What's in a name ?

Was watching the news this morning about a report of a cyclone in Burma...

Wait, I thought they are called Myanmar ? I have been using and hearing that name for a long time now. I thought they had changed it eons ago...

So I checked this morning. According to Wikipedia :

On 18 June 1989, the military junta passed the 'Adaptation of Expressions Law' that officially changed the English version of the country's name from Burma to Myanmar, and changed the English versions of many place names in the country along with it, such as its former capital city from Rangoon to Yangon (which represents its pronunciation more accurately in Burmese though not in Arakanese). This prompted one scholar to coin the term 'Myanmarification' to refer to the top-down programme of political and cultural reform that led to and followed in the wake of this renaming.[6] This decision has, however, not been subject to independent legislation and no national referendum was held to decide this change by the people.[1] The official name of the country in the Burmese language was Myanmar, and the official name of the country in English was Burma ever since the country gained independence from Britain in 1948. Within the Burmese language, Myanmar is the written, literary name of the country, while Bama or Bamar (from which "Burma" derives) is the oral, colloquial name. In spoken Burmese, the distinction is less clear than the English transliteration suggests.

The renaming proved to be politically controversial.[7] Opposition groups continue to use the name "Burma," since they do not recognize the legitimacy of the ruling military government nor its authority to rename the country in English. This name change was recognized by the United Nations, China, India, Singapore, Thailand, Lao, Vietnam, Bangladesh, ASEAN, and Russia. However it was not recognized by many western governments such as the United States, Australia, Canada or the United Kingdom, which continue to use "Burma," while the European Union uses "Burma/Myanmar" as an alternative.

And according to CIA Factbook :

Country name:
conventional long form: Union of Burma
conventional short form: Burma
local long form: Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (translated by the US Government as Union of Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar)
local short form: Myanma Naingngandaw
former: Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
note: since 1989 the military authorities in Burma have promoted the name Myanmar as a conventional name for their state; this decision was not approved by any sitting legislature in Burma, and the US Government did not adopt the name, which is a derivative of the Burmese short-form name Myanma Naingngandaw

So what does it show when you see this :



And this :



Can't see the subtle difference ?

Hint : Note the country name and the city name...

Interesting moments...

Yesterday evening, I went to my car dealer's launch of Chevrolet Captiva in Ubi.
Looks nice... like what I wanted before... But the pricing is ooooooo.... :)

Didn't get a chance to take any photographs as I didn't have a chance to be with the beauty alone. Many people around. Probably will go for a test drive later when the buzz has died down a little.

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On another note, someone pointed out to me that I should have gone into the civil service instead of the private sector. With my "three-leg" capabilities, I can easily have gotten the kind of pay I am getting now (without all the "hard work") years ago. Furthermore, I would have a much higher chance to get into the SR9 pay scale. Wow.

I think private sector is definitely much more difficult.

http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2007/yax-726.htm

I like these 3 parts :

There are 24 private sector individuals whose income, by definition, would be higher than the 25th person used to obtain MR4. But the Singapore government has 15 ministries. This means about 15 ministers and another 15 permanent secretaries. Not to mention Supreme Court justices and a few others whose salaries are also pegged to MR4 or higher. That makes perhaps 40 people. That means there are more people in the public sector with that kind of income than in the private sector.

and

Taking the age-32 cohort alone, we will see something like this pattern, where there are 15 individuals in the private sector earning SR9 or more, and perhaps 8 in the public sector earning SR9 or more.

The ratio's not so bad compared to the MR4 level. However, whether it is excessive for the public service to be responsible for 1 in 3 top earners aged 32 can still be debated.

and

The question we should be asking is why is SR9 unchanged while MR4 has gone so far up? What kind of society is this where even those 3 or 4 rungs from the top (the SR9 group in the public and private sectors) have stagnating incomes, while those at the summit of summits fly off the chart?

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Looking back, it really was silly of me to put my ideals above money...

I know I should not talk about politics, but....

Saw this just now :

http://youngpapblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/bill-gatesgeorge-sorosmother-theresa.html

I am not going to argue for or against the pay rise for ministers or civil service. But I probably just want to have some thoughts in my blog. Afterall, I am not paid peanuts, I am paid calamari (thus the blog title, hahaha)....

Similarly, if we want Singapore to stay on the “Best Of” world list for a lot of things, we jolly well got to pay top dollar for the best people who can keep us right up there.

Oh really, so being ministers now is just plain mercenary ? Political power, loyalty, recognition and connections for future business potentials, etc, are useless ?

Let me see, it was long ago in China, where there are commoners who are willing to PAY to be a court official... But those were the times of long ago...

