- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
- Messages
- 12,730
- Points
- 113
The Prime Minister must have thought he hit a home run when he accused the Worker's Party's MPs of being 'tigers turned mice,' in Parliament. After all he has a very pliant media doing their utmost to give him the best possible coverage and advantage. A fair fight PAP style, would be like a football between Brazil and Singapore, but with them as Brazil having not only an extra player and home ground advantage, but picks the referee and his assistants. And just to be safe - the opponents must play without a goalkeeper.
But alas even the Prime Minister cannot undo Hansard - the parliamentary records. If you read the MSM and watch local news as well as the heavily edited parliamentary proceedings, you might even think we don't have an opposition at all. But Hansard tells a different story - a story the PAP prefers not to disseminate widely. The Worker's Party have been far from silent, in fact their presence has finally awoken some of the PAP MPs from their slumber. Prior to 2011, we'd see Parliament barely quarter full on most days, so much so that it lacked a quorum for votes - it took then Nominated MP Eugene Tan twice to point this out, in order for the votes to meet the legal criteria. Of course NMP Tan's services were no longer required after that and he wasn't re-selected for nomination after his first 2 year term was up.
But let's humour the PM - and consider his mice and tiger inference. Well if he wants to paint the WP MPs like that, he seems to have forgotten that we can also find a suitable animal to describe the bulk of his PAP MPs. And it doesn't take long to figure this 1 out - they're 'sheep in sheep's clothing.' Oh yes, how then does 1 describe a Parliament where 1 party controls 90% of the seats yet not 1 of them dares to vote against the party whip? No backbone - all will bleat in fright when it comes to the vote and herded like sheep by a sheep dog into the voting pen.
I'm sure all of us can provide examples of each of our PAP MPs - but let's just look at the PM's own AMK GRC team members - the ones that have found their master's favour for another lucrative term in office. Step forward sheep no 1 - Gan Thiam Poh. This is a very loyal sheep, for it's he who says, 'that the cost of the PM's salary is very cheap - less than $1 with a 37% discount to all Singaporeans.' Wonderful isn't it? - Imagine that - the PM's salary is sooooo low. The poor guy must be struggling to get by. Perhaps Mr Gan should move a motion to increase his boss' pay? - Forget the 37% discount, how about we settle for a round figure and get each Singaporean to pay $2 for our Prime Minister? Maybe Mr Gan can cut through the red tape as well- just advise all Singaporeans to send $2 by post to Sri Temasek addressed to the PM!
Let's look at sheep no 2 - Ang Hin Kee. He's supposed to be the MP that fights for taxi drivers. But a good sheep never goes astray - he follows obediently and knows who's the big dog. So Mr Ang has become Comfort Delgro's MP. Rather than berate taxi companies for raising the rent - he fully supports their measures to increase their fleet and does nothing about LTA's minimum daily mileage. And to add insult to injury does nothing about lowering COE prices or having a separate 1 for taxis. You wanna know why COEs shot up during the recently dissolved Parliament's lifetime? It's because of taxi companies having to scrap and replenish their fleet. Because all of a sudden all those taxis that were bought in circa 2004-2007 reached their shelf life and had to be scrapped. Because he does nothing about the companies wanting increase fleet size and maximise profits, all of a sudden there's a huge demand in the market for COEs. As such prices hit the roof because rather than have a separate COE system for taxis or cap it at say $50,000, they have to enter the open market with regular car owners.
So get ready fellow Singaporeans for another COE upsurge at the end of the decade, when these newer taxis have to be scrapped. And because COEs go up and taxi companies must buy and grow their fleet, the extra sums have to be forked out by some body. Oh no, not Comfort Delgro - the 2nd largest transport operator in the world (which they love to boast). They are not going to fork the increase in prices for free. So who has to? Yes, the taxi drivers and eventually ordinary Singaporean commuters. That's how powerful a voice Mr Ang is - as the MP representing the taxi drivers. His answer is - yes sir, yes sir, 3 bags full.
And let's not forget the final sheep on the PM's team - the loftily titled Dr Intan Azura. She's always seen wearing the tudung even in the highest body in the land - Parliament. You'd think that if a Parliamentarian can wear the cloth without issue - it should become standard for everyone else. What greater symbol can you have to promote tudung wearing than by an MP in Parliament? You'd expect her to fight tooth and nail and tell the PM and the Cabinet in no uncertain terms that you'll always demand that the ban be lifted except for those industries and jobs where wearing a cloth is a hazard - like operating machinery, hospitals or the bio-medical labs. But no, Dr Intan prefers that she only wears and is recognised as a symbol and just too bad for the rest of her community. On such a minor issue, she dares not raise a voice and follows like sheep, how then do you expect her to stand up against the population white paper, soaring medical and transport costs, immigration, employment and runaway public housing?
And we can go around the chamber and find similar examples in other PAP MPs and backbenchers. The PM and his predecessor claim that the PAP can check themselves and don't require an opposition? Maybe we should push for all elections to be held on April 1st. You expect sheep to rise up against the wolf?
