Gong Xi Fa Cai

Wishing everyone a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year

The man to watch....

Categories: Singapore

With the Singapore election looming, it is time again to make predictions. No, not predictions about who the winning party will be, for in Singapore, unlike other countries where it is hard to predict the winning party, here it is a foregone conclusion. Here, the predictions include how many percentage of popular support the government gets, how well the opposition fare and of
course who the next heavy weight will be.

Singapore's power succession is rather unique. Although it is largely patriarchal, there is an 'inner' circle who also hold important cabinet posts and other 'junior' ministers whose role is mainly to support the 'inner' circle. Those in the 'inner' circle are shortlisted and tried. If they do not make the mark, they may be sidelined for the more important cabinet posts. This is different from other countries where grassroot support plays a main part in the political
hierachy.

In previous elections, it was clear that Mr Teo Chee Hean was one of the main pillars in this inner circle. He was largely tipped to be Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) when Mr Lee Hsien Loong becomes the Prime Minister (PM). However, because of an in-built system of political transition, where the future PM would have to undergo a period of 'training', he was unfortunately not named the DPM. Mr Teo happens to be Mr Lee's comtemporary.

In 2001, the PAP brought in 7 new faces who were later made Ministers. One had since 'ofted out' because of personal reasons. Five had been promoted to full Ministers and one a Senior Minister of State. Out of these the person to look out for, in my opinion is Mr Ng Eng Hen.

Among all the new full ministers, Mr Ng had been given largely important portfolios. He started out as Minister of State, Education and Manpower. Singapore, with limited resources, depends largely on its population as a resource. Therefore Education and Manpower Ministry is very important. Education level had been the basis of hiring and promotions in this meritocratic
society. Manpower management is equally important. The Ministry had been actively bringing in foreign talent that the country needs to improve its R&D and upgrading its other industries. This coupled with the need to upgrade its work force to become the so called 'value-added' work force so as to compete with its neighbour, as the country shifts its industry to a more high tech
one. Fours years on, he had been promoted to full Minister with the Ministry of Manpower and that of Defence.

Compared to the other candidate that was introduced in 2001. Mr Khaw, the present Health Minister had been rotated through various Ministries as Senior Minister of State, the most important portfolio is that of Senior Minister of State for Finance. Given his impressive performance during the SARS crisis and the debacle in NKF, it looked like he will be a Health Minister for awhile as there are many health-related issues that needs to be tackled like that of
Medisave, Medishield and the co-payment of medical fees.

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the current Minister for Education has a rather impressive CV. He was given the appointment of Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Trade and Industry after he was elected MP. He is also the current deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the de facto central bank. However he is unlikely to be made the DPM as 'Singapore is not ready for a non-Chinese PM', to quote Mr Lee Kwan Yew in one of his National Day rally before he handed power to Mr Goh Chok Tong, the current Senior Minister.

The current Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports as well as Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, had not held any other important portfolios. He created a stir once in his maiden speech in parliment when he asked 'What makes a Singaporean, Singaporean?' However after that profound questions, he had largely fizzled out of the limelight.

Mr Raymond Lim, had a rather impressive range of portfolios. Among them were Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs (both portfolios he currently holds) and that of Minister of State for Trade & Industry. He too was largely out of the limelight.

Therefore from all the portfolios held, it seemed that Mr Ng is the only one who was rotated through the major Ministry except that of Finance and Trade and Industry. Don't forget that SM Goh only became the Finance Minister when he was also the Prime Minister. However there is another clue to indicate a bigger thing to come. He recently was given much air time by the newspapers and the TV. He fired the first salvo against the Workers Party's manifesto. Judging the PAP's history, more public exposures and opportunity to handle big and 'important' tasks are prelude to bigger things to come.

These are still early days yet. After all, it took about 10 years for Mr Goh and the current PM Mr Lee 6 years to be the DPM. Mr Ng is only 46 years old and this is only his first term as MP and already he had been given very impressive portfolios. Therefore, don't be surprised when Mr Ng is made the DPM eventually.

The Chinese Zodiac

Categories: Do You Know?

The Chinese zodiac

Come Chinese New Year on the 29th January, it will be the year of the Dog according to the Chinese zodiac. How did the Chinese zodiac come about?

There is a probability that the Chinese zodiac is of northern Chinese origin but the exact origins of the twelve animal system remain unknown. One Chinese legend attributes the creation of the animal signs to the semi-mythical Yellow Emperor (Huang Di) in 2637 B.C. However the most common figure mentioned was Buddha and the Jade Emperor with the twelve animals paying homage to the Buddha and a purported race as the commonest themes.

The commonest legend involving the Buddha is about Buddha who invited all the animals to join him for New Year's Day. However only twelve animals went. As a reward he promised to name a year for each one in order of their arrival, these were the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog and boar. This legend is by far the least credible of all explanations because the "twelve earthly branches" which correspond with the zodiac, was already in existence as early as the Zhou era, long before the advent of Buddhism.

Another version has it that Buddha invited the animals on the day he was to leave the earth and only 12 animals showed up and he named the years after them. Further variation involved the Buddha who decided to hold a competition for the animals' places in the zodiac sequence.

There are a few variations involving the Jade Emperor. One described how the Jade Emperor was bored and wanted to see the animals that inhabited the earth. He asked his advisors to bring him twelve animals. Twelve was considered to be a good sampling. So the advisor sent out invitations to the Rat (who was to bring the Cat, but jealousy got in the way of the Rat), the Ox, the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Snake, the Horse, the Ram, the Monkey, the Rooster and the Dog. When the Emperor found out that there were only eleven animals, He sent his servant down to Earth to retrieve the twelfth animal. The servant saw a man carrying a Pig and so delivered it to the Emperor. The order of the animals were given by the Emperor.

A variation involving the Jade Emperor, which is also the most popular, is as follows. The Jade Emperor held a race to determine the fastest animals. The Emperor had decided the first 12 animals to cross the chosen river would represent the 12 earthy branches that make up the cyclical order of years on the lunar calendar. The ox agreed to let a cat and a rat -- both poor swimmers -- ride on its back during the race acros the river. The rat pushed the cat into the water and sat next to the ox's ear throughout the course of the race. Right before the ox was about to make its land, the rat jumped ashore and won the race, leaving his carrier, the ox, to place second. The cat did not place in the first 12, and it is unclear what became of it.

Whether the legends are true is anybody's guess. However what is clear is that the Chinese zodiac had been used for many thousand of years. There is even an industry evolving the Chinese zodiac and Chinese astrology. Variations of Chinese zodiacs had been seen in countries of the Far East of Korea, Japan and also the Indo-China states of Vietnam and Thailand.

State government gone bonkus.....?

Categories: Malaysia

The Kelantan state government is planning to build an artificial island about 3 miles off the coast of Tumpat. The island is to take on the shape of the famous Kelantan wau bulan and is estimated to cost RM3 billion. [NST]

What is the state government trying to do? Kelantan already had enough problems - unemployment, annual floods and poor infrastructure. Why the need for such grandiose ideas? Imagine what RM3 billion can do for the state. This should be enough money to build infrastructure and convert an agriculture-base economy to a small industry-based one. Other useful spending will be improving the drainage system so that the annual flood during monsoon season can be alleviated.

Tourism is an important source of income. So it is only understandable that some money needs to be poured into this sector. But to spend RM3 billion on one project which does not guarantee a profit, is another matter all together. Kelantan already have nice beaches - Pantai Irama, Pantai Bisikan and Pantai Seri Tujuh. Why not just spruce up these beaches, build what you need to build and I am sure the tourist will come. AND it will not cost more than RM1 billion. The returns will be much better given the lower investment needed.

If RM3 billion were to be spent, who will pay for the expenditure. Given Kelantan's financial situation, even with exorbitant taxes, it would take decades if not centuries to pay for the project.

So, to the people of Kelantan, you now know what type of state government you have, and I am sure you will know what to do in the next election.

Time to change

Categories: Malaysia

It is indeed heartening to know that there are groups out there who have urged the Government to review Article 121 (1A) of the Federal Constitution, which had since 1988 prohibited the civil court from having jurisdiction over Syariah court matters. What is more significant is that some of them are Muslims themselves. Previously only non-Muslims and the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism are making the call. This shows that Article 121(1A) indeed needs to be refined and less ambiguous. Even the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had said that the Cabinet felt that while the Syariah court had jurisdiction over cases where the status of a Muslim convert was in question, the right avenue for the issue to be resolved was through the civil court. The issue comes to fore following the High Court ruling on Dec 28, 2005 that the civil court has no jurisdiction over the Syariah court and hence unable to try the dispute regarding the conversion of the late Mount Everest climber Sjn M. Moorthy to a Muslim. [Star Online, Jan 8, 2006]

Following the ruling, non-Muslims felt vulnerable as there seemed to be no avenue to dispute any conversion where documentation are not available or conversion had been kept from relatives. It is understandable because in the eyes of the non-Muslims, conversion had not taken place and therefore the dispute should be tried in a civil court and not a Syariah court. And if the case were to be tried in a Syariah court, wouldn't this mean that conversion had taken place and therefore there judgement is irrelevant. Catch 22 situation.

In the eyes of the non-Muslim this ruling had further enhanced their perception that the government had not been entirely fair when implementing the freedom of religion policy. Whatever avenue there was previously had now been closed when it comes to religion.

A more direct effect would be that on the family. Technically, if the husband had converted and the wife had not converted, then they would have commited khalwat or even zina. The wife and children would not be entitled to his property. His marriage would have been resolved.

