2/25/2015
Who decides who is fit to be the next govt?
I want to follow up with Boon Wan’s statement that the Town Council is the PAP’s way of testing the opposition MPs’ability to run a country. Is running a Town Council a necessary or effective way to gauge a party or MP’s ability to run a govt? LKY never run a Town Council and so did Goh Keng Swee. Maybe that was why the country was so badly run then compared to how well it is run today by the new leaders with the privilege and experience of running a Town Council.
To me, running a Town Council is a piece of cake for any reasonably clear thinking individual. The difficult part is to navigate through the landmines, traps, obstacles and avoiding snipers and ambushes along the way. But to be serious, to really want to manage a Town Council to resemble running a country, to benefit from the experience, then it should go all the way. Let the Town Council be run like a mini state, collect its own taxes or be awarded its fair share of the tax collection, let them run their own police and mini civil service etc etc. That would really be a meaningful training experience.
The current structure of running a Town Council is more like how to overcome the problems and difficulties in an obstacle course when things were just being difficult, when they have no autonomy in finance and in having very little bargaining chips in their dealings with other govt agencies. How fair is the playing field for opposition parties to run their Town Councils and how fair is the test of their ability to run a Town Council like running a mini state? Heard of playing against a loaded dice?
By the way, does an opposition party need to gain the approval from the ruling party in how to run a country, to pass the test set by the ruling party, and then be given a pass grade to go ahead to run a country? Who decides which party is suitable to run a country? The ruling party or the voters?
An alternative party does not need the blessing and consent of the ruling party to be the elected govt. It is not the power of the ruling party to set the conditions and to say the alternative party is not good enough. It is the right and will of the people to decide who they want to run the country. This is a democracy, not a monarchy or someone’s grandfather’s company whereby the family call the shot and decide who is fit or not fit to take charge. Maybe I am wrong and Boon Wan is right. The ruling party would decide who or which alternative party is able to run the country.
I have a suggestion. The alternative party should send their candidates to PAP for tea, for a fee of course, to be certified fit and able to form and run a govt like the PAP candidates, everyone chopped with the PAP quality seal and ISO 9001 certified.
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23 comments:
"How fair is the playing field for opposition parties to run their Town Councils and how fair is the test of their ability to run a Town Council like running a mini state?"
RB
Very fair. Because in the first place, being in opposition means they are the losers in an election, tio bo?
So how can losers be in the same situation as winners?
If it is the same, then be winner for what, u tell me lah?
Tiok, tiok, tiok. In some countries losers were locked up. Sooooo lucky here.
Just entrust it to aliens running much bigger nations for much longer history manage this tiny dot lah.
Many village chief in China, India and Indonesia will do.
Does this tiny even need the Calibre of those running Shanghai, Mumbai, Jakarta or Penang?
patriot
"Who decides who is fit to be the next govt?"
RB
Fit is not really the correct word.
Ready is the more correct and relevant, to borrow from WP Teochew Ah Hia's famous words of self declaring WP not "ready" to be the govt. He did not say WP is not fit to be govt, tio bo?
So WP can be fit but not ready (WP Ah Hia think so) to be govt and PAP can be ready (PAP think so) but not necessarily fit to be govt. And 60% voted for such a party, and not a not ready party.
Must, must, must. Got so much money. Afterwards anyhow go and invest and lose the people's money how?
Afterwards anyhow go and invest and lose the people's money how?
Anon 9:39 am
U mean u can become richer or poorer depending whether PAP or opposition win in your ward?
@ RB -- unsure of what cuntry he is living in:
>> Who decides which party is suitable to run a country? The ruling party or the voters? <<
First, it is the ruling party (the PAP) who decides who is "fit" to run for election. Then the voters vote in a sort of "Hobson's choice" situation.
For e.g. sometime back in 2006 WP/ SDP heavyweight James Gomez (at the time WP) "clashed" with the elections department, and subsequently Lee Kuan Yew, who called James a liar, then challenged Gomez to sue for defamation.
>> This is a democracy
TOTALLY INCORRECT---it is so incorrect it is not even wrong.
Redbean has failed to grasp that Singapore is a REPUBLIC, not a democracy. Some sort of "guided" democratic processes are used to choose representatives ---who are first "approved" by the ruling PAP. This is nothing new. In China the ruling party chooses people this way too---i.e. they have to be "approved" first before they can contest.
>> whereby the family call the shot and decide who is fit or not fit to take charge.
Of course can lah, and it happens and most of the time IT WORKS IMO it is a better/ safer system than outright democracy---where the outcomes are almost UNIVERSALLY BAD---because the average voter is essentially LOUSY at choosing who is fit to run the cuntry.
Politics evolves out of culture. In very conservatively Asian Singapore, the idea of a Benign Dictatorship has served the cuntry and its Sheeple very well. If you left the sheeple alone to decide the fate of the cuntry, I seriously doubt Singapore will be what it is today: a rockingly awesome global city which has proven to the world and to human history what can be achieved with a strong Benign dictatorship.
