I read this with much disgust. These Nparks public servants are using taxpayers money to terrify and bully helpless SINGAPOREANS.

We should make the relevant ministers pay for this. GOod work Andrew.

This, and not the sanitized version that Sunday Times reported is what’s actually happening on the ground.

Joahua.. u rr right, it was trying too hard to paint a “happy” picture. These ST journalists have no conscience at all. Sellout to the Devil.

in the 70s and 80s, we dont see these much homeless… this is 20 century, unbelieveable in a country like singapore.

everything is about $$$, fullstop.

Let face the reality:

the turncoat BALA is a salary man of LKY/LHL.

There was a report of at least 6 cases online on people having difficulty making a living picking card boards etc and only one of these cases was found not to be valid.

Bala reported on that one.

Now, he came down to see these homeless people and didn’t report anything.

The conclusion: He doesn’t have the guts to address this homeless issue to his pay master.

Either that or he doesn’t care.

This article would have been more realistic by indicating who that MP who knew or recommended Changi beach is.

This is another clear example of the incompetence of this govt and the pigs MP.

they are only interested to get problems to go away using their mouth/words.

the hardwork is left to mother nature.

They are very very lazy.

I had always wonder what are the oppostions parties doing to help this homeless?

If this is happening in HK or Malaysia, the oppositions parties or some NGOs are going to be involved in helping these homeless, but what is people like Sylvia Lim doing? she is a NCMP, isn’t it a good opportunity to show up and check with these people how she can help? and bring up any concern in the Parliament?

Curious,

to be fair, there are some opp candidates who are helping out in their capacity as private citizens. As to whether it will be an issue they will raise it really is up to the parties’ leadership to decide.

The entire opposition, except one, is in the pockets of the PAP, hoping to become either the “one or two” permanently elected MPs in a House of 84 or “eligible” to be allowed to enter Parliament, under the recently announced PAP fraud of more NCMPs.

People want change but the dictatorial PAP is using proxies to frustrate their aspirations and expectations.

Thank you so much to TOC for a job well done, the state media or simply the “main-stream-media” will never publish these types of unglamorous, not elegant, shameful, abase, lowly treatments of Singaporeans by this bunch of despicable and contemptible wrenches of million-dollar miw.

Kowtow to freedom of speeches and expressions! Keep-up the good works!

Cheers to prosperities and progresses for whatever TOC strives for!

It looks political.

It may be that the government or government supporters made a brutal pro-active crack down based on your published story so that people will hate you. That’s politics.

This is most utterly disgusting. Civil servants abusing their authority to bully Singaporeans to serve the purpose of a political party because they have been embarrassed. This country is more like a tyranny now.

@Zefly,

TOC, is basically a media, it is good that you are doing investigatives journalism. If the govt is not willing to help. it’s the NGOs and perhaps, the oppositions MPs that are in a better positions to provide concrete assistance to these people. Imagine if Ms Lim were there to ask some questions, do you think these Npark people will tell her “we do not entertain”?

And since you said that some opposition candidates were there to help, why TOC’s not giving any coverage on that? isn’t that some good PR/exposure for these people? we know the MSMs are not going to do that.

Appalling!

I am waiting for further spin from 154th to white wash the actions of these little “Lee Kuan Yews”.

Andrew, is there anything we can do to push NParks to stop behaving like this now?
Of cos we need to vote PAP out since they are the root cause of the problem but that will be next GE.

Do yourself a favor…. remember how you are treated by these MPs and these lackeys and do the right thing at the Ballot box. PERIOD.

To “do something”,

Someone film them down and post it on youtube. Not sure if it’s illegal though… I only know that it’s illegal to capture the video of policeman in operation… not sure if it applies to NPark officers.

It’s been like this for years. Give a small man a cheap uniform, a badge and some rules to enforce and he’ll start thinking of the world and start forcing his own made-up rules by force of his own small authority and hopefully smoke/scare you into complying. I’ve learned long ago to demand the rules in print to be shown to me before ever bothering to even listen to them. Know your rights and actively protect yourself by knowing your legal options and then tiny opportunists will shrink away back into their cubicles.

Would these people have been better off if TOC had not reported on the issue?

No. The Sembawang campers were relocated to a block of HDB flats in the Tiong Bahru area within days after the first story came out. And they were spared the inconvenience of having to stay in Angsana Home in the meantime.

There are more stories TOC is working on now that will shed more light on the homeless issue.

Watch this space.

http://www.facebook.com/joshuafly?ref=nf#/group.php?gid=243022663629&ref=ts

Perhaps the so called genuine campers and fishing enthusiasts who had been issued with the unreasonable summons can refuse to pay the fine imposed and let the NP officers take them to court and fight for justice. I strongly support those who are unduly penalised for no rhyme or reason. The true story of any wrongdoings would come out during the court hearing and we can assess who is more reasonable. There are always 2-sides of the story. If we allow all the homeless and down and out Singaporeans and foreigners to camp and sleep wherever they want, including Singapore beaches will be littered with such campers. Where can I then bring my family members to enjoy the beach, swim and sun free of charge?

In a true democratic society, people will be marching in the streets, shouting “Gestapo, Gestapo!” and the related minister will be shamed into resigned. But alas, our civil servants with very thick skin & face – after all, their appointments (and pay scale) is based on meritocracy, right?

This has become typical of civil servants. They are more interested in covering their ass than in solving problems.

I once complained to AVA animal welfare about my neighbour abandoning their cat, the response from AVA was that they have to cull this cat now that it has become a stray. It is easier to get rid of the “evidence” than to go after my neighbour for pet abandonment. We have many laws but nobody is interested in the enforcement.

