TR EMERITUS

Original article by Xie Yiju in Chinese here There is a zen saying “a person with a clear conscience have nothing to hide, and fear no rumours and gossips”. A person who had attained and understood the value of a clear conscience will no longer be concern by mere rumours and gossips, and all rumours and gossips about the person will be nipped at the bud. Our PM Lee statement of Astroturf: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “the government cannot make decisions simply based on the volume of emails supporting or opposing a particular situation” and must also be cautious of such “Astroturfing” campaigns. PM Lee used another example to illustrate his point that not all online feedback are “authentic”  – the names and phone numbers attached to recent emails criticizing the government on property prices all turned out to be fake. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Source: Channel News Asia, 28 March 2010] The irony is that PAP had always based their policy on “survey done on public supports....” and “the general public approves.....”. Yet when a survey, statistics or report place them under questionable light, they will come out all guns blazing refuting the reports, yet unable to produce credible rebutting documents. A few recent cases: The article that “REACH” had received overwhelming support for budget 2010 from its forums, denial by MP Halimah Yaccobs on falling earnings of Singaporeans over the past 5 years, MP Mah Bow Tan denial that PRs had a hand in the spike in resale flats etc.   According to wordspy，Astroturfing is a “fake grass-roots movement” (Collins Dictionary) define Astroturfing as： “ a PR tactic used in politics and advertising in which actors are paid to display overt and apparently spontaneous grassroots support for a particular product, policy, or event。” According to PM Lee, Astroturfing is rampant in the cyberworld, and was being abused by the alternate media to hookwink and force government on issues and policies. Can we says any better for our main stream media? Is Astroturfing only present in the cyberworld. Is Lui Tuck Yew speaking the truth when he says mainstream media or MSM is trustworthy? Can we believe Astroturfing is non existing in MSM when GLC has a direct stake in our MSM (that is right, we only have ONE MSM, SPH) Are the actual grassroots committees and Youth PAP organisations really free from the act of “Astroturfing”? Is Astroturfing present in our parliament, as seen during the Budget 2010 “debate” by our MPs supposingly for the welfare of us Singaporeans? Astroturfing is blatantly rampant in all aspects of Singapore where PAP has a stake and has a say. Our PM office, PM press office are the largest manufacturer of “Astroturfing” in Singapore.   Some instances of Astroturfing by PAP and MSM: During the General Election in 2006, we are treated to some spectacular sights of “Astroturfing” Below picture shows clearly the turn out for a rally organises by the Workers’ Pary in 2006. “Astroturf” comes from all parts of Singapore. Every single square feet of the “Astroturf’ is genuine. However, not a single report of the turnout, nor a single picture was published by our MSM   So how goes our PAP?   Compared to the turnout for the Workers’ Party, PAP’s turnout was laughable at best, pathetic by most standards. Wondering why all the crowd are packed so tightly at the front? The PAP press have to simulate a packed atmosphere, thus all the crowd are asked to pack the front, with the press taking pictures at the back. Compare this pathetic “Astroturf” to the one attracted by the Workers’ Party, enough said. Of course, MSM published an article praising the good responses garnered by the PAP rally, and pictures of the “astonishing amount” of “Astroturf” were included as propaganda for PAP. But wait... there is a twist!!  Turn out that even this pathetic amount of “Astroturf” was fake. Check out the buses being used to ferry the “Astroturf” to and fro the rally site. To say that “Astroturfing” is rampant in the cyberworld, and netizens are irresponsible speaks volume of PAP.    Read More →

作者：中国时报 2010-03-30     卫生署长杨志良今天在经济学人资讯社（EIU）的亚洲医疗论坛讨论健保财政课题时，清楚的把现存4种制度的优劣进行分析，引起回响，多国代表并希望参考台湾的健保制度。 正在台湾 (Taiwan) 推动二代健保的杨志良，受邀在经济学人亚洲论坛的闭门会议中，讨论亚洲政府健保财政的难题。 杨志良把全球现存的健保财政制度分为4种，他说，第1种是英国和大英国协国家实施以税收划定一定比例作为健保费的国民保健服务制；第2种是社会保险制度，例如台湾的健保；第3种是使用者付费和私人保险搭配的制度；第4种是结合上述3种的综合体。 杨志良分析，英国这套制度，虽以税收作为健保预算，感觉非常公平，可避免道德危害，但缺点是由于医疗保险预算是固定的，医院和医生多看病人收入也不会增加，因此不愿意多看病人，让等候看病的名单过长，造成政府失能。 杨志良说，社会保险制度则是站在社会福利的角度来照顾全民的健康，也照顾到低收入者的医疗，这是台湾为什么要采用这套制度的原因。 但是杨志良也坦承，这套制度的缺点，是会造成公民失能（civic failure），因为人民都有政府的健保照顾，所以就不会注意照顾自己的健康，浪费医疗资源，导致医疗消耗愈来愈高。 不过，杨志良指出，台湾的健保制度实施迄今，满意度超过70%，代表这套制度确实有可取之处。 谈到第3种制度，杨志良说，这项制度的概念就是使用者付费，结果造成低收入者无力负担医疗费，政府等于没有在照顾人民的医疗需求；而先进国家采取的私人保险制度，更导致贫富产生医疗差距。 由于在席间有人提起新加坡的3M（保健储蓄、健保双全和保健基金）架构，杨志良不改直言本色，分析新加坡医疗制度的优劣。 杨志良表示，新加坡的3M制度基本上就是强制人民有保健储蓄，也就是从人民身上拿钱，等于是使用者付费的观念，那政府照顾人民的责任在哪里？ 杨志良指出，这种模式在许多国家实行有困难，因为这个制度必须强迫人民医疗储蓄，但收入低却达不到领取社会救济金的族群，薪水已经够低，还被迫扣除一部份薪资作为保健储蓄，生活更加困难，有违社会福利和社会照护的精神。 由于杨志良的直言，也引起在场与会各国代表的回响，甚至延续到后面的分组讨论，与会者在讨论时，“台湾的部长”至少被提到4次。 包括印尼、马来西亚代表在内的多个国家代表最后认为，新加坡的制度也许很好，但只能适合在新加坡使用，其他国家无法仿效，有人并以中国为例，指中国曾经仿效最后宣告失败。 