Yong Yang
I woke up this morning with mixed feelings. While I’m ecstatic that the Worker’s Party has finally clinched a Group Representation Constituency, I can’t help but feel that we can only truly celebrate when we manage to hold on the Aljunied GRC in the 2016 Election.
Call me a pessimist, but there is not much cause for celebration in winning one term as an opposition party in Singapore. If it is your vision to one day see more opposition representation in parliament, hold your breath, sit tight, and pray that the Worker’s Party will not only do an amazing job in Aljunied, but be an influential and effective “co-driver” in parliament too.
By challenging, and successfully ousting a well-loved George Yeo, the Worker’s Party now has its work cut out. There is no room for failure. Singaporeans have sacrificed one of the few popular ministers in the government to give the Worker’s Party a chance to ensure that our voices are heard, and make a positive difference to our lives.
I’m convinced at least 8 out of 10 apathetic voters voted for the PAP yesterday. And unless the opposition can prove that they are worthy members of parliament from now till 2016, we will never be able to convince those who are sitting on the fence to take that leap of faith. And to be fair, why should they? As much as there is bitterness and displeasure against the PAP, why wouldn’t they want to preserve the status quo, and take the risk of being “that generation” that wiped out all that our forefathers had worked so hard to achieve over the past 40 odd years?
If I can have post-election wishes, it’d be that our Worker’s Party MPs will have the drive and the energy to sustain the 5 years; that they will have the wisdom to make the best decisions, the empathy to make the right decisions, the courage to be the leader to all other opposition parties in Singapore and most importantly, the foresight to start planning for 2016 now! Start winning the hearts and minds of voters in 2016 now!
The most exciting but scariest thing about this election is that with the heavy use of social media this time round, we have stirred up a sense of patriotism and a sense of belongingness among the younger generation. There was no way you could escape election updates. It was all over the Internet and everyone was and is still talking about it. It was exciting because everyone wanted to get involved, and many wanted to be part of the change.
It is scary because after so much hype over candidates like Nicole Seah, so many photos of large crowds at rallies posted on Facebook, and so much talk about change and being brave on polling day, we’ve only managed to win two battles.
I guess as much as we enjoy hearing about the changes the opposition parties want to bring, as much as we enjoy the rallies where opposition parties raised issues about ministerial pay and cost of living etc, many voters simply don’t believe that the opposition can really change all that. The system designed by the PAP just wouldn’t allow them to make a significant impact. Not yet at least.
2011 will go down in history as the turning point for local politics if these six Workers’ Party MPs can deliver and show the doubters that they can make a positive impact. More will be inspired to follow in their footsteps, and the next batch of voters in 2016 will be just as passionate about bringing change to parliament, and again, be courageous when casting that valuable vote.
But this is a restless generation. As much as we will not tolerate arrogant, self-serving authoritarians, there will be many voters who will never give the opposition another chance if these six fail. And I fear that some of those flag wavers and supporters at opposition rallies we see during the past nine days will simply fall into a state of apathy.
This is the precious opportunity that we have been waiting for. One that will define the next generation of voters. Succeed in Aljunied, and we can sway those sitting on the fence towards us, and grow in numbers. Fail and we are back to square one.
Good luck, you magnificent six. The battle for 2016 starts tomorrow.
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in the ear 2016…
when more peasants would suffer
more high rise costs will escalate
if the 60% don’t come out of their kiasee shell…
a new brazil will never be born
let alone qualifyin for a world cup or indugin in a bar of swiss chocolates
they will lose next GE coz they turn Aljunied into a slum, and also behave like clowns in parliament. waste time.
The first 45 days would be tough for WP. There will be a lot politics involved during the handing/taking over.
I suspect there would be a high turnover of key appointment staff in the town council and public offices in Aljunied.
However, I believe that WP can weather the storm. It has a considerable number of good quality members to tap on to run the constituency efficiently.
