TR EMERITUS

Following the footsteps of YPAP leader and new citizen from India Mr Sinha Shekhar, another YPAP leader Jack Lin Xinli has sparked a furore in cyberspace again with his callous remarks about opponents of the PAP regime. Mr Sinha Shekhar sparked a massive outcry among Singaporeans last month when his comments on the YPAP Facebook calling PAP critics as “DOGS” were reported in the media: [Source: YPAP Facebook] Another YPAP leader Eric How was rapped for his snide remarks against poor Singaporeans. He later lodged a police report on the advice of YPAP Chairman Teo Ser Luck that he had been "impersonated" on Facebook. Unable to fend off accusations from netizens that the PAP is an undemocratic regime, Jack Lin lashed out at his critics by endorsing PM Lee's earlier statement of "fixing" the opposition on the PAP Facebook:       [Source: PAP Facebook] During an election rally speech in 2006, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he would have to spend more time "fixing" the opposition if more of them get elected into Parliament. He was later forced to apologize for his unintentional faux paus. Though the remarks had brought widespread public opprobrium and condemnation, it appeared that most, if not all PAP members do agree with PM Lee's statement, including Jack Lin. Mr Lin is the General Secretary of the Joo Chiat Youth Executive Committee. He is currently majoring in Economics at the National University of Singapore. With such youth leaders in the ranks of the PAP, the future of Singapore is bleak. Let us now recap the infamous comment made by PM Lee:     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 →

A Vietnamese man has been sentenced to 22 months in prison and 15 lashes for harassing debtors. Mai Thanh Tai, 22, was convicted of having violated the Moneylenders Act of Singapore at a hearing on June 28. Singapore Police Force said Tai entered the country on May 26 as a tourist.  He was arrested in front of an apartment on Clementi Avenue 1 carrying paints, paint brushes and records of debts. Investigations later showed that Tai had harassed debtors in different areas at least six times.  He had been hired by a friend in Vietnam and paid 30 SGD (US$21.53) per harassment.   In a seperate incident, a 31 year-old Vietnamese was arrested on Wednesday for suspected involvement in loansharking activities. Officers from Tanglin Police Division were conducting an ambush at Bishan when they spotted a man behaving suspiciously. The officers conducted a check on the man and found loanshark-related paraphernalia such as notes, eight cans of paint, three markers and two bicycle locks in his possession. The man will be charged in Court on Thursday.   Another man,  a 25 year old Taiwanese man was arrested on Thursday morning for suspected involvement in loansharking activities. Officers from Tanglin Police Division were conducting an ambush at Toa Payoh when they spotted a man loitering suspiciously in the vicinity. They conducted a check on the man and found loanshark-related paraphernalia such as notes with writings, which were suspected to be addresses of harassment sites, two markers as well as tube of black paint in his possession. The man was subsequently placed under arrest for suspected involvement in loansharking activities and the items were seized as case exhibits. The suspect will be charged in court on Friday.   With the promise of another 100,000 "Foreign Talents", Singaporeans should resonably expect an increase in the number of arrests made for illegal activities by foreigners.        Read More →

A Singaporean by the name of Seah Su Chen has written to the Straits Times Forum today arguing why GDP growth is not an accurate reflection of the standard of living in a country. The PAP is obsessed with GDP growth, pegging its ministers' multi-million dollar salaries to annual growth figures - the higher the growth, the more money they bring home. The use of GDP as an economic indicator has long been disputed by prominent economists including Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz who criticized it as a poor measure of the quality of life. "Measuring GDP is important as it provides knowledge of the amount of goods and services produced by our economy......GDP puts no value on leisure. Therefore, a society that works longer hours will have a higher GDP, but it may not score in human measurements like education and health," Ms Seah wrote. GDP is simply a measure of the total economic output of a country. It can be inflated artificially, for example by importing large number of cheap foreign workers to keep labor costs down. Though Singapore has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, it has also one of the largest income gap between the rich and the poor and its citizens suffer from low domestic wages and purchasing power. Singapore is ranked only 53th in the world in terms of quality of life by The Economist Unit, below the likes of Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. According to a Wall Street Journal article published in January this year, the relentless influx of cheap foreign workers has depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living, decreased labor productivity and led to an overall decline in the standards of living. Despite widespread opposition from disgruntled Singaporeans, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be bringing in another 100,000 foreign workers this year to keep the Singapore economy and of course his salary, "growing".     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 →