Read this report off ZaoBao.com.

Researchers in China are studying what they have literally termed as 'Ceiling Public Officers'. It's a fascinating read.

“天花板官员”主要有以下几种表现：

• 思想上自暴自弃。因为能力不足，他们感到升迁无望、前途无“亮”，于是心理失衡、工作倦怠、职业枯竭。
• 行动上自由散漫。在工作中偷工减料、敷衍塞责、见硬就缩、遇锋就避、效率低下。
• 物质上寻求经济补偿。经不起花花世界和别有用心者的诱惑，逐渐放松警惕，在交出权力之前大捞一把，进行权力寻租或直接侵吞公共财产，形成了中国贪官特有的“59岁现象”。
• 升迁上投机取巧。为了早日实现升迁，避免遭遇年龄“天花板”，一些官员不计成本，不择手段，成功后趾高气昂，失望后则怨天尤人。还有一些官员可能为升迁行贿筹借了不少资金，升迁后，首先考虑的不是工作，而是朝思暮想如何收回成本

Regardless of the findings, I am more intrigued by the fact that researchers are able to study public officers' behaviour. I have not come across a 3rd party study of our public officers. Even if someone on the inside attempts such a study on his/her own, it can never be published.

On a separate note, 联合早报 is a different read from the Straits Times. In terms of coverage and perspective. Perhaps it should have an attendant English arm. The current online English translation is too expensive and not timely.

This comment came in early this morning at 1.46am for the previous entry "Winning Your Hearts, My People". Very pro-Mr Teo Ser Luck. And in the process, putting down "some (you know who) PAP top dogs".

The person signed off on the comment as 'blinkymummy fan' with a meaningless link that leads to www.yahoo.com. The content of this comment is not too interesting either.

What's interesting is what I found in my blog visitor log. You can click on the pic below to enlarge it.

This reader was active on my blog before/during/after the time when the above comment was published. Most interestingly, the reader was in Vientiane. This is the first time I am getting a reader from Vientiane. And yes... It is the season of the SEA Games 2009 in Vientiane now. The person actually searched for "teo ser luck charismatic". O_o

Vientiane is 1 hour behind Singapore, so the reader started reading my blog around 12.08am Vientiane time, and left it after 1.30am.

In total, the reader spent 1 hour and 20 minutes on and off my blog, suggesting that he/she was unlikely to be reading from a shared terminal.

Given the help that the Laos Government needed from other countries to build the facilities for SEA Games 2009, it is unlikely that the rooms in the sportsmen village are equipped with internet connection.

So if he/she is not a sportsman/woman, who then is this mysterious person in Vientiane who has constant internet access and was up so late in the night? Some MCYS staff officer staying in a hotel? Or a reporter? Or perhaps...?

Despite,

1. Participating in the 42km Stanchart Marathon on Sunday,
2. Suggesting that this popular marathon ought to become a sexy 'Marathon for the People', and
3. Highlighting that he had completed the race despite being on antibiotics and recovering from flu,

Mr Teo Ser Luck did not emerge from that marathon as a 'People's Winner' at all.

Someone wrote in and questioned Mr Teo's sportsmanship, i.e. running a marathon while being ill (and probably the need to tell the world about it).


And of course, Mr Teo replied today, apologising for causing worry and thanking those who have sent him their 'well-wishes, congratulations and concerns' as he has fully recovered. O_o

You can read the full text of both letters to the Forum here.

Let's not pretend.

This is a clear and precise dig at Mr Teo as a public figure.
I wonder who this Ms Yeo Chiat Wei is.

And from my personal interactions with him, I will not give him the benefit of the doubt either.

Though he may be popular, due to his boyish looks, with young Singaporean adults who have no idea what a Member of Parliament or Senior Parliamentary Secretary is, I get this feeling that he is not too popular amongst people around my age, i.e. the Gen X. Of course, this feeling of mine is merely gleaned from my very limited network of friends.

Regardless, having good lookers like Mr Teo on the team certainly helps to influence the votes of those young Singaporeans who have no clear idea of local politics. This chunk of look-voters is not insignificant.

Perhaps politicians ought to maintain an online list of key tasks and their attendant statuses. To clarify their contribution. Of course, such lists can be fudged and exaggerated, but it's better than having no list.

On the topic of politics and voting, I just found out that a former colleague had given up his scholar-career in the Public Service, and is headed for NTUC. O_o

As the candidates are getting younger and closer to/in my sphere, i.e. I am able to gather more information about the individuals, I am beginning to wonder alot about how they go about identifying potential politicians.

Did you know that Minister Khaw, despite having said the darnest thing, went on Facebook and chatted with 28 members of public?

You can check out the report on Zaobao.com.

I didn't know this before, but he blogs as Minister of Health at http://mohsingapore.blogspot.com/
It probably sounds like a huge hassle, but blogging in English only reaches out to a small segment of Singaporeans.

It's not clear to me whether he writes those entries on his own, or someone drafts them for him. I am surprised that a busy man like him can write such long entries, once every few days.

