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WON'T
GET FOOLED AGAIN [till the next boo-boo]
[Updated
August 9, 2004]
Click
here for the BigO homepage
It’s
been almost three and a half months since the PAP government amended a law [on
April 19, 2004] permitting the transfer of $ingapore’s reserves to government
companies and statutory boards without the need to get the president’s
approval. The Finance Ministry, headed by General Lee Hsien Loong, has said
that the transferred money cannot be spent without the president’s approval.
The reason given for permitting the transfers is this: "at times, an activity
or function would need to be transferred for the sake of 'efficiency or effectiveness'."
There was no debate whatsoever in parliament despite the presence of two opposition
MPs. In the past, former president Ong Teng Cheong had publicly stated he had
difficulty getting the government to tell him exactly what was $ingapore’s
reserves. MAS head, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister General Lee becomes
Prime Minister on Aug 12. Below is the second press release from Dr Chee Soon
Juan released on May 12 in reply to the minister’s clarification.
PAP MAKES TRANSFER OF RESERVES EVEN MORE SECRETIVE
The "clarification"
made by the Finance Ministry on the recent constitutional amendment of the transfer
of reserves clarified absolutely nothing.
Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had told Parliament when he introduced the amendment that the Constitution had not allowed reserves to be transferred from the Government to government organizations and businesses without it being considered a draw on the reserves.
In other words, under the previous legislation, if the PAP wanted to transfer reserves from the Government to a GLC it would be considered a draw on the reserves and to draw on the reserves would require the consent of the president and, worse, the public would have to be informed.
In order to avoid making such transfers public knowledge and having to get presidential approval, Mr Lee had sought to change the meaning of the articles in the Constitution to allow such transfers to take place but not have them considered as a draw on the reserves.
It seems a very clever way of unlocking the safe. By saying that such a move to transfer reserves from the Government to a GLC would henceforth not be considered a draw on the reserves, the Government is now free to raid the reserves without getting consent from the president or making it public.
The intention, according to Mr Lee, is to enable the Government to "restructure", "merge" or "corporatise" government organizations and businesses. In other words the Government wants to draw on our reserves to do business without telling us.
The questions still remain:
- With such secret and unchecked movement of the reserves from the Government to statutory boards and GLCs, what is there to prevent abuse and misuse of the funds belonging to Singaporeans?
- Is there any provision to ensure that failed businesses are not bailed out?
- Is there a limit as to how much funds can be transferred to any one entity?
- Who will make the decision to sanction a transfer and to which company?
The amendment gives the Government absolute freedom to do as it pleases. Without a set of clearly defined criteria and a transparent system to ensure that rules and regulations are adhered to, we are looking for trouble - which may not be too hard to find.
Instead of making the system more transparent and accountable in line with global practices under WTO rules, the latest amendment will shield the public even more from the Government’s financial dealings.
Not only must Singaporeans be warned of such a dangerous move but foreign investors must also be made aware of the murky way in which the PAP handles corporate matters and seems to have every intention of making it even murkier.
Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic
Party
LAST WORDS
"Once we accept that,
we should have an implicit trust and confidence in how the Government manages
our reserves. It is not in the interest of the country to have the specific
allocation of the reserves subject to public scrutiny,"
- PAP MP Ong Kian
Min, Government Parliamentary Committee for Finance and Trade & Industry,
in the nation-builder press June 2004. He holds 11 directorships, including
at Osim and BreadTalk. He is a lawyer. He has been awarded the BigO-ROOSTER
COGBURN TRUE GRIT AWARD for his ability to juggle so many jobs.
+ + + + +
"WHAT'S A 'CHUA' DADDY?"
- Ms Chua Lee Hoong, ex-ISD agent and nation-builder (June 25, 2003)
- Ms Chua Mui Hoong, nation-builder (July 21, 2004)
"It takes slightly more than one year to understand just
what the 'chuas' mean by $ingaporean citizenship."
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror of Opinion, July 21, 2004.
+ + + + +
POSTED ON SAMMBOY
July 21, 2004
"But Ms Ong said: ‘That's my position of anyone who tries to threaten
journalists with lawsuits. I believe in freedom of speech’."
"HAHAHAHA" was the reply from a forummer.
[Ms Ong is former Business Times nation-builder Catherine Ong. She is now
vice-president of communications at DBS Bank with a reported salary of half
a million dollars.]
IF $INGAPORE JOURNALISTS BELIEVE IN FREEDOM OF SPEECH
WHY IS $INGAPORE RANKED SO LOW IN PRESS FREEDOM?
+ + + + +
- The nation-builder
press, July 16, 2004.
