Unlike the typical wartime movie which is pretty much just loaded with plenty of honour, glory, blood, gore as well as fanciful and devastating weapons. Black Hawk Down is a movie created in memory of soldiers who had perished in the military operation that took place in Somalia. It offers an excellent insight to what happens at the frontline, there is no joy, glory is not guaranteed(in this particular operation, they failed). Rather, the focus is on the hardships and pain of losing your buddy who had fought hand-in-hand with you. This short music video encapsulate the essence of the movie itself, using many of the touching and sorrowful moments to capture the audience’s attention. Better than the actual trailer itself, this short clip will convince you to watch the movie(if you haven’t done so), and persuade you to re-watch it(if you have already watched it). In this music video, none of the dialogue in the scenes can be heard, as the background music is playing. However, through the various scenes we can see how non-verbal cues can be even more effective than verbal cues in allowing the audience to interpret the movie. Although you may have difficulty in making sense of the song(it’s not english), the translated lyrics is a very powerful reflection of the movie too(will be looking at it as well).

First scene, a massive contingent of black hawks were despatched on a mission, the troops onboard will be doing hostile insertion from the choppers. It was a majestic first scene, a typical scene where the US army flexed its military muscle, determined to complete the mission with success. However things went terribly wrong right from the start, something that they could really do without. While the troops were repelling down from the black hawks, one of the chopper was attacked by a militant using RPG(rocket-propelled grenade). In bid to evade the incoming threat, the pilot was forced to swerve the chopper sideways. Unfortunately at this spilt moment, one of the rangers was getting ready to repel down, the unanticipated swerve threw him off balance and he fell overboard. His friend could only watch on helplessly as he disappeared into a cloud dust stirred up by the chopper’s rotating blades. Down at ground zero, the rangers who have successfully negotiated the first obstacle found themselves trapped in a hostile environment. Enemy fire were coming from all directions, the rangers were barely able to make out the directions when they found themselves under a barrage of fire from the militants. Their immediate priority is to set up a safety parameter, so that the other troops can land safely. At the same time, that will allow the medics to tend to the soldier who had fallen from the chopper. It was not an easy task as bullets were whizzing past them and they were in unfamiliar territory. What made things worse is that the chopper was unable to land to evacuate the injured soldier, that was why all the rangers had to repel down from the black hawks in the first place.

In the following scene, a few rangers were attending to one of their brother who was shot in the midst of an intensive gun battle. They need to extract the bullet and stabilise his condition immediately, as there is no way to evacuate any injured soldiers. They were alone, and they have to do everything they can within their abilities to save him. They scrambled to extract the bullet and apply pressure on the wound to slow down blood loss. Doses after doses of morphine was given to him, the pain was excruciating. Despite having the bullet extracted, everyone knows that his time is running out, he might not live to see the next sunrise. It was a heart-breaking moment, despite doing whatever they can, they still have to resign to fate that they will be losing yet another brother. It did not take long before the injured soldier took his final breath, one of the ranger continued to do CPR on him, believing that he will come back to life. He was infuriated that fate has so cruelly taken away one of his brother, he is not willing to accept it. Despair and helplessness were seen on the faces of others, as they were forced to accept the reality that they have lost yet another brother. As for the fallen ranger, his expression is as if that he has something that he wants to say, but he ran out of time to say it. He has unfinished business, and he wants his fellow brothers to accomplish it on his behalf.

