launch with a massive advertising and marketing campaign expected to be heavily artist-centric, including several live performances nationwide. Stephenson says the total effort will be on par with that of the Xbox 360 launch, which cost a reported $500 million.
I am sure we will hear more about Zune in the coming months and I think it should be a highly interesting product.













The Microsoft Giant takes a bite of Apple.


============================================
Updated : Photos and more solid info from engadget.
============================================

Full article : Reuters
A comprehensive article "ALL YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT ZUNE" at engadget.
The Zune viral marketing site ComingZune.com


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posted by wert | Sunday, July 23, 2006 | 3 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


Saturday, July 22, 2006

Chinese Teachers & Bullies

A chinese language teacher ordered her pupils to beat up a fellow classmate for failing ting xie (Chinese spelling test) and not handing up homework. Well, it sure brings back memories of the good old days. In my school days, I can say that we only fear the the chinese teachers. Chinese teachers seem to be using violence as an everyday teaching tool.

Remember this instrument of terror?......It's a meter long SOLID wooden ruler about half an inch thick.

I remembered the weekly queue for those failing ting xie. They would line up before the teacher's desk, and waited in turn to receive a number of strokes on the palm depending on your degree of failure. Girls were usually exempted from this (sexist!). Well, after such display of force, not many girls failed the weekly ting xie anyway. The caning is not limited to the palm, stubborn cases would be given "specials". Putting the hand (palm faced down) flat on the teacher's desk, and caning the knuckles was the one that I feared most.


The punishment strikes fear into all of us. Well, even a hardened veteran of my mother's cane like me, tried my very best to get a decent grade. To be honest, I didn't receive many of those caning. I came from a mandarin speaking family and generally did OK in Chinese. However, like most fears, it strikes more deeply in the hearts of the eyewitnesses.


Not all Chinese teachers used violence, but I am almost positive that all of them have this soul penetrating "death stare" that seems to bring all the little brats to their knees. Looking back, those rather brutal punishment don't seem to leave us any permanent damage and they definitely injected a good dose of discipline into our young souls. But, I do question the education value of such caning especially with today's children. Today's society is no longer tolerant of such "teaching tools". I mean in my time, if I complained to my parents that my teacher gave me a caning, my parents would gave me a caning of their own. Today, most parents would called up the school to complain how "unfairly" his/her child was treated.


Furthermore, on the average we are rather well off compared to then and have other more effective modern educational tools at our disposal. Yes, corporal punishment is the most quick and effective method form of discipline for unruly children. but as it is, it no longer has any place in today's society.


Coming back to this case, the teacher is clearly and seriously in the wrong. It's very different when a person in authority applied punishment and when a classmate gave you some "punishment".

The teacher has practically encourage bullying and giving the children the impression it's OK to do so. In doing so, it might really hurt a child self esteem as it makes him feel very inferior to his classmates. Worse of all, the victim would not be the only one affected, the classmates who beated him up might turned out to be bullies later in life. Yes, a child will beat another child up no matter what we do. It's human nature to inflict pain on other human beings. However, it is particularly damning for an educator who is in a postion to influence the future outlook and behaviour of the young, to encourage such behaviour. It is her very job is to guide a child so that he will grow up learning how best to resist such a base aspect of human nature. In this, she had clearly failed.


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ANGRY TEACHER ORDERS CLASS TO BEAT UP PUPIL
I will pretend not to see


By Crystal Chan
July 21, 2006

A TEACHER was so angry at one of her pupils that she instructed 30 other pupils in the class to beat him up.
The incident happened in a school in the north-east on 11 Jul. It started when the Primary 4 pupil failed to hand in his homework. The Chinese-language teacher involved in the incident is in her late 20s, Lianhe Wanbao reported.


She is said to have told the pupil to stay put while his classmates hit and pelted him with rubbish.
The teacher reportedly told the pupils: 'If you want to beat him, go ahead. I'll pretend not to see anything.'
The other children then surrounded the boy and:
* Stuff rubbish into his uniform
* Kick and pinch him
* Draw on his body with colour pencil


When The New Paper called the teacher on her handphone, she declined to comment and referred us to her principal. We then contacted the school principal, who confirmed the incident. In an e-mail reply to us, the principal said: 'I regret that such an incident had taken place on 11 Jul. There was no sign of physical injury to the child.' He added that the teacher is a Singaporean who had been teaching in the school for 12 months without incident.


'SERIOUS MATTER'


'We view this matter very seriously and I personally counselled the teacher and the pupils involved accordingly. We will take the necessary steps to prevent such an incident from happening again.' The principal did not answer our question about whether the boy has disciplinary problems.


But Lianhe Wanbao reported that the boy often failed to hand in his homework, on top of not studying for his Chinese spelling tests. His mother, who gave her name only as Madam Lin, found out what happened when her son went home crying and told her about it. Madam Lin said her son told her he had been assaulted by his classmates, and wanted a transfer to another school.


