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Tag: Calvin Cheng

  • PAP Supporter: Halimah Yacob Shouldn’t Contest Presidency

    PAP Supporter: Halimah Yacob Shouldn’t Contest Presidency

    By all accounts, Madam Halimah Yacob is a warm, compassionate and humble person, and a popular MP; she is well-loved by her constituents. Madam Halimah has also carried out her duties as Speaker of Parliament with dignity, as the first female Speaker of Parliament in Singapore’s history.

    However, I feel she should not run for the office of Elected President.

    Firstly, she has been elected not only as a Member of Parliament, but as the all-important minority candidate of Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC. She owes a duty to those who elected her to stay on and fulfil her responsibilities as MP. It would also call the whole raison d’être of the GRC into question, if it is left without a minority representative. The role of Speaker of Parliament is also a vey important one. It shouldn’t be resigned from lightly.

    Secondly, although the position of Speaker is equivalent to a Minister in protocol, it surely isn’t in responsibility. One reason for raising the criteria for private sector candidates (chief executive role in a 500m company) was to benchmark it to the responsibilities of a Minister, who has to manage huge billion dollar budgets and hundreds to thousands of civil servants. The Speaker of Parliament has no such equivalent responsibility. It would thus detract from the credibility of recent changes to private sector eligibility criteria, if a former Speaker were deemed to have the necessary skill-sets to guard our financial reserves.

    Madam Halimah is already a highly respected MP. She has already cemented her place in history as being the first female Speaker of Parliament. Her services are arguably more needed amongst the constituents she loves, and who love her in return.

    I do hope Madam Halimah will seriously consider whether to run for EP, as she is doing, and decide eventually not to.

     

    Source: Calvin Cheng

  • Ahmad Osman: Calvin Cheng Not Fit To Comment On Tudung Issue

    Ahmad Osman: Calvin Cheng Not Fit To Comment On Tudung Issue

    I have refrained myself from commenting on this issue, but I can’t let it continue after coming across this particular post by NMP Calvin Cheng.

    Before I begin I would like to apologize to any parties which may feel offended by my post, and to all Muslim ladies who might just have had enough mansplaining on this entire tudung issue, but at the same time, I am not here to please everyone but simply to right what I feel is wrong.

    This individual right here started off on the wrong foot, talking about the history of politics in Singapore and comparing it to Malaysia for no reason whatsoever. The reality is that the issue we are facing is unique to our own country, and there should never have been any reason to compare our political system with that of our neighbours. And that too, was flawed. You might be well versed in the political history of Singapore, but please keep your mouth shut on the history of politics of other countries, for it seems like you are just taking advantage of this situation to paint our neighbours in a negative light. Silence would then be your best bet for things you obviously have no clue in.

    If the GRC system was supposedly set up to ensure minority representation, why is it that Mr Cheng here is repeatedly against minority MPs championing minority causes? Doesn’t that go totally against the intent of the GRC that he so clearly stated? So if a Malay MP is not allowed to question the parliament regarding the tudung issue, would it be more acceptable for lets say, a Chinese MP to bring up the same issue?

    Mind you, Mr Cheng, this isn’t the first time that Malay MPs have brought up this issue in parliament, and for the past few years a number of Malay MPs from PAP have brought up this issue as well. Why then are they not considered to be divisive or sowing discord? However, when the same issue is raised by a Malay opposition MP, the tables were quickly turned against him to shut him up. Are you telling me our politicians have stooped that low today?

    Yes, Faisal Manap represents people of all races and religions in Aljunied GRC, and I am pretty sure he remembers that, for the simple fact that he brought up a lot of issues in parliament on the very same day, yet unfortunately, only this issue was highlighted by the state controlled media. Mr Cheng, if parliament isn’t the place to discuss such issues, then where else? Where have the so called closed door discussions brought us to? Has there been any changes, any progress? It only makes the most sense to bring up such a large scale issue in front of all government members to discuss it with diplomacy, however, in doing so Faisal Manap was labeled as sowing discord instead.

    I’ll end off with two quotes for you. Last year, the very same Masagos was recorded saying “All matters pertaining to any religion are often discussed in the Cabinet and we do look at ways to lead society to be more open, more accepting.” A year before that, PM Lee mentioned, “we discuss things more openly now, even sensitive matters, we discuss openly in mixed groups and we speak candidly with one another from the heart.”

