TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Stung by online criticisms that it forced SingTel to drop Al-Jazeera TV after the latter released a social documentary on Singaporeans made homeless by PAP policies, Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui Tuck Yew had stepped forward to deny the accusations. Speaking in Cannes yesterday, RADM Lui said: "I think the subscription was really low. They will tell you what they want you to hear. The truth is that there are so many channels, so many companies operating out of Singapore." RADM Lui did not provide any figures to substantiate his claims. Al-Jazeera TV is one of the few independent channels operating in Singapore. It has produced a few controversial videos so far which are mildly critical of the PAP's policies. RADM added that Al-Jazeera was dropped purely due to commercial reasons: "SingTel had made a commercial decision to drop AJE. AJE appealed for an extended stay. They needed an extra month. SingTel came to us and we said yes, go ahead," he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times. SingTel is a government-linked company owned partly by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings. International media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranked the Singapore media 133th on its World Press Freedom index last year, a result described by Law Minister Shanmugan as "quite divorced from reality." Few foreign publications and TV channels are allowed to operate in Singapore and many shun reporting on local politics out of fear of offending the litigious PAP. Wall Street Journal, for example, has more news on China and Hong Kong than Singapore. While the paper is able to comment on Chinese politics and even criticize Chinese leaders liberally, it has few articles about Singapore's socio-political affairs. As such, both Singaporeans and foreigners have to depend on the Singapore media for news about Singapore which is largely pro-government and biased towards the opposition. The only press company in Singapore - SPH is a government-linked company whose Chairman is a former PAP Minister Tony Tan. The sole broadcasting station MediaCorp is also owned by Temasek Holdings led by the Prime Minister's wife Ho Ching.   Related article: >> Al-Jazeera removed from SingTel's Mio TV  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent   First, Singaporeans are asked to get themselves treated at Malaysian hospitals if they cannot afford the healthcare here. Now they are told to find work overseas. The audacious statement was made by Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Dr Yaacob Ibrahim during an interview with Malay radio station Warna 94.2FM. When asked about the difficulties faceed by Malay graduates to get jobs in Singapore, Dr Yaacob said "it is important for students to not give up their job search, and they should also be open to explore opportunities overseas." It is strange that Dr Yaacob is not aware of the fact that Singapore graduates from all races have difficulties finding permanent jobs which pay well in Singapore due to the easy availability of cheap foreign workers. If a Singaporean wants to apply to work overseas in any country, he or she must obtain a work visa or permit to even set foot there in the first place. Singapore has a unique scheme not heard anywhere else in the world where foreigners are given a year to stay in Singapore to look for jobs here:   [Source: Manpower Ministry]   The Employment Pass Eligibility Certificate (EPEC) allows foreigners who are i) holders of selected university qualifications, or ii) current or former holders of selected skilled migrant visas to stay in Singapore for up to one year to facilitate their job search in Singapore. The EPEC is issued on a one-time basis and is non-renewable. Contrary to what PAP leaders have been saying, foreigners are allowed to compete directly with Singaporeans for jobs which can be otherwise be taken up by them. The relentless influx of engineers and technicians from China and India has depressed the wages of Singapore engineers which has remained stagnant for the last few years. Though there is a dependency quota to restrict the hiring of foreigners, it is easily circumvented by taking earlier arrivals to take up Singapore PRs. The Home Affairs Ministry admitted that two out of three PR applicants are successful, an astonishingly high success rate for a developed country. The state media reported last year of a China National working as a language teacher here who obtained a PR within two months of application. Perhaps Dr Yaacob doesn't know that other countries do not have such lax immigration and labor policies like Singapore and it is not easy for Singaporeans to find work overseas. For example, Australia only admits skilled migrants in sectors where there is a chronic shortage of Australians and foreigners need to reside there for at least two out of the last five years to even qualify to apply for Australian PR. It is a shame that Singapore graduates are struggling to survive in Singapore due to the PAP's discriminatory policies against them. What will our country become if our native Singaporeans are forced to seek livelihoods elsewhere and their places filled by foreigners from other countries instead? The day when Singapore women are forced to work in other countries as maids may not be too far away at the rate the PAP is mass-importing foreigners to supplant Singaporeans in their own nation.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans.  Read More →

