TR EMERITUS

Speaking in Parliament yesterday on the Constitutional amendments introduced lately to increase the number of NCMPs, Law Minister Shanmugam explained that the changes are necessary to meet Singaporeans' desire to have more "diverse" views as well as to ensure a strong government. "Our reasons for making these changes have been reiterated several times: Singapore needs a Government with a clear, strong majority, that can provide good governance in the long term interests of Singaporeans. At the same time, there is a legitimate desire amongst Singaporeans to have more diverse views, including opposition views articulated in Parliament," he said. Mr Shanmugam had earlier said that Singapore needs a government which can make "quick" and "bold" decisions as it is a small nation and cannot afford the endless "politicking" seen in other democracies. "The NCMP Scheme meets these needs. The present changes are significant because they provide for a minimum of nine opposition members in Parliament, and in addition there will be nine NMPs. Parliament will see a wide variety of views expressed. The NCMPs will in some sense also represent the views of a significant minority who voted against the Government," he added. While the NCMP scheme will increase the number of non-PAP MPs in Parliament, it will have no impact on the PAP's continued political hegemony as it still controls more than two thirds of the seats which enables it to pass bills and legislation as it sees fit. The PAP currently occupies 82 out of 84 seats in Parliament and it has ruled Singapore uninterrupted for 50 continuous years. Though Singapore is a democracy in name, its political system resembles more like a totalitarian state with the PAP in firm control of all important state institutions such as the police, media, civil society and grassroots organizations. Due to the overwhelming power and influence of the PAP extending into all aspects of life in Singapore, there is little or no opposition to its rule. With no checks and balances within the system, Singaporeans are forced to live with the decisions made by their leaders just because they "believe" are "beneficial" to Singapore. As Mr Shanmugam puts it succinctly in his spirited defence of the NCMP scheme: "We are doing it because we believe strongly in doing what is right for Singapore. We believe that these changes are good for Singapore. And we believe that these changes will make for a better Singapore." Whatever the PAP believes, it must be right - that's how it has been governing Singapore so far.   Please join our Facebook discussion on this article here and invite your friends to do so as well to raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans. This page is maintained independently by a TR reader.  Copyright © 2009 – 2010 The Temasek Review (If you are going to reproduce this article on your blog or forum, please provide a link back to ours)    Read More →

Dear Mr Teo,   I refer to the 6 Apr 2010 Straits Times report of your speech at the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum.   You said the government hasn't loosened its immigration policy but there are simply more people who want to live and work here.  That is the most irresponsible thing to say.  Even Disneyland ushers keep track of and control the number of visitors admitted into rides because they know there are only a limited number of seats.  What you are saying is that our government is not even fit to be Disneyland ushers.  Either they don't have the slightest idea of what our capacity is or they don't care and continued to brainlessly admit people despite us bursting our seams.   Your example of how Singapore has kept a tight lid on immigration is based on the exclusion of criminals and those who cannot support themselves.  By that definition, the hookers can come, the loafers can come, the over-priced pompous professionals who talk more than they work can come.   You said the government can maintain immigration controls at the correct settings.  But the government has just made a sudden about turn on its immigration policy.  Seems like maintaining control means making sudden huge swerves of the steering wheel to avoid obstacles that were staring us right in the face.   You said migration tends to occur in waves.  But the government doesn't build flats in waves.  It will be three years before flats are ready to accommodate any waves.  Where are these waves supposed to stay in the mean time?  Squeeze with us and cause prices to shoot up?  The government should stop proselytising that they are forward looking because they are not.  They have the cheek to say that migration occurs in waves yet they don't have the brains to build more in anticipation of these waves.   You said we should be prepared to take in as many people because the next opportunity may be in ten years time and even then people may not come.  But that is not how first world cities operate.  That is how colonies operate much like how we operated when we were a British Colony.  Are we still a colony, Mr Teo?  You look at Finland, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden which are similarly small, first world countries.  Do they depend on lots of foreign imports for a successful economy?  No.  Something is terribly wrong with the government's policies. We have become a cripple.  We can't stand on our own two feet.  We need to rely on the crutch that is the foreign workers.  The government has made a cripple out of us Singaporeans.   What a lousy government.     Thank you     Ng Kok Lim  Read More →

