We're playing a game at home today

I read this off a St Nicks' senior's Facebook status:

"We're playing a game at home today. 

It's called Every Thing Has Its Place So Let's Freakin' Put Them Back Where They Belong."

Following that was an entire string of 'likes' and comments from what looked like other mums with similar experiences. I was hugely amused.

Two things popped out.
Firstly, it's the school holidays, i.e. kids are at home more than usual.
Secondly, you mean parents have to 'play a game' or 'remind' to get their kids to keep their stuff?

Back in my days, my brother and I would be so dead if we didn't put our stuff back to where they belong. Even if it was just 1 tiny storybook or cup or sock or pencil. And we did not hang around to wait for reminders and/or to test the boundaries.

My folks would not reprimand the maid (we always had a maid), and such transgressions would clearly and solely be our problem... with extreme consequences. *gulp*

In fact, I was so well-trained that I would spend a couple of holiday afternoons rearranging my book shelves. Sometimes, arranging the books according to languages, or the alphabet, or book height, or categories. Other times, I would be clearing out the old stuff. I don't think my mother ever specifically told me to do this. I just wanted to do it. Perhaps, it's because my folks do it from time to time too. Monkey-see monkey-do.

After a while, I began to spend the afternoons rearranging the furniture in my room. I also painted my room (and the rest of the apartment plus some furniture) with my father. Later, during my uni days, I would paint my dorm room and furniture, re-line the flooring etc, before every new school year.

I think nagging at the kids, e.g. to put back the stuff to where they belong, doesn't work.

Everyone ought to learn the concept of being '自动'.
What's '自动' in English? Is there a good translation for this? As such, if you were 'English-educated', how do you learn the concept of '自动'?

Making sure that the kids know (i) how to do so, and (ii) the extreme consequences of not doing so, is much more effective.

人，是贱的。 =))

6-days of Paid Eldercare Leave = Sucking Up

RE: Public sector takes lead in granting elder care leave

I think it is ridiculous to suggest to mandate 6-days of paid eldercare leave, on top of the existing 6-days of paid childcare leave for children under age of 7.

It SOUNDS great though, right?
More paid leave! Who doesn't want that?
Best is to get paid, but no need to go to office at all.

Don't forget. This Eldercare Leave suggestion was made by a certain very very unpopular and 'uncredible' MP. She happens to be the only child of 2 retired elderly parents. Not that she needs to take leave to attend her parents la.

If this wonderful suggestion somehow gets adopted at the national level, this means a worker in the sandwich generation can take up to 6 (childcare) + 6 (eldercare) = 12 days of additional paid leave per year, in addition to her annual leave.

Say her annual vacation leave is 18 days.
In total, this person can take up to 18 + 12 = 30 days of paid leave per year for her own enjoyment and family matters. By including public hols, she'd be enjoying long weekends for most weeks in the year.

Throw in other typical forms of paid leave such as sick leave, maternity leave etc, and you won't be seeing your employee or colleague very much. Guess who's gonna be doing the work? Eventually, if you'd realise that if you can't beat them, join them.

Only people who are not clear about paid work objectives, and/or are desperate for (electorate) affirmation, would suggest (and approve) something like that.
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Before you start to slam Blinkymummy for not being sympathetic towards people with elderly folks, read on...

A more intelligent way to structure such a suggestion is as 'Pro-Family Leave'.
This means you are entitled to take leave to take care of family matters, including taking care of a disabled sibling, troubled child, chronically ill parent, injured spouse etc.

Controls could include:

1. A maximum cap on days of fully-paid 'Pro-Family Leave', say 9 days or 50% of annual leave, whichever is lower. 
2. A maximum cap on days of unpaid or partially-paid 'Pro-Family Leave', say 9 days or 50% of annual leave, whichever is lower. 
3. 'Pro-Family Leave' can only be applied to situations involving immediate family members, including grandparents and grandchildren. Adopted and step family members are also included.
4. All benefiting family members must be Singaporean Citizens.
5. Single parents are eligible for 'Pro-Family Leave'. [Please! They need this leave more than typical married parents.]
6. Employee has worked for at least 3 months.
7. First 6 days of paid/ partially-paid leave to be paid for by Singov.

The point is to be crystal clear about the objectives of mandating such paid leave, and for policy makers not to be trigger-happy so as to be popular with the electorate.

