fragments

NMP Siew Kum Hong
one of Singapore's Nominated Members of Parliament (i.e. non-voting MPs not directly elected by the people, but selected for Parliament to represent diverse interests), Mr Siew Kum Hong, has decided to run for re-nomination (?). this is a man i respect, even if his views are a little too much into left field for my taste.

he has certainly posed many tough questions to civil servants (including myself) to answer. his efforts to ensure accountability in Singapore's all-powerful bureaucracy (our politicans are effectively senior bureaucrats). i appreciated one of the comments that was made in regard to this role of the MPs (was by PM Lee i think). the job of Parliament in Singapore's case is less to formulate legislation (unlike many larger democracies), than to hold the bureaucracy accountable. although I believe that the record is mixed at best, it certainly is a system which works for Singapore. always good to have some degree of checks and balances without resorting to unnecessary judicial means (read: Supreme Court decides who's President). however, this does not entirely solve the very prevalent problem of groupthink in the gobierno here. (can't say the English G-word, may lose my job)

NCC
One of the large "independent" churches here (let's call it NCC, or National Cadet Corps) makes me very uncomfortable for two reasons. The first is the undue emphasis on the prosperity gospel (which is staunchly denied, sometimes well-justified, but always lurking in the background as the material is emphasised above the spiritual). The second is the undue adulation given to their senior pastor (let's call him JP Morgan). He is apparently paid $500,000 a year.

Having been embroiled in the "should ministers and civil servants be paid tons or peanuts" thing, I believe that even religious leaders should be paid well, but not extravagantly, as befitting their responsibility. However, they should justify it by living modestly, as according to the commands of the Bible. What really galls me is one of lieutenant's assertion that because JPM brings in 95% of the church's revenue (i.e. donations), he actually is a net profit to the church. This is alarming and entirely contrary to what a church should be. Our currency is souls, not dollars. A worker for God will be assessed by God's standard in good works and fulfilling his mission and commandments. Taking in material wealth is surely a very small part.