well done.

all the best.

I sincerely wish more good years for theonelinecitizen.com in reporting TRUE poor + unprivillege people crisis problems in a nation building to be next swiss financial centre + Las Vegas of the south east east to all people.

cheers,

Very poignant for the TOC team though disappointingly I could not attend the event.

I found that you have at least 5 speakers there who can form a GRC team with Ravi being the minority representative. Point for though there.

I agreed with most of your points raised as they all appeal to the social sector. People power can only raise up if we have a good team of capable passionate leaders willing to sacrifice t emselves for the betterment of mankind and I am very thankful that I see that in you.

With an inept opposition team, we can hardly stand up against the fancies of the govt who will rule for a good twenty to fifty years if things go on like this – against the wishes of the people. The ruling party has so far held its’ cards well but history has shown that the most domineering political party will fall some day or it’s power diminished.

I hope that TOC will take up this national mandate to uphold social justice and provide a spark of hope for the people of SIngapore.

My children and children’s children thank you.

Zhengxi,

just a point of clarification: is Mr Tan seeking a “Queen’s Counsel” opinion from UK, instead of a “Queen’s Council of the United Kingdom” opinion?

Seeking a QC’s opinion seems to be the correct statement. The only “Queen’s Council of the United Kingdom” I have heard of (or found from google), is Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council, or the Privy Council for short. It’s hard to imagine that the Privy Council, who’s members include, among others, the Law Lords, the British Prime Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition, would take up a private inquiry about the Minibond issue.

Well done TOC and cheers for better things to come especially for a better tomorrow. Thanks for giving us the hope to dare to dream.

aiyoyo

this website is informative & hope it continue

so that PEOPLE can drop by for improvement actions.

cheers TOC

aiyoyo

Last time they need yr vote, Now they do not need yr vote.
That is why the attitude has change. Bec the win is already assured.

Hi zz (#4)

I am seeking the opinion of a Queens Counsel from the UK. Most of the Senior Counsels in Singapore are not able to advice because of conflict of interest, as their firms represent the banks. We also need a legal expert who is familiar with this typoe of financial products.

I wish to raise a separate point. In many countries, the Attorney General acts not only as the lawyer of the Government, but also as the lawyer of the people.

For example, the Attorney General of New York State acted on behalf of the ordinary people in approaching the banks who sold the auction rate securities. He argued that the banks had mis-represented the product. The banks agreed to buy back the securities from the investors at their full value.

In the case of Singapore, it is the duty of the Attorney General of Singapore to see if the banks had breached the law (namely, the Securities and Futures Act or the Financial Advisers Act) and negotatiate a fair settlement for both sides, i.e. the financial institutions and the investors. It will be difficult for the ordinary investors to get together and pay for the heavy cost of engaging legal experts to fight the financial institutions.

I hope that the Government or the Attorney General will step forward and act apprpriately to ensure that the people of Singapore are treated fairly.

Thank you Mr Tan for your constant support for commoners..

Hi Friends

In my speech, I talk about the following points in support of the theme “Social Equity and Fairness”.

1. People who put in a full day’s work should be given an adequate wage to pay their mortgaage and meet the cost of living. Some people earn $600 for a full day’s work. This is inadequate. They have to do two jobs to earn enough for their family. We need to have a minimum wage.

2. People are worried about losing their job through retrenchment or for no fault of their own. It will be difficult to find another job within a short time. In some countries, there is unemployment benefit. In the case of Singapore, we should offer them a relief loan for 12 to 24 months at a low interest rate, say 2.5% p.a. This gives them time to adjust to their new situation. They should not be required to borrow money on credit cards or loan sharks and pay 24% p.a. in interest.

3. The elected leaders should speak for the people. They should listen to the people and understand their concerns. In the recent case of the minibonds and other notes, the investors tried to get their MPs to listen to their problems, but failed. We need to have contested elections in the future, so that the MPs will be closer to the people who elected them.

I hope that you will be able to get my points in the youtube recording of my speech. Due to shortage of time, I did not cover the “relief loan” in my speech. I shall find another occasion to explain his matter.

“I hope that the Government or the Attorney General will step forward and act apprpriately to ensure that the people of Singapore are treated fairly.”

The Attorney General in Singapore acts only to defend the courts’ impartiality, and to threaten people who have long gone. Hoping that he takes up the interests of the people is the same as hoping Singapore snows..sighs.

Here is the text of the speech that I wanted to deliver at Speaker’s Corner.

http://tankinlian.blogspot.com/2008/12/toc-social-justice-and-fairness.html

Due to the rain and limited time, I have given a revised version of the speech. I have decided to give the main points in my blog.