So please don't come and tell us the WP are mice, when your team is packed with sheep. But perhaps voters should also grant the PM his wish - since he wants aggression and adversarial debates in Parliament. So voters please oblige your Prime Minister - that's the least you can do. Besides voting in WP MPs, make sure you send Dr Chee Soon Juan, Paul Thambyah, Ang Yong Guan, Tan Jee Say, M Ravi, Jeanette Chong, Lina Chiam, Roy Ngerng, Gilbert Goh and Kenneth Jeyaretnam amongst others into Parliament. And let them 1 by 1 pick off the PM's team of sheep in sheep's clothing. Then his successor will be praying that only WP MPs ever get elected.
http://anyhowhantam.blogspot.sg/2015/09/the-pm-forgets-that-pap-mps-are-sheep.html
But alas even the Prime Minister cannot undo Hansard - the parliamentary records. If you read the MSM and watch local news as well as the heavily edited parliamentary proceedings, you might even think we don't have an opposition at all. But Hansard tells a different story - a story the PAP prefers not to disseminate widely. The Worker's Party have been far from silent, in fact their presence has finally awoken some of the PAP MPs from their slumber. Prior to 2011, we'd see Parliament barely quarter full on most days, so much so that it lacked a quorum for votes - it took then Nominated MP Eugene Tan twice to point this out, in order for the votes to meet the legal criteria. Of course NMP Tan's services were no longer required after that and he wasn't re-selected for nomination after his first 2 year term was up.
But let's humour the PM - and consider his mice and tiger inference. Well if he wants to paint the WP MPs like that, he seems to have forgotten that we can also find a suitable animal to describe the bulk of his PAP MPs. And it doesn't take long to figure this 1 out - they're 'sheep in sheep's clothing.' Oh yes, how then does 1 describe a Parliament where 1 party controls 90% of the seats yet not 1 of them dares to vote against the party whip? No backbone - all will bleat in fright when it comes to the vote and herded like sheep by a sheep dog into the voting pen.
I'm sure all of us can provide examples of each of our PAP MPs - but let's just look at the PM's own AMK GRC team members - the ones that have found their master's favour for another lucrative term in office. Step forward sheep no 1 - Gan Thiam Poh. This is a very loyal sheep, for it's he who says, 'that the cost of the PM's salary is very cheap - less than $1 with a 37% discount to all Singaporeans.' Wonderful isn't it? - Imagine that - the PM's salary is sooooo low. The poor guy must be struggling to get by. Perhaps Mr Gan should move a motion to increase his boss' pay? - Forget the 37% discount, how about we settle for a round figure and get each Singaporean to pay $2 for our Prime Minister? Maybe Mr Gan can cut through the red tape as well- just advise all Singaporeans to send $2 by post to Sri Temasek addressed to the PM!
Let's look at sheep no 2 - Ang Hin Kee. He's supposed to be the MP that fights for taxi drivers. But a good sheep never goes astray - he follows obediently and knows who's the big dog. So Mr Ang has become Comfort Delgro's MP. Rather than berate taxi companies for raising the rent - he fully supports their measures to increase their fleet and does nothing about LTA's minimum daily mileage. And to add insult to injury does nothing about lowering COE prices or having a separate 1 for taxis. You wanna know why COEs shot up during the recently dissolved Parliament's lifetime? It's because of taxi companies having to scrap and replenish their fleet. Because all of a sudden all those taxis that were bought in circa 2004-2007 reached their shelf life and had to be scrapped. Because he does nothing about the companies wanting increase fleet size and maximise profits, all of a sudden there's a huge demand in the market for COEs. As such prices hit the roof because rather than have a separate COE system for taxis or cap it at say $50,000, they have to enter the open market with regular car owners.
So get ready fellow Singaporeans for another COE upsurge at the end of the decade, when these newer taxis have to be scrapped. And because COEs go up and taxi companies must buy and grow their fleet, the extra sums have to be forked out by some body. Oh no, not Comfort Delgro - the 2nd largest transport operator in the world (which they love to boast). They are not going to fork the increase in prices for free. So who has to? Yes, the taxi drivers and eventually ordinary Singaporean commuters. That's how powerful a voice Mr Ang is - as the MP representing the taxi drivers. His answer is - yes sir, yes sir, 3 bags full.
And let's not forget the final sheep on the PM's team - the loftily titled Dr Intan Azura. She's always seen wearing the tudung even in the highest body in the land - Parliament. You'd think that if a Parliamentarian can wear the cloth without issue - it should become standard for everyone else. What greater symbol can you have to promote tudung wearing than by an MP in Parliament? You'd expect her to fight tooth and nail and tell the PM and the Cabinet in no uncertain terms that you'll always demand that the ban be lifted except for those industries and jobs where wearing a cloth is a hazard - like operating machinery, hospitals or the bio-medical labs. But no, Dr Intan prefers that she only wears and is recognised as a symbol and just too bad for the rest of her community. On such a minor issue, she dares not raise a voice and follows like sheep, how then do you expect her to stand up against the population white paper, soaring medical and transport costs, immigration, employment and runaway public housing?
And we can go around the chamber and find similar examples in other PAP MPs and backbenchers. The PM and his predecessor claim that the PAP can check themselves and don't require an opposition? Maybe we should push for all elections to be held on April 1st. You expect sheep to rise up against the wolf?
So please don't come and tell us the WP are mice, when your team is packed with sheep. But perhaps voters should also grant the PM his wish - since he wants aggression and adversarial debates in Parliament. So voters please oblige your Prime Minister - that's the least you can do. Besides voting in WP MPs, make sure you send Dr Chee Soon Juan, Paul Thambyah, Ang Yong Guan, Tan Jee Say, M Ravi, Jeanette Chong, Lina Chiam, Roy Ngerng, Gilbert Goh and Kenneth Jeyaretnam amongst others into Parliament. And let them 1 by 1 pick off the PM's team of sheep in sheep's clothing. Then his successor will be praying that only WP MPs ever get elected.
http://anyhowhantam.blogspot.sg/2015/09/the-pm-forgets-that-pap-mps-are-sheep.html
