Comics this week

Justice League Dark #14- This issue had Frankenstein, Princess Amaya and Black Orchid fumbling around in the House of Mystery and frankly…it was a bore. After the chase for the Book of Magic, the showdown against Nick Necro, writer Jeff Lemire has the new members trying to get out of a house? I mean talk about anti-climatic. I’ll say this also; I’m not convinced by the introduction of the new members of the team. Frankenstein is a science hero not a magic one and Amaya is well, a little boring. Also what the hell happened to the art? Graham Nolan and Victor Drujiniu are in charge of the art this issue and I have to wonder if the duo had a rush job on their hands. The art style changed at least 3 times this issue. Hopefully artist Mikel Janin will be back next issue. 

I, Vampire #14- In a post in the Civilian Reader, I commented that “I, Vampire” is a classic in the making. If anyone doubts that, then I strongly suggest you pick up #14. A lot is going on. Mary going from main villain to reluctant hero, introduction of Deborah Dancer, Tig helping Bennett get a new vampire follower, Bennett getting a vampire dog; yet there is no confusion whatsoever in this issue. The pacing and structure of this issue is superb! Everything was beautifully written by Joshua Hale Fialkov and marvelously drawn by Andrea Sorrentino. A classic in the making? Based on this issue, that might be an understatement. 

Allegations That Need To Be Looked Into

Just 2 days after I labeled the reaction of the police an over-reaction, the laughable way the Singapore government is dealing with the strike by Chinese bus drivers has pummeled to new depths. While Brigadier General and Acting Minister of Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin has come out to defend the reasoning why the government had initially refused to call the actions of the bus drivers a strike, there is one thing he seem to be avoid mentioning; how valid are the complains of the Chinese drivers?

The drivers were not only complaining about their poor pay but also their poor living conditions. I read that one driver had said that 8 people were living in a room and there were rats in their dormitory. All these in a dormitory provided by SMRT which is owned by Temasek Holdings!

I personally like to know it this is true and if the answer is yes, what actions will the Singapore government take. Frankly if the allegations are true, I would consider it nothing less than a national embarrassment. This is not some small fly-the-night SMEs; this is SMRT; this is Temasek Holdings; and they are providing housing with rats and bedbugs and are stuffing 8 persons to a room?

Now I know the SMRT is into making profits. I understand that the Chinese bus drivers are not union members. I can even accept that the rights and interests of workers in Singapore are treated as bad jokes here in Singapore. However even in Singapore, surely a government-linked company like SMRT can do better that this!

I mean if a GLC can exploit foreign workers like this, how much worse would it be for smaller companies further down the food chain? If the allegations are true, then it is disgraceful for Singapore and all Singaporeans. And actions need to be take not against the Chinese drivers, but against the management of SMRT.

We'll Doomed!

Fans of the Terminator series rejoice; you guys are no longer the total nerds you thought you were. In the Terminator films, a rogue computer system called Skynet, gained self-awareness and end up destroying human civilization.

Now, it seems fiction may one day become fact. At least, that is if you believe The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER). The CSER has been setup to study and assess whether technology, like Skynet, could one day end up destroying human civilization. And just to show the centre is not a total joke, the CSER project is co-founded by Cambridge philosophy professor Huw Price, cosmology and astrophysics professor Martin Rees and backed by Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn. So no; it is not done by fanboys in their basements. 

In fact Prof Price has even publicly said that the way technology has been improving, "it seems a reasonable prediction that some time in this or the next century intelligence will escape from the constraints of biology". AKA; it’s a matter of time before A.I jumps beyond the confines of the computer. And to think just a few years ago, we humans were worried when Deep Blue started beating grandmasters at chess. 

Armageddon; here we come!

No Need For The Police

102 SMRT bus drivers from China failed to show up for their work yesterday due to a labor dispute with the company. The drivers were protesting the disparity in salary between them and other foreign bus captains. Today, around 60 of the drivers also failed to report for work. 

Frankly, I’m not surprised it happened. The main reason Singapore accept so many foreign workers is because of the lower pay they are willing to accept. Companies are doing all they can to squeeze the workers to make them work more hours for less pay, and it was always a matter of time before dispute like this happen. It had happened before (remember when some foreign workers gathered outside Parliament) and it will happen again (unless Singapore companies change their practices).

