SG100 – Your future

Is SG100 going to be celebrated in greater style, with more pomp and pageantry? One thing for sure, each HDB flat is likely to cost $2m or more.  By then the value of money would have taken a big tumble. A cleaner would be earning $10k pm but living under poverty line. The ministers would be paid $50m to keep pace with the high property prices. Cars would no longer be within the reach of the majority of the population. Only the super rich could afford them.

What is going to feature prominently in the lives of the average Singaporeans would be the expiry of their HDB leases. Many flats would be at the end of their 99 year lease and the value will revert to zero. Many would have to find $2m or $3m to buy a HDB flat. There would be fewer upgraders to take advantage of their appreciated HDB value to sell and buy bigger flats as the prices of HDB flats would all be tumbling.

The big question, how many could still afford to buy HDB flats? How many could afford to upgrade? Would other properties be able to hold on to their stratospheric prices?

SG100 will be a time when prices of old HDB flats will return to ground zero to many HDB lessees. Are you one of them or your children will be one of them? Many beautiful dreams of home owners will be dashed for good and they would have to start all over again in a new cycle. HDB flats that were worth $1m or $2m would be put up for sale at $50k or $20k depending on the years or months left at the tail end of the lease. No need to take loans, people can buy them for the price of a song, in cash. The average Singaporean’s monthly income would be $50k or $100k. All the people will be very rich with a lot of fiat currency that is worth as much as the banana currency of the Japanese Occupation.

Welcome to SG100, the year your HDB lease expires.

GE2015 Results – A hopeful assessment

On the morning of 12 Sep PAP is likely to be returned to power but with a smaller majority. On a fairly hopeful estimate, PAP should still end up with 63 seats with 26 seats going to the opposition. Among the likely GRCs to go will be Aljunied, East Coast, Marine Parade, Tanjong Pagar and Holland Bukit Timah. For the SMC, Huogang and Punggol East will stay with the WP plus Fengshan, MacPherson, Mountbatten and Potong Pasir joining the opposition camp.

There are a few borderline GRCs that could go either way. Ang Mo Kio, Tampines, West Coast and Chua Chu Kang have a slim outsider chance to go the other way if there is a strong swing in favour of the opposition. So too were a few SMCs like Bukit Panjang, Sengkang West and Yuhua.  Assuming luck is on the opposition side and half of these were to go, that would add another 11 seats to the 26 to make 37, still far short of the 50% mark.

Short of a miracle or ground swell, PAP will still be returned to Parliament with a comfortable majority though a bit painful for losing quite a number of ministers along the way. The people can look forward for more good years with the PAP charting the course towards SG100 and 10m population with more foreign talents. It would still be a good fight for the opposition for proving that going forward the PAP can only become weaker and weaker and the 2020 GE is likely to see a real change when more able people would come forward to join the opposition camp encouraged by what they see in this GE.

It is not so easy to remove a party that has been entrenched in power for 50 years unless there is a miracle, like a tsunami. This can only happen when the people lost trust in the PAP.  Would this happen in this GE? If it does, the final result would be totally different and a new govt will be installed.

PAP – What is happening?

The most recognizable political brand, the most respected and trusted brand for the past 50 years, has turned into a brand that is being hated in some corners of the island. Its election posters have been torn, sprayed painted and according to Victor Lye, thrown into a bin used for burning joss papers in the ghost festival month. And his personal encounters were not pleasant. He had been told to get lost, received angry stares and hostile remarks that he and his PAP team are not wanted in Aljunied.

It must all be because of the people’s fault, ungrateful. How can they treat the PAP team like that? Or is it the WP’s fault? It cannot be the fault of the PAP right? The PAP has been taking so good care of the people, treating the people so fairly, even in opposition wards, how can it be the fault of the PAP?

It cannot be the leaders of PAP, all flawless men and women, selfless and working for the people’s interest. It cannot be the policies as all policies are for the good of Singaporeans. I am now so lost as to why the people of Aljunied are so hostile to the PAP team. They never paste stamp on their eyes?

What is happening?

Ang Mo Kio GRC – The chips in play

Hsien Loong is going to face his strongest critics in Roy Ngerng and in a way M Ravi and Gilbert Goh on his policies in a battle that all eyes will be watching. Now what has Hsien Loong got on his aside against a team led by 3 celebrities in their own right, 3 people’s champion on CPF, human rights and PMETs. He still retains some of the previous team in Intan, Ang Hin Kee and Gan Thiam Poh. Other than Intan who has gained fame and recognition in the wrong way in the Yang Yin affair, the other two are just what they are, just MPs. Newcomer David Daryl is well recognized as a TV host and a newbie in politics and may have some boyish charm to boot. As for Koh Poh Koon, the son of Punggol, the overplay of him being of Punggol and wanting to serve Punggol but now flipping over to Ang Mo Kio may be a let down. Would he be calling himself and Ang Mo Kia now?