作者:冀居·谢 我认为隐喻是很重要理解世界和沟通的工具，然而隐喻也有很强的暗示性，就好比吴俊刚的这个 “削足适履”，他说：“要大多数人都把脚削平了一起穿较小号的鞋，哪有这样的逻辑？”——意思就是说在行动党的语文政策下，原本个个都是天足（天然发展），只是现在突然有人拿出小号的鞋子要大家穿而已，哦，是这样吗？这样的“横空出世”，只是没有把行动党处心积虑的耐心放在时间轴上来看而已。 我来做另外一个隐喻，目前的语文现状，就好比裹小脚，慢慢地缠、慢慢地限制发展，总之不让你感觉太难受，到了有一天小脚缠成，你要穿Prada的高跟鞋都不行了。这时他拿出早已准备好的绣花金线莲鞋，何需用削呢？ 这缠足的过程，潘星华在她的 《华文，不能让底线失守》有详细的概述： 25 年来小六会考华文保持与英文、数学、科学平等重要的地位，终于动摇了。教育部这个触及修改华文教育底线的行动，加上之前考虑参考IB华文考试，以及中国给 外国人提供的汉语文水平考试的形式和内容，还有以英语教华文等等措施，彻底显示华文在今后的新加坡，将只具备作为外文存在的资格，它已经无足轻重了。 双语政策是新加坡建国基石，也是新加坡成功之道。过去25年，新加坡的华文虽从第一语文水平降至第二语文水平，华文在小学会考，还能保住和其他三科同等比重 的地位。新加坡的华人子弟，在小学学了第二语文水平的华文，打了基础。中学升高中，华文虽然不是必及格科目，却还是中学必读科目，水准再烂，毕竟还是读过 10年。 其实，新加坡年轻人的能耐是巨大的。30年前，当教育部要求初院生进大学的第二语文成绩必须及格，英校生就拼了 命读华文，华校生也拼了命读英文。他们很明白这是一个生死搏斗的障碍赛跑，自己如果不能跳过障碍，前途就不会光明。于是一个劲地死命往前冲，兵来将挡，水 来土掩，一个个成了现在能掌握双语的人才。/时代进步，难道新加坡年轻人反而变钝了吗？ 吴俊刚说这是“当政者过去始料不及的新局面出现了”，摆明是为他们开罪，试想想，新加坡有哪样东西是在PAP掌控之外？当年禁赛车、禁赌，有人敢提吗？后来开赌场、扰民布置F1赛车道，想挡都挡不了，惟独华人家庭有60%讲英语是他们“始料不及”的，真是笑死人不偿命！ 以下是我摘录的吴氏装傻扮懵： 近年来，由于英语在华族家庭中节节胜利，华语却节节败退，一个或许是当政者过去始料不及的新局面出现了。2009年华族小一新生当中，竟然有多达60%在家里是讲英语的，换言之，他们的“母语”是英语，原本应该是母语的华语则变成了外语，也就是真正意义上的第二语文。 但从历届会考的成绩看，每年的华文及格率总在90%以上，这难以说明，小学的华文学习碰到了天大的困难。 是的，面对新的情况，必须谋求新的对策，但是，对策绝不应该是完全去迁就无知的孩子，或顺从少数人的压力。 是的，全世界很少国家像我们这样强调母语的重要，但这是因为，全世界很少国家像我们这样，以一种外语为第一语言，正因如此，我们才必须强调学习母语的重要。我们可以选择走许多中美洲加勒比海小岛国同样的道路，完全放弃自己的母语，但后果如何，大家心知肚明，前车可鉴啊！ 来源：大马论坛  Read More →