TR EMERITUS

It's more good news ahead for Singapore as the economy continues to rebound strongly in the first half of the year. According to the Straits Times, a "wave of optimism" has swept through Singapore based on a series of new surveys which indicate that confidence is rising among both companies and consumers. A Hay Group poll has forecast salary rises of 3.2 per cent on average here this year. However, the increase still pale in comparison to the expected 8.8 percent pay hike to be received by PAP ministers. Singapore's economy has grown by 13.1 percent in the first quarter, prompting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to proclaim that 100,000 new jobs will be created in the next few years though he was quick to stress that some of which will go to foreigners. With the next election looming ahead, Singaporeans are overwhelmed by an overdose of PAP propaganda in the state media which will put China's Xinhua News Agency and North Korea's Korea Central News Agency to shame. Not a single day pass without some good news trumpeting the PAP's accomplishments or painting a rosy picture ahead as if Singapore is indeed entering a "golden period" as predicted by its "forecaster extraordinarie" Lee Kuan Yew. In the meantime, the key grouses of Singaporeans such as the influx of foreigners, high HDB flat prices and increased stress remain buried underground. The Head of the Nazi Propaganda Unit Joseph Goebbels once said: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State." He would have been proud of the PAP which has outdone the Nazis by masquerading its fascist totalitarian system under the guise of a "democracy" in the eyes of the world.   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: 梁实轩    2010年5月19日 译者：冀居·谢 据我所知，这是第一次有关永久居民和新公民的统计数据，以去年4月到今年3月的方式公布，有异于以往从正月开始的惯例。 新永久居民的数目在2008和2009年度分别是大约8万和6万人。 同一时期，新公民的人数维持在每年2万人左右。 我相信这是史上第一遭，成功申请的人数这样公布出来。 要从这些数据解读出一个完整的画面，我们还需要知道以下的条件： 成功申请成永久居民和公民的人数是从多少份申请总数中脱颖而出的，这样我们才会知道成功率的变化。 成 功申请成为公民的人数里面，有多少是直接以外国人的身份申请，又有多少是从永久居民的身份申请的？--如果没有这方面的数据，我们就无从知道过去两年多来 有关永久居民和公民加起来的整体总数是增加了还是减少了。举个例子来说，如果最近这段时期的新公民人数都是外国人直接申请的话，而以前则是从永久居民转换 身份的较多，那么整体增加好像比以前少，实际上人数是多了。 那么又可不可以把不同时期申请的职业人士以及家属加于详细区分？--因为前来申请的职业人士肯定比家属多。 甚至还有媒体报道说，家属的申请条件目前已经紧缩，年迈家属这一级别已经终止。 从这一个角度来看，我们还需要知道永久居民和公民已经离开新加坡的统计数据来拼凑一个完整的画面。为什么呢？因为如果较少离开而更多的留下，那么对于我们居住人口的影响还是很巨大的。那些被颁与一年居留证在新加坡找工作的人数也不见在公布的数据中出现。 少了的数据还包括在新加坡读书的外国学生，还有被派去外国读书的外国学生。又有多少是在见习计划下允许在新加坡就业？这些人都不在人力局有关工作准证和外劳固打制的监控之下。 缺少上述的数据，真的是非常难掌握非土生人口和他们的就业情况。如果说新公民的增长人数在过去三年都维持在每年2万这个数目，那条件有更苛刻吗？ 至于说“2009年最后一季，合格条件已经转苛来严控整体数目”，别忘了新加坡从2008年9月至2009年9月正经历最严重的经济衰退，人们不禁要问：为什么要这么久（最后一季）才来转苛呢？ 根据亚洲新闻台，何副教授说： 『有些申请者可能够不上我们提出的条件，而无法成为永久居民或者公民。』 『其他的，即使合格也可能要花更长的时候来取得永久居民和公民的资格，因为居住条件也在新框架下纳入考虑范围。』 『那些不符合条件的其实可以申请长期居留证。』 『在同一个时期，主管单位接到超过7万300份有关长期居留证的申请，大约是80%或者5万6300份申请获准。』 看来我们也需要知道有关长期居留证在2008和2009年份的申请和合格的数据。没有这些，我们就无从知道有人利用长期居留来填补永久居留的空缺。与其说条件已经转苛，还不如把过去和现在的条件摊在阳光下让大家好做个比较。 《今日报》有篇报道也提到公布和提升条件透明度的重要性。《今日报》那篇题为《永久居留权和公民权更难申请和需要更长的等待》（2010年5月19日）： 『关于新加坡人的外籍配偶，移民与关卡局在2005年至2009年之间，每年平均处理1万5400份长期居留证和9900个永久居留申请，合格者分别是2200个和4500个。』 这意味着合格率（指外籍配偶而言）是长期居留14%和永久居民45%而已。 也就可以解读成是有6万6000个（1万5400减2200乘5）新加坡人的外籍配偶连长期居留证都不给，还有2万7000个（9900减4500乘5）在过去5年被拒绝了永久居民的申请。 你能够想象这9万3000名新加坡人面对妻小不能留在新加坡的情绪和财政压力吗？随着经济渐渐复苏，每季的统计都应该及时公布而不是喜欢就来一下。把数据零碎的泄漏一点，使到相关者和第三方的观察者都无法进行分析和得到成熟的结论。 来源：公民在线  Read More →

This Saturday, recently crowned Italian champions and German champions will take on each other in the UEFA Champions League Final in Madrid. More interestingly, both Inter Milan and Bayern Munich will be aiming for the treble, as both teams have won their domestic Cup competition as well. TR Sports recognises that games are won by goals and goals are more likely to be scored by strikers. This week’s top 8 will feature the top 8 all-time top scorers in this pan-European competition.  ____________________________________________________________________ 100% Statistics – goals in qualifying rounds are not included ____________________________________________________________________ 8 ) Didier Drogba (31 goals in 60 games) The Ivorian’s return of almost a goal every two games is indeed very impressive. Having just won the FA Cup with Chelsea, the 32-year-old is surely near the twilight of his career, but has never won the Champions League. Drogba came closest in 2008, when he scored six times as Chelsea reached the Final but ultimately lost on penalties to Manchester United. Drogba is also the only non-European on this prestigious list. 7) Fernando Morientes (33 goals in 93 games) The Spanish striker is somewhat of a journeyman in European football, having played and scored for Real Madrid, Monaco, Liverpool and Valencia in the Champions League. He will be most remembered for his exploits in the 2003-04 Champions League season, when he scored nine times in the competition on loan to AS Monaco. Morientes was part of the Liverpool squad which won the Champions League in 2005, but as he was cup-tied, he was not part of the registered team. 6) Alessandro Del Piero (42 goals in 87 games) Del Piero is a living legend with Juventus and is also the club’s all time top-scorer. His 42 goals in the Champions League had all been scored for Juventus, after he debuted in the competition as a 19-year-old in 1993. Del Piero’s most prolific season in the competition was in the 1997-98 edition, as his club reached the Final. Unfortunately for Del Piero, he had been in the losing end of Champions League Finals thrice, the last as recent as 2003. 5) Filippo Inzaghi (44 goals in 78 goals) Inzaghi had spent the last ten years of his career with AC Milan and has won every major honour at club level. In the 2002-03 competition, he scored 12 times as Milan defeated Juventus on penalty kicks in the Final. Four years later, he scored twice against Liverpool in Athens to lift the trophy again. If goals in all European club competition (adding UEFA Cup) are considered, Inzaghi is fact the joint top-scorer, with 68 goals in Europe to his name. 4) Andriy Shevchenko (48 games in 100 games) The Ukrainian striker may not have been enjoying a perfect end to his career, but his goal-scoring exploits during his peak will be remembered forever. Before joining Chelsea in the summer of 2006, Shevchenko had been a regular goal scorer in the Champions League with Dynamo Kiev and later AC Milan. His 10 goals in the 1999-2000 season for Dynamo Kiev helped his boyhood club reach the semi-final that year and secured his own multi-million move to AC Milan. 3) Thierry Henry (50 goals in 109 games) Frenchman Thierry Henry had scored 50 times in the Champions League with Monaco, Arsenal and FC Barcelona. With the Gunners, he scored 42 goals in the Champions League, but the club’s best performance had just been runners-up in 2006. Last season, he finally won the Champions League winners’ medal with Barcelona, as he played a pivotal role with six goals over 12 games. 2) Ruud van Nistelrooy (54 goals in 73 goals) The Dutchman’s goal ratio of 0.74 goal per games in the highest amongst all the strikers on this list. Van Nistelrooy spent five seasons at Manchester United and found the net 38 times for the English giants, though he had never lifted the trophy with them. Now with SV Hamburg, he may not have the chance to add to his impressive tally as his club had failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League and a niggling keen problem surely means that retirement is imminent. 1) Raul (66 goals in 130 games) Real Madrid legend Raul is the Champions League all-time top-scorer. All his goals had come for Real Madrid, where he made his debut in 1994. At 33, he is still a regular squad member for his club, though recent appearances had more often than not been off the bench. Incidentally, his 130 appearances in the Champions League (and European Cup) is only second to that of Pablo Maldini. With Maldini retired and Real Madrid qualifying for next year’s edition, Raul has every opportunity to smash that record.  Read More →