Category: Politik

Former Journalist Ismail Kassim: PAP Should Nominate Strong Minority Candidate For Upcoming Presidential Elections, Not Amend Constitution To Stifle Competition

A note to PM

Dear Prime Minister

By now you ought to know how divisive your proposal to amend the EP system has become. I cannot think of any issue in the last three decades that has caused such a wide and deep division within the electorate.

The tragedy is that your aim to ensure that members from minority communities too have a chance at becoming an EP is commendable, and has its merits.

Unfortunately, the way and timing of your move have also prompted considerable misgivings over your real motive:

Is it really to ensure minority representation or is it to prevent an independent-minded citizen from being elected EP in 2017?

Because of suspicions and emotions aroused over motive, it has become very difficult, even for those in the middle ground, to look at the proposed changes in a calm and objective manner.

And any rush to implement a system that is deemed unfair may have adverse repercussions on the EP itself.

Reserving the post for a particular minority is fundamentally flawed and goes against the grain of multiracialism and meritocracy. Likewise, the obsession with higher qualifications without giving due weight to strength of character and integrity is both elitist and undemocratic.

Will any good arise from foisting a minority candidate in a closed race open only to members from that community on the nation; in all likelihood too, it is likely to become a farce, reminiscent of a past EP election, when a businessman was forced to compete to give the semblance of a democratic race.

Such an EP is unlikely to command wide respect, and in all probability will be regarded as a ‘kayu’ (wood) by significant sections of the people, including members from his own community.

There is still time for you to salvage the situation; just make sure that whatever changes that will be adopted will not come into effect in the 2017 presidential election.

In this way, your protestations that they are not aimed against any individual will instantly become more credible.

The minority community that has not yet produced an EP for the last 47 years will not mind waiting a little longer.

As far as I know, they have grumbled over a lot of things such as continuing discrimination in the military and national service for their males and the unfair banning of their tudung-clad females from becoming nurses and policewomen.

But over the EP, there is none.

The PAP, notwithstanding its faults, is a great party with a sterling record.

If you feel strongly, you should nominate a minority for the coming EP and use all the powers at your disposal to get him elected.

If you think it is too risky, you can always field a stronger candidate. There is someone with impeccable credentials from your ranks who cannot become PM because of his ethnic origins. I think he will be unbeatable in any contest.

These are the heroic options, which a party with a solid reputation to protect, should choose.

Do not stoop so low now as to amend the Constitution out of fear, just to exclude opponents and independent-minded citizens.

So Mr Prime Minister, I hope you will reconsider all your options, and choose one that will unite the people, and not divide them further.

Ismail Kassim
14th November 2016

Source: Ismail Kassim

September 15, 2016
We Wear Hijab And We Are Serious Athletes

These women are all athletes and yes, they all wear headscarves too.

Their achievements are easily forgotten because people are so much more focused on what they choose to wear, even if they are breaking records on every level possible.

Let’s support these women by highlighting their sports performances and not just their religious practices.

Source: MVSLIM

September 14, 2016
WP: Paralympians Should Receive Same Prize Awards As Able-Bodied Counterparts

The Workers’ Party would like to congratulate our paralympians Yip Pin Xiu and Theresa Goh for clinching Singapore’s first gold medal and a bronze medal at the Rio Paralympic Games. Ms. Yip broke her own world record by more than two seconds.

Our paralympians deserve the same respect and value as our able-bodied athletes. To compete at the pinnacle of one’s sport demands dedication, sacrifice, discipline, and an indomitable fighting spirit. Our paralympians embody these values and are an inspiration to all Singaporeans.

Our paralympians demonstrate what we can achieve as an inclusive sporting nation. The smaller pool of competitors at the Games should not be reason to deny our paralympians the recognition and compensation that is due to them. It is only right that they should receive equal treatment as any Singaporean athlete who competes at the highest international levels.

For their equally important and inspiring achievements, the Workers’ Party calls for our national para-swimmers to receive the same prize awards from the Singapore National Olympics Council as their able-bodied counterparts.

