ckmpd's news clippings - consolidated

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From busybody:

"PAP is indeed digging their own grave. I am sad to say this because I still hope PAP could remain as government until there is viable strong opposition. However even if the opposition don't do anything, PAP will fall as public confidence decline. They may think there is another five long years before anything could happen. It may not work out as the way they originally thought. Life is unpredicable.
In the past, if you talk bad about PAP in the public every eyes will stare at you and you better shut up. Today when you talk the negative aspect of the PAP you will find the facial expression of the people looking really fed up in concordance. Though they are still scared to speak up, they are very much subdue and allow you to rant."

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Son of S:

"Indeed if our Government were to do nothing, it would be better for Singapore.. This Govt under the PAP is a one trick Govt. Like a one trick circus bear who can only perform one trick.They know of no other trick except to bring in foreign workers and new citizens into Singapore ostensibly to possess their babies but actually to get their votes and profit from them.
Tan Jee Say is right. We need new ideas which can only come from people who have not enmeshed themselves into this network of get rich quick PAP schemes.One trick is not enough to lead Singapore into the future. In fact the deluge of overwhelming foreign bodies will destroy our National Identity not to mention our livelihoods and the very land we stand on.
Multiple parties dissipate the power grip the PAP has on the country. Persons who have not yet enjoyed great power and receive lordly remuneration have less baggage and may be able to think of something beyond just bringing into Singapore more and more immigrants."

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From No Trust - no hope, no "Engagement":

"The PAP has lost the trust of many, if not most, Singaporeans after it betrayed them by giving foreigners an unfair advantage (no CPF) in competing for jobs in the Singapore. The PAP knew it was screwing Singaporeans so it (stupidly) decided to keep secret its decision to bring in large number of foreignb workers. GCT exposed the betrayal during GE2011. Wth trust gone there is no hope of getting it back. Without trust any dialogue or "engagement" with PAP is a waste of time. Going forward the only thing singaporeans can do is to throw out the PAP from Parliament asap. "

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From David:

"There must be some truth in netizens' views that the ruling party is so afraid to handle thus resorting to clamping down dissenters. A competent and confident govt should take on debate from critiques and not resorting to bully tactic with the help of unfair laws and legislations passed by themselves. In this days and age, such incompetent government should be thrown out like those shown in SPRING ARAB."

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From leehsientow:

"There is an idealistic, naive and almost pleading tone – all rolled into one – in the reactions so far to the government's proposed COC for online activities. The authorities know what they are doing, they are more than aware of all the valid objections to such a COC, and they are NOT "negotiating" with anyone on the outcome. This is nothing more than a sheer exercise in power, a hitback, by an incumbent under siege. Here is the uncomplicated scenario: a 35 % minority government (going by PE 2011 and not GE 2011) wants to shut up a nascent Singapore Spring being pushed by 65 % true-blue Singaporeans. "

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Son of S:

"Every population must go through turmoil once in a few decades. The last turmoil we were in was the second world war. We have thus grown soft and afraid of a little hardship. My father braved the Japanese soldiers in the streets for a little condensed milk to feed me.But alas we are afraid that the PAP will set its judges on us, its ISD on us and so ruin our little world of small comforts.. So we let these bullies sell of land to the lowest bidder.."

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From The Star's Seah Chiang Nee:

"Former Director of Internal Secu*rity Department (1971-74) Yoong Siew Wah wrote that “Singapore has 30,000 P-METs who have been unemployed for quite a long time, and we now have Chinese and Indian immigrants competing ... for the limited employment opportunities”.

What do the unemployed P-METs do? Many work as taxi drivers, property agents, insurance agents, financial advisers, remisiers, or tuition teachers"

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From black_dot:

"Singaporeans has been calling for the opposition parties to unite. Now its time to put up one platform – to form the new government !

There are tons of archaic rules and laws passed by the PAP which has to be scraped and abolished!

We need to see a new Singapore!"

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Disagree:

"Is it incompetency or is it complacency and arrogance that are causing the distrust from our citizens?
The notion of enriching self before nation seems to be a prevalent one. Look at how flashy our MPs and their spouses have become. In LKY's days, he would surely roll his eyes and reprimand. "

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Tan Choon Hong:

"To realise your vision, the opposition parties must remain united, stay focussed on improving the lot of all citizens and maintain their “no multi-cornered fights” arrangement as in the last GE. Concerned voters are with you all the way on this.

Incidentally, the opposition must support a WP vs PAP only fight in the Hougang by-election. Oh yes, muster all opposition resources to assist and endorse the WP. You will win the adoration not only of Hougang, but of all SG opposition supporters by this show of solidarity to defend this bastion of the opposition."

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Lions:

"what is the basic lesson we learn from the difference in public service comitment between the OL D GUARDS AND THE NEW GUARDS?
MONEY$.
the old guards were not concerned with ENRICHING thmselves,so to speak,whilst the NEW GUARDS spare no efforts in trying to ENRICH themselves.
indeed,trying to pay 'top dollars' to lure good singaporeans to public service has much negative repercussions rather than true commitment.
our PUBLIC SERVICE LEVEL is substandard and our public servants are serving their own self-interests rather than the public's COMMON INTEREST.
THE 'WANT' FOR MORE AND MORE MONEY has reduced the 'want' to serve the people"

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Asia Sentinel:

"Are quick-hit quarterly stats trustworthy?