SLOVENIA RANKS 27th IN THE LIST
The "little" country of Slovenia in eastern Europe was rated by the United Nations as the 27th best country in the world to live in. Slovenia is slightly smaller than New Jersey. It even had a war in 1991 to free itself from Yugoslavia. It has a population of slightly more than 2 million. It practices parliamentary democracy and has eight active political parties represented in parliament.
The UN's annual ranking of 177 countries is based largely on average levels of education and income, combined with expected length of lifetime.
How much more must $ingaporeans pay their million-dollar ministers to achieve that long-promised "Swiss-standard of living"? By the way, Switzerland was No. 11 on the UN chart this year.
NORWAY STILL NUMBER ONE
For the fourth year in a
row, the United Nations has ranked Norway as having the highest standard of
living in the world. Sweden, Australia and Canada are next in line.
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article828724.ece
The UN report also found that the U.S. city of Miami has the largest foreign-born population of any city in the world -- 59 percent -- followed by Toronto with 44 percent, Los Angeles with 41 percent, Vancouver 37 percent and New York 36 percent.
In Asia, $ingapore has 33 percent foreign-born and Sydney has 31 percent. $ingapore is a COUNTRY. The rest are cities.
WHY CAN'T THIS BE SOLVED?
Two foreign maids died after falling from their employers' high-rise apartments in $ingapore, police said July 15, 2004. The women - one from India and the other from Indonesia - were found separately. The Indonesian maid, in her 30s, only recently started work in Singapore. She fell 11 stories to her death. The death of the Indonesian maid was reported on Channelnewsasia.com on July 14, 2004.
It is unclear how many foreign maids have lost their lives while working in $ingapore. But it could be in the hundreds. Official $ingapore figures begin only in 1999.
How much more must $ingaporeans pay their million-dollar ministers to solve this problem? Another "honest" mistake.
+ + + + +
"IF SOMEONE TELLS YOU IT'S FAIL-SAFE, BE SCEPTICAL"
- General George Yeo as reported in the nation-builder press,
July 2, 2004.
"If someone pledges to remove blackout blemish on $ingapore,
be sceptical."
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, June 2,
2004.
+ + + + +
THE INDIAN BUSINESSMAN
HAS MORE CONFIDENCE IN HIS COUNTRY'S ECONOMIC FUTURE OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS
THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD
- Outlook, May 17 2004.
We quote from the above report:
"Simply put, of the 500 Indian family-run companies [hiring between 100 to 1,000 people] Grant Thornton surveyed, 457 were gung-ho about the future, and only 43 preferred to be doubting Thomases.
"Contrast this with Japan, where the pessimists numbered 46 per cent more than the optimists or Poland [32 per cent], $ingapore [30] or Germany [6]."
Grant Thornton is a global accounting firm and this is its second annual International Business Owners Survey.
TALKING COCK IN $INGAPORE
- The nation-builder press, June 21 2004.
We quote from the above report:
"Restoring the pay cuts of civil servants and ministers - a decision announced on Friday - is 'reasonable' as $ingapore's economy has now regained momentum, Acting manpower minister Ng Eng Hen said yesterday."
"All the
optimists in $ingapore are working as Shenton Way fortune tellers."
-
The young, restless and cynical Mirror of Opinion, June 21, 2004.
+ + + + +
THE 'PEOPLE FIRST' PROMISE THAT NEVER WAS
- 
The nation-builder press, June 18, 2004.
"Members of Parliament yesterday supported the government's
promise to put people first and to promote active citizenship that was laid
out in President SR Nathan's address to Parliament last week." - the nation-builder
press, Oct 12 1999.
THIS IS WHAT THE PAP MEAN WHEN THEY SAY 'PEOPLE FIRST'...
The nation-builder press, June 18, 2004.
YOUR 'CIVIL SERVANTS' FIRST
The nation-builder press, June 17, 2004.
+ + + + +
US TRUCKS CARRYING RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS INTERCEPTED IN IRAQ-KUWAIT BORDER
TEHRAN (MNA) -- The UAE-based daily Al-Khaleej reported on Monday
[June 14, 2004] that Kuwaiti tariff officials have intercepted a truck loaded
with radioactive materials in the Iraq-Kuwait border.
The daily quoted informed sources as saying that the radioactive control team
from Kuwait's Health Ministry discovered that one of the
trucks belonging to the U.S.-led coalition forces was carrying heavy radioactive
materials. The trucks were headed for Iraq.
The daily said that such materials could only enter a country when there is
permission from related bodies while the materials were secretly being carried
to Iraq. Security forces stressed that no contamination had been caused by the
material.