This is uncalled for ! To these civil servents, I have these to say to you: To hell with you with all that farking acts of forcing them to leave the palce with immediate effect that in fact, they have no where to go to! get it ?!!, it is just disgrace that our Spore have idiots like you who are just wasting country resorces just paying that farking pay to people like you with farking brain like peanuts size. PUT your farking ass into the shoes to these people, if you have any FOR one seconds and give them a little help if your farking brain can tell you, cut the farking crap of acting like a farking law and order enforcer, because you just do not fit that bill! Arssseholes !!

“If we allow all the homeless and down and out Singaporeans and foreigners to camp and sleep wherever they want, including Singapore beaches will be littered with such campers. Where can I then bring my family members to enjoy the beach, swim and sun free of charge?”

First of, no one should be homeless. Why are there homeless people. It’s a very complex issue, no doubt. But one area to look into, is to see if the policies we have are helping to create more homeless.

Second, it appears that there isn’t much in place to deal with the homeless issue. One of the VWO shelter for the homeless has a waiting list of close to 200 people (!)

The homeless are called homeless because they have nowhere to go. The beaches are the best of the worst places they can go to. On that the note, the homeless migrant workers do not even have tents. They sleep in streets, temples mosques where have you not.

And I do believe as long as they have permits, they should be allowed to camp until the deadline expires.

Would you have preferred that they be sleeping out of sight and hence out of mind for the enjoyment of your family? Last I checked, they looked exactly like you and me. :)

If Malay kampungs still existed, would this homeless situation have evolved?

With HDB prices soaring thru the roof & the relentless influx of foreigners into Spore, the demand for HDB flats has outsripped supply dramatically within the space of 2 years. At the same time, wages have gone lower & lower for the group of Spore citizens who rely on laborious tasks to eke out a living till they are pushed out altogether by the foreign workers from China.

The minority races in Spore face the harshest reality. Just a few days ago, the HR of DFS responded to ST Forum that yes indeed they only employ those who can speak Mandarin fluently due to the influx of China tourists patronising their DFS stores. His letter was in response to an Indian Sporean who lamented that she was rejected by DFS at Changi Airport for a retail job. Now you wonder why there are no Spore citizens employed there from the Malay & Indian races?

I thought it was in very poor taste that DFS issued that letter in the main media and there was silence from the Tripartite Group that aims to promote fair practices at workplaces. Definitely make a mockery of the MOM & Tripartite institutions indeed. Are all 3 terminals at Changi Airport so jam packed with China nationals, not that I can see with my eyes.

But both you and I know that the majority of Sporeans will still continue to vote in the PAP next GE & the next & the next. It is so hopeless that Spore as a country is headed towards a gradual if not swift downfall when you see what is happening in Spore. Yet the govt continues to berate us the Spore citizens that their policy is fail safe & their every explanation of their policy is couched in superfluous terms that the reality cannot be discerned by the general public. Unfortunately, no matter how highly educated the Spore citizens are, they just buy what the govt says. What can we do?

@useyourblain

So you are saying that the best way is for the poor and the homeless to suffer in silence, and that we should all pretend we don’t know they exist?

Its Vivan AGAIN.

Mr. E has a point. It is time we know our rights. It is most unfortunate that the ones most abused are the ones most ignorant of their rights as citizens. In this case, the genuine campers were also regarded as illegal campers, and the worse thing is that they allow themselves to be treated that way – all because they dare not stand up for themselves. Even though they may be ignorant of the details in the camping rules and regulations, it is no excuse that they fail to exercise their right as citizens and stand firm.

It’s the way things are in Singapore. If the government is not careful, these little LKYs are going to bring its already tainted reputation down a few more steps; and; if anyone from the PAP camp is listening or reading this, then it ought to do something about it and make sure they are not mis-represented by mini-LKYs.

All said, it is a good thing that such news do not go unreported even though these homeless citizens may have to be inconvenienced further. Some things just cannot be avoided if we want to effect change. This is their consolation.

Only then will we see the day where we do not have homeless people. Only then can we say aloud that the government is doing its job caring for its people.

Some have called upon the opposition members to do something about it but truth is, before we call on them, we should call upon those whom the majority has voted to look after their welfare. It is only fair.

It may seem I am always blaming the government but really, who should we ask for accountability if not the ones who are meant to represent us? The day we fail to ask anything is the day we give up our rights as citizens. Simple as that.

@gemami & Mr. E

Ya, Know your right?

You know what happen to people that know their rights and excercise them?

Ans: Dr Chee and his gang!

To those that says opposition should help.. c’mon give them a break.. most of them hardly have a roof over their heads already :-) they may be the one that needs help. When the rich refuses to do something, the supported of the rich will says, why don’t the poor do something about their condition? why don’t they get a job or something? or why don’t they just buy a house?

Don’t talk RIGHTS with a dictator!

Of course, if the Npark ppl do not bully singaporeans, who will they bully? Foreigners? Only when pigs fly.

Well said pickitup! Typical ‘let them eat cake’ mentality. PAP and their lapdogs needs to be GUILLOTINED.

Hi Curious, I’m curious as to where you’re coming from. No one is talking about exercising your rights with a dictator. I am simply saying that one should know his rights so that he does not get bullied because of his ignorance. There is nothing confrontational here so your comparison with CSJ is way out of place.

I am a fan of CSJ and the knowledge I have acquired about him as a politician is in no way the same with those who depend on reading about him from a third party’s point of view. You speak as if the final verdict about CSJ has already been written. No my dear friend. There is no doubt that he is over at the loser’s corner for now, but you can never tell what tomorrow will bring.

I was watching my favourite wrestling character just last weekend – Hulk Hogan. Whenever he fought, it always seemed like he was bound to lose. He gets beaten to a pulp when suddenly, with shaking hands and body and feet, he would find a sudden spurt of energy that would overturn the result and win.

Impossible is nothing, my friend, nothing.

It is upsetting how the poor and powerless are being treated by the system, with a minister leading the way.

