Tag: PAP

  • Former Journalist Ismail Kassim: PAP Should Nominate Strong Minority Candidate For Upcoming Presidential Elections, Not Amend Constitution To Stifle Competition

    Former Journalist Ismail Kassim: PAP Should Nominate Strong Minority Candidate For Upcoming Presidential Elections, Not Amend Constitution To Stifle Competition

    A note to PM

    Dear Prime Minister

    By now you ought to know how divisive your proposal to amend the EP system has become. I cannot think of any issue in the last three decades that has caused such a wide and deep division within the electorate.

    The tragedy is that your aim to ensure that members from minority communities too have a chance at becoming an EP is commendable, and has its merits.

    Unfortunately, the way and timing of your move have also prompted considerable misgivings over your real motive:

    Is it really to ensure minority representation or is it to prevent an independent-minded citizen from being elected EP in 2017?

    Because of suspicions and emotions aroused over motive, it has become very difficult, even for those in the middle ground, to look at the proposed changes in a calm and objective manner.

    And any rush to implement a system that is deemed unfair may have adverse repercussions on the EP itself.

    Reserving the post for a particular minority is fundamentally flawed and goes against the grain of multiracialism and meritocracy. Likewise, the obsession with higher qualifications without giving due weight to strength of character and integrity is both elitist and undemocratic.

    Will any good arise from foisting a minority candidate in a closed race open only to members from that community on the nation; in all likelihood too, it is likely to become a farce, reminiscent of a past EP election, when a businessman was forced to compete to give the semblance of a democratic race.

    Such an EP is unlikely to command wide respect, and in all probability will be regarded as a ‘kayu’ (wood) by significant sections of the people, including members from his own community.

    There is still time for you to salvage the situation; just make sure that whatever changes that will be adopted will not come into effect in the 2017 presidential election.

    In this way, your protestations that they are not aimed against any individual will instantly become more credible.

    The minority community that has not yet produced an EP for the last 47 years will not mind waiting a little longer.

    As far as I know, they have grumbled over a lot of things such as continuing discrimination in the military and national service for their males and the unfair banning of their tudung-clad females from becoming nurses and policewomen.

    But over the EP, there is none.

    The PAP, notwithstanding its faults, is a great party with a sterling record.

    If you feel strongly, you should nominate a minority for the coming EP and use all the powers at your disposal to get him elected.

    If you think it is too risky, you can always field a stronger candidate. There is someone with impeccable credentials from your ranks who cannot become PM because of his ethnic origins. I think he will be unbeatable in any contest.

    These are the heroic options, which a party with a solid reputation to protect, should choose.

    Do not stoop so low now as to amend the Constitution out of fear, just to exclude opponents and independent-minded citizens.

    So Mr Prime Minister, I hope you will reconsider all your options, and choose one that will unite the people, and not divide them further.

    Ismail Kassim
    14th November 2016

     

    Source: Ismail Kassim

  • Yaacob Ibrahim: MUIS Kumpul $300 Dari Setiap Jemaah Singapura Untuk Tampung Kos Misi Haji

    Yaacob Ibrahim: MUIS Kumpul $300 Dari Setiap Jemaah Singapura Untuk Tampung Kos Misi Haji

    Dalam jawapan bertulisnya pula, Dr Yaacob berkata Muis mengumpulkan $300 dari setiap jemaah untuk menampung kos operasi misi Haji.

    Ini termasuk menyediakan khidmat perubatan dan kebajikan kepada para jemaah.

    Bayaran itu termasuk dalam harga pakej haji.

    Dr Yaacob menerangkan, yuran $300 yang dikumpulkan Muis dari setiap jemaah, tertera sebagai ‘Kos Perubatan dan Pentadbiran’ dalam harga pakej haji yang ditawarkan oleh pihak GSA.

    Menurutnya, yuran itu membentuk sebahagian kecil daripada harga keseluruhan pakej haji yang dibayar setiap jemaah iaitu antara $7,000 hingga $18,000.

    Bagaimanapun Dr Yaacob menambah, jumlah yuran itu sahaja tidak menampung sepenuhnya kos Muis untuk perkhidmatan perubatan dan kebajikan, iaitu sebanyak $700 bagi setiap jemaah, sejak 3 tahun lalu.

    Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

  • Workers Turning 65 Before Next July Worried

    Workers Turning 65 Before Next July Worried

    Aircraft technician Sumoo Subbiramaniam turns 65 on Saturday, but his birthday will be soured by what he sees as inevitable: SIA Engineering, his only employer for 44 years, may ask him to go.