The MNA reported for the first time the coalition forces' suspicious transfer
of WMD parts from Kuwait to Southern Iraq by trucks. The possible presence of
WMD in Iraq and its likely nuclear programs were the main U.S. pretext for attacking
the country. However, their failure to find weapons of mass destruction in the
country and the continuing turmoil in Iraq questioned the legitimacy of the
U.S. war against Iraq and their presence in the country.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=6/15/2004&Cat=4&Num=020
+ + + + +
$INGAPORE RANKED 135 OUT OF 193 COUNTRIES FOR PRESS FREEDOM
$ingapore was ranked as "not free" in a US survey on press freedom by Freedom House released in May 2004. Out of 193 countries, $ingapore was ranked at 135, not too far away from Iraq [142]. Even Cambodia ranked higher at 127. To offer a perspective of how the survey rated countries in Australasia, we produce the list below of Free, Partly Free and Not Free countries. $ingapore's nation-builders, take a bow.
Free Press
New Zealand [8]
Australia
[18]
Japan [33]
Taiwan [50]
East Timor [68]
South Korea [68]
Partly Free Press
Philippines [75]
Thailand
[88]
India [93]
Sri Lanka [111]
Indonesia [117]
Pakistan [121]
Not Free Press
Cambodia [127]
Singapore
[135]
Iraq [142]
Malaysia [154]
Brunei [161]
China [173]
Laos [179]
Burma [190]
North Korea [193]
In
a separate survey released in 2003, Reporters Without Borders (www.rsf.org)
ranked $ingapore 144 out of 166 countries for press freedom. The group continues
to place prime minister Goh Chok Tong as a Predator of Press Freedom in its
2004 report.
+
+ + + +
YABBA DABBA DOO
Recent picture of (from left): General Lee, General George Yeo and Health
Minister Khaw Boon Wan.
THARMAN JUMPS FOR JOY
Acting Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in the nation-builder press,
May 17, 2004.
Even while BLAMING $ingapore youths for being soft and not hungry, the new Acting
Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam couldn’t stifle his joy.
"Their pay cuts will be restored
in 14 days on June 1, 2004."
- The young, restless
and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, May 17, 2004.
AND
FOR THE REST OF $INGAPOREANS
The nation-builder press, May 18, 2004.
"Prof
Lim Pin, the [NWC] council’s chairman, said that it would not cite a percentage
figure for increases as the council does not want to impose a 'one size fits
all figure'."
- The nation-builder press, May 18, 2004.
The nation-builder press, Aug 20 2001.
With GST rising to 5 per cent on Jan 1 2004, $ingaporeans have an additional burden to bear of $1.32 billion a year, forever.
The government has also refused to restore CPF cuts. Which means the 1999 CPF cuts, which cost Singapore workers $7.5 billion in earnings a year, remains for a fourth year. That’s a total of $30 billion that workers have sacrificed so far.
Lving in $ingapore is a
high cost affair. And WORKERS ARE THE ONES ASKED TIME
AND TIME AGAIN TO BEAR THE BURDEN AND MAKE THE SACRIFICE.
+
+ + + +
TRUE GREED
The nation-builder press, May 4 2004.
"As far as we can see, there isn't much rebuilding
or peace-keeping going on in Iraq. It's a WAR."
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, May 4, 2004.
+
+ + + +
HANA, HANA, HANA...
The nation-builder press, May 4 2004.
DID YOU MISS THIS?
A
13-year-old girl was found lying at the bottom of a block of flats in Hougang
on Tuesday, May 4, 2004. This was at about 7.55 pm at Block 535 Hougang Street
52. She was pronounced dead about half an hour later by paramedics. The girl
is said to be a resident in the block. Police have classified the case as unnatural
death.
The above was not reported in the nation-builder print press. You can read it
here: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/83332/1/.html.
The news was only broadcast on radio and on the textbar for breaking news on
Channel News Asia on May 4, 2004.
"Still shit-scared after all these years."
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, May 4, 2004.
+ + + + +
BigO presents THE ROOSTER COGBURN TRUE GRIT AWARD
HERE ARE SOME PAP MPs WITH TRUE GRIT
PAP MP (Bukit Timah) DR WANG KAI YUEN
The nation-builder press, April 29, 2004
He holds 11 directorships in publicly-listed companies. He had
to resign from one after PM Goh Chok Tong spelled out new guidelines banning
PAP MPs from sitting on the boards of companies owned or chaired by grassroots
leaders they have appointed. Dr Wang also has a full-time job as managing director
of Xerox Software. True Grit.
PAP MP (Tampines GRC) ONG KIAN MIN
The nation-builder press, April 29, 2004
He holds 11 directorships, including at Osim and BreadTalk. He
is a lawyer.
PAP MP (Hong Kah GRC) DR JOHN CHEN
The nation-builder press, April 29, 2004
He holds eight directorships. He was recently in the news when
a shareholder questioned the amount of fees he earned as a director in one company.
