The debate so far

On the opposition side, it was a time to let out the frustration and disappointment of govt policies. Yes, the govt claimed that all the policies were excellent and good for the people. But do the people buy them? Many issues were about bread and butter, about food on the table and about jobs. What the opposition was saying was simply that the people were unhappy with what was going on, and the people agreed. It was also about problems that multi million dollar ministers are expected to anticipate, to plan for, to nib in the bud by being proactive and not allowing problems to blow up to such a proportion. The people knew what these problems were but unfortunately the govt didn’t or could not understand, could not see. What the ruling party’s position is very simple, don’t rock the boat or Singapore will be in trouble. There are more problems over the horizon, and only they can overcome them, not the opposition. Vote for the ruling party or the island may sink. It is a strategy of threats and spreading fears. Who then is going to carry the votes? There is a political rock star that has risen from the two days of campaigning in the name of Nicole. Yes, it is Nicole all the way. Nicole is holding the torch. And she is supported by a team of respectable and experienced professionals that are no less able than the PAP team. It reminds me of the days of a young LKY tearing down the streets and backed up by an able team of generals. In this case, the generals are all the leaders in the opposition parties. And the ruling govt is getting to look more like the colonial masters. And what the opposition is saying is simply that the dead woods, the has beens, the overpaid, shall be removed. And the crowd loves it. There is nothing new coming from the PAP except more upgrading and more upgrading, and more FTs and more FTs, and of course, higher and higher pays. It is not looking very pretty at the moment for the PAP. And with the disgruntled citizens voicing out at every opportunity they could find, more are likely to feel that they are not alone, that the same frustrations are being felt by other fellow citizens as well. Before internet, no one had a real feel of what the ground feeling was like. And they kept their unhappiness to themselves, thinking that they could be the odd one out, so better keep quiet. Now the feeling is in the open, and everyone who feels the same knows that they are not alone. There is a groundswell. Could this really be translated in votes for the opposition? Still one week before polling day to know what is real and what is just emotion.

Sorry not enough, must explain!

This statement must be still vivid in many Singaporeans’ mind. Committing a mistake and saying sorry is not enough, and must explain, dunno explain what? But Singaporeans are generally very kind and forgiving. Take Vincent Wijeysingha as an example, after the threats of something bad from a video, he is letting matter to rest without demanding for any explanation. Then there is the Mas Selamat Jalan episode and Kan Seng said he had apologized or accepted responsibility. So it is over. No issue any more. No red faces, no one feel pressurized or cornered. Perhaps our society has matured, and small people who liked to seize on every opportunity to blow things up, the blow job professionals, are long gone. This is good for the people or else we will still have third world ruffians in our first world city.

Time to ask the PAP questions

The PAP has been asking the opposition parties many pertinent questions, like are they ready to form the next govt. Looking at the number of seats contested, this is a reality that can happen. And it is not only patronizing but insulting to the electorate to call it a freak election if it does happened. Freak election can only be held for freaks. So, are the voters freaks? Now is the moment for the opposition to ask the PAP if they will accept the choice of the people if the opposition is elected to power, by a coalition? Would the PAP accept the fate if they were voted out of power? Don’t evade this question by saying it is impossible. Laughing at such a possibility is OK. Laughing has always been a weapon in parliament. I remember someone saying that tanks would be rolling down the streets when there is a freak election or something like that. Can't remember who, I got dementia. Would there really be tanks rolling in the streets? Why is it called freak? Is it because the PAP believes that the people will definitely vote them to power? And if they did not, it is not because the people did not want them but because of a miscalculation. So the election tak pakai, and the army boys and tanks will be rolled out to prevent the opposition from assuming leadership of the country? Is this what a democratic election supposed to be, where a party can claimed that it is the choice of the people, and if not elected, they can quash the election result, calls it freak, and continue to rule? A very convenient argument. Is this a likely scenario? These are very pertinent questions that the opposition parties should ask the PAP, and demand an answer. Would they accept the verdict of the people? Or would they freak out?

