STEELYDANGUITARSOLOS

For those who love Steely Dan's music, they'll appreciate that a large part of the attraction is in their great guitar solos.

Here is a video of a young man called Colm Lindsay who had put together a 12-track medley of some of their greatest hits. This must be as close to Steely Dan heaven as it can be!

So, just enjoy!

http://youtu.be/6Z-WS1x47b4

GONG XI FA CAI SG 50

This is a piece of graphic art that I have created without any physical drawing, painting materials, special computer apps or electronic tools. I call it my New Digital Art. This celebratory golden jubilee piece, called "Gong Xi Fa Cai SG50" is my interpretation of Singapore's 50-year history of progress; emerging from the dark shadows of uncertainty in early statehood to the confident shining lantern that it is today. 

My wish for Singapore is the same wish that we have every Chinese New Year - a wish for happiness and prosperity.

IN PRAISE OF DIVERSITY

In a world now crippled by hostilities brought about by cultural and religious differences, we should instead learn to appreciate and enjoy the diversities that enrich our lives.


                                                                                     Differences challenge assumptions.

               -Anne Wilson Schaef                                                         

                              
                                                                                                                                                                 
                       If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values,

       we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities,

                and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric,

     one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.

                     -Margaret Mead                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
                                                       

                 Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.

        -Malcolm Stevenson Forbes.                                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                    Infinite diversity in infinite combinations...

             symbolizing the elements that create truth and beauty.

                                -Commander Spock, Star Trek 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
                               
                                                                                                                                     
                Life lies in diversity, not in monotony.

                    -M.K. Soni                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                          
                                                 
                                  

                                                                                             
                                                     If we cannot end now our differences,

            at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

                         -John F. Kennedy                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                    
                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                  
                      We all live with the objective of being happy;

our lives are all different and yet the same.

-Anne Frank                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
                                     
                                                                                                                                                                                             
                                   
                                                                                Ecidujerp is prejudice spelled backwards?

                   Either way, it makes no sense.?

                         -unknown 

                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                                                       
                    Religions are many and diverse,

           but reason and goodness are one.

                         -Elbert Hubbard 

                                                                                                                                                                       
                                
                                                         The wave of the future is not the conquest

        of the world by a single dogmatic creed

                 but the liberation of the diverse energies

                        of free nations and free men.

-John F. Kennedy.                                                                                  
                                                                                                    

NEW DIGITAL ART

Can you create art with no physical drawing or painting materials nor any special apps or electronic tools? Yes, you can! Simply use your basic iPhone.

 

 

So, go ahead and get creative!

NO MORE NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
Let's have life-long aspirations

Okay, tomorrow will be the first day of 2015. I hope you would not be trying too hard to keep your New Year resolutions. Giving up your bad habits? Trying to sleep more? Hoping to eat more healthily, to exercise more or to generally be a better person?

Well, experience tells us that making such resolutions are likely to fail. Perhaps, these resolutions are not worth making in the first place.

Don't get me wrong - it is always praiseworthy to try to improve ourselves, but I think we should not just want to do certain things from year to year.

Maybe, we should have some permanent aspirations which are common with everyone; and I think it should be an ongoing process for the rest of our lives. So, with that in mind, let me recommend the following simple life principles:

1. SEEK KNOWLEDGE

2. LOVE OTHERS

3. BE GOOD

4. DO GOOD

Let's strive to have a fruitful and fulfilling life!

TEN GREATEST THINGS WHICH MONEY CAN'T BUY BECAUSE THEY ARE FREE

10. Friendship

9. Generosity

8. Sunshine 

7. Water 

6. Air

5. Time

4. Logic

3. Forgiveness

2. Life

1. Love

TRUE PURPOSE OF SCHOLARSHIPS

Published in the Forum Page of The Straits Times on 2 Dec 2014

Let me disabuse all scholarship holders, past and present, of the notion that they are special people who in some way deserve to be provided with an expensive free education in prestigious foreign universities (“Drop ungrateful scholarship holders” by Ms Estella Young and “How successful have programmes been?” by Mr Justin Wang Qi Wei; last Friday).

A scholarship programme is not about the recipients, their careers, their earnings or their ever-changing interests; it is about the maximisation of our national intellectual capital for the benefit of society.

Scholarship holders are very fortunate people who were given financial support by their fellow citizens to further their studies, in view of their desire, commitment and potential capability to serve as leaders in specific fields, either in public service or in the private sector.

Scholarships are awarded because there has been a meeting of minds and a common purpose between the recipients and society.

Those who harbour grandiose illusions about their own talents and a matching false sense of entitlement should never apply for a scholarship. Those who treat scholarships solely as opportunities to secure fame, prestige and an easy road to self-serving ends should abstain, lest they waste everybody’s time.

Those who, at the end of their studies, did a cost-benefit analysis of bond-breaking should ask for moral guidance.

Not keeping their end of the bargain after successfully completing their studies is not merely a breakdown of a transaction between the scholarship holder and the Government, but also a grave affront to the trust, honour and respect that we normally reserve for recipients who served our society humbly and dutifully.

