We follow orders or people die

Two days ago, the Straits Times carried a report on the measures that the SCDF (Singapore Civil Defence Force) is introducing to prevent accidents like the one that led to the  death of NSF Cpl Kok Yuen Chin. Meantime a board of inquiry has been convened to look into this incident.

This article reminds me of the famous courtroom scene from the movie, A Few Good Men. In this scene, Col. Nathan Jessep, played by Jack Nicholson said something that I thought was very relevant to the tragic incident at the SCDF, as well as the Pasir Ris MRT track accident in 2016 and even the Bishan MRT tunnel flooding incident last year. He said; “We follow orders or people die!”

These accidents happened simply because people ignored orders or did not follow procedures. Hence, I believe that any investigation into such accidents has to go beyond looking at procedures and human actions. They have to look at the work culture in the organisation. Do the people there have a “you can do anything; just don’t get caught” mentality?

We have to get to the root cause. If the main cause is people ignoring the orders of their superiors, or not following safety procedures, then we have to understand why.

• Were they simply too lazy; and ‘bo chap’?
• Do they have no fear or respect for their bosses?
• Are they exhausted with too much work, and think that these procedures were a waste of time? If this was the case, then wouldn’t adding more procedures make matters worse?

I remember a case from my own NS days in the 1970s. To the best of my recollection this was what happened. There was an accident involving a soldier who was sleeping under a three-tonner; and he was killed when the vehicle moved off before he could ‘escape’. After that, one of the new procedures that was implemented was that the driver had to check under the three-tonner each time he was about to drive off. Needless to say, very few people followed that procedure.

I also feel that our newspapers ought to carry out some ‘investigative reporting’ when it comes to such a serios matter. They should review past accidents and results of the BOI enquiries. Just how effective have their recommendations been? I am not being cynical, but judging from the frequency of these tragedies; I suspect they have not been very effective.

Remembering Lee Kuan Yew

Tomorrow I plan to do something I rarely do - I am going to join thousands of Singaporeans in bidding farewell to our first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew at the Parliament House.

The one quality that I admire most about Lee Kuan Yew is “perspicacity”.  This is the ability to judge and understand people and situations. To me, it includes the ability to see into the future.

I think it was Confucius who said; “If a man takes no thought for what is distant, he will find sorrow close at hand”. I believe that, had it not been for Lee Kuan Yew’s perspicacity and his constant preoccupation with Singapore’s future, we Singaporeans could be facing a very different kind of sorrow today, as we mourn the passing of this great man.

Lee Kuan Yew was a great orator. As a young man, I listened to all his speeches. The speech that I remember best was the one he made in 1971 in Helsinki at the General Assembly of the International Press Institute. (Actually it was not so much his speech as his handling of the reporters’ questions after the speech that impressed me). I recall that at that time, we were facing much criticism by the Western press because of our government’s perceived suppression of press freedom. Many advised him not to accept the invitation to speak at this event as he was bound to be thrashed by the hostile gathering of his ‘enemies’.  

But as this Chinese idiom goes; “明知山有虎，偏向虎山行” (to venture into the mountain knowing that there are tigers lurking there), he went anyway. And instead of being mauled by the fearsome tigers, he had them eating out of his hand like docile pussycats. Such was the persuasiveness of the man and the strength of his arguments. Watching his masterly performance made me feel proud to be a Singaporean.

Let’s not forget them

I would like to greet my dear readers a “Happy New Year” with a not-so-happy photo. May we be reminded, in the year 2013, that there are older Singaporeans in our midst who are like these 3 (what you call this) stumps -  once young, good-looking and located in a place that was once full of life, and surrounded by young happy people. But today they are forgotten, neglected and forlorn. They are not necessarily found in the old age homes. They could be living next door.

Guess where I took this photo.

Memories of an intellectually-challenged kid in my kampong

I just got off the phone with an old friend who is suffering from dementia – so his daughter told me. He insisted that I returned him some training material that he had lent me 22 years ago. I just couldn’t get through to him, and am feeling both sad and frustrated. I am suddenly reminded of this kid in my kampong when I was around 5 or 6 years old.

In my kampong, I had a neighbour, a kid of around my age, who had Down’s Syndrome. Some of the other kids liked to tease him. But the frustrating part was that, whenever he saw me, he would poke fun of my name, by chanting (in Hokkien):

“Lor see, ji liap see. Lor see, ji liap see”. Lor see means a screw or bolt. Ji liap mean, a piece of. I don’t know what he meant by, “Ji liap see”. He must have heard it from some other kid. I felt very indignant; saying to myself; “Hey, I am the normal kid, you are not. I should be teasing you”.

But even though I was very young then, I could reason that his behaviour was probably a kind of defense mechanism. To avoid being teased, I’d better go on the attack first. And so I did not retaliate and just bore with his taunts; and avoided him.

As I grew older, and understood such things, I was really glad that I did not counter-attack whenever this kid poked fun of me.

For we are all like swimmers in the sea

When I was in Secondary 4, I studied a beautiful poem for my Senior Cambridge (‘O’ level) exams. Until today, I still cannot forget the wonderful story of Sohrab and Rustum by Matthew Arnold.

For years, there was nobody in my family to share this with. My wife and two older children are all Life Sciences (boring) majors. But now that my youngest has started her English Literature studies at the University of Edinburgh, I finally have somebody to share my enjoyment of this beautiful but sad story.

But yet Success sways with the breath of Heaven.

And though thou thinkest that thou knowest sure

Thy victory, yet thou canst not surely know.

For we are all, like swimmers in the sea,

Pois’d on the top of a huge wave of Fate,

Which hangs uncertain to which side to fall.

And whether it will heave us up to land,

Or whether it will roll us out to sea,

Stay hungry, stay foolish

On my way home a while ago, I was driving next to this reckless bus driver who drove his bus like a Formula One racing car. OK I exaggerate.

At first I thought it was an empty bus on the way back to the bus depot. And then I saw the driver jam his brakes, whilst trying to overtake me from the left, when he saw some passengers wave from a bus stop. Then I realized that there were actually passengers in the bus.

A thought occurred to me. He must have read Steve Jobs’ famous Stanford speech. Maybe he was hungry. Most likely it’s the latter.

A word of advice to the politicians

Nearly a week has passed since the general elections and still I get daily emails and articles about it.

I have always tried to keep Good Morning Yesterday free of political and social issues. Nevertheless, I cannot resist giving a small bit of advice or rather, reminder to the politicians. To quote my favourite platoon sergeant major in OCS, Encik Rahman from more than thirty years ago,:

“Don’t every time say say but never do!”

I felt like I was in a foreign country

Yesterday I attended a full day conference at the Suntec Convention Centre – the 2011 Business Excellence Sharing organised by Spring Singapore. I decided to take a bus instead of driving to save on the cost and the hassle. I took SBS 174 which brought me through Orchard Road, Bras Basah Road and alighted at North Bridge Road near St Andrews Cathedral. I took the opportunity to take a good hard look at the new buildings along the route. I must tell you, I felt like I was in a foreign country. The two places that looked totally alien to me was Orchard Road where so many new buildings have come up since the mid-1980’s when my office was at the National Productivity Board in Cuppage Centre, and Bras Basah Road where the Singapore Management University campus is located. When I alighted opposite the former Capitol Theatre, I was disoriented for a few seconds and thought that I got off at the wrong bus stop. Expecting to see an open field and the St Andrew’s Cathedral, I was staring at a modern building with a glass façade instead.

Currently, I am reading Simon Tay’s City of Small Blessings, and I am beginning to understand why he managed to connect with many older Singaporeans. The notes at the back cover says that the book is about a Singaporean retiree who migrates and then returns to a Singapore he barely recognizes.
I am not a retiree and have not been out of Singapore for longer than a couple of weeks in the past two decades; and yet the scene captured on my mobile phone camera below made me feel like I was “on the fringe of a city I barely recognize”.

Proverbs

I just finished writing my new year resolutions. Top of the list ....... No more procastination!.

Haha .... just kidding. I thought of this when I read the Garfield joke the other day, where he said; "I used to welcome change .... but I have changed my mind."

Do you recall your primary school days when the teacher made us memorize proverbs? Not a bad idea actually because some of them I remember to this day.

