Well done TOC ! to introduce up and coming youth politicians on your site.
MSM will never do that. Please introduce more opposition candidates to show
to PAPies that the opposition is as able as Old man said of his Pappies.

Many are backdoor Pappies slipped in through the so-called GRC. Get real please! and fight a true battle at the poll wilth all single constituency candidates and see what the outcome is. Dare you PAP !!

Go TOC!!

continue continue these feuds?
again by again?

proofreading can certainly be better than 154th

Hi Ark #3,

Thank you for pointing out the oversight. I am surprised that there are readers on TOC at 7am on Saturday.

Cheers
Donald

university of queensland studying biomedial science and microbiology –> because can’t get into local university? useless majors

entrepreneur –> why not become scientist then? hopefully not another jobless dude claiming to have some kind of “business”

5)

People are free to pursue their dreams. Why the hostility?

Well done TOC, more of this please. I would like to know more about the opposition members, Thank you,

Don’t rock the boat !

university of queensland studying biomedial science and microbiology –> totally useless major = can’t get job in SG, can’t do phd, can’t this can’t that. overhyped crap by the government. thats why i always tell my interns.. don’t study those things unless you want to be a salesman.

entrepreneur –> father mother give him money to play play with business lah.

that aside.. i’m not dissing him. actually its encouraging at least we have some young ppl out there who are interested. although.. i’m not sure about the direction SDP takes sometimes….

I am just elated to see our youngs active in politics, especially those not adulating the people in power.

Political apathy will cause this tiny city to fall into the hands of just a few monsters and the people will be made to be digits for them to manipulate.

May we have more young politicians and political activists around to give us hopes.

patriot

Dear TOC,

I hope TOC can also obtain interviews with the other members of SDP and the various other Opposition Parties or their Youth Wing members. Please also let us know if they are not willing to be interviewed. Thank you.

eh, entrepreneur? I saw him as a waiter in some cafe only recently!

It is heartening to read what Jarred has espoused – there is hope for change and change for good.

thanks God! finally we are seeing young chap like going for political against the ruling pap party. thanks TOC for such arrangement. keep coming with such events to show the young today that dont be mislead by the only one ruling party for this country too long.

bravo!

jarred, tell us what kind of entrepreneur you are. it is important to dispel untruths by letting us all know what kind of business you do, the scale of it that you operate, and how you came up with the seed money for it.

let us know what you really do. these days “entrepreneur” is a really bad word that almost everybody use to hide their real occupation or employment situation.

please kindly clarify and the best of luck in your political endeavours.!

Whether he is from QU or Harvard, this guy has guts to stand which many of us here dont.

And he joined the most controversial party, this is indeed admiring. I guess its time for CHANGE, we need to push some of these people who are willing to serve to go into parliament. Unlike our multimillion dollar ministers who would just ask us to accept and move on and with cheap slogan like cheaper, better and faster.

Kudos to TOC to take the initiative to interview opposition party members. First it was RP and now SDP. Hope you can feature other members and candidates of upcoming election of other parties as well.

In the spirit of fairness, including PAP candidate as well. I am sure TOC will give fair coverage to all candidate, unlike MSM who will never give fair coverage to opposition candidates, being the government mouthpiece.

may the force be with you, Jar

to serve your constituents with belief – a loving heart and compassion to voice the people real concerns not that kind of the p65 useless pap smears back door mp of irrelevant about beauty pagent etc…in parliament….

citizens wake up! we are voting for MP not million$cabinet ministers.

I support TOC initiatives to potray report on the alternative political parties in Singapore. TOC would be able to do even better by also interviewing the YPAP members to give a fair hearing to both sides. This is to give the TOC a credible voice in the online world. Such potrayal bodes well for the development of political education in Singapore rather than accepting a single Truth from the Straits Times, Today or other MSM. If we need to have critical thinkers who can contribute their maximum in society, the environment must be there to prepare them to be one. All the best. :D

YPAP can get the MSM to be heard. They certainly do not need alternative media.

YPAP can get the MSM to be heard. They certainly do not need alternative media. And to add on further, I think some of you cowards espouse some form of jealousy towards people out there who are willing to sacrifice to fight authoritarian rule.

