Excerpts from The Straits Times’ article by Chua Lee Hoong titled, “High growth brings high risks, for nations too”:
FIVE years is all it will take to ruin Singapore, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said recently.
Watching the financial crisis claim one victim after another in quick succession in recent weeks, I have been wondering if Mr Lee wasn’t being too optimistic. Perhaps it won’t take five years; perhaps a couple of years might be enough!
Lest you think I have taken leave of my senses, let me hasten to add that I make that remark in light of the cataclysmic collapse of Lehman Brothers and the bizarre bankruptcy of Iceland.
[snip]
Singapore’s leaders have reminded the country time and again how important it is to have prudent ministers who will make decisions for the long-term good, and to save for a rainy day.
Let’s fess up, most of us had become tired of hearing those reminders. But the rainy day is upon us, and it would be thoroughly churlish not to say now that those injunctions were right.
All we need is an incompetent leadership with no experience in steering the economy or setting monetary policies, and we won’t need five years before we start seeing the negative effects.
[snip]
If Singapore were North Korea or Myanmar, insulated from the global turmoil, it wouldn’t be so vulnerable. But it wouldn’t be very wealthy either.
Once you’ve cast your lot with the global economy, there can be no decoupling.
But would Singaporeans have it any other way?
Probably not, which is why it is so critical how you choose your financial planner – or your political leaders.
———–
Read Ms Chua’s article in full here.
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It is the established leadership of the present Singapore government, who has adopted unrestrained neoliberal policies, who may be the greatest threat for Singapore going “belly-up”. My thoughts here: http://singaporesocialactivist.blogspot.com/2008/11/poor-examples-for-pro-establishment.html
49) Gilbert
Here’s an example of slant :)
http://www.pressrun.net/weblog/2008/07/brit-says-singapore-authoritarian-straits-times-thrilled.html
Yes, I understand. Naturally we would all like to believe, only the truth has the power to set us all free.
You know during a climbing expedition a few years back ago. Did I tell you all, I fell straight down into a ravine; just like that, it all happened in a blink of an eye.
When the others pulled me up, I knew it was bad. Because all of them avoided looking me in the eye. Ordinary, if you break a leg, its no big deal just check yourself into the ICU, but if it happens somewhere in the upper reaches of 13,000 ft. Then I say it’s as good as a death sentence.
So there I was lying down all by myself. Then darkness came over to me took a look at it and said, it’s just a sprain. He didn’t say it was just a sprain, he looked me squarely in the eyes without so much as blinking and he just stuffed a whole of ice down the boot and duct taped it real tight. I told him, I could move. Then he said, I was good to go and he didn’t have time to negotiate with me because a cold front was closing in and we had to get down as soon as possible as he didn’t want to scare the rest of the boys.
To cut a long story short; I walked down unassisted; all 30 clicks – when I reached base camp, someone looked at it and it was broken in 3 places.
Do you understand? Some things are better left unsaid.
SD (Internet Liaison Officer of the Brotherhood)
Her articles don’t even qualify for recyling into toilet paper full stop
I still can’t understand why in the world Chua Lee Hong, an EX-ISD OFFICER is the head of the political desk of the Straits Times!
AhKao:
Ya I can see your point. That is probably why i heard ST got a high staff turnover.
Maybe reporters are sick of having to write not from their heart but from a slanted angle.
We all know that the press is controlled so this is something that we can bring up to the authorities viz a viz TOC or HLP.
There are too many of such grouses in our country. It boils down to a regime that is monopolistic and staying too long in power. Such power over controls and is arrogant I guess believing that they are doing all this for the country’s own good when it is obviously not.
We have seen some changes but still a far cry from what a modern democratic country should be.
Dear all,
I am personally not too enamoured with the article. Its like a rehash of the old theme that we cannot trust anyone else to run this country than a group of experience, proven and intelligent people (read PAP).
ST is slanted towards goverment and I had yet to see any article that ask pertinent questions or provoke thoughts in the citizens towards the goverment.
A good example will be Temasek’s foray to western banks, Shin Corp and ABC Learning. We all know that these are loss making venture, so why is ST not asking questions like what is the extent of the loss? Now lets not even get GIC into the picture.
I had also written an article on Town Council funds losses. To-date, I had yet to see any article from ST on this.
It is said that we need to pay these ministers and civil servants high pay to ensure that the best are managing this country.
Well the best and brightest has led us to losses in Shin Corp, ABC Learning, various western banks and who knows how many other losses are there. Pay peanuts you get monkeys, pay millions you get inept ministers.
Imagine, that even with the best paid goverment in the world, we had no problem being the first asian nation to be in recession.
Sad that CLH did not cite other example of countries that had opted for new goverment and had exceled.
Regards
Chih-Yang
that chua was from the ISD probably explains her biasness in her articles,
openly sucking up to the oldfart and his stooges.
come to think of it, all our important institutions have some kind of grotesque
relationship with the oldfart. all made to suck up or willingly do so.
chua should bear in mind that a sucking up kind of culture will not produce
good leaders.
