It is looking like a public trial of Tony Tan and his son’s NS record. They are questioning why he was allowed to defer his NS liability twice and not assigned to be a Medical Officer during NS after completion of his studies.
Tony Tan has explained. His son Patrick Tan has explained. Mindef also came out with an explanation. Unfortunately the daft Singaporeans could not understand the logic given and is pursuing tenaciously at this issue. Maybe there are simply too daft, or maybe they just refused to accept the explanations, or maybe the explanations are not up to their expectation. And they wanted more explanations like saying sorry is not enough.
When will they end their pursuit of this case and call it off? How many more explanations are required from Tony Tan, the Presidential Hopeful, and Mindef before they are willing to say let’s move on?
This is unprecedented, that a top ex politician, a member of the elite, is subject to so much public scrutiny. I just dunno what to say. What is happening?
Some are calling for a BOI. Would it help? The bigger question is how would this incident affect Tony Tan’s hope to be the Elected President? For the moment he is like a man on public trial, a kind of kangaroo court conducted by the faceless public.
Who will be next in the dock of public conscience and people's court?
21 comments:
Public 'trial' on all the EP candidates and in fact on all politicians will do good to the country to move towards real democracy that requires accountability and transparency in the government. The only issue here is the MSM and those 'trial' information on the internet do not reach all Singaporeans. There is therefore a short of fair 'trial' for all EP candidates. It is still short of real democracy but creates divides among Singaporeans. Do you think EP will unite the people as claimed by someone? The public 'trial' should be open to public and be on TV like debates without censor or staged.
Redbean, can't blame the public la.
1. 12 years deferment
2. NSF join a PTE LTD company to perform NS.
Where to find? How not to pursue till black is black and white is white.
What next? A minister's son excellent in economics perform NS in OCBC?
Preposterous! Scandalous! Shameless!
Singaporeans are not daft. They just learn from their leaders.
Now, what is all the noise I hear about the leaders and campaigns asking Singaporeans to come together. Will it work, when all along the leaders themselves have been practicing vindictiveness and fixing the opposition and their supporters? What did the so-called daft Singaporeans learn from all this over the last 45 years?
Did I hear someone said that politics is an entirely different thing? Please spare me the agony!
As a former hardcore MIW, why did he not sue if it is not true? I mean, suing is almost the PAP's birthright. They live by it, swear by it, thrive on it and have destroyed all their opponents politically, financially and morally through the courts.
If I am not mistaken, PSC has a policy of not granting scholarship for medical students overseas. Those under scholarship or deferment of medicine must read the subject at NUS. Lee Wei Ling also read medicine at NUS I think.
When was this policy implemented and did TT's son came under the same policy?
Sometimes, strange things come out of gardens and cupboards when you dig far enough.
And most of the time, contradictions in trying to explain the cause will reveal the ugly truth.
And all the time, the ugly truth really hurts.
Funny, funny, funny, damn funny. Where got president scholar disrupted from OCS and ended up a 3SGT? All president scholar will return to complete their OCS and their NS and an accelerated route of advancement.
Another funny thing, he was not an SAF or Police scholar and still became president scholar.
Things are getting stranger by the day.
Where is it daft? This is a legit question and it would do TT some good to be transparent - if favoritism for its own kind is indeed practiced. It hit right to the core if NS is truly sacrosanct for all SG men, regardless of race, religion and equality.
I have long suspected that such favoritism are the norm, the unspoken truth, but strenously denied all the time.
How is TT going to do some good in the name of transparency by explaining an unspoken truth?
The heat is on.
When I was in govt service, I made sure that no one can question me on my integrity. Even for taxi claims, I will round down my claims or claimed a little lesser.
When one is in a position of authority, it is more necessary to be beyond reproach as all eyes are watching for little indiscretion.
Dear Tony said he was DEEPLY DISSAPOINTED by all these false rumours....... Tony, we are even more DEEPLY DISSAPOINTED IN YOU
Daft, daft,
You labelled singaporeans as daft even when you are unsure why they keep on harpping on this issue. You mentioned it yourself maybe the explanation didn't meet our expectation. Yes, that's freaking WHY.
