By Leong Sze Hian
This article has been updated with an edited version.
During a recent REACH forum, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that feedback obtained online needs to be assessed “critically and carefully”, and that it is easy to mount online campaigns. [1]
Citing the leadership tussle by Singapore women’s group AWARE last year, Mr Lee noted that he had received numerous emails from opposing camps, but many of the messages were identical and had obviously been copied from a template. He raised this example as an instance not of independent feedback, but of an organized campaign designed to compel the government to act in a certain way.
But is this really as nefarious as implied by Mr Lee?
There is a natural tendency for people who believe strongly in an issue to create a particular template for supporters to use in lobbying the government toward their cause. In fact, this is common practice in countries like the United States, where special interest groups would ask their constituents to send similarly phrased letters to their congressmen expressing the group’s stand on a certain issue.
Using a pre-designed template rather than writing a personal letter from scratch may seem like a lazy way out, but it is a convenient tool for supporters of a particular campaign or cause who are unable to express themselves well in writing but who also want to join in and get a slice of the action.
In short, when people use a template, it does not necessarily mean they don’t care, or are merely displaying a herd mentality. The government therefore should not be overly distracted from the issues at hand simply because there are people doing this.
I agree with Mr Lee’s statement that “the government cannot make decisions simply based on the volume of emails supporting or opposing a particular situation”.
The government should rightfully make decisions based on the merits of the issue, instead of the volume of emails received.
Mr Lee also said that the government must also be cautious of what’s called “Astroturfing” campaigns, in which groups fake identities and orchestrate online movements.
He went on to cite another example – the presence of recent emails circulating, criticising the government on property prices. Mr Lee said upon verifying the emails, the names, phone and even IC numbers attached turned out to be fake, and concluded that the campaign had been a covert attempt to pressure the government for personal benefits.
I would like to ask Mr Lee: exactly how many names and phone numbers were found to be fake? 1? 10? 100? 1000?
People using fake identities are inevitable in the online world where, due to oppressive government action, many individuals are still operating in a climate of fear.
Can you blame people for hiding behind pseudonyms, when the government repeatedly sues for defamation?
Perhaps the Reporters Without Borders Open Letter to the PM (“Media watchdog calls for halt to libel actions”, ST, Mar 27), and the recent successful defamation suit awarding US$114,000 against the International Herald Tribune (IHT) speak for themselves in this regard.
I think common sense will tell us that someone who circulates an email criticising the government on property prices may be quite reluctant to use his or her real name or phone number.
What we need is to do more to help allay the fear of expressing oneself freely. Isn’t this one of the fundamental reasons why we have channels like REACH in the first place?
To encourage true feedback and criticism, the people must not be fearful of expressing themselves freely.
Maybe the editors and writers of theconlinecitizen are arguably the exception rather than the norm in the Singapore online sphere, in having real faces in our numerous past public events, names and contacts.
My stand is the government should focus on the problems and challenges confronting Singaporeans rather than becoming distracted by so-called Astroturfing campaigns and using that as an excuse to avoid addressing the underlying issues.
For example, after all the widespread debate, analysis, commentary and feedback on the issue of property prices, how has the government responded to the concerns raised? Have they done an adequate job addressing the needs, fears, and aspirations of the younger generation? Or have they consigned these to mere Astroturfing campaigns that deserve no further consideration?
I support the Government’s stand that it should not be pressured by online campaigns that are manifestly a covert attempt by special interest groups at pressuring the government for personal gain which does not represent the interests of Singaporeans in general.
However, when the issues raised have the potential to affect the livelihood or standard of living of a significant number of Singaporeans, the government should take a more nuanced approach and not merely sweep such campaigns under the carpet.
In other words, focus on the message and the issue, regardless of the perceived intent or motive of the sender, whether fake or otherwise.
In the final analysis, isn’t this perhaps the best way to engage Singaporeans in the new media?
P.S. Anyone who reads this is welcome to circulate it with your real name and phone number!
__________________________
References:
[1] Channel News Asia, “PM Lee on govt’s approach in engaging S’poreans in new media”, 27 March 2010.
Well, I don’t use template (wrote the damn letters word for word) but some gahmen agencies (HDB; Traffic Police) still don’t give a damn. I don’t mean changing the rules to suit my suggestions. I mean BLATANTLY IGNORING your letter.
