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Tag: WP

  • Daniel Goh: NCMP Is Form Of National Service, A Privilege

    Daniel Goh: NCMP Is Form Of National Service, A Privilege

    I was first notified of the NCMP motion passing when a good friend texted me, while I was washing dishes after dinner, “congratulations duckweed Goh!” I had a good laugh, though this is serious business through and through. Thank you all for the messages since, sorry I have not been able to reply (been busy whole night Skyp-ing with an academic conference happening in Ottawa). There are some of you who would like me to take up the NCMP seat, and then some of you who don’t want me to, on principle and in response to what you see as ugly ruling party behaviour (vector lah, don’t take it to heart). I’ll be doing the former and this is my main reason for the decision.

    Mr Low is right: NCMPs are essentially duckweeds. He is using a Chinese flower metaphor in a very natural way, the significance and nuances of which many of us, Anglophones, don’t understand. Very crudely, it means NCMPs are like pretty flowers that sink no roots, floating about and contradicting the values of harmony and community. Objectively, this is true in the long run, and I am with the WP MPs and the party opposing the NCMP scheme. But for me, personally, at this point in my life, and as I see it, at this point in Singapore’s history, the principle of national service trumps the political principle of opposing the NCMP scheme. If my country sees fit that I contribute as duckweed, then it is my honour to be duckweed Goh. It is no insult; it is a privilege.

    In any case, as a good man emailed me to tell me, for Anglophones such as us, duckweeds are not altogether negative, as they are seen as resilient and prolific plants valued as livestock feed, for water purification and for alternative biofuel. That is, to feed, to clarify and to drive the greater good in our shared commons. And so I hope and will strive, wish me Godspeed.

     

    Source: Daniel Goh 吴佩松

  • PAP-Proposed Amendment To NCMP Bill Tabled By WP Passed, WP Abstained From Voting

    PAP-Proposed Amendment To NCMP Bill Tabled By WP Passed, WP Abstained From Voting

    Parliament yesterday approved a motion tabled by the Workers’ Party (WP) to transfer its Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat offered to losing Punggol East candidate Lee Li Lian to Associate Professor Daniel Goh — but not before a heated debate, lasting almost two hours, and with amendments made to the original motion by the Government Whip and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing.

    A clause was inserted to the motion to state that Parliament “regrets that Ms Lee Li Lian, having stood as a Workers’ Party candidate and received the highest vote share among all losing opposition candidates, has now decided to give up her NCMP seat to another candidate from her party with a lower vote share, contrary to the expressed will of the voters. And that the WP supports this political manoeuvre to take full advantage of the NCMP seat, even as its secretary-general criticises NCMPs as just duckweed on the water of the pond”.

    The amended motion was passed by Parliament, despite the objections to the additional clause by the eight WP MPs — including its two incumbent NCMPs Mr Leon Perera and Mr Dennis Tan. All the WP MPs abstained from the final vote on the amended motion.

    During the debate on the motion, the PAP and the WP locked horns on the spirit of the NCMP scheme and had strong words for each other.

    The PAP MPs — Mr Chan, Punggol East MP Charles Chong and Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah — charged that the WP was trying to game the system despite openly criticising the NCMP scheme. They also took aim at WP chief Low Thia Khiang’s comments on Wednesday — in response to changes to the NCMP scheme — where he likened an NCMP to “duckweed” as he or she does not have roots in a constituency, unlike an elected MP.

    In response, Mr Low — who was joined in the debate by Mr Perera, Hougang MP Png Eng Huat and Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim — called the ruling party a “hypocrite” for downplaying fundamental differences between elected MPs and NCMPs.

    In proposing the amendment, Mr Chan said the motion “must reflect the truth”. “My party (PAP) will support the filling of the last NCMP seat according to the rules … We have recognised that the WP has continued to criticise the system, but yet deliberately made use of it to the hilt for their political advantage,” Mr Chan said.

