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Tag: Lawrence Wong

  • Lawrence Wong To Contest In Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC

    Lawrence Wong To Contest In Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC

    Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong on Saturday (Aug 1) announced that he will represent the People’s Action Party (PAP) to contest in the new Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.

    This means Mr Wong will leave his Boon Lay ward in West Coast GRC for the upcoming General Election.

    “The past four years have been wonderful for me in Boon Lay and I want to thank all the residents of Boon Lay for their friendship and also for the guidance they have given me over these past four years,” he said to reporters at a grassroots event at the Sports Park at Woodlands Avenue 1.

    In the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee’s report released last week, Marsiling-Yew Tee became a newly formed four-member GRC while West Coast GRC was downsized from a five-member GRC to a four-member one.

    “What’s important for me now is to spend time here, get to know residents, get to understand all of them, their families, their concerns and their aspirations,” Mr Wong said.

    Photo: Kenneth Lim

    Following the announcement, Sembawang MP Ong Teng Koon said he would like to contest in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC as well. “We’ve known the residents for so long, they’ve almost become friends and family … And hopefully I’ll be given a chance to stand here, to work with Minister Lawrence Wong, a very popular minister, and hopefully we can create something even better for Marsiling-Yew Tee.

    “I’m the MP for Woodgrove, Mr Hawazi Daipi is the MP for Marsiling, Alex Yam is the MP for Yew Tee, and now Minister Lawrence Wong is here, that’s as much as I know. But as you know, it’s PM’s prerogative, to deploy anyone up to the last moment, so it’s PM’s choice; it’s the party’s choice,” he added.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • The Workers’ Party: A Response To Lawrence Wong

    The Workers’ Party: A Response To Lawrence Wong

    RESPONSE TO MINISTER LAWRENCE WONG’S OPINION PIECE

    AHPETC finds Minister Lawrence Wong’s accusations in The Straits Times of 5 June 2015 surprising and puzzling.  We would like to make the following clarifications to correct the misconceptions.

    1. What the High Court recently had to decide were, mainly, legal questions i.e. whether the court had power to entertain the Ministry of National Development’s request for the court to appoint and authorise independent accountants (1) to co-sign cheques for the disbursement of the FY 14/15 and FY 15/16 $14m Town Council grants which the MND had withheld; and (2) to look into AHPETC’s past transactions.  The High Court accepted the arguments of AHPETC’s lawyers that there were no legal bases whatsoever for the MND’s request, and accordingly, threw out the government’s entire case.
    1. There was no trial and the High Court did not itself embark on a dedicated fact-finding exercise.  However, in the course of delivering the judgment, the High Court expressed views on AHPETC’s lapses but the views were based, principally, on the findings of the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) Report.
    1. A special two-day sitting of Parliament was convened to debate the AGO Report.  All Workers’ Party Members of Parliament (MPs) who are responsible for overseeing the management of the Town Council, including Secretary-General Mr Low Thia Khiang, participated in the debate to explain and clarify matters raised.
    1. Ms Sylvia Lim denies that she lied to Parliament.  Parliament has avenues such as the Committee of Privileges to ensure that MPs’ conduct meets the standards expected.
    2. Just because AHPETC did not physically transfer monies into Sinking Funds from its Operating Funds does not mean that monies are missing.  Up to Financial Year 13/14, AHPETC has done the necessary transfers.
    1. Currently, MND is withholding $14 million in grants to AHPETC.  If MND continues to withhold the grants from AHPETC that every Town Council should receive, AHPETC will not be able to fulfill its obligations to make the necessary Sinking Fund transfers.
    1. AHPETC does not understand the basis for Minister Lawrence Wong to accuse AHPETC or the Workers’ Party of “dishonesty” or “irresponsible” behaviour.
    1. All Town Councils are required to be audited, and the audit reports are presented to Parliament for public scrutiny.
    1. Whether AHPETC’s contractors are delivering services or not, and the standard of their work, is a matter that residents can assess for themselves.
    1. When Town Councils engage contractors, they are required to comply with rules on the calling of public tenders.  If any Town Council staff has committed any illegal act or corrupt practice, he / she will have to face the full consequences of the law.

    Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council spokesman
    05 June 2015

     

    Source: www.ahpetc.sg

  • School, Career Worries Among Students’ Concerns

    School, Career Worries Among Students’ Concerns

    Anxiety over their future — be it in school or at the workplace — was among the concerns raised by students during a question-and-answer session with Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong at the annual pre-university seminar today (June 2).

    More than 20 questions were raised during the hour-long session, which was attended by around 550 students from 30 pre-university institutions — polytechnics, junior colleges and the Millennia Institute.

    One student noted it is difficult to gain admission into local universities, with competition for places seemingly coming from foreign students, and sought clarity on this issue.

    In response, Mr Wong clarified that local and foreign students are on different admission tracks.