No reply, nada.
Is LHL using this excuse to ignore feedback? As you said it is quite common for organisations to use templates. If you care enough, you will cut and paste and send it to the government representative. Some organisations will encourage the public to modify the template to add their own message. But the standard template / message is there.
So is LHL saying you must do things the PAP way before the PAP gahmen will listen to you?
Kind of like GCT’s sorry challenge of “if you want to make comments you must join politics” thing doesn’t ‘t it?
I thought that my pink IC is sufficient to qualify me to make noise.
Next time who knows, maybe LHL will come up with more rules like:
a) must be in English;
b) must be in perfect English (broken English will be ignored);
c) must be in standard letter format;
d) must include full name (as in IC), IC number, address, your father’s and mother’s names, your pet’s names etc.
Sorry, TOC, I just have to re-post this. The para alignments
are out of position and my ending sentence is missing.
It is very disturbing to hear PM Lee making these comments.
While acknowledging the usefulness of online engagements, he
found it necessary to brush aside one segment of it as wanton
campaigning just because a group of supporters decided to make
known their complaints in a standard templated format.
It is also worrying that he chooses to give little relevance
to those who engage under anonymity. Is the PM better convinced
when one has a name, or, would he rather listen to the point
being made regardless of identity?
He cited the oft-heard logic that a name compels one to make
‘reasonable’ comments while an anonymous one allows one to
talk ‘nonsense’. Is he out of touch or what?
He ought to know, or else Lui is not doing his job, that whether
one comments under his own name or prefers to be anonymous, he
will come under scrutiny and will be rebutted by the online community
he is in if he writes nonsense.
All said, it is correctly pointed out by LSH that he chooses
to ignore the issues and messages by focussing on the sender.
Surely, this is the least expected from one who holds the
PM position of a country.
A voice is still a voice by whatever name, and, an issue is still an
issue by whatever format.
LHL is really contradicting his govt’s recent action. If people protesting for lower property prices are merely “astroturfing”, why on Earth did HBD suddenly release so many flats lately?? Why did the govt introduce new rules on flat ownership and usage?? Why did the govt release more land for residential properties??
I guess it’s time for more opposition to knock some sense into these people. it is a laughing stock for the world at how much crap our leaders are forcing through the media.
This Leediculous clown is insulting the intelligence of Singapoerans. VOTE THEM OUT!
PAP is so sensitive and allergic to any criticism, if they can’t take bloggers’ comments, then allow SPH press to be independent.
LHL is an anti-freedom autocrat, manipulate parliamnetary democracy, now he can’t even accept Bollogers and simply classifis bloggers are for self interest, the PAP fat cats with families cronies are for self interest
He must think netizens are dumb or first-time users of the internet. The internet is just a medium, the reason we use it because of it’s accessibility and anonymity. Especially the latter knowing how we rank so low on the list of countries that allows freedom of speech. Hellooooooo.
To illustrate my point if you had thousands of people chanting a slogan in an open field, do you find out what they are demonstrating about or how they are dressed. You rather find out the latter. That is how competent our government is. Totally overlook the real issue and waste time and resources on going around the issue.
Really, these are the people we are depending our future on. Maybe we should pay the same salary he’s getting to a FT to run our country. Someone like Francois Mitterand
“Who is this ridiculous man who wastes my time? Running Singapore is like running Marseilles. I am running a whole country!”
-Francois Mitterrand, President of France on LKY
@Human Being
hahaha… maybe it’s coz LHL is a first time user on the net?
he has to discredit everything online wat. with anonymity, how can the ISD catch those pesky dissenters? actually can, coz im sure the ISD has SIGINT capability.
and i dun think the MIW will notice how the ppl are dressed. the police will just arrest every single one on the open field and throw them in jail. MIW wont even know what happened until it’s over.
im always amused by LKY and his overseas “lecture” trips, as if he’s some big shot. SG is a tiny island-city that happens to be a country. other countries are so huge with a long history.
maybe it’s coz he GIVE himself such a high pay so he forgot about this.
This PM don’t use template one, where got time to rewrite the same thing for a campaign? So long it convenes my message to you. Isn’t this call efficiency, we don’t want to reinvent the wheel. Look at all your government forms, all template, fool.