    Referring to comments made by Ms Lee in turning down the NCMP seat — Ms Lee had said she wanted to give this chance to her WP colleagues — Mr Chan said: “The honour and privilege to join this House is for service to our nation. It is not for us to showcase ourselves. It is not for us to showcase our party talents. If we do that, we come in with the wrong end in mind.”

    Mr Chong, who edged Ms Lee out in last September’s polls, called for a review of the NCMP scheme to ensure that it is not abused. It is not intended for opposition parties to “pick and choose” which best losers to enter Parliament, he said.

    Objecting to the amendment tabled by Mr Chan, Mr Low said there is “no basis” to say the motion was a political manoeuvre. “It is provided under the law that since Lee Li Lian has not taken up the seat, Parliament can decide to fill the seat, and I have moved the motion to allow Parliament to decide.”

    All four WP MPs who spoke pointed out that Parliament had moved to fill a vacancy left by WP candidate M P D Nair back in 1984. The seat, which was offered to Mr Tan Chee Kien of the Singapore United Front, was ultimately left vacant after Mr Tan also turned it down.

    While the party remains opposed to the NCMP scheme in principle, said Mr Low, it recognises that having one more seat in Parliament can contribute to the debate and “possibly better policy outcomes”. “There is no contradiction, make no mistake about it. That is the spirit of the WP in wanting to work the system by respecting the law,” he said.

    Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan said he was surprised by the PAP’s “tactically shrewd” move to let the WP fill the NCMP seat. “What they have done … is they facilitated WP having its complement of three NCMP seats, but they also took the opportunity to show up the WP for their inconsistent stance on and instrumental use of the NCMP scheme,” he said, adding that the WP would be shooting themselves in the foot if they voted against the amended motion.

    National University of Singapore political scientist Bilveer Singh noted that historically, the WP has in principle objected to the scheme and yet, it has produced the most number of NCMPs. The amendment sought by the PAP was “to signal to the public that the WP is not upfront on the issue”. However, Associate Professor Singh doubted that the matter will be a major dent on the WP. “Eventually what matters is what the three NCMPs of the WP do in Parliament … as the WP’s pouring of cold water on the scheme is a more-than-30-years-old story,” he said.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

     

  • Walid J. Abdullah: Singapore Must Foster A Culture Of Intolerance Towards Intolerance

    Walid J. Abdullah: Singapore Must Foster A Culture Of Intolerance Towards Intolerance

    Of the recent speeches by our politicians, two in particular stood out for me.

    First was the one given by Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, in which he said Singaporeans must be tolerant, and the only thing we should be intolerant towards is intolerance.

    This is most definitely a welcomed speech; the idea of accepting and tolerating different viewpoints is wonderful. (of course, intolerance needs to be defined properly first.)

    In this spirit, i hope more politically diverse opinions will be tolerated. I hope the media will give more coverage to different viewpoints. I hope serious discussions will take place on important issues: for example, the discourse on terrorism has been heavily skewed towards religious ideologies. While religious ideology is undoubtedly a factor, almost every major and serious research on terrorism states that other factors (foreign policy, socio-political conditions, loss of trust in authority etc) matter in radicalization too. Therefore, we must be tolerant of different viewpoints and discuss these issues openly and honestly. I further hope those with different standpoints will be met with reasoned argumentation, rather than the full force of the law.

    I truly hope, that we are indeed intolerant towards intolerance; whether it is religious or political.

    The second was by WP’s Leon Perrera, where he argued for a culture of diversity of opinions. Again, this would be a fantastic thing to have in our society. I hope WP will put its money where its mouth is: in the last parliament, there were occasions in which WP refused to take a stand on some issues or just ignored discourses that were going on in society, perhaps to not offend anyone and reach out to the median voter. I fail to see how keeping silent in important moments contributes to creating this culture.

    Hopefully, WP will truly exemplify the culture of diversity, not only by taking a stance on important matters, but by allowing its own members to take different positions on issues.

    If one is familiar with parliamentary speeches throughout the world, one would notice that they are often filled with grandiose plans and bombastic words, but unfortunately, with little outcome. One can only hope, that is not the case with these two promising speeches.