However that is not what I want to comment on. Now I can understand where both sides are coming from (workers wanting better pay, companies wanting to pay less), but what I don’t understand is the over-reaction by the security forces yesterday. Reports had the police deploying several crowd control vehicles including four special operations command vehicles to the area.

Why? From all reports I read, this was a simple dispute between the two parties and negotiations were done quietly between the parties involved. There was no trouble and there was never even a hint of trouble from the start to the finish. Yet special operation was activated.

For what? I mean 102 workers refused to go to work and the police felt a need to send out 4 special operation command vehicles? I just can’t help but shake my head at this. There is no need to activate the special operations, especially when there wasn’t even a public protest by the workers. Let the SMRT and the workers handled the issue (quietly). The over-reaction by the police was unnecessary. 

Use Carrots, Not Sticks

After numerous complains from the whining Singapore public, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Friday new taxi rules to improve the availability of taxis in Singapore. From next year onwards, taxi operators must see to it that 70% of their taxis are out on the road from 7am to 11m and from 5pm to 11pm.

They must also ensure that at least 70% of their taxi fleet clocks a minimum daily mileage of 250km. This will be increased to 85% in 2015. The LTA say the taxi-drivers should have no problem hitting the target if they drive at least 8-9 hours a day. Frankly, I think these rules sounds better on paper than they will in real life.

For one thing, the minimum daily mileage of 250km doesn’t make sense. The main complain of Singaporeans is the perceived lack of taxis during peak hours. Making taxi-drivers drive 250km a day is not going increase availability of taxis during peak period. More importantly, I find the new rules extremely unfair to taxi-drivers?

They are paying daily rent of about $100 for their taxis. Now not only they do they need to pay rent, they must also work a minimum of hours to meet a target of distance traveled. I mean the LTA say taxi-drivers should have no problem meeting the target if the driver at least 8-9 hours a day. That’s like office hours but the taxi-drivers got the added “bonus” of paying their taxi company $100 per day.

That just makes no sense. What I think the LTA should do is to have incentive to promote taxi-drivers to drive during peak period. Like things lowering the ERP for taxis between 12pm to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm, or fuel and rental subsidies to taxi-drivers if they drive during this period. These would be far better and more sensible than a blanket rule of distance traveled.

No Differences

Reading the news, I read that a British woman and an Irish man had been sentenced to three months in prison in Dubai for engaging in sexual activities inside a Dubai taxi. Reading the article, the reporter says this is the latest case in which Westerners have fallen foul of the United Arab Emirates' decency laws, and it highlight the “cultural differences” between the UAE and the West.

What nonsense! The couple was caught having sex in a taxi and I know for a fact this is not allowed in the U.K. so how is this case a “difference” in culture? Personally, I feel it’s stupid that every time some Westerners get into trouble overseas, the Western press almost always blame the host country for the problem. Having sex in a taxi is illegal in both the U.K and the U.A.E, so if anything this jail sentence is a sign that the two countries have something in common.

Yes, it means 2 fools get thrown in jail but this was something that was going to happen even in the U.K right? So why not celebrate it? It’s far better than causing a problem over differences that does not exist. 

It's About Right

According to a new Gallup poll recently, Singapore has been ranked as the world's least emotional country. When asked questions such as "Did you feel well-rested yesterday?", "Were you treated with respect all day yesterday?" and "Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday?", the survey found that Singaporeans were the least likely to reveal experiencing any emotions at all.

Only a miserly 36% of Singaporeans report feeling positive or negative emotions on a daily basis, compared to 60% in the Philippines. This means a whopping 64% of Singaporeans do not have any positive or negative emotions on a daily basis.

Since the poll was released, a number of Singaporean has expressed their dismay at the poll. Some had called the poll a lie while others say Singaporeans are just conservative, not emotionless.   

I looked at the poll and say…that’s about right.

I personally think the Gallup poll isn’t that far off. I don’t know if we are the least emotional country in the world but certainly we will be among there. Most Singaporeans I know are pretty even keel with some exceptions and if you compare Singaporeans with the foreigners we have in the country, you can easily tell that (no matter which country they are from) foreigners are more expressive of their feelings.

So it’s true, Singaporeans are pretty emotionless compared to others. I don’t have any figures to back it up so I won’t say it’s a fact but… personally I find the Gallup poll about right.