3/02/2016

Parliamentarians - Sayang our poor children in a divorce

This issue was hot in Parliament. Every MP worth his salt, including ministers, joined in the chorus about the welfare of little children in broken up families. Poor kids. They are the ones that hurt the most when adults fought and break up. They care deeply about the hurt.  Children are innocent and need to be protected from the harm the adults can inflict on them, intentionally or unintentionally.

I am sure Parliament will debate non stop in the case of poor Benjamin Lim, the poor boy that only had a cold bun for his last meal. I am sure with such kind and caring people in Parliament, many would be in tears talking about Benjamin Lim.

Benjamin’s case came up yesterday and two ministers spoke and with MPs asking questions. Not sure if the question and answer session was as passionate as the case of poor kids in divorce cases. What came through is that the police and the teachers followed orders, worked according to their protocols and everything was normal. And the officers had been dealing with thousands of cases involving young people. Nothing like this happened before. Perhaps this is another 1 in 50 year incident.

Ng Chee Meng was quite happy with the 8 step protocol of MOE. He showed some goodness in him by suggesting that perhaps an adult should accompany a student in police interviews but stopped short of affirming that this would be the necessary change. And he commented that it is police protocol not to allow adult/parents to be present in their interviews.

Shanmugam was also quite happy that his officers did the right thing, followed the right procedures in handling young people. He also revealed the fact that this was not a serious case and Benjamin would likely to get a warning and would not have to go to court.  Did the case appear to be worst than what Shanmugam said when it was first reported? Was it rape, aggravated molestation, or a 14 year boy touching a girl in a lift? What did the 11 year old girl reported and what actually happened that needed 5 police officers to go to the school to bring the boy to the police station? Was there enough evidence from the start that this was not a serious case and need not have the presence of 5 police officers?

Did anyone suggest that 5 police officers interviewed Benjamin as the Shanmugam claimed or the social media was only saying 5 police officers went to school?  Shanmugam gave his side of the story.

Benjamin’s father gave his side of the story in an open letter in TOC. I quote a few paras here, When Benjamin finally left the police station at 2.50pm, he told his mother and sister that he was not given anything to eat, nothing to drink throughout the 3 or more hours of engagement with police investigators in the police station. At his age, my son gets hungry very fast after one meal. Just a cold bun and a drink, and we cannot be sure if he did finish the bun because he was under pressure then. Benjamin must be feeling hungry, thirsty, throughout the few hours he was with the police investigator. I can imagine the anxiety felt by my son throughout the ordeal….

That said, as parents we cannot forget and we cannot forgive the way my son was treated, from the school to the time he was in police custody. I have this to say to the school authorities. We as parents we entrusted our children to you. You have a duty to ensure that our children are appropriately taken care of, reasonably protected and have their interest in your priority.

The fault is the TOC and the social media in general for posting misinformation. TOC is ‘heng’ not to indulge in speculative and spurious allegations that the 11 year old girl would be so traumatized and committed suicide and her parents went mad as a result or worst.

So nothing wrong except maybe some refinement is needed to change the protocol to allow an adult to be present. But must consult psychologists and psychiatrists and the police and teachers, and parents to see if this is necessary?

Is there a need to reinvent the wheel? Police interviewing children is nothing new. The civilized countries in the West have many protocols on this. Can send a study mission to USA, to UK or Europe to study their civilized system and see if they can be used here?

52 comments:

Anonymous said...

"The measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members."

True or not?
You tell me lah.
And the famous people below replied .....
......................
"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members."
~ Mahatma Ghandi

The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. " ~ Last Speech of Hubert H. Humphrey

"Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members -- the last, the least, the littlest."
~Cardinal Roger Mahony, In a 1998 letter, Creating a Culture of Life

"A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying,"
~Pope John Paul II

Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.~Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973), My Several Worlds [1954].

A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.
~Samuel Johnson, Boswell: Life of Johnson

The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.~John E. E. Dalberg, Lord Acton, The History of Freedom in Antiquity, [1877].

The greatness of America is in how it treats its weakest members: the elderly, the infirm, the handicapped, the underprivileged, the unborn. ~Bill Federer


"I can only express the hope that faith in the judicial system will never be diminished, and I am sure it will not, so long as we allow a review of the judicial processes that takes place here in some other tribunal where obviously undue influence cannot be brought to bear.
As long as governments are wise enough to leave alone the rights of appeal to some superior body outside Singapore, then there must be a higher degree of confidence in the integrity of our judicial process. This is most important.”
- Guess who said this. Go ahead. Guess.

Anonymous said...

heng ah, police acted so fast or else this boy may molest more children.

Anonymous said...


