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Tag: SDP

  • SDP: Halimah’s Resignation Is A Deliberate, Calculated Ploy By PAP To Remove One Of Its MPs To Stand For Another Election

    SDP: Halimah’s Resignation Is A Deliberate, Calculated Ploy By PAP To Remove One Of Its MPs To Stand For Another Election

    Ms Halimah Yacob has announced that she will contest in the coming Presidential Elections and has resigned as MP for the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.

    The GRC system was introduced in 1988, the official reason being “to ensure that Singapore’s parliament would always be multiracial in composition and representation.” As such, the constitution requires that GRC teams include at least one member from a minority community.

    Given this rationale, Ms Halimah’s stepping down as MP runs counter to the essence of the GRC system both in letter and spirit. Her resignation must necessarily trigger a by-election in Marsiling-Yew Tee.

    The government determines the number of GRCs needed at any one general election necessary for fair representation. If the government can remove a minority MP at will after he/she is elected, why set the number of GRCs – and therefore the number of minority MPs – to be contested in the first place?

    In addition, the government stipulates the particular ethnic representation for a particular GRC so as to ensure that the ethnic community in that GRC is adequately and effectively represented. By removing that MP, is the government not also removing that community’s representation in Parliament?

    To be clear, Ms Halimah’s resignation is a deliberate and calculated ploy by the PAP to remove one of its MPs in order that she may stand for another election. The PAP cannot be allowed to vacate elected Parliamentary seats just to maximise its electoral chances for another office. It is an abuse of the system and makes a mockery of the general elections.

    If the PAP insists on taking such a step, it must abide by the rule of law and call for a by-election. It cannot have its cake and eat it too.

    Minister Chan Chun Sing says, however, that no by-election will be held if Ms Halimah were to resign from her seat. Such a unilateral and unconstitutional measure runs counter to the concept of the GRC system and must be challenged.

    To this end, the SDP will actively explore legal remedies to ensure that the PAP does not willy-nilly change rules or interpret the law to suit its own political ends by calling for a by-election in Marsiling-Yew Tee.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • SDP: Support For Unemployed – PAP Follows SDP’s Lead, Again

    SDP: Support For Unemployed – PAP Follows SDP’s Lead, Again

    The latest scheme adopted by the NTUC to provide professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) who are retrenched with financial assistance is a modified version of the SDP’s proposal launched 2010.

    The PAP’s idea, called Returner Work Trial, will assist employers to offer job training for the individuals who have been unemployed for at least two years. The trainee, who must be 30 and above, will receive

    • $1,500 per month from Workforce Singapore
    • $1,000 per month from the potential employer
    • a $2,500 allowance

    The payout period for trainees is limited to six months.

    Compare this to the SDP’s RESTART (Re-Employment Scheme and Temporary Assistance for the ReTrenched) programme where retrenched workers will receive:

    • 75% of last drawn salary (capped at median wage) for first six months
    • 50% for the second six months if still unemployed
    • 25% for the third six months if still unemployed

    The payout period is capped at 18 months and MOM will help match retrenched individuals with jobs. The job-seekers can only reject up to three job offers.

    Read also SDP proposes RESTART to support retrenched workers

    The NTUC’s idea is essentially an unemployment benefits scheme similar to RESTART but with the difference that under the Returner Worker Trial programme, a retrenched worker has to undergo training in order to get the financial support. There are many problems with the measure:

    One, it is restricted only to PMETs. There are many retrenched workers who are not PMETs. They also face the same hardships when laid-off.

    Two, the payout-training period lasts for only six months after which the employer has no obligation to offer the trainee a permanent job. This is especially salient as Singapore’s economy contracts with job vacancies continuing to fall.

    Three, how are retrenched workers expected to survive if they have to remain unemployed for two years before they qualify for the scheme? A study found that 50 percent of households have little or no savings due to the high cost of living to tide them through difficult times.

    In addition, why is the government using taxpayers’ money to subsidise businesses? Companies can use the scheme as a cheap source of labour. Also, will this not encourage companies to lay off workers and then profit by “training” others under the scheme at a state-subsidised rate?

    Given such loopholes, Temasek Holdings needs to state how many of its Government-linked companies are participating in the scheme and the government needs to tell the public how much these GLCs will stand to benefit from it.

