The coming presidential election reserved for Malay candidates has divided the nation with some polarised views.
Often enough, the PAP gov has been quick to accuse the alternatives as playing racial politics. But the mother of all racist policies originated and created by this gov.
Our pride from being a multi-racial society, living side by side, co-existing happily is all but a facade that this gov would want us to believe.
Its brand of politics is never about empowering the people but rather to divide us against each other.
How else would we explain this?
1. The existence of SAP schools where those who are not able to speak mandarin are not eligible
2. The subtle exclusion of the Malay/Muslim citizens in the Navy through its hollow reasoning of not being able to accommodate space for halal diet.
3. Its perverse reasoning that the society is not ready for a minority Prime Minister.
4. The appalling act of discrimination through its policy to deny job opportunities for those wearing the tudung.
5. We are further divided in schools through elitism and streaming of students at a young age.
The society will never be able to progress as a nation until our leaders act for us. Not against us.
He was taking a break with his colleagues at about 3.30pm on Sunday (March 26) when he saw smoke coming out from the bonnet of a nearby car.
What horrified Mr Ramzie Ramzan, 38, an audio and visual technician with Republic Polytechnic (RP), was a couple with their young daughter, believed to be about six or seven years old, inside the car, which was on Woodlands Avenue 9.
“We ran towards the car, shouting for the family to get out in case the car caught fire or worse, exploded,” he told The New Paper.
Thanks to Mr Ramzie and his colleagues’ quick reactions, the family got out of the car just moments before the engine burst into flames.
By the time Mr Ramzie and his colleagues got to the car, the fire had grown to about the height of the car.
“We then rushed back to the RP control room to grab a few fire extinguishers because we needed to control the fire as it was a busy road.
“It was scary, definitely, but our main concern was ensuring nothing worse happened because it was a busy street with much traffic,” he said.
“It was just a basic instinct. As a father of three, I was just concerned for others and just a spontaneous reaction to help,” he said.
So much nonsense is being spouted about the Presidency that you have to wonder if Singaporeans have lost all of their critical faculties or are they just too busy virtue signalling.
There was widespread righteous indignation in our so-called “alternative” media over a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing’s alleged Freudian slip when he addressed Halimah Yaacob as “Madam President” rather than “Madam Speaker” in Parliament on Monday. I see that. Yes. It was a slip that gave away an early indication that our next President is going to be Madam Yaacob. Shock horror! But frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn and here’s why.
It’s a fact that this election is reserved for a Malay candidate.
It’s a fact that the PAP introduced new eligibility rules last year.
It seems likely that Mdm Halimah Yaacob will be the only Malay candidate who will be eligible given facts 1 and 2.
How many of these indignant scribblers are even minority race, obliged by law to carry an National Identity card identifying them as minority race? Whatever race you are, why bother getting worked up over the PAP’s moves to ensure that they have even more control over who gets elected President?
All checks and balances on executive power in Singapore disappeared a long time ago. How did they disappear? Historically through the usual power plays, deceit and conniving by Colonial rulers and vested outside interests. More recently because we the people, who still have the vote, did not resist. In fact most people welcomed the chance to give up their individual power to a draconian nanny state.
Get over yourselves. The PAP have unfettered power. Every branch of government and every institution has been brought firmly under the PAP’s control. There are no checks on that power and control. ( actually in recent years there was one. A man called M Ravi and he stopped the PM’s power over when to call a by-election- but he’s been fixed now)
Despite all the manufactured outrage by alternative media and keyboard warriors over the changes to the Elected Presidency, the EP was never an institution that was intended to keep Lee Kuan Yew and his son and later generations of the Lee family from power. The Elected Presidency was introduced solely to put a potential pebble in the machinery of government if an Opposition party was ever to take power in Singapore and produce a constitutional crisis to allow the PAP to take back power.
To understand what the Elected Presidency was about, everyone should watch this video of JBJ and Chiam See Tong debating with Lee Hsien Loong:
if you watch it and educate yourself as to how the role changed you will understand my view point. I simply cannot get excited over some of our brave so-called “civil society activists” slamming the recent changes to the Elected Presidency. These people are not prepared to agitate about any issues of real importance, merely where they feel the PAP have permitted them a safe space for a controlled and calibrated amount of dissent.
If Singaporeans want to see real democracy in action they can look no further than the huge protests have erupted all over the US against Trump and his executive orders. A judge, appointed by a Republican President, is prepared to stand up and place a temporary hold on Trump’s ban on Muslim immigration.
What does it matter who our President is? It is always going to be a PAP choice. Even before the new rules it was always pre -selection according to a PAP agenda and never was a free and open election.
I also cannot be bothered with the fools who get worked up about a not-so-much PAP candidate- i.e. retired long term PAP MP or civil servant. If one of these candidates were to be elected then again it would not matter. Why? The EP has no power because the EP must follow the advice of the Council of Presidential Advisors, which has recently been expanded and given more power. Should the EP ever go against that PAP group ‘s advice then he or she can be overruled by a 2/3 majority vote in parliament. The PAP always has, always had and probably always will have that 2/3 majority required to veto any President.
And why should I get excited over the EP when last election not one of the four campaigned on the actual unconstitutionality of the role? How it is a breach of parliamentary sovereignty. Did even one candidate ever say , “I’m just a ceremonial figurehead so long as the PAP have that 2/3 majority.”
How did all these virtuous bloggers and scribblers and activists follow up the wins of GE 2011?- by making sure the unified message to get 1/3 of opposition seats in Parliament was sabotaged. The result is a PAP majority and veto.
Get over it. You chose to put your lives and every aspect of life in Singapore into the hands of one political party. Ownself fury about ownself choice. Uniquely Singaporean!
A dinner in memory of the first opposition member to be elected to parliament, Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam (JBJ), was held yesterday evening (27 Nov) at Ban Heng Restaurant in Harbourfront Centre.
The event organised by friends and well-wishers of the Reform Party was attended by several prominent members of the opposition and the civil society.
One of the keynote speakers for the evening was human rights advocate, M Ravi. Mr Ravi said in his speech that JBJ was the inspiration to a whole generation of Singaporeans including Mr Low Thia Khiang, , Mr Vincent Wijeysingha, Dr Chee Soon Juan and Ms Teo Soh Lung.
In his speech, Mr Ravi further claimed that JBJ was initially an admirer of Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, and that he later turned a arch-nemesis of Lee due to his lack of regards for workers’ rights.
“In fact, he was initially an admirer of Lee Kuan Yew, who started out as a lawyer for labour claims and workers. What motivated him to join and revive the Worker’s Party was his observation that the Government was moving further and further away from giving and supporting the workers and their claims. And the erosion of basic rights of workers and society at large.” – M Ravi
Mr Ravi also described JBJ a man of true principle, grit and determination who truly believed that it was the duty of an opposition MP to check, question and hold the government to account. He reminded the audience that the powers that be didn’t like this and went out of their their way to destroy JBJ, even going to the extent of mocking him for raising issues such as human rights and freedom.
