The Prime Minister's Office has appointed Minister for Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan to oversee the "Smart Nation Programme Office". Not exactly the smartest of moves, given the propensity of the gutter politician to throw good money after bad, and yet to account for the overblown budget of the Youth Olympic Games. In particular, what exactly was buried under the miscellaneous charge ("Other Costs") of $78.9 million.
The haze was not as horrific as last year, no thanks to any contribution of his. Someone must have figured out he should stop sitting in the corner and twiddling his thumbs and do something useful to justify the million dollar paycheck. Something nebulous as a 3D project that defies imagination. Who needs a new 3D map for animal sightings, potential hazards for cyclists, or even the best mee pok, nasi lemak or mee siam mai hum? Google maps aside, there are apps plentiful to hunt down the discreet carpark for a surreptitious rendezvous between a senior civil servant and a compliant IT vendor. BTW, anyone with half a brain would think IT is under the auspices of the Ministry for Communications and Information. Has Yaacob gone off to fight for the ISIS?
The Executive Deputy Chairman of Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and Co-Chair of National Infocomm Awards (NIA) 2014 trumpeted, "Singapore is committed to become the world's first Smart, and using technology and data in new ways that can improve the lives of people of all ages is the foundation of what it means to be a Smart Nation." Ouch, that must be a painful reminder that 60.1 percent of the electorate is still dumb enough to vote in the same political party.
It was the older Lee who once told the Future China Global Forum audience, "The Taiwanese are ruthless, Hong Kongers are shameless and Singaporeans are ignorant." Maybe that's why the younger Lee thinks it's about time for Singaporeans to appear intelligent.
But not too smart. As in demanding the return of their life savings at age 55 as originally promised. Or go online to highlight how one Singaporean can be outnumbered 7 to 1 by foreigners, here at home, not in downtown Manila. Tan Chuan-Jin thinks that "Unfortunately, these actions backfire as potential employers will be reluctant to take on these individuals." So the smart thing to do when threatened by an overwhelming force is to back down and keep quiet? Not exactly the advice you would expect from an ex-general. It appears that Singaporeans will need permission first to get smart.
The haze was not as horrific as last year, no thanks to any contribution of his. Someone must have figured out he should stop sitting in the corner and twiddling his thumbs and do something useful to justify the million dollar paycheck. Something nebulous as a 3D project that defies imagination. Who needs a new 3D map for animal sightings, potential hazards for cyclists, or even the best mee pok, nasi lemak or mee siam mai hum? Google maps aside, there are apps plentiful to hunt down the discreet carpark for a surreptitious rendezvous between a senior civil servant and a compliant IT vendor. BTW, anyone with half a brain would think IT is under the auspices of the Ministry for Communications and Information. Has Yaacob gone off to fight for the ISIS?
The Executive Deputy Chairman of Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and Co-Chair of National Infocomm Awards (NIA) 2014 trumpeted, "Singapore is committed to become the world's first Smart, and using technology and data in new ways that can improve the lives of people of all ages is the foundation of what it means to be a Smart Nation." Ouch, that must be a painful reminder that 60.1 percent of the electorate is still dumb enough to vote in the same political party.
It was the older Lee who once told the Future China Global Forum audience, "The Taiwanese are ruthless, Hong Kongers are shameless and Singaporeans are ignorant." Maybe that's why the younger Lee thinks it's about time for Singaporeans to appear intelligent.
But not too smart. As in demanding the return of their life savings at age 55 as originally promised. Or go online to highlight how one Singaporean can be outnumbered 7 to 1 by foreigners, here at home, not in downtown Manila. Tan Chuan-Jin thinks that "Unfortunately, these actions backfire as potential employers will be reluctant to take on these individuals." So the smart thing to do when threatened by an overwhelming force is to back down and keep quiet? Not exactly the advice you would expect from an ex-general. It appears that Singaporeans will need permission first to get smart.