Chok Tong decides to stand for MP again

Chok Tong has announced that he would contest this election one more time for old time’s sake. He said he had a long discussion with Hsien Loong and Hsien Loong said he is needed for his experience. Hsien Loong’s assessment of Chok Tong is quite different from his father. Chok Tong is an asset to Hsien Loong, to provide the shade of a big banyan tree now that LKY is no longer around. The senior statesman fits the role like a glove. Maybe he would be promoted to MM after the election and moved in to the Istana to hold court for visiting dignitaries looking for the Oracle. Singapore would have another Eastern wise man residing in the Istana.

There was another view that in the long chat with Hsien Loong, they were negotiating whether he should or should not stand. Apparently Chok Tong came up on top with his wise arguments that he must be around to be the goalkeeper.  Chok Tong seems to be still very influential and thus his service is indispensable or Marine Parade could go to the WP. No matter what, after nearly 40 years in Marine Parade, he must have many admirers and fans that would vote for him. Asking him to stand down would mean these votes, mainly the dialect speaking oldies, could be won over by Ah Hia and vote for WP.

So, as much as Hsien Loong would like to have a new team of people younger than him, he could find no good reason to retire Chok Tong. Chok Tong’s star is still shining and would be given another chance to see his promise of a Swiss standard of living for the people coming true. As the most senior minister, he would have a lot of weight to want his passion to materialise just like his India Dream.

It is all green for Chok Tong now. It is now left to the voters to make his dream come true, maybe to out serve LKY as the longest serving politician in modern Singapore. He is only 74 and he could add another 16 years to his record.

If he is successful, historian could call it the Chok Tong era instead of post LKY era.

MOM telling Singaporeans it is working for Singaporeans

38 firms have been place on MOM’s watch list for not employing Singaporeans. Oops, the exact word is locals, which means PRs and Singaporeans.  What if they employed PRs that are not Singaporeans, ok right, treated as employing locals so no need to bother them. According to Swee Say, his ministry is talking to another 100 companies on the need to employ Singaporeans and application for Employment Passes will be closely monitored.

I hope this is not pre GE rhetoric and gerrymandering and more serious effort would be applied to enforce the need to employ Singaporeans first after the GE. Hope it would not turn into another nightmare after the GE when the current effort is reversed and everything back to normal, more foreigners, more EPs and more Singaporeans being replaced.

What is the point of allowing foreign companies to operate here to benefit from our good infrastructure, our system and to employ foreigners? Shouldn’t these companies be asked to go somewhere else if they are not providing jobs to Singaporeans.

And what is the purpose of employing foreign talents here to do local businesses with local clients? I can understand if the companies are operating and competing for businesses in the international environment and in foreign land. Didn’t some local HR Directors claimed that Singaporeans have better advantage in understanding the local market and business environment? Why is there a need to employ expensive foreigners to operate and function in the local environment?

MOM must start with govt linked companies, ask them to explain why they need to employ so many foreigners even in middle and lower management levels. If the GLCs did not see it a national duty to provide jobs to Singaporeans and think it is their duty to provide jobs for foreigners, then foreign MNCs will conveniently do the same.

I will like to see if Swee Say and the govt mean business and go after GLCs that are turning their organizations into foreign companies. The govt cannot be so blind not to see and not to know what is happening. It is anti Singaporean policies. Take the cue from Hsien Loong, who said he did not owe any responsibilities to the world to employ their citizens. His responsibility and his govt’s responsibility it to Singaporeans first. Not locals! Would this be a top priority govt policy or is this going to be just mere pre GE talks?

Show some sincerity and kick the butts of CEOs who think it is very clever and use it as an excuse to employ their country men to replace Singaporeans.

Swee Say, Singaporeans are all watching. GE is around the corner. Do something to show the Singaporeans that the govt is for Singaporeans, at least before the GE. Does Swee Say or the MOM believe the middle and lower middle management jobs cannot be filled by Singaporeans? Take a walk in Raffles Place and MBFC and get a real feel on the ground. Or make a trip to Changi Business Park. And open your eyes when you are there. The tolerance of Singaporeans is at breaking point.

What? Singaporean core? What is that? What about that CECA.

Japan – Is it so difficult to apologise?

The Japanese are retracting on their apologies for their invasion, colonization and war atrocities to the countries that fell victims and the millions killed and maimed by them. They are asking how many times they must say sorry for their hideous crimes against the people of Asia and the destruction of their countries that set them back for many decades in development.

