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The Workers' Party
- Thread starter sengkang
- Start date
Yee Jenn Jong, JJ (余振忠)Met an elderly gentleman at yesterday's house visit in Bedok. He proudly showed me photos stored in his HP taken with Mr Low and other WP MPs on various occasions, as well as a laminated copy of the Zaobao issue on the morning after 2011 elections with signatures of all WP MPs on it. Always great to be encouraged by supporters like him whenever we do our walkabouts.
@ sengkang
are you the official representative for worker's party ?
If not, going to REPORT you
For the latest news
Worker's Party Website
http://www.wp.org.sg/
or
https://www.facebook.com/workersparty
are you the official representative for worker's party ?
If not, going to REPORT you
For the latest news
Worker's Party Website
http://www.wp.org.sg/
or
https://www.facebook.com/workersparty
Yee Jenn Jong, JJ (余振忠)Completed another afternoon of house visits. Great to meet up again with people I had met during last GE. Today is especially good as I also met both my JC teacher and the JC teacher of my wife in their home in Telok Kurau, and to see them doing well.
lol i just received sengkang comment 
Thread: This sengkang member a BOT ?
Huat ah, what did i offence? let me tell you, i can be very soft with you and very hard with you as well. please don't test my feeling
Hey sengkang, i don't give a shit on you. Be it soft or hard. Threatening me online just shows how low life you are. Keep your JIAO Words
Thread: This sengkang member a BOT ?
Huat ah, what did i offence? let me tell you, i can be very soft with you and very hard with you as well. please don't test my feeling
Hey sengkang, i don't give a shit on you. Be it soft or hard. Threatening me online just shows how low life you are. Keep your JIAO Words
Pritam SinghUncle Yi Ping, a WP member from the David Marshall era (1950s!) came by to the Eunos MPS this evening with small presents for the community volunteers (they look happy too!). Also met a 77-year old resident who served with the Singapore Naval Volunteer Reserve during the Konfrontasi, and who is currently a member of the SAF's Veteran's League. Always a privilege to meet our pioneer generation.
Last edited:
[h=2]
Lack of police resources – how Sylvia Lim tried to sound the alarm for 8 years[/h] March 27
14:02 2014
Print This Article Share it With Friends
by Andrew Loh 2 Comments
You would be forgiven if you, like many others, are surprised or shocked by the revelation that the Singapore Police Force (SPF) is experiencing a shortage of manpower.
After all, it is a matter which not many had paid attention to, and also when raised, Singaporeans are assured that things are a-ok.
Just barely three years ago, in fact, the then Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ho Peng Kee, gave this assurance to Parliament about the human resource question regarding the SPF:
This, however, is nothing new.
One MP, above others, has been raising the flag about potential problems in the SPF resulting from its manpower shortage.
In her maiden parliamentary speech in 2006 as a Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP), Workers’ Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim raised concerns about the demands on the Singapore Police Force from “a more crowded Singapore.”
She was speaking on the government’s immigration and population plans then.
“[The] prospect of a more crowded Singapore should be carefully planned,” she told the House. “Every new person fights for resources, takes up space and disposes of waste. The demands on healthcare services, public transport and the police will increase.”
Eight years on, and also in Parliament, Ms Lim once again raised her concerns on the shortage of police manpower and resources in the January sitting of the House. This time, however, her speech was focused on the concern “about many Home Team uniformed services turning to outsourcing as a response to increasing demand for services and manpower shortages.”
From 2006 to 2014, Ms Lim has been consistent in flagging the manpower shortage in the Singapore Police Force (SPF). She has spoken on almost every one of those years about the issue.
Ms Lim, who is a lawyer, had spent three years as a police inspector with the force in the 1990s. She was stationed at the Central Police Division Headquarters, and later posted to be a staff officer under the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). [Read more about her background here.]
Consistent questioning
2007:
In 2007, Ms Lim observed in Parliament that “there seems to be a shortage of police officers.”
“It was reported that Budget constraints prevented the Police from hiring more officers, forcing the change in NPP operations,” she said then, referring to the conversion from the Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP) system to the Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) one.