Some pics of the SDP Rally at Commonwealth Ave

Pictures showing sections of the crowd that filled more than half the football field at about 8pm, and growing. SDP also had a store selling souvenirs and the party's election literature.

My affordable housing scheme

Sure affordable, and the lessee can choose the number of years he wishes to repay the lease, or loan, or whatever. Buyers or lessees can choose to pay in 30 years, 60 years or 90 years. The repayment period will be so flexible that the lessee can pay in one generation, two generations or three generations, with two incomes, 4 incomes or 6 incomes as long as the monthly repayment sum is affordable. Now would this be a better way to sell affordable housing? Can raise the price higher some more. I was thinking of extending the repayment period to 200 years, but unfortunately the lease will expire in 99 years. And all lessees can still call themselves property owners. Actually owning a 30 year lease or 99 lease or freehold property is all the same, property owners.

The Good and Bad on Nomination Day

Several controversies on the first day of the GE. There were complaints and protests, some were resolved amicably and gentlemanly, some were questionables. The first complaint raised was the occupational status of Sim Ann, a PAP candidate in the Holland Bukit Timah GRC. She stated in the form that she was unemployed. The SDP quickly pointed out that she was a civil servant. Then there was drama and suspense for about an hour before the Returning Officer made a press statement that she had paid in lieu of notice period, and PSC had confirmed that she was no longer a civil servant. The SDP was gracious enough not to pursue the matter further. One up for sportsmanship to the SDP. The second controversy involved Ng Teck Siong and his independent team of candidates contesting in Tanjong Pagar. They were late but not really late to miss the deadline of 12 noon. Uncle Yap was there to witness the event and has a video circulating in cyberspace. What happened was that the team was held up a bit too long with the Commissioner of Oath and the swearing protocol. Ng Teck Siong was still able to submit his papers to the Returning Officer way before 12 noon while his team mates were still stuck with the Commissioner of Oath. Just a few minutes before 12 noon, the Commissioner of Oath corner shouted for him, probably to clarify on some matters. He asked the Returning Officer for permission to answer to the call and permission was granted. But the few precious minutes passed by quickly and they heard the Returning Officer announced that all nominations were closed, to their horror. He went back to the Returning Officer who duly returned him the papers that he accepted earlier. Get the picture? This is Uncle Yap’s version and he had recommended that the case be brought before the court of law for a hearing and judgement. There are definitely many ambiguities and doubtful areas that Ng Teck Siong’s team could raise. Anyone wanted to be a gentleman and be gracious in this case? Looks like it is a forgone conclusion and already cast in iron. One down on sportsmanship and the technicalities. Heard that there were two cases of irregularities in the forms, one for an opposition party and one on the side of the PAP. Both were rectified and put to rest, gentlemanly. One up for both sides. The pre Nomination hustlings between Vivian and Vincent on the issue of video clips and gay agenda have come to an amicably ending. Both sides agreed to put the issue to rest. One up for each side. Yes, it is possible to raise the conduct of the election to a more respectable manner with all sides playing above board instead of lurking in the corners trying to trip each other. So far so good and looking promising. But the internet mole brigades are still on the loose. Will they be reined in and stop their nonsense? The big guns of the parties are all calling for a fair and clean fight. They better live up to it. And that will be nice. For whatever smear campaign or acts committed, it will be hanged on their necks forever. No way to hide. There is not only the main media to account to, there is a more vicious and brutally forthright new media watching the election like a hawk.

