China Biting The Hand That Feeds It

What exactly is China afraid of? The US military has always been there in the Pacific, even before World War II. This is the same fleet that indirectly helped China win the war against the Japanese. Have they forgotten? 

Why suddenly the Chinese media is producing documentary after documentary about US military, portraying them as adversary and prime enemy, and showing how great China is, in countering this perceived threat by spending and building advanced weaponry? I suspect they are afraid of themselves.

China is becoming a nuisance to the rest of the world. It doesn't know how to behave like a superpower. Panda bear Xi Jinping is behaving like big bully, with his confrontational style, both inside and outside of China. With China's new found wealth, they just do not know what to do with those money besides squandering them around all over the planet, very much like their barbaric tourists, who wanted all other countries to look like China.

And they are biting the hands that feed them, conveniently forgetting those nations that helped China to grow it's wealth and reform it's economy, to be what it is today. Instead of appreciating the help of the USA as evidenced by the US$1.24 trillion of US Treasury Bills now in China's coffer, Xi is treating the USA as his number one enemy, and every small thing that the USA do militarily, is against China, and anyone who befriend the US is China's enemy as well.

Did these Chinamen ask themselves this question: Why would America want to attack China? China is their largest trading partner, and almost all major American corporations have offices and factories in China. What is the benefit of having a confrontation with China? It is China itself, who is worried about the USA and the world, because of it's non-conformity with decent human rules and regulations.

The above video is a good example of how this big bully behave. Singapore is only a small red dot, but this big bully take Singapore like a superpower. And like a big overweight baby, the PRC comes crying over Singapore's close relations with USA. And this big idiot thinks that all the water outside of Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, belongs to PRC, and started deploying navy and weapons in these places.

If this idiotic world nuclear power, under the control of a brainless panda called Xi Jinping, doesn't know what it is doing, a nuclear world war looks inevitable in the not-too-far future. With Donald Trump as President, the ingredient for disaster is set in place. Two idiots is not going to make one right.

The USA made a mistake during the second world war. They should have treated China like Japan and enforce a non-military China, so that we don't have to worry about another world war today.

Why Ah Loong Is Always Going Against His Father's Wishes

First he overturned his father's death threat, by opening not one, but two casinos. If you remember, Lee Kuan Yew had said in his famous quote, "Over My Dead Body"if Singapore were ever to open a casino.

His father's death-bed wish of demolishing the Oxley Road house after his death. Until today, it is still standing, and daughter Lee Wei Ling is having enough of it, by posting her anger against her brother in her Facebook, just short of calling him a dictator.

PM Lee also showed a distinct bias towards the West, especially to the USA, as oppose to his father who would rather have a grand state visit to Beijing than to the White House. His stand on the South-China Sea issues also voiced a direct contradiction with that of China. Something that couldn't had happened during LKY's reign.

This spoilt brat is also known for slapping and shouting at other Ministers, especially those more senior than him and those close to his father, and even in public places. Wong Kan Seng should be able to testify to that.

Dhanabalan Slapping Incident

PM Lee Sacked Wong Kan Seng, Mah Bow Tan & Raymond Lim

Now, he is attempting to rewrite the constitution on Elected President, an institution painstakingly designed by his father. What's he up to? He is bringing in racial harmony and quality of candidates as mechanism to gradually bring the power of the Elected President down to the previous level where President is appointed by the Parliament, hence the PAP. A puppet or PAPpet, a symbolic figurehead, just like the Queen of England.

He believes the President should not be getting higher pay than the Prime Minister, which he had corrected prior to the last general elections, by slashing the salary of the President dramatically, whilst his remained mostly untouched.

Perhaps he is suffering from some kind of identity crisis: that he doesn't want to be seen to be hiding under his father's pants. The Dhanabalan slapping case exposed this fact clearly. That he wanted to be seen as himself and not his father's son. Not one who got to where he is, because of his father, and not himself.

By constantly changing the past, the institutions created by his dad, and removing all the old hecks previously working for Papa, he hoped to eventually bury the ghosts of LKY from his administration.

ISIS Claimed Responsibility For Zika Attack On Singapore

Isis has claimed responsibility for the Zika virus attacks on Singapore, saying it targeted Singapore as one of the foreign countries from the “Crusader Alliance” fighting their militants in Iraq and Syria.

“Islamic State fighters working in Singapore carried out a Zika virus attack last month by infecting themselves and spreading the disease in the heartlands of Singapore targeting populated areas,” Aamaaq news agency said on its Telegram channel.

Health workers battling Zika in Singapore

Isis’ claim of responsibility was impossible to verify but Indonesian police previously said they believed militants had been “imitating” the November attacks in Paris in Southeast Asia targeting densely populated areas.

If the claim is true, then it marked the first successful attack of any kind by the Isis in the island state, and possibly the first time the Isis had used biological warfare in their fight against the "Crusader Alliance".

Singapore has been identified as a possible target for attack by a Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) posting on social media, a report in May said.

It is not the first time Singapore has been cited by radicals. Last year, extremist English-language magazine Resurgence cited the Phillip Channel and Sembawang Naval Base in a piece on how militants could attack at sea.

The terror threat facing Singapore took on a more menacing face last month after six militants were arrested in Batam.

Police said their leader had been planning a rocket attack on Marina Bay together with a Syrian-based Indonesian ISIS militant. The six men in Batam had been kept under watch for a while before they were arrested by Indonesian police in an early-morning raid.

Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said the six "were thinking of attacking Marina Bay with rockets", and "this shows how our enemies are thinking of different ways of attacking us".

He drew a parallel with Molenbeek, the Belgian town from which terrorists planned their assault on Paris last November and, in a series of coordinated attacks, killed 130 people. "There are several possible Molenbeeks around us from which attacks can be launched on Singapore. These include the Riau Islands," he said.

Singaporeans Need Swiss Basic Income

The Swiss believe that an Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) scheme is the answer to automation. 72% believe that many traditional types of work will become redundant and that basic income is needed to attain new lifestyle models.

