6000 Attended CPF protest at Hong Lim Park! Are Ass Balls (If Any) Shaking?

[makapaaa]

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/over-1-000-people-at--returnourcpf-protest-at-hong-lim-park-093133980.html

UPDATE on Saturday, 7 June at 7:15pm: Adding more details, quotes]
Thousands of Singaporeans attended the “Return Our CPF” protest held at Hong Lim Park on Saturday, calling for greater transparency and flexibility in the CPF system.

Organised by blogger and activist Han Hui Hui, backed up by volunteers, the event saw higher-than-usual attendance and support, being held amid the ongoing suit between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and blogger Roy Ngerng.

By 5pm, more than 2,000 dotted the green in the area surrounding the stage, with scores more hiding from the sun in the surrounding shaded footpaths, field areas and even a nearby overhead bridge. Han estimated at the close of the protest at about 6:30pm that the crowd size had grown to 6,000.

"Singaporeans, there are 6,000 people here today," said the 22-year-old, addressing the crowd from on stage. Adding in Mandarin that she is organising another CPF-related protest next month, Han asked those present to bring more friends with them, to take the numbers up to 10,000.

"We need to find out where all our money has gone. The government must be accountable for our hard-earned money!" she cried in Mandarin when she spoke earlier, to cheers from the crowd.

The protest's speaker line-up included 2011 presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian and ex-Singapore Democratic Party member Vincent Wijeysingha, as well as Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam, statistician Leong Sze Hian and Ngerng himself. The latter was there with human rights lawyer M Ravi.

Supporters present at the protest surrounded Ngerng throughout the event, taking pictures with him and encouraging him, with reference to his ongoing court case. The 33-year-old healthcare programme co-ordinator read his speech from a script, receiving cheers from the crowd throughout.

"What we want is for the interest (earned on investments) of our money to be returned to Singaporeans," said Ngerng. "What we want is transparency and accountability... The CPF is our money. We the citizens of Singapore are the owners of our money, and of our country. It is our right to decide what to do with our CPF money," he added, to roars of support from the crowd.

Tan summarised the demands that he felt the people should make, saying, "Pay us better interest on our CPF... We need to have better people manage our CPF and garner higher returns." He also called for the ability to opt out of the Minimum Sum requirement and from CPF Life, proposing that citizens be allowed to withdraw up to a third of their savings at age 55, and the balance two-thirds when they are 65.

Meanwhile, Wijeysingha, who is now a citizen activist focusing on issues relating to poverty in Singapore, said the CPF system is in some ways relatable to the government's relationship with its citizens. He added that while not everyone may agree with Ngerng, it remains clear that there is something "deeply unsettling" about the CPF system as it exists now.

"Today is a new beginning, and we must take it like a new beginning," concluded Ngerng. "Today, Singaporeans will come together and chart a new journey, a new direction for our country and our future."
See more pictures from the protest:






<button class="btn" data-rapid_p="1">Description Toggle</button> [h=2]'Return Our CPF' protest takes place at Hong Lim ...[/h][h=2]'Return Our CPF' protest takes place at Hong Lim Park[/h]
A protest, which aims to gather support for a more "transparent" and “accountable” Central Provident Fund (CPF) system, took place at Hong Lim Park on Saturday afternoon. Speakers such as activist and blogger Han Hui Hui and Roy Ngerng as well as human rights lawyer M Ravi were among the list of people speaking at the event, before a crowd of over a thousand who came ready with placards and posters.
Read more about the protest in our story here, and we bring you pictures from the event here.

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A man holds up a placard at the CPF protest at Hong Lim Park on 7 June 2014. (Yahoo photo)



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Yahoo Newsroom
Sat, Jun 7, 2014 7:00 PM SGT
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With reporting by Jeanette Tan

 

[Sinkie]

Tan summarised the demands that he felt the people should make, saying, "Pay us better interest on our CPF... We need to have better people manage our CPF and garner higher returns." He also called for the ability to opt out of the Minimum Sum requirement and from CPF Life, proposing that citizens be allowed to withdraw up to a third of their savings at age 55, and the balance two-thirds when they are 65.

The last part of withdrawing up to a third at age 55 is not agreeable with me. The original promise is to return CPF in full at age 55, so honour it. Since Tan proposed an opt out of Minimum Sum and CPF Life, then make it an option for those who want the original promise to be honored. What one third now, two third ten years later? This is a trap. Listen, this is what PAP Dr Intan proposed, but with conditions of those in lower income group (which she cannot specify how to compute lower income, damned1).