Its not the Nparks officers who should be targetted. Alot of them would be sleeping in those tents, if they don’t follow the orders given to them by the superiors. Blame the minister and Nparks Head Office for not having empathy.

“i don’t care how you do it, as long as it is done!”

This is definitely the mantra of the government when it comes to dealing with the homeless problem. We tend to sweep it under the carpet. What do you expect untrained civil servants to do??

@gemami

I am just feeling sad for Singapore!

Years ago, I worked a short period as law enforecment officer and I know how “Rights”are not respected. Do you know that suspects are not entitled immidiate legal consultations? In the Changi case mentioned in the article, if the campers had escalated the confrontation, they will apply some other law to arrest you, if not A law, there will be B , C or D. so don’t tell them you know your rights.

The worst is , people that are supposed to protect our rights, had also given up doing that. Look at what a lame organisation the Law Society had become? They even had their Rights taken away by LKY!

I had long given up on the MIW, but I am also diappointed that the oppositions are not doing enough where I think they should have step up to the plate in many occasions.

I quote Dr Vivian Balakrishnan’s speech in parliament, March 2007.

“That allows me to say with a clear conscience to both the PAP and the Opposition MPs that nobody in Singapore needs to starve, nobody needs to be deprived of healthcare, and nobody needs to be deprived of a roof over his or her head. If someone indeed is so destitute and is starving, we have other means and other safety nets for them. ”

http://siewkumhong.blogspot.com/2007/03/how-many-portions-of-help-sir.html

So Sir, is this the so call “safety net” you have?

@Curious

“I had long given up on the MIW, but I am also diappointed that the oppositions are not doing enough where I think they should have step up to the plate in many occasions.”

this is where you come in

Thanks TOC for the write up. I agree with wakemeupearly on minority races being the harshest hit (tho there are many homeless people from the majority) but ironically within the minority circles it seems like they would rather blame “attitudes” of the homeless people, completely ignoring the structural factors that contribute to the phenomenon. Back in December the Malay papers ran a centrefold spread on “Malay families living in tents along East Coast” which was then followed by a commentary by one of the writers on why Malays LIKED(!) to live in tents by the beach rather than in ‘proper homes’, why didn’t they ‘put in effort to find jobs to rent places’ when they have ‘working limbs’ etc, and also stressing that ‘there are many avenues to seek help if u are homeless’. This is AFTER the people featured had mentioned that MOST of them were trying to make ends meet doing jobs like cleaning, security etc but this was still not enough — and yet the guy doing the commentary had the cheek to overlook these and talk about the “choices” these people make. The only person who wasn’t working brought up this point: how to have peace of mind to work when he doesn’t have a place to stay and also who would take care of what little belongings he has while he was at work? I also actually wonder administratively, how do homeless people apply for jobs? Won’t they need to fill in particulars like address etc (pardon my ignorance) and won’t this impede the job search?

just email the link to this article to all your friends. Let them read and judge for themselves whether this is the type of government they want especially those that voted for these white pigs.

At those parks, at least those destitutes are away from towns and have access to clean water and food (fish).

It’s not wise to push them too hard, if the authorities have not intention of helping them to get out of their predicament.

When a man is cornered and has run out of options, he has nothing to lose.

Such hungry and homeless people will naturally turn to crime.

Is that the price Singaporeans are willing to pay just because some politician or civil servant wants to look good?

Hi Curious,

I share your sentiments. In fact, I dare say most of us here feel the same way. We are all saddened by what what’s happening in and around our country, our home. I repeat that last part one more time – OUR country, OUR home. Is this how one expects to be treated in his own home?

You cite the example of having A, B, C & D laws imposed on another. Well, it justifies my reasoning that ignorance opens the floodgates to such manipulation of the law, don’t you think?

If one is in well-verse and knowledgeable about his rights, do you think the enforcement officials could even move from A to B without having to prove that the accusations of A is first valid? Fact is, ignorance allows the officials to move from A to B and C to D effortlessly until we believe what we are told.

Again, let’s return to CSJ. How many out there believe that CSJ is what the press had made him out to be? It’s time we challenge such views for once. You’ll be surprised with what you may find.

We are prone to blaming the opposition, or the lack of it, but hands to chest, what have we done that could have prevented the almost non-existence of our opposition? More importantly, what are we going to do about it?

So you see, we should look toward ourselves first before we throw stones at the opposition members. We should be applauding them instead for their spirit of steadfastness and perseverance against such seemingly insurmountable odds.

The Npark officers, police and MCYS people behave worse than animals.

The police doesn’t want to deal with the HUGE problem of loan shark harassment, assault (remember the “non-seizble offense” bullshit), etc……but they waste taxpayers’ money by forcing homeless people to the brink.

I wonder if the pap don’t care about these people because they don’t have an address and therefore cannot vote.

The PAP govt is face-conscious. The ministers must show the world that there are no social problems here. That is why begging is not permitted. If you must die from poverty , die quietly.

This country is a facade. Beneath this facade is a country whose people are bleeding profusely from the wounds inflicted by the govt. Very soon, many people will become carcasses disposed off in the streets like dead rats and dogs.

Very sad for the people of Singapore.

I am seriously concerned for you, TOC when I saw your headlines ‘Little Lee Kuan Yews’.

Relating your headline to the context of your report, there are grounds for defamation :-)

Don’t forget all it takes is for the late JBJ to wave a document at a certain rally & simply factually reported that someone had made a police report to be convicted of defamation.

All the more damaging the way you describe these NPark officers & actually likened them to ‘little you-know-whos’.

Take care !

Frankly I think if we have a more effective opposition in Parliament, I’m quite sure the NParks officers will not try to bully their way around. And for that matter, I don’t think any PAP Minister can get away with giving wishy washy answers in Parliament.