If we start a campaign, title: “PM Lee to step down yesterday”, asking for name and signature, and 1 good reason, outside major MRT stations. Very sure you have a long list, all uniquely phrased and truthful.
Standard template. In this fast pace & quick-to-learn internet environment & society. You will expect more of this.
Why reinvent something if it is going to do the work. Ain’t we requisition the service of professionals, consultants or tradesmen who cut and paste their wealth of experience & knowledge selectively depending on the situation on hand for something that we are unable to do it ourselves.
look at his terrible face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! really sickly and still talking rubbish!
This world-class government has a track record of using outliers to rebut valid claims and criticisms. Makes its job much easier doesn’t it?
Fear that the cyber world is leading ST and all other propaganda portals. Aruging better and calling for a stand.
He is just trying to juggle it and see, how it will turn out.
The New PAP is not just lost for action, but also words.
Re: Responses to “Engaging Singaporeans in New Media : Focus on the issues”
Netizens are aplenty. Many are complacent – happy to jus surf, read, laugh and choke with tears reading the various materials and thoughts posted. Sometimes delighted with the good thoughts and writings, at times bemused by the personal downloadings and expressions.
Frankly speaking, it is worrying how unscrupulous certain groups or characters may abuse the digital and social media. Nevertheless, I have confidence in the intelligence of netizens.
Netizens who gotten permanently swayed by a couple of postings, over even hundreds, are not many. A posting that show support for a thread of discussion does not necessarily culminate in permanent conversion to the alternative camp of thinking.
What is wanting is for intelligent digital sparring, not necessarily involving politicians, between netizens. Many of us are fully aware that there is this whole domain of knowledge and extremley intelligent views among netizens who are now merely surfing, reading and partaking….. but without joinig in the fray.
It is understandable that the authorities should be discerning in picking up the right views. But the concern among netizens and citizenry is what is then TRULY right and representative. The art is in ensuring the right pickings and to display this ART.
Frankly speaking, I am sure there is no secret formula…. sometimes you may get it right and sometimes markmanship is a little wanting. Afterall they are humans too wearing super humans garb….. trying to make our lives better.
If netizens want their voices to be heard make sure the thoughts and ideas are clear, rational and worthy of notice -taking into consideration the connectedness of issues. We are living in multi-ecosystems…
template or not, the message is very clear that anti lkypap were eminent everywhere in Singapore.
Honestly speaking pap would have problem getting re-elected after the demise of lky.
Try public referendum for ‘more Opposition’ in Parliament, easily a ‘YES’ answer for that matter.
A voice by any other name sounds just as sweet!!!
I don’t know if you’ve seen the TV footage in the news of LHL and VB talking in the REACH forum.
They seemed quite pissed at the comments on the internet, especially pertaining to 2 issues: (1) property prices and (2) issue of the less well-off, the chronic poor, the bottom 20% etc.
At one point, I thought LHL was a bit emotional, his voice volume & pitch was increasing when he said people were saying they will not support [the govt] next election. I almost expected him to be shouting at the end.
Looks like they did not take to heart their colleague’s LSS advice: We are DEAF to all criticisms! Looks like when it could very well affect their political survival, they are not so deaf after all!
Who cares what LHL or LKY says. They have lost their credibility long time ago.
He asked for face to face not because he cares. Once you show your face, particulars taken dow, you as good as done deal-cooked. Now, under anonymity, many people are genuinely for the 1st time under New Media, able to voice their true feelings about many issues.
A good government will evaluate and listen to good grievances to improve. Bad ones, obviously like ours, will simply cook the frog so it cannot hear anymore.
//Frankly Speaking
Mar 28, 2010 13:59
If netizens want their voices to be heard make sure the thoughts and ideas are clear, rational and worthy of notice -taking into consideration the connectedness of issues.//
Nah.
Well thought-up standard template multiplied many times across has already done that, assuming we take their words at face value. However, they still find reason enough to parry away the significance.
Giving them the benefits of doubts, a lot of articles on this site are already clear thoughts and ideas where most of us will not find any problems grasping the reason behind them. At least, I don’t find it unclear. Do you ?
One upon a time, a hammer knocked loudly on the nation of the nails and shouted out, “who amongst you will stand tall and be counted before me?”
None of the nails stood up. The hammer left huffing and puffing.
