Water - The Next Big Commodity ?

The opening of the Singapore Marina Barrage marks another milestone in Singapore’s history as we take yet another step forward away from our dependency on our neighbours for our livelihood. Recently finished after about three years of construction, the $176 million Marina Barrage will create a new source of precious water in a city-state with almost no natural resources of its own.Built across the mouth of the Marina Channel, the Marina Barrage creates Singapore’s 15th reservoir, and the first in the heart of the city. With a catchment area of 10,000 hectares, or one-sixth the size of Singapore, the Marina catchment is the island’s largest and most urbanised catchment. Together with two other new reservoirs, the Marina Reservoir will boost Singapore’s water catchment from half to two-thirds of the country’s land area. The Marina Barrage is the result of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s vision nearly two decades ago when he envisaged damming the mouth of the Marina Channel to create a freshwater reservoir.

If Singapore is known as a green city because of its lush tropical growth, it may soon be recognized as a blue town for the pristine clear blue water right at the doorstep of the city. That is the hope of civic officials behind a project to seal off the city-state’s waterfront from the sea and create a three-in-one water source for drinking, flood control and recreation.Water has always been the contentious issue between Singapore and Malaysia. The rise and fall between the cross straits relations have always been link closely to the water issue. Singapore has been depending on Malaysia for nearly forty percent or more of its water supply. The importance of water to the Republic, economically and otherwise, cannot be questioned, and the historical and present role of Malaysia in assuaging this aspect of Singapore's vulnerability has been nothing less than crucial until recent years.

The issue of supplying water to Singapore has, at times, been brought to the forefront of the Malaysian and Singapore political arena. This can be traced to as early as 1965, the year when Singapore was separated from Malaysia. Since then, Singapore has sometimes been the target of resentment, or a political “whipping boy” from segments of the Malaysian polity (ruling and opposition members) and some of its constituents, especially when bilateral relations between these countries have become strained. This was sometimes brought about due to a perception of Singapore’s inadequate consideration of ethnic and religious sensitivities in Malaysia, sentiments arising from the widening disparity of affluence due to Singapore’s “uncaring” economic competition, “violations” into the territorial airspace of Malaysia, and views expressed by politicians from both sides of the causeway. The threat of cutting water supplies would often accompany such disagreements and tensions.

With the water agreement between the two states set to expire, Singapore began to take the bold step of cutting the dependency of our water supplies from Malaysia totally, first by the introduction of the Newater, the purification and reusing of waste water to make it fit for consumption and the conversion of all the canals and rivers to become a natural reservoir. Such is the bold step the the republic is taking and it has not gone unnoticed.

Academicians and experts believed that Singapore moves should be emulated. Water is set to be the next commodity. As the dependency on oil is set to be reduced with the introduction of renewable energy such as wind, solar and thermal energy and nuclear energy, water is fast identified as the next big commodity. Though Singapore may be at the forefront in the water technology in the Southeast Asia, Europe, America and Canada is fast moving ahead in the modernisation and privatisation of water technology with many private infrastructure set up to meet the demands of the locals. As the demand of oil deep in the realisation that the oil well around the world set to be drying up in less than 50 years and the ever advancing technology in renewable energy, the demand for water is never set to reduced.

As the population of the earth is set to increase in leaps and bounds over the next century so will the demand of water. Let us faced it, we all need water to live. As useful as oil, copper and corn may be, we could get by without them for a while or may even be dependent from it sooner then expected, but water? Water is a necessity. And for some, this makes it the ultimate commodity.People invest in commodities for a lot of reasons: for diversification; as a way to play growth in the developing world; because they think demand growth will outstrip supply.

Demand for water is steady and never-ending, meaning water investments should not be correlated with broader economic developments. Meanwhile, history shows that as economies develop, citizens will demand more and more water to support richer lifestyles, making water an interesting play on countries like China and India. And finally, the world is in a silent water crisis, with rising demand set against limited supply; a classic commodities squeeze. The reality in the current water supply is that the distribution of existing water resources around the world is horribly uneven with almost 60% of the world's fresh water located in just nine countries. Unlike oil or other natural resources such as oil or precious minerals or metals water isn't portable; it simply doesn't make economic sense to transport water from one continent to another even if the value of water rises tenfold. In location where water is actually available it is more than often not suitable for consumption either because it is too hot or too old, or, perhaps, too dirty or too salty or increasingly, it's also too polluted.