Mui Hoong is also a scholar but is less blatantly biased than elder sister CLH. Give and take. These people have to look after their rice bowl. We are damn good at reading between the lines and detecting which way the grass sways with the wind.
Has PAP governed Singapore well? My feel is that it is not bad but can improve. I felt that they are previously better and recently their decision making has actually regressed – which is worrying.
How I rate them
1) Honesty – Yes. This is something I feel most Singaporeans would agree. Of course … they make honest mistake too.
2) Decision/policy making. Well I feel that recent events have shown that their decision making in certain issues leave much to be desired. Moreover, it seems that some of the PAP members have lost touch with the ground. These problems seem to be compounded by public relation disasters, with ministers saying the wrong things. Execution problems are abundant and our government seems to be lacking in foresight in making decisions. Sometimes, I wonder whether the top people talk to one another.
3) More empathy would be good especially in this trying period.
4) Openess – improving but I feel the court can be more lenient.
How can PAP improve
- Try to get more feedback from the ground.
- Think ahead. LTA, increasing transport cost in this environment is not going to help business.
- Address the issues people are concerned with. For one, you need to address minister’s pay problem. Keeping quiet is not a solution.
- Accept mistakes and be honest about it. Don’t write it off. For example, if I make a mistake in my investment, I have to be honest about it and reflect on what I did wrong. If my consistently broker give me the wrong advice, change the broker.
- Last but probably the most important I feel is to address the accountability issue. Set clear performance indicators for ministers and if they do not perform, change them. Make the performance indicator public. There is only so much honest mistake citizens can accept before we think it is not honest mistake but stupid mistake.
One point I like to highlight is that when there is a problem, our government does try its best to address it. What is preferred however is to prevent the problem from happening and not address it only after it happens. The bar is set high, but so is the pay. PAP think about it. If the ministers are giving up 5 to 6 figure salary to slog day and night for the people for nominal salary, a lot of us would be more forgiving. If the transport minister says that all senior civil servants including himself in the transport ministry take public transport to work everyday, and feel that service is acceptable, we will have nothing to say.
Will opposition perform better? I don’t think so because they really lack the talent. If they bring in a lot of new people, we will not know whether these are people of integrity. However, I think people are now willing to give opposition a chance because in the long run we need a government that can be held accountable for both their glory and mistakes.
Puffyeye:
What you are talking about seems to be really governance.
I agree that good governance is important, but so is democracy. Yes we’ve heard of democracy so many times. I am not suggesting democracy as the best regime type, but since we are after all a parliamentary democracy, however nominal, let us stay the course. But while we stick to democracy, let us be faithful to it and not merely hold elections and tell the world we are democratic. Democracy has its flaws, no doubt. But at the very least, I know that under a democratic regime the same government cannot hold power forever. The element of uncertainty is lacking in singapore.
You mention accountability. But how do we make sure our leaders are accountable? At the moment, they are not ruling at our pleasure but at their own! How do we make the courts lenient? In the first place, the courts here are biased towards pap politicians. Separation of powers does not exist in Singapore. Lenient to the opposition leaders who are sued? So perhaps the courts should not bankrupt them?
I have to be honest, you sound like a true blue singaporean. Two words come to my mind: Ideological hegemony. Let us not fool ourselves. Our government is hardly anywhere near honest and accountable.
to 15) blackfeline
your comment really cracked me up. :P
well said!
hehehe.
Read now Annuities for Singaporeans, pension for ministers?
and all you citizens will now wake up shocking never did we know that all these self created elites are pumping out so much of our tax payers monies just to keep them going strong in torturing the citizens. All we thought was that the “pension scheme” in singapore is no more in practise all these years but never did we realise its still effective to these legalised robbers, and the already suffering citizens still have to continue feeding all these useless elites till they go to their graves, my god! I thought thaksin is bad enough but didn’t realise we are many more times worse than him. Singaporeans are still kept in the dark till these days.
This Shit Time writer should know that we have just seen a first black American
was elected as the next President of America in the midst of an economy that is
collapsing and probably worst than the 1930 Great Depression. And she said ..
“All we need is an incompetent leadership with no experience in steering the economy or setting monetary policies, and we won’t need five years before we start seeing the negative effect”
Barack Obama, being practically an unknown Senator and definitely no experience
in running a huge economy like America and also has zero experience in foreign policies would just bring America into history like the Roman empire before his first 100 days is up! America might as well keep Bush as President for the next 50 years! It’s the CHANGE what’s needed!
One simple change to make the court impartial or neutral – re-introduction of the jury system. There are loads of well educated Singaporeans qualified to be jurors. At least such jurors will come to a decision without any bearing of losing their rice bowls (i.e. pity the judge and the juror now).
never confuse regulation with bad leadership.
The same people who voiced about bad leadership probably wetted their pants about Dick Fuld being a visionary before Lehmann Brothers collapse.
