TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Yesterday we published an article on the decline in the real earnings of Singaporeans which appeared to contradict what was said by PAP MP Halimah Yacob in Parliament two weeks ago. When asked by fellow MP Inderjit Singh on a detailed study conducted by Swiss banking giant UBS last year which showed that the gross wages of Singaporeans had decreased by 8 percent between 2006 an 2009, Madam Halimah refuted the results and claimed that “anecdotal evidence” showed that there is a “significant” jump of about 20 percent in wages over the same period of time. “The discrepancy could have come from the limited sample of firms in the UBS study. The study’s figures do not give statistical averages as it covered only a few companies for each profession and city,” she suggested. [Source: Straits Times, 9 March 2010] However, the Labor Report 2009 released this Monday by the Ministry of Manpower showed clearly the real earnings of Singaporeans had decreased in the last two years. “Nominal earnings decreased over the year by 1.6% in the fourth quarter of 2009, easing from the 3.0% decline in the preceding quarter. Earnings in 2009 declined by 2.6%, after rising by 5.4% in 2008. After adjusting for inflation (2009: 0.6%, 2008: 6.6%), the decline in real earnings was 3.2% in 2009, deeper than the contraction of 1.2% in 2008.” [Source: Ministry of Manpower] A puzzled netizen emailed Madam Halimah to seek clarification on the apparent discrepancy between what she said in Parliament and the findings of the Labor Report: Madam Halimah did not answer the question directly and asked the netizen to "look at" Finance Minister Tharman's explanation instead: We all know that Madam Halimah is a busy person, but surely it will not take her too much time to explain why she thought that the wages of Singaporeans had jumped by 20 percent when the statistics suggest otherwise. Furthermore, Finance Minister Tharman's "explanation" was equally vague and weird as well. He claimed that the influx of foreign workers has helped to "offset" the decline in wages for lower-income workers without substantiating it: “The healthy growth of wages for low wage families from 2006 to 2008 corresponded with the period when the foreign workforce was growing most rapidly…….It was how we were able to offset the decline in wages for our lower-income group that had taken place in the first part of the decade,” he added. [Source: Straits Times, 3 March 2010] Perhaps both Mr Tharman and Madam Halimah should read the explanation provided by Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam from the Reform Party on the inherent discrepancies in the official statistics: “The majority of these new residents did not have dependents (hence the much faster rise in the resident labour force than the resident population) and all of them would have had jobs so the proportion of working adults in the average resident household would have risen. As a result we would have seen an increase in real median income per household member without any real increase in the median incomes of Singaporean citizens who were already here before this period began, i.e., the majority of us. Another reason why the Minister’s figure is misleading is that it excludes households consisting solely of non-working persons over 60.” [Source: Reform Party: A complacent Budget] Mr Tharman once said in Parliament that the Singapore system is based on "trust". As the above example has shown, we must take the figures and statistics provided by the PAP with a heavy dose of salt from now onwards. How we can trust them when their ministers and MPs don't even know what they are talking about?  Read More →

Lets take a closer look at the PAP, because we need to know what we’re going up against. The PAP is actually a highly evolved species of the Leech. That might sound unbelievable, but its true. There are different species within the leech family and each species might possess attributes that the other species dont. But the PAP happens to be a hybrid of different species, possessing several attributes which gives it the right to be called a super leech. The PAP, like all leeches has the basic trait of sucking blood, but on a very massive scale both in amount and context. They have placed their jaws on every citizen of this forsaken country, siphoning our blood, our happiness, our sweat and tears, our money and our savings, our basic rights as human beings, our pride, and whatever else we have left. Blood-feeding species have special pouches that allow them to increase their intake of fluids, a trait which the PAP also has in the form of CPF, PUB, HDB, GST, ERP, GLC, etc. Their blood feeding is done simultaneously via teeth placed at these various pockets. As the PAP grew, they have progressively increased their intake through each pocket which has been draining us. Slowly increasing prices of the essential services which we're in need of like electricity, transport and housing. As a result of the monopoly they have on such needed services, we have no choice but to be silent and be leeched upon. The leeches have chemicals in their saliva that prevents the clotting of blood. Just when we thought the earlier traits mentioned where bad enough to cause damage to our livelihood, the after-effects, the PAP’s “bleed-effect”, results in making life a meaningless race to the top of the elite ladder, a disease that some of us have to cope with. Homelessness, fellow citizens living in tents on the beach, senior citizens sleeping on benches after a long tiring day trying to find cardboard boxes and empty cans to buy themselves a meal. Numerous suicides and divorces. Non-existent childhoods for children. High unhappiness and stress for all Singaporeans. This act of continual draining of whatever is left of already drained victims is truly despicable. One kind of leech, lives in the springs and wells of the near east, and there its young enter the mouth and nostrils of men and beasts to grow and seriously interfere with breathing. Just like that, the PAP’s harmful nature wasn’t known to most of us till they got bigger and bigger. And now, they are big enough to do anything without having to answer to anyone. Making it difficult for every Singaporean to breathe, to live a life worth something. To work like a slave for a month and to see your pay disappear in seconds as you pay your bills. This is what the PAP does to its victims. This is the reality of Singapore. All leeches are contortionists. Some can stretch out as long and as slender as a toothpick one moment, and contract themselves into a tight ball the next. The things that they do to have control over anything that might pose a threat to them is another characteristic of the leech species. Their ex-ISA officers being posted as editors in the Straits Times and other media outlets is an example of how they contort themselves to be seen as different organizations. The PAP operates through elite evolved leeches, making sure that its objective is met on all fronts. Unlike other species of leeches, the PAP has a king. A king that gives orders to the rest of the other elite leeches. Although the evolution meant as a species, the king, the LEEch king has usurped power along the journey of the PAP's evolution; Now making the PAP and the Leech king one. Although he has chosen his son to be his successor, till today almost everyone still sees him as King. This king and his minions have leeched upon and cast an illusion over this country. Even when people know what harm awaits them they refuse to remove the leech out of fear. Fear that their livelihood would be affected. Fear is nothing but the absence of knowledge. That is something the PAP knows well, and so has taken complete control over anything that might give us Singaporeans the knowledge to break free from its death grip. Why else was every single independent newspaper in Singapore shut down by the 90's? This leech has to be removed for our sakes and the sakes of our children. No matter how much power or ability they seem to posses, we must remind ourselves that they are nothing more than parasitic segmented worms. And these parasites, these PAP leeches, depend on their hosts to survive. If I would burn off any small leech that was stuck to me, I don't understand why I should let such a big leech to latch on to me throughout my life and let it carry on to my future generations. It is time to battle the Leech King! Let's start serving our real National Service!  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent A youth leader of the PAP Genesis Shen has resorted to the usual character-assassination tactics used by senior leaders when overwhelmed by PAP critics in a discussion thread on the official YPAP Facebook. The topic for discussion is an excerpt from the recent Committee of Supply "debate" on the affordability of HDB flats which drew a barrage of criticisms immediately from netizens who ask HDB to be more transparent and reveal the exact breakdown costs for the flats. Jinxiong Hong wrote: "What is the cost of building HDB? Why doesn't HDB be more transparent and reveal the breakdown of the cost? Does any of YPAP knows the answer?" Shinn Ng added: "To those people who still blindly support the PAP, please ask yourself: Why didn't they reveal the breakdown of the cost of building a HDB flat? Are they afraid to reveal the details because they have been making BIG money by selling overpriced flats? Subsidized flats? Even me who is uneducated about economics know about the art of jerking up the price of the HDB flats by a few times, then giving you a small part back. I'll give you an example: the cost price of a hand phone is $50. You sold it at $250, then you discount it by 50%, thus selling it at $125, but at the end of the day, you still make $75! Just that you make lesser, but you are selling it at 250% of the cost price!" Unable to cope with the repeated verbal volleys fired by anti-PAP netizens, YPAP leader and law undergraduate Genesis Shen resorts to character assassination again by dragging the innocent Dr Chee Soon Juan into the discussion in order to divert attention from the topic: Genesis counter-challenged PAP critics by asking the source of Dr Chee Soon Juan's income whose most naive and laughable post brought widespread condemnation from other netizens in the discussion. Zixu Li tried to strike a "deal" with Genesis: "Genesis, Ok, how about we try to persuade CSJ to be transparent and you persuade HDB, GIC and Temasek to be transparent? Deal?" Shinn Ng continued to taunt him: "Pot calling the kettle black. lol. The PAP themselves don't even dare to reveal the breakdown of the cost of building HDB flats, the loss suffered by Temasek Holdings & GIC and they dare ask Dr Chee to reveal? Dr Chee is not paid millions of dollars to be 'caught off guard' for your information. Like what Zixu said, how about the PAP be more accountable before asking Dr Chee to be? Dare to take up the challenge, Genesis?" Mr Singa Crew puts it succinctly: "Mr Genesis, I have no idea why you tried to hijack this discussion thread about HDB affordability with a sudden and irrelevant remark about CSJ. Frankly, I am not interested. And you know why?... Because unlike PAP ministers, CSJ is not costing taxpayers millions of dollars. He did not incur massive losses while helming GLCs. And he has got nothing to do with the cost of HDB flats, which is what we are discussing." As expected, Genesis stopped posting thereafter and pretend as if nothing has happened. PAP leaders have the knack of using character-assassination to demolish their political opponents especially during the elections to divert the attention of voters from important national issues. During the 1997 general election, Workers' Party candidate Tang Liang Hong was attacked by the PAP day after day in the state media for being a "Chinese chauvinist" when he could speak both the Malay and Indian languages. It was Dr Chee Soon Juan's turn in 2001 after he was caught on TV heckling then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong for a "loan" to Indonesia. In 2006, the PAP and its sycophantic mouthpiece spent much of the short nine-day campaign harrassing, attacking and smearing Workers' Party candidate James Gomez for a trivial mistake over the filing of nomination forms while other national issues are not mentioned let alone debated. It appears that Genesis Shen is now practising the PAP's art of "character-assassination" in cyberspace before he is "let loose" in future elections.  Read More →