With the rise in industrialisation significant percentage of water reservoirs are rendered unfit for human consumption.In countries, where water is generally available, the infrastructure supplying it is old and decaying and there were still no real efforts to upgrade the infrastructure to make it more efficient and cost effective. However all this are set to change. In a few years to come, we will be seeing more and more industrialised countries upgrading their infrastructure and tapping into the reservoirs of sea waters to convert it to drinkable water. Singapore for one has already joined the band wagon and moving ahead.

What Are Our Kids Learning In School??

Have we ever asked ourselves what our children learnt in school? I remembered when I was still in the school bench, where my innocence is still intact and kissing a girl is the most gross thing one could ever do, back then lessons are simple arithmetics and calculations were '1+1 = 2 or 11' depending on how you looked at it. Homework is a quick half an hour browse through my notes and revision books and the next few hours is an outdoor learning experience of catching spider and butterflies and football with neighbourhood friends. 

I spent more time in the classroom of life and adventure with the open fields as my backyard and the sky my ceilings rather than the classroom of books and lectures. It has been several years since my eyes lay itself on a book and the last attempt that I had in trying to help my dear nephew in his homework sent me running for two tablets of extra strong penicillin just to rid the headache spell away. That was my first and last attempt to ever help him with his homework. 

My friend forwarded me an email about some of the work that our students produced in school and I can't help it but burst into laughter at the answers that were provided. Though it may seems silly at first glance, but if you were to see the questions through the eyes of the innocence, I supposed my answer would be not too dissimilar then the one that was provided.  

Money Not Enough !!

The current financial crisis has jolted many people including myself out of our comfort zone and into the realm of reality on how volatile the environment that we are in is, how at one stage everything is status quo and without warning everything went topsy turvy. After some serious discussion with friends who work in the financial sector, and thinking about the best strategies to survive what the industry is calling “the perfect storm”, I am left with many question on what I need to do and what more could be done. 

I have never been one who looks closely at all my investment or even tracked the health of my various stocks and investment purchases. the monthly receipts advice that I receive from my bank or trading house will either meet its way into one of the drawers in my study room waiting for it to be shredded or will meet an early demise of meeting the shredder machine without having to wait any longer. However the recent upheavel in the financial market has made me to be more interested in the report. The first time that I actually opened the letter on purpose, I could not make sense of what is being written in it. It all became clear when I called a friend who explained to me in great detail and patience of what I am seeing. However after the whole conversation that I had with him it made me to realise a few things. 

First, I discovered I would need a lot of money ride out this storm – and therefore, I might be in the wrong industry. As much as I love to be in the law industry doing what I am doing, this is certainly not a sector where most of us would define belt-tightening measures as having to sell the Ferrari for an Audi or purchase one Bottega bag a year instead of five. Then again, I possess neither the eloquence nor the hardened conscience to even “mis-sell” White Rabbit sweets to a kid, let alone financial products to clueless retirees. So, I’ll just have to trust my passion for my profession to get me through bad times. And lets face it, I will never be making my first million in my current lifetime doing what I am doing. 

Secondly, since I had ascertained I would probably never amass an obscene amount of money which I can swim in – the next best thing to do was to accumulate a wealth of financial knowledge. I devoured whatever information I could get my hands on and also got my financial adviser to explain the finer details to me however that has never augment well with me. I am never one that has the patience of seating through hours of briefing and listening to anything beyond 20 minutes without getting bored easily, but I tried nevertheless. From the several moments of consciousness that I had I realised that judging from the Republican US presidential campaign, I was convinced I did the right thing of getting a friend to explain to me all the details. Because should the economic crisis deepen due to (a) the next US president thinking “the issue of the economy is something that [he] never understood as well as [he] should have” and (b) the next US vice-president thinking she’s able to look out of her window in Alaska and see The Kremlin in Russia, I’ll know how to handle my finances better.

Third, other than enhancing my financial know-how, I realised one would need guts of steel and a cool head to pull through this crisis. But it’s evidently getting tougher, judging by the newspaper reports about people who have lost their minds: the robbers in Malaysia who tried to loot an ATM by setting it alight with a spectacular display of fireworks; the thieves in Jamaica who mysteriously stole 500 truck-loads of sand from a beach resort without anyone noticing; and the US Senator who had his lawsuit against God for causing “widespread death, destruction and terrorisation” thrown out of court. This crunch has clearly taken its toll, and I am determined to not end up as a statistic of those people who sought medical attention at the Institute of Mental Health. 

