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Tag: democracy

  • Damanhuri Abas: Singaporeans Must Remember This Walkover When Next GE Comes, Don’t Be Cheated By PAP Again

    Damanhuri Abas: Singaporeans Must Remember This Walkover When Next GE Comes, Don’t Be Cheated By PAP Again

    Singaporeans woke up today unhappy and in sadness. The country rightly felt betrayed by the ruling party for denying our right to vote. The wound is real and the scar is permanent.

    Any doubt that this Reserved PE was a political ploy to deny Singaporeans to choose a popular President who clearly was a threat to the ruling party is now put to rest.

    This battle is lost not on fairplay, so the people should hold our heads high as the PAP Government cheated us again. Power has corrupted them.

    Let this be their last high fix before the fall. Do not allow anyone to forget our own 911 that intends to bring down our democracy.

    Singaporeans must remember this day when the next GE comes. The stakes are our children and our children’s children.

    We are not a racist nation they paint us to be. They are the one stoking racial sentiments again and again for their vested political interest. Let us unite as a nation to right this wrong.

    For after every hardship there will be ease. Again, after every hardship there will be ease.

    God bless you all.

     

    Source: Damanhuri Bin Abas

  • SDP On EP Walkover: PAP’s Contempt For Our Constitution And Our Flag Must Be Roundly Condemned

    SDP On EP Walkover: PAP’s Contempt For Our Constitution And Our Flag Must Be Roundly Condemned

    Singapore Democrats

    The walkover of the Presidential Election comes as no surprise. The PAP had changed the rules and revised the criteria of the Elected Presidency to pave the way for Ms Halimah Yacob to assume the office.

    Nevertheless, this is a sad day for Singapore. The rule of law has been mercilessly mocked and denigrated. The contempt the PAP has shown for our constitution and our flag which symbolises the ideals of democracy, unity and progress must be roundly condemned.

    By doing what it has done, the PAP has shown yet again that its only goal is to strengthen its grip on power. That the goal is detrimental to the interests and progress of Singapore is of secondary concern to the party.

    It is bad enough that the PAP has manipulated the system to get one if its own to become the president. That it has dangerously played the race card and divided the people to achieve this must be of grave concern to all Singaporeans.

    The SDP protests this outcome in the strongest manner possible.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • Osman Sulaiman: Dilemma Of A Malay Voter On Reserved Presidential Election

    Osman Sulaiman: Dilemma Of A Malay Voter On Reserved Presidential Election

    Dilemma of a Malay voter this coming reserved Presidential Election (PE)

    What participation means for the Malay voters.

    1. Reserving the PE only for Malay candidates is against the grain of meritocracy. The central tenets that our country is built on.

    2. Participation would mean condoning and prolonging race based policies that further divide our nation.

    3. Allowing ourselves to be used as a political pawn for self-serving purposes.

    4. We perpetuate the perverse narrative by the gov that Malay community cannot win an open election without assistance

    5. The community descend to a less dignified level as we become part of a flawed system.

    Even if the above dont prick us, there is the issue of who do we vote for? At present, these 3 hopefuls.

    1. Halimah Yaacob
    2. Salleh Marican
    3. Farid Khan

    We know that the president’s role is largely ceremonial. With the new changes to our Elected Presidency System, our president’s discretionary powers are further abridged. And who gets to be president, would not matter as much before.

    I’ve seem some who has indicated that they would probably spoil their votes.

    What non-participation or spoiling the vote would mean for the voters.

    1. If Mdm Halimah contest, she would most probably win the election. History has shown that when the ruling party endorses a candidate, that someone would go on to win the election.

    Spoiling the vote would most definitely hand Mdm Halimah the coveted spot. I dont think this will be ideal as we would want someone who isnt too closely related to the ruling party.

    2. If we abstain and not turn up to vote, we are excluding ourselves from nation building and at the same time democracy.

    3. Part of democracy is to show our voice through our votes no matter even if we are in the minority. Not participating would mean the result would not reflect the true sentiments of the people.

    So do we participate, or no? It’s a tough call.

     

    Source: Khan Osman Sulaiman

     

  • 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

  • Najib Warns Uneven Growth Could Fuel Extremism, Instability

    Najib Warns Uneven Growth Could Fuel Extremism, Instability

    Prime Minister Najib Razak on Friday warned that Southeast Asian countries needed to ensure their economic growth was inclusive, or risk marginalised populations turning to violent extremism or even overturning political systems.

    Speaking at an event for entrepreneurs during the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Manila, Najib said the region was posting strong growth that could see Asean become the world’s fourth-largest economy, but that growth needed to be equitable.

    “We do not want our citizens to be marginalised in the age of extremism and radicalisation,” he said.

    “We know that those who see no hope in their own societies are more prone to the siren calls of terrorists who can and will exploit their vulnerability and fill them with their lies.”

    Islamist extremism is expected to be high on the agenda during this week’s meetings, with fears for Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines about piracy and the rising threat of Islamic State.

    Of particular concern is the ease in which militants can acquire weapons, seek refuge with existing rebel groups and move between the many islands between the three countries.

    Najib lauded the success of Asean, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, in expanding its collective GDP to about US$2.7 trillion now, from US$87 billion four decades ago.

    Asean has 10 members: Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

    He warned that economic disparity was dangerous at a political level too, fuelling anger and populism that was causing problem in Western Europe.

    “The neglected underclass of those who felt left behind by economic growth, prosperity and globalisation can overturn elections and political systems,” he said.

    Economists frequently point out huge income gaps among the 620 million people of Southeast Asia, a region that has one of the world’s largest concentrations of billionaires, according to Forbes Magazine.

    Najib said awareness of Asean needed to be better promoted among its citizens to “make it feel real, relevant and tangible”. Trade integration was lagging, he said, with too many trade tariffs still in existence.

    Their removal, and harmonised customs standards, needed to be “vigorously pursued”, he said.

    Philippines Vice-President Leni Robredo echoed Najib’s call for leaders to pay more attention to their poor.

    “For many years, many thought income inequality was alright. But the voiceless and the powerless are now raring to be heard, and with technology and social media, their frustrations are being felt on a global scale,” she said in a speech.

    “They are rejecting globalisation, democracy, traditional media.”

     

    Rilek1Corner

    Source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com