Newsflash: Gopalan Nair, who yesterday claimed that he had received information that MM Lee Kuan Yew had suffered a heart attack, has now admitted on his blog that “the hoax was deliberately written by me” and “(i)n fact I don’t know anything” and that “I made up everything I said about Dear Leader about his heart attack, and none of it is true”. TOC has since secured independent clarification on MM Lee’s health which confirms that he is fine and well at the Istana today. Readers are advised to treat the source of this rumour as deliberate misinformation.
________________________________________________________________
By Callan Tham
Only in Singapore do we elect Members of Parliament who seem more occupied with addressing the needs of foreigners rather than our own.
Marine Parade GRC MP Seah Kian Peng said more needs to be done to help new immigrants ‘work with the old team and feel a part of us’. “First, we need to make sure that they are called new Singaporeans rather than new migrants. They are not even new migrants – they are an old hand at migrating, and want a new life. They want to settle down and to make Singapore a new home,” said Mr Seah in his speech during the debate on the 2010 Budget Statement on Wednesday.
Mr Seah also suggested that ‘men who become new citizens should be called up for NSmen duties‘:
This could be in the form of a short 30-day induction to Basic Military Training in the Singapore Armed Forces, he said. “We teach them to use rifles, fire weapons, basic physical fitness, or we put them into civil defence training where they could learn rescue techniques. Civil defence, too, is part of total defence and provides a vital part of Singapore’s interior strength.”
Let me be clear: I am not disputing the policies he suggested, merely the fact that he is showing less concern for the constituents who elected him. I have actually been thinking about the policy for integrating foreigners, but that will be discussed in another post. This perhaps is one of the bigger issues surrounding the elections of GRCs; allowing a weak candidate to be elected on the strength of a popular former Prime Minister in this case.
But Mr Seah can’t hold a candle to Mr Ong Ah Heng, who is the MP for Nee Soon Central, a single-seat constituency.
“I know of one family who complain the cleaners in their precinct are lazy and too old. They don’t want local workers who are old, they want young foreign workers. To satisfy the demand, I changed the local workers to foreign workers. Foreign workers are not a burden to us. Their presence here is not negative. Without foreign workers, things will be worse,” he said.
Is Mr Ong implying that local older workers are the burden instead? This goes far beyond inarticulate speech or political incorrectness. This is an insult to the elderly who have built this nation on the back of their hard work. This reflects the hubris that Mr Ong, a 66-year old himself, has uncoyingly betrayed. In one broad stroke, he painted the elderly as lazy and unproductive and patted himself on the back for his display of ruthlessness. He is proud of it.
Neither Mr Ong nor Mr Seah deserve a seat in Parliament, and yet we put them there either because we don’t have a choice or because we did not care. A case could be made for Mr Seah, as the policies he suggested merit further discussion, although in their current forms they are half-hearted measures that appear to be aimed at populist sentiments. And until he is reassigned to another ward, I expect Mr Goh Chok Tong’s popularity will keep him in his seat.
There is no case to be made for Mr Ong. If we go by his logic, he should be the first one to be replaced. All 14,211 of you who voted for this clown should be ashamed, and you should be forewarned: he’ll fire you without batting an eyelid. That is how much he cares.
_________________________________
This article was first published on Tapper’s Swamp blog
Headline image courtesy of Is That Humor Or Sarcasm blog
___________________________________________________
HELP keep the voice of TOC alive!
If you like this article, please consider a small donation to help theonlinecitizen.com stay alive. Please note that we can only accept donations from Singaporeans. Thank you for your assistance.Do you have a flair for writing? Volunteer with us. Email us your full name and contact details to theonlinecitizen@gmail.com
Hansen,
another insightful reply from you again.
firstly, its unreasonable to make our ministers to waste their time & talent to work as humble service staff, but as civil servants they ought to show they are more than worthy of their pay. hence i used those lowly paid service staff as a comparison.
i do not agree that sevice staff (not just those working in coffeeshops) are people who lack the mental capacity to such an extent. sometimes, in order to delegate, 1 may very well need to know the intimate details of how work is done in the frontline? maybe this is why there isa shift in focus (in light of falling service standards) from frontline staff to the middle or higher management or even the highest levels of the management hierarchy?
on your past experiences of uneducated, vile & rude coffeeshop staff. maybe you can go a few steps deeper & ponder why they are so? or simply patronise the stall on some other days for a second or third opinion on their service attitude? or you could simply observe how others are served?
“We teach them to use rifles, fire weapons…”
You invite strangers into your house and the first thing you are going to do is to give them weapons! I think Singapore is going down the tube.