Hi me (#11)

I look forward to snow in Singapore.

I agree with Gilbert that some of the speakers should and are more than capable of forming a team to contest in the GRC. I hope Mr Tan would not have to wait until he receives the 100,000 signature before he runs for office. (And this is just a personal opinion but i feel Mr Tan would do more good as an MP than an EP)

I also realize how much of an uphill battle it would be to convince people who don’t come to TOC regularly to put their names on the petition. It was discouraging to see the response of my friends when I asked them to put their names down to say they want Mr Tan to run…. well I guess that’s the nature of most people here, they don’t want to get involved when it doesn’t concern them… kudoes to TOC for fighting such an uphill battle.

Like I said, Mr Tan, please don’t wait for the signatures… Mr Ravi, Mr Leong, Zheng Xi, please consider forming a team. Best speeches I’ve heard on this island since… god knows when.

yesterday , I had one of the petition forms and thought of asking the people present if they can help me sign the form. But then, I realise this is Singapore and we are singaporeans. People are kind and nice at heart but on the surface, its a bit on the cold side, deterring public sollicitation for signatures. This is a known problem that is age-old and typical of singapore. We are not western country where people are more warm or less shy , to put it in a nicer way.

So, you can see that I had thought of helping to get signatures but face challenges in singapore.

Mr Tan #10

support your points…

hope those PEOPLE can look into the current situations in the country

& make necessary CHANGES asap.

aiyoyo

wonder can I write in Chinese here?

Social fairness in Singapore? My foot! Just the topic on fairness makes me puke. This incident for example:

Do you know those security guards are taking a pay of around $3.80 an hour?
Do you know the wage plan for public holidays?
Let say Wednesday is the public holiday. If you take off day (rest day) on Wednesday, you will get a pay cut ($28) on Tuesday and Thursday. The substituting guard will get an extra $28 dollars if he works on Wednesday. Think about this, dont you feel funny?

With this type of f**k plan of using one guard’s pay to subsidise another guard’s pay leaving that security company incurred NO cost when operating in Public Holiday. How can this happen in Singapore!! How can a SERCURITY COMPANY PENALISE a guard for taking a rest day on their festive days (e.g. Chinese New Year). This happen to my dad for the past 2 years!!! He is being forced not to take leave during public holiday just for $28. I am very angry but what to do? Gahman is NOT doing his job.

The way gahman allows these security companies to take advantage of the lower income workers cannot be tolerated.

These few years, I feel that the gahman only think about how to make money thereafter inflation goes up. What happen to the wage and REAL WAGE? Now, there is recession. Inflation is still around!! This is telling me stagflation is here. I am very very angry. It is due to vote for a change.
.

Your continue reports to the public awareness will bring light to many matters and their life. Thou, I am a new reader and only join the readers group very recently and is proud to be a part of it. I congrats your second year round onlinecitizen and many more success in your effort for the people of Singapore.

Appreciate your ideas Gilbert and Zefly. We are all political beings as well and do need to exercise these rights too. My Speech at the 2nd Anniversary of TOC is here: http://singaporesocialactivist.blogspot.com/2008/12/we-citizens-of-singapore.html

Well done TOC! I will definitely support you guys in any Speakers’ Corner event upon my return to SG….

It’s high-time for a radical change in our system. I’ve many colleagues from different countries in my present company and their jaw dropped when they knew how much our civil servants are being paid…

Dear everyone behind The Online Citizen,

Happy Birthday to the 2-year TOC.

Due to unforeseen commitments, I was unable to attend your Hong Lim Park event as much as I wanted, for which I regret and apologise.

Your team has done very well in the couple of years. Keep up the spirit and here’s wishing all of you the best.

Regards

Dear TOC, thanks for speaking up for the weak, the poor, the exploited and the marginalised of our society. I am glad that in a country ruled by people who worship $, and whose greed for it knows no bounds, there are still those who have a conscience and a passion to help others, especially the poor and weak among us. May we all help to bring about greater social justice here.

Hey Melvin,

Thanks for the congrats and best wishes.

Thanks also to everyone for their kind words. And a special thanks to those who turned up at Speakers’ Corner on Saturday and stayed throughout the drizzle.. :)

Andrew

Belated Happy 2nd Birthday TOC

So sorry missed the gathering and late Birthday Wish

Deep down my Heart, I sincerely wish TOC All the Very Best.
Thank you sooooooo much for all the Team Effort continously.
Keep Up the Good Work, Well Done!!!
God Bless All