A Short Take On Democracy

In times of turmoil and poor political leadership or lack of transparent governance, many people will subject themselves to believe that "Democracy is Dead". This is especially true when political elections do not turn out the result that the masses wanted despite the Majority voting for a certain party.

---------- // ----------- // ------------

Take a simple example.

There are 3 positions available in an organisation. The available candidates are from 2 major factions (A & B). If 2 out of 3 positions are filled by one of the faction then that faction will have the major decision making power.

Out of the 3 positions:
Position 1 has 50 voters to vote
Position 2 has 30 voters to vote
Position 3 has 20 voters to vote

Position 1 was won by faction A with 45 votes
Position 2 was won by faction B with 16 votes
Position 3 was won by faction B with 11 votes

Simple maths states that only 32 people supported faction B (16+11+5)
Hence faction A has more supporters and are the popular team

Yet faction B is now the one in power!!

---------- // ----------- // ------------

Sounds familiar right?

Unfortunately "democracy" is just a numbers and logic game. It doesn't matter how large the support is but where the support is located that matters and that is how some political parties stay in power.

Because the main majority (who lost) feels that they have been "cheated", many do not want to recognise the final outcome and may hold multiple gatherings or movements to dispel the decision, which unfortunately does not yield the outcome desired.

To take a notch up, many turn to their leaders for help to make changes against the leadership of ruling government (which ultimately fails, because let's get real, you can't easily get rid of the head honcho without being played out, especially when there is money and power to be distributed)

Rewind to the whole vape issue and people threatening to not vote a ruling government back to power.....

Democracy is the people's power to exercise their rights to an elected representative......
Democracy is NOT the people's power to exercise demonstrations and dissent against an elected government which plays a numbers game.......The refusal to accept the decision is akin to anarchy

Thus democracy should be practiced whereby the people themselves should say
"I want to vote back YOUR party, IF and ONLY IF, THAT certain top guy is no longer the leader. Otherwise I won't vote and let the other party do whatever they want. I will still NOT vote for the other party as I am loyal to your party....."

Alot to swallow.....bitter to the taste.

Democracy through Vaping

The whole vaping saga is quite an interesting story. Put the whatever health effects versus habits aside, how the public and govt reacts is quite a telling story.

1. Like many actions taken by authorities, initial "hot hot chicken sh*t" action is taken without a proper framework or objective. Just to put on a show of efficiency (without effectiveness)

2. The public, vapers or non-vapers alike are not well inform of their stand of action. This is like some movies or tv series where enforcement officers throw in a court subpoena through a door gap and smashes down the door for arrests.... Also this is akin to the recent overnight changes of RapidKL bus numbers that left many people confused and confounded. As always, let the rakyat adjust eventually.

3. The power of people is demonstrated here when people who can afford a lifestyle (of vaping) and not those who can be swayed by a Br1M contribution speak up with threats of ruling govt losing votes in the next GE. Almost immediately there is conflicting statements within the same ministry (of health) where the deputy minister speaks of hasty action by his own enforcement officers. To top it off other ministers even glorify the opportunity to grow the industry into an international hub. (I know... Even I'm scratching my head)

4. Seeing from a public servant's point of view (enforcement officers), it is a case of being stuck in a Catch22 situation. On one hand carrying out a directive to raid and enforce. On the other hand being criticised for taking action hastily. (Huh??)

5. If only more citizens of ALL ethnicity came together (without having to physically gather) to repeatedly declare that they would not support the ruling govt in the next GE because of short sighted or illogical or corrupted policies and actions, maybe and just maybe the true power of democracy can be served. In many countries public polls are carried out to determine the effectiveness of an action versus public sentiment and how it will affect the govt chances of reelection into office.

My Dear Son (letter #1 of ??)

My dear son,

Our time and place in this world is temporary, an ever changing wave upon an ocean of events. A minor gravitational shift of natural forces may alter the present and future, which we can neither control nor change. All we can do is embrace our past through experiences and memories, and to brace ourselves for the journey ahead, while enjoying the present moment.