OPINION With public anger and resentment against the PAP at an all-time high, the opposition is expected to make significant inroads in the next general election due to be called by 2011 where it is likely to increase its number of seats in parliament including winning a coveted GRC. The PAP has been on the defensive throughout the whole of this year with senior PAP leaders stepping forward to clarify and explain its misguided policies to Singaporeans especially the immigration, labor and housing policies. Though it has been procrastinating holding the polls, it is unlikely that the unhappiness on the ground will dissipate soon. For all the cosmetic changes introduced by the PAP to placate voters, the foreigners are still flocking to Singapore and their presence is ubiquitous everywhere on the island. The prices of HDB flats will also not drop anytime soon and the labor market will remain tight due to the easy availability of cheap foreign workers. The next election therefore represents a wonderful opportunity for the opposition to deny the PAP's its traditional two-thirds majority in Parliament and to establish a two-party state in Singapore like what happened to Malaysia during the political tsunami of 2008. The PAP has been given a blank cheque to govern Singapore for far too long without any accountability or transparency which will ruin our country in no time. Some pundits have poured cold water on the opposition's chances at the next general election as a result of its perennial weakness and inability to work together. The opposition's core support base usually consists about 20 percent of the electorate with the PAP at 30 percent. This leaves about 50 percent of undecided voters who can swing to either side depending on the quality of the opposition candidates. During the 2006 general election, the Workers' Party managed to secure 43.7 percent of the valid votes in Aljunied GRC or 23.7 percent of the swing votes. In contrast, the Singapore Democratic Party only garnered 22 percent of the votes in Jurong GRC which corresponded roughly to the percentage of anti-PAP voters who will vote for the opposition regardless of the candidates. In order for the opposition to achieve a breakthrough in the next general election, it needs to convince at least 30 percent or more of the undecided voters to swing to its side. Singaporeans are most noted for their apathy and disinterest in politics caused partly by years of state-sponsored "brainwashing". This group of Singaporeans generally know little about Singapore current affairs or politics and do not owe allegiance to any political party. Most are young voters born after 1965 to have any affinity to the PAP. They are also likely to be IT-savvy with the online media being their primary source of news rather than the mainstream media. Both the opposition and the PAP will need their respective core supporters to canvass for votes from the undecided voters at the grassroots level and in cyberspace as well. That is where the opposition has an edge over the PAP. As the last election had shown, the PAP was unable to get a decent attendance at its rallies despite providing free meals and transport to the hustlings. Despite its famous well-oiled grassroots machinery, the PAP is actually quite weak on the ground especially with the younger generation of voters. On the whole, the opposition supporters appear to be more motivated, committed and passionate than the PAP at least in cyberspace itself. For example, a Facebook group started by a relatively unknown young man Alex Tan at the beginning of the year has garnered more than 4,500 members so far, many of whom are teenagers and young Singaporeans in their 20s and 30s. In contrast, the membership of the PAP's REACH Forum and its Youth Wing have stagnated in spite of their longer existence. A blog started by a group of post-65 PAP MPs in the aftermath of the last general election suffers from a lack of traffic and has become more or less defunct. The heightened visibility of anti-PAP blogs and Facebooks in Singapore's blogosphere may suggest that its supporters are more active and motivated than the PAP to spread its message to fellow Singaporeans. As such, a small group of extremely motivated opposition supporters may have the ability to influence sufficient apathetic voters to swing the votes to the opposition in closely fought contests. Apathetic or swing voters generally have no political affiliations or convictions and hence they can be persuaded easily by their friends to vote for a particular party. Now, if each of the 4,500 members on the Vote PAP out facebook were to get 10 of their friends and relatives to vote for the opposition, this will bag the opposition 45,000 votes instantaneously which are more than suffice to influence the outcome of a contest in a single seat ward. On the other hand, it is not likely that the PAP members and supporters will have as much motivation as their peers from the opposition camp since the PAP is widely expected to win the election hands down anyway. The stakes are higher for those who clamor for a change in the status quo which will propel them to go out of the way to secure the votes for the opposition. The PAP has introduced a "Cooling off" day on the eve of polling day to neuter the influence of the New Media, but the battle for the hearts and minds of Singaporeans have long begun already. Every Singaporean who wants to see genuine changes in Singapore's political landscape should contribute to the process right now by sharing our site and Facebook group with them as well as the Vote PAP Out Facebook group. All it takes is a small group of brave men and women to make a difference. Let us trigger the Singapore political tsunami in the next general election and teach the PAP a lesson it will never ever forget.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans.   Related articles: >> Singaporeans think highly of opposition's chances in next general election >> What will happen to Singapore if the opposition wins the next general election >> Dr Ng Eng Hen welcomes greater contest from opposition >> Chee slammed again for introducing confrontational politics in Singapore >> Lim Hwee Hua: opposition "trying" to work the ground for next GE >> Let the next GE be a primer for Singapore's own political tsunami >> Are opposition MPs becoming redundant in Singapore ? >> Why do we need so many strawberry PAP MPs in Parliament? >> PAP MPs complain of fast-pace of parliamentary debates >> Why PAP MPs are no more but a "wayang" >> A disaster in the making: PAP's "instant tree" mentality >> Yes-men PAP MPs embarrassed themselves by saying instinctively "yes" to wrongly reduce budget  Read More →