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  • Damanhuri Abas: Lee Family Feud Throws Up Questions Over The State Of Democracy And Power In Singapore

    Damanhuri Abas: Lee Family Feud Throws Up Questions Over The State Of Democracy And Power In Singapore

    The revelation from the public statement released by both Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling vindicated what most opposition parties had tirelessly expounded over the last few years. Some had gone to jail or faced severe fines for having the guts to speak the truth to power.

    There is something terribly wrong with our democracy when the ruling party abused the system to benefit and perpetuate their hold on power. Freedom of the press and election process are key essentials of democracy. Instead policies were driven to entrench their position advocating the virtue of one party rule and even ideas such as natural aristocracy became currency when it is clearly against the meritocratic principle we cherish as a nation. Transparency for a long while has gone down the drain of convenient excuses for safeguarding commercial interest when it is really about gross conflicts of interest. Cronyism and nepotism have taken over selections and appointments and not the best for the job based on merits, experience and integrity.

    The sad truth is that, over the years with almost absolute control on power with overwhelming majority in parliament, no one can stop them anymore and they can make any changes to policies or even the constitution any way they want. Thus the people’s only hope is for an intervention that comes from within to break the absolute control on information. The last straw being the constitutional amendments to the Elected Presidency and the further changes to remove any powers to the Elected President into the hands of non-elected presidential advisory committee.

    What just happened is the culmination of years of suppression that the government had full control of with no check and balance on them. Now the people must respond to this development by not ignoring and merely placing this as a family feud. That may have been the trigger but the statement raised much more profound and pertinent gross concerns on our democracy, abuse of power, conflicts of interest and undermining of public institutions.

    The people must know the truth.

     

    Source: Damanhuri Bin Abas

  • Khan Osman Sulaiman: If Lee Hsien Loong Can Do This To His Family, What About Normal Singaporeans?

    Khan Osman Sulaiman: If Lee Hsien Loong Can Do This To His Family, What About Normal Singaporeans?

    The dispute between Lee Hsien Loong (LHL) and his siblings is not uncommon. It centered around carrying out their dead father’s wish of demolishing Oxley Rise.

    In Islam, we have what we call ‘Amanah.’ Amanah is something placed on the shoulders of someone to carry out certain instructions to the best of our ability and fulfil the wishes of the dead as long as it doesnt transgress our religious doctrines.

    I believe we have heard of such incidents many times on the issue of not carrying out the ‘amanah’ someone placed on us. In this instance, it is LHL who is in the spotlight.

    The no-confidence vote by both LHL’s siblings is natural. We cannot expect a person who disrespect a dead man’s wish to hold big responsibilities like managing Singapore.

    If he cannot act justly in private, what can the people of Singapore expect on a bigger scale like managing a country? We already see how he has no qualms manipulating the system to benefit himself.

    The meritocratic society that he espouses is nothing but a facade to give hope to Singaporeans. Singapore crony-capitalism index shows how our meritocratic ideals have taken a back seat. And it is the people who suffer at the hands of an incompetent leader. Add to it, a morally bankrupt one.

     

    Source:Khan Osman Sulaiman

  • Netizen: Lee Hsien Loong Needs To Be Answerable To Public On Accusations By Siblings

    Netizen: Lee Hsien Loong Needs To Be Answerable To Public On Accusations By Siblings

    No, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, we need answers/ specific clarifications (if possible, independent inquiry) into these allegations:

    1) that you used your position as prime minister to obtain documents (Deed of Gift) given to the ministry via Lawrence Wong. (abuse of powers)

    2) that your wife, Ho Ching, has ‘pervasive influence’ that ‘extends well beyond her job purview’ despite not being an elected official or govt official. (conflict of interest and overreach of power)

    3) that you made your personal lawyer, Lucien Wong, the Attorney-General in Jan 2017. (favouritism/ nepotism)

    4) that you monitored your two siblings so much that Lee Hsien Yang, your own brother, wants to leave the country. (threatening/ police state)

    re: https://goo.gl/G71SrX

     

    Source: Albert Tay

  • Lee Wei Ling: This Is About Singaporeans, Not About Our Home

    Lee Wei Ling: This Is About Singaporeans, Not About Our Home

    I am out of Singapore, with erratic and slow internet connection. The article that appeared in the Singapore press gave PM’s version of the story. Our letter was carefully vetted by our lawyers and obviously not in my own voice.

