TR EMERITUS

In less than a month since sprucing up our Facebook page which has been taken over and run independently by a reader, the number of fans has exceeded that of the Young PAP's. As of yesterday evening, the Temasek Review Facebook page has 3,185 fans: Compared to Young PAP's 3,179 fans: We also have nearly twice the number of fans as the PAP's REACH forum with only 1,889 fans so far. Since the Eric How fiasco, the Young PAP has closed down two of its Facebook pages and consolidated them into a single one in which only quotes made by PAP leaders are posted. There are absolutely no discussions on current affairs and issues concerning Singaporeans on its Facebook page. Furthermore, a significant proportion of its "fans" are actually anti-PAP netizens who will take potshots at the PAP everytime a quote is posted. The Temasek Review Facebook page will endeavor to be a genuine (uncensored) discussion forum for Singaporeans to air their grievances and unhappiness about the government and to keep them updated on the current affairs affecting the nation.   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 →

Dear Mr Teo,   I refer to the 6 Apr 2010 Straits Times report of your speech at the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum.   You said that Singapore politics, as observed by Bryan Caplan, is in a nutshell, about implementing programmes based on merits, not on polls.  Until recently, HDB upgrading has always been tied to voting so this is one obvious programme that was tied to polls, not merits.  Quite often, flats will be painted and government goodies given out just before elections which are again evidences of programmes being based on polls rather than merits.   Many policies that are supposedly detrimental to polls are in fact not so detrimental after all.  Take high flat prices for example.  High flat price is unpopular only to buyers whose numbers are dwarfed by the number of flat owners who don't mind prices going up.  So based on numbers, the policy of maintaining high flat prices favours the polls more than it hurts it.  So we can't say that this is a policy that was implemented with no due consideration to polls.   So unless you can show us that by and large policies were continued despite severe detrmental impacts on poll results, you have no basis to say that policies were implemented with no due consideration on polls.   Even when it comes to congestion pricing, only about 20% of Singapore voters drive compared to about 90% in the US.  Thus, the political impact of congestion pricing is much smaller for our politicians than for politicians in the US.  Thus, it is not necessarily true that we are operating on different modes of 'pragmatism' because the same pragmatism would dictate that congestion pricing is much more tolerable here and much less tolerable in the US.  Thus, there is no evidence that our government's "brand of pragmatism" is any different from that of the US.   You urge Singaporeans to accept MM Lee because "he's like that".  Similarly, you should also urge Singaporeans to accept Chee Soon Juan because "he's like that".     Thank you     Ng Kok Lim  Read More →

 I am getting sick and tired of some forumers here with their whining day after day. So what if 4500 quitters choose to leave for NZ? I suggest the whinners here leave as well! Singapore does not need people like you. We can easily replace you with more foreign talents from China and India who are grateful to be here, while contributing to the economy here, and certainly contributing more to it than a lot of you here. You are behaving like employees who never stop complaining about your boss, without realising that nobody is indispensable in a company (Singapore Inc) and your boss can easily hire someone else (younger/better skilled/more experienced/better work ethics) to do your job. It’s pretty obvious that there are just too many of you here with a sense of entitlement that is far bigger than what you have ever done for Singapore. If you think that since 4500 screwed up people queuing to migrate is the gospel truth about life in Singapore, if you think NZ is a better place for you, please go. By all means, give up your pink NATIONAL REGISTRATION IDENTITY CARD. I certainly agree that ministers’ salaries are way too high, and I too wish they will – and I underline wish – change the formula they use to determine their salaries soon. But until you can come up with something constructive, your whining and displays of self-pity are getting you nowhere. Get that. If you believe in it, then ask yourselves if ministers are living what you think is a “good life” (as some of you seem to so naively think by measuring a good life in terms of a person’s pay packet) because of their karma? And speaking of karma, it’s clear from the way you people speak (or write) that you’ve got the stench of a foul mouth brought forward from a bad karma in your previous life, and Singapore was whoa! so bloody unlucky to be the place you are borned into. I’d be eternally grateful to you if you remove yourself from your place of birth, where you seem so unhappy. There are many foreign talents who will be more than happy to replace you man. There are foreigners willing to work in construction sites and there are foreigners who can do a better job than you in the offices of big corporations anytime of the day. If you think you are a sore thumb in your country of birth, blame it on how your parents brought you up. You are. It was only a generation ago when I heard countless mothers calling out to “boy boy, girl girl” Today, boy boy and girl girl have sadly grown up, soft and unable to compete in the wider scheme of things. You see them right here in Asiaone forum pages after pages, and when they are not whining here, they are crying themselves to sleep. Listen. Do not for a moment think that 3 million Singaporeans are the best that can be found on earth where there are 7 and a half billion people out there for the picking. Singapore has yet to earn its place as a country which produces geniuses after geniuses, and I have yet to find one in any forum. Already, it’s proven that children of foreigners have done better than your children in your schools, polytechnics and universities. And they will do better than you in life. Stop griping and getting your panties in a twist, and for god’s sake, go do something about yourself, starting with a good wash to your face and looking into the mirror. When you can can clearly see yourself for what you are worth, I hope you proactively do something to improve your situation. The government has various schemes to help you do that, but if you think NZ is paradise, my short and simple reply is: Go and don’t come back. Thank you for removing your bad vibes and stench from this clean and green city which PAP had built, with the help of foreign talents of course.   Smicko Editor's Note: This is a contributed article and no way reflects the view of TR. It is published to promote healthy discussion between readers.   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 →