The Swiss believe the strongest argument for basic income is the changing nature of work due to advancing technologies and that new lifestyle models are consequently needed

In Singapore's case, not only are jobs being replaced by automation at a faster pace than Switzerland, jobs for Singaporeans are also being replaced by imported foreign workers and executives since day one.

UBI is largely seen as a way to finally recognize all the unpaid and unrecognized work that is going on outside of employment. 49% of Swiss see a UBI as valuing and encouraging unpaid household and volunteer work.

Innovative Switzerland wants to be a country that leads the way on basic income. It does not want to wait for anyone else to first show the way. But for Singaporeans, this is the only way for them to survive in the next 50 years, or they will go extinct leaving behind a few PAP dinosaurs, in a country run by robots and foreign contract workers.

Singapore is already embarking on driverless taxi, way before any other countries in the world. This is going to end the jobs of some 40,000 cab drivers over the next 50 years, and hit the livelihood of 100,000 of their family members.

Advanced robots and drones are also being build to replace thousands of jobs in factories and offices.

Online shopping is also going to cut the jobs in the retail and food industry. Menial jobs will be the domain of foreign labours, and office jobs will be taken care of by the more qualified imported talents.

That will leave most Singaporeans with nothing else to do, other than tendering to their homes. And these tasks should have a value attached to it.

The basic income should be considered as one of the basic human rights. The Right to Life itself. The unconditional basic income is not tied to any circumstance or work done or compensation.

It is the amount that everyone, in any case and without exception needs in order to live. It is an amount that does not depend upon whether or not someone has a job.

The basic income relates solely to the individual and not to her function or situation. It is an income that arises from a general fundamental democratic right, the Right to Life.

How is This Possible?

We can differentiate between reimbursement for work in the private sector and public incomes such as social insurances as two fundamentally different incomes. Setting an unconditional base amount would have different effects on these different income areas.

A) Wages in the private sector would be liberated from securing the livelihood of the employee. This new situation opens a space for (re)negotiation for both, employees and employers. A salary becomes a symbol of appreciation, a motivation. It remains performance-based and tied to the market. A salary can be very high or very low, but the actual livelihood of the individual is inviolable because each person receives the basic income as a social right.

An entrepreneur can now be sure that people will come to her because they actually want to work with her.

Motivation will become a prerequisite for a job application. Even the employee is now more free in his position of negotiation. He can say yes to work that interests him and in which he can be of optimal use. Personal development through our work, having success and taking responsibility will become key attributes of a job search.

The applicant can also say no to unappealing job offers more easily. The threat of taking away a person's livelihood can no longer be used as a means to force employees to work under bad conditions.

The transfer of an unconditional basic income reduces the cost of labor. It acts as a subsidy to the existing wages. Being secured up to the level of the unconditional basic income, each person can now do her work without hesitation. Taxes can be restructured such that labor is no longer taxed (neither on the employer nor the employee side). Instead, a tax on goods (value-added tax) is increased and in part redistributed as an unconditional basic income.

B) Any social funds, extra payments, stipends, pensions and such subsidies can be replaced by the basic income as long as they do not exceed it. In the United States, there are 150 different programs of social balance that could be vastly relieved by the distribution of an unconditional basic income. This unconditional transaction could replace the “social welfare state“ and could mean significant reductions of expenses for the authorities. Currently, all social transfers are tied to concrete conditions that have to be proven and investigated bureaucratically at very high cost.

Unconditionally securing a livelihood for everyone would replace the existing incomes from the bottom up, in the public as well as the private sector. This basic amount is already transferred today. What remains are the conditions placed upon it, and thus seems to present a challenge for some:

Who would still want to go to work, if the securing of a livelihood does not motivate us to work anymore? And more importantly: Who would do the „dirty work“?

3. Good Job or Bad Job?
Because the basic income is paid to everyone, it should be an issue for everyone. The millionaire that lives off the interest of their wealth as well as the dishwasher that lives from paycheck to paycheck.

In the world of work we can distinguish between extrinsically and intrinsically motivated employees. Some employees work primarily for their income. Their motivation is based on the extrinsic necessity to have an income, on self-preservation and personal as well as familial survival. We call their work a „bad job“. On the other hand, everyone knows examples of intrinsically motivated work. The motivation, process and product of this work are closely related. We call this a „good job“. Amongst the extrinsically motivated „bad jobs“ as well as the intrinsically motivated „good jobs“ we can find both very well paid jobs and also very low paying jobs. What is the effect of an unconditional basic income on those four job categories?

The category of well-paid good jobs is not going to change very much with the introduction of a basic income, except the salary is going to decrease by the amount of the basic income.

Well-paid bad jobs will always be done. The motivation of making a lot of money will stay the same. But including the basic income in the transaction will challenge the paradigm of „only focussing on oneself“.

Low paying good jobs, such as care-work, volunteering, working from one's own vision (every entrepreneur recognizes this type of work from starting their own business) are going to be freer through the basic income, easier to imagine and more realistic.

Amongst the low paying bad jobs the distribution of an unconditional basic income will bring about the biggest change.

In the last category we find the so-called „dirty work“. The unconditional basic income will not prohibit these jobs, nor does it claim higher payment for such work (like a minimum wage would). It does, however, put the employee in a new position from which to negotiate, as their existential dependence on a job has been removed.

The basic income makes it possible to say NO.
It is possible that having a person do the cleaning will become more expensive because with a basic income in their pocket, fewer people would be willing to spend time working for a low income. When prices for certain services rise it becomes attractive to invest in technological solutions - solutions that are currently kept waiting because of the availability of cheap labor. The basic income strengthens the trend to automate such tasks. It creates the possibility for innovation.

Good jobs that are badly paid are supported by the basic income, in many cases they only become possible when such an income exists. Services and products that are created in intrinsically motivated work will become more affordable. A real market comes into play, one without opportunities of blackmailing the workforce.

On average, prices will roughly remain on the same level across all the sectors; what will be new is that prices will also reflect popular areas of work.

4. A Fundamental Democratic Right
The introduction of an unconditional basic income brings about a democratization of democracy. It gives time for reflection. It creates possibilities for experiences we cannot pay for.

