Eradicating The Leviathan Mindset

Read more about LEVIATHAN and how a civil society can correct the damages of excessive government under the following links :-

(a) Meaning of Leviathan

(b) Thomas Hobbes & Leviathan in Literature

(c) Leviathan - Doctrine of the Foundation of States and Legitimate Governments

(d) A Framework For Thinking About Civil Society

(e) How can civil society correct the damages of excessive government?

Diary of A Singaporean Mind: You don't have to tell Hougang how to vote!#.T7r6c7D-E5k.facebook

Diary of A Singaporean Mind: You don't have to tell Hougang how to vote!#.T7r6c7D-E5k.facebook

TODAYonline | Voices | Encourage hiring for 45-54 age group, too

TODAYonline | Voices | Encourage hiring for 45-54 age group, too

Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Singapore : A country of Extremes

I have not been blogging recently. I had been listening and watching all this while the Budget debates etc recovery actions by our GOVT since GE 2010. This article is something I had been waiting for all this while and would have wish to have written it personally.

Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Singapore : A country of Extremes - By Lucky Tan

Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Budget Tweaks : Small fixes for big problems....

I like this article by Lucky Tan about the CPF reinstatement, a topic I had followed for many years including writing to the press then that it was all wrong...It shows how "cock-up" PAP policies really are ... nice read.
Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Budget Tweaks : Small fixes for big problems....

Diary of A Singaporean Mind: The plight of Singapore's son Fandi Ahmad....

Diary of A Singaporean Mind: The plight of Singapore's son Fandi Ahmad....

Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Obama's 2012 State of the Union Address

Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Obama's 2012 State of the Union Address

祝 ：龙马精神 新年快乐 GONG XI FA CAI

祝 ：
龙马精神
新年快乐
GONG XI FA CAI

TODAYonline | Voices | Political success is not a transaction

TODAYonline Voices Political success is not a transaction

" ... a non-alignment of values is one of the reasons why individuals decline to enter politics."

TODAYonline | World | Britain likely to push through laws against excessive boardroom pay

TODAYonline World Britain likely to push through laws against excessive boardroom pay

A Great "Ponding" Shot

I happened to drop by Republic Polytechnic (one of my past projects) to deliver some documents today and took this shot. It will certainly make a great "PONDING" shot of the New Year 2012. Wish them a "Great Open House 2012" from 5 Jan 2012.

The Pond at Republic Polytechnic

 

TODAYonline | Singapore | 'Substantial cuts' to political appointment holders' salaries proposed

TODAYonline Singapore 'Substantial cuts' to political appointment holders' salaries proposed

The committee had decided to benchmark an entry-level minister's salary to the median income of the top 1,000 earners, who are Singapore citizens, with a 40 per cent discount to signify the ethos and sacrifice of political service.

Based on 2011 income data from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, the new benchmark figure is S$1.1 million.

The suggested salary formula features fixed and variable pay components that are linked to performance and national outcomes. The formula is as such:Annual salary (20 months) = fixed component (13 months) + annual variable component (usually 1 month) + individual performance bonus (3 months for good performers) +national bonus (3 months if targets are met).

This means that an entry-level minister, whose annual salary is S$1.1 million (20 months), will draw a fixed salary of S$715,000. The remainder is variable.

TODAYonline | Voices | Corporate mindset, more than salaries, needs to be tackled

TODAYonline Voices Corporate mindset, more than salaries, needs to be tackled

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

。 ° · 。 · ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛
。° 。 ° 。˚ ˛ · ˚ ˚ ˛
★HAPPY★ 。 · ˚ ˚ ˛
。NEW YEAR 。 。°
_Π_＿ 。 ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛
/____＿/ ＼。˚ ˚ ˛ ˚
 l田田田 |門| ˚ ˛

Wishing All Friends - Happy Holidays

Myspace Graphics, Season's Greetings Graphics at WishAFriend.com

What will the world be like in 2012?