Lastly, other than investing in precious metals (which I clearly cannot afford with a bank balance of less than $10), I figured that buying biscuits – those that come in a tin – seemed the next most logical thing to do. Because unlike the bankers, I think that substituting my daily meals with biscuits sounds like a more realistic belt-tightening measure. Moreover, after I’m done with the biscuits, I’d still be able to recession-proof my money in the tins.

And should my plan work and I survive this economic crisis, all I would have to do to guarantee my continued existence is to make sure I don’t get poisoned by the melamine in those biscuits which contain milk produced in China.

 

Power Trip - How Helpless Could We Be

I was running my last few laps on the threadmill in my gym, watching the news and listening with intent on the latest news of the financial market and how it was all going topsy turvy, when the electricity went out abruptly without warning while I was doing 14 mph on the treadmill. I escaped smashing my face against the wall only because I slammed my ribs onto the control console first. After a few minutes of swearing and cursing and uttering words which I myself did not realise exists I staggered off the treadmill, clutching my throbbing midsection and a wounded ego. 

This is the second time that a power trip had had occured in the office building that day. A building as vital an installation as I am at, I gives me wonder how vulnerable we are to the whim of electricity. The office doors that used to be shut closed obscuring the outside world from seeing what was going on inside, all of  the sudden opened one by one. A group of the 'NS' (national servicemen) guys kicked a football made out of newspaper crunched together, in between the cubicles to pass the time. The older group took the opportunity to make their way to the near by coffesshop across the road to grab an early lunch or shall I say an extended lunch. Even those who usually had eBuddy or Facebook as a clandestine distraction were interrupted. One of my guys approached me to brief me about the power situation and their whereabouts. Not that I could stop  them from leaving the office, I decided to stay in the gymnasium and get some cardio done to let off steam.

As I sat in the darkened room with the only source of light coming in from the window in the far end of the room and the temperature slowly but steadily rising, and in those moments of uncertainty, I made an elementary yet vital observation: In a well-oiled society like ours, famed for its efficiency, it appears that power (in this case, in the form of electricity) is what that gives our society the sense of order and when that power is taken away, chaos (in the form of employees playing hooky and performing disappearing acts even better than Houdini could) begins to creep in – the very inception of apocalyptic fiction. 

As people, we’ve continued to function well despite of all the kinds of externalities that had occurred: power failures, epidemics, recession, fugitives escape, road closures, ERP introduction and politics. Those incidences seems to have very little effect in our society as we continued on with or daily work like a 'well-oiled machine'. Those problems seems to just glide off us whilst others stick like a sore thumb in other countries. I wondered what would constitute the proverbial straw that would break the camel’s back. What if the power failure had been long drawn and if it had affected the whole country? What scale of chaos would we have to endure?

I decided to wind up my cardio as working out in the dark seems to give me the creep and I could not see what I was doing. I head off to the shower and had to endure a quick cold shower. Yet another luxury that we had taken for granted. Whilst with the hot shower I could have spent 15 minutes under the  tap doing absolutely nothing, a cold shower send me running for the towels in seconds. 

When I got back to my desk, I still couldn’t turn on the computer, it lay dead on the table lifeless. I began to wonder the amount of emails that will appear on my email by the time the power is up and shudders at the thought of yet another late hours in office. I was closed to calling it a day and wrapping things early instead but I spotted some work that had been left for me to proofread and some files begging and shouting for me to clear. I picked up my pen and got cracking. 

Sure, the computer wasn’t working and all the other gizmos that we were so used to daily weren't operating, but it wasn’t its responsibility to do my job. They are but a means to meet the end. That responsibility was still mine. So with or without electricity, those work still needed to be cleared. I spent the next 4 hours in the dark clearing one file at a time. 

CNG - Myth or Facts?

Over the past two months the cost of petrol has dropped over ten times with a decremental 5 cents dropped on the pump each  time. However the cost of petrol is still considerably high and the dropped since to be a momentarily respite only. Much to the disappointment of many government across the world, the OPEC met up on 24 Oct 08 and announced that they will be slashing the oil output to stop the declining of the dollar per barrel cost. With the expected rising costs of petrol coupled with the economic meltdown and the increasing awareness in climate change, many vehicle owners are now looking into alternatives with which they can replace petrol with. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) appears to be a viable alternative which promises to save cost, less polluting to the environment and can be easily retrofitted into existing vehicles. However many drivers are still concerns on safety and efficiency of the vehicle once it is converted to CNG. 

Saving GAIA - Doing your Part. 

Natural gas requires little processing before use (unlike gasoline which requires the refinery process). Chemically, natural gas contains about 90% methane with smaller amounts of ethane, propane, butane, carbon dioxide and other trace gases. The high methane gives natural gas a high octane rating  of 120 - 130. Though methane itself is a greenhouse gas, it has clean burning characteristics, allowing high efficiency and low emissions. According to ConsumerReports.org, natural gas burns cleaner than gasoline. Compared to gasoline burning it reduces carbon monoxide by 90 - 97%, nitrogen oxide by 35 to 60% and non-methane hydrocarbon emissions by 50 - 75%. Though not a renewable resource, natural gas is plentiful in supply with the current world reserves point to another 60 years of supply.

How Safe is CNG

The thought of driving around the streets with a huge tank sitting at the back of the seat  burning your engine off and propelling it ahead makes many stomach turned. There have been many articles depicting tales of how a car installed with CNG gas tank exploded after being involved in a traffic accident. However safety experts and promoters of CNG conversion rallied and claimed that the safety of CNG vehicles is on par or higher than that of petrol. The pressurized tank is built to withstand severe impact, temperature and environment exposure. As CNG is lighter than air, it will evaporate quickly due to limited flammability into the atmosphere when there is a leak instead of collecting as a puddle under the car like petrol would. It will not burn at concentrations below 5% or above about 15% when mixed with air. Gasoline and diesel burns at much lower concentrations and ignite at lower temperatures. 

Performance

I doubt anyone would want to but an Evo 10 or any other performance vehicle and have it converted to CNG to only compromise on the performance of the vehicle. Many drivers have reported up to 15% power loss when compared to gasoline as unlike the gasoline system which delivers full power until empty, CNG vehicles typically achieved similar power to gasoline when the CNG tank is under the full pressure of 3000psi. However when the pressure drops to 300-400 psi you may have difficulty going up the hills no matter how powerful your car is. When power is required there is always the option of switching back to patrol at the flick of a switch, so this may not be a real problem. Though the CNG tank is larger than regular gasoline tank, you get fewer miles per liter because the CNG tank is considered empty when pressure drops below a low limit. Hence it actually carries less usable fuel per volume of tank. You may experience a mileage loss per full tank of 35% as compared to regular gasoline. For those who treasure the trunk space and stores half of your wardrobe and assortment of battle hardened golf set, another disadvantage that you should be aware of is that you will typically have half the trunk space because of the space taken by the CNG cylinder. For cars with smaller trunk space, you may say goodbye to it. 

Cost Savings

At the end of every argument and debate the cost savings will be the biggest motivational reasons for anyone to make the change. What kind of cost savings can you expect from you conversion to CNG? The conversion itself may set you back around SGD $ 1300 for a carburetor car and about SGD $ 3000 for a fuel-injection car. However with the volume of CNG conversion currently on the rise, economics of scale may push this price down a little. To fuel a 1.5 litre car to drive 200 kilometres, it will cost about S$11.50 using CNG, based on the current pump price, compared to S$34.20 before discount if a 95 Octane petrol is used. 

With a saving of S$22.70, the real question should be how much time and effort is one truly prepared to spend to go green?

The Nitty Gritty Stuff

For those who are already making the consideration to migrate into CNG as a sign of protest against OPEC for their knee jerking decision in increasing the petrol prices do read on before making your decision. 

• The CNG cylinder that you need to install in your trunk is huge, typically larger than the standard gas cylinder that you use for cooking at home. There are also several sizes of the CNG cylinder available. Just remember smaller tank equals less range for your vehicle when running on CNG. But it also means more trunk space.
• Some people have reported that acceleration of their vehicle using CNG may not be as good as when running on gasoline and you have to floor the pedal more. However for typical city traffic, this will not be a problem.
• You need to plan on when to refuel your CNG as during peak hours there can be a long queue and there is a dearth in the CNG refilling stations in this country at this moment.

CNG may be cheaper vis-a-vis petrol or diesel but as demand increases who knows? The greed factor in the CNG supply chain's owners may affect the increase of CNG's retail price. That would mean that the time to recoup you investment in the CNG conversion would be pushed out further into the future. There advantages and disadvantages of CNG powered vehicles and the facts have been laid out. The next move belongs to you. For me I am contented with the way my car is now. 

Don't Make a Boogeyman out of the Foreigners !!

       I watch with profound interests on the news and articles that were written in local print media about the saga of Serangoon Gardens estate and how the residents had petition to the government against the proposal to build a temporary foreign dormitory from an abandoned school building. For those who recall the debacle some weeks ago, you should recollect the ruckus that was caused over the seemingly apolitical decision. For those, who like me may only have the opportunity to catch up with the news and the happenings of the world around us only at the end of each week, Serangoon Gardens is a cosy little landed property neighbourhood, tucked away in a north east corner of the island with a population of a few thousand residents of which mostly consists of Caucasian expatriate families and middle-class Singaporeans.

        When the government announced that they would convert an abandoned school building into a dormitory for foreign workers, all hell broke loose. Out came the alarm bells, shrill and insistent and panic buttons. Even the economic downturn and property meltdown that is occurring in states and the ripple effects that it have in our world market seems to have little interest to them.

         A petition organized by the residents of the estate went around and a few thousand signatures were collected in protest against the proposed building. Congestion! Crime! Noise! Dirty! They came from all corners of the neighbourhood, up in arms, sleeves over and giving their MP Lim Hwee Haw a barrage of excuses and reasons, why this plan should be shelved.

        Opinions were flying fast and furiously in the newspaper, even making headline news. I watched in amazement how the government listened, responded and then go ahead with the plan anyway. Come one, I would think that the authorities should be given more credit in thinking out all the scenarios and anticipating such incident before approving the plan. However I have to give the authorities credit for how deftly they handled everything, even the most ludicrous and offensive criticisms were met by a patient, almost placating response that was near to conciliatory.

My opinion.... Singaporeans are getting too pampered and the MPs have been too accommodating in responding and acceding to all our complaints. We are now becoming a 'NATION OF WHINERS". I was sharing this opinion with a friend of mine but he was telling me to think about how I would feel if I am in the shoes of the Serangoon Gardens' residents. I considered how I would respond if my nice, quiet suburban housing estate were to suddenly be made to accommodate a few thousands foreigners. Flashes of seeing the foreigners camping out on my neighbourhood playgrounds, maybe small groups of them squatting on the grass in the small park, meeting up and drinking at the void decks of the estate any several others  dining out at my favourite kopitiam. What will I see? 

  The answer to the question is "I see dark foreign people everywhere." Unfortunately that is basically all that the residents of Serangoon Gardens see. I am using the word "dark" facetiously, as I am sarcastically making fun of the xenophobia behaviours that Singaporeans had openly displayed online, on the national newspaper and in public. If we think that Singaporeans are more tolerant towards people of other races and we have gone beyond looking at creed and status, think again. I read in disgust at the prejudice that was blatantly displayed in the past month on online forums over at the Internet by Singaporeans and their suggestions on the possible solutions to the situation as Serangoon Gardens Estate. 

Caged up the Dormitory

Like how we would treat our pet animals that had misbehaved or how we would incarcerate a Criminals, a writer had suggested building a fence around the proposed dormitory so that the inhabitants of the dormitory would not be able to wander into the general population or specifically Serangoon Gardens estate. As quoted "If you can't get rid of them, put them in a cage. That way, every one feels safer" 

One Neighbourhood ... Two Towns 

Another had even suggested that the proposed dormitory be build far away from the general population so that it limit the risk of the foreigners from interacting with the local residents. To cater to their needs infrastructure and facilities like shops and food outlets be built thus making it a "town within a town" concept. Believe me when the writer was suggesting that in his posting, the interest of the foreigners that we employ to develop our nation was never a consideration. The proposal is what the Americans did during their less enlightened period when they segregate the Native American into "settlements" so as to enable them to be policed and monitored. 

Restricting  movement - Birth of Ghettos 

Of all the ludicrous suggestions that  I have read is from another resident who demanded that the Police imposed limits as to where the foreign workers should be allowed to walks and which places they could patronise all in the interests of the "safety" of the elderly and children of Serangoon Gardens. I am surprised that he did not go to the extend into suggesting that the foreign workers wore the Star of David arm band similar to those that the Nazis forced the Jews to wear in Nazi Germany.