She also raised concerns about the police outsourcing some of its services due to the manpower shortage, an issue which she raised recently as well in January.
“How far will such outsourcing go and what are the downsides?” she wondered.
She asked the minister if thereare sufficient resources to attend to cases, citing accounts in the press where police were late in attending to cases when notified by the public.
“Sir, are the above indications of a resource shortage and is there a compromise of the public interest?” Ms Lim asked.
2008:
Following the escape of the number one terrorist suspect, Mas Selamat Kastari, in February 2008, Ms Lim asked if the lapses by the officers at the Whitley Road Detention Centre (WHDC) pointed to a sign of fatigue or work overload.
“I am aware of how heavily deployed the Home Team has been in recent years,” Ms Lim said in Parliament. “Ever since 911, many Home Team officers have been deployed for counter-terrorism activities. While we seek to promote Singapore as a centre for meetings, conventions and exhibitions, every IMF meeting, every F1 Night Race is an added strain.”
She observed that Singapore’s population then had “expanded to 4.7 million and is expected to breach the six-million mark.”
“This will surely strain our social services, including those under the Home Team,” Ms Lim warned.
She then asked a key question which has been raised at the COI – whether the demand on the SPF is followed by a parallel increase in its manpower.
“We need more police officers, more firefighters, more immigration officers. What has been done to ensure that recruitment is keeping pace with the increased population?”
2010:
Two years later, Ms Lim once again zeroed in on the manpower shortage issue in the SPF. In Parliament that year, she asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs to “provide an update on the Home Team’s manpower situation and workload” and how the Ministry has attended to the findings of the Human Factors Study into the SPF which was conducted in 2008.
Probing further after the minister had responded, Ms Lim asked if there was actually an optimum number of officers recommended by the study and, despite the manpower increase, “have we actually reached that number?”
Even the police patrols in the public transport system didn’t go unnoticed by Ms Lim.
She observed that the Public Transport Security Command (TransCom) comprised 400 officers, mainly full-time NSmen.
“I am wondering whether that indicates that there is a shortage of full-time officers as compared to NSmen to go into the unit…” she asked.
And as in 2008, she asked if the many big ticket events being held in Singapore has placed impossible demands on the SPF. She pointed to the then ongoing Youth Olympic Games being held in Singapore.
“I understand that for the YOG, for example, right now, there is a force-wide leave freeze on officers during this period,” Ms Lim said. “My question is: how many times in a year would be reasonable for us to have that kind of deployment order to be fair to the Home Team?”
She added:
In 2011, Ms Lim brought up the issue of a possible brain drain from the force, with officers lured away into corporate security positions in establishment such as the Integrated Resorts.
In 2012, Ms Lim questioned the government on the change of its community policing model – from the NPP to NPC to the new COPs. She asked if the change meant that the original goal of having “dedicated resources for pro-active policing” has not been achieved. Does this mean the SPF “is not able to actually marshal the resources to handle community problems, which it was originally intended to do”?
In his reply, the Second Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr S Iswaran, said “the net impact is, there will be more resources required on the ground for this and that is something that the Police and the Ministry of Home Affairs are working on to staff up.”
He added:
It is worth reading Ms Lim’s questions about the SPF and the auxiliary police in full, in light of what have been revealed at the COI in recent weeks.
Ms Lim asked:
2014:
In 2014, following the riot in Little India in December 2013, Ms Lim raised several concerns about the manpower issue in the Police Force and in the auxiliary police.
In February, she asked Mr Teo about the current total strength of the auxiliary police forces; and what proportion of the total strength (in percentages and in absolute numbers) comprises Singapore citizens, permanent residents (PR) and non-PR Malaysians respectively.
This perhaps was prompted by the government’s intention to change the law to allow auxiliary police officers to carry out some police duties in prison. In effect, these functions will be outsourced to the auxiliary police for the first time in Singapore.
In his response, Mr Teo said, without actually replying to what Ms Lim had asked:
In March 2014, Ms Lim said in Parliament:
“Should the focus instead be on Home Team manpower recruitment and retention,” she asked, “and ensuring they have the best resources on hand to protect our Home?
