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PAP Unveils Team For Marine Parade GRC

The People’s Action Party (PAP) has confirmed that Mr Edwin Tong will be fielded in Joo Chiat as part of the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC) team for the coming General Election.

Anchored by Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin, the rest of the team will include incumbents Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef and Mr Seah Kian Peng.

The team had previously been cited as the likely line-up for Marine Parade GRC by Mr Goh on the MParader Facebook page. Mr Goh had said he requested for Mr Tong “to be tested” in Joo Chiat, a single-seat ward in the 2011 GE that has been absorbed into Marine Parade GRC for the coming GE.

Mr Tong, who comes from Moulmein-Kallang GRC, replaces MP Tin Pei Ling, who will stand in the newly carved-out MacPherson single-seat ward.

Fighting his 9th election, Mr Goh said this morning (Aug 26) he could have retired but felt duty-bound to stay on when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong asked him to. On Mr Tan’s appointment as anchor minister in Marine Parade GRC, Mr Goh said: “This is national leadership transition in action”.

Source: www.todayonline.com

August 26, 2015
Influx Of Foreigners ‘The Mother Of All Issues’

Immigration is likely to be a hot button issue in the general election campaign, some political observers said yesterday, after news broke that Nomination Day will be Sept 1 and Polling Day, Sept 11.

Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan said the influx of foreigners into Singapore is the “mother of all issues”.

“That’s because people point to immigration as the cause of things such as high cost of living, high cost of transport, high property prices,” he said, adding that while property prices have stabilised, “they are at a high”.

Political analyst Derek da Cunha echoed this. “The Population White Paper of 2013 has really brought this issue to the fore. The different aspects over the changing nature of Singapore society due to the vast numbers of foreigners in Singapore, and the many more expected to emigrate here, will likely focus the minds of quite a number of voters,” he said.

Gillian Koh, senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, also said that it is “inevitable” that opposition parties will bring up the issue of immigration, and that it is not unanticipated.

But she added that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has taken pains to address immigration concerns and introduced a slew of measures to curtail the influx of foreigners. These include the cutting of foreign worker quotas for the services and marine sectors.

Associate Professor Tan, a former Nominated Member of Parliament, said the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) is likely to stress qualities like competence and integrity in the light of the Workers’ Party’s (WP’s) management of the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC).

In February, the Auditor General’s Office identified lapses in AHPETC’s accounting and governance practices, and found its accounts unreliable.

Analysts said that the PAP may be riding on a “feel-good” factor by calling the GE now, following several milestones such as the country’s recent 50th birthday and the national mourning of the passing of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew on March 23.

Dr Koh said: “The timing shows that they would like to take advantage of the celebrations, the reminiscing of the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and perhaps, a flight to safety, with the global economy in stormy weather.”

The analysts said that while they had expected the election to be called soon, they were not expecting it to be held on a Friday as it has traditionally been held on Saturdays.

Alan Chong of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies speculated that Sept 11 could serve as a good international backdrop. This is because most of the First World will be remembering the tragic events of the terrorist attacks in the United States.

Prof Chong said that it would provide a backdrop for the ruling party to remind the electorate of global danger, and to vote wisely.

An estimated 2,460,977 Singaporeans will vote in the Sept 11 polls for 89 MPs in 16 group representation constituencies and 13 single-member constituencies.

In 2011, the PAP won 81 of the 87 seats. Its share of the national vote was 60.1 per cent, down from the 66.6 per cent at the 2006 General Election.

Former Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong said he believes the PAP will, at best, garner “in the mid-sixties” of the votes.

Veteran opposition observer Wong Wee Nam believes that the ruling party will also rely more on door-to-door campaigning instead of mass rallies, where it may not draw a sizeable number of supporters.

Source: http://news.asiaone.com

August 26, 2015
10 Issues For GE2015

Even before the first speech on the hustings has been delivered, several issues, both old and new, have surfaced in recent weeks among the political parties in Singapore.

How have the older issues evolved since the last General Election (GE) in 2011 and will new issues dominate GE2015?

1. LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has cast this GE as one in which the next generation of leaders will be decided.

“More than that, you will be choosing the team to work with you for the next 15-20 years, and setting the direction for Singapore for the next 50 years,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday.

His remark came soon after the issue of the Writ of Election, a legal document that sets the election process in motion.

It was also a theme he touched on in his National Day Rally speech, when he noted that he and some of his Cabinet colleagues were in their late 50s and 60s and “will not be around forever”. This is why the next team of leaders had to be “ready in the wings”.

2. ECONOMY

China’s decision to devalue its currency has wiped out more than US$5 trillion (S$7 trillion) from stock markets around the world in the past two weeks and is threatening to create another global financial storm.

Voters will head to the polling stations under these dark clouds and a domestic economy that looks set to grow at an insipid rate of between 2 per cent and 2.5 per cent this year.

For the ruling party, the threat of an economic downturn might serve to focus minds on how the PAP government has been the stable pair of hands that successfully navigated the country through previous recessions.

