Category: Singapuraku

Calvin Cheng: Remember Chiam See Tong, Do Not Vote For Backstabber Chee Soon Juan

Mr. Chiam See Tong has retired from electoral politics.

Mr. Chiam is a man respected even by his political rivals. He is a gentleman politician, who not only was never sued by the PAP, but even successfully sued PAP’s ministers.

Mr. Chiam had it very tough from Mr. Lee Kuan Yew but also won his respect; Mr. Lee said that Mr. Chiam was a good MP.

The respect was mutual and Mr. Chiam was given a special place during Mr. Lee’s funeral, even though he was an opposition leader.

In the end, it wasn’t the PAP who hurt Mr. Chiam the most.

It was his former protege Chee Soon Juan who broke his heart and robbed Mr. Chiam of the party SDP that he founded.

Mr. Chiam was the one who groomed Chee, helped him and supported him. Yet Chee back-stabbed him and destroyed his mentor and benefactor.

Nothing is more despicable.

Younger voters at Holland-Bukit Timah GRC must take note. They will not remember but should be aware.

Do you want a despicable man like Chee Soon Juan to be your MP?

Remember Mr. Chiam See Tong when you cast your vote.

Source: Calvin Cheng

September 1, 2015
Workers’ Party – 2nd Open Letter To Residents Of Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town

Dear Residents,

In my First Open Letter to you in June 2015, I explained three main points concerning various allegations made against Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC). These were:

1. AHPETC does not and cannot reserve contracts for “friends” due to the public tender process;

2. The alleged “overpayment” by AHPETC to its former Managing Agent (MA), when compared to rates paid by PAP TCs in 2014, was an exaggeration, looking at the rates paid by PAP TCs in 2011, 2012 and 2013 according to data provided by the Ministry of National Development (MND);

3. The MA rates that AHPETC agreed to pay its MA in 2012 were arrived at taking into account the MA rate paid by the PAP management of Aljunied TC to its former MA.

If you missed the first open letter, you can read it online at http://www.ahpetc.sg/sylvia-lims-open-letter-to-residents/.

In this Second Open Letter, I would like to clarify and reassure all residents that AHPETC places your interests at the heart of its work and continues to make improvements to its financial management.

This letter will cover the issue of Conflicts of Interest and AHPETC’s financial position.

1.      Conflict of Interest and Related Party Transactions

There have been allegations concerning related party transactions between AHPETC and its former MA, FM Solutions & Services Pte Ltd (FMSS).

First, there is no longer any issue, as AHPETC is now directly managed and does not outsource its work to an MA. The previous MA contract expired on 14 July 2015, and there were no bidders to take over the MA services after 14 July 2015.

Since 15 July 2015, AHPETC has been self-managed. This means that AHPETC is now directly hiring staff to handle estate, finance, administration and other tasks, instead of outsourcing the work to an MA.

Under direct management, AHPETC’s contractors continue to deliver services under the existing contracts, now supervised by TC’s directly hired staff.

Second, there was never any conflict of interest whatsoever between the Workers’ Party (WP) or any of its Members of Parliament (MPs) and FMSS. Neither WP nor any of its MPs or members has any interest in the business of FMSS. None of the directors and shareholders of FMSS is a member of WP.

Third, there have been accusations that when the MA was working at AHPETC, the husband and wife team who owned FMSS could freely sign payments to themselves. This is not true. When WP took over in 2011, one of the first decisions made by the new Aljunied-Hougang Town Council was to require any cheques to the MA, no matter how small the amount, to require the counter-signature of AHPETC Chairman and Vice-Chairmen who have no interest in the MA’s business.

2.      Financial Position of AHPETC

Some people have accused AHPETC of bankruptcy and running huge deficits that are not sustainable, and also warned residents of other towns not to vote for WP so as not to subsidise AHPETC. These allegations are misguided.

AHPETC filed its audited accounts for FY 14/15, on time, by 31 August 2015. Though these accounts show AHPETC in annual deficit, this is because AHPETC has still NOT received its annual S&CC operating grant of $7.2 million from the government, which would normally have been paid to all Town Councils in April 2014.   Taking into account the $7.2 million in grant which AHPETC expects to receive, AHPETC’s annual income and expenditure statement would show an annual surplus of $1.7 million.

The past operating deficit was largely the outcome of higher tender price for various service contracts and start-up costs.

The current positive position came about through a combination of steps taken by AHPETC. These included lowering its utilities costs by using contestable energy, reducing its general and administrative expenditure, and increasing its revenue.

Throughout the difficult initial years, AHPETC management believed that it could improve the TC’s financial position, and the latest audit shows that it has. We expect to further consolidate and improve AHPETC’s financial position going forward.

We have done our best to serve residents, and I would like to express appreciation to our staff for their contribution to the progress we have made and to our residents for their support and understanding.

SYLVIA LIM
CHAIRMAN
ALJUNIED-HOUGANG-PUNGGOL EAST TOWN COUNCIL

August 2015

Source: www.wp.sg

September 1, 2015
Marine Parade Resident: I Am Unimpressed By Workers’ Party

Dear A.S.S,

I refer to your posting http://www.allsingaporestuff.com/…/wp-introduces-final-batc… that concludes all the WP’s candidate introduction for this GE. I have been particularly curious, focusing on all the WP’s slate as I am a resident of Marine Parade in Marine Terrace. I remain proud that we boost the highest resale pricing for HDB flats in the whole of Singapore.

Back to the topic on the WP team, I cannot help but deeply ponder over whether its better for our Marine Parade and Macpherson family to have the PAP or WP representing our interest after my brief encounter with Mr Bernard Chen of the WP. I accompanied a distant relative at Bedok North St 3 to see her Kaki Bukit MP 2 years back over some housing issues and did not get a good impression of either Mr Chen or Faisal Manap.

Seated at table 2, I saw and overheard Mr Chen arguing unhappily with a Malay middle aged man at the next table over his job and welfare problems that I’m not sure if Mr Manap is unable or unwilling to help as the session ended with the resident expressing his disappointment at the WP for not being his “voice of conscience” so to say. Mr Chen then retorted by challenging the resident to see some Kahar Hassan instead if he could. Needless to say, my relative’s housing issue remains unresolved and calls/messages to a number Mr Manap provided on his call card went unanswered. I feel this is very unbecoming of an MP to be conducting himself in such an irresponsible manner.

Now, I see a different picture when I head to Blk 80 Circuit Road Hawker Center to eat my favourite Nasi Lemak at Nurhajar Muslim Food who happens to be a grassroots leader. I see the poor of all races, warmly hugging and receiving the same from Ms Tin Pei Ling who is their fierce advocate. This sharply contrast what Mr Chen said by merely paying lip service exclaiming that residents’ small issues mattered to the WP but do a turtle when elected. Technically, can I trust that I will be able to approach the WP should I (touch wood) encounter any unforeseen problems in the future?

Questions also remain for the entire WP strategy on candidate placement. I fail to see why Islamic religious teacher Mohamed Fairoz is favored over the strongest Malay candidate, Mr Firuz Khan for the “sure win” East Coast GRC. Wouldn’t it be more logical to place all your “big guns” in 1 place if you really want to win that area? What can Ustaz Fairoz bring to the table if elected, compared to Mr Khan who has a wider exposure and diversity, even bringing in the complex Royce Chocolate to our shores! And why is Ms He Ting Ru sent to battle ESM Goh? Wouldn’t it make more sense to field her in Macpherson than the coffin boy if WP is serious about gunning this area down?

The Marine Parade candidates also do not seem to be united on the whole and I sense some internal cracks in their team. Mr Yee Jenn Jong and Khan is walking together in 1 group while Mr Terrance Tan and Ms He walks in another. Mr Dylan Loh is a constant MIA. Compare this with the PAP’s Marine Parade team who orderly takes turns to conduct ESM Goh’s MPS every Wednesday without fail in his absence.

The above described situation of the WP should not be happening at all unless there is an intention and ulterior motive to deliberately allow only 1 team to win and not the others’. I see the same in the AHPETC issue that Ms Sylvia Lim has failed to answer. The questions boil down to: “Why does AHPETC seek to make Ms How rich and if this “alliance” has since broken down due to Ms Lim’s inability to continue with the contract. And is the Town Council “technically insolvent” as insinuated by the DPP. If so, then we should start asking ourselves if this is what we seek in a WP which is doing what it is accusing the PAP of.

Sheh Begum
A.S.S. Contributor

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

September 1, 2015
Chee Soon Juan: We’ll Run Constructive And Positive Campaign

The flags and red balloons are ready. An army of tiny teddy bears, declaring “I Love SDP” on their T-shirts, is raring to go.

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) plans to run a “constructive” and “positive” campaign in this general election, says its secretary-general Chee Soon Juan.

“We are not going to call names. We are not going to say PAP is bad, opposition is good,” he told The Straits Times in an exclusive interview. “We want to see change and you will see that from us. We’re going to be constructive, we’re going to be positive.”

The SDP will champion a series of alternative plans on issues like housing, retirement savings and healthcare that it had laid out systematically in the run-up to the elections.

“We want to appeal to (Singaporeans) that it is important to have not just an opposition – because you can have opposition there all the time throwing stones, being obstructive and so on – but having a competent opposition, a constructive opposition, a compassionate opposition,” he said, in reference to his party’s motto.

This year will be the first time that Dr Chee is taking part in well over a decade. He was disqualified from the 2006 and 2011 general elections, on account of his bankruptcy after being sued for defamation by former prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong.

In 2012, his bankruptcy status was annulled after both men agreed to his offer of $30,000 as settlement.

“What’s past is the past,” he said. “What’s important is our country’s future. I don’t hold grudges against the PAP,” he said.

The 53-year-old former psychology lecturer, who has been with the party since 1992, has spent his years on the political backbench fine-tuning the party’s campaign operations. He declared: “Of all the elections I have been in, this is the one that we’ve been most prepared.”