    My American friend who is the tour leader of my Scottish island holiday thought it a family quarrel. If it were merely a family affair, we would not have taken it public. The main message is not Hsien Yang & I fearing what PM will do to us. The most important point I want to put across is if PM can misuse his official power to abuse his siblings who can fight back, what else can he do to ordinary citizens. But our lawyer edited that main message out, and as Hsien Yang got most of the bullying, he could not help but allow his emotion to be expressed in the press statement. That is what led my American friend to conclude that it is a family quarrel.

    38 Oxley Road was bought by my parents, it is for them to decide what its fate is. My Father had told us, his children, repeatedly, that being family property, there is no need to donate to charity if Oxley were sold. Hsien Loong, as a condition for selling the house to Hsien Yang, and in his attempt to punish Hsien Yang for blocking what he wants to do with the house, stipulated that in addition to paying Hsien Loong the market value of the house, he must also donate 50% of that value to charity.

    Hsien Loong and Ho Ching are finally showing their true colours. I think these Colours show them unsuitable as PM and most certainly as PM’s wife of Singapore.

     

    Source: Lee Wei Ling

  • Yayasan Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Anjur Iftar Bagi 200 Keluarga Memerlukan

    Yayasan Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Anjur Iftar Bagi 200 Keluarga Memerlukan

    Sebanyak 200 keluarga memerlukan dari Kelompok Masjid Barat Laut menerima habuan Ramadan dan Hari Raya oleh wakil Yayasan Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

    Timbalan Ketua Misi di Kedutaan Amiriah Arab Bersatu (UAE) di Singapura, Mohamed Salim Al -Falahi turut menaja majlis iftar yang diadakan di Majid Yusof Ishak semalam (13 Jun).

    Setiap keluarga menerima hamper bernilai $200, mengandungi barangan makanan untuk bulan Ramadan dan Hari Raya dari yayasan tersebut.

    Iftar istimewa ini adalah salah satu inisiatif yang disokong oleh yayasan itu untuk memperluas rangkaian hubungannya dengan institusi-institusi lain yang juga berkongsi matlamat yang sama, iaitu membantu dan membawa keceriaan kepada yang memerlukan serta memperkaya kehidupan mereka baik tempatan mahupun di luar negara.

    Menerusi satu kenyataan media yang dikeluarkan oleh Kedutaan UAE, Encik Mohamed Salim berkata: “Majlis iftar ini membuka peluang bagi diri saya dan juga rakan-rakan sekerja saya untuk mengenali dengan lebih dekat lagi bagaimana masyakarat Muslim di Singapura meraikan Ramadan dan bagaimana masjid-masjid memainkan pelbagai peranan untuk berkhidmat dan memenuhi keperluan masyarakat dari segi sosial dan agama.”

    Turut hadir di majlis tersebut adalah Pengerusi Yayasan Rahmatan Lil Alamin (RLAF), Po’ad Mattar, Ketua Eksekutif MUIS Abdul Razak Maricar serta para pegawai dan wakil kelompok masjid dan RLAF.

    Yayasan Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan ditubuhkan pada bulan Julai 2007 oleh Presiden UAE, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

    Visi yayasan itu adalah untuk “Merintis Inisiatif Kebajikan” dan strategi-strateginya ditumpukan kepada kesihatan dan pendidikan di peringkat domestik, serantau dan global.

    Pelbagai bantuan yang dihulurkan oleh yayasan itu di seluruh dunia sejauh ini, melebihi 87 negara sejak ditubuhkan.

    Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan mengisytiharkan tahun 2017 sebagai Tahun Pemberian didorong oleh nilai-nilai memberikan layanan yang baik dan sifat bermurah hati.

     

     

    Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg