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Tag: K Shanmugam

  • K Shanmugam: MHA Will Review Adequacy Of Legislation Against Abuse Of Civil Service Officers

    K Shanmugam: MHA Will Review Adequacy Of Legislation Against Abuse Of Civil Service Officers

    CPL Ammy of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) was physically attacked while doing her duty.

    In May, she and her partner responded to a taxi driver who reported about his hostile passengers.

    At the scene, CPL Ammy asked one of the passengers, Albin Lim for his particulars. Lim grabbed and pushed her to the ground. He then kicked her lower back. CPL Ammy suffered a blackout and collapsed.

    Lim’s abusive conduct was terrible on several levels. He attacked a lady. He attacked an officer in uniform, doing her duty.

    He has been sentenced to 10 weeks jail for this. I have asked the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to relook at the legislation, to consider whether this is adequate. I have said to MHA that anyone who attacks a uniformed officer should learn a lesson, which he will never forget; and it should be enough of a deterrence to others.

    CPL Ammy is not the only Home Team officer who has suffered physical and verbal abuse when on duty. Last year, 344 cases were reported – almost one case per day! In the first 8 months of this year alone, there were 328 cases of abuse of Home Team officers.

    In our current heightened security climate, the men and women of the Home Team work tirelessly daily to protect Singapore. They need our full support and cooperation.

     

    Source: K Shanmugam Sc

  • REACH Cancels Public Forum, Wrongly Informs That Dr Tan Cheng Bock Did Not Register

    REACH Cancels Public Forum, Wrongly Informs That Dr Tan Cheng Bock Did Not Register

    Government agency, REACH, was to organise an public forum on the Presidential Election. Presidential hopeful, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, successfully registered to participate in the forum.

    I was looking forward to attending a REACH public forum on the Presidential Election set for today. Minister Shanmugam was due to speak and I wanted to hear what he had to say. I registered my attendance last week and was happy to receive a confirmation for my attendance. I was planning to attend with a few friends and family.

    So Dr Tan was understandably disappointed when the forum was eventually cancelled. REACH explained that the cancellation was due to poor response. The agency also indicated that there was no registration under the name of Dr Tan Cheng Bock.

    reach-explanation

    But why would someone of Dr Tan Cheng Bock’s stature lie online about registering for the event?

    Turns out, he Dr Tan wasn’t. He had in fact registered under the alias ‘Adrian Tan’, which is recorded in his NRIC. He also provided all his personal details during the registration.

    In response to REACH that I did not register?

    I did register under my alias Adrian Tan which is in my NRIC, the registration also asked for my NRIC number, mobile, address, and occupation which I supplied. My acceptance letter is attached, as well as my alias in my NRIC.

    reach-confirmation

    So what really was the reason for the cancellation of the forum? Your guess is as good as mine.

     

    Dr Who

    [Reader Contribution]

  • Lee Wei Ling: Contempt Of Court Bill Is Unfair And An Attempt To Silence Public

    Lee Wei Ling: Contempt Of Court Bill Is Unfair And An Attempt To Silence Public

    I just read CNA. The report seems to imply that I retract my entire first post of today. I only retract the part related to the comment on Mr. Tang Wee Sung. Mr. Shanmugam has informed me that even after the new law has been passed, it is not illegal to criticize a judgement or the AGC after the judgement has been delivered. Much of the proposed bill is ambiguous to a person not trained in legal matters.

    As per my current understanding, I stand by the rest of the statements I posted. The bill which will be passed in parliament tomorrow gives the government the right to comment whilst denying that to people. This is inconsistent with equality before the law and is an attempt to muzzle public opinion

    In Straits Times on 12/8/2016, it was reported that the contempt of court laws are set to be entered into the statutes.

    Minister Shanmugam stated that
    1) It gives the public a better sense of what action can unduly influence court proceedings, known as sub judice. Ironically, Sub Judice rules were set up for situation where there is laymen jury who may be naïve enough to be misled by rumours or lead by emotion rather than logic as in religious or racial issues. It was this weakness of having a jury swayed by ignorance or emotions that lead our founding PM Lee Kuan Yew, to do away with Juries in Singapore courts. If your judges are so vulnerable, then the cabinet is at fault for its choice of candidates proposed to be promoted to be judges.

    2) It provides a framework for contempt of court punishments. The maximum penalty is a fine up to $20,000 and/or jail term up to 12 months. This is very serious penalties for someone who may just want to speak out against an unfair judge and/or an unfair government. When I wrote in ST against the then penalty for Mr Tang Wee Sung, whilst I wrote out of my pity for Mr. Tang and the sense of how brutally unfair the penalty suggested by our Attorney General’s Chambers was, the letter published in Straits Time was worded with the help of Mr Shanmugam and his partner at Allen and Gledhill, Mr Lucian Wong. I would have written even if neither senior lawyers supported me, but the wording of my letter would have been very amateurish. Now being on the side of the government, Minister Shanmugam seems to see justice only from the point of view of the government and the AGC always being right.
    In fact, it is bizarre for me after what Mr. Wong and Mr. Shanmugam encouraged and supported me to do then, that Mr. Shanmugam now wants to demolish a tiny trail leading to some degree of justice for someone whom the government considers a nuisance.

    3) It provides a framework for contempt of court punishment and sets a limit on fines and prison sentences which as seen from above can be very serious.

    This has led to widespread concern amongst Singaporeans who understand the implications of this proposed law and one need only search the internet to find multiple posts stating why this bill will gag public debate on issues that are important to Singaporeans. I will not repeat what has been clearly stated in petition against this bill which was published Straits Times on 12/8/2016.

