Emptiness is only an illusion and delusion of our own mind. When we detached ourselves slowly into the reality of life and death, we will understand that there is no clinging to the impossible.
It is only a human emotional inclination. The degree of sadness all depends on one's disposition of thought. Life is death , Death is life.
In fact , at a right old age of 95 with no major sickness ..it is a bliss to be in the kingdom of heaven..dancing with the angels..We are all blessed to send our mother on her eternal journey with no suffering and pain..Hence we do not cling on to life impermanence !
patrick lee song juan
Monday, January 9, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
The Fall of a pseudo Iron Lady - Saw Phaik Hwa
The Fall of a pseudo Iron Lady
2002 (or 2001 ?) was the GE year and PAP maintained the majority with the same two opposition MPs in parliament! The political might perpetuate on yet again by the ruling party. 82 against 2.....Only two birds chirping to their heavy metal band!!...But life goes on hard and tough for many under our 'efficient and honest' government.
Last year, 2011 was a political renaissance. An emotional watershed . And WP won 6 seats against 87. Yet again PAP increased from the last GE another 5 MP seats..When will they stop putting more numbers (MPs) in a small island S'pore...Why do we need so many part time FAT paid MPs, ($192,000 a year) who just tag along with the flowing tide of the ruling PAP. Wayang here and there during CC and RC functions with grandeur!
Little did they ever dream that in 2011, a political awakening, not might of the voters forever changed the course of the formidable, impenetrable fortress of PAP's dominance.And it is that year of 2002, a 'tomboy' single lady by the name of Saw Phaik Hwa (SPH) joined SMRT as CEO albeit having no engineering background but a not so successful retailer from DFS..Why I said so?... SPH was retrenched from DFS and catapulted to CEO of SMRT. Is it her merit in meritocracy S'pore or by some powerful connection?...no one really knew!?
Many were surprised that she was chosen to head a big corporation without the relevant experience or degree! But within a short frame of time, she proved her worth by building not the core operations of the SMRT system but the retail sector of the vast space of SMRT in the underground stations into Retail Exchange Mall. And that saw the profit of retail rental of SMRT space accounted for 45% of total profit. But SMRT is a public service transportation of people not a retailer ??The board of Directors may have given SPH a free hand to 'manipulate' her expertise in the retail business...Nothing matters..only results!
She sailed in smooth sea....until the 'mighty ferocious tide' shattered her dreams with the first break-in of the depot followed by a second break-in in another depot.
We then had a taste of her public relations.when she started pushing the fault to the security company and acted so 'raw' in handling the incident which was, we can say a threat to national security...What happened if an explosive was planted in any train?? The consequence would have be disastrous ! She was adamant to push the blame to others! Not befitting a CEO.
Before that when commuters complained the trains were always crowded, she bluntly said 'people can choose not to take the MRT...' OMG! she failed miserably in public relationship as a CEO ! Even internally, her staff labelled her the Iron Lady and she used her power to bring in many ex-DFS staff into SMRT..and older and experience SMRT staff left in disgust..short of a mass exodus. How can such happening goes unnoticed to the Board? Is it just the bottomline that the Board of Directors are looking only to cover an eye on the bigger issue of staff resigning and replaced with inexperience cronies of hers ??A failure of operation on the highest level, so to speak of a public listed company. The Directors got to answer too..Chairman Koh Yong Guan would be one of them.
So, SMRT was running on 'casual internal maintenance'' until a total break down one after the other. The truth may be a negligence of expert and thorough maintenance check...It was impossible when in the aftermath of a serious breakdown..61 rail faults and 13 train faults were uncovered. Expert or even ordinary folks can form a picture of such unbelievable neglect !!
The public needed an answer. Public outcry of anger, incredibility and frustration. Demand for her resignation or sacked came fast a nd furious...And in the end (without elaboration on details, which all knows) ...The Iron Lady tendered her resignation on 6th January before Monday's parliament sitting with such precise coincidence.