     

    Source: Walid J. Abdullah

  • Former WP Member: Pritam Singh A Clown For Suggesting That MINDEF Also Charge For Parking

    Former WP Member: Pritam Singh A Clown For Suggesting That MINDEF Also Charge For Parking

    Another clown from the WP side. Made such comparison without thinking.

    By making NSMen to pay for parking space in camps is totally a bad idea. Firstly, most camps do have parking lots reserved for NSMen to park their vehicles during their call-ups. Do Mr Pritam Singh or WP do their call-ups before? Army camps are mostly situated away from any sights of residential or industrial areas. If many NSMen have to park their vehicles hundreds of metres away from the camps, they may jammed up the nearby parking spaces.

    Secondly, have he or WP made a comparison of the number of vehicle parked in camps and schools?
    In schools, the staffs that parked their vehicles are just a small fraction of estimated 20 vehicles. However in camps provided when thereare call-ups the number of vehicles parked could be more than 50 to 100 vehicles. MOST of the NSMen pooled their vehicles to reach to the camps.

    Now more and more clowns are talking points without having considerations to the People. Mr Pritam Singh and WP is now showing that they are just incapable in having “debates” for the People. Next GE, WP Aljunied may fall completely with such clowns voted in.

    Mohamed Fazli bin Talip

     

    Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

  • AHPETC Banded Red In Two Categories In MND Report

    AHPETC Banded Red In Two Categories In MND Report

    The Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) has been banded “red” again in two areas in the latest Town Council Management report, the Ministry of National Development (MND) said on Tuesday (Dec 1).

    The annual Town Council Management Report assesses the town councils on five indicators – estate cleanliness, estate maintenance, lift performance, service and conservancy charges (S&CC) arrears management and corporate governance. The town councils’ performance is rated in three bands – green, amber or red.

    In the latest report, MND said most town councils performed well last year, although some “could do better” in the area of estate maintenance, S&CC arrears management and corporate governance.

    Ten town councils scored “amber” in the estate maintenance category. The obstruction of common areas was the topmost observation, accounting for 36 per cent of total estate maintenance observations, the report said. Such obstructions are fire hazards and can hamper evacuation efforts during emergencies.

    AHPETC BANDED “RED” IN TWO CATEGORIES

    This is the third successive report that the Workers’ Party-led Town Council has been banded “red” for corporate governance, and the fourth successive report it has been banded “red” for S&CC arrears management.

    AHPETC was banded “red” under S&CC arrears management for failing to submit its monthly S&CC arrears report for the assessment period, “even though it was reminded to do so and extensions of deadline were granted”, MND said, adding that most of the Town Council’s S&CC arrears reports since May 2013 are still outstanding.

    Under corporate governance, the Town Council was banded “red” due to three legal and regulatory contraventions as indicated by its own auditor’s findings and its self-declared corporate governance checklist, the report said.

    In the FY2013 report, the Town Council was banded “red” as it had not shown that it had rectified the various legal and regulatory contraventions for FY2011 and FY2012, and had not submitted its FY2013 audited financial statements, auditor’s report, auditor’s management letter and self-declared corporate governance checklist.

    It subsequently made the required submissions for FY2013 on Jun 30 this year, which showed four regulatory contraventions. AHPETC would still have been banded “red” in the FY2013 report if it had submitted the required documents on time and therefore no revision of this rating was needed, the ministry said.

    Chua Chu Kang Town Council and Potong Pasir Town Council were also banded “amber” for S&CC arrears management.

    Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council received an “amber” rating for corporate governance on a “technicality”, the report said. The Town Council had incorrectly classified its residential rooftop antenna Temporary Occupation License income under its commercial property fund for FY2014, due to a data migration error when it moved to a new computer system. It has since made the necessary rectifications.