Overall, Hsien Loong is likely to be fighting the battle himself and would have to draw deeply into his own pulling power to make a difference. Being the son of LKY may help to some extent given the outpouring of grief during his father’s funeral. There is really nothing much he could fall back on from his team and it is more likely that they will hang on to his tailcoat and hoping for an easy ride to parliament. This is turning out to be something they have not expected, especially in the case of the son of Punggol. Ang Mo Kio is no longer an easy and safe ward to take a ride.

The 3 champions from the Reform Party would have their own followers and fans. How big is this following is untested. What is going to be on their side will be the pet issues each of them represented. CPF money is going to play a big part on the emotions of the voters. Remember, when it hurts the pocket, it hurts deeply. If Roy can play this up to his advantage, whether the voters are PAP or anti PAP, Roy is fighting for their money. This issue alone may tip the scale.

And if it does not carry enough weight, the displaced PMETs and their families, hurt badly by the govt’s reckless policy to bring in foreigners to take their jobs could just add enough weight to sink the sampan in Ang Mo Kio. Those who are against death penalties, the human rights supporters would be on Ravi’s side for sure.

These are 3 major issues that the Hsien Loong has no answers to except to deflect as much as he can. And there are a lot of more of hot button issues other than these to stir the crowd.  Reform Party does not have to face any accusation of incompetence in running town councils and this bullet would be ineffective.

What can the Hsien Loong team used to take the initiative from the 3 champions? How able calling them mad, losers, irresponsible or whatever tags to tag on them? Would the tag or branding work? Many people still believe in Roy and Ravi. Gilbert is on safe ground. Many people are ready to bankroll Roy in his fight against Hsien Loong on the CPF issue.

One thing for sure, Hsien Loong would have to work for his money this time. This is no cake walk. Hsien Loong would be on the defensive from the word go. The final result is going to be very unpredictable. To say that Hsien Loong may be in for a thrashing is not too far fetch even if he is the incumbent PM, the son of LKY. The odds should still be in Hsien Loong’s favour unless the pain of CPF money being ‘tangkap’ is unbearable and will make the difference.

And don’t forget that Hsien Loong’s team is made up of flawless men and women without a black mark in their lives. The Reform Party candidates are the normal average Singaporeans with many flaws and black marks like any ordinary men. It is not easy for ordinary men to compete with flawless and exceptionally clean men and women.

Boon Wan – No guarantee PAP will still be in power on 12 Sep

‘There is no safe seat where victory is assured. It is not a by elction where a PAP govt is intact. All 89 seats are being contested. We cannot be sure of a PAP govt on 12 Sep.’

The above statement by Boon Wan made headline in yesterday’s ST. The immediate to such a stark comment is, what is the purpose or what is the intent or motive to make such a remark? Is this an honest assessment of the position in the GE? In many ways it is a fair statement. Never in the history of the PAP since it was entrenched as the single dominant political party in the country has it gone to a GE with no safe seats. It used to be confident of winning at least 75% of the seats in every GE and even confirmed to be the govt when nomination closed.

Today the PAP is facing very serious and credible challenges from the opposition with equally good and serious candidates to take on the PAP. They are no pushovers. PAP ministers are no winners and many are liabilities. This is how the cards are being stacked. The possibility of the PAP winning by a small margin or even losing its majority cannot be ruled out.

On the other hand the opposition camp is shouting fear mongering. The PAP is playing on fear and scare tactics to win over voters sitting on the fence and did not want to see the PAP out of power. There are also elements of truth in this view. And Boon Wan’s subsequent comments confirmed this. He warned the voters not to play with their votes and find themselves with a weak govt. He warned them of the severe and tragic consequences if PAP is going to form a weak govt or not at all. He is striking fear in the people to vote PAP.

Both views are as real and truthful as you can get. The PAP is not the same PAP as before and not longer has the absolute trust of the people. The PAP has proven to be capable of making many foul ups and policies with serious consequences on the lives of the people. The PAP as been seen as one that made all the fouls ups but claimed credit for stop gap measures and solutions to patch up their mistakes. And there are still many serious policies in place and would be accelerated once they get the same mandate to do as they pleased. And treating the people as daft with their fake and flimsy excuses, like such fear tactics or the people can have opposition voice in parliament in the form of NMPs and NCMPs, and to continue flouting it as a good thing is such too condescending. The people are not daft and may would be offended by being treated as unthinking children.