A democracy gives every adult the right to judge what is best for the whole community based on their own life experience and ability. It gives each individual the responsibility to decide in the interest of others. The individual interest of each person becomes a building block for the greater whole.

The basic income trusts each person to know how to decide what their path is and how they want to make a difference for others. This is no less than the pursuit of happiness. It is an evolution of democracy itself.
Those who want to hold a monopoly on power can-not see anything sensible in the introduction of an unconditional basic income.

No king would introduce a basic income. But the democratic way is the royal road: only through the mutual encouragement of the people can a basic income come into existence.

The first prototype referendum for the unconditional basic income is taking place in Switzerland in June 2016. And who knows what can grow from such an experience?

The Zika Epidemic Has Just Begun

Now with 189 confirmed locally-transmitted cases. Certainly, there are many more still unknown and yet to come.

In fact, its spread had already been happening for a while under our noses. The Zika test takes three hours to show if a patient is positive or negative for the virus. The first suspicion was on Aug 22, when a GP in Aljunied raised the alarm over a series of suspicious cases to MOH. MOH believed it was a mild viral illness, and asked that further cases be brought to the Communicable Disease Centre (CDC). Then on Aug 25, a 47-year-old woman, Patient A, was referred to the CDC and was confirmed to be infected (ST’s report said she went to CDC on Aug 26, Today says Aug 25). All past cases in the area were dug up and tested and it turned out that people were being infected as far back as July 31. MOH announced Patient A on Aug 27. The other 55 cases were announced on Aug 28 and Aug 29.

The answer to questions posed to MOH about why two days passed between Patient A presenting herself to the CDC and the first announcement was vague.

Since Zika was “almost inevitable”, and since an imported case had already been reported in May, shouldn’t the ministry already have been expecting to see locally-transmitted cases? Why were blood tests not carried out as soon as the GP in Aljunied reported a suspicious trend of viral infections? Why were blood tests not carried out for all individuals presenting such symptoms – did the ministry have to wait for a trend to develop?

MOH said that since the affected persons did not travel to infected countries, they were considered low-risk. This is why they did not test them immediately. The ministry chose to wait and see. Yet it is known that only one in five Zika-infected persons actually presents symptoms. With confirmed infections in places like Thailand and Vietnam, should Singapore not already have begun to treat Zika symptoms more seriously? Why was an individual’s lack of travel to Zika-affected areas a factor that puts them at low risk?

MOH said that there was no cover up for the rash of Zika infections, a question raised in light of the Hepatitis C outbreak last year. In that case, 16 ministry and hospital staff were disciplined for, among other faults, withholding the announcement of the outbreak.

But it is hard to test for a disease that doesn’t present itself in a very unique way. Sometimes the fever is not present. It is hard, but should MOH have set a higher bar?

Dr Leong Hoe Nam, the infectious diseases specialist at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital who diagnosed Singapore’s first Zika case in May, thinks that MOH should have done better.

“Every single mild case of fever, they should have investigated,” said Dr Leong, “It was a chance to break the cycle. Kudos to the GP who picked up the trend. We must remember that Zika is very mild, compared to dengue. Patients may not be sick enough to go to hospital but to the GP instead. So the GP now is the gatekeeper.”

Ms Tin Pei Ling, who is the MP for the ward that Patient A lives in, said, “It would have been most ideal to take a more conservative approach at that point in time, if there had been early suspicion, to check if there were any positive cases. But I suppose MOH would have taken the balanced approach between alarming everyone and doing proper checks.”

Would we have been alarmed? The number of cases, 41, is high compared to other countries in the region. It is low, however, when compared with the more deadly dengue, for which there have been nearly 11,000 cases, of which majority were probably locally-transmitted, since the start of this year.

Perhaps it is time we started acting as if Zika could well have traveled beyond the Aljunied cluster. That’s how it got spread so far in the first place, isn’t it?

UK, US, Australia, Japan and Taiwan issue travel advisories for Singapore as Zika cases rise.

AUSTRALIA TRAVEL ADVISORY:
There is ongoing transmission of Zika virus in Singapore. All travellers should protect themselves from mosquito bites. Adopt additional measures advised by the Department of Health, including deferring non-essential travel if pregnant, avoiding pregnancy for two months following your return and other advice for both males and females (see Health). The level of advice has not changed. We continue to advise Australians to exercise normal safety precautions in Singapore.

Pregnant woman in S'pore tests positive for Zika

UPDATED: AUGUST 31, 2016

SINGAPORE — A pregnant woman living in the Aljunied Crescent/Sims Drive area has tested positive for Zika virus infection, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Wednesday (Aug 31) night. This is the first such case in Singapore.

“Her doctor is following up close with her to monitor her health and the development of her baby,” said the MOH. The woman, who tested positive on Wednesday, will be referred to a maternal-foetal medicine specialist for counselling and advice, said the ministry.

The news comes a day after the MOH announced free testing at public healthcare institutions for pregnant women with Zika symptoms or who have partners with the virus, as well as those recommended by their doctors.

The MOH had also issued an advisory on pregnancy and Zika on Tuesday. Noting that Zika could have more serious consequences for pregnant women — their children could be born with microcephaly — the MOH said that pregnant women diagnosed with Zika would be referred to a maternal-foetal medicine specialist for counselling and advice.


MORE ON THE DANGER OF ZIKA:

Much of the focus around the mosquito-borne Zika virus has been on pregnant women and brain abnormalities in fetuses, but now scientists think some adult brain cells could be vulnerable too. Infections may even be as destructive as Alzheimer’s disease.

By engineering mice to mimic the human Zika infection, and using fluorescent biomarkers to tag infection sites, scientists at the Rockefeller University and La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology found that adult neural progenitor cells could be hijacked by the virus, leading to brain shrinkage and mental impairment.

“Our results are pretty dramatic – in the parts of the brain that lit up, it was like a Christmas tree,” said Professor Joseph Gleeson, head of Laboratory of Pediatric Brain Disease at The Rockefeller University, in a released statement about the new study. “It was very clear that the virus wasn't affecting the whole brain evenly, like people are seeing in the fetus.”

