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Political Activist, Uncle Yap, Gives Up On Selfish Opposition Politics

A well-known political activist, he had been seen by the side of leaders of various opposition parties for almost two decades, from the 1980s to mid-2000s.

During the 2006 General Election, there was even talk of Mr Yap Keng Ho, better known as “Uncle Yap”, contesting under the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) umbrella.

But little has been heard of this colourful character — who had been in and out of jail many times for breaking the law while participating in some political activities — for the past five years.

In a recent interview, Mr Yap, 55, told TODAY that he gradually stepped away from the local political scene because he grew disillusioned with some of the personalities in opposition parties and the “selfish politics” that were increasingly being played out.

“What we are seeing now is politicking for personal interest and freedom, it is not for the good of the entire nation … I was expecting to see more valuable voices and ideas by reversing the fear (of the establishment) … But what came out was not what I appreciated.”

Mr Yap said he first entered politics in the 1980s with a desire to “lift the lid of fear” that many opposition politicians had towards the governing People’s Action Party (PAP) and Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

During the 2006 election, even though he did not contest as a candidate, Mr Yap took an active part in the hustings to express his support for SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan and veteran opposition politician J B Jeyaretnam, whom he described as the late Mr Lee’s greatest adversaries.

The late Jeyaretnam could not run as a candidate in the polls because he had been declared a bankrupt for failing to pay damages from defamation lawsuits brought by several PAP leaders.

While he still keeps in touch with SDP members, Mr Yap spends most of his time now caring for his elderly mother and drives a Chrysler limousine taxi at night.

Two months ago, he was highlighted in the newspapers as the cabbie who responded more than 20 times to cardiac arrest cases, among the highest number under SMRT’s AED-On-Wheels programme. Mr Yap, who was an instructor with the St John Ambulance Brigade in his school days, said he volunteered for the programme because he wanted to refresh the life-saving skills that he had learnt earlier.

Mr Yap is also interested in raising awareness about the rapid depletion of natural resources.

“The globe’s resources are not able to withstand our living and consumption habits … We need to convey the urgency (of this challenge), adjust values to correctly influence lifestyles,” he said.

Source: www.todayonline.com

December 1, 2016
Donald Low: Singaporeans Need To Get Facts Right On Singapore’s Role In China’s Economic Modernisation

The Singaporeans who think that the current kerfuffle with China shows that the Chinese government has forgotten that it was Singapore that inspired China’s economic modernization (beginning with Deng Xiaoping’s visit to Singapore in 1978) really need to get their heads (and their understanding of economic history) checked.

First, the Chinese do not forget easily.

Second, it is simply not true that Singapore’s development story was of great relevance for China. China’s development experience of the last thirty years has a lot more in common with Japan, South Korea and Taiwan’s experience: export-led industrialization through home-grown firms rather than MNCs, industrial policy aimed at developing indigenous capabilities rather than simply importing technologies from abroad, maintenance of tariff barriers (rather than the free trade that Singapore practised) for relatively long periods to benefit local companies, financial repression rather than a liberalized capital account, relatively weak rule of law, government-business relations that are quite cosy and corrupt, etc. All these practices are more reminiscent of China’s northeast Asian neighbors than of Singapore. So it’s simply not true that our development experience was an important role model for China; it’s delusional for us to think we are—then, or now.

To the extent that the Chinese were interested in the Singapore experience at all, it has more to do with how the state maintained law and order, political stability and one party rule in an ostensibly democratic environment.

Source: Donald Low

December 1, 2016
Syiok SG: Help Sponsor Umrah For Palestinian Orphans

Do your part in helping the orphans to fulfil their dreams in performing Umrah, after all they have gone through difficulties in Palestine.

other than providing food, water, education, medical care and welfare for their daily needs, we have launched a very special programme – sending Palestinian orphans on a blessed journey to Mecca to perform Umrah.

please help to spread this appeal for the Orphan.

our local NGO Global Ehsan and partners looks after more than 800 orphans in the Middle East as part our orphan sponsorship programme. we were given 30 palestinian orphans for sponsorhip from Singapore.

video for previous umrah orphan for your documentary will be released soon.

please tag your familu and friends 😉 we want to share the good deeds.