The present however is not without its challenges and the most challenging element is time. Time waits for no man and yet time will almost always outlast any mortal man. Having said such it also means that as your father there will be many things that I hope to be able to share with you in the little time we have with each other and sometimes what we share may still be incomprehensible to you until a much later date and time, to which these letters will seal the moment for your future reference.

Let's talk about MAGIC today. (Not the card game)

There are so many interpretations as to what Magic is......it can be referred to the art of sorcery for good or evil, illusions for entertainment, a feeling, a description.....the uses of it is so wide that the term "magic" itself seems....magical!

I will never forget the very first time you realise how to use the word when you saw something that amazes you and you will turn to me with your ear to ear grin and shout out "Papa....it's MAGIC!". Just that simple action magically makes me smile and melt at the same time, and makes me want to search for more events and things that will continue to amaze you with its magical presence.

That's the magic of magic.......

As you grow, these once upon a time magic will be explained......the mystery behind each amazement will be rationalised and logically thought upon so that you will know why and how it happens.....

But I would like you to always remember those magical moments and that sometimes even as we grow into a world of logical cynicism and rationalism, a little purposeful ignorance is always good to bring us back to that magical feeling that will surround your emotions with pleasantries. 

As you grow, also know that you must always carry a certain MAGIC with yourself, and that is to Make A Good Impression Constantly.

Don't ever lose that magic in yourself.

Don't ever lose hope in the magic of the world.

Don't ever stop searching for the magic in the people you meet.

Love always,

Papa.

Newton's Law for Drug Traffickers

"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

 - Issac Newton

The recent execution of the 2 ringleaders of the Bali Nine heroin smuggling gang in Indonesia triggered an international relations sub-crisis that has seen Australia (where the ringleaders hold citizenship) mounting pressure upon Indonesia to retract the death sentence of the two men. Of course, Indonesia refused to budge and this has led to the recall of the Australian Consulate from Indonesia.

Events that lead to the execution on 29th April also triggered many discussion that touches on the ethics behind death sentence or taking the life of one that has been convicted for serious crimes.

Many parties condemned the practice of death sentence and labelled it as an inhumane form of punishment. This being seen from a human rights' perspective and how it is hard to justify the act of deciding and taking another person's life knowingly as a punishment for their actions.

When viewed from the angle of human rights, it is a hard pill to swallow to fathom the experience of being the person, no doubt a stranger in a judge or a panel of strangers in the form of jury, to eventually decide and put name to paper to decree a person as being unfit to live another moment in this world and to end their life prematurely. While a judge may have been trained in his/her profession to be able to be impartial and only lean on the evidence at hand, but for certain country or states where a panel of jury from the common people to pass such sentence, one can only wonder if they can also be indifferent and impartial or would they be struck by some form of post traumatic stress.....

But court room decisions aside, the writer is more keen to discuss on the subject of KNOWING and DELIBERATE action of drug trafficking and distribution.

The use and ab-normal use (abuse) of drugs has been a long plaguing problem in society and has since been deemed to be illicit and dangerous. Yet the hedonism that these substance provide never stops a flow of users from trying to experience the other side and to escape the stress of worldly world. It also doesn't help that it has become so easily accessible that it becomes an "excessible" disease that has found its way to parasite itself into society.

Drugs provide so much more than a hedonistic experience when someone is using it. The lure of easy income by trafficking and distribution is also another cause of its prolonged existence that can tempt the hearts of non-users to go into the business (without being a user in some cases).

A simple search on google which yielded this website "Havocscope" showed the varying prices of heroin sold per gram (in USD) in different countries. The differing forces of supply, demand, legislation, ease of access, ease of smuggling, and more causes the price of heroin itself to be so unregulated that it may differ up to 650 times the price between the cheapest source and the most expensive profit yield (1 gram of heroin is sold in Brunei for US$1330, while it is US$2 in Kenya).

The economics and increasing ease of logistics via budget airlines and frequent routes provide a platform for "traders" to decide which areas can be used as a good smuggling hub or transit point to move the "products" from a low cost to high yield country. Other factors that may compound the decision include security laxity at the chosen airports, direct flights, high traffic of passengers to reduce the possibility of detection, and also how corruptible are the enforcement officers in the chosen places.