One day the hammer recounted this story to a travelling Rabbi. The Rabbi who was known to be the wisest of the wise said, “Oh hammer how useful you are to the carpenter, but it is sad that there are already so many hammers in this village…as there are nails….surely you owe it to yourself and the nations of the nails to be something greater than what you or they can be?”
The hammer replied, “I have always wanted to be a ploughshare but there is so little of me…it is hardly enough to make a few spoons.”
The Rabbi stroked his beard and said to the hammer
“Go without delay and share what you have told me to the nation of the nails.”
So that day the hammer came before the nation of nails again and this time he shared with them his dream to be a ploughshare. And one by one the nails stood up and followed the hammer to the blacksmith.
A Hasadic Jewish Poverb
SD (Internet Liaison Officer of the Brotherhood – sponsored by the Interspacing Mercantile Guild)
The fact is, his policies are failed policies. Be it template or anonymous, he should know that grievances have existed far longer than that. If he still do not take heed and get to the bottom of his created problems, than template or not doesn’t matter to Singaporeans. We will meet him at the ballot box and showed him there are more powerful way of bringing our messages across and no template is needed this time.
As an “almigthly million $ PM”, with police, arm forces, political and judicial power around him , why is he so afraid of criticism ? if so, why is he in politics ?
President Ma went to visit Typhoon-affected area and was booed and scolded by victims’ families, does he suit , arrest or lecture them on “how to give positive feedback” ?
The difference, is that Taiwan is a true democracy amidst rowdy criwds at times and Sg is a law and ORDER poluce states GRC parliament political system !
does he govern behind the scene ? seriously .. his disappearing act is getting better n better.. where was he during the debate ? where was he during the hdb scew up ?
and every time he comes out of hiding … something that makes u go WTF?! will come out from his mouth..
Re Toogle’s comments
Agree. Several thoughts shared by netizens are clear and rational… But implementable??? The challenge is for the authorities to better address the calls for further clarity .
For us netizens, to seve ourselves better, we must be clear not to confuse issues with personalities. I read with sadness too much vibes and energy spent putting both in the same melting pot. Will putting both together make Singapore a better place. Thinking netizens must help make this a better place and not a pit for fighting cocks.
A red dot does not make the ocean red. Non-fulfilment in one area, from a particular perspective, does not mean failure of the WHOLE system. Am confident that many savvy netizens see things from a broader and higher vantage point.
pbjectively speaking, the lesser educated PAP’s 1st generation of leaders did better jobs than this 3rd generation of leaders/ministers, one major difference between them is that
First generation of leaders wre from the masses, they undertsand the real issues. The 3rd generation of ministers came from elite-schools and have been molded into ” We know all , we know best” attitude, they made policies based on statistics and allowing biases, error term and outliners be the determination factors to clamp down on “social ills” ignoring the real causes and suffering.
They practically came out NO solution in 2008/2009 downturn. The recovery of our economics is riding on Asia and global recovery, so the fat roosters should not claim credit of Sunrise.
for the same reasons he has stated, i suppose survey findings and interviews done by the ubiquitous (for there can be no other) msm must also be assessed “critically and carefully”. surely, we can’t have a media controlled by the government, and positive of results strewn on headlines as much as pseudonyms within the cyberspace!
i don’t think this trend would dissipate anytime soon. well, the great thing about the internet is that it offers anonymity without compromising the substance of your statements anyway. for instance, you can’t make empty claims without substantiation… you’ll get pwned by the internet community for being a noob.
He egoistically thought all of us netizens are pranksters. Let him keep himself asleep even after we have alerted him that his house is on fire many times and let him be roasted chicken when he come out from his slumbers.
Many of his true loyal to Singaporean interests grassroots are frustrated and disappointed with what are happening in Singapore for this last decade. They are also operating under climate of fear of offending those elites, therefore they also feedback their disappointments through third parties and anonymous means to avoid backlash on themselves.
It would not be a surprise when these people turn against the elites when the old man is not around.
The Old man, is surprisingly living quite a long life !
Dont complicate your already complicated lifes – if you want intelligent people to come out into the open.
Then dont name and shame them. Respect their right to privacy. Dont hack into their personal e-mail accounts and use oblique threats to like, “there is no such thing as anonymity in the internet” thereby infringing upon their elemental right to space by broadcasting the message , “we are monitoring you. so you better be careful.”