@hensen
Wonder why you even bother to eat those food and drink those coffee/tea, etc that are cooked/served by people you despite so much? Doesn’t it gives you the creeps when you eat/drink those food/drinks?
hi lim,
because the food (just like the servers) are cheap. and they are everywhere.
dont ask stupid questions.
“boy ah, what you want?”
“girl ah, what you want?”
“lai lai , lai”
could these be the heartlanders’ way of showing courteous service ?
“lai lai lai” is their warm way of welcoming you to the table….
You need to understand the cultural divide to understand them. they meant well
It is a disapointment, a great disapointment of Ong Ah Heng’s speech, being one of the less capable Nantah grad ( MM Lee’s description ), he was seen to be close to ordinary people, at his age, if he is not hiding under PAP banner and drawing $23,000 a month in Parliament ( well tax payers’ money ) and serving as strategic planning director ( what so strategical about ?) he might well be a cleaner, … so we shall replace him with a younger foreigner worker too ? shame shame !!
hey joe, i think you need a brain transplant as soon as possible.
dont get me wrong, i mean well. you just have to understand my culture.
brain transplant to understand your culture…
yeah i get it..
they will want you to go for brain transplant to understand their culture..
looks like having brains is giving us far too much trouble to understand each other. Perhaps no brain is the best solution !!
hi joe,
you also need to learn to type in proper english because i can’t understand you.
i would prefer you just hide in a corner of your hdb flat and talk to the wall instead of coming online to spread stupidity.
alternatively, put your face into the toilet bowl and give it a good flush. see if that helps.
dont get me wrong, i mean well. you just have to understand my culture.
Moderator - perhaps you need to do something about people like Hansen.
Hansen - You should stop talking. Don’t get me wrong, i mean well.
hi Joe,
there will always be people who are not the most polite. but its people like Hansen who shed light on the inner workings & thoughts of some of our “dear leaders”.
hi Hansen,
perhaps you can show some restraint on your part not to engage in off topic retorts? you may not hold popular views but i do value your opinions. they shed light on the chasm that plague our (if you’re local too) society. thank you.
@Hansen,
Your childish, rude and provacative posts just showed you stooped to the lows of the so called “uneducated” people…..So probably I could say u are uneducated, ill mannered, poorly spoken since U fit the “uneducated” criteria
I am sure all WELL mannered, EDUCATED people do not lauch this type of VERBAL AND RUDE attacks on other people’s posts
@hensen
What I want to point out is why do you want to “suffer” the “rude” service from those people you despice..
Cheap food? Why don’t you take home-cook food to work then (get your mum/wife/maid to cook), surely that would be much better than getting angry when served by “rude” people, right?
Who elected these clowns? This is an insult to the clowns. Clowns make people laugh and be happy. Clever clowns use cleverer tricks.
TOC should really do a simple opinion poll to see if people agree that the uneducated elderly is a burden to Spore and should be mercilessly be stepped on.
Yes, it is no use to engage poorly educated hansen (I said poorly & not uneducated because he knows where Indonesia & Malaysia are). Now you see, why it would be impossible to ”change from within’? The core concept of ‘hansens’ aka PAP is to take advantage of the weak to thrive. Its like using a horse – they ride on it and whip it because they consider the animal too stupid to understand commands but yet they want to ride on it because it provides a purpose.
I hope people will be inspired by Abraham Lincoln, a very learned man, who brought freedom to the slaves.
lim
Mar 10, 2010 10:28
@My Views Mar 9, 2010 15:20
You may not have noticed that those china students who top PSLE are generally couple years older than the average 12 years old singaporean primary 6 students.. The china students should have been studying in secondary school (sec 2) instead of doing primary 6 PSLE… So much for foreign talent policy..
I remember it is the same for the president’s scholar who was from china, she too is some years older than those in her cohort..
Go figure..
———————————————————————————————————–
You are saying an older person is more intelligent than those younger. Your logic is flaw!
Apart from intelligence, these foreign talents are hungry for success and their parents ensured their whips stuck on the kids. Their parents do not leave the kids’ education solely in the hands of the schools or maids.
@My View, //You are saying an older person is more intelligent than those younger. Your logic is flaw!//
OMG, how dare you said our respectable MM Lee is not intelligent than those youngest. ISD should lock you up and replace with intelligence, younger, hungry for success FT.
My Views,
“Their parents do not leave the kids’ education solely in the hands of the schools or maids.”
what’s wrong with our “world class” education system? o.O
which agency have maids that does tutoring as well? o.O
@My Views Mar 11, 2010 2:27
Facts is it is true that they are generally older than those in their cohorts.. If I am to retake my PSLE, I am sure that I would top it too..
Moderator – I hope you have been viligant to have stopped the postings (particulary of Hansen’s) which are offensive, rude and does not contribute to the discussion.
