Howard Lee /
As General Election 2011 was drawing to a close, you would surely remember Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong making statements about steering the People’s Action Party towards a path of change that will better answer the needs of Singaporeans.
His point was also echoed by Brigadier General Tan Chuan-Jin and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, and finally by “the force within the PAP”, Mr George Yeo, in what could have been the most shocking indicator of internal dissent among the PAP ranks. Never mind that this particular direction was little more than a desperate attempt to salvage the PAP’s flagging margins and save Aljunied GRC from falling to the opposition – neither of which the PAP succeeded in doing, I might add.
At the point of utterance, these statements signaled that the PAP has finally come to its senses and is willing to listen to and serve the people. Enlightenment mixed with a healthy dose of humility. Yipee, pop the bubbly. So poignant, that here they are again for good measure.
“When these problems vex you or disturb you or upset your lives, please bear with us. We’re trying our best on your behalf. And if we didn’t quite get it right, I am sorry but we will try and do better the next time.” – Lee Hsien Loong (Straits Times, 3 May)
“Some feel that you’re being talked down to, that there’s not enough listening, that we need to be more compassionate and less calculative. Whether real or not, if we are unable to address these perceptions and sentiments, our moral authority to lead will erode.” – Tan Chuan-Jin (AsiaOne, 4 May)
“(Gen Y) know what to do and how to think, so just give them the facts. (We have) to encourage them to seek out diversified, alternative views and they’ll come to their own intelligent conclusions. They want to be engaged and involved, they want to be talked to, not talked down to.” – Goh Chok Tong (Today, 6 May)
“These are the sorrows of the people, of individuals who are unable to keep up… in this election, throughout Singapore, there is a cry from the heart that wants to be heard… Unless we engage young people and allow them to teach us, I don’t think we can communicate with them. Once there’s communication, the influence becomes two-way … And this is what our country should be.” – George Yeo (Today, 6 May)
For those of you who trusted in these statements and as a consequence contributed to the PAP’s 60.1% vote count, you would be eager to find out how the PAP will keep its latest promise. Days are still young, but here is a sampling of how the PAP’s plan for internal change will pan out, in the weeks following polling day.
“When you talk to an older person, you just have to say a few words and you’re on the same bandwidth. The young, you have to be prepared to invest half an hour or even longer on just one idea because it’ll be back and fro. But I think it’s worth the time and we should do it.” – Ng Eng Hen (Today, 8 May)
“We’ll be here to serve the residents and we want to work with them for the next five years.” … Mr Teo said that his six-man GRC team would do their best to listen to residents’ needs and meet their expectations. – Teo Chee Hean (Today, 9 May)
“It’s not good enough just to do the right operation … It’s very, very important to talk to the patient – to explain these choices and the different trade-offs and make sure the people of Singapore understand this and participate more actively in the decisionmaking process.” – Vivian Balakrishnan (Today, 10 May)
…more needed to be done to engage the young and to listen to what they had to say… “We need to empower them by giving them space as well as the resources for them to do so. I think this is something we’ve been doing but we can do it better…” – Tin Pei Ling (Today, 10 May)
…what needs to be done is to change the perception that the PAP is a long-time ruling party that is quick to look past public views – even though it has made policy decisions with the best of intentions… “So the way of governance is just a means. My sense is thatbecause the end objective is quite clear, the means will adjust.” … it is “premature to pinpoint the specifics” of what changes are needed – it can range from policy to execution, to communication and touchpoints… – Tan Chuan-Jin (Today, 13 May)
Sound’s good so far? Take a look again. Can you see the disclaimers? (You know there is a reason for the deliberate text formatting.)
Even if we assume that the devil is in the details, it is clear from these post-election statements, after the dust has settled and the electoral threat (has been perceived to) have subsided, that the PAP is intent on one thing only moving forward: Better communication of policies to bridge understanding with citizens and reduce resentment.
If there is any real intent to change policies to better serve citizens, and not merely a one-way communication plan, those intentions have yet to show. If anything, the vast and open promises have already been tempered with an interest to continue with hard-selling with no room for response, which pretty much describes the party’s social media campaign.
In particular, the views of Tan Chuan-Jin, now slated to be the “agent of change” in the wake of George Yeo’s demise, speaks much about the PAP’s continual belief that what they are facing is no more than a “perception” or public relations problem. It is strange indeed to hear such words from Tan. He has shown much disregard for alternative opinions, since during his earlier rally, he has been insistent that the opposition was spouting “shallow rhetoric”. The same shallow rhetoric that 43.4% of the voters in his constituency bought hook, line and sinker, I guess.