    The timing of his birth prevents him from working for another two years, because the law that raises the re-employment age ceiling from 65 to 67 kicks in only on July 1 next year.

    SIA Engineering, when contacted, said it has been offering re-employment to 65-year-olds but “on a case-by-case basis and subject to eligibility criteria”. It declined to elaborate or say what proportion of its staff received the offer.

    More companies, however, are offering their staff re-employment after the age of 65, said the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) last month.

    The proportion has gone up from 42 per cent of unionised companies last year to 73 per cent this year.

    Official figures also show that the percentage of people aged 65 to 69 still working here has jumped in 10 years, from just 24 per cent in 2006 to more than 40 per cent last year.

    Mr Subbiramaniam, who repairs aircraft engines, said he wants to work till he is 67 years old because his two sons, aged 18 and 24, have yet to finish their tertiary education.

    Looking somewhat forlorn, he added: “I spent my whole life with this company. I’d feel so proud when I see its planes in the air. It brought me this far. Now without it, I feel lost.”

    He has sought help from the Singapore Airlines Staff Union, which has appealed to his company.

    Others in the same boat are also turning to their unions. Singapore Industrial and Services Employees’ Union general treasurer Philip Lee said, in the last few months, he has met three or four worried workers who will turn 65 before next July.

    There could be more but they may prefer to stay silent, he added.

    MPs and human resource experts are worried that some companies are ill prepared for the new re-employment law.

    NTUC deputy secretary-general Heng Chee How criticised employers who are exploiting the 10 months before the new law kicks in, to retire healthy 65-year-olds.

    Such an attitude”will only dampen their own capability and demoralise their other employees”, said Mr Heng, who is also an MP for Jalan Besar GRC. “That would not be smart for business.”

    Mr David Ang, director of corporate services at Human Capital Singapore, said the economic slowdown, especially the oil crisis, is putting a strain on companies.

    “When it comes to restructuring, older workers, who need a higher level of medical coverage, are the first to go,” he added.

    Most vulnerable are blue-collar workers because of the physically demanding work they do, said Singapore Human Resources Institute president Erman Tan.

     

    Source: The Straits Times

  • Setiap Rakyat Singapura Punyai Peranan Tolak Idea Yang Jejaskan Integrasi Kaum, Agama

    Setiap Rakyat Singapura Punyai Peranan Tolak Idea Yang Jejaskan Integrasi Kaum, Agama

    Setiap rakyat Singapura mempunyai peranan untuk menolak idea-idea yang menjejas integrasi kaum dan agama di negara ini.

    Menteri bertanggungjawab bagi Ehwal Masyarakat Islam, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim berkata demikian selepas solat Hari Raya Haji di Masjid En- Naeem di Tampines pagi tadi (12 Sep).

    Dr Yaacob menekankan segala usaha yang dilakukan selama 50 tahun untuk memupuk integrasi di Singapura adalah satu proses penting, yang harus dijaga dengan baik.

    Pentingnya menghayati ajaran Islam dalam konteks masyarakat majmuk berbilang kaum, budaya dan agama di Singapura juga menjadi teras khutbah solat Aidiladha yang disampaikan di masjid-masjid seluruh negara.

    Khutbah solat Aidiladha bertajuk “Ilmu Agama Sebagai Pembimbing Jalan” disampaikan kepada sekitar 3,500 jemaah oleh Mufti Negara Dr Mohd Fatris Bakaram di Masjid En-Naeem.

    PEMAHAMAN AGAMA DARI ASATIZAH DIIKTIRAF PENTING

    Mufti menekankan pelbagai aliran pandangan wujud di luar dan di dalam agama Islam sendiri yang berpotensi memecah belahkan masyarakat.

    Maka itu, pemahaman agama yang benar, yang diperolehi daripada asatizah yang terlatih dan diiktiraf penting bagi memastikan masyarakat menerima ajaran daripada pihak-pihak yang bertanggungjawab.

    “Atas dasar itulah, maka ulama dan guru-guru agama mapan di negara kita bersama Muis dan Pergas telah menubuhkan Sistem Pengiktirafan Asatizah atau ARS lebih daripada sepuluh tahun yang lalu. Ia bertujuan memastikan masyarakat yang ingin mendapatkan khidmat bimbingan agama untuk dapat mengenal pasti asatizah yang terlatih dan mempunyai kemahiran yang diperlukan. Diharapkan dengan sistem pengiktirafan, ARS, kewibawaan institusi pendidikan Islam di Singapura akan terpelihara daripada individu yang tidak bertanggungjawab dan ingin menyampaikan pandangan agama yang bermasalah ataupun mungkin sesat,” menurut Ustaz Dr Fatris.