Thanks
TOC,
I thought you were strongly in favour of community moderation as stated in one of your articles –
“TOC has been a consistent proponent of community moderation, arguing that the abuse of free speech in the form of spreading deliberate misinformation has the potential to cement the public’s perception of the internet as untrustworthy.”
So why do you allow this “Hansen” to denigrate our elderly as “rude, uneducated, trash”? Not in one post but over, and over again??
Gee! Aren’t we finished with this tread yet? Why are you guys trying to make sense of the ramblings of an alien?
And NO, Brendan, the silly alien is not ‘denigrating’ our old and elderly folks. The only one he is denigrating is himself – don’t you see. This is one instance where we can be proud to be birds of a feather. I cannot imagine myself being brought up to think like an alien.
The key point here is we shouldn’t be unhappy over someone who does not understand one bit about the human race. We are warm-blooded remember? As long as you are happy with your friends, family and neighbours in your community, whether they are old or young, stupid or clever, high-flyer or jobless, does it matter. We are happy for them when they are happy. We cry with them when they are sad. We understand each other even in moments of silence.
These are things that no education can provide and no money can buy. So what if my bank account is bursting when I know I can’t bring it to the grave with me? So let the alien rave about himself. He only has one lifetime to do so and if it is important to him, who is to say it is not?
Can you also not see that he has landed himself only on one tread in all of TOC’s numerous treads? There is nothing else up that alien head of his except his alien notion of ‘all old humans = trash’. So why are you debating for? What is he debating over? No substance right? Worse of all is you guys are arguing with a programmed idiotic robot.
Enough already. I’d rather share views with agongkia and kopitiamapek anytime.
i quote “shake head” -> Its like using a horse – they ride on it and whip it because they consider the animal too stupid to understand commands but yet they want to ride on it because it provides a purpose.”
isnt that what the entire world is built upon lol? why do you go to work? you need money from your boss. why does your boss pay you? because you are of use to him. why do you raise a child? so he will look after you when u are old.
instead of blocking my comments, the moderator should ban those who say that i will be struck by lightning etc. and those who utter their usual brand of nonsensical bs.
it is a well known fact that older people are less likely to be educated and they are unable to find employment after age 40-45. it is also naturalistic that they are slower and weaker and many cannot even use a computer.
Hi everyone,
It is obvious – Hansen is a troll. He’s probably a 10 yr old kid behind the screen writing just to piss people off.
Please do not feed the troll.
Thanks
Brendan,
what is wrong with calling some old people rude, uneducated trash? that is what some of them are. not all, but some. and many hawkers are indeed very rude, vile and uneducated. just like some kids are young rude mischevious punks.
why are you so worked up that i called some old people rude, vile and uneducated. care to explain?
Hansen,
you have a habit of making gross overgeneralisation of the old(er) generations.
let me quote some of them…
on March 8 2010, 16:20
“uneducated old people are useless. we can keep the educated ones as they are still useful but the uneducated ones can work as our maids and cleaners.”
March 8 2010, 16:44
“uneducated old people are just trash. plain and simple. good for nothing. vile and feral human beings.”
March 8 2010, 18:23
except paragraph 1, the rest of the post is downright offensive.
that is just a tip of the iceberg, in this article alone & a small selection of your total posts. even if you did encounter some rather unpleasant old folks (you’re not the only 1, i too have my share of such encounters), do not go around insinuating old = mostly uneducationed, good for nothing,thrash, etc.
while tempers do flare as we are humans, why is it that you always have to be so negative when describing old people? there was once another poster who was very unpopular & hold very negative assumptions. over time, that poster did notice others do not respond as they did when he stuck to the topic instead of posting irrelevent rants.
i do think other posters ought to refrain from engaging you in a tit-for-tat exchange of posts. i guess its some community effort in action should indirectly tone down the way you post. the question is, is there such a community here? online? we shall see. ;)
keke, sorry (everyone) for such lengthy off topic post. -.-”
i did specify uneducated old people and not merely old people.
what i dont understand is why people like you are so worked up??