The next scene is a combination of three separate scenes in the movie. In one of the scene, one of the black hawk was shot down by militants. The remaining two crew who survived the crash were busy fending off the assaults from the militants, despite being heavily outnumbered both of them fought on valiantly. Although they know that they probably will still end up dead when their bullets run out, they fought out, holding hope that other rangers will arrive soon to assist them. One of them was killed by a shot to his head shortly after, leaving his friend stranded. It did not take long before he too was gunned down by the mob closing in on the wreckage that was providing him cover from the barrage of fire. This was interrupted by another scene briefly in intervals, in which one ranger was yelling out to his fellow ranger, warning him about incoming threat. That was just about enough to save his life, for that moment. This scene depict a close call scenario, in which the soldier was only meters away from losing his life if not for his friend. His friend ran over immediately to check that he was doing fine, and was happy to see him still alive and kicking. That shows the close bond among the soldiers, they treat each other just like brothers. It was a battle that they might not win, but if they stay close and fight together, there is still an outside chance of making it out alive. Another scene showed one of the ranger looking at a photo with his wife and son, knowing that will be his last chance of seeing his loved ones. It may be just a very simple move, but this move contain a lot of emotions and feelings.

Moving on, the next scene is another close call scenario. One of the ranger was leaving a house and moving into an alley. As he was stepping out of the house, he slipped and fell. It was a life-saving slip, as it allow his to dodge a few rounds of bullets “intended” for him initially. After overcoming a series of challenges, a small platoon of them managed to make it out of the hostile zone proceed back to the nearest UN camp. The picture shows the group of them running together, symbolising that they have conquered the obstacles together as a unit, and that helped them get out of a nearly impossible situation. That meant a lot to them, it is not merely about getting out alive. It is about overcoming all the odds stacked against them, they rose to the occasion and won. It was not a victory by outguning their enemies, but by outwitting and outsmarting their enemies.

Next, one of the ranger was spending time beside the body of his fallen brother in the mortuary. The flashbacks were going through his mind at this moment, all the dangers they have been exposed together, the close shave they had. All these are now memories that he will hold dear to his heart, in memory of his fallen brother. The dead ranger looked more at peace now, seemingly knowing that all his brothers had made it out alive and safe. Perhaps relieved that someone will be able to tell people his story on his behalf, about how bravely he fought. The final scene is perhaps the most gory in the whole music video. It shows a dying ranger whose lower body has been blown away by a grenade, he has only a few more breaths left. His fellow ranger walked over to him and held his hand tightly, as if to tell him to go in peace, the suffering will end very soon. It was not meant to be a disturbing scene, but the main purpose perhaps is to depict how the rangers show genuine care and concern for each other, even right up till the final moments of a dying brother. It does not matter if he is missing his lower body, missing one limb or two, he is after all part of the team that embark of this dangerous mission. And they should be treated with the same respect and honour as everyone else who made it out alive.

While watching this music video, it is not hard to detect the regular use of kinesics(body movements, hand actions, showing of care and concern), oculesics and haptics are especially dominant in the scene where the young ranger died in the presence of his friends. At the same time, the background environment serve as a reminder of the courage shown by those rangers in battling so hard, not just for their own survival, but for everyone who was with the team.

The song is sang in Breton, the celtic language of Brittany. It reflects the feelings of those soldiers who made it out alive, but were hapless that some of their fellow comrades were killed in the operation. It says that they will always be waiting for their fallen brothers to come back, which actually means that although they know that these fallen brothers will not be coming back. They still hold out hope that one day, they will meet each other. Only that, their wounded heart will heal, as the pain of losing someone so close to them is unbearable. Their absense were so sorely missed that those who are still alive would not mind joining their brothers in the “other realm”, for it is a land of peace and calm, away from the brutality of wars. Until that day happens, they will be held close to their hearts in memory as a great brother.

UN’s effort to push for democratisation took a hard battering as Myanmar’s military government continue to impose strict control measures. A UN’s suggestion to allow independent observers to monitor the upcoming national referendum on a new Constitution was firmly rejected. Despite making countless trips to Myanmar in the capacity of UN special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari admitted that the progress made is not satisfactory. The military government has rejected the suggestion which is aimed at enhancing the credibility of the vote with international community, saying that there is no precedent for it and it will infringe Myanmar’s sovereignty.

