Category: Singapuraku

Inconsiderate Uncle Refused To Give Up Seat To Stroke Patient

I had like to share an incident to everyone that my mom had encountered on 27th August 2015 Thursday 1509hrs travelling on bus number 60 (SBS8831S) from Bedok Interchange to Bedok Reservoir Road.

This uncle who is in his 60s who was very inconsiderate when my mom was asking him to move his packet of toilet roll for her to sit down. The Uncle insist NO and said that his items should not be on the ground.

My mom was a partial stroke patient and had to use a walking stick to help balance herself when she walks. I’m glad that a lady who witness the incident then gave up her seat to my mom.

It’s very sad to see such inconsiderate people in our society. I do hope to spread and share about this uncle so that this article will reach him one day.

Raymond Soh
A.S.S. Contributor

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

August 29, 2015
Singaporeans First Party To Campaign On Immigration Issues

Singaporeans First (SingFirst), the newest opposition party on the block, kicked off its preparations for the General Election yesterday (Aug 28) with the launch of its slogan Restore Our Nation, singling out immigration as the main issue its candidates will address. SingFirst secretary-general Tan Jee Say, who is set to stand in parliamentary elections for the second time, said the party is advocating for policies that place Singaporeans at the forefront.

“This country has been divided by Government policy on immigration, which has pitted citizens against employers and foreigners. They have taken away our jobs, and places in schools and businesses,” Mr Tan said at a media conference held at the party’s office on Tras Street, where he also introduced five of the 10 candidates the party plans to field in next month’s polls. “We want to take back our country, take back our pride and take back our place in society,” he added.

Commenting on recent Government policies to strengthen the Singaporean core in workplaces, such as the Fair Consideration Framework, Mr Tan said requiring companies to post job advertisements in the specified jobs bank is not enough.

Saying that there are loopholes companies can exploit and that many companies may still opt to hire foreigners, he added: “At the end of the day, it is still the HR department that decides.”

SingFirst was formed last year. All five candidates introduced yesterday, including Mr Tan, are Master’s degree holders who studied overseas and have worked at multinational companies here.

Apart from Mr Tan, 61, the four are election rookies, including SingFirst co-founder and communications consultant Fahmi Rais, 48.

Questioned on his party’s seemingly anti-immigration stand when he and his candidates have appeared not to be held back by the existing policies, Mr Tan said that SingFirst is not against competition from foreigners, but wants Singaporeans to be given fair opportunities.

SingFirst plans to field two teams in the five-member Tanjong Pagar and Jurong Group Representation Constituencies (GRC). Mr Tan did not specify where the five candidates introduced will be standing, adding that the final line-up will be revealed only on Nomination Day.

The other three candidates introduced yesterday are market risk manager Chirag Desai, 38; IT consultant Wong Chee Wai, 44; and sales executive Melvyn Chiu, 36. In 2011, Mr Tan contested in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC when he was a member of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) team, making a splash with his credentials as a former high-flying civil servant — he was Principal Private Secretary to then-Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong for five years. His team lost to the People’s Action Party (PAP) team with 39.92 per cent of the votes. That same year, he ran for president, winning 25.04 per cent of the votes.

Asked what he thinks of the party’s chances in Tanjong Pagar GRC,

Mr Tan noted that as the constituency — a PAP stronghold long anchored by the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew — has not been contested for more than 20 years, it is difficult to gauge the level of support for the ruling party.

When asked about his party’s ability to manage a town council, he dismissed it as a “non-issue”, adding that the party will ensure a proper handover from the incumbents and scrutiny of accounts, if they are elected.

SingFirst chairman Ang Yong Guan will introduce the other five candidates today.

Source: www.todayonline.com

August 29, 2015
Kahar Hassan Was Hardworking But PAP Needed Change

Elaborating on why ex-People’s Action Party (PAP) Kaki Bukit branch chairman Kahar Hassan (picture) was asked to step down last month, former PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng said yesterday the party felt that it needed a change, even though Mr Kahar had been a “very hardworking person”.

Mr Lim also thanked Mr Kahar — who was dropped from the PAP slate totally — for his work in Kaki Bukit and for letting residents know that the party has “not forgotten about them”.

Speaking at a press conference to unveil the PAP’s team for Aljunied Group Representation Constituency, Mr Lim said the PAP has deployed their potential candidates on the ground much earlier compared with previous elections. This gave the party the opportunity to assess how the potential candidates relate with people and different stakeholders in the constituency, he added.