Hansen,
yes you did. but to describe them with such over-the-top words repeatedly does get to people’s head, just not me. maybe i have a higher tolerance? but i too cannot expect others to be like me, for i am unique, like you? sounds like some movie quote… :D
if you do not understand, then forget about trying to understand for now? just tone your harsh words etc, etc, etc, old people & less stereotyping certain jobs that old people do & that they are so & so… so why you so “suay” always kenna this type of service? sleep on the wrong side of the bed har? :P
understanding requires effort, not yours alone, & not entirely others as well. to understand, sometimes, explainations no matter how exhaustive may not be enough. sometimes, to really understand, 1 may need a certain level of empathy? the whys (cannot ask finish 1)?…
mice is nice
Time to sleep.We need to get up early and be more productive tomorrow.Can spent our time thinking of how to make more yummy popiah skins.
agongkia,
no worries. we have to think long term now, cannot afford to squander even 1 person. i am not good at making those popiah skin, i am not talented to be a jack of all trades ask me to jump i can jump high high, ask me to sprint i can sprint like cheetah. i guess i will busy myself serving customers & hope not to screw up the orders. or should i impliment service charge so i can be more productive (prepare ingredients?)? hmmm…
i will try count sheeps to fall asleep. :)
LOL @ Hansen
You really make me SICK and TIRED. Would appreciate it if you stop spamming.
I think most of us got your point already.
Thanks.
“… i did specify uneducated old people and not merely old people….”: Hansen.
Yah, sure you did! You took so much trouble to impress on us that old=uneducated, and now you happily want us to believe that you were refering to only the uneducated old ones? Whatever lah, good that you finally realised that there is a difference here. Keep it up!
Now, the other thing is this: what is your definition for ‘uneducated’ and ‘educated’? You cite yourself as an educated young chap but sadly, you have thus far showed us nothing to prove to us that you are as educated as you have made yourself out to be.
Probably you think you are educated because you have a few pieces of toilet papers to display on your walls, but hey, they are just toilet papers to show that you have passed some paper exams. Unfortunately, there is nothing to show that you are educated in the exam of life. How sad!
“…what i dont understand is why people like you are so worked up??…”: Hansen.
Well, well … do you not see that the day you can understand this, is the day you grow up to become a common breed of the human race. You can then put claim to being educated, being human. Scary isn’t it?
come on folks, we have to give people like Hansen some space if we want him to take more than 1 step backwards. only when we do so, can we expect others to raise above.
dun get too fixated on the person, even for the MIWs not all are bad, but the bad 1s just stick out like sore thumbs. hence, for most of us (even me) MIW = bad…
“yoohoo”,
it is not a peice of toilet paper. it is called a certificate. and you dont just pass exams, you undergo training and you are government accredited as a professional in your field, hence, the degrees.
exam of life? i earn a comfy salary, have degrees, decent standard of living. i think i have passed that particular exam.
others like yourself work 12hours a day standing, tired, earn 20% of what i earn, reach home at 10pm and have no time to bring up your kids. like rats running on an exercise wheel. unable to string together a proper sentence in english. no degrees. no wisdom. and no future. you have failed miserably as a human being. you have not just failed the exam of life, you have probably failed every exam in your life!
why dont you just accept the fact that you are uneducated, vile, ignorant and have no future in life? it will be easier than calling degrees useless toilet paper or calling educated professionals “failures in life”.
hansen, pls stop mud throwing here, this page is for serious discussion
and i am quite serious. aside from a few jokes
shhhh….dun feed the troll
others like yourself work 12hours a day standing, tired, earn 20% of what i earn, reach home at 10pm and have no time to bring up your kids. like rats running on an exercise wheel. unable to string together a proper sentence in english. no degrees. no wisdom. and no future. you have failed miserably as a human being. you have not just failed the exam of life, you have probably failed every exam in your life!
are you that permanent secrectary who took a 5 month leaves to do a french cookin?
you sound liked him and your crooked liked him as well
clap clap for a person who can claimed most of the uneducated overworked peasants only earned less than 20% of his monthLEE salary..
by the way do you owned a real 55″ led lcd tv you know the one that sell for $7597 ca$H?
if you don’t hav why? when i onLEE earned 205 of your monthLEE salary and yes i slogged more than 12 hours/day..eatin onLEE homecook porridge dinner
hamsen what are you writing? i seriously cant understand that crap. english please.
The time for change is now.
We have no other choice.
there he goes again… the underbelly of the PAP trying to disrupt this thread with his myopic rants. Notice how effective hansen has been in trying to sideline each and every thread he gets involved in? I do hope the moderators are aware of his strategy…
Ah Heng has to be the worst embarrassment for an MP, and compared to him, heads of cabbages show more tact and professionalism. The man only springs to life a few weeks before the elections. That probably explains why Yishun probably is the least sought after real estate in this country.
I find hansen’s comments rather amusing. I doubt he’s a PAP troll though, because he comes off as too belligerent and dimwitted even for that job. For a person who gives unsolicited lectures on the use of the English language he seems to write at a primary 5 level, lacking even basic punctuation and sentence structure. Really successful people don’t have to boast about their success, because it is obvious for everyone to see. Obviously our friend here has some self-esteem and insecurity issues that he is channeling on this forum. That is all.