TR EMERITUS

A British English teacher based in Madrid, Spain has refuted the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) outrageous claims that the word "burn" used by YOG critic Mr Malik in his Facebook comment criticizing PAP minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, could "incite violence and public disorder". Mr Abdul Malik made the international headlines when he was arrested by the Singapore police for “inciting violence and public disorder” with a comment he posted on Facebook criticizing Dr Vivian Balakrishnan over his handling of the YOG. Below is a snapshot of the original comment posted by Mr Malik who got him into trouble with the police: He was arrested at his workplace by three plain-clothes police officers from Bedok Police Division whose Commander is DAC Teo Chun Ching and Head Investigator is DSP Goh Tat Boon. The controversial case made the international headlines, sparking a huge outcry among Singaporeans who were flabbergasted at the inability of the Singapore police to differentiate between a harmless metaphor and a genuine threat. In a letter to the Straits Times Forum yesterday, a MHA director Toh Yong Chuan continued to insist that Mr Malik's comments will "incite violence" against Dr Vivian, much to the disbelief of Singaporeans. “It is a serious offence to instigate violence or injury against another person. It does not matter if his target is a government minister, a journalist or someone from any other profession,” he wrote. A netizen Kojakbt has posed a question on the authoritative English language forum usingenglish.com asking if the word "burn" will indeed "instigate violence" as used in the context of Mr Malik's original comment: "This is the time for us to burn the Minister and his political party! Rally together and vote them out!" What does this mean? Does it mean the writer intends to physically harm the Minister by rallying the people to burn him? Please help. Thanks." Below is the reply from the English language teacher: "No. I think it's a metaphorical "burning" meaning to destroy his career as a Minister and ensure that someone else is voted in. I don't think anyone would be so silly as to advertise their desire or plan to physically harm someone. In some countries, that's a criminal offence." [Source: usingenglish.com] With the case attracting attention from the international media, Singapore will be made a laughing stock again should the AGC proceed to charge Mr Malik which will surely cast doubts on the English proficiency of Singaporeans.   Related articles: >> MHA: Abdul Malik's comments will incite violence >> Transcript of Abdul Malik’s interview with Straits Times >> Abdul Malik apologizes to Vivian Balakrishnan >> Bedok Police Division should explain arrest of YOG critic >> Dissenting is our right >> Former RI boy Abdul Malik turned into “celebrity” overnight >> Abdul Malik: My thoughts on the YOG games >> Dr Vivian: I don’t care about arrest of YOG critic >> Arrest of YOG critic to squash dissent failed miserably >> Character assassination by Straits Times against YOG critic >> Netizens voice support for arrested YOG critic Abdul Malik >> Outcry among Singaporeans at arrest of YOG critic >> Singapore police put YOG on world map >> Did Dr Vivian lodge police report against YOG critic? >> YOG critic arrested by Singapore police >> Participant of “I hate YOG” Facebook arrested by police Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us  Read More →

By Douglas Chua Bold.Brazen.Blunt Now why do we keep reading and talking about this foreign talent issue like some kind of plague that just won’t go away? Well, you can be sure it will never go away because they are coming into Singapore at an alarming rate in droves, they are ubiquitous from Bedok to Bishan, they are being seen and heard clearer and louder everyday and until and unless a stop button is pressed somewhere to turn back the clock, these foreigners are here to stay for good. In case you missed the headlines, this place is the economic plateau of abundant opportunity in South East Asia, like the Big Apple of the East. People flock here because there is a living to be made and a livelihood to sustain for the future. There is peace and there is political stability. The place is clean and crime and corruption free. Hey! we even have a casino to help foreigners spend their money. What more can a foreigner ask for? What exactly is foreign talent? Well, the way it is applied to the thousands of foreign job seekers here, it is a misnomer. To most people, the term has a supercilious tone to it. To cynics, it carries a supremacist connotation. To a rational local born and bred person, it is an insult that all the foreigners going by this term are probably more talented than him. So one by one they come, then they bring their spouses and then the kids and parents. What a family of convenience! So the nett result is one so called talent had ended up bringing in a baggage of five dependents who are non-talents. Now is it any wonder that the MRT trains are packed. Now we know why our space is getting smaller and smaller and Singaporeans are feeling the pinch of this mass foreign invasion. Let’s not kid ourselves and let’s not try to reinvent the wheel here. There is no talent in foreign talent just as there is no apple in pineapple. And if you scrutinize closer, you will realize that these people are on a personal crusade in search of jobs; high paying jobs that we can offer with alacrity and abundance. Don’t they have engineering jobs in Malaysia or India or China? Plenty. Don’t they have health care jobs in every country? Definitely. So if there are plenty of jobs back home, why are foreigners leaving their shores for Singapore? A job that a person does back home would not be dissimilar with the job he is going to do as a foreigner in his adopted country. Right? His professionalism whether as a doctor or engineer would require him to discharge his duty precisely the same as he would anywhere else in the world. It is not a talent; it is his professional training. Therefore an engineer from India would be working just as an engineer in Singapore, hardly anything eye popping. So why do these people travel thousands of miles just to be here? There is only one possibility: Sing Dollars. Throughout human migration pattern there is no denying that it is the lure of a strong currency that attracts people to cross oceans and skies just to land a job. For some of them the difference in disposable income could well be the difference between life and death back home. Hence the difference is in the pay. Imagine if we were to pay these people the same wage as they would get from their country, they would probably all disappear overnight. So much for talent. Look, they are here not because they fell in love with Singapore overnight or they have so much talent to offer or they are going to pledge their lives to defend this country when the time comes. Or they love our system and our puny island so much. They are not here for our national interest. They are here to benefit themselves because our economic pie is bigger, fresher and greener. They are here on a mission to help milk and share a cash cow economy. Let’s not deceive anybody. It is as clear as that. So the next time someone mentions foreign talent, well I suggest you just have to shrug your shoulders, wink your eye, shake your head and tell them that there is no apple in pineapple.   Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →

After the credit crunch rocked the UK economy last year resulting in me unable to get a full-time job, I decided to return to homeland Singapore, expecting much better prospects. To my dismay, despite my qualifications from a recognised university from the UK and years of work experience, I am stunned that I am still hunting for a full-time job after a year while being on contract jobs for companies which refuse to hire me full time, instead preferring to hire cheap foreign labourers who do not command as much pay and experience as I do. But that is not the key issue. The main shocker was that my boyfriend who is a foreigner, tried to find a job here. Mind you that he is a highly-skilled, talented, university-educated individual who has worked on very big projects in his industry. After 3 months, he managed to land a job in a video and media company here and received his e-pass. However, within less than 2 months into the job, his boss told him that because he is a European and that he is 'expensive to keep', they have decided to let him go and replace him with an unqualified worker from China who only commands less than half his pay!! He and I were totally shocked. The reality of the influx of foreigners into our homeland makes me want to challenge the PAP's policy: are we really attracting FT or scaring them away with cheap foreign labour?? Needless to say, my boyfriend decided to return home. With the absence of minimum wage laws, weak labour right laws, exceedingly long hours and pushy, demanding work culture, how can Singapore ever be attractive for the REAL FT? I met more FT in many developed Western countries where their humane laws and less stressful culture plus high wages have been the main attractive factors. But Siingapore?? You got to be kidding me!!     A Girlfriend  Read More →