And I think also that CSJ will made an ideal canditate as an opposition MP. At least he has proven that he can challenge that old fart in putting his logical arguments across. As to the claims over some petty items that PAP has made him to sound like a dishonest person , I think in the perspective of what we have lost so far Ho Jinx is a real monster by any standards.

I honestly think if for whatever he has done or suffered, we should give CSJ an opportunity to serve as an opposition candidate. If he is that bad, we can always not elect him in another GE. We should give him his credit due.

Good Afternnoon all,

Glad to see TOC is heading full steam again. Andrew has certainly highlighted a very thought provoking subject. I dont want mess up the thread with another wind bag commentary – may I invite all of you to read what I’ve written on this subject, here

http://dotseng.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/monkey-see-monkey-do/

Do have a productive week ahead and many thanks

SD (Internet Liaison officer – sponsored by the IMG)

Nothng is free any more in Singapore. In the 50s and 60s, we stall get free tap water.

To rule a country that is even more demanding now than ever, new laws are enacted to make Singaporeans to comply.

Laws are useless if the authority is not righteous enough.

Just take the gambling laws. Gambling is already a sin but Singapore government makes it legal and illegal for gamblers. So loan sharks and other social ills will crop up. The reaction to unrighteousness is lawlessness.

Singaporeans will be hard to rule if laws are considered unrighteous. Death sentence is one such law. Abortion is another. R(A) rated law is another.

Homeless people is not a serious proble at all. People contribute 7 millions to the Ren Ci, so there will be helping hands still around. It is only the stubborn ones that are causing problems. Even MPs shake their heads when faced with this sort of people.

I do not want to give solution for this.

My misunderstood solution is for the president of Singapore to practise ‘wu wei’ or inaction. If you want to know about this go to http://www.kewkahfatt.9f.com/election97.html .

CSJ could not have cocked up more than Ho Ching.

OR GIC or LHL.

He just make a lot of noise. (which is comprehensible)

At least he won’t charge us for a higher hdb flat tax become our flats become more expensive.

ok.ok… I know that was a lame excuse by another hdb related minister.

Still, I believe CSJ will be more careful with monies.

if pap press charges, just hold out long enough.

the probability of an 86 year dying in a year increases year on year.

The probability should be around 60% now. (or is it over 5 years period).

Without LKY, there is no case.

@Ah Siao,

“@Curious

“I had long given up on the MIW, but I am also diappointed that the oppositions are not doing enough where I think they should have step up to the plate in many occasions.”

this is where you come in”

Haha, sorry to disappoint you, I am quitting this land soon!

@Gemami

Talk about CSJ, I think he is a good guy. He doesn’t deserve this present predicament. We were actually acquainted thru works 2 dozens yrs ago, and I had even visited him at his Toa Payoh home at Blk 111.

I wish he can make it to the Singapore Parliament one day, as a winner, not one of those NCMPs.

Having said that, I think the PAP had smashed his reputations, really, to the ground where it will take a long long time before he can recover. Where I had similar believe as CSJ politically, I think the majority of Singaporeans are still very conservatives.

@Objective….

“Studies have shown that not all of them are homeless or broke, many of them had either sold their flats and refused to buy a new one, and have hundreds of thousands in their bank account. Others have home but chose not to live in them. A small percentage of them however, are truly homeless, but they should seek help at the proper channel instead.”

Please provide source of your ” Studies”?

and how come none of you, and writers and photographers with swanky laptops and huge olympus cameras offered help”?

Is the govt job to help these people… what are the GST for?????

why should someone take the blame when the govt ’s not doing a good job?

It has been a long wait. Welcome back TOC!!

Andrew, thank you for the latest feedback on “Homeless People”!

As for the daft PAP, they will be taught a lesson when the GE comes.
Out they go, for sure!……Period!

Hi sweeney 38,

I don’t think that our PAP are any daft or dafter with regards to the GE concernced, do you think that the opposition are any better? me thinks that opp are worst and just talking only, nothing concerete comes out from them, so far.

Please all, don’t fall for the DELAYING tactics being thrown around right now by the PAP or HDB. All the reviews and what-not about revising housing policy etc. They are only meant to show that something seems to be done. But we all know that the current skyrocketing housing prices cannot be reversed just like that.

MBT knows that by halting or trying to reduce housing resale prices is dangerous because it could lead to panic selling by speculators leaving a huge supply that cannot be cleared (remember the US housing market?). Many of these speculators have no affinity to Singapore and they will simply cut their loses and default the mortgage payments and leave. We are in a poor situation no matter what. It is not a simply a matter of just setting quotas and stuff.

I can GUARANTEE that if you vote out MBT this time round, whoever replaces him as the minister by the PAP will be always on his/her toes around citizens. Don’t be a contented citizenry! We need to be whiny and “complainy” because it is our duty and our job! We do not owe it to the PAP to make their jobs easier as they are already handsomely compensated all this time.

i am utterly disgusted. these are singaporeans – citizens – we are talking about. citizens whom the government by mandate has a duty to vouchsafe from a plight like this one. in a true democratic society, no citizen would stand for this; no journalist, or his editor, or any member of the press for that matter would stand for this. the whole country would be up in arms quicker than you can say ‘quick’, demanding that food and shelter be bestowed upon these people; many of which are homeless not due to laziness, but the economy, or a lack of opportunities in our double-edged meritocratic system that seems to only favour the rich, the powerful, or the famed.

and what is with the harsh tone reserved for even the casual users of the park? it reflects badly on public servants on a whole and by extension speaks volumes about how the government trains its staff. it is outrageous, and very precarious for our image, i tell you.

