TR EMERITUS

One of the scariest things about the 377A debate is that it often reveals a national obsession with a**holes. If you scroll through enough forums, you will notice a strange belief that has been placed in the national psyche, which is a belief that there is an evil conspiracy by the West to make Singapore decay by allowing gay people to have sex. Whenever I read these comments, I am inevitably reminded of one of the greatest lines in cinematic history, which was “Who I f**k and who I don’t f**k is none of your f**king business,” which came from the movie “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” staring Bo and Jeff Bridges alongside Michelle Pfeiffer. Our obsession with what other people get up to in the privacy of the bedroom has become hysterical and it would be funny if we did not have serious social issues that need to be addressed. OK, I get that not everyone is going to be comfortable with the very idea of two guys in a relationship. However, while that idea might not be the most comfortable to entertain, there is no reason why two consenting adults should be considered criminal in the eyes of the law (despite the government’s promise not to enforce it). At the same time, the homosexual community needs to understand that things are not going to change overnight and making people comfortable with your choices is going to get you further than antagonizing them. So, now that the most useless and pointless of laws is going to be repealed, its time for the us to move on. The homosexual community should celebrate a small victory and then move onto the next battle, which is to get the rest of society ready to accept that homosexual unions need legal protections, which was a point that was ironically raised on social media by Ms. Stephanie Thio, joint-managing partner of TSMP Law. On the other hand, our “religious” community needs to understand that their faith’s require them to be so much more than the police of other people’s bedroom activities. If you take the Christian Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) for example, you will notice that Jesus was more interested in feeding the poor and healing the sick than who f**ed who. Jesus was not the only great teacher obsessed with relieving suffering. In Islam, there is a belief that God does not intend poverty for people and Muslims are obliged to donate towards the less fortunate. Much as the government may not want to admit it, we have a growing underclass and there are plenty of people that have fallen through the cracks of our glorious system. Thanks to Covid, we have migrant workers who do our back breaking work in return for the right to live in places where we would not step into unless we were in a hazmat suite. You have employers who take pride in not paying such workers. If you want to limit the scope to born and bred Singaporeans, look at the plight of many of our elderly, who make up an unhealthy portion of the homeless and hungry. Go into any fast-food joint and you will inevitably see an elderly person doing the heavy lifting because, well they need something to pay for their old age. Sure, our number of horribly poor may be less than many other places but you consider the fact that we are one of the “richest” nations on a per capita basis, there is no reason why our own people, from the hardest working generation, digging through trash cans to survive. There are enough horror stories of how many of these people ended up that way because the kids they helped make into success stories screwed them. I don’t know about you but each one of these horror stories shows that there was a decay in values somewhere along the line and like or not, this was happening in Singapore long before the government entertained the idea of repealing 377A. This is where our religious organisations need to step up. They have “moral” authority, financial means, and a network to get things done. Think about someone like Professor Thio Li-Ann, who is by all accounts a brilliant scholar of laws. Can you imagine if someone of her capabilities focused on making the law protect us when we are at our most vulnerable (in our old age) instead of worrying about everyone’s a***hole being poked. Think of Joseph Prince of New Creation Church, who is clearly very gifted when it comes to raising money (I believe his record is $21 million in 24 hours) to build bigger and better facilities for his church and ensuring that the homeless have shelter. Think about how much better we would be if the people who claimed to speak for God focused a little less on who was f***who and the plight of those who were being f**ed by the system. This was what Jesus was focused on and we need to return to this basic when it comes to those who claim to be close speak for the Almighty.   Tang Li *Although I’ve been based mainly in Singapore for nearly two decades, I’ve had the privilege of being able meet people who have crossed borders and cultures. I’ve befriended ministers and ambassadors and worked on projects involving a former head of state. Yet, at the same time, I’ve had the privilege of befriending migrant labourers and former convicts. All of them have a story to tell. All of them add to the fabric of life. I hope to express the stories that inspire us to create life as it should be.      Read More →

'Would it be a problem? I think the freer availability of cannabis in Thailand...is going to pose more challenges. I am sure it will'.- K. Shanmugam. 'If there is clear evidence of current use of drugs, Singapore authorities will take action regardless the consumption was overseas or in Singapore'- K. Shanmugam. I like what I have read. K. Shanmugam is one of the few current pap ministers whom I have high regard and respect for. What he said were brave words and I can imagine how a foreign addict either coming to Singapore or a returning home Singaporean addict would react reading those words. It was reported that Joe Schooling was tested negative despite him admitting to cannabis abuse. Given that Thailand is a very popular tourist destination and large numbers of Singaporeans, locally based foreigners visit and return home and even larger numbers of foreign tourists come to Singapore after visiting Thailand, I ask if our CNB is going to beef up its manpower to test every incoming persons from Thailand each and every time or to only conduct random checks or what? If we are too strict, our actions must incur repercussions and if we ti kam ti kam only with some incoming passengers from Thailand, pap government's reputation and resolve must suffer. It is tricky and we must think through how best to do it. I support tough actions against drug abusers. That is the bottom line. Think.   Simon Lim      Read More →

Taiwanese ex-SG New citizen Robert Tsao, the former billionaire owner of UMC, RENOUNCED Singapore Citizenship and reinstates his Taiwanese Citizenship. [LINK] That's the Danger of accepting massive number of New Citizens indiscriminately I have been warning about in 2019 IPS forum. This is only the extremely small tip of the iceberg. Citizenship is just a piece of paper of convenience for many New Citizens. Could they possibly cultivate true sense of belonging to Singapore, much stronger than their "motherland"? That's really wishful thinking. The complex cultural bearing and feelings towards one's place of birth, is basically just human nature. In view of rising geopolitical tensions and risks of conflicts, our massive number of New citizens as well as foreign workforce from diverse countries in Asia Pacific region will pose a clear and present danger to our stability and security. The political clout (critical influential 15% or 20% or more votes) of these New Citizens will have very great impact on our political contests and construct. Will they crystalize into powerful lobby groups which will influence our politicians' global positionings and forced us to take side as a country? We are really in for a rough ride ahead, no thanks to PAP's aggressive lelong of new citizenships.   Goh Meng Seng    Read More →