She was 'most probably coerced to resign, to put less pressure on the sure debate and enquiry on the SMRT fiasco in parliament come Monday 6th.
Can Transport minister Lui Tuck Yew (Ah Tuck) save his skin to answer with transparency and accountability the truth on why such massive breakdown? And I know NCMP Gerald Giam will want an answer for the people come Monday. And with jubilation from the highly charged public, THE FALL OF THE IRON LADY which even the "solid structured of the system of the establishment's Who's who, cannot save her bruised soul...The uncovering of the 'covered truth' of high level inefficiency, yet covered up so efficiently.
It was Singapore's pure good luck or SMRT's shinning lucky star that no one was injured or died in that gigantic breakdown...or else whose head should rolled apart from fall iron lady CEO Saw Phaik Hwa.And we are waiting patiently for the Committee of Inquiry (COI) for the truth !!Monday's parliament will be very interesting..
We bid good bye to million$-coloured hair Iron Lady Saw (the Dowager of SMRT)..And another special position is waiting for her to fill ...You beg I will be right!! Heads I win , tail I win. Does that sound familiar in such setting?
The ruling system of S'pore works 'too well' now . We just cannot wait, come 2016 !!.
We need more transparency to see through her, oophs! (We men feel shy to see through her leh!)...I mean see through the system with accountability and answers.
leesjuanpat
Last year, 2011 was a political renaissance. An emotional watershed . And WP won 6 seats against 87. Yet again PAP increased from the last GE another 5 MP seats..When will they stop putting more numbers (MPs) in a small island S'pore...Why do we need so many part time FAT paid MPs, ($192,000 a year) who just tag along with the flowing tide of the ruling PAP. Wayang here and there during CC and RC functions with grandeur!
Little did they ever dream that in 2011, a political awakening, not might of the voters forever changed the course of the formidable, impenetrable fortress of PAP's dominance.And it is that year of 2002, a 'tomboy' single lady by the name of Saw Phaik Hwa (SPH) joined SMRT as CEO albeit having no engineering background but a not so successful retailer from DFS..Why I said so?... SPH was retrenched from DFS and catapulted to CEO of SMRT. Is it her merit in meritocracy S'pore or by some powerful connection?...no one really knew!?
Many were surprised that she was chosen to head a big corporation without the relevant experience or degree! But within a short frame of time, she proved her worth by building not the core operations of the SMRT system but the retail sector of the vast space of SMRT in the underground stations into Retail Exchange Mall. And that saw the profit of retail rental of SMRT space accounted for 45% of total profit. But SMRT is a public service transportation of people not a retailer ??The board of Directors may have given SPH a free hand to 'manipulate' her expertise in the retail business...Nothing matters..only results!
She sailed in smooth sea....until the 'mighty ferocious tide' shattered her dreams with the first break-in of the depot followed by a second break-in in another depot.
We then had a taste of her public relations.when she started pushing the fault to the security company and acted so 'raw' in handling the incident which was, we can say a threat to national security...What happened if an explosive was planted in any train?? The consequence would have be disastrous ! She was adamant to push the blame to others! Not befitting a CEO.
Before that when commuters complained the trains were always crowded, she bluntly said 'people can choose not to take the MRT...' OMG! she failed miserably in public relationship as a CEO ! Even internally, her staff labelled her the Iron Lady and she used her power to bring in many ex-DFS staff into SMRT..and older and experience SMRT staff left in disgust..short of a mass exodus. How can such happening goes unnoticed to the Board? Is it just the bottomline that the Board of Directors are looking only to cover an eye on the bigger issue of staff resigning and replaced with inexperience cronies of hers ??A failure of operation on the highest level, so to speak of a public listed company. The Directors got to answer too..Chairman Koh Yong Guan would be one of them.
So, SMRT was running on 'casual internal maintenance'' until a total break down one after the other. The truth may be a negligence of expert and thorough maintenance check...It was impossible when in the aftermath of a serious breakdown..61 rail faults and 13 train faults were uncovered. Expert or even ordinary folks can form a picture of such unbelievable neglect !!
The public needed an answer. Public outcry of anger, incredibility and frustration. Demand for her resignation or sacked came fast a nd furious...And in the end (without elaboration on details, which all knows) ...The Iron Lady tendered her resignation on 6th January before Monday's parliament sitting with such precise coincidence.
She was 'most probably coerced to resign, to put less pressure on the sure debate and enquiry on the SMRT fiasco in parliament come Monday 6th.
Can Transport minister Lui Tuck Yew (Ah Tuck) save his skin to answer with transparency and accountability the truth on why such massive breakdown? And I know NCMP Gerald Giam will want an answer for the people come Monday. And with jubilation from the highly charged public, THE FALL OF THE IRON LADY which even the "solid structured of the system of the establishment's Who's who, cannot save her bruised soul...The uncovering of the 'covered truth' of high level inefficiency, yet covered up so efficiently.
It was Singapore's pure good luck or SMRT's shinning lucky star that no one was injured or died in that gigantic breakdown...or else whose head should rolled apart from fall iron lady CEO Saw Phaik Hwa.And we are waiting patiently for the Committee of Inquiry (COI) for the truth !!Monday's parliament will be very interesting..
We bid good bye to million$-coloured hair Iron Lady Saw (the Dowager of SMRT)..And another special position is waiting for her to fill ...You beg I will be right!! Heads I win , tail I win. Does that sound familiar in such setting?
The ruling system of S'pore works 'too well' now . We just cannot wait, come 2016 !!.
We need more transparency to see through her, oophs! (We men feel shy to see through her leh!)...I mean see through the system with accountability and answers.
leesjuanpat
A Real Iron Lady !
A Real Iron Lady -my Grand Matriarch Mother.
by Patrick Lee Song Juan on Monday, January 9, 2012 at 3:34am
At 95, my beloved mother Low Kuoi Ying passed off peacefully in her sleep at 5.30am in the wee-morning of 3rd January 2012. My dear mother lived a fulfilled life of simplicity and we are a coheisive family of 9 siblings. My father died much younger in 1976 at the age of 65 years
My mom's years were real hardship years but happy. My dad was only a barber and they both 'single-handedly' brought all us up with my mom the housemaker. In those days, you hardly can find wives working. Looking after 9 children was no easy task. But mom always managed that well. Our lives were really poor but we were happy and we grew up among the 'lallangs' in the kampong. We had plenty of open free space to play around and run wild and free!
It was a wonder to reminisce those early years, how Mom can manager by herself all nine of us without a single help. Our meals were simple fare. But we were well-fed and never went hungry. Our age was like stepped ladder..only one or two years different from the next. And I have a pair of twin sisters (the sixth and seventh siblings).
Compared to then and now, there is really nothing now that can called our own, even we are living more comfortably. We cannot play marbles, fly kites anywhere. We had fruit trees like rambutan, guava and papaya growing wild for plucking. Space was never an issue. Happiness was the benchmark word though we were really poor.
We nine siblings grew up and father's load was lightened. Mom's life also changed for the better. Mom's never 'say die attitude' and sacrifice to bring us all up was a real effort and she never complained. And it was and is a blessing that she was naturally healthy. Mom ate simply and hardly saw a doctor. In fact when she was 89 years, we siblings gave a grand celebration during her birthday in the restaurant. And as far as we remember, that was the only time during her birthday we ate out of home.
The family's support and the many children surrounding Mom, was able to give her the warm and harmony of a big cohesive warm family. Today's family nucleus is a sad sight of one or two siblings!
Till her last day, on a head count, our family members including many great grand children was 60 members. And my Mom was particularly proud of my second sister who sacrificed her education years (those years poor families, girls would opt to help their mother's at home.) My Mom was proud and happy because my second sister's younger son (she had two only -stopped at two), was a police scholar and is currently now the Deputy Commissioner of Police at 39 years old. My nephew went on a scholarship to England and also attached to Scotland Yard during his study there.
Our Matriarch mother embraced Zen Buddhism since she was 80 years old (was Ancestor worshipper) and always listened to the chanting of the 'Zen suttas' and practised moderation in her life till her death on 3rd Jan 2012. She lived a full blessed life and stayed with my no.8th sister in a HDB flat. She loved simplicity and also practised non-extravagance.
.Mom's final sent-off at Kong Meng San on Saturday &th Jan 2012 was smooth and non-eventful, (not like VIPs who did it with grandeur.) We are all human of the world but many of us human are different.
On 31 Dec 2011, Saturday, the last day of the year 2011, Mom requested to see everyone of us at sister's home. She was not having good appetite. But love bird-nest. We all congregated to my 8th sister's home in Ang Mo Kio to see her. Mom's was alert and sharp and spoke to us..We had a maid to look after her. Without any ailment and never hospitalised, only wheel-crhair bound for the last 4 yeas because of her weak leg due to bone osteoporosis (maybe). Apart from that she had no other sickness. It was a real blessing !
As a meditation practitioner for many years, I sensed Mom's intention to see us all. I told my sister Jong subsequently to be more prepared. People her age, Mom knew how to prepare for her passing and in Buddhism, many of us would know our time if we had a deep devoted practice. And sure enough, on Tuesday morning at 5.30 am..when the maid wanted to wake her up for morning chant and breakfast, she did not wake up and slept her eternal slumber.
God is great. Amitabha Buddha! Nibbanam Paranam Sukkham!
Our grand old matriarch Mom lived a complete life of simple happiness of great 'riches' , not of monetary terms but of spiritual wellness and moderation. No greed, craving and adhere strictly to her simple half vegetarian meals.We all will miss and love our beloved Mom.
My final citation to the tremendous sacrifice of Mom :
"All of us 60 members are in one mind our matriarch mother will always be 'numero uno' - and no words can compensate (surely not great riches ) her great sacrifice for all of us."
Mom live a full life and in the final days of her living, she planned so well and passed off peacefully, having seen most of us. A perfect good blessed death in Buddhism terms.
And last but not least, to add in the famous verse from the Bible."'from dust we come, unto dust we go" and "in the valley of death she fear no evil." For Mom had lived a complete fulfilled simple happy life.
We all will miss her but we will feel her presence and protection moment to moment. We, siblings from great grand children salute our beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother, (all in one).
Rest In Peace beloved Mom...Buddha is with you!
leesjuanpat.
Monday, December 26, 2011
The gaffe of MP Seng Han Thong
MP Seng Han Thong composed a sad tune, now facing the symphony of his rhapsody !
by Patrick Lee Song Juan on Saturday, December 24, 2011 at 10:06pm
I supposed the saga of Seng Han Thong should have been concluded. But FM 93.8 Live now and again repeating Ah Seng's apologies and trying to explain more "complexities'
I believe as an MP and politician, it is idiotic if he really brings racial issue to the already great disappointment of the SMRT breakdown, where peoples' adrenaline are towards boiling point.
Ah Seng's off-the -cuff delivery of words may have been an honest mistake but when race issue is brought to the fore and under such tense moment of anger and disconsolation of the SMRT system collapse, many of us would have been quick to 'gun' Ah Seng down....Initially, I was greatly displeased too !! How can a veteran MP speaks like that, without thinking !
So the moral of a politician's story is...Speak less if you can, silence may be the best answer at times...In Chinese saying ..we always say "Think thrice before you speak".
And it seems more new young PAP politicians, MPs, even minister of states and acting minister thinks they have the lawful right or aloofness to say what they wish..They forgot the "emotional charge" they are unnecessary transmitting to the general public..Please be discerning !!
Personally , I think since Ah Seng sincerely apologised not only once but twice and even Shanmugam spoke up for him (which is not necessary, why should he be kaypoh and seemingly defending Ah Seng ?)...Ah Seng must be a man to face the music he composed!
