National development.

The basis of a developed nation is not how far ahead your best has became, but how less behind your worst is.

Playing the game of politics.

This is funny. Well, you cannot fault them for saying things like smaller flats do not necessarily mean lower quality of living, or that $1,000 income is enough to buy a flat. What we can fault them is probably for giving an extreme POV, as will be discussed.

1) $1,000 is enough to buy a flat, based on the given calculations. But what was not taken into account is probably the fact that you would probably have to survive on plain white rice and no mobile phones, basic necessities for the period that you have to pay the loan.

2) I guess this is just playing with words. Quality of life need not stem from material affluence. However, given a choice, all things same, would you rather a larger flat, or a smaller? Of course, you will be happier(higher quality of life) if you can get whichever you want.

3) I don't know why he made that statement. I really do look forward to the day when my education is literally free.

4) 50% of Singaporeans don't pay income taxes at all. I guess that is the problem, and I don't see how this is a defence. You see, Singapore employs a progressive income tax bracket system. The fact that 50% of Singaporeans do not pay income tax really speaks volume, already.

So many years have passed... Yet, it appears that nothing(long term) have been done to mitigate our issues at hand.

Dear Environment and Water Resources Minister,

It would be much wiser to understand Chaos Theory and not highlight the your inability to accurately forecast events of the future. Maybe you could use a bit of the 300mil to improve our weather forecast system, as I believe that Singaporeans could really use a 'Beware of Floods in _____ tomorrow' system.
Half of politics is probably about managing expectations. At least, it could give you the benefit of doubt that you know what's going on, and what you are doing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory

Within the Chaos Theory states - "This happens even though these systems are deterministic, with NO random elements involved."

Tackling the safety issues at hand is definitely effective in the short term, but I don't see how it is, at all, a long-term solution.

-A youthful idealist.

The last thing I want to see is

I wish you all the best.

Analyzing PAP using Tuckman's Stages of Group Development.

Beginner's guide to Tuckman's stages of group development.

Using Tuckman's stages of group development - Form, Storm, Norm, Perform, where is PAP today, and where are they moving to?

*There are other possible stages such as Adjourn, Deform, Reform, Mourn, and High-Performance.(Beyond perform)

Personal Beliefs/Values

In our society where things are deemed as 'right' or 'not right', how far are you willing to go to maintain the integrity of your beliefs/values?

Apparently, we have a person whom most describes as one who goes beyond his personal capacity to uphold democracy. He have represented Potong Pasir(PP) for 27 years, and is the longest serving opposition MP till date. You would have guessed who I am talking about by now. He is none other than Mr Chiam See Tong.

Personally, I cannot claim to know much about him. I merely began my research on him during the period before GE 2011. But seeing that he was re-elected by the residents of PP time after time, I can't help but convince myself that he must have been a really good representative for the residents of PP, speaking up for them and taking care of their welfare.

This is in spite of the fact that he is from a minority opposition party - In Singapore, opposition parties are often put in bad light in our mainstream media. Also, their comments are usually oppressed if they are not in favor of our dominant political party.

Hence, we here have a person who placed his ideals of democracy before himself, one who chose a tough life instead of going with the flow, so that he would be able to achieve what he believe is the rights of the people. Here, we have a great guy, who will always be remembered in the heart of many.

Let us show our gratitude on behalf of our fellow Singaporeans for his hard work, so that Singapore can be a better place.

Now, how far are you willing to go to maintain the integrity of your beliefs/values?

What's wrong with Tin Pei Ling?

I don't think it's an issue with her age or her cute-ness. 

To me, it simply appears that  she is seriously lacking in areas that matter in politics, when compared to Nicole Seah.

You see, you never look bad if you don't compare yourself to anything. You will not be able to tell if you did badly for your exams if you don't compare to your cohort's results. You will not be able to tell if you are good-looking if you don't compare to the society's average. Relativity matters. 

Maybe she chose to run for elections at the wrong time. Maybe choosing to run for election was a wrong choice. But nevertheless, if she is okay with trading off her public image for a salary increase of ~5k, I guess she might have chose to do the right thing. It really depends on what she want.

