- On being Bland in the Lion City
- Be more open to reduce policy errors
- PES
- mrbrown and the flood
- Asia Sentinel Loses a Singapore Correspondent
“Sure, his account illustrates the usual argument relating to the lack of press freedoms in Singapore, but I suspect it has got to do with the chronic “kiasi-ness” (literally means fear of death in Singapore colloquial-speak, can be used to refer to literal or metaphorical death) embedded in the hearts and minds of government bureaucrats.”
“One would have wished that, over such a long period, someone within the Government had identified the mistakes.”
Identifying the mistake is one thing – being willing and able to adopt a new and better course of action is another.
“The army uses it to categorize men by their fitness and combat readiness level, and it stands for Physical Employment Status. Me, I use mine to categorize men by their childhood traumas, and it stands for Prick Evaluation System.”
IMHO, the categories are a bit more fluid – some guys can be a combination of a few characteristics.
“I think we should [look on] the bright side [of things]. Perhaps we can try to make the best of things. If you cannot stop the flooding, why not make Bukit Timah the Venice of Singapore? What could be more romantic and prestigious than living in Singapore’s Canal District?
…
The fancy schools along that stretch can have annual Boat Races there, a la Oxford and Cambridge. ACS, SCGS, Hwa Chong, NJC, St Joseph’s, all competing in the annual Bukit Timah Freak Flood Inter-School Boat Race.”
“While the governments of Burma, China and Iran tend to arrest troublesome foreign reporters or expel them without delay, Singapore’s more media-savvy government prefers a subtler approach to repression. The non-renewal of a work visa is their preferred method for getting rid of foreigners with minimal fuss or attention.”