    I guess you are the one who has forgotten how Singapore’s political system and multi-religious society functions. Coming from someone who has advocated the killing of terrorists, their families and all their children, really, you are the least fit individual to even talk about this issue. You should remember that.

     

    Source: Ahmad Bin Osman

  • Ismail Kassim: Tudung Issue Is Also A Matter Of Human Rights

    Ismail Kassim: Tudung Issue Is Also A Matter Of Human Rights

    Yes, why not? Tudung is not a religious issue. When those who put on are barred from certain occupations it becomes a human right issue; the right of all to equal treatment before the law and the right of employment in all sectors without any discrimination.

    It is not just what issues are raised, but also the manner in which they are brought up. What is equally important is also how should Government should react when such issues are raised.

    Faisal brought it up with admirable restraint, but the reaction from the Minister was, to say the least, inconsistent with the spirit and norms of democracy. It bordered on arrogance and bullying.

    Like the Minister, you too picked on Faisal, the safest target, the most vulnerable.

    I am sure whatever he did in Parliament had the blessings of the Workers Party and its leaders.

    Why not blame the WP also for not distributing the work load in a way more consistent with the norms of our multiracial society.

     

    Source: Ismail Kassim

  • Calvin Cheng: Bringing Up Tudung Issue In Parliament Is Divisive Because We Do Not Practice Communal Politics

    Calvin Cheng: Bringing Up Tudung Issue In Parliament Is Divisive Because We Do Not Practice Communal Politics

    Some people have been arguing that Parliament should be the right place to bring up the tudung issue.

    I would like to remind readers about the political history of Singapore: unfortunately, this would also entail a comparison to the Federation of Malaysia, from where we were ejected in 1965.

    Malaysia’s political system consists of political parties that purport to represent a certain race, who then come together to form an alliance. The ruling coalition, the BN, consists of UMNO which represents the Malays, the MCA which represents the Chinese, and the MIC which represents the Indians. There are also smaller political political parties in the ruling coalition, but most of them purport to represent a race, or a religion. The opposition coalition is also broadly the same, but with the exit of PAS, the alliance is broken.

    Malaysia thus practices communal politics.

    Singapore is precisely the opposite.

    The PAP is a multi-racial, multi-religious political party that represents the diverse interests of all Singaporeans. Our major opposition political parties are also the same. The GRC system is set up to ensure minority representation, but all MPs were elected by a diverse electorate.

    We thus do not have Malay MPs championing Malay causes, Chinese MPs championing Chinese causes and so on. Unlike the Malaysian Parliament, our Parliament is not structured this way. Bringing up narrow communal causes in Parliament is thus divisive precisely because our political system, and our Parliament, was designed to ensure that we do not practice communal politics. We elected our MPs to represent us, regardless of our race or religion, not because of it.

    Workers Party MP Faisal Manap was elected by the multi-racial electorate of Aljunied GRC. He was not elected only by the Malays or Muslims. He represents people of all races and all religions in Aljunied GRC.

    He should remember that.

     

    Source: Calvin Cheng

  • No Further Action To Be Taken Over Former NMP Calvin Cheng’s Online Comments, Say Police

    No Further Action To Be Taken Over Former NMP Calvin Cheng’s Online Comments, Say Police

    The police have decided not to take any further action against former Nominated MP Calvin Cheng, who was being investigated after a report was made over controversial comments he made online.

    The decision was made after careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case and in consultation with the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the police said in a letter to Mr Cheng dated Oct 5.

    They added that all investigations and enquiries into the matter would stop, and the case will be closed.

    A police report was made against Mr Cheng last December (2015) by People’s Power Party (PPP) organising secretary Augustin Lee Tze Shih, over Mr Cheng’s comments online about killing the children of terrorists.

    In a four-line Facebook comment in last November, Mr Cheng had seemed to advocate killing the children of terrorists “in case they grow up to take revenge”, which drew sharp criticism from netizens.

    Mr Lee had said in his police report that the comments contravened the Sedition Act.

    Following the controversy, the Media Literacy Council, which advises the Government on developments pertaining to the Internet and media, and which Mr Cheng was a member of, issued a statement saying that his words were insensitive but did not amount to hate speech.

    Mr Cheng also apologised to his fellow council members, the Media Development Authority and his supporters in a Facebook post.

     

    Source: The Straits Times