The US & Japan are the two wealthiest countries on the planet. What more Singapore is only a tiny, resourceless island. Check these out-

http://images.google.com.sg/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=homeless+in+japan&rlz=1W1ACAW_en&oq=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=lrVmS42MJ4rU7AO_nfwh&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CBoQsAQwAw

http://images.google.com.sg/images?hl=en&rlz=1W1ACAW_en&um=1&sa=1&q=homeless+in+the+US&aq=f&oq=&start=0

Don’t worry about voting out ministers or even the PM! They are just like everyone else. If they do a lousy job, they deserved to be replaced. Don’t for a second think that if you do a poor job, the PAP will have any qualms of replacing you and mind you, you don’t even have a lovely severance package (like becoming ministers without portfolio) like they do!

Right now, I think health care is in a mess, housing is crazy and economy is not being restructured properly for the new era. Some heads have to roll. The PAP will still retain the majority so you don’t need to worry about the opposition members taking over important positions even if they are voted in. PAP will simply replace the displaced ministers with new MPs who know that they have to do a better job than their predecessors, which is actually a great thing! Why don’t Singaporeans want better people for the job, I can never understand.

So even if Bonzi is right that the “opp are worst and just talking only, nothing concerete comes out from them, so far”, it does not matter because their job is to keep reminding the PAP that they cannot be complacent. Let the opposition hound the PAP constantly and make them accountable so that the PAP do not have too much time thinking about how to squeeze the citizens of our hard earn money!

i feel compelled to comment on Just had to’s statement on Feb 1, 2010 19:15.

you talk about the opposition being a force to be reckoned with, yet whether or not they appear in parliament “does not matter because their job is to keep reminding the PAP that they cannot be complacent”. this is wrong. our opposition is not strong enough to have that effect on the pap, and even if they are, the current government can think of all sorts of previously undiscovered laws to throw the lot in jail.

we have a state media, a censored press, a stifled opposition. in addition, our healthcare is “in a mess, housing is crazy and economy is not being restructured properly for the new era”.

nothing has yet happened.

and nothing will.

heads will not roll because mas selamat escaped and heads did not (well not important heads anyway); heads will not roll because someone in singapore cleared customs with a wrong passport and nothing happened; heads will not roll simply because the pap are certain that they’ll stay in power.

the only way we can ask more more accountability is through the voting system.

you want rolling heads? vote wisely.

I am wrong. I always mistook some of these people as picnicking but now i realise some of them are homeless people….

@stark

I did not state the opposition is a force to be reckoned with. I did not state the opposition should not appear in parliament if they are voted in. I did not state heads have rolled.

I stated we needed opposition. I stated that the opposition cannot take up ministerial posts (without a majority to form the government). I stated heads have to roll.

I agree that nothing has happened. I also believe nothing will. But I just hope something will.

Hope is not enough….we deserve better…..its a must and imperative we DO all vote for the oppostion instead of hoping….

With the Opposition in, this entire island will be homeless.

That’s what many out here quietly hope for especially the foreigners, foreign proxies, opposition members, etc.

Because Singapore is Number 2 in terms of wealth and standard of living in ASIA after Japan. The other countries must be worse off. Right?

Well, facts speak.

//Max

I wonder how the entire island could be homeless when the buildings are there.

Unless WKS let the terrorists in and bombed the buildings and let them escape again.

//Max

Foreigners hoping Singapore to become homeless?

Then how come LHL and LKY let in so many in.

LKY didn’t forecast this?

//Max

Last hear, the opposition wards had the cleanest wards in Singapore.

The PAP ones are the ones which had lost a lot of monies in lehman minibonds and appeared run down.

There are homeless people in Sembawang and Changi , both PAP wards.

//Max
Yeah I forgot PAP had many ft turned citizen in them… maybe that’s why PAP wards lost monies in lehman minibonds and have homeless people.

Yeah you are right.

//Bonzi

You have not been in the loop.

The opposition party RP is the party that discover the productivity gaps over the last 15 years which pose a problem to our national wealth-being.

This productivity is subsequently acknowledged by your PM/SM even though just 2 days before, your labour Chief claimed that productivity is not important.

Look at the recent strategic report: THere are NO new ideas. All a rehash of the last 10 years material, which has not delivered.

Creativity appeared everywhere in the report but creativity surfaced on official parlance since 1994, yet our productivity has been falling from 1995.

The current PAP has no ideas and has poor execution.

Most , if not all the people there are not ministerial material. LKY included because he is nearing death and he knows it.

//Objective

Can you check a homeless bank account?

Is it legal?

Why would a homeless show you his bank account if he has hundreds of thousands of dollars?

What’s stopping you from robbing him in his tent? His polyester tent?

Please.

if you want to discredit something, suggest something credible.

Use your brain.

Just pop something like that is cheap.

Really cheap.

I don’t completely blame you.

This is because LSS loves to do that.

i wonder is it true that singaporeans will not stand up for singaporeans but money?

siloso beach molest : everyone watched and no one helped.
a woman manhandled in public : no one do anything.
mosquito problem : many suffer in silence. dun dare to complain.
bicyle ruling : people continue to accept without question or they just dun care. most own a car. they dun give a shit about others.

rising flat prices: continue to accept.
investment fiascos : continue to accept. not their problem mentality.

Mandatory death sentence : caught on video , many BoChap thinking its not their problem.

such a foolish mentality. sabo the rest. sabo the society.

The PAP thinks by dressing up in a nice shirt or dress and appear in a big group can exonerate them from not delivering a solid economic strategic report.

There is complete no new ideas in the report.

There is nothing to address the productivity issue, nothing to address finding new sources of customers etc. just monies throwing and cheap labor injection.

Some of you might think that PAP is more restrained now.

That is because it knows it is under threat. Once election is over, I assure you, they will be more cocky than ever.

and probably cock up more frequently than before.

//stark

I don’t believe your suggestion.

If there are 20 opposition members in parliament after the next election, I assure you things will change a lot.