Gleeson said in healthy individuals, neural progenitor cells become fully formed neurons and are resistant to Zika, but for some people with weakened immune systems, they may be vulnerable to the virus.

The mature brain, Gleeson said, is learning, and memory that is impacted by Zika could bring about a cognitive decline that is normally associated with Alzheimer's disease or depression.

“In the adult, it's only these two populations that are very specific to the stem cells that are affected by virus. These cells are special, and somehow very susceptible to the infection,” Gleeson said. “Based on our findings, getting infected with Zika as an adult may not be as innocuous as people think.”

“Zika can clearly enter the brain of adults and can wreck havoc,” said Sujan Shresta, a professor at the La Jolla Institute of Allergy and Immunology. “But it’s a complex disease. It’s catastrophic for early brain development, yet the majority of adults who are infected with Zika rarely show detectable symptoms. Its effect on the adult brain may be more subtle, and now we know what to look for.”

But scientists said it raises the disturbing possibility of long term mental impairment in Zika-infected adults.

“The virus seems to be travelling quite a bit as people move around the world,” said Gleeson. “Given this study, I think the public health enterprise should consider monitoring for Zika infections in all groups, not just pregnant women.”

The epicenter of the current Zika epidemic is Brazil, where the Olympic Games were in full swing in Rio de Janeiro just a couple of weeks ago.

In February, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern,” as evidence grew of Zika's association with birth defects.

The virus is chiefly spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is common throughout the tropical and subtropical Americas.

The new findings were published in Cell Stem Cell on August 18.

Why Is The Govt Rushing Into Driverless Car?

The need to be the First, all the time? The need to show that we are an innovative country, no more a boring country? Yes, these are good things to have, but are we ready yet? This implementation not only concern the way we live, but also is likely to cause unnecessary loss of lives.

The news: Singapore is taking the next step in the move towards self-driving vehicles with the world's first public trial of self-driving taxis.

Robo-taxis developed by nuTonomy, a Massachusetts based transportation software firm, will operate autonomously in a Singapore business district on a trial basis beginning Thursday. The vehicles will be specially configured Renault and Mitsubishi models. A select number of Singapore residents will use nuTonomy's smartphone app to hail a robo-taxi for a ride at no charge.

Google, the leader in automated car, saying it wants a self-driving car with no steering wheel, pedals or driver, Google itself has a long way to go before that goal is attainable. Over a 15-month time period, Google said its self-driving cars detected 272 failures that caused the driver to take control of the car, and 69 incidents occurred where a driver took control of the car because of a perceived threat to safety.

Those incidents were then replicated in computer simulations that showed there would have been 13 crashes if the driver wouldn't have stepped in.

Some incidents reported in Google cars were blamed on the cars performing unwanted maneuvers, while other incidents were caused by reckless driving of other drivers.

Singaporeans' Responses:
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Unlike iPad or Apple Watch or Google Glass, Self Driving cars will cost your lives, dun anyhow play for your own risk Worried ....on the other hand many people enjoy driving cars, nobody wants to sit around in a self driving car, it's not fun and you have no control over it, over your life

Auto taxis will not have 'hands' to help you put luggage into trunk, will not be able to help disabled/elderly board taxis.
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And what's gonna happen to the livelihoods of taxi & uber/grab drivers (approx 30 to 40,000 paxes i guess); IF this project comes to a fruition?

Do all govt authorities come together to discuss the pros and cons of issues at hands? Or each of them revert to their own comfort zones and plan their own things again without cross checking and collaborating? Any back up plans for the unemployment of drivers who have family commitments and housing loans to repay? Is the govt prepared to pump in billions of social welfare schemes to help those families affected ranging from education & medical etc??

Is SG prepared to be a welfare state? "
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Companies like Uber will soon jump on the driverless bandwagon: https://gizmodo.com/why-uber-i... (Uber's losing money, largely because they have to pay drivers.)

“Bloomberg reports Uber lost $1.27 billion in the first half of this year, which is unprecedented, even for a tech company.

“Eventually, Uber will get rid of the drivers and turn a huge profit. Earlier this month, Uber announced it would begin allowing customers in downtown Pittsburgh to summon self-driving cars from their phones, indicating at least part of the company’s long-term business plan. Uber also acquired self-driving car company Otto for $300 million, showing its eagerness to advance its driverless car technology.”

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This Auto pilot thingy is so HYPE and any no brainer would have pick it up and too HYPE to resist riding on this bandwagon.


"Who" cares or bothers about the social displacement problem? (the Open Floodgate Policy have already shown HOW MUCH they cared about the locals livelihood).

Govt authorities rub their hands in glee because they can afford the capital for investing in these robots whereas the drivers can't. Customers end up paying the same or more because of the high capital cost. Govt win, (all) people lose - AGAIN.
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Nope I bet all they see are dollar signs,less traffic and more dependency on public transport ( which means more effective social control) and rubbing their hands in glee at all the so-called ups killing courses the displaced will need to take.


They'll be useless because the govt won't allow for any autonomous entres of thought to emerge Wrongthink (tm) will be punished Right-think (tm) rewarded.

If this driverless car need a driver (as reported in ST) and the driver has to apply a brake during a demonstration, the car is not ready for prime time! Regardless, they are pushing ahead with half baked technology because they won't be facing million dollar lawsuits if their cars are involved in accidents in Singapore. I hope these cars are not allowed to travel at speed above 50kmh at this stage of the development because of real risk in fatalities.
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What if the self driving taxi has a malfunction and stalls in the middle of the road with no passengers in it ? Who will help it radioed out for help service ?

If it has an accident on the road and hit a pedestrain , who will help it radioed help too ?

Has the insurance claim standard operating procedure been clearly specified out and sorted out on how insurance can be claimed too for driverless cars ?


".....said autonomous or self-driving taxis could ultimately reduce the number of cars on Singapore's roads by third, from 900,000 to 300,000....."

