Tag: GE2015

5 Observations I Made Over Tea With Chan Chun Sing

I got to have tea with Minister Chan Chun Sing a few days ago and over Wang Cafe’s kaya toasts on plastic plates, we spoke about what makes a good politician, immigration policies and everyone’s current favourite topic – the Gini coefficient.

I’ll leave the economics part out (you can take a look at this post by My 15 Hour Work Week if you’re interested) but here are some takeaways from our tea session:

1) HE KNOWS ABOUT THE MEMES OF HIM CIRCULATING FACEBOOK

We started the conversation with the question, “Are you aware about the memes of you on the Internet? Do you plan to do anything about it?”

I’ve got to admit, it’s a difficult question… especially since I’m someone who absolutely cannot deal with people talking about me (the irony of owning a blog, I know) but Chan addressed the topic head-on that personal branding is not his forte (Honestly, he’s not the most photogenic politician around… I couldn’t capture a nice shot of him speaking ) and ultimately, it boils down to “Who do you want to be?” – a popular politician or a genuinely efficient one (I’ll elaborate on this later.)

So while he has accepted these gifs as inevitable baggage from being a public figure, he appears confident that his actions and contributions has/will speak louder than them.

2) HE IS UNABASHEDLY FORTHRIGHT

Maybe it’s those years in the army from a SAF Overseas Scholarship to being appointed Chief of Army in 2010 that shaped his no-holds-barred, we walk the talk approach to his political career and life at large (military wife observation here yo!) but in our unscripted Q&A session, there was no carefully-crafted, politically correct answers to our thoughtful, if not particularly tough, questions and I like how he was real and comfortable in his own skin and forthright with all of us – that he could be a popular politician by declaring “We’ll help everybody” with policies that APPEAR to be helping everyone (e.g. by lowering petrol prices across the board) but through a rather lengthy explanation of government transfers and income inequality, we later learnt that while our current petrol pricing model – and other policies – while definitely unpopular, actually helps the lower-income much more than said popular measures. (It’s a long explanation and you can read it here)

3) HE SEEMS GENUINELY FIRED UP

With all that talk about #GE2015 (though we didn’t actually talk about it during the session), the labour chief seems ready to go. From economics to policies to what’s happening in the heartlands, he discussed these topics articulately without fluff and rhetoric.

4) HE WEARS A CASIO

Not a Philippe Patek, Rolex nor even a Seiko. Just a Casio.

And a pretty basic model at that too.

5) HE IS POISED FOR BIGGER THINGS

Not I say one ah.

But I agree. Chan Chun Sing has had plenty of critics watching from afar since his entrance into politics in 2011 and I think he has managed to defy naysayers with his substance… though perhaps some help’s required in the style department.

Source: http://floraisabelle.com

August 31, 2015
Former AHPETC Managing Agent, FMSS, Issues Legal Letter To AHPETC, Claims It Is Owed $3.5 Million

The former managing agent of Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) has sent a letter of demand saying the town council owes it more than $3.5 million.

The New Paper has learnt that the managing agent (MA), FM Solutions & Services (FMSS), sent the letter, dated July 20, through its lawyers, Netto and Magin.

This comes at a time when the Ministry of National Development is asking AHPETC whether it overpaid FMSS and, if so, how it plans to claim back public monies that allowed FMSS to make huge profits.

FMSS, which was incorporated soon after the Workers’ Party (WP) won Aljunied GRC in the 2011 General Election, was managing agent for AHPETC from July 15, 2011, to July 14 this year.

It claimed the amount was for money owed for services between April and July 14, when its contract with AHPETC expired.

Source: www.tnp.sg

August 31, 2015
Police Issues Traffic And Security Advisory For Nomination Day

Police on Sunday (Aug 30) issued a traffic and security advisory for Nomination Day held on Sep 1.

The Nomination Centres will be open from 10am and supporters and members of the public are advised to only arrive at the Centres after that time. Nomination proceedings will start from 11am, said the police.

Parking is prohibited at the Centres and candidates are reminded to arrive early, it added.

Police said that they will be stepping up deployment and conducting security checks in and around the Centres.

“Bags and other belongings brought into the Nomination Centres will be subject to security checks. Supporters and members of the public are advised not to bring along items such as sharp object(s), flammable liquids or gas, bulky items or big bags,” the advisory said.