For one, those complacent pigs who remained will know it is possible to lose their million dollar pay check.

they will work extra hard and think extra hard.

All the more so, there will be more people scrutinizing their work.

If it is no good, that will surface more readily and they risk losing their million dollar paycheck.

Where else are they going to find another million dollar job in singapore at this age.

As if MBT didn’t know.

that’s why he is attacking the opposition now.

//stark

I forgot to add:

opposition is less expensive to maintain.

Every pig in pap cost a lot of monies in pay and in pension.

oh, I forgot: your cpf too.

//@Objective

Yeah right, a hundred thousand person showing you his bank book with the hundred thousand without fear that you might rob him.

Yeah his plastic tent is so strong to stop you from robbing him.

Please come up with more credible conspiracy theory.

@Max

Those are figures and not facts!

If you took those absolute value of wealth and normalize them across countries with the actual cost of living, you will find that actually the spending power of an average Singaporean actually falls below many different countries which have lower absolute value of wealth than that of Singapore in the first place.

//stark

which minister is worth keeping?

which mp is worth keeping?

which one is not?

My list for the latter is very long.

Just tell me which recommendations in the economic strategic report is original.

If you compare this report and the report 20 years ago or 15 years, you see the same things.

It is really a farce.

@ Leong

The US & Japan are the two wealthiest countries on the planet. What more Singapore is only a tiny, resourceless island.

Agree. But why Sg govt so damn expensive?

//Just had to
//Max

Just looking at GDP per capital is like being in awe with a big sexual organ.

It is really how it is use that is interesting.

Which is really what purchasing power is about.

Being ranked lowest among the 4 tigers in purchasing power, is the reason why we see so much affluence from hong kong, korean, Taiwanese than from Singapore.

When the homeless meet the heartless…
Disgust beyond words.

Authorities are always covering up for one another .its digusting to noe tt this officers are doing this .they should put themself in other people shoes . Not everybody is lucky to have a roof over their head,seems to me this officers are treating these people like dogs cos thry tink tt since they are poor ,they cant do anything . Officers if ure reading this ,then lemme tell ue , ue guys are more irritating than any pest ,wheres yr brain to tink?! Even a 15yr old like me tink thats unacceptable .how abt ue adults ue guys ARE supposed to be role models to us teens .

Based on the above facts I see the homeless campers mostly looks like Malay Singaporeans (Not for racial issue just to identify clearly the problem to solve it ). We muslim contribute 2.5% of our savingss annually as Zakat (Helps to poor) every year in the month of Ramadan to MUIS. Besides we contibute to the society&mosque every Friday prayers and whenever we visit mosque for 5 times prayers.

Where all this money goes, top salaries to all executives working under MUIS, branding, media publishing on heroic stories of their own creation or unnecessary or unread or wasted media like Nadi(one of them), which is not useful at all (You can visit every mosque and see the copies left overs). Creates tons of paper waste (lead to more tree cuts & carbon emissions) which is not Islamic (Prophet Muhammad (Saw) many times condemned unnecessary tree cuts in his life time. This fund could be channeled properly to action to community who needs helps immediately.

Many Singapore family are in basic needs like food (they are mostly depend on Magie Mee), water suppy & Electricity supply, Managing their transportation fee.

Singaporeans can’t keep on begging to Government all the time, My feedback to government is to give them some small quick interest free loan to solve their immediate problems, and give them more concession and rebates in other avenues if they quickly turn new leaf with Community service help to place themselves in work and repay atleast part of their loan. We have to set aside some funds for them with nature of it not profitable on it and only to help them without looking of their returns.

There are 1000s of ways to do it to help our people, Let our government open a way for Citizen’s to contribute this ideas,sure they can solve this problem easily as they need to focus on root cause. They need new think tanks not the existing tanks which fill only their tanks.

Sadly our leaders of today are rich and brilliant in handling issue of high social standing but when it comes to common people issue, compassion and understanding the plight of the people…..FEW IF ANY is capable for such matters for they are the poorest of poor. Most are so well read and highly qualified in terms of degrees collection….all too puffed up without compassion. How many of our MP/leaders in government ministry writing policy or in decision making position actually rose from rank and file or are they prepared/molded upon graduation into office? Do they really know what challenges the commoner daily? Are the policies set up good for classroom lessons only? Do they get a chance to experience
- the constant blast of speakers torment from common parties granted by HDB ie chinese festivals, weddings, funerals, community parties etc etc etc or do they hide away in private property of serene and bliss from what torment the common folks weekly and sometimes daily depending on the season.
-or lived in the constituency they are put steward over to understand what faced their people on a daily basis?
- or experienced public transport substantially to really hear the people?
- or dine at hawker centers / food court during lunch/dinner crowd?
How many of our leaders today can say they really know what faced a commoner? Let’s not talk about those election rounds of display , or the artificial show of a one moment photo snap in leisure rides to promote the public system. Seriously how effective can they be without the people touch? This, in my opinion is the core problem of our modern leaders today.

I am so disgusted!

Little LKYs? The bureaucracy is full of them.

“Our biggest struggle is not against the PAP, it is against what the PAP has done to our minds.” ~ Dr Chee Soon Juan

I agree with some commentors here.

Its not reported whether they are, but here’s an opportunity for NGOs, charity groups, religious organisations, to come in and help.

On the harshness of it all, well, NParks must have gotten an ultimatum, or a complaint from someone, as usual. I dont think its easy to chase people away, when you know they have nowhere to go to.

Maybe the homeless people should make a din in MRTs or SBS buses, like some of our newly-welcomed fellow citizens.

SBS gave them a taxi for making a noise when no wheelchairs were allowed on a bus…so…who knows.

To Muhammad, Feb 1, 2010 23:49,

I think you’re over-assuming. If you dont really know where and how the Zakat funds are distributed, i think you shouldnt make allegations as you did. And this post about the treatment of homeless folks has got nothing to do with cutting down trees and paper wastage.

