TR EMERITUS

By Richard Lu I am not about to judge Jack Neo.  I too do not know the man.  Jack is a comedian and one whom I would treat with tepidness.   But this Lim Biow Chuan fella is a different kettle of fish altogether.  He is a MP; “Christian leader” and a lawyer.   MP Lim Biow Chuan has been a big let-down.  He does not know the hands are feed him.  Like other MPs and even MM Lee, he scolds his fellow citizens after they voted him. He thinks that Singapore is a nation of complainers and calls Singapore “"a society increasing reliant on the Government for help".   He, like his fellow MPs, is also careless with his remarks.   His recent guffaws are for all to see.     FIRST LET-DOWN   MP Lim was quoted as saying: “Over the years, to me, Jack Neo is a good son, father and also a good husband.  Since he is remorseful over this incident, he should be forgiven.  Actually, a man who has good career development would find such scenarios unavoidable,”   A day later he said that he had been “misquoted” by the journalist.   Why not extract an apology from the newspaper and save all the explanations?  Not so smart eh?     SECOND LET-DOWN   On March 16 at 12:07am, Mr. Lim Biow Chuan wrote to a female netizen Jessica Tan who posted on his Facebook questioning his remarks made in Shin Min Daily on the Jack Neo scandal.  (read article here) In the posting Lim Biow Chuan made several statements and in reviewing them again, some stupidity become evident:     Statement 1:  “For your information, the interview was done by the reporter in Mandarin and I replied part in Mandarin and part in English (as my Mandarin was not very good).”   Mr. Lim Biow Chuan is a lawyer by profession.   He now admits that his Mandarin is “not very good”.   He knows only too well what he is commenting on is a very topical subject and a 'hot' news item.   FM George Yeo was pilloried by netizens for his “rally around Jack” comment.   He should have stuck to the language he is most proficient in and be very exact with his choice of words in this instance.  Not so smart for a lawyer eh?     Statement 2:  “I do not agree with the behaviour of Mr. Jack Neo and am of the view that it is clearly wrong.   However, as a Christian leader and an MP, I do not feel that we should simply condemn the man for his misconduct.”   Mr. Lim Biow Chuan is a rather confused man.  He forgets that he is Singaporean first; an MP second and a Christian leader last.  He has his sequence totally “arse-about-face” (pardon the poor choice of words but it is explicit).   As he is writing in his Facebook and addressing a Singapore audience (and indirectly addressing the press), he should never ever mention that he is a Christian leader.   If he wishes to speak as a Christian leader then he should resign his Parliament seat.   It is politics.   You see, Singapore is a secular country and it is of utmost importance that national leaders keep their religious convictions out of politics.   If Lim Biow Chuan wants to remain a MP, he should not mention that he is a Christian leader in future in public.  Singaporeans (especially his constituents) may feel biased or intimidated by his religious leanings.     If he speaks as a MP, then the second sentence must be left out entirely and he should correct his Facebook post and apologize to Singaporeans for this mistake.  Careless?   (For this reason I have always felt that the question of race and religion should not appear in any official documents e.g. birth certificates and identity cards).      Statement 3:   “However, as a Christian leader and an MP, I do not feel that we should simply condemn the man for his misconduct.” As a lawyer Mr. Lim should know this statement is double-speak and a contradiction.    Mr. Lim had in an earlier sentence admitted that what Jack had done is wrong.     So if the law winds its course, Jack would have been convicted for his misconduct.   He should not be let off let alone “not condemned”.   Jack had shamefully preyed on young girls and asked for sexual favors as a movie director.  Soft corruption?  This guy may be a serial sex predator.   How many more girls had he taken advantage of that are too shameful to surface?   Mr. Lim, you are a Christian leader.  YOU OUGHT TO SPEAK OUT CLEARLY AGAINST JACK - no ifs and buts unless you are a coward and lack the guts to speak up.   And you should also openly condemn him otherwise you appear to condone the “misconduct”.   The community can forgive but after his apology and punishment.  This is the correct course as otherwise it would become a bad precedent.     Mr. Lim, will you then set the records straight and make the necessary corrections in your Facbook posting?     Statement 4:   “The reporter next asked me what was my impression of Jack Neo. My reply was that I don’t know him personally but I have heard that he was a good father, a filial son and a good husband.”   