The nation-builder press, Jan 20, 2004, quoting former million-dollar
minister and NTUC leader John Chen.
"$ingapore's REAL National Shared Value: 'Do you want
me to work for FREE?'"
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror of Opinion, Jan 20,
2004.
PAP MP (East Coast GRC) CHEW HENG CHING
The nation-builder press, April 29, 2004
He holds six directorships and is chairman of the Singapore Institute of Directors,
managing director of Hiap Hoe Ltd and executive director of Lee Kim Tah Holdings.
These PAP MPs hold so many important
positions in so many companies. And as Dr Wang Kai Yuen says, "It's not for
the money because some of the companies pay me as little as $10,000 a year."
True Grit.
HERO HENG
The nation-builder press, April 29, 2004
Mr Heng Yeow Peow was the foreman who died in the Nicoll Highway construction
site accident. He saved the lives of his crew. He was 40. He leaves behind a
wife and two young children. In the above report, in the final paragraph, it
said: "So far, more than $30,000 has been collected," for Hero Heng. He was
the sole family breadwinner.
+ + + + +
HAPPY MAY DAY
The
nation-builder press, April 29, 2004.
"Two
months to cheer until another MRT fare increase. HOORAY!"
-
The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, May 1, 2004.
DON'T THINK TWICE, IT'S ALL RIGHT
The nation-builder press, April 27,
2004.
The nation-builder press, April 27,
2004.
In the above report,
after 10 years in the nation-building press, Ginnie Teo has decided to leave
for the United States. She states: "My family is living in the United States
now, and I've decided that this is as good a time as any to join them..."
+ + + + +
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE NEWS
"TRANSFER OF RESERVES" NEWS FOUND IN THE LAST PARAGRAPH
GOH CHOK TONG'S LAST ACT?
The
nation-builder press, April 20, 2004.
If you want
to read more, you can go to this site, but you must be able to read Chinese.
http://www.zaobao.com/sp/sp025_210404.html
Goh
Chok Tong will pass the Prime Ministership to his deputy, General Lee Hsien
Loong, sometime in 2004.
CHUA MUI HOONG WASN'T WEARING HER GLASSES THAT DAY LAH
The nation-builder press,
April 20, 2004.
In
the above commentary of the parliamentary sitting of April 19, 2004, nation-builder
Chua Mui Hoong [whose sister is Chua Lee Hoong] did not comment on the "transfer
of reserves" amendment.
- - - - -
On Apr 19, 2004, the $ingapore
parliament passed an amendment to the constitution which allows for the transfer
of government reserves to government companies and statutory boards. As far
as we can tell, there was no debate inside parliament. The nation-builder press
gave a one-paragraph report at the bottom of an unrelated story.* It is also
unclear whether opposition MPs Chiam See Tong and Low Thia Khiang and NMP Steve
Chia said anything that afternoon. Their websites are silent on this matter.
To date, we have only found one comment, an open letter to Singaporeans, and
we present it below.
TRANSFER OF
RESERVES: SINGAPOREANS IN REAL TROUBLE
April 24, 2004
The SDP has learned that Parliament has amended the Constitution to allow the
transfer of reserves from the Government to statutory boards and government-linked
companies.
If true, this step has ominous implications for Singaporeans and our future.
The Government must come clean and unambiguously explain to the people what
it is trying to do with this latest change of the Constitution.
The fact that the ruling party continues to amend the Constitution at will (four
other amendments were apparently passed at the sitting) to suit its own needs
is troubling enough. But the present amendment to allow the transfer of our
nation's reserves to government bodies and businesses is in a category all on
its own, and signals a dangerous level into which the state-management of Singapore's
economy has descended.
With a system that is as non-transparent and unaccountable as the PAP's, this
opening up of the vault to our reserves may yet be the latest sign of the desperate
financial situation the government organizations have found themselves in. Without
proper accounting and a transparent system where the opposition, civil society,
and media can probe the propriety of these financial transactions, how can the
people be assured that the reserves, which include the life savings of Singaporeans,
will not be misused and abused?
It is equally vexing, but unsurprising, that the issue has received so little
publicity in the media. Apparently, news of this constitutional amendment was
buried in the 15th paragraph of a report entitled "More foreign-born kids to
get citizenship" in the Straits Times.
And yet questions abound: How much is allowed to be transferred to any one company?
Who will determine/approve the transactions? Under what criteria will the transfers
be deemed to be necessary? Will it be guaranteed that the money will not be
lost through ventures, business or otherwise, conducted by the statutory boards
and GLCs? Most important, do Singaporeans agree for the Government to make these
transfers in the first place?