SELLING SNAKE OIL.....this one not Indian SO hor...

This (reduction in number of cars) may only happen if the autonomous taxi service is FREE 
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velly velly goood ah...............now taxi ah peks and retrenched pros no more excuse to NOT vote for Oppo liao..............vote PAP also no use mah

Self-driving car crashed in US killing one, crashed in China, will it crash in Singapore as well?

1 less retirement job... next time retrench do what?
Unless people have Stage 4 liver cancer and dunt have many days to live...how can they ask general public to try and test the new product on road? Can't they test it properly to ensure 200% secure before leasing to the market?

It takes time to improve, maybe 100-200 crashes in early stage...who is willing to die to help the new technology to improve? Road conditions can be very complex in certain intersections in certain timing in certain countries, there's no way for self driving to car millions of possibilities in countries like Thailand, China, India, Indonesia and even Malaysia.
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Are you sure machine is 100% safe, even escalators or lifts fail sometimes, the sensor fails to detect human and kill the person when he steps out of the lift halfway....why are we keep hearing self driving car crashes every few weeks? Is that very safe?

Is The Annual NDR Speech Still Necessary?

According to Wikipedia, the definition of the Singapore National Day Rally is.....

"The National Day Rally (Chinese: 国庆群众大会, Malay: Rapat Umum Hari Kebangsaan) is an annual address that the Prime Minister of Singapore makes to the entire nation, on the second Sunday after 9 August, the country's National Day. 

A yearly event since 1966, the Prime Minister uses this rally to address the nation on its key challenges and its future directions, and can be compared to the State of the Union Address delivered by the President of the United States.

Prior to 2005, the rally was a continuous speech from 8:00pm (SST). From 2005, the Malay and Chinese versions were delivered at 6:45 pm with a break at 7:30 pm while the English version was delivered at 8:00pm. Opposition MPs were invited to the rally for the first time in 2007. "

The First National Day Rally 1966

Unlike the State of Union Address, which is delivered in January and not linked to Independence Day, the NDR was traditionally a PAP annual celebration of their triumphs and successes, and LKY has unapologetically treated it as a perpetual annual Election Rally to drive fear into the hearts of Singaporeans of not voting the PAP, and to remind them of their indebtedness to the PAP. It was only in recent years that opposition MPs were invited following the increase in number of oppositions in Parliament. 

NDR 1984

During those days, Parliamentary proceedings were not broadcasted, live or same day. Hence the NDR became important as a tool of communication with the public. But it is no longer true now. All things said and done in Parliament are well-documented and recorded and goes viral very quickly for any incidence that occurred. 

The Prime Minister should make full use of the Parliamentary seatings to address the nation on his plans and future direction, and not hold them back until the NDR before presenting them.

Besides the NDR, the Prime Minister also make speeches on eve of New Year, Deepavali, Hari Raya, Christmas and Lunar New Year. There are more than enough opportunities for him to share with the people on his plans and changes he wants to implement. Why wait for the NDR to do that? 

Further, the NDR occurs more than a week after the National Day, making it an anti-climax to the ND celebration itself. It shouldn't be called NDR in the first place. It is just an irrelevant event, a baggage from the past, that should be removed from the calendar.

LKY last NDR Speech 1990

Of course, for the PM, it is a great opportunity for the him to showcase his multi-linguistic talents, polish his public speaking skills as well as his clowning and acting abilities. But looking ahead, he should be planning for his successor. 

Can you find anyone in the audience during this year's speech, who can speak in several languages? None. So who is going to carry on with the NDR if PM Lee were to faint again, but this time, he can't return to complete his speech? Or worse, he got taken out by the IS terrorists. It can happen.

Goh Chok Tong Final NDR Speech 2004

No matter how you look at it, the NDR belonged to the legacy of the Lee Kuan Yew era. The NDR was a very powerful tool to unite a newly independent multiracial society, and to build the nation from scratch, during those early years. Now that it is redundant, we should just leave it in the archives of the museum.

This will also free PM Lee from the strenuous task of preparing for the NDR, and save the costs of employing the many language experts, and countless other backend contributors to his NDR speech. He can spend those precious time in planning his strategy to stifle the oppositions and writing computer programs to solve more puzzles.

PM Lee's maiden NDR speech

Why The President Has To Be A Malay Always

When Joseph Schooling won the Gold Medal in Rio, all Singaporeans were so proud of him, and the supporters who went there to support, were all so proud of the Schooling and the National Anthem, they sang it loudly and proudly during the Medal Presentation Ceremony.

Most of those who were there at the ceremony were not Malays but nobody there bothered that they were singing a Malay song. That song represent Singapore on the world stage, and will always be that way.

It should have been the same for the Presidency. Like the National Anthem in Malay, the President of Singapore should always be a Malay. They were both just a symbol. I am saying this not because I am a Malay (No, I am not) but because it doesn't really matter which race the President belongs to. By having a single race as the Presidency, with agreement from all other races, simplifies a lot of things moving forward.

If there ever was a mistake made by Lee Kuan Yew in his life time, this had to be one of them. The Presidency is just a symbol, and LKY shouldn't have meddle with it by transferring executive powers to the President. It makes life so difficult now for the leaders that took over from him, and he should share the blame for PM Lee Hsien Loong's fainting spell during the National Day Rally, when he tried so hard to fix the screw-up made by his father.

I wish he could jump out of his grave now to tell us all that he had screwed up and get this team to right the wrong, so that we can all follow the rainbow dream he mentioned, without all his baggages holding us back.

There are many other advantages of having a Malay permanently as President, without executive powers.

First, the two countries that surround Singapore and gave us the most headaches, Indonesia and Malaysia will see us as a true South-east Asian country rather than a third China, if the Head of State is always going to be a Malay. It will be much easier to build on this kinship, with the President visiting these countries often.

Secondly, there will not be a costly and time-wasting Presidential Elections every few years.

Thirdly, if both the PM and President are Chinese, the rulers of China, will take for granted that Singapore is run by Chinese and should always give face or kowtow to China's actions and policies. With a Malay President, the impact will be different especially during face to face communication. They will always be reminded that Singapore is not that Chinese after all.