 

[Papsmearer]

I am surprised there was not a heavy police presence, as a show of force against the rally. I seriously expected Gay Loong to send many of uniformed police and plains clothes police to intimidate the audience and the speakers. Especially by videotaping them. Maybe he got scared and this CPF issue is really pissing off sinkies.

 

[GoldenPeriod]

Ah Loong said :" Cheh 6000 siao kias."

 

[Sinkie]

I tell you this......someone is sniggering. In fact, a whole party is sniggering.

Unless it is street protests and camping on padang, no one is scared, that's what I was told.

 

[Leongsam]

It's a very small turnout and it shows that the majority of Singaporeans are perfectly happy with the status quo.

Besides very few amongst the 6000 showed any form of commitment to changing things. For example many of the members of this forum were logged on here at 3 pm, popped down to see what was going on at 4 pm and were back in the comfort of their PAP pigeon holes after dinner to resume their tirade against the PAP from the safety of their keyboards. Citizens desperate for change would show far more commitment to their cause

If 100,000 had turned up and refused to leave till a change was promised, I'd then be convinced that a seismic shift was occurring. Based on the images, I'd say most were there for a bit of entertainment on an otherwise boring afternoon. Many were probably gays showing a bit of solidarity towards their own hidden agendas.

I would like to take this opportunity to assure PM Lee that he has absolutely nothing to worry about come 2016. In fact I predict a rise in support thanks to the pioneer package.

 

[eatshitndie]

moreover very likely more than half were there for "curiosity" reasons and fair weather attendance (late afternoon turnout). when it was time for makan 30 minutes later, thousands of them quickly joined the 600,000 getting tissue packets ready to "chope" tables at food courts, kopitiam and hawker centers. we know where the true priority is with sinkies. take away the food and sinkies will turn out by the hundreds of thousands.

 

[Sinkie]

Yeah, no need to lose sleep over it. It's fated.

 

[da dick]

It's a very small turnout and it shows that the majority of Singaporeans are perfectly happy with the status quo.

Besides very few amongst the 6000 showed any form of commitment to changing things. For example many of the members of this forum were logged on here at 3 pm, popped down to see what was going on at 4 pm and were back in the comfort of their PAP pigeon holes after dinner to resume their tirade against the PAP from the safety of their keyboards. Citizens desperate for change would show far more commitment to their cause

If 100,000 had turned up and refused to leave till a change was promised, I'd then be convinced that a seismic shift was occurring. Based on the images, I'd say most were there for a bit of entertainment on an otherwise boring afternoon. Many were probably gays showing a bit of solidarity towards their own hidden agendas.

I would like to take this opportunity to assure PM Lee that he has absolutely nothing to worry about come 2016. In fact I predict a rise in support thanks to the pioneer package.

i agreew ith boss sam. 6000 people is peanuts. it needs to spill onto the streets, at least 100K man march, and hundreds of riot police bus blocking them, then got chance.

 

[winnipegjets]

If 100,000 had turned up and refused to leave till a change was promised, I'd then be convinced that a seismic shift was occurring. Based on the images, I'd say most were there for a bit of entertainment on an otherwise boring afternoon. Many were probably gays showing a bit of solidarity towards their own hidden agendas.

I would like to take this opportunity to assure PM Lee that he has absolutely nothing to worry about come 2016. In fact I predict a rise in support thanks to the pioneer package.

Sinkees are not confrontational yet. If the PAP steals the 2016 election, then you can expect real action.

When are you going to declare your candidacy?

 

[gsh]

WSJ reports on 2000 turn out.

It's a very small turnout and it shows that the majority of Singaporeans are perfectly happy with the status quo.

Besides very few amongst the 6000 showed any form of commitment to changing things. For example many of the members of this forum were logged on here at 3 pm, popped down to see what was going on at 4 pm and were back in the comfort of their PAP pigeon holes after dinner to resume their tirade against the PAP from the safety of their keyboards. Citizens desperate for change would show far more commitment to their cause

If 100,000 had turned up and refused to leave till a change was promised, I'd then be convinced that a seismic shift was occurring. Based on the images, I'd say most were there for a bit of entertainment on an otherwise boring afternoon. Many were probably gays showing a bit of solidarity towards their own hidden agendas.

I would like to take this opportunity to assure PM Lee that he has absolutely nothing to worry about come 2016. In fact I predict a rise in support thanks to the pioneer package.