The other thing is I didn’t recall Ms Chua saying anything about Bush being a bad leader though.
I seriously feel that we should be entering the opposition and fight the blardy “elites” in a mandarin sense. Her article just double-confirmed and suported PAP arrogance. Who do LKY want to deceive? Great Leaders are people. They are not PAP. If this people did not enter PAP, would you say they are good leader? LKY is really full of arrpgance. I’m waiting for him to be gone in 2 elections and a counter to PAP might just be there for the people. The thing with the Singapore people is they are so insular that they cannot even diagnose if there are trouble in their country. This spells trouble for the country. The PAP just do not realize that having NCMP/NMP is not the same as having elected opposition MP who can debate and vote on important matters and be trusted to vote by the people.
Furthermore I am indeed very pissed with the grassroots organisations who is always supportive of PAP. How can they support PCF? Singaporeans do not realize that PAP does not equal to Govt, Grassroots and civil service. Govt can change but all other mechanisms are to remain neurtal to serve the public good. Sttooopid Singaporeans need to be enlightened on th epolitical system soon before 2011 and WP, SPP pls do it subtly if you really want to win a GRC. Please ; )
min:
You are right, I feel that proper governance is less than satisfactory at the moment. However, that does not mean that it will remain as such in the future. Already I sense there could be some differences among the ranks in PAP. There are some that side with the elites and there are others that empathize with the commoners a bit more. Parliament now no longer just play play and I must say some of the NMP is doing good job. Change can come fast, as long as there is a willingness to change. Who would have thought that Speaker’s corner would become so crowded?
Democracy is lacking? Well for better or worse, those people in parliament are elected by us. Some after a fight, but mostly for lack of credible alternatives. But do note that as the Singapore population gets more educated, more savvy (from exposure to the internet), more disgruntled with unpopular policies and blunders … it is just a matter of time before the opposition gets more qualified candidates.
Accountability. Well we have to trust the PM on this one. Alternatively, we can choose a more independent president – that ex-NTUC man is qualified and seems like the type that will ask a lot of questions. What I know is that if given a choice, I will not vote for someone that worked in Straits Times. Noticed a trend here?
Honesty. Well there will always be black sheep. However, by and large I believe that PAP is generally honest within the confines of the law. The law may change to benefit the elites a bit more here and there, but always within the law. I once heard this story. Elite was offered a discount but say , “NO!!! I will pay full price!!!” They can be that fanatical.
Well like it or not, most if not all the big successful firms in Singapore are run by the elites. They would not have achieved that success without some talent and honesty especially for firms that compete internationally like SIA. The question now is whether we are losing that edge and why? Is it due to complacency? Do we have the right person holding key post? Are they worth their salary?
#61 min
“Puffyeye:
What you are talking about seems to be really governance.
I agree that good governance is important, but so is democracy. Yes we’ve heard of democracy so many times. I am not suggesting democracy as the best regime type, but since we are after all a parliamentary democracy, however nominal, let us stay the course. But while we stick to democracy, let us be faithful to it and not merely hold elections and tell the world we are democratic. Democracy has its flaws, no doubt. But at the very least, I know that under a democratic regime the same government cannot hold power forever. The element of uncertainty is lacking in singapore.”
Yes, we have to ask ourselves what sort of democracy we want….no, what sort of democracy Singapore needs. It seems that many of us are not even clear of that, comparing Singapore to the America’s liberal democracy, which frankly is unrealistic. Singapore is simply not ready for such a free and liberal system. That said, draconian oppression of opposition leaders and a state controlled press while threatening to limit any publication that goes against the government’s will should not be associated with democracy at all.
“I have to be honest, you sound like a true blue singaporean. Two words come to my mind: Ideological hegemony. Let us not fool ourselves. Our government is hardly anywhere near honest and accountable.”
You mentioned ‘true blue Singaporean’ and I believe this is a very important point.
The thing is that the current government knows how to appeal/hit the ‘true blue Singaporean’ where it hurts. (You may say that after all, it was the government who moulded the ‘true blue singaporean’ through social engineering but the point is that this is what our society has become). The ‘more aware’ community is on the up, with blogs like TOC and the younger generation is markedly less supportive of the PAP, but I believe it’s safe to say that Singaporeans as a whole are more pragmatist than idealist. If the government can give us a stable life, we won’t mind them leading us around on a leash (albeit a loose one). Oh and I use ‘we’ in a very loose sense here so don’t jump on me.
This is where I believe many of us and politicians like CSJ go wrong and where the PAP know their stuff. Here we are going on about the ideals and philosophies of a liberal democracy, human rights, the right to free speech and assembly…you know the drill while the average Singaporean is more concerned with PERCEIVED ‘real issues’…bread and butter issues if you will. CSJ has done a good job with linking up with external humanitarian agencies, for example, but the crux of the matter is that he has not managed to connect with the Singaporean population, save the bloggers and a small minority. In fact, he has managed to convince many of the more conservative and traditional Singaporeans that he is a nutcase and a disgrace to the opposition. For those Singaporeans who care more about lifts and covered walkways, all the talk about lack of transparency, accountability and all the ideals of a liberal democracy will seem like hogwash. These ‘airy fairy’ issues do not seem DIRECTLY related to their bread and butter issues and will fall on deaf ears.