Fitnah is as big a sin as misappropriating zakat…

I suggest you investigate, and ask, rather than saying the money’s wasted. MUIS has a religious obligation to God to distribute the monies fairly, and i dont think you’re in a position to criticise without knowing the facts.

I think what Muhammad is saying is that there should be clear and proper accountability. When ambiguity sets in, coupled with a situation that is associated with the same community, then it is inevitable that questions would be raised.

He does have a good point – for the government to offer interest free loans until these homeless can stand on their own feet again. If they really want to help them and with the constant call to be productive, then this might just be a good solution to the problem.

What have they got to lose? 10% of MBT’s or LSS’s monthly salaries?

I am most disgusted to read about people abusing their authorities and powers; especially when they are in the civil service sector. Talking about first class government but possibly some are even worse off than third class government. How could a MP possibly even mentioned something like that? What can I say except brainless. To serve the people, we need people with the heart and commitment. This reminds me of a MP that said many years ago about the HDB. He said something like this, “If you think that HDB is expensive, then don’t stay in HDB.”

repost:………….

[i]I am sure free food and change of clothings will be provided for them by some charity organizations.
[/i]

what makes you so SURED? are you donatin FREE food? don’t be STUPID..
if cannot cook eat what?..every night i come home dead tired from adhoc job…
i still have to make my owned porridge @ the midnight witchin hour in which i taste damned shiok
not because i liked to cook (ps i am a toughguy..not a sissy ahkua hor) i have to watch every dollar saved
now imagined a famiLLEe of 5…just to buy 5 packet of nasi lemak will cost them how much? multiply by 2 meals/day multiply x 5 x 30 days….
worst than hotel a le changi akaprison @ the very least changi jail would feed them

Didn’t LKY once tell the Americans that there isn’t a homeless problem in Singapore? You won’t find Americans treating their homeless like this…they actually have real constitutional rights over there. Breaking into a camper’s tent? The officer would be thrown in jail for illegal entry. I think a serious problem is the apparent lack of ability for Singaporeans to sue public officials who break the laws. Americans routinely sue their police officers and incompetent officials who try to trounce their rights. What outlet do Singaporeans have to take officials to task when officials are breaking laws? Ask them nicely to stop?

It’s funny. everyone reads the article here and have the idea that civil servants are abusing their authority. i wonder if the journalists here were even at the scene or just based their article on interviews from one side of the fence (from what i see, it does not seem that they were at the scene of the “crime”).

it is common for people in distress to feel victimized. anyone here suffered from minibonds failure? “it’s the bank’s fault for selling me the product, i wanna sue them even though i made millions cos i know all about the financial markets”. it’s a whiner’s syndrome.

did this journalist even check out how many of these people have made profits from their flats and maybe squandered it all away on getting a new car, going for the latest LCD TV, upgraded to a condo only to find out they bought beyond their means? do such people deserve a safety net? what kind of message would the govt be sending? so we let these people stay there and watch the numbers multiply day-by-day? maybe it does not affect anyone now, but if the mentality becomes ingrained, then it will degenerate into a free-for-all sooner or later.

so much for investigative journalism. btw, has anyone seen how big is a public flat in HK? or public housing in any other part of the world? i would welcome you to open my eyes.

i’ve always felt the articles here worth reading and come away with a new insight; something that balances the mainstream media. but this article borders on new paper journalism where sensationalism seems to be the key. hopefully i can read more quality articles and not one sided journalism from now on.

oh, and btw, even in the private sector, the rank and file are not allowed to speak to the public as a spokesperson unless clearance is given; that’s why there is always a PR unit. therefore i see no wrong in the Nparks officer saying that he does not entertain queries.

and an MP asking the public to sleep at the beach. well, that’s a pretty tall story. i wonder which MP would dare to say that. if i were an MP, i dun think i would. unless i want a shoe thrown at me.

hmmmm,

As mentioned in the report (perhaps you want to read it again), we emailed the CEO of Nparks precisely to seek clarification on this.

He has chosen, apparently, not to reply to our query.

Thus, we have no opportunity to, as you suggested, hear both sides of the story.

Andrew

i agree we shld vote in at least 20 non-PAP mps. we need these simply to break pap’s hegemony in order to force open the books and know the skeletons closeted away in all these 50 years.

this is a time for reform, for change. it’s not right to see so much social injustice in various forms, and to see our own citizens down-trodden by leaders and foreigners alike.

we have a chance to right the wrongs at the ballot. vote wisely. miss the boat and you or your children might be living in the fringes for all they care.

Thanks for posting this article TOC!

Welcome to Singapore…

This is definitely a worrying matter. Give people an inch and they take a foot. Which is especially true for these NPARK officers. Guess no one told about the quote about “with great power comes’s greater responsibility”.

These “residents” of these parks are homeless and cannot afford homes, the government should have measures in place to ensure that these individuals’s welfare are looked into. However, given them interest free loans is not the answer. How are you going to repay the loan if you don’t get a job? how long can these interest free loans be? Won’t it mean that they will be evicted if they don’t pay up? It is overtly myopic to suggest that solution.

What I think the government MUST do is to identify these people and see if they can but them into temporary housing whilst helping them to find a job to let them stand on their own 2 feet. At the same time, NPARK wardens should be re-educated on the scope of their jurisdiction. They are not police officers after all.

@KSUGU, introducing 20 non-PAP MPs simply to break hegemony sounds interesting, but how do you propose that these MPs are qualified to take on the mantle of addressing the concerns of it’s constituents?

Meanwhile, the government is setting aside HDB flats, entire blocks, to house cheap foreign workers.

20 opposition is not enough.

