TR EMERITUS

作者： Robert Amsterdam (3-11-2009) 译者：新加坡文献馆译（21-02-2010） 自1959年人民行动党取得新加坡自治政权以来，在每次大选中都持续控制国会。政府在已经近乎完全垄断政治工具的格局上，还要进一步通过立法与强制施行违宪的法规，去妨碍新加坡宪法赋予人民的权力保障。 在一个缺乏独立自主性的屈从司法体系和一个政府控制的沉默新闻媒体，以及不间断诽谤控诉威胁的情况下政治自由受到了压抑。 新近的一项立法是公共秩序4月2009年法令，强化了执政的人民行动党对反对党的进一步管制。 o 在公共秩序法令下，全体人民包括反对党党员和反对党国会议员，在进行公开演说之前，必需事先申请许可准证。异议者鲜少能够获得准证。 o 在公共秩序法令下，任何群众集会都必需在事前先向政府取得批准。反对党的集会很少能够获得政府批准。行政规划否决任何的公众集会，除非是在规范的演说角落举行。 o 在诽谤法令下，政府控诉所有的 – 包括国内外媒体和反对党成员 – 对政策与行动提出批判的言论者。 o 在内部安全法令下，政府可以肆意的逮捕，和无限期拘禁任何被认为会危害治安的人。 o 在新闻印刷出版法令下，政府严禁个人拥有报馆除非事先得到政府同意。 这一种现实状况足以让国际特赦组织，世界银行，自由组织，国际律师公会，亚洲改革与民主联盟，记者保护委员会等等机构去批评政府违反了人权。 徐顺全个案 徐顺全博士在1962年出生。在佐治亚大学获得神经心理学的哲学博士后，回返新加坡到国立新加坡大学任教。 1992年，他加入新加坡民主党，引发了相当的哄动因为他是首位学术人员从国家管辖的大学公然出来挑战政府。在加入新加坡民主党的不久之后，徐博士被控不正当使用研究经费，并且遭系主任解雇。这名系主任是人民行动党的国会议员。 徐博士否认这项罪名，并指出他之所以被解雇是因为有政治动机。为此，他背负诽谤之罪，并被罚款与赔偿共35万美元。除了1993年被大学的系主任指控诽谤之外，徐博士也在随后遭人民行动党的三名总理控诉诽谤。 除此之外，徐博士也遭遇到： o 国会责怪徐顺全在美国时并没有行使他在新加坡无法享有的言论自由权力。 o 徐顺全因为撰写了一篇有关医疗费用的文章而遭受到国会的罚款处分。 o 徐顺全因为在大众场所推销他的著作 – 勇于改革-有关亚洲反对党的奋斗故事 – 而遭受罚款处分。 o 重复多次因为没有获得政府准证情况下在大庭广众场所发表言论。 o 徐顺全因为企图参加一项国际民主论坛而被判入狱。 徐博士正面对多项在进行中的审讯，等待审判的案件和警方的调查。 对徐顺全博士的政治自由的侵犯，吸引了来自大赦国际，人权观察，国际律师协会，人权第一，和律师人权委员会等国际社会的谴责。 来源：http://www.robertamsterdam.com 备注：这是白皮书的主要内容，次要部分省略。全文请上线：http://www.robertamsterdam.com /2009.Nov05.Repression_of_political_freedoms_in_Singapore.CheeSoonJuan.pdf  Read More →

By Amanda Lian After much thought and nerve-wreaking ideas, I come to think of the newest addition to the Apple family as the 7 commandments to a happy relationship. Why 7 you may ask? Because… And a huge because Apple said that it is an in-between product of the iPhone and MacBook which does 7 wonderful essential things better. What are these things? They are the Internet, Email, Video, Music, Games and eBooks. How do you feel about this issue? We want to know. But before that, I will tell you my experiences. Well now, Apple has gotten everyone talking and the industry abuzz with the announcement of its new iPad. Some dubbed it just another product larger than an iPhone, while others are seeing it as something which they might actually be inclined to use. Whichever the case, I am privy to some conversations I’ve had with a techy person, another who uses his notebook only reluctantly as required for work and one more, a close family member who is a self-proclaimed Luddite. Maybe, we will talk about my friend’s mother too, if we ever get to it. It is just so surreal when everyone else is excited about computing except the geeks and the nerds. Techy person I went home on the day that Apple was going to announce the iPad. As most of my friends were based in Singapore, it was almost 2am over there when they heard the news. Most of them stayed up in anticipation or for work, but this friend came to me the following morning saying “I was so disappointed. The hype was too overrated!” Me: Well, don’t you like the iPad? Or the idea in that sense? Techy person: No! If it is for eBooks, then I would get e-ink as it is better for the eyes in long periods of reading. If it is for other things, my notebook is able to do those things better and more efficiently. I guess the only thing that I’m excited about would be the A4 chip. Being a geek myself, I can understand why most people will think this way. I mean, yes, the iPad looks pretty and such but what it does, do not meet the needs and demands of the technically inclined niche. Technophobe My friend is an engineer and uses a notebook only if there is a necessary need for it. If she is able to shy away from technology altogether, that would be the greatest day of her life. Unfortunately, reality is harsh and she has to use it for work purposes daily. While she shuns away from the iPhone, when the iPad was announced, she called me immediately. Sounding superbly excited and thrilled, she said, “…iPad is so beautiful and do you think I could get used to it? I haven’t really played with the iPhone yet but I feel that it is really easy to use. Is the iPad similar? Would you recommend me to buy it when it comes out in Singapore?” Being bombarded with so many questions at a time, I began to realize that the iPad has indeed created a stir. She do not normally go gaga over technology and this is the first time in the 20 plus years that I’ve known her, that she actually reacted so enthusiastically over a new Apple