Clearly, the military government has shown that it is not ready to relinquish its power, and they could be prepared to deploy extreme measures to make sure that it stays this way. Let’s recall that last year, thousands of monks initiated peaceful demonstrations all over the country in an attempt to support the democratisation of the country. Despite the massive scale of the demonstrations, it was a non-physical affair until the government resort to violence in order to disperse the crowd. That resulted in a number of fatalities and many more injuried, curfew was implemented in bid to bring order to chaos. No justification was required by the military government for the brutalities they committed, against unarmed monks the military was ordered to fire on them. I see that the Yangon leaders probably fear that those monks could use joss sticks as weapons and start a coup perhaps?  

The UN has been pushing for accelerated dialogue between the junta and opposition, as well as the release of political prisoners. However, the military regime has shown no sign of implementing either action. They even claimed that there are no political prisoners under custody, the detention of Ms Suu Kyi was due to her attempt to disrupt the country’s stability. Made no mistake, it is a well-known fact that the detention of Ms Suu Kyi was because of her influence as an opposition leader. The military regime sees her as a genuine threat to their absolute control of the country, thus they must seize the initiative to keep her movements in check. If she was just another normal citizen, the Yangon leaders would not even know who she is, let alone to keep tabs on her.

There seems to be no progress made over the past few months, despite UN and the international community imposing sanctions on Myanmar and calling for the process of democratisation to be accelerated. Now if Myanmar can cope with the sanctions imposed, there is no real hope of seeing any change. Because the military regime knows this very well, the UN and international community can only go as far as imposing sanctions, there is no chance of any military action against them. Apart from voicing their disapproval, the international community can do nothing of any use at all. In all honesty, it is hard to see the militar regime being ousted unless something drastic happen. The most probable will be uprising of the people, of course there will be plenty of bloodshed and violence, but how much do the Myanmese want democracy? Even if they are desperate enough for it, what are the chances of them succeeding? It seems very remote that the UN will step in to  intervene, and with opposition kept in check closely the only possible outcome is that the situation will remain unchanged. Don’t forget, Myanmar is not known to have precious natural resource like oil, apart from diplomatic sanctions it is not likely for foreign power like US to even contemplate moving in to displace the military regime. Regional neighbours are even less likely to intervene. Singapore’s busy looking for the elusive JI escapee, Malaysia’s reeling from the shock results of the election, Thailand is kept occupied with the corruption charges of former PM Thaksin, who will be interested to look into Myanmar’s problem? None I’m afraid.

Why should Myanmar accept democracy? It is not merely confiscating power from the military regime, and embrace democracy like what most countries in the world are doing. In an era where globalization and technological advancement dominates, Myanmar’s conservative and individualistic approach has severely hampered its growth. Just take a look at the region around Myanmar. Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam have all undergone massive economic changes, they are all developing at a rapid pace. Even Cambodia is also pushing its economy forward. By closing its doors to reforms and democratisation, Myanmar risk losing out even more. With decreased competitiveness, it is likely that the people of Myanmar are bound to suffer even more. And in reality, the use of “international community” being concerned is not quite a true reflection, most of those concerned are human rights groups. Now that the incident has died down, how many people actually are bothered about it at all? I would have forgotten about it completely if not for coming across this article which refresh my memory.

With reference to the above article published on channelnewsasia website, it seems quite ridiculous to link it up with the escape of JI detainee Mas Selamat Kastari. Strengthening mutual trust among residents, not an alien concept to us, but it is never something that most, or many of us will bother about. In the first place, the level of trust among residents is not any kind of realistic concern. And there are no signs of it becoming a source of worry for us in the near future. So the conclusion is simple; it is not a very important issue and the attention spent on it is uncalled for.

I quote from the article “That is why the grassroots cluster of the Community Engagement Programme (CEP) is working to strengthen mutual trust among residents.” So that means this programme is put into place because of the escape? I doubt so, surely it must have been started before that. In which case, why the need to link it to the escape? Sounds and looks pretty stupid to be honest, how relevant is the escape to the programme I would ask. Our local media has not been forthcoming in the coverage of the escape, starving us of information that should be revealed. Unless they are going to cover this piece of news in similar method they used for Mas Selamat’s escape, I see no point in bringing it up at all. How does the escape underline the importance of trust in the community? We have no been doubting each other, there is not discrimination shown towards our muslim friends because of the incident, the level of trust in our community is not affected in any way, so there is not issue of trust withint our community at all!

