TR EMERITUS

During a dialogue session with some 250 students on "The Singapore Dream versus The Singapore Reality", Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan heaped generous self-praise on Singapore's political system. He was asked by a student if the government has "monopolized" talent in Singapore. "I make no apology for trying to grab all talent available. Ultimately, whether the PAP stays in power or not depends on which party can attract, nurture and grow that talent pool and offer that talent pool to the people of Singapore to decide," Dr Vivian replied. Under Singapore's unique political system dominated by one single ruling party, the People's Action Party (PAP), the best talents are often given government scholarships at drafted into the civil service upon completion of their studies, some of whom are then "hand-picked" by the PAP to stand for elections under its banner. Due to the repressive political climate in Singapore, few Singaporeans are interested in politics, let alone join a political party such that even the PAP is experiencing serious problems attracting capable men and women into its ranks. Dr Vivian added that he and his fellow colleagues are running a "honest" political system for the sake of Singaporeans: "We are trying to run an honest political system that is based on integrity and talent and that will reflect the will of the people and that will do long-term good for the people." A honest political system is one in which political leaders take responsibility for their mistakes and apologize to the people when things go wrong. Judging from the recent YOG fracas, Dr Vivian doesn't seem to practice what he preaches. Not only did he blatantly refuse to account to Singaporeans how the YOG budget was exceeded by more than three times to a shocking $387 million dollars, he has refused to apologize to them for the numerous "glitches" which occurred during the much maligned Games. In the meantime, more than 900 Singaporeans have signed the online petition demanding a public apology from Dr Vivian for mismanaging the YOG. (You can sign the petition here.) As one of the commentators put it succinctly: "No doubt this Vivian character is not wholly responsible for the poor handling of YOG, [but] he is still the conductor [and] he should apologise even if only one member of his orchestra fumbles. Failure to do so, will merely manifest his arrogance."   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 →

作者：吴明盛 (党秘书长) 今年是一个令很多新加坡人感到沮丧的年头。 虽然我们的国内生产总值在过去几季都有显著的增长，但从零售业的衰退看来，却又完全是另一回事了。 这显示我们的购买力并没有随着经济好转而增强，根本追不上 通货膨胀的步伐。如果ＧＤＰ的增长没能使新加坡人受惠，没能提升我们的购买力和生活素质，那也是完全毫无意义的。 这也许只能为再次提高部长们的薪金制造一个漂亮的借口。 另一方面，我们要扪心自问，虽然国家的ＧＤＰ在上一季 取得了约２０％增长，但我们的薪金是否有相应的提高呢？ 此外，要取得如此高的ＧＤＰ增长，我们所需要付出的代价是膨大的。为了促进成长，我们输入越来越多的外劳。但这会造成新加坡人的工资被压低。于此同时，我们的生活空间也因此就越来越拥挤了。 根据我们的调查和研究，行动党政府从２００６年起，就刻意进行一个野心勃勃的引进外劳的计划。然而，有多位部长，包括交通、卫生和国家发展部长等，基本上却都对如此急速的爆炸性人口增长显得“措手不及”。 我们的交通系统，已没能应付在短时间内过度激增的人口。这些年以来，地铁和巴士服务已远远落后于人口的增长。这也造成地铁和巴士在繁忙时间内变得非常拥挤。然而，车资的提高却对很多人造成不满。增加的幅度可高达７％，或甚至更高。 我们的组屋售价有如冲天炮。建屋发展局在过去几年里，所提供的新组屋根本无法满足急速人口增长的需求。如果一间普通组屋，都须用３０年的时间才能还清房贷，那么，很明显的，这根本就不再是个“负担得起”的房屋政策。 医疗设施对国人的生和死是至关重要的。但是建新医院的计划已被拖延长达１０年之久。这导致我们的医院的床位严重的不足。从这也可以看出卫生部并没有依据人口增长而实施相应的措施来应付医院床位需求的激增。情况有时可以严重到，病人必须被滞留在病房外的走廊! 然而，我们的总理却宣布我们还需要多１０万个外劳！我们还能容忍这些问题继续恶化吗？ 最近发生的水灾，使我们质疑这超高薪的行动党政府的治国能力。我们不想再听到以“５０年一遇”、“想要完全没有水灾是不可能的”或“这是天意”等借口来推卸责任的。 当我们付出全世界最高的薪金给我们的部长们时，我们便有权要求他们解决这些基本的问题。我们引以为荣的现代化、世界级小岛，竟然在短短两个月内蒙受了３至４次水患。这是我们完全无法接受的。 所有的这一些事都发生在由世界最昂贵的行动党政府管理之下的新加坡。我们需要问责，但我们却没能做到；我们需要适当的制衡，但我们拥有的却很少。 新加坡必要在经济和政治双领域下，取得平衡的发展。我们不应只盲目追求高经济增长，而不惜付出高昂的代价。 同胞们，国庆之际，正是我们反思时候。 我们应自问，我们要为新加坡创造怎样的生活环境和生活素质？高经济增长，再也不能保证我们能拥有更好的生活素质；相反的，它却会降低我们的生活水准。 我们也要自问，我们是否要我们的孩子们继承由一党独大 一党垄断的专制政治体系吗？继承一个只要求高薪但没有担当和问责的政府吗？ 我们需要改变这体系。 我们更需要勇气来改变它。 祝国庆快乐！  Read More →

