TR EMERITUS

Having obtained a Bachelor's degree after six years of part-time study, all the 100 job applications sent out had sunk deep into the ocean. A degree holder in Science, Mr Zeng Yongguang, 41, said, "I quitted my IT support position in April and have been actively hunting for another job for six months. The results are discouraging." Yongguang and his wife resides in Sengkang. His wife is four months pregnant. Half a year has passed and he is still jobless. He is at a lost. Meanwhile, life gets by from his wife's $1500 pm as a clerical officer. "I thought with a degree it is easier to get a job. Hence I signed up UniSIM's night course in 2002 and studied there for six years. I graduated in 2008." "In this half-year period, I emailed and mailed a hundred resumes to IT companies, requesting for $3000 pm. I did not get a single chance of an interview." Six months without income has forced Yongguang to pawn his watch and the ring which he gave his wife in exchange for a thousand dollars to settle his PUB and other miscellaneous fees. He is not a demanding person. He just wants a job - a stable income to support his family. In order to get a job as a waiter, he even lowered his demands by not disclosing his qualifications. Still, he was rejected. He said, "To make ends meet, I can work on anything, so I tell them I am an O-Level grad." "The restaurant manager asked me if I had any experiences; the KTV manager asked me if I could hold liquor well. I shook my head. They turned me down without even wanting to let me learn from scratch." Zeng Yongguang did a self analysis. With the tight competitiveness right now, all bosses tend towards younger, lower-paid, and higher-educated talents. He confesses that he is much older in age and this will set him in a disadvantage. However, he stresses that he is hardworking, willing to learn, and adamant. He hopes that the bosses out there will give him a chance. His wife had wanted to abort their child as she is worried that they would not be able to raise their baby. "We are almost quarreling every week for the past six months. She blames me for being useless, complaining that I am not resolute and aggressive enough in my job hunting." They have been married for twelve years and have all along been lovey dovey. At 35 she became pregnant, which should be a happy matter, but all are now in a mess since his unemployment. At the moment, he has persuaded his wife not to abort the child. He hopes to find a job as soon as possible and save enough money for milk powder for the arrival of their first child.   * from Lianhe Wanbao (19 Sep 2010, Sunday) by AE86  Read More →

It seems that in recent months, more and more youths are voicing their political opinions on the Internet. This could be due to the fact that the General Elections is just around the corner, and that the youths of Singapore are not as easily brainwashed unlike their predecessors. Youths today are better-educated and are much more willing to not accept things at face value. This could be due to the emphasis on "thinking skills" that was introduced by the Ministry of Education circa 1999. Whatever the reason, it can be said that the youths of today are more outspoken, more outward-looking and most importantly, better connected to the world at large. No more do they rely on the state's propaganda perpetrated by the publications under Singapore Press Holdings. Youths of today stay in touch with people from all over the world via social networking sites such as Facebook, get their news from many sources, such as Yahoo! and Google News and are generally