But the PAP has forgotten that the key crux of discontentment is no longer that the PAP does not listen, but rather that the PAP has gone overboard in pretending to listen. We are way past that stage now, tired of the consultative government that Goh Chok Tong has sold us as his first election promise, but are aware that, to the date of his final retirement from Cabinet, has yet to fulfill.
In the 2011 general election, the people voted for change, not just in communication, but in policy. The PAP, however, has so far demonstrated that it is slumbering too much to realise this properly.
If the PAP really intends to bridge the wide gap that has been slowly but persistently etched into the nation, and has only with this general election shown its true face, it must be prepared to make some real change. The next question is how.
The writing is on the wall, just read it – If ten days of campaigning has not given the PAP any insights to the cause of the people’s angst, then nothing can save it from certain doom. But if drawing ideas from the many blog and Facebook entries online is too much for their DNA, the least they could do is turn to the newspapers and the entries on REACH. Impoverished as the conversation (if you can call the black hole Complain Central conversational in any way) may be, the unadulterated threads on REACH minimally provide a sign post for where the people are feeling pain. The question is how many of these grouses have been acted upon.
You don’t have to sleep with your enemies, just consult them
If the PAP intends to win back some of the near-40% of voters it has lost, then it pays to ask what made them vote the way they did. The logical answer will be what they voted for – opposition policies. To brush aside support for the opposition as merely a rejection of the PAP risks taking the Darth Vader ultimatum – “If you are not with me, you are my enemy” – to its exclusive, bitter and stupid extreme.
To date, there is no conclusive evidence that the near-40% opposition votes are simply protests votes against the establishment. So do the smart thing. PAP will learn nothing unless it takes a serious look at what people voted for in the opposition, and for lack of better ideas immediately available within itself, try implementing some of these ideas that do make sense. Elections are done, forget about the partisanship and start serving the people.
Don’t just listen, do
And here is the heart of the matter. For all the consultation exercises, the tax-payers’ dollars that have been invested in forums, town halls and social media exploits, what has been accomplished? Have the citizens seen positive change coming from these efforts, or do they see them as merely platforms for them to rant, from which they hear only the faint echo of their own voices? The PAP needs to be honest with itself, and realise that letting the people talk is not the same as valuing and acting on what they want done.
For whatever interests the party has been fueled on, there is only one that matters now – that of the people. Kill the sacred cows for real, and finally get some innovative and daring ideas into Parliament for a change. Be Attentive. Be Accepting. Be Adaptable. Use that as a slogan if it wants, but unless the PAP begins to really change instead of talking about it, the people will make the change on its behalf.
The writer is not in the business of dreaming up catchy manifesto titles, but believes that an “A” Team needs more A’s in it, besides their school grades. Or more Be’s.
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it is not changing the soup, it should be changing the bowl and changing the medicines…
also, lky still head(chairman) of gic, when he got money he is still got power…please let’s wise up
gct is just laid to rest cos he might take over lhl if anything happens to lky…
well, they calculate too well to screw us, but they forgot that opposite reaction and the people will screw them back if they dont follow the people’s heart…
reap what they sow…
better scrap grc before it becomes too late as the voting turns to nightmare for pappies..
anyway, i went one public swimming pools few times recently, I am SHOCKED that pr and foreign outnumber us easily… so easily outnumbered that I could not find singaporeans easily…
Today, I go china town I found that pr and foreigners are getting more and more…
Also, NTU and NUS got good programs to invite village and town student(not top ones), heard from taxi uncle(he heard from one student) that the students 300-400 of them each staying in NTU / NUS and got scholarships from sg gov and paid for and also waiting to give them jobs, convert them to pr and citizen…
WHAT THE HECK???????
What Singaporeans have to worry about is LKY who is still an MP and behind the scene calling the shots till he is dead!
Unless an Election Commission to be made up of 50% Opposition and PAP each, the latter will continue to gerrymander, intimidate like the case of Geraldine Soh that has to have to have a public hearing to expose the relationship of Jurong Town Council and its general manager Ho Thian Poh condoning the abuse of her employment and civil rights by its private contractor EMASCO and his own violation and conflict of interest role of being a PAP branch secretary allowing time off for his employees to go to PAP rallies!!!!
EMASCO is a subsidary of Premas UGL which is a very large multinational corporation based in Australia. Why the PAP government has done ZERO to retaliate against Australian government discriminate against SGX ability to buy/merge with AGX stock exchanges is a big question in the interest of Singapore businesses which have been chided repeatedly by PAP for not being aggressive locally and expand overseas?
Sources said PAP ministers have shares and earn dividends that they stashed overseas in bank accounts so they have no interest to retaliate against Australia by directing more HDB estate management services from EMASCO to Singapore based companies who need the contracts! The Singapore government ministries like Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others also use UGL which could have been given to local businesses so that they can earn enough capital and experiences to expand overseas!!!