Instead of being intimidated into silence by his arrest by the Singapore police, Mr Abdul Malik continues to press for the minister in charge of the much maligned Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Dr Vivian Balakrishnan to account for the various screw-ups in the Games which has damaged Singapore's international reputation. Blighted by lack of genuine support from Singaporeans even before it began, the YOG has become a $387 million dollar FLOP plagued by a series of controversies such as ticketing glitches, mistreatment of volunteers, collapsing/leaking roof canvases, blackouts, poor commentators and a mass food poisoning scandal which remains unresolved to this very day. In a lengthy article published on the Temasek Review yesterday, Mr Malik wrote that his aim now is to get the government to be held accountable to the various issues that blighted the Games: "My aim now is to get the Government and those responsible for the YOG to be held accountable for the various issues that blighted the Games. Action needs to be taken to bring those responsible for the failures to task. Even if it means “burning” their future political careers. This is how I would want a leader to be seen as taking responsibility for the actions of his subordinates." He also reiterated that he will not succumb to pressure from the Singapore police and challenged them to "try" him: "I may sound subdued for now, but in no way will I give in to the police, the Government or anyone who intends to “burn” me. I have only 2 words for them: “Try me”" Mr Malik, an alumnus of Singapore’s top secondary school Raffles Institution, had posted a comment on his Facebook taking Dr Vivian to task for the YOG mass food poisoning scandal on 15 August which caused 21 YOG volunteers to suffer from diarrhoea after taking food provided by the YOG caterer. According to international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP), Mr Malik posted a comment written in capital letters saying that the incident showed it was time to “burn Vivian Balakrishnan and the PAP”. In the same posting, he also called on the public to “rally together to vote them out”. He was arrested at his workplace on Tuesday morning 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. Below is a snapshot of the original comment posted by Mr Malik who got him into trouble with the police: The case sparked a massive outcry among Singaporeans who are peeved off with the high-handed approach of the Singapore police on a young man expressing his personal opinion of the handling of YOG by Dr Vivian. It also made the international headlines, overshadowing all other YOG-related news and further reinforcing Singapore's international image as a repressive one-party totalitarian state.   Related articles: >> Netizen emailed authorities to explain arrest of Abdul Malik >> Abdul Malik: My thoughts on the Youth Olympic Games >> Former RI boy turned into “celebrity” overnight for standing up to PAP >> Email to ministers on arrest of YOG critic >> Abdul Malik on his arrest >> Arrest of YOG critic to quash online dissent backfired >> Character assassination by Straits Times against YOG critic >> Public support for arrested YOG critic >> 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 >> Singaporean arrested after Facebook attack on govt >> 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 →