TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent According to a Bloomberg report on 18 February 2010, Singapore may incur a budget deficit of as much as S$8.1 billion dollars or 3 per cent of its gross domestic product this year. It will be the third consecutive budget deficit after a predicted deficit of S$8.7 billion dollars in 2009 when the reserves were tapped to give cash to companies and citizens to shower the reccession. While economists say that there are unlikely to be changes to corporate and personal income taxes, GST may be raised to boost government revenue. “Given the likelihood of a sizeable deficit by Singapore standards, we doubt that the fiscally conservative government will judge it timely to further deplete a major source of government revenue,” said Kit Wei Zheng from Citigroup. Alvin Liew from Standard Chartered made a bold prediction: “We forecast that the GST will be raised to 10 percent by 2012 as an expected increase in tourism broadens the domestic consumption base, making indirect taxes a more significant contributor to government revenue.” GST was raised from 5 to 7 per cent in 2006 just after the election amidst much public displeasure. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong claimed that the GST hike was necessary to "help the poor", but till now he had not explained how it had helped the lower income group in Singapore. The budget deficit incurred pales in comparison to the billions of dollars lost in failed overseas investments by Singapore's two sovereign wealth funds Temasek Holdings and GIC. The Chairman of GIC is Singapore's octogenarian leader Lee Kuan Yew while Temasek Holdings is led by his daughter-in-law Ho Ching. None of them have prior experience in the finance industry. GIC is expected to lose more than S$10 billion dollars when its stake in Swiss bank UBS is converted entirely to shares on 5 March. Till today, nobody knows exactly how much GIC has lost though its Deputy Chairman Dr Tony Tan revealed that it has since "recouped" half its losses due to a stock rally last year. As for Temasek Holdings, it is an "Asian investment firm" owned entirely by the Ministry of Finance and therefore is not "accountable" to the people of Singapore. With the next election looming around the corner, Singaporeans can expect a bag of "carrots" to be dangled in front of their eyes after which GST and other taxes will be increased when the ruling party gets voted into office again with another "overwhelming mandate." PM Lee unveiled a "progress package" for Singaporeans before the 2006 elections. After he won another 5-year term, one of the first things he did was to raise the salaries of himself and his ministers. Singaporeans should not be too concerned if GST will be raised to 10 per cent. Even if it's raised to 20 per cent, there is nothing they can do about it.  Read More →