    Rather, I am amazed that there has not been more vocal protest by more Singaporeans. A phenomenon I observed this morning may provide the answer. I woke up and stepped out of my air-conditioned bedroom and immediately smelled smoked. I asked my two maids who sleep in bedrooms with their windows open whether they smelt anything smoke and they did not. I called a friend who also sleeps in air-conditioned bedroom and he too smelt smoke as he stepped out of his bedroom. Smell is a sensation that we quickly get used to and then no longer notice it if it lingers for less than an hour. Perhaps, Singaporeans have gotten used to an authoritarian government who until recently had always acted for their wellbeing, and so when another new action is taken, they do not even bother to think whether it may be against their welfare. This current government is not like previous PAP governments. I urged all Singaporeans, and all MPs and NMPs to think through what has been proposed, and also read the many commentaries on the internet.

     

    Source: Lee Wei Ling

  • K Shanmugam: We Don’t Live In Fear Of Anyone Else

    K Shanmugam: We Don’t Live In Fear Of Anyone Else

    SINGAPORE — Singapore may be small, but it is respected and successful, and “we don’t live in fear of anyone else”, says Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, in response to ‘taunts’ by an Indonesian minister.

    In a Facebook post on Saturday (July 23), Mr Shanmugam said he did not understand why “there is this constant attempt (by Indonesian ministers) to put us (Singapore) down and taunting us that we are small”.

    He said that both countries benefit from good relations over the last 50 years and have cooperated on many matters. But he noted, “every now and then, someone in Indonesia will tell us that we should know our place, a little red dot.”

    “Yes, we are a little red dot. We may be small. But we are respected and successful. And our people lead meaningful lives. And we don’t live in fear of anyone else,” Mr Shanmugam wrote.

    His remarks came after Indonesia’s Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro was quoted in Indonesian media on Tuesday saying that he was “not afraid of Singapore which is just a small country like that”.

    Mr Brodjonegoro and other Indonesian ministers this week have made several remarks about Singapore as their country attempts to recover millions stashed by Indonesian citizens overseas via a tax amnesty programme. Several Indonesian media reports have accused Singapore and its banks of coming up with a special scheme for Indonesians to leave their assets in Singapore instead of repatriating them home.

    The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) refuted these claims on Saturday.

    “Recent claims in the Indonesian media that Singapore is implementing policies to ‘thwart’ Indonesia’s tax amnesty programme are untrue. Singapore has not cut tax rates or changed any of our policies in response to Indonesia’s Tax Amnesty Programme,” said the MAS and MOF in a joint statement.

    “We subscribe to internationally agreed standards for combating money laundering and for exchange of information. If there is any case of suspected cross-border tax evasion, concerned authorities can approach Singapore – we have assisted and will continue to assist in line with the international standards,” the two agencies added.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Unjust Policies Against The Malay Muslim Community Perpetuate Misconceptions Against The Community

    Unjust Policies Against The Malay Muslim Community Perpetuate Misconceptions Against The Community

    Our law minister Shanmugam recently mentioned that Singaporeans are obliged to reach out to the Muslims to build social cohesion.

    While the government hopes to realise a society that can fully integrate in harmony, on the contrary it has unknowingly perpetuate misconceptions among Singaporeans, in particular towards the Malay/Muslims in Singapore by means of unjust policies.

    It would be better for Shanmugan to ask the government to take the lead and not passing the buck to the people and hope everything turns out fine.

    Although Singaporeans are obliged to reach out to each other, it is also the government’s responsibility to subserve social cohesion.

    A good start would be in school. Psychologist would agree that exposing children to diverse cultural practices at a young age would most probably remove prejudices and racial bigotry.

    1. Allow the tudung in school from kindergarten level – Children are naturally inquisitive. They learn and absorb much more in natural classroom settings. Exposing them to such occurrences will help these children to better understand the multi-racial society that we live in and leads to greater tolerance in future.

    2. Set up student exchange programme from the mainstream school with the Madrasah schools – We have overseas exchange programmes. So why not have it with the Madrasah schools? These students can benefit like any other overseas exchange programmes. It goes both ways. It helps both students from the mainstream and madrasah to understand our unique social settings.

    3. Remove discriminatory criteria for enrolling in SAP schools – We heard of how Malays are under represented in SAP schools. The criterion to speak Mandarin to be eligible for enrolling of one’s child, automatically exclude majority of the Malay/Muslims students to be eligible. This criterion unwittingly segregates the populace. There are students who went to SAP schools and study up to higher level without having the experience of associating themselves with other races and cultures except the one where they come from. How does that help to build social cohesion?

    4. Put an end to the unwritten policy that forbid the Malays/Muslim from entering certain restricted areas in the RSAF. We heard and read of many accounts even from the non-Malays of how they (Malays) were prevented from entering the premises just because they are of a certain race. At this level, continuing with such atrocious policies only seek to preserve the misconception the general masses have on the Muslims.

    5. Lift the ban on hijabs to be worn in uniformed groups – The narrative from the government is that allowing it will cause racial disharmony and harm social cohesion. On what basis does the Government has to support its claim? Policies that are discriminatory, when implemented must be of substantive reasoning else it runs the risk of creating ill-will between the people.

    I believe the above is a good start for the government to initiate in building greater cohesion among the people. Passing the buck to the populace is not going to help much when it actively maintain policies that prevents the society from integrating positively.

    The baton is now over to you Mr Shanmugam.

     

    Source: Khan Osman Sulaiman