From the Reform Party’s blog:
By Alec Tok:
I have seen, since the eighties, the slow erosion of our justice system; I have experienced how Singapore became more and more expensive to live in – I had a car accident in 1994, just before I got married; my car was wrecked beyond repair; it had to be scrapped; after that, I could not afford to buy another one – the COE had become beyond my reach.
These past few years, on my frequent trips back, most times enroute from Shanghai or Beijing, where the majority of my work is these days, I have experienced the crowded MRT trains, the visible difference in the mix of people around me and the general air of confusion, about why we have come to this state – living seems harder, things seem more expensive, work, not so easy to find and the government, speaking in terms that, I don’t quite understand.
“We need foreigners to grow our economy.” Grow for who?
“Public housing is still affordable.” Affordable for who?
“We are small, so we need to move fast, so we cannot have too much debate.” So fast, for what?
Read Alec’s full write-up here.
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great article.
govt only know how to talk cock.
their actions are not helping s’poreans in general.
Keep it up !
That’s what Singapore need unlike the “Talk-down” and “we-always-right” approach that Singaporeans is given now.
Alec Tok:
“We need foreigners to grow our economy.” Grow for who?
alex tok you got to read the sentences again and fully understand what it means coz if you gonna ask for who? there already been the answer.
and speaking of your topic it is all about you and not speaking for majority singaporeans. you are speaking on on and for the middle class onwards but how about the lowest class? don’t mention the car issue as you can’t afford it you take mrt.simple. but the rest of the living cost should be taken into consideration and in this topic.
on coming GE if this is gonna be the topic as far as we can see you will get only minimum support from majority. people will turn away their interest. try to listen to the lowest class on what they got to say and put your attention close and you will see more then what you mention in your topic. thank you and god bless
“We need foreigners to grow our economy.” Grow for who? for government…
“Public housing is still affordable.” Affordable for who? for foreigners….
“We are small, so we need to move fast, so we cannot have too much debate.” So fast, for what? for government to grow even faster as there is not time to hold back, they are growing older. haiz
how come i still hear on the tv that singaporeans are still happy with the system and they even say that they are happy and love singapore? something is wrong somewhere. so political parties are fighting for who when most singaporeans are happy? no one from any parties broadcast on media and tell the country what suffering they go through? what are the gathering for? it seems meaningless if those gathering are to be a gathering of cup of coffee,listing down what need to be change and what singaporean wants and wait till GE and see how many other singaporean agree with it and wanting to vote the party. this should be taken seriously and not a gathering of fun happy family. this should be the gathering of singaporeans future and life for generation to come!
it’s all about them, when about us?
Precisely, grow for who? There is a huge divide between the reigning Govt and the people. We do not keep pace, this is the heart of the matter, and we feel alienated, esp when it is obvious the Ministers’ pay increase is pegged to economic growth, a suspicion that is always in the peoples’ hearts, our own pay do not keep pace with theirs, as our pay not only do not increase to keep pace with inflation, most of times, our pay is stagnating or even worse, regressing, GDP increase only benefits the ruling elites, not us, thus the alienation.
future is in your our hand, I can’t believe the gov is still lying through their teeth & pretending to say what they think we should feel without even asking us for our opinions. This is revolting. Just like a once where which the local organization of a poor excuse for a military said “the soldiers are happy to perform guard duty during the festivals to keep the country safe.” What a load of BS & outrageous lie.
The gov is only interested in growing its own revenue at the expense of the country & people. Which means to say, it’s incompetent & undesirable to the people.
@ pugdragon 4 August 2010
you have said it all. but again which singaporeans really dare to voice up publicly? i don’t see any till now. all i see is singaporeans saying all the good view they have of the government. that make the government are still good to go. cheers to singaporeans
ya lor..they heard our father will bring down the army singaporeans suddenly become mouse
singaporeans are still baby. that’s all about it. baby living under father care.
