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Workers’ Party Youth Wing Forum SG100 Conference

As Singapore celebrates her golden jubilee, the Workers’ Party Youth Wing calls on fellow young Singaporeans to share their dreams and aspirations for the next 50 years. More than a dozen young Singaporeans will offer their personal views on Singapore’s future development in three panel discussions. We hope to create a forum for conversation on alternate paths for Singapore — to paint a shared vision and provide inspiration to shaping Singapore’s future to realise community ownership and citizen participation. We hope to provide the catalyst for deeper discussion on the Singapore we want in 2065 and the roadmap to get there. Together, we can build a nation that we can be proud of calling home for generations to come.

Venue: The Agora, Midview City, no. 18, Sin Ming Lane
Date: Saturday, 22nd August
Time: 1pm to 5pm, registration begins at 12pm, doors will close at 12.55pm
Enquiries: [email protected]

This event is open to everyone.

Pre-registration is required due to limited seating capacity at the venue. Pre-registration begins 20th July. Please check back here.

Programme

1pm: Opening Statement by WP Youth Wing President Daniel Goh
1.10pm: Session 1 – Super Urban Singapore (VISION)
2pm: Session 2 – Community & Heritage (OWNERSHIP)
2.50pm: Tea Break Session and Art Competition Voting
3.20pm: Session 3 – Participating in Our Identity (PARTICIPATION)
4.20pm: Summation and Q&A
4.40pm: Closing Remarks

Information about the panellists and their presentation titles will be made available closer to the date

Session Abstracts

Super Urban Singapore

Several major developments that are being planned for the next few decades will transform Singapore’s cityscape. Paya Lebar Airbase and Keppel Port will be relocated, opening up prime land for redevelopment. The current government projects the population will hit 6.9 million in 2030 and is planning to further build up Singapore to accommodate the influx of migrants. By 2065, the 99-year lease clock would be ticking for many HDB estates, where over 80 per cent of Singapore live. The extensive redevelopment of our old heartland regions beckons, as is already happening in old estates such as Queenstown. Would we see the island dominated by 50-storey HDB flats with sky gardens to match the towering skyscrapers of the downtown district? Would most of us live, work, love and shop underground, turning street-front living into a luxury good? What are the environmental, social, cultural and political implications? What should we do to co-create our vision of a super-urban Singapore?

Community and Heritage
We frequently use the term “community” in our public debates to refer to stakeholders in policy and political matters. The government regularly calls upon communities to act on a social problem or for the government to act on, and sometimes both. However, are communities empowered to act or by the government’s action? What forms a community and how can a community be empowered with ownership to realise its social aims and aspirations? SG50 has seen an outpouring of commemoration of Singapore’s heritage, which is seen as intimately connected to communities. The Botanic Gardens was recently inscribed as our first UNESCO world heritage site, a place of significant combined natural-cultural heritage. This island that we call home has more cultural capital than we realise. But are we able to go beyond nostalgia and buildings to value cultural traditions and values as our living heritage and use these cultural assets to foster community ownership as we head to SG100?

Participating in Our Identity
National identity is represented in the culture, language, traditions, history and politics of the people. It is the sense of the nation as a whole, a description and a proposition expressing a strong sense of belonging and belief amongst the people. Our Singaporean identity has developed strong roots over the past fifty years and continues to evolve. What are the main features of our identity and what foreseeable evolution of our identity in the next fifty years can we expect and should embrace? What challenges to our identity do we face and are there gaps we need to fill? One key foundation for national identities around the world is political culture—the values, institutions and practices associated with governance to keep the country running and secure. Is our political culture solid and stable enough to support our identity? How are we, as citizens, going to participate in the political process and shape our identity?

Source: http://wpyouth.sg/sg100

July 11, 2015
Mohd Khair: Pinkdot Agendas Undermine Familial And Social Fabric Of Singapore

Talking about intolerance, we Singaporeans have been a very tolerant society.

When a Muslim goes to a non-halal eatery and ask for halal food but none could be served by the eatery, we don’t see Muslims in Singapore suing the owner of the eatery for any form of distress caused by the rejection of the request. In fact, there’s no distress whatsoever.

Likewise, when a non-Muslim goes to a halal eatery and ask for pork or liquor to be served, we don’t see non-Muslims in Singapore suing the Muslim owner of the eatery for any form of distress caused by the rejection of the request. And really there’s no distress at all.