The fear of the foreign workers was overwhelming and many Singaporeans are writing and expressing their views in the National Paper with sentiments mirroring that of the old apartheid. Some are clearly racist and exclusionist sentiments. What saddens me was the lack of any reply to rebut the hateful and skewed mentality and thinking. Personal anecdotes were flying everywhere each day about someone's car being smashed and its cashcard stolen; someone's domestic helper running away with foreign workers; urine and abandoned beer bottles at the void decks and streets. Here I would like to point out that if Singaporeans think that the foreigners are a bunch of anti-social behaved people, then Singaporeans themselves are guilty of the worst sins. For many years lifts were the convenient place of many residents to urinate and despite the reminders and national campaigns, the problems remains unabated. 

Other Bright Ideas...... the lists did not end there 

The lists of ideas from Singaporeans and like minded people did not end there. Put them in a floating platform or perhaps a floating island. I supposed the success of the marina floating platform has caught the interest of many. Build separate roads for them and provide them with their own shops so that they don't have to mingle with the rest of us. 

Hey why stop that, Singaporeans? Why not we suggest that underground is dig and build them some tunnels to stay in. They could be the burrowing society in Singapore. Or in the interest of cost, extend the MRT tunnel or the KPE underground tunnel. Wait.. we just announced  the construction of the Marina Central expressway, maybe we can factored that in. Least of all these foreigners staying under ground, we do not have to look at them not until they need to come up for fresh air or a feel or sunlight and to do all the dirty work that we 'SINGAPOREANS' shy away and look at with askance. 

Are we listening to ourselves.....? Do we realise the kind of remarks that we are making. These are People we are talking about. Decent human beings who travelled thousands of miles away from their homeland and family  to a foreign country to earn a decent living just much like 'ALL OUR ANCESTORS' (emphasis intended) use to. Some of us don't even want to treat our own pets  the way we are thinking of treating this people. I know of a friend who spent almost $ 800 every month on her which includes grooming, exercises, massage and pedicure. (I wanna to say manicure, but am not sure which is which). Is this what it means for Singapore to be a 'First World Nation' that is we have to treat other differently and like lepers. 

I am sorry, but some of the suggestion that I came across on online forums and print media make me nauseous. If I know half of the writer, I have half the mind to grab your head and give you a tight slap. Most probably that will shook some sense of whatever little brain you have up there. 

Fear of the Unknown, The  'White Man', 'The Dark Man' and the 'Yellow Man'

Singaporeans fear the Dark Man (foreigners from the Mid-Asia) a lot more than the White Man, and it has more to do with the social class rather than colour. Foreigners from India and Bangladesh  make out the majority of foreign workers in Singapore and are more apparent because of their visibility in the nation's building project. They are the back bone of Singapore's infrastructure progress, shedding sweat  at the construction site braving height in transforming Singapore's landscape and under the hot sun paving the road in Singapore's ever changing transportation network or collecting rubbish being thrown by the residents and cleaning and sweeping the neighborhood, giving Singapore the 'clean green country' label that it is known for. Because of their presence, doing the mediocre job that Singaporean's themselves are willing to do we see the Dark Man everywhere. Because of what they do, Singaporeans see them in the most unflattering ways: living in squalor, living in close quarters like animals in a barn, they have no where to go to do their "leisure" activities but in the small confines of the space they are allowed to exist in. And so they are exposed like puppets on a stage. We can see them, and so we can point at them and make judgments about them.

The Other Spectrum of Life...............

The 'White Man' lives among us too. He works among us, he eats among us, he partakes in his leisure among us. He is free to go anywhere, he does not have to live among other White Men in Little Europe or Little America or in dormitories specially designed for them. We don't point because we think he is like us and we are like him. Nothing special. It doesn't help that in our collectively short memories, we remember the White Men being our authority figures, we remember how they strutted about in their white linen shirts in their large bungalows and dining in candlelight at the most expensive and exclusive establishments. We do not impose the same standards that we imposed on the 'Dark+ Man' as in our mind, they are incapable of any anti-social behaviours. They are the perfect specimen of men. 

Because of the nobility of that class, we have always associated the White Man with the upper class, but we forget that the Yellow Man and the Black  Man were the man in the street, the rickshaw pullers, the street hawkers, the construction workers. Today we all think we are White because we live almost like the middle class postcolonial and we all ASPIRE to BE that middle class postcolonial.