Spore isn’t like many other economies like the States, Britain or even Hong Kong where their economies can still remain alive even if their politicians are not making the best decisions.

and

In many of these first world nations (whose Ministers’ pays have been “pegged” to ours), their economic engines are matured and almost self-piloting. These governments have inherited the fruits of their political forefathers and are now able to concentrate on improving the social and non-economic welfares of its peoples and say, spend time to build international relations with countries like us.

Wow ! Self running economies created by their forefathers... a mature, self-running economic engines that does not require high-paying ministers and geniuses running at the top...

Is she saying our forefathers (aka founding father) is incapable of creating such economies ?

I am just wondering, were the forefathers of these nations among the best paid in their nation ?

This government put Singapore, a country with no resources, with no historical ties or allies to begin with, on the world map in less than half a century. But will this last forever?

Were our founding fathers lured to improve Singapore by high-pay ?
Why aren't the attributes, found in our leaders of yesterday, found in our people today ? What does this even prove ?

Today, we have the PAP with a number of good men. Will we have the same people tomorrow and always? I’m not sure. I find it rather myopic and sadly presumptuous for so many of these forumers to assume that Singapore is forever going to be where it is, and that we will forever have exceptional geniuses willing to throw their lives to keep Singapore on its feet.

I think the writer has (maybe unintentionally) brought up a very interesting view. Why is it that we need "a few good men" to run our country, while others do not ?

All that matters to me is for Singapore to stay ahead of the game becuase I choose to stay here. We sorely need more than a few Good Men to continue serving at the top so that our economy will continue its bull run. With a flourishing economy, Ministerial pay increments will pale in comparison to the prosperities and fortunes Singapore will be able to bring to its people. Because then, the man on their street will get his pay raise too.

Oh, we have, for the past few years, grown the economy. We have seen those whose pay raised with the growing economy. Have we also just recently seen the group where their pay has not risen ? So when it comes to raising the economy, we put the responsibilities on those few good men at the top. When it comes to stagnant poor, we blame them for not helping themselves, or improving themselves...

But every job requires certain attributes. Civil service should be for those who feel for the country, who feel for their countrymen.

I am not saying that the civil servants have to live a life of poverty to serve the country.
We, as recipients of these public services, must make sure that civil servants are well-fed and worry-free to serve the public, but not make them top earners in the country.

Is there a perfect formula ? I probably can't propose one...

But another calamari for you to think about :

Being opposition doesn't pay, doesn't do good for their reputation, but why are so many ? Why are they opposing a party that is paying their ministers so much ? Why not just join them ?

We may or may not agree with their (opposition) ideas. It may or may not work. Some may seem like lunatics. Some maybe short sighted. But they do it out of passion for their countrymen and most probably loyalty to Singapore. Probably even for their ideals. Heck, they sure are not doing it for the money.

Now if this bunch of not-so-good-men have these attributes, why aren't there more better, smarter geniuses with these attributes ? Why must they be mercenaries ?

Or is the author saying that loyalty, passion, and ideals are only for the poor and stupid ?

The life of a Minister is not attractive. How many are willing to sacrifice every evening either at Meet the People Sessions, chairing Review Committees and carrying another baby in a HDB kopitiam even on precious weekends?

Hey, then we should be paying top dollar to those road sweepers, construction workers, 24-hour call centre agents, retail shop assistants, etc...

They have to work odd and long hours, many a times hazardous locations... They are sacrificing...


Lastly,

I’m not sure. I find it rather myopic and sadly presumptuous for so many of these forumers to assume that Singapore is forever going to be where it is, and that we will forever have exceptional geniuses willing to throw their lives to keep Singapore on its feet.

Oh, Abraham Lincoln is an exceptional genius, and America till today still has all the geniuses running the country, that is how US is now still the worlds #1 super power....

Australia is founded by exceptional.... er... geniuses..... and their economy is also matured....*scratch head*

Which is a better genius ? A genius who creates a car that only other geniuses can drive and use, or one who creates a car that any competent person is able to use it well ?

Why do I raise this question ?

"Because we are a unique country, and our system works"

Just my "questions". I am not going to debate this.

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On another note, should I justify to my boss why I should be paid more, or is it his job to justify to me why I shouldn't be getting double my current pay ?

My Father Sometimes Scares Me

I was telling my father over the weekend about the events outlined here :

http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1084655


My father's comment ?

These 4 are lucky that the police didn't "plant" someone else into the crowd of 4, pretend to protest with them, and arrest all of them immediately for illegal gathering.

Did my father see it being used too often, or am I glad he is not working with the authorities.

Our Wonderful Transport System

Singapore has a world class public transport system. We also have a world class fleece-money-from-people system.

We must be one of the top users of "pre-paid" systems in the world. I mean, almost everything.