We need at least 1/3 of the 82 mp seats to stop pap from doing what it likes.

i.e. 30 mp

then pap will need to think carefully before it do anything

//What have they got to lose? 10% of xxx’s or xxx’s monthly salaries?//

wait they say hoh, that they do not want all of you to develop into a crutch mentality, just for your own good ok. remember ok, for your own good. they have your interest at heart ok.

don’t ever dream of touching their salary ok, it’s theirs ok and they fully deserve it ok. it is a corruption-deterrence titbit. corruption is no good for society ok and we need to prevent it ok.

NParks are really not nice people to deal with.
I once had to ask for filming permission in one of their parks. They came back with the reply that the sport I was filming (Frisbee) was dangerous to the trees in the park and therefore not allowed to play.
As everyone knows Frisbee is such a safe sport even for children and dogs, I can’t believe the trees can be hurt…. had such a bad experience with NParks.

Where is all the kindness in the kindness movement or gracious society?

http://kindness.sg/?q=about

Goh CT thought this is important.

What happened?

We have been conned.

I agree with all the comments posted here regarding the need to help these homeless people. But I have a question – should we help everyone, regardless of how they became homeless? The man who is homeless because he beat up his wife and kids, and was thrown out of the house? The man who due to his gambling habit caused the family to become homeless after he failed to maintain the bank loan repayments? The serial adulterer whose marriage broke up after the spouse had enough? Should we help everyyone? Or just the “deserving few” And then leave the rest in the park?

Think we might have sensationalised the issue… I agree that the gahmen needs to nib the issue at its bud…. to understand why these people really needs to camp at the park and arrange for alternative housing for them if there is a need to do so. And I personally think NParks officers are doing the right thing – I wouldn’t want to go into a park full of “vagrants” and campers… I would feel threatened…. Just my 2cts worth… :)

We are living in a society that the gahman is only interested in making money and not the welfare of the people. Identity is not at all important. MPs crave for GDP growth to pocket more money while citizen never see any improvement in life. Gracious society??? There is no such environment to nurture such a great value.

Singaporeans never get a chance to hold a job when the companies refused to give Singaporeans a chance to work. Companies become very choosy when they have a choice to choose between cheap foreign talent and expensive Singaporean. What is then gracious? Does it mean Companies that set up shop in Singapore that has a desire to employ cheap foreigners consider gracious to Singaporeans or the gahman? Is these people denied from getting a job or is it just themselves being lazy? It is HDB flats have become more and more unaffordable and the salary they earn is too little to buy them a roof? I believe everyone wants a roof over their head. Why not the MP investigates it? Why did he not talk to the people when he is there? Does our MP feel embarrassed when taking to these unfortunate people? Elite mentality?

Why call for graciousness when the environment created by the gahman is not one.

yeah. the govt is turning singapore into a place where mnc come to get cheap labour for real work and sex and whatever.

They don’t add value.

There is no difference between the way they operate and the way the pimps in geylang run their show.

ooh no. the pimps in geylang don’t go on tv and give talks (to teach people to have sex or whatever).

the pigs @ parliament have to do that to ensure that you are continually brainwashed.

Besides that, their method are both lazy and cheap.

I feel sad to realise that it was myself who learnt about the problems of the system and not highly educated people who told me about the problems. They never did. I learnt it by myself before a rare few of them started tell us.

Yes, now, there are a few but last time, there was none. People were scared to voice up. The more informed and educated did not helped in the past as much as some are doing it now. But this number is still too negligible to be Significant.

I urge that the more well informed and educated and capable who have awakened come forward and save us. Self interest is basic needs but without also taking care of Society interests, these cannot be considered Leaders of society.

What the fish? Pregnant woman also they can’t help her by providing some accomodation? WHAT THE FISH SERIOUSLY?

Can we get some good quality representatives to represent Opposition in the 2011 GE? Battle every area and try to win as many seats as possible. Even if you feel you might lose, just stand against all the PAP-owned areas. Don’t just give in areas easily.

Come on guys, 1 year to plan this and pull potential Opposition leaders in. Time to make a change!

We are no longer the older generation who just tick the logo with the lightning because it looked fierce and “garang”. Most of us are educated, hold diplomas and degrees and we can think and decide for ourselves now. Wake up, Singaporeans. Let’s not be slaves anymore to our own demise.

Its quite sad to see more & more SGeans ending up on the beach, but I’m aware that not everything that has been quoted by the homeless in this article is completely true. I know 1 family who rent their flat out and stay in the park! Thats selfish in my opinion. Some of them, as they are able bodied, were even offered jobs so that they can get themselves out of this vicious cycle, but never show up for work. Again, we shld criticise the policies being implemented by these govt bodies n push for more to prevent these people from ending on the park. But as we all know there are all kinds of people in this world & we have to acknowledge that some who dont even want to themselves when help is offered.

Bala will get his Karma!

While some well to be Singaporeans have never encountered hardship and keep singing the praise of PAP, they should come to know the plight of the homeless after 50 years of rule by PAP. Any one can go bankrupt or jobless. No one can be spared, even CEOs can be retrenched. When they are at the lowest end of their life, it will be too late to understand the homeless’ plight. Ha . . . . .

Govt. servants have become not servants but “bullies” on behalf of the Pee and Pee….I wonder what their parents and their children think of them…I believe they are ashamed of their children and the children of these “bullies” are shamed to tell their friends their parents are behaving like gangsters and bullies on behalf of the Pee and Pee.

there was a few times i visited Japan…the world No 2 economy….they have homeless people using only carton boards …to shield winter cold in sub way station…and on the busy streets such as in front of a 7 eleven store…and i also see somes in their national park where tents are build becos there is water there for them…but “assumping” that…i see the homeless do have their basic “rights” as humans to stay in their own country and ws not chase away…things will be there to be as it is…and new possibilities is to be create by the authorities to help them i guess….