- Time and tide wait for no men.
- A stitch in time saves nine.
- Every cloud has a silver lining.
- Pride goes before a fall.
- Procastination is the thief of time.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Deferred gratification

The other day, the piano technician came to tune my daughter’s piano. As I watched him ‘dismantle’ our piano, it suddenly dawned on me that when I was a kid, I had always been very curious to feel what it was like to strike the piano keys, but I never got the chance to even go near one. How blessed my children are in comparison, I thought.

When I was in the third year of my engineering course in the University of Singapore, we had to do a non-technical elective one semester. I chose Sociology and I found that I liked it very much. Until today I still think, I wish we had counselors back then to advise us on what courses to pursue in university. I certainly would not have chosen Engineering if I had the chance to choose again. It is such a boring subject compared to Sociology. Instead we just went for courses that were the most popular and which the best students pursued.

I remember our Sociology class was taught by a part-time lecturer; a young Indian man who worked for one of the newspapers. He taught us this term, deferred gratification. It certainly applies to many people of my generation. When we were young, we held back from acquiring many things that we loved. Instead we slogged and saved until much later in life.

Take the example of pop music records. A few years after my elder brother and sister started working, we bought a cheap hi-fi system. But we could not afford many of the 33 rpm LP records; especially the English songs. And so we used to borrow them from our more well-to-do friends. I remember my younger brother James had a classmate who used to lend us his records. One of them was an album by Lobo with the title, Me and you and a dog named Boo. (How can anyone forget a title like that?). Another record was by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass – another hard-to-forget name don’t you think? There are other examples (of such deferred gratification), but I think I should keep them to myself. I am sure older readers have similar examples to share.

But anyway, no regrets. The good book says; “Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife." (Proverbs 17:1)

Furthermore, when you are deprived, you work harder; and when you finally get what you want, you relish it more. But sometimes that is not true. By the time came when you could afford something that you used to like, you may have already passed the age where you relish those same things. Thankfully, Lobo isn’t one of them.

Anyway, back to my Sociology lecturer. Once, he made a really nice comment in one of my essays. He wrote something to this effect; “They say that engineers can’t write; but you and a couple of others in this class have proven how wrong that stereotype is.” So instead of spending my time studying my Engineering subjects, I spent much time on Sociology which did not even count towards my final grades. Likewise today, I am busy writing my Good Morning Yesterday blog, when I should be spending more time on my other business-related blog; My 5S Corner.

Sigh …. Some will things never change. That just the way it is.

Pakistan Floods: To give or not to give?

Someone emailed me an article titled: “Pakistan Floods: This man says he won't give a dime and here are his reasons ...... up to you to agree or disagree with him”.

I disagree.

The article is written by Patrice Lagacé. Basically he says he “will not give one red penny towards the humanitarian relief in Pakistan” for 3 reasons.

Firstly, Pakistan is a nuclear power which spends billions on military hardware. Secondly, there are many filthy-rich Pakistanis who evade tax. Last but not least, he says; “On September 11th 2001, when the Twin Towers in New York were destroyed by terrorists, yes I do remember very well having seen live television coverage showing adults and children from Iran, Pakistan and other muslim countries, dancing in the streets and having a whale of a time because the United States had been touched right in the heart. They were elated because thousands of Americans were killed.”

Personally, I think this gentleman’s logic is a little warped. I believe whether or not a person should give towards the relief effort in Pakistan should be governed by two questions only.
One, will my money help some suffering human being? If it doesn’t; if it will end up in the pocket of some corrupt politician, then I shouldn’t give. Two, do I have the means to help in the first place.

However, even if he does not agree with my points and feels justified in not wanting to help, I think he should refrain from telling others not to; which is what his article is all about. If someone dies as a direct result of his irresponsible diatribe, that person’s blood is on his hands.

What do you think?

It’s raining

It’s raining cats and dogs outside and I am not in the mood to work. Wonder if it’s going to flood again.

Looking out of the window on a rainy day like this always reminds me of an occasion about 30 years ago when I was working as a young industrial engineer in Philips Singapore. We were attending a course on Work Factor (a form of Predetermined Motion-Time Systems or PMTS). Our trainer was an old man from Australia. Our seminar room was at one of the high floors of the Equatorial Hotel. Remember this hotel? It used to stand at the corner of Stevens and Bukit Timah Road. Our company liked to hold its training programmes there.

Anyway, it was raining heavily and our trainer was staring out of the window during the break. He told us the part of Australia where he came from, it was very rare to see such heavy rain. In fact some places do not see rain for one whole year or more. And so he was ‘soaking in’ the sight.