Instead, the incident highlight how much trust can we put in our media. Providing us with pathetic amount of information, some of which had to be corrected A FEW DAYS later, contradicting information(eg. claims that he should be in singapore, but even with high-tech equipments and sniffer dogs, ZERO clues have been found. no suspicion of foulplay even after all these).  When a high-risk terrorist group leader escaped while in our custody and remain at large for over a week, the only sensible thing is to cease any unnecessary coverage on it. Fancy linking an article on communal trust with the escape, and the fact that we are not even close to nabbing the JI escapee.

“Singapore should not wait for a case like the JI leader’s escape to build confidence among the people”, in any way how did the escape build confidence among us? Confident that if the authorities don’t get him then we will? Or confident that we will be able to locate him after knowing that his limping got better since he escaped? Or that we could find him in the toilet bowl since he disappeared while visiting the washroom? Come on, what message is this article trying to send out to the public? Well yes many people have expressed of their confidence in the authorities’ ability to track down the escapee. Fair enough, if the authorities cannot locate him, the possibility of a member of the public doing it is quite remote as well given our knowledge of him. So if this is the kind of confidence that the article is referring to, that means we have to create new scenarios in order to build up the confidence eh? Very interesting indeed…

“Halimah Yacob, MP for Jurong GRC, said: “For instance, when I attend residents’ wakes, I make sure I bring other races as well, so in Chinese wakes, there’ll be Malays and Indians. In that way, we break the barriers.” This look even worse, so now we should try to promote racial harmony during wakes? Even if it is the exact sentences made by the MP, the content ought to be modified to prevent any form of misunderstanding. If it is done at wedding I will say that is very acceptable, now doing that at a wake, I see that as mildly disrespectful and inappropriate at the very least. Imagine how the family of the deceased will feel when the wake becomes a gathering? There is a limit to everything, there are right conditions to do certain things, some of these do not require you to be a genius to understand it. In fact, a bit of common sense should do the trick. Really, this article should be taken down for all the irrelevant link and information…

As the relentless islandwide manhunt for JI former detainee (now escapee) continue, the focus of public debate shifted from where could he be hiding to the communication break-down in the media coverage of his escape. Truly, for a nation that is known for it’s watertight security and no-nonsense style of dealing with such threats, it is seen as a remarkable escape by many. And the bigger embarrassment should come from the fact that Mas Selamat Kastari had attempted to escape from a prison in Batam without success while he was held there few years back, but he managed to do it in Singapore. This incident reflect a bigger underlying issue that we are facing; the government is being over-cautious in its handling of the escape, to the extent that the media coverage is almost non-existent (covering everything but the right one).  

News of the escape broke to the public FOUR hours after it happened, a lengthy period of time which could have allow the escapee to move around without arousing any suspicion. The explanation given was that the authorities needed to be sure of what was happening before giving out information. Not convincing at all, sounds pretty much like a lame excuse, because the information given eventually was in drips and draps. Beefing up border security and informing the public of the escape can be done simultaneously, the delay of four hours is more than sufficient for Mas Selamat to escape. Maybe not be our land routes into Malaysia, but waterways definitely a possibility. From experience, although the patrol of our coastal regions are marked out into zones and covered by the coast guards, it is not a common practice to check every single vessel entering/leaving our waters. A solitary speedboat zipping out of our waters has almost 100% chance of getting through without any hassle. Stepping up security is to stop Mas Selamat from escaping out of Singapore, but in order to “paralyse” him in his movements while he is still on the island, you need the public to act like an eye, to keep a lookout for him. You can deploy all your police officers to hunt for him, but it is still not as effective as getting the public to keep an eye for anyone who resembles him.