As usual, the PAP has manipulated politics to the point where it can do anything
and everything it wants. Nothing and no one in Singapore can prevent the Government
from abusing the system.
Some may say that, given the deteriorating political and economic situation
in the country, Singaporeans will send a message to the PAP and vote for the
opposition at the next elections. Singaporeans must realize that at the present
rate we are going under the present system, hell will freeze over first before
the PAP allows Singaporeans to hold it accountable through elections.
Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party
http://www.singaporedemocrat.org
You can also read the full amendment in parliament-speak here.
http://www.parliament.gov.sg/Legislation/Htdocs/Bills/0400012.pdf
$INGAPORE GOVT COMPANY
MAY HAVE TO PUT UP EXTRA QUARTER BILLION U.S. DOLLARS
The nation-builder press,
April 29, 2004.
Government company ST Telemedia may have to come up with US$252 million or about
a quarter-BILLION US dollars. It may or may not be eligible under the new transfer
of reserves constitutional amendment for funds. The constitutional amendment
has been passed to allow for transfer of funds from $ingapore's reserves to
government companies and statutory boards but to date there have been no public
discussions of its implications. ST Telemedia is part of $ingapore Technologies,
a government company.
+ + + + +
IF VIVIAN WAS A MAN...
The nation-builder
press, April 21, 2004
"...he
would be debating with 32 professors from institutes of higher learning, doctors
and professionals, lawyers and accountants... not 32 students."
-
The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, April 21, 2004.
+ + + + +
WHY IS PAP MINISTER LIM BOON HENG SMILING?
The nation-builder
press, April 19, 2004
"He
is expecting his million-dollar salary to be restored in June 2004. Only 42
days to go. Yippee for him, boo hoo for you."
-
The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, April 19, 2004.
+ + + + +
QUESTIONS 67 AND 68: "WHERE TO CUT AND HOW?"
The nation-builder
press, April 17, 2004
ANSWER FOR "WHERE
TO CUT": PEOPLE LOR
The
nation-builder press, April 17, 2004
This
is what an NTUC leader said: "Looking back, port workers' union chief Lee
Mun Hou said last year's decision to 'swallow the bitter pill' of wage restructuring
was the right thing to do."
He has forgotten that much of PSA's woes began when management chased customers
away by unilaterally rasing the rates. They moved to Tanjong Pelapas. This is
the result of poor leadership.
"Since
February 2003, 800 PSA staff were asked to leave. It is always, always the people's
fault."
- The young, restless
and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, April 17, 2004.
ANSWER
FOR "HOW TO CUT": NANNY SAYS CHANGE THE LAW LOR
The
nation-builder press, April 21, 2004
The above report said "union leaders no longer
need to seek the approval of (its) members when they seal collective agreements
with management..." Just how a nanny would behave.
"The
headline can also read: Union workers have no say in talks. $ingapore is a NANNY
state."
-
The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, April 21, 2004.
DON'T FORGET TO REMEMBER TO FORGET
"Members of Parliament yesterday supported the government's promise to put people
first and to promote active citizenship that was laid out in President SR Nathan's
address to Parliament last week." - the nation-builder press, Oct 12, 1999.
"Our
'active' citizens are not allowed to be part of the union/management process."
-
The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, April 21, 2004.
+ + + + +
THE BASH STREET KIDS
The
nation-builder press, April 17, 2004
Why
are the Americans determined to put Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir
behind bars? He has repeatedly denied links to Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and was
only jailed for immigration offences. He was due to be released April 30. And
why are the Americans, Malaysian and $ingapore governments not interested in
the next item...
WHY NO ARREST
FOR THE BLACK MARKETEER OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS?
The
nation-builder press, Feb 10, 2004
The nation-builder press, March 4, 2004
In the above report, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid
Albar said: "The whole thing is over already." He was referring to US accusations
that a Malaysian permanent resident Bukary Syed Abu Tahir was manufacturing
nuclear bomb components with a Malaysian company directly linked to PM Abdullah
Badawi's son, Kamaluddin.
Although Malaysian police have published a report that confirms Mr Tahir was
sending the parts to Libya, the police did not arrest him. Tahir is a Sri Lankan
citizen married to a Malaysian.
[click on the banner for more items]
THE $INGAPORE-BASED COMPANY
A $ingapore company was also supplying parts to the nuclear black
market. The company was Bikar Metal Asia Pte Ltd. They have said they were unaware
their parts were meant for a nuclear weapons ring. The only account of this
$ingapore connection is in the Asian Wall Street Journal. No $ingapore paper
carried a comprehensive report on Bikar Metal. But we get plenty of reports
on Abu Bakar Bashir.