    TOWN COUNCIL WORKING TO ADDRESS ISSUES: PRITAM SINGH

    Responding to the report, chairman of the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council Pritam Singh said in a press release on Tuesday that the “red bandings for S&CC arrears management and corporate governance are issues that the Town Council has been working to address”.

    Mr Singh added that a new Town Council management software system has been approved to tackle the issues.

    “Despite incremental enhancements made to the existing IT system over the last few years, there remain inherent limitations which continue to contribute to some management and reporting challenges associated with S&CC arrears management and corporate governance,” he said. “The new system is expected to be operational within 18 to 24 months from the award of tender.”

    The chairman also highlighted that they had appointed external consultants in March 2015 to advise the Town Council on compliance matters to address the Auditor-General’s Office’s (AGO) findings published in February 2015.

    “In light of the recent Court of Appeal judgment, the TC will appoint an accountant(s) as mandated by the Court. The TC will work with the accountant, MND and HDB to facilitate the transfer of the outstanding government grants and make the mandatory sinking fund transfers,” said Mr Singh.

    CHUA CHU KANG AND POTONG PASIR TOWN COUNCILS RESPOND TO “AMBER” BAND

    In response to the report on Tuesday, the Chua Chu Kang and Potong Pasir town councils said they have stepped up efforts to improve the “amber” rating they both received under S&CC arrears management and estate maintenance.

    “This is the first time Chua Chu Kang Town Council has received an ‘amber’ rating for arrears management,” said MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC, Mr Zaqy Mohamad.

    He noted that an increase in appeals by residents to delay payment or lower their arrears instalments caused the S&CC arrears for three months or more to increase and exceed the MND threshold “marginally”.

    He said: “Immediately, the TC stepped up its efforts with house visits and worked closely with social assistance agencies to help deserving needy cases. Families with financial difficulties who receive help are often better able to pay their arrears.”

    “By late March 2015, we were back in ‘green’, as residents affected needed time to have their cases evaluated and manage their arrears,” he added. “However, this was not in time to overturn the results during the evaluation period of Apr 1, 2014 to Mar 31, 2015. We have since been in ‘green’ status”.

    Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, MP for Potong Pasir, said his Town Council has also been “working tirelessly with our residents who have fallen in arrears with their payments of S&CC”.

    “We have contacted these residents and are working closely with them to deal with their arrears,” he said. “Often times, we have taken into account their financial circumstances and have arranged a scheme for them to make payment of their S&CC in instalments. This is done on a case-by-case basis.”

    He added: “We are pleased to announce that we have made good headway in the past six months and our S&CC arrears have improved. Our Town Council will continue to work on further reducing our S&CC arrears.”

    On estate maintenance, Mr Zaqy said Chua Chu Kang Town Council is “constantly working to improve our rating in this area”.

    He said: “More than 50 per cent of the highlighted issues in the Town Council Management Report are caused by corridor obstruction and unauthorised fixtures by residents. This will be a focus area to continue our efforts to educate residents in helping to manage corridor clutter and illegal fixtures.

    “We have also stepped up activity by our officers to proactively manage building defect issues moving forward to enhance the maintenance of our estate.”

    Mr Sitoh said that Potong Pasir Town Council is also stepping up efforts to ensure estates are in compliance with MND rules. He pointed out that Potong Pasir is a mature estate, and as such, many of the HDB blocks are “older and in need of more maintenance”.

    “We have been aggressively pursuing our Home Improvement Programme (HIP) to renew our HDB blocks and the homes of our residents,” he said. “As a result of the intensive HIP works, further defects, such as spalling concrete and damaged plaster/cracks, have emerged. These will be dealt with in due course through the HIP works.”

    Mr Sitoh added: “On the issue of obstruction and unauthorised fixtures in common areas, our Town Council property officers are in active surveillance of such issues.

    “Once observed, we will advise our residents to remove such obstruction and unauthorised fixtures. Some do so immediately, while others take a longer time to comply.  However, if residents fail to comply after a reasonable length of time, our Town Council will intervene and remove these obstruction and unauthorised fixtures by enforcement.”

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com