Hihi, haven been updating have I? :)
Cos dun know what to write. Recently took a large step in my life. Decided to go into a r/s afterall. V^^
Hopefully this time rd will turn out right. But guess I can take whatever shit tt comes to me le bah. I KNOW a lot of friends are very keen to "marry" me out...haha. We'll see, we'll see.... Wish me luck ya? ;)
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Killing You Softly
Haiz....... is there anything we can do about it?
Killing You Softly
There is something seriously wrong in Singapore. We have Ministers who are justifying the proposed GST hike with utterly pathetic reasons. The following headline from CNA sums it up :
Proposed GST rise helps lower-income group and grows economy
This is a line that screams contradiction. When GST rises, everything in Singapore rises. Your kopi-o will go up by ten or twenty cents. Your chicken rice goes up by fifty cents. Your groceries which are already bought on the cheap at Sheng Siong will go up. Public transport companies are already raising fares. In short, the cost of living in Singapore will go up. Oh, but we are not suppose to talk about rising costs of living according to MICA. It costs you your job if you write about this. Unless you are responsible and have a solution. So this is the solution. Raise GST to help Singaporeans who are affected by rising costs of living. So this is the great solution which citizens cannot come up with. And in truth it is a staggering solution. How can mere mortals come up with a solution to help Singaporeans hit by rising costs by raising a general consumption tax?
Lets not be sarcastic, nor do we make fun of this solution. Lets just say that this solution screws the lower income group. It does not help them at all. The truthful headline should be that the proposed GST hike hopes to stimulate the economy and then, hopefully help the lower income group. That is approximating the truth of the situation. There is no guarantee the lower-income group will be helped, but through the spin-offs of the fare hike, benefits will trickle to the lower income. However, going by the track record of a failed "many hands approach" and the continued vulgarisation of the word "welfare", the GST hike will most likely not help the lower income group. It screws them again.
The reasoning is that costs of living goes up but this increase will be offset by packages and more jobs, lower personal taxes etc. But very simply put, the Government is raising prices first, which the citizens bear the brunt in the short-term and forever-term, which are then returned to the citizens in the longer-term. Hopefully the returns will be greater. But it just does not make sense. Especially for the lower income group where the short term is the only term. Thye may not even make it to the long term where the supposed benefits of this GST hike will materialise. And even if materialised, the benefits may be in sectors of the economy or sectors of society which the lower income are not in.
But the benefits will be manifest. We can bet on it. The benefits of this GST hike will be magically manifest in 2010 or 2011. A couple of months or weeks before the GE. Suddenly, the State will give their hand-outs. Promise is fulfilled. To help all Singaporeans. When its just a sweetener to buy votes. And singaporeans will then forget that they funded their own GE progress package through acceptance of these hikes.
Raising the cost of living will help the lower income group. It is ridiculous, this reasoning. On the same page, we have NTUC Fairprice promising to help low wage workers by cushioning the impact of the GST hike.
NTUC promises help for low-wage workers to cushion proposed GST hike
On the one hand, the GST hike is supposed to help the lower income. But at the same breath, we are told by our trusted media that there will be help to cushion the impact of the GST hike. But the hike is suppose to help? We are used to such ScrewSpeak. Innured to such contradictions. We just accept these. And our politicians get away with this.
Quote of the Day --
"He was a spry, suave and very precise general who knew the circumference of the equator and always wrote 'enhanced' when he meant 'increased.'" -- Joseph Heller Catch-22
http://xenoboysg.blogspot.com/2006/...you-softly.html
Killing You Softly
There is something seriously wrong in Singapore. We have Ministers who are justifying the proposed GST hike with utterly pathetic reasons. The following headline from CNA sums it up :
Proposed GST rise helps lower-income group and grows economy
This is a line that screams contradiction. When GST rises, everything in Singapore rises. Your kopi-o will go up by ten or twenty cents. Your chicken rice goes up by fifty cents. Your groceries which are already bought on the cheap at Sheng Siong will go up. Public transport companies are already raising fares. In short, the cost of living in Singapore will go up. Oh, but we are not suppose to talk about rising costs of living according to MICA. It costs you your job if you write about this. Unless you are responsible and have a solution. So this is the solution. Raise GST to help Singaporeans who are affected by rising costs of living. So this is the great solution which citizens cannot come up with. And in truth it is a staggering solution. How can mere mortals come up with a solution to help Singaporeans hit by rising costs by raising a general consumption tax?
Lets not be sarcastic, nor do we make fun of this solution. Lets just say that this solution screws the lower income group. It does not help them at all. The truthful headline should be that the proposed GST hike hopes to stimulate the economy and then, hopefully help the lower income group. That is approximating the truth of the situation. There is no guarantee the lower-income group will be helped, but through the spin-offs of the fare hike, benefits will trickle to the lower income. However, going by the track record of a failed "many hands approach" and the continued vulgarisation of the word "welfare", the GST hike will most likely not help the lower income group. It screws them again.
The reasoning is that costs of living goes up but this increase will be offset by packages and more jobs, lower personal taxes etc. But very simply put, the Government is raising prices first, which the citizens bear the brunt in the short-term and forever-term, which are then returned to the citizens in the longer-term. Hopefully the returns will be greater. But it just does not make sense. Especially for the lower income group where the short term is the only term. Thye may not even make it to the long term where the supposed benefits of this GST hike will materialise. And even if materialised, the benefits may be in sectors of the economy or sectors of society which the lower income are not in.
But the benefits will be manifest. We can bet on it. The benefits of this GST hike will be magically manifest in 2010 or 2011. A couple of months or weeks before the GE. Suddenly, the State will give their hand-outs. Promise is fulfilled. To help all Singaporeans. When its just a sweetener to buy votes. And singaporeans will then forget that they funded their own GE progress package through acceptance of these hikes.
Raising the cost of living will help the lower income group. It is ridiculous, this reasoning. On the same page, we have NTUC Fairprice promising to help low wage workers by cushioning the impact of the GST hike.
NTUC promises help for low-wage workers to cushion proposed GST hike
On the one hand, the GST hike is supposed to help the lower income. But at the same breath, we are told by our trusted media that there will be help to cushion the impact of the GST hike. But the hike is suppose to help? We are used to such ScrewSpeak. Innured to such contradictions. We just accept these. And our politicians get away with this.
Quote of the Day --
"He was a spry, suave and very precise general who knew the circumference of the equator and always wrote 'enhanced' when he meant 'increased.'" -- Joseph Heller Catch-22
http://xenoboysg.blogspot.com/2006/...you-softly.html
Friday, November 16, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
昔日
Elizabeth Walk used to be the place that I would go whenever I feel down. Took these photos recently when I walked by there. How it has changed. How do we cherish the land we are born in if the things we are familiar with disappear? Memories are short-term and it disintergrates with time. 是不是不断地向昨天借一点空间，就是更好地对待明天?
Monday, November 5, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Pleasure Factory
Went to see the show the other day. I have friends who commented it is boring, but this show actually brought tears to my eyes. The plot and story line is pretty weak, but if its the following themes that the director wants to bring out, then I think it has at least reach its objectives.
Themes on the contridicting relationship between the prostitute and her daughter, the innocence of a young man, the wistfulness of the China prostitute (or no matter who for that matter) of having the faintest chance of a real love. And the unsuspecting theme of gayness....:p
I guess it is true that men can seperate love and sex however for a woman, love and sex is inseperatable. It takes much much effort to convince themselves of their selfworth to seperate the two.
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