Tag: PAP

Minister Of Education (Higher Education) Ong Ye Kung Has Been Dubbed As “Fake News” By Netizens

This photo was captured somewhat 18 years ago in 1999 by one Ralph A Clevenger, a professional nature and underwater photographer. According to Clevenger, the image is a composite of four different photos taken at different locations around the planet. The images were then pieced together in Photoshop.

Our Minister Ong Ye Kung who posted that same photo lied saying he’d gotten the photo “from a former colleague, who in turn got it from a rig manager working on an offshore rig at Newfoundland on 12.9.2017″. He added, “The sea was calm, sun directly overhead, and the diver managed to get a perfect shot. It shows how small we humans are compared to the creations of Mother Nature.”

On a separate but related note, in June this year, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said that news laws will be introduced to combat the “very serious” nature of fake news. The laws may involve working with online platforms to track and debunk falsehoods.

Source: Cinorom Elicebmi

September 15, 2017
Damanhuri Abas: Pemimpin-Pemimpin Melayu PAP Diam Sepi Membisu, Membolehkan Pemerintah Terus Menerus Lakukan Diskriminasi

Siakap senohong gelama ikan duri.
Bercakap bohong lama-lama mencuri.

Peribahasa yg penuh hikmah diketepikan bangsa sendiri demi menegakkan benang yg basah.

1. Jangan sekali-sekali menipu kerana ia akan menjadi tabiat buruk yg membinasakan.

2. Pemimpin Melayu PAP dulu sekarang dan selama-lamanya kini kelihatan berani menggunakan kononnya pegangan mereka kepada keadilan dan anti-perkauman dalam menyoalkan rakyat yg ingin menggunakan hak mereka bersuara dan menentang penipuan. Rakyat marah terhadap cara. Agama kita murni dan mendidik niat tidak boleh menghalalkan cara. Kenapa kita rela menggadaikan nilai kita hanya demi kepentingan puak kita. Kerana pulut santan binasa, sebab mulut badan binasa.

3. Di mana pula pemimpin-pemimpin ini, apabila pemerintahlah yg sebenarnya bertanggungjawab terhadap semua perkara yg mereka menuduh pihak lain lakukan. Kenapa mereka diam sepi membisu sahaja selama 52 tahun. Padahal pada waktu itu sesiapa yg bersuara menentang perkauman dituduh anasir oleh mereka sendiri yang kononnya akan menjejas keharmonian kaum.

4. Mereka jugalah pemimpin Melayu yg telah membolehkan pemerintah terus menerus lakukan diskriminasi sewenangnya terhadap anak-anak muda melayu kita dalam perkhidmatan negara dengan segala alasan kepentingan dan maslahat lebih besar yang masih terus berlaku. Kenapa kesetian bangsa kita dipersoalkan tidak mereka tentang dan berani membela. Malahan merekalah yg paling di hadapan mencari alasan untuk Tuan mereka walaupun mereka bersikap dan bersifat perkauman.

4. Sungguh Allah Maha Mengetahui, dolak dalik serta percobaan untuk mengelirukan rakyat akan menempelak ke muka mereka sendiri akhirnya.

Budaya bangsa memberi peringatan agar jangan mudah terpedaya dengan kata-kata dan slogan manis. Lihat pada sejarah untuk mengenal musuh kesatuan kaum melalui tindakan dan apa yang mereka telah dan masih lakukan. Memang benar peribahasa melayu, indah kabar dari rupa.

Source: Damanhuri Bin Abas

September 15, 2017
Khan Osman Sulaiman: Those Responsible For Using Racial Politics To Divide And Conquer Gets Away Scott-Free

I was upset when the gov disguise condescension as affirmative action. I was distraught that my community was taken as a pawn in a political manoeuvring. I was disappointed that I can’t partake in democracy when there’s a walkover.

Now that the charade has completed, I’m apprehensive about the ill effect of such disastrous policy just so that we can have a Malay President.

The feeble justification by the gov that we need a Malay President can be felt even by those supporting it. The PAP is trying to paint itself as a champion of minority but we know it is all nothing but just political.

