TR EMERITUS

By Tamara Thiessen from Sydney Morning Herald At the Tanah Merah MRT rail station in Singapore, hundreds of iPhone-infatuated commuters appear to be as oblivious to fellow commuters as they do to the sign strung before them: ''Value Life Act Responsibly''. It is the kind of behaviour-regulating message that is thrust down their throats daily, though some observers are cynical about their effectiveness. "This is campaign city," a marketing specialist says. "There's a 'Smile' campaign, 'Be on time to weddings' campaign, a 'Courtesy' campaign … there are just too many campaigns." In a country where people are regimentally law-abiding and clean, happiness and civility are also deemed to be in need of outside enforcement. Visitors to Singapore know they will be greeted by spick-and-span public spaces, hoovered grounds and streets free of chewing gum and spit; yet many say there is no such assurance of finding good manners and a caring society. In a letter to The Straits Times Sabrina Chen said that ''achieving true kindness boils down to having one characteristic which is missing among us: initiative. Singaporeans lack the initiative to care". Under slogans such as ''Kindness rocks'' and ''Be a smile champion'', the Singapore Kindness Movement has been campaigning relentlessly for a more benevolent society. The movement's second State of Graciousness in Singapore Survey, found ''S'poreans'' had conducted themselves better on public transport over the past year, amid hefty state-waged campaigns to improve consideration among commuters. But half the respondents were negative about behaviour in public, on the roads, at work and at home, said the movement's general manager, Teh Thien Yew. "Levels of indifference and unhappiness are still high … we are all concerned about graciousness in our country." Some foreign workers in the city have few kind words about Singaporeans' manners. "They are the rudest f---ing people I have ever seen; they need some basic training in civic awareness," said Paul Stapleton, an IT manager from Sydney. "They don't feel that anyone else exists outside this tiny island." The resounding verdict points to a Singapore rigorously controlled at the expense of humanitarian values. So will more state initiatives such as the Singapore Kindness Movement, whose patron is the Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, reap change? "The problem is the sole concern of most Singaporeans is money and economic wellbeing," a long-time British resident says. "The only reason the churches here are packed to the rafters is because people attend in order to network." Source: http://www.smh.com.au/world/singaporeans-asked-to-chew-on-their-manners-20100530-wnjm.html   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 →

Reuters, 2 June 2010 China repeatedly expresses fears about tensions on the Korean peninsula, but Premier Wen Jiabao took that point further by spelling out that any clash could have serious reverberations for the region, not least his own country. North Korea has been blamed by an international investigation for sinking the South Korean corvette Cheonan in March, killing 46 sailors, but China has refused to join condemnation of its ally Pyongyang and said it is still assessing the evidence. In a transcript of an interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK posted on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website on Wednesday, Wen declined to say whether China would support any censure of the North by the UN Security Council. As a permanent member of the Council, China could veto any such action. But China had a direct stake in resolving the stand-off, he said. “If there is a clash, he people of North and South Korea will suffer the most serious harm, but China would be lucky to escape,” Wen said. “In China we have a proverb: ‘If the city gate catches fire, the disaster even affects the fish in the moat’, Wen said, citing a traditional saying meaning innocent bystanders are vulnerable to trouble at their doorstep. “Only neighbouring countries will have this feeling.” Even a limited military clash between North and South Korea would rattle the region, and outright conflict — which observers says remains extremely unlikely — could unleash a flood of refugees over the North’s porous border with China. Wen repeated calls for calm and restraint, and said he had discussed the issue over nearly four hours of talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Seoul has pledged to take the incident to the U.N. Security Council, as it seeks to respond strongly to the deadliest military incident since the Korean war while avoiding letting tensions with the North getting out of hand. “We will conscientiously study all aspects of the situation and reactions to it. We will fairly and objectively express our position. In terms of what we will do in the (UN) Security Council, please keep an eye on this,” Wen told his interviewer. China is North Korea’s biggest trade partner and fought alongside the North in 1950-53 Korean War. Beijing fears harsh condemnation of Pyongyang over the sinking could erode already-limited leverage over reclusive leader Kim Jong-il, dash any hopes of persuading him to abandon his nuclear weapons, and upset the brittle stability on the Korean peninsula, analysts say. — Reuters  Read More →

Reuters, 2 June 2010 Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said today he and his powerful party No. 2 would resign after a slide in the polls threatened their party’s chances in an election expected next month. Calls have built up in Hatoyama’s Democratic Party for him to step down to revive the party’s fortunes ahead of an election for the upper house of parliament expected on July 11 that it must win to smooth policymaking. With tears in his eyes, Hatoyama told a party gathering both he and party secretary-general Ichiro Ozawa would resign their posts. Analysts have tipped outspoken Finance Minister Naoto Kan as the likely successor to Hatoyama, who quits after just eight months on the job. Political rows, including the recent departure of a tiny leftist party from the ruling coalition, has distracted the government as it thrashes out a plan to cut huge public debt and a strategy to engineer growth despite a fast-ageing population. Hatoyama becomes the fourth straight Japanese leader to leave office after a year or less in office. “Hatoyama’s resignation may cause delays in the scheduled releases this month of the government’s growth strategies and fiscal discipline targets. Whoever replaces Hatoyama would need to work them out before an upper house election, or else disappoint voters,” said Hirokata Kusaba, an economist at Mizuho Research Institute. “Things could not get any worse after Hatoyama quits, given the current deadlock in many important issues.” Finance Minister Kan has in the past pressed the Bank of Japan to do more to fight deflation and has sounded more positive than Hatoyama about raising the five per cent sales tax in the future to fund bulging social welfare costs. That stance would be welcomed by investors worried about Japan’s huge public debt, which is nearly 200 percent of GDP. “If Finance Minister Kan takes over, it would be welcome news for the JGB market because Kan is more proactive about fiscal discipline and about raising the consumption tax than any other cabinet minister,” Mizuho Research’s Kusaba said. The Democrats swept to power last August after a landslide election win for parliament’s powerful lower house, ousting the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) after more than 50 years of almost non-stop rule. But doubts over Hatoyama’s leadership skills have eroded the government’s approval ratings, with one poll showing support at just 17 per cent after he failed to keep a campaign pledge to move a U.S. airbase off Okinawa island in southern Japan. It was unclear whether a change at the top would improve the Democrats’ chances in the upcoming election, since many voters were outraged when two leaders of previous LDP-led governments quit abruptly after just a year in office. Pundits had said that unless Ozawa also quit his post as secretary-general, any boost in popularity was likely to be limited at best. Voter suspicions over a funding scandal embroiling Ozawa, seen by many as the real power behind Hatoyama’s administration, were a big factor in the party’s ratings slide. – Reuters  Read More →