She said: 'After questioning my son, I learnt that he was punished for not handing in his assignment.' According to Madam Lin, the teacher allegedly told the pupils that she would cut their marks for the assignment because of her son. And if they were not happy, they should beat him up.Madam Lin also claimed that on the way home from school that day, some of the pupils harassed her son and ruined his school bag. She told Lianhe Wanbao that the recent incident was not the first time that the teacher had humiliated her son.


She claimed: 'During the first week of July, the teacher got my older son, who is in Primary 6 in the same school, to come to the classroom to beat him. That incident also happened in front of my younger son's classmates. I confirmed this with my sons.' Madam Lin also claimed that some parents had blamed her for bringing up the incident as they were worried the teacher would also punish their children. She said she had trouble eating and sleeping because of the matter and hoped that the parents would not put pressure on her.


APOLOGISED


However, Madam Lin said that since the incident came to light, the teacher and parents of the other pupils have apologised to her.She said the teacher had reacted on the spur of the moment after losing her temper with the boy.After her son's complaint, she called the school to speak to the teacher but she was not around. The teacher later called Madam Lin.

'She said she was angry as my son frequently failed to hand in his homework and never studied for ting xie (Chinese spelling test),' said Madam Lin.She said the teacher had admitted to her that she told the pupils to beat the boy.While Madam Lin admitted that her son was naughty, she felt the teacher should not have ordered the other pupils to beat him up.She said her son is still studying in the same school and the other pupils have begun talking to him again.


'For now, I just want to put the incident behind me,' she said.



Source : The Electric New Paper


posted by wert | Saturday, July 22, 2006 | 2 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


Goh Chok Tong vs Anwar

Imagine a Singaporean as UN Secretary-General. All I can say that it's pride mixed with tears. Tears for world and pride for Singapore. No wonder they told us to smile at all the ang mos. Logically, I don't think it will be happening. I seriously doubt that UN Secretary-General's pay package can remotely matched that of the Singapore SM.

Remember, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

On related news, Anwar is also rurmored to be in the running for the same very post. From what I read, Anwar is having a tough time making a comeback in Malaysian politics. Maybe this dose of international fame might do his chances good. However, I have a feeling that Malaysians in the general would not be none the more impressed. In the below interview, Anwar talks mainly about the current crisis in the Middle East. He must had figured as a "progressive" Muslim, he is the best candidate to deal the host of islamic extremists that is facing the world today.

Lastly, will this be another showdown between Singapore and Malaysia? What if GCT gave Anwar a good spanking or Anwar takes GCT from behind? Will our already rocky relationship be further strained?

Aren't we moving up the world? Just imagine Singapore or Malaysia having the entire UN at our command. YAYA....we can order everyone to hand over their nukes and then world peace forever.





VS



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Goh Chok Tong
A possible UN role
Support grows for Goh in race to take over as secretary-general.
By David Nason, The Australian.
Jul 21, 2006


MOVES to have former Singaporean prime minister Goh Chok Tong succeed
Kofi Annan as UN secretary-general are gathering momentum in New York
as the Security Council prepares to hold an informal "straw poll" for
the candidates later this week.

The vote, tentatively scheduled for tomorrow, will gauge the level of
early support for the four officially declared Asian region candidates:
* Former UN undersecretary-general for disarmament affairs Jayantha
Dhanapala of Sri Lanka;
* UN undersecretary-general for public information Shashi Tharoor of
India;
* Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai; and
* South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon.

But the vote won't preclude other candidates coming forward before the
Security Council's final recommendation is made in September or October
and speculation continues to surround Mr Goh, who is believed to have
significant support among the nations of the Non-Aligned Movement.
So far, Mr Goh has given no indication of his intentions and, for now
at least, is hamstrung by the fact that Dr Surakiart has been nominated
by ASEAN, the Southeast Asian regional bloc that includes Singapore.
But if Dr Surakiart does badly in the straw poll and withdraws from the
race, ASEAN would be free to propose another candidate.

However, Dr Surakiart has indicated to supporters that he intends to
stay in the contest no matter what the outcome of the straw poll.
Mr Goh, an economist and social conservative known for his strong views
on multi-racialism, meritocracy and terrorism, was prime minister of
Singapore from 1990-2004.

In 2005, he was made an honorary Companion to the Order of Australia by
John Howard for services to Australian-Singaporean relations.
A spokesman for Pakistan's influential UN ambassador, Munir Akram,
confirmed NAM's interest in Mr Goh and said the group "wants to have
its own position" on the new secretary-general, even though the
selection process is controlled by the Security Council.
He said Mr Goh was being discussed as part of NAM's enduring concerns
for "General Assembly revitalisation".

The straw poll will be a secret ballot of the 15-member council that
comprises permanent members Britain, France, Russia, China and the US,
and 10 non-permanent members - Argentina, Denmark, Greece, Japan,
Tanzania, Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and the Slovak Republic.
It is designed to test the water and create conditions for unpopular
nominees to withdraw and new nominees to enter the contest.
The ballot paper will allow the council members to indicate either
"encouragement", "discouragement" or "no opinion" on each of the four
candidates.

Each candidate will be told his own score and the top and bottom
scores, but how each nation voted will remain a secret.
The process for selecting a new secretary-general involves the Security
Council reviewing the nominations and forwarding a recommendation to
the General Assembly, which then rubber-stamps the decision.
Under Article 97 of the UN Charter, the successful nominee must receive
at least nine votes and not be subject to a veto by any of the
permanent five nations that, in reality, dominate the process.
China is expected to be the main player this time around because of the
regional rotation system that decrees the next secretary-general must
come from Asia.

At this stage none of the four nominated candidates has emerged a clear
favorite, raising speculation that Mr Annan's successor is yet to enter
the race.


Source: The Australian




Thursday, July 20, 2006
Anwar Ibrahim a possible candidate for UN Secretary-General
Mark Colvin
Australian Broadcasting Corporation


MARK COLVIN: Malaysia's former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has admitted that he's considered the possibility of becoming the next Secretary-General of the United Nations after Kofi Annan retires.

His name has come up repeatedly in international circles, as a moderate Muslim candidate from Asia. But he says he's not actively seeking the post, because he feels that doing so would compromise his freedom to speak out on important international questions.

On the Middle East, for example, Anwar Ibrahim has launched a strongly worded attack on Israel and the United States, as we'll hear shortly.

It's been an extraordinary journey for Anwar Ibrahim since he was released from prison just over a year-and-a-half ago. Surgery has helped him recover from the police beating that crippled him in jail, his old nemesis Dr Mahathir Mohammed is in retirement, and his sodomy charge was overturned.

Today Dr Ibrahim was in Brisbane giving a lecture on Shakespeare, not such a surprise, given that he told me on the day of his release that he'd read the bard's complete works several times over in jail.

So I started our interview by asking him about the Shakespearean character who waits too long to grasp the responsibilities of power - Hamlet.

ANWAR IBRAHIM: The so-called weakness is a reflection of the true state of mind of people encountering such problems. This is philosophical contemplation. He has to bear the whips and scorns of time, and therefore you need to have time to reflect.

Is this a weakness? No, but I think I have learned the lesson from Hamlet that you shouldn't take too long a time to contemplate, because then politically you will lose.

MARK COLVIN: I was going to say, it is a weakness if you leave it too long.

ANWAR IBRAHIM: It's true, it's true. But it is a strength because you should use a lot of time for contemplation, for reflection, for introspection.

MARK COLVIN: What about yourself? Are you ready to go back into national politics, or even into international politics?

ANWAR IBRAHIM: I'm committed to the reform agenda - reform in Malaysia, and in particularly in the developing world, in the Muslim world.

My views are known and I think it is more important to talk about the reform agenda, than the actual position, whether Malaysia or internationally. I don't want to be presumptuous of my role.

MARK COLVIN: But if you have an agenda for reform, you need to be in some kind of position of power in order to carry it out, don't you. And people are talking about you as a possible UN Secretary-General.

Have you considered it?

ANWAR IBRAHIM: This must be from my erstwhile friends, not enemies. So I have not given serious consideration.

I've thought about it, frankly, but I think it's still premature to decide because I think once you start contemplating with this, then you start making compromises. I don't want to be in that position.

I've learned my lesson, and I think the trial and tribulations have shown that my passion for freedom and justice is paramount. If you have the Middle East crisis, I'll express my views, frankly, openly, whether the Americans like it or not.

Where you talk about the reform of the Muslim world, it does not matter if the Arab states or Arab governments are in favour or not. I will express my views.

MARK COLVIN: So do express your views, please then, on the Middle East crisis now.

ANWAR IBRAHIM: The disgusting episode is when the administration in Washington refuses to condemn the excesses of Israel, even in terms of their attempt to destroy... complete destruction of a state.

It is fair for them to criticise or to condemn Hezbollah in some of the excesses, but how do you then condone the other? I mean, in all the deplorable, disgusting, I mean the pathetic to allow countries and civilians being killed.

MARK COLVIN: What can the Lebanese Government do though, given that it's got Hezbollah inside it, and Hezbollah has refused to disarm and we now discover that Hezbollah has very, very large quantities of arms, and very dangerous ones?

ANWAR IBRAHIM: You engage with the Lebanese Government and allow them to continue this sort of engagement with all forces...

MARK COLVIN: But can Israel do that when rockets are raining down on cities like Haifa?

ANWAR IBRAHIM: The rockets rained down after this month of attack on the Palestinians. You are calling for reaction.

