3:44:21 PM Laremy: hey
3:44:26 PM Laremy: wanted to ask you
3:44:31 PM Laremy: what is the ***[redacted: number of days]*** call-up for?
3:44:36 PM Melvin: lol
3:44:38 PM Melvin: ***[redacted: military activity]***
3:44:40 PM Laremy: oh
3:44:43 PM Laremy: i must go too?
3:44:58 PM Melvin: yah
3:44:59 PM Laremy: oh
3:45:07 PM Laremy: so even the ***[redacted: sub-unit]*** does ***[redacted: military activity]*** ?
3:45:13 PM Laremy: i thought we should be doing ***[redacted: more appropriate military activity IMHO]***
3:45:18 PM Melvin: yah so they say
3:45:32 PM Melvin: if nothing is done for us i will express disappointment
3:45:37 PM Laremy: how?
3:45:43 PM Laremy: shake your head and tsk very loudly ah?
3:45:44 PM Laremy: hahaha
3:45:52 PM Melvin: hahaha perhaps

If you believe in regulation - not censorship – of the arts in Singapore, pen your name down in support of this change.

Be sure to read the position paper or download it so that you are aware of all the issues involved in this process.

(via)

From this condition it is that none of the Malay rajas ever expose their Malay subjects to disgrace or shame; they never bind them, nor hang them, nor give them opprobrious language; for whenever a raja exposes his subjects to disgrace, it is the certain token of the destruction of his country; hence also it is, that none of the Malay race ever engage in rebellion, or turn their faces from their own rajas, even though their conduct be bad, and their proceedings tyrannical.

– Malay Annals: Translated from the Malay Language. Trans. John Leyden. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Ormg and Brown, 1821. 26 – 27.

How do we reconcile this with the Singaporean present, when we are so far removed from the past?

THE National Arts Council (NAC) has cut the annual grant given to local theatre company Wild Rice. It will get $170,000 this year, down from $190,000 the year before.

It is the lowest annual grant that the company has received from the council. Artistic director Ivan Heng says the council told him funding was cut because its productions promoted alternative lifestyles, were critical of government policies and satirised political leaders.

– Adeline Chia, NAC cuts W!ld Rice funds

Food for thought, given the current context at work.

I think Lionel de Souza needs extra tutoring with regard to how to write an expository argument:

Other than being used for trysts and immoral purposes, rooms at budget hotels are also used by gambling syndicates to operate illegal “casinos”, drug addicts to abuse drugs, fugitives of the law who dare not return home for fear of being arrested, etc.

– Lionel de Souza, TODAY, Why budget hotels must be reined in

If this were an essay he submitted to me for grading, my comments would be as follows:

Lionel, where is your evidence? What makes you an authority on budget hotels?

I know you are a retired cop, but I don’t think you’d be privy to what goes on in budget hotels in this day and age – unless you hang out at budget hotels yourself.

Even if that were the case, citing personal experience is not always credible when it comes to making expository arguments.

Actually he needs a lot more help with his writing (look at the amount of fallacies in the letter!) but I can’t afford the time.

Besides, people seldom buy the cow if they can get the milk for free. (Though I must clarify that I always make it a point to buy the milk if I get to sample it first and I like what I taste.)

Anyway Lionel, if you do read this, and you like the taste of my milk, my rates are $100/hr - you know my name, look up the number.

Yes, I am selling my flat to raise some funds for my campaign. As the leader of the party and the Tampines team, I need to build up my war chest in preparation for the eventual battle.

I am able to do this … because my wife and daughter are working and studying in Hong Kong and I am taking care of my aged mother … by staying with her now. Most importantly, I am fortunate to have a very understanding and supportive wife.

Freedom is not free. Pursuing Freedom and providing others the freedom of choice is not free. Some have asked me why don’t I just take a personal loan. I don’t like to have too many liabilities in life.

On the other hand, selling my flat may serve me well. If I lose, so be it. Maybe by then, it would be much easier for me to join my family in Hong Kong to start [a]fresh… .