Granted, you have some systems that are pre-paid in many countries. Like mobile phone calling cards. That is because you actually save some money when using pre-paid services.

But here, nooooo....

Hmm. Lets see. HDB and URA parking are done by a coupon system. You pay before you use. And I don't mean it is similar to those parking meters in other countries. In those system, you actually park your car first, then you pay for how long you intend to leave it there. Or those parking in shopping centres, where you collect a ticket upon entry, and pay the appropriate amount when you leave. Now that is a reasonable transaction.

Our parking coupons are bought days, weeks or even months ahead. If you lose it, its your own fault. If it is destroy, it is your own fault. If you tear the tabs wrongly, its is your own fault. What kind of "savings" are we talking about ? Nothing. What benefits for paying in advance ? Nothing.

And yet, when they decided to raise the parking rates from 90 cents per hour to $1 per hour. What happens to the pre-paid 90-cents coupons ? You can't use it. You have to "top-up" and buy new coupons ! I mean, the SALE has already taken place. It is a done deal.

Recent trip to Malaysia showed that our neighbour has definitely caught on very fast to our efficient government in collecting money. They took down parking meters and now sell parking coupons, just like Singapore. Wow. I think pretty soon, having a holiday trip into Malaysia will be very much just like Singapore.

Now, "top-up" is something that is very common to Singaporeans. I mean, if we have to pay for goods/services AFTER we use them, we find it amusing. We tan-dio (earned).

And how about Cashcard ? Since when is CASH itself not acceptable ? Ask our dear National Library. Cashcard is supposed to be treated like cash. You have to take care of it. Make sure it doesn't get stolen, etc ,etc. If you lose it, it is as good as losing cash.

Yeah, sure. So where is the "Choice" ? ERP uses cash cards. Many parking uses cash cards. Without it, you are just inconvenienced. Look at other road users abroad. Even our neighbouring malaysia, has lanes for "pre-paid" and "cash only" users. No doubt the pre-paid "Touch-n-Go" has no discount, but it provides convenience for users who choose to use them, providing a faster lane, without having to wait too long in queue. There is choice.

I recently drove through an ERP gantry without a cashcard. Why ? Because I don't usually drive through the PIE towards Changi at the peak hour. When I see that it was in operation, I had no time to slot in my cash card. Results ? $10 admin charge, and $1 for the fare.

Everything is about penalty. We prepay way before we use the services, forgoing bank interests (even if it is pathetic) and other benefits, yet we suffer heavy penalty for not being smart enough to use the system in their weird way.

Take the EZ-Link card on Buses. How many people have innocently forgot to tap at the exit and thus had full-fare being deducted ? I mean, excuse me for spending my whole life getting used to not need to tap at the exit. Now, you change the system and it suddenly becomes my fault ?

Oh, you can claim the fare back if you forgot. Yeah, spend more money writing in, going to their office to fill in forms, wait for hours to get a refund of 60-cents ? It just makes it not economical to appeal. So smart. What is the results ? People can't be bothered to seek refund.

So who wins ? It is never about the consumer or the good of the people. It is always about making it easier to fleece money off us.

Welcome to our wonderful world of Singapore.

Freedom of Press, or lack there-of

When recently, Rapporteurs Sans Frontieres published their 2004 Press Freedom Index, Singapore ranked #147 out of 167 countries. Well, that is hardly surprising.

What is surprising is the "defence" that our ministers made.

When questioned by opposition MP Steve Chia, our dear minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Lee Boon Yang mentioned :

[Straits Times, Nov 18, 2004]

Singapore was ranked the second most global country in the 2004 A.T. Kearney Globalisation Index, which ranks countries on economic integration, technological connectivity, personal contact and political engagement.
......

Singapore also emerged as the best governed city in another survey of 33 major cities, by Jones Lang LaSalle, based on aspects of governance such as integrity, stability and efficiency, he added.

'These two surveys reflect high international regard for Singapore as a cosmopolitan city on the global stage,' Dr Lee said.

So, in effect, Press freedom doesn't matter, because we rank high in other surveys. But somewhere at the end of the article, I read this :

'Our media has a tremendously important role in this national effort by rallying Singaporeans to do the things which matter most to Singapore.

This is certainly more important than... to gain the favours of international ranking associations.'

Erm, so ? If rankings given by others are not important, why use them as defence in the first place ? Isn't that hypocritical ?

Also, the mention that our press operates in a different model :

Singapore's media model was different, he said.

'Our model is that of a free and responsible press whose role is to report news accurately and objectively to Singaporeans.'

The media here also served as a platform for diverse views and to reflect the debate on national issues.

Ermm.. You mean press in other countries, specifically those in countries that rank higher than us, are operating in a different model ? One that is aimed at inaccuracy and non-objectivity ?