SDP launched its election campaign in January and followed that up the following month by presenting a paper entitled “A New Economic Vision” to reduce income inequality and increase innovation.

One of the paper’s recommendations is to let retirees who want to receive their Central Provident Fund savings in instalments to opt into that arrangement, rather than for it to be mandatory as it is now.

Another is to implement a minimum wage starting from $7 an hour, and then setting up a wage commission that would review the sum periodically.

To lower the cost of housing, it proposes removing land cost from prices of Housing Board flats under a scheme which would bar these flats from being resold on the open market.

The party is fielding 11 candidates this year, in Holland-Bukit Timah and Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs), as well as Bukit Panjang, Bukit Batok and Yuhua Single-Member Constituencies (SMCs).

In the 2011 polls, it contested in Sembawang and Holland-Bukit Timah GRCs, as well as Bukit Panjang and Yuhua, winning 36.8 per cent of votes across all the wards.

SDP caught public attention in 2011 by fielding investment adviser and former senior civil servant Tan Jee Say as well as retired army colonel Ang Yong Guan. Both have since left to start the Singaporeans First party.

This time round, one of the SDP’s most high-profile candidates is Dr Paul Tambyah, a full professor at the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

September 1, 2015
PKMS President, Abu Mohamed, Among Three New Faces To Contest Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC Under The SDA Banner

The Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) on Monday (Aug 31) unveiled its slate of potential candidates contesting the six-member Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency, and three of them are new faces.

Mr Ong Teik Seng, 44, is contesting for the first time.

The sales director said he wants to highlight matters concerning the well-being of senior citizens and the young. Criticising the rise in age limits for Singaporeans to withdraw their Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings, Mr Ong said that Singapore is a country that has “sailed very far into the deep oceans”.

“There are many workers on board the ship, especially the pioneer generation. They are working for survival,” he said, adding that he hopes for reforms to the CPF scheme.

Mr Ong also said he hopes to give children more opportunities to get a higher education, so they can face the future challenges of a foreign talent influx.

Mr Sunny Wong Way Weng, 53, is another new face.

The quality assurance manager has been a resident of Pasir Ris for about 21 years. He said he was motivated to join politics as he wants to speak up on issues such as traffic congestion and the pressure Singaporeans face.

“I am proud to have celebrated SG50 but there is room to speak up and go forward,” he said.

Mr Abu Mohamed, 64, is the third new candidate.

Speaking in Malay, the President of the Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS) said he wants to help the Malay-Muslim community progress in areas such as education, jobs and housing.

Mr Abu Mohamed, a co-director in an oil field services company, also hopes to bring up issues advocating women wearing the hijab in frontline work, as well as policies protecting Malays from being barred from job positions that specify Mandarin-speaking candidates.

Mr Desmond Lim, 47, SDA’s secretary-general, previously contested in Punggol East SMC in 2011 and 2013.

The engineer in the telecommunications industry lost his election deposit after garnering just 0.57 per cent of the votes in the Punggol East SMC by-election in 2013. However, he said he is unfazed by the episode.

“How can a country depend on you if you give up just after losing once?” he said.

“The Parliament lacks a common man’s voice,” added Mr Lim in Mandarin. “The common man needs to have a place in Parliament, and I have decided to continue to champion the rights of the common man.”

Mr Arthero Lim, 60, is taking part in his fourth election.

The filmmaker rejoined the SDA slate after contesting under the Reform Party banner in Ang Mo Kio GRC in the previous General Election in 2011. He has also contested as a Singapore Democratic Party candidate.

“I’m a fighter for social justice. It’s not just criticising the ruling party – a lack of social justice is making Singapore dysfunctional,” he said.

Mr Harminder Pal Singh, 43, was one of the candidates for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC in 2011.

The CEO of coaching company Helping People Succeed said he hopes to see more being done for a hiring policy that benefits Singaporeans. “These are cosmetic changes we see by the Government. When we are elected as MPs, we want to push for these policies in the right fashion. We want more in-depth implementation to benefit more Singaporeans,” he explained, referring to the current policies.

Another issue he hopes to address in Parliament is the “lack of emphasis being given to the welfare of the people in Singapore”, citing the “inability to retire at 55 and be able to withdraw CPF funds”.

Mr Singh added that the party was “confident” it was connecting with voters and that it would strive to ensure that the Pasir Ris-Punggol town council would be “one of the best ones” if SDA was elected into Parliament. To ensure it is ready to run the constituency, SDA revealed that it has created a shadow town council for the GRC. Members have also been going for training.

“Should we win the election, we will go in there running. Our shadow town council is ready to take over the town council (in Pasir Ris-Punggol),” said Mr Singh.

The party said it will also look into asking for more childcare centres and a regional hospital. When asked where the party would get the money from to push its township plan, Mr Desmond Lim said he hopes the party will get to push this plan in Parliament for approval, if elected.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

September 1, 2015