Next, so many days after the escape, and the public is not informed of what exactly happened. How did he manage to escape? What exactly is the security breach that result in this? Again, we only learned that due to security reasons, the exact details will not be disclosed. Come on! I do not see the disclosure of such information making the hunt for him more difficult. It seems more likely that the authorities are just covering up some blatant mistakes committed at the detention centre. Interpol was alerted only two days after the escape as well, why is that the case? Mas Selamat is not known to be a terrorist that only operates in Singapore, his network covers the region from Indonesia up to Malaysia, he is not a normal criminal mind you. If it is due to security reasons that Interpol was not informed immediately, then I really do not see why they should even inform Interpol at all. Almost a week after his escape, the search failed to yield any substantial clue on where Mas Selamat could have been. With sniffer dogs, cutting-edge technology and a large contingent of law enforcement officers deployed to track him down, the result so far has been utterly disappointing. Or could it be due to “security reasons” that minimal information is being released, again?

Not forgetting, information like height, build, weight of Mas Selamat Kastari were released a few days after the escape. The clothings that he was wearing when he escaped which could be another piece of critical information was also released few days late. Worse, initial information that he walks with a limp was corrected a few days later, the limping is only obvious when he runs, not when he walks at normal pace. Two grave errors committed, inaccurate information released and critical information held back for a few days before being released. And what is being done to ensure that similar security breach will not happen again? There is so much uncertainty in the coverage of Mas Selamat’s escape, that only leaves room for imagination to run wild. Like the conspiracy theories that he is already dead, or he is ‘intentionally released’ so that they can extend his detention period. Worse still, there have been rumours circulating that it is only a decoy to divert our attention from the increase in cost of living. Hardly useful in our bid to capture the JI escapee. We really need to be more transparent in handling issues like this, it concerns the security of our nation where everyone could play a part, keeping so much information away is hardly the right approach to adopt…

In the above short clip of Obama’s speech made in December 2007, it highlights the consensus that Obama is a gifted speaker with the knack to deliver his messages in a convincing manner. He pointed out that the States should not be known for only capable of leading through the use of military, which is becoming a stereotype amidst heavy involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq with the backing of their armed forces of course. Instead, they can lead the world by building schools, improving literacy rates, showing that US has the more “humane” side. They need to do away with the image of them forcing others into submission through violence, because it is garnering a lot of opposition against them because of that.

 Next, he mentioned that they should seize the initiative to alleviate the HIV problem that has plagued sub-Saharan Africa for the past few decades. He justify the need for US to get involved as it is the “right thing to do”, which is a matter of morality issue. It is one of the more pressing global concerns that we are facing, but unlike global warming which requires more than one country to resolve the problem, tackling HIV is a more “manageable problem compared to that. Of course it is not as easy as it sounds, but at least the spread of HIV can be checked with the proper solutions put in place. Again, the emphasis is that US not only cares about oil, but also sufferings caused by HIV which decimated a large portion of the African population.

 Then he move onto proposing the closure of Guantanamo Bay, as he believed that the detention camp is all but a symbol of violation and infringement of human rights. It is known to many that the detainees are Gauantanamo are mostly detained without proper trial, and Obama firmly believe that it should not be done that way. This is more like a move to court the votes of human rights activists, and how this argument will gain him support from the patriotic Americans is a question mark though. Although many of the Americans do not agree with the detention of terrorists without putting them through the proper trial procedures, and it is simply wrong to detain them without proving them guilty. Just like the phrase “innocent until proven guilty” perhaps. Saying that, one wonders how else can those detainees be “disposed”, for their release could pose more threat to the security of US and her citizens.

Another agenda is to end the genocide in Darfur. It is a military conflict in western Sudan that is estimated to have claimed the lives of at least 200, 000, with another 2.5 million being displaced. Getting involved to stop the genocide is a little similar to the case of curbing the spread of HIV in Africa, both are problems that already attract global concerns and require immediate remedies to be put in place. However this will be a tougher issue altogether, as surely it will involve the participation of the US military. And with their resources spreaded out with the involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, it remains to be seen how much US is willing to commit to eradicate the problem.

