- Mike wants to get out of politics. So a plan is hatched to 'having had an affair' and 'admit the truth' to his bosses who methodically expunge him from the system albeit with loss of face.
- Mike wants to join the opposition. See point 1. Then proceeds to initiate the Alternative Party.
- Mike wants to migrate. See point 1. Leaves it all behind for the good life in Oz or Peru, wife and kid in tow.
- Mike gets flak for the still under-development extension and renovation to Rivervale Plaza. Bloody thing has been going on for 2 years I think. He's embarrassed and decides to give up. See point 1.
- Mike's suit guy quits. So Mike follows suit. See point 1.
- Mike is really in lurve with this second woman. Because no politician in power is allowed to get divorced while in office, he has to quit to pursue his new true love.
- Mike is too handsome for gahmen. Gross handsomeness to parliament plot ratio was exceeded. So another plot is hatched to allow him to exit in the most amorous of ways, caught off guard.
- Mike really just can't understand why his SMC is called Punggol East when all of it is in Sengkang. His confusion leads to disillusion, and in this cloud of uncertainty, he finds solace in the arms of another woman. See point 6.
- Mike can't stand the Sengkang riff-raff who "see him no up" because he's Eurasian. He decides to throw in the towel but a mid-term departure would be tricky without a scandal-ish exit. See point 1.
Thursday, 13 December 2012
Mike Palmer Quits! But Why?
So yesterday Mike Palmer quit. And it's time to play conspiracy theorist:
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Food Luck This Season
I have no idea what's in a toffee nut latte. Every year Starbucks unleashes these festive drinks upon the addicted masses which slurp each drop of sweet, caffeinated deliciousness without question. The UK website says its a flavour of buttery toffee and the scent of roasted nuts, or something like that. I am wondering if it's just a a dollop of caramel and hazelnut syrup premixed into a cloyingly sweet compound design to enslave our sugar-addicted brain cells to wanting more and live through the season of merrymaking.
I had my first on Friday and it didn't taste as good as I previously remember it. I didn't have the whipped cream on the beverage and when I mentioned this fact to a TNL fan, I was chided for my wrongdoing. I had broken the code of abject gluttony and rampant overeating that is characteristic of the season. I should have let the calories in, not hold back on hedonism. Sorry, I will do better next time and loosen a notch on my belt beforehand to relieve the emotional burden and possible tummy discomfort.
Maybe I shouldn't worry about the TNL and simply enjoy myself. You know the season doesn't simply end at New Year's right? It ends at the end of Chinese New Year, a good two months plus of indulgence. I wish everyone food, sorry, good luck.
I had my first on Friday and it didn't taste as good as I previously remember it. I didn't have the whipped cream on the beverage and when I mentioned this fact to a TNL fan, I was chided for my wrongdoing. I had broken the code of abject gluttony and rampant overeating that is characteristic of the season. I should have let the calories in, not hold back on hedonism. Sorry, I will do better next time and loosen a notch on my belt beforehand to relieve the emotional burden and possible tummy discomfort.
Maybe I shouldn't worry about the TNL and simply enjoy myself. You know the season doesn't simply end at New Year's right? It ends at the end of Chinese New Year, a good two months plus of indulgence. I wish everyone food, sorry, good luck.
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
Not Quite The Whole Picture - SMRT Bus Strike
So the troublemaking Chinamen have been sent packing. After their audacious strike, they were duly bundled into a detention centre, questioned and the true deviants were sieved out. The public was alarmed at their bold move. It was exciting but we all knew, also stupid. The gahmen never deals with those who don't toe the line - the locals know this well. Maybe their crime was ignorance. The media certainly portrayed them as unruly and ultimately undeserving of pity. Quickly the matter was tidied up and justice (for the hearts and minds of politicians and unnerved public) was meted out. Bye bye bus drivers.
But wait, here's the kicker. Here's what most people observing the drama weren't told. The striking workers didn't simply decide over the weekend to go on strike and disrupt lives. They didn't suddenly band together in disdain of their employers. It wasn't a rash act. Their action came after a few months' negotiation, talks and requests made to the SMRT, or so it seems. I was pointed Vincent Wijeysingha's Facebook post on the issue and he explained the situation quite differently from what we heard or read in the press. It extols of various efforts the bus drivers made to explain their situation and seek redress; how various gahmen bodies seemed to ignore these and other foreign worker gripes; how the public is presented with the incomplete picture by official who seems to only in the side of Big Brother. The drivers were once told “You can resign and go to SBS" by their employer.
The NTUC couldn't do squat and the Transport Workers Union professed their uselessness. These guys who came thousands of miles to drive all day, for 6 days or more in a row, to live in a dorm, to earn less than $1300 a month sending Singaporeans to and fro, were now helpless. And in trouble.
I was at odds after reading the post. Trust and fairness has always been the cornerstone of out gahmen. Now I am a little shaken. If a large government-linked corporation can wield an iron fist to those who seek to be heard, then it has failed as a progressive employer. Everyone in SMRT should be ashamed. Their HR dept should quit. It was later mentioned that "SMRT has deep seated issues" by some official. You bet.
I googled "SMRT employer HR awards" and it turns out the 2010 Aviva Best HR team award went to our infamous transport operator. Guess it the team doesn't handle lowly paid bus drivers with the same talent.
But wait, here's the kicker. Here's what most people observing the drama weren't told. The striking workers didn't simply decide over the weekend to go on strike and disrupt lives. They didn't suddenly band together in disdain of their employers. It wasn't a rash act. Their action came after a few months' negotiation, talks and requests made to the SMRT, or so it seems. I was pointed Vincent Wijeysingha's Facebook post on the issue and he explained the situation quite differently from what we heard or read in the press. It extols of various efforts the bus drivers made to explain their situation and seek redress; how various gahmen bodies seemed to ignore these and other foreign worker gripes; how the public is presented with the incomplete picture by official who seems to only in the side of Big Brother. The drivers were once told “You can resign and go to SBS" by their employer.