More words spoken , more complication. Simple plain explanation of why it was spoken and sincere, wholehearted apology may touch many but not all.
Never forget, we are dealing with human beings of diverse mindset, each forming their own ideas of a situation or happening and many a times from a Richter scale of 3, it shot to 8, and a political explosion may be on the agenda.
The Fall of Mankind and Libya !
The fall of Mankind and Libya !
by Patrick Lee Song Juan on Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 12:34pm
The world is a stage for manipulation...People would never forget Iraq... Under Saddam Hussein when the Western world accused him of his sins, but the country was moving on..What happened after the fall of Iraq....Daily innocent death and lives for the people were never the same anymore...
The pullout of US troops and others is a sad testimony of a world who just cannot let others live their own lives and embrace their own destiny...How would one quantify the amount of evil and good before and after Iraq's fall?...We need to form our own mind's perspective !!
Libya..to the outside world and with western media propaganda painted it as a dreadful country of suppression ...but a leader like Col. Gaddafi...if he can rule Libya for 42 years....can't the world see the country's development and progress for their very citizens???
The human mind is the most sinister weapon to create dissent and disconsolation to gigantic scale....The agenda of world power, the dissatisfaction of humankind, the envy of some, the poverty of many are all catalyst for cause of uprising with quantum force of deadly consequences.
Human bestow upon human the sin and terror of the world..There will never be an ending as long as humankind delude themselves with power, corruption, fame, fortune and political hegemony...
Let the world reflect on their own mindset and what had NATO done to humankind...Is there a greater death to humankind than just a mere takeover of Libya and the many lives lost??....Many questions would never be answered.
On our local front, S'pore is in transition after 52 years and PAP is under the baptism of fire....Let it not spread into a conflagration please!!
The true power of a person is one who knows when and how to LET GO....For no power will perpetuate till eternity..Is fame, fortune and power that important when there is no life to live for it???
Col.Gaddafi is now dead !! Libya has to 're-invent' itself again.....
Sunday, October 23, 2011
IR..ERP..DBSS....give S'poreans all the misery.....
IR..ERP..DBSS....give S'poreans all the misery..How can our Ministers be so SILLY !!
$100 casino levy to discourage gambling
But collection of millions in every month's spree
Ministers high pay to prevent corruption.
But 'legally corrupted' in many aspect of our life.
ERP to smoothen traffic woes...never work
But enriched their coffers laughing to the bank
Motorist robbed of money in every turn
To their whims and fancies of increase.
Govt land for tender to the highest pte developer
To wash their hand of obscene public housing price
Into an uncontrollable public outcry
Only then did Khaw Boon Wan talk about review
Of the DBSS fiasco and frivolity of policy
To the tune of suspending land sales to pte entity
And in the end ..made a mockery of their own ministry
And HDB will be the public's last legacy.
With Khaw Boon Wan (KBW) seeking for everyone's reprieved
Sorry..sorry....I screwed up my own destiny
Only five days in National Development ministry
Where Maboh Tan was a foregone misery.
Under the boots of Hsien Loong Lee
.
Nonchalantly, I now enjoying concert of Coco Lee
To put behind all the stupidities of the ruling high and mighty
Unable to feel the common ground,
Of all true blue citizens' sincerity.
.
When will PAP see...when will PAP see...!!!
(wrote in July on Facebook, copied here to my Blog)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Gerald Giam and Lawrence Wong in Parliament.
I have never heard of Lawrence Wong but I have met Gerald Giam even before he was in the May 7th GE. We did have a good conversation that lasted about 2 hrs at a Burger king outlet. A positive soft-spoken young man, having that fiery passion to fight for the rights and better livelihood of S'poreans. A true blue morally courageous man.
I did not attend parliament at the public gallery yesterday but based on ST's report on the proceedings, people with EQ or EI (emotional Quotient or Emotional Intelligence) can form their own judgment between Gerald Giam and Lawrence Wong.