Yes, there is a reasonable probability that the PAP would be routed in this GE. They would not be able to get a clean sweep as they did before and many seats will fall. And the fear mongering tactic is again adopted to attempt to steer the swing votes back to the PAP.

Would it work? Would the PAP still win the same kind of mandate or be history? The people, the thinking voters, not the daft voters, would make a difference in the fate of the PAP. Keep thinking that the people are daft and treating them as daft and the result will reflect this mentality, whether the PAP is daft or the people are daft.

Malaysia – Pro Malay Rights Protest 16 Sep

A pro Malay Rights group is organizing this protest on Wed 16 Sep. The protestors will be wearing red and have been reported to be practicing and demonstrating martial arts and fighting skills in the main media. They showed their prowess in breaking sticks and tiles.

The police are not giving approval to this protest citing security reasons. But the protestors said they would continue with the protest to be held in Chinese majority areas. UMNO leaders have said they would attend if invited.

Singaporeans are best advised to give Malaysia a miss on this day. Better to stay away as the signs are ominous.

Paul Tambyah - A PAP fall out

In 2011, out of the blue came this professor standing on the SDP stage to speak to the crowd at Raffles Place. Everyone was wondering where he came from. Today, in the same spot, in the same SDP stage, Paul Tambyah has returned, this time as a SDP candidate standing for the Holland Bukit Timah GRC with Chee Soon Juan, another come back boy.

Paul Tambyah has awed the crowd by his humility and sincerity, the professor with the common man demeanour, with no airs and talking sense. Many see this professor as the best thing to happen for this GE and have high praises and good words for him. They are calling for the voters to send this man to Parliament on 12 Sep together with his SDP team mates.

Paul Tambyah’s speech was impressive, no vitriol, no personal attacks but dealing with the policies and the good of Singaporeans. He also praised Tharman and a few of the PAP candidates for addressing issues and policies and not reverting to gutter politics of yesteryears. He also shared with the crowd a private aspiration in the opposition camp that they secretly hoped for Tharman to fall out with Hsien Loong and come out to lead a coalition like the Pakatan Rakyat of Malaysia.

Many Singaporeans have been hopeful for a split within the PAP led by Chok Tong.  But that is looking far more remote with Chok Tong’s star fading with age, though not entirely impossible. A break away Tharman is a more promising alternative given the fact that everyone perceived him to be the better man for the PM job. And Tharman himself must also agree in confidence that this is indeed the truth. And if only he has the ambition or aspiration to be the PM one day, it is a matter of time before he makes his move. If Hsien Loong fares badly in the GE, if he survives and not be voted out outright, Tharman could pose a challenge to his weaken leadership. It would then be a case of either Hsien Loong goes or Tharman leaves, to lead a coalition of the opposition camp, and be the PM in the shadow cabinet.

The big question, does Tharman has the ambition or aspiration? In an interview at the SG50 Celebration forum, Tharman was posed the same question of his intent to be the PM by Fareed Zakaria. He tried to evade the question and did not want to say No to the prospect. He was finally cornered and had to say yes if called upon.

Being the best man in all aspects, it is very difficult to hold down such a good man from his rightful place. Tharman is not the Duke of Zhou who voluntarily abdicated to give way to his sibling to be the King of Zhou Dynasty. Tharman must be bidding his time and this GE will be the opportune moment to force him to make his move, either became the PM within PAP or outside PAP in a coalition.

In a hypothetical scenario, if the opposition camp could win 30 seats, Tharman only needs to convince 20 PAP MPs to join him in a walk out to form a coalition govt and be the PM designate. If the law does not allow this to happen, a new GE would have to be called with a Singapore Pakatan Rakyat headed by Tharman leading the coalition. This scenario may look far fetch at the moment but in politics, without LKY around, the ball is round.

What do you think?

Parables of the holy ghost

There are two kinds of people that would talk in parables, the worldly wise and the worldly not so wise.  These few days many people have been talking in parables. The new oracle has also been in the game of speaking in parables, maybe next will be speaking in tongue.

The first parable is the crowing of the rooster. Like in all parables, the real meaning of the parable is up to the individual to interpret. The rooster parable has been interpreted as an arrogant cock thinking that the sun rises because it crows every morning. Another interpretation is that the cock crows to wake up the sleepy heads to start to work.

There is also the parable of the nomads. Who are the nomads, just like who are the quitters? The parable did not explain why there are nomads and why they are quitters.