I agree with you, but however, I feel that WP also carries the burden of representing the alternative voice of Singapore.
I would not say that this election is a watershed, but only the preview of the crucial turning point of GE 2016.
The reason I say so is simple, if WP failed to carry our their promises, or failed in the management of their new baby, the swing votes will all go towards PAP. By then, it will even be harder for any other opposition party to break into the parliament as any possible failure by the WP would be capitalized by the PAP and the results of the “failed experiment” will be brought up again and again till the cows come home
Singaporeans and especialy our beloved and braved oppo singaporeans must come to the realisation of the HARD TRUTH that more and more NEW CITIZENS who are and will be proned to support the PAP will be ‘assigned’ into our midst by some form of demographics ‘engineering’.
HDB is still mbt and pap,no less.
we can say or even shout out what we want,but truth be told,we are still we and not ‘WE’.
‘we’ will be gradulaly ‘OUTNUMBERED’ by ‘then’ – the NEW CITIZZENS – who will likely become the new ‘WE’,'i’ AM QUITE certain!
SINGAPOREANS,er i mean ‘singaporeans’,cowed lions,’we’ ASK FOR IT.
‘we’ do not deserve to be FRIST-CLASS CITIZENS,’we’ have to accept to be second-class ‘singaporeans’.
the next GE IS NOT GOING TO BE ANYTHING near this WATWRSHED GE,it will be THE GE FOR NEW CITIZENS.
thank-you so much,coward LIONS,i mean ‘lions’? ..or is it ‘chickens’?
I cannot believe that we still have doubters and people still sitting on the fence in this GE2011. You are not doing your part as a citizen instead of providing lip services and hoping for the people in Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC to vote on your behalf. When can you honestly asking yourself that they have done their part but what about you? Do you need to see the result first before you give the leap of faith after this so many years of suffering by the group of people being excluded in the process of towards attaining 1st class country? Action speaks louder than words. Wake up and play you part now instead of waiting for another 5 years to see the result and continue to wait for Kingdom come while the older generation of Singaporean are fading away in the sunset.
I mostly agree with this article. 2016 will be a crucial election for WP. Not only they will have to regain Aljunied but they are expected to win more GRCs and also identify a successor for LTK. I hope Sylvia Lim, CSM, and Pritam can support LKT in Parliament. LKT is good for many many things but policy debating is not one of them.
I do not know why everyone is hyping about George Yeo. Is he a god or saint? As far as I know, PAP ministers are all birds of the same feather. One occassional good deed by them may not be symbolic that they are good people or a good deed by one fellow is not representative of its team effort. Analogically speaking, ff you are going to pay a price for the weight of one pearl with a handful of grains, it is NOT WORTH it. Does it? On this basis, I will just walk away instead of giving room for negotiation.
My words for George Yeo, your TEAM just didn’t make the cut, accept the fact. Period.
New Poll on Living Cost and General Issues
http://cost2011.iblogger.org/cost.php
“The battle for 2016 starts tomorrow”.
What battle? It an engagement with PAP to improve the life of Singaporean. To hear our voices and not to oppose for the sake of opposing till they become ‘God’ too..
“Worthless Party”, we all know who you support. Don’t waste the space over here. Go over to the PAP sites. Do you know what is democracy.
NSP supporter sacked from Jurong Town Council after being caught selling NSP merchandise at rallies
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=209055255792056&id=190806675782
A National Solidarity Party (NSP) supporter by the name of Geraldine Soh Shin Lin was sacked from her job at Jurong Town Council without any valid reasons given.
The battle for political talents for 2016 election starts now. Which Party’s policies are more comparable to theirs?
i believed 6 in the parliament are not going to do much unless 1/3 or more is in parliament. anyway, these 6 we will all be able to see n judge for ourselves how they can do n wat they can do to better our lives. if these 6 voices are not enough in the end, we will need ge 2016 to help us out, we will make sure there will be more than 6 in it. before that, get ready to be screwed for another 5 years!