One old uncle at the coffeeshop this morning during breakfast
was telling his 8-9 drinking and smoking kakis very loudly that
generally speaking, the most frightening type of spirits is the
HUNGRY spirits, those people up-lorry without eating/hungry.

Believed???

Scary! Very Scary! Very Very Scary!

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ over-protective, RB:

>> Can send a study mission to USA, to UK or Europe to study their civilized system and see if they can be used here? <<

You have to be joking. The "wealthy" western democracies have lost the plot. The "child protections" are so extreme, and the kids know it so being the smart naughty kids they are, they use the system to their advantage...and essentially get away with everything.

Kids in the "free" cuntries have learned that freedom doesn't require responsibility (of course it does: self discipline and personal responsibility are the FOREMOST prerequisites to "freedom"!), so they play fuck all the time.

You better be pleased that things like "sexting" (sending sexually suggestive selfies) and bringing weapons and drugs to school is not part of Singapore youth culture...at least at the moment.

My suggestion is to send the cops to China to learn how the Chinese authorities deal with errant children. Kids in china are obedient, they study and concentrate on "achieving". Proof is that they are whacking their western counterparts on nearly every ACADEMIC front.

Kids need discipline and structure. If they do "adult crimes" they should face "adult consequences".

I don't expect people to agree with me, so fuck you and your UNTESTED "liberal" philosophies.

virgo49 said...

They are so discrete in sending five plainscothes detectives to the school without the school children noticing five strangers in cars going to the office.

Also, why five to arrest a fourteen year old boy.

Too much free time on their hands??

Also why prinipal cannot called the parents instead of the boy??

At least can give a better picture and asked what request from them. Can forestall the transfer of Benjamin to the station until one parent arrived to give some assurance to the boy.

Also if everything is kept under wraps, why disallowed him to join the camp.

The police investigator should in a way give some assurance to the boy that the matter is no way serious as mentioned by Sham.

All these pscho effects takes a toll on the boy.

Lastly, did they silence the witness who said that she saw them in Police T-shirts.

Anonymous said...

The police no need to mistreat the boy. Their presence, their uniforms, authority, the police station, their power over the boy are enough to frighten the shit out of any child.

All the fucking psychopaths think it is alright, a tea party when brought into a police station to be interrogated.

Damn you lot for thinking that children should be handled this way without the presence of an adult. You trust these creeps to protect your children when they think this way?

Anonymous said...

“Anybody who decides to take me on needs to put on knuckle-dusters. If you think you can hurt me more than I can hurt you, try. There is no way you can govern a Chinese society.”
..................
“If you are a troublemaker... it’s our job to politically destroy you... Everybody knows that in my bag I have a hatchet, and a very sharp one. You take me on, I take my hatchet, we meet in the cul-de-sac.”

Anonymous said...

“We have to lock up people, without trial, whether they are communists, whether they are language chauvinists, whether they are religious extremists. If you don’t do that, the country would be in ruins.”

Anonymous said...

“If you can select a population and they’re educated and they’re properly brought up, then you don’t have to use too much of the stick because they would already have been trained.
It’s like with dogs.
You train it in a proper way from small.
It will know that it’s got to leave, go outside to pee and to defecate.
No, we are not that kind of society.
We had to train adult dogs who even today deliberately urinate in the lifts.”

Anonymous said...


善恶有报 不是不报 时候未到

善恶有报 不是不报 时候未到

可怜! 可怜! 可怜!

Anonymous said...

Could Benjamin's case be dealt with by the school since it was not a serious case as shown in the CCTV? The school teacher that was touched by the boy in school could report the case and the boy also be hauled into the police station but chose not to. Not serious enough.

KNN serious or not also cannot differentiate. Send in a tank to shoot a sparrow.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ 110:

>> “If you are a troublemaker... it’s our job to politically destroy you... Everybody knows that in my bag I have a hatchet, and a very sharp one. You take me on, I take my hatchet, we meet in the cul-de-sac.” <<

👍🏽 👍🏽👏👏👌election after election, the Singapore voters have approved of this method of keeping the political peace.

>> “We have to lock up people, without trial, whether they are communists, whether they are language chauvinists, whether they are religious extremists. If you don’t do that, the country would be in ruins.” <<

👍🏽 👍🏽👏👏👌 This too gets resounding approval from the voters who keep the PAP on a winning streak.

Giving credit where it is due: at least LKY and his PAP DO EXACTLY as they say.

The benevolent dictatorship gets my full (99.99%) approval. Singaporeans need to be HAMMERED into line, then the cuntry will be so awesome, people can come and go as they please and enjoy the HOTEL lifestyle.

