ckmpd's news clippings - consolidated

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Quote from SG-Quitters:

"In Chinatown, there were PRC women in their forties flirting with local old retirees. The Singapore consulate in China must be blind and daft to grant PR status to these women. What economic values can these middle age women bring to Singapore except to con those dirty old men of their retirement fund and hopefully cast a vote in favor of PAP? The government should check it out in Chinatown. If they bring in another million FTs as planned, the City is going to explode with overloaded infrastructures."

PAP policy causing Crumbling of Singapore?

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

Quote from SG-Quitters"

" you have the vision extraordinaire senior Statesman, LKY, calling his own citizens daft and needed to repent despite bragging about having the best education in the world. He further insult his own citizens by saying that PRC immigrants are smarter and more hardworking than native Singapore despite bragging that Singapore has the best workforce in the world? Few ministers or new immigrants have any respect, sympathy or concern about the plight and welfare of native Singaporeans. Social problems like transportation, floods, housing, are dismissed as “unavoidable” or “once in fifty years”. or housing are “affordable”.

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

TOC:

"The popular Vincent Wijeysingha took the stage by saying, “We are 51 weeks into the most devastating elections for the PAP.” He went on to say that PAP made a lot of promises like reviewing ministerial salaries but only made some ‘miniscule’ adjustments downward. “Inflation has gone up by 5.2% and will continue to go up in the last two quarters of this year.” He reiterated the fact that even though new jobs were created, “a large proportion of those went to foreigners.”

“Transport prices have also gone up and increases in the prices of COE of up to almost a hundred thousand dollars.” Wijeysingha was listing out all the broken promises of the PAP.

Wijeysingha also highlighted the fact that the government promised to bring down the number of foreign talents, “shortly after the election,” but it seems the numbers are on the rise again. "

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

Temasek Times, 2 May 2012:

"SMRT trains are having delays and disruptions on an almost daily basis that even the mainstream media has stopped reporting on it altogether."

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

Temasek Times, 2 May 2012:

"While foreigners have been praising Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sky-high on his Facebook page to please him, it continues to be inundated with numerous complaints and genuine feedback from native Singaporeans, including PAP supporters and grassroots leader.

One grassroot leader Bao Heng posted a lengthy comment on PM Lee’s Facebook today urging him to tackle the ‘foreign talent’ issue urgently and feel the real resentment of Singaporeans on the ground.

Bao Heng pointed out correctly that the low fertility rate of Singaporeans is caused by economic constraints:

“In Singapore, we have an ageing population and many young couples are incapable of raising children AND NOT BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT TO. Thus if we do not have such a big workforce, then we should start to address the Low fertility rate instead of taking the short cut by simply import foreign workers to achieve economic growth.”"

Will LHL's refusal to acknowledge his mistakes and continued defiance to listen to the ground accelerate the Crumbling of Singapore?

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

Sarah Sum:

"My husband has a PhD in computer science and I have post grad qualifications in a child related field, yet we struggle with just the idea of sending our 5 and 3 year olds into the education system here. We need to migrate to get a life for our kids, the kind of childhood we want for them. What schools need here is to lower teacher-pupil ratio, spend the money on getting children inspired by teachers who have time for them. Children do not need huge buildings and fantastic hardware to learn, they need people to guide them how to think, show them how the world works and how to get along with each other. Here, the schools build robots out of our kids, kick the life and creativity out of them with a warped focus on achievement. To what ends? Achieving high marks does not make a child smart, creative, compassionate, a problem solver. Unfortunately only a small percentage of parents care enough about our kids think this way. I believe the bulk of parents here still think nothing of making their children sit through lessons, assessments and more papers each day. That accounts for flourishing of tuition centres - to better complete the robotic process and nail the coffin of childhood"

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

Toh Jit Meng:

"I have uprooted and moved. My son used to hate going to pre-school, but now is enjoying and looking forward to each day at Kindy. He is encouraged to learn for his age, and his pace. Much of the learning is through play, which I believe is most effective for a 3, 4 year old. One of his pre-school teacher in Singapore even implied my son has poor learning ability, but here he is appreciated and is doing exceptionally well. A good education is about learning, not about failing students so that the institution can stroke their own back, and point at how many students not meeting its high standard. That is BS"

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

Doreen Chew:

"Even my pri3 girl has these mind boggling quizes which I can cry at times! lolz! Many times it's 5 such question in a paper!
and mind you.. I had purposely chosen to put her in a normal neighbourhood school (15mins walk) when a so-called top school is just a 5mins walk away from our home. Still, I didnt managed to save her from these 'tortures'! "

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

CK Lim:

"My kids are in P3 & P6. I have a minor in maths for my degree & I struggle with the P6 questions. My kids have tuition & do not have any other enrichment classes...and they still don't have time to be kids. There's no joy in studying these days. The curriculum (especially using heuristics) does not allow them to be curious (coz they've no time to be curious). The journey of education (yes, its a journey) should be 1 made up of curiousity & discovery...not rote learning & frustration."

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From The Temasek Times:

"I am a Singaporean working abroad for the last three years. One of my trips back on board SQ, I was sitting beside an elderly western European couple. Our friendly chat brought about the usual “where are you from?” I told them Singapore and they had nothing but praises for our national carrier.

The conversation led on to their frequent visits to our country en route to Australia, whenever they make a trip down under. They asked “where were you educated? As you English is very good.” I found this question strange and unsure where it will lead to.

“I was fully educated in Singapore”, and I told them our education was all in English.

The next thing I heard from them :” when we visited 10 , 15 years back everyone there was like you and we were pleasantly surprise at how easy it is during our stopover, everyone was accommodating and friendly. But during our last trip back (4yrs ago), we found it strange And more difficult in terms of communication and the level of service declined.”

“Were they asian?”

“Yes, Chinese, just like you!”

I had to defend and told them they were probably immigrants from china, I am Chinese but I am fourth generation Singaporean, so I rather not be associated with my ethnicity, but my nationality. Probably it was the beer served with my meal, or just the general sentiment as it was election year, and change could have happened but didn’t, I let it rip.

I let loose on how our red passport, once considered a symbol of national pride, is now easily obtainable and cheap. How I would trade it for any other passport right now from a country who actually treats their citizens right. How I managed to get out of the ‘wheel’ of the Singapore lifestyle (work eat sleep bills, work eat sleep bills) and would try never to return. How I was happy I need not serve my country anymore, but 15 years ago I was actually contemplating making it a career.

Thank God and my senses for not being stupid. I further elaborated on how the poor are not adequately taken care of, the old are made to work till they are 70-80, and special needs are not given any needs, so to speak. I explained how education is like in Singapore, they cannot fanthom how governments can give free tertiary education to foreigners but citizens have to pay. They were shocked when I mentioned the concept of COE and ERP. The list goes on, it made the 15hr flight a breeZe.

I’m not a management expert, but I remember Maslows hierarchy of needs, and how every level of that hierarchy has to be filled, for someone to be happy.

Our government has failed to satisfy these needs to 40% of Singaporeans. Like a cat, once its owner is unable to provide something for its well being, it will leave and not come back. There are many friends who already left and there are tons more hoping to get out of the little red dot we once were proud of.

Only 60% are happy? ( so says the polls) that’s a fail if you ask me, for a government so hyped up on GPA and grades, scoring a 60% is a fail. The incumbent has propbably never even given a scholarship applicant a chance seeing that their grades are on average 60%, how can they even think of patting themselves on the back, let alone increase their own wages. I think Singaporeans should not even given them a chance."

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

By Libran:

"Singaporeans may not realise it now, but the PAP govt. has sold our children's future away to foreigners. All the "prosperity" we thought we had were bought by:

1) selling a large chunk of Singapore to foreigners,
2) by enslaving our young with 30-year mortgage loans, and
3) by flooding the small country with millions of foreigners.

In a small country where we have to jostle with foreigners for everthing from publuc housing to transportation to health care to education to jobs, what pride can we feel? While our PAP politicians enrich themselves with millions while we slave for peanuts?"

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

By SgCynic:

"Never have I felt such a tension in the social fabric. What would be the last straw and the spark to ignite the charged atmosphere between us and 'them'? Social and psychological aspects of our total defense is at unprecented depths. 'Love'? 'Home'? Increasingly alien concepts to an increasingly alienated people no?"

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

By Fair Fare:

"i loathe to say this but i do not wish to see our country which we all,true lions,love,become filled with ft/pr/new citizesn whose only true love for this dearly beloed country we all help to build is only the MONEY they could harness for themselves at our expense.
please,gahmen,wake up,you are going into the wrong direction.
time will prove who are truly LOYAL N FAITHFUL to SINGAPORE,if not our own singaporeans,who else?"