 

[virus]

 

[virus]

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-DD222_0607si_G_20140607122027.jpg

SINGAPORE—Roughly 2,000 people protested against perceived inadequacies in Singapore's state-run pension system, signaling rising discontent over retirement savings in this city-state.

The demonstration on Saturday was one of the largest-ever shows of public dissent in tightly regulated Singapore, where the governing People's Action Party has seen its parliamentary dominance ebb in recent years with an increasingly vocal electorate seeking more steps to quell socioeconomic pressures.

Protesters cheered as a half-dozen speakers called on the government to improve the Central Provident Fund, or CPF, the state-run pension system that many lower- and middle-income Singaporeans say lacks transparency and fails to meet their retirement needs.

"Singaporeans have a right to know where our…money is going," Roy Ngerng, a 33-year-old health-care worker who organized Saturday's protest, told the crowd. "What we want is transparency and accountability."

A spokeswoman for the prime minister's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and other officials have said they would review the pension plan and consider certain changes but defended the overall system as sound and transparent.

Saturday's demonstration at Hong Lim Park, the only venue in Singapore where public protests are allowed, was the largest held in the city-state since early 2013, when two protests against the government's immigration policies each drew more than 3,000 people.

"Concerns over whether one's CPF savings are adequate for one's retirement have been festering," said Eugene Tan, an associate professor of law at Singapore Management University. "There is also the perception that the CPF is less fit for purpose at a time when it needs to be even more robust, given a rapidly aging society."

The pension system was established in 1955 and was gradually liberalized to allow fund members to use some savings to buy homes and make financial investments. Slowing wage growth and rising living costs in the past decade also have hurt people's ability to save for retirement, analysts said.

In a 2013 survey, insurance firm Manulife found that nearly 70% of Singaporeans expected to work beyond the retirement age of 62 due to expected shortfalls in their retirement savings.

Singapore's rising life expectancy and declining birthrates have also complicated matters, as aging citizens require greater retirement savings and have fewer working-age family members to rely upon. According to government projections, the ratio of working-age Singaporeans to elderly citizens, ages 65 and above, could fall to roughly 2 to 1 by 2030 from more than 6 to 1 currently.

At the protest, many Singaporeans also expressed concerns about how the retirement savings are managed by the government.

The finance ministry has said the CPF Board buys special government bonds that earn interest for fund members. Proceeds from the bond sales are then used for investments by the sovereign-wealth fund, GIC Pte. Ltd., and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the ministry said.

 

[wendychan]

I am surprised there was not a heavy police presence, as a show of force against the rally. I seriously expected Gay Loong to send many of uniformed police and plains clothes police to intimidate the audience and the speakers. Especially by videotaping them. Maybe he got scared and this CPF issue is really pissing off sinkies.

some of the plains cloths quite obvious

 

[rotiprata]

It's a very small turnout and it shows that the majority of Singaporeans are perfectly happy with the status quo.

Besides very few amongst the 6000 showed any form of commitment to changing things. For example many of the members of this forum were logged on here at 3 pm, popped down to see what was going on at 4 pm and were back in the comfort of their PAP pigeon holes after dinner to resume their tirade against the PAP from the safety of their keyboards. Citizens desperate for change would show far more commitment to their cause

If 100,000 had turned up and refused to leave till a change was promised, I'd then be convinced that a seismic shift was occurring. Based on the images, I'd say most were there for a bit of entertainment on an otherwise boring afternoon. Many were probably gays showing a bit of solidarity towards their own hidden agendas.

I would like to take this opportunity to assure PM Lee that he has absolutely nothing to worry about come 2016. In fact I predict a rise in support thanks to the pioneer package.

alamak, like that also you want to rub salt...his advisers oredi scratching their heads..

 

[blindswordsman]

....I would like to take this opportunity to assure PM Lee that he has absolutely nothing to worry about come 2016. In fact I predict a rise in support thanks to the pioneer package.

Uncle, you like to say your piece like a soothsayer. Whether there is a PGP or not, the discontent of sinkies is there at the ground level. If LHL has a brain, he is surely wondering what he has done wrong. Isn't it time now to worry about GE 2016?

All politicians are kiasu type. Even LKY carried a hatchet in his bag.

 

[Manager]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgnq3_bNP9s
http://youtu.be/Tgnq3_bNP9s

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Tgnq3_bNP9s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[jw5]

Their balls are not shaking, they are wobbling.

 

[Dark Knight]

Hui Hui in Mandarin.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8qfZzyhGGOw?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>