Who Should Be Playing LKY in the 1965 movie?

You know the loud groaning sound you heard all over singapore last week- that’s the collective noise made by every single living singaporean on this island rolling their eyes so far back into their head, they could actually see the roots of their hair sprouting from the back of their skulls when they heard Tong Leung was going to be playing Lee Kuan Yew in a new movie called 1965.

Which Tong Leung again?

Oh, this guy…

Let’s see, the last 2 period dramas that Tony Leung starred in that was roughly set somewhere between WW2 and the mid 60s is Lust, Caution and In the Mood For Love.

In Lust, Caution, Tony Leung plays a roguishly handsome Japanese collaborator who has a lot of sex with a Chinese female resistance fighter.

In the other movie- In the Mood for Love, Tony Leung plays a roguishly handsome journalist who stares longingly at Maggie Cheung while hoping to have a lot of sex.

Roguishly handsome, sex and romance- yeah, I could totally see the striking resemblance there.

Handsome, romantic and sexy- the very 3 words that is as far from your mind as you can think of when LKY comes to mind. In fact when I think of LKY, the only adjectives that I can come up with is merciless ass-kicker.

Which is why, the only HK actor who can portray LKY in all his merciless ass-kicking glory is HK very own Ass-kicker du jour of the hour- Donnie Yen himself.

Don’t believe me?

Just check out this homemade teaser trailer and see if you still disagree with me-

The Hamster Wheel Of Woe

I don’t know about you, but as election gets nearer and nearer, it feels like we’ve all been down this path before.

I mean just think back to the last election. Weren’t we all worried about the same thing we’re worried about now. Jobs, cost of living, housing, the economy- bread and butter issues basically.

And what about the election in 2001? Wasn’t it the same shit?

I mean after 10 years of PAP stewardship- 6 of those with LHL as PM, we are still right back where we started.

Where’s the progress? Didn’t LHL hand out a S$2.6 billion bonus called the Progress Package in 2006 just before the last elections? And after that? We still right back where we started- square one.

So much for progress.

Look, the last election LHL was bitching and moaning about having to fix the opposition in parliament if we were to vote for more of them. So singaporeans being the polite cooperating lot we are did him a big favour by only returning 2 of them to parliament. (Ok, in the interest of being completely honest, I wasn’t one of those that did him the favor.)

And what did we get?

All kinds of hikes- from electricity, transport, GST to minister’s salaries. Meanwhile we have to deal with overcrowding, packed MRTs, skyrocketing property prices, means tested healthcare, bullshit overpriced underestimated YOG, runaway limping terrorist, collapsing tunnels plus once every 50 years flooding that happens on a weekly basis right in the heart of Orchard Road.

And while defending the fucking increase in minister’s salaries, old man Lee actually had the gall to say this-

“And then you’ve got an incompetent man and you’ve lost money, by the billions. So get a sense of proportion”.

Yup.

And the old man was right after all- we did not lose money by the billions.

No.

Wait.For.It.

WE FUCKING LOST MONEY BY THE TENS OF BILLIONS!!!! Here. Here. Here. Annnnnd here.

As singaporeans, aren’t you sick of worrying about your rice bowl 24/7- a rice bowl that regularly have bullshit shoveled all over it by the PAP. Despite all the glowing reports about GDP growth and the performance of the PAP government- who incidentally rewarded themselves with 8 months bonuses plus a hefty 20-30% increase in salaries, what did we as citizens get?

A measly 0.3% increase in real income despite the economy supposedly growing by 14% last year.

Now the top 40 richest in singapore on the other hand saw their wealth jumped 20%.

And you want to tell me the income gap isn’t getting worse?

Some asshole from the PAP tells us they are fighting for singaporeans. Yeah right. Fighting for the richest singaporeans.

Regular joes like us- well PAP candidate/ Kate Spade handbag enthusiast/ serial foot stomper/ spring autumn romancer Tin Pei Ling thinks its not the government’s responsibility.

Isn’t she supposed to be part of new blood injected by PAP for party renewal. New blood spouting old nonsense.

FUCK.

Might as well retain the old blood and be done with it. What is the point of recruiting new candidates from old hunting grounds like NTUC, army, civil service and the medical profession. Essentially its just old shit in new packages. So if you want to vote for the PAP, you can forget about things changing anytime soon. All these guys knows which side of the bread is buttered. When its all said and done, we’ll be right back where we started. But I guess that’s where the men in whites likes us.

What is the last 4 words of our national pledge again? Oh yeah- “…progress for our nation”. No wonder old man Lee says its just an aspiration. How to progress running non stop on a giant PAP constructed hamster wheel?

Hope For Singapore

I don’t what will happen in the coming election. I have always hoped that after the last 2 elections where the majority of singaporeans still voted for the PAP- that people might have had enough of the bullshit and decided enough is enough.

And then I read something like this and I can’t help but think maybe singapore is beyond any hope for change.

In his blog, he praised LKY for defending his ministers tooth and nail and also for rallying racial harmony and I don’t get it. Should LKY be praised for defending his ministers tooth and nail for the mistakes that they have made? Should we be thankful to LKY for defending Wong Kan Seng and putting the blame on us for the whole Mas Selamat fiasco? Should we be thankful to LKY for defending Mah Bow Tan for the housing shortage and the non stop rise in housing prices?

As for rallying racial harmony. How is LKY constant picking on racial minorities a rally for racial harmony? Wasn’t it LKY who once famously questioned the loyalty of Malays? And what about the quick dismissal of polls that shows singaporeans are more than ready for a non chinese PM? How is that rallying for racial harmony?

And once more I don’t get how criticizing the PAP and its policies is a direct attack on Singapore. If I criticize the ministers and their policies, if I criticize the unrelenting pursuit of GDP growth at the expense of the happiness of the citizens, it is not because I hate Singapore or want to attack it. It is because I care about Singapore and the direction it is heading. Does this writer not know the difference between constructive criticisms and slamming?

As I read his blog, the only impression I get is once again an unthinking sheep who can only regurgitate the thrash the local media foist on us on a daily basis. I can’t help but think this is probably one of those people so safe and smug in their own protective little bubble that they’ve forgotten not everyone in singapore is as lucky as they are.

What I want is an egalitarian singapore where everyone has equal opportunities opened to them and that as long as one is willing to work hard, social mobility is never denied to them- not the current elitist society socially engineered by the PAP that ensures they, their progeny and their cronies will forever lord it over the rest of us.

Remember our forefathers did not escape from the tyranny to slave and slog and to build singapore to what it is so that we can live under another form of tyranny.

I for one do not take racial harmony, nor stability nor singapore for granted and that is why I speak up and will continue to speak up. Taking things for granted is sitting comfortable in one’s home pretending everything is okay. So I find it ironic that the writer takes issues with people for taking things for granted when it is he who is the one comfortably ensconced in his own precious little world that is taking things for granted.

One thing I do agree with the writer is that LKY’s latest book is indeed a clarion call. It is a clarion call to every thinking singaporean that the times have left LKY behind. It is a clarion call to us that LKY and his backward socially regressive thinking is not longer good for the country.

When we ask for freedom, respect for human rights, transparency and freedom for the press. It is not because we want to be like America. It is because that is the right thing to do. It is because that is the only safeguard from tyranny and despots like Mubarak, Kim Jong Il and Fidel Castro. And only a naïve moron would think it is because we want to be like America. The sytem of democracy in America is broken, last thing anyone of us want is to be like America.

Someone who equate the thirst for freedom as trying to copy the Americans has no right to even call another person shallow as this writer has done. It is he in fact who is the shallow one. Cognitive dissonance?

Is there hope? I don’t know. But if we have more people thinking like this guy out there, than perhaps it be time to back the bags. LKY asked if we are prepared to die for another singaporean. If its for someone like this, then thanks but no thanks.

Snake Oil Salesman

First off let me just say, I have absolutely nothing against foreigners coming over here to work. From my previous job to my current one, I work with them on a daily basis and I have nothing but good things to say about them. But honestly taking another 80,000 this year? Where the fuck are we going to house them? Traffic and MRT not crowded enough? Our infrastructure is bursting at the seams as it is.