The answer, for as long as the Japanese remember their war dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for as long as they find it important to visit Yasukuni Shrine to honour their dead soldiers that committed the crimes of invasion. These were criminals of wars, invading countries, bombing, burning, looting, killing, raping and committed all kinds of cruelties against other people. If the Japanese do not think it necessary to stop worshipping them and honouring them, why should they not continue to apologise to the countries and people that were victims of these criminals and the destruction and death they brought to them?

If Japan can honour the war criminals annually, if Japan can remember their dead due to the Atomic Bombs, why is it so difficult to apologise for their crimes against humanity? For how long should Japan apologise?

For as long as the people of these countries could feel the pain and humiliation caused by the Japanese. For as long as the Japanese continue to honour the criminals of these acts. For as long as the Japanese start to forget their evil deeds and cruelties against their neighbouring countries. For as long as it needs to remind the Japanese not to think it is acceptable to go to war again.

GE2015 – Vote what you think is right

Hsien Loong made a passionate plea that he did everything that is right for the good of Singaporeans. Singaporeans may disagree with his policies but he did it in all honesty, for the good of all Singaporeans.  The people may continue to disagree, continue to be angry with his govt’s policies, but what can the people expect of the govt? How can they expect the govt to reverse course, to do things they, as the govt, think is wrong, not right? The govt, in all honesty, can only do things that the govt thinks is right. Tiok bo?

I just cannot imagine the govt starting to do things the people want and knowing that what the people want is wrong. It cannot be. So, what would the govt do after the GE? Would it continue with all the right policies, like more foreigners, more scholarships for foreigners, more good jobs for foreigners, more CPF locked up, more Medishield Life, more affordable housing, more public transport and less car ownership, higher ministerial pay, signing of CECA and more FTAs….? These are the right policies, and must be the right policies, and the govt honestly and sincerely believe are the right things to do.

It is just like people believing in their religions and their Gods. Every believer sincerely and honestly believes in his God and religion as the truth, the right thing to believe. But being a democratic and multi religious country, we also believe that everyone has the right to believe in his God and religion. The believers may disagree with other believers but never mind, you follow what you want to believe and what you think is right.

The people cannot expect the govt to believe in what the people believe is right. The people can believe in their own rights and choose to vote the people and parties that share the kind of right things they believe in. The govt does not force you to believe in what it thinks are the right things to do. In a democratic system, if you don’t agree, just vote them out. But if you vote the current govt back to power, the govt will continue to do what it thinks is right. That must be the case.

So, what should the people do? There is no need to get angry just because what the govt thinks is right is not what you think is right. You can vote people or parties that agree with what you think is right. It is unimaginable for any political party to do the wrong things, to do things they think are wrong. The people must be reasonable and logical. The voters should go to the polling station and calmly vote for the party that shares their belief and their God, sharing what they think is right and what they think is not right. The people cannot force a govt thinking it is doing the right thing to do the wrong thing.

Vote for what you think is right. The govt is right to do what it thinks is right. You don’t have to agree. No need to be angry. Vote with your heart and your head, vote honestly for your own good, not what other people think is good for you, unless you think you are stupid and other people are smarter than you and know what is right and good for you.

Think very carefully in this GE. It is like its now or never.

Petition to revoke CECA

Revoke CECA  Click here to the Petition

I have just signed the petition. Every Singaporean must put his signature to this petition to revoke it. It is extremely harmful to Singaporeans and our future existence as a people and country.


Key highlights of the CECA:

ARTICLE 9.3: GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR GRANT OF TEMPORARY ENTRY

Movement of Natural Persons

Neither Party shall require labour market testing, economic needs testing or other procedures of similar effects as a condition for temporary entry in respect of natural persons upon whom the benefits of this Chapter are conferred.

The CECA enables Indian national PMETs no quota restriction on 127 highly skilled professions in Singapore and even granted spouses or dependants of these Indian nationals to work freely in Singapore.

The above two articles have very serious implications to Singaporean's competitiveness and employability and also to Singapore as a country.

And they are going to expand the CECA. Read more about it in TRE. Here is another quote from the same article,

News 2: More actions taken to enlarge CECA in 2015

Link: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-25/news/64850381_1_ceca-trade-potential-comprehensive-economic-co-operation-agreement

Negotiations on to upgrade CECA with India: Singapore

PTI Jul 25, 2015, 09.46PM IST
Singapore is keen to upgrade its existing Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement (CECA) as the East Asian country wants to be a ‘partner’ in economic development here.

“We want to be a partner in India’s economic growth. We want a strategic partnership to deepen bilateral economic and people to people relations,” K Shanmugam, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law of Singapore, said here today.


For your sake, for your children and grandchildren's sake, this is something you must do.

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