此外，印尼、马来西亚、澳洲等国代表，也都发言表示，希望自己的国家能参考台湾的健保制度 来源：【中央社】  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Former Romanian diplomat to Singapore Dr Silviu Ionescu has scoffed at the evidence provided by 54 witnesses at a Coroners' Court hearing yesterday fingering him of being the driver behind the wheels of a black Audi A6 which maimed three innocent passer-bys and robbed the life of a young man, 31 year old Malaysian Tong Kok Wai. Though it was pretty obvious that he is the prime suspect in the case, the Singapore authorities allowed Dr Silviu Ionescu to leave for Romania three days after the accident when they could have applied to the Romanian embassy for a waival of his diplomatic immunity and detained him for further investigations. When contacted by the Straits Times yesterday, Dr Silviu Ionescu said he was not surprised by the verdict and continued to proclaim his innocence, counter-accusing the witnesses of "lying" and painting "implausible" scenerios in court. He sounded agitated and exclaimed 'This is bulls***.' at one point during the interview. The Romanian government has requested evidence presented during the Singapore Coroner's inqury to assist in its investigations on the case. Dr Silviu Ionescu appeared unperturbed and expressed "confidence" in the Romanian judicial system: "Romania is part of the European Union, we respect the rights of people. It will properly analyse the evidence. I trust in our law and justice. The democratic people will understand, they will judge. That's why I have no worries," he was quoted as saying in Straits Times. [Source: Straits Times, 1 April 2010] A series of reports released by the European Commission in 2008 sharply criticize the EU’s newest members, Bulgaria and Romania, for high levels of corruption. The gist of the European Commission’s message to Bulgaria and Romania is that there is no properly functioning rule of law in either country. A spokesman of the European Commission, Laitenberger had this to say about Romania: “The fundamental elements of a functioning system are in place, but the foundation is still fragile and decisions on high-level corruption are still too politicized. Commitment to reform by Romania’s key institutions and bodies is still uneven. While progress on judicial reform has been made, there is a need for the system to show there are penalties for high-level corruption.” In a sign that it may be difficult to get Dr Silviu prosecuted in Romania, its ambassador to Singapore Mr Aurelian Neagu said it is unlikely that diplomatic immunity for Dr Silviu be waived and that it is too "early" to tell if he will eventually be charged in Romania. "I don't think you can. There's no extradition treaty between Romania and Singapore. Even if you start legal proceedings in Singapore against him, you will have huge difficulties bringing him here," he told the Straits Times. One European ambassador described Dr Silviu as a "very strange individual". Though he is married, he often attended official functions with younger women by his side. There were no immediate comments from Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo who had received much flak from the public over his callous attitude to the accident. Three weeks after the accident, Mr Yeo was reported in the media as saying: “What happened was very bad. A man was killed. People were injured. The police are pursuing the matter very thoroughly but investigations are still ongoing and I shall not be commenting on them.” [Source: Straits Times, 4 January 2010] The accident is a PR disaster for the Singapore authorities who appeared to be completely "caught offguard" by it, sparking questions about its efficiency and impartiality. All are supposed to be equal under the law, but in Singapore ruled by a pro-foreigner ruling party, it appears that some are more equal than others.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook discussion on this article here and invite your friends to do so as well to raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans.   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) Related articles: 1. Dr Silviu Ionescu doesn't think much of verdict 2. Subhas Anandan wants $100K compensation for widow of deceased accident victim 3. Quietor"wayang"diplomacyintheescapeofDrSilviuIonescu 4. Confirmed: Dr Silviu Ionescu is the driver 5. Email interview with Yenny Young, wife of Mr Tong Kok Wai 6. Dr Silviu Ionescu: fact remains that I was not in the car at the time of the accident 7. Investigating or procrastinating: Dr Silviu Ionescu still holidaying in Romania 8. George Yeo on Romanian embassy car crash: What happened is “very bad” 9. Online petition calls on Romanian govt to make ex gratias payment 10. Dr Silviu Ionescu: I took cab to notify car theft 11. Eye witness saw driver quarreling with a young girl in the car 12. Dr Silviu Ionescu: I have no connection with the case 13. Dr Silviu Ionescu flagged taxi at Sungei Kadut 14. From Romania with love: The Great Singapore escape of Dr Silviu Ionescu 15. Singapore police has not ruled out Dr Silviu Ionescu as a suspect in its investigations 16. Romanian diplomat suspected to be driver of Audi in hit and run accident at Bukit Panjang  Read More →