No placards, flags, or banners of any candidate will be allowed to be displayed at the Nomination Centres before the close of nomination proceedings. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones are also not allowed in the Centres as they could “endanger public safety”, it added.

“The police will monitor the law and order situation closely, and will not hesitate to take action against any person who is unruly or who commits any offence at the Nomination Centre,” according to the advisory.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

August 31, 2015
Nomination Day: What To Expect
When the clock chimes 10 tomorrow morning, on Nomination Day, the nine nomination centres islandwide will be open to candidates’ supporters and the public.

But before that, most candidates and their entourages would have gathered elsewhere for pep talks and final checks of forms.

For members of the People’s Action Party, these meeting points are usually their branch office. Opposition party members typically gather at their party headquarters.

Some smaller parties and independent candidates, however, may meet up outside their respective nomination centres.

Police have advised people to arrive at the centres only after 10am.

The critical hour begins at 11am.
- NOMINATION CENTRES
  
  Bukit Panjang SMC and Holland-Bukit Timah GRC
- Assumption Pathway School, 30, Cashew Road
  Jalan Besar and Tanjong Pagar GRCs, Radin Mas SMC
- Bendemeer Primary School, 91, Bendemeer Road
  Chua Chu Kang GRC, Hong Kah North and Pioneer SMC
- Chua Chu Kang Primary School, 20, Choa Chu Kang Avenue 2
  East Coast GRC, Fengshan SMC, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, Punggol East SMC
- Fengshan Primary School, 307, Bedok North Road
  Bukit Batok and Yuhua SMCs, Jurong and West Coast GRC
- Keming Primary School, 90, Bukit Batok East Avenue 6
  MacPherson SMC, Marine Parade GRC, Mountbatten and Potong Pasir SMCs
- Kong Hwa School, 350, Guillemard Road
  Hougang SMC and Tampines GRC
- Poi Ching School, 21, Tampines Street 71
  Aljunied, Ang Mo Kio and Bishan-Toa Payoh GRCs and Sengkang West SMC
- Raffles Institution, 1, Raffles Institution Lane
  Marsiling-Yew Tee, Nee Soon and Sembawang GRCs
- Yishun Primary School, 500, Yishun Ring Road
Candidates have one hour, from 11am to noon, to file their papers at the correct nomination centre.

The administrative requirements they have to meet are strict.

Nomination forms must be complete and submitted in duplicate by the candidates in person.

These forms are: the nomination form, the political donation certificate, and the certificate issued by the Malay Community Committee or the Indian and Other Minority Communities Committee, if the candidates are to contest in a GRC.

Candidates must be accompanied by a proposer, a seconder and at least four assentors.

These individuals must be registered voters from the constituency that the candidates are contesting and have to be present when the nomination is filed.

This is the stage where teams have tripped up or had close shaves.

In 2011, a group of independents planning to contest Tanjong Pagar GRC turned up at around 11.30am at their nomination centre, but were disqualified after filing their nomination forms late.

In the 2001 General Election, a Workers’ Party team was disqualified from contesting when its nomination papers were found to be incomplete, as it had not filled in a blank for the name of the ward it wanted to contest: Aljunied GRC.

If candidates fill in their forms incorrectly, they must correct the problems flagged by the Elections Department – by noon.

Objections to the nomination papers can be made in writing between 11am and 12.30pm by any rival candidate for the same constituency or any of the proposers, seconders or assentors.

Each candidate must also fork out his or her election deposit of $14,500. This can be in cash, bank draft or cheque.

If there is no contest in a constituency, the assistant returning officers at each centre will declare a walkover for that division.

If there is a contest, the candidates’ names will be put up on a notice board at the centre.

Candidates can also apply for permits to hold election meetings and vehicle processions in the areas they are contesting.

The meetings can be held indoors or outdoors for eight days, from Sept 2 to 9, between 7am and 10pm.

Candidates can use perambulating vehicles fitted with loudspeakers between 2pm and 10pm tomorrow, and between 7am and 10pm for the remainder of the campaign.

Outdoor meetings, which can be held in stadiums, open fields and open spaces, must take place at the space specified in the permit.

The list of outdoor rally sites will be released at the end of nomination proceedings tomorrow.

Permit applications for meetings have to be made before 2.30pm the day before a scheduled meeting, except for those on Sept 2, for which the Police Elections Permits Office in the Police Cantonment Complex will accept applications until 4pm on Sept 1.

Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are banned at nomination centres, rally sites and assembly centres. Police have also said that non-citizens, bankrupts, persons who have been associated with criminal activity as well as primary and secondary students cannot take part in any election activity.

Source: www.straitstimes.com
August 31, 2015
GE2015 Hustings: Focus On Policy, Not Political Grandstanding

Will the General Election (GE)on Sept 11 be a “watershed election”?

The leading opposition party, the Workers’ Party (WP), is contesting 28 seats so it will not breach the one-third threshold of seats that allows it to block changes to the Constitution in Parliament.

The People’s Action Party (PAP) probably seeks a higher mark than its 60.1 per cent support from the total votes in GE2011 for its shift to left-of-centre in its policies, and for seeking to strengthen the social compact between the people and Government.

A good mandate would be to return to the 66.6 per cent it pulled in GE2006; a very strong mandate would be better than that.

In his post-election conference on May 8, 2011, the secretary-general of the PAP, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, said that having been returned to power, his party would adapt to the “new electorate” with policies and approaches, a “new formula” to respond to the sentiment expressed in the hustings, the trimmed margin of victory, and the loss of Aljunied Group Representation Constituency.

Two years later, Prime Minister Lee said at the National Day Rally 2013 that the Government was shifting to a new balance between the state, the community and the individual with increased state support to help Singaporeans with housing, healthcare, and education.

Over the years, more help has been given to the poor and disadvantaged, the pioneer generation, and certainly more than before to those in the middle-income group and the sandwich generation.

The Government has helped businesses transition to a labour-tight, productivity-driven economy, starting with the release of the Economic Strategies Committee report in 2010, with the negative political sentiment on what was perceived as an all-too-liberal foreign labour policy pressing the cause further.

The Productivity and Innovation Credit programme and the Wage Credit Scheme are examples of how the Government has tried to temper the cost of doing that.

The Fair Consideration Framework and the Progressive Wage Model (PWM), which provides a skills and wage ladder, in addition to the traditional measures of raising foreign worker levies and the tightening of dependency ratios, ensure additional foreign workers are admitted only if Singaporeans cannot be tapped on to fill job vacancies.

With the PWM being compulsory in three key sectors, Singaporeans working in them can expect a minimum wage at different stages of their career progression, and the sectors outside the regime that tap the same labour pool will have to match those conditions to keep their workers.

Given the weight of these changes, they are a policy-based political signal that the governing party has tried to find that “new formula”.

Yet, looking at the political Opposition’s agenda, there seems to be a strong theme around population and immigration issues, which all those initiatives seek to address. Anticipating this, PM Lee addressed them in his Ho Rih Hwa lecture in June, in a TV interview in July, and in his National Day Rally Speech a week ago.

HOW MANY, AND WHO, ARE IN the OPPOSITION?

Voters should be interested in how the Opposition dissects the Government’s policy responses thus far.

Overall, while many say that the PAP is trying to ride on the SG50 dividend and the memorialising of the late founding Prime MinisterLee Kuan Yew, others claim that they are not so easily swayed and will consider the policy record and suggestions from both sides.

But, they will also weigh those against the ideal of having some Opposition voice in Parliament.

If Singaporeans believe it is healthy to have some Opposition voice in Parliament; that it makes a governing party more responsive to their needs and accountable for their actions, then with seven opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) versus 79 PAP MPs in the last parliamentary session, they may feel the country can afford a few more of them.

The WP has said that the number should be 20. I wonder how Singapore voters will contrive that number when they go to the polls on Sept 11.

When we think about it, it is not just the number of Opposition MPs there might be that is important, but also who they are.

Will they take cognisance of the broader public good as they highlight the needs of social minorities; will they be rigorous in their analysis of important policy issues; can they hold to what they say, and do and respect the authority of the House; will they be focused on problem solving and not political grandstanding?

This question applies equally to the PAP politicians.

What the PAP will be most concerned about is whether more Opposition voices come at the expense of candidates it has lined up to form the corps of the fourth generation of Cabinet ministers.

The biggest negative for Singapore, however, is if GE2015 is remembered for how politicians try to make their way to Parliament by stoking a wave of xenophobia as they make their claims about wanting an inclusive, compassionate and dynamic society. Let us avoid that at all cost.

About the author:

Dr Gillian Koh is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. This commentary first appeared in IPS Commons.

Source: www.todayonline.com

August 31, 2015