Flash quarterly GDP statistics are a misleading waste of time that only benefit financial market trading volumes.

That conclusion might easily be reached by reference to Singapore’s flash official data – not to mention China’s. This is not to suggest that the Singapore figures are deliberately distorted or that annual data based on full data collection are significantly inaccurate. But the wild swings in Singapore’ quarterly numbers are at odds with common sense views of what is happening in the real economy.

On April 14, the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry issued first quarter 2011 data showing quarter on quarter annualized growth of 23 percent, led by manufacturing growth of 80 percent while the bigger services sector expanded by a relatively modest 8.4 percent. That is simply bizarre.

Singapore’s manufacturing numbers consistently appear all over the place, which must cast doubt on their accuracy and on the accuracy of overall GDP data. Comparing Q1 2011 with Q1 2010, GDP grew by 8.5 percent with manufacturing up by 13.9 percent while services lagged at 7.2 percent and construction rose only 2.6 percent.

But just look at the swings of quarter on quarter growth for manufacturing:
• 1Q10 +170.5 percent
• 2Q10 +79.2 percent
• 3Q10 -48.5 percent
• 4Q10 +0.7 percent
• 1Q11 +80.2 percent

Nor was this unique. The 2008 and 2009 data all show big swings almost as large.
The latest number was, says the Ministry, “driven by the electronics and precision engineering clusters which benefited from a pick-up in business investment in the region.”

But does factory output in Singapore, or in any advanced economy anywhere, really bounce around like that unless there is some extreme event?"

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Ghui:

"Despite promises for a “lighter touch” on the internet, the spectre of defamation suits reared its ugly head when The Temasek Review Emeritus had to issue an apology to PM Lee on the basis of its defamatory content.

Some have taken this incident as the government back paddling from its promises. Has the government taken one step forwards but two steps back?"

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Ghui:

"Post GE 2011, the government did form a committee to review ministerial salaries and the salaries of the President, the Prime Minister and ministers were indeed reduced. This was a move that would have seemed impossible just a few years back!

Certain controversial elements still remain in the calculation of ministerial remuneration – most notably, the bonus component and the benchmarking of ministerial salaries to the top 1,000 Singaporean earners.

Overall, the salary review was a positive step forward and credit must be given but the buck does not stop here. The PAP will need to continually revisit the issue and assess if the bonus component or the private sector benchmark works."

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Ghui, on PAP's performance since GE 2011:

"One year is too premature to assess the PAP’s performance in totality and Singaporeans should continue to watch. But what we can take out of post GE 2011 is that the political bar has been set higher and the PAP will have to meet this challenge head on in 2016."

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From TRE:

"Ms Teo believes that “most commuters are reasonable and understand that no transport system is free from disruptions. However, if they are late for exams or miss meeting an important client as a result of train disruptions, they will be very unhappy.”

What’s important, Ms Teo added, is “to learn from mistakes and to prevent the same incident from happening again.”

Unfortunately for Ms Teo, happening it did because less than a day of her statement, a series of minor train disruptions hit the East-West Line causing commuters to turn up late for work on 7th May.

Such train delays and disruptions have become so much so a part and parcel of daily life in Singapore that they are no longer news-worthy enough to be reported by the local press. Even the rail operator, SMRT cannot be bothered to issue any public statements explaining the latest train disruptions.

Although there were numerous COIs commissioned to investigate these “minor disruptions”, no concrete findings have been released to date. by the time these findings are finally released, “forgetful” Singaporeans would most probably have forgotten why the COIs were setup in the first place."

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Li WeiJie:

"Singaporeans are not anti foreigners. We know the importance of foreigners. We are not happy at the way your government is managing the inflow of foreigners.

It seems that the floodgate has been opened regardless whether the foreigners can contribute fruitfully to our economy."

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Li WeiJie:

"Singaporeans are not against migrants. We are merely requesting quality migrants or foreign talents and not just open the floodgate that had been done since 2005/2006. We are trying to feedback to help the government to build a inclusive society.

Please do not view alternate view as opposition for we love Singapore very much and want all locally bred Singaporeans to have advantage at least to have a level playing field as we and our forebears have contributed so much to the success of Singapore today."

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Pests Are Pests:

"If PM Lee ever listen to Singaporeans’ call for justice and fair policies, the sky will become blood red or the pigs will fly home.

PAP will only change if their leaders in Tanjong Pagar GRC and Ang Mo Kio GRC are heavily defeated. Otherwise, the leopards will never change its spots.

Better still, in GE2016, deny them two thirds majority you will see their cockiness disappear or lose face. PAP must be taught a lesson. Singaporeans have suffered enough. Enough is Enough."

 

[ckmpd]

Re: Crumbling of Singapore?

From Mad:

"LHL heard you, he knows the ground problems, but he deliberately ignored complains. They (familee) have their own agenda but definitely not for the Singaporeans’ benefit. They will make (suck) much money as possible, you die your business. Look at all the Pigs ministers and MPs, they dare not to go against familee, they know what is happening but because of their personal gain they speak familee lingo. No way we can change familee stubborn behaviour, wait for next GE which i think is rather too late or show the PIGS the people’s power before next GE."