In fact, newly elected Indian PM Modhi is influenced by "strongmen" (aka Benign Dictators) Lee kuan Yew, Deng Xiaopeng and Park Chung-hee. This is because in the Asian political context, Benign Dictatorships yield THE BEST socio-economic results.
Please make yourself a reminder every time your mind starts to wander and wonder....Singapore is not, and probably will not be "governed" by a democracy for a long time yet---not until THE CULTURE changes.
So for the time being, it is rule by Benign Dictatorship.
Ok, agree with Matilah. Let's vote for another benign dictator in the coming GE.
Who decides who is going to be the ruling party to decide what kind of political system the people want? Must be the family right?
There is always a breaking point for everything. This is also true for politics. 50 years is a very long time and my fear is that this may be the breaking point.
The following statement is NOT from the local authority.
"For any foreign investor that wants to buy a residential property under $1 million, there will be a $5,000 application fee,"
"Over $1 million, it will be $10,000 for every extra million dollars in the purchase price."
"Secondly, there will be a new register set up so that we know how many foreign residential and agricultural property owners are in Australia, who they are, which is a very important form of reassurance to the Australian people.
"And, if anyone does break the law then we can fine them up to 25 per cent of the value of the property as well as forcing them to sell the property."
Hello, the milkman of human kindness is in da house. How nice to see.
@ redbean: Hey man, I just write opinion based on observations.
Do you think Singapore is a "democracy"? Note: you have to define what you mean by "democracy". Once you've done that, write to the PM or Chief Justice with your definition of democracy clearly explained, and ask them if Singapore is a "democracy".
If they say "yes"--- in accordance with YOUR definition (not theirs) of 'democracy", then your next job is to TEST TO ASCERTAIN what they say is TRUE. (Govt fuckers often say one thing completely opposite. occasionally they will LIE outright).
If everything is 100% true---i.e. the govt agrees with your definition of "democracy" and after testing it is 100% true in Singapore, I will drop my trousers at high noon on a weekday in Raffles Place and cut off my balls with a chopper (the type you see on Iron Chef).
>> Who decides who is going to be the ruling party to decide what kind of political system the people want?
Why the fuck are you asking me? Ask your overpaid govt official on their Facebook wall lah.
>> Must be the family right?
Since you have the bad habit of answering your own questions, why even bother finding out the truth or even considering other opinions and points of view? ;-)
Got democracy? Of course not. (see... I too can answer my own questions)
@ 1059:
>> my fear is that this may be the breaking point.
Fear not. The traditional village wayang has gone by the wayside since Singaporeans now get their entertainment from the internet, and online gaming and shopping. Wherever you go, Singaporeans have their eyes and minds glued to their phones and phablets/ tablets, and of course the outside world it shut off as they are getting audio fro their headsets and expensive headphones.
Singaporeans have been without their kampong wayangs for so long, that they've decided to perform the wayang themselves...so everytime the govt does something the sheeple play another scenne in the on-going national wayang.
The culture hasn't changed much, and thus the politics will not change that much. Expect "more or less the same-old shit" after the next election.
Relac lah. Te Benign dictatorship style of rule will be around for sometime yet. (at least 2 more generations)
Testing who has the ability to run a govt based on how they run a town council is just one side of the coin.
Testing must be based on a level playing ground, not placing obstacles in front of those that do not belong to the ruling party. And for that I mean Govt departmens overseeing the whole country, must be seen to be fair and unbaised, civil servants not beholden to the ruling party when dealing with issues confronting opposition MPs taking care of their constituencies.
As it is, the opposition MPs cannot do many things, like heading establishments within their constituencies. Until they are given equal status, unbaised rulings and fair treatments, how can the testing be objective?
...how can the testing be objective?
Anon 2:08 pm
Of course not lah, and RB's post is just a tongue in cheek comment, yet u take it like real. Must be one of those daft Sinkies.
Did PAP said it is fair for opposition MPs to run Town Councils?
And to PAP, not fair is no excuse for WP not managing Town Council finances properly. And it's that simple a message given to the WP.
So if WP want to be fair to themselves and help their residents better, then be ready to be govt and announce it to Sinkies lah. Then 60% Sinkies will know what to do when they vote.
Tiok, tiok, tiok, some people lanpar is bigger and some smaller.
Tiok, tiok, tiok. Some people lampar is bigger and some smaller.
Those who have bigger lampars, either join the opposition or voted for the opposition.
Those who have smaller lampars, well, also can lah. Just go into Parliament, hiding under the coat-tails of the big lampars, without even having to fight a single battle.
That is about it.
I say it is the Voters that decide WHO TO RULE THEM(THE VOTERS)
For thosr who think dictators are better rulers, they will vote for PAPPIES.
For those who know absolute power corrupts absolutely, they will vote for different alternative parties, so no one single party gets to dictate everything.
patriot
Who decides who is fit to be the next government?
ANSWER: Singaporean voters lah!
Who decides when to pull the plug on the mechanical ventilator?
ANSWER: ???
why not let lky "age in place" at home just like all the other singaporeans?
home is so much more comfortable.
Gif mammaries. Very clever. One star and an elephant stamp. Got man-boobs?
I learnt a statement, may I borrow and use it here:-
"like that also can meh?"
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