more receptive to alternative points of view. However, like their predecessors, there still remains a lingering sense of fear amongst them to take the plunge into politics. Most of the time, they cite a lack of interest in politics - they think that politics is a very dry and boring subject - or they purposely hide their true feelings for fear that the PAP government will "mark" them for life. Who can blame them for thinking like that? After all, Social Studies is a compulsory subject in school. The biased Social Studies syllabus paints the PAP - and especially Lee Kuan Yew - as the founder of modern Singapore. Nothing could be further from the truth, for the real beginnings of modern Singapore began in 1819 with the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles. Also, the schools portray the PAP as "heroes" who gallantly defended Singapore from the Communists. The villian in this case is almost always Lim Chin Siong, whose party (Barisan Socialis) is painted to be THE number one Communist threat to Singapore's survival in the 50s and 60s. Again, that is an obvious deviation from the truth, going by recently uncovered secret documents in the London Public Office. For more information, you are advised to read 'Comet In Our Sky' (available from Select Books - http://www.selectbooks.com.sg/) and Dr Chee Soon Juan's book 'A Nation Cheated' (also from Select Books). It is a given fact that most people do not voice their political opinions openly (and often using internet pseudonyms) for fear that the Internal Security Department (ISD) or Police might come knocking on their door. Tales of treatment at the mercy of the ISD are well-known by now. It is this culture of fear that stops youths of today from entering politics, together with political apathy and materialism. The kiasu (afraid to lose) and kiasi (afraid to die) attitude of Singaporeans in general are to blame for this. We have been taught from young to pursue the good life and leave politics to the all-knowing, all-powerful PAP. I still remember my grandmother telling me when I was a young boy that the PAP has the interests of the people at heart, and that all their policies (no matter how harsh) are for the good of Singaporeans. This happened sometime around the 1989 General Elections, where Serangoon Gardens was the battleground between the PAP and SDP. I was then 6 years old. Today, I believe strongly that all National Education lessons, as well as all the stories I have heard from my relatives about the superiority of the PAP's quality of governance are nothing but lies. Unfortunately, many people in Singapore, especially those who are not internet-savvy and the older generation are still trapped by the thought that the press is always right. Therefore, the first step to joining politics is: NEVER BELIEVE WHAT YOU READ IN THE PAPERS! I have experienced this myself when my case of "inciting violence and public disorder" was brought to the attention of the mainstream media. The newspapers in Singapore are obsessed with propping up the views of the ruling PAP elite and will not hesitate to distort facts and assassinate one's character. Most notably, the Political Desk of the Straits Times - whose editor was an ISD operative - will paint all Opposition party members as imbeciles, ingrates, liars and such like. The PAP, however, are heroes, wise men, learned and compassionate leaders of society. (I still keep an SMS conversation between myself and Jeremy Au-Yong of the ST Political Desk, where he apologized when I pointed out a grave mistake in an article about me. I may need to use it