The Asian Wall Street Journal, March 23, 2004
+ + + + +
"LIKE A VIRGIN, TOUCHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME"
- Ex-ISD agent Chua Lee Hoong writes about trust in the nation-builder
press, April 8, 2004.
"One
thing you can trust is that PAP ministers pay cuts will be restored in 53 days."
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion,
April 8, 2004.
+ + + + +
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH AND MORE BLAH
- The nation-builder press, April 7, 2004.
"This
is the same man who said 'the future is so bright'."
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion,
April 7, 2004.
+ + + + +
"WHY IS GENERAL LEE SMILING?"
- The nation-builder press, April 6, 2004.
"You
would too, if your pay cut is going to be restored in 55 days."
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion,
April 6, 2004.
"Million-Dollar Ministers Allowed To Debate With KIDS ONLY"
- The nation-builder press, April 6, 2004.
"We
all know how the PAP handle adults who dare to speak up. Ask Capt Ryan Goh."
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion,
April 6, 2004.
"$ingapore's April FOOL"
- Tay Yimian writing in the nation-builder press, April 5,
2004.
"Your PAP ministers are sharing the load by asking and getting MILLION-DOLLAR
SALARIES while you and your children must be 'PUSHED' to slave for $ingapore.
Geddit?"
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion,
April 5, 2004.
+ + + + +
"NO HOPE"
- The nation-builder press, April 3, 2004.
+ + + + +
Another promise, 62 days before he gets his pay cut RESTORED
- The nation-builder press, Mar 30, 2004.
+ + + + +
THE CRUCIBLE ACCORDING TO CAPT. GOH
BY X’HO
There are so many cracks on the nation-building pavement that, of late, the
pulp press has foregone some subtlety to go shameless in propping up agendas
to help Remake $ingapore like it’s on Desperation Blvd. Take for instance,
The Sunday Times’ report "Why the casino rethink’ (Mar.14, ’04).
I don’t need to read it in full to know. Let’s see, good for the tourist
industry, the economy and no one’s objecting to the Govt’s decision
(not that anyone can or bothers to anymore; Capt Ryan Goh of the pilots’
union… anyone?).
Still, there was, of course,
a very valid reason for casinos to spring up in $ingapore now, we are told.
"Industry players say huge revenue generated is too good to pass up"
is the official reason. Don’t gasp, we all know about implications; not
that we care to voice them. Capt Ryan Goh!
Ironic that
below the casino report was one about why the Govt draws the line on some theatre-group’s
desire to stage a gay-forum, citing the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church
and the Hindu community’s support of the prohibitive stand. I guess the
Catholic Church, the Methodist Church and the Hindu community are cool with
all the licensed gay saunas in our midst now — on OUR VERY SHORES - housing
Sodom & Gomorrah free-sex; cos they’re not heard objecting to those
depraved haunts. Nor are they cited to object to building casinos in $ingapore.
So it’s probably not a burning issue, shall we say, when it comes
to the moral ethics of gambling. Don’t have to say, we already know. When
push comes to a hard-shoved economy’s thrust, we just have to go pelvis-Elvis
and sing Wooden Heart (now, is that a good enough pop-culture excuse for you,
Big Brother?).
I certainly am not complaining.
I’m a ‘historian’ to save amnesiacs. The juicier the details,
the better for me. Here’s crack no.2…
"Don’t impose
mother tongue as second language" — the top story in Commentary/ Analysis
from Straits Times’ Political Desk on Mar.6, ’04. (Not that mother-tongue
wasn’t already imposed in the first place!) This comes some 30 pages after
another top story (on page three) about a college-grad rejoicing that admission
to local university does not require a second-language admission-pass anymore.
"No need to go overseas now" is what she says. That, of course, is
the point of the story. That and its positioning as a prelude to the essay from
the Political Desk to convince everyone that nothing is just the Govt.’s
decision. (Capt Ryan Goh?)
Crack no.3…
"Why $ingaporeans return:
they simply miss home" (ST, Mar.7, ’04). Don’t laugh. The quote
highlighted in that report was - "Always an outsider… you’re
not one of them and never will be, no matter how hard you try." Now,
shall we inform the thousands of recent Chinese immigrants on our soil about
this too? How about rubbing it in on Capt Goh? Let’s just move
on to crack no.4, shall we? Ironies have hit a mind-boggling level of mass hypnosis
for us to really bother about anymore.
=====
RELIGIOUS GROUPS
DON'T OBJECT TO CASINO MEH?
"Ironic that below the casino report was one about why the Govt draws the
line on some theatre-group’s desire to stage a gay-forum, citing the Catholic
Church, the Methodist Church and the Hindu community’s support of the prohibitive
stand. I guess the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church and the Hindu community
are cool with all the licensed gay saunas in our midst now — on OUR VERY
SHORES - housing Sodom & Gomorrah free-sex..."