The trouble is all of you in this forum using this platform to discuss those rubbish talk and write shop BUT take no action Yourself to determine your Future.
As the present Oppositions members and their lackeys are all impotent politically and “finished’ if you used this “kind” word to describe them. I urged all people of Singapore with the potential, smart, brave, intelligence and talk sense to Stand Up and Out for the next General Election in 2 years time. Get yourself prepare Now and wait for the coming Nomination Day. Stand Up to serve. This is better than to follow other stupid fools who only know how to organise protest marches and hunger strikes But drink glucose behind your back or “bundak”.
It’s safer to be an armchair critic at a distance and disown responsibility. Most smart people calcuate they are better off making money, having leisure time than to join politics unless they are certain of success. It’s a vicious cycle – how many will vote for the opposition or independents? Activism, altruism and national service is almost dead.
I do agree with Puffyeye that out govt is not doing too badly. We get jobs, a roof over our head and most of us holiday once or twice a year.
Ask any post 65ers and they will say that they are satisfied with a HDB 5-room, a Toyota, once-a-year holiday with family and a Indonesian maid to clean their house.
The hallmark of our govt is to provide stability, good economy and racial harmony in a small island state surrounded by Third World countries.
Nevertheless, once you remove the comfortable lifestyle from them, they will cry out for a change as for too long our govt attaches good governace with prosperity and economic growth. Their whole governance’s philosophy is tied to ensuring that the population is well taken care of. Leave the running of the country to them and you are in good hands! Such slogan works so long as the population has good job and a comfortable income.
We see that due to the exorbitant high cost of living and many others struggling to make ends meet, there was a prolonged period of outcry from the public. They are feeling uncomfortable and dissatisfied. Even the easily contented post 65ers are also hitting back at the govt for the high cost of living.
With the recession now landing on our shore, this discomfort will be prolonged and deep seated. We may see alot of loyal supporters beginning to shift in their seats. They are hurt and disappointed that the govt is slow to react to the current crisis. The govt is also seen as bailing out the SMEs and small businesses more than the general population. Billions were also lost in Shin Corp, ABC Learning, Goldman Sans, Merrich Lynch and other investments. Many people I spoke to ask why can’t they spare a million or two for unemployment benefit? GST recipes were a huge revenue for the govt but there was little transparency on how they were used.
My take is that if the recession lasts into 2010, many Singaporeans will suffer unemployment and huge discontentment will set in. The GE in 2011 may see some PAP seats gone as people want to see changes and also to send a signal to the govt that they are unhappy and angry. Is that what Singapore wants?
70) Oscar Choy
Same old words again . . . you seem to have a habit of shitting here, there and everywhere. We are very comfortable doing what we are doing and please save you judgement for the future. You may have to eat up what you are spewing here, there and everywhere.
And, give us something more constructive other than being a parrot – parroting the same words over and over again.
Good Day : )
72) Gilbert Goh Keow Wah: “My take is that if the recession lasts into 2010, many Singaporeans will suffer unemployment and huge discontentment will set in. The GE in 2011 may see some PAP seats gone as people want to see changes and also to send a signal to the govt that they are unhappy and angry. Is that what Singapore wants?”
Did they hear you? This morning ST reported that Election Dept has commenced preparation of the next GE. They may call a GE before the recession claims too many casulties.
You know, a lot of comments here echo this common thread: we all want change, we all want opposition, but the opposition today is weak.
IMHO, this is ST brainwashing at work. Again.
When CSJ first came into the scene years ago, I was often struck by how eloquent he was. But then all the newspapers started painting him as a deranged maniac. Or to quote MM, a psychopath. Allegedly :)
The his credibility was lost. And everyone say him the way the media had portrayed him.
But with access to the internet and archives, I have been able to read some of his articles and his speeches and you know what? He’s a lot more lucid. A lot more coherent. And a lot more logical than virtually all the “elites” in Parliament.
Ditto with JBJ in a different era, I guess.
Before we write off the current batch of opposition leaders, perhaps it is best to find out what they stand for from a different medium, and not how the ST portrays them.
When CSJ first came into the scene years ago, I was often struck by how eloquent he was. But then all the newspapers started painting him as a deranged maniac. Or to quote MM, a psychopath. Allegedly – AhKao (#75)
Talking about Dr Chee and SDP, do you know that SDP’s John Tan was recently dismissed by James Cook University’s Singapore Campus allegedly over his SDP activities? There is a petition drive now for John Tan that James Cook University should uphold their policy on academic freedom in both Australia and Singapore too.
75) AhKao
You’re spot on!