Why?

Because we respect each other’s beliefs and value systems.

Alcohol drinkers don’t go around suing Muslims just because the latter believe and say that drinking alcohol is wrong based on their religious belief.

Likewise, we don’t find Muslims in Singapore suing others who say that polygamy is wrong. We don’t. We simply don’t find that in Singapore.

Why?

Because this is Singapore, and we are Singaporeans who are very tolerant to different beliefs so long as they do not tear down our basic familial and social fabric. But the moment anyone or any activism is going all out to undermine that familial and social fabric, we Singaporeans will stand up and unite together to defend it at all costs. Defending that familial and social fabric that have been the bedrock of Singapore’s development and progress all these years cannot be deemed as intolerance, cannot be defined as bigotry and cannot be accused of propagating hate speech.

Instead, those labels should be directed at those who undermine that familial and social fabric that we Singaporeans cherish and protect.

Why?

Because they are the ones that are intolerant. Any form of disagreement will be immediately labelled as bigotry and accused of propagating hate. And that is happening now even with the 377A still around. It is not hard to imagine the kind of absolute intolerance we can face if 377A is abolished from the Penal Code.

How come?

Well, just look at what is happening right now in the US. Refusing to bake a wedding cake for a gay marriage results in a legal suit. Refusing to solemnise gay marriages is now a crime. And yet lgbt activists here claim that legalising same-sex marriages will not affect anyone at all. It is instead absolutely clear from that legalising same-sex marriage will result in the absolute intolerance on the part of the lgbt activists. The slightest disagreement with them will result in lawsuits or even being charged in court for alleged crimes.

So, to those lgbt activists and sympathisers, don’t go round saying that we are intolerant as a society in Singapore. Singaporeans have been and will continue to be tolerant so long as the familial and social fabric are not threatened. Once threatened, we will defend it. PERIOD.

And Singaporeans are neither stupid nor illiterate. We know what the lgbt activism has done to other parts of the world once same-sex marriage is legalised.

Same-sex marriage has become the demon that is out to destroy the institution of marriage and family in those countries. If ever 377A is abolished and same-sex marriage is legalised in Singapore, the same level of intolerance or more will also set foot. SSM will then be used to knock out anyone, any organisation, any religion and any law (including AMLA – Administration of Muslim Law Act) that is against same-sex marriage.

So, don’t ever say that pinkdot is an innocent movement just for a group of lgbts and their supporters to celebrate diversity and the freedom to love. Pinkdot is a political movement that is intolerant of the familial and social values so dearly upheld by Singaporeans all these while. These are the very familial and social values that have seen us through the ups and downs of Singapore’s development and progress. Pinkdot wants us to abolish Section 377A and legalise same-sex marriage. And should that be allowed to happen, the pinkdot will transform itself into a demon that will be so intolerant to any form of disagreement to same-sex marriages and to its lifestyle choice of freedom to love anyone and anything at all.

And by the way, Singaporeans have long been tolerant of lgbts living in our midst. They live, work and play together with all of us for as long as we can remember. The Government also acknowledges that they are in almost every sector of the economy, including the public sector and public service. And for the record too, no lgbts have been persecuted in Singapore by the Courts just because of them being lgbts. But the lgbt activism at the level we are seeing right now, especially in the form of pinkdot, is a recent phenomenon fuelled by external parties, and has now become brazen and emboldened with the recent US Supreme Court ruling. We Singaporeans have been a tolerant society all these while. The very existence of pinkdot now in our midst is testimony to that. But that does not negate our right to say that it is wrong and that we are against pinkdot in Singapore.

And why are we against pinkdot in Singapore?

Because pinkdot is pushing for the repeal of Section 377A and the legalisation of same-sex marriage. These two pinkdot agendas will undermine the very familial and social fabric that Singapore has been based on in its years of development and progress. And if we can sum up what PM Lee Hsien Loong has said in recent weeks, it would be this: The society in Singapore is deeply religious. The social sphere has developed taking into account the religious and ethnic beliefs of the multireligious and multiracial societies found in Singapore. So don’t push it.

Mohd Khair

Source: We Are Against Pink Dot

July 11, 2015
Berjimat! Beli Minuman Ringan Di Expo Raya

Pintu Expo Raya di Singapore Expo masih belum dibuka tetapi ramai yang telah mula berkumpul di luar untuk membeli minuman ringan.