Fourthly, this will totally eliminate the problem of deciding on who will become President, base on racial or minority interest and representation.

Just like now, when nobody need to make the difficult decision on whether to play the Mandarin version, Malay version or the Tamil version of the National Anthem during the Olympic Medal presentation.

First Televised Collapse of a Prime Minister

Not sure if this is another first in the world but it is definitely a first for Singapore. Surely not one that many of us had heard of. The good thing is, this collapse is a minor one and is more likely due to overwork, fatigue or simply aging body machinery. A mental black-out that will happen to many of our elderly as part of the cradle-to-grave process. This happened on the 21st Oct 2016. Be forewarned, this video is Graphic!

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who almost collapsed on to the floor while delivering his National Day Rally speech on Sunday night, was feeling unsteady because of prolonged standing, heat and dehydration. His heart is fine and he did not have a stroke, said the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The doctors are less committal and are keeping quiet and their fingers crossed.

The rally resumed at about 10.40pm.

Mr Lee, 64, returned to the stage to a standing ovation and said that while doctors had said he was okay, he would have a full check-up after.

And one of the first to send his well-wishes to PM Lee, is an unconvictable criminal.....

Update on SR Nathan Health Status

SR Nathan passed away peacefully tonight at 9.48pm, 22Aug2016. He is 92 years old. May your soul rest in peace.

 Former president S R Nathan remains critically ill and unconscious after suffering a stroke last month, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday (Aug 21).

Mr Lee gave the latest update on Mr Nathan, 92, before the Malay portion of his National Day Rally speech, adding that he last visited Singapore's longest-serving president at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) on Friday.

"But he is restful and well taken care of by the team of doctors and nurses. His family asks me to thank you for all your messages and good wishes to him," he said.

Mr Lee also recalled how Mr Nathan, who served two six-year terms as head of state from 1999 to 2011, was in the audience for his National Day Rally last year.

"After the rally, he wrote to me, in his beautiful handwriting, at the age of 91, to congratulate me on my speech."

Mr Nathan suffered a stroke on the morning of July 31 and has since been warded in the Intensive Care Unit at SGH.

Since then, get-well wishes have poured in from visitors, among them senior civil servants, long-time friends and more recently, Singapore's first Olympic gold medallist Joseph Schooling.

Mr Lee had previously visited Mr Nathan on Aug 5, following his return from an official trip to the United States.

Benjamin Lim Jun Hui Case - another view

Quote:
A tribute to this poor unfortunate soul. A second thought on 14-year-old minor Benjamin Lim's Unfortunate Suicide and molest Case. This case involved his suicide after his interrogation by the police, his arrest during schooling hours in his school, by 5 police officers, and CCTV evidence showing an accidental brush rather than a full blooded forced molest. The footage was not allowed to be made public, as expected, since there is something very much worth hiding.

Once again, socially Singapore remained a 3rd World Police State while it's leaders keep claiming itself to be a 1st World country economically & financially with lots of numbers to show.

The way Minister Shanmugam desperately defended the police in Parliament in this case, reminded us of how Malaysian PM Najib defended his billion dollar bank deposit.

The Legal Way of Providing Access to Online Prostitution Rings

Just discovered this article that provides sex-related links legally by pretending to be a good citizen in highlighting these links to the Authority.

The Article is titled:
A Singaporean Unhappy with Existence of Vice Websites in Singapore 

And the links he provided were pasted here as follow:

2016sg.com

sex727.com

fl8090.com

www.sgcityangel.com

sgwolf.com

www.tikoclub.com

www.tomyam69.com

http://www.geylangboy.com/archive/index.php/f-24.html

http://sglovecity.com/

Enjoy them while you still can.

And this is Anthony's response to the so-called unhappy person begging the authorities to take actions against these sites:

"Why should you, Loh be irritated by such websites? They serve a certain needs for a certain section of the population. You don’t like, you can very well not visit such websites, nobody is forcing you correct?

So Likewise, if I don’t drive can I ask to ban cars? If I don’t smoke, I ask to ban cigarettes? If I’m a vegetarian, I ask to ban all meat?

Can we be more understanding and more tolerant of other people’s needs and not ask for government to do this and that and ban this and that. It is cos of people like you that we end up with a Nanny state that controls almost every aspect of our lives.

And for your info, prostitution is LEGAL in Singapore. Only soliciting in public is illegal, but these girls are not soliciting in public if they stay in their apartments. The Singapore law couldn’t do anything against these girls except charging them for violating their visa entry requirements. It was only recently that a law against online vice was introduced/amended if I remember correctly.

Jaywalking, high powered electric scooters and bicycles, riding bicycles on footpath and not on the road, sex between men, illegal parking, dangerous driving, speeding (over the legal speed limit), passengers not putting on seatbelts, illegal gambling, overseas shopping beyond stated tax free amount and not paying GST, smoking in restricted areas, drink driving, littering, misuse of company property and many countless acts which are technically illegal.

Some laws are difficult to enforce, some they choose to close one eye, some which, although being enforced, can’t be completely stamped out. You’ll see something illegal everyday if you look carefully. Why this personal vendetta against these websites, but not porn and prostitution in general.

What is your stand regarding prostitution in Singapore? Is it ok to you because it is “legal” but these websites are not because it is “illegal”? Are you coming from a moral point of view or not happy due to what you perceive as lack of enforcement? Does it irritate the hell out of you when you see a car travelling at 70km/hr on a 60km/hr road? I don’t see why you should be “unhappy” over such issues.

Shameless MP Lee Bee Wah Claimed Credit For The Gold Medal

Lee Bee Wah claimed credit for Schooling's Gold Medal - disgracefully shocking  

This woman is hell of a thick skinned ! What is she doing in Rio or for that matter the other politicians and Tony Tan and wife .. all tax payers' expenses of course. I am ashamed of women like TB Wah, that F Fu and others that are there as parasites ! enjoying Rio .