Unlike the PM or his daddy, I don’t get around singapore driven in a limousine that is escorted by a police motorcade. No, I have to use the public transport system and honestly I have had enough of it. The PM and his entire fucking cabinet and especially Raymond Lim the transport minister, they should try taking public transport to work and home during rush hour for a year and see how it feels.

For the last 8 years, we’ve been taking PM Lee’s snake oil and despite all his promises, where has that gotten us? Remember the reason behind the increase of the GST from 5 to 8%? Supposedly to help the poor, we only found later out of the billions collected in tax revenue, only a tiny fraction was actually spent on public assistance.

From the 60s right up to the mid 90s, whatever you thought of the politics of LKY, the one thing couldn’t argue was that the standard of living wasn’t getting better or that the lives of singaporeans wasn’t improving. You could see it with your eyes.

But now when you look back on the last 10 years, you couldn’t really say the same. At least not for the average singaporean. The only people who has benefitted are the rich, the powerful and of course the PAP ministers. So much so, they can look down their noses at us lesser mortals and even their progeny who hasn’t done shit can afford to talk shit in our faces- all the while studying abroad on scholarships paid for by us- the lesser mortals.

The old snake oil salesman can promise everything under the sun. All I know is that for all his promises, the income disparity in singapore is still growing and shows no signs of stopping- not that the PM or his team is even interested in doing anything about it. We already have the second highest income disparity in the developed world, but since their pay and bonuses is pegged to the high income earners in singapore, I don’t suppose its in their interests to bring down income disparity.

My dad took 10 years to pay off his housing loan- on single income. Nowadays, almost everyone that I know of needs to take a 30 year loan on double income. So tell me, how is that an improvement?

People used to be able to afford to retire, now some old undead fucker think we should right up to our graves and that there should be no retirement age in singapore.

FUCK THAT.

FUCK HIM.

When I retire, I want to be able to still enjoy what’s left of my life. I want to be able to still have enough energy and vigor to travel, to see the world and to pursue my interests. You can’t fucking do that when you’re in your 70s and 80s. Not if you’re working right up to that age. If you retire at that age, the only thing you can look forward to is death.

NO.

I will not condemn myself to such a fate. But like it or not, most people may not have that choice anymore. Not if you’re saddled with a 30 year burden hanging on your neck.

Overcrowding, overpriced public housing, growing income disparity, lower standard of living, overstressed lifestyle, first world costs of living on a third world wage standard, a government that is not held accountable for their mistakes- if this is what we get from swallowing the snake oil, this snake oil salesman can take his fucking snake oil and shove it where the sun don’t fucking shine.

Save Me The Bullshit

“We also need, as a government, to encourage participation and debate. We have opened up over the years. We’ve got the Speakers’ Corner. We’ve allowed a lot more discussion. If you read the newspapers, what the newspapers write, the columnists, the Forum Page writers, the degree of debate is much more than we used to have, or in Parliament. But I think we can go further…

…I mean, free expression as long as you don’t get into race and religion and don’t start a riot. It’s a signal – speak, speak your voice, be heard, take responsibility for your views and opinions.”

-PM Lee Hsien Loong, National Day Rally Speech 2004

As I was coming home this evening, I could hear this joker’s voice echoing throughout the neighbourhood as people was tuning in to listen to bullshit that is trying to pass itself off as a rally speech.

And I thought to myself- don’t these people have something better to do? Like watching paint dry or something.

Debate, free expression, speak your voice?

Oh yeah, we see where that will get you in this country these days. A free kopi session with the cops that’s where.

For the last 6 years, I have been waiting for this clown to fix what is wrong with this country, instead what I got was a “leader” that always disappear whenever there is a crisis, someone who is never front and centre whenever things go wrong. Instead of coming up with solutions, all he has done and continues to do is to ignore or trivialize our problems.

So no, I will not waste my time with this bullshit. Whatever this clown has to say, I am in no mood to listen.

FUCK.

THIS.

SHIT.