Wednesday, April 28, 2010

New fare structure for public transport

Here is a perspective of the distrance based fares.

World Cup Matches

Here are some suggestions on how to watch the games for free.

Miscellaneous Offences Act

I met Ms Jaslyn Go. She told me that she was charged for distributing flyers on a National Day. Other people distributing flyers were not charged. On my request, she gave me more details of this event.

I wonder what type of campaign or cause is subject to an offence under the Act. What about a campaign against ill treatment of animals? Or to promote a Green Earth?

2010 World Expo in Shanghai

Some photos of the World Expo, opening in Shanghai soon.

My comment
My first vist to Shanghai was 20 years ago. It was under-developed, poor and dirty. There were few cars on the road. How much has Shanghai changed in 20 years. It is a marvel!

Al Jazeera

Read this article about the coverage of Al Jazeera on the homeless in Singapore and the rebuttal by the Minister for Community Development.

Equality

Our National pledge emphases the principle of equality. A person is entitled to equal treatment in our society and should not be discriminated based on race, religion, gender or age. They are entitled to equal opportunity under a system based on meritocracy.

However, the concept of equality is subdued in a capitalist, free market system where people with the power and the money enjoy "more than equal" treatment. They can take advantage of the weak and the poor who do not have the financial resources to challenge injustice through the law courts.

Well-off parents can afford private tuition to their children to perform well in their studies and earn a scholarship and a good career in business or government. It is difficult for children from poor families to meet this competition, although some of them  are able to overcome the obstalces and have done well.

To reduce the disadvantages faced by the poor, we need national policies to achieve the following goals:
  • provide decent income through a minimum wage system
  • provide social security for old age
  • provide affordable health care
  • provide quality education to all, and not dependent on private tuition
  • strong regulation and enforcement to prevent cheating and exploitation of consumers
These policies need to be based on the principles of social justice. They will not lead to an equal society, but will reduce the vast disparities in income and opportunity that are part of the capitalist system.

Tan Kin Lian

Consumer Financial Education Body, UK

http://www.cfebuk.org.uk/

Social democracy

Read this explanation of social democracy.

My comments
According to this defination, the social democrats are more towards the center compared to democratic socialists.