Lawrencee wong hangs on the coat-tailed of PAP and sailed into the junior elite of PAP to become minister-of-state for Defence and Education.. He knows too well, he would be a nobody if he did not move on the 'PAP MRT'.
So, the rebuttal began in parliament with Gerald delivering a superb maiden speech on the last ten years of policy indocrination and bulldozing and how lives for the ordinary folks had suffered.
Yet of all the person who try to impress as a wallaby, this new MP Lawrence Wong, giving a 'thesis' of his rhertorics on government's success to the nation, (at all cost !!.)..He has that decency even to make these kind of maiden speech. (the details all can read in the newspapers or on the net). And behold PAP cronies gave him loud applause short of a standing ovation....LMFAO!
I am too tired as an old (oh la la!) man to go into the details of his "government seized chances for growth' thingie! We S'poreans do want growth and economic stability..and we all know the trade-off. But the trade-off was incredibly beyond all S'poreans comprehension !!
Over-influx, over-crowded, housing over-priced and who are the benefactors...the big boys, the big copporations, with the government the biggest of corporate gain!!
Let me put it to Lawrence wong, we S'poreans are not idiots, numskulls or pierrots and just by the way you try to impress in parliament, it does not mean anything at all..You failed miserably.
I just wonder how PM LHL can appoint him to be minister-of-state. There are so many MPs in PAP's camp to pick and sad to say PM had picked a wrong guy just to suck up to you..,Sorry Lawrence you are really not up to the mark still. Gan Thiam Poh may be a better person in your place.
My parting shot...I am really impressed by Lina Chiam in he maiden speech as NCMP....This is what that comes from the heart...not from a young poppycock impressionist !
"Ageing is a refinement, youth is still a learning lesson" -leesjuanpat.
Do control your adrenaline Lawrence, 'speak only if you can perfect on your silence'. Regards!
patrick lee song juan
I did not attend parliament at the public gallery yesterday but based on ST's report on the proceedings, people with EQ or EI (emotional Quotient or Emotional Intelligence) can form their own judgment between Gerald Giam and Lawrence Wong.
Lawrencee wong hangs on the coat-tailed of PAP and sailed into the junior elite of PAP to become minister-of-state for Defence and Education.. He knows too well, he would be a nobody if he did not move on the 'PAP MRT'.
So, the rebuttal began in parliament with Gerald delivering a superb maiden speech on the last ten years of policy indocrination and bulldozing and how lives for the ordinary folks had suffered.
Yet of all the person who try to impress as a wallaby, this new MP Lawrence Wong, giving a 'thesis' of his rhertorics on government's success to the nation, (at all cost !!.)..He has that decency even to make these kind of maiden speech. (the details all can read in the newspapers or on the net). And behold PAP cronies gave him loud applause short of a standing ovation....LMFAO!
I am too tired as an old (oh la la!) man to go into the details of his "government seized chances for growth' thingie! We S'poreans do want growth and economic stability..and we all know the trade-off. But the trade-off was incredibly beyond all S'poreans comprehension !!
Over-influx, over-crowded, housing over-priced and who are the benefactors...the big boys, the big copporations, with the government the biggest of corporate gain!!
Let me put it to Lawrence wong, we S'poreans are not idiots, numskulls or pierrots and just by the way you try to impress in parliament, it does not mean anything at all..You failed miserably.
I just wonder how PM LHL can appoint him to be minister-of-state. There are so many MPs in PAP's camp to pick and sad to say PM had picked a wrong guy just to suck up to you..,Sorry Lawrence you are really not up to the mark still. Gan Thiam Poh may be a better person in your place.
My parting shot...I am really impressed by Lina Chiam in he maiden speech as NCMP....This is what that comes from the heart...not from a young poppycock impressionist !
"Ageing is a refinement, youth is still a learning lesson" -leesjuanpat.
Do control your adrenaline Lawrence, 'speak only if you can perfect on your silence'. Regards!
patrick lee song juan
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