Dear Mahathir

Healer, heal thyself!

Yellow Ribbon Project

It's important for us to show that we are a compassionate nation. Too many times, people say that we are harsh, too overbearing, not forgiving to the ex-criminals. That is wrong and I want to tell everyone that it is wrong. We are willing to give former offenders a second chance. That's what the Yellow Ribbon Project is about. We must show the world that we are not a prison or police state.

The issue is whether these ex-offenders deserve it or not. As you know, we have two kinds of criminals. One group is the kind that committed the crime out of necessity or impulse. They must be made to know that what they did is wrong. Our prisons and punishment ensure that. Then they come out, ready to be useful citizens again. And we must give them that chance, that opportunity to do right by their friends and family.

Then there's the other group of criminals. The hardcore. The troublemakers. The miscreants. No matter how many times we fine them or jail them, they will still be back in court. We must take a firm stance with them. Get it in their heads that we mean business. It takes time, but we need to do it. Every citizen is important for our small nation.

Sometimes, they learn and change their ways. That's good. But most other times, they go back to their old ways. So we have no choice but to haul them into court again. This isn't what we want, but we can't allow these hooligans to go about their ways, messing up society. Even holding a cycling event could be a danger!

The Yellow Ribbon Project probably isn't the best for this second group. That's where we have to draw the line. And if people refuse to see that, so be it. As long as my people understand it and accept it, then that's all that matters to me. Because then I know that I will continue to have your vote.

The Odex case

In case no one thinks that I read local news: I've been following the Odex case with great interest. This will prove to be a landmark case in Singapore's courts. In simplest terms, it is about copyright infringement. The Internet has truly changed the game. Savvy Internet users find a file here or their friends send them a link, they open Bittorrent and start downloading. It's so simple to them.

And because it's so simple, they continue doing it like there's nothing wrong. But it also means that they are taking what they haven't actually bought. That's piracy. Plain and simple. Singapore has strong laws and we must enforce them. If we let our children get away with stealing, then they'll become mafia thugs when they grow up. We can't allow that. Besides, there's the bigger problem that our laws will be made a mockery by these youngsters. That is something that we absolutely cannot allow, and we will clamp down hard if we have to.

But Odex... that's a tough nut to crack. On one hand, they have the right intentions, though their boss could learn some proper manners. On the other hand, they're not the original copyright holders. It's a grey area. To safeguard our interests, I've already called Abe to let him know that his country's intellectual property isn't being stolen from right under our noses. I can't afford to jeopardise our FTA with him.

However, we don't want what's going on in the U.S., where the RIAA is now seen as a gang of hoodlums taking advantage of poor young children. We must never go that way. If our children need to be punished, fine. But they must never lose faith in our justice system. It's all we have against the real criminals and libellous slanderers.

I'll let the courts work out the case. Let them set the precedent. In the meantime, I've directed Jaya to start looking over our copyright laws and find out how we can strengthen them further.

To get a youth's perspective, I also asked Hongyi what he thought about this. Since his last run-in with the power of the Internet, I thought that he would have a unique viewpoint. He agreed that what those downloaders were doing is wrong, but he said that if it's free for the taking, then the temptation could be so strong that a person could break. I understand what he means. And I wasn't taken aback by what he said either.

This doesn't mean that I'm throwing in the towel. Obviously, the HIP campaign isn't working. I'll need to talk to those people about it, get them to shape up or ship out. Singapore is run by results. If I don't get the results I want, then I'll replace you with the folks who can get it done right. It's that simple.

ERP increase

As I had anticipated, news of the ERP increase were not greeted warmly by drivers. Complaints were already coming into my office as soon as Raymond announced them. There was no way to prevent the outcry. We can minimise it, control it, manage it. But we must press on with this move. It is the only way to keep a lid on the growing traffic.

I want you, my fellow Singaporean, to know that I understand the hit on your wallet. I also want you to know that this is the best solution that we have. We worked out a few scenarios, some less expensive, some immensely more. In the end, we hit the middle ground, and we think that this is the most workable outcome that we have.

The LTA is hard at work to ensure that the implementation goes on smoothly. They will be monitoring traffic on these heavy utilised roads to ensure that speeds remain within the acceptable range. If necessary, we may tweak the system a bit more, which means another round of ERP increase.

