Daily Lesson from Life 05 April 2009

Tonight HawNgee and I went for the inaugural President's Command Performance, courtesy of the Probation Services Branch (PSB) of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), for my work as a Volunteer Probabtion Officer (VPO) with them.

Actually I felt a bit embarrassed as I did not really contributed that much. However, I am very grateful for the opportunity to watch 11 of the talented Singaporeans made good on the world stage in their respective field chosen! e.g. entertainers like JJ Lin, Stephenie Sun, Jeremy Monterior, Poet Prof. Edwin Thumbu, Pianist Avaunt Gard Dr. Margaret Tan, Pianist Abigail Sim (14-year old!), Photographer Russell Wong, Violinist Ms Kam Ning, Violinist Gabriel Ng, Fashion Designer Ashley Isham, and Musician Composer Iskandar Ismail.

It shows that Singapore 'got' talents! ;-)) It was a pleasant and enjoyable evening. Thanks you PSB, MCYS!


"N Korea launches rocket as people go hungry
UN expects 40% of the population to urgently need food aid in the coming months. -Sun, Apr 05, 2009 AFP

DANDONG, China, April 5, 2009 (AFP) - As North Korea defied the world with a controversial rocket launch, UN officials say millions of people in the impoverished nation are going hungry due to a severe food crisis.

Following successive poor harvests, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) expects up to 40 percent of North Korea's population - an estimated 8.7 million people - will urgently need food aid in the coming months.

"We hope the international community will continue to remember the food crisis in the DPRK (North Korea). The humanitarian needs should not be overlooked by other events," the WFP's
Beijing-based spokeswoman Lena Savelli told AFP ahead of Sunday's rocket launch.

"We had hoped to feed the most vulnerable, the elderly, kindergartens, pregnant women and hospitals," she said. "But we are not able to give them full rations. We can only give them about 15 percent of what they need."

The situation is leading to malnutrition in pregnant women and stunted growth in children, she said. Urban families are down to two meals a day and depending on relatives in rural areas to provide food."

This is a very disturbing news after my reporting of a pleasant evening out in Singapore! In fact, one of the performers said that Singapore worked! That is why he remained in Singapore even though with his talent, he could have migrated to New York, USA, where a Jazz musician can do and earn much more!

Lessons for me are:

1. a dictatorial regime will sacrifice all just to keep a grip and hold on to its power! Damned the people as long as I am in control!!;

2. while democracy is not the perfect system especially when the people are not fully informed and able to independently decide who to vote into power other than: whoever provide the dole gets my vote!; it is one of the best check-and-balance system around for the voters to 'get what you vote for'! Of course, this discount the tendencies for some immature democracy where the incumbents will cheat, lie, steal or rub the people's of the rightful votes by rigging the ballot boxes;

3. North Korean is such an extreme example of a totalitarian rule that it's people are not informed and most likely oppressed by the ruling class that it is unimaginable that the people will fend for themselves. However, while I believed they may not be able to NOW; surely they will rise against injustice and total lack of 'basic survival' conditions eventually!

I have not visited North Korea so I will hold my tongue from commenting too much. At the same time, I earnestly hope that the world will not punish the North Koreans if indeed the outside world know that millions will be starved to death if they don't have food. We just have to find a way to get the food to the people and not in the dictator's hands.
"At the pinnacle there is an oppressive regime, bent on personal survival, under which ordinary people of the land undergo intolerable and interminable suffering,"