Tag: GE2015

Singaporeans First Party To Campaign On Immigration Issues

Singaporeans First (SingFirst), the newest opposition party on the block, kicked off its preparations for the General Election yesterday (Aug 28) with the launch of its slogan Restore Our Nation, singling out immigration as the main issue its candidates will address. SingFirst secretary-general Tan Jee Say, who is set to stand in parliamentary elections for the second time, said the party is advocating for policies that place Singaporeans at the forefront.

“This country has been divided by Government policy on immigration, which has pitted citizens against employers and foreigners. They have taken away our jobs, and places in schools and businesses,” Mr Tan said at a media conference held at the party’s office on Tras Street, where he also introduced five of the 10 candidates the party plans to field in next month’s polls. “We want to take back our country, take back our pride and take back our place in society,” he added.

Commenting on recent Government policies to strengthen the Singaporean core in workplaces, such as the Fair Consideration Framework, Mr Tan said requiring companies to post job advertisements in the specified jobs bank is not enough.

Saying that there are loopholes companies can exploit and that many companies may still opt to hire foreigners, he added: “At the end of the day, it is still the HR department that decides.”

SingFirst was formed last year. All five candidates introduced yesterday, including Mr Tan, are Master’s degree holders who studied overseas and have worked at multinational companies here.

Apart from Mr Tan, 61, the four are election rookies, including SingFirst co-founder and communications consultant Fahmi Rais, 48.

Questioned on his party’s seemingly anti-immigration stand when he and his candidates have appeared not to be held back by the existing policies, Mr Tan said that SingFirst is not against competition from foreigners, but wants Singaporeans to be given fair opportunities.

SingFirst plans to field two teams in the five-member Tanjong Pagar and Jurong Group Representation Constituencies (GRC). Mr Tan did not specify where the five candidates introduced will be standing, adding that the final line-up will be revealed only on Nomination Day.

The other three candidates introduced yesterday are market risk manager Chirag Desai, 38; IT consultant Wong Chee Wai, 44; and sales executive Melvyn Chiu, 36. In 2011, Mr Tan contested in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC when he was a member of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) team, making a splash with his credentials as a former high-flying civil servant — he was Principal Private Secretary to then-Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong for five years. His team lost to the People’s Action Party (PAP) team with 39.92 per cent of the votes. That same year, he ran for president, winning 25.04 per cent of the votes.

Asked what he thinks of the party’s chances in Tanjong Pagar GRC,

Mr Tan noted that as the constituency — a PAP stronghold long anchored by the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew — has not been contested for more than 20 years, it is difficult to gauge the level of support for the ruling party.

When asked about his party’s ability to manage a town council, he dismissed it as a “non-issue”, adding that the party will ensure a proper handover from the incumbents and scrutiny of accounts, if they are elected.

SingFirst chairman Ang Yong Guan will introduce the other five candidates today.

Source: www.todayonline.com

August 29, 2015
Kahar Hassan Was Hardworking But PAP Needed Change

Elaborating on why ex-People’s Action Party (PAP) Kaki Bukit branch chairman Kahar Hassan (picture) was asked to step down last month, former PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng said yesterday the party felt that it needed a change, even though Mr Kahar had been a “very hardworking person”.

Mr Lim also thanked Mr Kahar — who was dropped from the PAP slate totally — for his work in Kaki Bukit and for letting residents know that the party has “not forgotten about them”.

Speaking at a press conference to unveil the PAP’s team for Aljunied Group Representation Constituency, Mr Lim said the PAP has deployed their potential candidates on the ground much earlier compared with previous elections. This gave the party the opportunity to assess how the potential candidates relate with people and different stakeholders in the constituency, he added.

“In other words, it allows us what you might say in management jargon, a 360-degree assessment of the candidates. This time round, we have been more comprehensive in the assessment of our candidates and whether they fit in the constituency where we intend to field them,” he said.

“So, the party decided that they needed a change in Kaki Bukit although Kahar Hassan had been a very hardworking person. We should make a change if we could find somebody that is a better fit.” Mr Lim said the party was “very glad” that they were able to find a “better fit” in Mr Shamsul Kamar, the former head of Student Management at Spectra Secondary School.

Mr Kahar, 46, was asked to step down late last month, after working the ground for the past 16 months.

The business development director of an engineering company could not respond to media queries by press time. Mr Kahar announced his departure on Facebook on July 31 and in his earlier comments to TODAY, he said it was a party decision and his thoughts went out to the residents.

Source: www.todayonline.com

August 29, 2015
PAP’s Ang Mo Kio GRC Activists Tell Coffeeshop Owners To Chase Away Reform Party Team
Two coffeeshops in Ang Mo Kio Blk 338 and Blk 340 along Avenue 1 chased away the contesting Opposition Party Reform Party from making use of their empty compound to hold a press conference despite having agreed so in the first place.

Both coffeeshop owners did not explain why but simply asked the Reform Party to “go somewhere else”. After being chased away twice, the Reform Party team humbly conducted their press conference on two small tables located outside a shop house. According to an eyewitness on site, a few PAP activists were spotted in the vicinity and one of them was seen complaining to the coffeeshops on both occasions.

The Reform Party team for Ang Mo Kio GRC announced their six candidates today to take on the Prime Minister’s ward. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be facing three familiar faces of which he have faced them in the Singapore court and HongLim Park: Activist Gilbet Goh, CPF blogger Roy Ngerng and Lawyer M Ravi.