Keep rocking, Singapore! Keep those borders OPEN! 😁

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ "bleeding hearted liberal" 1057:

>> All the fucking psychopaths think it is alright, a tea party when brought into a police station to be interrogated. <<

"If you don't want to do the time, DON'T DO THE CRIME". Simple as that.

Adult crime ===>> adult consequences. The little girls and their parents need to rest assured that when they are taking a lift, or what not, their kid is SAFE from molestation or any harm.

Let's be clear who the real VICTIM is here.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ 1144:

>> Could Benjamin's case be dealt with by the school since it was not a serious case as shown in the CCTV? <<

We don;t get to "judge" if a case is "serious" or not. That is a matter for THE LAW to decide.

You touch a kid inappropriately, with intent, sorry mate, YOU'RE NICKED! Singapore's molest laws are serious. Society and law enforcement take a very dim view of this kind of "sexual harassment".

Personally I think the molest laws could be written better...but they are what they are: harsh and unambiguous.

At the end of the day Lady Justice is BLIND, coldly objective and bereft of "mercy", as it should be.

agongkia said...

I am not sure how Benjamin is related to the title poor children in a divorce,or whether his parent are divorcee.
But I strongly believe that to solve the problem on poor children because of divorce parent,the one and only way is To ALLOW POLYGAMY.
No need to divorce,teenagers like Ben can have more siblings from different mothers to share and confide his worries .
Efficiency start from the top.Propose to allow polygamy is betterer than worry for poor children..

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ agongkia:

>> ALLOW POLYGAMY. <<

The state should have no place in adult relationships. Polygamy was a part of Asian cultures for thousands of years. The wealthier you were, the more females you could probably "attract".

>> eenagers like Ben can have more siblings from different mothers to share and confide his worries <<

Nothing will change here. As long as there are teenage humans, there will be teenage human BRAINS and teenage human HORMONES---which is what makes the teen years experience so much like a roller coaster ride of emotions, and reason, and peer group pressure, and the desire to be individual...

agongkia said...

Aiyo Sifu
Can only tell whether he touch inappropriately by viewing the cctv.
Many kid at his age are crazy about having a gf because their friends have they oso want.My concern is he may have made the wrong approach and hold the girl's hand to go somewhere and the girl complain as she is not interested to follow him but he gong gong still insist.Intention,yes.Molest,wrongful confinement..No.
Or maybe the girl otarng him ten dollar and refuse to pay?
As a NPCC Sgt. as reported,he should be taught about basic penal code and should not and his life.
Oops cannot speculate.


Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ agongkia,

Yah, we can't know with reasonable certainty because we're not privy to the CCTV video.

However, in the little girl's mind, she was probably scared since she cried and got her parents upset. That's the thing about little kids: you have to be very careful. Being "confined" in a lift with a bigger boy....depending on how that goes it could be very traumatic for the girl.

>> Many kid at his age are crazy about having a gf because their friends have they oso want. <<

That's biological lah. Of course. However the desire to "own stuff" is also biological, which is why we are taught from young: don't take people's things without their permission, no matter how much you want it.

No one is arguing "biological urge"---we all have them. However society is governed by LAWS and enforced by law enforcement. The law places the onus of "self-restraint" on the individual. for e.g.: if you steal because you 'really want" the thing, you get caught and you're done. Same thing with sex: if it's not consensual: you're done when you get caught.

Once the law is involved, you essentially give up any chance of your "interpretation" being "correct". It's up to the law to decide what is what. Better to be properly "self-governed" and not have the police come visit you, and cause "unpleasantness" in your already hard life.

Anonymous said...

The law minister nailed it and the cause which drove the grown boy to his death was not procedural but not something the minister can spell out in public either.

If he had been an adult, it would have been easier... Pay for the crime and start a new by keeping to a low profile.

For the kid, it is not that easy. At his age,he can't escape his social environment(well, unless his parents were rich and had been smarter).

At his age, fitting in and being part of the community of birds and bees are paramount.

The straw which broke the camel's back was when he got wind that the school has OSTRACIZED him

The parents had made the wrong call and listened to sinkies. The boy could have been saved from a tragic end

Anonymous said...

The curse of the sinkies brain

Anonymous said...

// This issue was hot in Parliament. Every MP worth his salt, including ministers, joined in the chorus about the welfare of little children in broken up families. //

If there was an "Aung Juan Soon Chee" ( in presence hypothetically), he could have stood up ( as an alternative voice and ) said:

"1) Sin city sucks? Why?

2) Some of the root causes that children suffered, whether from divorced or wholesome families, could be 3 reasons:
(i) Sin society sucks?
(ii) Sin society sucks? and
(iii) Sin society sucks?

