TR EMERITUS

By Lim Guan Eng for The Malaysian Insider Year after year the DAP, the National Union of Journalists and even Suhakam urge the federal government to abolish the Printing Presses and Publications Act, the Internal Security Act, the Official Secrets Act and other repressive laws inherited from the British colonial days. We even ask for the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) to ensure competency, accountability and transparency in governance. However, this was ignored and more media curbs imposed. No wonder our press freedom rankings dropped. And the first four months of this year alone did not see an improvement with harassment of the press continuing. On April 22, 2010, a media award-winning producer of ntv7 talk show “Editor’s Time”, Joshua Wong, was forced to resign in protest against unreasonable restrictions and “overzealous self-censorship and government interference” against the opposition by those close to the prime minister. “This restriction of freedom amounts to a punishment and it affects the professionalism of the team,” he said. A few days later, a RTM2 producer, Chou Z Lam, also claimed political interference when his documentary on the Bakun dam project in Sarawak was cancelled under the direct instruction of RTM director-general Ibrahim Yahaya for fear of affecting BN’s chances in the upcoming Sibu by-election. Read rest of article here  Read More →

Not known for his humility, PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew has been strangely reticent of late in dishing out his characteristic "pearls of wisdom" to other countries. The octogenarian Lee was asked by participants during the Inter-Pacific Bar Association conference on the theme "climate change and legal practice"of how Singapore can help countries like China and India develop. "The first thing you learn as a small country is to act small and humble. You go around telling people, they say you are out of your depth, you don't understand my problems. So we keep our mouth shut unless we are asked," Lee was quoted as saying by Channel News Asia. Lee was Singapore's first Prime Minister from 1959 - 1991. Though he has long relinquished the post, he still remains in the cabinet as the "Minister Mentor", the only position of its kind in the entire world. Probably the oldest MP at 86 years of age, he is widely believed to wield considerable influence in the Singapore government. He has the knack of giving unsolicited "advice" to leaders of other countries as well as commenting on their internal affairs which does not go down too well with certain quarters. His recent remarks on the need for the United States to maintain a military presence in the Asia-Pacific region to counter China's rising influence sparked a massive outcry from Chinese netizens, prompting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to step forward to intercede on his behalf. During a dialogue session with a delegation businessmen last year, he suggested that Japan followed Singapore's open-door policy to immigration to replace its declining population. He also admitted that he is not doing much work except "forecasting". Lee's professional "forecasting" services do not come cheap. He earns more than $3 million dollars a year, or 6 times the annual salary of U.S. President Barack Obama.  Read More →