May Allah Bless You. Amin.

Source: Syiok SG

December 1, 2016
Indonesian VP Jusuf Kalla: World Should Be Thankful For Fresh Air From Indonesia

Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla also reminded Indonesia’s neighbours not to complain when there is haze in the region. He said: “Malaysia and Singapore get angry because of the forest fires. It’s so easy to say, but you think we also don’t feel it? We feel it even more. Secondly, if you get fresh air from Sumatra, Kalimantan, you don’t say thank you. So, if you get the haze, why should I apologise?

“The world has to pay for all of this. Don’t always accuse Indonesia. I never want to be accused. Even if we are wrong, why do we still give out so many permits (for land)?”

Forest fires in Indonesia has been an annual problem, resulting in haze that blankets and choke parts of the country and the region. The fires are caused by farmers and corporations using the slash-and-burn method, which is the easiest, and cheapest, to clear the land for plantation.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

December 1, 2016
Israel Delays Votes On Mosques, Palestinian Homes

JERUSALEM: Israel on Wednesday (Nov 30) delayed parliamentary votes on controversial bills that would limit the volume of calls to prayer at mosques and legalise several thousand Jewish settler homes in the West Bank.

The votes were put off until next week following a decision by government ministers, a parliament spokesman told AFP.

Deputies were to take a preliminary vote on a bill to prevent the use of loudspeakers for late night and early morning calls to prayer at mosques, a proposal that has angered Muslims.

A first reading of a bill to legalise around 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank was also planned, but both were delayed.

The noise bill was put off until Dec 7, while the settlement bill was to come up on Monday.

Israeli media reported that the votes were put off because a majority could not be assured. Discussions were continuing on both measures.

The noise bill would prohibit the use of loudspeakers between 11pm and 7am. It would officially apply to all religions, but it is widely seen as targeting calls to prayer at mosques.

The bill’s backers say it is needed because the loudspeakers are a nuisance and can also be used to broadcast inciting messages.

Government watchdog groups say the measure is an unnecessary provocation that threatens freedom of religion. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is among those against the bill.

The settlement bill has tested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, widely seen as the most right-wing in the country’s history.

Netanyahu does not want the bill to pass, warning that it could violate international law and result in repercussions at the International Criminal Court.

Countries including the United States have also strongly criticised the bill and Netanyahu is concerned over an international backlash.

But he is also faced with holding together his coalition and not being seen as acting against the powerful settler movement.

DEFYING NETANYAHU

The international community considers all Israeli settlements in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the West Bank to be illegal, whether they are authorised by the government or not.

The Israeli government differentiates between those it has approved and those it has not.

The settlement bill has been pushed by hardline members of Netanyahu’s coalition, led by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who defied his pleas not to move forward.

The country’s attorney general says the legislation will never hold up in court.

But those who support it say the move is urgently needed to protect a Jewish outpost in the occupied West Bank called Amona.

The outpost, where some 40 families live, is under a high court order to be demolished by Dec 25 because it was built on private Palestinian land.

The bill, however, goes far beyond legalising Amona and would allow an estimated 4,000 Jewish homes in the West Bank to be legalised, according to settlement watchdog Peace Now.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, whose centre-right Kulanu party holds 10 seats, has been key and has said he will not support a measure that “harms” the country’s high court.

The statement was a reference to Amona and the high court ruling against it – signalling he would oppose the bill if the outpost is not removed from it.

There has been speculation that the bill could even cause the government to collapse – though a number of analysts caution that a compromise seems more likely for now.

Peace Now called the legislation “a grand land robbery, which will lead not only to the expropriation of 8,000 dunams (nearly 2,000 acres, 800 hectares) of private Palestinian lands but might also rob Israelis and Palestinians of the possibility of arriving at a two state solution”.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

December 1, 2016