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Category: Politik

  • SR Nathan Recovering Following Stroke

    SR Nathan Recovering Following Stroke

    Former President of Singapore S R Nathan suffered a stroke on Apr 14, his family said in a statement on Wednesday (Apr 22).

    The statement reads as follows: “Former President S R Nathan suffered a stroke last Tuesday 14 April and was admitted to hospital. He is recovering and is now undergoing therapy.”

    Mr Nathan, 90, is now recovering at the Singapore General Hospital.

    On Wednesday evening, Dr Tony Tan shared on Facebook that he and his wife “were both very concerned” when they learnt that Mr Nathan was warded last Tuesday for “haemorrhage in the brain”.

    “We are relieved that his condition has since stabilised. When we visited him at the hospital earlier this week, we were happy to see that he was in good spirits and looking forward to being discharged,” he added. “We wish Mr Nathan a speedy and full recovery and the very best of health.”

    Mr Nathan was the sixth and longest-serving President in Singapore, and was in office for two terms from 1999 to 2011. He officially stepped down as President on Aug 31, 2011 after announcing that he would not seek a third term in office. He was succeeded by President Tony Tan Keng Yam.

    After stepping down as President, Mr Nathan took up appointments as Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and at the Singapore Management University’s School of Social Sciences.

    Prior to becoming President, he held key positions in the civil service, in security, intelligence and foreign affairs. He was appointed as Singapore’s High Commissioner to Malaysia in 1988 and later Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States of America from 1990 to 1996.

    He also served as Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large, and later pro-chancellor of the National University of Singapore.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Chee Soon Juan: Let SDP Reform And Modernise Education System

    Chee Soon Juan: Let SDP Reform And Modernise Education System

    Our schoolchildren are driven to psychological despair as they struggle to cope with their schoolwork and exams: 22% of Singaporean children between 6-12 yrs thought of killing themselves. Many children actually commit suicide as a result.

    Of those who survive, the majority are conditioned to hate books because they associate reading and learning with exams. Experts warn that such a system deprives society of creativity and innovation, hurting our economy in the longer term.

    Even PAP MPs have voiced their concerns about the tuition culture but have not the courage to point out that it is the education system put in place by their party that is driving parents and pupils to such desperate lengths.

    If elected, SDP MPs will work to reform and modernise our education system which is stuck in the past.

    The recent mathematics question, now popularly called the Cheryl’s Birthday problem, seems to have amused (and stumped) the world. It first appeared on the Internet when it was reported as primary 5 level question.

    The problem is that such difficult questions are not a rarity in exam questions for primary schoolchildren. These questions are meant to identify top performing students so that the Government can groom them for high-paying state positions.

    Such a narrow practice of education feeds the fear in parents that their children’s future well-being is tied to doing well in exams. This drives them to absurd levels of expectations where they engage expensive private tutors to help their children perform – even to the extent of engaging tutors to do their children’s homework.

    The MOE is only too happy to allow such a system to carry on because the billion-dollar tuition industry enables it to out-source the teaching of pupils to the private sector.

    All this comes at a horrendous price. Our schoolchildren are driven to psychological despair as they struggle to cope with their schoolwork and exams:

    • 22% of Singaporean children between 6-12 yrs thought of killing themselves.
    • The no. of children warded for “aggressive, suicidal or hallucination tendencies” at IMH jumped by 35% between 2005-2010. Mental health professionals attribute these problems to academic stress.
    • One in three students say they sometimes think that life is not worth living because of the fear of exams.

    Many children actually commit suicide as a result. One is 10-year-old Lysher Loh who jumped to her death when she fared poorly in her mid-year exams. (Read Why do we do this to our children?)

    Of those who survive, the majority are conditioned to hate books because they associate reading and learning with exams. Experts warn that such a system deprives society of creativity and innovation, hurting our economy in the longer term.

    In fact, studies show that overloading our pupils with work and tuition harm, rather than help, their school performance and acquisition of life-skills.

    Even PAP MPs have voiced their concerns about the tuition culture but have not the courage to point out that it is the education system put in place by their party that is driving parents and pupils to such desperate lengths.

    Let’s stop the madness already. If elected, SDP MPs will work to reform and modernise our education system which is stuck in the past. Specifically, we will:

    1. Remove PSLE. As pointed out, the stress of exams inflict horrific psychological trauma on our children. What’s more, it is not an intelligent approach to assess the abilities of primary-school students on a single exam.

    2. Cultivate creative minds. Build confidence in children by helping them adopt an attitude of independent thinking, willingness to make mistakes, and persevere in the face of failed attempts.

    3. Reduce syllabus, broaden curriculum. The syllabi for existing subjects will be reduced while subjects such as music appreciation, speech and drama, literature, etc. as well as periods for students to collaborate and interact to develop creativity will be introduced to provide a well-rounded curriculum.

    4. Reduce class size. The SDP will reduce class size in our schools to 20 pupils/class from the current 40 to provide students the individual attention they need to succeed.

    5. Scrap school and class ranking. Comparing exam results and ranking students and classes will detract from the real purpose of education which is self-improvement and self-actualisation.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • Tan Chuan-Jin: Government Policies To Benefit All, Regardless Of Party Voted For

    Tan Chuan-Jin: Government Policies To Benefit All, Regardless Of Party Voted For

    The Government will continue to make policies that benefit all Singaporeans, regardless of how they voted, said Minister for Manpower and Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin, during a visit to opposition-held Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

    Reassuring residents of Serangoon ward there that they have not been forgotten by the People’s Action Party (PAP), Mr Tan told them at the start of a dialogue: “Let’s put it this way, it’s a democracy … you decide what you want to choose, for better or worse. I will tell you that we will endeavour to do our best, whatever the outcome.

    “All of you remain Singaporeans. You don’t vote for us but we are here to still continue to provide policies that cut across every division,” he added.

    But he pointed out that while policies are crafted to benefit Singaporeans, they need to be balanced with societal needs and considerations for the future. “On our part as the Government, we do the best we can,” he said.

    Giving little away on the ruling party’s strategy to regain the constituency from the Workers’ Party at the next General Election, which must be held by January 2017, Mr Tan told reporters yesterday: “Strategy-wise, I guess we have to work that out. But our responsibilities as a Government don’t change.”

    The Workers’ Party, led by its chief Low Thia Khiang, fielded a team including chairman Sylvia Lim and star catch Chen Show Mao, to wrest the constituency from the PAP at the 2011 polls, representing the first time an opposition party has won a GRC.

    Asked by reporters for his take on ground sentiment after a community dialogue at The Serangoon Community Club, Mr Tan said the reception, by and large, has been warm.

    He added that he has also visited other areas in Aljunied in recent years to “touch base with the people here”.

    “Yes, it’s organised but people are there, and a lot of people. They come forward, they share their views, whether in a dialogue or during the course of the visit,” he said.

    Municipal issues have been raised by residents but they were “nothing peculiar” and something he also encounters in his ward in Marine Parade GRC.

    During his six-hour ministerial community visit to Serangoon division, Mr Tan mingled with residents at coffee shops, Tavistock Avenue Park and other venues. He was hosted Mr David Tay, adviser to the Serangoon Grassroots Organisations and accompanied by the visit’s organising chairman Chan Hui Yuh and other grassroots leaders.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Archaeological Digs Show That Singapore Has Established Government In 14th Century

    Archaeological Digs Show That Singapore Has Established Government In 14th Century

    Archaeological digs show that Singapore had an established government as early as the 14th century.

    A 10-week long archaeological dig was conducted at the Empress Place and which ended on Sunday. It was led by archaeologist Lim Chen Sian.

    The dig unearthed artefacts such as Chinese imperial grade ceramics which were given by the Ming Dynasty emperor Hong Wu to rulers overseas. Hong Wu ruled China from 1375 and 1425.

    The dig also 700-year-old timber planks which researchers believe meant that maritime activity existed in ancient Temasek.

    “The timber was likely part of a structure of an ancient ship and the workmanship is typical of the South-east Asian style of ship building. We’ve always known about Temasek’s maritime activity but we’ve never had physical evidence of this until now,”Mr Lim said.

    Other than these, there were also thousands of Chinese coins from 700 years ago as well as stoneware used to store condiments.

    Porcelain pieces from the Yuan Dynasty were also found.

    Not only were 14th and 15th century artefacts found, the dig also showed up a gold coin from the 16th to 17th when Singapore was part of the Johor Sultanate, which is a rare find.

    This led Mr Lim to believe that the current Empress Place site used to be a bazaar or market place.

    As the archaeological team found artefacts beyond their expectations, they have been given another month to continue digging in other zones at the site.

    The excavation was organised by the National Heritage Board (NHB) in partnership with the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. It started on February 2.

    NHB will decide what to do with the artefacts later on.

     

    Source: www.therealsingapore.com

  • Singaporeans Should Not Judge Dr Chee Soon Juan Based On Negative PAP Portrayal

    Singaporeans Should Not Judge Dr Chee Soon Juan Based On Negative PAP Portrayal

    Six of the 10 authors were present at the launch of Teacher, Thinker, Rebel Why? Portraits of Chee Soon Juan, and they had one common message: Singaporeans should read who the real Dr Chee is instead of relying on the negative propaganda of the PAP.

    “I hope that this is the birth of Dr Chee as a new man, as a new person, seen not from the light of the newspapers and the Government but from the light of people who really know him,” Mr Fong Hoe Fang, a publisher, who edited the book.

    Mr Fong explained the book’s title: Dr Chee started off as a a teacher at the National University of Singapore (NUS) before he entered politics in 1992. He then talked about the need for democracy and how to go about wresting back our political freedoms from the PAP, requiring him to give thought to his actions and claims. And thinkers, Mr Fong said, are also rebels as history shows.

    The “why” in the title is a question to Singaporeans to think more deeply and go beyond the caricatures that the PAP has erected about Dr Chee.

    Ms Jaslyn Go, SDP’s Treasurer, recounted how she had, like many others, at first believed much of the media’s portrayal of Dr Chee as a gangster and mad man. “But when I met him personally, I was shocked. I found that he was nothing of what I read in the mainstream media,” she said. “This is why we decided to get together to write this book.”

    (Photo: From left – Jaslyn Go, Paul Tambyah, Wong Souk Yee, Tan Lip Hong, Leong Yan Hoi, Fong Hoe Fang)

    Professor Paul Tambyah pointed out that Dr Chee was active in civil society and pushing for change when it was not popular. When change comes, he said, “the one person who can stand up and say with hand on his heart that he was there is Dr Chee.”

    “I was very curious about what species is this who, against all odds, did what he did in those days. The rest is history,” Dr Wong Souk Yee, NUS lecturer and ex-ISA detainee, said as she recounted how Dr Chee first started out in politics in 1992.

    Dr Tan Lip Hong, who co-authored the chapter A Man of Destiny, A Party of Heft with Dr Leong Yan Hoi, touched on the establishment of Speaker’s Corner and Dr Chee’s role in it: “It was a milestone…he’s changed a lot of minds and he’s been very persistent and is a die-hard, and that has opened up the political space for all of us.”

    “Chee was a man after my heart,” Dr Leong said as he related how the SDP leader had emphasised that democracy should be the bedrock of all modern societies.

    Dr Chee also addressed the audience where he repeated his call to the PAP to stop the old politics of personal attacks and debate the SDP on ideas and policies which Singaporeans care about.

    He said that while the PAP decried “Western-style” democracy, it copied all the bad practices of Western politicians such as those in the US where political opponents make a sport out of running each other down on a personal basis.

    He said he looked forward to leading the SDP in the upcoming GE and challenged the PAP to compete on the strength of the parties’ visions and ideas for Singapore.

    To purchase a copy of the book, click here.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org/