Therefore it is most welcome for Malaysians - both Muslims and non-Muslims - to come out and urge the government to reveal Article 121 (1A).

Why so difficult to learn Mandarin?

Categories: Wormie Says

Why do Singapore children having so much trouble learning Mandarin? This is despite the encouragement and support given by the Government. Where has it gone wrong?

For those who are now in the middle-aged, they will remember that they were (and hopefully still) effectively trilingual if not quad-lingual(?). We spoke Teochew, Hokkien and English at home. Some could even speak Mandarin and Malay. No doubt, some will say that Teochew and Hokkien are not language but just dialets! Yes, they may be dialect, but you still have to learn them!

For those whose roots were across the causeway, remember the time when the teaching medium was changed into Malay? So now you have to learn English and Malay in national school and if you were 'unfortunate' enough, you have to learn Mandarin as well if you are in national-type (vernicular) school. Somehow they manage to learn 3 languages, with some of them scoring in all of them. Some of the Chinese Malaysian can even surpass their Malay counterparts in the National (Malay) Language exams.

What is it that makes learning a language so difficult in Singapore and smoother in Malaysia? Why is it that the outcome of learning a language so different? My feeling is that it is due to the environment and perception.

Previously, for the Chinese family, the whole family speaks in dialect generally. If you are Teochew, you speak Teochew. If you are Cantonese, you speak Cantonese. If you are Peranakan, you speaks English and Malay. Plain and simple. You therefore learn the respective languages and dialects without any agony. It is just 'routine'. This is similar to the present day situation. Why is it that English being a 'foreign' language, is so easily learned without any hassle. Even the grandparents who had never learned any English before, can speak some English.

Now comes the second language. In olden times, this would probably mean English for non-English speaking family. In Malaysia, it would be the national language - Malay. People just learn them because it is essential. You need English in order to succeed, to get a government job, to go to University, etc. In Malaysia, because its the national language and again you need it for university requirements and for daily social dealings. In order words you have no choice!

But some would argue that learning second language in Singapore, here I am talking about Mandarin is also forced upon us. True, you have no choice but the difference is that through the years, the pressure in learning Mandarin has dropped. Previously, second language may be the determining factor to a good secondary school. Now it does not matter. Therefore it can be seen that the requirements for Mandarin is getting lesser.

Another factor may be perception that speaking Mandarin is not in. If you don't speak Mandarin, society forgives you. If you don't speak English, you are either an Ah Beng or Ah Lian. Some how English is considered to have a higher standing, the 'elite' language. So people will gladly forgo the learning of Mandarin ('low' class language) for the learning of English ('high' class language). My Malay friends are telling me now that the same trend is happening with regards to Malay language. Nowadays, Malays are taking tuition to learn Malay. This is especially sad if you consider that dialects for Malays are in general Malay while for the Chinese dialects is significantly different from Mandarin.

However what is more important why learning Mandarin is so difficult is the lack of a Mandarin environment. By environment, I mean the environment to learn Mandarin. If you look at the children with difficulty in learning Mandarin, you will realise that they generally come from English-speaking family. The Mandarin-speaking family generally is not affected. Why? Because, Mandarin takes second place. For the English-speaking family, they can get by with English in their daily life at home. Whereas in Mandarin-speaking family, the medium of communication is - Mandarin!

There is even differences in the type of TV shows watched. TCS 8 (Mandarin) for the Mandarin-speaking family and TCS 5 (English) for the English-speaking family. Therefore in English-speaking family, the exposure to Mandarin is compromised. In this state, how are they going to learn Mandarin. To learn a language, you need to listen and speak it. If you are deprived of either, then learning any language is difficult.

Sometimes the parents indirectly 'discourage' their children to learn Mandarin unknowingly. They may have set the 'difficulty' level artificially for Mandarin when at home they express the difficulty in learning Mandarin. Small children who looked up to their parents will rapidly 'latched' on to the 'difficulty level' and therefore reinforce their fear in learning Mandarin. I am sure learning English is equally difficult if not more difficult than learning Mandarin. Ask any kids from a Mandarin-speaking family. But you never hear parents say that learning English is difficult! Language learning is only difficult if it is in-grained and reinforced to be so!

I have known of Filippino nurses who can speak Arabic. They learn the language while they are working in Arab countries. They do not speak or understand a single word before working there. But all of them said that they learn because everybody speaks Arabic (of course!)

Therefore before anyone says learning Mandarin is difficult, maybe create yourself a learning environment first. Maybe after that you may change your mind.

What a joke ...

Categories: Malaysia

What a joke? The Penang State Local Government, Traffic Management, Information and Community Relations Committee chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan said that the state government's hands are tied and it cannot enforce rules to resolve public transportation woes on the island. [The Star Online Jan 3, 2006]. “The state will co-ordinate and come up with proposals, other than that, our hands are tied.” He said this following the recent queries and grumbles regarding the poor state of public transport in Penang.