I remember seeing CSJ at his first election rally, standing next to CST. His maiden speech was a reflection of one whom we all know – LKY himself.
It was fiery, spirited, full for fervour and most of all delivered with a heart full of passion, a passion to serve the country.
At the end of his speech, he got the whole listening crowd, PAP and Opposition supporters, to shout with him the war-cry made famous by the LKY himself – Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!
I believe the fear shown by PAP towards CSJ originated from here.
Over the years, CSJ had made some very intelligent call upon the govt to adopt some of his initiatives. As we all know, these were all laughed off as a madman asking for the impossible.
One issue I remember vividly was the call by CSJ to changed the education system to allow more lateral thinking instead of altitudinal thinking which was the system back them. The PAP laughed so much that the people believed CSJ was really out of touch and had gone berserked.
Later, when the dust had settled down, the same laughing PAP adopted his idea, re-painted it and introduced it as an initiave of its own.
So, you are right that the people has to really see and decide for themselves the real picture that is there out in the open rather than for the PAP to tell them what to believe in.
I would like to believe that there are many out there who believe in CSJ more than the PAP wants to know.
“70) Oscar Choy on November 12th, 2008 5.19 am
The trouble is all of you in this forum using this platform to discuss those rubbish talk and write shop BUT take no action Yourself to determine your Future.”
My friend, this place is not for you to get influenced by “rubbish talk”. You should stick closely to your favourite diet of MSM. Strangely, we also do not need your ‘rubbish talk’ here
If I have to pay 3 persons 1 million each annually, I expect fresh insights from them e.g. on how to get out of an economic rut. Giving assessments of current situations, well, I am not de-emphasising the importance, but I can tell you that there are bundles of people earning less than 300k per year who can do this. You only need to ask around to establish this fact.
300k per year may get a capable person. But he/she may still be corruptable if tempted by a large sum. So to pre-empt such corruption, it is better to pay him/her upfront with an extra 700k to make up 1million per year.
It is up to individual to be convinced of the logic or not.
If not convinced, it is still your fault becuase you vote in the RP knowing its renumeration policy for mini-stars.
74) Anonymous on November 12th, 2008 9.06 am 72) Gilbert Goh Keow Wah: “My take is that if the recession lasts into 2010, many Singaporeans will suffer unemployment and huge discontentment will set in. The GE in 2011 may see some PAP seats gone as people want to see changes and also to send a signal to the govt that they are unhappy and angry. Is that what Singapore wants?”
Did they hear you? This morning ST reported that Election Dept has commenced preparation of the next GE. They may call a GE before the recession claims too many casulties.
I sense that too, I think they are up to something again this time. I believe that during this real bad reccession period, as not to agreviate the public, they would have no other choice but to start giving out all the freebies and goodies to the people and as usual most of the singaporeans will start to forget about all their dirty deeds and taking this opportunity, they will come up with an excuse of early election to win another 5 more years and continue their usual BShitting again. Mind you all singaporeans, be careful not to be taken in so easily this time.
The following timing is interesting:
(a) Chua LH’s article on political lerdership – 10 or 11 Nov
(b) ST’s report on Election Dept commences GE ground work – 12 Nov
Remember MM said something like this (not exact words):
there is no miracle; every success is due to hardwork, planning etc
In other words, the election machinaries are already set into motion.
I believe that during this real bad reccession period, as not to agreviate the public, they would have no other choice but to start giving out all the freebies and goodies to the people and – tiredsingaporean
Does the government deserve credit for giving handout?
No, because it is their job to do so, even in cases where the government declined giving handout. So, one should not equate government giving handout to PAP giving handout.
After all, the monies come from the national treasury and not PAP’s own pockets. The handout have always been rightfully ours.
Yes, singaporeans will not allow ourselves to go on with these coffers anymore, we do not want just change, but total change this time, 4o+ years is enough and singapore do not owe you papees anything more, NO FREE LUNCH sorry we quote your words.
If GE comes sooner I am afriad that the ruling party may face quite alot of swing votes. They may do it mid next year or later part of the year if things go worse in this crisis period.
The belief is that people do not want to rock the boat too much in such dire straits. They want stability and continuity. Two months after 911, GST called for an election and achieved a landslide victory of more than 70%.
I think PAP is stuck in a dilemma. They normally have abt 4 years between elections so they can follow an established cycle:
a. announce goodies
b. elections (no this is not Pork Barrel – PAP say one)
c. yaaa we won – got mandate
d. 2 years or so to take back goodies and implement fare hikes and introduce unpopular policies (means testing, “cannot die” annuities)
e. let 2 years pass for people to forget the unpopular decisions
Repeat from a.
If they cut short this cycle, the wounds in d. are still very fresh.
But if they hold off the elections, the number of unemployed Singaporeans (ie those who may desire change) may be too high. That’s a gamble too.
On the other hand, the last time there was a looming depression (GCT era), he won with a landslide victory, did he not?
Good leadership would implement or planning economic plans to help the people in this time of crisis. No, it seems that the PAP leadership want to buy voters and fix opposition first.