I find it difficult to understand - how do you allow that, how you allow members of parliament and ministers to be kidnapped, and this is tolerated, because of one or two bombings.

If for example, there is two perpetrators of a crime in Australia, and you're not convinced that the Australian Government is effective in combating them, do you attack Australia?

MARK COLVIN: So, was Hezbollah justified in beginning this conflict because of what was happening in Palestine?

ANWAR IBRAHIM: I do not want to rationalise or defend any action in this manner. You can condemn, you can take some action against Hezbollah to try and get them to come to terms and engage, but you can't go and destroy a country. I mean, it's atrocious.

MARK COLVIN: You have many friends in Washington, including a number who have been labelled neo-conservatives, like Paul Wolfowitz.

What do they say when you say these things?

ANWAR IBRAHIM: Well, I continue to engage, I mean despite the fact that many of my friends have attacked me severely or ferociously for being submissive to the neo-cons, I'm not.

To the contrary, I've used the engagement to articulate frankly to them that we are together in terms of promoting reform and freedom, we are together in securing peace in the Middle East.

I am agreeable, I mean, I support the policy to protect the security of Israel, but I cannot rationalise the continuing bombardment of Iraq. I cannot rationalise the intransigence of Israel to the Palestinians.

So we have to try and get them to understand and appreciate the concerns are there. You can't treat a group of people as slaves, but well, I have not been successful. I have been having a few sessions with Deputy-Secretary Zoellick, I continue to have sessions with Paul Wolfowitz, I'm not giving up.

My small role, again, I'm not presumptuous, but in a small way I try to engage. I told them, I will engage with the neo-cons, I will engage with the Islamists, because I think there's no other option but engagement.

MARK COLVIN: What are the chances of any kind of reform agenda taking root in the Muslim world, in the current circumstances?

ANWAR IBRAHIM: I've been an optimist all along, and mind you, the problem is not only by the dictators and tyrants and authoritarian leaders in the Muslim world.

This has been.... the provocations and the action and the policies of the administration of Washington does not seem to help - the war in Iraq, the failure to even continue a peaceful engagement in the Middle East.

We... many Muslims are trying very hard, to get the Muslims to reform this internal dynamics within Muslim societies.

The reluctance of United States to encourage engagement between Israel and the Palestinians, this has not helped. It's only provoked so much anger and rage.

MARK COLVIN: Dr Anwar Ibrahim, who's in Brisbane giving a talk about Shakespeare, speaking to me a little earlier today.


posted by wert | Saturday, July 22, 2006 | 1 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


About this Design

This clean and clear design took me no more than a few hours to do.

Yes, I can do some web design, but the reason why it's up so quick is because I used a template. They are in principle the same as those templates provided by Blogger, which are however pretty limited in choice.

You still need a minimal degree of basic HTML to adapt it to your own uses. The Blogger tags are fairly easy to setup. They can be theme to other blogging software such as Wordpress or Moveavle Type as well. If anyone is interested in giving their blogs a facelift, I will be happy to give some technical advice.

This Swedish designer Andreas Viklund is great! His designs is not only virtually beautiful but also technically very sound. Definitely of professional quality. Best of all, these templates are free to use! All the author asked of you is to give him proper credits. So do take a look at his offerings.

I must say that I am very pleased with the end product. Although, the tags are in a total mess under the hood. Hopefully, I can crank up enough determination to clean them up one day.

What about you? Do you like it? Found any bugs?
I would love to hear your thoughts and comments. :)



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posted by wert | Saturday, July 22, 2006 | 0 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


wert is reborn?

wert who started this blog more than two years with a grand total of two posts during the period is back.

Who is this wert, you might ask. wert is wert. wert is what you make of him. wert is what you think of him in your heart. Hopefully, you will more of him in due course.

Why is he back? Where had he gone?

When I started this blog two years ago, it's mainly out of frustration. I forgotten the reason why but I was feeling fairly down then. But I want just to write down some of feelings then. I am not a natural writer and thoughts don't convert easily to words.

Then why did you come back? It's mainly because of this article. I realised that no matter how badly I wrote or how silly my thoughts are, I can find a niche in the blogsphere. I know I am capable of setting up a pretty nice blog, now I want to challenge myself to writing one.

I can see myself writing more on local affairs and maybe on tech stories.




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posted by wert | Saturday, July 22, 2006 | 1 comments | Link to this post | Email This!


Disclaimer: This blog is not intended to be authorative or clever in any way. It was based on rambling of a half crazed creature, so treat it as such and let it be! I was asked to keep my dangerous thoughts and unbalanced views all in one safe place , and so I did. Objectivity, Accuracy, Responsiblity and any High Standards are certainly not part of this blog's features. However, I must stress that I do not strive to mislead people, confuse people, and much less undermine our national strategy.