The acronym FILTH is for Failed In London, Try Hongkong. But after the puritanical Communists took over, even filth decided to move on. Ong's case is a matter of Failed In Aljunied Try again, anywhere, even in Sembawang. FIAT is defined by Merriam-Webster as "a command or act of will that creates something without or as if without further effort", as in getting into parliament effortlessly through a GRC.
Those who get to stay in the national lottery, Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan, Vikram Nair and Lim Wee Kiak, are not exactly crowd pleasers. For starters, senior citizens who have been dumped in Johore have Khaw to thank:
"The monthly cost of keeping a resident in a private nursing home in Singapore, you can stretch it easily to pay at least 2-1/2 months of nursing home care in Johor Baru."
Vikram Nair showboated his fearlessness by drinking water from a storage tank fortified by the floating body of a dead Indonesian maid. But the poison was on his tongue when he likened Worker’s Party (WP) MP Chen Show Mao's proposals, for the 2012 Budget to do more for vulnerable groups, to a Nigerian scam:
"Maybe even the Nigerian scheme required you to put $10,000 upfront. But Mr Chen's scheme does not even require a short-term provision. It is not even a deficit for one year. No, no, no. It will pay for itself because it is an investment."
Lim Wee Kiak is the joker in the pack that makes you wonder what is in the drink when these guys were invited to tea at the Istana:
“If the annual salary of the Minister of Information, Communications and the Arts is only $500,000, it may pose some problems when he discusses policies with media CEOs who earn millions of dollars because they need not listen to the minister’s ideas and proposals, hence a reasonable payout will help to maintain a bit of dignity.”
- May 2011, on debate on ministerial salaries;
“I will quote (from your speech then) one more time. And maybe your hearing aid has to be (turned) up a little bit.”
- Feb 2013, on Workers’ Party’s chief Low Thia Khiang's remarks being taken out of context;
“What you realise from this survey is that majority are not asking them (PRs) to serve exactly the same two years system. In fact, serving the two years is a privilege. I am quite glad that many Singaporeans realised that and that should be a privilege that belongs to Singaporeans.”
- Oct 2013, on doing National Service as a privilege;
“If they didn’t have information, they should just say they have no information, rather than come up with a lot of theories. When they do this, people will think they already have some information.”
- Apr 2014, on Malaysian authorities' handling of the MH370 case.
Teo Chee Hean is thinking aloud that "Singaporeans should do what we can to strengthen that (PAP) team and not weaken it." What do you think?