    In the past, the PAP has also followed the SDP’s lead on minimum wage, universal healthcare, and employing Singaporeans first.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • SDP Urges President Tony Tan To Revoke Lucien Wong’s Appointment As AG

    SDP Urges President Tony Tan To Revoke Lucien Wong’s Appointment As AG

    The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has refused to look into Dr Lee Wei Ling’s and Lee Hsien Yang’s allegations that PM Lee Hsien Loong had abused his powers and made false statements in Parliament.

    In its reply to the SDP on 21 July 2017, the AGC said that it “does not undertake investigations into the matters alleged in the letter. The persons who are the subjects of any criminal offence alleged to have been committed may lodge a police report.”

    This is a curious, if not altogether hypocritical, stance. The AGC recently indicated that it would “look into” Mr Li Shengwu’s private Facebook posting which criticised the judicial system even though there was no mention that anyone had made a police report against Mr Li.

    Surely, if the AGC could “look into” private Facebook messages, it can look into the serious accusations of the abuse of power by the Prime Minister.

    Also, in 1997, then AG Chan Sek Keong had investigated the matter of Mr Goh Chok Tong and other ministers entering polling stations on voting day even though they were clearly not authorised to do so.

    As in the 1997 incident, the “persons who are the subjects” of the alleged offence are the people of Singapore. If AG Chan – despite his inane answer that Mr Goh and company had not committed an offence as they were inside the polling station and not waiting outside it – could investigate the incident, surely AG Lucien Wong can investigate the present matter.

    The added problem, of course, is that AG Wong was the PM’s personal lawyer prior to his appointment. This crucial fact was not disclosed to the public at the time the appointment was made.

    Given the situation, the SDP has written to President Tony Tan to revoke Mr Lucien Wong’s appointment. Under Section 22(1) of the Constitution, the President is empowered to do so.

    Mr Lucien Wong was sworn in as AG on 16 January 2017. However, the fact that Mr Wong was the PM’s personal lawyer was revealed to the public only in June 2017. The President may not have been aware of this fact or its full implications.

    The association of Mr Wong with PM Lee prior to his becoming the AG has created an acute conflict of interest which cannot be ignored. It is important that President Tan does the right thing in the interest of the people of Singapore and revoke Mr Lucien Wong’s appointment as AG.

    Any further delay or refusal to act will cause even greater erosion of confidence in our public institutions.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • Jufrie Mahmood: PAP Only Looking For Someone They Regard As Malay

    Jufrie Mahmood: PAP Only Looking For Someone They Regard As Malay

    Are they looking for a genuine Malay or someone they regard as Malay? If religion is not a factor then thousands of pinoys who have been granted citizenship are more Malay than any of the three declared candidates.

    Surely everyone knows that religious conversions are a common occurance. But has anybody ever heard of RACIAL conversion?

    Its obvious that the PAP will stop at nothing to prevent Dr Tan Cheng Bock from contesting – even if they end up making fools of themselves or paint themselves into a corner.

    One people, one nation, one Singapore? BULLSHIT!!!!

     

    Source: Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood

  • SDP Member: Marsiling Residents Indifferent To Halimah’s Presidential Candidacy, Wants By-Election

    SDP Member: Marsiling Residents Indifferent To Halimah’s Presidential Candidacy, Wants By-Election

    We continued our house visits at one of the HDB blocks in Marsiling this evening.

    We asked the residents 2 questions:

    1. The incumbent, Mdm Halimah Yacob, has indicated her interest to contest the next Presidential Election (PE). She claimed that she has received a lot of encouragement & blessings from Marsiling constituents. Are you supportive of her presidential bid?

    Most of the residents we spoke to appeared lukewarm to this question & did not seem really bothered if she would contest or not- let alone support her.

    2. If Mdm Halimah contests the next PE, she will have to resign from the PAP & vacate her parliamentary seat. Do you think a by-election should be called thereafter so that Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC residents have a chance to elect a full slate of 4 new MPs?

    All the residents we spoke to unanimously agreed that a by-election should be called.

    The residents’ sentiments are in sharp contrast to what Minister Chan Chun Sing has said in Parliament (https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/…/no-by-election-if-minor…/).

    In the last General Elections in 2015, the PAP campaigned based on the slogan: “With You, For You, For Singapore”.

    It will be interesting to see how they can continue to keep the above election promise when they deny the voters of Marsiling-Yew Tee their constitutional rights to elect new political representatives via a by-election.

     

    Source: Bryan Lim Boon Heng (林文兴)