TT boss has apologized in public, so have his comrades. So he could jolly do the same.
Hi anonymous, this daft branding of Singaporeans is a big contradiction. I am repeating for several reasons. One, as someone had said, to stuck a spur into the daft Singaporeans to wake them up. This is a little provocation to challenge the Singaporeans if they would take it lying down when they are called daft.
I actually have in mind a post, 'We are not daft', but have yet to put in the meat. I am looking for some inspiration to post it, to remind Singaporeans that they are not daft and will not want to be taken as such.
Actually, its the MIWs who asks for
it.
Did they gave a chance to all their political opponents past or present? If you are in the oppositon camp and there is a little stain on you, they go all out to dig it up hang you dry.
Even Chen Show Mao wasn't spared. Remember Teo Chee Hean's letter to the press or the old man's rude remarks?
And Chen did better than them by quitting his job after becoming an MP. How many MIWs can beat that?
They are telling us to scrutinise each candidate meticulously and thats what we did.
So far the answers hasnt been safisfactory.
dear redbean,
What fascinates me in this matter is the outpouring of support for NS. Sporeans are schizos in this because the vast majority of parents would not send their sons to do the 2 year NS if it was NOT OBLIGATORY. People are resigned to doing NS by law. Its strange how people get worked up about the fairness of everyone suffering together for something they dont really believe in. We are bo chap about a lot of things except when it comes to ensuring that we suffer together for NS. 2 year NS is a waste of time and an emperor with no clothes.
Reducing to one year or changing NS seems to make a lot of sense.
As the Minister Of Defence then, he(Tony Tan) should have been allowed the discretion to make arrangement for matters regarding NS. That is to say how citizens are to be conscripted, placed in whatever vocations and how long deferments were to be and so on so forth. No?
Of course Singaporeans are daft!
If not, how then can we explain why so many are trying their best and crying their hearts out to conscience-less leaders and voting them into parliament election after election?
Public scrutiny (not trial) on a public figure who wants the public's votes.
Under scrutiny is his conduct and his transparency (or lack of) during the time he was Defence Minister, on a matter directly involving NS, upon which he has the greatest influence.
The public doing the scrutinising is the very same people who have gone through the grueling path of NS, and their sons too, and who were led to believe that NS was the ultimate leveller of all Singaporeans. NOT.
Hi Shiok Lee and Don't call me daft, welcome to the blog.
NS is something very close to every Singaporean, especially the guys. They all live through it, good and bad and can picture the rights and wrongs they encountered during NS. No one can cheat them
NS is a big sacrifice by every male Singaporean and their families. So anyone who rubbish NS and exploited NS, will not be taken lightly. If anyone is seen to have been privileged, those that suffered, would be very unforging. Why am I taking all the shit when someone else had a good time without the shit.
NS is a big sacrifice. Don't trivailise it.
No matter how Dr Tony Tan, and his son Dr Patrick Tan, and the SAF have tried to defend or explain off the facts to deny that there was favouritism in this case, no one can deny that letting an NS man to disrupt his National Service for 12 to 13 years is grossly unjustifiable, irrespective of whether he is a white horse or greater white horse.
LHL, the greatest white horse of all the white horses, did not get that kind of preferential treatment (i.e. disrruption for 12/13 years).
Another three glaring questions that need to be answered are:
1. Why was NSF Patrick Tan, after having graduated as a medical doctor, posted to do medical research in the Defence Medical and Environmental Research Institute (DMERI, then called DMRI) but NOT in the SAF, like all other medicalt doctors before and after him???
2. Why did Officer-Cadet Patrick Tan ended up as a 3rd Seargent and not become an Officer of the SAF?
3. Why is MINDEF making a feeble attempt to defend the position of DR/NSman Patrick Tan, when it is morally obligated to provide all the facts and statistics regarding its policies of deferment duration and fair/proper deployment of NSF in order to allow the public to make their own assessment on whether there was preferential treatments in this case?
A matter of curiosity. How many ministers of NS liable age did not serve NS?
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