Mr. Lim Biow Chuan, the second sentence in this statement is entirely hearsay to make Jack look good.   You had mentioned that you do not know the man personally.   The only person to know if he has been a good husband is his wife.   She is now accused of complicity in Jack’s affairs – having knowledge of them and not stopping him.   So is this “good husband” statement a fact or a lie?  No two ways about this one, sir.  Otherwise you should have stopped at "I don't know him personally."        Mr. Lim Biow Chuan, please do not do a FM George Yeo i.e. “rally behind Jack”.   It is immoral - this whole thing.  FM George Yeo has conveniently forgotten about Jack's victims.   It takes much more than bravery and guts to come out to confront this bigger-than-life movie director and to tell-it-all.   It must have been the combination of guilt, hate and pangs of anger that overcame the shame.  Mr. Lim, you are a lawyer.  You certainly understand the meaning of 'mitigation'.   You have openly mitigated for Jack.  You have "soften" his 'misconduct".    What about his victims?  Some netizens, and I suspect that Jack's buddies, have openly called Wendy and Foyce 'sluts'.   Is this right and is this fair?   Where is the scale of justice?  Don't we have laws?     This “misconduct” has become a national shame.   Jack Neo has close ties with PAP MPs as evident from FM George Yeo’s statement.  He was awarded the PBM in 2004 and a Cultural Medallion in 2005 for his accomplishments in the movie industry.  Two-third of Jack's life is over.  Unfotunately for Wendy and Foyce, they are just starting-off in life.  Jack has ruined them.  They should sue for compensation.   Finally I feel very sad that Jack is is being "sheltered" by PAP MPs and his Pastor.  Once long ago Pastors were only seen at baptism, weedings and funerals.  Today, it seems fashionable to hide behind the skirts of the Pastors after a major crime has been committed.   Alas, the Pastor has one more job - blessing crimes.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Yesterday, we published an article on Government-linked company (GLC) Keppel Corp putting up an advertisement in the Malaysian paper The Star to recruit Malaysians to fill various positions in its Offshore and Marine wing in Singapore, sparking a massive outcry in cyberspace. [Source: The Star, 6 March 2010] The above advertisement was listed on The Star on 6 March 2010 in The Star by Keppel Offshore and Marine, a GLC owned partly by Temasek Holdings. Many of the vacancies on offer such as managers and engineers can easily be filled by Singaporeans, but Keppel found fit to recruit Malaysians instead. Some readers ask if Keppel Offshore & Marine had put up advertisements in Singapore too to hire locals. According to one reader who had been searching for a job since last year, he did not recall reading any job advertisements put up by Keppel Offshore & Marine at least in the Straits Times classified ads. A quick check on the official website of Keppel Offshore & Marine shows that they have "no job listings" at the moment: It is strange that Keppel Offshore & Marine has no available job listings now when it had to go all the way to Malaysia to recruit Malaysian managers and engineers to work in Singapore. Is it because it has filled all the vacant positions successfully with Malaysians that there is no need to put up any job ads on its site now? Either way, it seems that Malaysians are preferred over Singaporeans for jobs in Singapore which is not surprising. In the first place, Malaysian workers cost less than Singaporeans. They are willing to accept lower pay here which is usually more than what they can earn back home in Ringgit. Furthermore, the Malaysians, especially the Chinese share many similarities in terms of culture and language with the locals and are highly sought after as immigrants to boost Singapore's flagging population. With no labor laws to safeguard the livelihoods of Singapore workers or independent trade unions to protect their interests, there is no stopping companies like Keppel from mass recruiting foreigners to fill its ranks though Singaporeans can do an equally good or better job than them.