Daniel Goh
Chair, Media Team
13 September 2016

Source: The Worker’s Party

September 14, 2016
Workers Turning 65 Before Next July Worried

Aircraft technician Sumoo Subbiramaniam turns 65 on Saturday, but his birthday will be soured by what he sees as inevitable: SIA Engineering, his only employer for 44 years, may ask him to go.

The timing of his birth prevents him from working for another two years, because the law that raises the re-employment age ceiling from 65 to 67 kicks in only on July 1 next year.

SIA Engineering, when contacted, said it has been offering re-employment to 65-year-olds but “on a case-by-case basis and subject to eligibility criteria”. It declined to elaborate or say what proportion of its staff received the offer.

More companies, however, are offering their staff re-employment after the age of 65, said the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) last month.

The proportion has gone up from 42 per cent of unionised companies last year to 73 per cent this year.

Official figures also show that the percentage of people aged 65 to 69 still working here has jumped in 10 years, from just 24 per cent in 2006 to more than 40 per cent last year.

Mr Subbiramaniam, who repairs aircraft engines, said he wants to work till he is 67 years old because his two sons, aged 18 and 24, have yet to finish their tertiary education.

Looking somewhat forlorn, he added: “I spent my whole life with this company. I’d feel so proud when I see its planes in the air. It brought me this far. Now without it, I feel lost.”

He has sought help from the Singapore Airlines Staff Union, which has appealed to his company.

Others in the same boat are also turning to their unions. Singapore Industrial and Services Employees’ Union general treasurer Philip Lee said, in the last few months, he has met three or four worried workers who will turn 65 before next July.

There could be more but they may prefer to stay silent, he added.

MPs and human resource experts are worried that some companies are ill prepared for the new re-employment law.

NTUC deputy secretary-general Heng Chee How criticised employers who are exploiting the 10 months before the new law kicks in, to retire healthy 65-year-olds.

Such an attitude”will only dampen their own capability and demoralise their other employees”, said Mr Heng, who is also an MP for Jalan Besar GRC. “That would not be smart for business.”

Mr David Ang, director of corporate services at Human Capital Singapore, said the economic slowdown, especially the oil crisis, is putting a strain on companies.

“When it comes to restructuring, older workers, who need a higher level of medical coverage, are the first to go,” he added.

Most vulnerable are blue-collar workers because of the physically demanding work they do, said Singapore Human Resources Institute president Erman Tan.

Source: The Straits Times

September 13, 2016
End Of WP Treasurer Tenure In Accordance With Terms Of My Appointment: Chen Show Mao

The Workers’ Party’s (WP) Chen Show Mao has clarified that the end of his tenure as treasurer of the party was “in accordance with the terms of my appointment”.

The Aljunied GRC Member of Parliament was responding to comments on his Facebook page on his stepping down from the post, amid questions over his future in the party.

In a comment on a Facebook post on Sunday (Sept 11), Mr Chen, who entered politics in 2011, assured that his “focus remains Paya Lebar and Parliament, and the party too”, although in a “different way” now that his term as treasurer has ended.

“I did not quit or resign, but have stepped down from the post in accordance with the terms of my appointment. At the time of my appointment three months ago, it was agreed with the CEC, which appointed me, that my term as WP Treasurer would end in three months’ time, which is now upon us,” he said.

Mr Chen, considered a “star” catch for the WP in the 2011 General Election, caused a splash in June when he fronted a challenge to the leadership of party chief Low Thia Khiang at the party’s biennial Central Executive Council (CEC) elections.

Making a bid for the secretary-general post, Mr Chen had gathered 45 votes to Mr Low’s 61 votes. The contest was said to have been triggered by members who wanted to see changes in the way the party is run, with some members expressing discontentment over Mr Low’s ruling style.

Mr Chen remains a member of the CEC. Mr Dennis Tan, a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament for the party who made his political debut in the General Election last year, replaced Mr Chen as treasurer. He was previously deputy treasurer.

Source: TODAY Online

September 13, 2016