Good discussion. Comments worth repeating are:
1. Its not just about how new policies are communicated, it about people not accepting them.
2. LKY is head of GIC, got money got power.Unlike this is removed, people will not be happy.
3. I went to public swimming pools few times recently, I am SHOCKED that pr and foreign outnumber us easily… so easily outnumbered that I could not find singaporeans easily… (Same with buses )
3. NTU and NUS got good programs to invite Chinese, Indian village and town student(not top ones), heard from taxi uncle(he heard from one student) that the students 300-400 of them each staying in NTU / NUS and got scholarships from sg gov and paid for and also waiting to give them jobs, convert them to pr and citizen…
4. Unless an Election Commission to be made up of 50% Opposition and PAP each, the latter will continue to gerrymander
5. The relationship of Jurong Town Council and its general manager Ho Thian Poh, also PAP Area Rep, EMASCO appears insiduous.
6.EMASCO is a subsidary of Premas UGL which is a very large multinational corporation based in Australia. PAP Ministers have share and earn dividends from it.
FACT, RUMORS, SUPPOSITIONS, LIES….Singapore citizens are repeating these stories online, in taxis, coffees shops, during dinner parties.
Its imperative that the PAP govt explains these issues. Sometime authorities hold the attitude that its beneath them to have to explains things which are not true.
Truth in politics is what a large group (not necessarily majority) of people feel is true.
The sooner these issued are explained transparently the faster Singaporeans will sleep easy and work easy…knowing that they have a government they can more than less trust.
when all is said and done , the bottom line is this: LKY should have resigned his parliament seat when he handed the prime ministership to GCT in 1990. Had he done so, GCT would have been a good PM and would have paved the way for electoral and social reform. Likewise when GCT handed the prime ministership to LHL in 2004, he should have resigned his seat as well. If both LKY and GCT had done that , they would be held in high esteem by most Sporeans unlike now where the hatred for both men , particularly LKY seems to be sky high. In short, it is political etiquette that past leaders should not hang around in Parliament after stepping down as leaders as their respective parties cannot grow. To cite an example, the Australian Labor Party lost a Federal election in 1996 after having been in office for 13 years. Soon after the loss, the losing PM Paul Keating resigned from Parliament and allowed a new leader (Kim Beazley) to take over the reins. The party was rebuilt under a new leadership and won office again 11 years later. Sometimes it is important to put aside personal egos for the bettermemt of the party. I hope LKY and GCT resign from parliament immediately. That is the only way that LHL can rebuild the party and hope to increase its popular vote to the high 70s in the next GE.
LKY & GCT resignation from the cabinet is merely cosmetic and unlikely to change S’pore’s political culture, so long as the PAP continue to cling to its majority. We would have to see more changes in 2016. Would their more than $3m pay be reduced? S’poreans would want both elderly gentlemen to resign from all their positions. Imagine how these precious millions can be used to help the many old, decrepit uncles and unties, forced by economic circumstances, to clean public toilets and sell tissues in food centres. One can only think of Mugabe who is like LKY in his late 80s still clinging to his post. Singaporeans and the world would probably progress a little faster if LKY follows the noble and selfless example of Mandela who had voluntarily given up power despite the fact that he had spent an almost equal number of years in prison like one of our illustrious political prisoner. Can we expect such selfless “sacrifice”from LKY? One wonders if LKY can really make any contribution to Singapore’s governance given that his ideas are those of the 1950s. He is yesterday’s man and someone with influence ought to be kind to him (and to Singaporeans) and gently tell him so. One rather think that many (including those in the PAP) feels that he had been an obsruction to what Singapore can achieve in the 21st century. There is no better proof that both LKY and GCT are now yesterday’s men than the shift in the political ground of Singapore during the last election. Perhaps, if we are cynical, we should encourage the two gentlemen to stay?
At bottom the PAP really has no intention to change anything. Because the fundamental premise of a normal compact between the Government and the governed has not changed. This is the large Ministerial remuneration, a remuneration obtained from the citizenry when there is a void of effective ountervailing voice in Parliament, a void in Parliament stage managed by decades of draconian cultivation of the Law of defamation and police power for destruction and incarceration of opposition individuals and Government critics.
The salaries of Ministers and President in being so abnormally huge ( comparing global remuneration of like professions) destroys the implicit and explicit compact between the Government and governed. Such abnormal salaries changes the compact into a contract. And this contract is not even fairly obtained. It was obtained and is sustained by the Ruling Party using systematic criminal force on the populace for the decades of its rule. The ISD and the use of a compliant legal system put a stop to any seriously deviant voices.