Through his speech, Obama stressed that there are many ways for the US to lead, but they must be able to do it the right way, it is not through the use of missiles and bullets. Rather, involvement in non-military issues should be the way to go. He believe he knows best what to do, to allow US to lead without compromising the well-being of Americans. His use of langauge and tone  is the key element in all his speeches, all his ideas/proposals are being conveyed in a forceful yet convincing manner. He wants to win the support of the people, by reducing US military involvement in the world as they are suffering from casualties that should not have happened in the first place, he wants US to take charge by solving urgent problems without having any sort of financial gain(as in the case of Iraq). Another reason why his speech tends to win people over is because of his ethnicity. Being a black, it means that he could be ostracised quite often in the process of growing up, and he definitely understands what is it like. To have gone through that and rightfully he has earned the right to say, “I’ve been there, done that”. His modest background will give him more credibility, together with his innate ability to win over people with his highly-charged and motivational speeches, it’ll certainly help him garner crucial votes in the upcoming elections…

English Premier League leaders Arsenal’s intriging 2-2 draw at the St Andrews with relegation strugglers Birmingham City took the headlines of sporting papers all over the world, not for the fact that the leaders dropped points despite playing with a man advantage practically the whole match. The incident of the match was the horrific injury that Arsenal striker Eduardo suffered, which saw the Croatian broke his left leg. Many outraged fans have called for lifetime ban from soccer for Martin Taylor, the man responsible for putting in the reckless challenge. The injury was bad, that goes without saying. However, is Taylor really to be blamed for it? Was it an intentional challenge? To be honest, only Martin himself will know the intent of that challenge, despite the fact that it seem to many that it’s a malicious tackle, it could be otherwise.

Let’s just take a look at some photos captured by the sideline cameras. In one of the photo Taylor was seen smiling, that’s seconds after making the tackle. Seems like he is smiling indeed, although the poor quality of the photo leaves much to be desired, and it could be a little distorted for all we know. In a sense, miscommunication arised because fans and media alike are quick to jump to conclusion based on that particular photo. Adding to that, the graphic nature of Eduardo’s injury meant that photos published are minimum. It would help if that particular shot can be seen from other angles. The media hasn’t help much in calming outraged fans baying for Taylor’s blood, the defender was correctly sent off for his tackle. It is normal to judge that Taylor is at fault for inflicting such a horrific injury, afterall it was his tackle that result in Eduardo breaking his leg. However, the manner in which the media and sporting papers covered this incident was quite negative. Thus, it resulted in most of the readers crying for severe foul play, they were misled by the media. Well, punishment has been dished out, the Football Association probably will be looking into replays to see if any further action need to be taken. Intentional or not, it will be reviewed by a panel of judges before any additional punishments will be given. It may not be an accurate judgement eventually, but if justice has to be done(through punishments), I am sure it will be done.

To be frank, it doesn’t seem likely that Taylor had made that tackle with ill intent. It’s a bad tackle, but unlikely to be bad intentions. It looks more like a routine tackle, unfortunately it went totally wrong. There isn’t any form of bad blood known between the two players involved, and the fact that it is only 2mins into the match, surely it must have been the first contact between the both in this match. So the possibility of Taylor aiming to hurt Eduardo does seem very remote. Not forgetting that this is not a highly-charged derby match between two cross town rivals, or a crucial 6-pointer match where players will throw in everything they have. TV replays show a distraught Taylor holding his head in disbelief, the concern was genuine to say the least. Just like all the other players from both teams who were shaking their heads and showed a grim face, Taylor was worried about the condition of Eduardo’s injury. Taylor didn’t argue regarding the referee’s decision to send  him off, he knows that going by the rules it’s a straight ejection. Probably he was more concerned about Eduardo than his participation in the match? It was revealed by people who had know him for quite a period of time that Taylor despite his massive frame, is by no means a person who goes onto the field to hurt others. Dubbed the “gentle giant”, many even expressed their surprise to know that Taylor’s appearance is a far cry from his personality. Judging by his reactions, it will be fair to say that Taylor wouldn’t have made that tackle if he knows that Eduardo will be injured, but it happened and well we can only wish that Eduardo recover fast…