Manpower shortage confirmed by top officers
Ms Lim’s concerns about the lack of resources in the SPF seem to have been vindicated following the riot in Little India and the just concluded COI hearings.
The shortage of manpower on the ground on the night has been a focus of the hearings, with the COI members questioning police officers about the matter.
The most notable testimonies about the shortage came from Police Commissioner, Ng Joo Hee; and the commander of the Special Operations Command (SOC) on the night of the riot, Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) David Scott Arul.
Mr Ng told the inquiry, regarding the manpower shortage problem in the SPF:
He added, “I have never been satisfied with the situation in Geylang or Little India, but I accept the fact that we can do little more with the resources that we currently can muster.”
Mr Ng, who revealed that the size of the SPF has not kept pace with the population increase, said the force would need a further 1,000 more officers if it is to beef up its anti-riot capabilities, and to continue to keep Singapore safe.
The shortage of manpower for the SOC was brought to light when DAC Arul revealed that he was unable to comply with orders to arrest as many rioters as possible on 8 December because he did not have enough men with him then. All his officers could do then was to focus on dispersing the crowd and arrested only those who resisted, he said.
To be sure, the government has indeed tried to resolve the manpower shortage with various initiatives, including improving the career and promotional prospects for officers, leveraging on technology, and direct recruitment campaigns.
But all these, one fears, will not resolve the problem which, honestly, has come about because of the government’s misguided and extreme immigration and foreign labour policies which have put immense strain not only on our physical infrastructure but also on our services and manpower limitations across the board, at every level.
It is worrying therefore to hear the top police officer say that maintaining law and order in just two places has “already stretched police resources to near breaking point.”
What is also troubling is that the shortage of manpower has been raised by Ms Lim over a period of 8 years – with the matter coming to public knowledge only after a riot has taken place – without being resolved adequately.
Nonetheless, kudos to Ms Lim for her dogged persistence in trying to raise the alarm.
http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...via-lim-tried-to-sound-the-alarm-for-8-years/
Lack of police resources – how Sylvia Lim tried to sound the alarm for 8 years[/h] March 27
14:02 2014
Print This Article Share it With Friends
by Andrew Loh 2 Comments
You would be forgiven if you, like many others, are surprised or shocked by the revelation that the Singapore Police Force (SPF) is experiencing a shortage of manpower.
After all, it is a matter which not many had paid attention to, and also when raised, Singaporeans are assured that things are a-ok.
Just barely three years ago, in fact, the then Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ho Peng Kee, gave this assurance to Parliament about the human resource question regarding the SPF:
“Sir, the overall manning situation in the Police Force is healthy.”
But as the Committee of Inquiry (COI) into the Little India riot has revealed, all in fact is not healthy.
This, however, is nothing new.
One MP, above others, has been raising the flag about potential problems in the SPF resulting from its manpower shortage.
In her maiden parliamentary speech in 2006 as a Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP), Workers’ Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim raised concerns about the demands on the Singapore Police Force from “a more crowded Singapore.”
She was speaking on the government’s immigration and population plans then.
“[The] prospect of a more crowded Singapore should be carefully planned,” she told the House. “Every new person fights for resources, takes up space and disposes of waste. The demands on healthcare services, public transport and the police will increase.”
Eight years on, and also in Parliament, Ms Lim once again raised her concerns on the shortage of police manpower and resources in the January sitting of the House. This time, however, her speech was focused on the concern “about many Home Team uniformed services turning to outsourcing as a response to increasing demand for services and manpower shortages.”
From 2006 to 2014, Ms Lim has been consistent in flagging the manpower shortage in the Singapore Police Force (SPF). She has spoken on almost every one of those years about the issue.
Ms Lim, who is a lawyer, had spent three years as a police inspector with the force in the 1990s. She was stationed at the Central Police Division Headquarters, and later posted to be a staff officer under the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). [Read more about her background here.]
Consistent questioning
2007:
In 2007, Ms Lim observed in Parliament that “there seems to be a shortage of police officers.”
“It was reported that Budget constraints prevented the Police from hiring more officers, forcing the change in NPP operations,” she said then, referring to the conversion from the Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP) system to the Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) one.