All Governments that exploit the people has some abnormality built into the system of governance. Here in Singapore, the exploitation takes the form of growing by importation the population numbers and extracting an astronomical fee from it through a rubberstamp Parliament. Take the current examples of imploding states. The ruling governments in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, Jordan, Myanmar arranges that they cannot be replaced while they hold the keys to the countrys’ wealth assigning it for themselves.
I am unable to estimate with precision whether the abnormal Ministerial salaries in Singapore will be sustainable. Their sustainability depends on economic, social and human factors. The Human Factor is that elusive quality of the settlement of affairs by collective will, the beginnings of which may be already here in Aljunied.“If something cannot go on forever, it will stop, Herb Stein once observed circularly.
I have another angle to all of this. The PAP has long placed its recruitment of future MPs through impeccable qualifications in academia, top government positions, sometimes key corporate posts, with a strong emphasis on towing the line.
What is fundamentally and foundationally missing is the ‘heartware’ in its many existing MPs and future ones.
The role of a MP, in simplicity is analysing and taking a position, and the ability to engage effectively with the electorate. The former is about Job Competence; the latter is People Competence. Sadly, the PAP has spent all its energies in the former. This is where the crux of the problem lies in. The PAP are not people-centred MPs.
There is certainly a deep problem in their selection process of future MPs, and the existing ones whom the electorate have to bear with.
Go fix that problem and you will find that there are many people who will not shy away from joining the PAP. But if you continue in this manner, then the rot continues and you will be faced with a MP rep who clearly has no indication of what the sentiments are of the people that they supposedly represent.
Rubbish. What hardware and heartware nonsense. Remove the multimillion dollar salary structure, the entire political system collapses. In fact, I would even argue that with all the perks associated with the political office, we are attracting a lot of people who claim to have HEARTS and PASSION FOR THE PEOPLE.
Please. Hand me some kleenex.
You will NEVER resolve a social impasse between government and the people without demolishing political parties.
Until more are FORCED to acknowledge partisan politicking is the main culprit, thus losing support for ALL political parties, we will not see the change we are looking for.
Change is simply not sugar coating the current policies and selling them to the citizens.
you can argue until the cows turn blue, you will never find agreement with these jokers.cosmetic changes yes, but mudslinging will continue to divide the nation. a divided nation cannot stand.
@ss
I have been asking what has the govt done
to us the local singaporeans?
Who suffered during every difficult period and during the early years?
Today people I know are going to migrate
if their children continue to feel our island nation do not belong to us.
Our local people about 3 million including PRs. This generation of growing
teens are feelig seriously dislocated in our island nation, a warning sign to us.
The current batch of incumbents can lose the next GE for all I care because their heart is elsewhere – with their pay in mind, with the GDP in mind, with new population in mind.
Plus 2 million foreigners to the 3 m local people.
The other parties are like the PAP years ago, more real.
“you can argue until the cows turn blue, you will never find agreement with these jokers.cosmetic changes yes, but mudslinging will continue to divide the nation. a divided nation cannot stand.”
I see what you mean :)
I agree with ‘Joke’, “Remove the multimillion dollar salary structure, the entire political system collapses.” I am wondering what sort of cowards we as a population that survived two World Wars, have become. We have allowed the PAP to threaten us with defamation, ISD and the whole rotten Rule of Law and then handed over millions of dollars to each of them so that there is no knock on our doors at night by the faceless police.This is the long and short of it.
What made Singapore DIFFERENT from other countries or cities was that we were not afraid to take tough decision for the long term good of the country, and not popular decisions. If we have a populist government, guess what we would have?
1) Scrap COE scheme.. “so bloody expensive to own car”… sure…everybody buy cars… results: all roads become open-air carpark
2) Free medical care… “every citizen should be entitled to free medical care”…
“My piles operation should be covered by the state”, “my highblood pressure from eating too much pork lard should be taken care by the country”… sure.. so more and more of the GDP will go into paying for healthcare.
Why bother about looking after your own health? The state will take care of it..
Moral hazard nightmare.
3) Stop Immigration! Stop Foreign Talent! Stop Foreign Workers!!!! Stop stop stop!!!
Heh heh…. First with our birth rate so low… we will probably end up with lots of old folks and very few young people in 20 years time.
Stop Foreign talent? If the MNC cannot find enough talent here, they can ALWAYS relocate. And off goes those existing Singaporean jobs together with it… actually in many hign-tech/Finance jobs, the foreign talents do not need to come in to Singapore to take away those high paying jobs. Especially those regional HQ jobs, those people can hail from anywhere and travel every week to different countries. Rather they come into Singapore and get employed here so that at least they pay taxes here instead of HK.
