TR EMERITUS

Kwang Hwa e-Newspaper, 7 March 2010 梁智强说：“我早就要分手，可是她一再以死威胁，我实在没有办法！” 梁智强指出，他早就知道这是一个错误的开始，他在1年前就开始尝试结束这段婚外情。 他说，自己十分痛苦，常向教友倾诉，教友也劝他要尽早了断。 找女模父亲求助被阻 “但是我每次一提分手，她就闹着要死给我看，要不然就威胁要去告诉我老婆。我不希望我老婆和她受到伤害，所以就一直拖拖拉拉到今天。” 梁智强说，他曾经想找钟佳燕 (Wendy Chong)  的父亲解决这件事，但钟佳燕却不让他这么做。因此钟父一直到昨天才知道两人的事。 深陷婚外情进退两难，梁智强表示，他这一年来，他很累很累，精神状况很差。 他说，他感到很痛苦，但是又无法做个了断，每天都在威胁中度过。他声称，因为无奈，不知该怎么做，所以每天都在等待这一天（婚外情曝光）的到来。 智强直言，事情既然已经发生，他也不需要再去做无谓的辩驳，更不可以逃避。他只能向大家认错，衷心地道歉，乞求妻子、钟佳燕，以及钟佳燕的父亲原谅。 他说，很担心老婆不原谅他，即使梁太太已表示原谅他，但他还是不断重申自己对太太的歉意。 多次闹自杀 钟佳燕承认自己多次闹自杀，但她澄清自己只是说说闹闹，并没有真的去寻死。 她说，梁智强经常问她：“你不觉得和我在一起没有未来吗？”也许和我分开，你会找到更好的人。” “我每次听了都会问他是不是真的要分手？但他又总不直接说明白。” Read rest of article here  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent In a sign that Singapore's octogenarian leader Lee Kuan Yew is still widely regarded as the de facto leader of Singapore, a hoax posted by dissident blogger Gopalan Nair on his blog about Lee being admitted to a local hospital for a heart attack sent shockwaves throughout Singapore's blogosphere. Though Gopalan's blog has was read by few Singaporeans, the news quickly spread to major internet chatrooms in Singapore including the government-owned Channel News Asia and Hardwarezone forums, causing quite a stir, an indication of the psychological stranglehold Lee continues to hold over Singaporeans. Gopalan had initially written on his blog last Saturday that "Lee Kuan Yew had suffered a massive heart attack" on Friday 9.34pm without quoting any sources to substantiate his statements. "He is reported to be presently in the Intensive Care Cardiac Unit of the Singapore General Hospital under sedation and respiration, carefully watched by a team of doctors, with his son whom he appointed the Prime Minister and his 2 other children beside him," he wrote. While some netizens viewed his claims with skeptism, others "celebrated" and "welcomed" the news. He has since updated it as a hoax. Lee had ruled Singapore with an iron fist since becoming its first Prime Minister in 1959. Though he had officially relinquish his position in 1990, he still remains in the cabinet first as Senior Minister and now as Minister Mentor. He is thought to wield considerable influence in the government. Gopalan Nair is one of the most strident critics of the PAP regime. He contested in the 1988 and 1991 elections under the banner of the Workers' Party. He was jailed for 3 months in 2008 for allegedly insulting a Singapore judge on a blog posting. Read rest of Gopalan Nair's blog here  Read More →

OPINION After much discussion and debate on the Budget lately, only one MP dared to point out the glaring mistakes made by the PAP in the last few years and ironically, he is a PAP MP: its "instant tree" mentality. "Crowded shopping malls, congested MRT trains and rising HDB prices - these are some of the problems caused by an 'error of judgment' by policymakers....The rapid intake of immigrants, coupled with breakneck growth, were both signs of Singapore's 'instant tree mentality," said Mr Inderjit Singh during a recent parliamentary session. He posed a question which we have been repeating ad nauseum on this site: the need to increase Singapore's population at such a massive rate by one million within just five years and why infrastructure, especially public housing, has not been beefed up in advance. In 2003, when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced his ambitious plan to increase Singapore's population to 6.5 million people, nobody dared to express a dissenting view. The floodgates were opened suddenly without warning and too many foreigners were allowed to enter Singapore within too short a period of time such that it is almost impossible to integrate them right now. As a result of its mistake, a $10-million dollar Community Integration Fund has to be spent to "integrate" the newcomers, an uphill task given the fact that immigrants tend to congregate within their own community. According to a recent Wall Street Journal, the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore has depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living, especially that of public housing, decreased labor productivity and led to an overall decline in the standards of living. It is too late now to reverse the policy and Singaporeans are already feeling its negative impact in their everyday lives. This oversight on the part of the PAP is nothing new - it is endemic in any political systems dominated by a single person or party with little checks and balances. The PAP's "instant tree" mentality leads to intellectual sclerosis, group-think and one-dimensional thinking which is potential disaster in the making since there is no way a credible alternative can emerge to challenge it right now. Its classic modus operandi encapsulates three attributes: 1. Paternalism: an ingrained view that only it "knows best" of what is good for Singapore and only it has the "divine right" to lead the nation 2. Stubbornness: inability and unwillingness to listen to feedback from the ground and persists in doing things its own way even though it is wrong 3. Arrogance: refusal to accept responsibility for its mistakes made and covering them up with the help of the state media. Many Singaporeans including even some PAP MPs had questioned the PAP's "growth at all cost" policies in the past to no avail. The key policymakers belong to a small group within the PAP and once the decision is made, e.g. to open two casinos in Singapore, nobody can change their minds. The state media will be tasked to sell their ideas to Singaporeans and force them down their throats whether they like it or not. It is a recurring theme we see again and again. As late as last year, the media has been parroting the PAP's official stance that foreigners are needed in Singapore and now it has made almost a 360 degrees U-turn and focus on productivity again. Amid the chicanery and cacophony, few Singapore realize the root cause of the problems we are facing now lies with the PAP's "instant tree" mentality - that Singapore can only prosper under a "strong and effective" government which can make "bold and quick decisions". We are now paying the dear price for the PAP's "effectiveness". The PAP's utter incompetence, ineptitude and impotence have become so obvious of late that even the sycophantic Singapore media is having a difficult time whitewashing them completely. Though the PAP is the ruling party in name, the real seat of power lies in the hands of a few. Ordinary PAP MPs with no portfolios have very little say in the policy-making. They can comment, argue and debate like Inderjit Singh, but at the end of the day, they still have no power to effect changes in the policies. Singaporeans must realize now that it is useless to vote for PAP MPs in parliament because though they may be willing to raise their concerns, they are powerless to do anything. What we truly need is a strong opposition to deny the PAP of its traditional two-thirds majority to deprive them of the power of passing bills and legislation at its whims and fancies. As Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Najib Razak admitted, the days of "government knows best" are gone forever. Singaporeans must reclaim the ownership of their country before it is too late. Singapore belongs to every citizen and not to any particular party, family or person. Vote for change, vote out the PAP!  Read More →