They will gradually gear the MSM to use the impeding physical recession to hold the people hostage. They are likely to let the people to suffer a little in the recession and use the “bread and butter” tactic (again) in their war cry during the elections.
Rest assured that they will use “summarised surveys” to push their “nation-building” agendas.
Evil has a face.
69) Chorus
“Yes, we have to ask ourselves what sort of democracy we want….no, what sort of democracy Singapore needs. It seems that many of us are not even clear of that, comparing Singapore to the America’s liberal democracy, which frankly is unrealistic. Singapore is simply not ready for such a free and liberal system. That said, draconian oppression of opposition leaders and a state controlled press while threatening to limit any publication that goes against the government’s will should not be associated with democracy at all.”
The government has always said we are not ready for western liberal democracy, instead chooses to focus on Asian values. Asian values has been used to justify the way PAP has led us for a long time. Not forgetting, Mahathir was also supporter of asian values. At the end of the day do we believe that there are some human rights that are universal? Or do we believe in comparative human rights (ie. different people with different values have different rights)? I do not believe that because I am “Chinese”, I find bread and butter issue more important than other “idealistic” notions of rights.
“This is where I believe many of us and politicians like CSJ go wrong and where the PAP know their stuff. Here we are going on about the ideals and philosophies of a liberal democracy, human rights, the right to free speech and assembly…you know the drill while the average Singaporean is more concerned with PERCEIVED ‘real issues’…bread and butter issues if you will…… These ‘airy fairy’ issues do not seem DIRECTLY related to their bread and butter issues and will fall on deaf ears.”"
The debate in singapore is so easily swept under the carpet by the bread and butter vs. idealistic notions like rights. How do you know that Singapore is not ready? Why are we not ready? Are we rejecting western liberal democracy because we are not western? Democracy is not an end. It is a means.
Since we are not the subject of being practical. Let’s look at what’s happening in HK. The government has taken swift steps in dealing with people who were sold Lehman Brothers Bonds. What has our government do? Our people cannot press the government for more response. All they can do is to hold some kind of small scale protest in Hong lim park. What I want to say is that, singaporeans have no power to bargain with the government. I am sure that is what many of those affected by the Minibonds issue feel now. They are “voiceless”. We are totally at the mercy of the authorities! They tell us what is good for us, without sincerely consulting and listening to us. We cannot react when we are unhappy with their policies, because we are constantly told these policies are good for us. But is it? Have you checked the Gini coefficient for singapore?
Some may find the right to assembly, to associate etc. idealistic. But have you thought that perhaps the government has drilled the bread and butter issue so deep into our minds that many singaporeans find it impractical? Not everyone is idealistic, I agree. But going back to the issue of Lehman Brothers Minibonds. I am sure those people who have ended up with nothing wish they could make themselves heard. In a democracy, the leaders rule at the electorate’s pleasure. They do not rule at their own pleasure. Something tells me singaporeans find the idea of liberal democracy revolting because it may suggest some kind of decadence. Well, that is because the government has given us that kind of impression. I am not supporting liberal democracy. I just feel that our rights need to be properly protected. There needs to be accountability, and that means if the government is not accountable, they may not remain elected. Therefore liberalization may entail some form of democratization. We need to bear in mind that democracy is a journey where we learn. Citizens may not always pick the right leaders. I look at what’s happening in our neighbouring countries and I know that democracy can be extremely perverse. I just hope that when singapore truly democratize, we will not face the same predicament like the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. But since democracy is a learning process, I believe we should not be too short sighted.
88) I can’t say better then min.
In another country, ppl have a choice to vote out the incumbent gov. They also have plausible alternative parties. This is the bargaining power of the ppl.
Without such bargaining power, the ppl are really at the mercy of the gov. So many things happening in the recent past are quite unilateral, e.g. GST, ERP, IR, Minibond, transport fare, etc etc. There is no alternative parties to counter check the gov of the day.
Worst still, ppl cannot exert pressure on the gov openly and publicly, (can’t demonstrate, MSM tones down or ignores complaint letters). Instead of demonstration (i.e. we demand you to listen as our public servants), it becomes petition (we beg you to listen as our esteemed mandarins).
ppl are in a very difficult predicament. Are we talking about a First World country? I don’t know what to say.
The GE in 2011 may see some PAP seats gone as people want to see changes and also to send a signal to the govt that they are unhappy and angry. Is that what Singapore wants? – Gilbert Goh (#72)
It is what Singapore wants. Singapore does not need politicians who reek of elitism and material pragmatism. Singapore needs politicians who want to build a caring society for Singaporeans by Singaporeans. For starters, the formula for determining ministerial salaries and MP bonuses should include a term for the Gini Coefficient that puts it on equal weightage with GDP.