Well well, but since she are already in Parliament, I guess I can only wish her all the best in representing her constituency and do her job professionally.

Show us that you are not what we perceive you to be.


*To those of you who have been writing/signing petitions to remove TPL from Parliament - even though I am in favour of it, do you really think it will happen?! Come on, get over it. 

Policies incorrectly communicated or incorrect policies?

‎"... good learning journey and at the strategic level, many PAP policies are right but their implementation and communication can be improved.” - Dr Balakrishnan

Seems like we didn't send our message right this time. Dr Balakrishnan, You shall be the first person I scru-tinize come GE 2016.

Losing a good for the better?

George Yeo conference on 10th May, 3days after GE 2011.

Now I understand why people say call him a good minister. 

But then again, would the loss to Parliament is greater if PAP have won? Is this a case of losing something good for something better? That is the question we will find out in the next five years. 

Personally, I'll be hoping for more rationalized policies. What are you looking for?

Electoral Boundaries redrawn.

Who thinks Joo Chiat SMC will still be around the next GE, ke chiu!

Dear MPs

"If they(you) continue to remain deaf, they(you) will all be Georged in 5 years.


Definitely the best quote seen on Facebook.

Post-GE 2011

GE 2011 is over. Maybe we should all move beyond 'Remove Tin Pei Ling from Parliament' and 'reinstate George Yeo as MFA'. PM Lee has explicitly said that there would be no by-elections even if George Yeo loses Aljunied GRC, and I believe he really don't care if TPL is in MP GRC. There are matters of larger national interest for him to attend to. 

Go back to your original life and stop asking what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. 

Anyway, I just spoke to one of my colleagues who holds the position of Assistant Director in my office. He has been a Singaporean PR for over 20 years. He highlighted a problem that most countries were facing in the 1990s, and it kind of enlightened me. According to him, it was termed as the 'brain drain' problem. You can look up Wikipedia.

In early 1990s, not only in Singapore, but all parts of the world, skilled workers and managers were looking for jobs outside of their own country. (The grass is greener on the other side, and hearsay plays a large part of information transfer.) In face of this problem, Singapore attempted to attract foreign talent to make up for the loss in their own talents, hence they implemented policies which gives foreigners an 'unfair advantage' and an incentive to settle down in Singapore. 

See, these policies did have its merits. However, removal of an active policy is not as easy as implementing it. This is evident in the 'welfare state' in Britain, where government intervention led to an over-reliance on the government. Hence, when the government realized that the system was being abused, it was already too late to restore things to their original state. 

In Singapore, I guess the problem did not start with our current leaders. You may call it a 'lack of foresight', but I would like you to ponder on whether we would be as prosperous as we are today, if not for those policies. Maybe somewhere in between, we forgot to change with the times. But maybe, we are too engrossed in what happens within our country, that we undermined the effects of a 'global competition'. Foreign talent influx might, in fact, be one of the policies that we need right now, in order to survive and remain competitive in the future. We may just not be seeing it now.

Of course, all these are discussed purely in an economic POV. 

Please feel free to share your opinion. (:

My answer to "What has George Yeo done to deserve this?"

Okay, I see this so often that I decide to blog about it.

People have been saying that he is a good minister, and that PAP deserves to win Aljunied GRC because he is good, and should be re-elected.

But there is a serious flaw in this argument. It doesn't take into account of the context. George Yeo is running for elections in Aljunied GRC, where it is a 5 member constituency. It is no longer George Yeo vs an opposition. Taking into account just high-profile politician, it is George Yeo vs. Chen Show Mao, Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim and Pritam Singh. Is this a fair 'fight'? Definitely not. And this is one of the flaw of the GRC system. It does not run on meritocracy. This is also evident in Marine Parade GRC.

Now, back to the question of "What has George Yeo done to deserve this?"

He didn't do anything. He did his job well, fought for the interest of the people, etc. But he is just an unfortunate victim of the system in place - The GRC system. Obviously, in Singapore, the GRC system is more favorable towards the PAP than opposition. Hence, there is absolutely no reason to change all constituencies into single-member. However, while the PAP is able to manipulate this system to their advantage, the opposition is able to do so as well. Hence, the latter placed three heavy-weight oppositions in Aljunied GRC.

