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Tag: Halimah Yaacob

  • Yaacob Ibrahim: Halimah Is Consistent And Never Shy To Speak Her Mind, I’ve Known Her For A Long Time

    Yaacob Ibrahim: Halimah Is Consistent And Never Shy To Speak Her Mind, I’ve Known Her For A Long Time

    I’ve known Halimah for a long time. We first met in 1976 when I was an undergrad at the University of Singapore and she was in her third year of law school. We were at the University of Singapore Muslim Society orientation camp, where she was a senior shepherding the starry-eyed freshmen into the intricacies of Islam and its meaning in our lives. I was one of the freshmen.

    Though we went our separate ways after graduation (occasionally meeting at weddings of mutual friends and at community events), I would often hear stories about her commitment to the struggles of low-income families and vulnerable workers.

    If there’s one word to describe the Halimah I’ve known all these years, it is Consistency. Over the years, she has consistently shown her devotion to helping those in need, especially vulnerable women. She is never shy to speak her mind if it means getting more attention for them. Even when she became a parliamentarian in 2001 and later as Speaker of Parliament, Halimah never departed from her causes. I believe this consistency, as well as her dedication to helping our Muslim community navigate and integrate fully into the Singaporean family, will remain a lasting legacy.

    I would like to thank Halimah for all her contributions and wish her the very best in her future endeavours. As she embarks on her new journey, I hope that in the years to come, in whatever capacity she finds herself in, she is able to convince the wider community to look beyond her race, to assess her beyond her gender, and to judge her beyond her religion, into becoming fully one with Singapore and Singaporeans. #yaacobibrahim

     

    Source: Yaacob Ibrahim

  • 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

     

  • Speaker Halimah Yacob To Run For The Presidency: Sources

    Speaker Halimah Yacob To Run For The Presidency: Sources

    Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob has decided to run in this year’s presidential election (PE), according to a source close to the 62-year-old.

    Halimah, who is also a Member of Parliament for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, has communicated her decision to run in the September election to grassroots leaders and People’s Action Party (PAP) activists, the source told Yahoo News Singapore on Thursday (27 July).

    The former union leader said that she is sad to leave her constituency after having served there for the past two years, added the source.

    When Yahoo News Singapore asked Halimah to comment on her bid for the presidency, she replied, “No. I am still considering.”

    Earlier this month, Halimah told reporters that she is thinking about running for the presidency. “The elected presidency is a very heavy responsibility and an important institution in Singapore, so it’s not something that one should take lightly,” Halimah said then.

    Signs of her impending run for the presidency have been growing for months. Another source in the PAP told Yahoo News Singapore that Halimah had indicated to party members as far back as March that she was planning to run for the country’s top office.

    If Halimah were to be elected as president, Singapore’s already strong ties with the Muslim-majority countries in Southeast Asia would be further enhanced, said the second source. This year’s PE has been reserved for Malay candidates following amendments made to the Presidential Elections Act earlier this year.

    Trained as a lawyer, Halimah began a long association with the labour movement in 1978 when she joined the National Trades Union Congress as a legal officer. She eventually rose to become Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC.

    The mother of five entered politics in 2001 when she successfully ran as part of the PAP team that contested Jurong GRC. The team was re-elected twice before she crossed over to Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC for the 2015 General Election, following the redrawing of electoral boundaries.

    Along the way, she also served as Minister of State at the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Social and Family Development.

    In 2013, Halimah became Singapore’s first female Speaker of Parliament, replacing Michael Palmer after he was forced to step down over an extramarital affair.

    Prior to Halimah’s announcement, two other potential candidates, Farid Khan and Salleh Marican, had also announced their intention to run for the presidency.

    Farid, the chairman of Bourbon Offshore Asia Pacific, made the announcement at a press conference held at the Village Hotel Changi on 11 July.

    Salleh, the Second Chance Properties founder and CEO, spoke to  Yahoo News Singapore in an exclusive interview about his candidacy and Halimah as a potentially strong opponent in the election.