82 seats to be contested out of 87

LKY is making history again by walking into Parliament as the oldest MP and will serve till 92 years of age. Can you believe it? And his feat was made easy when his opponents led by Ng Teck Siong was late in submitting their nominations paper. Can you believe it? Chia Ti Lik did the right thing. And Sim Ann, President’s scholar and a potential ministerial material, could face disqualification as technically it was reported that she was serving notice and still a civil servant. Looks like another slip, and from the PAP! Can you believe it? Heard that one candidate did not file his papers fully and could have been disqualified. No details of who or which party he is from. Can you believe it? Luckily the main opposition teams are in the race. And hopefully no more disqualifications on some technical grounds. The four big battles to be fought with the two girls in Marine Parade, Tan Jee Say/Ang Yong Guan/Vincent versus Vivian at Bukit Timah, the battle between Goh Meng Seng and Mah Bow Tan in Tampines, and in Aljunid where people are asking if George Yeo will stand a chance against Low Thia Khiang/Sylvia and Chen Show Mao. And the ministers that could bade goodbye are Chok Tong, Hwee Hua, George Yeo, Vivian and Mah Bow Tan. Could there be any other mishaps? Oh, I nearly forgot, Chiam See Tong, the man who was expected to be only standing by, is taking on two ministers in Eng Hen and Kan Seng. And another kamikazi squad of brave young men/woman taking on Hsien Loong in Ang Mo Kio. There is a high possibility that LKY could be the PM once more if there is a freak result and both Chok Tong and Hsien Loong lost. Another wet dream scenario. Singaporeans would be shouting, 'Huat ah!'

The game of spamming and gutter politics

The spammers are getting a field day as the GE heat gets hotter. The application of technology to affect blogs and sites that are on opposing camps can only get worst. Getting spammed, flooded with phantom visitors and hits to slow down and incapacitate sites will be the order of the day. Are these healthy activities or do they fall into the category of dirty and unclean? Would Chok Tong’s call for a clean and gentlemanly contest be just a wet dream? There are bound to be supporter and opponents for all parties in the election. Some are zealous, over zealous in the support of their parties and idols. Some are paid to do the dirty job of attacking the opponents and undermine their activities. For the latter, nothing can be done as their masters will write the paychecks for them to do what the paymasters want. For the supporters, it would be good if they did not go overboard and tarnish the reputation of their parties and candidates. I happened to see a photo of a gangster like woman staring fiercely at Sebastian Teo during his walkabout at a kopitiam. To me, the look of that woman reminds me of the Animal Farm, thinking that she could bit off anyone. And it reflected very badly on her master. To all supporters, do support your respective parties and candidates, but do have a little self respect for the candidates and their supporters too. They are all fellow citizens, not your enemies. This is a general election where all Singaporeans elect their representatives to Parliament, not a gang fight, not a war. And don’t forget to show a little self respect to yourself as well. Misbehaving is bad for whatever cause. So does sneaking around to do harm to others.

Another fearsome tool

The youtube and video are formidable weapons to use in this election. They can be very powerful tools to destroy an opponent. Tin Pei Ling can attest to that while Nicole Seah will be asking for more. Vivian seems to have something in hand to deal with the SDP and the target looks like Vincent. And someone in 3in1kopitiam is claiming to have a handle on Vivian and making threatening noises to dare Vivian releasing his video. It could be a tit for tat scenario. We will all have to wait to see if they were just hoaxes. There is another powerful weapon that can be used. One resident has disclosed a letter written by an MP to him which was not too flattering. MPs must have written a lot of letters and if some of them were not well written and exposed, the MPs got a lot of work to defend what they wrote. The way the internet can be used to score points is still multiplying. Got to be very careful writing those replies, and one thing, better not to be rude and haughty.