Yes, it's not fair. I agree with many of you. Put him up in any SMC against one opposition candidate, and he'll probably win. But if PAP wants to adopt a system which allows them to preserve power in majority of the constituencies, they have to accept that the opposition is able to manipulate this system to their advantage too. Hence, it is a trade-off that was made at the top-tier of the government, something that is out of control of you and me, and even MPs.

In all, it is not George Yeo's fault that he failed to be re-elected. It is also not your fault, and it is definitely not the fault of the Aljunied voters. They chose what they perceived to be the best TEAM.

Our dear George Yeo is but a victim of PAP's attempt to preserve power.

Do feedback after making your vote!

MARUAH's feedback channel to improve the voting process for future GE

Dear voters,

Do click on the above link and fill up the feedback form created by a 3rd party organization which is not affiliated to any political party. The objective of your feedback is to streamline the voting process, so that you will have a better voting experience in the coming General Elections.

Do your part for the country! (:

Have a great weekend!

Remember, vote wisely!

Our alternative to a free press.

Generally, people who work in the media industry are people who are more informed about what is actually happening in the political landscape of Singapore, simply because of the nature of their job.

Some truly believe what is painted to them.
Some chose to remain silent, so that they do not destroy their rice bowl with their own hands.
Others chose to let their moral values get ahead of them and write articles on their perspectives, risking their career.

But there is one group of people who are able to voice out the oppressed information within them. They are the people who have left the media industry. They are not afraid of what they used to be afraid of - To lose their job because they allowed their morals to get the better of them. Now, they are able to give us, citizens, accurate information and what was censored from the media before. These are the people who have a genuine interest for Singapore to improve as a nation, who believe in media transparency, and a free press. (assuming they have no hidden agenda behind releasing their accounts.)

These are the people whom you should be looking out for. Their views are critical, because they know more than what we do.

Cooling Off Day

There will be no rallies made today, but publications still have to go on.

Let's see what these newspapers say.

Quoted from the International Herald Tribune - The Global Edition of the New York Times.

"The tightly controlled city-state",

"In a nation where government opponents are often sued over defamation",

"where carefully vetted public speech has been permitted only in a little park called Speakers' Corner", 

"the barriers to entry into political discourse and the accompanying risks have been so high", 

"Mainstream media are tightly controlled and have not acted as a check on the government, experts say."

"Now that barriers to entry(Online political speech was technically illegal in 2006 GE) to political dialogue have fallen, the effect has been electric."

"Rather than attempting to suppress the online political organizing, as China and Vietnam have done, Singapore is taking a gamble on making it part of the legal campaign system."

"I don't think they have a choice." - Mr. Brown.

"Online coverage has forced the main pro-government newspaper, The Straits Times, to publish fuller and not always critical news and photographs of opposition campaigns" - Alex Au, a prominent blogger.(Though I don't know who is he)

Totally, SLAMMED. To think that we were painted beautiful images of how Singapore is moving into the global landscape. I THINK, to them, we're not too different from Tibet, or N.Korea.

You might question the credibility of it, or engage in a debate about some of the points. But it won't change the fact that they are a bigger publication agency than our local one, and that they are definitely, without a doubt, more credible than our local's.

-end-


Now let's see what straits times got to tell us.


In the cover page, 


"I have served Aljunied for 23 years; I'm not going anywhere." -George Yeo

"MM Lee taunted me to stand in a GRC. So here I am." -Low Thia Khiang


I think I have moved beyond the point of being disappointed at our local publications. This have entered what I define as 'beyond expectations'. I shall not quote the rest. They gave separate accounts for the PAP, and the WP's. Few comparisons. But there are definitely some quotes that are taken out of context to provide a misinformed view of the reader.

And seems that Aljunied is the main concerned of the PAP, as spelled out by the Straits Times. Don't you feel that they should be writing something related to the Nation's interest in the headlines?

Overall, it's not really too bad. Look at the publications prior to GE 2006 and you'll understand why.

Happy Cooling Off Day!