Thank you for your comments, especially the one, that took me to task for raising too many middle class concerns without an equal emphasis on lower income issues. Point taken. I will work towards a closer understanding of the ground and better communication of their core concerns.
If you have further input, feel free to continue commenting either here, on The Reform Party’s Facebook Page or on mine. Once again, I’m grateful for your feedback. Please keep up the dialogue.
TO:Alec Tok 4 August 2010
looking forward to your next post.this time round would like to hear more on a equal side. try it, trust us that you, follow by the rest of the member of the reform party will get the support. one man make a different but as a team you will see the changes and eventually it paid off.god bless
Thing is, I still love Singapore cos it’s my home & all my friends are here. I travel a fair bit & lived abroad a few times, but still, I cannot get my home out of my head. I am sure most Singaporeans love this little island & I guess there’s nothing wrong flying the national flag during National Day. However, I strongly believe that most of us are just fed up with the ruling parties & their stupid policies. From the increase of GST to overspending on the YOG, all these lousy policies have damaged the relationship between PAP & us, the regular Joe. Everytime they start praising themselves, it’s always pegged against the GDP. Yes, I think GDP does matter to a certain degree but it shouldnt be used to measure how well a Sinkie is living totally. I hear the MM, SM & PM talked about how well the economy is performing, but I really cant feel anything at all!! I didnt get richer nor could I save more unless I start walking to work & eat only once a day. So, who benefitted from the growth? Honestly, I dont even know & I dont even care cos it doesnt put rice on my table for my family & even if we grew 100% vs last year, I still have to struggle with my salary!! Sometimes, I hope we dont grow at all, cos whenever they announced these figures, most things start to increase…except our pay!
the economy is thrivin what..ow else would the overpaid ministers get to be paid over $100,000/month?
by sellin the singapore red/white flag @ $1888 each perhaps?
They said FT increases our pay. Foreigners do the jobs we dont want to do. End up we did not get any pay rise and foreigners getting jobs at all levels and forcing a lot of us to accept pay cuts or being replaced.
Hang red flag for what? They even sent indians to hang flags on flats, this is how desperate Singapore can get!
At the risk of being off-topic, I must say that the photo (of an Opposition Rally in GE2006) taken by Alex Au (Yawning Bread) never fails to take my breath away every time I look at it. I’ve shown it to a couple of friends and they were incredulous when I told them “this was in Singapore!” Thanks Alex, for taking and posting this awesome pic, otherwise Singaporeans like me would never have known that such a huge crowd had gathered to hear the Opposition. The local newspapers never reported it at that time. I suppose you can’t expect the newspapers to report everything.
Singapore oso can. Next GE must send 30++ real non-PAP MP to Parliament. Our dear PM LHL needs some good lessons in multi-tasking without “Fix” business!
sick and tired of political issue. to hell with singapore. do whatever they want. don’t see any real opposition that care.
I am a middle-aged Chinese educated Singaporean and I am full of anxiety watching the direction our country is heading. Therefore, I will definitely give my full support to Alec and the Reform Party, or any opposition party.
The problem is majority of the heartland people are not aware of the changes taking place that will hit them hard in future. They will just suffer in silence and attribute that to fate.
So if you really want to see changes, please convey to this group of people that there is indeed an urgent need for change. Tell them this could be the last chance to prevent the pap from fundamentally ruining our country.
Wish you good luck. I will try my best to help!
Alex Tok, 4 August 2010
if middle class is feeling to heat, things are bad. just not sure if its the lower, mid or upper middle class. i think the latest recession has changed to status of many.
like all floods of devastation, the bottom-most will be hit 1st & the hardest, if problems are creeping up (if not already) the social ladder, the situation cannot be good. on this note, The Reform party (but other alternative parties as well) has a solid case to put up.
all the best this GE. :)
Jeannette Chong Aruldoss 4 August 2010
The picture is the Workers Party rally. Hope the size of the crowd will be bigger the next time!!
don’t be surprise if the crowds to be less.the main focus of the interest is no longer the same.