Enough! … Get back to work.

But not too much

My blogger friend Thimbuktu’s latest post about the advertising tag lines reminds me of one very cute TV advertisement from several years ago. It was on the Ribena drink.

If my memory serves me right, it was about this cute little girl who was asked to share her packet of Ribena with a boy. Whilst she was generous enough to hand over her packet to the boy, she reminded him not to finish the whole packet by saying … But not too much.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister spoke about the issue of integrating new citizens. Like MM Lee who spoke about the same issue at the Tanjong Pagar National Day dinner on 13 Aug, he wants Singaporeans to welcome them.

I think Singaporeans generally are like the generous Ribena girl. They say; “Sure you are welcome to share some of our goodies …… but not too much”.

Green fields

Last night I watched a recorded documentary titled; Six Degrees Could Change the World. It was originally aired last Saturday on Okto Channel.

As you probably know, this documentary is about Global Warming. The most frightening scene that stayed in my mind was that of the parched river beds of the mighty Amazon.

There was also a “2nd Shot” sort of scene of a glacier at the source of the Ganges River. An old Indian man who had been taking photos of this glacier compared photos of it 50 years ago with present day photos of the same place. The glacier had totally disappeared. I was reminded of the lyrics of the Brothers Four song, Green Fields.

Once there were green fields kissed by the sun
Once there were valleys where rivers used to run
Once there were blue skies with white clouds high above
Once they were part of an everlasting love
We were the lovers who strolled through green fields

Green fields are gone now, parched by the sun
Gone from the valleys where rivers used to run
Gone with the cold wind that swept into my heart
Gone with the lovers who let their dreams depart
Where are the green fields that we used to roam?

Did the writers of this classic already know about global warming way back in 1956?

Thoughts on the tragedy at NTU

I am indeed saddened to learn of the tragedy that occurred at the Nanyang Technological University yesterday, where a final year Electronics and Electrical Engineering student attacked his project supervisor before taking his own life. As the parent of an NTU student of a similar age, my heart goes out to the parents of 21-year old David Hartanto Widjaja for their great loss and anguish.

And as the parent of a 19-year old NS man, I cannot help asking, what if this kind of incident had occurred in an army camp; and instead of a kitchen knife, the disturbed young man had a loaded SAR21 or worse - a grenade or a claymore?

I am comforted though, to learn that the SAF has come a long way in managing national service and today, our NS boys suffer less, and no longer go through the kind of nonsense that guys of my time had to put up with. From what I have seen so far from my own son’s enlistment, I can see some big improvements.

The physical environment

From my visit to the BMTC at Pulau Tekong, I can see that the physical environment has improved a lot. Although not exactly ‘like a hotel’ as some people have described, the camp facilities are really quite impressive. Among the things that I saw during the camp walkabout was a beautiful swimming pool, gymnasium and athletic track.

This photo was not taken at a country club or hotel by the sea

The bunks looked comfortable. (My wife was so impressed with the Simmons mattresses - or maybe it was King Koil) and the catered food is another well-known ‘improvement’, to put it lightly. In fact, they even have ice-cream on some days!

But I believe one big advantage was having the BMTC in Pulau Tekong so that it is far away from civilian life, and so there is less chance of the recruits being reminded of their loss of freedom. I remember one time, as a recruit, I was attending a ‘lecture’ in the training shed in Safti (Pasir Laba). Just across the fence I could see buses and civilians passing by on Upper Jurong Road. It really made me feel home-sick.

The ‘mental’ environment

What I am most happy about is that nowadays they have done away with many of the inhumane punishments like change parades; and hassles like pasting cupboards, and polishing boots and ironing uniforms. Not only will there be less mental stress on the boys, it will also give them more free time. I remember having my hair cut and then going back early to camp on Sunday nights so as to prepare for the next morning’s Muster Parade (where the nasty CSM wants to be able to see his reflection in your boots, or crazy CO’s like Col Jimmy Yap will actually check that the metal studs under your boots were not rusty or you will be put on charge).

With more free time, the boys could engage in more social activities like sports. For example, this week, being the last week before their passing out parade next week, my son is taking part in tug-of-war.

At the parents’ briefing session, we learned that they even have two trained counselors in the BMTC to provide professional help to troubled recruits.