Daniel Lee

Book Summary
FREEDOM MANIFESTO
Why Free Markets Are Moral And Big Government Isn't 
By Steve Forbes and Elizabeth Ames
Published by Crown Business (2012)

The battle for the soul of America is between the belief in free markets and the faith in government regulation. Adam Smith or John Maynard Keynes? Which will provide the best way to a moral society? According to the authors, apparently against popular sentiment, free markets is the way to go.

They cited several reasons for their advocacy for less government intervention and more market freedom:

(1) Citing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, they contended that freedom was the original guiding spirit behind the intentions of the Founding Fathers.

(2) Quoting Adam Smith, they believed that if everyone is motivated by self-interest in a free market to satisfy the needs and wants of other people, these mutually beneficial exchanges will form an "Invisible Hand" that creates and allocates resources in a manner that will generate innovations and wealth, raises living standards and, by competing with each other, produces amazing new products which become readily available at a low price. On the other hand, the prime motivation behind government action is often merely political survival.

(3) By preserving our right to make free choices, a free system will create a wider array of new goods and services to meet demand. This will help to generate abundance from scarcity thereby fostering a prosperous society. In contrast, government regulation works by coercion which sometimes lead to undesirable outcomes.

(4) Free markets unleashes human ingenuity and creativity. In a process where successful products can soon become obsolete and learning from failure can lead to better products, democratic capitalism can lead to innovations that will help to solve real problems and improve the lives of many. On the other side of the coin, because the core competency of government is order and security, it leads to rigidity and stagnation.

(5) Free enterprise bestows personal autonomy which helps to empower people, whereas government support only traps people in a cycle of dependency and entitlement.

(6) Free markets reward people and companies for their ability to meet the needs and demands of society. Therefore, it promotes a purer form of meritocracy that allows people to move up the social ladder. Political cronyism, on the other hand, only channels privileges to a favored few, running the risk of encouraging corruption.

(7) Free market transactions are based on an inherent trust and cooperation between market participants and an optimistic view of human nature. The pessimistic assumptions of government prioritize the need to safeguard people, minimize risks and control chaos.

Notwithstanding the enthusiasm of the authors for free markets, I wonder what the latter can do to protect the environment, to narrow income disparity and to address controversial issues concerning health care, housing and finance.

Book Summary
CIVILIZATION - THE WEST AND THE REST 
By Niall Ferguson
Published by the Penguin Group (2011)

Why did the civilization of Western Europe dominate the world since 1500? That is the central question this book seeks to address, and Harvard historian Niall Ferguson's answer is that the West developed six killer applications that the Rest lacked.

They are:
(1) Free competition in politics and economics;
(2) The Scientific Revolution which brought a new and reliable way of studying, understanding and changing the natural world;
(3) The rule of law as a means of protecting property rights and ensuring stable representative government;
(4) Modern medicine to allow major improvements in health and life expectancy;
(5) Consumerism which drives and sustains the Industrial Revolution and the mass production of goods;
(6) Protestant work ethic of extensive and intensive labor, high savings and capital accumulation.

The secret of these six applications lies in the fact that they provide the conditions for setting up the best available economic, social and political institutions which, in turn, triggers individual human creativity and ingenuity in solving  the problems of the modern world.

It has been observed that the West has been losing its edge lately to China and other emerging powers. Whether this is the start of a decline from 500 years of world domination would depend on the quality of Western educational systems and the self-confidence and self-belief they engender.

BOOK REVIEW
THE ENLIGHTENMENT VISION
By Stuart Jordan (2012 Prometheus Books)

The Enlightenment was an ethically secular and humanistic intellectual movement that swept through Europe and America from the mid-seventeenth century. Using the twin weapons of science and reason, it sought to improve life for everyone through the optimistic adoption of universal values such as freedom, equality, democracy and individuality. It launched the modern world as we know it today.

This volume is an evaluation of the validity, feasibility, success and prospect of the Enlightenment vision. Jordan's verdict is that the goals of Enlightenment are the correct ones but the surprising delay to their realization is caused by widespread ignorance of things already established and well-known but not properly transmitted. Since all reality is amenable to scientific investigation, all we need is more research in order to complete our human knowledge.

Since science is the investigation of the natural world through a process of imagination, observation, experimentation and rational thought, it will yield reliable knowledge about the probable outcomes of human action and guide our choices for the maximization of human welfare. That way, scientific knowledge can help to inform our ethics.

So far, Enlightenment's successes are many including the increased general well-being in most parts of the world, the advent of valuable technologies and the advances in democracy and human rights. On the other hand, the unjust economic distribution of wealth, the use of destructive technology and the damaged ecosystem tell us that the vision still has some way to go.

To the author, the eventual achievement of the vision's goals can by hastened by reforming education. Instead of providing mere training for the masses and reserving genuine education for the elites, all citizens should be given the opportunity to develop their capacity for critical thinking. He believes that our strong human survival instincts will drive us to make the right choices including the rejection of superstitions and unreasonable religious beliefs.