I think Singaporeans are a lot more racist 40 years after the "race riots" of our post-Independent years than we ever were before. We don't talk about it because we aren't allowed to. The only people who need educating are Singaporeans, not the Persons of Other Nationalities who come here to work on our construction sites. I won't say that I am completely free of prejudice, being a middle class SIngaporean myself, but at least when i have a prejudiced thought, I stop to think about it before I speak. And it is truly ironic that only when people have to co-exist side by side with what they find foreign, and in large numbers, that their prejudices rise to the fore. Xenophobia is nothing but a defensive response to perceived danger borne out of prejudiced fear. But again, it's not a matter of colour, but class. 

I failed to understand Singaporean's fear and perception that the foreigner's "The Dark Man' are responsible for all the ills of society, for all the crimes and criminal acts, for all the socially undersirable behaviour and for all the anti-social acts. I have not seen any statistics or figures to support the notion. I supposed it is the inherent perception in us, either by the influence of the media who seems to sensationalized  any news of foreigners being involved in crimes or the perceived beliefs that only they are capable of committing such acts. 

Wake Up Singaporeans !! I think it is time that we should be expressing our gratitude and thanks to the 'Dark Man' for their pivotal road in nation building, building the skyscrapers that we enjoyed working in, the flats and houses that we comfortably stay and sleep in and the roads that we enjoyed riding on, instead of demonising and making a Boogeyman out of them. Singaporeans are capable and guilty of all the acts that we made the 'Dark Man' out and even more. In any situation there will be inconvenience. This is a fact of live, We are a small nation with limited living space. Apart from living skywards, the only other option is to go downwards. But mind you everyone of us will have that opportunity when it comes, just a matter of time when the lord calls of us. I would think that till now we should be able to appreciate our neighbours. I am okey with whining cause mind you all of us do just t o release the tension and stress but it is the bigots that I have problem please. Remember this old adage that my grandma use to say "If you have nothing better to say.. then keep quiet" 

The Battle in Life Unwavering, The Battle Against Time Unbarring

On September 28, Singapore's veteran opposition leader J.B Jeyaretnam, died after he succumbed to his long battle with his heart disease and after waging a long and lonely campaign for greater political freedom in Singapore.

The late Mr JB Jeyaretbam was attempting a fresh political comeback when he succumbed to heart failure. The 82-year-old British-trained lawyer and former MP is a nemesis to Singapore's PAP government and had made history after winning a Seat in the Anson constituency in 1981 thus ending Singapore's single party rule in parliament.

In 1984 he again held the Anson constituency with a greater margin. However he was soon back in court as well as in parliament, accused of misstating the Workers’ Party’s accounts. Found guilty of perjury in 1986, he was fined, served a month in jail, became ineligible to sit in parliament for five years and was disbarred from legal practice. Again, he took his appeal to the Privy Council, which in 1988 overturned his disbarment and ruled he was the victim of a “grievous injustice”. Singapore subsequently abolished the right of appeal to the Privy Council.

Even in appearance, MR JB Jeyaretnam seemed rather out of place in Singapore’s gleaming, ultra-modern urban landscape. In the early 1980s bankers and stockbrokers on their lunch breaks would shuffle in embarrassment past a courteous, dignified figure, vaguely reminiscent, in his muttonchop whiskers, of a Victorian statesman. Jeyaretnam, remembered by many Singaporeans for his old-school lambchop sideburns and a gravelly voice that thrilled audiences in court, parliament and street rallies.

Born Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam in 1926 during a family visit to what is now Sri Lanka, he was often a solitary voice in largely ethnic Chinese Singapore, a prosperous financial centre where protests are restricted and government critics complain of limited access to the media. Despite being driven to financial ruin by costly defamation suits and sidelined by younger opposition figures, Jeyaretnam was still plotting a return to parliament before he died when he launched the Reform Party in which he said "I haven't got many years left."

Throughout his political struggle, Mr Jeyaretnam was never successful in making a dent in the PAP’s power or scratched Singaporean's government efficient and clean image. Singaporeans in general are aware that those who maligned its leaders are likely to end up in court. MM Lee Kuan Yew argues that PAP ministers command respect because they are ready to be scrutinised, and that his libel actions were designed to defend the government’s reputation, not to silence the opposition.

Certainly Mr Jeyaretnam, most distinguished of that tiny band, was never silenced. MM Lee Kuan Yew may have been infinitely the greater statesman, but some would have judged Mr Jeyaretnam the bigger man for his unabated struggle in beinging about a change in Singapore's political landscape.

