Now they suddenly realised there are shady real estate agents in Singapore!

"Since this is the first time we are regulating in a formal way, I would expect a lot of pent-up demand for such an avenue for them to vent their complaints ... I would expect this to taper off over time."

- National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, who was not surprised by the deluge of complaints on real estate agents. Within five weeks of operations, the nCouncil for Estate Agencies (CEA) launched to regulate the real estate industry has already received about 150 complaints.

The question then is, what took them so long to set up the regulator?

If Singapore is attacked by terrorists, you know who to blame

"Singapore boasts one of the lowest drug abuse rates in the world, and its streets are 'now safer than they ever have been'.

And despite its status as a 'prized trophy target for terrorists', Singapore has yet to be hit by such an attack."

-- Law Minister K. Shanmugam


We can understand it is human to carry your predecessor's balls when he hand over the burning torch to you, especially when he has done quite a job in keeping the fire burning.

But saying publicly that Singapore is a 'prized trophy target for terrorists' that is yet to be hit by any attack is like announcing in a hacker forum that your company's security system is unbreakable.

Only at 75% best? He must be talking about statboards

“There are not that many people in Singapore who really want to be extremely good at what they are doing.

We are always in danger in Singapore of mistaking excellence for competence. Most people in Singapore are happy to be competent, above average than exceptional,” he added.

I half suspect that once we get to 75 per cent of that level — which is quite good — you think that’s good enough, you’re already better than the rest in Singapore.”

-- Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Finance Minister


Our minister must be looking at his department when he made this comment, as we all know how statboard workers will make 100% effort to taichi their jobs to the guy next table/door/department so that they only have to do 75% of their work.

Someone please take this minister to a field visit to the nearest factory/MNC office/SME office to have a feel of what it's like to be working at 110% effort. Can Mr PM please sign the approval slip for him to go out of the office?

The only thing we want to hear about the YOG are positive comments

"Even the newspaper report, I didn't even know about it until I read about it in the papers. It shows that I almost didn't care. I had more important things to do, I had good feedback and good suggestions from so many people, and I focused on that. I didn't lose sleep about that."
-- Vivian Balakrishnan, a Minister

"More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren't so busy denying them."
-- Harold J. Smith, a Canadian Mohawk Indian actor

Oh how highly we have positioned ourselves in the name of YOG!

"I think this is not a trifling amount. But it is an amount that will give us value for money in terms of positioning ourselves, in terms of marketing ourselves, in terms of making sure we are on everyone’s radar screen the next time they make an investment decision."
-- Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan


So let's see where are we positioning ourselves and find our spot on the world's radar screen...

• YOG food poisoning - 21 volunteers, 16 from East Coast Park and five from the Singapore Indoor Stadium, were hit by food poisoning after consuming their meals while on duty.


• Food fit-for-maids for YOG volunteers - Change in caterer for meals provided to Youth Olympic Games (YOG) volunteers after a volunteer took a picture of the meal he was served and posted it on his Facebook page, igniting a furore. The meal, served in a plastic box, comprised a mound of rice, a meat fillet and six pieces of long bean.


• Half-empty YOG venues with tickets sold out - Organisers were forced to correct a ticketing problem that has seen scores of empty seats at the Games although tickets have been sold out.


• YOG blackout - A circuit trip at the Toa Payoh Swimming Complex during an evening saw the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) boys’ 10m platform finals delayed for close to 15 minutes. The incident happened while China’s Qiu Bo jumped off the platform in his fourth round dive. While those who were at the venue managed to catch his dive live, TV viewers at home could only see the floodlights going black in the background of their screens when Qiu made his dive.


• Dumb and Dumber YOG commentators - Over at the forum of reputed gymnast magazine “International Gymnast“, angry and bemused fans took turns to take pot shots at the two commentators for the gymnastics events. Even former national gymnast champion Mr Alex Liang had to let it out on her Facebook page.


• Adidas and Nike not allowed in YOG venues - MOE issued an advisory to schools that students going to watch the Games should not bring water bottles with the Nike or adidas logo, only to back off after much complaints from the Internet.