Adjustment to military life

Yet another improvement I can see is in the system of easing the school leavers into military life. For example, those who were physically unfit are required to report 8 weeks early for a Physical Training Phase to build up their fitness slowly. And the use of the NAPFA standards ensures that the recruits will be able to cope with the training. I remember during my recruit days, I had a friend who was slightly obese. Whenever we went for physical training and runs, he would lag far behind and often got scolded by the unsympathetic NCOs. I will never forget the sight of him throwing up during one of our runs – and still being forced to continue.

Even the equipment is better these days. You must have heard about the New Balance track shoes that have replaced our black ‘kung fu’ PT shoes. They even issue the boys with the latest Gillette Fusion shaver with 5 blades!

Parents’ role

Another advantage that the NS boys have nowadays is that their fathers have gone through NS and thus in better position to empathize with them; although I think we should refrain from boasting too much about how tough army life was in our time and thus make our sons feel inferior or pampered.

Still, with all the improvements, I think the SAF should learn a lesson from this tragedy at NTU and step up their vigilance. They should especially tighten their selection of personnel in sensitive vocations where the staff are in charge of live ammo; e.g. storemen and armskote men. And of course, they should keep a close tab on the psychological condition of these people.

We are like that one lah!

Did you see this article in yesterday’s Sunday Times?

In a regular column, The Ex-pat Files, Strait Times copy writer Andrew Raven wrote about his encounter with Singlish - Singapore’s unique brand of street English. He narrated his initial surprise and frustrations when trying to communicate with the man in the street; citing examples of a taxi-driver and a property agent.

I must confess that my initial reaction on reading his article was one of indignation. After reading a few sentences, I stopped. My conclusion was that Mr Raven was yet another proud ‘Ang Moh’ who wanted to poke fun of our English. I have seen this before on TV as well as on a few videos put up by students of the International School on YouTube. But after re-reading his article today, I am somewhat appeased because at the end of his article, he defended the use of Singlish thus:

“In the last two months I’ve developed an appreciation for Singlish, but not only because of its simplicity and versatility. It is one of the few things that gives Singapore, which can be quite antiseptic, character…….. Singlish, in its most basic form, has long been a bugbear of government officials, who are waging a campaign urging heartlanders to embrace the King’s English. But here’s hoping that doesn’t take root. What a shame it would be if, one day, everyone sounded like Londoners. Singapore is a unique country with a long history and a mix of cultures. It should have a dialect that reflects that.”

Actually, I think most of us Singaporeans do not have any problem with people poking fun of our English. After all, even our former Prime Minister did that during his National Day Rally speech, and our local comedians do it all the time. But what I find a bit offensive is the attitude of many Westerners who expect Singaporeans to speak ‘proper English’ like them.

1) In the first place, why should a ‘cosmopolitan’ like Andrew Raven be surprised and frustrated at the way we speak? He should know that in every society where English is spoken, there exists a pidgin version. When I visited Seychelles some years ago for a training assignment, I was told by the locals that French visitors were absolutely aghast with the local variety of French (Creole) spoken by the Seychellois. I have not been to the UK, but I suspect that even there, the locals from different part of the country have their own variety of pidgin English which might be unintelligible to visitors. Perhaps my friends John Harper or Brian Mitchell can comment.

2) If foreigners who come to work and live in our country would take the trouble to learn a bit about our culture and languages, they would find it much easier to understand why we speak the way we do. Let me give you an example,

Once I saw news clip on TV where a Caucasian derided the way Singaporeans spoke. I think he was an American. He was at a meeting with some Singaporeans; and “almost fell off his chair” when one Singaporean rose to leave and said; “I have to make a move first.” In the U.S. it seems, when somebody wants to make a move, he is either going to draw his gun or throw a punch.

If this gentleman had a basic understanding of the Chinese language, he would know that it is common courtesy when taking leave from a group to say; “ 我先走一步“, which literally means, “I have to take the first step.”

3) Actually, if we want to be picky like him, we too can find many incidences of ludicrous use of the English language by Americans. Take for example the words ‘hot’ and ‘cool’. I have heard both adjectives being used in the same sentence to describe a handphone! And just the other day, I overheard an interesting exchange at a neighbourhood clinic.

