TR EMERITUS

Dear TR, Thanks for publishing the article by Ms Judy Eng. (read article here) It really strikes a chord in my heart as I am in the same situation as her too. I am 28 this year now working as a teacher in a secondary school. My fiancee just found a job in a GLC as an engineer after six months of looking for one. The pay isn't fantastic as there is an abundance of foreign engineers in Singapore. He considered himself lucky to finally secure a full-time job after months of being on contract. We are planning to get married in July and just bought a 4-room resale flat at Sin Ming. Guess how much it costs? You won't believe it, we bought it at almost $500,000. No kidding, it's true! All the flats in the vicinity cost above $500K. After paying about $30,000 in COV partially paid for by our parents, we do not have a single cent left for our wedding which we will have a simple afternoon tea buffet at our church instead of the traditional 8-course Chinese dinner. I am really worried about our future. We earn barely $5,000 together and the mortgage loan already took up 30 percent of our income. We still have to cough out some cash after using up the entire CPFs. The moment I think of this, I lost all the mood already. People used to say that marriage is the happiest moment in a girl's life, but I am not looking forward to it. I feel very heavy, like a burden placeed on my chest, sometimes choking me, it is so suffocating. Can we buy a new flat? I do not  wish to wait for another 3 to 4 years, anything can happen to our relationship during this period of time. It is a risk I cannot afford to take. My hubby-to-be is burnt out everyday from work - OT, OT and OT and he is not paid for it. For me, my weekends are either burnt in school CCAs or marking the homeworks of my students. We hardly meet each other at all, sometimes just enough time to have a meal or catch a movie. Somehow I feel apprehensive startinig life together with  another person, am I ready for it? I don't think we can start a family, at least for the next three years or so. How to have children when we are not financially stable? I will pay the loan mostly on my own as my hubby still have to pay for his student loan and car loan. I have only a few thousand dollars in my savings now and I  wonder how long they can last me. What happens when there is an emergency? Or if we are retrenched? I dread to think of the worst...but women being women, they always think alot. Every month, my pay gets used up almost immediately after it's deposited into my POSB account - living expenses, allowances for parents, and now with housing loan, I  really don't know how far we can continue like this. Did we do our Maths before we make the purchase? Yes, but what can we do, the flats are expensive everywhere and we want to stay near our parents. Even 4-room flats in Jurong are calling above $400,000 nowadays! The prices are really going crazy, the agents told us that they will only go up in the future as the govt will never allow them to come down. Sorry for the ramblings. There are so many things on my mind now, I can't think or type clearly.....Thanks for providing me an outlet to vent my frustrations, who can understand what we are going through? Sigh, maybe I am one of those few unlucky souls. Please edit and publish this rant of mine as you see fit. Thanks again for listening.   Melissa Quek     EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so and help us exceed the number of fans on the official YPAP Facebook page. Do you have any similar stories to share? Email us at [email protected]. Your article need not be long and we do not require you to write in perfect English. Most importantly, it must come straight from your heart.  Read More →

Wall Street Journal, 24 March 2010 Restrictions on Internet freedom in China have forced all foreign media companies that operate there to make and accept compromises. But then it should come as no surprise that an authoritarian government does not make it easy to promote the free flow of information. Hard choices must be made on how to balance core values, shareholder profits and the best interests of Chinese consumers. So it's all the more impressive that Google has displayed sound instincts and judgment at every step of the way in China. And it's all the more alarming that in the end Google decided it had no choice but to abandon its Chinese-language search services hosted on mainland servers. Google entered the China market in earnest in 2006, making a reasonable judgment that its high-quality Chinese language search would on balance bring greater access to information, even though it would have to comply with government censorship rules. However, Beijing has tightened its control over all media in the last few years, and the environment for Internet companies deteriorated noticeably around the 2008 Olympics. The final straw was the hacking attacks on Google aimed at the email accounts of Chinese human-rights and political activists. Google decided Monday to move its Chinese service to Hong Kong, where the Chinese pledge to honor "one country, two systems" still prevails. Google says the decision violates no Chinese laws. Yet the government's initial response to Google's move was predictable. "We're uncompromisingly opposed to the politicization of commercial issues, and express our discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations and conducts," a spokesman said. Google would like to continue running its other businesses (mainly ad sales and R&D) in China, and the open question is whether China's harsh rhetoric will be followed by reprisals. Closing down Google China and blocking access to its overseas sites would impose high costs on the country's own technocratic elite and would accentuate China's loss of face. More calibrated punishments—from fire-safety inspections to tax audits—seem likely, however. This goes to the heart of the contest between censors and the media. Beijing has been remarkably successful at controlling the discussion on the Internet within its borders because it has tended to use the scalpel more often than the sledgehammer. Its extensive system of defense in depth, which some have dubbed "Control 2.0," may be breaking down, however, or at least running up against the law of diminishing returns. The number of incidents in which criticism of the government goes viral and ends up forcing officials to back down in the face of public pressure is growing. This may be why the once adaptable censorship regime seems increasingly brittle. Harsher control only feeds public dissatisfaction. We're seeing this in the reaction to the Google conflict, with normally nationalistic netizens expressing support for the company and even delivering flowers to its Beijing headquarters. Google has made censorship of search results, largely invisible until now, a topic of debate. Incrementally advancing freedom is the best that media companies can hope to do in China. Staying out of the country entirely or plunging in with no bottom line have their own risks and opportunity costs. It's much harder to try to do business there while also preserving your values. But that is where valuable contributions can be made. - Wall Street Journal  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent The controversial "Water Festival" organized by Bukit Batok grassroots organizations for foreigners had prompted one netizen Ms Jessica Tan to post a query to PAP MP and Senior Minister of State for National Development Ms Grace Fu on her Facebook if taxpayers' monies are being put to good use and if precious water will be wasted in the process. The event will be held on 18 April 2010 to welcome the New Year for the Thai, Burmese, Laotian and Cambodians living in Singapore:   Though it was not stated explicitly, the funds for organizing the event are likely to come from the mega $10 million dollars Community Integration Fund unveiled by the PAP last year to make foreigners feel welcomed and accepted in Singapore. While netizens have no objections over foreigners celebrating their cultural festivals in Singapore, many are peeved that taxpayers' monies have been spent to organize such an event which will be hosted by various religious and civic groups anyway. Furthermore, Singaporeans have been educated since young on the importance of saving water and there is even a law under the Public Utilities Act (CAP 261) which criminalizes the "wasting of water." Ms Fu appeared to be nonchalant on the possible wastage of water so long the gesture, or rather "wayang" can tell foreigners that Singaporeans "respect" them: In her reply to Jessica on Facebook, Ms Fu wrote that the "Water Festival" is just one way of reaching out to new citizens and PRs in Bukit Batok. "When we celebrate their festivities, we are telling them that we respect them and recognize that they bring along different cultures and rituals," she added. There is no need to go out of the way to show our "respect" to foreigners. It should be shown sincerely straight from the heart and not put up as a show. Your correspondent, a Singaporean Chinese has been celebrating "Water Festival" yearly at the Burmese Buddhist Temple with the Burmese community in Singapore. He converses in simple Burmese, listens to Burmese songs and enjoys Burmese food as well, all without being "instructed" by the PAP to do so. Grassroots organizations can help to publicize "Water Festivals" held by other groups and encourage Singaporeans to attend, but they should not be using taxpayers' monies to host such events for foreigners. When Singaporeans go to work in China, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or Taiwan, do we expect their governments to organize our cultural festivals for us to tell us that they "respect" us too? A clear line must be drawn between showing respect and bending over to please - what message is the PAP sending out to foreigners? That we are so desperately in need of them that we cannot do without them? One netizen Kojakbt points out: "In places like Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, I'm sure they can afford to splash as much water as they want since they have sufficient water resources. But can we say the same for our little island home Singapore? And the most ridiculous thing is, why should Singapore taxpayers be funding, essentially, a foreign festival of celebration? Are Singaporeans expect to know the culture of every foreigner residing here in Singapore? Shouldn't it be them integrating into our culture?" As PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew admitted himself - "all grassroots organizations such as RCs, CCs and CCCs are part of the PAP", is the PAP using taxpayers' monies to serve its own partisan interests by courting the votes of the new citizens? Ms Fu ended her reply by inviting Jessica to attend the event: "Come take a look see, perhaps not as much water will be wasted as you feared." Ms Fu doesn't seem too concerned that water will be wasted which contradicts what was said by her colleague Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim who reminded Singaporeans not to “take the availability of clean water for granted.” “Singaporeans’ response to the dry spell last month was to use even more water. This is certainly not desirable should Singapore experience a prolonged dry spell. It is therefore timely to remind ourselves of the need to use water wisely.” [Source: Channel News Asia, 21 March 2010] The PAP has been exhorting Singaporeans to conserve water for ages and yet it has no qualms wasting water to please foreigners. Perhaps it is also time that Ms Fu suggest that her party changes its name to "Foreigner Action Party" or FAP to better reflect its new mission statement - to do whatever it takes to make the foreigners feel happy in Singapore so that the new citizens will cast their sacred votes for it to perpetuate its political hegemony forever.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so and help us exceed the number of fans on the official YPAP Facebook page.   Related articles: >> Netizens protest against "Water Festival" organized by Bukit Batok grassroots organizations >> Singaporean unhappy at grassroots organizations hosting Water Festival for foreigners  Read More →