• Arrested for hating YOG - 27 year old project executive Mr Abdul Malik Mohammed Ghazali was arrested by the police for his criticisms of the PAP minister in charge of the YOG Dr Vivian Balakrishnan on the “I hate YOG” Facebook. He had written that it was time to “burn the sports minister and the PAP” and to “rally together and vote them out”.

So Mr Minister, are we in the correct position now?

The people were never blaming the athletes and volunteers

"I wish the cynics would just focus their negative energy on me, and let the athletes and volunteers have the time of their lives."
-- Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan

Hang on.

Mr Minister, let's just step aback and take a look at what the people have been unhappy about...

• How the government now expects to spend S$387 million on the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) - a three-fold increase from initial estimate of S$122 million in 2008, when the republic won the bid to host the Games.


• How the volunteers were fed sub-standard food, and worse, even escalated to food poisoning.


• How school children are warned not to bring any branded water bottle to the venues, particularly from Nike and Adidas.


• Ho the parents of Daryl Tan, Singapore's first YOG medalist, missed his parents at the match because they could not get any ticket, when the venue turned up half-empty because many of the empty seats were tickets that were allocated to schools.


• How the government suggested and insulted Singaporeans that they are not gracious enough to give way to YOG vehicles, and thus a fine has to be in place.

Seriously, the list could go on, and none of the criticism was ever vaguely related to the athletes and volunteers.

No sir, it is the authority that the people are unhappy with. Not the athletes and volunteers.

We must robustly defend the integrity of our institutions of justice and law enforcement. Start by finding it.

"We must robustly defend the integrity of our institutions of justice and law enforcement when anyone maliciously attacks and undermines the public confidence and trust which have been earned over the years."

-- Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng


And that is with the assumption that the integrity of our institutions of justice and law enforcement is indeed sound and effective. But is it? Let's check...

Former MOM officer jailed six months for corruption
Source: TodayOnline.com

SINGAPORE - A former senior investigation officer with the Ministry of Manpower was sentenced to six months' jail yesterday for corruption.

Gordon Tan Hock Lye, 34, who pleaded guilty, was also ordered to pay a penalty of $1,000.

In January 2006, Tan told a female Chinese national who had been caught by the police for working at a massage parlour that he could help close the case for $3,000.

On Jan 23, 2006, he contacted Ms Wu Huixia and arranged to meet her at a coffee shop along Joo Chiat Road for the money.

Ms Wu said she only had $1,000. When the two met at the coffeeshop, Ms Wu passed Tan the cash. He kept the money and was arrested by Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) officers soon after.

Unknown to Tan, Ms Wu had approached the CPIB the previous day to lodge a complaint.

Yesterday, District Judge Jill Tan asked the prosecution why there was a delay in bringing the case to court.

The prosecution said investigations were ongoing all the time and cited Justice V K Rajah's comments that the CPIB had taken four to five years to complete investigations in an appeal case that was heard before him in June.

DJ Tan said later in her judgement: "Given that you (Tan) were caught red-handed, I'm unable to see why this case has taken so long to come to the court."

Tan had previously been charged with computer misuse for allegedly helping two Chinese masseuses modify the renewal of their special passes in 2005.

The court agreed to the prosecution's application for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for the two charges. It was not explained why this was agreed upon.

A former MOM senior investigation officer told a female Chinese national who had been caught by the police for working at a massage parlour that he could help close the case for $3,000. Enough said about his integrity as a member of our institutions of justice and law enforcement.

But hang on... the offense was committed in January 2006, yet the CPIB had taken four to five years to complete investigations on a man that is caught red-handed. That illustrates the efficiency of our institutions of justice and law enforcement. They certainly need to get better and betterer.

And here's the best part. This former MOM senior investigation officer is not new to breaking the law. He had previously been charged with computer misuse for allegedly helping two Chinese masseuses modify the renewal of their special passes in 2005. One may really wonder, how did someone with such record stayed on as a senior investigation officer?

Letting 100,000 extra foreigners conquering Singapore is a good sign

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that more than 100,000 extra foreigners are set to enter the workforce this year.

Commenting on this, labour chief Lim Swee Say said: 'It's a good sign, because it shows that at a time when many countries are having a shortage of jobs, we are having a shortage of workers.'