With the average street price (not traffickers wholesale price) of US$98  in Indonesia versus up to US$500 in Australia, a good 5 time yield for a 2 1/2 hour flight. Not a bad deal from the point of smugglers' view......

But that aside....

Drug trafficking or "trading", is like any other tradable commodities. If a person decides to import and export any product or commodity (illicit drugs included), the ONUS is on the person to know what are the local and international law that is bounded with such a trade. It doesn't matter if it is the trading of cars, rubber, sugar, oil...... every inbound and outbound country has its legislation that controls the trade and the supplier and logistics expert are bounded by the trade laws of both ports.

Herein lies the same rules and boundaries that are set with illicit drug trading. Countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia impose a harsh stand against drug trafficking and it has been written in law that the mandatory death sentence or life imprisonment can be imposed upon conviction. While countries such as Australia take a differing stand and the maximum conviction can be up to 25 years imprisonment and/or a fine of A$100,000. (Taken from http://crg.aic.gov.au/reports/1314/35-1112-FinalReport.pdf)

So there you have it. Cheap supplies from a harsh punishment country, high selling price in a country which has very humane laws. Lets put the maths together:

Selling price (Australia)     US$ 500.00
Purchase price (Indonesia) US$ 100.00
-----------------------------------------------
Profit                                   US$ 400.00 PER GRAM!!!

Bali Nine were caught with 8.3kg of heroin or 8300 grams, so the total possible profit was

8300 X US$ 400 = US$3.32 million for that particular ONE TRIP transaction.

If it was a communist group then each person gets a fair share of US$ 368,888.

If one was caught in Indonesia.....then one is screwed. If one was caught in Australia, a pay off of A$100,000 or a quiet sit in for 25 years would have been quite a simple trade off for such a business which doesn't require years of study or a particular trade skill apart from smuggling technique.

With such inducements, the writer does not believe that Bali Nine will ever be the last group of "traders" and even the death sentence will not deter the next group from venturing into such a lucrative business.

So is the death sentence justifiable?

While one can argue that all these people did were the trading of "commodities", but illicit drug use has such a cascading effect upon society. It is never just the simple act of trading from supplier to middlemen to the end user. It is the cascade after the end user that causes the most damage.

The addiction to the abnormal use of such drugs causes strong dependence that the users and layers of society will feel the effect. The cascade may be as illustrated but not necessarily in the proper order:

1. User feels happy
2. User needs more supply to feel happy in a stressful world that user cannot handle
3. User feels withdrawn when supply not available
4. User's work gets affected and productivity may decrease
5. User's dependence require more supply to feel the same happiness
6. User may encourage other people surrounding him to find same happiness
7. Fluctuating prices may cause use to not be able to afford regular product
8. User may resort to other means of getting money to finance habit, OR
9. User may opt for cheaper and less pure product
10. User will start to withdraw from society as the alternate happy world seems more fun,
11. User will neglect responsibility towards family or dependents,
12. User may occasionally but in increasing frequency OD (Over Dose)
13. Healthcare workers will work very hard to save OD User's life
14. Business neighbourhood of product supply becomes a hound for other Users
15. General safety of society begins to be compromised
16. User may sink into cycle of being a useless piece of rock from frequently being "stoned"
17. Dependents (family) or friends will have to start taking role to care for User
18. Lives and family are destroyed
19. Tax payers are burdened from funding going into drug rehab program and incarceration cost (prison)

And the list goes on......

So while Indonesia may have executed TWO out of nine drug traffickers. The said nine has caused a cascade of events that will destroy and cause a slow painful death of many many more on the other spectrum of business. Drug traffickers causes death to layers of society which they don't see, won't care to know, and won't be claiming responsibility.

While it is not the writer's stand to agree or condemn the death sentence imposed in certain countries, but law is law and if caught within the jurisdiction of such "draconian" law then one has to abide by it.

"Drug traffickers causes death to layers of society which they don't see, won't care to know, and won't be claiming responsibility.

But on a separate note, while human rights' activist wishes the world to see their point of view in condemning the death of drug traffickers, perhaps it is prudent that the human rights of victims of drugs smuggling, traffickers, pedlars, and users also be considered as to what kind of action or equal reaction should be conferred to the actions of the drug traders.