3) When all these Mahders FartKers are BARKING up the wrong trees ( and wasting public funds and time ), many Sin city children will likely continue to suffer?

4) With so many Mahders FartKers muddling through like "饭桶 and wayang BIG TIME", several hundred thousands of dollars ( of taxpayers $$$$$ as well as societal welfare forgone ) if not millions and millions have gone down the drain in one ( sickening and ) defeatist afternoon. ....?

5) If all these Mahders FartKers continue in this mode, confirm Samuel Huntington will "win his bet" against one dead laoahpek ( aka died (ex) old man alias young (and new ) "ghost" )?"

With own self check own self and/ or ( hum Chee ) mice checking on the cats and/ or ( hum Chee ) cats checking on the bull dogs, whatever said is same same as nothing said, zero, zilch?

If any bean care to do a survey and speak to many youngsters and ask them questionnaires on what they think about current parents, what would YEW expect?

If youngsters think modern days parenting sucks bcos sin society sucks and made their parents ( divorced or not ) sucked, why should they continue this ( sucking ) vicious cycle and made more babies when they grew up?

Probably, at least about more than 50% young boys and girls already LOOOOOOOONG decided they DON'T want ANY KID when they grow up, AT LEAST not in a (sin) city / society that SUCKS ( BIG TIME ) and repeat their parents ( mistakes and ) vicious cycles over and over again?

With present group think, nodding donkeys and ( more than jiak liao melon seeds ) parrots dancing in unison in evil spirits and bankrupted souls, the only outcome is an endless ( slippery ) slide into abyss ( and living hell )?

Anonymous said...

Goodness... Parents are ashamed of him...school ashamed of him.... Church ashamed of him .girls ashamed of him.... Boys sniggled... Parliament busy being right.. And Singaporeans busy being self righteous.. Wow

Anonymous said...

Mahders FartKers?

Means?

Mothers of all Farters?

Fart? Fart? Fart?

All DAY LOOOOOOOONG?

At taxpayer$$$$$$$$ EXPENSE?

HENG AH?

BORN PARROTS AH?

AND DONKEYS AH?

Every month and year end look at the bank statement so PAPPY oops ..... HAPPY ah?

Anonymous said...

Rb // They care deeply about the hurt. //


Wah?

Rb, YEWR "sarcastic remark sounds full of sarcasm"?

But Ai like ...... and give (YEW) 1 gazillion (dis)likes .....?

Anonymous said...

"I can only express the hope that faith in the judicial system will never be diminished, and I am sure it will not, so long as we allow a review of the judicial processes that takes place here in some other tribunal where obviously undue influence cannot be brought to bear.

As long as governments are wise enough to leave alone the rights of appeal to some superior body outside Singapore, then there must be a higher degree of confidence in the integrity of our judicial process. This is most important.”

- Guess who said this. Go ahead. Guess.

Anonymous said...

A ghost?

Anonymous said...

"Look, Jeyaretnam can't win the infighting.
I'll tell you why.
WE are in charge.
Every government ministry and department is under our control.
And in the infighting, he will go down for the count every time... I will make him crawl on his bended knees, and beg for mercy. "

- Guess who also said this. Go ahead. Guess.

Anonymous said...

Who had already died?

Anonymous said...

Albeit a horrendous one?

Anonymous said...

Hairy ( pussy cat )?

Anonymous said...

Go read Yawning Bread on this case.

Anonymous said...

Once heard someone said, if YEW are cursed, YEW will be reborn a daft sinkie, over and over again and suffer in eternity. .........?

Anonymous said...

Your religion what... Sin... Wash and bury in red white blood loor..

Anonymous said...


人在做天在看! 人在做天在看!

做人做事......一定要心安里得!

善有善报! 恶有恶报!

Anonymous said...

The evil will receive their due justice. Clever and arrogant arguments are just that.

Anonymous said...

The rule of law is indifferent. Job done. Move on. The strength of Sin is the law. And the sting of death is Sin.

Anonymous said...

Dead people only talk to spirits, especially on Sunday

Anonymous said...


HUNGRY SPIRITS?

Anonymous said...

Holy spirts and water

Virgo49 said...

We must learn from this tragedy

How Long they gonna learn from all tragedies instead of having foresight to avoid these tragedies ?!!

Anonymous said...

Is like asking the church not to stick their dirty noses into people's sex life...is it possible?

It does not end with the LAW

agongkia said...

Those khongcum who dream of being able to accompany their children during investigation better stop dreaming.
Bring up your children with responsibility and show good examples by not cursing the You Know Who now and then.
Those born in certain years go pray Tai Shui if you offended him.
If still bad luck blame no one except yourself.
Have faith in our SPF.