The latest parable is about cruise ship. There are cruise ships sailing with a captain and knowing where it is going. There are cruise ships cruising to nowhere. Depending on the individuals, some like to cruise to no where, some like to know where they are going, some did not know where they are going but allow the captain to take them wherever the captain thinks is good. Some have good faith in the captain taking them to the promise land and not into a sink hole.

There is a new twist to this parable. It was suggested that gamblers should take the cruise ship to nowhere where they can gamble and gamble in the cruise ship. Some gamblers said, why waste time there are two world class casinos for them to gamble till kingdom comes, so convenient, at the door step. If one wishes to cruise to no where, it is better to take a sampan.

There are many more parables in this GE, and also many riddles like the riddles of lost fund, but dunno got lost or not and still trumpeted as a loss. Just keep asking the question, dunno got lost or no lost and make the other party work day and night trying to figure out and trying to explain. This is like putting a few monkeys on a person’s shoulder and makes the monkeys do the monkey trick, making the person busy all for nothing.

There is also the riddle of why the police or CPIB are not after the lost money or anyone being caught and charge in court for the lost fund. Maybe they are waiting for the rooster to crow to start working. Maybe no money was lost and there is no need to be scurrying around like bull arse flies.

The AHPETC football

This political football has been kicking around for months and increasing momentum in the last few days. The football must be feeling the pain with all the furious bashing and kicking. No one seems to care if the football is hurt or not. The welfare of the football is not important to the combatants.

The latest, $22.5m in cash was handed to the AHPETC by the Pasir Ris TC. The sum included project funds and sinking funds. The PAP is asking the AHPETC to account for the money as if the money has disappeared into thin air. What do you think will happen if such a big sum of money, in cash, disappeared? Someone must have taken it right? The police and CPIB must be very busy chasing after the thief right? Can such a big sum of money be lost without anyone knowing where it went to? The only time we heard of such big sums of money being lost or loss was when several town councils lost $12m in investing in toxic funds. And the other time when such big sum of money was lost was when $24m of Aljunied residents’ money was used to develop a town council management system that was sold for $140k.

Let’s get back to the hazy $22.5m in cash. Didn’t the PAP said the amount was for projects and sinking fund? For the sinking fund, is it so difficult to check if it is there? As for project funds, would there be contractors doing projects and not demanding payments? Should not the money be paid to the contractors?

Low Thia Khiang showed the bottom line with a deficit of $282k. In all accounting statements, the bottom line is the net position after all payments and receipts, or expenditure and receiveables, be squared off?

Zainal Sapari came out to clarify that the bottom line was a surplus of $21k. So the difference in question cannot be a colossal sum of $22.5m missing but somewhere between a surplus of $21k and a deficit of $280k. This is not even a peanut compared to the $24m the residents lost for developing a town council management system and was sold and compelling the new management to pay for another new management system right?

The poor victim in this case is the residents. Their pockets got burnt. First losing $24m for a management system that was sold away and had to pay for it again for its used. Then their surplus which should be retained for their benefits was whooshed into the sinking fund because of a change of management. And the new management got to pay for another management system that ended up the residents paying. And the football being kicked here and there, checking and checking of accounts, to dig for errors and explain and explain, who did the checking and who have to pay for the checking?

Does anyone care for the football, that it got bashed and had to pay for all the damages and cost incurred in this politicking? And so much time and effort were taken from the management instead of them doing their normal duties and serving the residents.

Who are the clowns and why should the residents be the victims of the clowns and paying for the clowning?

PS. The more they dig, the more the residents would have to pay.

Is Singapore a failed state?

Najib has confidently said that Malaysia is not a failed state. And he quoted several international rankings to prove that Malaysia is up there among the better states that are being recognized. Using this same formula Singapore must be a super state with such a long list of firsts or top 3 rankings by international organizations.

Between Malaysia and Singapore, which is the state that is likely to fall and fold up in a crisis? The economy of Malaysia has a wide base, with abundant natural resources, oil, manufacturing, finance and banking , properties and everything that Singapore has. And the cost of living is so much lower that many would be able to get by in a financial crisis. 

The only thing that Malaysia did not have is a huge foreign population of workers. Oh, and Malaysians did not have a big stone mill hanging over their necks in the form of mortgages that would snap their necks if they lose their jobs.

When there is a major crisis, when the foreigners could not be employed and departed, what kind of vacuum would be left behind in Singapore? Would it be a complete hollowing out of the economy? Would Singapore become a failed state if there is a big outflow of foreigners? The property sectors would likely collapse and all the shopping malls and food courts, restaurants and service industries providing services to feed people, clothe people and house people would not have enough people and business to keep them going.