She also raised concerns about the police outsourcing some of its services due to the manpower shortage, an issue which she raised recently as well in January.
“How far will such outsourcing go and what are the downsides?” she wondered.
She asked the minister if thereare sufficient resources to attend to cases, citing accounts in the press where police were late in attending to cases when notified by the public.
“Sir, are the above indications of a resource shortage and is there a compromise of the public interest?” Ms Lim asked.
2008:
Following the escape of the number one terrorist suspect, Mas Selamat Kastari, in February 2008, Ms Lim asked if the lapses by the officers at the Whitley Road Detention Centre (WHDC) pointed to a sign of fatigue or work overload.
“I am aware of how heavily deployed the Home Team has been in recent years,” Ms Lim said in Parliament. “Ever since 911, many Home Team officers have been deployed for counter-terrorism activities. While we seek to promote Singapore as a centre for meetings, conventions and exhibitions, every IMF meeting, every F1 Night Race is an added strain.”
She observed that Singapore’s population then had “expanded to 4.7 million and is expected to breach the six-million mark.”
“This will surely strain our social services, including those under the Home Team,” Ms Lim warned.
She then asked a key question which has been raised at the COI – whether the demand on the SPF is followed by a parallel increase in its manpower.
“We need more police officers, more firefighters, more immigration officers. What has been done to ensure that recruitment is keeping pace with the increased population?”
2010:
Two years later, Ms Lim once again zeroed in on the manpower shortage issue in the SPF. In Parliament that year, she asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs to “provide an update on the Home Team’s manpower situation and workload” and how the Ministry has attended to the findings of the Human Factors Study into the SPF which was conducted in 2008.
Probing further after the minister had responded, Ms Lim asked if there was actually an optimum number of officers recommended by the study and, despite the manpower increase, “have we actually reached that number?”
Even the police patrols in the public transport system didn’t go unnoticed by Ms Lim.
She observed that the Public Transport Security Command (TransCom) comprised 400 officers, mainly full-time NSmen.
“I am wondering whether that indicates that there is a shortage of full-time officers as compared to NSmen to go into the unit…” she asked.
And as in 2008, she asked if the many big ticket events being held in Singapore has placed impossible demands on the SPF. She pointed to the then ongoing Youth Olympic Games being held in Singapore.
“I understand that for the YOG, for example, right now, there is a force-wide leave freeze on officers during this period,” Ms Lim said. “My question is: how many times in a year would be reasonable for us to have that kind of deployment order to be fair to the Home Team?”
She added:
“Does the Government actually moderate the number of major events that are held in Singapore every year to ensure that we can actually cope with the demands?”
2011:
In 2011, Ms Lim brought up the issue of a possible brain drain from the force, with officers lured away into corporate security positions in establishment such as the Integrated Resorts.
“I understand that quite a number of Police officers have resigned to take up jobs in the IRs, lured by significantly higher monthly pay. Has Police management been tracking this phenomenon? Can the Ministry give an indication of the numbers and experience of those who left? Is there a concern that we are losing valuable experience in our state Police? Has there been any response from Police management or the Ministry to confront this issue?”
In reply to Ms Lim’s queries, the then Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs, Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee, said:
“Sir, the overall manning situation in the Police Force is healthy.”
2012:
In 2012, Ms Lim questioned the government on the change of its community policing model – from the NPP to NPC to the new COPs. She asked if the change meant that the original goal of having “dedicated resources for pro-active policing” has not been achieved. Does this mean the SPF “is not able to actually marshal the resources to handle community problems, which it was originally intended to do”?
In his reply, the Second Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr S Iswaran, said “the net impact is, there will be more resources required on the ground for this and that is something that the Police and the Ministry of Home Affairs are working on to staff up.”
He added:
“But that in itself is not a comment that previously they were under-resourced.”
Two months later, in March 2012, Ms Lim once again bit into the issue of manpower shortage in the Police Force. This time, she took a wider view of things – raising questions about the SPF itself, the auxiliary police and the unarmed private security industry.
It is worth reading Ms Lim’s questions about the SPF and the auxiliary police in full, in light of what have been revealed at the COI in recent weeks.