If I win, I would be able to buy a flat in Tampines and become the Full Time MP there. Things will have to be rearranged in either outcomes.

I think the most important thing is for people to realize that politics is about public service; not just opposition politics, but it is expected of the ruling party politicians as well.

Public service may mean sacrifices on both financial as well as family time.

– Goh Meng Seng

(via)

…Dr Wong seems to suggest the PAP may have a better chance of winning SMCs when this may not be the case as younger and less experienced PAP candidates may be pitted against opposition heavyweights who have worked the ground over the years. If the number of SMCs is expanded, these less experienced PAP candidates may no longer have the ‘shield’ of contesting a GRC led by a PAP heavyweight.

– Robin Chee, More single seats may disadvantage PAP

Why? For context:

1. I think most people should know by now that I have a keen interest in issues that deal with the Singapore military and with National Service.
2. I’ve also been reading David Boey’s blog quite a bit.
3. Mr Wang’s latest post provided the impetus to write about something close to my heart.

So I was once a PIONEER writer too.

Fortunately or unfortunately, it didn’t happen during a posting while I was serving my NSF. I managed to score an internship with PIONEER under the Singapore Civil Service Internship Programme in the ‘summer’ of 2006.

According to Edgar Lee, one of the Senior Editors then, the choice was between myself and another girl. We weren’t shortlisted; we were just two kukubirds who were interested (or silly) enough to apply for that position.

Well, I thought I got it because I sounded earnest enough during the telephone interview. Actually, I got the gig because the other girl didn’t pick up her phone.

Oh, well.

The internship was one of the best things to ever happen in my life. I had just finished my second year of University, and was somewhere between being willing to write well and being able to write well.

I thought I was destined for academic mediocrity, but the stint at PIONEER was the turning point.

Being forced to write coherently – and consistently – helped me to see what I was doing wrong before, and provided me with more self-awareness when it came to improvement.

You can check out a list of the articles I wrote here. There is a distinct immaturity in each article but I improved at a very rapid pace.

To illustrate: this is the first article I wrote, this is an article from the second month of my internship, and this is the last article I wrote. See the difference?

Anyway, unlike many other people, I haven’t cancelled my PIONEER subscription.

I still read the magazine every month with a fervour: ripping open the plastic sheet that PIONEER comes wrapped in; devouring the publication from page to page.

Is it because I am a military nut? No. I follow what the SAF does  “out of a desire to ensure the system is accountable for the lives of Singaporeans who step forward to serve in uniform”.

That is my only motivation, and PIONEER provides me with one of the few links that I have to a military system that has much room for improvement.

In fact, PIONEER magazine itself provides the most apt example of the change that needs to happen.

The publication is a symbol of how the Singapore Armed Forces wants to portray itself – a glossy, polished, professional entity.

But silences speak the loudest words, and the features that are missing from PIONEER are the very same ills that plague the SAF.

For example, there are no critical commentaries from learned individuals that analyse and evaluate military policy. Neither is there a forum page for soldiers and citizens to air their views.

In spite of this, I will continue to subscribe to PIONEER.

I believe the day will come when more citizen/soldier involvement and engagement takes place. PIONEER, like Singapore and the SAF, has evolved slowly, but surely over the last few decades.

This evolution isn’t going to stop – unless something happens to derail progress, of course.

Change will happen, and I look forward to being able to thumb through an issue of PIONEER and feeling like it’s worth more than the forty cents per issue I’m paying now.

If you’re a Singaporean, and you’re going overseas for work or travel, it’s probably best if you register your details with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

I don’t know how much information is used for ‘surveillance’, but I think it’s always good to be prepared in the event of any emergencies.

BTW I found out about this thingy after submitting an Overseas Travel Notification to the Ministry of Defence – not because I want to, but because it must be done.

Anyways, there was a nifty little link provided at the end of the confirmation page which brought me to the MFA eRegister system, and I thought I’d share it with everyone because I think all of you should know about this.

Also, since the Civil Service often gets more brickbats than it does bouquets, I thought I’d take some time to express my pleasure at a good idea (IMHO) and a good example of synergy at work.

Okbye.