Singapore is country that is now so dependent on the presence of a big foreign population that getting rid of them, cutting down, is a no no option. It will become a failed state without the drug called homo sapiens.

Has Singapore structured itself to fail by being over dependent on a single factor, its population, citizens and more importantly foreigners?

Vote for honest men that don’t tell lies

One of the key agenda in this GE is about good honest men and women to be worthy to be in Parliament. We need good, decent men and women with high integrity and moral conscience to sit in the highest body of the land. And when I say honest and decent men and women, they must not be honest but keep telling lies or telling half truths or selected truths. The voters are not daft, they know who are the honest men and women that are telling lies with their eyes wide open.

 

In another few days the voters will be voting. They must vote for honest men and women that will tell us honestly the cost of building a HDB flat. They must vote for honest men and women to tell us how many Singaporeans are employed or unemployed in employment statistics. Yes, Singaporeans did not want to read statistics that said ‘locals’ meaning citizens and non citizens but PRs.  Singaporeans demand honest men and women to tell us the truth in these statistics. We do not want to read ‘locals’ and finding ourselves asking, how many in the ‘locals’ are Singaporeans and how many are not. Honest men must not lie. Do they?

 

We want to know what is happening to our reserves and our CPF money. We want to know how much is there and who is managing what and who is being paid what. Why got no honest men and women wanting to tell the truths?

 

We also want honest men and women to tell us what is the full income of a minister and appointment holders, basic plus plus and indirect income from other appointments.

 

We want to know who are the politicians receiving pensions and how much they are being paid. These are money paid legally and legitimately and there is nothing to fear and nothing to hide. There must be transparency before honesty.

 

We need honest men and women to tell the people how many CECA and similar free trade agreements that allowed foreigners freely into our country to apply for jobs have been signed.

 

We need honest men and women that would not tell lies, to tell us the negative consequences of high population in our country.

 

We need honest men and women to tell the people that the Town Council scheme is flawed and meant to serve a different objective than expressed, and the Medishield Life scheme is designed for other intentions and motives. We need honest men and women to tell us that the Medishield Life scheme is not profit making and the profits will be ploughed back to the people to lower the premiums.

 

Would there be honest men and women who are honest enough and sincere enough to tell the people the above answers? Would there be honest men and women who believe in honesty and integrity and live by them and not doing the opposite and living a life that is anything but honesty and integrity?

 

Can an honest man be dishonest? Can a man talking about integrity be lacking in integrity?  Where are the honest men and women, please kee chiu and answer the above questions.

The Singapore Syndrome

Recently the Stockholm Syndrome has been quoted as applicable to Singaporean and their relationship with the PAP, the ruling govt. They compare the development of a relationship between the hostage and their captors, developing a kind of bonding or sympathy for the captors. This is quite true in a way as Singaporeans despite being the victims of govt policies have developed a love/hate relationship with the govt, wanting to vote against them but still thinking that they are not so bad and a new govt would be worse, still wanting to keep the PAP in power but with lesser majority.

There is also another element that complicates this relationship in the form of fear. Singaporeans are troubled by a fear of being fixed, not without reasons with the frightening stories of those that opposed the PAP still vivid in their minds and with many of the victims still alive to tell their stories.

I have done a very serious study of this relationship and have come out with a slightly different theory which I called the Singapore Syndrome. This is best explained by using the example a rape victim and the rapist.

There are 5 phases to this Singapore Syndrome. In phase 1, the victim will react violently against being raped, even fighting with claws and nails, screaming and refusing to be raped. In phase 2 there will still be some struggling and resistance but in a weaker form. By phase 3, the resistance is gone, and the victim would just let the rapist do the raping like a dead person, a dead body. The victim surrenders to the rapist, gives up fighting. This phase can go on for quite some time before the next phase cuts in. In phase 4 the victim would gradually start to enjoy the rape and may cooperate with the rapist. By the time it reaches phase 5, the rapist would have taken the victim for granted and the victim would take the raping as the new normal. And if the rapist forgets or grows tired of raping the victim, the victim would even miss the raping and may be looking forward to it. The final phase 6 would see the victim begging to be raped and refusing to leave the rapist but not loving the rapist. The victim just wants to be raped.

One can apply these phases to how Singaporeans react to tough and anti Singaporean policies with the Singaporeans as the unwilling victims. They will protest initially, but only for a short while, soon the rest of the phases will take over, and the Singaporeans would ask for more. That is why Chok Tong and the PAP have the audacity to ask the Singaporeans to vote them into power with a bigger mandate to continue this relationship. The Singaporeans want more or the PAP. They know that the Singaporeans are like the victims in the Singapore Syndrome. They will get use to it and would love it and demand for it if they did not get more of it. Instead of being raped, apply the unpopular policies of the govt in its place, like PWP, CPF, COE, high ministerial pay, Medishield Life, ERP. GST, housing prices, etc etc.