Worthless Party
behave like clowns in parliament. waste time.
………….
indeed waste time when pap ministers fall asleep in parliament..
hav YOU ever surf national services?
if you are caught sleepin while on patrollin..what is the penalty?
and you are willin to pay sleepin ministers more than $100,000/month EACH?
what is next?
let them sleep with all the females in YOUR household?
so who is more WORTHless? beside you YOURSELF?
@David
My sentiments exactly.
In Singapore our Parliamentarians seem to be nothing but estate managers. And all that we are seen to care about is whether our lifts are upgraded, carparks sufficient, our walkways are sheltered and our landscaping are nice. This is because the Ruling Party has at one point some 15 or 20 years ago established the Town Council control over housing estates which effectively politicized each housing estate. Thus in every election you will hear the candidates talk about what they will do for you in terms of brick and mortar. Also the housing estate as a political arena makes it difficult for opposition groups newly elected to step into the shoes of the current Town Councillor, not because they are stupid but because estate management calls for continuity of management in terms of personnel, physical layout of buildings and other land improvements which cannot be obtained without actual previous hands- on experience. Despite its ubiquity in our lives, estate management is not governing a country. Yet the term “Track Record” is banded about by the Ruling Party with pride. This is because in an estate, track record of good management is important indeed and if you have not been here for any reasonable length of time you certainly shan’t have a track record.
In this way the populace is sidetracked away from national issues of greater importance than mere renewal and rearrangement of brick and mortar. The idea of good governance is obliterated. Good governance would consider some of the following: Don’t you think that a correct concept of the level of foreign workers is of greater importance to the continuation of Singapore as we know it and for Singaporeans. Don’t you think that a very very high salary like what our Ministers are now paid destroys the compact of the governor with the governed. A societal compact is thus transformed into a commercial contract. As in all commercial contracts the profits are all that matters. Thus you have the deluge of foreigners on the existing population completed disregarded. No amount of expanding the infrastructure would lessen the alienation the original population feels about his country. Within the short time span of 5 years the country is now different with a different source population, one that has not shared its social and biological history. A contractor on a commercial contract cannot bother with the evolutionary biology of the existing population. All he cares about is the GNP which is a proxy for profit. Governing a country is not the same as managing an estate. We have all been sidetracked into a limited view of governance which also is a view that assists the Ruling Party to focus on the infrastructure in terms of brick and mortar but leave out the abstract realities of Nationhood. Other functions of governing a country include regulating its fiscal policies, searching for economic advantage of new sources of livelihood and wealth for its people, societal well being in terms of promoting the family unit, religious freedom, human happiness and Human Rights and a host of problems facing the nation from time to time in its effort to exist as a nation amongst nations. Certainly this is not all estate management!
We must therefore restore the idea of what Government is for in Singapore as it is in all countries of the world. What it is not is mere estate management. The opposition in Aljunied should bring back to the Nation the normal idea of government if it hopes to serve beyond its 5 year term and even to win other GRCs. Because the incumbent will always be better at estate management, viz repair of spalling walls, term contract for falling windows, cracked toilet bowls etc. This is because it takes time to be familiar with the defects of any estate. Only the incumbent has that kind of time.The WP will be forced out because its level of planned maintenance of Aljunied will be judged falsely or truly to be in its first five years to be inferior to the PAPs. And that would be a sorry eventuality of a mistaken concept of governance. I leave you, gentlemen and ladies of the WP, with the question of ‘what constitutes government?’Take this true view of the governing of a country to Parliament and pave the way for a multiparty Singapore.
Like the formation of the concept of the GRC, the concept of the Town Council areal control being a unit of political Singapore is pernicious to democracy
( defined in the best way) and free elections in Singapore. They are designed to keep the country in perpetual thrall to the Ruling Party . WP please take us out of the hole.
I live in Chai Chee, part of Marine Parade GRC. I voted PAP this time, but only because of SM Goh. The rest of the PAP team was not impressive, but the NSP team (with the exception of Nicole Seah) was even worse. So it was SM Goh or Nicole Seah, and I trust SM Goh.
Next GE, if SM Goh were not contesting, and there are better opposition candidates, I might vote for the opposition.
However, if I were a short walk across to Bedok in East Coast GRC, I would vote for WP. I’m less than impressed with Lim SS. Raymond Lim as tranport minister is completely useless. Lee Yi Shyan is the definition of the word fake. Jessica Tan is probably sleeping. Maliki is ok. WP team there is good, and I hope they get better.
Thanks for the article, I share your sentiments. I’d just to point out something with regards to the social media buzz. I am an economist and this is what we call a selection problem. Basically who are the people who use these internet tools? The younger Singaporeans. Though we have more younger voters (1/3 below 35) the bulk of voters are still older. If they use social media less then social media carries the sentiments of younger voters instead of the older ones. Given younger votes do not constitute the majority of voters, it is actually not surprising that all that buzz failed to translate to more votes for the opposition.
I find this article a little out of character from a purely democratic perspective. What will happen in my opinion is these new WP candidates will try and understand what the constituents of Aljuined wants and they will deliver it. If they do not , the voters of Aljuined will vote them out for a new group. The Mistake of PAP was to have a popular minister who effective as he was in a certain domain – totally lost his constituency – and he had a warning when he won the last time. I do not think he or anyone in the group had heeded the warning. Winning the constituency is a now event – what happens in 2016 is a then event – and many things will happen from now to then – I think Aljuined is in good hands and we will not be disappointed – watch out – Marine Parade , Joo Chiat and the others in the category !!!!!!!
GRC WILL LET THOSE PAPAYAS TO WIN BIG.
ONE DAY THEY WILL LOSE BIG BY THIS GRC.
we just wait and see.make sure they dont fall,they lost one grc,already 5 opp mp to paliament.
next time round if they lost 3-4 grc,haha god bless them.chinese say…human do sky see…….
not say not possible,they are very very lucky this time round,few of the grc was very close to avavage of 42%.if we singaporeans more together and without those New citizen,now already form 2/3 in parliment.
The PAP has always declared that their members are exceptionally capable and noble. So George Yeo will have to make his way in the world. Still he will have the help of his connections within the Ruling Party and his livelihood is assured in Gold. Not so are the sad numbers of opposition members in the last 30 years who have been sued and bankrupted for some trivial words spoken about the Kingpins of the Ruling Party.
There is also a hype about exceptional performance of almost anyone who ever holds a Government post. Look at the spate of biographies on past office bearers of the Government. They don’t, except for Lee Kuan Yew, come within the 100 most influential people in the world today. So I tell all these office holders. Be very grateful that you are having a fine job with an astronomical pay extracted out of the Singapore taxpayer when he was helpless to speak up. It may not always be like this. Aljunied may be start of a revolution.
extracted from yahoo singapore.
Interesting !
PAP is using Ting Pei Ling as test-water, GE2016 the most exciting moment is the arrival of Li ShengWu (elder son of Lee Hsien Yang), LKY grandson and he should be 28 years old by then to continue the process of dynasty building…
Other possible candidates in 2016:
1. Li Honyi (elder son of LHL/Ho Ching)
Li was apparently being groomed for a future leadership role after being awarded a government scholarship to study economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technolo—- (in 2008). The Singapore military has served as a training ground for political leaders and executives in state companies.
2. Teo Eng Siang (son of Teo Chee Hean)
Singapore pays S$280,825 for tuition for Teo’s son –
Teo Eng Siang was awarded a Public Service Commission Scholarship in a public ceremony by his own daddy, Singapore Admiral and Minister Teo Chee Hean. Young Teo now(2008) heads for the United States where he will be attending Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown University is a fashionable Ivy Leage school and has a huge annual tuition of US$42,303, or US$169,202 (S$280,825) for the full four years. Don’t you think there are needier students in Singapore?