As for his business, even if he is unemployed, it won’t be an issue because all you need is funds to continue the fight. It would be better if he had said he was a fulltime volunteer. You can work as a cleaner, as a security officer, as a dishwasher. It does not matter, but to fight you need GUTS and FUNDS. Other than that, it just ease the journey of the struggle.

Say anything you want. The fight will go on. Most people here who condemn the Opposition especially the Singapore Democrats are just “cyber warriors”. Just like the PAP, big time hooligans who use journalists, police, ISD, NEA, MHA, GRC system and what have you just to destroy pockets of oppositions.

To go head to head, one on one, their “balls” shrink and almost disappear.

Mati Diri says;

Some TOC Readers are quite good at condescending others for no good reason.

Well done, TOC. That is a great step forward. Keep up the good show.

Well done, Jarred Luo. We need more people like you to serve the people, not the elitist lot of the PAP who only know how to bully and bully, control and control, take and take, and boast and boast. Please persevere when the going is tough. We will support you.

PAP must fall one day, the sooner the better.

Power must return to the people one day. There is hope.

Victory will one day come back to the people again!

so what is this guy’s background? no offence, but is this the best that the sdp has?

5) tay yong kwan on November 7th, 2009 10.07 am

university of queensland studying biomedial science and microbiology –> because can’t get into local university? useless majors
===============================================================

What an utterly disgusting thing to say but what can you expect from a stooge of the ruling party.

I am not sure about this particular case but the fact is that probably 70% of places in our local universities are reserved for foreigners.

However, I certainly admire this young man. He could have stayed in Australia like other Singaporean students but he chose to come back home and fight for a better future for his fellow Singaporeans.

I am noticing more and more bright young men and women joining the opposition. This certainly speaks well for the future of our nation.

“so what is this guy’s background? no offence, but is this the best that the sdp has?”

So do you expect highly-educated clowns like Lim Sweet Say, Raymond, Sissy Loong from some prestigious western university who can only NATO and sing “upturn the downturn” song ? You are looking at the wrong party. This is SDP not PAP. If you want highfalutin jokes and nonsense at citizen’s expense, you should visit PAP site.

Most important thing a candidate must have is passion.
Nowadays, lots of Singaporean are jobless. The immigrants are getting our job.
Worst MOM is stupid enough to allow employers to keep on importing immigrants.
Know the reason. Once they get the Employment pass, the employer go start to deduct their pay. If they do it to a local, the local will complain.
Hence, companies like to employ immigrants.
Next, overheard from some MD that MNC is quietly training up the immigrants and quietly setting up factories in Thailand and Phillippines.
Once the facilities are up, they will move all the so called FT with them. More jobless is coming. The graduate will be the worst hit if Government is still kept in the dark.
We have a stupid Gan KY, walk over for him to get Millions.
He and LBW are the laughing stock. Now, it reflect badly on why the local work so hard to get to the University yet, the one who get employed are the immigrants.

26) Utopia on November 7th, 2009 4.11 pm

Hey, I thought is was a good performance by LSS when he sang “upturn the downturn.” Singapore idol material.

But his performance as a minister leaves much to be desired. Especially at 8 million dollars a month in total.

Maybe he can sing us another song like “cheaper, better, faster”.

17) btan on November 7th, 2009 1.23 pm

In the spirit of fairness, including PAP candidate as well. I am sure TOC will give fair coverage to all candidate, unlike MSM who will never give fair coverage to opposition candidates, being the government mouthpiece.

So far, YPAP has rejected our attempts to interview any of their members. We will still persist in asking them. Their rejection will only make TOC appear to be an opposition platform. However, TOC is actually an independent platform.

those of you who question his academic credentials and current employment just demonstrates that the PAP has control over you and your mind. The PAP have already won even before balloting day.

those are values which only they promote as being necessary for being an MP / Minister.

Does someone have to be from Oxford before you listen to him? Good luck to you when you are retrenched and the Union leader / Min of Manpower arent doing a thing for you…

Disappointing reading these blogs…

TOC,

If possible, try not to be so lengthy in your publishing.

Thanks.

Hi NissanVIP,

For some people, any little information about SDP is deemed too much.

This article has less than 900 words, so the length is perfectly alright.

Good to have young blood, he got to do the right thing by kicking Chee and siblings out to earn the respect of average Singaporean.

Wah very promising young talented youth leader. I would rather vote for him than other Ypap candidate, who only barks after his master’s instruction.