Also, other countries do not have racial, terrorism, disease and morality issues ??? :

The model had evolved out of Singapore's special circumstances, he said.

It had enabled the media here to strengthen the resilience of Singaporeans in the face of intense economic competition, terrorism threats, infectious diseases and social ills.

What a whole load of rubbish. We are the only country in the world that has different races ? We are the only country in the world that faces terrorism ? Only Singaporeans ahve infectious diseases ? On, and only Singaporeans are immoral. Only Singaporeans are affected by Casinos and gambling. Only Singaporeans are affected by AIDS, or homosexuality, and pornography.

Then today, in Today, an article that says we are ranked higher than Malaysia in another press freedom survey, this time by a think-tank in Washington :

S’pore above M’sia in media ranking

Singapore's media is "somewhat freer" than it was before, according to Freedom House, a Washington-based independent think-tank.

.

The city-state was ranked 135 out of 193 countries in the annual global Press Freedom Index. "Singapore's press is somewhat freer than in past years … Although editorials and news coverage generally reflect Government policies, newspapers are increasingly carrying letters, columns and editorials critical of Government policies," said the survey, without indicating Singapore's ranking the year before.

.

Singapore ranked above Malaysia (154), Laos and Vietnam (both 179), and Myanmar (190). The Philippines led the South-east Asian nations at 75th place, followed by Thailand (88), Indonesia (117) and Cambodia (127).

.

North Korea was deemed to have the world's worst press freedom.

.

The Freedom House survey comes in the wake of a similar index by Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres, which placed Singapore at 147th out of 167 countries.

Why this highlight ? Because we were ranked behind Malaysia in the RSF report ? And we cannot lose out to our neighbour, Malaysia. And we are not concerned about rankings ?

That is the most ironic thing to say. We are most concern with rankings, from food to children's results, from cleanest toilets to best value-added schools.

Hmm.. we are slaves, we have no brains on our own. Everything that our holy leaders say is gospel. They must be true.

Casino Revisited

Just read on our esteemed Straits Times forum pages about people lobbying against having casino.

Mainly 2 groups of people : (1) Religious , (2) Conservatives Pro Family

I can, kind of, understand the conservative part. That people will get addicted to gambling, and tend to beat wife and children more often, etc, etc. Like drug addicts, who can't control themselves. So let's not give them an additional avenue of addiction.

The religious groups (usually Christian and Catholic) will hijack many issues. This is is not spared. That gambling is sinful, thus Singapore should not do it.

Before there is a chance to see whether :

(1) Is the casino really going to help our economy ?
(2) Are there going to be more family problems ?
(3) Can the government make good use of the Casino without the much problems ?

We have the voices of "idealism" lobbying against it.

I mean, this issue is not as simple as "allowing murder to be legal". There are cases of Casino being successful, and there are cases where they failed.

So why impose your religious views onto others ? If you are that great, and gambling is a sin, just tell your followers not to go ! Why not start lobbying against 4D and Toto !

Heck, why don't our Islamic friends lobby against having Alcohol served in Singapore. Afterall, it is proven to have so much problems. And Islam prohibits, so please, start lobbying about the bad things of Wine and Alcohol and ban them from Singapore. Help the rest of the non-Islamic people.

Sorry you have to read all these hateful messages. Not a good day in the office. Getting more sick of some people. I don't know why I can't just look the otherway and pretend I don't know anything about it.

I mean, it is like pretending not to notice that there is a screaming child in the National Library. You can chosee not to do anything to the kid, but the ear-piercing scream still physically damages your ear-drums and it still irritates you.

Casino ?

Was reading today's newspaper and again, someone touched on the topic of building or not building a casino in Singapore...

This issue is discussed many times... But then, here is my 1 cent worth.

Casino and Morals ? What is the link ? Is there a link ?
Gambling is bad ?
Gambling is immoral ?

What the heck ?
If you open Casino, everyone will be addicted ? And everyone will go into debt ?
Now we need a Casino Credit Ratings to qualify to enter the casino ?

I know of many people addicted and spending loads of cash in 4D and Toto and Horse Racing.. So why is Singapore Pools still around ?

Why hasn't Singaporeans become gamblers already ?

In the first place, does having a casino really help our economy ? Bring in tourists ?

I am not against having casino, I am not promoting it. I also question whether the reason for bringing this up in the first place. But what do I know about economy and politics.

Oh, and if you sit in my car, you will notice a box of tissue "First World Hotel, Genting Highlands".. Speaks tons.. And no, I haven't been to Genting for the past 8 years.

What has happened to Singaporeans and self control. Is nothing about personal responsibility anymore ? Everything is about regulations and government control ?

This will lead to more bitching....
I think that is enough for one day.
Till I bitch again....