3.Warren Mah
Warren Mah, son of Mah Bow Tan, Singapore’s Minister for National Development, is living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He is on a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Looks like everything is in place, for PAP continuity.
very interesting……………
Indeed it is a great burden for the WP knowing that the current pap will make things difficult for them, and the pap will certainly show hostility.
The WP now not only takes on a co-driver post, they are also playing the role of a police, to keep check on the pap.
What we can do is to keep our faith with the WP, and give them all the support and understanding as much as we can, for they have come a long way.
Their heroic spirit to fight for a voice for Singaporeans in the face of tyranny is worthy of our utmost respect.
@Worthless Party, so you are saying that Hougang and Potong Pasir are slums and insulting the residents there. You better shut up! You have no rights at all. Not from someone who’s totally out of the picture. Do you even understand the meaning of slums?? We are living comfortably in our estate and we are tax payers too! Grow up!!
response to unclesam2011.
Yes, it is scary to learn about this. Do we see the coming of a Monarchy? -A Modern Monarchy.
With many new condominiums and HDB flats sprouting out in Aljunied over the next 5 years, new citizens will swing the vote back to PAP in 2016. very worrying
With no George Yeo to anchor the PAP, who are they going to send? Mah Bow Tan?
aljunied is only the beginning. no PAP minister will dare put his multimillion dollar salary on the line to challenge LTK’s team come 2016. PAP will field a lightweight team to contest aljunied, and the WP will hold on to aljunied easily. the question is, which PAP GRC will be the next to fall to the opposition? tampines, bishan-toa payoh and marine parade will all be ripe for picking, along with closely contested SMCs such as potong pasir and joo chiat. i won’t be surprised if the opposition win 2 smc’s and 2 GRC’s in 2016, with the national popular vote for the PAP falling below 60%.
Unless WP screw themselves up like the break-up of SDP in 1991, there is no way PAP will win back Aljunied, this is easy to understand – who from PAP are going to contest in this GRC in GE2016 ? PAP is not going to send any minister to a defeated ward like what they did in Hougang and Potong Pasir over the last 27 yrs; they will only send new birds and imagine, how 5 new birds are going to fight with the experienced WP team ???
Moreover, there will be more GRCs at risk in 2016 when more high quality WP candidates will attack in East Coast, Nee Soon, Kallang, etc; PAP will be so busy to prevent anymore assult coming at them rather than taking back Aljunied.
During the rallies, new sitizens and PAP lickers just stayed at home in comfort and polling day come, just cross X next to PAP, comfortable in the fact that PAP will win and it has comfortably.
Whereas wet, dirty huge oppo rallies turn out to be a diappointing defeat for oppo.
Clearly latge crowds is no indicator of election results. The oppo must find better indicator, keep it a trade secret and give the Old Fart the shock of his life in the next election if ever it comes again.
THis is the last country in ASEAN besides Myanmar left to embrace democracy. A pity,
45% voted for East Coast GRC oppo. So this is the next silver lining for singapore.
No wonder now PAP encourages new citizens to congegrate their residence in the East Coast.
You can find many Filipinos and Indians in Tampines and Bedok.
for WP to succeed in Aljunied under a backdrop of barriers and obstacles put in place, the one important ingredient is to have many many singaporeans volunteer with the WP regularly or to sign up as WP members so that WP can use Aljunied as a base to do its outreach and ongoing publicity and groundwork for five years, which means 1,825 days. even at their Meet the People Session, the WP MPs will need volunteers to help them, they also will need donations to set up funds for the needy residents, etc. without us the singaporeans engaging in citizens participation and activism with the opposition cause, the WP at Aljunied may not be able to convince the electorate that they have done enough by 2016. The electorate has double standards, will expect the WP MPs at Aljunied to outperform their predecessors 200% while cutting slack with their PAP MPs. Life and reality is just like that. People make noise saying that opposition candidates must be super highly qualified so that they bear to choose them over their lesser qualified PAP MPs. See, the PAP newly MP elects, many do not have outstanding credentials but still the people will vote for them and did not criticise and say that they lack good qualifications.
