TR EMERITUS

From ABC News Posted Fri Apr 9, 2010 7:07am AEST  One of Australia's leading providers of employment programs, Mission Australia, says more needs to be done to tackle youth unemployment. Bureau of Statistics figures for March show that while overall employment levels are improving, youth unemployment remains high. In some areas of Australia it is as high as 41 per cent. Chief executive Toby Hall says that is because there are not enough programs to prepare young people for the workforce. Mr Hall says employers are far from reluctant to take on young people. "What employers are saying to us is that they want to employ young people," he said. "But the clear message that we're getting from them is that young people are not job ready. "We're certainly asking the Federal Government to put more funding, more effort and more time into programs which will help young people be job ready." Mission Australia is recommending the Federal Government invest $5 million to create specific job opportunities and increase incentives for employers to offer traineeships. Mr Hall says young jobseekers are becoming frustrated. "It's really sad that there's a huge number of young people who want to get the right start in life and want to get employed [but] they're frustrated, employers are frustrated," he said. "We just need to tidy the system up a bit and we can make it work better for everyone." Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/09/2868041.htm?section=justin  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Embarrassed by the great "escapade" of former Romanian diplomat Dr Silviu Ionescu and his endless condemnation of Singapore in the European media, the Straits Times today published a series of articles to save face for the beleaguered PAP. Dr Silviu was implicated in a hit-and-run traffic accident in December last year, but for some inexplicable reasons, he was allowed by the Singapore authorities to leave the country threes after the accident when he was a prime suspect in the case. Neither did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) bother to apply for a waival of his diplomatic immunity to the Romanian government. Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo did not comment on the case until a month later when he told the media that "what happened was very bad." Now enjoying his life in Romania where he is still technically an employee of the Romanian government, Dr Silviu Ionescu threw endless brickbats at the Singapore government in interviews with the Romanian and European media. He accused the Singapore government of "framing" him and also cast aspersions on the credibility of the legal system here, prompting a sharp rebuttal from MFA that the Singapore judiciary is ranked 19th in the world in terms of judicial independence. Dr Silviu's antics did not go down too well with the Attorney-General Chambers which was spurred into action finally and tabled 13 charges against him last week. MFA claimed that the "comments made by Dr Silviu Ionescu to the media have damaged Romania's reputation, and the country has a 'strong obligation' to stop him from doing so" and that the "outrageous and inappropriate statements' only served to further inflame public sentiment against him and Romania." As a matter of fact, the Singapore media has a limited reach, especially in Europe and it is pure wishful thinking on the part of MFA that Romania's reputation will be affected by the fallout. Furthermore, most Singaporeans are more peeved with the ineptitude displayed by both the Singapore police and MFA in allowing Dr Silviu to slip away than with the Romanian government. One common retort heard among netizens is: "If the victim is a VVIP like the son of a minister, will Dr Silviu be allowed to leave Singapore?" The "sound and fury" coming from Singapore lately is no more a "wayang" to placate angry Singaporeans and to save its own face. There are no extradition treaties between Romania and Singapore. The Romanian government has no power to arrest Dr Silviu and deport him to Singapore. Judging from the outlandish public remarks made by Dr Silviu lately smearing the name of Singapore, it is probable that he already know that he may not be coming back to Singapore ever again. While the state media continues to churn out propaganda to wash away the mud stuck onto the PAP's face, Dr Silviu is likely to continue his merry-making in Romania.   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 Below is a conversation between Temasek Review and a PAP supporter Lim Jia He on our Facebook. The topic is about the PAP mass recruiting Taiwanese PMETs and the fudgy labor statistics used by the Manpower Ministry which does not reflect the reality on the ground. Though Jia He eventually conceded that the PAP should be more transparent on its policies, he continues to insist that he will support PAP because Singapore will not be where it is today without them. This is a MYTH propagated by the PAP and the state media over the years to keep the citizenry grateful, apathetic and subservient to its vested interests. The PAP is ONLY a political party like all other parties. Singapore is built by all Singapore citizens - your parents, my grandparents and our forefathers together and NOT by just one single man or a single party. Singapore already had