The Problem with Urban Redevelopment & Consultation

RE: Rochor residents unhappy at lack of dialogue over move
RE: Were local groups even consulted about Bukit Brown plan?
RE: 市区重建局放宽管制准则
RE: Conservation guideline upsets shophouse owners
RE: Fate of 4 conserved Tanjong Katong blocks in limbo
RE: Not possible to conserve every former school in S'pore: URA
RE: BlogTV.SG: Historic Sites or Plain Old History?

There has been a recent spike in unhappiness due to announcements of urban redevelopment plans by the Government. Bukit Brown, Rochor Centre, Tanjong Katong, Buona Vista Swimming Complex, Old School etc.

As a former public urban planner and a 35 year old member of public, I see the over-arching problem as such:

Points of Contention	From Member of Public's point of view	From SINGOV's  point of view	The Complex Reality
‘Changes’	What are you doing to my land/ property/ neighbourhood? Why now?	According to the relevant acts, Singov can, AT ANY TIME, make the following changes to any land/property in Singapore: Zoning  - What your property can be used for Gross plot ratio – How much floor space you can build on your property Development controls – How tall, how wide, how many floors etc your property can be. Other controls – E.g. the look of your property (e.g. type of windows, colour of roof tiles, retaining plaster mouldings etc) << the legal term is ‘Conservation’. Ownership – State can acquire your property on a compulsory basis and compensate you. Your property then becomes State property, and the State can do what it deems fit with the property.
Public Consultation	Why wasn’t I consulted before Singov finalised and announced the plans?	You HAVE been consulted. The planning intention for your land parcel/ property/ neighbourhood have been reflected in the Concept Plan and Master Plan all this while… since 1998 etc. At every Concept Plan and Master Plan review, we exhibit them for you to give your feedback. You didn’t say anything back then. If the changes were made as an adhoc process, we followed the requirements of the Planning Act, e.g. exhibited the proposed changes in the notice board at the ground floor of URA Centre for x weeks before the changes were finalised. You didn’t say anything back then.	(1)    Few members of public realise the difference between a PR exhibition by a typical stat board vs a Master Plan exhibition by the URA. The Master Plan exhibitions are not merely a PR effort, but are part of a statutory process to seek comments on the draft plan before it becomes a legal document. (2)    There have been occasions where the Master Plan exhibitions were held only at the lobby of URA Centre, i.e. highly reducing the possibility of members of public chancing upon the exhibitions, and giving their feedback if any. (3)    The changes to the Master Plan are: (i) Not specifically brought to the foreground in the exhibition and are instead presented as part of the new plan; and (ii) The individual owners of affected land parcels/ properties are not informed specifically at this stage. They are only informed at execution stage, i.e. after the plans have been approved and  when the land is being acquired or enforcement action is taken.
Appeal	Who can I appeal to?	Back when you were publicly consulted, you could have raised objections to the Minister of National Development. Now, you can always write an appeal to Minister of National Development.	Minister of National Development APPROVED the changes to begin with. Why would he overturn his decision now? That would make his entire decision-making process look silly. But NOW may be an opportune time to appeal, because there has been a recent change of leadership in Ministry of National Development.
Further Appeal	If the Minister of National Development turns down my appeal, who else can I appeal to?	You can take this matter to court.	From what I know, few people have gone to court for such matters. Those few who have, have lost their appeals. From my limited knowledge of the law and how the courts work, as long as the authorities have closely followed what's required by the law when making changes to your property/ land/ neighbour, the courts cannot rule otherwise. In other words, if you wanna change the situation, you need to change the rules (law).

Being High-Handed
Some see the current approach as 'being high-handed'.

But do not be mistaken. 'Being high-handed' is merely an approach, a tool. Like all tools, it can wielded to do good and damage. It depends on the wielder's intelligence and execution.

I am all for 'being high-handed', but such an approach should only be adopted to benefit a significant portion of the Singaporean population in real terms.
E.g. If the government needs to clear 50 families from a site to develop a high-rise public housing estate for 1,000 families, I say go ahead and be 'high-handed'.

(Having said that, it is not right to clear the 50 families now, then leave the site vacant for 10 years and more before redevelopment. Or acquire a building for conservation and redevelopment purposes, then not doing anything different from the previous owner for the next 2 decades, before the building site is put up for redevelopment. That's just being unreasonable and kiasu.)