What will change in 2012? What will stay the same? Here are 12 presentations that take a look at where we’ve all been in 2011 and predict trends that we’ll see in the coming year.

Link :- Read them here.

Story of the Year 2011 - Of Tall Trees (Leviathan) and Mushrooms

2011 was an eventful Year. The World was "rocked" with events from The Great Sendai / Miyagi Earthquake and Tsunami  ... The Great Bangkok Flood ... just as NZ Christchurch was jolted by another quake  as I started to draft this posting while the Euro-Zone Crisis continues..

It had been an exciting year for me personally. Two major events had been most significant, meaningful and memorable for me to have participated in 2011.

(a) The Presidential Election Campaign

(b) The Opening of the New Clementi Interchange

The first was for supporting a friend on a worthy cause and brought me closer to a better understanding of the new social media.

PE 2011 Collectibles

The second was part of my regular job for a project and brought me closer to look at the recent events hitting the SMRT as a public transporter. Both has a wave of nostalgia.



Does the arrow means MRT and Bus fares will  continue to rise as HDB flat prices skyrocket in the background ?



I was thinking what to write to close for 2011 and to welcome 2012 in a new way for this blog. I thought it would be great to recap the following "Story of the Year 2011" which now appears very well said during the last General Election, retrospectively.

Quote

The story was :-

...about a village which was sheltered by special tall trees which protected it from storms. Yet the villagers were tempted by mushrooms which spouted only every five years.

"The villagers asked, 'Are these mushrooms any good? They are so pretty. Shall we remove some of these tall trees and allow the wild mushrooms to grow?' And so the wise old man told them that these mushrooms may look pretty but some of them are poisonous, and 'if you associate too closely with them, these wild mushrooms will weaken us, stunt our growth, and retard our development. Leave them alone, protect the trees, these trees are special trees'."

Unquote

As if a magical spell was casted, we watched the "story" befallen on the SMRT, as I also wrote here in this blog about its corporate culture; and ironically on the great story teller during GE 2011.

If the CEO can't change the culture and the Leader (great story teller) could not spot the poisonous mushrooms, what do you do? Appoint a "BOI" and bring in an Union "Superman" while another tries to stamp out the villagers' noise?  There are no more Wise Old Man to "re-juvenate" this simple story of Tall Trees (Leviathan) and Mushrooms again ..... One must at be an ardent practitioner of taiji or at least make it to the Exco of an International Tai Chi  Federation to stay cool when the crisis get too heated up. Does this sum up "what politics are all about" (when we struggled to  Hi 5, LOL) ?

It is easier to tell a story than solve an organisational cultural issue as the reality will unfold.  With this, I close 2011 for this blog, as we await Story of the Year for 2012 - "How to lower Ministers' Million Dollar Salaries without having them to ruminate and regret for 5 years?". I will return with a new series on What exacerbates Middle Income Stagnation in Singpore and the Marginalization of PMETs jobs due to "Foreign Talents" in the new year.

All the best in the New Year ahead. Cheers.

Blame SMRT’s corporate culture

Tend to agree with this article by P N Balji. I share similar thoughts in my earlier posting, "SMRT - A Public Transporter that Went Terribly Wrong with its Business Model ".

'Blame SMRT’s corporate culture, LTA’s lack of regular checks'

TODAYonline | Voices | Timely measures were taken to prevent property market bubble

TODAYonline Voices Timely measures were taken to prevent property market bubble

Elderly woman suffers head injury after SMRT bus fall.

Now another incident involving SMRT as reported in Yahoo News. Blame it on bad luck?

Elderly woman suffers head injury after SMRT bus fall.

Ding was with her daughter at Orchard Road near the Heeren on Sunday night when they both boarded bus service 164. 

While on the bus, the bus captain suddenly jammed the brakes, causing the 54-year-old Ding to lose her footing and fall. She then hit her head on a seat and fell unconscious. It’s believed she fractured her skull during the fall.

She was sent to the Singapore General Hospital where an operation was performed to stop the internal bleeding in her brain. She is still in critical condition.