Trading jobs for profits

Ralph Gomory, research professor at New York University's Stern business school, said, "...What we have seen, he said, is "a massive shift in capability from the U.S. to China. What we have done is traded jobs for profit. The jobs have moved to China. The capability erodes in the U.S. and grows in China. That's very destructive. That is a big reason why the U.S. is becoming more and more polarized between a small, very rich class and an eroding middle class. The people who get the profits are very different from the people who lost the wages." The above is an extract of an IMF article forcasting that the Chinese economy overtaking the American's by year 2016. But what is interesting is the uncanny similarities in the pathetic situation the Americans are facing and those of Singaporeans. By substituting the words Singapore/Singaporeans for US and FTs for China, it can simply apply to the situation here. "...What we have seen, he said, is "a massive shift in capability from the Singaporeans to FTs. What we have done is traded jobs for profit. The jobs have moved to FTs. The capability erodes in the Singaporeans and grows in FTs. That's very destructive. That is a big reason why Singapore is becoming more and more polarized between a small, very rich class and an eroding middle class. The people who get the profits are very different from the people who lost the wages."

PAP fears WP will block constitutional amendments

Shanmugam said, ‘…what the WP wants is the power in Parliament to block constitutional amendments and money Bills, as an interim step. The ultimate goal is of taking over the govt.’ Is there anything wrong with both objectives? It is exactly for the first objective that the people must support the WP and the opposition. Many constitutional changes have been made which were questionable and should not be allowed to go through. One major one involves the conditions to qualify to stand for the elected President. If the President is a ceremonial position, appointed to honour someone’s contribution to the country, and paid a pittance, oops, an honorarium, it is acceptable and likely that only the elites will be appointed. As an elected President, elected by the people with some executive power, no ordinary citizen shall be deprived from the privilege of standing out for the people to decide if they are good enough to serve in that office. All the elitist criteria and condition is bull. What if the constitution is amended again to state that only people who have served as a minister can qualify to be an elected President? Possible, if there is no opposition MP to vote against it. The GRC system was created out of necessity to protect minority representation. It is now a different animal with 4,5,6 or maybe more MPs in one GRC. You need to block such things from getting out of hand. The high remuneration for political office is another questionable bill. It is going out of tune and going terribly wild. It is exactly for such reasons that we need a strong opposition representation in Parliament to block constitutional amendments and money bills, to keep the system in check and in balance. For those who agreed to all the constitutional amendments, please continue to vote for a one party dominant Parliament. For those who believe that there must be checks on the what is acceptable and what is not, they must vote for more opposition representation in Parliament, to deprive any ruling party of a 2/3 majority.

I angry with Mah Bow Tan

I am not only angry with Mah Bow Tan, but also very disappointed with him. He is so confusing. Doesn’t he believe in his asset enhancement policy? I believe in him and am depending on him to push up HDB resale price so that I can sell my flat for a million bucks and retire in Lijiang. Look at what he is doing? He is ramming up the building programme for BTO flats. And he is building so many in so short a time, just like the way they brought in the foreigners. The damn thing is that at that time he was not building, or building very few flats. Now, with the inflow of foreigners slowing down, he is building more flats frantically. What is the meaning of this? What is he trying to do? Pushing down HDB resale prices? Pushing down COV prices? Hey, what are you doing man, I was so happy supporting your asset enhancement policy and eagering waiting for the resale price to hit the roof, and now you are reversing everything that you have done? Are you losing faith in your asset enhancement policy? Are you losing faith in believing what you were doing was right? I am really disappointed and confused by what you said and what you do now. Are you for asset enhancement or not? Look at the other ministers, they are fully committed to the foreign talent policies and not wavering with what they think is right and good for Singapore. They are telling the Singaporeans daily that more foreigner’s policy is good. They are acting like deaf frog and will continue with the foreign talent policies, charging ahead when they think is right. They believe they have something good for Singaporeans. And after the election if they continue to ram up the influx of foreigners, no one can call them hypocrites. For they have never regretted what they were doing. In the case of housing and asset enhancement, if the policy changes again after the GE, what would people think? Before GE say and do one thing, after GE say and do different thing. But don’t worry, I will support you, and many people will be happy if the asset enhancement policy is resumed in full force. Don’t take too long as many are waiting for the price of their flats to shoot to the sky again. Please go back to your asset enhancement policy. Don’t be disturbed by a few kpkb in cyberspace. They are just noises.