An American lady approached the receptionist just after consulting the doctor and asked; “What is the damage?” You can imagine how unintelligible that would be if the receptionist had not been exposed to Hollywood TV shows and movies.

I think one can think of lots of strange expressions and words introduced by Westerners, especially Americans that sound even weirder than our Singlish. The only reason they are still comprehensible is because of the widespread influence of Hollywood and pop culture.

In conclusion, I have this bit of advice for expatriates. If you want to come to work and live in Singapore, you should adapt to our ways and not expect us to adapt to yours; even if you will begin to sound a bit silly to your own countrymen before too long. I remember an interesting anecdote my former colleague from Hong Kong shared with me. Within six months of living in Singapore, he found himself unintentionally introducing local words like ‘pasar’ into his Cantonese which completely baffled his relatives in Hong Kong.

The correct term is ‘Living in Sin’

I just read something really stupid and irresponsible in the Today newspaper. Peter H L Lim, a prominent and respected member of society actually wrote a lengthy article in praise of women who live in sin with other people’s husbands.

Titled, Mistress? Me? No, I’m Ms, the article traces the progress that modern women of Singapore have made over the years. In his parents’ time, a woman who secretly lives with a married man is called a mistress. Today, such a woman is financially independent and does not need the man’s money, only his company whenever she can get it - that is when he is able to steal away from his wife and children.

He concluded his article with these words:

“Such women also symbolize the progress the female sex has made with their financial independence, their freedom of choice – and their self-esteem according to their own values and preferences.

Yes, in case you have not noticed, I admire such women, as I admire all women anywhere who have come into their own despite the barriers that still exist for the female sex.”

Dear Sir, I have three simple questions for you.

1) Would you admire such a woman if you were her boy friend’s wife?
2) Would you admire such a woman if you were her boy friend’s son?
3) Would you admire such a woman if you were her boy friend?

You call it self-esteem, I call selfishness. For her own pleasure and enjoyment, she is prepared to bring misery to another woman and ruin the lives of innocent children.

You call it independence, I call it immorality. That’s why the dictionary has a name for such a life style; it’s called Living in Sin.

You call it progress, I call it depravity. In your mother's time, some women have no choice. But today's women?

You sounded as if such women have been discriminated against by society and somehow society has robbed them of their human rights. You salute them for overcoming such ‘barriers’.

Can you not see that such ‘barriers’ as you called them were created by civilized societies to protect women in the first place?

Here's the LINK to the article.

My thoughts go back to that beautiful country

Lately, I feel sad watching the news and seeing all the trouble in Myanmar. This is because I can recognize some of the places where the violence is being enacted.

As some of you are aware, I spent 2 weeks in that beautiful country in September 2005. The hotel I stayed in was midway between the two pagodas shown so frequently on tv; the Sule and Shwedagon (hope I got the names right).

But I am hopeful that some good will come out of this tragedy. The people of Myanmar need our prayers.

For those who did not read my article about my Myanmar visit, you can read it here.

My thoughts on PM’s National Day Rally Speech

Much of his speech centred on the issue of Singapore’s ageing population; in other words, people of my generation. But yet, for the first time in years, I did not listen to the entire speech. When he started to talk about housing, I went to take a shower. It’s not just that I find it difficult to be excited about what else of the old Singapore they are going to tear down. I am actually somewhat disappointed with last night’s speech. On reflection, my disappointment stemmed not from what he spoke about, but rather what he left out. I will just touch on 2 aspects:

a) Longer life expectancy

b) Children’s role


Point No. 1 - Longer Life Expectancy

PM is right. “People are living longer, we have to work longer, and we’ve to start drawing on the reserves later.” And it is good that the government has the foresight to address this problem early. As Confucius - or was that Lao Tze, who said, “If a man takes no thought for what is distant, he will find sorrow close at hand".

Nevertheless, his speech gave the impression that everyone will live till 80 years at least. Thus the entire policy he proposed was geared towards this statistical fact. If you start withdrawing your savings at 62, you will not have enough to last till 85 or 90, and thus you will become a burden to the state. (this last part was not articulated of course)

PM has ignored one other statistical fact: 80 is an average figure! Using powerful visual aids, including one very active 81-year old lady in the audience, he painted a very rosy picture of healthy, active senior citizens. But the plain statistical truth is that a large number of people will still die before 70; and become very sick in their sixties. Exactly what is the percentage will depend on what in statistics is called the standard deviation. But we can make a rough guess that it will be at least nine thousand five hundred. I say this because, he said that there were 9,000 Singaporeans who were aged 90 and above and another 500 who were above 100. Assuming life expectancy is normally distributed with a mean of 80, then, the number below 70 should be equal to the number above 90.