The belief is that people do not want to rock the boat too much in such dire straits. They want stability and continuity. Two months after 911, GST called for an election and achieved a landslide victory of more than 70% – Gilbert Goh (#85)
I believe you had mis-interpreted that election results. People wanted stability, so it would seem that PAP would be the natural choice at that time. PAP used 911 to its advantage without the need of revising its priorities to serve the people. Remember, just as Iceland has demonstrated, even competent political leadership with years of experience still lead to catastrophe failure.
Iceland was under the leadership of the most established and biggest political party in Iceland – the Independence Party. The Independence Party was formed in 1929 and since then, all the Chairman of the the chairmen of the party have held the office of the Prime Minister of Iceland. It was also the pursuit of at least 17 years of neoliberal economic policies that led to Iceland’s collapse. Isn’t PAP doing the same thing now too?
If they cut short this cycle, the wounds in d. are still very fresh. – Ah Kao (#86)
But this recession is expected to last until at least 2012, given its magnitude and bail-out response from governments world-wide to pro-long it and prevent it from hitting the trough. Hence, even PAP’s cycle of implementing good-will and detached policies will be broken.
“The belief is that people do not want to rock the boat too much in such dire straits. They want stability and continuity. Two months after 911, GST called for an election and achieved a landslide victory of more than 70% – Gilbert Goh (#85)”
Remember that is before blogosphere become popular. Only this time, you have desperate gahmen putting moles/supporter in blogosphere to counter argument senselessly and to a large extent, very ineffectively as we can easily debunk the BUshSHit. You have people like Tan Kin Lian, Lucky Tan, Molly Meek, Mr Wang, Mr Brown, RedBean and many talented individuals enlightening the readers. Look like Tsunamis is going to sweep the ruling party in next Election. Oh yap, most importantly the AngMohs must help and ensure that the kangaroos cannot play punk and hop their way to MerryLand.
Yes, as our late JBJ said: The Truth will set you free. This is exactly what the ruling party is afraid of revealing the truth to the people of singapore as the when the truth is out, it will be the end of them, they can twist and turn or distract but they cannot run from the truth.
Price Hike policies
Shirking responsibilities when things go wrong.
Not qualities of a good leader.
#88 min
As you have mentioned, Singaporeans have become too ‘pragmatic’ and are more concerned about tangible issues (like the Lehman Bros collapse and hence their own money which went down the drain) than liberal democratic ideals. Like you said, it is the govt that made it such that many Singaporeans find such ideals ‘impractical’, hence my stand that opposition politicians like CSJ have to find ways to connect with these ‘mainsteam’ Singaporeans as they cannot click with his rhetoric. The more ‘aware’ community such as the bloggers have already been won over; what’s important is to secure the mainstream vote. The mark of a good politician is not only to have good ideas and policies, but rather to have the ability to make people understand and sympathise with his ideals and point of view.
Why do I think we are not ready for a 360 degree switch to a Western style democracy? To use a crude analogy, when a man has been starving for days and days, his body will not react kindly if he stuffs himself to the brim when he finally gets hold of food. The proper way for a starved person to regain proper health is through gradual and controlled intake of food.
I support liberalisation, but not if it’s going to be done ‘any old how’.
I have actually sidelined myself deliberately and try to refrain my urge of penning any comment regarding this article. Somehow, the conscience side of me was too over powering to contain.
You can call what ever name to the style of governing, be it; “Democracy”, “Socialist”, “Communism”,”dictatorial”, “authoritarian” or what not. They are just labels and names that had through many years created the perception in us and the term people got associated with.
The bottom line of good governing to this old man here is simple. Simple minded people with simple thought la.
1) A government that genuinely cares for its citizenry (i.e. citizen first) without strings attached.
2) Provide enough avenues for citizenry to have a voice to be heard without threatening rules and regulations and most importantly for the leaders to take note of what its citizen is telling them and be transparent and accountable to their prudent plan in substance (matured citizenry do understand leaders are humans too and not saint and I truly believe genuine mistakes can be forgiven).
3) Check and Balance in a genuine independent judiciary systems (key decision CJs voted in through ballot not appointed) with vested power to ensure and to prevent abuse of the governig body to safe guard the interest of its nation.
4) Genuinely fair election systems that foster aspiring and able citizens seeking for office. As long as these able bodies are composed and collective, charismatic with an objective perspective of views tackling on issues (local or foreign) that are for the betterment of its citizenry and nation.
5) Last but not least, a compasionate in nature with integrity type of leaders with foresight thinking without vested personal interest in mind. Please, not hindsight dimbulbs that only knew to give common sense remarks such as “I told you so…etc”.
I will be more than just happy and contented if the above values are truly in place and are indeed in practice with utmost integrity. I would not give a hoot whether it is a one party system or multiple parties system. It is totally acceptable to me.
Obviously, the system should be revised with checks and that are inline with the changing time and need. So, a truly indepenent think-tanks can be created to provide a second opion on policies that needed refinement or improvement to the governing body to ensure its viability (both economically and financially). No governing body should have perpetual governing power. I believe up to 5 terms accorded to any leaders voted by ballot is a good measure to ensure continuity of sound policies that are already in place to govern the nation and in the interest of its citizenry.