Ms Lim asked:
Chairman, Sir, I will touch on the Police, auxiliary police and private security industry in turn. First, the Police. In 2008 the Ministry embarked on a human factor study which showed that certain areas of Police work were especially taxed.
MHA has been assuring us that they are expanding.
The latest Parliamentary answer on 17 February says that it has added 2,000 officers since 2008 and will be adding another 1,400 this year.
We all know that the demands on SPF have also increased. We need new neighbourhood police centres, specialists to investigate casino crime, better security for public transport and so on. The New Generation Frontline Policing model just announced was explained to require more resources. So the questions remain: Is it a case of back to square one despite the additional officers? How many of the additional officers are NS men rather than regulars, which will affect their deployment responsibilities?
Secondly, the auxiliary police. Could the Ministry confirm how many officers are serving in the auxiliary police forces collectively and whether there are plans to expand the APFs? It was reported online that auxiliary police were aggressively recruiting in Malaysia. Does the Government stipulate the minimum criteria for recruitment since these auxiliary police will carry firearms and have Police powers, are they also subject to psychological testing as with the regular Police?
In his reply, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, Teo Chee Hean, said the police “have been recruiting more officers in the Home Team and will continue to do so to meet new operational demands, such as COPS.”MHA has been assuring us that they are expanding.
The latest Parliamentary answer on 17 February says that it has added 2,000 officers since 2008 and will be adding another 1,400 this year.
We all know that the demands on SPF have also increased. We need new neighbourhood police centres, specialists to investigate casino crime, better security for public transport and so on. The New Generation Frontline Policing model just announced was explained to require more resources. So the questions remain: Is it a case of back to square one despite the additional officers? How many of the additional officers are NS men rather than regulars, which will affect their deployment responsibilities?
Secondly, the auxiliary police. Could the Ministry confirm how many officers are serving in the auxiliary police forces collectively and whether there are plans to expand the APFs? It was reported online that auxiliary police were aggressively recruiting in Malaysia. Does the Government stipulate the minimum criteria for recruitment since these auxiliary police will carry firearms and have Police powers, are they also subject to psychological testing as with the regular Police?
2014:
In 2014, following the riot in Little India in December 2013, Ms Lim raised several concerns about the manpower issue in the Police Force and in the auxiliary police.
In February, she asked Mr Teo about the current total strength of the auxiliary police forces; and what proportion of the total strength (in percentages and in absolute numbers) comprises Singapore citizens, permanent residents (PR) and non-PR Malaysians respectively.
This perhaps was prompted by the government’s intention to change the law to allow auxiliary police officers to carry out some police duties in prison. In effect, these functions will be outsourced to the auxiliary police for the first time in Singapore.
In his response, Mr Teo said, without actually replying to what Ms Lim had asked:
“The current total strength of the auxiliary police forces is about 6000 officers. The majority of the officers are Singaporeans, while the others are Malaysians. The employment of Malaysians into the auxiliary police forces started in the 1970s and we have continued with this practice till today.”
Not taking that as an answer, Ms Lim returned a month later to question further the outsourcing of police services to the auxiliary police.
In March 2014, Ms Lim said in Parliament:
“Madam, I am concerned about many Home Team uniformed services turning to outsourcing as a response to increasing demand for services and manpower shortages.
“For example, in October 2013, the SCDF added only four more emergency ambulances to increase its fleet to 50 vehicles, but doubled the number of private ambulances to 20. Today, the number of Auxiliary Police Officers stands at 6,000 officers, compared with over 8,000 regular officers in the Singapore Police Force. At the Woodlands checkpoint, APOs make up 20% of officers. Recently, the Prisons Act was amended to expand the role of APOs to allow them to conduct inmate escort and patrols within prison premises.”
She asked if the trend of outsourcing of police, security and emergency functions to private operators would increase further.“For example, in October 2013, the SCDF added only four more emergency ambulances to increase its fleet to 50 vehicles, but doubled the number of private ambulances to 20. Today, the number of Auxiliary Police Officers stands at 6,000 officers, compared with over 8,000 regular officers in the Singapore Police Force. At the Woodlands checkpoint, APOs make up 20% of officers. Recently, the Prisons Act was amended to expand the role of APOs to allow them to conduct inmate escort and patrols within prison premises.”