Promosi membeli minuman ringan itu menjimatkan pada harga $5.90 bagi satu karton.

Seperti kata Cik Razidah Adeqah:

“Biasanya di luar satu karton minuman $16.90. Itu sebab saya datang ke ekspo ini untuk berjimat sempena Hari Raya.”

Beliau adalah antara pengunjung ke Expo Raya yang datang untuk membeli satu karton atau 12 botol besar 1.25 liter minuman berkabonat pada harga $5.90.

Melalui promosi anjuran Berita Harian-Orange Coach Travel dan Orange Events Media itu, pengunjung mesti membeli senaskhah Berita Harian di gerai B28 di Dewan 4.

Di dalam akhbar ini terdapat kupon pembelian. Kupon ini perlu dicop di kaunter BH bagi membolehkan anda membeli minuman tersebut.

Pelbagai jenama minuman ringan ditawarkan. Bagi satu karton bersaiz 1.5 liter pula, ia dijual pada harga $9.90.

Hanya akhbar yang dibeli di Expo Raya sah untuk promosi ini. Promosi ini akan diteruskan pada hari ini hingga lusa.

Promosi ini dibuka mulai 10 pagi hingga 12 tengah malam.

Dalam masa yang sama, gerai BH turut menawarkan pakej melanggani akhbar ini.

Jika melanggan akhbar ini, pelanggan akan mendapat baucar $50 pasar raya NTUC FairPrice.

Mereka yang melanggan juga layak melakukan cabutan bertuah yang pasti akan menang.

Anda boleh membawa pulang alat pengecas telefon bijak ‘powerbank’, pemacu pena USB, alat pemasak magic cooker, Samsung Galaxy Tab serta Samsung Google Nexus 10.

Source: http://beritaharian.sg

July 11, 2015
ESM Goh Lawat Bazaar Ramadan

Menteri Kanan Emeritus (ESM) Goh Chok Tong telah mengadakan kunjungan ke bazar Ramadan malam tadi.

Beliau diiringi Anggota Parlimen (AP) GRC Marine Parade, Profesor Madya Fatimah Lateef dan sekumpulan sukarelawan Pasukan Ronda Bazar.

Mereka telah berjalan dari Haig Road hingga ke SingPost Paya Lebar.

Selain bertemu dengan pengunjung di sana, ramai sempat bergambar bersama beliau.

Encik Goh berkata suasana di bazar “semakin besar, meriah dan mempunyai pengunjung dari berbilang budaya”.

Beliau juga berharap bazar Ramadan di Geylang Serai akan terus diperbesarkan dan ditambahkan lagi dengan lampu Raya untuk menyerikan lagi suasananya, seperti di Orchard Road dan Chinatown.

Source: http://beritaharian.sg

July 11, 2015
Workers’ Party: Authorities Should Take More Enforcement Action Against Errant Rail Operators

The Workers’ Party is deeply worried over the 3.5 hour disruption of train services along the entire stretch of both the North-South and East-West MRT lines on 7 July 2015. The severe inconvenience caused to an estimated quarter-of-a-million commuters during the evening rush hour makes this the most serious MRT disruption in Singapore’s history.

The latest breakdown comes on the heels of repeated assurances by both SMRT and the authorities about the improved reliability of our transport system. Yet, the number of significant train delays reached an all-time high of 12 in 2014 and stands at 8 in 2015. This is despite billions of dollars of government funds being pumped into improving the existing MRT infrastructure since 2011.

Even as the LTA and SMRT work together with their engineers and external consultants to identify the precise cause of the breakdown, we find it particularly troubling that two of our country’s main rail lines can be fully disrupted by what appears to be an electrical fault. This raises questions about our transport system’s resilience, particularly as such a system-wide failure could have repercussions on our nation’s economic and national security interests.

We call on the authorities to enforce a more rigorous maintenance regime on the rail network, with effective measures in place to ensure that commuters’ interests take precedence over corporate profits. For key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the number of unscheduled train withdrawals per 100,000 train kilometres and the number of service delays exceeding 30 minutes, concrete targets must be set and disclosed to the public.

In the meantime, engineering and front-line staff should also be provided with proper support by their employers to ensure that they are equipped to handle any similarly challenging situations in the future. Their efforts and tireless work – many working through the night – should be recognised, and we would like to express our appreciation for their hard work.

THE WORKERS’ PARTY
9 July 2015

July 11, 2015