来源：爱白网（赖诗琳 报道）http://www.aibai.com  20/02/2010 灯塔福音会（Lighthouse Evangelism）主任牧师陈顺平再卷入批评其他社群的风波。这回，网上流传他在教堂布道会上贬低同性恋社群的言论。 一些公众在看了80分钟长的录像后感到不满，并向警方报案。其中导演邝子君更在今天凌晨到勿洛警署报案。他认为录像何时录制、上载是关键，但无论如何，牧师都应该诚意地公开道歉。 录像显示陈顺平牧师 (Pastor Rony Tan) 在布道会上向信众表示，童年时遭虐待或非礼是导致同性恋的原因之一。他认为同性恋者“不是与生俱来的，更不能说他们与一般人一样正常，无法改变自己的性倾向”。 他也影射所有同性恋者都是娈童癖患者（paedophile），会性侵犯身边的孩童，以致他们长大后也成为同性恋，最终导致全球半数人成为同性恋。 陈顺平牧师也引用人类要求与猴子结婚的例子，来进一步解释为何同性恋者不应被允许、甚至拥有同样权利。 他说：“如果我们允许同性恋，以后人类会要求和猴子结婚。他们会要求与猴子或驴子申请政府组屋的权利。那有多可悲啊。” 之后，他邀请一名自称是前同性恋的女信徒，分享她的成长经历。女信徒声称父亲在她11岁时突然逝世，12岁时她被一个男性亲戚非礼，之后染上毒瘾。 这段录像并未显示录制或上载到教会网站的日期。 据了解，已有不少人向警方报案，但人数并没有同性恋网站fridae.com所称的85人。 希望牧师能公开道歉 看了录像的公众大多认为，牧师的身份地位崇高，受许多人尊敬与爱戴，不应发表类似的煽动及批判性言论，希望牧师能为此公开道歉。 本地导演陈子谦、许纹鸾和邝子君看了录像后非常愤怒，并向警方报案。在他们报案前，也有人因不满牧师的言论而报警。 陈子谦在农历新年除夕看了朋友传来的录像后，当天向警方报案。他说：“我不是在争取什么，只是要求基本的尊重。身为宗教领导人，他不应有这样的言论。” 他表示他并不是同性恋，但对牧师的言论感到非常惊讶，“看了录像后有被羞辱的感觉”。 陈子谦说，自己的其中一名身怀六甲的朋友看了也非常生气。他说：“我们是个和谐的社会，牧师这样的言论是要制造分歧吗？” 许纹鸾认为，既然陈顺平牧师能为诋毁佛教与道教的言论而公开道歉，也应向同性恋社群或其他也可能被他诋毁的社群道歉，以示公平和尊重。 她说：“人人都应得到平等对待。今天，如果牧师的言论针对的是异族同胞或其他社群，我也会尽一个市民的责任通知警方。警方也告诉我，我不是第一个报案的人。” 许纹鸾并不是想要通过警方来阻止牧师发表任何言论。她说：“他有说话权，也有自己的意见，但当别人对他的意见表示不同意时，他应该作出回应，而不是保持沉默。” 邝子君说，陈顺平牧师在网站上声称上帝和自己都没有排斥同性恋，但他所说的话，几乎每一句都诋毁同性恋。 他认为，录像何时录制、上载是关键，如果牧师是在发表诋毁佛教和道教言论的同时对同性恋作出批评，或许还可以给他一次机会。但无论如何，他应该公开道歉。 “我的太太看了也非常生气。他应该公开道歉，而且需要比上次更有诚意。” 不过，本地最早成立的同志组织People Like Us的创办人之一王贤勤博士认为，陈顺平的观点在一些本地教会中并不罕见，因此他希望大家把这课题拿出来辩论，“而不要把它视为需要启动国家安全机制的威胁”。 灯塔福音会（Lighthouse Evangelism）有1万2000名信众。 据fridae.com，录像早在去年5月出现灯塔福音会网站，陈顺平因诋毁佛教公开道歉后，录像被取下。根据网上资料，一个叫Kenneth Tan的网民，9天前上载这段录像，使得它在互联网再流传。 资讯来源：联合早报 2010-02-19  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent According to a Straits Times report today, the PAP MPs are jumping onto the Facebook bandwagon to reach out to young Singaporeans. 41 of the 81 PAP MPs are on Facebook and they include Deputy Prime Ministers Wong Kan Seng and Teo Chee Hean, and Ministers George Yeo, Yaacob Ibrahim, Vivian Balakrishnan and Lim Hwee Hua. Embarrassed by the utter failure of YPAP to engage the online community, the state media has been tasked again to salvage the battered image of the PAP MPs in the eyes of young Singaporeans. The YPAP was embroiled in a controversy of late when its member Eric How made a police report over a non-existent impersonation on Facebook under the "advice" of its Chairman Teo Ser Luck which exposed his complete ignorance of the New Media. Though the PAP has set up an internet subcommittee way back in 2006 to win the hearts and minds of young Singaporeans, it has few results to show, if any. The P65 blog run by PAP MPs floundered due to lack of readership and is now handed over to be managed entirely by YPAP members with the same dismal results. Its Facebook has less members than a Facebook set up to vote out the YPAP only two months ago. None of its party websites have a readership large enough to establish a presence in cyberspace. Netizens should not be fooled by the latest lame attempt by the PAP to win their votes ahead of the next general election. As Foreign Minister George Yeo has demonstrated aptly, their Facebooks are nothing more but "wayang" to promote themselves and they will never dare to engage in serious discussion and debate on current affairs and national policies. SDP Secretary-General Dr Chee Soon Juan had invited George Yeo for a debate several times on his Facebook and was turned away. A young lady seeking help for a molest case was told by him curtly to see her MP instead. No matter how they tried, nothing will ever change so long the PAP retains its two-thirds majority in Parliament and continues to rule the country with an iron fist. The best way to "engage" the PAP is to vote them out in the next election and only then will they bother to listen to the genuine concerns and worries of Singaporeans.  Read More →