There are certain conditions that must be present in order for this syndrome to be recognisable. The victim must be under the full control of the rapist or has lost all freedom, physically or mentally. In a way the victim is helpless in the hands of the rapist and under threats of harm. There is no where to run and no one to come to assist the victim. There must be fear of the rapist or the rapist wields tremendous power over the victim. And this fear has become a way of life, second nature to the victim, a part and parcel of the victim’s life. The whole relationship would normally develop over a longer period of time, more gradual than in a hostage situation. The Singapore Syndrome is in many ways far more serious, and the control over the victim more pervasive than the Stockholm Syndrome.

Now we can be famous for another thing, this one is more high sounding, a syndrome, the Singapore Syndrome.

What the bookies said about the GE

The bets have been computed and the bookies are open for business. They have offered odds in three GRCs, Aljunied, Marine Parade and East Coast. In the WP held Aljunied GRC they are giving 8,000 votes to the takers for a PAP win. In Marine Parade and East Coast GRCs, the offers are 3,000 votes and 2000 votes for a PAP win.

Let me make this clearer, the bookies are taking the side of the WP to win by 8000, 3,000 and 2,000 votes respectively. They are giving votes or goals to those taking the side of the PAP. I heard these from the little bird and not sure how true it is but this is floating in the market. There could be odds for SMCs and other GRCs as well.

The bookies are in a way saying that the WP will win in these 3 GRCs and with a comfortable margin. Place your bets.

SDP's first rally at Chua Chu Kang Stadium.

SDP candidates speaking at Chua Chu Kang Stadium on 2 Sep 15. Top to bottom, Dr Wong Souk Yee, Bryan Lim, Damanhuri Abas, Prof Paul Tambyah and Dr Chee Soon Juan.

The crowd, the volunteers and photo taking and autograph signing with Dr Chee.

Watch the rallies live!

Below is a comment by a Bernard Tan on watching rallies live on TV posted in TRE.

‘At 7pm due to heavy downpour & me having flu, I stayed at home to watch WP’s rally at home thru Straits Times Live stream…When it was He Ting Ru’s turn to speak the ‘WP rally’ stream switched to PAP rally & only switched back to WP when her speech ended. On 3 Sep this happened too but much worse. When it was Daniel Goh, Gerald Giam & Sylvia Lim’s turn to speak, the Straits Times stream would fail, no sound, no footage but it would automatically resume once their speech ended…It was then that I decided to take to attend SDP rally (CCK)…it is Dr Chee’s 1^st election rally in 15 years.

Many viewers thought they got the best of both worlds to view rallies of their choice in the comfort of their homes and at their finger tips. What would you be viewing? Yes, you will view what the station decided what they want you to see.

If you want a real feel of the rallies, the moods and the crowd atmosphere, the things that were said that meant dearly to you, you have no choice but to be there at the stadiums or fields. Be there and not be short changed, not be programmed to see and hear the right stuff.

I have attended two rallies and would be attending more over the weekends.

Wasting talents – I dunno what to say

Looking at the generals and commissioners stripped off their uniforms, medals and stars and in civvy in the hawker centres and MRT stations, like selling ‘ma piow po’ is quite pathetic. I just dunno what to say. These are highly trained men where millions have been invested in them to be fighting fit soldiers and policemen, and now they are asked to peddle something that they are not trained for. Do we have so many talents to spare, to take them from their professions to do something that is Greek to them, or something they may not have the temperament for? The move from the uniformed organizations to politics required a total change in personality and style, from authority to servitude, or at least during an election. Now they have to salute to everyone in the streets.

The lost of talents would include losing good medical doctors, lawyers and the professions, with no guarantee that they would do well in politics. Many have proven to be life fish out of water.

Do we really want to do this, to make a fool out of very good men and women, having invested heavily in them  and seeing them excelling in their profession, only to be lured into a profession that they may not be cut out for?

Look at them carefully, after being in the commands of armies and police forces and now begging the men in the street, forcing a big smile so uncharacteristic of their experience and profession, and asking strangers, please vote for me, please vote for me. What a pathetic sight to make them do it. Really, this is a good career change?

At best, the govt would gain a good politician but the forces or professions would lose one of their best. At worst, the professions would lose the service of one of their best and the govt gains a dud, a misfit. We have seen them, talking nonsense without knowing it and achieving nothing in politics, making an ass of themselves.

