Category: Politik

Art Fazil: How To Answer To PAP?

How To Answer Back:

The PAP are banging on the crucial Malay votes to help swing the election should the Chinese votes split at 50/50. They are targeting the older malay generation who are more inclined to vote for the PAP. Here are a few tips on how to answer back should your parents or grandparents give you the usual PAP spin :

1. When they tell you “we used to be backward, no modern facilites, kampong houses, jamban (toilet) no pump, etc. so without the PAP we won’t be like this now.”
You answer: Its the job of any elected government to make a country progress including providing housing, roads, water system, sewage system. Thats why we pay taxes like GST, Income tax etc. Singapore is not the only country on the planet that became modernised in the last 50 years.

2. When they tell you: “Look at the countries around Singapore and how much troubles they are in”.
You answer: If our neighbour has a fever and we have a toothache, as much as we empathise with the neighbour being sick with fever, we have our own toothache to deal with. Other people’s problems are theirs, not ours. And there is a Kaypoh Road in River Valley.

3. When they tell you: ”We must be thankful to the PAP because compared to the neighbouring countries, we are better off”.
You answer: Stop making comparisons like that. If really they need to compare, then compare Singapore by GDP i.e. against developed nations in Europe and compare our welfare, health and retirement policies. Its easy to compare against a less developed economy. That’s bullying. Its like a guy driving a fast car and laughing at the man on the trishaw. But try comparing Singapore to that of developed nations and we will see the shortcomings.

4. When they bring up THE Name of the Dead: Tell them that nobody asked LKY to join politics. He wanted to be the Prime Minister, ran for elections and he got the job. LKY did not work for free. He was paid a salary, like any other civil servant. The salary came from tax-payers money. And he also said untrue things about Malays/Muslims in his Hard Truth book. (The book hasn’t been re-edited inspite of the backlash from the Malay/Muslim community).

5. When they say: “If you don’t vote the PAP, they will know & you will be in trouble”.
You answer: The vote is secret. No one will know who voted for whom. And by the way, the whole country knows majority of residents in Aljunied, Hougang & Punggol East didn’t vote for the PAP. They are still alive and kicking.

6. When they tell you: “Look how many mosques the PAP has built.”
You answer: In Singapore there used to be more than 100 mosques built by the community (read ex-Mufti Isa Semait’s biography) which has been around for many years. Sadly such heritage sites are now gone. In place are MUIS-administered mosques with a 99 year lease. Also ask them about Waqaf land being taken away, sold for peanuts resold to developers for gazzilions of dollars.”

7. When they tell you only the PAP has Malay interest at heart.
You answer: Yaacob Ibrahim

Source: Rilek Brader

September 7, 2015
First Time Voter: Stop Slamming The PAP & Start Impressing Me With Alternatives

Dear Editors,

This is the first time I’m voting for the elections and there are many things running through my mind. I’m don’t follow much on politics and thus needed to be convinced by both parties for my vote. But I am deeply troubled by the way most parties present themselves and their topics.

Opposition:

Most of them should stop talking bad about the PAP. It’s not like the PAP forms the worst government in the world. They should address current issues, and inform the public about their solutions. One good example would be the speech by Dr Chee Soon Juan. I’m not a fan of the SDP, but at least his speech is made fair and equal and not being biased to himself.

Most of the time I hear them talking about giving out money to elderly and children, greatly reducing living costs, etc. But everything works in a Give and Take rule. If you want something, you have to give something. Where will the funds for all these free policies come from? Definitely not from the children or the elderly, but from the middle-age group. The country still needs funds to operate. A country cannot simply have a few million dollars in it’s reserve. An economic power house like Singapore definitely needs its reserve to be in Billions. And by giving out freebies to Singaporeans, it’ll only increase the pressure for its sustainability.

This can end up in a vicious cycle. If we can’t sustain the freebies, the only way is to increase how much the middle-age group is giving. The government can’t always depend on investments to have an increase in revenue and the middle-age group is a reliable pool of money. Which will see an increment in unhappiness among the people and the demand to have similar freebies. This will not do good in the long run. Always remember, don’t take a privilege as an entitlement.

And if you want to convince my generation of their votes, you have to impress. Yes, we all know politics are all about manipulation and once you get in, we won’t know if you will really fulfil your promises as you won’t have that much experience as compared to PAP when running the country. But still conduct yourself well. Take it like an interview where the people will choose whether or not to hire you. Prepare yourself and not shout out the other party’s name by accident. That clearly shows how serious you are and how much effort you put into campaigning. Needless to say, making a fool out of yourself. And don’t throw mud at others just to make yourself cleaner. Talking bad about others doesn’t solve any issues.

Finally, the PAP isn’t as terrible as you made them out to be. I have to admit that Singapore is safer and cleaner than majority of the countries. Our currency is ever growing in the region. Don’t compare Singapore to another country like Africa. Make a fair and just comparison. So give credit where credit is due.