To 30) SS Stirrer on November 7th, 2009 5.38 pm

“those of you who question his academic credentials and current employment just demonstrates that the PAP has control over you and your mind. The PAP have already won even before balloting day.”

you can’t deny the fact that we are a nation attracted to technocratic rule. success in school and in employment are perhaps the only indicators of how well one may lead singapore.

if the pap is going field candidates with better qualifications than the other parties, they will win naturally. that said, opposition parties need credible candidates with good qualifications. that is a no-brainer. how do we assess what is good? by one’s education and employment of course!

if you can’t even attract one single local graduate to your party, it tells you how attractive (or dangerous) your party ideology is. take a look around the other opposition parties and see why youths are attracted to their programs.

Hi melissa chung,

Why is graduate membership an indicator in the first place?

Do you want a political party that represents heartlanders’ interest?

OR

Do you want a political party that represents elites’ interest?

In USA, remember a farmer became the US president. Why in S’pore MP or minister must be a graduate ?? Please don’t be brain washed by pap propaganda. A graduate is nothing. It just shows that he passed the uni exam. Singaporeans have low mentality. Look at M’sia and Taiwan, law makers do not necessarily be a graduate. Because pap says so, many ppl follow blindly. Pap says in s’pore ,they are shortage of talents, can’t find 4th PM, do you believe ??

#33 says:
“Good to have young blood, he got to do the right thing by kicking Chee and siblings out to earn the respect of average Singaporean.”

The average Singaporean wants Chee and the SDP, contrary to PAP propaganda. This is becoming more and more evident during the sales of SDP’s newspaper The New Democrat in HDB estates where close to 90 percent of us live.

It’s the PAP MPs who had to be fortified by security personnel when they make their rare appearances in public to escape acid attacks and abuses from the suffering masses.

35) melissa chung on November 7th, 2009 8.32 pm

Look at the President of Brazil, and tell me how attractive would you find his credentials if you based it on academic qualifications and employment profile. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lula_da_Silva.

He certainly would not have a chance at being an MP even. But he has managed to become a leader of one of the BRIC nations and has done a fairly good job so far.

My point is leading is a talent which you do not learn in textbooks but through life experience. Look at PAP candidates with their fancy qualifications and employment profile and hear them speak. They do not have the charisma to charm the people. Their speeches are written and it is not an expression of what they think but rather what their masters tell them to.

Academic qualifications and employment is the culture of PAP of assessing people. But I have sat in a meeting with PAP MPs before when I was in a grassroot organisation. They simply look down on people who do not have academic qualifications and employment and they joke about people who seek assistance.

This country certainly needs a totally new culture. And it will only come from a new party altogether.

Personally, i have came across EQless graduates with Masters Degrees and even PhDs.

And as many know

many of the top earners in the World were/are not very academically qualified.

And i must admit that degree is a big deal in SIN,

but only in SIN and not elsewhere.

patriot

Singapore’s woman only married to academically qualified man.

Good academy result = Everything good.

Unique Singapore!

@ 22) Mati Diri on November 7th, 2009 3.42 pm
Some TOC Readers are quite good at condescending others for no good reason.

I’m sure most of those comments are made by jealous characters in the opposition themselves.

Just to add on, if academic credentials is so important, then I think Robert Mugabe certainly is the best president, Zimbabwe ever had. You can check out his academic profile. I think even Lee Kuan Yew does not have such an extensive recognition.

Its quite discouraging to hear that YPAP had consistantly reject to be interviewed by TOC. However, they had a choice , obviously right.

Important issue is that I totally agreed that people should not accused that TOC is a opposition platform if you are not willing to be interviewed and allow the rest of the citizen who visit this platform to comment on your view towards making a better Singapore.

Academic excellence and past employment records can serve only as a limited yardstick to measure a person’s worth. And these references are good only when we are assessing an potential administrator, manager, executive but NOT for assessing a potential leader, especially national leader. Their character, pysche, mental make-up, aspirations, emotions and feelings are also very important, if not more important than academic achievements and employment status (which can be easily co-ordinated and predetermined given the width and depth of power in the hands of the PAP).

In addition, leaders are born not made. Leadership quality is probably about 70% born and only 30% made. Though many would like to argue that it can be entirely nurtured, it cannot be entirely true. As an analogy, look at LHL. How much time and efforts have gone in to nurture him to be the PM? Now, frankly, can we truthfully say he is the best we have now in Singapore in terms of leadership? Can he really inspire all Singaporeans to selflessly die for Singapore (city or country or nation) in times of war?

Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, and many other successful leaders in the world are either drop-outs or did not go through the universities. And for their past employment records before they became successful? They usually do not have fantastic and impressionable resumes. But three traits are common in them:

Passion, Devotion and Commitment.

How many of our PAP MPs really have the passion to be a true politician, to really serve the people selflessly, like Mr Chiam and many of the PAP Old Guards, like Dr Goh Keng Swee, Dr Toh Chin Chye, the late Mr Lim Kim San, Mr Rajarathnam and Mr E W Barker?

How many of the PAP MPs, who have flying colors in employment records and excellence in academic achievements, are really devoted to welfare and well-being of the masses, the down and out, the constituents they are supposed to represent?

How many of the PAP MPs have to be invited to become MPs and Ministers, and will not become corrupt if we don’t pay them well? How many of them are actually part-time MPs who rarely attend Parliament sessions or caught sleeping while Parliament is in session? How many directorships are the holding on the sideline to further enrich themselves?

And how frequent has the PAP MPs really speak up for the people without fear, favour or good / ill will in parliament and in public over the last 20 years?

And most important of all, why are the PAP Ministers enriching themselves with the world’s highest salaries while at the same time adamantly and persistently doing their very best to suppress the wages of local Singaporean workers and increasing the cost of living, thereby creating and inflicting more and more hardships and sufferings upon the commoners?

All those so-called ministers have had excellent academic and employment records, especially LHL, are they not?

Post #45 Commenter deserves 10 points from me.

Yourstruly: patriot

44) GKS on November 8th, 2009 8.57 am
Important issue is that I totally agreed that people should not accused that TOC is a opposition platform if you are not willing to be interviewed and allow the rest of the citizen who visit this platform to comment on your view towards making a better Singapore.

How come the pap or those MIW dare not invite TOC to interview them and proof their innocence that they are not what they are being told by the people of singapore? I am sure the TOC would be more than happy to invite them with both their open arms here. Why all prefer to hide behind one old man ?

I suggest all Singazi all prepare parangs to chop off some of the rich yet selfish gayman.
We need to act as Singaporeans now. Take actions to chop them ti pieces. Is really irritating each day I hear what they said.

Bravo Jarrod! Don’t be disheartened by the small number of detractors here. They are probably paid to do a job. You give me hope that change for the better is not too far off for Singapore.

“It set me thinking why their country can strive and flourish in an overall orderly manner despite the substantial difference in level of freedom between Singapore and Australia,”

Did it set you thinking why our country and strive and flourish in an overall orderly manner despite the substantial difference in level of freedom between Singapore and Australia?

Neo, you have Awaken.
Now, lead us.

sincerely
Morpheus

Thanks a million, Jarrod!

“Don’t be disheartened by the small number of detractors here. They are probably paid to do a job.”

The are SURELY paid to do this dirty work. They are affectionately called the PAP IB. Just look out for the comments with a minus sign!!

The opposition must continue to attract talented and committed individuals like Jarrod into his ranks. They must be ready to lead.

The people are unhappy with the policies of the MIW and are ready to vote for Change. Power could come into the hands of the opposition as early as the next elections.

Time for Change is now. Singaporeans united for Change.

It is great of TOC to give us an insight of people in opposition. Would you also be able to let us know what activities are the opposition doing to engage the people? What are the difficulties of the opposition parties in recruiting people to join them? Does the opposition welcome volunteer to help them? If they do welcome volunteer, how can one volunteer himself or herself? Though I know that one can contact the party directly but if they can give some guideline and details, it will aid those who wish to volunteer to make a decision without fear of rejection.
Lets hope for more general info of opposition by TOC.

Who has the same EFFECT on the international community as LKY?

What happens After LKY?

The ‘Market’ is wide open for the next singapore idol.

Its up for grabs.

Which will be the next 1 dominant party?
Or would you prefer a more balanced 1 party system?

The time is here. The moment history can be remade.
The turning point is around the corner, I mean the next election.

Do you want change or accept the current system?

Remember, its you who decides what kind of life you are gonna be leading in future. Look at what is happening now.