=====
Wait… There’s something we have to acknowledge - the hip-&-funky
new look of Ms. Chua Mui Hoong as seen in the picture for her column Reflect.
Hence, the retro-swinging specs and the slightly unkempt hair. Oooh, how ratty.
Gone is her previous serious administrator look to speak for the moral majority.
Since we know now that the older moral majority are so successfully boxed in,
there’s really no need to work on them that much. Therefore, like those
Satanists who rally: We have (now) come for your children (!), it’s their
little maturing mindsets we have to set our eyes on for now (hence, the Heeren
glasses!). Of course, it takes the "no longer young but more daring ones"
(quote from The New Paper, Mar.7, ’04) to activate the mind-buzz. I should
know. So, ‘media whore’? Yes, congrats to Ms. Chua, for success is
just that hint of cleavage revealed.
Back to crack no.4 (and
it’s not her top!) …
‘Twas she who announced
with her new makeover look on Mar.7, ’04: "Oh baby, baby, it’s
a harsh world" in relation to the nation’s falling birth-rate that
needs to be rectified. In conclusion, she added that she was merely giving "suggestions…
in the spirit of encouraging a no-holds-barred debate on the baby-making issue".
What a triple-whammy crack — babies, subtlety and no-holds-barred! Not
quite the old paternalistic argument we’re used to then. In other words,
Father may have thought he knew best but Father couldn’t fix everything,
could he? In that case, know best for what? I also know best, what. Just
that I couldn’t bear to have a ‘wooden heart’ for everyone’s
good and for the sake of…yes, ‘industrial-peace’. God bless
the glasses… with Ryan Goh in tow!
Truly. And listen to this
other Ms. Chua argument— "Why use my tax dollars to persuade couples
to have kids?" (she wrote on that very same day!). Don’t gasp. No-holds-barred
open-society tactic with unkempt hair, may I remind you! Exactly. That’s
sort of like — Big Sister as foil to show Father up but still gets him
what he wants. A tad obvious, isn’t it? Well, that takes care of not only
crack 4 but 5 and 6 as well.
Besides, since when have
we persisted in asking what’s done with our tax-dollars? That’s why
Ms. Chua to do the honors, lor. Now you know why it’s imperative
to have at least me as ‘historian’, otherwise old truths will get
wound like endless circles pointing in Big Brother’s favor and it would
be for your own good. See, I know the tune real well.
Crack 7— "Baby
talk dominated the seven-hour Budget debate, an issue dubbed a national imperative
by leaders" (ST, Mar. 9,’04). Lest you’ve forgotten, they did
say a long- long time ago, I can still remember, how that music was played to
the tune of "we’ll cross the bridge when we get to it". So cracks?
Just another long series of bridges, luv. Bottom of the bridge — NO future
leaders, darl. But wait, that’s not their fault! Since, we elect
our leaders, of course it’s our problem. Let me be Big Sister then
and say, in that case, case closed… on 4, 5, 6 and 7, cos they’re
oh-so justified.
Ah… but the specter
of Ryan Goh suddenly appears just when you thought you’ve tackled the no-holds-barred
open-ness with all the baby-cradling subtlety to nurse your frazzled and fried
minds. "It’s your ‘duty’ to procreate," an MP was reported
saying with great alarm on Mar.10,’04 in the Straits Times! (Never mind
that he qualified that statement later). It’s all Ryan’s fault, isn’t
it? He of superfluous ‘unions’.
Nine months ago in July
’03, I had reported in these Files that a certain bespectacled servant
of Big Brother had called for artistes in Singapore to be ‘civil society
actors’. I’d also warned that they be careful not to end up being
civil society puppets. Well, look what that same ‘servant’
wrote with regard to what he called "the near-blanket media coverage of
the Great Baby Debate"— "Do the math, fall in love"! (ST,
Mar.14,’04). Maybe Mr. Glasses is being a Joan of Arc for all his fellow
thespians so that they’ll be spared of falling into our new no-holds-barred
open-ness and committing that same Ryan Goh-‘heresy’.
You never know. We’re about cunning cleavages these days, as in - Sex And The Baby, with the Catholic Church subtly in tow. Desperate is as desperate does, babe.
+ + + + +
FORTUNE-TELLERS AT WORK
The nation-builder press, Mar 22, 2004.
THE DAY AFTER...
The nation-builder press, Mar 23, 2004.
THE SMALL "MISTAKE"
The nation-builder press, Mar 22, 2004 (PM edition).
How much more "credibility" can you take?