product. Luddite For the sake of some people, a Luddite is someone who denies technology altogether. Do not be alarmed, there are definitely individuals still like that in good, old Singapore. And it happens to be one of my friends. Be it choice or circumstance, this friend of mine has never used a notebook before. Even his mobile is the really basic one which you can purchase easily from any 7-eleven stores in Singapore. So when he took the initiative to ask me about the iPad, I was kind of shocked. He actually thought the iPad would work for him. In his words, he said “looks good on the outside, easy to use on the inside.” And for him to fork out that amount of cash is not a problem. This is not a usual phenomena, it is a sensation. Sadly, I do not feel the same. And there we go again… The iPad is indeed of paramount importance to everyone, EXCEPT us. Somehow, someday, until we see a MacBook Air cut in half (which in our impression is the new tablet and the one we always wanted), we will wait and see. We would urge you not to purchase it just yet, if you really, really wanted a set as Apple had spoken of the prices staying nimble, which means good news for us, the consumers. If the sale of the first generation is not ideal, Apple WILL cut the price to sell more, just like the iPhone where it was reduced by $200 within the first few months of sale. Afterthoughts Watching the industry react, the voices of the people, and the overall atmosphere, this is going to be a blast for me – just seeing it unfold before my very existence. As for my friend’s mother, she kept saying she was too old to learn how to use a computer. Till this day, she only knows how to push the power button on the CPU. But after the entry of Apple’s iPad, she was motivated to learn how to use the email and the internet! Wow! For now, we will await the landing of Apple’s iPad on Singapore’s sandy, sunny shores. Specifications: ·        Height: 9.56 inches (242.8 mm) ·        Width: 7.47 inches (189.7 mm) ·        Depth: 0.5 inch (13.4 mm) ·        Weight: 1.5 pounds (0.68 kg) Wi-Fi model; 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg) Wi-Fi + 3G model ·        9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology ·        1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip ·        Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent The government had introduced two measures lately to prevent a "bubble" formation in the private property market - a stamp duty will be imposed on buyers who sell their properties within a year and the maximum loan allowed is limited to 80 per cent of the purchase price. Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu said the time was ripe to introduce them to curb excessive speculation in the market, but added that it will not deter genuine buyers from buying. "We would like to, in a way, make sure that there's no bubble formation and can do it before the bubble is being formed. We think it's a suitable time," she explained. The changes are unlikely to affect the public housing sector whose prices have sky-rocketed in the last two years due to rising demand fueled by immigration in the face of limited supply of new flats. Furthermore, the majority of buyers in Singapore's private housing sector are foreigners who can well afford to pay the excess stamp duty. Despite widespread unhappiness on the ground, the government appears reluctant to rein in on the red-hot resale market which shows no signs of cooling down. Prices continue to increase by 8.2 per cent last year with median Cash-Over-Valution (COVs) doubling to $24,000 in the last quarter alone. As PRs form quite a substantial percentage of the buyers of resale flats, HDB should consider introducing rules to make it more difficult for them to make a profit out of them. A minimum residency period of 2 to 5 years should be imposed before PRs can purchase resale flats. They should be means tested to ensure that those who can afford private housing do not compete with Singaporeans in the resale market. And a stamp duty should be slapped on those selling their flats upon leaving Singapore. Unfortunately, HDB still insists that public housing remain affordable to the masses despite evidence showing otherwise. Singaporeans will have to wait till they are "caught off guard" again.  Read More →