On Ms Tin and Mr Yeo

For the past 1.5 hrs, I decided to catch myself up on the political scene in Singapore. I read two articles, one on George Yeo and the other on the famous (or infamous) Tin Pei Ling.

Let me comment on Tin Pei Ling, since I'm a woman and only 5 years younger than her. So what do we know about her? She's 27 years old, has been working in grassroots activities for 6 years, full time job at Ernst & Young, and happily married to a chubby husband 13 years older. The rumor is that she broke up with her long-time boyfriend to marry her husband for political reasons. In any case, the rumor, true or not, is not important. Because when you look at what an MP should be, he/she needs to be grounded on issues of his/her jurisdiction. Yeah, Singapore pays an obscene "allowance" of SGD13,000 to each MP and many people don't like that, because MPs pretty much just listen to complains only. So, it does feel like it's "fair" to pay SGD13000 to someone so young, and maybe, inexperienced.

Many netizens have pointed to her lack of experience to handle the duties of an MP. But my question is, why can't she learn on the job? We have never really been totally satisfied with our old MPs anyway. Maybe we should try someone younger. Generally younger people are willing to work harder, be flexible, and bring new ideas to the table. But an MP, you might say? In any case, if you're not agreeable, then don't vote for her lor. But what if there's walkover? Then too bad, she's the only one you've got. Her young age might be an advantage, cos I think the younger you are, the more need you have to prove your worth to people.

Some people point out her inability to understand the poverty of some Singaporeans or how stressed some are to make a decent living. Well, it's really hard to find someone who did come from the slums and had make his/her way to the realm of politics where intelligence & skills are highly required. Sometimes, we just have to pray that people who have had the privilege to be born in better circumstances would look around and empathize with people who have much less. I'm not pro-Tin Pei Ling pls, but as I saw the nasty comments on the Yahoo article about her, I just thought I should say some things to bring a balance to these negative comments.

Now, moving on to George Yeo, I was quite touched to hear about his son and how he struggled through. Then I saw the comments below! Some were indignant that he had the gall to boast about his personal struggle (sending his son to US for top-notch treatment and renovating his house for his family homecoming) when others in Singapore have cancer, no money for treatment and wait to die, or die paying for treatment.

Ok, first of all, his expertise in on Foreign Affairs. Social issues are in other ministries. Reading that George Yeo is a former President and SAF scholar, his credentials must be like superb, and most likely, he came from a well-to-do background. (correct me if I'm wrong k) So I'm not surprised he's married to a lawyer. And with these kind of double incomes, sending your sick son to US is not an issue. (Probably has premium insurance to cover for it) But using that as an issue to personally attack his abilities is mean, cos they are not related.

From my student marketing perspective, both Ms Tin and Mr Yeo should have analyze their audiences first before talking to the media. Heck, just hire a PR firm. While our intentions are good, sometimes, people may not perceive them the way we want it too. I think politicians need to learn to look a little vulnerable before the people, simply because the masses can see through who they are. There's no point trying to smoke them (like how we in SMU try to smoke our way through) cos people are just gonna re-read every article on you and re-watch every video about you. And then, they pick you apart. But if you're honest from the start, there's nothing much to dig out right?

Capsule on March-April 2011

The Climb to Cerro De La Silla: It's a 1800m tall mountain. The peak we climbed up to was called Pico Antena, there are 4 peaks and this route was supposed to be the easiest. Ok, "climbing" is a wrong term cos really, it's a hike up the 4500m trail. But it was the most tiring thing ever by far in my life. Halfway up the trail, I was already exhausted. I have no idea how I managed to reach the top! And at the top, I expected shelters and maybe a drinking fountain. But no, there was nothing, nada! We had to sit under the burning sun, but the view was pretty because we saw behind the mountain ranges. Usually we see the mountain from the city.

One more thing, I stupidly sprained my ankle just before starting on the mountain, like literally ten before climbing. By the end of the day, my ankle was visibly swollen. The sprain was a light one, but the hike worsened it. The hike incline could be as steep at 45 degrees sometimes. I may be exaggerating, but it certainly felt that way. In any case, I'm so proud to have climbed this thing. It was something we had to do and finally did.
Church in Guanajuato: Guanajuato is a very pretty colonial town. The streets are colourful and the people are very friendly. Amanda and I attracted a lot of whistles on the street. I also bought my straw hat here for 199 pesos, about SGD20. There are not much attractions here, so we just walked, looked and see. (wrong tenses, but weird to say "walked, looked, and saw") I stayed a night here and it was one of the craziest nights I had.
Playa Gemelas at Puerto Vallarta: Puerto Vallarta is a very touristic beach town where you can meet many Americans, as a result, it's hard to find more isolated beaches. But we found this lovely beach called Playa Gemelas, which is a 15 minutes bus ride away from a bus stop which is twenty minutes away from our hostel by walking. The water is beautifully blue and the waves are great to washed over in. I never to experience waves this size that come slight over the top of my head, so when it comes, I have to jump with it, otherwise I'll get pulled under it. IT'S SO FUN!!!

Sadly, my camera is soiled internally, as you can see the spot on the picture above. There's no repair centre here, not that I know of at least. I'm thinking of buying a new camera. Shucks, should I? For upcoming beach trips, we'll be traveling to Yucatan where we'll be at Tulum, Cozumel, Playa Del Carmen & Cancun. So looking forward!
Los Cabos at Baja California: This was one super beautiful coast. We had to walk 45 minutes from the hostel to get to here. We're not allowed to swim here cos the waves are huge and you're sure to drown if you swim there. It's pretty thunderous when the waves crash onto the coast. However, there were not much to do at Los Cabos because it's very touristy and many things were expensive.
The Arch at Los Cabos: Took this picture from a boat.

In ending, I must say I have enjoyed myself tremendously in the last month. Went to many places and my most adventurous would have been at Puerto San Carlos in Baja California where we paid only 250 pesos per person (6 of us) for a 3 hour boat ride trip out to watch grey whales. Along the way we saw really nice lonely islands where birds own the place. The driver also dropped us for ten minutes at the sand dunes where the sand was finest in the world. Seriously, you can get finer sand than that. Wish I brought a jar back! Mexico is wonderfully beautiful and I'm super lovin' it here.