    Tambah Mufti dengan pembelajaran menerusi internet begitu berleluasa sekarang, semakin penting bagi ibu bapa untuk memastikan anak-anak mereka tidak terpesong atau terpengaruh oleh fahaman-fahaman atau ideologi songsang.

    TOLAK PANDANGAN EKSKLUSIF

    Sejajar dengan itu, Menteri Bertanggungjawab bagi Ehwal Masyarakat Islam, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim menggesa rakyat agar menolak pandangan eksklusif dan sebaliknya merenung tentang integrasi agama dan kaum di Singapura.

    “Apa yang kita lakukan selama 50 tahun untuk kita berintegrasikan dengan masyarakat yang lain adalah satu proses yang penting yang harus dijaga dengan baik. Dan, mesej ini bukan saja tanggungjawab pihak Mufti atau pihak MUIS tetapi ini adalah tanggungjawab masyarakat kita. Setiap individu, setiap pemimpin ada peranan,” Dr Yaacob memberitahu BERITAMediacorp.

    “Saya rasa ini adalah satu mesej yang tepat pada masanya bagi kita untuk mengukuhkan apa yang kita telah capai selama 50 tahun dan terus bekerjasama dengan pihak-pihak tertentu untuk memperkuatkan lagi keharmonian kaum yang kita ada di Singapura,” tambah beliau.

    “Kita harus menguatkan silaturrahim antara kita sebagai orang Islam dengan mereka yang dikatakan bukan Muslim. Dengan itu kita dapat menunjukkan bahawa bagusnya kesejahteraan Singapura ini. Dan, para belia kita dapat mencontohi dengan sebaik-baiknya,” salah seorang jemaah yang bersolat di Masjid En-Naeem, Erwin Shah Effandy, memberitahu BERITAMediacorp.

    “Sebagai seorang bapa adalah penting untuk saya mendidik anak-anak ataupun sebenarnya menghantar anak saya ke asatizah yang dapat mengajar pendidikan agama yang menyeluruh,” kata seorang lagi jemaah, Suryadi Mohd Bajuri.

    Masjid En-Naeem antara 13 pusat korban yang melakukan ibadah korban kambing Australia.

    Upacara korban dijayakan dengan sumbangan tenaga lebih 100 sukarelawan.

    ANGKA KEMATIAN KAMBING TERLALU TINGGI

    Mengulas kematian 121 kambing Ireland tahun ini, Dr Yaacob berkata siasatan sedang dijalankan untuk menyediakan laporan penuh kejadian itu secepat mungkin

    “Saya rasa ini kadangkala tidak boleh dielakkan tetapi angkanya terlalu tinggi bagi kita, tetapi kita akan menyelidik untuk mendapatkan apa yang telah berlaku. Tetapi yang lebih penting ialah adakah kita boleh menjalankan ibadah korban. Tetapi, Alhamdullilah, dengan kerjasama JKMS dan MUIS dan sebagainya, kita berjaya pada hari ini, pada pagi ini, untuk kita menjalankan korban, di seluruh Singapura. Dan di sini, saya berterima kasih kepada masyarakat kita kerana kepercayaan dan kesabaran mereka,” jelas Dr Yaacob.

    Bungkusan-bungkusan daging korban juga diagihkan kepada 10 keluarga daripada golongan kurang berkemampuan.

    Source: Berita MediaCorp

  • Mohamed Jufrie Mahmood: Elected Presidency Has Become A Joke!

    Mohamed Jufrie Mahmood: Elected Presidency Has Become A Joke!

    The primary objective of having AN ELECTED PRESIDENT is to arm him with the moral authority to SAY NO to the government of the day. Millions need to be spent to achieve this objective. Then they make the whole exercise futile by clipping his powers by subjecting his custodial responsibilities and decisions to the agreement and consent of a bunch of unelected PAP errant boys. Do they think that Singaporeans are fools? This is what you again and again get from another bunch, made up of scholars who pay themselves millions and whose main objective is to retain power. To do that they have to pre-occupy themselves with moves to screw up the system.

     

    Source: Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood

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