The Numbers Game
The date is 2094 AD. The place is NORA - New Order Republic of America. [“Numbers Game” a fiction story by Rebecca Rode]
Everyone has a number. What does the number stand for? Taking 1,000 as the 100% mark, a number of 500 or less signifies a red colour, of little or no use to society. There are simply followers, obeying orders from the greens and the yellows. The yellow colour, numbers between 501 and 700 are mainly technocrats, the working middle class. The Greens represent members from the elite class, the rulers and leaders, with numbers above 700.
The date is still 2094 AD. The place is NORSEAs - New Order Republic of South East Asia. [Numbers Game fiction, concocted here.]
Map of South East Asia as at 2019 AD is shown here.
Singapore with the capital injection from Brunei first started the Meritocracy Moment (MM) way back in the year 2040. The MM idea was to streamline all children at various stages in their schooling careers. At Primary 3, the students were streamed into a six-year primary or an eight-year primary education. Then at the end of Year 6 for those in Stream A or the end of Year 8 for those in Stream B, the students were further streamed into the Academic Secondary (AS Group, six years) or the Vocational Secondary (VS Group eight years). Those in the AS Group were further streamlined into the University Group or the Polytechnic Group at the end of Year of their secondary education.
Only those in the University Group could eventually become Members of Parliament to govern the country. The idea was considered so good that parts of Malaysia, parts of Cambodia and parts of Vietnam had in various periods during the 2050s had joined in to form NORSEAs.
Back to Rebecca Rode’s story below:
Treena, full name, Ametrine Dowell, had a rating of 440, a red. In the fiction book, she had a necklace U as her symbol when she spoke. Lile Demenger scored 739, a green coloured score and there was loud applause for her. Chan Norwell had 636, a high yellow. Dresden, full name being Dresden Wynn, scored a high 942 and at the age of 17, just out from secondary school, he found himself holding the record as the highest at the end of one’s secondary education. Lorena Conway scored 822, green and Taliyah Fairbanks got 651, yellow.
We are not sure what number applied to Vance, because he was rated two years prior but judging from his work as a soldier, his current number might well be a high red. He was one of the main characters in the story and his job was to catch ‘smugglers’. The term here referred to those who planted or continued to eat real food, be it meat or vegetable or fruit. The country was on artificially manufactured pills, rationed out by the Government to all her citizens. he must just be Whenever he spoke in the book, he had his own ‘flames’ *{V}* icon.
DO REMEMBER THAT: The two stories presented here are purely fictitious and any resemblance to reality is purely accidental. The source of the first story is that from Award-Winning Author, Rebecca Rode, whose book entitled ‘Numbers Game’ is the first of three featuring Treena and Vance - Book # 1. Numbers Game; # 2. Numbers Ignite; and # 3. Numbers Raging. Check these three books out on the internet. The second is purely the work of imagination.
Chapter 1: Necklace U: Chapter 2: Flames *{V}*: Chapter 3: Necklace U: Chapter 4: Flames *{V}*: Chapter 5: Necklace U: Chapter 6: Flames *{V}*
It is Rating Day again and the three friends Treena (Ametrine Dowell), Dresden Wynn, and Taliyah Fairbanks rode their bikes together to the assembly hall where the numbers scored by each and every secondary school leavers would be announced. They had high hopes that all three friends would have high number-gradings in the green colour zone as they had all scored well in school examinations all of their school lives. So they thought that they could have opportunities to stay together throughout their working careers. That would be ideal. Imagine the disappointments, especially to Treena, when she was deemed a red, while Taliyah scores a yellow and Dresden a green.
Chapters 7 and 8: Necklace U [Rebecca Rode’s book]
Treena was obviously disappointed with her Rating of 440 as her scores in school year-after-year had always been among the top of her standards. Upon reaching home, she was determined to go to the Rating Bureau to find out whether there was a mistake made in regard to her Rating. When told that the relevant Rating Officer had gone to a meeting, she took the pain to find out where the meeting was held and she dashed to that meeting herself without thinking that the meeting was only meant for invitees. She had a face-to-face meet-up with the Empress of the NORA, VVallorah, herself and her courageous act made the Empress grant her an opportunity to have her Rating revised. This opportunity was to work as a part of the Empress’ protection team called EPIC (Empress’s Personal Intelligence Contingent) for the next two weeks, to be a spy, so to speak, to flush out a possible insider-betrayal whom the Empress suspected. She had no choice but to agree.