someday in my political career.) There are many sources of alternative news, such as the opposition newspapers (Hammer (WP) and The New Democrat (SDP) are popular ones) and news blogs (The Online Citizen, Singapore Angle, Temasek Review, Yawning Bread, etc). Whilst no one news source can be taken as the gospel truth, they can provide another angle to the news that may sometimes escape notice or mention in the mainstream media. Of course, this is not to mention the fact that such news sources frequently do not censor information, and can sometimes precede the mainstream news sources in bringing up-to-date information (the YOG food poisoning scandal is a recent example). In conclusion, I again stress the fact that the first step to joining politics for youths in Singapore is NEVER TO BELIEVE THE PRESS 100%! Take every piece of news in both the state media (including TV) with a large grain of salt. Always read widely, and read alternative points of view. Do not be blinkered by the mainstream media, and always question what you read, no matter if it is The Straits Times or Temasek Review (two opposite sides of the media spectrum).   Abdul Malik  Read More →

The Need for a Multi-Party System 作者：Dr Wong Wee Nam 译者：Bruce Wee 李总理过去曾经提过，现在又重复，一个多党执政制度对新加坡是没有益处的。在2006年大选时曾说过这样的话‘如果有太多的反对党进入国会，政府将不得不浪费时间对付(fixing)他们’，现在此人还持有这种观点并不令人感到意外。 对于除了人民行动党执政以外不需要其他反对党，他给的理由是新加坡太小，没有足够的人才组成一个多党制度。以色列是一个小国，长年处于战争状态，但他们却有 一个不同见解的国会。香港，新西兰和丹麦的人口并没有比我们大多少。同样的，古希腊还曾是民主的发源地。即使是当新加坡早期，人口少过200万时，也有许 多主流的替代党。因此这个理由不能成立。 这并不是我国没有足够的优秀人才。毕竟只有84个席位供竞选，我们这样一个高教育人口普及的国家，是可以找到168个或更多候选人，让选举成为一个更有意义的活动，以及给我们的选民一个明确的选择。 国家事务差劲的种种原因 那么，为何缺乏足够的候选人来让多党制变为有可能？这是因为人民行动党政府在过去多年来，不但不鼓励多党体制的自然演变，还加以阻挠和扼杀，致使它近乎‘绝种’。在它1959年执政之前，新加坡曾经有过一个健康的多党制度。 随后，政治对手被逮捕，不支持它的工会和其他组织集团惨遭关闭，媒体也被驯服，导致恐惧的气氛笼罩而妨碍了所有政治活动的成长。 此外，为了让反对党党员更难当选，它也靠垄断国家主流媒体和基层机构，借以提高自己候选人的履历，并且采用了集选区制度，而集选区界线规划的伸缩性则有如‘东拉西扯’ 的橡皮筋那么离谱。 采用集选区制度是因为人民行动党辨称，如果没有他们，‘少数民族’不可能当选。然而，在人民行动党上台，并干涉选举制度之前，许多少数民族候选人在角逐的单 选区还轻易击败‘多数民族’的对手。别忘了当时人们都讲方言，教育程度较低，且种族意识较强。然而，当时我们甚至有犹太血统的总理。谁说新加坡还不适合拥 有少数民族的总理，和少数民族候选人不能凭借自己的功绩当选？还记得安顺单选区和惹耶勒南吗？ 事实上，新加坡人被长期洗脑以致排斥多党制。 他们被导致相信国会有反对党则表示有麻烦。台湾，菲律宾，泰国，韩国等国常被举例为被麻烦困扰的（多党制）体系。问题是，为什么选用这些刚刚从专制制度开 始走向民主制度初期的国家为例？为什么不提些民主制度成熟，有健康出色的相互制衡系统，而教育和经济水平更接近新加坡的国家，如美国，英国，西欧，澳大利 亚，日本，加拿大和新西兰？ 治理国家绝非易事 是的，多党度将使治理国家更困难。但治理国家曾何是易事？除非管理的国家里都是 机器人，否则意见分歧和社会矛盾是无可避免的。人民必然会一直被不同的社会状况，个别观点，及自己族群的不满而隔离，他们将一直要求国家财富的公平分配， 并希望正义得到伸张。每个人都有不同的教育背景，价值观念，成长的文化背景，种族籍贯和宗教信仰。正是这种差异，促使治理国家倍加困难。即使国家在繁荣进 步中，分歧也不会消失。事实上，越是高度发达的社会，差异问题越是值得关注。 当一个人冷漠无情，没有任何改革的意愿，再加上他胆小怯懦，无法表达对于变革的欲望，治理国家则会变得容易无比。 当然，强硬的施行政策来解决问题，是会更加容易快速过听取群众的意见而后调整政策以设法满足所有人。但是历史证明，当一个政府不征求人民的意见，则需要不断 的以暴制暴，使用武力，威胁和恐吓来消除冲突。但是这不是长远的办法。总有一天，社会上的紧张局势紧绷到不胜负荷时将引发暴力冲突。 正因如 此，我们必须为多党制而继续努力。一个多党制将使浮现的冲突以民主的方式解决。它减少了冲突的严重性，因为它将使政府更加透明化，导致政府更少犯错误，而 减轻加害于市民的痛苦。此外，它也允许国民参与政府的进程，赋予国民自豪感及大我意识，促进牺牲小我和社会凝聚力的精神。人民将有更多的取舍空间。当个别 国民利益起冲突时被允许下情上达，并且需求得到解决，社会才会和平安定。 国民更好的选择 为什么需要一个强有力的替代党？当只有一个执政党时，将出现朋党勾结。我们已经目睹了一党专治制度导致想法的垄断和对问题和解决办法的狭义观点。约翰米勒教授说：“在一党制度下，国家的运作极易被建立在执政党政府和执政党的利益上。” 国民的参与越多，不同的主意则更百花齐放。这意味着给予政府的反馈将更准确，及政策的实施将更公平公正。 如果有一个强有力的替代党，执政党则必须更细心听取市民的意见，否则更多的议席将被更好的一群人取代。这意味着政策将更有可能让更广泛的人口受益，而声音薄弱的低收入群则能幸免艰苦。 如果有一个让思想主意自由发挥的空间，当人们觉得他们的意见被听取时，将更有可能会和平的参与看法上的沟通交流，而不是成为漠不关心，或甚至于把不满和郁闷发泄在具破坏性的途径如贪污，罢工和示威。 需要做些什么？ 当总理说，建立一个强大的替代政党不是人民行动党份内的工作，他是正确的。我也同意，因为我相信只有我们的人民才可以建立一个强大的替代政党。他们必须决定 他们是否希望国家有一个让思想蓬勃发展，自由发挥的空间。只有人民可以建立一个更加生气蓬勃的政治文化。他们必须问自己，是否要继续漠不关心，或者在我们 的国家事务中有建设性的参与，甚至准备随时挺身而出，作出贡献和援助。他们必须把解决社会的利益冲突看成是国民的责任和义务。 有个每个人都应该扪心自问的问题是：作为一个新加坡人，我的角色是什么？这是我的国家，或仅仅是一个过夜的酒店，一个工作谋生的地方，一个供消费的购物商场，或一个当不能再提供我娱乐时可以随时中止会员的俱乐部？ 原文: https://www.tremeritus.net/2010/09/21/the-need-for-a-multi-party-system-2/  Read More →