Insuring a health conundrum

In the spotlight today: "policy holders to pay more for health insurance"

Citing a rising cost in medical care and the "money losing" business of medical cards, insurance companies are justifying yet another hike in the premium calculation that will translate to an increase in premiums. This exercise will affect those of at higher risk of poor health, which in general will be the older age group, and worst affected might be those who are at lowest capacity of income generation, ie the retired age group.

It is said that there are 2 sides of a fence to each story. I have 3 perspective instead, as a health practitioner, an insurance agent, and a policy holder.

So let me put it in simple perspective.

1. A person becomes a policy holder when he purchases an insurance policy. Because they are being led to believe that their life has a high worth and that rising future medical care can be combatted by purchasing at today's policy prices.

2. Insurance company leverages the cost between the healthy and the possibly sick to come up with a premium that will be profitable to them. After all insurance is not charity, they need to profit to give a hopeful income to their agents.

3. Policy holders will make use of their pre-paid medical cards to 'rightfully' treat all diseases with minimal payment.

4. Medical centres in the name of defensive medicine (which is to investigate as much as possible a disease beyond reasonable doubt so that they will not be held accountable for a missed diagnosis or ineffective treatment in the court of law in the event) hence alot of tests and extra consultation and prolonged stay can be 'justifiable' and since the policy holder doesn't directly pay, they won't feel it.

5. Insurance companies find their actuarists didn't do a good job to forecast a handsome profit, so they will need to do the ugly deed of raising the insurance premiums whereby a public outcry ensues.

...........

What seemed like a 'noble' business to help protect health costs, has in fact become a business that poaches the masses for the inappropriateness of some. The lack of honourable due diligence in the part of insurance companies in researching a better business model to promote preventive health instead of reactive payment to poor lifestyle related health problem has contributed to the on going cycle of premium increase with no solutions in sight apart from the current easy way out, which is to increase premiums across the board.

Why do I oppose it?

Because a healthy policy holder who looks after himself and may probably almost never end up in the hospital except in the final stages of life would be subjected to the same increase of premium rates as another policy holder who after purchasing their policy at a ynger healthier age, start to partake in poor lifestyle choices such as over eat, over drink, over work, over smoke, under exercise, etc. There is no mechanism to rightfully adjust and justify the premium hikes.

Likewise, in the expenditure department, professional and procedural fees are regulated by law to have a maximum cap for the fees a doctor or health professional may receive, but there is no standard or law that governs how much a box of tissue would cost in a hospital room. How well versed are the insurance company in justifying multiple professional consult for an admitted patient, or what is deemed as objectively sufficient or subjectively excessive amounts of investigation to conclude the treatment plan?

While in the medical and health related business (including insurance), we talk the talk of "prevention is better than cure", just how serious are we to walk that talk?

To prey on the emotions of people by talking about their health, many people are commited to insurance, but how committed are the insurance companies to their policy holders' health. We all know how committed the companies are to their financial health with each increase.....

Put into a different context, when a financial institution provides a car loan, they fix an interest to the loan. If on subsequent years the economy improves and interest rates increase, they cannot just tell their customer "hey you know, these are good times, so we are going to have to charge you more". And even such, if there is a floating interest system tied to a base lending rate, the variation occurs according to the economy. The BLR can either increase or decrease which will be reflected accordingly.

So why can't health insurance also have such a floating system? If one maintain in good health within a certain parameter accounted for age and lifestyle, then their premium remains, or is discounted. Something like how car insurance applies, whereby there is a non-claim bonus. Why can't there be a good health bonus?

By doing such, much more can be gained in the conext of preventive health, whereby the responsibility of good health (and low premiums) are in the hands of policy holders. Health care costs will decrease because the rate of illness can be reduced with preventive measures. I believe this will form a bigger part of Corporate Social Responsibility as opposed to these companies sponsoring charity events having open days or marathons only that serve more as an advertisement than sustainable health prevention efforts.

After all, how many more real life companies do we need who tells us life is great and claims to always listen and always understand, when the fundamentals of health are not being practiced, heeded, heard or understood, making life miserable because all policy holder can see are these companies making business from real life problems.