Chapter 9: Flames *{V}* : Chapters 10 and 11: Necklace: Chapter 12: Flames *{V}*: Chapters 13 and 14: Necklace U: Chapter 15: Flames *{V}*
These chapters moved fast through the next few days in Treena’s life. She was trained by Vance in combat moves with imaginary opponents. She went through her initiation period at EPIC, shocked that she had to capture innocent ‘smuglers’ who had not committed any crime in the real sense of the word. She got to know Vance better as a person. Vance shared with us his story as to why he ended up with working at EPIC and why he was leading Team 2 of EPIC.
Chapters 16 and 17: Necklace U: Chapter 18: Flames *{V}*: Chapters 19 and 20: Necklace U: Chapters 21 and 22: Flames *{V}*: Chapter 23: Necklace U: Chapter 24: Flames *{V}*
Treena tried to find out who amongst those members of EPIC was the insider-traitor. Her life was a constant stress with the Empress following closely her every move. She saw Dresden from a different light, comparing him with Vance. We read the attempts that the Empress was trying to have her poisoned. The actions in the story moved fast between the two main characters, Treena and Vance.
Chapter 25: Necklace U: Chapter 26: Flames *{V}*
There was an execution a group of televised nationally for the first time. The Empress must be really worried about the smugglers.
Dresden was on national television presenting news together with another older lady Cora. They were presenting the execution of eleven smugglers. Everyone in NORA was fed on pills with no natural food - no vegetables, no meat, no fish. Anyone found with natural food in one’s possession was deemed to be a ‘smuggler’ and had to be arrested.
Chapters 27, 28 and 29: Necklace U
Treena listened to Vance’s story, why he was sent to EPIC (Empress’s Personal Intelligence Contingent), why he had to capture his own clansmen, considered to be ‘smugglers’ bu NORA.
Chapter 30: Flames *{V}*
Ned spoke up. “Did Treena really let a smuggler slip through?” I pushed away a stab of irritation. “She did her job, and she did it surrounded by enemies. She’s done nothing to deserve what she’s getting.”
Chapters 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35: Necklace U
I was in a prison cell where I met up with my real biological father, Jasper. He was in prison for twelve years. Jasper had been ordered to be with the Empress, to leave his wife and daughter. Jasper was brilliant and designed the Rating system and the techband.
“Every person above you, with higher Ratings above hers has died in the last three years, Everyone except Vallorah. The Empress has been killing off her competition.”
“Attention all personnel. Security alert lockdown still in place,” my father read. “Suspects: Ametrine Dowell, age sixteen. Jasper Frederick, age forty-three. Detain immediately if seen. Considered armed and dangerous.”
Chapter 36: Flames *{V}*
“They initiated punishment mode on her, ” the crying man said. “I was able to cut the band off at the last moment.”
“And she’s walking around?” I said incredulously.
“Just a little zap,” she said with a weak smile. “How did you get away? And how you find me?”
“The Empress pretended to give me another chance. Instead, she sent a contingent down to exterminate us.”
Her had flew to her mouth. “You mean you escaped through the ventilation shaft?”
Chapters 37, 38, 39, 40, 41: Necklace U
But now I knew the truth. I was the successor. The empress knew that, and she wanted me dead. If I gave up now, she would succeed. We rushed into the chopper and headed off with Daymond at the control. One by one we dropped off - Jasper, my biological father jumped with me. The feeling of being utterly helpless in gravity’s clutches made me freeze in fear. Then I heard the explosion and saw the fireball-like inferno. Vance must have been burnt together with Daymond and the chopper. Jasper found his old friend, Mill, who helped us. Mill proposed that Treena led the rebel group to expose the tyranny of Vallorah, the Empress.