Stop Foreign workers? Sure… half of all the restaurants in Singapore will close. How about starting without a Foreign Worker (Domestic) for a start?
4) Scrap GST!!! “Makes cost of living so bloody high”…”Why tax essential items like rice? medicine?”
Ahem… actually GST is aiming at FOREIGNERS. Every year millions of tourists/businessman/convention attendees come to Singapore and enjoy peace, security, and all other infrastructure without having to pay a cent of tax. So the only way we can get some $$$ from them for the privilege of enjoying all these is to tax them via GST so when they sleep/eat/enjoy in Singapore they are contributing to our national coffer. It is stupid of us not to make them pay for the privilege of enjoying all these things that we pay taxes to build, and also suffering the inconvenience during the construction of it.
The list goes on…heh heh
Singaporeans have voted. The party is chosen to run our country. I am calling all fellow Singaporeans to give them a chance to prove themselves. From PM speech, I think he is sincere and genuine to change and transform the party and build a better Singapore with fresh people in the cabinet.
Over time and the actions they have taken will show whether they are Ministers of the people or otherwise. Running a government needs good and capable people and it is not easy to manage a large organizations especially the stakeholders are the people and not investors where the measurement is simply P&L. Although I was against many of the PAP policies, the election is already over, I would want to give them time and watch their performances in the next five years because my next vote depends on their results.
Now we shall see what tangable changes that will reduce people’s costs of living
It was a great opportunity but it was not wisely adminstered. This will be remebered till 2016 and any good reason for GCT to still be there.Perhaps it is feared, he’s not strong enough to move the team alone or not ?
You see the change in the cabinet? Like the game musical chair, they are only changing seats. What change can there be if their underlining objectives are the same. It is only Repackaging.
And see what the two old men resignation mean? They still take on other title. controlling role, its just change of title.
How superficial!
The real change can only be a replacement of the whole pap party altogether
They still they dont get it: they should be looking at change in policies , change in policies to fit the current context, not change in the people in the cabinet .
Stupid.
I’m so excited about the new cabinet line-up. This is a very significant change and I’m very eager to see what happens! All the best PM Lee!
The cabinet lineup is a good start for PM Lee. I wish him all the best in recapturing the middle ground, not with populist policies but to govern with benevolence.
Our Total Defense concept is not just about a strong army and economy, social cohesiveness is equally important in weathering future storms together as a nation. Strengthening community ties to make Singapore a truly endearing place needs a lot of heartware instead of a profit-oriented approach.
Just hope new but friendly policies will come from a new cabinet!
Just hope more singaporeans will get a decent job with a decent salary over the foreigners…..this is something i want see in the next few months
@They still dont get it
So what changes in policy are you advocating?
1) Scrap COE scheme
2) Scrap National Service
3) Scrap GST, Income Tax, Road Tax
4) Free Medical services? ALL FREE?
5) Free bus rides? Free MRT rides?
6) 10000 dollars HDB flats?
7) Free Utilities, free phone services?
8) 5 cents coffee 5 cents tea?
9) No school exams? No ranking? Everyone gets to go to University?
10) Withdraw all CPF at 55 so that in case you ran out of money before you meet your maker, the state will cover all your expenses?
One person comes to my mind as I wrote this. Harbans Singh. For those too young to remember….. nevermind….
Tan Ah Beng
10) Withdraw all CPF at 55 so that in case you ran out of money before you meet your maker, the state will cover all your expenses?
……..
@ this moment do i command YOU to show me YOUR earnins?
do i tell you ow to spend where to spend?
if not..whynot?
so if you are capable of lookin after YOURSELF…
you cannot planned your ole aged?
in any country…when you are ole..its YOUR funeral…
so PLEASE for FUCK saked…
MIND YOUR own buisness~!
i die my problemo…i don’t need your ^kindness^ nor your sympathies…
Dear All:
Here is interesting reading for the unconvinced: http://www.escapefromparadise.com/NewFiles/iras.html
CHange? What Change?
Just mass-convert more FTs into citizens and hope they will vote for PAP.
Will the PAP really try to win back the critics? The answer is NO.
Why waste time convincing critics when you can have instant supporters?
Everything we see is an illusion.
For me, I shall not be deluded.
Change cabinet or wardrobe.. it does not mean anything..
As we live by, when we feel life is getting easier each day.. that is change.
reshuttle of ministers to different ministry is not change!!! the one big change is put a immdeiate stop to PRS. NEW CITIZENS AND FOREIGN WORKERS !!!!!!!!!! Enage a professional human resource and economist to study the sustainability of using cheap labour to achieve GDP growth and can a small red dot support 6 millions foreigners because we all singaporeans also want to convert to foreigners and emigrate to greener pasture and still work in singapore while it still last….