Anonymous said...

If Ben had lived.. I reckon that the nation upright and uptight old farts will want him to stand in front of the school assembling Hall and kowtow three times.. With his head banging the hard floor until blood flowed... And must make sure cry like you had violated the privacy of humping streets dogs and and and... with his parents wearing KFC paper bag over their heads and standing next to him... If he will to be given a second chance and will still suffer the curse of the KFC paper bag forever

Look at the pious director joker jack neh . Caught molesting a young girl in his motor home and it wasn't even a crime and his poor wife had to go on his behalf to faint on national TV... After that... Career freeze like frozen stool for a few years before tell long long time ago story again but still kena poked by national papers now and then

Don't pray pray ok... Or you die confessing

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ "observant" 215:

>> And Singaporeans busy being self righteous..<<

Hey man, don't knock it It's THE National Pastime, and to a select few, a National FULLtime. 😂 This stunningly productive group produces a disproportionate output of cuntent appearing as screeds on the pastiche of blogs, videos on YouTube (many of them pretty good), forums and private blogs. No shortage of activity here.

One must remember that in Singapore, being self-righteous is culturally understood to be freedom of expression of the highest degree. I mean, where do you go when you are the high and mighty, moral arbiter of the universe? (Singaporeans get a cock-stand at this very thought)

Not having such a "freedom" such as this in the previous, post-colonial, more "Confucianism-centric" generations---hitherto "ruled" by a stern but benevolent Übermensch, it is easy to understand why the quality of the (so-called) "scholarship" is embarrassingly LOW. 😦 But it hasn't even been a generation yet. It's very early days and everyone has to start somewhere and "suck ass" for awhile before they raise the bar and strive to become "better".

I'm happy to contribute to the fun...and the use of invective and foul-language! Especially when religion comes into the picture and crowns itself as "King of All Morality". Yum yum, delicious... 😋

Anonymous said...

When karma come after sick in the head people, bankrupted souls and gongcums, YEW can run but cannot hide .............?

After the 2013 Little India Riot, sinkies can only trust themselves ....... ?

After each incident, the little faith left in tatters are further shredded into pieces ..... Bo Chun? Zero, zilch, nothing left after one by one stood up to fart and sound righteous when there is none?

YEWR fart may even trigger an earthquake?

Karma is coming to town ( Sin City )?

Anonymous said...

Another "great name" and "accolade" to add beside a "fine city", "sin city"?

The latest "accolade" --- a "sick city"?

Moody's latest report mentioned that the "sin city" is getting "more sick", "despite bringing in 100,000 foreign labour" every year to boost it's inputs but output per capita probably is in negative growth ....?

Souls bankrupted?

Economy seriously sick?

And thus a bona fide "sick city" title to add to its "notoriety" of a "fine city" and "sin city", not forgetting that it is literally a "hardcore police state"?

Anonymous said...

Will learn to say gd by
When tear runs dry.

Anonymous said...

This is nuts, after sending so many scholars to the UK to study in Oxbridge to return as Admin officers in the Police, no one bothered to make sure there is a policy of have an Appropriate adult to supervise children? I mean, this is standard in most civilized countries not only to safeguard minors but to make sure they are not pressured into lying to please their supervisors.

Anonymous said...

Rb // Can send a study mission to USA, to UK or Europe to study their civilized system and see if they can be used here? //


Aiyo ......? Erection over liao Lo?

Study mission? Tan Ku Ku?

Only near erection then do it? Now? Dun even dream about it?

Anonymous said...

Near erection they will almost do anything? Even kiss YEWR butts if need to?

After erection count YEWRself lucky if they din give a big kick to YEWR butts?

But they won't treat yew nicely either? Not with all these farting into YEWR face non-stop for hours each time?

But to show yew who is in charge and make YEW go on bended knees and crawl to beg for mercy, they fart through their mouth?

Would yew dare go near them even with a long pole when their mouth exude such a stinking stench?

Carting through their mouths one after another?

And falling and fighting over each other to do so?

To show how good a parrot or donkey each of them is?

Heng ah?

Got lp to carry ah?

Heng ah?

So honourable to carry big lp ah?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ 950:

>> And thus a bona fide "sick city" title to add to its "notoriety" of a "fine city" and "sin city", not forgetting that it is literally a "hardcore police state"? <<

Hahaha...obviously you don't know how much rocking good FUN goes on in Singapore. For e.g.: ever been to a Nyotaimori dinner in Singapore?

Please lah, Singapore rocks in more ways that you are aware of. So why aren't you having fun?

Is there something wrong with you?