Zulu chief, mama chief and baby

A Zulu chief standing beside mama chief holding a baby wrapped in cloth. The chief is wearing a pair of long white moustache. In front of them are several village elders. Click Art of RAR Gallery image on top right for more photo paintings.

Are words an indication of what could come next?

The first strong word used is ‘irresponsible’. How can we have irresponsible people running the country. Agree. Next, ‘strange bedfellows’. What does this word mean or imply? There is a bed and a fellow. Can be pretty sexy. Would it lead to pornography? Now a more powerful and serious word just came out, ‘mischievous’. This word alone can get people into deep trouble, even be sued in the court of law. Wait, there are other words that may be equally frightening. One is insanity. This word is closely associated with IMH. But a more scary word is ‘dangerous’. If anyone is being tagged as insane or dangerous, the person better be very, very frighten. Run road is an option to consider. Pray these words would not be heard or used. Oh, another word, ‘fundamentalist’. Depending on what context it is being applied to, it can be very dangerous as well.

From greed to fear

Going back to fundamentals, one man one vote and one MP for one constituency. That was what was all about in a democratic election. But there were weak candidates that would not survive in such a system. All political parties have strong and weak candidates. And when a strong candidate is pitted against a weak one, the result is obvious. There was also a genuine need to ensure minority representation. A GRC of 3 of which one must be a minority member was invented. It worked. All GRCs were mostly walkovers. The opposition were struggling and panting to recruit good candidates and to find the money for deposits. With the GRCs, it was a miracle formula to ensure victory in the GE. The advantages to a big and strong party were obvious. How could the opposition parties find that numerous good candidates to stand in a GRC? How could they raise the money, at $16k for a 6 member GRC it comes to $96k, to lose. The barrier to entry is raised higher and higher with each election. The strongest point of a GRC is that it can be easily carried by a minister. Just send in a minister and the GRC will be in the pocket. Some jokers still think so. So we have 3 member GRCs to 4, 5 and 6 member GRCs. Why not, it is a sure win formula. But things are not working out as they were supposed to. The trump card of a GRC, a minister, is turning from an advantage to an Achilles’ heel. Several ministers will not only be unable to helm a GRC, they will become a liability and guarantee its defeat. That is how bad it has become. I may be wrong if you see how confident they are in their walkabouts, like they are definitely going to be elected. And despite the high monetary cost to put up a GRC of 5 or 6 members, the opposition not only could raise the money, they could attract enough quality candidates to stand in the GRCs. This is unprecedented and totally unexpected. With stronger candidates from the opposition parties and badly weakened ministers leading the GRC teams, suddenly the odds of winning a GRC are more in favour of the opposition. Or at least the chances are more equal. What does this mean? With GRCs, clean sweep is so easy and effortless then. Walkovers were the order of the day. The PAP could win big when the odds are in its favour. Now the odds have changed and the fear of losing big is so real. The spectre of a freak election result is going to haunt the PAP in this election. But why called it a freak result when it is just what the people decided who they want to vote for? An election result is an election result. What is so freakish about it? If GRC is going to cost the PAP big losses this time, you can bet that the GRC game will be over in the next GE. It will all be back to square one, one man one vote and one MP for one constituency. All the great reasons and arguments for GRC will be passé. GRC will be seen as gambling in big stake. One either wins all or loses all. Can be quite dramatic, traumatic, and quite irresponsible in a way to stake all for a show hand. Some may be counting how many ministers will be packing their bags after this GE. A freakish election is going to happen, and can happen.