Regardless how many locals are going to lose their job opportunities to the cheaper foreigners.

Regardless how much the cheap labor is going to drive the country's average wage further down.

Regardless how much more overcrowded the public transport is going to get.

Regardless how much more difficult it is going to be for the locals to get housing, or even places in schools for their children.

So how is this a good sign? I suppose Mr Lim is clueless.

Singaporeans who don't support foreign-born athletes are small-minded, unfair and very very selfish

When asked about his views on the need to engage foreign talent in local sports, particularly that from China, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan said: "I believe that the survival and prosperity of Singapore depend on our remaining an open society - a society able to attract and absorb and integrate talent of all shapes, sizes, races, languages, religions, countries. In other words, do not judge people simply on where they are born."

Dr Balakrishnan went on to refer to those who view Singapore's foreign-born athletes as 'less of a Singaporean, or less of a champion', as 'small-minded', 'unfair' and 'very, very selfish'.

"To deny them the right to call themselves Singaporean is very, very selfish. It's very unsportsmanlike... They have made great sacrifices to be here," he added.


How touching. Rather than investing on developing local sportsmen, Singapore has taken the short cut by buying sportsmen off the market. And sure these foreigners did make great sacrifices. Like sacrificing their little pay and no fame in their countries to come all the way here to make big bucks and be famous. And of course they will stay in Singapore and contribute to the country after they have achieved fame and money, right? Er... right?

Orchard Road flood is another freak event that occurs once in 50 years?

In November 2009, heavy rain submerged parts of Bukit Timah and Minister for the Environment & Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said it was a 'freak' event that occurs once in 50 years.

"What happened was very unusual. The intensity was tremendous.", he said.


Fast-forward to 2010, not 2059. In fact, less than one year later on 16 June 2010, Orchard Road becomes Orchard River.




Interestingly, even earlier in 1999, the Ministry of Environment said that for a flood to hit anywhere in Singapore, it takes a combination of high tides and about 100mm of rainfall within an hour. And Orchard Road is protected by its mighty rain drain - the Stamford Canal.

Why Orchard Road will never flood…

Less is the new more for Singapore Arts Festival

When closing the Singapore Arts Festival, Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew noting that there was a growing interest in the arts, even though fewer people are attending ticketed productions.

Attendance for this year's 29 ticketed productions had not matched last year's 'exceptional' numbers, but about the same amount of revenue was collected from this year's ticketed shows. Meaning, the fewer people who still have vast interest in arts are made to pay more.

So... more expensive tickets -> fewer attendees -> more successful?

Which means next year we should have even more expensive tickets for the Singapore Arts Festival so that we are even more successful?

Interesting elite logic.

It is just novelty factor at play and the IRs are not turning Singaporeans into gamblers

It is reported that Singapore's two casino operators have collected about $70 million in entry levies as of May 10. While it may be apparent that many of the casinos' patrons so far seem to be Singaporeans, and that more Singaporeans are becoming gamblers, Mr Iswaran responded that the "novelty factor" was at play and may not accurately reflect the situation one or two years down the road.

"The agencies are monitoring the situation closely, and once we have a better sense of the patterns and trends, then I think we'll know how the measures (against problem gambling) we've put in place are working,"

-- Minister of State (Trade and Industry) S Iswaran


We should see.

But on the other hand, at least we know the casinos are not gonna lose money, like what some western press predicted, because hey, we've got enough Singaporean gamblers to support them!

Will Singapore adopt new political attitude? Yes, our teachers lacked confidence

Responding to a student who asked if Singapore would adopt a new political attitude or stick to its Asian values stance, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said: 'We need to be more self-confident.'

He related how when he became education minister in 1997, he was surprised to find that teachers lacked confidence in themselves, even though they were doing a great job.

'Everybody was telling them that they were doing the wrong things,' he said. 'I said: How can this be? People are coming to learn from us, see how we teach, why we are successful. Yet our teachers don't have self-confidence.'

-- Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister


What? You don't get him? Come on! You just have to use a bit of imagination and relate very indirectly his good old lim-peh-used-to-be story to the question! Don't be daft!

