Singapore National Education
Part 20

by mr brown

(Feel free to distribute for non-profit and non-commercial purposes but keep my byline, email address and URL intact please. Thanks)

I have also learned lately:

1. That someone (Cherian George, Straits Times, 14th Nov, Life Section) finally had the balls to take the Ministry of Health (MOH) to task for being "conservative with the truth", with regards to the 25-day window period for HIV-infected blood. Apparently the HIV can be undetectable for as long as two to six months. This fact was revealed through a Non-Government Organisation. Thank you, MOH, for your forthrightness in letting us know.

Incidentally, a reader also wrote me to tell me the same thing, this window period of 25 days is only the minimum detection period for the HIV virus.

Still, people, don't stop donating blood and all. It is the right thing to do and our blood supply is among the safest in the world, poor MOH Public Relations notwithstanding.

2. That if Mariah Carey is supposed to be the Butterfly in the song "Butterfly", does that mean that she was a big, giant, ugly slug before this song?

3. That our very own Environment Mascot, Captain Green, is a big, giant, ugly Man-sized frog/superhero. That ought to bring in the kids.

My dog would have been scared by that thing and I don't even have a dog!

4. That a man-sized frog radiates the message of the Green Movement.

5. That the ad people might have taken the Environment Ministry's idea a little too literally when the Ministry asked for a mascot to promote a green lifestyle.

6. That Tan Sai Siong is right, Singaporeans do not live in a climate of fear. Have you ever met anyone who has disliked her articles and _not_ foamed at the mouth, let alone spoken up?

And I am so glad that she has pointed out to me that Mr Singaporean does dare to speak up because the government does allow it.

7. That it is strange, but TCS seems to have dropped the well-loved practice they had some years ago, the one where they put a "(r)" after a program or a movie that is a rerun or repeat. I wonder why.

8. That in a CD shop in Hougang, CDs by singer k.d. lang (sharing the same love for the lowercase as myself) were found in the "Male Singers" section.

9. That the property developers are calling upon the Government to act as "moderators" and restrict land sales to prop up demand. The heck with free market forces, I always say. Except when they are in our favour, then it would be Government "intervention". Give us our margins or give us death!

10. That we really should ask the Government to help keep property prices up. Afterall, the prices today are _only_ double that of 1993's. As we like to say to all homeowners: "Want to get affordable prices for new homes? Up Yours!'.

11. That we are only the second most expensive city in Asia. Our developers are aiming for making us nothing less than number one.

12. That this is the 10th Anniversary of the MRT and they are celebrating their 10 years of "Excellence in Service". Looking forward to the next ten years, man. Enough said...

13. That I made a spelling/usage error in an early edition of SNE Part 18. I used "slight of hand" instead of "sleight of hand". I am deeply sorry, I will try not to do it again.

In the light of their 10th anniversary, I would like to remind my readers that the MRT is an impotent part of our World Class Transport System.

"Bad Speelers of the Wurl Untie!"

14. That I might get round to publishing a book of my work and thoughts, if popular demand exists. It shall be called "LKM: The Man and His Ideas 2". I figure I can get 25,000 books sold in the first three days before anyone catches the typo.

15. That the Indonesian Smog has now reached Northern Australia. Aren't we one big Asia-Pacific family? Hop on, join us, join us. Spread the cheer around, why don't we?

16. That the US may consider nuking Indonesia if the Smog reaches the shores of the United States, National security and interests and all that.

17. That, according to Joe Augustin and the Flying Dutchman, our intrepid morning radio show hosts on Class 95FM, it would be unfortunate if Trans-Island Bus Service (TIBS) names its taxi service Trans-Island Taxi Service.

BTW, love your show, Joe and the FD!

18. That happiness is seeing the look on your wife's face when you hand her specially autographed CDs of her favourite Chinese singer. (Thanks "M")

19. That our property prices have doubled in three years and the Singapore Sweep ticket price is now $2 up from $1. Yet the last time I checked, my salary has not increased more than 50% in the last 3 years. And still we are told that inflation is just 3%. That is reassuring.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to brave a Causeway jam to buy toilet paper at Johor Bahru.

20. That the Government is being asked to help keep property prices up and people wonder why our best minds are migrating and not returning.

21. That in Singapore, we don't make global friends the usual way, we do it the right way: we give our large neighbours billions of dollars to save their economy so that their people will not become poor and restless, but instead will come back to Singapore to shop again.

This is despite them burning down trees and enveloping our country with smog.

22. That we lost US$120 million dollars buying a hard disk drive company called Micropolis. The announcement of this tragedy was not made by the lady CEO of the company that made this bad call. She was there when they announced the acquisition with great fanfare though. I guess she was busy doing CEO stuff.

23. That when you are a Rear Admirer, your hindsight is always better than your foresight. That is why it is easier to see where you have gone wrong when a blunder like the MRT's occurs -- twice in a month.

24. That in the 13th of Nov edition of the Straits Times, there was a Carrefour supermarket ad beneath the article where the NTUC Fairprice boss denies any charge of threatening suppliers like Lam Soon.

25. That Malaysia will not censor the Internet (for the sake of Cyberjaya and the Multimedia Corridor) but will gag its academics from talking about the Haze (for the sake of tourism).

All fan mail and soft toys may be directed at mrbrown@mrbrown.com

Other writings may be found in the Website "BrownTown" at http://www.mrbrown.com

Singapore National Education Part 20

Singapore National Education
Part 20