3. SECURITY AND EXTERNAL THREATS

Similarly, external threats are also likely to weigh on the minds of voters as the election campaign season approaches.

Worries over the growing influence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria terrorist group as well as the rising political instability in Malaysia are two external threats that loom large, say analysts, who pointed to the symbolic timing of Polling Day: Sept 11.

“Sept 11 is a good international backdrop. Why? Most of the First World countries will be remembering the tragic events of 9/11 in 2001,” said associate professor Alan Chong of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. He added that PAP could use the occasion to remind voters about the types of external threats Singapore faces and tell them to vote wisely.

4. IMMIGRATION

The presence of foreigners remains a sensitive issue, PM Lee acknowledged in his Rally speech on Sunday, noting that there were no painless solutions to this challenge of immigration. The country needs foreign workers to keep the economy humming, but had to manage the flow carefully to address public unease over the inflow. Immigration and foreign workers were hot topics in the last GE, with many Singaporeans complaining they were crowding locals out of jobs, MRT trains and buses. While the Government has taken steps to stem the flow of foreigners and address housing and transport woes, this issue remains the PAP’s “Achilles’ heel”, said Singapore Management University (SMU) law professor Eugene Tan.

5. TRANSPORT

Much has been done to fix the public transport problems, with the building of new train lines and addition of hundreds of new buses on the road.

But a massive breakdown on the North-South and East-West MRT lines last month, combined with crowded trains every morning, only serve to remind people that the efforts to fix the system are yet to prove effective.

6. HOUSING

After a concerted push to ramp up the supply of new Housing Board flats, alongside fresh measures to cool the housing market, complaints about costly homes are far fewer now compared to five years ago.

But, as National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said in a recent interview, his “mission” to fix the housing situation is not yet complete.

Some Singaporeans still worry they cannot afford an HDB flat, while others wonder if the cooling measures could affect their property values in the long run.

7. COST OF LIVING AND THE WAGE GAP

A pet topic of opposition parties at rallies, the rising cost of living has been a major complaint among voters for many years.

This election will be no different, with renewed focus on Singapore becoming expensive, especially for the lower-income groups.

Tied to it is the widening income gap and whether enough has been done to narrow it.

Said SMU law don Eugene Tan: “It’s not just about people paying more. The deeper unhappiness is the sense that economic growth and wealth have not been equitably shared.”

8. AHPETC

One issue the PAP is likely to focus on is the Workers’ Party’s management of the town council looking after the constituencies it won at the last election.

In the past year, the PAP has been on the offensive. Its heavyweight ministers took turns to press WP in Parliament to account for mismanaging the finances of Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC).

The WP retorted that it has been transparent in giving information, and accused the PAP of politicking.

Expect fireworks on this one in the campaign ahead, analysts said.

“From the PAP’s perspective, this issue relates to integrity and competence, but WP may cast it as the absence of a level playing field for opposition parties,” said National University of Singapore sociologist Tan Ern Ser.

9. CHECKS AND BALANCES

If there is one strong argument for why people should vote opposition, it is that there is a need for checks on the dominant party in power.

In GE2011, there was a fear that with WP chief Low Thia Khiang and Singapore People’s Party chief Chiam See Tong leaving their single seats for bigger group representation constituencies, there would be no opposition in Parliament.

Today, with the changed political landscape of WP holding seven seats, the debate is whether voters should give it even more seats.

Will its slogan of Towards a First World Parliament and call for more checks still hold sway now that voters have seen them in action?

10. WILD CARDS

Election campaigns in the past have always thrown up a fair share of surprises, from a defamation suit against Singapore Democratic Party’s leaders on the eve of GE 2006 to a PAP potential candidate being dropped at the last minute.

This year, will personalities like SingFirst’s outspoken chief Tan Jee Say make headlines? Or maybe a surprise candidate could show up on Nomination Day and disrupt various parties’ well-laid out plans.

Much will depend on the events that unfold over the nine-day campaign.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 26, 2015
Teach, Don’t Demand, Success

I was walking to my Primary 1 class when a pupil told me that a boy was crying.

I found out the boy had scored 98 out of 100 marks for his Chinese test, which was a fantastic score that he should have been proud of.

But no, he was afraid to go home as his mother would cane him for not achieving a perfect score. My heart went out to him.

I saw another boy, a Primary 4 pupil, crying quietly and blaming himself for his errors after scoring 83 marks for mathematics. He, too, was afraid to return home.

A year later when I left the school, he made a photo album as my farewell gift.

In it was a note that read: “Dear Mrs Yeo, do you remember the day that you consoled me for getting low marks? I would like to thank you for telling me to be strong, and that everybody makes mistakes.”

He was able to overcome the setback because a figure of authority showed him that it was all right to fall down, that he will continue to do so and that he can benefit from it.

Our children constantly look up to us for approval and guidance.