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Despite the best of attempts by the state media to hide the truth by censoring critical reports of the PAP and to obfuscate matters by providing dodgy statistics, an increasing number of Singaporeans are seeing through the propaganda it has been churning out on a daily basis. Both Finance Minister Tharman and PAP MP Halimah Yacob denied patently in Parliament two weeks ago that the wages of Singaporeans have declined over the last few years no thanks to the relentless influx of cheap foreign workers. One does not need to be an economist to understand the simple fact that wages can never increase when there is an abundance of cheap foreign labor. For example, it is relatively easy for fresh engineering graduates to command a monthly starting salary of $2,500 and above ten years ago, but with cheap China and Indian engineers flooding the labor market now, they will consider themselves lucky if they can land a job which pays over $2,000. A UBS report published last year revealed that the real earnings of Singaporeans have declined by 8 percent between the years 2006 and 2009. Its findings were corroborated by a Wall Street Journal editorial months later which showed that the relentless influx of foreigners over the years has depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living and led to an overall decline in the standards of living. Neither article was published or highlighted by the mainstream media which continues to espouse the official view that the wages of Singaporeans are increasing till an authoritative report from the Manpower Ministry demolished its lies once and for all: “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] As we can see from the above figures which lumps both PRs and citizens together as one single category, the real earnings of local workers have declined since 2008, but this is only half the picture. If we plot the real earnings together with the population of foreigners in Singapore, we will get the graph below, courtesy of Kojakbt, moderator of 3in1 kopitiam: All the figures were obtained from Singstat. As we can see for ourselves, the plummet in the real earnings of Singaporeans occur after 2007 when the inflow of foreigners started to shoot up. In 2008 alone, there were more than 90,000 PRs and 20,000 new citizens, not to mention the number of foreigners on WP, E and S passes. With so many competitors in a limited job market, will we expect the wages to go up? In other countries, the government will take active measures to protect the interests and livelihoods of its citizens first and only then will they accept foreign workers in sectors where there is a dearth of local workers such as the practice in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Any government which dares to replicate what the PAP has done will either trigger mass street protests from the people or get voted out of office in the next general election. The PAP is able trample on Singaporeans with impunity because there is no opposition in Parliament to check on it and there is no way it will lose power through the ballot box as it controls all institutions of the state. Unless Singaporeans realize the importance of regaining their own political rights, they will forever be on the losing end with no bargaining power.   The UBS Series: >> Part 1: Singapore has lowest wages and domestic purchasing power among Asian Tigers >> Part 2: Moving towards a Russian standard of living >> Part 3: Why Singaporeans are paupers in a first world economy   Related articles: >> Eight reasons why foreign workers will be preferred over local ones >> Declining wages of Singaporeans and the continued denial by PAP leaders >> Halimah Yacob refutes UBS study findings >> Halimah Yacob: Productivity drive will be derailed if foreign worker challenge not addressed  >> Exposing the six major flaws in the PAP’s immigration policies >> Wong Kan Seng promises to tighten immigration policies >> SM Goh: Foreign workers numbers may still rise >> Malaysian car mechanic applying for Singapore citizenship >> PAP launches Singapore Citizenship Journey to help new citizens integrate >> Compulsory for new citizens to attend “sharing sessions” with grassroots leaders >> Wong Kan Seng urged Singaporeans to be more tolerant of foreign workers >> Tharman: Foreign workers increase income of low-income families >> Sylvia Lim: Pace and influx of foreigners over last few years is wrong >> Amy Khor urges Singaporeans to welcome foreigners >> PAP MP wants more money to be spent to make new citizens feel welcomed in Singapore >> Shanmugam: Foreigners generate jobs for Singaporeans >> Vivian happy there are 4,500 new citizens serving as grassroots leaders >> Cosmetic changes made to immigration policy >> SM Goh: New immigrants needed to make up population shortfall >> PAP ministers hailed contributions of foreigners >> SM Goh expressed support for Zhang Yuanyuan >> State media: citizens have more rights over PRs >> Zhang Yuanyuan got her Singapore PR in only 2 months >> Official reply from government on the Zhang Yuanyuan fiasco >> Singapore PRC PR proclaimed loyalty to China publicly >> PRC resident hung China flag to celebrate its National Day >> PRC student in Singapore wants more scholarships for foreigners >> PRC prostitutes solicit for customers on Singapore’s cyberspace >> ERA: 40 per cent of resale flats buyers are PRs  Read More →