Monday, September 25, 2006
Ramblings
Lift Upgrading: Where We Steal Money From Everybody To Build Something I Like
There is one aspect of the Lift Upgrading (and the estate upgrading) plan that really bothers me, and that is you don't need 100% agreement in order to go ahead with the upgrading plans.
And even though these upgrading are subsidized (with people's money, of couse), the upgrading is still not cheap.
In order to counter pro-upgrading proposals like Fok Kah Hon writing in Straits Times, urging a change of policy by not counting votes by people who don't vote, I propose thus:
That the cost of upgrading, after deducing the subsidies, should be borne entirely by people who voted yes. Those who voted no should not need to pay, althought they will still be in terrible living quarters for quite a few months or even years.
We should not simply have the rich folks imposing additional burdens to the poorer folks, in the name of a better living environment. Just because one has some additional monies sitting around in the CPF accounts doing nothing shouldn't entitle anyone to force other people to pay money for "common good" that the poor can do without.
Sometimes, when you are poor, all these "essentials" are simply just luxuries.
News
Thai Adventure Backfires On Singapore Inc
It was, at best, a spectacular misjudgement. Far from being the great buy Temasek claimed, the deal ignited six months of politicl turmoil, culminating in the coup. Thais stopped using the businesses Temasek had bought, including an airline, a finance company and telco AIS Thailand, also part-owned by Singapore Telecommunications. Now the Shin buyers wear a US$2 billion paper loss on the deal after less than six months.
SIA And Pilots Quarrel Over Pay Once More
Sunday Times Retracts Comments On IJ Girls
The Sunday Times has apologised for the distress caused by an article it published that sparked off angry reactions from local convent schools, their students and parents.
Opinion
What We've Yet To See, Hear Or Speak Of
Nowhere does our government give space for the consideration of human rights, be they freedom of expression, the right to privacy, or equality and non-discrimination.
The Power And Politics Behind Kularb Kaew
Money and politics rarely come together in transparent fashion. It is always in the interest of transparency's enemies to decry as conspiracy-theorising any attempts to get to the bottom of events. The Shin-Temasek deal appears to involve a group of serious pros in the regional money-and-power game: Daim Zainuddin, Singapore Inc's dominant Lee family and Thaksin and Pojaman Shinawatra.
Optimum Degree Of Unhappiness
In the latest twist to Singapore's politics, it has become perfectly normal to be unhappy. Just don't be too unhappy.
Thinking Journalists And Editors? ... Not
As proven yet again, the Straits Times journalists and editors really need to get their act together. Your press is slowly but surely sinking to zero credibility with each faux pas you make.