Regardless, it is cool that he and his ministry are making an effort to reach out to the masses. It is even cooler if such interactions do make a difference in healthcare policies.

The ZaoBao article highlighted that one of the 28 people who chatted with Minister Khaw on Facebook works at SGH as a physiotherapist. A direct communication exercise like this one cuts through the bureaucracy and allows someone on the ground to provide feedback to the top man directly. (Although I must admit that the thought of 'planted feedback' did cross my mind, as this is a common practice for major events with 'dialogue/Q&A sessions' to avoid awkward moments for the high ranking officials, e.g. during corporate planning sessions.)

Though this exercise reeks of pre-election drumming and that perhaps a more lengthy consultation should have been put together, as long as the suggestions are evaluated seriously, it is a great step forward in terms of listening to the people. We must rejoice in MOH's efforts against the backdrop that 'public consultation' remains a scary term for many civil servants.

I have my own reservations about the effectiveness of public consultations, mostly due to implementation issues. (There are different models of consultation to follow.) Fundamentally, I support the spirit of the public consultation. A responsible policy maker should not be veiled, and instead should consult his 'regulatees' in an open unorchestrated manner, providing as much information and as accurately as possible. This is not about 'rights' and all that bullshite. Consultation merely helps to ensure that the policy maker has covered as much ground as possible, and to avoid ivory-tower and/or apathetic decision-making.

(The Australian Government is encouraging its public servants to engage its people through social media networks. Read here.)

Here comes the part where his peers are gonna complain that Minister Khaw is 'spoiling the market'. With Minister Khaw's first step, the other ministers with portfolios ought to explore this avenue sincerely too. Imagine the number of people who want to feedback to Minister Mah about HDB flats. Uh oh oredi!

Even if this is some sort of publicity stunt, it is far more superior, more sophisticated and less frivolous than the younger MPs/office holders spending their time rehearsing hip hop, flashing their perfect smiles for the camera, or better still, pretending to be busy.

Once the weekend is over, I eagerly look forward to Tuesday through to Thursday for the next episodes of Border Security: Australia's Front Line on the Crime & Investigation Channel.


As the name of this TV programme suggests, it is a 'documentary' which showcases real incidents at Australia's borders such as the airport, the sea, postal service etc. Camera crews are stationed at the various border security points, recording incidents as they unfold. This is unlike our Crimewatch where the cases are re-enacted and the programme is presented by a police officer from a script.

My favourite segment of Border Security is at the Australian airports. Few of us have the opportunity to observe guilty people under extreme stress. It is highly educational. And because of the way the programme is edited, the audience is inclined to believe that it's a really tough job being an border security officer.

I love this machine they have at the airport which can immediately tell whether a swab contained traces of illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin etc. And when it does detect one of these, the alarm goes off super loudly. =))

So far, I must have watched around 10 episodes, and apart from the recurrence of Australian 'offenders', at least 4 airport incidents involve people from PRC/Hong Kong getting caught at the airport for undeclared money/food, entering Australia for illegal work etc. Not for drugs.

There was this episode where they stopped a Singaporean male. And the reason why they stopped him was because that guy had visible tattoos. The officer said,"Singaporeans do not have tattoos, so when we saw him, we got suspicious." So hor... If you have visible tattoos and are trying to enter Australia, do not be surprised if they stop you. O_o

Of course, it's intuitive to wonder if ICA will ever attempt a programme like this. Or perhaps, Crimewatch would eventually become a Home Team programme, featuring the work of the Police, SCDF, Prisons, ICA, CNB, MHQ, and the mysterious ISD. =)

Enjoy a sample episode from a previous season...


...........................................

After Border Security comes Parking Wars, a programme mostly about the Philadelphia Parking Authority. Like Border Security, a camera crew follows officers around as they go about their work. The difference is that while Border Security is dead serious, Parking Wars is presented with a somewhat slapstick sense of humour with smiling/joking officers and animations featuring frustration levels of people trying to claim their towed vehicles at the pound.

Bizarre as it sounds... It's believeable coz it's American.

There is even a Parking Wars Facebook Application.

What could have been... What if... Maybe...

No one is really happy in this film, except for the family next door.

The DVD cover says this is a funny film. It's only funny coz Bill Murray has that look on his face. He plays such a role to a tee. The story is not 'funny' at all.

Note: Tilda Swinton in dark hair! She's hot hot hot! My one and only Jadis.

Yahoo and Facebook extend tie-up

"Joining forces is the big new trend in digital media. Recently, Twitter and LinkedIn linked their status updates, and today Yahoo and Facebook have announced that they will allow their users to combine their activity streams."


They are not getting it right!

It should be this simple:

(A) I only need 1 input platform where I can blog/tweet/upload pics and vids/track stats etc.

(B) The content can be published in multiple sites, I dun care.

(C) Then I need all comments from various sources on the same entry/tweet/pic/vid to appear in all published sites.