By Gilbert Goh   Introduction Parliament has approved legislation to increase  the number of  Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMP) from three to nine   during the next 2012 General Elections.  The current NCMP seat is occupied by Ms Sylvia Low, Chairman of the Worker’s Party. Her team had the best opposition show in the 2006 GE at Aljunied GRC winning 44% of majority votes. As it was a GRC, the party committee voted that Ms Syliva Lim was voted it’s NCMP representative. Appointed NCMPs also need to garner at least 15% of the total majority votes in the constituency that they contested. The NCMP scheme was implemented in 1984 soon after the PAP lost its only one seat to the late Mr JB Jeyeretnam, then Workers Party secretary-general,  at the  Anson by-election in 1981.  This was the first time that any opposition candidate has won at the elections. The PAP has enjoyed total dominance at the polls from 1968 – 1981.   NCMP Scheme And History The NCMP scheme was  mooted  by then-PM Mr Goh Chok Tong who wanted a more robust parliamentary debate as there was much ground displeasure at the way the ruling party enjoyed dominance in governance. The government also suffered from  regular criticism of its democratic system which has been devoid of any proper opposition representation.. In the 1984 general elections, the PAP also saw a drop of 13.4% in its votes and lost two seats. One NCMP seat was offered but rejected by members of the opposition parties. In the 1988 election, Singapore Democratic Party’s Chiam See Tong was the only opposition MP elected, and two Workers’ Party members took the NCMP seats. In 1991, no NCMP seats were offered as four opposition MPs were elected to Parliament. In 1997, an NCMP seat was offered to and occupied by J. B. Jeyaretnam. In the 2001 election, one sole NCMP seat was occupied by Chia Kiah Hong Steve of the National Solidarity Party. However,  the current representation of only two lone opposition voices in Parliament during the past two elections has provided the ruling party faith that the NCMP have worked in their favour. During this period, the ruling party has became more entrenched in it’s power base for its own good and has continued to enjoy widespread  support by attaining a majority of   66% votes at the recent elections in 2006.  Many also could not comprehend how little representation there is for the opposition when at least 33% of majority votes have gone to them.   Will More NCMPs Help the Opposition Voice? NCMPs   have watered-down powers as they can vote on all matters except constitutional matters, motions of no confidence and issues relating to public funds – issues that are of significance. If a NCMP could not vote on such important issues in parliament, can they be deemed effective and representative of the people? More importantly, NCMPs will not be able to speak with confidence as they do not carry the mandate provided by voters during an elections.  For example, they may do house visits  in their own  constituency but could not write to the relevant agencies to act on their behalf. Constituents have to go back to their voted MPs  to seek for assistance. The hands  of the NCMPs are tied when it comes to the shove. Many have also voiced out that the NCMP scheme is a mere hybrid opposition designed by the government to undermine the powers of the opposition politics and  to appease the constant yearn by the people for more opposition voices in Parliament.   Even if the NCMPs do their job well enough to inject  healthy robust debate in parliament, will this be enough to appease the urge of the people to prevent the ruling party from enjoying total dominance in power?   What people really want is for a strong effective opposition to stand up to the hegemonic powers of the government with proper voting rights. Bills were passed easily even though the general public is against their implementation.  For example, many people were against the planting of a casino on it’s shore and there was even the rumour of a split within  the ruling party. However, the bill was passed swiftly and the weak opposition and hybrid NCMPs could not really prevent the passing of the controversial bill in parliament to build a casino here. Bills passed swiftly unopposed soon became a regular feature in parliament angering many people in the process. Nevertheless,  strangely, Singaporeans still could not vote in enough opposition candidates even though  the unhealthy dominance of the ruling party is evident for all to see. Many blame the weak opposition, who could not work together and putting up sub-par candidates for elections, for the opposition’s poor show during elections. The uneven widespread dominance of the ruling party in parliament  was also made worse by the fact that the party’s whip is hardly being lifted when it comes to voting on certain controversial  bill proposals. I am sure that some MPs have voted against their conscience here. I always believe that Members of Parliament (MP) ought to be selected by the people so that they will be able to represent the voice of their voters and not get in  through the  NCMP back door.    Workers’ Party secretary-general Mr Low Thia Khiang has also rejected the NCMP scheme and vowed that he will not take up the position if he loses majority votes for his Hougang constituency seat during the next election. Incidentally. Ms Silvia Lim, the lone NCMP,  is from the Worker’s Party.  Her party is against the NCMP scheme. She also provided a well-crafted speech on the NCMP scheme.two days ago in parliament. She outlined how the NCMP scheme is a sham designed to block actual representation of the people voice: “Sir, it is good that the Prime Minister has an open mind towards alternative views. However, his vision of Parliament now seems to be a sort of feedback unit or even as a talk-shop. Is that all that Parliament as an organ of state should be? What happened to Parliament being a collective mandate of representation where each MP who is there has a right to be there to make decisions for the people because the people have so elected?”   Conclusion  As a voting citizen, I will be proud that my vote has enable my MP to represent me in Parliament and will expect him to speak up for the issues that affect my well being and livelihood. Sadly, I will not be able to do the same for an NCMP as he has not gained the majority votes within the context of the electoral system.  Unable to vote in any important constitutional bills and never really having the people’s mandate to speak up for them, how can the NCMP really command respect and say to have represent the voices of the people?  Yes, Singapore needs a opposition voice to check the current government so that an alternative voice is represented but they will never want an unrepresented second-class kind in the form of an NCMP. It is also an insult to the opposition candidate who wants his parliamentary seat to be earned legitimately.  He will want to speak up for the people that elected him and not to be there just to fill up a parliamentary quota. The NCMP scheme will only be rendered redundant if Singaporeans start to    elect more opposition candidates into parliament.  There is no other better way for a strong opposition voice to check the draconian powers of the current regime.   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 →