“If so, where is the line to be drawn before we see the quality of functions compromised and cost-effectiveness eroded? Should the issues be dealt with not by outsourcing, but instead by allocating more resources and support for recruitment and retention to the Home Team? And instead of outsourcing with its limits, should we not focus on “best-sourcing” instead?”
She told the House that “outsourcing clearly has its limits.”
“Should the focus instead be on Home Team manpower recruitment and retention,” she asked, “and ensuring they have the best resources on hand to protect our Home?
Manpower shortage confirmed by top officers
Ms Lim’s concerns about the lack of resources in the SPF seem to have been vindicated following the riot in Little India and the just concluded COI hearings.
The shortage of manpower on the ground on the night has been a focus of the hearings, with the COI members questioning police officers about the matter.
The most notable testimonies about the shortage came from Police Commissioner, Ng Joo Hee; and the commander of the Special Operations Command (SOC) on the night of the riot, Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) David Scott Arul.
Mr Ng told the inquiry, regarding the manpower shortage problem in the SPF:
“We frequently have to rob Peter to pay Paul, as was the case when we keep reducing the size of our anti-riot troopers to fund other capabilities.”
For example, police resources are so thinly spread out that just maintaining law and order in Little India and Geylang alone “have already stretched police resources to near breaking point”, he said.
He added, “I have never been satisfied with the situation in Geylang or Little India, but I accept the fact that we can do little more with the resources that we currently can muster.”
Mr Ng, who revealed that the size of the SPF has not kept pace with the population increase, said the force would need a further 1,000 more officers if it is to beef up its anti-riot capabilities, and to continue to keep Singapore safe.
The shortage of manpower for the SOC was brought to light when DAC Arul revealed that he was unable to comply with orders to arrest as many rioters as possible on 8 December because he did not have enough men with him then. All his officers could do then was to focus on dispersing the crowd and arrested only those who resisted, he said.
To be sure, the government has indeed tried to resolve the manpower shortage with various initiatives, including improving the career and promotional prospects for officers, leveraging on technology, and direct recruitment campaigns.
But all these, one fears, will not resolve the problem which, honestly, has come about because of the government’s misguided and extreme immigration and foreign labour policies which have put immense strain not only on our physical infrastructure but also on our services and manpower limitations across the board, at every level.
It is worrying therefore to hear the top police officer say that maintaining law and order in just two places has “already stretched police resources to near breaking point.”
What is also troubling is that the shortage of manpower has been raised by Ms Lim over a period of 8 years – with the matter coming to public knowledge only after a riot has taken place – without being resolved adequately.
Nonetheless, kudos to Ms Lim for her dogged persistence in trying to raise the alarm.
http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/201...via-lim-tried-to-sound-the-alarm-for-8-years/
[h=5]The Workers' Party Youth Wing (WPYW)[/h]The Workers' Party Youth Wing has concluded it's first Night Hammer public outreach at Tampines Central. Thank you for your support.
[h=1]14.03.23 Serangoon Division Rice & Milk Distribution Event[/h]Updated <abbr title="Saturday, March 29, 2014 at 1:42am" data-utime="1396028522" class="timestamp">6 hours ago</abbr> · Taken at Serangoon North Avenue 1
Serangoon Division held a rice and milk distribution event on 23 March 2014 at Serangoon North. This is the 5th in the series of mass rice distribution in Serangoon Division since the year 2012. In between the various mass rice distribution events, there were also regular distributions of rice and groceries to needy and lower-income families.
Volunteers and some residents started early in the morning to pack the rice from 10kg and 25kg bags, into smaller packs. We would like to thank the residents for their orderly queue, which helped to make this a pleasant and successful event. We also thank our donors for their rice and milk donation, without which this event would not have been possible.
Serangoon Division held a rice and milk distribution event on 23 March 2014 at Serangoon North. This is the 5th in the series of mass rice distribution in Serangoon Division since the year 2012. In between the various mass rice distribution events, there were also regular distributions of rice and groceries to needy and lower-income families.