I am proud of Schooling, a true blood 3rd generation Singapore ! where are all the multi-million foreign talents ? It only shows that there are local talents. Don't waste time and tax payers money picking up outcasts from China to represent Singapore. 

Schooling's parents must have spent a huge sum to send an only child to the USA at 13/14 years old. They believed in Joseph and provided everything for him to achieve his dream. The govt did nothing !

He was never groomed nor supported by any PAP-managed scholarship. His mother had to almost beg Mindef to defer his NS ! 

Now I bet all the politicians will take turn to have photo taken with Schooling. They are basking on Schooling's success ! how thick skinned !

A retiree wrote this, which more accurately reflects on what actually happened:

"As a nation, a people, a country, a govt., and as individuals, we did almost nothing to help Schooling get to the gold medal. We did not finance him, did not support him, the PAP choose not to groom and encourage this boy.

Very little of our money went to training him, and providing him the necessary support, compared to the millions we lavish on 3rd class athletes from China and elsewhere. Not only did we not support him, we almost killed his career by making him do NS. When I say we, I mean the 70% of the morons that supported and elected the PAP.

If his mother May did not fight MINDEF to get his deferment, he might still be in the SAF now doing NS. There was no mass petition from singaporeans calling for his deferment. there was no mass calling by the MPs to support him. There was no media support for him, and certainly no support from the Singapore National Olympics Committee for his deferment.

Instead, 2 angmos (one was his swim coach in University of Texas, Gregg Troy) and the other a technical director, Bill Swetenham of SSC, wrote in their support to ask for his deferment. Not one PAP asshole or Notable sinkie stood up for this boy.

But now that he won the Gold, everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon and be proud of him. I say that you don't have that right. Singaporeans have not earned the right to claim the limelight with him. Where were they went he needed them? Sinkies are really stinky pathetic hypocrites.

Although I am born and raised in singapore, I am ashamed of our treatment of this boy, and I certainly cannot rejoice without a hint of embarassment that we as a people almost killed this great moment. Strangely, it was a ex-Malaysian who fought for him. His mom.

Everyone now wants to claim credit on Schooling's Olympic gold medal.  The Americans say he was trained there. Malaysians say his mum is from Ipoh.  British claimed that his great grandfather was from Britain. Portugal claimed that his great grandmother was Portugal-Eurasian. China claimed that he is 1/2 Chinese.

But the best part comes from the Philippines & Vietnam.  They say he is brought up by his Filipino maid and the Vietnamese claim that he is serviced by Viet gals in the KTVs!

Why is Grace Fu so Disgraceful ?

Minister Grace Fu's Facebook page was littered with expletives and insults after Joseph Schooling's greatest moment ever for Singapore. What an irony! The reason is because Grace had pushed hard to ban live telecasts of Olympics events to save cost. Something that would have prevented Singaporeans from watching this historical moment of Schooling. Read more of these insults and have a good laugh.....

Lee Bee Wah claimed credit for Schooling's Gold Medal - disgracefully shocking  

This woman is hell of a thick skinned ! What is she doing in Rio or for that matter the other politicians and Tony Tan and wife .. all tax payers' expenses of course. I am ashamed of women like TB Wah, that F Fu and others that are there as parasites ! enjoying Rio .

I am proud of Schooling, a true blood 3rd generation Singapore ! where are all the multi-million foreign talents ? It only shows that there are local talents. Don't waste time and tax payers money picking up outcasts from China to represent Singapore. 

Schooling's parents must have spent a huge sum to send an only child to the USA at 13/14 years old. They believed in Joseph and provided everything for him to achieve his dream. The govt did nothing !

He was never groomed nor supported by any PAP-managed scholarship. His mother had to almost beg Mindef to defer his NS ! 

Now I bet all the politicians will take turn to have photo taken with Schooling. They are basking on Schooling's success ! how thick skinned !

Another World Number 1 For Singapore - Gold Medal Bonuses

Joseph Schooling is going to take home US$753,000 for his Gold Medal winning effort this morning. Not only is he the first Singaporean to win a Gold, but this event is also the first time the second place (Silver Medal) is shared by 3 participants, including the favourite Phelps. 

If you’re at the top of the podium and the Singaporean national anthem plays — which would be a first: of the four medals the country’s Olympians have ever won, not one has been gold — you’ll walk away with glory and a $753,000 bonus. And that is what Joseph Schooling did today.

That’s nearly 30 times more money than you would earn winning the same medal if you were competing for the U.S. Olympic Team, which in Rio has racked up 11 golds among its world-beating 32 overall medals as of midday Thursday.

With its population of 5.5 million (versus, for example, New York City’s 8.17 million), the island city-state Singapore racked up a Gold Medal in the pool through teenage star swimmer Joseph Schooling, the first ever. Previously, Singapore had a pair of bronze medals, in table tennis at the London Games in 2012. Its two silvers came in 1960, in weight lifting, and 2008, again in table tennis.

In contrast, the U.S. has won 1,071 gold medals and 2,698 total medals since the 1896 games in Athens — the kickoff of the Olympics’ modern era — not including the medals won in Rio, where the likes of Goldman Sachs and PricewaterhouseCoopers have forecast the U.S. will garner more than 100 medals.

Other countries, including the U.K., don’t offer cash bonuses to medalists.

As competition continues in Rio, executives with the International Olympic Committee and at national sports federations have come under scrutiny over how little of the money generated by the Games trickles down to the athletes.

Of course, top athletes in the most popular sports can rack up millions through endorsements, sponsorships and paid appearances. Gymnast Gabby Douglas has a reported net worth of $3 million, while swimmer Michael Phelps boasts a reported net worth of $55 million.

Singapore Top The World In Number of Unnatural Deaths?

A woman, rumoured to be a remisier from AmFraser had jumped off the roof of RB Building to her death. Nothing unusual if you remember we discussed in the link below of an average of more than  one suicide per day in Singapore. Some says she was a cleaner. Dead woman tell no tale, so we won't know till we join her one day.

http://sg-truth.blogspot.com/2016/07/10-reasons-why-singaporeans-commit.html

But to do it in the CBD area by someone working there tells us the level of desperation that life in this tiny red dot has become. Many people are suffering quietly, especially those who bought properties at the high and got retrenched or about to get retrenched.