Just a little musing

Read it in the 3in1kopitiam and posted by a blogger as a comment in the thread about Malay is our national language. He was responding to Wong Wee Nam’s article on the historical importance of Malay as our national language and teaching it as a second language or whatever may not be right. The funny blogger was telling his story of his command of the national language and he was glad that he learnt some of it at least. So he tried it out at a nasi padang stall by asking the stall owner how much it cost. ‘"sumau buat apa ringgit" (all how much )?. But the macik corrected me saying encik abdul rahman dah mati,sekarang dollars,bukan riggit!’ The macik had a wonderful sense of humour. She knew this guy was not trying to pay in ringgit here. He thought ringgit was the Malay word for dollar. Well almost, when ringgit and the S$ were trading on par then. Now we know it is not the same anymore. So macik told him that we don’t use ringgit here anymore, but Sing dollar. The younger generation have mostly lost this skill except for the Malays. The orang tua may still make do with some pasar Melayu like aku pun boleh : )

My A Team

The election fault lines

There are several major issues that will be tested in the GE. Among them will be the cost of living, the cost of housing, foreign talents, casinos, high ministerial salary, public transportation, medical fees, the political system, cronyism, corruption etc etc. All these issues will generate a lot of heat during the campaigning. Some of them will develop into fault lines that will divide the people into taking sides. One of the hottest fault lines must be housing, the owners and the young people waiting to buy their first homes. The owners will be more comfortable with a policy that will keep the price of their properties intact or growing. The non owners will be rooting for a party that could hold down the runaway prices to make their first purchase more affordable. In the ring will be the 80% HDB owners against all the young people that are queuing up or are waiting to grow up. Technically, it is a forgone conclusion that the home owners will have an upper hand. But going deeper into the issue, it may not be that straight forward. The other fault line is the divide between foreigners and locals. The govt is still taking a stand that they are all for more foreigners here and are heaping praises on the importance of foreigners to the well being of the locals. This will definitely piss off the locals who have one way or another affected adversely by the presence of too many foreigners, competition for jobs, housing and space. In this divide it is clear that it will be the govt and the foreigners versus the opposition parties and the locals. The govt will still have an upper hand with their die hard loyal local supporters and the new citizens behind them. The devil hiding in the shadow is when the foreign talent issue is linked to new citizens and old citizens in politics. We can see the anger brewing and the divide gaining momentum. The third major fault line is likely to be the pro PAP versus the anti PAP groups. There will be many who will stay on to support the PAP as the govt because of its track record. There will be a new emerging force that sees the track record, especially those of recent years, as being less than satisfactory. The old records will be played over and over again. But the new records with its new funky beat and off beat may not be acceptable to some voters. The old records were good, the new records bad. So going down the road it could be more of bad new records than more of good old records. There could be a shift in the followers, especially when the opposition are presenting the voters with a new wave of new talents. And the new idols are looking quite attractive. The alternative is at least seen to be better than the new records which are being rejected for all its flaws. The danger here is that the ruling party is lumping the old record and new record together and the people could be confused and think that they are the same, or they could only look at the new record and reject it completely. The fourth fault line which is seething in the under current and not fully exploited is the casinos. This is not only an emotional issue, an issue of values, a social ills, it could be tainted with religion and morality. This could become a full blown issue to divide the electorate during the campaigning. For the moralists, it is a clear cut right or wrong issue and can be very uncompromising. The election battle line could be drawn along these fault lines which will make voters taking sides much simpler.

Geisha and companions

A geisha and her companions. Both companions are partially hidden by her body, on the further side. Click the Art of RAR image on top right for more photo paintings.

As good as god speaks

‘As Finance Minister, I have made that very clear in Parliament that at least for the next five years …. there is absolutely no reason to raise the GST….’ Tharman Shanmugaratnam The citizens can now rest assured that in the next 5 years the GST will not be raised. Tharman has said that ‘there is absolutely no reason to raise the GST.’ He must know what he is talking about to be so confident about no reason to raise GST. Some sceptics are suggesting that if GST is not increased, then he can raise other taxes. Some were reminded of Boon Wan saying that mean testing would not be introduced but was introduced. What I am glad is that we have a minister that has that kind of confidence to commit himself for 5 years that nothing will happen. He must be super brilliant or is probably omniprescient. Whichever, it is good for the people and country for such ability. Our future is in good hands.