We can see from what have happened in the past 40 plus years what will happen this time:-
After the election, there will be many ideas called renewal, change, globalization, etc.
Ministers will make more announcements of all kinds of policies guided by “Singapore being too smaller and without resource”, “no free lunch” policies.
(This time it will include “foreign talent good for creating jobs” new thinking)
Citizens will be interviewed to give their views and opinions on TV, forum, to praise the government and give approval.
(citiens are in the meantime talking in coffee shops and internet giving different views and telling the real problems)
Ministers keep giving their own views to justify their big ideas about Singapore being the best covering up real problems which are hardly debated in parliament.
In parliament, ministers make speeches on big policies and oppositions struggle to make their points heard.
NOW PM LEE SAID “We will be listening…we will study feedbacks from the ground including the sandwiched classes, the people with different views and opinions”
We have seen all these before, after all the policies, feedbacks, there will be a stalemate.
BECAUSE THE WHOLE SYSTEM is based on “Singapore is too small, without resoources and everything will be done which will be done to prevent a deficit in the annual budget.
Nothing will be changed.
Tell us what is change if ministers are controlled by the above-stated paranoid fear of venturing into mamiximising our education, technological, engineering, and information resources.
What are being done to promote knowledge application in schools, work place where we continue to have people at the top concerned with flashing their big ideas but lacking the implementation abilities.
Where is the innovation, creativity and knowledge-based value-adding differentiating of products and services?
Where is the KPIs to quantify and measure the above-mentioned rhetoric about creating value-adding and differentiating economies.
Microsoft, Apple, General Electric are now going into the next generation of instant management and decision making to develop the new products and services. GE has taken over advanced enterprises specializing in green technologies in Europe because their top management is hands-on in reviewing and phasiing out what do not work and bringing in what create values and differentiate to compete in the global competitions.
Do we have such a team equal to MS, Apple and GE to innovate and add values with differentiations based on 6-sigma change.
These ideas are nothing new. Why hesitate and not just DO IT? REPORT TO PARLAIMENT WITH KPIS AT EVERY SITTING SHOWING PROGRESS IN ECONOMIC INNOVATION. Local and housing issue are also important. But do not lose sight of economic competitiveness who do not just depend on foreigners or foreign investments of the PAST which is reaching a road block.
Please hold extra Select Subcommittee meetings with participation (NOT FROM WINSEMUS ALONE OR EXPERTS WITH ONLY IDEAS) from OUR OWN citizens who have useful ideas. Please find a minister who has the creative mind like Stanley Shih of Taiwan who was one of the few that tries to make Taiwan sell world’s needed products to the world.
@ Tan Ah Beng
I would rebut the rest of your comments if I had time but since I don’t, I will just shoot one down & leave the rest of my friends here to do it.
“4) Scrap GST!!! “Makes cost of living so bloody high”…”Why tax essential items like rice? medicine?”
Ahem… actually GST is aiming at FOREIGNERS. Every year millions of tourists/businessman/convention attendees come to Singapore and enjoy peace, security, and all other infrastructure without having to pay a cent of tax. So the only way we can get some $$$ from them for the privilege of enjoying all these is to tax them via GST so when they sleep/eat/enjoy in Singapore they are contributing to our national coffer. It is stupid of us not to make them pay for the privilege of enjoying all these things that we pay taxes to build, and also suffering the inconvenience during the construction of it.”
ARE YOU STUPID OR JUST IGNORANT??? TOURISTS & BUSINESS TRAVELLERS CLAIM GST REFUND WHENEVER THEY LEAVE SINGAPORE! THEY DON’T NEED TO PAY A CENT OF GST TO OUR GOVT. FOR SURE, I KNOW MY REGIONAL BOSS FROM JAPAN COMES HERE A COUPLE OF TIMES A YEAR & HE CLAIMS BACK A FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS IN GST ANNUALLY. TALK ABOUT BRAIN DEAD.
Bravo!!! Finally our PM Lee is fully trained to shake off the guiding hands of his own father and SM Goh!
Now the savings from the abolishment of these money-sucking posts can be used to fund the training of immature PAP MPs like Tin Peiling!
Cause for celebration….. my foot!
In a question submitted to be answered by PM Lee in his pre-election live TV forum, it has been pointed out to him that “leadership”, “talent” “meritocracy” concepts being used by leaders are open to interpretation and serving one-sided purposes of ruling party.
Under the power-centric system, leaders may be able to push through policies based on ideas and concepts which look good on presentation but may lead to serious injustices, and deep-rooted human problems and conflicts that divide society into rich-poor and elite-people conflicts.