Volunteers and some residents started early in the morning to pack the rice from 10kg and 25kg bags, into smaller packs. We would like to thank the residents for their orderly queue, which helped to make this a pleasant and successful event. We also thank our donors for their rice and milk donation, without which this event would not have been possible.
Yee Jenn Jong, JJ (余振忠)Clearing over obstacles for house visits last weekend. Telok Kurau has been undergoing works to have covered drains. Look forward to improved walkways and less clogged drains when the works are completed.
[h=5]Chen Show Mao[/h]Sonic Youth. I called on Sid*'s unit late Monday night. Some of his neighbours in the block had complained about loud music being played late at night and I wanted to know what he thought. I felt apologetic about the lateness of the hour, but Sid* was up and happy to chat. We talked about his family and how he grew up in the neighbourhood and had gone to the same school here as one of my good friends from NJC. When we got to music, he told me he listened mostly to "British bands." I found that strangely endearing -- I had done the same in my youth but came to see it later as culturally alienating (that I was living a life in Singapore but was reading books and magazines, watching films, listening to music and otherwise "consuming culture" that had little to do with that physical life). I would have thought by now our young people would be listening to more Singaporean music. He told me about Franz Ferdinand and Keane. I mentioned early Pink Floyd and King Crimson (... a Red phase?) He volunteered that he had listened to some music on his headphones and may do so more often in the future. I thought it was a good idea particularly for evenings but that he should take care not to pop his ear drums. We parted with a handshake and I felt like I made a new friend.
Pink Floyd - Interstellar Overdrive [HQ]
PF's debut album. A different aspect of PF
[URL="https://www.facebook.com/wpyouth"]The Workers' Party Youth Wing (WPYW)[/URL]The results for the Monthly Quiz (March) is out!
Congratulations to:
Tien Seok Giok SXXXX216G
Tien Yee Choo SXXXX326G
William SXXXX840F
We will be sending you your prizes in the mail shortly.
If you’re following our quiz, here are the answers to last month’s question:
Answers to Monthly Quiz (March 2014)
Q1. Cigarette and manufactured tobacco levies has gone up by _____, and according to the Straits Times, this increment will net the Government _____ million more a year.
Ans: 10% , $70
Q2. The mosque that was first built in 1824 by Sultan Hussain Shah has a unique dome feature. What is unique about its dome?
Ans: It is mounted on glass bottles.
Q3. Punggol East Constituency Committee has broken the Singapore Book of Records for the largest Yusheng character formed by a Chinese character, measuring _____ by _____ .
Ans: 18.0m , 36.9m
The April edition of the Monthly Quiz is also now up so what are you waiting for? Answer 3 very simple questions and you stand to win $10 worth of Kinokuniya book vouchers! Click on the link below to participate.
The WP Youth Wing | Monthly Quiz
wpyouth.sg
The Workers’ Party Youth Wing Monthly Quiz aims to educate members of the public about Singapore and the Workers’ Party.
Daniel PS GohWas quoted at length in ST Insight today on the proportion of Singaporeans in the faculty in local universities (see image). Replied to ST journalists' questions based on my experience as an academic in NUS since 2005 (and student there from 1994-2000). [Warning: long post]
Do you think there's a dearth of research on Singapore because it doesn't get you published in international journals, is viewed as having limited applicability and also because of factors like the political climate and lack of data?
- I have not had problems getting my research on Singapore published in top international journals and I have peer reviewed many articles using research on Singapore for international journals, at least half a dozen each year for the last 5 years. Initially, yes, I encountered some of the problems you mentioned when trying to publish research on Singapore, but I quickly learned how to resolve the problems instead of blaming some kind of prejudice or discrimination on the journal editors and reviewers.
- When it comes to criticism of limited applicability, then the solution is to find the theoretical significance of the Singapore case to the universe of similar phenomena under study — this is something I have to teach my graduate students too, pose the current theoretical problem that interests scholars anywhere studying any place and make the case of why studying Singapore will help us answer or understand the theoretical problem better, or choose a standing understanding or truth-thesis and show that Singapore poses a challenge to that understanding and is therefore a puzzle that could pose new theoretical problems and insights.