The computer models show that traffic patterns will change, meaning more vehicles on less busy roads. We need to distribute the traffic so that everyone gets where they need to quickly. We must work together to keep traffic flowing smoothhly. We don't want traffic jams, like what you have in Bangkok and Beijing. Is that really what you want? You decide.

By now, you should also realise that this is not the last increase in ERP. As I said before, "man man lei". Slowly does it. We will continue to adjust the system until it fits our needs perfectly. A balance between road usage and payments. In the meantime, Raymond and his LTA will continue collecting feedback. We value them all. Please let us know how we're doing.

Post-NDP Rally

I'm still in the midst of collecting and compiling the feedback from my rally. I appreciate the efforts put in by the Feedback Unit and grassroots leaders. I think they help me understand the ground better.

I want to touch on one thing that people keep asking me about: money. They want to know why we're giving our surpluses away. Why the one per cent CPF interest increase? Why restart Punggol 21? Why invest in Malay language education? These are good questions and should be answered one by one.

What I will say now is that I am merely responding to another call. With the GST increase, there have been louder calls for greater access to the surpluses, more money in their bank accounts. The government has given out New Singapore Shares and other funds. Now, we're giving out incentives. I think that this is a step in the right direction. We are slowly giving back some of the surpluses. But not too much! We always need some money for rainy days.

So on one hand, there is a need to spend to make Singapore into a true City of Possibilities. On the other hand, we must be careful about what we spend on. Education and housing have always been our top priorities. And we need to help the old folks who don't have enough money in their retirement.

I have more to share, but will wait until after I've collated the feedback. I appreciate your patience. In the meantime, please continue sending your feedback to me.

Run-up to National Day Rally

I hope that you're as excited as I am about my National Day Rally speech tomorrow. My speechwriters have primed it wonderfully, my image consultants have picked out my attire and trimmed my hair, and my worthy opposition politicians are sniffing around for morsels to rip apart at the next election.

Of course, I'm not worried about all that, especially that last one. What I am concerned about, though, is that my office is unable to keep a secret. Some of the good stuff has already been leaked out. The most recent one was from my daddy. But I know he means well. He's told me the same thing many times over on Sunday night family dinners: find your successors early, but keep them on a tight leash.

Fortunately, I still have a few key points left to reveal on Sunday. They're sure to keep the nation enthralled for a few days. Long enough to ride out the unfortunate market downturn. I called George about it the other day, he said it's not his fault. But he promised to look into it. I'm counting on it.

Meanwhile, I've already sent instructions to all grassroots leaders. They are to prepare the ground for my good news. Make sure everyone is excited about them. Keep dissention to a minimum. If necessary, move those negative voices online, where the uncle and auntie at the coffeeshop won't know about them.

Everything's ready. I know I'm ready. I've been ready since the last rally. And I hope you are too. This is your nation, your rally. We must come together as one nation, one people. My speech is for the betterment of all Singaporeans. So listen up and listen well.

Oh, and look out for the punchlines too.

Talking to journalists

Those sneaky Malaysian journalists lay a trap for me. They tried to get me to say that it was their own Malaysian government that was stonewalling any and all efforts to improve bilateral relations with Singapore. Fortunately I had not only been briefed well, but I already knew what I was going to say.

I respect the Malaysian media and its much vaunted "freedom of the press". But I think they don't understand their own leaders. Badawi's a good chap. I like him. He's a very different leader. In spite of his small physical stature, whenever I'm with him, I can't help but feel humbled.

So it's a pity that he gets the short end of the stick. His critics call him soft, lenient, unable to take a firm stand on anything. I say that it's all rubbish. Badawi has a good head on his shoulders. He has a tough job as leader of a Muslim-dominated country in these times. But he's done a good job in balancing the needs and wants of his people. I respect him.

I wish all leaders could be like him. It'd make my job much easier to do. Instead, I have to deal with folks like CT. He stole my thunder -- and on the front page of the papers no less! Now, my staff writers will need to rewrite my speech, so that it doesn't sound like I'm parroting him.

But in spite of that, I still need CT. He has experience, he's built bridges to the Middle East. When I told him to go to Teheran, he went. And his camaraderie with the general populace rubs off on me. Anyway, he seems to have quieted down somewhat, especially after his blunder last year. I just need to make sure that he's briefed better next time.