PAP:

Stop it with the constant reminder of the PAP’s achievement for the past 50 years. PAP did well for the past 30-40 years, but not the last 10. And it’s not the current generation of candidates who can be credited for those achievements. Your education system is improving and with that, the youth will grow wiser and more intelligent. So stop treating your people as if they are idiots. We are no fools. Taking a seat in the parliament does not increase your IQ.

You deserve credits for the success of Singapore in the eyes of the world, for which I am greatly grateful for. And we must give you that. But in return, many of your people are not satisfied with the method of ruling. I understand that bills like ERP, CPF, etc must be implement to maintain the current tax rate, and also generate an income for the country. But do deliver promises you made to the people and not change the policies to better your needs, then convince the people you’ll improve the policies just to garner votes, only to know that it’ll be discarded after polling day.

As stated above, we are no fools and can tell that gerrymandering means you are not confident of the elections. If you have been ruling well as indicated in your constant reminder, why would you not have the confidence? And please stop defaming others to achieve your desired goal. Stepping on others, or worse, countries, is an immoral thing to do. Isn’t that what we learnt during Primary school under your education system? My generation will be the one that can create shocking results as many of us are rebels, but in return, all of us are educated and can tell between the good and bad. So as long as you address the current issues with your solutions, stop bringing up your ancestor’s achievements and stop resorting to “character assassination” and avoiding topics, we will still think through thoroughly with our votes.

And to us Singaporeans, I don’t have the right to tell you your way of life and who knows, maybe 10 years down the road, I’ll probably end up with your mindset. But one example is that some of us insist on the dismissal of National Service, etc. That’s a terrible decision. As much as I hate receiving the SMS from Mindef, it’s still crucial for security. Stop saying that it’s redundant because we won’t go to war. That clearly shows how far your foresight takes you. Those of you who supported the idea is due to your bad experience or your inability to take on hardships. And that attitude of yours is downright selfish. You’re just being selective on what you want without thinking for others or the whole picture. And to those who supports NS and saying that NS builds you to be a better person, fuck you. That’s not a valid political reason. You can still be a better person if you attend some Adam Khoo workshop or go to some church and praise the name of Jesus. Just that you pay instead of getting paid.

This particular election is an interesting one to watch as it is pretty similar to the start of a new era for Singapore. Obviously PAP won’t lose ownership of the government any time soon, but no matter the party, if things don’t change for the better, the people will change it for you.

These are just some of my thoughts about the rallies so please don’t take it personally. I apologise if this was offending as I have no intention of having done so.

Thank you for reading this long rant.

First Time Voter
A.S.S. Contributor

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

September 7, 2015
Walid J. Abdullah: This Is Politics

‘This is Politics’:

When a 19 year old says things that you agree with, ‘this kid is really wise beyond his years’.

When a 19 year old questions your policies, ‘i was once young, idealistic and naive like you.’

——

When you talk about race, it is called ‘minority representation’.

When your opponent talks about race, it is called ‘communal politics’.

——

When election is near, you mention on stage ‘I received an email from resident A, thanking me.’

When it is not election time, never mind seeing your face, even emails are ignored.

——

When your opponent raises an important issue, ‘oh we have raised this before’.

When someone points out that you have not raised it before, ‘oh we raise it behind closed doors’.

——

When your opponent makes a mistake, ‘you must commit harakiri’.

When your colleague makes a mistake, ‘let us move on’.

——

When your opponent offers money for Singaporeans, ‘this is pork-barrel politics’.

When you offer multi-million projects – if and only if elected -, ‘it is only right that those who vote for us get these benefits’.

——

When your opponent allegedly indulges in unacceptable behaviour, ‘this is a question of integrity!’

When your own allegedly indulges in unacceptable behaviour, ‘the mistake was made in good faith’.

——

When your opponents speak up a lot in ‘they didn’t speak enough’.

When you speak up just once, ‘it was one too many’.

—–

When you speak rationally, ‘we need to have the GRCs to ensure minority representation’.

When you are in la la land, ‘there are no minorities in Singapore: every Singaporean belongs to the majority.’

—–

When your opponent changes constituencies, ‘these people are nomads’.

When son of punggol becomes son-in-law of AMK, son of Hougang is nowhere to be seen, son of Joo Chiat migrates to Punggol, and daughter of Jurong moves to Marsiling, ‘this is strategy’.

—–

When comparisons with other countries do not work in your favour, ‘Singapore is a city-state. We cannot compare with other countries. We are unique.’

When comparisons seemingly work in your favour, ‘Heng ahhhhh!’

Unfortunately, this is politics.

