Category: Singapuraku

Vivian Balakrishnan Callous To Difficulties Of Ordinary Singaporeans

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan’s response to a complaint by a hawker clearly demonstrated the Minister’s lack of empathy for the difficulties that ordinary Singaporeans face.

Mr Douglas Ng, a young hawker who sold fishball noodles, had complained about the PAP government setting ceiling prices for hawker food at NTUC-run stalls.

Mr Ng said that it is unfair to cap prices as basic ingredients are expensive. He wrote in his Facebook: “How can we expect hawkers to make a decent living?”

But instead of helping him resolve the problem, Dr Balakrishnan said that rental rates of hawker stalls are low. He ignores other costs.

For example, Mr Ng’s noodle supplier has to pay high rent for his shop (the landlord, by the way, is probably the PAP government) and he is going to pass the cost on to Mr Ng. And what about utilities? Electricity tariffs was raised in June this year and gas tariffs just went up today. Then there is transportation cost. Hawkers and other small businesses need vehicles to ferry their goods and supplies. With COEs at the current rate, how does one run a business and make it profitable?

To be absolutely clear, these problems are all PAP made.

And yet, Dr Balakrishnan avoids mentioning them, choosing to tell the young hawker that his rent is low. How does this help Mr Ng who still faces the problem of trying to make a living from hawking?

Businesses, especially small businesses, are finding it hard to survive because of high shop-rent – much of which is collected by Government-owned real estate conglomerates like MapleTree and CapitaLand.

The cost from the high rentals is then passed on to the consumer. This is why Singapore has become the most expensive city in the world.

Yet, we have ministers who live in a world of their own, unable to understand the hardships of the average Singaporean.

In 2007, for example, when PAP MP Dr Lily Neo pointed out that meals at hawker centres were too expensive for the poor, Dr Balakrishnan haughtily replied: “How much do you want? Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant? ”

His colleague Minister for Social and Family Development Mr Tan Chuan Jin mused that some of our elderly poor collected cardboard because they wanted to “exercise”.

To top it off, Mr Lee Hsien Loong said that Singapore needed “natural aristocrats” without which society would fail. On another occasion, he said it was “not fun”to be poor.

All these are indicative of the mindset of PAP ministers who, with their astronomical salaries, have become out of touch with – and even callous to – the everyday problems that ordinary Singaporeans face.

Singapore needs a government that cares.

Source: http://yoursdp.org

July 31, 2015
Grabcar Driver Disputes Girl’s Version Of Story

The cabby who allegedly dropped a female passenger off in the middle of Geylang at 4am has responded with his side of the story.

In a Facebook post that has now gone viral, the passenger Adeline A. Lok said the cabby had shouted insults and vulgarities at her after demanding that she get off his cab.

This was allegedly over a dispute about an SG50 promotion that reportedly entitled passengers to a $5 fare discount if a booking was made via the Grab Taxi app. Passengers had to key in a promotional code while making their booking.

The cabby, Mr Tong, clarified that while he knows of the ongoing promotion, he was advised to only give the $5 discount to passengers who had received a notification saying that the promotional code keyed in is valid. The cabby said if the code was valid, he would also have been notified of it via SMS.

However, Mr Tong said that even though the female passenger alleged that she had keyed in a code, she could not show proof that she was entitled to the $5 discount.

Also, he did not receive any SMS notification about this.

He explained he had four cases in the last week where he could not claim the $5 discount back. Hence, he had to bear the $20 discount he had given out and was more careful about the promotion this week.

In a phone conversation with Stomp, he said:

“The passenger kept demanding she get the discount and said she will only pay me $7, instead of the usual fee of about $12.

“I then gave her an alternative. I told her I will drop her off at the next exit if she still refuses to pay me the full fare and I will not take a single cent from her.

“She then shouted vulgarities at me. I was naturally provoked and I scolded her out of anger.

“I know I shouldn’t have done that on hindsight, but she was being very rude.

“The next exit, as I was travelling on the Ubi KPE, was Sims Avenue and that is where I stopped her so that she could get another vehicle.

“It is not at the red light district area but it is the stretch where there is a row of durian stalls and coffee shops. Now, these shops were not closed and the place was brightly lit up.

“I told her to get off my cab and said I will not charge her, but she instead kept saying that she will call the police.

“She also said she will sit in my cab until the police arrived.

“At this juncture, I also called the police and they arrive within 15 minutes.

“When I explained the situation to them, the passenger realised she could not do anything because she did not have proof that she was entitled to the discount in the first place.

“Now, she is trying to “shame” me on the Internet. I did not even realise that she had taken my picture.

“I feel the situation is unfair as I was merely being cautious about the discount as I did not want to bear the cost of it again. I also told her I will not charge her for the journey and dropped her off at a place where she could have easily gotten on another cab.”

Source: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg

July 31, 2015
Why Are There Jobs In Singapore Reserved For Pinoys Only?

Dear All Singapore Stuff,

I came across this job advertisement for a job in Singapore that says only Filipinos or Indonesians may apply. Are these jobs that Singaporeans cannot do? The company is IOTA group, a Swiss International Technical assistance company.