What a shame! What a misallocation of good and limited talent that we needed so badly. Is this a clever thing to do?

How real is the ground shift?

The opposition party rallies often attracted large crowd attendance. This favour used to be for the PAP. In the early years, the crowds were at the PAP rallies. Not anymore. Today, the attendance at PAP rallies were fetched there by chartered buses, mostly the members of RCs and CCs. It is also often cited that attendance to PAP rallies also enjoyed not only free transportation but also comes with free chicken rice and drinks. The attendance at opposition rallies were voluntary, spontaneous and from all over the island, especially to WP’s rallies.

When the crowds started to appear in opposition rallies in the early years, the ruling party had nothing much to worry as they were just that, attendance to hear what the opposition had to say but not translated to votes. It had been so for many GEs.  Then there was Potong Pasir that went to Chiam See Tong’s SDP plus  Bukit Gombak, and a couple of others. Hougang was the only SMC that went to the WP and Low Thia Khiang joined Chiam as the two lonely opposition MPs but nothing much happened for a while.

Attendance at opposition rallies continued to be well attended and there was a joke that there were there for the circus, just for fun but not real impact. Another reasoning was that the people wanted a bigger opposition presence in parliament but would only vote for good candidates. And the reluctantly voted for the PAP when the opposition could not put up good candidates worthy of their votes.

Then came 2011 and the fall of Aljunied GRC. This took everyone by surprise though it should be expected as the WP fielded a good team with Chen Show Mao as their star find supported by Sylvia Lim, Pritam Singh and Manap.  The PAP did not see it coming till the eve of the GE when George Yeo panicked. The rest was history.

The dam was broken and further confirmed by two by elections to prove that there was indeed a ground shift. Would this shift be strengthened, be a permanent feature in this GE? Some noises were still saying that Aljunied and the two by elections were exceptions, aberrations, nothing to worry. The attendance would not be converted to votes. The PAP would still win and with a comfortable margin. Chok Tong has been asking for a bigger mandate. Eng Hen was hopeful of winning more seats, even all 89 seats.

Has anything really changed? Are the crowd real, that the people are shifting away from the PAP? Signs from the last GE said so. When the opposition fielded good candidates, not necessary as clever as those from the PAP’s, they stood a good chance to win. The two near misses in Marine Parade and East Coast spoke for themselves.

Today the slate of candidates put up by the opposition are of reasonable quality, some even better than those from the PAP camp. Also, the PAP has also become a factor with their foul ups and poor performance in running the country, their arrogance and high handedness with unpopular policies that hurt the people badly. Can they still rest on past glories and think all is well?

The attendance in opposition rallies this time round is going to be even more. Would there be a change, has the ground really shifted? If the ground has really shifted, and they are waiting for the good candidates to be presented, and there are many in this GE, the votes going to the opposition cannot be underestimated and it is now a matter of how many GRCs that would fall. The rallies and the support for the opposition is real, genuine, not to watch the circus as in the past. The people are seeking and looking for good opposition candidates to vote into parliament.

The PAP camp can still jeer and make funny remarks about the rallies and the crowds. They would know the truth when the results are out, like George Yeo having to face the hard truth at the polling stations and had no choice but to accept the new realities and his defeat at the polls.

Real or bluff, just wait and see. 12 Sep will have the answers.

GE2015 – East Coast GRC

The PAP team of Lim Swee Say, Lee Yi Shyan, Maliki Osman and Jessica Tan will face Gerald Giam, Daniel Goh, Fairz Shariff and Leon Perera from the WP. East Coast was also a GEC that was closed to being topple in the last GE. The fight here is unlikely to be the drawing power of the candidates of either party. The novelty of Lim Swee Say’s style is growing jaded and the voters are no longer finding it funny or attractive anymore. Swee Say is no longer a factor or a crowd puller. The other members of his team are just so so. The WP’s team other than Gerald Giam are newbies in a way. Gerald Giam is quite a promising young man and is in no way inferior to the PAP candidates.

So what is going to count in this GRC? In a way the dramatics of the AHPETC saga could affect the voters here depending on how they see that saga unfolding and what is real and unreal about it. More important is the losing faith in the PAP and a rising star in the WP that is the promise of tomorrow. How much has the ground shifted away from the PAP in East Coast? This is a battle of the PAP brand versus the WP brand and the future each party is offering to the voters. Would the voters be seduced by the meats or by the champagne and caviar thrown at them by the WP and PAP respectively?

My feel is that this is a 50:50 case with a little up side in favour of the WP.