Who in their right mind even wants to have a conversation with a big bully? Go and have a conversation with yourself.
There is a site in blogosphere that once lost its marbles because one of us began to ask very pointed questions as to how they suffered 37 massive DDOS attacks without even so much as leaving ONE electronic trail – when they lost they argument, they thought it was a great idea to publish the IP address of the troublemaker.
Wonder no more why they have to make up the population with astroturfers and as for their DDOS attacks, it magically stopped.
The moral of the story is never send a sheep to do a wolf’s job.
SD
All get a reality check. They DON”T care about your honest feedbacks to “help” them govern better. They just want you all to kowtow or show yourselves and be caught. Don’t for a nano second think that engaging you means they are listening. They just want to “FIX” you.
Actually they know the IP address of all and any email, or comment (including this one), and all forms of generated content, within the local Internet. Asking for name and email etc are just a cover for this knowledge, ie a pretence that they do not know who you are, and need your cooperation.
And then you can do some magic with these IP addresses, which can be linked back to every household in Singapore. You can know who visit anti-PAP websites, like this one, how much time was spent, and whether comments were made. (The IP addresses of PAP faithful assigned to monitor and response to these websites will be discounted in this analysis.)
From this analysis the population can be divided into 3 categories: never visit anti-PAP sites, dwell on these sites for significant time, which therefore can be influenced by what is said on these sites, and confirmed anti-PAP – these requires a compilation of all the content of a particular IP address/household over time.
These data can then be used in some ways as follows. It can be used to supplement other data to determine how to redraw the electoral boundary. Secondly it can be used to determine the segment of the population that can be influenced by cyberspace, and to determine what issues interests this segment most, and then to address them, to make counter arguments to that promoted in cyberspace. And as for the anti-PAP segment, maybe trojans will be left behind on your computer, to capture your keystrokes, your passwords, etc etc. And then of course anti-PAP sites maybe not be safe at all. All who visit are at risk.
i’d also like to add to Open Secret‘s post that all computers might be monitored, because your copy of Microsoft Windows is very likely to have a backdoor that allows the government to have total access to your computer.
therefore, encrypt your files with AES 256 and Serpent, and always shred your files digitally instead of using the built in delete function in Windows.
it would be wise to start using crypto means like RSA15360, ECC 512, or PGP to encrypt data to people with similar ideas if u r communicating through email, or even IM.
but the thing is, unless u have knowledge on IT security, u probably won’t know what im talking about, and won’t know how to do it, or make a program to do it.
@Open Secret & Anonymous
It’s not very productive to talk about serious security measures whilst implying that your target audience won’t understand a word of it and might as well give up. There are introductory guides to this sort of thing.
For instance, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Surveillance Self Defence project offers a great deal of useful information. It comes from an essentially American point of view, but information pertaining to technical matters should still be relevant.
https://ssd.eff.org/
Keep life simple. The internet is not so different from a physical domain. It’s a country.
I mean its common sense isn’t it, if you throw a party and have to put up electric fences, rotweillers, piranhna’s in the moat and man it with snipers just to keep your guest in - and all of them seem to be talking about either tunnelling or hot air balooning – I am sure you not going to turn to your better half and exclaim, “Well Darling, this party is turning out to be a roaring success isn’t it?”
Understand this. Intelligent do not settle for anything but the best. If the conditions are not right they will just decide to go elsewhere to do business. We are living in a borderless world. And believe it or not. A day will come when countries will even roll out the red carpet, if you decide to invest in their virtual domain. It will not be so different from Foreign Direct Investments (FDI’s). That simply means if a country fails to met certain criterias concerning economic viability, internet stability, political rationality, judicial coherency, then whatever assets can just be resited at one push of a button within less than 45 mins! It is nothing personal, it s business decision.
We are already living in a world when citizens are already customers and governments are just service providers. Nothing more or less. That is how we the brotherhood see it.
So if you go to a restaraunt and order spaghetti bolognese and if what is served up instead is an old army boot with a side dish of sawdust. And you don’t even know that you have every right to insist on what you have ordered as a paying customer.
You really deserve to live in fear , ignorance and go hungry. You deserve it.