Here’s the link to the job advertisement:http://www.rigzone.com/jobs/postings/857163/Commissioning_profiles.asp

The advertisement reproduced in full:

IOTA GROUP RECRUITMENT PROGRAM – SINGAPORE

IOTA GROUP , a Swiss International Technical assistance company, has been selected by a world class leading oil and gas company for the commissioning of a yard in SINGAPORE. We are searching for Supervisors and Technicians : piping, instrumentation, electrical, Mechanical, Rotating Machines engineers, Process and DCS (no inspector profiles). The first mobilizations are planned in September 2015. The duration of the commissioning has been estimated for 12 months renewable.

Place of work :
Singapore : resident status and rotation 4×4 (the applicant must already hold the necessary authorization to stay and work in Singapore).

Job purpose :
The job holder is responsible to assist his discipline supervisor in his technical duties and accountability to superintendent. He ensures that the implementation of the Yard work carried out by Contractor is performed in compliance with the project specifications and safety requirements.

Minimum qualification / Experience for Supervisors :
Engineering D3 or equivalent Graduate from recognized University in related engineering discipline.

Mini experience required :
Above 15 years of experience as supervisor in oil and Gas industry or Petrochemical industry, and 10 years in similar position Good knowledge of commissioning sequence of an onshore and offshore project, ability to control and challenge progress schedule.

Fluent in English is mandatory

Only Filipino and Indonesian candidates Thank you to send us your full application by completing and returning the Personal data sheet in attachment with your curriculum vitae ONLY in word form

Jacob
A.S.S. Contributor

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

July 31, 2015
Malay Naval Diver Stays Strong Despite NDP Rehearsals During Fasting Month

Being a Naval Diver, CPL Mohamed Firdauz Bin Mohamed Ali is no stranger to tough training.

This time, however, he had the added challenge of training while fasting for Ramadan.

“The first few rehearsals were tough,” said CPL Firdauz, “the only way to cool off was to pour water over my head during breaks.”

But his peers and trainers’ concern for him kept him going – they prepared additional bottles of water for him to cool off, as well as refreshments for when he breaks fast.

Source: Ng Eng Hen

July 31, 2015
PAP In Panic Mode, Loss Of Power Inevitable

The unnecessary changes to the boundaries of electoral constituencies is confirmation of PAP’s loss of confidence.

Contrary to propaganda, PAP NEVER resolved any issues because it has not addressed the root cause of our problems, ie mindless population increase to generate ‘growth’.

PAP’s ‘solution’ – increase the frequency of trains and number of buses, ramp up housing, increase CPF Minimum Sum amount and Medishield premiums, hike petrol duty after oil prices have collapsed, promise more hospital beds with a disproportionate increase of foreigners, etc. If that’s considered solving our issues, then ordinary Singaporeans can replace our ministers at a fraction of their salaries.

Instead of belatedly biting the bullet, PAP assumes it has the luxury of time to engage in propaganda, shamelessly exploit LKY’s death for sympathy votes and return tax dollars in the form of GST vouchers to buy our votes. What a joke.

PAP runs Singapore as a large corporation and is able to attract like-minded greedy candidates who are paid almost $200,000 annually for a part-time job. Loyalists are destined to become CEOs/directors of government-linked companies despite sleeping on the job or spouting half truths for years/decades. Eg, ex DPM Wong Kan Seng – chairman of Temasek-owned Ascendas-Singbridge, ex minister Lim Boon Heng – chairman of Temasek Holdings, etc.

If ex ministers (excluding Aljuneid GRC losers) did not belong to the jiak liao bee category, why can’t they stand on their own two feet and join the private sector? Why are they still dependent on tax dollars after leaving politics?

Most PAP loyalists have also been parachuted into million-dollar top management positions without any relevant experience, such as SMRT paper general CEO and (sinking) NOL paper general Ng Yat Chung. For decades, PAP has been ‘promoting’ thousands of its loyalists based more on guan xi than merit and members of the public have been taken for a ride on Singapore’s ‘meritocratic’ system.

In the real world, political affiliation has its rewards, such as PAP supporters being appointed town council agents with contracts that are worth millions. Likewise for an opposition party but on a much smaller scale. (residents are shortchanged when winning contracts is dependent on political affiliation)

When PAP wields absolute power and is unaccountable to the people, its supporters enjoy the privileges of political affiliation. But what are the consequences when the reverse happens and it no longer controls parliament? Such a thought must be giving PAP sleepless nights.

A huge loss will mean PAP will no longer be able to ‘feed’ thousands of its fair-weather supporters, many who are multi millionaires. This will eventually lead to a further decline in support followed by its eventual fall due to an unstoppable loss of confidence.

PAP did not abandon the use of propaganda and bullying tactics after the last election; it did not tackle the population issue head on. Its incompetence is now obvious to an increasing number of voters but it is still using propaganda to prevent the inevitable loss of power. The old PAP dog doesn’t seem to be able to learn any new tricks till today and isn’t even aware the clock had started ticking in 2011.

PAP fears it will be in deep trouble should opposition party members become MPs. Parliamentary questions on transparency will fly thick and fast for the first time in our 50-year history and whatever the revelations, PAP will also likely be history. The last time we saw a real debate – PM Lee and Goh Chok Tong kena grilled by JBJ and Chiam See Tong in 1988. Video link We need more real debates as they will benefit Singapore.

That PAP is in panic mode has been confirmed by the arbitrary redrawing of electoral boundaries. But its loss of power is inevitable because it has never addressed the root cause of our problems since 2011.

Source: https://likedatosocanmeh.wordpress.com

July 31, 2015