    “All the universities have a separate track to take in international students because they want to add diversity into their student population. They think it’s a good idea to allow their own students international exposure and they want that to add vibrancy into their campuses,” he said.

    Foreign students take up 10 to 20 per cent of the cohort at universities in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, and Singapore has also kept the proportion to about 15 per cent of the overall student population in each campus, he noted.

    He also assured students that the number of university places have been increasing with the establishment of additional autonomous universities here, and local students can get a place if they meet these universities’ benchmarks.

    Asked about the competition posed by foreign manpower for jobs, Mr Wong, acknowledging the concerns, noted that employers are keen on hiring Singaporean talent, but they also want to be able to hire talent from around the world.

    “If we decide to close our doors and say foreigners cannot work here, the bank will have a very simple response and say, ‘Well then, I can’t operate in Singapore and I should operate in Hong Kong instead’ or ‘I should operate in London instead’, and then all of the Singaporean jobs will be lost. This is the tension, the dilemma we will always face,” he said.

    The issue of encouraging youths to care more about the community was also raised, with one student asking how young people could be motivated to pursue jobs in sectors such as social services and sacrifice better pay elsewhere.

    In response, Mr Wong said: “What we should try to do is to make sure that if you want to take the path in the social service job, then the remuneration is a fair one, a decent one and one that will allow you or whoever it is to have a good living.”

    When a student observed that Singaporeans’ proficiency in their mother tongues appeared to be declining despite the bilingualism policy, Mr Wong said it was not only an issue of what is taught in schools, but also which languages are used at home.

    Bilingualism remains important, he said, adding that efforts to develop a strong foundation in mother tongue languages will put one in “good stead in the future”. He noted that the decline in the use of dialects is not unique to Singapore; China is facing the same issue among its youths.

    The pre-university seminar ends on Friday. This year’s programme will see students reflect on Singapore’s achievements over the past 50 years by interacting with Singaporeans from all walks of life and participating in panel discussions on their findings, among other things.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Government Looking At Legislation To Protect Name And Image Rights Of The Late Lee Kuan Yew

    Government Looking At Legislation To Protect Name And Image Rights Of The Late Lee Kuan Yew

    The Government is looking at introducing legislation to protect the name and image of the Republic’s founding Prime Minister, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, against commercial exploitation and misuse.

    Culture, Community and Youth Minister Lawrence Wong revealed this while speaking to the media at the sidelines of the National Community Engagement Programme Dialogue on Saturday (May 23).

    Mr Wong said the move comes as many members of the public have raised concerns over the misuse of Mr Lee’s name.

    Mr Wong said: “I should make it very clear that the intent is not to restrict people from coming up with their own creative ways to pay their tribute to Mr Lee. Our intent is in line with public concerns.”

    Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s death on March 23 triggered an outpouring of grief in Singapore. Some also came up with creative ways to pay tribute. However, it seems not all were well-received by the public.

    Mr Wong said: “The first example that you can easily see was what happened with the company that tried to do the buns, right? So again at that time there was a lot of public reaction about how this was distasteful and it was commercially exploitative and it was probably bad and not the right thing to do.

    “There have been concerns of people, also of potentially printing T-shirts, selling them with his name and images, and figurines that can be sold for profits or commercial gain.”

    So the Culture, Community and Youth Ministry is looking at safeguards, even though there are already some similar laws in place.

    The minister said there are already existing laws to regulate the use and display of national symbols, such as the Singapore flag and anthem. This comes under the Singapore Arms and Flag and National Anthem Act, which states how Singaporeans can use the symbols to identify with the nation.

    The Act also seeks to ensure that national symbols are treated with dignity and respect. Mr Wong said one possibility is to expand the Act to include names, and his ministry is studying provisions in other countries.

    Mr Wong said: “There are similar provisions in their Act which go beyond crest, and anthem and flag. Some of the other countries, like Australia and New Zealand, cover names as well, specific names which they think ought to be accorded the status of a national symbol and ought to be protected particularly against commercial exploitation.

    “And so we are looking at these different examples. We have not decided whether we should have a separate law or whether we should expand the current SAFNA but we are looking at the possibilities now.

    “In the other countries that we have seen, the provisions are there and then they would gazette the names in a separate gazette so that they can add on if and when the need arises, so they have a list of names which they protect but the provisions are the same, so we can do similarly.”

    Mr Wong said the legislation will not restrict the public from coming up with creative expressions of tribute to Mr Lee.

    He said: “There is a very clear distinction between somebody who does it for charitable reasons – somebody who does it to pay tribute without making a profit out of it – and an individual or company that’s doing this specifically for profit, for commercial gains. I think there is clear distinction and I think it is not difficult to distinguish between the two.”

    Mr Wong said it is not a total ban, but a restriction where approval is required. “So there can be variations of it. We are still studying it, so there can be ways where you could put safeguards,” he added.

    Mr Wong said the aim is to ensure Mr Lee’s name and image are used in appropriate ways.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com