TR EMERITUS – Untold Hard Truths From Around The World – 淡马锡评论 – formerly Temasek Review

IHT apology to S’pore leaders over article

Dear Mr Chief Justice, According to the Straits Times dated 25 Mar 2010, the International Herald Tribune has to apologise and to pay damages to MM Lee, SM Goh and PM Lee for the alleged libellous article "All In The Family" by Mr Philip Bowring. All that Mr Bowring did was to list those countries in Asia where leadership over the generations have come from the same family. What is so libellous about that? The fear that readers might infer nepotism from the article must be proven beyond reasonable doubt and the only way to do so is to conduct an unbiased survey of a large enough sample of readers of the IHT using a simple questionnaire like this: Dear reader of the International Herald Tribune Have you read the article "All In The Family" by Mr Philip Bowring? Do you know who PM Lee is? Do you believe that PM Lee achieved his position through nepotism? Is your belief based on the article stipulated in Q1? Only where a reader has answered "yes" to all the questions can he be deemed to have been misled by the IHT and unless a significant number of readers have answered "yes" to all the questions, the concerns of the plaintiffs and the charge of libel cannot be substantiated. Your authority is sought to make right whatever wrong that may have transpired in this episode. Thank you Ng Kok Lim Read More →

400,000 more names on updated voter rolls; number of new citizens among them unknown

Written by Our Correspondent About 400,000 new names are added to the voter rolls of the latest update which began in February this year, reported the Straits Times: The Elections Department on Wednesday released a press statement saying "the Registers of Electors have been certified and that 2,311,582 names of electors are listed." The number of new citizens on the list of voters remains unknown. Due to the PAP's liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies, foreigners now make up 36 percent of Singapore's population. Of the remaining 64 percent who are citizens, an increasing number are born overseas. As immigrants tend to vote for the ruling party which gives them the opportunity to start life afresh here in the first place, they will form an influential voting bloc in future elections. The PAP has been trying desperately hard to court the votes of the new citizens by dangling a variety of carrots in front of them. With fast rising public resentment and anger against its discriminatory policies, it is aware that the support of new citizens will be crucial to cushion the expected drop in votes among native Singaporeans. A $10 million dollar mega Community Integration Fund was unveiled last year by the PAP to make new citizens feel welcomed and accepted in Singapore, part of which is used to organize free meals, language classes and cultural events for the foreigners. An active recruitment drive is also launched to rope in new citizens and PRs into grassroots organizations which are "all part of the PAP" according to PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew. Some new citizens have become vigorous defenders of PAP's policies in cyberspace such as Indian new citizen Mr Sinha Shekhar who was awarded given an “Outstanding Contributors’ award” by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on a REACH Forum last week for the regularity of his contributions. Mr Sinha sparked a massive outcry in cyberspace lately by describing PAP critics as "dogs": [Source: YPAP Facebook] The next election may be the last opportunity for Singaporeans to reclaim ownership of Singapore after which they will surely be relegated to being second class minorities in their own country of birth being dominated by new citizens like Sinha Shekhar. 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. Related articles: >> Indian new citizen Sinha Shekhar urges self-help groups to reach out to immigrants >> YPAP leader Genesis Shen resorts to character assassination >> YPAP closed down two Facebook pages >> Indian new citizen ticks off Singapore NSman >> YPAP activist described PAP critics as “DOGS” >> YPAP activist lashed out at netizens for making “irrelevant attacks” Read More →

大选装修

作者:冀居·谢 Mr Brown推出一个播客叫做“大选装修”，说的是大选到了，执政党就会推出各种各样的免费装修、津贴装修，我个人就有很深的体会，说出来给大家听听。 2006年大选前七天，我突然在家里收到我们区行动党议员以市政理事会名义写给大家的好消息，那就是要在我们那座建设每层楼都停留的电梯。七天后总理宣布大选。可是选后两年内都没有动静，直到两年后才动工，两架电梯就这样拖拖拉拉又做了两年，电梯运作也在几个月前刚开始，但是电梯周围的小建设就是没法一下子完成，好像有意在等另一轮大选时，才由这区的议员来主持正式启用礼。 2006年大选期间，我们区的议员夸下海口说要进行组屋自由选择性内部装修，我们区当然是首选，成为全国的样板。并且在选后还特地搭棚在中心举行一个展览，看得大家是心中暗喜、啧啧称奇，建屋局的身段原来可以柔软灵活到这个地步！可是四年过去了，什么都没有。那天看报纸，这种自由选择性装修又启动了，但不是我们区，却是在另一个地点。那么这次大选，我们这区的行动党候选人大概会说：你们要这种选择性装修的快点到来，应该选我！邱德拔医院现在大家都知道，可是在2006年竞选期间只是说要建设一个北区医院，四年后建成了，还不好意思太靠近大选启用，只好在没有完全就绪的情况下，逐步使用，以期和大选日期岔开至少六个月到九个月的时间，不想招惹任何话柄。所以这种一份猪肉牲礼可以用两回大选的功夫，行动党实在是越用越精了。来源：大马论坛 Read More →