However, in other cases, there is no good reason to be high-handed.
Take the Tanjong Katong case. This is a situation where the authorities wanting the blocks to LOOK a certain way. There will be no quantitative change to total number of people's consumption of the area. Benefits of any qualitative change are subjective and debatable.

Most importantly, the owners were not consulted BEFORE the policy was approved.
In other words, the authorities are shoving this 'beautification' policy down the throats of the owners and expecting the owners to comply and pay for the look which the authorities want, while suggesting that a huge fine and/or jail term awaits those who do not comply. Anything that's just about 'looks' is highly subjective, and as such, should not be approached in a high-handed manner.

Being Euphemistic about being 'Open'
Owners are supposed to be taking care of anything related to their private properties. It's your responsibility to be aware of what's going on. It's your responsibility to comb the papers and URA notice boards regularly. And of course, all documents and notices are in only in English.

But if the authorities want to claim that they are in open discussions with members of public and owners, I would expect a updated level of care and due diligence in its execution.

Some owners can't even understand the English notices. Not to mention that owners are not informed of proposed changes at the draft stage, but only after the approval and at the execution stage, i.e. land acquisition, enforcement etc.

And, just because owners fight to protect their private properties and way of life does not suggest that members of public believe that 'the government owes them a living'. Perhaps the officers in charge are just not used to dealing with conflict and/or not having things their way. An attitudinal change amongst public officers, especially those in management, is necessary, so as to cater changing public expectations.

'Consultation' does not mean 'Agreement'
I observe that some members of public tie 'consultation' together with 'agreement'.
In simpler terms, even if the government 'consults' you for its plans, it does not mean it will accommodate all or even any of your feedback and suggestions in the final plans.

Also, from the authorities' perspective, any public consultation will lead to speculation of property prices, difficulties in managing public expectations, flood of 'unreasonable requests/ suggestions' as not all members of public are adequately knowledgeable in the fields of urban planning, infrastructure engineering etc.

Hence, from a cynical point of view, it is possible for a 'consultation process' to end up being merely perfunctorily, e.g. the information provided by the authorities for public consultation is highly limited and as such inevitably leads to a couple of conclusions which the authorities seek.

A New 'Decision-Achieving' Framework
The member of public should not be fixated on asking for 'public consultation', but instead ought to be fighting for is a new 'decision-achieving' process and framework to be woven into the legislation.

In other words, working with the public and/or the public's representative(s) for future redevelopment plans, is no longer a 'good to have', but a requirement by law.

The public and the political leaders have to first come to an agreement on:

• WHAT types of urban redevelopment ought to fall under this 'decision-achieving' category. 
• Then move onto WHO ought to be consulted
• HOW and WHEN the decision-achieving process will take place.

It's certainly not straightforward to outline the above-mentioned. But not doing it is a sure sign of avoidance.

E.g. It's very clear to me that, if the authorities wish for 4 blocks of private apartments to LOOK a certain way as prescribed by the authorities, and that the owners have to pay for this look, the authorities have to (i) formally engage ALL owners, (ii) before the plans are approved, (iii) achieve a majority vote for this proposal, (iv) set a date for completion of the proposal.

However, it becomes rather dicey when it comes to compulsory land acquisition of homes/ work places for construction of public infrastructure, because it does not make sense to cancel public infrastructure plans for the benefit of minority owners. In such cases, perhaps the 'decision-achieving' process does not focus on the possibility of rejecting the redevelopment proposal, but tweaking details of proposal to ensure a smoother transition for affected individuals.

Is this new framework gonna slow down the pace of urban redevelopment in Singapore?
Perhaps.
Most urban redevelopment projects take years and even decades from inception to planning to announcement to execution to completion. I'm sure inserting the new framework into the project timeline will increase it by 20% at most.

Is this new framework gonna reduce the amount of unhappiness with urban redevelopment plans in Singapore?
Perhaps.
It depends on the sincerity and competence of the authorities and members of public to participate in this process, the design and the execution of the framework etc.

Whatever form it takes, it sure beats what we are doing about it now. An evasive and defensive approach, causing many to feel left out and unhappy.

Cyber-baiting Your Teacher is WRONG.

RE: Cyber-baiting happens to 3 in 10 teachers here
RE: 3 in 10 teachers experience 'cyberbaiting'

"Cyber-baiting works like this: A student will irritate his teacher until the latter loses his temper. The student will film the incident on his mobile phone and then upload the video onto the Internet, with the aim of embarrassing the teacher and the school."