There are two remaining Teochew ministers; Teo Chee Hean and Lim Hng Kiang, after George Yeo’s departure. It is unlikely that the PAP will risk losing DPM Teo in aljunied, so my guess is that Lim Hng Kiang will be tasked with winning back aljunied at GE2016. however, he’ll have to outdo LTK in aljunied’s funeral circuit first.
Actually, it will be a great dilemma for PAP to win back Aljunied GRC in 2016. Who are they going to field? They won’t dare risk the loss of more than one heavyweight Minister. So, they won’t be able to put up a very strong team. Just like what they did previously in PP and Hougang; very hard to win back. They have to field a team of disposable candidates.
Some of the reason why Opposition lost likely due to ….
- the wide difference in the demographic patterns and income gaps within same wards . You cannot help but alienate one group in order to score big with another.
- not enough time and resources to work their charm factor on the ground . 9 Days with 1 day cooling off … where got time ?
- ‘A’ Teams of the oppositions were not exactly far superior to the PAP team
when it came to public or private sector track records apart from a few individuals.
- Made out to look like thieves or traitors when had to admit that the national reserves or defence cuts would be their means to fund their initiatives .
On another note ,
Internet Media is still the best way to reach out to more people . it is bound to make a bigger impact the next time round.
@ James
aljunied is gone for good, just like hougang. PAP have their hands full just to prevent any further losses of GRCs in 5 years time. they also have to pray that LKY continues to stick ard to bolster the tanjong pagar grc. that is the price of poor succession planning.
We lost because george was just not ruthless enough.
For the next GE, we have a brilliant plan.
Break up Aljunied GRC into three chunks, with one third sucked up by Ang Mo Kio GRC, one third sucked up by Tanjong Pager GRC, and one third sucked up by Marine Parade GRC.
Majulah PAP!
Understand these FACTS:
Half of Singaporeans are NOT PAP supporters.
PAP supporters consists of natives, PR and NEw citizens.
So please use the correct term, instead of always bashing Singaporeans on everything bad.
PAP supporters consciously KNOW many gahmen policies are indeed BAD and HURT the people and their country.
But they still unconscientiously CHOSE to align with and vote in the BEAST.
The BEAST represents:
power and inferred (mostly imagined)
job security (yeah right when 900k ft comes in)
elitism (know any Ministers as close friends? Facebook doesn’t count)
and all sorts of selfish gains and agenda.
WP’s win is monumental and they are made up of incredibly courageous men and women worthy of historical record. They represent a struggle as old as the gods in the battle between good and evil.
Sadly, we do live in world dominated by many unforgivable evils and supported even more by zombie cultures everywhere- think Timor, Dafur, Africa…etc
Is it any wonder that if the world don’t really end in 2012, it should very well do so in 2016. That is when MM dies, rise again after cooling day and declares:
“I’m actually the second coming. Christ is not coming. I fixed him. He has another 5 millennium to regret and repent. Now kneel !!!”
Scary thought isn’t it?
Cure: No worries. Use your GSS funds and buy yourself a Kate Spade for retail therapy. You’ve earned it with your PAP vote!
It is my belief that WP will be able to hold on to Aljunied GRC in 2016 unless WP has internal problem. Reason is actually quite simple. PAP has lost 3 ministers in this election. Knowing the way PAP handled Hougang and Potong Pasir, PAP is likely to field new blood to let them try out. PAP will not risk current Minister or any upcoming heavy weights. WP will have 5 years to consolidate their network in Hougang & Aljunied and might can even go fight more GRCs in 2016. I suspect PAP will merge Hougang and Aljunied into one big GRC so that PAP can attrack in one go. Similarly Potong Pasir is likely to merge with Bishan-Toa Payoh as PAP will not want SPP to re-capture Potong Pasir. SPP will have to fight 1 bigger GRC.