Source: Walid J. Abdullah

September 7, 2015
Singapore’s Election May Hurt The PM But The Government Is Safe

As Singapore goes to the polls in a general election on 11 September 2015, the contending parties appear to be heading for a showdown over the timeframe by which the government should be judged. The government wants voters to judge it based on its record over 50 years or more; the opposition says it should be judged based on the last decade.

The reason for the differing perspectives is not difficult to understand.

Judging the government over 50 years leads to a narrative of success: how the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) government took Singapore from its starting point as a post-colonial city that had recently been expelled from Malaysia and turned it into a successful, modern capitalist city-state with one of the highest standards of living in Asia. This is the story of a stable, peaceful, harmonious, multiracial Singapore, where the people provide helpful feedback to the government through the government’s official outreach programs.

But judging the government over 10 years leads to a narrative of failure: how the PAP opened the floodgates to more than a million foreign workers (on top of a population of less than four million Singaporeans); failed to lift a finger to upgrade infrastructure; failed to consider the social implications of 40 per cent of the resident population being non-Singaporean; and created a housing shortage. It is a government that cannot even make the trains run properly. A 10-year narrative is a story about the high cost of living, aloof cabinet ministers, arrogant civil servants and an insular, unaccountable government.

In this battle of the narratives, the government has a strong head start. So far the opposition parties have barely been able to make their voices heard. Meanwhile, the PAP has spent the entire period since the death of founding father Lee Kuan Yew on 23 March ramping up the story of the Singapore government’s achievements over the last 50 years or more. The week-long mourning period after Lee’s death was very overtly a celebration of the government’s achievements over more than 50 years. And the litany of important foreign guests at Lee’s funeral was presented as a public acknowledgement of the high esteem in which Lee was held by world powers.

This theatre proved to be a down payment on the August celebrations of Singapore’s 50th anniversary of independence — a government-funded extravaganza that dwarfed anything that the island had ever seen. This celebration concluded with the prime minister’s annual National Day Rally Speech a week later. Its focus on Singapore’s 50 years of achievement fitted the theme that had been building for the past five months, and it sounded just like an election pitch. Unsurprisingly, the election was called two days later.

At first glance this account must read as if the PAP government holds all the cards, but this would be a misleading interpretation. Because everyone knows how strongly the deck is stacked against the opposition. Any slippage at all in government support is interpreted (correctly) as slap in the face for the PAP.

This is exactly what happened in the 2011 general election, when the elected opposition presence in parliament increased from two seats to six (out of a total of 89) and the PAP vote slipped to a record low of 60 per cent. This result was compounded by more government defeats and near-defeats in another three electoral contests held since the 2011 election, meaning that the stakes for the government are now even higher.

Support for the government is sitting at such a low level and the string of government defeats and near-defeats has been so consistent that anything less than improving the government’s vote and share of seats will be considered a defeat for the prime minister.

A bad result is not going to disempower the government, but it does have the potential to disempower Lee Hsien Loong within cabinet. Lee has every reason to be confident that he will be able to step down from the post at a time of his own choosing, whether next year or in 10 years’ time, since the imperatives within Singapore’s political culture mean that it is vital to maintain the appearance of stability. Yet he also knows that if this election goes badly for him, he risks losing authority within cabinet and being a ‘lame duck’ prime minister for the rest of his term, however long that might be.

There are strong precedents for both of these assumptions — and Lee helped set them while he was deputy prime minister to then prime minister Goh Chok Tong. As I detailed in my 2014 book, The Ruling Elite of Singapore, the combined might of Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong outmanoeuvred and defeated Goh in the internal machinations within cabinet in 1996, but Goh refused to step down and simply carried on as a figurehead prime minister for the next eight years, while his deputy, Lee Hsien Loong, exercised the real power.

If the PAP emerges from the current election without clawing back at least some of the ground it has lost over the last four years, then Lee Hsien Loong risks suffering a similar fate. If that happens, then elite politics within cabinet are going to become very Byzantine indeed!

Michael D. Barr is an associate professor of international relations at Flinders University and Editor-in-Chief of Asian Studies Review.

Source: www.eastasiaforum.org

September 7, 2015
Singaporeans Need To Do More For The Poor

It just saddens me to see this, we had so much resources.. We held the sea games. Youth Olympics, nationals days. We bought in athletes from all over the world to represent Singapore. Spending millions and millions and millions and millions on dollar on all these.

When other countries had some disasters, we reacted instantly to aid them. Send in rations, man power, technologies and more..

Ministers earning millions and millions and millions of dollars. Our reserves growing and growing and growing…. I hope it’s still growing…

Surely we can do more for the local and poor. Something that can directly help them. But these were not done or not done enough. I am not asking gov to collect more tax from us to do all these. But with the existing resources and tax collected. We already can do all these..

I hope that day will come.

Anonymous Concerned Citizen

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

September 7, 2015