+ + + + +
TODAY Friday, March 19, 2004 is the FIRST
ANNIVERSARY OF THE U.S. LED INVASION OF IRAQ
IT HAS BEEN ONE YEAR SINCE
THE WAR BEGAN AND STILL NO WMD* HAS BEEN FOUND IN IRAQ.
*Weapons
of Mass Destruction.
WAR
IS GOOD
The nation-builder
press, Mar 12, 2004.
On
Thursday, Mar 11, 2004, $ingapore's million-dollar Foreign Minister S Jayakumar
said $ingapore was not wrong to support the US-led war on Iraq as it would curb
the spread of "banned weapons."
TERROR
IS BAD
The nation-builder press,
Mar 12, 2004.
Without
warning, bombs exploded in Spain, a strong backer of the US-led invasion of
Iraq. It happened on Thursday, Mar 11, 2004, the same day Foreign Minister Jayakumar
was praising $ingapore's decision to back the US.
AKAN DATANG [translated: coming soon]
London
attack 'inevitable', says police chief
Sir John Stevens said while anti-terror officers were "working three times harder
than ever" to defend against atrocities such as that committed in Madrid last
week, it would be a matter of time before "some sort of attack gets through".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1170514,00.html
Intelligence chiefs had no hint of al-Qaeda bomb plot
The absence of any prior intelligence about
a planned Islamic attack in Madrid is now one of the biggest causes of concern
among security chiefs in both Europe and the United States. No code orange,
yellow whatever...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,12589-1038896,00.html
"The
blind leading the blind."
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion,
Mar 19, 2004.
+ + + + +
The nation-builder press,
Mar 21, 2004.
12 SONGS TO SING AS YOU LEAVE YOUR FAVOURITE HOTEL
§°§ DON'T THINK TWICE, IT'S ALL RIGHT - Bob Dylan, Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, 1963 §°§
§°§ DOWN UNDER - Men At Work, Business As Usual, released 1982 §°§
§°§ HELLO GOODBYE - The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour, released 1967 §°§
§°§ LOVE IN VAIN - The Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed, 1969 §°§
§°§ I'M LEAVING - Elvis Presley, single released August 1971 §°§
§°§ LEAVING THIS TOWN - The Beach Boys, Holland, 1972 §°§
§°§ LEAVING ON A JET PLANE - Peter, Paul & Mary, Album 1700, released 1967 §°§
§°§ A NEW CAREER IN A NEW TOWN - David Bowie, Low, released 1977 §°§
§°§ CALIFORNIA DREAMING - The Mamas and the Papas, single released 1966 §°§
§°§ BY & BYE - Lesley Duncan, Earth Mother, 1972 §°§
§°§ CALIFORNIA BOUND - Frank Black & The Catholics, Black Letter Days, 2002 §°§
§°§ GOODBYE -
Mary Hopkin, Those Were The Days, released 1995 §°§
PAP, YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW
SDP blasts Govt on pilot’s
PR revocation
Mar
10, 2004
The revocation of Captain Ryan Goh's permanent residence status brings the PAP's infamy for vindictiveness and pettiness to a new low. The pilot was well within his rights as a member of the Alpa-S to do whatever he could to influence the decision-making process of the union.
Whether he is a Singaporean or not, has a house in Perth or not, or has sold his HDB flat for a profit or not is no business of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his ministers. What matters is whether Mr Ryan Goh acted within the parameters of his role as a member of the pilots' union.
Will the Government tell Singaporeans whether Captain Goh has trespassed any law in Singapore or was his offence merely one in which he crossed the Senior Minister? What are the deeds or misdeeds of Mr Goh that led the Government to say that he is an "undesirable immigrant"?
Should the mere fact that he is only a Singaporean PR but having a say on issues affecting Singaporeans matter? If it does, then what about the foreigners (who may not even have PR status) who sit on the board of the National Wages Council to determine the wage levels of workers in Singapore? Does the hypocrisy even occur in the mind of the Government or has PAP become so callous through all these years of having no opposition to challenge its unjust ways?
Not only have the authorities not have the guts to tell Singaporeans the real facts but it now absurdly asserts that the pilot's "(PR) status does not have anything to do with his role in last year's ouster of the pilot union's executive committee." Singaporeans may have been silenced. But they are not dumb. The day will come when the voices of the people will be heard and the PAP will have much to account for.
It is inconceivable that in this present time when Singaporeans need to think independently (and yes, this includes disagreeing with the PAP Government) and act on one's belief, the Government remains so pig-headed and resorts to petty nit-picking and personal vendettas. This will no doubt intimidate Singaporeans even more, if that is possible, and give the PAP yet more control but it will drive another nail into the coffin that carries the entrepreneurial can-do spirit of the country.
The PAP would do well to remember the old adage: You reap what you sow.
Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic
Party