At the top, we are always under-represented. And when they allow one to pass through, it is only because we have ‘progressed’. Not because we are equal in the first place.

It surely rings hollow that the Malay community desire to have a Malay President but other pressing issues are not met with the same vigour the PAP has, to install a Malay president.

What worries me the most is how the ill effect of this whole episode will affect the community. Especially my community.

Given that we are viewed as getting a back door promotion to hold high office and the non-Malays are denied to participate in the presidential election, it is natural that people would feel upset about it.

There are already fault lines to begin with before the reserved presidential system. With this whole saga playing out, it will only widen the fault lines further and scratch the delicate social fabric we have built on.

It infuriates me that the one responsible for creating this mess playing racial politics to divide and conquer gets away scott-free. These types of policies pit us against one another.

The people have to know that after 50 years of PAP rule, we are treated no more than a pawn in a game of chess. To be sacrificed to protect the queen falling from grace.

The sooner we realise this, the sooner we can change our situation.

Soon: Khan Osman Sulaiman

September 14, 2017
The Road To Presidency: Who Is ‘Madam President’ Halimah Yacob?

Madam Halimah Yacob is set to become Singapore’s first female President after she submits her nomination papers on Wednesday (Sep 13).

She is the only one of three prospective candidates to receive a certificate of eligibility for this year’s Presidential Election, which is reserved for the Malay community. Two other presidential hopefuls, Mr Mohamed Salleh Marican and Mr Farid Khan, had their applications to stand for the election turned down on Monday as both did not meet a requirement for private-sector candidates to helm companies with at least S$500 million in shareholders’ equity.

The 63-year-old will be Singapore’s first female President and the first Malay head of state in more than 47 years, breaking barriers yet again after being elected as the first female Speaker of Parliament in 2013.

The youngest of five children, Mdm Halimah was just eight years old when her father, a watchman, died. Her mother became the sole breadwinner, helping out at a food stall before dawn till late at night.

“From the age of 10, my hours outside of school were spent being my mother’s assistant: cleaning, washing, clearing tables and serving customers, and I am a better person for it,” Mdm Halimah wrote in her bio on her website. “I have experienced poverty firsthand and know how debilitating it can be as you struggle to survive, to put food on the table and also grapple with the uncertainty of the future on a daily basis. It limits your choices but also tempers your determination to succeed.”

In Secondary 2, she was nearly kicked out of Singapore Chinese Girls’ School for missing too many classes.

“That was one of the worst moments of my life. But I told myself, ‘Stop wallowing in self-pity, pick yourself up and move on,’” Mdm Halimah told Channel NewsAsia in an interview last month.

She later went on to attend Tanjong Katong Girls’ School and graduated from the University of Singapore with a law degree, subsequently obtaining her Master of Laws at the National University of Singapore.

Her career began in 1978 with the National Trades Union Congress, where she served in various roles for the next three decades, eventually rising to become the labour movement’s deputy secretary-general.

She entered politics at the urging of then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in 2001, and was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for the Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC). Ten years later, she was given the portfolio of Minister of State for the then-Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

Prior to announcing her intention to run as President last month, Mdm Halimah was serving as both Speaker of Parliament and MP for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC – both roles she has since relinquished.

Over the years, she has advocated for women’s rights, spoke up on senior citizens and mental health issues, and served as patron to associations such as Club HEAL and PPIS (Singapore Muslim Women’s Association).

The decision to run for the highest office of the land did not come easy: The mother of five told Channel NewsAsia her children initially had reservations about being in the public eye.

However, they and her husband – her university sweetheart Mohamed Abdullah – gave their support after some discussion.

Since her bid for presidency was made known, Mdm Halimah has repeatedly denied allegations that she may lack independence due to her close ties to the People’s Action Party.

“It is a gross disservice … even (among) those who continue to hold party colours, if they put the interest of people behind party colours,” she said at a press conference last month, citing times when she disagreed with the Government both as a trade unionist and as an MP.

She also said on Monday that her commitment to serve Singaporeans was not affected by the fact that there is no election. “I promise to do the best that I can to serve the people of Singapore and that doesn’t change whether there is an election or no election … My passion and commitment to serve the people of Singapore remains the same.”