“In other words, it allows us what you might say in management jargon, a 360-degree assessment of the candidates. This time round, we have been more comprehensive in the assessment of our candidates and whether they fit in the constituency where we intend to field them,” he said.

“So, the party decided that they needed a change in Kaki Bukit although Kahar Hassan had been a very hardworking person. We should make a change if we could find somebody that is a better fit.” Mr Lim said the party was “very glad” that they were able to find a “better fit” in Mr Shamsul Kamar, the former head of Student Management at Spectra Secondary School.

Mr Kahar, 46, was asked to step down late last month, after working the ground for the past 16 months.

The business development director of an engineering company could not respond to media queries by press time. Mr Kahar announced his departure on Facebook on July 31 and in his earlier comments to TODAY, he said it was a party decision and his thoughts went out to the residents.

Source: www.todayonline.com

August 29, 2015
Vivian Balakrishnan: Don’t Be Seduced By Notion That Politicians Can Work Without Incentives

Suggestions that politicians can work without incentives is a seductive notion, especially during an election period, says the Minister of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR), Vivian Balakrishnan.

The minister was speaking at a National Day Rally public forum organised by the government’s feedback outfit, REACH.

A participant had questioned the honorarium which Members of Parliament (MP) receive – which is S$16,000 a month, or $192,500 annually.

If an MP sat for the full parliamentary term of five years, he would have been paid almost a million dollars – S$962,000.

Ministers receive salaries which run into the millions.

In his response to the question raised at the forum, Dr Vivian said there are only two kinds of people who would work without incentives – those who are wealthy, and those who are corrupt.

“Don’t be seduced,” he was quoted by the TODAY newspaper as having said. “The danger with elections is it’s an auction. Everybody would promise you the moon. Everybody would say they don’t need pay on the assumption either they don’t need to deliver, or things will go wrong.”

The amount of honorarium being paid to MPs and the salaries received by ministers have been hot topics for many years, particularly for MPs whom some see as just a part-time job, given that MPs themselves have their own private careers.

But REACH chairman, Amy Khor, said that being in the industry would help her to contribute more.

“You have to look at it more broadly,” said Dr Khor, who is also Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Health. “Is the MP contributing as you expect? In fact, if I can do that, and I still can add value because I have a better understanding of what’s going on outside in the real world. Isn’t that giving you more value?”

In recent weeks, after an online website published a list of the number of times each MP has spoken in the last parliament (2011 – 2015), some were shocked to learn that some MPs had spoken up in the House for only a handful of times in those four years, and questioned the amount of taxpayers’ money paid to these MPs.

These included former ministers such as Mah Bow Tan and Wong Kan Seng.

It was also reported that the former Transport Minister, Raymond Lim, had not made a single parliamentary speech since being replaced as Transport Minister in 2011.

Mr Lim has since announced that he will be retiring from politics at the upcoming elections.

Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

August 29, 2015
Fahmi Rais: Chance To Shape Party ‘Without Baggage’ Led Him To Join SingFirst

The opportunity to shape the direction of a new political party was what led Mr Fahmi Rais to join the team that founded Singaporeans First (SingFirst) last year.

Now, Fahmi Rais, 48, will take a step further and stand in elections for the first time in the coming polls.

“Because this is a new party, it has no baggage, it doesn’t have the history of who was there first, what was done in the past, so on and so forth. With a party with no baggage, every candidate, every member has an equal opportunity to shape the party the way they want it, and to me that is very critical because we do not want to come into a system and not see our ideas being taken,” the father of four said.

Mr Fahmi is no political newbie, having been a member of the Young PAP in the early 1990s.

After leaving the party in 1995, he was involved in various community organisations, an experience that later spurred him to enter the political arena.

The Government, he felt was disconnected from the needs of the people, and he hopes to change this.

As the sole Malay candidate introduced by SingFirst yesterday, the father of four said he wants to champion for the Malay-Muslim community and ensure that they can compete on the same level as other communities in Singapore.

Fahmi Rais, 48

Communication and media consultant

FACT FILE:

• Married with four children ages six to 19

• A founding member of Singaporeans First; currently sits in the party’s Central Executive Committee

• Has 26 years of involvement in community work

• A Young PAP member from 1991 to 1995

• Holds a Masters in Mass Communication and a degree in Law with Honours

HE SAID: “It is those years that I spent on the ground that created the turning point. I had no bad experience when I was with the PAP but having listened to the people and realising how disconnect the current Government of the day is with the people on the ground, it’s a natural calling for me to try to create that difference by joining an opposition front.”

WARD: To be announced

Source: www.todayonline.com

August 29, 2015