[...] to Perdition Election – TOC: Youth in Politics – Young Democrat Jarrod Luo – I’m getting personal: Is academic and employment profile that important? – utopia8787: the [...]

Hi Singaporeboy,

If you post potentially defamatory stuff on TOC, it is TOC that would be responsible for defamation. Please refrain from such posting. If anyone of you had seen Jarrod as a waiter, it is most probably because he is in the food and beverage business. As your own boss, you have to man everything at the beginning.

Cheers
Donald
Review Editor

Any person representing for party and/or future candidate for General Election should have clean past history.

The person need not necessarily have a good academic track record,

He/she must have strong interest to safeguard our Singaporean interest.

Many Singaporean does not wish to have another LEE KUAN YEW who cheat and lie for his personal greed, and conquer Singaporean life and savings – CPF.

It is advisable for party(s) chairman to review candidate background before his/her new appointment to achieve confident vote.

The PAP has become so strong and entrenched that its power has become seemingly unshakable. And that is the basic cause of their elites becoming so arrogant and aloof over the years. How and why? Because the people, the commoners, the citizens have thrown their weight and support unto the PAP for so many years.

Remember the saying, “Ask not what the country can do for you. Ask what you can do for the country!”?

The time is now for all of us to ask ourselves what we can do for our country!

I see many people asking what the Opposition Parties are going to do for us; what activities are they preparing; what calibre of candidates do they have; etc.???

The Opposition Parties, as well as the PAP, are only as good as the people, the citizens, who are willing to throw their weight, support, encouragement, sympathy, commitment for them, and behind them.

In other words, the Opposition Parties can only be as strong as the people want them to be! Period.

Therefore, why not we ask ourselves this: “What can I do for the Opposition?”

What can we do for the Alternative Parties (the PAP labelled them as Opposition for a certain purpose) in order to change the impasse, the status quo, the huge income gap, the social divide, the nagging problems, the blatant legalised ‘corruption’, the hardships, the sufferings, the influx of foreigners, the sorry state of affairs that Singapore and Singaporeans in general are experiencing NOW?

What can all of us do in order to shift the political power from the total grip of the PAP back to the PEOPLE?

For the sake of all our old folks and for the sake of our future generations,
we have NO OTHER CHOICE but CHANGE NOW!

The thing about some singaporeans is this.
They are sometimes said to be ‘waiting for instructions’.

Case in the point:
1. venture abroad. need to be told.
2. do business in china. need to be told.
3. do this, do that. …..
4. racing is fun sport . before being told, they never watch F1 channels or magazines.

singaporeans need to be shown and given confidence that there is a career in opposition or in politics for them to join.

people like Jarrod should prove to them its ok to join opposition.
Then these talents will join.

Lets debunk the myths about Opposition:
1. Myth : there is SHORTAGE of talents to form a opposition team that can challenge them.

Busted: There ARE plenty of Talents of the same calibre. The problem is they don’t JOIN or Volunteer for Opposition. See the number of NMPs available.

2. Myth : some opposition party got a bad name or past. So, no one dares to join.
Busted : That is a Lame Excuse. Opposition party is to Serve the People’s interest. Talents exist and they can Form new parties like RP and even to the Extent of having all new faces but these come with strong working experience and even international experience. For example, international lawyers , world class accountants, international bankers etc.

So, cut the crap. The reasons given are pure Excuses, imho.

come rebut me if you can.

aiyoyo

go go go!

aiyoyo

How can you judge one’s character?
By what one does in the past, his actions and words.
And the company of people one keeps.

If one lies in the past, one will still lie in the future.
If one cheats in the past, one will still cheat in the future.

63) singapore boy on November 10th, 2009 8.15 pm
It is a shame, you can criticize MM LEE, SM Goh, LHL. or PAP
But you cannot say anything about Jarrod Luo.

Hello Singyboy! Jarrod owes you money, iggit?

“people still like their politicians to be role models. role models with proper qualifications and respectable occupations. ”

So respectable to the point of setting them (not their effigies) on fire?? Haha…it is SHT (Seng Han Thong, missing the I)

It seems that the PAP IB never sleeps eh? heh

Gotta give it to them for their their tenacity though, despite everyone seeing through their antics and giving them negative ratings they never stop.

If only more of our citizens had such focus and determination, albeit channeled in more constructive ways, Singapore would be the next world superpower in no time!