A Thought on Opposition Political Development

[Goh Meng Seng]

Many people I have met seem to have great reservations about SDP, particularly about Dr Chee's "re-entry" in electoral politics for the next GE. I am keeping an open mind here.<br />
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SDP has done some of the right things after GE2011, Although it has suffered "talent drain" of few GE candidates but it seems that at the same time, it has gotten a renewed support from certain segment of the population.<br />
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What impressed me was the new political direction SDP has adopted; more focus on policy specifics instead of the usual human rights cum democratic issues. The launch of the healthcare policy papers and the subsequent effort on housing policy etc is a refreshing start. <br />
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Many people thought that opposition politics is simple and to stand on the stage to fire off at PAP's policies are easy jobs. They are not. That is why I have quoted this Chinese idiom on my FaceBook, 台上一分钟，台下十年功, meaning "One minute of stage performance, requires ten years of consistent practices off stage". It may look easy to many for people to just attend political forums, especially those TV broadcast ones and fire off. The truth is, it is not just about how good your prepared scripts are but rather, what depth you have with regards to the topics being discussed. You are facing your opponents face to face and you must be prepared for whatever questions or bombs that they will throw at you. Especially so when you are practically and literally OUTNUMBERED most of the time. Of course, you will have to be quick witted to throw back a spanner or two at them. <br />
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It takes years of grooming, in terms of critical thinking, policy studies, discussions etc to come up with that ability to become politically effective on stage. Ideally, any political parties should groom their people, especially potential candidates, on ALL policy aspects by having consistent policy discussions and closed door internal seminars whereby experts are invited to provide crash courses for the party members. <br />
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SDP is doing the right thing now, although I may not agree totally with some of their policy ideas but at the very least, they have their own ideas and will know how to defend or sell it to the voters. <br />
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Some other political party players may also like or even enjoy the limelight of conducting or attending various high profile forums. BUT for every events you participate, you will have to make sure that you are well prepared, else in the long run, people will see through the shallowness of your political or policy views. <br />
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Opposition politics is not just about having limelight, shaking hands with ground people and kiss babies. If you want to stay relevant to Singapore politics, you will have to extra hardworking, not only on the ground, but to read more on Economics, Democratic principles, Public Finance, Statistics, Public Policy, current affairs on both Singapore as well as regional and Singapore.... etc. Politics is not just show business, publicity and such, it will involves much more serious stuffs than that.<br />
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Goh Meng Seng

 

[hawker]

Excellent post.

Since your theory so fantastic, so when are you going to finally win an election? Before or after Singapore qualify for World Cup?

 

[ChaoPappyPoodle]

It is much easier and just as necessary to groom or educate voters on politics. 50 years of PAPzi regimentation against political activity has done much damage. A large chunk of voters do not know the difference between socialism and fascism, between marxism and socialism and capitalism and socialism.

 

[SgParent]

Before or after Singapore qualify for World Cup?

I seriously hope he will say after. If not he is condemning our hope of ever winning the World Cup

 

[tanwahp]

I tend to think that SDP themselves will vehemently disagree with GMS and balk at what he is saying about them.

They have refused to acknowledge that they have changed because that would mean admitting that their past direction was a mistake. Many times they also refused to agree that they fight only for human rights and democracy.

 

[yellowarse]

[h=2]Healthcare is not a commodity, SDP offers alternative[/h]
Written by Administrator


Panel of doctors which helped craft the SDP Plan (Picture: SDP)




In a time of rising healthcare costs, insufficient hospital beds and an ageing population, Singapore’s healthcare system must adapt to meet these challenges.

The question is, how much change is needed? Does the 3M system – Medisave, Medishield and Medifund – provide enough of a safety net for Singaporeans? With our government healthcare expenditure (GHE) being a third of total healthcare expenditure (THE), the lowest in the developed world, is it possible or necessary to increase government healthcare spending?

Dr Chee Soon Juan, Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party says the “fundamental premise of the current system is wrong.”

“Healthcare is not a commodity that you buy and sell in the market,” he tells publichouse.sg. “You’re talking about a situation whereby people, the poor, cannot afford healthcare, many of them stay away from getting treatment, or they delay it, and the consequences can sometimes be literally life and death situations.”


His party has marshalled a panel of doctors to help craft a healthcare policy radically different from the one currently in place in Singapore. Many of these doctors have, in their day to day practice, encountered patients who struggle to pay for medical treatment and who even refuse treatment because they know it will devastate them financially.

The SDP’s National Healthcare Plan ultimately seeks to keep the costs of healthcare low, reversing the trend of rising healthcare costs and profit-driven healthcare provision. The SDP’s proposal is driven by the belief that no one should be refused healthcare on the basis of being unable to pay for it.. Something that so heavily determines our lives should be made available to us as unconditionally as possible.

The publichouse.sg team has created a short video report, which includes an interview with Dr Chee, about the proposal which the SDP and the group of doctors have drawn up. They propose tightening regulation of the private healthcare sector in order to keep costs down, to cut the defence budget and increase its healthcare spending to 70% of the national total healthcare expenditure, to scrap the 3M system and introduce a single-payer scheme managed solely by the government. The goal of these changes is to reduce healthcare costs for everyone and create a more people rather than profit centric system.