- I have not encountered problems related to political climate — I have been able to get funding to conduct research that is framed in disciplinary terms but may be critical of the political system or government policy here.
- Lack of data can be an issue, because we don’t have something akin to the Freedom of Information Act in Singapore, but this is only if we are dependent on governmental or governmental-generated data. Social scientists have access to a wide array of methodological tools and we keep innovating new ones to circumvent precisely such problems as political climate or lack of data — there is no excuse here.
Do you think those who do not use the lens of North American ideologies and academic methodologies to study Singapore and Asia tend to be at a disadvantage when it comes to being published or promoted?
- There is definitely the disadvantage there. American universities and publishing have both depth and critical mass due to longstanding public and private support for the advancement of theoretical knowledge and long-term research (rather than applied research for short term outcome), and this has resulted in them gaining advantage in the international field of scientific research. But there are a couple of points here. The dominance of the American knowledge production does not mean a reduction of diversity. In fact, the competitiveness of American academy, though I worry that this is declining, has led instead to the diversity of views and methodologies. In this context, diversity is achieved by way of getting faculty members from different American universities, exposed to different views and methodologies born out of competition between the different universities. This said, I do think we need faculty members graduating from non-American universities too. This is not to say there is no problem — the problem arises usually when the leadership of a particular department decides to transfer the competition in the US here in a negative manner, by narrowing the disciplinary boundaries and focus to discriminate against diversity.
Is there scope for a "Singaporean approach" to studying the social sciences, or is this too much of a construct like "Asian values"?
- Oh yes, I do think there is scope for Singaporean APPROACHES (plurality emphasised) to the social sciences. I think we are only just starting to do this, as in the initial decades of nation building in Singapore we focused on applications of social science and teaching rather than research and theoretical development. But two points. First, such approaches can only become defined and become definitive through competition with other approaches — I don’t believe in affirmative action to discriminate in favour of them, or they will become ideological and political like Asian values (and not social scientific). Second, such Singaporean approaches are not Singaporean by virtue of the nationality of academics promoting them — they can be developed as easily by non-local academics too, and I know there are many mixed-nationality research groupings in NUS FASS trying to develop “Singapore schools” for their own fields..
How can the universities strike a balance between being top world institutions and having a Singaporean focus to scholarship?
- I used the words “relevant” and “oriented” because it doesn’t have to be “focused” on Singapore, empirically. I could be studying multiculturalism in Australia, Canada, France, Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, etc., but the research is relevant to us because we could compare Singapore’s multiculturalism to these cases. Or I could be more explicit and study multiculturalism in Australia to compare it to Singapore, thereby making the research “oriented” to Singapore. We need to not do parochial and nativist research “focused” only on Singapore, but to always connect Singapore to the universe of the phenomenon in question. I think the universities are already striking a balance, as these criteria of “relevance” and “oriented-ness” are already in play when determining fields of specialisation that we want to hire in and in evaluating applicants and candidates.
- In short, the percentages say nothing about the complexity of knowledge production in the universities and, in themselves, imply nothing. There are problems but they are not signalled by the percentages of local versus foreign academics.
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Yee Jenn Jong, JJ (余振忠)Met an interesting resident at Bedok yesterday. He was a 4th generation resident of Pulau Tekong until 1984 when all residents of Tekong had to leave the island to make way for the military use of the place. Spent quite some time chatting with him to understand what it was like to be schooled in Tekong and what life on the island was like.
At its peak, he said Tekong had over 4,000 residents. The kampong spirit is still strong amongst the former residents of Tekong even though they have been resettled into different parts of Singapore. They still gather but nowadays it is often to attend the wake of an old ex-islander. When resettled into Singapore, he and other islanders had to figure out what to do for a living. He said the people of Tekong were resilient and they adapted to do all sorts of work, including hard labour and odd jobs.
Now that I had met this gentleman, I vaguely remember a chinese TV drama series in the 1980s featuring life on Pulau Tekong.
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