I have suggested adopting the basics and fundamentals of nation building which provide better assurances of people-centric government.
Under such a model, Ombudsman committees will serve as a consensual methodology to win the trust and confidence of people.
Abolish authoritarian majority-in-parliament control mentality which gives rise to hidden sectional agendas. Rely on Ombudsman committee which will be acting like lower-upper house consensual process to prevent hidden sectional agendas to solve future problems.
Remember leaders are elected to serve the needs and aspirations of people and they should lead by good personal virtues, ethics and morality by way of leadership by example. Do not just use political parlimentary majority vote power to get the leaders’ own way.
Under the Ombudsman committee system of reviewing and deliberating policies, points of differences can be deliberateed and resolved for greater consensus by opposition veto subject to refining of proposal that take care of major problems of impact to citizens. It is in the final recourse that the matter of dispute is referred for final voting without imposing of party whip on major issue.
Use of voting should be turned to as a shield not as a sword. This Ombudsman system serves as a reality check for competitive human-relationship governing.
We have to learn that the de-fecto one-party rule of the past, too many major policies are pushed through parliaments against the wishes and aspirations of citizens like the tax-yet-privatize system, in housing, medical, and transportation pricing which are producing socially unjust impacts on citizens causing deep social problems.
There is a lack of Transparency and accountability or proper KPIs. Over time by way of leadership by example, the majority party ensures that the Ombudsman committee will have to deliberate and evolve relevant KPIs to better safeguard citizens’ interests and nail down claims and assumptions under big idea top-down one-party rule.
The asset-enhancement, open-door foreign labor importation and GRC system and ministerial self-reward schemes have been based on ill-conceived one-sided claims which are packaged with ulterior motives not serving the people’s interests many of which are basically flawed and unjust requiring reality check and refinement.
you will get cosmetic change. fundamental change will not be made.
you will not see the change in philosophy that elites are born to rule. you will not see a creation of social safety nets. there is still no free lunch. there will still be no transparency on cost and reserve. tpl will still be field in the next ge. for the opposition, life will not be easier for you. as for you, you need to get ready a calculator.
the problem with this promise, is that it will create a very big expectation and will result in a very big disappointment. listening and changing, are two different things. changing is uncomfortable.
The dilemma that PAP faces amidst the groundswell of voter disenchantment with its failed policies is that it lacked a strong and decisive leader. LHL unfortunately cannot lead. He changes with the wind. One moment he appears resolute when he kicks the universally reviled trio WKS, MBT and RL out of his new cabinet. Then he apologetically, tells the public that the trio wanted to quit even before the election, but he retained them. Now, post-election, he boots them out.
With a weakling like this leading us, Singapore is heading for the cliff.
What sort of radical change? Nonsense.
Cixi Era of Ching Dynasty gave us the historical fact that if the leader cannot lead, any change is cosmetic. There’s no point of talking 4G Leadership if 3G (current) cannot do the job properly.
LHL is lying thru his teeth! Recalcitrant and inveterate lah. He needed them (Mah Bow Tan, Raymond Lim etc) to win the elections and those who were dropped or told to retire never expected this coming from him.As for those who voted in PAP – it was stupidity to simply trust in the system.
They deserved their fates as they never contributed to the welfare of the citizens much excepting a few vested interests and their pockets.
Singaporeans were fools and believe me, for poliitical expediency anything can happen to citizens. The lesson that needs unlearning is to never trust the PAP-type of governance, especially when it is one-party (majority rule).
Fools abiding, rascals always gets the votes.
Fugazi 20 May 2011
LHL is lying thru his teeth! Recalcitrant and inveterate lah. He needed them (Mah Bow Tan, Raymond Lim etc) to win the elections and those who were dropped or told to retire never expected this coming from him
………..
noped our prince did what his papa done in the early 60s…
same trick same tatic..same betrayer
his papa played out his 1 and only compatriot lim chinsiong..send him to jail as well beside kickin limchinsiong into the malayan jungle..
our prince never send in his loyal lackies to jail is considered LUCKY…
How to trust the devil’s promise? PM Lee has been doing the word twisting games since day 1. “Promise to change”, “Promise to Listen” are all empty words without any meaning since he’s just patronizing us and pretending he actually is doing something about our unhappiness with his nincompoop team of puppets who are only Yes men to PM Lee and MM Lee. Don’t forget this is the Lee family business aka nepotism at work.
Why resign when you have new colleagues in parliament coming to work with you for the people?
Chen Show Mao certainly can give them a run for the money?
I wonder which Ministers will be replacing WKS, MBT, etc?
So many questions to ask.