No, Vance was not dead. He returned to see me training hard at the combating Kung-fu that he had taught me. I was so glad that he had returned. Sadly though, Vance had not planned to follow me to the capital to confront Vallorah. He preferred to go to the boundaries of NORA to join his clansmen, the Hawkings.
Chapter 42: Flames *{V}*
“Keep them safe” was Vance’s father last words to his son. “My memory was clear, the words unforgettable. Dad hadn’t said to keep my family safe. He had said to keep ‘them’ safe.” Vance, therefore, decided to leave Treena and travelled towards his Hawking’s clan.
Chapter 43: Necklace U
Mills had his own plan. He set his plan to action by asking Treena to lead a group of peaceful marchers to the City’s Palace to confront the Empress, Vallorah. At the same time, he had transmitted loud messages to NORA’s administration that the rebels were going to the Palace to take over the Government. When both sides gathered to the City Centre, he set up an explosion in the city that he thought would kill out all of his competitions. His explosive worked and
They could not afford the pay for tuition fees for their children for them to move up in society. They had no connection with those at the top because every time one of their kind happened to qualify close to the top, that one became snobbish and behaved like one of them. Worse, they had been told by some ‘downgrades’ that there were rampant nepotism and corruption, not directly but subtly through the manner in which the public funds were managed.
One day in August 2085 AD, three friends, Ali, Mohan and Being together with their supporters decided to send out the following letter to their contacts via the internet social media that could bypass the monitoring devices of the ruling elite. Like the olden days of the Chinese Ming empire, they planted this letter inside specially hand-made mooncakes that were given out during the three-months period prior to the Mooncake festival on the eighth day of the eighth moon.
“We are the underprivileged. Our livelihoods were worse off than those of our forebears. Not that our country is poor. Under the wisdom of our past leaders, we are able to extend our influence to a much wider community and increased our bank reserves to a very healthy level. But, think again, friends, are we better off today? Of course, those who are the chosen one are better off, with their own properties, both owner-occupying ones and investment ones where we have rented from them. Our rents have continuously moved up, year by year. Our foodstuffs are costing us more. Our public transportation costs and our costs of medicines (health upkeep) are also going up. But our incomes are not keeping up with inflation. What shall we do? We intend to change the status quo. We do have a plan, a plan to change this, a plan to make every one of us, the eighty-percenters, better off. We will call this plan the ‘Robin Hood’ plan, ‘robbing’ - no, ‘robbing’ is not the right word, better to call it ‘sharing’ the wealth of the rich with their poorer citizens if this nation.”
Back to Rebecca Rode’s book:
Chapter 44: Flames *{V}*
Vance found Treena inside the Palace, after turning over several dead bodies that were on top of her. Treena was badly injured with a weak pulse. He carried her to the city hospital and saved her life.
Chapter 45: Necklace U
Treena was safe but she is in the hospital with cuts and bruises and a severe headache. She was now the new Empress but Dresden had taken full control of the running of NORA on her behalf. This was not the wish of Treena as she would rather have a country where the Rating system was totally abandoned. That decision of Dresden acting on her behalf was that of Treena’s stepfather Konnor. Treena’s biological Father, Jasper, had recovered from his wounds but was on a wheelchair. How could all these events been happening in so short a timeframe?
Chapter 46: Flames *{V}*
What a thriiling last chapter to this story!!! This chapter is from the viewpoint of Vance. I rather not be a spoiler here and allow you to read this ending yourself. I am sure that a summary of this last chapter will be the starting chapter of Rebecca Rode next book - Numbers Ignite.
The author, Rebecca Rode, has thirteen discussion questions at the end of the book. I have chosen just two of these to get our readers thinking. Here they are:
Question # 2: When BORA citizens look at each other, they immediately focus on the number they see. Do you believe we tend to label people by the same standards today? Why or why not?
Question # 12: Treena and Vance both want something completely different in the beginning that they want at the end. What makes that change? How have your dreams changed since you were a child.
Alas, the Robin Hood plan did not work and all the three leaders, Ali, Mohan and Being were executed for treason. The Government of NORSEAs suppressed the rebellious group after some fierce battle fought over several key city areas of the country.
In 2094 AD. several rebellious groups came to disturb the nation again. Three groups had seized control of three main train stations in the City and another group occupied the International Airport preventing air travels at the Capital City for three days. Earlier in past months some of the key Government leaders had secretly departed from the nation. Some others had gone underground. This time, it looked like the new rebels groups might have a chance to succeed but will lessons of the past be learned. One wonders.
Background to the
https://youtu.be/AUuPoKIHxw8 Progress Singapore Party launch: Michael Lee Juan published by
Background to NORSEAs story: (2) An open letter currently (14th August 2019) circulating on social media. This long letter was written in February 28th 2019 and first published in The Online Citizen:
Good morning to all and Majulah Singapura,
This is an open letter to all PAP cadres: Please focus on serving Singapore. My name is Diana Sharma.
Please, please, please rethink why you enter politics and look at the direction that the current PAP is going.
I sincerely believe that most Singaporeans who enter politics, regardless if they join the PAP or the opposition parties, do so with a pure heart to serve Singapore and her people.
In fact, that was the reason why PAP was vert popular in the 1960s. The pioneer batch of PAP politicians served Singapore with all their hearts nd souls. They commanded the trust and respect of most Singaporeans.
Today, all Singaporeans, especially the older generation, are grateful to PAP for leading and transforming Singapore from a third-world country in the 1960s to a modern city-state in the 1990s.
Undeniably, PAP was not perfect and Lee Kuan Yew could be an absolute autocrat who inflicted extreme cruelty to any dissenting voice and to any political opponent. However, no matter how one looked at it, we have to agree that PAP had indeed done an excellent job in bringing Singapore to where it is today. We only need to look ar our neighbouring countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. and compare the progress made over the same timeframe from 1960s to 1990s.
Indeed, one of the reasons for the continued support for PAP during the General Elections is the perception that they worked very hard to the interests of Singaporeans at the foremost and they are competent to bring about positive changes to lead the country forward.
Unfortunately, the same can no longer be said over the past twenty years from 1990s to today. I personally feel that the hearts and souls of PAP are no longer with the common people to bring Singapore to new heights.
PAP MPs are so far detached from the average Singaporean that they live in a separate world by themselves.
The current state of affairs.
Take, for example, of PAP ministers telling Singaporeans to buy into the Asset Enhancement Scheme for Housing Development Board (HDB) flats and promising that the value of HDB flats will never go down.
After tens of thousands of Singaporeans used up all their life savings and Central Provident Fund (CPF) monies to buy HDB flats, they announced that all HDB flats will be returned to the government at zero costs at the end of the 99-year leases.
In fact, some readers even commented that this is nothing more than an elaborate scheme to buy votes, since PAP had also openly stated that the HDB upgrading were prioritised by PAP vote share.
Interestingly, most, if not all, PAP MPs do not live in HDB flats and they do not need to return their HDB flats to the government at the end of the 99-year leases.
PAP ministers pay themselves in excess of $1 million (per annum) while the entire economy is mis-managed with PMET unemployment hitting new highs.
Instead of standing together with Singaporeans and giving them solid support to tide over the difficult times, PAP made life even more difficult ny increasing GST, electricity prices, water rates, town council fees, transportation costs, ERPs, airport taxes, university fees, property taxes, parking charges, carbon taxes, sugar taxes, etc.
As if to add insults to injury, PAP MPs pay $365 for one whole year of parking, while demanding our teachers to pay for school parking. CPF monies pay-outs are automatically deferred to 70 years of age, ten though it was supposed to help provide financial support for the retired. And to top it off, they put the blame of economic mismanagement onto the common people and told them to pay more money to nurture skills in order to upgrade their skills so that graduates can become cooks and cab drivers.
Education has become an elitism breeding ground for the PAP families. While PAP ministers openly claimed that “All schools are good schools,” it is a doubt as to whether anyone of them ever sent their children to neighbourhood schools.
Finally, top school students are grantees places in Junior Colleges via the integrated Programmes and Through-Trains Programmes, as well as concession points to enter affiliated Junior Colleges, whereas neighbourhood students are denied such opportunities.
Basically, children from PAP families no longer compete with children from the average Singaporean families on th level-playing fields. Our education system serves more to separate the elitist family children from the common Singaporean children, rather than to provide basic education for all Singapore children.
Accountabilities and transparencies are not even low - they are non-existent. PAP MP spouses and Singapore Arm Forces (SAF) paper generals are parachuted into high positions in governmental agencies whereby they will just move on to other high positions when they perform poorly.
The list of failures and wastage includes Neptune Orientalists Lines (NOL) being sold to a foreign entity, Keppel corruption scandal, multiple MRT breakdowns, building the non-functioning National Stadium, multiple confidential data breachers in SingHealth, numerous deaths in SAF, near collapse of SPH, paying millions to Uber for a system when Uber intending to sell the business to Grab, overspending millions for the Youth Olympics and building a non-existent High-Speed Railway, and overspending billions to build Airport Terminal 5 (and increasing airport taxes so much so that airlines divert to other airports), Tuas Mega-Port (with China building an even larger port in Malaysia.
The only exception to moving on for poor performance is Ho Ching in Temasek Holdings. Ho Ching continues to draw high pay package (estimated to be more than $100 million annually) even when Temasek Holdings lost billions from multiple investments, including Bayer shares, Hyflux shares, toxic credit-related products during the Lehman Brother crisis, Thaksin’s Shin Cooperation shares and the Suzhou Industrial Project, etc.
In fact some readers speculated that this is the primary reason why CPF monies was withheld while taxes and utility fees rocketed sky high. The President is supposed to serve as a check to the National Reserves and, in order to ensure no independent candidate can ever be elected as a President, the entry bar is set so high that even the remaining handful of qualified independent candidates will rather enjoy personal wealth than to risk getting into potential fallout with the government.
In the meantime, an Indian is selected to be a Malay President in order to maintain racial harmony, whereas the issue of a Malay or Indian Prime Minister is conveniently brushed aside even though voiced by many Singaporeans. Look at out National Budget! There is no directionality or leadership to lead Singapore forward. Instead, it is almost like a bribery whereby tax monies are dispersed to Singaporeans once every four years, just prior to the General Elections.
Serve Singapore with Moral Integrity.
As a true-blue daughter of Singapore, I now call upon all PAP cadres to do self-reflection. Search deep within yourself and ask yourself these questions. Is this how you want to serve Singapore? Is this the proper way to govern and lead the country?
Stand back and take a hard look at the current state of affairs. Is PAP really acting for the good of Singapore? What has PAP really acting for the good of Singapore? What has PAP done for Singapore over the past ten years that has benefited Singapore as a whole?
I think the answer is very obvious. If you search within your heart, I beseech you to uphold your integrity and exercise moral courage.
stop being part of the PAP system. Leave the PAP system and start anew. Join another political party. Or form a new political party to serve Singapore if you feel that all the opposition parties are not good enough to serve Singapore. Remember that history will eventually reflect the current state of affairs.
Do you seriously think that the Singapore Archives can be locked away forever? If the PAP is so above board s it tries to portray itself, then it should declare to the public how much exactly are the PAP ministers and Ho Ching are being paid and open the Singapore Archives. What is there to hide?
You do not want to be identified as part of the PAP system when that happens and you do not want your own descendants to scorn at you in contempt.
So leave this system now while you still can. Start afresh and really work to serve Singaporeans. Goh Chok Tong and Heng Swee Keat can take the lead. They can have self-dignity and self-respect and they should stop working as seat warmers.
If you choose to stay behind because of the huge pay cheques, then stop lying to Singaporeans that you are stepping forward to serve the people. You are nothing more than a selfish elitist!
Background to NORSEAs story: (3) The future of Malaysia by the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
The Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr. Mohatir bin Mohamad as recorded online on May 30th 2019 in Japan. https://youtu.be/veasiPEfjZ8 Q & A starts at 14:00.
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