Because cyber-baiting is premeditated, it is worse than incidents where foreigners beat up our public transport workers.

What kind of lousy upbringing produces such kids?!! I bet parents of such kids can't see what's wrong to begin with.

It's a jungle of 野孩子 and 野父母 out there!
The teachers are literally working with criminals.

If this is what the kids do to teachers, imagine what they do to one another.

Doesn't MOE have the responsibility to ensure a 'safe work environment' for its teachers?
There must rules, prevention, enforcement, and the big penalty stick.

Probably need to increase the capacity of boys/girls' homes in tandem.

No good reason to shrink new HDB flats?

Rochor Centre is to be demolished to make way for the North-South Expressway.
Residents are offered new flats in Kallang, ready by 2016.

RE: No good reason to shrink new HDB flats

"Why must the HDB reduce flat sizes when the older, bigger ones of the 1980s offered better quality of life to balance the social, environmental pressures exerted on the shrinking average household?

There are no compelling reasons to shrink the flat size down to 91 sq m and sacrifice quality of life.

HDB should reverse its policy."


What is this guy talking about?!
Instantly, I can think of a couple of GREAT reasons to shrink the HDB flats as much as possible:

(1) Smaller flats = More affordable homes for Singaporeans
Surely you want to be able to afford your own home, right?
We are reducing flat sizes to help you own your dream home.

The money you save from the purchase can go towards renovating your new home. If you know how to, you can make your tiny home cosy and comfy for your family.

(2) It's ALWAYS land scarcity!!
How many times do we have to repeat this?! Land scarcity!!
This is even more sacred than sacred moo moo cows.
Smaller flats take up less land!

Can Arts School Students be Different?

I walk past School of the Arts quite a bit, and notice that the students emerging from the building are usually in this school T-shirt, even those in their ballet gear.

And I have not seen any SOTA students with coloured hair, obvious tattoos, body piercings etc.

Of course, one can argue that these are merely superficial traits, but their absence got me wondering if conformity was a requirement of this Arts School. 

And how that helps to achieve "the vision to identify and groom future generations of artists and creative professionals to be leaders in all fields, in particular, the arts, the School of the Arts will build on Singapore's unique strengths, including its multicultural Asian heritage and openness to local and foreign artistic talent."

I think 'Discipline' and 'Conformity' are very different traits, and should not be confused.

Sewing Pin found in Cathay Cinema Seat

I went for a movie at the Grand Cathay yesterday afternoon. Halfway through the movie, I found one of these 3cm-long sewing pins sticking out of the seat.

I removed it from the seat, felt around for more, found none other, then decided to finish the movie.

After the movie, I went to the ticketing counter and asked for the manager. A manager with a Filipino accent appeared after a while, flanked by a couple of excited trainees (one of them seemed to be a young Korean girl).

*Manager approaches*

BM: Hi. I've just watched a movie at the Grand Cathay. I was in this seat. *handed her the movie tickets* And I found this pin in the seat. *handed her the pin* I think you should sweep all the seats, just to be safe.

Manager: Oh... *looking at pin*

BM: I think you should sweep all the seats, just to be safe.

Manager:  *still looking at pin*... Thank you for your feedback...

I must say I've been watching many movies at the Cathay and this is the first time I've found a pin in the seats. So, it's not like it's a regular occurrence.

However, I am sorely disappointed by the manager's handling of the situation. She didn't ask if I was injured by the pin, she didn't place her customer first. She was simply stunned by the situation.

I just hope she took the incident seriously and swept the rest of the seats for pins as I'd suggested.

Foreigner Workers & the Draw of Casinos

RE: Foreigners stare and shoot videos of bikini-clad beach-goers on Sentosa

Over the long weekend, we drove on Marina Boulevard, in between the Sail, MBFC etc, and the Promontory site, breeze shelters etc, where we saw many many foreign workers hanging around, waiting for friends, kissing their girlfriends, having a snack etc.

Then a day later, we see the above STOMP post on foreign workers hanging around at the beaches in Sentosa.

To be fair, plenty of local and other foreigner men who hang around the beaches gawk at and take pictures of the bikini-clad ladies too. Can't really argue that just because foreign workers are gawking, that these beach-goers have 'less privacy' coz it's a freaking public place in which they have decided to lie prone in very little clothing.