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Noene:

"I can wager you all, Singapore will some day end up like the MRT system – breaking down in pieces progressively in all aspects. And worse – no amount of money thrown at it, can remedy the advanced disintegration. That day shall be the day this Administration shall NEED to step down. Including their own selected Head of State"

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From To Freedom:

"I think most Singaporeans love their country and their home which is why more have been airing their views and opinions regarding the governance and government of the country. There has definitely been a simmering dissatisfaction and unhappiness for quite some time and this has finally surfaced, judging from the boldness of views and opinions. By exhorting us to love our country and our home, it makes one wonder if the PAP-majority government has once again missed the point and fail to see that Singaporeans are in fact a passionate lot of people who care about how things are run.

What also puzzles me and piques me a little is that they seem to equate anti-PAP sentiments with being disloyal to the country or anti-Singapore. Then I suddenly realized that since 1959, they have socially and economically engineered us, thus creating this entity called Singapore which is why they feel they own this place and even us. It’s like we are actually North Korea but a capitalistic version of it."

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Love Singapore:

"Singaporean who love Singapore must get rid of the pro-alien PAP that is giving away the country to foreigners. Notwithstanding what it says PAP is anti-Singaporean based on what it actutally does It is that simple.

For PAP talk )or spin) is easy and cheap since it knows whatever it says cannot be easily verifed with its tight grip on information and use of Official Secrets Act to keep civil servants in line."

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Tan Pei Lin"

"My younger brother in Secondary 3 is piled with homework every day, including weekends. He completes the work just in time to go to bed. Even on weekends, he has no time for himself and is constantly unhappy.

Such homework does not teach pupils real skills, unless by chance one aspires to be a mathematician or chemist. These "skills" teach children to memorise facts and methods to be spit out during exams, just to meet the standards and satisfy expectations.

They have minimal opportunities to fully explore their creative capabilities and enjoy the process of learning and self-growth. Learning has evolved into a chore.

Pupils are going to school with the mindset that studying is imperative to get a good job in the future, but not with the willingness and hunger to learn."

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Time to Go:

"30 years ago, when the PAP won 100% of the seats in parliament, any "vacancy" was immediately contested. Of course there were no contenders. That is the way the PAP(and LKY) worked. He brooked no dissension or criticism. See how he destroyed Goh Keng Swee and Toh Chin Chye. Not only did he kicked them out of the government, he subjected them to a 100% media blackout and ostracism. They were NOT even invited to the annual PAP convention. That way no one will ever hear of these 2 again. Until they died and then the government started to shed some tears and even gave them a state funeral. Such sheer hypocrisy is in character. If LKY loved them so much, he should have shown some of it when they are alive, NOT when they are dead. With all the old guards dead of completely NOT heard of again, he now makes sure his name is in the minds of everyone, wherever one looked. Hence you will see and hear his name in projects, prizes etc all over the island. Now they are going overseas as well. Of course in the US you can buy a "prize" with a donation, of which he does plenty. Now there are even worse stories - more of that later. So what about the Hougang By-Election? If LHL is confident, he will call for one. If he is uncertain , then he will delay and delay........ Singaporeans are beginning to realise that the PAP in many ways resemble UMNO. In both cases, the people are fed up. They want a change."

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Strait Jacket Society:

"If the CEO of UBS can be sacked for losing 2 billion dollars, then LKY, Tony Tan and Ho ching should be jailed for losing more than 100 billion dollars. That no one made any noise except the SDP and other opposition parties, shows the extent of brain washing that has permeated the psyche of Singaporeans. That is why the PAP will be a failure, just like their counterpart in malaysia - UMNO/B.N. Time for leadership change is here. Sadly, the PAP will use the ISA again. No wonder people have chosen the highway out"

 

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Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Brave New Singapore:

"Singapore has all of the notional trappings of democracy – an elected parliament, a judicial system theoretically in place to keep the parliament honest, regular parliamentary debate, regularly scheduled elections, a privately-owned press, multiple newspapers and television stations, a strong civil service in which promotion is a meritocracy. The elections are clean, the votes counted scrupulously, all of the forms observed in a legalistic and orderly society that has none of the hallmarks of violence or vote-buying that have blighted democracies in the Philippines or Thailand or any of the other countries in Southeast Asia.

But is this a democracy? In a democracy, all of the eligible voters are expected to have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives, with theoretically equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law. But through a long series of threats against districts that go against them, electoral regroupings and gerrymandering, the PAP has managed to keep a hold on parliament that could far outweigh its actual popularity with the voters, given the party’s overwhelming parliamentary majority. "