SD
Useless Govt ,
in 2007 when he opened his mouth to demand that he and his colleagues be paid a salary which is at least 4 times more than the US President to serve the country, for me that very moment they have already lost all their credibility. For me, they are ranked worst than sh!t.
Dear PM Lee,
Can you call for election already? See, I’ll be moving to sengkang probably next year and will be under your GRC so if you call for election next year, i’ll definately vote you out.
It’s best you call for election this year.
Are they in a hurry to siphon as much as possible before the economy permanently go south ?
They do have statistics and math modelling may have given them a very bleak picture of the island state, so better be fast than nothing
This is not the 1st time we’ve witnessed the useless thinking abilities of the PAP government. It has always been, and will forever be, the same old stupid men in charge of this free nation unless they are voted out.
LHL should know that information from whatever means of feedback is never 100% perfect; no info is 100% perfect. You can have the best ground-info collectors and yet the leader can only make silly decisions; conversely, you can have so-so sounding of the ground and yet the leader makes the best/correct use of the imperfect info. Best is if a leader walks the ground to gather info himself and make good analysis of situation. All these differentiate a moron from a leader. To dismiss any info is always at one’s peril. The people a leader surrounds himself/herself with also influence the ultimate policies & results (& obviously the public statements issued – I have always said his script writers really, really sucks!). Unfortunately, it seems that the current PM doesn’t have capable persons around him, more evident in recent years as the last of the older ministers retire.
I would like to give an example but time is rather short today…….
A number of re-quotes…pretty applicable in this case with respect to LHL “recommendations” which must always be taken with a pinch or table spoon of salt depending on each individual preferences -
Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain – and most fools do. Dale Carnegie
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970)
Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it. Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. Plato (427 BC – 347 BC)
Dear PM,
Come down from your ivory tower and your high horse or mercedes and look around in the ground
and feel the pulses and vibrations on your own.
Please learn a little ‘something’ from your counterpart, PM Wen of China.
He will be the one of the first to be on the scene whenever or wherever any major disaster strikes in the big country in China. He offers sympathy, empathy and mingles amongst the victims who are mostly poor and consoles them wherever possible. In other words, he is always on the ball to engage
the citizens on the ground, no matter what backgrounds they are from!!
And you know what?? he engages netizens direct and calls the netizens “my dear friends”
That’s what I call a “leader”. He doesn’t ask to be paid $millions and his country has a population
of 1.3 billions.
Here we talk about kindergarten stuffs like organised campaign to compel govt. to act in a certain way!!
If the policies are sound, workable and good for the citizens, why is there any worries about all the ‘organised’ campaign??
I think the comments of many here demonstrate precisely what Lee Hsien Loong said. Anyone reading the post, of course, and only this post, will come away with the idea that many disagreed with him.
Well, let me bring balance back to the force. :) He’s right you know. Astrotufing happens. Like during the recent American healthcare debate. There are more Americans against it than for it. But that did not stop the other side from playing dirty tricks to try to generate an impression that Americans are strongly for ‘healthcare reform’.
These people send out emails and letters – yes, many from a template – to other citizens, to newspapers, etc. It got so absurd that a man was sending out many emails – as a woman!
You dismiss astroturfing so casually now, but what happens if there is an astroturfing campaign AGAINST something you care about. For that matter, I think I should start an astroturfing campaign against the Copenhagen Agreement. Yes, and while I’m at it, a campaign against this absurd campaign against mandatory capital punishment.
Actually, that won’t be astroturfing. There’s plenty of sane people who reject anthropogenic global warming hysteria and bleeding heart compassionism for dangerous criminals.
Mr Leong Sze Hian’s point: “… focus on the message and the issue, regardless of the perceived intent or motive of the sender, whether fake or otherwise.”
Precisely!
Example 1: HDB illegal sub-letting issue
Nabbing these culprits is important. But more importantly, Gahmen should also ask how come there are so many HDB flats available for sub-letting?
Example 2: Private condo enbloc
Super-majority of 80% agreed to en bloc despite replacement being “double the price; half the size”. They will downgrade/downsize prime asset into sub-prime for their retirement … when COL and life expectancy are both going up and CPF is not enough for most Singaporeans. Hence, Gahmen should be asking why did so many sign?
Where’s the chicken? Where’s the egg?
The Pariah http://www.singaporeenbloc.blogspot.com