TR EMERITUS

Dr Lam Pin Min PAP's arbitrary appointments of defeated PAP candidates as advisors of vanquished constituencies - do you think this is not an abject lack of morality and a most unkind insult to democracy? The most recent example of how this could cause the most preposterous charade of skewered authenticity is the HDB organised the MyNice Home Roadshow in Sengkang probably on Sunday 4 June 2023 ostensibly to benefit the residents but more likely to win over voters. The Workers" Party MP Louis Chua had to storm the roadshow univited. The PAP non-elected advisor Dr Lam Pin Min and the PAP Sengkang branch manager Ling Weihong were invited instead to grace the occasion with their pompous presence. What do you think of the autocratic display of high-handed action by the PAP to win voters' confidence? Why are the opposition, especally the Workers' Party so intimidated that they remain reticent. The PAP think that they can get away with their high-handed action to deny the legal opposition candidates from appointments as advisors to the consiituencies.that they represent. ThePAP fully comprehend the psyche f the opposition wards' voters/residents that they will not demur the PAP's high-handed actions in appointing advisors. In fact the PAP is quite safe with all the restrictive laws against unlawful actions and the opposition just could not find the right spark to mount any demonstration. So is the Workers' Party resigned to its fate of allowing the PAP to go roughshod on this issue? Have they consider legal recourse because I believe that they think this may be a non-starter. But has the judiciary any jurisdiction over such matter and it is not too late to find out the fact. It's worthwhile to take the PAP to court if this is feasible and there may just be a High court judge who may have a strong spiritual sense of justice and fairplay. Pritam Singh has a political baggage which will be a severe handicap. Tan Cheng Bock will be an ideal proponent but may feel lack of moral justification with only two NCMPs in Parliament. Leong Mun Wai NCMP will be simply marvellous. He is a pugnacious proponent to such an overwhelming degree that even PAP stalwarts like K. Shamugam came close to shitting. There must be some kind of unity among the opposition for such action. Good luck to you all if you decide to venture into the unknown.   Yoong Siew Wah * The author was the Director of Singapore’s Internal Security Department (ISD) from 1971 to 1974. He was Director of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) in the 1960s, and had a distinguished career in the Singapore Special Branch in the 1950s. Mr Yoong has granted TR Emeritus exclusive right to his memoir, to be published on an independent website (work in progress), upon his passing.       Read More →

Soh Rui Yong Soh Rui Yong has been excluded in the coming Asian Games by the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC). This news has been obscured by Tharman’s announcement of his candidacy for the upcoming Presidential Election. But reading about how the SNOC dealt with Soh is all so familiar and disappointing. This is yet another instance of a sickness that pervades Singapore society, one that infects our institutions of authority and power. In the view of SNOC, Soh “continued to make disparaging and derisive remarks [in the] public domain” and did not conform to their “constructive, mature and professional standard”. Tan Chuan-Jin (Speaker of Parliament) is the President of SNOC. What did he say that warranted this action? You can find them here. Our taxpayers’ money is used to pay these people. Millions of dollars are paid to these administrators to manage and boss around our athletes, only to give us this kind of childish bullshit. This is utterly disappointing and petty. Now, Soh Rui Yong is not running for President. He is running to hold on to his four national records. He is the undisputed king of long distance running in Singapore and one of the top athletes in Asia. His performance and sportsmanship in the recent SEA Games is celebrated beyond this tiny island. But too bad, he can’t compete because there are little emperors in the SNOC who did not like what Soh posted on social media. I attribute this kind of self-entitled power trip to elitism. Elitism is a distrust of people considered to be beneath the elite. It fuels a righteousness that “justifies” their opinions. It allows them to dismiss responsibility for their actions in the name of their superior intelligence or whatever it is. That is why their opinions matter and why the rest of us should just accept what they say. Time and again, we see over-extensions and abuses of power by little emperors who are so myopic and self-indulgent. The worst part is that there is no accountability nor transparency in their decision-making. For the people in power, ownself check ownself is becoming a norm. The principles of democratic checks and balances are derided and dismissed as popularism. A first-world country needs a functioning democracy to thrive and progress. There must be a balance of power. People in power must be accountable for their actions and decisions to the people they SERVE. Recent incidents like the Parti Liyani case, Keppel corruption case, and the SLA Ridout saga show that our elitist meritocracy which produces these little emperors who are not only full of self- entitlement but are also very divisive and disruptive to our pursuit of a democratic society based on justice and equality. They can abuse their power to the detriment of society. It is an illness in our society to not be able to properly keep misuse of power in check. Cancerous cells exploit the resources of the body, and ultimately disrupt the proper functioning of the body itself. A healthy immune system regulates the self, and it kills cancerous cells before it becomes cancer. Singapore suffers from an auto-immune disease because we can’t seem to stop cancer cells from abusing the resources of our body. And just like Soh, we as a society are stunted in our ability to develop to our fullest potential if we allow this illness to fester. Remember that we still have the ballot every five years. Time to get rid of these cancerous cells.   Tan Tee Seng * The author blogs on Facebook.      Read More →

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam resigns from the party and from his positions in government to stand for the presidential election. And in the next instant, he is supposed to be free of the People’s Action Party (PAP), free to be his own man, and ready to be an Elected President with no political baggage. Sounds so simple but we know that’s not how it works. SM Tharman has been a PAP man through and through for a few decades. He can stop wearing PAP colours and stop carrying his PAP membership card. But the umbilical cord is not cut – you can’t suddenly take the PAP out of the PAP man. The PAP knows it too well. Otherwise, why would they go through such great trouble to make sure that the Elected President is always a PAP person? Why is it so important to the PAP that their endorsed candidate takes the seat at the Istana? It goes without saying that the PAP asked SM Tharman to resign and stand for the presidential election, in the same way they asked Mdm Halimah Yacob to step down as Speaker of Parliament and contest the presidency. Still, they have to play the game they always play. The script calls for SM Tharman to write a resignation letter and declare his intention to contest the presidency. In line with the script, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong then regretfully accepts his resignation – it is a “heavy loss” to him and his team but he understands the “sense of duty” to serve the country. PM Lee also expresses his confidence that when SM Tharman becomes President Tharman, he will exercise his duties “with the independence of mind.” There’s that word again – independence. They seem to have a fascination with it. Like when PM Lee said he asked Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean to do an “independent review” of ministers’ controversial occupation of Ridout bungalows. This is the same SM Teo tasked to lead the 38 Oxley Road ministerial committee, the same SM Teo who is a close associate, colleague and comrade of the Ridout ministers. Does PM Lee really want to get to the bottom of things, leaving no stone unturned? Or did he pick SM Teo for an “independent review” because he is someone who has never let him and the party down, who has deputised for him as acting prime minister many times? SM Teo immediately thanked SM Tharman for his “enormous contributions” following the news he was contesting the presidency. SM Teo said he and SM Tharman have worked together for more than 25 years. Both are PAP men to the core. Both will never let the PAP down.   Augustine Low      Read More →