Mdm Halimah has said that as President, she hopes Singaporeans will work together with her to build a stronger Singapore. One of the President’s roles is to act as a unifying force, she said.

“The process may be a reserved election but the President is for everyone, for all communities – regardless of race and religion.”

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com

September 13, 2017
Commentary: We Didn’t Like #PE2017, But We Didn’t Resist, Either

Finally, Singapore has a female president. A woman as our head of state. Her photo will hang in every government building, not as the benevolently smiling wife, but as the boss.

I would have expected myself to be bloody ecstatic.

Instead, I’m feeling a range of emotions that run the gamut from a simmering anger to an exasperated eye-roll. The pride I should have felt over what would otherwise be significant progress in the political landscape of my country has been usurped by an overwhelming sense of having been taken for a ride.

It’s been over a year since the People’s Action Party (PAP) government said that they would make changes to the Elected Presidency to include this “hiatus-triggered model”. Over a year of parliamentary speeches, of think pieces, of forums, of Facebook posts, of challenges in court, of “oops I called her Madam President” slips, of will-Halimah-run-or-not faux-suspense. Of wayang, wayang, wayang.

I know that Singapore’s democracy flawed, an illusion in many respects. I know about the gerrymandering of electoral boundaries, of the obstacles deliberately erected to trip up opponents, of the calculated coercive actions that extract costs from opposition politicians and dissidents alike.

Yet this presidential “election” has been its own sickening reveal—a demonstration of a ruling party so up itself that it would prioritise its own power and self-interest over what’s good for the country and its democratic processes. Or, and this is almost worse, a ruling party who has conflated itself with the country so much that it believes its self-interest is the country’s interest.

The implications are terrifying; if the PAP’s #1 goal is to consolidate its own power, what will (or won’t) it do?

After the optimistic-sounding “new normal” post-2011, civil and political space has been shrinking once again in Singapore. Key members of the opposition Workers’ Party are now facing lawsuits for huge amounts of money. We’ve been promised laws that will further restrict free speech and press freedom, all in the name of maintaining religious harmony and combating “fake news”. Academics, artists and activists have been pushed out of the country, either through the denial of visas and permits or of employment. The police have opened an investigation into activists, reporters and supporters—myself included—for attending a candlelight vigil for a death row inmate who was about to be hanged at Changi Prison.

But it’s not enough to just look at the PAP. We need to look at ourselves too. Despite the presidential election triggering widespread scepticism and unhappiness, there was no organised grassroots resistance. There were plenty of frustrated, cynical social media posts; it was clear that there was no shortage of intellectual discussion or criticism. Yet there was little to no on-the-ground action, no mobilisation or organising to mount greater opposition to this farce.

There are, of course, reasons for this: years of oppression, restriction and restraint, of an education purged of awareness of civil and political rights. But we can’t wait for the government to loosen the reins before we shake ourselves out of this inaction, because, as we’ve just seen, they have no intention of doing anything of the sort.

It’s going to get tough; action will not be without risks. But silence and paralysis can’t be the answer. The more we resign ourselves to our fate, the more we tell ourselves that “this is just how Singapore is”, the more we wait for that magic election where the scales will suddenly tip in the opposition’s favour, the more inevitable results like this joke election will be.

To resist further erosions of our democracy, we need to build: build awareness, build networks, build solidarity. We need to be activists for our own cause, and democracy is our own cause.

This is not to say that we should all take to the streets right now (although, if that’s what you want to do, it should be your right). But we should find ways to push ourselves and the people around us a little more—to normalise (intelligent) political discussion, to be more critical about the assumptions we make on a daily basis, to refuse to simply sit down and accept. We need to find our comfort levels, then push ourselves a little further. If you’ve been a casual observer, educate yourself more. If you’ve been passively attending events, find ways to volunteer and contribute more actively. If you’re already a member of civil society, start working on how to organise more effectively and reach more people. There is no step too small, as long as we keep taking more steps.

We can’t turn back the clock on this farcical election now. But we can do something about future erosions of our democracy—as long as we’re willing to work for it.

Source: https://spuddings.net

September 12, 2017