The 6 Reform Party candidates featured are:
1. Roy Ngerng, Former Financial-aid officer and current CPF writer
2. Gilbert Goh, Councillor and Founder of volunteer organisation Transitioning
3. Osman Sulaiman, Director of Interior Design Company
4. M Ravi, Lawyer
5. Jesse Loo, Banker
6. Siva Chandran, former RC manager of Teck Ghee (Ang Mo Kio) and Video Editor
The Ang Mo Kio GRC constituency will be a major battle because of the Prime Minister’s position. If Lee Hsien Loong is voted out, it will signify the beginning of the fall of the ruling People’s Action Party and its major policies like 6.9 million population proposal, public transport policies and its plan to increase retirement age.

Key issues in Ang Mo Kio GRC will be national issues concerning CPF and 6.9 million population. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s performance in this election will be a report card of how popular his policies are among Singaporeans.

Source: http://statestimesreview.com
August 29, 2015
Damanhuri Abas Dan Bryan Lim Akan Bertanding Untuk SDP Di Philihanraya Nanti

Parti Demokratik Singapura (SDP) memperkenalkan dua lagi calon yang akan bertanding pada Pilihan Raya Umum yang akan datang.

Mereka ialah Encik Damanhuri Abas, mantan pengarah Kolej Islam Muhammadiyah dan Encik Bryan Lim, seorang pengurus hospital.

Encik Damanhuri, 45 tahun, bapa kepada lima orang anak, sudah bergiat aktif dalam pertubuhan-pertubuhan Melayu/Islam selama 20 tahun, dan melakukan kerja-kerja sukarela di masjid selama 10 tahun.

Menurut Encik Damanhuri, beliau berupaya untuk menyampaikan apa yang menjadi keprihatinan masyarakat Melayu/Islam khususnya dan rakyat Singapura secara amnya.

“Saya berharap dengan penglibatan saya dalam pilihan raya kali ini, saya dapat menyumbang kepada pembangunan orang Melayu di Singapura, dengan pengalaman yang saya bawa sepanjang 20 tahun, melibatkan diri secara langsung di masjid, persatuan-persatuan Islam, dan juga di sekolah-sekolah dalam pelbagai bidang yang saya terlibat, latihan bengkel dan sebagainya.

“Jadi saya benar-benar berharap bahawa saya dapat beri sumbangan kepada pembangunan masyarakat Melayu di singapura,” ujar Encik Damanhuri.

Encik Lim pula menerajui unit operasi SDP yang menjalankan kegiatan seperti bertemu para penduduk. Beliau pernah bertanding di GRC Hong Kah pada tahun 2001.

SDP telah memperkenalkan enam calon sejak beberapa hari lalu. Antaranya termasuk pegawai pentadbiran jagaan kesihatan Chong Wai Fung, pengurus akaun Khung Wai Yeen, pengarah penjualan Jaslyn Go, profesor perubatan Paul Tambyah, juruaudit Sidek Mallek dan pensyarah psikologi John Tan.

Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

August 29, 2015
HDB Wants To Increase My Rental By 37% After Elections End?

Dear Editors,

In a sign of skyrocketing costs of living and business after this upcoming polling day, HDB had sent us a letter right after the election was announced warning us that they intend to raise the rental of our HDB rental unit by a whooping mind-boggling 37%! That’s more than one-third of our current rental and more than $700 per month! But that’s not all. It seems like the letter (see the attached) is a standard letter that is sent to all HDB commercial and industrial property tenants, so we are not the only tenant who is affected.

The PAP ministers had repeatedly claimed they wanted to help Singaporean businesses and workers thrive in Singapore. However, their actions speak louder than words. By increasing our rental by 37% and more than $700 per month, we will have no choice but to cut our workers’ salaries, retrench one of them, or increase our product prices to offset our rental increase so that we can stay in business and pay HDB the higher rental.

We are a small setup and we hire strictly Singaporeans only, so our labour costs are already much higher than our competitors who hire foreigners. We value our workers and we do not wish to put them out of job. But if you are in our shoes, faced with a worsening economy, increasing competition, declining business and skyrocketing rental, you will also have no choice but to take one of the above-mentioned courses of action or go out of business. Increasing our product prices will make our products less competitive and result in lower sales, so it is not an option. Cutting our workers’ salaries will lower their morale and they may quit in no time. Retrenching one of our workers is therefore the only option and the remaining workers will just have to share some of the additional workload. This is not an ideal situation but what else can anyone in our shoes do when forced by HDB to cough out more money for them?

As the largest landlord in Singapore, the PAP government, be it HDB, CapitalMall, Temasek Holdings or otherwise, wields the sole power to set our costs of living and business, and by extension, our quality of life. We elected them and pay them multi-million dollar salaries to work and fight for a better standard of life for us, not to make life miserable and worse off for us. As Mr Low Thia Khiang rightly pointed out, we are the owners of this country instead of the government. Why do we have to keep paying HDB, CapitalMall, Temasek Holdings etc. more and more to use our own land to do business or live?

SG50 is not working out well for us so far, so we cannot imagine how much worse SG100 will be.

Mai Kee Chiu
A.S.S. Contributor

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

August 28, 2015