@a
“There are two remaining Teochew ministers; Teo Chee Hean and Lim Hng Kiang, after George Yeo’s departure. It is unlikely that the PAP will risk losing DPM Teo in aljunied, so my guess is that Lim Hng Kiang will be tasked with winning back aljunied at GE2016. however, he’ll have to outdo LTK in aljunied’s funeral circuit first.”
If Lim Hng Kiang, a heavyweight minister contests Aljunied, Low Thia Kiang will be trounced and goodbye to WP
@Bad Boy
“Potong Pasir is likely to merge with Bishan-Toa Payoh as PAP will not want SPP to re-capture Potong Pasir.”
What’s the big deal about Potong Pasir? Only 1 parliamentary seat, with 17,000 insignificant & stupid people who voted Chiam for the last 27 years. Finally they did the right thing by choosing Sitoh. Better to be part of Bishan Toa Payoh, so that it can be better managed. Look at what a slum it is right now.
So what has changed?
“Not much” is the simple answer. The IMF has simply looked at the situation in terms of “purchasing power parity.” This compares what people earn and spend in terms of their own economies, rather than a fixed dollar amount.
Think of it this way: You have two apartments—one in Queens and the other overlooking Central Park in downtown Manhattan. Both are exactly the same size, have the same wooden floors and the same fitted kitchen and the same furnishings.
The true values of the apartments are the same. But the dollar value is different. Because in downtown New York property costs more in dollar terms, as do the same floors, furnishings and fittings.
The same goes for China. The actual numbers of goods China produces—like TVs, laptops, cars—has skyrocketed relative to the U.S. But because China is a cheaper part of the world than America to produce things in, the dollar value of these goods hasn’t risen to the same extent.
When seen through the lens of purchasing power parity, the Chinese economy will grow from $11.2 trillion, where it is now, to $19 trillion by 2016. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy will go from $15.2 trillion to $18.2 trillion.
This won’t be the first time an economic superpower has come and gone. The British Empire started to crumble after World War I. From having the largest empire ever known to man and being the world’s largest creditor, Britain became a minor European power with a debt-ridden economy.
Greece. Portugal. Spain. Britain. All at one stage or another have been dominant world powers, only to shrink in stature and be forced to share the world’s economy with others.
The End of the Age of America is the biggest economic story of our time. It will change how you live and how your children live. And it will affect every investment decision you make for the rest of your life.
I like to think of what’s going on in terms of “submerging” and “emerging” economies.
The submerging economies of the U.S., Europe and Japan all have lots of growth behind them and less growth ahead. They all have aging populations. And they are all struggling with unsustainable debt loads.
The emerging economies, on the other hand, have less growth behind them and lots of growth ahead. They have younger populations. And they have relatively low debt loads.
Oh…and one other thing. The emerging economies all have much higher economic growth rates than the submerging economies.
Again according to forecasts by the IMF, growth in the emerging economies is set to clock in at about 8% this year. This compares to forecast growth of between 2% and 3% in the submerging economies.
Of course, these are just forecasts. Plenty could happen between now and 2016 to prove the IMF wrong. But regardless of when the Age of America ends, unless we see a dramatic shift in the current trends we can safely say the moment is now fast approaching.
This is why it’s more important now than ever to make sure that your portfolio is diversified beyond America’s borders.
I recommend that you consider holding 50% of your stock market investments in emerging economies. Also, make sure that any investment you have in the submerging economies has revenues that come from abroad as well as from within the U.S.
The end of “Age of America”
TAKEN FROM INTERNATIONAL LIVING.