He might have hit on a 16-year-old, but let us support him because he is funny

Life is a long and often difficult journey, and what Jack and his family are going through is what he might have presented in his own movie, except that this time it is about himself.

We are used to having Jack make us laugh, bring cheer to our daily lives, explain our trials and make them easier to bear. Let us rally around Jack, his wife and his children at this time.

-- George Yeo, Foreign Minister

You're a jerk, Jack
Source: Straitstimes.com

Maelle Meurzec, now 21, told The New Paper in an interview at her Upper East Coast road home on Tuesday night, that the 50-year-old movie director hit on her while she was acting in his movie I Do I Do in Nov 2004. She was then 16.

At least 10 more women are reported to have been linked to Neo since his affair with 22-year-old Wendy Chong first broke last weekend when the freelance model showed up at his Pasir Ris semi-detached house last Friday, demanding to see his wife, Madam Irene Kng, 46.

More readings on George Yeo
George Yeo forced to apologize to molest victim for curt reply on Facebook after TR leaked the story

Oops, we forgot there should not be foreigner in the militray in the first place

Mr Koo Tsai Kee claimed that SAF has been "practising productivity all this while” because “there are no foreign workers or foreign talent in the SAF, which is made up entirely of Singapore soldiers."

"The SAF, despite its manpower constraints, has been able to face up to a widening range of security threats in recent years under Defence Minister Teo….And I am not saying this because he’s my boss."

-- Koo Tsai Kee, Minister of State for Defence

More readings on Koo Tsai Kee
What are Singaporeans saying about Koo Tsai Kee on forums?

We are deaf to your criticism and please do our job instead of giving us problems

"All except one frog who did reach the top. And when asked afterwards why he ignored the crowd, the frog said: 'I'm deaf. I can't hear them.'

We never give up. We are like the little frog. We are deaf to all these criticisms. So instead of telling us that low-wage workers are having problems, why not be part of the solution?"

With this tale, labour chief Lim Swee Say responded to opposition MP Low Thia Khiang (Hougang), who repeated his criticism of a day earlier that low- wage workers continue to languish, and that the labour movement ought to do better and work harder.

More readings on Lim Swee Say
“Cheaper, better, faster” may just break the camel’s back

Avoid falling sick on Mondays and Tuesdays

Avoid Mondays and Tuesdays if you want to get a bed fast in a public hospital.

The reason: These are the days when bed occupancy rates are at their highest, when the number of people needing beds exceeds that available.

However, the quality of care is not compromised while patients wait for their assigned wards.

-- Khaw Boon Wan, Health Minister

Billions of dollars is invested in Singapore annually so we can't be ranked so low on press freedom

Law Minister K. Shanmugam said rankings that place Singapore lowly on press freedom "struck him as quite absurd and divorced from reality".

"Our approach on press reporting is simple: The press can criticize us, our policies. We do not seek to condemn that.

But we demand the right of response, to be published in the journal that published the original article. We do not accept that they can decide whether to publish our response."

-- K. Shanmugam, Law Minister

More readings on K. Shanmugam
The thin line between education and propaganda

Singaporeans should just send the elderly to nursing homes in JB

Singaporeans could consider living in nursing homes in neighbouring Johor Baru. It would be cheaper, yet be near enough to Singapore for family members to visit and for residents to return for medical care if necessary.

-- Khaw Boon Wan, Health Minister

The internet is not an effective self-regulated regime

Contrary to what some may feel, Mr Lui Tuck Yew has said the internet is not an effective self-regulated regime. Mr Lui added that the internet community had not done enough to rebut some of the unhelpful comments delivered by fellow netizens.

He said bloggers and website proprietors need to maintain credibility, while netizens should do more to establish and enforce the norms of acceptable online behaviour.

"It is a squandered opportunity for a higher degree of self-regulation. It would have been an example of the genesis of the first step towards a more responsible, a greater self-regulatory regime. But many of those responses were not rebutted nor answered. And I think it is not healthy for some of those to remain on the net unchallenged, unquestioned, and unanswered."

-- Lui Tuck Yew, Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts

More readings on Lui Tuck Yew
Singapore media and Alexa rankings