TR EMERITUS

In an extensive interview with the Straits Times published today, NTUC Secretary-General and PAP minister without portfolio Lim Swee Say said he was "heartened" that employers "did not disagree with the need to raise the contribution rate" though they have expressed reservations about the timing. The CPF contribution rates of employers were cut a few times in the past during economic downturns before being increased to the present level of 14.5 percent in 2006. Mr Lim is making some "noises" lately to show that he cares for the plight of ordinary Singapore workers, but nothing concrete has materialized so far. While his colleague Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said he would study his proposal to raise employers' CPF rates carefully, some employers felt that the time is not ripe yet. They expressed doubts if the economic recovery would last long and wanted more time to regain a firmer "footing" before the CPF rates are raised. Mr Lim has previously called on employers to restore wage cuts imposed last year during the recession, but it appears that his words have fallen on deaf ears so far. There are no independent trade unions in Singapore to fight for the rights of the rank and file workers. The only legal trade union NTUC is a pseudo-PAP organization led by a PAP minister. Repressive laws are put in place to curtail the political and civil rights of workers including the right to assemble and protest. No matter how "heartened" Mr Lim is, it is unlikely that Singaporeans will see their CPF's contribution being increased anytime soon. In any case, they will be unable to "touch" their own money in their CPF accounts till the day they die.   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 →

ALTHOUGH the next general election is not due until early 2012, there are signs that political parties are already gearing up to do battle. Now may be the time to consider and prepare for a television debate as part of the anticipated political contest. What I have in mind is Britain's unprecedented series of American-style television debates in which leaders of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democratic parties stood toe to toe in front of a studio audience debating issues of national importance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk5HvJmy_yg&feature=player_embedded By all accounts, the 90-minute sessions were a resounding success and one more will follow before polling day on May 6, by which time Britons will be better informed about the parties' manifestoes, their strengths and weakness, and the calibre of their leaders. We could do something similar to complement the usual campaigning. To be held under a similar format and with rules agreed by all major contesting parties, each debate could be presided over by a moderator to ensure orderliness. The proposed TV debate would reach out to a far larger audience and put all the rhetoric of the campaign trail into sharp focus. What the parties stand for, their thoughts on the road ahead for Singapore, and their views on issues such as the cost of living, health-care costs, the ageing population and national assets would all provide the basis for the voters' decision on Polling Day. Let's first dispatch a team to Britain to study how to organise such an event that could well turn out to be a watershed in our election history.   Lee Seck Kay  Read More →

It has been nearly a month since a petition was emailed to the PAP MPs on 27 March 2010 and as a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office, Istana and Lee Kuan Yew’s Residence calling for for Lee to apologize for making disparaging remarks about Singaporeans during an interview with National Geographic magazine, but there was no response from anybody on the matter, according to the petition organizer Kenneth Lin. Kenneth is a 15 year old Singaporean currently studying in a Singapore school. He started the online petition in February and sent hard copies to the above recipients after it garnered 500 signatures. He has also started a Facebook group calling on Lee to apologize for his remarks which has more than 600 members so far. The remarks in contention from the article are: “Over time, Singaporeans have become “less hard-driving and hard-striving. That is why it  is a good thing that the nation has welcomed so many Chinese  immigrants (25 percent of the population is now foreign-born). and “But taking a  typically Darwinian stance, the MM describes the country’s new subjects as  “hungry,” with parents who “pushed the children very hard.” If native Singaporeans are falling behind because “the spurs are not stuck into the hide,” that is their problem.” In an email interview with Temasek Review, Kenneth said he started the petition because he is "sick" of Lee making insensitive remarks about Singaporeans which shows that he is completely out of touch with the ground. He added that he is not afraid of getting into trouble with the authorities as he strongly believes in what he is doing. Lee is the one of the founders of the ruling PAP which has governed Singaporeans for 50 continuous years. He was the Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990 and currently holds the honorific title of "Minister Mentor". By his own admission, he is not doing much work except "forecasting". His son is the present Prime Minister of Singapore. Though Singapore is a democracy in name, it resembles more of a totalitarian state like North Korea where the police is often used to monitor and harass political dissenters. International NGO Human Rights Watch described Singapore as a "textbook example of a politically repressive state" in its latest annual report this year.   Related articles: 1. 15 year old Singaporean started petition to Lee Kuan Yew to apologize 2. Interview with Kenneth Lin   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 →