Let’s remember the huge impact these have on them. When they feel loved and supported after they tumble, they will be able to stand up, learn to avoid the pothole that made them trip and emerge better and stronger.

These incidents in my career as a teacher and principal altered my expectations of my own children’s academic achievements.

I decided that I certainly did not want to create pressure and foster performance anxiety in my children. Just achieve your personal best, I told them.

Parental expectations can have a strong and positive effect on a child’s academic success.

In a study by the Harvard Family Research Project, Professor William H. Jeynes of California State University in the United States found that parental expectations affected children’s academic outcomes more than other types of parental involvement, including attendance of school events and the setting of clear rules.

Clear expectations, paired with loving and supportive attitudes, can help children to learn manners, social skills, study skills, and other tools that they will need to succeed in school and in society.

To establish healthy academic and behavioural expectations, parents should be aware of their children’s unique needs, skills, strengths, and maturity levels.

Avoid comparing them with others, as every child develops at a different rate.

But this does not mean parents should set their sights too low. Low expectations can make it difficult for children to realise and achieve their full potential.

It is better to create small, manageable goals to ensure that children progress in their learning, while not feeling daunted.

I helped a Primary 1 pupil who was scoring zero out of 10 marks in her spelling tests, by encouraging her to learn just one word instead of 10 per test. She tried and managed to spell the word correctly.

I then increased the number of words to two, and then to three. Over time, she finally achieved a perfect score of 10 marks. She was not just learning how to spell words; she learnt that she could do it.

Moreover, she learnt to break things down into bite sizes when the task became too daunting.

This goes far beyond doing well in school. When she faces this type of situation at work or life, this skill will continue to serve her well. Unrealistically high expectations can set a child up for failure, anxiety, discouragement and low self-esteem when he cannot live up to his parents’ goals. This can also lead to insubordinate behaviour.

A boy enrolled in a “branded” school was struggling to cope. I spoke to his parents about his challenges and frustration and suggested that they place him in an environment that nurtured his strengths. They were indignant at my recommendation and insisted that their son was just not trying hard enough.

The poor boy was unable to keep up with the academic requirements in school. He felt that he would never be able to meet his parents’ expectations and became very angry.

He thought that since he would never be good enough, he might as well be really bad.

He hung out with bad company and became very rude to his parents, swearing at them whenever he interacted with them.

Fortunately, his parents realised that there are many paths to success and stopped insisting that he pursue this through academic means.

He eventually found his calling in cooking and is now at the helm of two successful cafes.

His mum and dad are very proud of his achievement and they now get along very well.

Establishing healthy expectations and communicating them to children are important keys to fostering success.

Jenny Yeo was a principal for 18 years in Kheng Cheng School, Radin Mas Primary School and South View Primary School.She is a lead associate focusing on partnerships and engagement in the engagement and research division of the Ministry of Education.

Source: http://news.asiaone.com

August 26, 2015
Cemetery Worker Gets 15 Years Jail And 24 Strokes Of The Cane For Raping Homeless 12 Year Old Girl

A cemetery labourer who raped a homeless 12-year-old girl staying at the burial ground with her family was sentenced to 15 years’ jail and the maximum 24 strokes of the cane yesterday.

Roslan Jaafar, 42, had pleaded guilty in April to two counts of statutory rape and one count of sexual assault of a minor.

Yesterday, his lawyer, Mr Subir Singh Grewal, appointed under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, asked for a jail term of 10 years.

He noted that Roslan had not intentionally sought the girl for sex and believed she was sexually experienced when in fact she was not.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Jing Feng, however, argued for a deterrent sentence of 10 to 15 years, pointing to the 26-year age gap between Roslan and the girl.

Two other counts of sexual assault of a minor and sexual exploitation of a child were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Roslan has a son and three daughters from a marriage which ended in divorce in 2006. He has lost contact with his ex-wife and daughters and looks after his son.

In March 2012, his son, who was then eight, started playing with the victim and her younger sister at the cemetery while Roslan was working. At the time, the girl’s family had no fixed abode and lived temporarily in a tent at the burial site.

After introducing himself to the girls’ mother, he visited the family regularly and grew close to them.

In May, Roslan began to take her out regularly to run errands, usually for more than two hours each time.

He would take her on his motorcycle to a quiet spot nearby at night.

He had sex with her on a bench on two occasions and sexually violated her on three other occasions .

He told the girl not to tell her mother about it.

Although the girl consented to having sex with him, by law, sex with a girl under 14, with or without her consent, is considered rape.

On June 1 that year, the girl’s maternal uncle was visiting the family when Roslan took her out.

When they did not return after more than two hours, the uncle became worried.

He searched for Roslan’s number on the girl’s phone and found text messages from him.

After the girl returned, the uncle confronted her with the messages. She broke down and told him what had happened.

A police report was made at the Nanyang Neighbourhood Police Centre and Roslan was arrested last year.

The girl’s family is no longer staying at the cemetery.

The maximum jail term on each charge of rape and sexual assault is 20 years.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 26, 2015