Regardless, I'm sure the rich and powerful people and entities affected by this phenomenon will find ways to reflect their displeasure to the higher-ups.

The policy makers will then realise that this phenomenon of foreign workers hanging around in the public spaces at Marina Bay and on Sentosa is an unintended consequence of allowing anyone with a foreign passport to enter the 2 casinos at no charge. We've always had foreign workers in Singapore, why didn't they hang around at the beaches in Sentosa earlier?

Because the casinos are the main draw. The hanging around in the adjacent/nearby public spaces and gawking at bikini babes are merely the sideshows. And this will keep happening at every public holiday.

At some point, I believe a decision will be taken to disallow foreigners on work permit to visit the casinos at no charge and/or to visit the casinos at all, citing repeated cases of foreign workers losing all their earnings and being in debt. When in fact, this is a crude way to cut out majority of foreign workers from the Integrated Resorts and their vicinity to preserve their respective 'enjoyment level' for everyone else. Relying on the self-exclusionary orders to achieve this outcome is simply wishful thinking.

I wanna see how the casinos will react to this, coz that will be a reflection of how significantly foreign workers contribute to the casinos' revenue streams.

Real Steel

I didn't want to watch this coz I dislike wrestling and boxing... The concept of human violence for entertainment is simply perverted.

But Real Steel is not about human violence. It's about robots in the boxing ring, and how the robots are a platform upon which a pair of cheeky long-lost father and son began to build their non-existent relationship.

When Hugh Jackman isn't stuck behind Wolverine's fur and personality, Hugh Jackman can act.

The little Canadian boy, Dakota Goyo, can act... very well. It seems if one is not American, one must be an exceptionally good actor to get into Hollywood. And he is very cute.

And the robots... I was kind of holding onto my seat... in preparation for unnecessary anthropomophication of the robots... You know... The robot has some secret ability to think on its own, has feelings, wanna save his human boyfriend etc. But I was pleasantly surprised. None of that rubbish. Which is refreshing. Dreamworks makes good films.

The Man who didn't find happiness in Bhutan

I came across a blog entry by a Bhutanese entitled 'To Mr. Khaw Boon Wan, What did you expect?'.

This 28 year old Bhutanese teacher read about Mr Khaw Boon Wan's comment on the famous Bhutanese Gross National Happiness, and made a response on his blog in English.

Some excerpts here:

"Those people you saw in the fields weren't unhappy, if you have gone closer you would have heard them singing and enjoying the social lives, perhaps you won't understand that. If you have spent a little longer time watching them, you would have seen and a woman with basket on her back and holding arms with several children coming with steaming food- we don't have McDonald or KFC. Then everybody will sit down to eat their lunch, laughing and joking, feeding babies, for over an hour- you wouldn't have had so much time to sit and watch I know, times means money in your country."

"If we start mining our mountains and lumbering our forests, we can become Singapore in a year but no matter what you do you can never become Bhutan. It is far too difficult. We shall be the last breath of oxygen on earth."

For those who have been reading my blog for some time, you must have realised that I am not a romantic. I am neither a tree-hugger, nor all warm and mushy about natural stuff, nor a proponent that we ought to revert to our peasant roots.

However, this Bhutanese's entry has brought to the foreground something we may all be blind to.

In his blog entry, he named the pic of Mr Khaw as 'The Man who didn't find happiness in Bhutan'. I thought it was brilliant.

The Bhutanese-Happiness is right there, but you can't find it. WHY?!

How do you explain 'Bhutanese-happiness' to someone who has never allowed himself to experience it, or thinks because he is smarter than everyone else, that such happiness has to be impractical and impossible in the SG context?

Even if happiness is presented right before his eyes, he neither sees it, nor acknowledges it.

That happiness is neither about money, nor singing in the fields.
That happiness is about the rulers and the ruled being on the same page.

That rulers are respectable.
That rulers are respected by the ruled.

You cannot sneak Tin Pei Ling into Parliament, and expect to remain respectable and/or to be respected.
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** As of yesterday, the Bhutanese blog entry caught mainstream media attention and has garnered almost 100 comments from Singaporeans, mostly apologising to the Bhutanese for the comments made by our Cabinet Minister, and lauding the Bhutanese for his views.

The Bhutanese has also responded to Singaporeans in a new blog entry.