Cleaning up the mess is a daily routine for these women

In New York, suicide by brokers are common, especially during an economic downturn, and brokers and bankers just couldn't cope with the situation mentally and emotionally. From the look of this case, Singapore is now getting closer to the first world standard now for suicide.

Things will get worse and there will be more of such cases, as Singapore is now flooded with well-educated cheats and scammers including many from China, UK, Australia and US, coming here to con Singaporeans of their hard-earned monies.

We have been seeing daily in Facebook and Web Ads, young conmen snake-oil sellers telling you how easy it is to many passive income and retire early, how easy it is to make $20k daily, brandishing their sports cars and bungalows along the sea coast, wearing branded products, appealing to the greedy and/or the desperate.

Many of these oversea scammers are collaborating with local ex-sportsmen or ex-TV celebrities to set up stock and forex trading, internet-millionaire, religious courses and seminars. The large crowds they are pulling in, is not a good sign for the future of Singaporeans, as many are going to end up biting the dust.

Coming back to the suicide at RB Capital Building. The police said they received a call at 9.18am directing them to the incident at 63 Market Street, where the Bank of Singapore building is located. They subsequently clarified that the woman was found at the adjacent RB Capital building at 22 Malacca Street.

The woman, who was in her 40s, was found on the fourth-floor parapet of the building, SCDF said, adding that it dispatched an ambulance and a fire engine. The woman was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene, SCDF said.

Police said they have classified the case as an unnatural death and are investigating. Most suicides in Singapore are classified as unnatural deaths, as legally speaking, only when the person left a suicide note or a message saying he/she is going to jump now, that it is considered as suicide. Now you know why the govt's suicide stats is not accurate?

Although on average about 400 suicides a year, but in reality the number is much higher, as seen from this woman's case. And here, a few days before this case, another woman also in her 40's, found drowned in the sea, and as usual, classified as unnatural death. LINK I won't be surprise that Singapore already achieved another top of the world performance in number of unnatural deaths.

In the pic, she appeared to have jumped off without her skirt or pants, but she was actually wearing a pretty short dress that seemed to have rolled up as she fell. She probably fell from 2 or 3 storeys above, as there were no blood stains near her body. More likely died of heavy knocks than being crushed by a heavy impact that would have been rather bloody.

Emperor Xi Jinping - The Root of All Troubles in East and South Asia

This TV documentary in China questioning why Lee Hsien Loong's given special reception in Washington, tells us how suspicious China is on the intention of Singapore. This is the Singapore under a western educated Lee Hsien Loong and not the Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew.

"Emperor" Xi Jinping is showing his true color now. He is something of a "Duterte" of China. Not only has he shown no mercy to corrupt officials, whoever they are, he is also proving to be a very aggressive dictator in the international front. He is a conservative and ultra-traditionalist who probably believe that China is best run by a Dynasty, and live and swear by China's 5000-year history. If he is a Chinese tourist, he would probably have the host nation to do things the Chinese way and become a nuisance in the countries he visits, just like many of those rude and ill-mannered Chinese tourists you see in Youtube.

Since he came to power, he has created animosity with all the neighbours of China. And now, even tiny Singapore became the latest country to be scolded and suspected by China, and probably the last one, since there isn't anymore country that China hasn't taken a shot at. Even South Korea is being boycotted by China just because they wanted to have anti-missile weaponry to protect against North Korea's nuclear missile threat.

In recent days, China's navy started stealing American underwater drones that was collecting climatic data, just off the coast of the Philippines, and China media claimed that it was in China's water. They also stole 12 Singapore army tanks, and refused to return. They are becoming worse than Japan before World War II. Pearl Harbour Part II is more likely to happen now that cowboy Trump is the new President.

Xi's claims of land and sea belonging to China, is based on the ancient (dead and bygone) Silk Road theory. And this means, not only the South China Sea, but also the Indian Ocean, and land stretching from Xinjiang all the way to Western Europe. His motive is clear. If China can't even claim the South China Sea and the East China Sea, how can it then move on to claim the Indian Ocean, Malaysia and Singapore, and eventually the land Silk Road from Pakistan to Romania? 

Roughly translated, the TV documentary is titled with a question. It says, "Has Singapore Joined The American's United Front to Contain China"? The discussion touched on Singapore's building a deep sea port for American aircraft carriers to park. Also mentioned are Singapore's non-committal stand on the South China Sea dispute. Obviously, they will never produce a documentary titled "Is China becoming a barbaric Imperialist country like Japan and Germany in WW1 and WW2"?

PM Lee's comments on the South China Sea in Washington, when questioned by reporters only sort to make things worse, and China responded vocally to his comments:

In a statement on Friday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying said: "China hopes that Singapore...can maintain an objective and fair position as the coordinator of China and ASEAN dialogue relations, so as to advance Sino-Singapore relations and healthy and stable China-ASEAN ties."

Chinese spokesperson made these remarks in response to the statement made by Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a reception hosted by the United States Chamber of Commerce and US-ASEAN Business Council in Washington on Tuesday.

PM Lee had said that he "did not think China has changed its policy on its claims in the South China Sea after the ruling".

Lee also said it is difficult for countries to "walk back" from their positions. He said very few countries can say "well, it's not quite so absolute and it wasn't so clearly mine after all". 

However, he also said that he did not expect any of the claimants, including China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan to "push it to the brink". Of course, Lee is speaking while busy coding programs to solve puzzles in his office, or cooking curry in some community centres.

"They have interests, they have claims, they would want to maintain them, but nobody wants to go to war," he told the officials, The Straits Times reported. With Trump coming on as President, war is no longer impossible. Lee is nowhere near his father in terms of political foresight. He's just blindly hoping, without facts or intellects.

On July 12, an international tribunal ruling rejected China's ridiculous claims in the South China Sea and said that those claims have no legal basis. But China refused to accept or recognise the tribunal's decision.