The importance of GE2015

How important is this GE? Some touted it as the GE to elect the leaders to take the nation forward in the next 50 years. Some diminished it as a GE to elect town council administrators. Some want to elect leaders to make the change, to chart a new course for the nation, to change policies. Like it or not, it is still important, or it must be important for the people of a country to march to the Polling Stations to cast their votes. Their future and the future of this country depend on this election. It must be important.

In another way it is unimportant or it is important enough to deserve only 9 pitiful days for the candidates to make their points and appeals and for the people to judge them and their worth. In these miserable 9 days, the people are going to make the most important decision in their lives, to understand the policies of the contesting parties, to read the characters of the candidates offering themselves to represent the people. That is how important this election is, 9 days!

The main media will be giving the parties and their candidates a chance to tell the people what they stood for. And the biggest party is given 13 minutes to tell the people on how good they are to deserve the trust of the people. The smaller parties are given 3 mins to 5 mins to say their piece. This is how important this election is, less than the time a person needs to shit.

The media could only spare the parties and candidates a few minutes each to talk to the people, to convince the people, to let the people judge their worth. The GE is to elect 89 representatives to determine our future, our lives, the lives of our children and the direction the country should take, and the media could only offer them a few minutes each to impress upon the people who and what they are.

Is this GE so meaningless, so unimportant that the media can only find it worthy of a few minutes of their time while hours could be spent on crappy and meaningless programmes? Is this GE another non event that it deserves only 9 days for the parties and their candidates to show cause to the people why they should be elected to represent them?

What do you think? Important or not? Ridiculous or not? Serious or not? How to judge whether a person is honest, trust worthy, got integrity, incorruptible and not another koyok seller?

Chee Soon Juan – They came to listen to him

 

In the far flung corner of western Singapore the people came, a kilometer from the Yew Tee MRT station, they walked to Chua Chu Kang Stadium to listen to the SDP’s  first rally. The crowd was given a taste of what SDP is about by 4 lecturers including Wong Souk Yee and Paul Tambyah. The mood was serious but cheery, and the crowd listened intently. They were presented with a party that is serious and purposeful in wanting to serve the people.

When Chee Soon Juan’s name was called upon to speak to the crowd they rose spontaneously and welcomed him with a loud applause. They surged forward to have a closer look at this man they have been waiting for,  whom they had not seen or heard for a long time under circumstances beyond his control.

Chee started with a light introduction on how he got to learn Mandarin, not in Singapore, not when he joined politics, but in a little town in the USA called Georgia. He needed to brush up his Mandarin to court a Taiwanese lass. He then went on from Mandarin to Hokien, Teochew and Cantonese to connect with the people. He did not stop there, he added in Malay and even a few quips in Tamil. The crowd warmed up to him before he spoke for the most part of the night in English.

This man has been cast away, thrown into the dungeon but came out more mellowed, like a good aged wine. That may be his destiny, to live among the people to experience their little angst in life, about why they needed to check the price of everything in the supermarkets. He had to think very carefully to want to buy a tub of ice cream for his 3 beautiful and talented children. He gave a miss to Haagen Das and all the branded marks and settled on Walls. His Taiwanese lass, now his wife, would put the ice cream back and told him to wait for a sale.

Both were PhD holders and would even be able to afford a $50k culinary class in Paris if he had not chosen the road to politics. Now any ‘cai tau kueh’ would do as long as the price is right. No need to drive all over the island to hunt for the best XO ‘cai tau kueh’ in the island. I have not tasted any of these XO stuff and not sure if it is XO ‘cai tau kueh’ or ‘char kuay teow’.  The ordinary people would have to think very hard whether to eat in a hawker stall or a food court.

Chee Soon Juan has been cast to live among the people to know what is the meaning of money not enough, what is the price of everything and when to save a few dollars to afford a tub of Walls ice cream for his children.

He has come back. The people in the crowd loved him and connected with him. They made him felt welcome, that his sojourn to live among the average Singaporeans would not go to waste. The crowd did not believe in the controversies and negativities thrown at this man. He has risen to the challenge and is back to do the work he is destined to do.

While in the wilderness, he is blessed with 3 beautiful children and a charming Taiwanese lady, now a Singaporean mother of his children, to stay on his side through good times and bad times.

The crowd at the stadium did not come in vain. They saw hope in him to lead them to better times. They thronged at him to shake his hands after his speech, to take pictures with him. A long queue was formed waiting patiently for him to autograph on the books he wrote that they bought. They have faith in him.

In the crowd were Dr Wong Wee Nam and presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock. They came to see him, to welcome him, to show support to the man that would bring hope to an alienated people looking for a true leader to a better future.

Chee Soon Juan has lived among the people and is back with the people.