Thank you GE 2011

6th May, 2011 - Cooling-off Day.

Today, everyone seem to have quietened down. Like them, I, too, cleared my heart of the many emotions. I took a step back, and I saw what GE 2011 has made of me.

GE 2011 has made me realize who I really am - My morals, my values, my beliefs, my ideals and so many more. Basically, it helped me to re-discover myself. It helped me to bring out, once again, the little child who questioned about every single thing. It helped me re-discover the old me who conformed to society's pressures because he feared to be left out. But ultimately, it helped me find out about the things I never knew about myself. And seriously speaking, it's really a great feeling to be yourself. It's great to not conform to the many things out there because we don't agree with it. Gone are the days where I have stood with society's/peers' consensus because I was afraid that I would end up alone. In fact, it's really not that bad to be alone. At least, you get time to reflect on the many occurrence in our everyday's life. And sometimes, we get so swayed by what people around us feel that we actually forget what we stand for.

After GE 2011, I might, really, end up alone. But at least, I know I have stood up for the things I believe in. At least, I didn't sit back and conform because I was afraid of the consequences. At least, I know that from here on, I am able to be myself, that I have matured beyond what I was made to be. At least, I know that I have an ideal, a goal to reach out for. At least, I know that from here on, I am able to pursue what I truly want. And at least, I learnt how to be more humane. I learnt that one cannot peg a monetary value unto every single thing. Every individual is unique, as I always believed. They are not just another statistic.

After all these, I do recognize that it takes more than just another voice in the internet to make the difference. Henceforth, it just makes me more determined to do better, earn more and help more, so that I'll be able to stand up for what I believe in. If any, it have made me more resolved.

Chances are, I won't be a political activist the moment the fever of GE 2011 dies down. It made me carefully consider what I want to be. I actually wanted to be a philosopher. But that's just what I want to be. What I would really become, shall be made known to me as I discover more of myself as I walk.

One of my friends told me to look back at my posts in 5 years time. (I don't actually know if he meant the next GE, or after I become more mature.) It made me realize one thing, and now I question myself. Will I be so caught up in being the best, that I, once again, forget what I stood up for? Would I, then, be so well-to-do, that I forget how to empathize with the plight of others? Will I be just another product of our education system, the one that I have mentioned? Will I have lost my beliefs and ideals that I have today?

I don't hold the answers to these questions. But I definitely hope that, as I walk, I find, not lose, more of myself.

Stop this groundless accusations please.

This is supposed to be with regards to a speech made by George Yeo Election Secretary.(or smth like that)

I can no longer find the video, but will post it up when I do.

While I disapprove of the doings, it just goes to show how much people feel for, or against, her affiliated party.

"Based on feedbacks from our supporters"
&
"The overall objective is to mislead the residents that WP have very broad base support from the ground."

Isn't she doing the same thing? She question the credibility of WP's supporters. Shouldn't she, ALSO, be questioning the credibility of her supporters?

Cooling-Off Day!

Dos and Don'ts of Cooling-Off Day

Today is Cooling Off Day. 

I think Straits Times will be sold out, because everyone wants to see for themselves what the incumbents meant by "making a calm and well-thought-out decision, not in the heat of the moment". 


In fact, I am also very interested in this day, because I am interested to know how our mainstream media can aid me, along with fellow citizens, to make a more well-thought-out choice. I really hope, though, that the media would paint to me an accurate and unbiased picture.

But I do know people who wants to buy the Straits Times for a good laugh. In fact, they have already had quite a good laugh at the Dos and Don'ts of Cooling Off Day. I have personally noted some flaws in it that is in favor towards PAP. But this can wait.

Let's not judge them yet, shall we? (:

A personal recount when things were changing.

A personal recount by someone who witnessed the change.

Let someone who have been through the changing stages of Singapore tell you the story. 

Where we are today did not happen overnight. It is definitely not by chance, nor was it an accident.

Just another perspective

You might be the one to get upgrading if opposition parties win over dominance in the government. On the contrary, if yours is a PAP ward, you might get no upgrading. 

*Just another way of looking at things, not saying who will/should win or lose*