The NTUC couldn't do squat and the Transport Workers Union professed their uselessness. These guys who came thousands of miles to drive all day, for 6 days or more in a row, to live in a dorm, to earn less than $1300 a month sending Singaporeans to and fro, were now helpless. And in trouble.
I was at odds after reading the post. Trust and fairness has always been the cornerstone of out gahmen. Now I am a little shaken. If a large government-linked corporation can wield an iron fist to those who seek to be heard, then it has failed as a progressive employer. Everyone in SMRT should be ashamed. Their HR dept should quit. It was later mentioned that "SMRT has deep seated issues" by some official. You bet.
I googled "SMRT employer HR awards" and it turns out the 2010 Aviva Best HR team award went to our infamous transport operator. Guess it the team doesn't handle lowly paid bus drivers with the same talent.
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Foreign Workers - A Balancing Act
Immigrants have been a topic of discussion among my friends I late. Well, more precisely, immigrant workers. There are quite a good number of them now in Singapore. They're frontline staff at shops, clean up after us at food courts, call us to sell us a credit card or insurance plan, drive our cabs and buses. I'm sure there are many other jobs they are hired to do but these professions I've listed now suddenly put them in front of us. And that's a big change.
They used to be in the background - workers at a construction site or road sweepers. We took notice but were able to quickly ignore them or rather, their impact on our day-to-day was minimal for most. We smiled and said hello when appropriate but largely, our lives were quite separate. But a tight labour market, an educated workforce and locals' preference for less menial jobs have pushed employers to look far and away for willing hands to fill any job that locals deem beneath them. Someone's gotta do the dirty, boring work, right? And costs gotta stay down right? Viva l'economy!
So this little country is awash with new migrant workers who are cheap for businesses to hire and look after. And inevitably there are many issues that have surfaced.
An odd xenophobia that has come to the fore.
It's strange because we are a nation of migrants ourselves and a young nation at that.
Strange because we seem to be biased against personal habits and unfamiliar accents rather than colour of skin.
Strange because we do not think they are trying hard enough to adapt to our way of living.
Strange because it is Singaporeans as a collective that are speaking against the perceived excess of foreign workers, not just a single race voicing concern (is this now our unifying trait? A bunch of complainers).
Strange that we feel disadvantaged in our own country by those who have less, who have come here like our forefathers did before to make life anew.
Other the other hand, there are Singaporeans who have stood up for fair treatment, better conditions and pay for these workers.
The Japanese are infamous for frowning upon importing foreign workers. They've run their factories on their own for centuries, extensions of the single machine-body-culture that is this island nation. Now the population is rapidly greying and no one knows what to do. There's already a shortage of caregivers and medical staff to look after the elderly. Young people, highly educated and pumped full of Western ideals, do not want to live their parents' lives. There is a clash of ambition and expectations and tradition it seems. Somehow it seems that the road to progress and happiness will damn a mighty country because minds are closed.
This should bother us. There are many parallels we can draw amid the stark differences. We can learn lessons from Japan's closed doors. Yet admittedly we shouldn't feel like strangers in our own backyard. It's a funny balance to get at, because any moves at stemming this flow of workers will increase labour costs and ultimately the price you and I will pay for goods and services. A connected problem, one the average thinker on the street needs to understand and accept. We'll always have immigrant workers passing through our shores. They way we feel about them is perhaps a mark of our maturity, or how much we still need to grow.
They used to be in the background - workers at a construction site or road sweepers. We took notice but were able to quickly ignore them or rather, their impact on our day-to-day was minimal for most. We smiled and said hello when appropriate but largely, our lives were quite separate. But a tight labour market, an educated workforce and locals' preference for less menial jobs have pushed employers to look far and away for willing hands to fill any job that locals deem beneath them. Someone's gotta do the dirty, boring work, right? And costs gotta stay down right? Viva l'economy!
So this little country is awash with new migrant workers who are cheap for businesses to hire and look after. And inevitably there are many issues that have surfaced.
An odd xenophobia that has come to the fore.
It's strange because we are a nation of migrants ourselves and a young nation at that.
Strange because we seem to be biased against personal habits and unfamiliar accents rather than colour of skin.
Strange because we do not think they are trying hard enough to adapt to our way of living.
Strange because it is Singaporeans as a collective that are speaking against the perceived excess of foreign workers, not just a single race voicing concern (is this now our unifying trait? A bunch of complainers).
Strange that we feel disadvantaged in our own country by those who have less, who have come here like our forefathers did before to make life anew.
Other the other hand, there are Singaporeans who have stood up for fair treatment, better conditions and pay for these workers.
The Japanese are infamous for frowning upon importing foreign workers. They've run their factories on their own for centuries, extensions of the single machine-body-culture that is this island nation. Now the population is rapidly greying and no one knows what to do. There's already a shortage of caregivers and medical staff to look after the elderly. Young people, highly educated and pumped full of Western ideals, do not want to live their parents' lives. There is a clash of ambition and expectations and tradition it seems. Somehow it seems that the road to progress and happiness will damn a mighty country because minds are closed.
This should bother us. There are many parallels we can draw amid the stark differences. We can learn lessons from Japan's closed doors. Yet admittedly we shouldn't feel like strangers in our own backyard. It's a funny balance to get at, because any moves at stemming this flow of workers will increase labour costs and ultimately the price you and I will pay for goods and services. A connected problem, one the average thinker on the street needs to understand and accept. We'll always have immigrant workers passing through our shores. They way we feel about them is perhaps a mark of our maturity, or how much we still need to grow.
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