Well, our GST stands at 7% now, and it was revealed a few years back that the ideal tax should be at around 10%. Wow, the last I know is Canada having a tax rate of 13%. So are we moving into a partial welfare state, if not a fully functional welfare state? Impossible, it’s as likely as Osama holding live concert in USA and having a fullhouse of jubilant fans. See my point? Why the need for such high tax rate? We have always hear the same stories that Singapore has to remain competitive, because we have to stay ahead of competition in order to survive. So I supposed we’ll be more competitive with higher tax rate then. We charge higher prices for our services, we sell our products at a higher price, and in return we’ll be very competitive, wishful thinking? I wish that I can explain how high tax rate works out to us being more competitive, but sadly I’m unable to. Now back to the issue of rising costs of living. I reckon that the public assistance scheme won’t be of much help, why? You have to apply in order to be eligible for it, and even so you might not be successful. So what we have now, families that are really really hit hard by the rising costs of living, and their situation is sort of desperate. In that case those who don’t apply for it, are assumed to be able to cope with it. I’m sure that’s not the case. Most would definitely opt for the “easy way” out, as long as they can get by through reducing their daily expenses like do away with “luxurious” meals, taking cabs when travelling etc. Singaporeans are known to shun away from the troubles of having to apply for such schemes. So if they can do without all these additional burdens, surely they’ll do so. Not too sure whether the government has this in mind, because on the surface it will appear that they are out to help. However in reality they know that most people will not take up the offer. So the whole situation becomes like this: I offer help, if you need it then by all means apply for it, if not I can do nothing. In layman’s terms, take it or leave it.

My proposal of lifting the tax on basic necessity items will be a better alternative. First, you don’t have to crack your brain to come up with new plans to counter the problem, and you won’t even need to go through all the applications. I’m sure not only the lower income families are affected by this problem, the mid-income families are definitely going to feel the pinch as well. On top of the increase in your daily spendings, now the tax adds on to the burden as price of the items go up. In other words, the tax also goes up because now it’s imposed on more costly items. Certainly, we can do without those additional costs. Yes it’s going to affect the income of our government, but is the well-being of the toffers more important, or the survival of the citizens? Our shrewd leaders definitely have enough to come up with other alternatives to maintain or increase the income of the government, because by doing so they’ll be entitled to more wage increase anyway. Since they need “superhuman” qualities to run the country, keep it competitive and implement whatever measures that they believed is for the good of Singapore. And you know why they stress so much on human resources being the most important asset that Singapore has? And why the urgency to push our population up by issuing citizenship to foreigners, claiming that we need more foreign talent? The equation works like this, foreigners converted to citizens + singaporeans = human resources = more tax, more income for government. Well the last thing I know is that Christmas isn’t round the corner yet, don’t just look at things on the surface. Remember this, there is NO free lunch in this world, much less a country like ours. Should you be happy for all these counter-measures to tackle rising cost of living? I leave it up to your judgement…

Prior to the all-important clash an Anfield against strugglin Sunderland, much has been discussed in the media regarding the piss-poor form of the Reds, 4 consecutive draws & a defeat at west ham to show for, certainly no title contender’s performance. With the Reds languishing in 7th spot, 3 places away from the final UCL berth, and the solid run of results by Aston Villa, Man City and Everton, even the most die-hard Kop fan will find it hard to make a stand. Understandably, the anguish and frustration of the fans are not without a reason. Since the arrival of Spanish coach Rafa Benitez, the Reds haven’t have much success in the league, always falling short during crucial periods, while the capture of UCL trophy was a positive point, EPL success have eluded them. Qualification for UCL is by no means a formality, although with 15 more rounds to go the Reds are still marginal favourites to capture the final UCL spot. They got to arrest this recent slump in form though, otherwise they’ll make hard work of themselves, a story all too familiar with the Kop faithful.