Too much to ask for right? Well, the above are just a sample of my wishes.
In honesty, I have a hard time trying to digest the “wisdom” of Ms. Chua and had the slightest clue what Ms. Chua is trying to project. So philosophical and hard to comprehend the meaning of her “teachings”. But one thing I am clear though, how dare you question the foresight and wisdom of MM? You “ai see ah”? “tua nan kong way ginna mai cha zui, mei jia jiao”.
P.S. Trying to practice a bit of dialectic writing la. Is ther such a word “dialectic”?Too much pressure recently, need to let loose to ease the tension la. Don’t bash this old man please. Thank you. No worry, no more comments for me pertaining to this article. Old man needs plenty of rest and longer time to re-energize….lah.
#34
Quote: ‘Unless we loosen up and take things easy, our press will continue to be controlled. I read more juicy politically-laced articles from The Star than ST!’
Are the juicy bits about things Singapore? And if they are, should anyone be surprised? The Star is a national daily like The Straits Times.
Don’t waste valuable time on Chua Lee Hoong. We know who she is and what she is. She may even be trying to do an Irene Ng, that is, positioning herself to be invited to stand as a PAP candidate in the next – coming soon? – General Elections.
We also know who the Straits Times serves. Some people have already
renamed it the States Times; very apt.
After all the trumpet blowing about the A-team and how worthy they are of their multi-million dollar pay cheques we see Singapore becoming the first Asian country to go into recession – an achievement none of our neighbouring countries can lay claim to.
This is not surprising as our leader seems not to have too highly an opinion of their leaders. In fact, he had earned their ire for his condescending remarks in the past.
Dick Fuld was highly regarded and also very highly paid as a visionary leader before Lehman Brothers collapsed.
Our so-called A-team may boast about their track record. Well, hasn’t Lehman Brothers got one? Singapore has been an independent country for 43 years whereas Lehman Brothers had been in business for 158 years! And it was the largest investment bank in the world?
We can judge for ourselves the calibre of the A-team by how they plunged into loss making investments such as in Shin Corp, ABC Learning, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, etc., etc.
Furthermore, has this A-team been helping our people during these hard times? Nothing was done when prices of essential goods, such as rice, sugar, cooking oil, etc. shot up. On the other hand, as every body knows, there was increase in bus fare, increase in MRT fare, multiplication in the number of ERP gantries, increase electricity tariff (by 24 per cent), etc, etc, but no decrease in GST. They did not even want to guarantee bank deposits until Hong Kong and other countries did. So far, all that we have been told repeatedly is: tighten your belts, brace yourself for worse to come.
The A-team claims it is not their fault that we are in this gloomy economic situation. They couldn’t prevent it. It is a global development, every country in the world is badly affected. But they conveniently forget that no country in the world pays its government leaders out-of-this-world salaries.
Ah, but you can bet your life that they will claim credit and say they deserve their salaries when Singapore’s economy recovers along with the rest of the world.
Singapore cannot continue to have this kind of so-called leaders indefinitely. I am sure there are people in our midst who are smarter and wiser and more capable.
I sincerely hope that some of these people will openly voice their opinions on what has been wrong with Government policies and what changes have to be made.
Singapore will surely collapse one day like Lehman Brothers if all Singaporeans allow Chua Lee Hoong and the likes of her to monopolise the stage.
Dialectics?
Please don’t flatter the ST. I’m not sure if they have even practised dialectics in their Op-Eds, let alone CMH and CLH’s writings.
I don’t call that musing, I call that regurgitating state ideology.
Hmm, do you know what will cause the collapse of Singapore? EMIGRATION. I used to be the star student of my year – top results, etc. I’m now in the US studying at one of the top three unis. All my Singaporean peers here are also not going back to Singapore – they want to stay in the US, where they enjoy freedoms and liberties and do not need to listen to propaganda. (One of them is going to the UK). We laugh at PSC scholars in our free time: it is amazing what propaganda the govt/ST can spew about these so-called elite who are nothing but kiss asses.
Once upon a time I cared about Singapore. But intelligent and creative people also tend to be liberals. If you think the emigration rate now is bad, just wait for our generation (those younger than, say, 22). I’m leaving and so is my younger brother and all his friends. We’ll vote with our feet. If Singapore wants to be pragmatic, so can we: it’s our life and there’s no point being a political martyr in a country that has absolutely no regard for individuals. And, besides, as a homosexual I find Singapore’s sodomy laws morally reprehensible (1st class citizen my foot). The US may not be perfect, but I can see a future here as a proper citizen and a member of society. It’s where I want to develop my talents and contribute responsibly to civil society. Singapore is the exact opposite; I can’t wait until it turns into the Las Vegas-cum-Ministry of Love of SEA… Chua Chua Chua, like so many other half-witted so-called “talents”, you probably took your SPH scholarship through the careful application of lips to butt.