Agree with Agnes Chia. Those who trully want alternative voice to speak on behalf of the 40+% unrepresented citizens and to keep a healthy check on the authority, then they must immediately volunteer to help WP at Aljunied and Hougang and make them into strong fortresses. The incumbents’ network built with taxpayers money is not easy to dismantle. Their main weakness is many of their supporters are benefits/connection seeking free loaders + mercenaries. These people will jump ship as soon as their see storms coming. Opps supporters are passionate and genuine but lack organisation and resources. I will find time to volunteer. Hope more will join me.
I used to vote for PAP if their candidate is superior to opposition. What made me change my mind is the implementation of GRCs. I want to thank and salute Aljunied voters for breaking PAP strategy of taking away our secred voting rights through GRC system. LKY ever said he does not like the 1man 1vote system but have to live with it. I believed GRCs were implemented to circumvent the 1man 1vote system. They tried to make it difficult for already weak opposition to survive. Just imagine if 2011 election are all walk-overs. We would have given up our citizen’s power i.e. our voting rights. Unfortunately, many are willing to forgo this right and the future rights of their children for a comfortable job and house believing that nothing will go wrong under current regime. Don’t be lulled into complacency. Every rulers demonised their opponents but forgeting they were once on the other side.
I am pretty confident that WP will do a good job managing Aljunied. I used to live in Aljunied and moved to Hougang (along Ave 7 by the river)4 years ago. I had absolutely no idea it was under WP then. My husband and I had were surprised that this part of Hougang seems so peaceful and serene as compared to the other side under Aljunied. It was only until we received a letter from PA with Eric Low welcoming us to Hougang that we realised this is an opposition ward. We had many friends who asked us whether Hougang’s an unpleasant place to live in cos it’s under opposition, our reply was alway,”Nope, we simply love it!”
Well, I certainly hope the good work continues and be carried over to Aljunied which I’m sure it will be! :)
The time has come to examine the legality of Parliament voting to pay itself such magnificent salaries for Parliamentarians. The significant circumstance was that the move to pay itself those salaries was made possible because there were no effective countervailing voice to represent the consent of the citizenry. The WP has members who have wide and deep legal experience. Now that they have come to sit in Parliament, this matter of phantasmagoric salaries has got to be examined and put before an International body for adjudication as to legality. If not legal, then just like the ravaging CEOs of banks, the Parliamentarians must be asked to return their illegal remunerations to the Singapore taxpayer.
There is a groundswell of the citizenry who are keeping their eye on this issue.This is the singlemost issue that would render Parliament as presently constituted null and void. If the ridiculously high salaries remain in place it is an affront to the intelligence of Singaporeans at its most fundamental level. It then cannot be expected that Parl;iament works for the benefit of the citizenry and not for the enrichment of the Parliamentarians themselves. It negates Parliament itself as Parliament becomes non representatiove of the citizenry.
dopplerganger…
there is nothing illegal about parliament passing a bill to pay high ministerial salaries. pap had the necessary votes in parliament.
however, what they have done was and continues to this day to be morally repugnant, and singaporeans have vented their anger about this at the election.
as long as they do not slay this sacred cow, they can expect further loss of votes in the next election. i assure you that nothing will galvanise them into action quicker than the prospect of losing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
The Online Citizen, I thot yr article was rather balanced. But u said,”The system designed by the PAP just wouldn’t allow them to make a significant impact.” Could you elaborate that?
Support Democracy, u said,”I believed GRCs were implemented to circumvent the 1man 1vote system. They tried to make it difficult for already weak opposition to survive.” If PAP really wanted to use GRC to their advantage, why then did they open up more SMCs this election than the last election?
Some thoughts:
If we assume that some PAP voters entrusted the voting of Opposition to others, then I suppose the opposite – that some Opp voters entrusted the voting of PAP to others – can be true too.
And if we assume that those who vote PAP are kiasee, then can we also make baseless assumption and say that those who vote Opp are too comfortable and want to feel more comfortable because they have never experienced the hardship that our parents have been through? I think this would be unfair to Opp supporters, just like the kiasee statement is unfair to PAP voters.