I hope MSM let their questioning be aired. Else, I will boycot MSM further as I already have boycotted it for 5 years.
GROW AND SHARE PACKAGE…..
WHEN I DO A CALUATION,I COME TO A SUPRISE WE ARE WORSE THEN A BEGGER IN THE STREET….LET ME EXPLAIN…
THIS IS SO CALL FRUIT SHARE AMOUNT SINGAPOREANS OR JUST THEMSELF ONLY???SINCE PAPA ALWAYS LIKE TO DO CONPARING…I SHOW U….
PAPA SALARY,BOUNES,PENSION ETC = $20,000 “A DAY”.MIGHT BE MORE.
WE PEOPLE SO CALL SHARE FRUIT = $1000 AVAVAGE PER PERSON FOR 5YR = $200 PER YR = $15 PER MTH = 0.50 CENT A DAY!!!!!!!!
WORSE IS THAT PREVIOUS YRS WE HV BEEN PAY BY INSTANLMENT!!!!!
WE DONT MENTION OTHER TAX WHICH READY LOST COUNT,HOW MUCH U ALREADY PAY ONE DAY IN GST!!!!!!!!!
Please remove the performance bonus from the Civil Service. At the minimum align it with the main objective of each service. For example, assess the surgeons based on predominantly on results of the operations he perform, not on the number of papers he writes, not on if he s a good team member, not on how many mail he receives from patients praising him, not on how many of his colleagues praise him, not on wheher he has good pr, or holds his patients’ hands (bedside manners)
Assess the teachers on predominantly the results their students obtain, then only do you look at if their colleagues/students give them positive feedback, the number of programs they come up with, the committees they chair, their ‘helicoptor view’ (mostly crap). And if any teachers on top of a full workload, ie is a form/civics teacher (responsible for a class) with all its attendant duties, does that well, and on top of that achieves value-added results for her studens, that is the teacher who should not be given a D grade. In education, it is impossible to gauge how good one is at imparting values, at knowing and teaching each child according to his needs. So far the performance bonus has only acted to arouse fear, nit-picking and tussle to introduce as many programmes (many are useless and repetitive), to add to the Principal’s profile, and she approving so she could get a big performance bonus.
When you need an operation for a serious health problem, you will choose the surgeon who had best results in terms of best success rate, patient recovery time, lack of post-op complications related to the skill at operation, and not the rest of the useless evaluations included (possibly) as mentioned above.
If your child is at the JC, you want to see him have a better than average chance (based on his overall academic ability, everything else being equal) to obtain good enough results to be admitted to the local universities. The leadership training, the various competitions, the assessment by students of which teacher is better (basically which the students love more) those are secondary. The Performance Bonus has to reflect that.
When we don’t have the performance bonus, we focus on developing the child (to the best of his ability) giving him an all-round education, we do not back-bite and spend our time amassing all the ‘credits’ to show the amount of work we do, or the helicopter view (leadership potential) and education in its true sense of the word is done.
So when the new edu minister visits the schools, do not only speak to personnel who have been ‘trained’ to give you the ‘right’ answer, these are the pricipals’ pets, speak instead to the so-called dissidents, the ones who speak up, are disgrunted, who do not follow rules, who are frequently sick (depressed is the word) who have utterly no respect for the heads/pricipals/directors of the education. Ask them why?
If a school spends 10 K for the Chinese New year decor, multiplay that by 10 (which would include the usesless advertising banners outside schools) the constant parent-teacher meetings, whose audience is made up of the students themselves , forced to attend at 7pm, and the message is repeated ad nauseum at each meeting, that kind of money, that kind of money could have gone into ensuring that teachers who produce better than national average results are not given the D grade. How many such teachers may I ask, perhaps no supervisor of schools is interested to know. These are the older teachers anyway, they are dead-wood, and it is time for them to go?
Well think again, some of us see the linkage between high ministeral pay/performance bonus and high civil service directors. And how that is being ‘trickled’ down deliberately to school inspectors/supervisors/principals/heads of departmenst.
Each stage involving groups of good friends/team members promoting each other/praising each other and enjoying the so-called performance bonuses.
By all means promote the very few great workers/leaders, by ensure the payment comes in the shape of promotion through the rank, not through secret (only the receiver knows) individual remunerations in the form of performance bonus.
That being the case thus far in most schools, you see a bunch of great event organisers given the PB, not the great classroom teachers. Teaching is no longer about preparation of a child for tertiary education (given that all areas of development are taken care of) it now becomes a circus of never-ending activity.
Lets give them time to do the necessary and see the results.
Hope our civil servants will also do likewise and be more proactive to serve the public and make real improvement to the life of Singaporean.
A mindset change is required .This is the best time for change .