The public transport in Penang had certainly deteriorated to a very sorry state. Previously when it was under the leadership of the then Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu, the public transport was superb. There were definite bus routes that ply the main roads in the City and the outskirts. Most of the tourist attractions were also served. Then there were four bus company - the City Council bus, the Lim Seng Seng bus, the Penang Yellow Bus and the Hin Company bus - each generally serving a specific part of Penang island. Granted there were still large housing estates that had no bus service, but generally if you walk to the main road, there will be public transport available. The buses were not allow to deviate from a set route with a fairly constant time interval (albeit a long one at times). Even if you do not own a car and wanted to travel to the Botanical Gardens or the Penang Hill, there was always a bus assigned to these tourist spots.

How times have changed. Now the four bus companies had be dissolved. The Penang public transport is made up of private bus companies running the mini-buses. The buses were designated numbers indicating the route to be taken. However now the bus routes seemed very limited. Most of the tourist spots seemed to have been left high and dry. This model had been used for the last few years However recently complaints had been plentiful and includes that of dirty buses (the buses of previous years were clean except for the City Council buses which were still clean compared to today's standard), buses not following assigned routes, not stopping at assigned bus stops and the long waiting time.

Recently there was a glimse as why the bus service is so poor in Penang. Apparently, these mini-buses paid the bus companies for providing the 'public service' and any extras will be pocketed. Therefore there is no such things as company policy or company guidelines or timetables. Each bus driver is essentially his own boss. This meant that assigned routes are just 'guidelines'. As each bus driver had to eke out a living, the temptation to deviate from non-profitable routes is ever present. No wonder there are so many complaints about the bus service.

Now a clearer picture had emerged. The office bearer who is supposed to be in-charge of public transport in Penang said that the problem lies with the Federal government agency and there is nothing that the Penang state government can do! What is it that the state government under Dr Lim can do that the current state government under Dr Koh cannot? Has the constitution changed so much that the state government is rendered useless? If the current state government does not have the power to change things in the state, why have a state government at all? Might as well cut down expenditure and save the national Budget! Sure you cannot control private bus company, but certainly you can come out with other solutions - maybe re-introduce the City Council bus, or create a new company that is under the jurisdiction of the State. Office bearers are paid to solve problems and not to give excuse! This is reminescence of the former Chief Minister of Melaka, Rahim Tambi Chik who said that he was not responsible for a dam that had dried up because he was not in-charge of the dam! A bunch of clowns...

By the way, if you happen to visit Penang and needed to take the bus, don't try to look for the bus-stop sign as most bus stops have no such sign. Just look for a group of people who are all looking anxiously in the same direction. That will be where the bus stop is!

Malaysia to launch biodiesel this year

Categories: Do You Know?

Malaysia’s pioneer biodiesel – the B5 fuel – will be supplied free for the whole of this year to ministries and government agencies that volunteer to try it out. [The StarOnline Jan 2, 2006] But what is biodiesel?

Biodiesel is the name of a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources for use in diesel engines. It can either be 100% biodiesel or it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. Malaysia's B5 is made up of 5% palm oil-derived diesel and 95% petroleum-derived diesel. Biodiesel had been used in several countries including the US, Canada and Germany.

Biodiesel is better for the environment because it is made from renewable resources, biodegradable and has lower emissions compared to petroleum diesel. It is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as fast as sugar.

Biodiesel is made from renewable fats and oils, such as vegetable oils or even used restaurant fryer oil, through a simple refining process. The is even a kit in the market for you to make your own biodiesel!


Biodiesel is compatible with current diesel engines. No modification to the diesel engine is therefore needed. It is also safer than petroleum diesel as it has a very high flash point of 300°F (temperature at which it will ignite when exposed to a spark or flame) compared to petroleum diesel at 125°F.

As opposed to petroleum diesel, biodiesel will clean your injectors and fuel lines. If you have an old diesel vehicle, there's a chance that your first tank or two of biodiesel could free up all the accumulated crud and clog your fuel filter. However it reduces engine wear by as much as one half, primarily because it provides excellent lubricity.

Vehicle hoses need to be checked after the first 6 months of operation on biodiesel as it can eat through certain types of rubber. Blends of 20% or less tend to have little effect on even non-compatible hoses. This is no longer an issue with new cars.

Biodiesel in 20% blend and with a catalytic converter had shown to reduce particulate matter by 31%, carbon monoxide by 21% and total hydrocarbons by 47%. It will also reduce sulfur emissions and aromatics.

The one disadvantage with biodiesel is the increased emission of NOx. NOx contributes to smog. It is felt that a slight increase (up to 15%) in NOx is greatly offset by the reduction in all other emissions and the major reduction in greenhouse gasses.

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