Driverless Vehicles definitely coming

I remember clearly Khaw Boon Wan talking about self driving vehicles sometime back. That stuck with me because I am among those who are very enthusiastic about this. I look forward to not owning a car.

From the public policy perspective, this is a real boon. No wonder the government is spending big bucks on this.

Each time I study a financial or economic crisis, I see world leaders at best only try to attempt partial solutions. Most time they kick the can down the street. Then I told myself throughout history societies simply wait for technology to solve their problems. Any other way caused too much pain. In fact without advancing technology, democracy would never work. Who is mad enough to vote for austerity much less suffering. A successful democracy and an strong technological capabilities go hand in hand.

If we are wildly successful (not reason why not) using AVs (autonomous vehicles) in public transport, I think making it available for private-public use is only an easy step away. I bet Uber would have a ready solution to make this a breeze at that time.

Khaw's first MRT breakdown

This is news but it is no surprise. The new Transport Minister had already told us to expect this. Even if he didn't say so, we already know but it mattered that he did say so. He is a far more savvy politician than his honest to goodness predecessor. When dealing with the public you need the political chops to succeed. Basically Khaw Boon Wan had asked us to be patient and reasonable as he gets used to this new pair of shoes. Except for the persistent anti-PAP types, I think he will succeed.

938LIVE REPORTS: Inderjit "On Record"

Every minister ought to read this interview Inderjit Singh gave to 93.8FM

Our leaders suffered from willful blindness. Sure they invited Margaret Hefernan to help them understand better what that is but it didn't help them until they got humiliated in the 2011 GE.

The problem with our ministers is that most of them act humble but are not truly humble because they suffer from spiritual poverty. Fortunately when they are stupid they are often smarter than when leaders elsewhere are smart but for SG that is living dangerously for nothing.

Bersih 4: Bilahari Kausikan reckless show off

Bilahari Kausikan appeared on my radar years back when he made some ill advised remarks about killing senior citizens as a policy option answering a question in ACJC. To me he is the most arrogant permanent secretary. Even Kishore Mahbubani isn't his match.

I agree with his analysis in the op-end, "Singapore is not island" which started a firestorm of exchange between him and the DAP MPs. I learned nothing new from him. I am fairly convinced that those who might have benefited from that article most likely did not read it and those who read only to discover they already knew learned those hard facts of life many times over before. So I don't know why he even bothered except like many senior civil servants he is just another one who is out of touch with Singapore's society. He should go to Inderjit Singh for lessons but I guess he is too proud to do that.

Unable to match Bilahari tumescent language Tony Pua far more modest in language ability had resorted to calling us a "mercenary prick". Again nothing new here. It is just an intemperate way to declare they have no confidence competing against us successfully, otherwise the most delicious response is simply to win. Not if we can help it, after so many years of separation the Malaysians are just too discouraged.

The irony of it all is that the DAP ideology is so similar to the PAP but I cannot say the same if the talent benches were compared.

Bersish 4.0 is not about race but the other side has turned it into a racial issue in order to muster the support of Malays. This is Malaysia and all roads lead to race eventually. If you don't want to get there remember to hop off the bus in time. If you want to fix Najib, it is much wiser to let the Malays do it because you will not be rewarded but severely punished for such acts.

As for Bilahari he is brilliant but his usefulness is limited because he is such a show off. At the end of the day what have we gained from this public spat? Speak for yourself Bilahari Kausikan. Don't claim to be speaking for Singaporeans. Malaysia would be Malaysia and we are price takers. Even if you stop talking, writing and begin praying you have no power to influence future outcomes across the Causeway.

Update: 11:15pm

I quote the wise chairman of the PSC Eddie Teo from his speech given on September 24 in Melbourne.

How Eddie Teo had said and now printed in the ST is good enough and will be picked up by far more readers than Bilahari's op-ed because people are more interested in PSC scholars than foreign affairs.

Unless we have the equivalent of the poor names christened on Indonesian warships, we must take care not to over react. We thank the Indonesians for showing us beneath the veneer of a warm friendship what they truly are. We took the opportunity to educate our young thoroughly on that evil chapter of our bilateral relations which at other times were tricky to teach our young. Come on, we are all pretending to be friends for mutual benefits.

Unhappy Dental Scene here

This is good and I am happy for these foreign workers. This is also worrying as it is obvious demand grossly exceed supply but I suppose the majority of foreign workers might in the end not know about this or something else will prevent them from showing up at this clinic for treatment. I hope to be totally wrong here and be ambushed by media reports later to the contrary. At that time how are they going to meet demand? We can't even meet local demand without stratospheric prices now. I am faulting MOH for botching up on this.

These days I try to avoid the private dental clinics because I find increasingly they are become less dental practitioners and more business people in the beauty trade, too eager to recommend unnecessary procedures. We tried NTUC denticare and to be generous to them are no better. I am now with the polyclinic but the waiting time is very long. At least they don't try to con you into doing unnecessary jobs.

Dental care here is going downhill. When is it going to turn the corner, if ever? Some people have crossed over to Johor Bahru to get their routine scaling done. A friend also went there to replace his dentures because his dentist here insist on doing an implant costing a few thousand dollars.

Woman's hand severed by HDB flat lift

I am shocked by this piece of news. There are safety features which should have prevented a terrible mishap like this. To think that sometimes I use my hand or arm to knock and trigger the lift door to reopen for neighbors to share the elevator ride. Now I am feeling this is a potentially risk act.

The HDB must give a public accounting why this had happened and what measures are put in place to prevent this from recurring. It is very bad if people start to become afraid to use our lifts. The overwhelming number of lifts would operate fine but you never know which one will chop your arm off just like this one.

SGH Hep C outbreak: Looking good most important

I didn't have time to follow this very important public health crisis carefully. Of course the priority cannot be more different if a family member or friend is warded at SGH. Most likely I think most of us do not pay close attention to this, but it is an issue of utmost importance.

Dr. Tan Cheng Bock asked the right questions. Something like this should never have happened and also whey did they keep mum about this for months? I think these worried and courage scarce (increasingly a problem with our leaders) leaders want to mitigate this disaster before coming out. Helps them look better.

I saw this in the ST yesterday.

I won't be surprised in the end SGH confirms that multi-dose vial with an infected syringe turned out to be the cause of Hepatitis C spreading in those wards. If it weren't so it wouldn't be October that they confess but perhaps December or anytime not too far away that it becomes totally inexcusable.

If it were Dr. Lee Wei Ling in charge, we will know about this earliest practical. But smaller characters run the show at SGH. The moral of this story is with SGH you cannot simply trust them. You have to watch them and keep them honest or we will regret.