Dr Wong Wee Nam, one of the doctors involved in crafting the SDP's plan, wrote to Health Minister, Gan Kim Yong, in August, to have a dialogue with the SDP on the healthcare system in Singapore.

"Though it has been claimed that our healthcare system provides every Singaporean with good quality and affordable care, we do not think it is good enough," Dr Wong wrote in his letter to the minister. "We certainly would like to know more about your ministry's Health Vision 2020 so that together, we could come out with a better plan for our people." (See here.)

The minister has yet to respond to the invitation.

The executive summary of the SDP’s National Healthcare Plan can be found here.

We intend for this 10-minute video to be a catalyst for us to think about what healthcare policies we want for ourselves, and to spur debate about the pros and cons of different healthcare systems.

Watch the video below and do share your thoughts.

You can also write to us at: [email protected].

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HiK95cAxxjE" width="600" height="450" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="JoomlaWorks AllVideos Player"></iframe>

 

[Dreamer1]

文天祥-过零丁洋
人生自古谁无死，
留取丹心照汗青。

人生自古以来有谁能够长生不死，
我要留一片爱国的丹心映照汗青

 

[yellowarse]

SDP's alternative housing policy to address declining birthrate <tbody> </tbody> Category: Housing | 31 May 2012 Singapore faces a grave and urgent problem of a low birthrate. With a record low fertility rate of 1.16 births per female, the percentage of persons aged 65 years and older will reach 19 percent of the population by 2030 compared to 8.7 percent in 2008. This will have a serious impact as we will have an insufficiently large workforce to sustain the economy. In addition, there will be more elderly Singaporeans whom the younger generation will have to take care of. Clearly, something needs to be done to arrest the population decline. The factors causing the low birthrate in Singapore are many. One of the biggest cited by young married Singaporeans against having children is the high cost of living in this country, and the biggest living expense is, of course, housing. The prices of HDB flats have escalated to the point where many younger Singaporeans cannot afford them. As a result, these couples end up having to stay with their parents and in-laws. The lack of privacy and space constraints in such an arrangement is a major hindrance to these couples having children. To remedy such a problem, the SDP proposes a public housing policy initiative that would facilitate couples of child-bearing age to purchase their HDB flats in the quickest time possible. Presently, those applying to buy HDB flats for the first time are given priority over other applicants. These buyers, under the Build-To-Order (BTO) scheme, are then given a queue position –determined by a computer ballor – to book a flat. Under the SDP's proposal, married couples who have children or are expectant and who are applying for flats in non-mature estates will be divided into the following categories: Tier 1: Couples who have two or more children under the age of 12 Tier 2: Couples with one child under the age of 12 and expectant couples Tier 3: Other first time applicants Tier 4: All other applicants Booking and buying a flat for the above categories of potential homeowners will be processed under two new schemes: I. Young Families Priority Scheme-Sales of Balance Flats (YFPS-SBF) Buyers in Tiers 1 and 2 will be eligible for YFPS-SBF where they will be placed at the top of the queue for the Sales of Balance Flats (unbooked flats from earlier BTO exercises, Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme replacement flats, and repurchased flats). This Scheme is crucial to first-time homeowners who are looking to have their first child or to have more children because waiting times for Balance Flats are shorter as they are already under construction or nearing completion. If the number of Balance Flats are less than Tier 1 and 2 applicants, the unsuccessful applicants will automatically join YFPS-BTO (see below) and placed in pole queue positions for the Build-To-Order flats. II. Young Families Priority Scheme-Build To Order (YFPS-BTO) In any one application period under this phase, HDB will give buyers in Tier 1 the highest queue position to book a flat without having to go through a computer ballot. This will be followed by buyers in Tier 2. The queue positions of buyers in Tier 3 will be determined by ballot, followed by those in Tier 4. Such priority allocation will ensure that couples who have children or are waiting to have children will be guaranteed a home in the shortest time possible. In addition, they get to choose the best flats available: high floor, best-facing, nearest MRT, etc - benefits which are considerable.. This will be strong encouragement for married Singaporeans of child-bearing age to have children as it will make child-rearing less prohibitive and allow parents of young children more space and less stress. The urgency and absolute priority given to young couples to buy their flats in the SDP's proposal reflects the seriousness of the regenerational problem in Singapore. Moreover, it is simple and quick to implement. In fact, the procedure can be administered immediately at the next HDB ballot launch. Such a family-friendly and pro-population growth-rate policy will not only stem the current downward fertility trend but also create an environment conducive to bringing up well-adjusted families. The net effect is a psychologically, socially and economically healthy Singapore. The SDP recognises that there are other factors affecting the procreation issue in Singapore such as the price of HDB flats, the cost of living in Singapore, the education system and so on. These subjects will be tackled separately. The policy initiative highlighted in this present article is but one of several measures that should be implemented if we are to see a healthy and sustainable population growth rate in Singapore. It is an effective alternative to the PAP's dangerous and misguided policy of increasing our population size through importation of foreigners. It is also part of the SDP's Public Housing Plan which is currently under development by our Housing Policy Panel and which we expect to publish by the end of this year. <tbody> </tbody>

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