a headstart compared to other countries in the region in the 1960s. The British left us an excellent administrative system, civil service and infrastructure. The other countries in Southeast Asia are either in the midst of warfare (Indochina), political instability (Burma, Thailand) or racial unrest (Malaysia, Indonesia). It is therefore not surprising that Singapore has become a magnet for foreign investors wanting to do business in Asia. Furthermore, our chief economic architect is not Lee Kuan Yew or Goh Keng Swee, but a Dutch economist Albert Winsemius. Regardless of how capable a nation's leaders are, a country will never prosper without its people. Singaporeans are one of the most hardworking, thrifty and obedient people in the world. We have one of the highest saving rates, we work longer than most people and we seldom create problems for our leaders. Yet the PAP leaders have usurped the ownership of the country and believe they have the divine right to govern it forever. The PAP has now become a clique of self-serving leaders who have completely lost touched with the common man on the ground. It is a malignant tumor which must be REMOVED immediately before it ruins this nation.                   Extract from Temasek Review's Facebook discussion, 9 April 2010: Temasek Review: The PAP is only interesting in perpetuating its political hegemony forever. That's why they are bringing so many new citizens in to boost its flagging support base. If we do not vote the PAP out in the next general election, our children will have no future. Please think of your children and grandchildren. Do you want them to live under the repressive PAP rule forever? Lim Jia He: I think PAP has other agendas by recruiting these Taiwanese. In the short term, yes they are competing with the locals for jobs. But for the long term, it is possible that these people may start their own business or company and create more jobs for our citizens. Also, these foreigners also brings along their trade expertise and knowledge which can be pass down to the locals working with them. We should look at the issue and explore all kinds of possible angles. Temasek Review: Your reasoning is acceptable if a few hundred top-notch Taiwanese experts in their respective fields are recruited, but the PAP is mass-recruiting THOUSANDS of Taiwanese. You don't need to be an economist to realize that our job market is unable to accommodate so many of them. If 5,000 Taiwanese PMETs were to find jobs in Singapore, where will our Singapore PMETs be working? Lim Jia He: One question. Will the 5000 PMETS be considered under Singapore employment rate? coz by right, the government has the responsibility to ensure low employment rate. by recruiting so many taiwanese, wouldn't the statistical unemployment rate in Singapore be severely affected? Temasek Review: MOM uses a very misleading statistics: Our unemployment rate is of "local" workers - consisting of both Singapore citizens and PRs. Nobody knows the exact unemployment rate of Singapore citizens. Now, if these 5,000 Taiwanese PMETs were allowed to work in Singapore, their companies are likely to apply Singapore PR for them and they will be included under the "local" category. So long there are large number of employed PRs, the overall unemployment rate for "locals" will remain "low." Furthermore, the unemployment rate figures do not include workers who have given up looking for a job or are on contract jobs. Lim Jia He:   Ok then this is the part where our government should be more transparent on it. Yes I understand that is considered fictional unemployment. But I think this is not as important compared to structural employment which PAP is trying to solve, and we can see that they are indeed taking actions on solving it. I still support PAP, but I guess they should be more transparent on more policies. The recent statements made by Ministers have been not exactly achieving the effects of solving our queries. However, I still trust on them to change for the better in the future. Afterall, Singapore will not be what it is today without the PAP. Temasek Review: Singaporeans do not owe anything to the PAP. It is your parents, my grandparents and our forefathers who build Singapore into what it is today.   Singapore was not a swamp when the PAP took over in 1959. In fact, we have a GDP capita higher than that of South Korea and Taiwan. Singapore has one of the highest saving rates in the world. Why do you think Temasek and GIC have so much money to spend? Our people are hardworking, thrifty and honest. Human resource is our greatest asset.   Singapore will be a much better place without the PAP. It is time Singaporeans reclaim ownership of the country. The PAP is simply a political party, that's all. We can vote it out anytime.   Japan was governed by the LDP for more than 50 years. LDP was responsible for transforming Japan into an economic powerhouse today, but the Japanese still boot it out of office last year. Did Japan collapse?   Similarly, the Gerakan Party of Malaysia has governed the state of Penang for more than 40 years. It was dumped in the 2008 elections. Penang is now governed by a new party - the DAP. Is Penang in crisis? Past achievements are not predictors for future successes. We need to get rid of the PAP before it is too late.  Read More →