Thus my question is this. Is it right to tweak the entire system to cater to only to those at the healthy end of the normal distribution; i.e. those ones who will live beyond 80? How about those of us who don’t? Let’s consider a dark scenario. You are approaching 62, and have many health problems and you really don’t expect to live beyond 70. You had hoped that you could withdraw the $99,600 in your Retirement Account, to tide you over this difficult period. But now the government says that you cannot touch it for another 3 years. In the mean time, you succumb to your illnesses and that money goes to your children; assuming you have children.

PM quoted a Chinese proverb; 人生七十古来稀. The Old Testament has something similar; "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." (Psalm 90:10).

I don’t see any wisdom in ignoring this sombre reminder in the twenty-first century. Take myself as an example. I am 55 and apparently quite healthy. But so was my former classmate from ACS, Ananda Rajah. Yet, some months ago, my classmates and I from ACS68 had the unpleasant experience of attending his funeral; and we realised that 4 of our friends had already departed; and that is a full 10 percent of Sec 4C!

Still not convinced? Then go to the Obituaries page in the Straits Times. In today’s edition I counted no less that 6 people aged 70 and below.


Point No. 2 - Children’s Role

PM practically made no mention of the role of children in taking care of their parents financially. He did briefly mention that it is best that they stayed with their aged parents and take care of them rather than living separately or putting them in old age homes. It looks to me like PM doesn’t have much faith in the filial piety of our children. No wonder this year, he did not try to persuade us to have more children.

Again taking myself as an example. I have three children. Some of my friends have no children. Certainly when we reach the end of our careers, those friends would have much more savings than I. Is it selfish or demeaning to expect that our children will at least help pay some of our bills when they become financially independent; especially when PM paints such a rosy picture about Singapore’s economic future?


Conclusion

Right at the beginning of his speech, PM said that the best strategy is to generate more resources to help those in need – in other words, to grow the economy.

I believe this strategy should apply to individuals as well. Educate your children to the fullest of their potential. Didn’t he say that for every extra year of education your child receives, his salary can increase by 14%?

More importantly, teach them to "fear God and keep His commandments" (Ecclesiates 12:13) including of course Commandment number 5; "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."

Nevertheless, like all kiasu Singaporeans, we should not put all our eggs in one basket. So be frugal, spend wisely, keep yourself healthy, save up …. and leave the rest to God.

English as it is broke

I think the weekly Sunday Times column, English As It Is Broken, serves a useful purpose to point out some of our common mistakes in the use of the English language. But I find that lately, they seem to be trying too hard to inject humour into the column, and this is at the expense of clarity. I think they should devote more space instead, to explaining the mistakes. Let’s take today’s 3 cases as examples.


1. Part-timers not Partimers

It was pointed out that just because the two words Part and Time end and begin with the letter ‘t’, it does not mean that we can join them to form a single word ‘partime’.

This was helpful as many of us may not be sure about this rule. However, the writers should have gone one step further to elaborate that there isn’t a single fixed rule for joining two words to form another word. For example, it is perfectly alright to join Pass and Time to form the word ‘pastime’ and not ‘pass-time’.

2. Follow Me

Here again, the writers wasted a lot of space to create a story to illustrate the incorrect use of the word ‘follow’. It would have been more helpful if they had simply explained the different applications of the word ‘follow’; for example to physically follow somebody as opposed to following his instructions or example.


3. Where Got?

I believe this one is not broken English at all. It is perfectly good Singlish which every Singaporean would understand. And I suspect, even the best (Singaporean) English professors would use it in daily conversation.

Again, instead of writing a lengthy story of how the expression is used, they have should devoted some space to explaining the origins of this Singlish expression. I believe it is a direct translation of the common Chinese phrase 哪里有 or ‘pin-toe-yau’ in Cantonese, or ‘toe-lok-oo’ in Hokkien. In fact, you frequently find this same expression - mana ada, being used in Malay.