i was just browsing through STOMP, then....

whoot whoot, sounds so shud shud like that. it's cool, it's trendy, it's style, it's *more words to suggest young & hip*.....it's Straits Times Online Mobile Print. quite hard to miss this STOMP stuff, so i took a look at it. interesting news tips from the everyday people like me and you. whoa. then i click on the star blog. nice looking bloggers are on the poster.especially dawn who is still gorgeous, if not more gorgeous than before. the photo really is flattering. *continues to drool over dawn* *continues to scroll around everywhere in the webby.hmmm, something like lacking somewhere leh...social issues, crimes, food, partying, etc. eh, why no current affairs arh? scared they might make STOMP look uninteresting, unhip and heavy? but didnt the government mention one time that the younger generation of singapore seem to have a worrying lack of interest in politics and current affairs? isn't STOMP the perfect platform to introduce politics and current affairs to them and older viewers alike? can use more star bloggers like mr wang, mr miyagi and/or mr brown mah. then yah hor, why don't have mr wang, mr miyagi and/or mr brown as star bloggers arh? why ah? why ah? cos they not young or the ST peeps are scared they will upstage STOMP? i know you guys also know they have a lot of knowledge to offer, and they so far sure ain't been stingy in sharing what they know over their blogs. be it current affairs, political issues and social issues as well. so why not them too? *roves over to mrbrown* *gasp* his column is suspended. simi? *reads his article and the letter from mr K* ok lah, don't say i biased against mr k's view so fast ah. mb's wisecrack about the contactless chip does sound a bit like suan-siao-ing away, but hello, his progress package take is really reflective of average singaporeans' situations mah. i still remembered my lao-peh told me he got friends who were given more than $1k that is supposedly to be given to us as a token for "part of the economy's growth"---took the $$ up to genting and hiong at the casinos. then as for me, i took it as part of my further education's expenses. and there are others who really use it to satisfy their material needs as well. it's fine you know, it's not that singaporeans are not appreciative of the package, but under the progress package overview, yes, there are rebates, but limited period only leh....simple maths will show that the upcoming price increases multiplied by the amount of usage will very fast > rebates for the past few months. mr K mentions "These were precisely the reasons for the Progress Package — to help lower income Singaporeans cope with higher costs of living." he forgot to mention "for months at least" lor. unless my comprehension of this is salah, then ok lor, what i have said is bullshit then. i remember there was one time when we took the $$ from our government was when GST increased to 5%. then very good lor, this time round we got the progress package before "...price increases in electricity tariffs and taxi fares are the inevitable result of higher oil prices". like this then how? splurge the progress package le, no more rebates le. i mean ok, fine, prices are not going to rocket. if we need to take the cab, we need to take lor, pay a few dollars extra only. or don't take cab lor, get out of the house a bit early, rise and shine, smell the lovely concrete morning mist while taking buses and the MRT lor. PRAY HARD BUS FARES AND MRT FARES DON'T RISE SO FAST ALSO LOR. we need to use electricity, we need to use lor. we cannot do anything about it mah. salaries are not increasing in proportion. then we have to save from other areas of expenditure for rising necessities. grumble also like that. what mb does over his column is to reflect the average' singaporean's mindset, tinged with cynicism. then mr K says "But opinions which are widely circulated in a regular column in a serious newspaper should meet higher standards. Instead of a diatribe mr brown should offer constructive criticism and alternatives. And he should come out from behind his pseudonym to defend his views openly." constructive criticism and alternatives? yah i agree. mb should do that. but how can we be sure that any criticism and alternatives in a constructive manner offered to the government won't be seen as challenging the government's authority or in the case of mb, what if he is interpreted by people with ulterior motives as an attempt to try to look smarter than the government? hmmm? not safer to play the role of an average singaporean meh? i don't know what is means testing, but from mr K's view "As for means testing for special school fees, we understand mr brown's disappointment as the father of an autistic child. However, with means testing, we can devote more resources to families who need more help", in this statement, he is addressing to mb as an average singaporean. this is fine, really. parents in the same plight as mb will feel the same way with the increase in their kids' school fees. ok lor, like this then like this lor. in his next paragraph "mr brown's views on all these issues distort the truth. They are polemics dressed up as analysis, blaming the Government for all that he is unhappy with. He offers no alternatives or solutions. His piece is calculated to encourage cynicism and despondency, which can only make things worse, not better, for those he professes to sympathise with." where is the distortion i can't see. if the people are already cynical by themselves, THEY DON'T NEED AVERAGE SINGAPOREAN MB TO ENCOURAGE CYNICISM AND DESPONDENCY. since when is reflection a synonym for encouragement? if the people love the government and are at peace with their issues so far, THEY ALSO DON'T NEED AVERAGE SINGAPOREAN MB TO ENCOURAGE CYNICISM AND DESPONDENCY. and for god's sake, what the fuck is polemics? i do proclaim myself as having an average vocabulary grasp in english, and i don't understand the word "polemics". let me go refer to dictionary: 1)A controversial argument, especially one refuting or attacking a specific opinion or doctrine. 2) A person engaged in or inclined to controversy, argument, or refutation. maybe mr K faces a word count limit, but replacing polemics with "controversial arguments" makes things a whole lot easier to comprehend for us. the average singaporean will not know the word polemics, can? like this i feel that he is trying to impress us with big words like this, that he is on fair ground, if not higher ground than his opponent mb. if mb's views are controversial arguments dressed up as analysis, then mr K's views in his reply are condescending assaults dressed up as evaluations. i don't know which party is worse leh. i honestly don't care whether mb will get his column unsuspended, cos i don't read TODAY. and under this sort of circumstances, i think it's better for him to not write for TODAY anymore. REMAIN IN THE ALTERNATIVE STREAM, DON'T DABBLE WITH THE MAIN STREAM ANYMORE. then i wonder if the same grumblings were to come from a faceless singaporean, will TODAY even publish it and if it does, will mr K address them in a favourable light or not. like this very jialat leh , so sensitive how can? i mean it's not like mb is influential enough, or even campaigning to brainwash singaporeans to hold rallies or what in the same manner as some other countries' people lor. an article like this can evoke such reaction from MICA very good liao lor, let us continue to be laughed at by other nationalities for being too uptight all over again lor.