What would aptly describe Mr JB J was his never give up attitude and fighting all the way to his death to make his dream a realisation. Even during his darkest days, Mr JBJ as he is fondly known soldiered on. He helped support his cause by selling books on the sidewalks of Singapore, and managed to clear his debts to pave the way for a fresh stab at public office. Mr JBJ once said that he got his strength from somewhere else and that he refuse to conform to the world and its ideologies.

To Mr JBJ though his political views may augment well with the general population his tenacity should still be greatly admired. Though we may not share his beliefs and dreams, it is the drive and never give up attitude that sadly many of us, the younger generation of Singaporeans are lacking. His struggle will be long remembered and fondly admired from afar long after he is gone. May he find peace in the embrace of the almighty.

I feel like I'm an ordinary guy

They treat me strange, so tell me why.

I always try to do what's right.

That doesn't mean I don't feel fright.

I do feel fear. I do get scared.

That time was just because I cared.

I might get hurt or maybe die,

But I can't just sit idly by.

Why do they all say I'm so brave?

That situation simply was real grave.

I'm sure that others would do like me.

But not so folks would jump with glee.

Then shake my hand and slap my back,

And tell me that I have a knack

To be a hero and make them proud

And say a word to the grateful crowd.

For I believe that fear is strong.

But I cannot do what is wrong.

I simply just do what I can.

I'm not a hero, just a man.

So please do not treat me so kind.

It's something that still blows my mind.

Instead, be heroes one and all.

Let's teach our children to stand tall.

by: Don Bendell

Ode to the Man !!

16th September 08 marks MM Lee Kuan Yew's 85th birthday. I grew up at the edge of the precipice of Generation X era, where Singapore is seeing an economic revolution and modernisation at an unprecedented speed.

In school and throughout my adult life we grew up surrounded by the rapid changes and modernisation that never seems to have lose its steam. The drive down Raffles Place and Orchard Road reminds me a lot of many other modern cosmopolitan cities in other modern cities. But the best of any drive is down the Benjamin Sheares Bridge where you see the ever changing Singapore sky landscape.

I was together with my friend, from Malaysia who was here in Singapore under the government scholarship's exchange programme for his six months training when we we driving down ECP towards the city. His last visit in Singapore was almost 10 years ago when we were still very young then and unaware of the changes around us. As we drove up the Benjamin Sheares Bridge our conversation throughout the journey fell into a unceremonious silent as his eyes were transfixed out of the window into to the skyscrapers and the activities at the construction sites of the new Marina IR. As I looked at him, a sudden surge of pride fell on me as I saw how captivated he was and awed at the sight that he was witnessing. Kuala Lumpur, is no backward city herself and I have been to the Malaysian's capital on many occasions but I can see how vast a differences that exists between the two cities. As we passed through the city my friend finally broke his silence and spoke of how amazed he was with the development in Singapore. We began to exchange history notes and the achievements of the leaders of both nations.

MM Lee's contribution to Singapore is indisputable and it could be safely said that he was the right person at the right time to bring Singapore through the tumultuous period of Separation, Communist insurgents and Racial disunity. He was also the same person that see Singapore through the economic revolution from a industrial based economy to an innovation based economy. Many pundits and mongers out there would be quick to criticize his style of management as being an iron-fisted and throat wranglers but I would think that if it is not because of his decisiveness and seemingly unilateral decision, Singapore will never be where it is now.

MM Lee has made an unparalleled contribution to the development of Singapore. Indeed only a few leaders have had such a singular impact on their country's history as MM had. Under MM Lee's leadership Singapore became a stable and secure independent country moving itself from a state of extreme economic vulnerability to its current position of as the region's most vibrant and independent economy whose people enjoy standards of education, health and welfare among the highest in the world. However a significant quality of MMM Lee's leadership that not many other leaders could replicate or have ever been successful was his relentless and extraordinary success in eliminating corruption in the government.

The Generation Y, those born after 1976 may not be so receptive or aware of what MM Lee's contributions to our life are as they grew up in a relative stable environment and progression with the perception that progression is a normal cycle in a country's evolution. Without the history lessons in school they may not be aware of the sacrifices and challenges that MM Lee and his old vanguard of man of steel.

To MM Lee on his 85th Birthday, we wish you good health for many more years to come and a big thank you to you.