    Halimah has been stepping up her engagements with the unions, senior public servants and other groups in recent weeks, according to the posts on her public Facebook page.

    Halimah has been meeting union leaders and workers from the steel, petroleum, HDB, chemicals and other industries. She met with the French ambassador to Singapore, Marc Abensour, on Monday. At a dialogue organised by the Institute of Policy Studies on 17 July, she had a discussion with 50 corporate associates about improving Singapore and the lives of Singaporeans.

    In a Facebook post on her dialogue session with union leaders on Wednesday, she said, “We’re all fellow Singaporeans and regardless of race, we have stood together in solidarity for a common cause of securing a better life for our workers.

    “During our dialogue, I am reminded that it’s been almost 40 years and we shared many experiences of heartaches and celebrations of our journey together. There will be more to come as we strive to build a stronger Singapore for the next generations.”

    Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

  • M Ravi Files Constitutional Challenge Against Changes To Elected Presidency

    M Ravi Files Constitutional Challenge Against Changes To Elected Presidency

    Human rights lawyer M. Ravi yesterday filed a constitutional challenge against changes to the elected presidency made last year.

    The changes, which Parliament approved last November, tighten the qualifying criteria for candidates, and include a provision to reserve a presidential election for candidates from a racial group that has not been represented in the office for five continuous terms.

    Mr Ravi argues that the changes are unconstitutional because they deprive citizens of their right to stand for public office and discriminate on the grounds of ethnicity.

    The High Court confirmed that Mr Ravi had filed an originating summons and supporting affidavit.

    A spokesman for the Attorney-General’s Chambers told The Straits Times that “it will study the papers” filed by Mr Ravi.

    Mr Ravi, currently a non-practising lawyer, said on Facebook that he filed the application in his capacity as a private citizen.

    His is the second legal challenge related to the elected presidency mounted this month.

    On May 5, former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock filed a challenge over whether the upcoming presidential election should be a reserved one.

     

    Unlike Dr Tan, Mr Ravi challenges the entire reserved election mechanism as unconstitutional, he said on Facebook yesterday.

    He believes that the elected presidency is not consistent with Article 12(2) of the Constitution.

    It states that unless expressly authorised by the Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against Singapore citizens on the ground only of religion, race, descent or place of birth in any law, or in the appointment to any office, or employment under a public authority.

    “The right to stand for the elected presidency should be no different from the right to participate in parliamentary elections – all citizens should be equal,” he wrote.

    “The selection of the elected candidate should be based on merit, all other relevant requirements being fulfilled.”

    Mr Ravi also contends the amendments run counter to a legal principle called the basic structure doctrine, which he says applies here.

     

    Source: www.tnp.sg

     

  • Is Mr Abdul Rahim Osman The First Independent Malay Candidate Contesting Presidential Elections?

    Is Mr Abdul Rahim Osman The First Independent Malay Candidate Contesting Presidential Elections?

    Dear All Singapore Stuff,

    I live in Sengkang. I received this flyer and name card from an Independent candidate who claimed to be doing a constituency visit recently.

    As there are no by-elections at the moment, I can surmise that this Malay uncle is hoping to be an independent candidate in the September 2017 presidential election.

    I googled his name Abdul Rahim Osman and found an article (https://www.allsingaporestuff.com/article/ex-wp-ex-sda-recently-singfirs…) about him. Apparently he had considered contesting the Bukit Batok by-election last year but ultimately backed out before nomination day.

    Unfortunately for Mr Osman, while the presidential election is reserved for Malays, it still has a criteria and common Malays are unlikely to qualify. I doubt that Mr Osman who is a businessman, has a paid-up capital of at least S$100 million. He is neither the chairman of a board of directors nor the CEO of a statutory board.

    I’m surprised that Mr Osman is still not familiar with the rules of the presidential election. If it was so simple, every abang will be submitting his resume already. Live so long in SG but still don’t know how PAP’s system works?

    George (Sengkang Resident)
    A.S.S. Contributor

     

    Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com