TR EMERITUS

OPINION During a visit to Sai Kung last Sunday to promote his reform package to the people, Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was greeted by hundreds of disgruntled citizens who heckled, abused and accused him of "selling out" the people. (read report here) Not only must he put up with a torrent of verbal abuse including vulgarities in Cantonese from the crowd, he also had to guard himself against possible flying eggs and slippers thrown at him from nowhere. One protestor ran towards him swearing to "do him in" and was stopped by the police before he could reach Tsang. Despite the cacophony, no arrests were made. The police simply stood by and watched. Had the scenario occurred in Singapore, riot trucks will be called in immediately and the protestors arrested and brought away forcefully by our Singapore Police Force. Last week, a 52 year old relief cabby Mr Teo Kian Seng was charged in court for "threatening" his PAP MP Lee Yi Shyan. One would have thought that he must have done or said some horrible things to scare the wits out of the newbie MP, but all he did was to remind Lee that he hoped he would not see a "repeat" of the torching incident of Seng Han Thong last year. How this can be construed or misconstrued as a "threat" by the MP and the Singapore police is anybody's guess. The poor man had gone to see Lee at his Meet-the-People session in Bedok over a summons received by his elderly mother for leaving her "garang-guni" along the corridor. The media did not report what transpire in the conversation between the two men, but surely Mr Teo would not have uttered those regrettable words for no good reason. Either he was provoked into doing so or he had a slip of tongue. One thing for sure: the exchange between Mr Teo and Lee is unlikely to be a pleasant encounter. In all likelihood, Mr Teo probably said the "threatening" sentence out of anger or frustration and bears no malice or ill-will for it was not mentioned if Mr Teo had raised his voice or behaved in a hostile manner towards Lee. An understanding and magnanimous gentleman would have forgotten the incident and let it pass instead of lodging a police report. In most cases, the police will not even bother to investigate and will simply refer the complainant to the Magistrate's court, but of course when it involves a PAP MP, they are especially "efficient". The PAP MPs should realize that they are bound to encounter rude, unpleasant and unruly residents during their grassroots work. There will be people who are unhappy, peeved and angry at the government and they will naturally become their immediate targets to vent their frustrations on. During his visit to Tainan county last year in the aftermath of the Typhoon Morakot, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-Jeou was mobbed by angry villagers who threatened to beat him into a pulp. The unfortunate scene was telecast "live" on Taiwanese TV. Elsewhere in Asia, it is relatively common to see lawmakers being heckled, abused and even beaten physically by disgruntled citizens when they are out in the public. While violent behavior should not be condoned and deserved to be prosecuted, more discretion should be exercised by the authorities in the dealing of cases like Mr Teo's which appears to be ambiguous in nature. The role of an MP is to serve as an intermediary between the people and the government and to be an official channel for feedback from the ground, whether positive or negative. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew wrote in his memoirs that he and his entourage was jeered, heckled and jostled by opposition supporters when he was campaigning for the PAP in strongholds held by the Barisan Sosialis and he was even pushed into the drain on one occasion. The present generation of new PAP MPs are indeed "strawberry" MPs who appear unable to differentiate between real threat and mere paranoia. Facing and dealing with unhappy Singaporeans are part and parcel of their work as MPs. If the PAP MPs are so easily "threatened", then perhaps they should seriously reconsider their positions as representatives of the people in Parliament. It is so much easier being a MP in Singapore compared to Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and other Asian countries and it is a shame that PAP MPs still get paranoid over such trivial incidents. These are the kind of MPs we get when they do not have to fight tooth and nail for every single vote from the people and are whisked into Parliament either through walkovers or GRCs. Under the PAP's uninterrupted rule for more than five decades, the term "MP" has taken a new definition altogether. Instead of serving the people as they should be, they are now behaving like little emperors whom the people must kowtow to and beg on their knees for help. 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 →

Despite rising unhappiness among Singaporeans over the PAP's liberal immigration policies, PAP leaders are adamant that immigration is essential to Singapore. Speaking during a seminar at NUS, the Minister for Community, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Dr Vivian Balakrishnan stressed that Singapore must stay "open" to newcomers and help them "integrate" into society in order for Singapore to thrive in the future. In other developed countries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the onus lies on the immigrants to integrate themselves. It appears to be the other way round. Not only is the PAP splurging millions of dollars to roll out the red carpet for the immigrants, Singaporeans are exhorted repeatedly to accept and embrace them. Last year October, MCYS unveiled a mega $10-million dollar Community Integration Funds to make the newcomers feel welcomed and happy in Singapore. While MCYS has been most generous towards the immigrants, Dr Vivian said during the same speech that the state "cannot take over the role of providing support" to Singapore families. The PAP has always eschewed welfare and expects Singaporeans to be "self-reliant" even as it continues to import more and more foreigners to compete with them while demanding that they remain "cheaper, better and faster" at the same time. MCYS has a Public Assistance scheme which provides a paltry $330 monthly to destitute Singaporeans and those certified permanently unfit to work. During a parliamentary debate to raise the amount of allowance given to PA holders, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan rebuked fellow PAP MP Dr Lily Neo in a now immortalized quote: "How much do you want? Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?"     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 →

With City Harvest Church being investigated for alleged misuse of church funds, public attention now turns to the second largest church in Singapore - New Creation Church and its charismatic founder Joseph Prince. Like City Harvest, New Creation has a few business ventures worth millions of dollars including Rock Productions and Marine Cove, a popular food and lifestyle cluster in East Coast Park. Rock Productions raised eyebrows among some Singaporeans two years ago when it announced that it is partnering CapitaLand Malls to develop a $1 billion civic, cultural and entertainment complex in Buona Vista. During its weekly service yesterday, Pastor Joseph Prince took pains to explain the church's business ventures to its members and to assure them that "they were formed not to spin money for the megachurch, but were essentially driven by the need to house a growing congregation of 20,000." It was also revealed that Joseph Prince had stopped accepting his salary from the church last year and he now depends on royalties from his books and speeches for a living, stressing that nobody is "forced" to buy them. "I don't put a gun to your head," he quipped. New Creation's unusual move appeared to be taken to pre-empt possible "collateral" PR damage from the City Harvest fallout which has sparked an active discussion among netizens, some of whom have less than kind words for its pastors like Kong Hee. Joseph Prince made an indirect reference to City Harvest during his sermon: "Be kind, especially if you are blogging. After all, New Creation preaches a 'gospel of grace,"  he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times. Senior Pastor Kong Hee has not been seen in public since he was called up for questioning by the police last week. Investigations into the case are still on-going.   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 →