Much of the debate has circled around the annoying and unsuccessful tinkering policy adopted by Benitez and the management policies of the club’s American owners, so much so that a group of fans have stood up with an audacious move to buy over the rights of the club. Is the reason behind the Kop recent demise really down to that? Hardly so I’d say, I’ll attribute it more the the players. No doubt that the rotation policy embraced by Benitez hasn’t done the squad any good, there’s no consistency in the team when you keep having different players coming into the squad. The quality of the players seem to be the biggest concern when you look at how the Reds have played in recent matches.

Hyypia’s is well past his best, he can still be a tremendous presence in the team at times, but more often than not, he’s a liability to the team. Riise and Aurelio seemed more interested in getting forward than getting the tackles in at the back. Kewell’s no longer the australian wizard that the Kop faithful saw few seasons ago, much like Voronin, he’s the tendency to “get lost” midway through the match, and often running around the pitch like a headless fly. Pennant, the pacey winger has the pace, but he refused to do the primary job of a winger, that is to cross the ball into the box. How many times have we seen the former Arsenal winger run circles round the penalty box without making a incisive pass? Upfront dutch bomber kuyt has impressed with his work rate, but nothing more, you can run a few hundred miles in a single match but with no goals to show it’s as good as nothing. Not that the Reds don’t have quality players, torres gerrard babel to mention a few, but with most of the team struggling to perform these players probably won’t be able to aid the team’s cause.

How much longer will it take before the Reds can start to get things together and play like how they should be? Not long perhaps, this match against Sunderland is a perfect opportunity for them to turn the tide and hit the ground running again. Forget about the title, it’s as likely as Mr Bush inviting Osama for a meal, to hope that the trio of Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd to drop so many points is just impossible. Focus on securing the final UCL berth, and get your heads down to work before Benitez gets the boot!

Hot on the heels of new measures to be taken in the near future to enhance the efficiency of our public transport system, we have more “new year ang bao” in the shape of more ERP gantries to be installed in coming months. Apologies, I mean ang baos for the government, not the citizens. Total number of gantries will soar up to a staggering 71, will it solve the traffic congestion problem? Maybe, maybe not. It’s no secret that compared to the days when our road users have the luxury of entering CDB without additional charges, the traffic congestion problem is still pretty much the same now. If not, worse. The main culprits for the traffic congestion are none other than those working in the CBD. In reality, the installation of new gantries will have minimal effect on easing the congestion troubles. Would you expect these people not to drive to work? If they can afford the cost of maintaining private transport, chances are these additional road charges will only be a mere pinch to them. In other words, the ERP gantries will not be an effective deterrence at all. To sum it up, it’s more money paid with the same old problem with congestion again. Why not just install the gantries at every carpark entrance, since the motive behind ERP gantries is more likely a monetary issue than to really solve the root cause of the problem? Or just cordon off the whole CBD during peak hours, making public transport the only means of entry into the CBD? Bollocks, so much in the name of “easing traffic congestion”, and at the end of the day, we’ll be facing the familiar congestion again…

Based on the information gathered from the papers shortly after announcement of the ERP increase, it’s revealed that close to 90% of the road users said that frequencies of trip into the CBD will not decrease because either they have no choice, it’s still more convenient to drive than take public transport or the price hike is still affordable. While this may not be a precise gauge of the market situation, it gives you an idea of how much an impact those ERP gantries have on controlling the congestion problem. Well if the intention is to encourage more people to take public transport, this move is certainly not going to work. And earlier there’re already talks about the cost of public transport going up, so isn’t it like choosing the lesser of two evils? Ultimately, the consumer will lose out, that’s without any doubt.

Here’s one interesting link for the ERP issue: http://www.mrbrownshow.com/2008/02/04/the-mrbrown-show-2-many-2-count-erp-drift/